Establishing Special Courts Catering to Human Trafficking Cases Essay Example for Free

Establishing Special Courts Catering to Human Trafficking Cases Essay Last 2012, Ms. Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, an envoy from the United Nations visited the Philippines to observe the situation of human trafficking in the country. Ms. Ezeilo stated that â€Å"the Philippines is undoubtedly a source country for human trafficking, and the problem is not declining. † One of the solutions she proposed to address the problem were special courts catering to human trafficking cases. (Reyes, 2012. ) Human trafficking thrives in poverty lack of education, which are the main catalysts for individuals to be ushered into trafficking. (â€Å"An introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008. These are some of the problems the government is facing, and the two are very interconnected because they are the cause and effects of each other. Poverty leads to lack of education, and lack of education leads to poverty. The government is doing what they can to help minimize the issue, but they admit that it would take some time. (Sisante, 2008. ) Education is a way to combat trafficking, due to the fact that education leads to decent employment, and a well-informed individual would be more aware of the dangers of being trafficked, thus preventing it to happen in his/her life. However, ideal this may sound, it is not possible to solve poverty and lack of education in a snap. There has to be other solutions to consider that could be done now and would have a great impact. The establishment of special courts tackling specifically human trafficking-oriented cases is a practical solution that would greatly expedite the process of punishing human traffickers and by extension greatly reduce the number of cases of human trafficking in the Philippines, helping alleviate its social, economic, and political consequences. Before special courts as a solution is to be discussed any further, it is important to define what a special court is. Specialized courts are defined by the International Journal for Court Administration as â€Å"tribunals of narrowly focused jurisdiction to which all cases that fall within that jurisdiction are routed. † (Zimmer, 2009) The following paragraphs are going to discuss the counterarguments against special courts, and would be briefly refuted before the three main arguments in favor of special courts are presented. The opposition may claim special courts as an unnecessary expenditure and inaccessible. They claim that it is unnecessary because the creation of new courts is onerous and constitutes unnecessary expenditures, particularly if cases are seasonal, and funds could go to waste if it remains idle. (Zimmer, 2009. ) The creation of a court would automatically imply expenditures. The court has to pay for the administrative costs, the physical court, and other expenses needed to assist the victims, like court psychiatrists. It would also require effort on the judiciary, and the Supreme Court, due to the fact that special courts have to be set-up with care in order for its potential in eliminating cases to be maximized. Zimmer, 2009) However, funding is not a strong argument, because the government has money. It is the proper allocation of the funds, or budgeting that is in question. The government has established special courts for environmental cases in 2008, 117 to be exact. (Salaveirra, 2008) If the government has placed effort enough to set up courts to save the environment, shouldn’t it be a priority to set up courts to fight for human trafficking victims, who have been robbed of their rights? Human rights should always be kept in the priority list of the government. Recently, it has been reported that the government is funding the Department of Health with 500 million pesos for contraceptives for the year 2013. One of their aims was to ‘combat poverty’. (Fernandez, 2012. ) This shows that the government tries to prioritize the poor, however it just shows that they haven’t thought of more practical ways to combat poverty, without being morally questionable, and without robbing humans the right to life. Chief Justice Puno stated that preservation of human rights and the right to life should be considered more than the financial burden a special court entails. Rempillo, 2007. ) This is what the special court for human trafficking should be for, to fight for rights. A $1. 5 million budget or almost ? 65 million is allotted by the national government to support operations against human trafficking, prosecution of offenders, and for the protection of the public. (IACAT, 2012. ) The special courts would allow this budget to be maximized to its full potential in expediting human trafficking cases. Public access could also be limited. Some judges prefer not to be in a special court setting because it limits their trials to criminal cases. Bakker, 1997) Public access may also be limited due to the fact that you cannot establish it everywhere, and the judges are most likely to stay in their respective courts. If public access is considered a problem, then strategically locating these physical courts would be the solution. To place special courts in accessible areas in which the cases are numerous could actually help the victims to easily access justice. Some judges may not want to be in a special court setting because it limits their trials to specific criminal cases. (Bakker, 1997. However, this could turn into an advantage because if they keep seeing the same class of cases over and over again, they could render out decisions faster and more efficiently, due to a better understanding of the cases that they deal with. (Zimmer, 2009. ) There are three solutions to human trafficking: prosecution, prevention, and protection. (EHTN, n. d. ) The establishment of special courts would aid in prosecution, due to the speedy justice it serves, prevention, since it is an effective deterrent for criminals involved, and protection, due to its aims in protecting the victims, and the witnesses during the timeframe of the case. The following paragraphs would elaborate more on why special courts should be established. Firstly, special courts would aid in prosecution and are practical. This is supported by the prevalence of human trafficking, the poor enforcement of justice, specifically in human trafficking cases, the need to distinguish human trafficking as a family of cases that should be differentiated from labor contract violations, the legal precedents such as previous special courts set-up for heinous crimes, and the successful implementation of human trafficking courts in other nations. Human trafficking is a serious issue in the Philippines. As pointed out by the UN envoy Ezeilo, the Philippines is a source country for human trafficking. (Reyes, 2012. ) This is due to the fact that when Filipinos go abroad for work opportunities, they get vulnerable to recruitment by fraudulent recruitment agencies. Internal trafficking is also a serious issue because forced labor, prostitution, child labor, and other forms of trafficking are victimizing people who are moving from rural areas to urban centers. [para, US Department of State, 2011 as cited by (â€Å"Human Trafficking in East Asia Pacific.. , n. d. )] The rise of human trafficking cases in the Philippines, particularly in the Visayas region, is 97% in 2012, in comparison to the cases filed in 2010. There were 436 human trafficking victims in Central Visayas alone. (â€Å"State prosecutors see increase.. †, 2012) Another alarming detail is the prevalence of child labor. There has been an estimation of more than 2. 