Archive for the ‘Humanitarian’ Category

« Older Entries

REFLECTIONS ON THE ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

REFLECTIONS ON THE ARIZONA IMMIGRATION LAW

Susie L. Hoeller, J.D.

May 26, 2010

Introduction

On April 23, 2010, the Arizona Governor signed into law, the “Support Our Law Enforcement and Safe Neighborhoods Act” (“S.B. 1070”). Section 1 of S.B. 1070 sets forth the legislative intent as follows:

“The legislature finds that there is a compelling interest in the cooperative enforcement of federal immigration laws throughout Arizona. The legislature declares that the intent of this act is to make attrition through enforcement the public policy of all state and local government agencies in Arizona. The provisions of this act are intended to work together to discourage and deter the unlawful entry and presence of aliens and economic activity by persons unlawfully present in the United States.”    

The law is controversial but polls show that a slim majority of Arizonans and Americans support it.   (more…)

Posted in Governance, Humanitarian | Comments Off

An Informal Look at Democratic Ideals and Democratic Realities

Tuesday, March 23rd, 2010

Discussions and Stories II

An Informal Look at Democratic Ideals and Democratic Realities

By David Armando Zelaya

I last asked for a step forward. I now ask for a step back.  I ask that you step back from the minute by minute news ticker in perpetual rotation and instead exchange those minutes for days, your days for months, your months for years and your years for centuries. You’ll find that the jagged peaks and valleys on your Wall Street Journal turn to curves. The weather becomes something more serene. There is less to know and therefore less reason to worry. When Old-man Time is given leave to come and go, his volatile and chaotic whims and rants fade and blur, giving way like an old Van Gogh. It’s a trait not unnoticed and maybe even our cause for attributing wisdom to age.

In our previous discussion something was gained by this. Flawed democracy (more…)

Posted in Governance, Humanitarian | Comments Off

Discussions and Stories

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

An Informal Look at Democratic Ideals and Democratic Realities

By David Armando Zelaya

Democracy, much like anything else, loses its sense of charm when studied diligently. It no longer seems elegant, inspiring, or special. Much to the disappointment of cherished ideals, it begins to look like an over-complicated dastardly thing that more deserves scorn than praise. However, once we see democracy for what it is and not for what we wish it to be, productive thought can begin in earnest concerning how exactly democracy can be used for the benefit of humanity.

The following is an attempt at an informal but sober analysis. Specifically, it tries to address the behavior of democracy’s constituent parts, how democracy relates to other subjects and, how democracy and all it encompasses can affect the desperate (more…)

Posted in Globalization, Governance, Humanitarian | Comments Off

Ethics and Animal Research

Thursday, March 19th, 2009

Sydney Yovic

Ethics and Animal Research

 

            Preface: The thoughts and opinions that I am attempting to disprove or debate are all intelligent arguments for animal research. As I explored this controversial subject, I ran into many of these same opinions coupled with religious belief. I must preface this paper by saying I have disregarded any and all statements made with religious tone or tradition with regards to animals and their importance or value according to all religions. The reason behind my religious neglect is fully based on the assumption that not everyone has the same religious beliefs or any at all so it is inappropriate to use religion as an argument to be taken seriously or refuted. 

      Because animals are a part of a moral community and they do not posses autonomy nor a representative protecting their best interest of life, it is unethical to use them as subjects for experimentation which causes pain and suffering as a means for producing benefit to humans. It is widely accepted that animals are able to feel pain and there are even guidelines requiring that animal pain and suffering be regulated, finite and justified. These guidelines to control animal pain in the course of research show evidence that animals’ pains are to be taken seriously, thus proving their lives hold some value. If the life of an animal has value, then the animal possesses a moral standing and should be considered a part of a moral community. When we accept animals as morally considerable, it is clear that harmful animal research of any kind is unethical. In this paper, I will argue that animals have a quality of life and consequently, it is morally wrong to victimize them as test subjects. I will also attempt to invalidate (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Humanitarian | Comments Off

Future Of World’s Food Security

Wednesday, December 3rd, 2008

by Gioietta Kuo July 21 2008
Senior Fellow, American Center for international Policy Studies,  amcips.org

In a new book by Lester Brown: “ Ourgrowing The Earth, the food challenge in an age of falling water tables and rising temperatures”,  he makes the point that  as our population increases and our economy grows, our demand on the earth are growing, exceeding many of planets natural resources to provide food, water and other basic needs for us.  Evidence of these excessive demands are everywhere: collapsing fisheries, shrinking forests, expanding deserts, rising CO2 levels, eroding soils, rising temperatures, falling water tables, melting glaciers, deteriotrating grasslands, rising seas and river running dry.  In fact nearly all these environmental trends affect world’s food supply.

