Karl Marx and Human Nature Essay

I have taken for my study one chapter from the book Marx and human nature by Norman Geras. In the second chapter Norman Geras deals with the human nature and historical materialism. Although many Marxists denied Marx’s theory of human nature that there was a human nature to be found in Marx’s words, there is in fact a Marxist conception of human nature which remains, to some degree, constant throughout history and across social boundaries. The sixth of the Theses on Feuerbach provided the basics for this interpretation of Marx according to which there was no eternal human nature to be found in his works. Feuerbach resolves the essence of religion into the essence of man human nature. But the essence of man is no abstraction inherent in each single individual. In reality, it is the ensemble of the social relations. Feuerbach, who does not enter upon a criticism of this real essence, is hence obliged: Human nature Thus, Marx appears to say that human nature is no more than what is made by the social relations. Norman Geras’ Marx’s Theory of Human Nature, however, offers an extremely detailed argument against this position. In outline, Geras shows that, while the social relations are held to determine the nature of people, they are not the only such determinant. In fact, Marx makes statements where he specifically refers to a human nature which is more than what is conditioned by the circumstances of one’s life. In Capital, in a footnote critiquing utilitarianism, he says that ’’utilitarian’s must reckon with human nature in general, and then with human nature as modified in each historical epoch. Marx is arguing against an abstract conception of human nature, offering instead an account rooted in sensuous life. While he is quite explicit that individuals express their life, so they are. Hence what individuals are depends on the material conditions of their production, he also believes that human nature will condition (against the background of the productive forces and relations of production) the way in which individuals express their life. History involves a continuous transformation of human nature, though this does not mean that every aspect of human nature is wholly variable; what is transformed need not be wholly transformed. Marx did criticize the tendency to ‘transform into eternal laws of nature and of reason, the social forms springing from your present mode of production and form of property, a process sometimes called reification. For this reason, he would likely have wanted to criticize certain aspects of some accounts of human nature. Human beings collectively work on nature but do not do the same work; there is a division of labor in which people not only do different jobs, but according to Marxist theory, some people live from the work of others by owning the means of production. How this is accomplished depends on the type of society. Production is carried out through very definite relations between people. And, in turn, these production relations are determined by the level and character of the productive forces that are present at any given time in history. For Marx, productive forces refer to the means of production such as the tools, instruments, technology, land, raw materials, and human knowledge and abilities in terms of using these means of production. Human nature, Marx’s ethical thought and alienation Gears says of Marx’s work that: Whatever else it is, theory and socio-historical explanation, and scientific as it may be, that work is a moral indictment resting on the conception of essential human needs, an ethical standpoint, in other words, in which a view of human nature is involved . Alienation, for Marx, is the estrangement of humans from aspects of their human nature. Since – as we have seen – human nature consists in a particular set of vital drives and tendencies, whose exercise constitutes flourishing; alienation is a condition wherein these drives and tendencies are stunted. For essential powers, alienation substitutes disempowerment for making one’s own life one’s object, one’s life becoming an object of capital. Marx believes that alienation will be a feature of all society before communism. The opposite of, alienation is actualization or self-activity- the activity of the self, controlled by and for the self. Human nature and the expansion of the productive forces It has been held by several writers that it is Marx’s conception of human nature which explains the ‘primacy thesis’ concerning the expansion of the productive forces, which according to Marx, is itself the fundamental driving force of history. If true, this would make his account of human nature perhaps the most fundamental aspect of his work. Geras writes, ‘‘historical materialism itself, this whole distinctive approach to society that originates with Marx, rests squarely upon the idea of a human nature. It highlights that specific nexus of universal needs and capacities which explains the human productive process and man’s organized transformation of the material environment; which process and transformation it treats in turn as the basis both of the social order and of historical change. The tendency’s autonomy is just its independence of social structure, its rootedness in fundamental material facts of human nature and the human situation. Historical progress consists fundamentally in the growth of people’s abilities to shape and control the world about them. This is the most basic way in which they develop and express their human essence. Historical materialism Historical materialism started from a fundamental underlying reality of human existence: that in order for human beings to survive and continue existence from generation to generation, it is necessary for them to produce and