2 million working children aged 15-17 in the country. (US Department of State, 2011. as cited by (â€Å"Human Trafficking in East Asia Pacific.. †, n. d. It is also believed that 60,000-100,000 Filipino children are involved in prostitution rings. (Challenger, 2010. ) The previous information stated imply that there are thousands of potential cases to be filed, and special courts would help in fast-tracking the cases to avoid backlog, and to insure fair and speedy justice. The government has fallen short in the enforcement of justice in dealing with human trafficking cases. There were 680 pending or ongoing cases, and an additional 129 cases pending at the Department of Justice during the year 2012. â€Å"Trafficking in Persons.. †, 2012. ) This shows a huge amount of backlog and ongoing cases, which shows the prevalence of the cases, and the lack of efficiency on the part of the judiciary when it comes to dealing with human trafficking cases. In the Philippines, it takes three to four years to conclude human trafficking cases, which supports the previous statement about the inefficiency of the judiciary. Human trafficking is a family of cases. It is an organized criminal activity in which human beings are treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited. Forms of human trafficking include sex trafficking, forced labor, child labor, selling of organs, and recruitment of children in military work, are forms of human trafficking. (â€Å"Human Trafficking: Organized Crime.. †, 2012) These crimes (except for the selling of organs) are usually confused with labor contract violations, in which the special court would come in handy. In 2012, there have only been two out of twenty-nine traffickers convicted for labor exploitation, showing that the judiciary is not paying enough attention to it. â€Å"Trafficking in Persons †, 2012. );(Reyes, 2012. ) The special court would help differentiate the two, and allow the human trafficking cases to be dealt with properly. (â€Å"Trafficking in Persons †, 2012) Expertise and uniformity are traits of special courts, and could be put to good use so that there is consistency in applying the law. The expertise of judges in specialized courts are likely to produce better decisions in t he respective cases and are less likely to generate appeals to be taken. (Zimmer, 2009. ) The judiciary has established several special courts for other cases, which gives a legal precedent for human trafficking courts. The Administrative circular no. 104-96 from the Supreme Court discusses the establishment of special courts that cater to heinous crimes for speedy and efficient justice. (â€Å"Administrative Circular No. 104-96†, 1996) This document shows that special courts have been done before, so it implies that it can be done again. Environmental courts, extrajudicial killings, and tax courts are some of the examples of special courts established in the Philippines. Representative Mel Senen Sarmiento of the first district of Samar is pushing for the creation of special courts for human trafficking, saying that â€Å"the Philippines is close to Somalia and Myanmar as regards trafficking, merchandising their people like cattle. If congress can create courts for drug traffickers why not a court for human traffickers too? (Quirante, 2010. ) In other nations such as Dubai and India, special human trafficking courts have been effectively established. Dubai believes that the special human trafficking courts established would speed up cases. Constantine, 2010. ) Meanwhile, the human trafficking court in Mumbai disposed a large backlog of cases in a span of a year, which included 438 cases, and convictions in 81 cases. It also ordered the closure of 11 brothels. (â€Å"US Officials Impressed†, 2011) This proves that it is an effective solution to exercise justice, and to help bring criminals behind bars. A political benefit that the Philippines could gain from establishing special courts is the improvement of the nation’s ranking in the United States’ Trafficking in Persons Report. Currently, the nation is ranked in tier 2, which means that the country is making significant efforts to fight human trafficking, but it does not yet meet minimum standards. Why should the nation take an effort in improving our tier ranking? If the nation falls into tier 3, the US would withhold or withdraw non-humanitarian, non-trade-related foreign assistance as a consequence. (â€Å"Tiers: Placement †, 2011) This is important because not only would the country be able to maintain the implementation of rights, but also maintain good diplomatic relations with the United States. Secondly, special courts would help prevent human trafficking. This is due to the fact that the courts would be an effective deterrent to the criminals involved in the crime. It would lessen the economic advantages and benefits that make the industry appealing to people, and it would help alleviate the economic and political consequences of human trafficking. When the suspects, and people who are interested in getting involved in the industry, see that justice is being enforced, they will eventually act on their fear of being caught and possibly stop in their advances. If not, the possibility of them being caught could possibly increase as society becomes more and more aware of human trafficking, and more confident in filing complaints as they see justice being served. Not only would it put criminals behind bars, but it would also put their name to shame. In the first quarter of 2013, a new law was signed by President Benigno Aquino. Republic Act 10364, the Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2012, removed the confidentiality provision in the previous law, RA 9208. RA 9208 does not allow the names and circumstances of the victims and the criminal to be made public at any stage of investigation, rescue, prosecution and trial. With the confidentiality clause removed, this allows the public to know the identity of the criminals, so as not