Indeed, we are reaching the limit of what we can draw from our planet.

In recent days, much talk has been concentrated on the shortage of oil and our energy security.   Although  energy is very important to us,  there are in fact much greater phenomena happening right in front of our eyes that will affect us even more – that is (more…)

Posted in Consumer Issues, Environment, Food, Globalization, Humanitarian | Comments Off

Cuba and Haiti: The Alternative Fuel Mixture

Monday, May 12th, 2008

There is now a movement away from alternative fuels, mainly due to the shortage and high price of food products, such as corn, that is also used to make ethanol. Other arguments against ethanol are that it may be costlier to make than the current cost to refine crude oil. The Morning News,(by Aoife White, The Associated Press) May 6, 2008 edition, carried an article titled “Economist Pushes For Biofuel Cuts” stating that “The U.S. and European Union should reconsider a shift to biofuel that has helped increase food prices world-wide by turning agricultural land over to energy crops, American economist Jeffrey Sachs said Monday.” There are also those who say the shortage of oil is due in part, to the lack of refineries, and many in the United States do not want to have refineries located near their cities or finance the upfront investment for construction which is very expensive.

Another article regarding the use of agricultural land was published in The Morning News by Seth Borenstein of The Associated Press, May 11, 2008, titled “Experts: Better Soil Needed.” The article discussed the new plant seeds which were formulated to produce healthier crops, are now having difficulty producing in degraded (more…)

Posted in Energy, Environment, Food, Humanitarian, Trade | 1 Comment »

An Open Letter to Bill and Melinda Gates.

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

This letter was written in June 2006 when the philanthropist  Warren Buffet made a huge donation ~ $35 billion to Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for the purpose of philanthropic distribution around the world.  At the time, much fanfare was made by Gates in the  press on how to use this money to reduce infant mortality rate by vaccination as well as by draining malaria swamps.   Not one word was mentioned about  controlling and reducing the world population,  which to me is the most important issue.  The planet is already too small for 6.5 billion people.  Without tackling population control all the other ills like shortage of food, water, air, employment cannot be solved.  Although at a later date, Gates Foundation did mention that a part of its funds will be used for population control, I have so far not been able to get a precise figure from them as to what percentage that is.   Anyway, following is my opinion on this very important isuue.  

 

                        An Open Letter to Bill and Melinda Gates

 

           

 

            Dear Bill and Melinda Gates,

 

            Like millions of other people, (more…)

Posted in General, Humanitarian | No Comments »

World Population Explosion

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

This article was translated into Chinese and published on Oct 8 2007 in People’s Daily , the official organ of the Chinese government.

 

Our planet is too small for 6,500,000,000 people.

 

Recent warning by United nation Population Programme (UNPP) is that the world is adding one billion more people every 12-13 years.  The forecast is that from the present 6.5 billion today, it will reach 7.6 billion by 2020, 8.2 billion by 2030 and an alarming 9.0 billion by 2050.

 

There is a vast difference between the growth of population and the growth of food supply to feed the population.  The way population grows is called ‘exponential’.  That means the number of births at any time depends on the number of people present.  A couple can produce 10 children and each child can produce 10 more. So in a short space of 2 generations – 40 years, there could be 100 more people on earth.

 

The growth of food, however, can only increase linearly if at all.  For example, genetically altered (more…)

Posted in Environment, Food, Humanitarian | 1 Comment »

The Other Side of the Coin; a Look at Social Responsibility

Friday, March 21st, 2008

The Wall Street Journal, March 15, 2008 edition “Remembrances” section printed the obituaries of Professor Joseph Weizenbaum and Mr. Elmer W. Johnson.

Joseph Weizenbaum was a computer pioneer that authored a unique program called “Eliza.”  It was named after Shaw’s ingénue in “Pygmalion.”  Professor Weizenbaum was a pioneer in computer development, but later on began to question the benefits and long term construct of program improvements that may lead to dangerous (more…)

Posted in Globalization, Governance, Humanitarian | No Comments »

The United States Stands Firm On Human Rights! Right?

Tuesday, February 26th, 2008

Now that Fidel Castro is out of the Cuban leadership spotlight, some think this an opportune time to begin taking steps toward normalization of our relationship with that country. Most leaders who discuss this issue are careful to preface their comments with a statement that we will not (more…)

Posted in Humanitarian, Trade | No Comments »

« Older Entries