reproduce the material requirements of life. Marx then extended this premise by asserting the importance of the fact that, in order to carry out production and exchange, people have to enter into very definite social relations, most fundamentally production relations. Norman Geras analyzed historical materialism and postulated that society has moved through a number of types or modes of production. That is, the character of the production relations is determined by the character of the productive forces; these could be the simple tools and instruments of early human existence, or the more developed machinery and technology of present age. The main modes of production Marx identified generally include primitive communism or tribal society (a prehistoric stage), ancient society, feudalism, and capitalism. In each of these social stages, people interact with nature and produce their living in different ways. Any surplus from that production is allotted in different ways. Ancient society was based on a ruling class of slave owners and a class of slaves; feudalism was based on landowners and serfs; and capitalism based on the capitalist class and the working class. The capitalist class privately owns the means of production, distribution and exchange (e. g. , factories, mines, shops and banks) while the working class live by exchanging their socialized labor with the apitalist class for wages. Marx identified the production relations of society (arising on the basis of given productive forces) as the economic base of society. He also explained that on the foundation of the economic base their arise certain political institutions, laws, customs, culture, etc. , and ideas, ways of thinking, morality, etc. These constituted the political/ideological superstructure of society. This superstructure not only has its origin in the economic base, but its features also ultimately correspond to the character and development of that economic base, i. . the way people organize society is determined by the economic base and the relations that arise from its mode of production. Historical materialism can be seen to rest on the following principles: 1. The basis of human society is how humans work on nature to produce the means of subsistence. 2. There is a division of labor into social classes (relations of production) based on property ownership where some people live from the labor of others. 3. The system of class division is dependent on the mode of production. 4.  The mode of production is based on the level of the productive forces. 5. Society moves from stage to stage when the dominant class is replaced by a new emerging class, by overthrowing the political shell that enforces the old relations of production no longer corresponding to the new productive forces. This takes place in the superstructure of society, the political arena in the form of revolution, whereby the underclass liberates the productive forces with new relations of production, and social relations, corresponding to it. Human nature and historical materialism Marx’s theory of history attempts to describe the way in which humans change their environments and (in dialectical relation) their environments change them as well. That is Not only do the objective conditions change in the act of reproduction, e. g. the village becomes a town, the wilderness a cleared field etc. but the producers change, too, in that they bring out new qualities in themselves, develop themselves in production, transform themselves, develop new powers and ideas, new needs and new language. The first premise of all human history is, of course, the existence of living human individuals. Thus the first fact to be established is the physical organization of these individuals and their consequent relation to the rest of nature. Thus History does nothing, it possesses no immense wealth, and it wages no battles. It is man, real, living man who does all that, who possesses and fights; history is not, as it were, a person apart, using man as a means to achieve its own aims; history is nothing but the activity of man pursuing his aims. So we can see that, even before we begin to consider the precise character of human nature, real, living humans, and the activity of man pursuing his aims is the very building block of Marx’s theory of history. Humans act upon the world, changing it and themselves; and in doing so they make history. But even beyond this, human nature plays two key roles. In the first place, it is part of the explanation for the growth of the productive forces, which Marx conceives of as the driving force of history. Secondly, the particular needs and drives of humans explain the class antagonism which is generated under capitalism. Conclusion and critical remarks Here I would like to say that Marxist philosophical anthropology is one sided. Its conception of human nature and human good overlooks the need for self identity than which nothing is more essentially human. The consequence of this is held to be that Marx and his followers have underestimated the importance of phenomena, such as religion and nationalism, which satisfy the need for self identity. In the study of human nature and historical materialism, history is what is made by human beings and its nature. According to Marx human beings are working and changing the world, Marx ignored all other factors that at work in the development of history. History has been developed not only by human beings but also through various elements. Historical materialism is caused by the production of things and there by arising social relationships. Here it implies that economy is the basic structure of society that controls and develops. But it is a reductionist approach, it is impossible to reduce the basic structure as economic relations alone.