to risk being victimized by them. (Punay, 2013. ) With the special court at hand, the criminals would not only be humiliated publicly, but they will be put to justice quickly. Special courts could aid in alleviating the loss of human resources due to trafficking. In human trafficking, the labor force is misused and therefore, is kept from contributing to the nation’s economy that causes the loss of revenue. (â€Å"An introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008) The labor force should be able to provide for their family and contribute to taxes for the betterment of the nation, but with the potential labor force being exploited in human trafficking, this does not allow them to do so. With putting the criminals behind bars in a more efficient way, it prevents people from being trafficked in the first place. Special courts could also eventually help stop the unlawful distribution of national wealth, and influences markets, political power, and societal relations. (â€Å"An introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008) Traffickers affect fair competition due to the fact that some companies outsource their productions for a cheaper price, not knowing that trafficked people are used in the factories. Traffickers make 32 billion annually. Not only is it untaxed, but people who actually provided the labor do not gain from this. (â€Å"An Introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008. ) Special courts would also lessen human trafficking’s political implications due to illegal immigration. Migration policies are tightened because of illegal immigration. Due to these policies, victims are forced to enter other countries illegally, and when they are caught, the may be considered as collaborators which makes the implementation of rights as an issue. (â€Å"An introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008. ) This could also lead to giving people difficult time in looking for better work opportunities abroad, due to the fact that they could not migrate easily. It benefits people in a way that trafficking could be prevented, but traffickers find other ways to get the victims through the borders. Trafficking victims and smuggled people are different because smuggled people gain their freedom when they reach their destination while trafficked victims are not. (â€Å"An introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008. ) With the courts established, and the criminals sent behind bars, the opportunity for them to traffic more innocent people in ther nations, where they are subject to human rights violations. It is important to refer to the Mumbai Special court, that was successful in eradicating trafficking in the city to some extent due to the closing of human-trafficking related businesses, and justice being served to the criminals. (â€Å"US Officials Impressed †, 2011) Lastly, special courts would reintegrate the victim to society faster. Human trafficking, as a grave violation to human rights, has a psychological effect on victims. The protection of the victims and the witnesses during the timeframe of the case’s trial is also a vital need required of the law, and without this protection, the timeframe is lengthened. There is also a need to make society realize that the victim was at no fault to push it to accept the victim again. How do these things contribute to faster reintegration of the victim to society? Psychological and medical help is required of the law, and it is the court’s duty to make sure that the victim gets to enjoy these benefits. RA 9208, 2003. ) Most human trafficking victims experience post-traumatic stress, which should be brought into attention so that it could be alleviated, thus helping the victim live a normal life again. (Williamson, Dutch, Clawson, 2012. ) This is due to the victims being drugged or being deprived of their basic needs such as food as â€Å"motivation† to work by their traffickers. (Challenger, 2010. ) It is presumed that the specialized court wou ld assist the victims properly, and according to their needs. (Reyes, 2012. ) Another responsibility of the court is to ensure protection of not only the victim, but also the witness. It is required by the Anti-Trafficking law. (RA 9208, 2003. ) This would insure protection so that both victims and witnesses won’t be afraid to tell the truth. (Reyes, 2012. ) Dubai believes that the special human trafficking court would provide a safe environment for witnesses. (Constantine, 2010. ) Fear suppresses the implementation of justice. Fear of retaliation causes the victims and/or witnessed to withdraw or decline cooperation which leads to a lengthy trial. In 2010, only 3 trafficking cases were assisted by the Department of Justice due to unwillingness of the victims. (US Department of State, 2011. as cited by (â€Å"Human Trafficking in East Asia Pacific.. †, n. d. ) The less time it takes to conclude the case, the easier it is for the victim to cooperate, because in slow trials, there is a fear of the possibility of the accused party could retaliate and scare off the victim and/or witnesses. In Philippine Special Courts, mandatory continuous trial that should be terminated within 60 days and the decision should be rendered within 30. â€Å"Administrative Circular No. 104-96†, 1996) This timeframe is reasonable enough to allow the court to collect evidences and investigate, and for the judge to study the case well in order to render a fair decision. Special courts, when they implement justice, would help society realize that the victim was not at fault. It would help society accept the victim. In most cases, being traff icked affects the social stigma of the victim, who is disapproved for returning without promised wealth. Society has the tendency to blame the victim for disgracing his/herself and his/her family due to the fact that they don’t realize that the trafficker is at fault, and not the victim. (â€Å"An introduction to Human Trafficking†, 2008. ) With the special court, it would be made clear that the victim was, indeed a victim, and did not consent to the injustices that he/she suffered. This would also show that the government is, indeed, taking the issue seriously, and will do what they can to make sure that the offenders pay for their crimes. It would also help society become aware of the seriousness of human trafficking as an issue in the country. The establishment of special courts is a good and practical solution that could be immediately applied by the nation. With the implications that the establishment of the special courts is to be well-studied by the judiciary for good implementation, resulting in good, educated decisions in choosing qualified staff, strategic placement of physical courts, then the special court would be maximized in helping towards the eradication of human trafficking.

Analysing Health Status Of Gypsy Travellers

Analysing Health Status Of Gypsy Travellers Traveller gypsies have resided in the British Isles for over 500 years, making them one of the largest ethnic minorities. They experience widespread prejudice and discrimination from the settled population. Health care for traveller gypsies has resulted in poor access to services and relative neglect of their health needs. This essay will focus on inequalities in health experienced by gypsy and traveller communities also discuss why they occur and will critically discuss the various national and local initiatives that have helped to improve the health of gypsies and travellers. The travelling lifestyle itself is not necessarily a cause for the disparity in health status; on the contrary, many Travellers and those working with them see the reduced opportunity to live their traditional lifestyle as a major cause of increased physical and mental ill health. travel experience frequent fear and the reality of constant evictions and alienation of local people. In decades gone by Travellers were often welcomed for the trades and services that they provided to the local community, such as fruit picking, scrap metal dealing, etc. They had their traditional stopping places; most of which have now disappeared, along with some of the opportunities for casual work. Poverty has sometimes been cited as the main cause of poor health in this group. Economic hardship. Lack of education is another factor that can adversely influence health. Low literacy attainment is still a major problem for most adult Travellers, mainly because so few attended school on a regular basis, if at all. The 1996 Ofsted report stated that of an estimated 50à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °000 Traveller children aged 0-16 years as many as 10à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â‚¬ °000 secondary school aged children were not registered at all, and attendance by the remainder was considerably below the acceptable standard for settled children.16There are many reasons, apart from the obvious one of mobility, for the reluctance of Travellers to send their children to school, especially after they have passed primary school age. Some of the reasons are cultural, such as the tradition that from the age of about 12 the children need a family education to understand and take on roles and responsibilities within the family. Formal education still has little relevance to a culture that has always relied on practical skills and self employment. Often there is a fear about assimilation; that the children will not only be educated out of their culture but also that they may pick up different and unacceptable moral values. Parents are also often anxious about bullying and prejudice. Attendance is also affected by the need to participate in all the many cultural and religious events. No community is immune from child abuse and it must be acknowledged that abuse could more easily go undetected in the Traveller community. Traveller culture deems that they sort out problems without help or perceived interference from outside. There is historical distrust of social workers because many Gypsies and Travellers throughout Europe have lost children into care, usually because of lack of support for their lifestyle, rather than as a result of evidence of child abuse. However, Travellers view child abuse as totally abhorrent and most would claim that it does not exist within their culture. Most professionals working with Travellers would agree with Cemlyn17 that there appears to be less evidence of child abuse in the very child centred Traveller community than in the non-Traveller community. Travellers do tend to be strict disciplinarians but there is also a high level of physical affection within families. Enlightened social services departments, such as Bromley, recognise the Traveller lifestyle and state that they take Traveller culture into consideration in their assessments and are careful to offer support. It is recognised that there is a strong cultural expectation that Travellers stay at home and learn their roles full time from early teens and girls in particular carry out domestic tasks and help rear their younger siblings from an early age.18 Griffiths illustrates this with a quote from a mother about the best way to keep her baby amused: just love it, kiss it, talk to it and cuddle it.19 However, Griffiths and Arnold also point to children who do appear to suffer from emotional neglect, either because there have been too many siblings too quickly, or because mothers suffering from their own problems, such as domestic violence, deprivation and depression, are too absorbed in their problems to meet the emotional needs of their children.19 There are other factors that affect the health status of Travellers. A national population based study of health of Irish Travellers showed a greater prevalence of congenital anomalies in Travellers compared with Irish Eastern Health Board region births (5.5%v 2.9%) and a significant difference in the prevalence of metabolic conditions with autosomal recessive inheritance (12.4/1000 v 1.3/1000). The incidence of first cousin marriages in the Traveller population was 19% compared with 0.16% in a settled population.14 Families at risk require culturally sensitive genetic counselling to enable them to make informed decisions. The Traveller community perceives substantial economic and social advantages in these consanguineous unions (A Bittles, 1996, personal communication).15 Access to health care Poor access to health care is the almost universal experience of Travellers; inequality in the availability and use of health services in relation to need is in itself socially unjust and requires alleviation.20 The alienation and discrimination experienced by Travellers is one of the most important factors influencing their health: the central problem for the Traveller population in this country is the hostility of the settled population.13 This hostility is expressed by all levels of society and is seemingly reinforced by successive government policies. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 recently removed rights and introduced new penalties for travelling, thus effectively criminalising their nomadic way of life.22 The experience of trying to obtain health care can be extremely humiliating and rejecting. It increases stress and can cause a potentially serious delay in receiving appropriate treatment. Travellers often lack information about services, partly because of literacy problems. Many general practitioners will not have Travellers on their lists. A survey in East London showed that 10% of practices would not accept them at all.23 Blatant prejudice about Travellers is evidently politically acceptable, although a similar policy about black patients would be treated as racial discrimination. Missed appointments are a frequent source of irritation to health care providers, but appointments might not be received when the family has no postal address or has been forced to move to another area. The situation has worsened since the introduction of the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994. Travellers are now moved on much more quickly (often just by threat of enforcement), which adds to their problems in keeping medical appointments. Professionals are often reluctant to offer further appointments even when the family want to attend. Travellers fear being detected too quickly by authorities because of the risk of eviction, so the first contact with health workers may be when a child has to be taken to the local hospital. In some areas, where there are major difficulties, a salaried general practitioner approach is now being piloted for Travellers and homeless people. The obvious advantages are that the general practitioner is freed from financial concerns in meeting targets and can build up a trusting relationship with the Traveller community. Usually, the salaried general practitioner will have chosen to work with this group, as will the rest of the primary care team, and therefore be culturally sensitive and more readily understand their circumstances and concerns. Continuity of care will be more likely because of the trust engendered. It is also more likely that preventative services will be accepted because the surgery will be less likely to be seen as a crisis only venue. Although it can be reasonably argued that a Traveller specific service further reinforces the social exclusion of Travellers, until primary care services in general can more readily adapt to Travellers on their lists there will be a continued benefit in provision of salaried general practitioner services. Other obstacles to provision of health care include different cultural attitudes to precise dates (including dates of birth) and time, and different perceptions of illness and treatment. In a study of Travellers perceptions and experiences of health, the concept of time figured frequently and was seen as an important issue.24 Lack of access to medical records affects continuity of care, and the National Association of Health Workers with Travellers (NAHWT) is currently seeking government backing to launch and promote the use of a national client held record for Travellers. As with other minorities, the first essential is knowledge, understanding, and acceptance of their culture. This helps staff to overcome the various obstacles to health care and to deal with their own exasperation about the perceived lack of conformity in the Traveller community.