ICT Is An Opportunity For Children To Apply And Develop Their Knowledge And Capability

Introduction:Within my setting, ICT is an opportunity for children to apply and develop their knowledge and capability. With my help, they can research, question accuracy of sites and exchange and share information together and through emails (we also share with a neighbouring school and have class blogs). Children are learning the fundamentals of research and electronic media, with support, guidance and safeguarding programs. They develop ideas using tools to refine work, enhance quality and accuracy, use spell checks and thesaurus.These are just some of the general requirements from National Curriculum 1999, published by QCA. In conversation with my teacher, we noted how technology has changed rapidly. We use ICT in Assembly, Role Play, across the curriculum and taking photos for evidence. Teachers are finding it easier to source programs that make learning more fun. An ICT program, namely, www. educationcity. com, covers Key Stage 1-4, all Curriculum areas, plus a Teacher Zone and is used across our school.We agreed, in the words of Blatchford, that we must provide activities to encourage children to explore the technologically of a variety of ICT tools and encourage them to apply these, for a range of different purposes. (Siraj-Blatchford and Siraj-Blatchford, 2006, p. 2). In line with National Occupational Standards expectations of Teaching Assistants in ICT, this ensures we get basic training to support pupils. (Block 5, Week 25, Activity 25. 3: School activity: observing ICT). Part One: Our class has been exploring seeds, so I based my Storybird book   around this.We covered topics in Maths, Science, Environment and Circle Time. These cross-curricular links were important for our class activity from sourcing the materials needed, to who would look after them and estimating their eventual height. The impact and effect flowers and bees had on our environment, and people’s feelings about this. I developed this story linking to friendships and secon d families, and in class extended the Maths talk, estimating the height they may grow, and eventual measurement to incorporate centimetres and inches, which we are covering this term.Linda Gillard and Virginia Whitby (2007) argue that the more prescriptive the curriculum, with guidance and requirements, the greater the potential influence it has on the way children’s subject knowledge is developed in schools. With this quote in mind, I will use this ICT site to benefit the children, using the pictures to help tell a story, and having ICT as a cross-curricular tool. We encourage children to use different strategies like story-mountains and mind maps but just having pictures and having to put words to them extend their thinking.My pedagogic subject knowledge helped me help them choose the pictures and I explained the concept to them in order for them to be able to understand. I knew they would then learn because they had chosen pictures that interested them. As Marianne Coulson , Combined Tutor Group pointed out â€Å"writing a story from the illustrations enabled me to experience what it might be like for a non reader trying to make sense of the story from using the pictures. We encourage children to use different strategies when reading to stop them becoming over-reliant on one strategy†.I learnt how to develop my ICT, enabling the children to better their literacy skills and to make choices. The children can let their imaginations rule the story. I will present this as a group activity and encourage the children to look at literacy through different modes of image and word. â€Å"The complex interweaving of word, image, gesture and movement and sound, can be combined in different ways and presented through a range of media† (Bearne and Wolstencroft, 2007, p. 21). Children develop their powers of thinking and understanding enabling them to be confident enough to develop.  (Michael Rosen, former Children’s Laureate, from DCSF, 2008, p. 2)(Block 3, Week 13, Study Guide: Talking and Listening)Daily writing develops technical proficiency, the ability to manipulate ideas and build a bank of possibilities to draw upon sparking fresh ideas to combine words, generate and select sentences and create from images (Pie Corbett, 2012). I have learnt that as adults, we already have the skills for reading but using illustrations, sounds and words is a multimodality tool. I tend not to use these different strategies and I think at first, this made my writing in Storybird difficult.I had plenty of ideas but had trouble finding images. I learnt children have far more of a free flowing attitude than adults do, and it took me a while to focus on writing around the images rather than finding an image to match my writing. Children already know much about multimodal texts from their home experiences. As teaching assistant’s it is our responsibility to build on these experiences and the children’s knowledge, recognisin g the relationships between different modes and use this in our teaching. The future of reading and writing is interwoven with the future of digital technology (UKLA 2005).For Show and Tell, I used the display we had put together on Planting. We planted seeds with the children as part of a Maths experiment to see how tall they would grow and be able to measure in cm's and inches. Children estimated the plants end height and recorded the information. Our Science lesson covered, talking about