Cybersecurity: Advantages and Disadvantages

Cybersecurity: Advantages and Disadvantages Cybersecurity: Friend or Foe? From 2005 to 2020, the digital universe will grow by a factor of 300, from 130 exabytes to 40,000 exabytes, or 40 trillion gigabytes.[1]The Internet is growing at an outrageous rate, and with it so must security. Cyber Security is â€Å"measures taken to protect a computer or computer system (as on the Internet) against unauthorized access or attack†(Webster). This word was first used around the year 1994. While the internet and cyber security are symbiotic, what happens if one grows faster than another? Will that set fire to the internet and topple it, or make it stronger? In recent years, cybersecurity has become a hot topic in many countries. In the U.S., cyber security is now a major issue and one that many people do not comprehend. Actually cyber security helps our everyday lives and keeps us safe from cyber attacks. These cyber attacks could steal important information like credit card numbers or addresses even age and any other information stored on a site with no cyber security measures. The US government and the private sector are utilizing numerous strategies to keep up with the rapid pace of increasingly sophisticated cyber security threats. However, U.S. citizens are beginning to question if the government’s and private sector’s attempts to effectively combat cyber security is now undermining civil liberties and exceeding limits of government secrecy. In the past, present and future, cyber security has been both an ally and enemy of the U.S. government and U.S. citizens. First we begin by rewinding to the past to see how Cyber Security has changed the Internet. The Internet originated in 1962, hatched from the brain of Paul Baran of RAND, who developed the idea of distributed, packet-switching networks. This was the first idea of its kind and would revolutionise the world in years to come. With the help of Paul Baran and DARPA an agency of the United States Department of Defense; In 1969 the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network aka (ARPANET) goes online and is the worlds first fully operational distributing, packet switching-network. Shortly after the rise of ARPANET, Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf both noticed the usefulness of the internet and began to draw out and develop the basic ideas of the Internet. Finally In 1974, the company BBN launched the first public packet-switched network called Telenet (X. Cringely). The civilian Internet was born in the mid-1990’s as an off shoot of ARPANet’s military network. The Internet is bringing a revolution across with it bringing global supply of endless vital information that brings new reformed conventions and destroys old world definitions. Much time goes by and we finally see the full rise of the World Wide Web. In 1992 the number of hosts, which means computers or servers supplying information, breaks 1,000,000. By its third year the World Wide Web has a growth rate of 341,634% in service traffic. And the Internet was baptized in 1996 by holding the â€Å"first World Exposition† ever shown on the Web. It has now become so embedded in our everyday lives that it has radically altered the way individuals and societies interact (Kaufman). From this point on we see the birth of a new force that will bloom into a beautiful flower in later generations, yet the question remains whether this flower be a sweet smelling rose or poisonous Lilie. With the advent of the Internet came the need to protect information from being taken; this came in the form of Cyber Security. In the beginning Cyber Security did not matter a great deal because there was no real confidential data being handled on the web. It was still a relatively new concept. Thus there was not much security other than the CIA or NSA would occasionally use the web to track down criminals individually by surveillance (McCracken). When the Internet began to intertwine with our daily lives, cyber security problems began to occur. Large amounts of confidential information began to be stored on the Internet, and hackers began to penetrate through simple defenses to steal this critical information. In response, the NSA and CIA implemented multiple layers of Cyber Security to their servers. Following numerous cyber attacks, private sector companies also began to tackle this issue by hiring Information Technology experts capable of protecting their information from hacker s. As companies everywhere were in need of Cyber Security to keep others’ vital information safe, they began their search for people with the skill set they needed. This new type of job pays a lot because of the high demand for this technical knowledge (Lawrence). At this point cyber security basically is only showing its friendly face. The industry was adequately protecting critical information without encroaching on peoples privacy. Lastly, the need to protect information became a global issue with countries committing warfare via digital frontiers and borders rather than physical ones. Cyber Security began to create divisions among countries such as China, Russia, U.S as these three countries became leaders in hacking, stealing information and digital espionage. A great example of this is in 2001 of the FB â€Å"hack which raised concern all over the world of for security reasons. This hack happened when the FBI went on a sting operation to retrieve small part of information without being noticed from two Russian intelligence based computers. However layers are afraid that this act may bounce back to them as they have committed a cross-border hack many people believe that they have done this with poor judgement (Lemos). They obtained this information from these servers without the assistance of Russia. This could mean that the U.S. can widen its borders on where it can search and capture criminals. However thi s also bring the law up of Whatever we do to them, they can do to us, said Yarbrough, a former Department of Justice cyber crime prosecutor†(Lemos). Clearly this inter-country cybersecurity warfare marked the beginning of the negative results of cyber security and paved the way for increasingly complex issues in the present. Now we currently face a critical situation in which Cyber Security is becoming more of a foe than an ally. It has gotten out of control and is now forcing citizens to question whether the government and private sector are respecting their very civil liberties. With the advent of the cloud both the government and private sector store huge amounts of information outside of their physical offices, making it even more risky for cyber attacks. The enemies are able to attack just as easily from within the organization as from without. A well known example of internal hacking was Wikileaks, in which a U.S. soldier J. Kirk Wiebe downloaded confidential embassy communications from around the world and shared them with the press. Another U.S. government leak was perpetrated by Edward Snowden a famous whistleblower from within the NSA. He downloaded thousands of classified files, attacking from within the NSA , to show the world what he considered to be an overreaching of the U.S. government in citizens and other countries privacy (Riley). While the government and the private sector may be winning the battle of effectively keeping citizens and their data safe, they are sacrificing civil liberties and privacy that has been the hallmark of our country since its founding over two hundred years ago. Now Cyber Security threats are not only pertinent to government based servers but as to the private sector as well. Companies such as Target and Sony have been widely affected by these attacks. Target recently lost large amounts of market share due to the cyber security attack they suffered in which numerous amounts of confidential customer information was stolen. People are shying away from Target due to the general fear of having their information stolen. Sony has been attacked numerous times but has now learned from the past and is creating new security and encryption platforms to ensure customers it is safe. Every time a company is attacked, a beneficial outcome rises from the overall flaws that are exposed, allowing organizations to improve their Cyber Security. An example of this is a recent bug called Heartbleed. HeartBleed is a bug that breaks through OpenSSL to find passwords and other confidential information. It attacked what were previously considered impenetrable platfor ms including Yahoo, Instagram, and even Google. Weeks later all breaches were sealed and lessons were learned. Currently, the competition from both the government and private sector for the same scarce Cybersecurity professionals is resulting in a war for resources and talent, making it even more difficult for the friendlier side of cyber security to prevail. Now the government targets these cyberwarriors when they are still students and lures them in before they can go to a private company. How? They begin to pay scholarships, tuition, books, and a salary. â€Å"Unlike many government programs, Cyber Corps has seen its budget triple to $45 million a year in the past three fiscal years,† says Victor Piotrowski, lead program director for Cyber Corps at the National Science Foundation† . â€Å"Almost four in 10 IT security positions went unfilled in 2013, according to a survey of more than 500 organizations by the Ponemon Institute, which studies privacy, data protection, and information-security policy† (Lawrence). Frequently, government employees are lured away by substant ially higher salaries in the private sector. An increasingly important challenge for the government in retaining skilled cyber warriors is that many employees choose to leave government employment because because they say they do not want to spy on U.S citizens behind their backs (Lawrence). With these many challenges, cyber security currently appears to represent more of a foe than an ally. [1] New challenges will surface in the future in cyber security. Just as less than 70 years ago, the world had no idea that internet was about to revolution the way we look at the world and interact, it is difficult to speculate on the direction of cyber security. However it is possible to hypothesize on the near future and what is to come. Cyber security has already begun to be a problem for mobile telephony, and it is likely to increase exponentially. Mobile phones are an enticing target as they display important information such as location, credit card accounts, secret work files and photos. More and more hackers are begging to target this growing platform. Between April and December 2012, the types of threats detected on the Google Android platform increased by more than 30 times from 11,000 to 350,000, and are expected to reach one million in 2003. (Center for European Policy Studies, CEPS)*insert end connecting some what to thesis and future*[2] What began as small cyber battles between countries has now given rise to a full scale â€Å"Digital World War†. Now a days we see countries aggressively hack each other. The U.S. is deeply worried about China, as it has attacked its intelligence agencies multiple times. The U.S. government has prohibited â€Å"Chinese hardware in US institutions such as NASA, the Department of Justice and the Department of Commerce, unless a thorough assessment of â€Å"cyber-espionage or sabotage† (CEPS) risk by specialised federal officials has been carried out.† Furthermore, the U.S. government recently accused 5 high ranking chinese officials of cyber espionage. This unprecedented accusation has led to increased tension between the two governments with both accusing each other of espionage. Is this the end of the internet and where will we go from here? The Internet just keeps expanding and expanding and so does cyber security and its accompanying abuse of privacy and civil liberties. The NSA could eventually cause the downfall of the internet because they have fatally altered the perfect balance of self-expression, internet cyber security, and governance. In a recent speech that Snowden gave with techies, he stated that â€Å" the NSA is setting fire to the internet, and that you are the firemen† (McCracken). An additional issue that is just as important to the future of the internet and cyber security is the recent FCC decision regarding â€Å"fastlane†, which allows internet service providers to charge a premium for faster service for websites. A likely scenario is that large corporations with large budgets will have greater access to sharing files than small corporations or nonprofits. Some experts fear that this intrusion on free and equal access to s haring information over the internet sets a dangerous precedent that could allow organizations a great power in manipulating what information is available to world wide web users. This U.S. government policy could be the greatest enemy to the civilian internet and civil liberties than any cyber security initiative. While the internet and cyber security have existed for a relatively short period of time in human history, it has radically changed the way governments, corporations and individuals interact. In its inception, cyber security played a friendly role in protecting the limited information available on the world wide web. Currently, a darker side of cyber security, developed in the name of protecting U.S. citizens, has radically changed the U.S. government’s approach to cyber protection. U.S. citizens and other governments have been shocked to learn that their phone calls and their data is all open to scrutiny by the U.S. government. People and organizations, such as Snowden and Wikileaks, have begun to fight back to reestablish the balance of civil liberties and