plants, bugs, bees and the environment. We use a similar ICT programme whereby the children send photographs and videos to a neighbouring school, and by refining and editing their work they are also meeting the National Curriculum (2005) QCA requirements.The children are aged six to seven and the intended learning outcomes were to see if their estimations were correct. For science, we were scaffolding the children to learn about discovery as well as communication, discovering if the plants would reach their estimated height, and communicating with each other to discuss expectations. To be able to distinguish the impact science and technology has on everyday life and environmental impacts on bee pollination and weather conditions (Block 4, week 18, Science and Technology).We represented the situation in maths to predict the outcome and add details to a graph, interpreting mathematical data (DCSF/QCDA, 2010:14) (Haylock with Manning (2010). Professionally, I thought it was good to share our approaches and the resources we use in our school setting. Taking note of comments in the forum, I delivered the show and tell to colleagues, explaining that we could use this in assessments for learning and received positive responses and feedback. (Word count: 1071) Part Two (a) Looking back at the Maths targets I identified and discussed in TMA01, I feel that my knowledge and progress in problem solving has developed.The challenge for me was the opportunity to understand the problem sol ving strategies and be able to use logical reasoning. The lack of this affected my mathematical investigations with the children and my confidence to represent and model situations using a range of tools and applying logic and reasoning. (cited Haylock with Manning, Chapter 2, pg. 21, DCSF/QCDA, 2010:14). I have progressed in thinking creatively and can understand, analyse and evaluate to solve problems, sharing my approach and solution effectively by re-reading the course material.I have learnt problem solving can relate to many different things within maths ranging from doing a jigsaw to reading a map { cited Study Guide, Week 26, Block 5, ICT (Ollerton, 2010, p. 84) } and the need to solve problems is the fundamental basis for the construction of maths. I have learnt, by reading Askew & Williams (1995) four areas of problem solving, being, Standard Problems, Non-Standard, Real-world and Puzzles, that to question the children on these, by using questioning that will help to develo p their mathematical thinking is of importance.In line with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA 2003, p. 8) I am now thinking about the children’s thought process, and the extent to which they will reveal their understanding and the language used. This will have a further impact on my support of them and my own knowledge and understanding. The most important thing I learnt in Block 2 (Week 8, Study Guide: Teaching for possibility thinking) related to maths being a rich context full of creative approaches to learning and how we, as teaching assistants, need to build on what we have previously learned.Using ‘what if’ and ‘as if’ thinking I will use creative questioning and support the children to explore what answers may be. Using the ‘shiny maths’ approach like line graphs, pie charts, 3D models and tessellation patterns to make maths and problem solving, more interesting. In compounding my subject knowledge for English, I ha ve found that my understanding and development has been re-enforced by re-reading Eyres (2007). My weakness as identified in TMA01, were Phonics and Word Classes and Apostrophes.By going over chapters 3, 4 and 8, I have come to make sense of phonics, graphemes, nouns, verbs, adjectives and the importance of how simple sentences are structured. How a word’s class can also be determined by its function of the role it plays in a sentence (Eyres (2007) p. 87-p. 89). Word classes, being the verbs, adjectives and nouns, describe English as being parts of speech.Assigning words to classes is more straightforward, for example, ‘the water run’s’, ‘water’ the verb and ‘run’  the noun and how an apostrophe can stand in for letters that have been dropped. For example ‘do not’ will become ‘don’t’ (Eyres (2007) p. 129). In Science and Technology, I have discovered collaboratively with our e-group, that there a re many sites we can use for investigation with the children. Useful facts and links can be used in conjunction with other classroom resources such as library books and working wall texts, with the idea that, children should do much more practical hands on experiments and be involved in the examination of scientific phenomena.When doing an experiment on germination, I learnt, after reading the article in Study Guide, Block 4 (Week 21, 2. 4 Observing Phenomena) by Karen Phethean (2008) giving the children a more ‘hands on’ and ‘minds on’ approach and allowing them to handle the seeds and Petri dishes made a great difference to their learning (topic pedagogy). I have gained knowledge that Science is a way of thinking and that it involves trial and error. I understand now that our conclusions can change during the lesson as we may make a new discovery through questioning the children.Howe et al (2009) suggest children need support to be creative and explore, p redict and observe and Vygotsky (1978) says communication in learning is important in the development of knowledge in which we have some understanding but are not fully confident. I feel a little out of my comfort zone when delivering Science and, although I have some sound knowledge, I need to develop along with the children and remember that science is not just a collection of facts. I have also realised that I need to question the children more to ensure they understand and allow them to give their ideas and interpretations.The use of online science and technology information has enhanced learning in my environment by allowing the children some independence to search for relevant information. This has helped me gather knowledge and understanding in cross-curricular ICT and be of assistance in facilitating children’s learning. Pedagogically, I can now put into practice the knowledge and experience I have gained through Block 4, Science and Technology including an understand ing of what makes the learning of specific topics easy or difficult: the conceptions and preconceptions that students of different ages have.  (Word count: 842)Part Two (b) Looking back at the English targets I recognized and considered in TMA01, I am now confident that my subject knowledge in Letters and Sounds has advanced. I have developed my knowledge of children’s literature and the linguistic terminology used, along with spending much time examining the letters and sounds in Phonics. Re-reading English for Primary and Early Years, Eyres, (2007) has helped my progression enormously, and I now know I am confident to apply my developed knowledge in a practical sense.I have reaffirmed phonics is the study of how sounds we make correspond to the written letter and fully understand now that readers of English rely heavily on their knowledge of letter-sound association, and an essential part of the reading process is decoding the letter symbols to reveal the sounds of the la nguage (Eyres (2007) p. 200). Although phonics appears hard to grasp, by using the right approach, it is possible to make this easier for the learners with worksheets and/or audio, through use of laptops.We must use well-prepared phonics plans that take in the phonics rules and patterns. I have further learnt that after introducing the learner to the letters, we must teach them the sounds. The phonics lesson plans must include sounds worksheets. These phonics sound worksheets must include all the 26 letters, 44 phonemes, and 120 graphemes and digraphs. I have also learnt that we use a combination of three criteria for determining word class. The meaning of the word, its shape, form and the position it has in the sentence.Word classes – nouns, verbs, adjectives etc are all used in describing English. A words class may also be concluded by its function, for example, the role it plays within a sentence (Eyres 2007 p. 89). Supporting the children in this complex subject, I first sourced http://www. bbc. co. uk/schools/teachers/ks2_lessonplans/english/word_types. shtml and we used the game to identify the roles of these nouns and verbs and to understand how they would fit into our literacy writing. This also helped reinforce my learning of the lesson plan.Once more this has assisted with my continuing ICT development, and how I can best support and scaffold the children. My pedagogy, subject knowledge and the curriculum in my setting have strengthened to enable me to encourage the children’s learning through better communication. My ‘how to’ knowledge is now better merged with the subject and I can now identify, as read in Block 1, the misconceptions and preconceptions the learners have and be equipped to make the topic understandable to the learner. (Archambault and Crippen,2009;Shulman,1986).I have developed and extended my literacy skills through this course and by reading Eyres (2007) and really feel I am building good literacy skills using feedback I have received from my mentor assessing my lesson plans and deliverance. I have extended my vocabulary through listening, talking, watching and further reading. I do realise that with pedagogical content knowledge, my own secure subject knowledge will not automatically result in children moving forward in their understanding. Pedagogical knowledge understands how students construct knowledge and acquire skills.The Primary and Secondary National Strategies, state that pedagogy is the act of teaching, and the rationale that supports the actions that teachers take to make effective teaching decisions. I have learnt that I must build on what the learners, and myself, already know and structure the pace of the lesson so that the whole class are able to access and understand the subject. In addition to this subject knowledge gained, I also feel I can now select all the relevant information I need to support the students and myself for different purposes.I now feel far mor e confident in organising essential information and ideas for the lesson and communicate effectively with the children. (Word count: 623) Part 3: Evaluation: I discussed with my mentor that my most important learning area was phonics and how I have come to make sense of this, along with graphemes, phonemes and phonics sounds worksheets and be able to support the children in this complex subject. I explained that I had learnt that English sounds and how they work are known as phonology and how spelling words reflects the sounds of language (Eyres (2007) Chapter 3, Understanding English at word level).We considered how I could use ICT programmes to deliver Phonics lessons to small groups, scaffolding multimodality (Study Guide Block 5 week 25: Overview of ICT) and supporting