cyber security. The future of this critical issue is yet to be written, but it is clear that cyber security hackers will become increasingly sophisticated, requiring additional intervention to ensure citizen safety. Indust rialization of new viruses and digital weapons could truly change the balance of power between countries and threaten our way of life as we know. In the past, mercantilism allowed countries with the most land to maintain the greatest power, yet now this reality has taken a paradigm shift. The country with the most readily available digital warriors and resources will triumph in this new world order. Cyber security was developed to help protect law abiding citizens, but the balance has begun to dangerously tip. Many Americans believe that the civil rights, upon which our country was founded, are now severely threatened in the name of digital protection. Cyber security issues will most likely bring about a retrenching of how we share information. The global openness of the world wide web as we now know it will likely become a thing of the past as organizations react to the cyber security enemy and build dedicated communications platforms that deny access to the world. What the world h ad built as an open platform is now destroying itself from the inside out. Citations: Kaufman, Micha. The Internet Revolution is the New Industrial Revolution. Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 5 Oct. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. Klimas , Liz . Connecting the Dots: A Timeline of the NSA. The Blaze 3 June 2013, Technology ed.: n. pag. Print. Lawrence , Dune . The U.S Government Wants 6,000 New Cyberwarriors by 2016.Bloomberg Businessweek Technology 15 Apr. 2014, Technology ed.: n. pag. Print. McCracken, Harry . SXSW: Edward Snowden Has No Regrets About NSA Leaks. TIME 10 Mar. 2014: n. pag. Print. Riley , Michael. Snowdens Access to NSAs Deepest Secrets Disputed. Bloomberg Businessweek Technology 18 July 2013, Politics Policy ed.: n. pag. Print. X. Cringely , Robert . A History of the Computer. PBS. PBS, 1 Jan. 1996. Web. 30 Apr. 2014. [1] http://idcdocserv.com/1414 [1]better closing present and tying it to the thesis and main idea of paraagraph [2]j

Harappa :: essays research papers

The Indus Valley civilization flourished around the year 2500B.C., in the western part of southern Asia, in what is now Pakistan and western India. In addition it is referred to as the Harappan Civilization after the first city that was discovered, Harappa. Eventually, the Harappan Civilization completely vanished around 1500B.C. Men and women used to wear colorful robes. Women wore lots of jewelry and even lipstick. In addition women would wear bracelets like the ones that are worn today in present day India. Harappans houses were made out of baked brick, they were mostly one or two stories high, flat roofs and all of them were almost identical. Each house had it’s own well, drinking water and sometimes their own bathroom. People had clay pipes, which led from their bathroom to a sewage pipe that eventually ran out into a lake or river. These people were very good farmers of their time so they would usually have something like wheat bread and barley for dinner. Harappans grew peas, melons, barley, dates and wheat. Farmers would raise cotton, and had zebus, pigs and sheep. In addition the Harappans were so advanced they caught fish in the river with hooks! Little kids also had toys to play with as children. Some of the things people have found are, whistles, shaped like birds, small carts and toy monkeys that could slide down a string. Harappan entertainment was dancing, which they loved and there was a big swimming pool that was used for the public. In addition around the pool there were private baths and changing and dressing rooms. Transportation was ox, camels and elephants to travel on the land. They also had carts with wooden wheels. There were also sailing ships with masts that were supposedly used for sailing around the Arabian Sea. It is true that in the Harappan Civilization they did not write any cave carvings or a written language, except a few sentences, which we don’t understand. Something incredible that happened was around 1500B.C. These people just all disappeared. Nobody knows why it happened, but they have clues, like maybe they ran out of wood to hold back the flooding and they would have died if they stayed. Scientists have found out that 1,400 Indus sites were discovered since 1996 which is big enough to make the Harappan Civilization an Empire. The only problem is that there is no sign that emperors governed these people.

The Challange of Non-theme Writing :: Teaching Writing Education Essays

The Challange of Non-theme Writing "Practice makes perfect". Those are words to remember when attempting to do something new, something beyond your normal routine whether it be playing a sport, singing a song, or even writing in a different form. This thought occurred to me by accident as I grew frustrated with myself for not figuring out what would or would not be acceptable for this writing assignment. I put some music on to clear my head and perhaps stimulate a small portion of my brain that wasn't pulling its fair share in considering how to put this assignment together, and the third song I heard happened to be a song that a friend and I attempted to perform one year at a high school talent show. The song took me back to that performance. I was almost sorry it did until the words "practice makes perfect" suddenly appeared in my mind. Of course, at the time, I was thinking how things could have been different with that performance, but the thought remained in my head long enough to toy with the idea a little. I w as able to put this paper together after I remembered Laib's quote: "an essay is a performance or process, not a display." I'm still not positive how to apply it, but it has me thinking, and that's the first step. Just to set the record straight, the "practice makes perfect" was not directed at my guitar playing during the song, honestly, but rather at my friend's singing, which did enough damage for the both of us. When my friend Leo and I decided to perform, I started having visions of the wild cheering and applause we'd receive when we finished. Yes, I had great expectations, and I wasn't stupid enough to think that I wouldn't have to work for that applause either. I practiced night and day, or at least as much as I could between school, work, and homework. When the night of the show arrived, I knew I hadn't perfected the song, but I was more than competent playing it and was confident I wouldn't have any trouble performing it. Unfortunately, conflicting schedules had prevented Leo and me from practicing together more than a couple times right after we signed up for the show. I wasn't worried though because he'd assured me that he'd been practicing on his own too.