the children with accessing the phonics subject knowledge to enhance their learning and help develop skills for literacy. I would also access paper-based texts in the form of picture/word cards helping to develop the spoken word and to be able to hear, identify and manipulate the sounds (phonemes) to further engage the children in decoding new written words and be able to blend these sound-spellings.I explained how I felt word classes was more of strength now, but that I still needed to develop some areas of maths. We looked together at my blog and my Professional Development Folder and decided that my work based learning could be set out to enable me to work more with our maths co-ordinator to gain extra knowledge and confidence in maths. She will look at Continual Professional Development courses for me to attend, in house and outside school, to help me analyse and evaluate concepts, policies and practice within the maths subject area.We chatted about how the challenge for me in maths was being able to understand and tackle problem-solving strategies, using logical reasoning and how this affected my work with the children and my confidence to model situations applying logic and reasoning. (cited Haylock with Manning, Chapter 2, pg. 21, DCSF/QCDA, 2010:14). She praised me for being able to organise, communicate and progress in my own learning and seek and learn from feedback after observations to improve my knowledge and performance within the class setting.We talked about how I work well in a team and can evaluate different approaches to support the children where differentiation may be necessary within the lesson plan, thinking on my feet. I explained about the rest of my course in Primary Teaching and Learning and told her my goal was to complete the next step, (E214, Equality, Participation and Inclusion) and to gain my Foundation Degree and perhaps think about the School-centred Initial Teacher training course, for which she could accommodate me.I also discussed with her that I would like to gain further experience and knowledge in Special Needs Education as this is the route my job seems to be going. We discussed a three-year plan, as E214 will take me to May 20 14, and we will meet six monthly to look at goals achieved and still to be met and of course discuss how the E214 is progressing.

Food Poisoning Essay

Introduction: Every year millions of people suffer from food poisoning due to uncontrolled application of agricultural chemicals, environmental contamination, use of illegal additives , microbiological hazards and others but as a result of increasing awareness of consumers and their demands to provide them with safe, wholesome and high quality food have force many food premises to carry out a broad assessment and re-organize their systems of food control in turn to improve efficiency , rationalization of human resources and harmonizing approaches. This assessment of food control system has resulted to shift from the traditional approach which depends mainly on the final product sampling and inspection and move forward toward the implementation of a preventative safety and quality approach based on risk analysis. (FAO, 1998) Risk based approaches has been developed by World health organization (WHO) and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and it is called risk analysis .(WHO,2011)-website Moreover, risk analysis is a combination of three interconnected elements which are Risk management, Risk assessment and Risk communication. (FAO/WHO training manual, 2006) Risk assessment is a scientific evaluation of risk associated with hazard either qualitatively or quantitatively .Risk management is the process where the relevant information of risk including risk assessment results are used to make decisions on how they will control the risk and implementing proper options. Finally risk communication which may define as the process by which exchange of information occur between risk assessors, managers and concerned parties. (http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/ae922e/ae922e04.htm) Government officials: In order to prepare a food products that is safe for human consumption and trade within the country or worldwide as well as maintain public confidence the government officials has a major role in this issue, yet it is clear that the government has no role in the production of food and cannot by itself to make safe or unsafe food. However, the government does play two important roles to reduce the risk of foodborne illness. The first major role is to create food standards and implement it through laws, regulations, inspection, and compliance procedures. These standards range from setting legislation to prevent food adulteration toward defining limits on the levels of pesticides residues as well as levels of pathogenic bacteria, food labelling, preparation and packaging of food. As a consequence, USDAs in recent times implemented HACCP system for meat and poultry to reduce harmful contamination and the risk of food borne illness. The second role is to address food safety problems that are beyond the control of any person participating in the food chain, which require more than a regulatory solution like for example E.coli O157:H7 pathogen which originates in the gut of cattle and is spread through the environment to contaminate water, fresh produce, and beef during the slaughtering process causing a considerable hazard when present in food. Address these and many other food safety