Profit Leverage Effect of Logistics and Cost Saving Opportunities Essay

Logistics was initially a military term but since the 1960s it has grown and covers various numbers of functional areas such as managing raw materials and inventory, handling of work in progress, storing and delivering of finished goods. It also includes customer service, demand forecasting, plant/warehouse site selection, traffic and transportation. Since it has an effect on most of the activities held within an organization, it has a great influence on the profits made. A recent US study found that logistics accounts for 10% of the Gross Domestic Profit (GDP) and that approximately 56 cents out of every dollar of revenue is spent on managing the purchasing of goods and services.   The process is lengthy but once handled right can run very smoothly and can prove very beneficial to the organization. An organization cannot be competitive and strive in this fiercely competitive corporate world till it delivers end products or services of the desired quality to its customers at the right time, right place and at a price the customer feels is reasonable. The way to sustainable competitive edge lies in improving logistics. Therefore to maintain profit earnings, it is important for firms to manage logistics efficiently. If a chosen supplier fails to deliver the required raw material of an agreed-on quality level at the right time then the firm will incur additional expenses in the form of higher scrap rate, wastage and direct labor. Prompt delivery is required to avoid costly rescheduling of production otherwise efficiency will be decreased. In order to maintain profit levels it is important for firms not only to satisfy customers but to delight them. This again becomes a part of the organizations logistics. To achieve this not only fast and reliable delivery of high quality goods but also innovative design and distribution of ideas is essential. Firms stress on logistics to create differentiation by providing its customers with unique products that are difficult to be imitated by competitors. Logistics is considered as the last point of contact between the organization and its customer and so leveraging successful logistics leads to cost reduction, increased customer satisfaction and market share and so eventually higher profits. Low total product or service cost is significant in logistics so that the firm can have a competitive edge in the market. There are many opportunities to achieve dramatic cost savings but to achieve this, vision and hard work is required. Firms can do this by coordinating the different parts of the supply chain. Departments within firms such as procurement officer, manufacturing, legal and R&D managers need to work in a cross-functional manner and promote joint cost-saving projects. One of the biggest opportunities for cost saving is to reduce the amount of inventory which will automatically drive costs down. This can be done by Just-in-time inventory management that emphasizes on continuous improvement. For this, it is important for firms to develop strong relationship with few, reliable suppliers who deliver raw material in time.   Also Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) model, one of the common techniques is used to control inventory. Outsourcing is often used to transfer some of the internal activities of a firm to an outside vendor to achieve greater efficiency and specialization. It is also used as a technique to meet unexpected demands that firms cannot handle. Wastage can be eliminated through focus on what the customers want. This can be done by continuous improvement using Lean Production. It emphasizes on customer focus. Greater efficiencies can be accomplished through use of technology tools that can enable the purchase of low value, low risk goods and services. With the usage of database systems, unnecessary paper work can be eliminated, and real time data can be accessed. Use of E-Commerce to track inventory and coordinate pickup and delivery for end customers can be a great cost saving opportunity. This has been adopted by Cisco and FedEx. Different alternatives of distribution means such as trucking, airfreight, shipping, and railroads should be constantly evaluated. Use of Excel OM and Production and Operation Management (POM) for Windows’ enables firms to correctly plan for the forecasted demand. Further, software like Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) including Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) provide firms with great opportunity to save on costs. Gantt Charts are useful for loading and scheduling. It prevents firms from unnecessary delays in work. Quality is one aspect that firms emphasize on due to growing awareness for better quality goods amongst customers. This can be done by implementing Total Quality Management (TQM), meeting quality standards developed by International Standards Organization (ISO) and by adapting to Six Sigma and Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA) model. Mentioned above are some of the greatest costs saving opportunities in today’s world. References Lambert, D.M; Stock, J.R. and Ellram, L.M., (1998). Fundamentals of Logistics Management. Burr Ridge, IL: Irwin McGraw-Hill. http://www.mhhe.com/business/management/leenders12e/information/leenders_ch01.pdf

The Ups Delivery Information Acquisition Device (Diad Iv)

UPS revolutionized the package delivery business in 1991 when it developed and deployed the first Delivery Information Acquisition Device, known as the DIAD. More than a decade later, UPS continues its pioneering development efforts with the fourth generation of the DIAD – the DIAD IV. To ensure maximum flexibility in field transmission capabilities, DIAD IV includes multiple wireless connectivity options. Each DIAD IV features a built-in GPRS or CDMA radio, an acoustical modem to facilitate dial-up access if necessary, and 802. 1b wireless local area network connectivity to enable transmission in a UPS center. The DIAD IV also features a Bluetooth wireless personal area network and an infrared (IrDA) port to communicate with peripheral devices and customer PCs/printers. DIAD IV introduces a revolutionary new feature – Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) – to the handheld terminal market. UPS plans to use this technology to provide drivers with more detailed direc tions to pick-up and delivery points in order to improve customer service. The monochrome screen on previous DIADS has been replaced with a color screen that accommodates more information which can be displayed in an easier-to-read manner. The color screen also enables UPS to color-code messages transmitted to a driver's DIAD. Urgent customer pick-up messages, for example, can be color-coded to alert the driver. In addition, the DIAD IV contains 128 megabytes of memory – 20 times the capacity of the DIAD III. UPS will use this expanded capacity to provide new and improved customer services. Like its predecessors, the DIAD IV's battery lasts an entire work day. The DIAD IV sends delivery information to the UPS data repository as soon as the delivery information is entered. Drivers simply scan the package bar code, collect the receiver's signature electronically, type in the last name of the receiver and push a single key to complete the transaction and send the data. There is no need to activate a cell phone or return to the vehicle. Part of what makes the DIAD such a powerful tool is the system – ODS (On-Demand Services) – that enables communication with the driver. Every UPS driver automatically logs into the ODS system first thing in the morning. This allows dispatchers and center management to access the driver via his/her DIAD throughout the day by sending generalized text messages. Virtually all drivers start their day with a list of predefined customer pickup locations for that day. Thanks to ODS, the addition of a one-time pickup can be added to a driver's work list on-the-fly, enabling UPS to take best advantage of the geographic location of its entire fleet for servicing pickup requests. By using the DIAD, UPS eliminates the use of 89 million sheets of paper per year, the equivalent of 7,308 trees. The DIAD IV is the most comprehensive tracking device in the delivery industry, combining data collection and transmission technologies, digital signature capture, extensive expandable memory and rugged construction to withstand extreme temperatures and hard falls. Other Features Operating System Windows CE . NET ProcessorIntel XScale, 400 MHz Weight 2. 6 lb. Size10† x 6. 4† x 1. 9† Display2. 8† x 2. 1† color Battery3. 2AH, 7. 2v, Li-on Keypad45 large, raised keys AudioSpeaker, microphone Development Designed and manufactured by Symbol Technologies, Inc.