problems need a strong research base, and to develop an effective control measures not to mention the cooperation between farmers, livestock producers, food processors, retailers and consumers. Therefore, government officials play a leading role in promoting basic research and cooperation in such cases to reduce the risk of food borne diseases. (Taylor &ump; Hoffmann, 2001) In fact, applying risk analysis provides many benefits to all food safety stakeholders including government. In this term it can help food safety regulators to obtain more evidence and information they require to make an effective decision and to identify and apply suitable measures to control the risk in addition to evaluate these measures for example it can be used to assess the maximum level of pesticide residue in food supplies ,increasing the rate of tests ,provide advice to a certain population subgroup, review labelling requirements, and issue a ban and/or recall for the suspected food product in response. Risk analysis can be applied to support and improve food standards such as regulation (EC) no.1829/2003 on genetically modified foods and feed (EU, 2003) and many others standards. It allows the potential costs of compliance for comparison with the expected benefits, and supports setting priorities among the various problems related to food safety. (FAO 87, 2006) In addition to the above advantages, since in article2 (2) from SPS agreement indicates the need of scientific evidence in establishing sanitary and pytosanitary measures. (SPS) though, applying risk analysis will assist the government to meet their commitments and strengthen the basis for the food trade at the international level by increasing access to new market. (FAO 87, 2006) Moreover, gaps and uncertainties in scientific knowledge can be identified using risk analysis approach, which will lead to improve food safety and a better understanding of food related impacts on consumer health. (FAO 87, 2006) In general, risk analysis is used mostly for chemical hazards but recently FAO and WHO expand the scope to cover microbiological hazards as well. (FAO 76) As a result, microbial risk assessment has been used to assess the risk posed by Listeria in a wide range of food commodities and regulatory involvements to control pathogens. (Federal Register / Vol. 66, No. 39 / Tuesday, February 27, 2001 / Proposed Rules) Thus, through risk analysis the government officials can make out opportunities to reduce risk by using it to establish risk based inspection program, development and application of food standards, collaborate efforts with food processors, and consumer awareness. (Taylor &ump; Hoffmann, 2001) However, since not all countries have the capabilities and resources to conduct risk assessment ,so they must make use of international data and expertise available besides data that is internationally accepted such as codex standards which accepted as scientifically valid under SPS agreement .(FAO,76) Food processors: On the other hand, food processors as discussed earlier has the main role to produce safe ,wholesome and high quality food to meet customer demands. While world health organisation (WHO) has briefly indicated that food safety is a shared responsibility from farm to fork, http://www.eufic.org/article/en/artid/processing-food-safety-quality-1/ governments and intergovernmental organisation like Codex Alimentarius commission (CAC) has a major responsibility in creating food standards and so it is important to involve food manufacturers in the process of setting standards at the national and international levels. This participation is beneficial to all stakeholders, and government indeed should assist this exchange of information to help ensure supplying safe products. http://www.fao.org/docrep/v2890t/v2890t05.htm Achieving this requires implementing science based systems derived from risk analysis and associated risk management approaches like HACCP for industry. (Hobbs, 2007) However, to carry out a HACCP plan, hazard analysis is required, as it considers as the first of the seven HACCP principles, it is used to assess the probable hazards that could occur through food processing, gathering data regarding those hazards and their severity to the consumer besides the possibility of their occurrence. Once established a hazard analysis using risk analysis, it must be considered throughout the HACCP plan development. (Peter warring book, food quality assurance book) In addition to the above, there are a number of authors who have suggested the use of risk based systems in HACCP plan (Baird-Parker, 1994, 1995;Buchanan, 1995; Notermans and Jouve, 1995; Elliott,1996; Notermans and Mead, 1996). Thus demands to include some aspects of risk into HACCP system are increasing. (T.Mayeres,97) Burden or benefits) (Mayers, 1997) on the other hand stated that the HACCP system is functioning effectively without the need of risk assessment approach, bearing on mind that HACCP has been internationally considered as an effective way to control food borne hazards. However, some elements of risk analysis can be useful in HACCP by increasing the scientific basis of hazard analysis, can help in identification of critical limits, as well as increasing transparency in decision making.( (T.Mayeres,97) Burden or benefits) Part B/i: Owing to the increasing demands of the global market for sea food products, exposure to food borne illness may increase as a consequence. (Book of Iso and HACCP) For instance,

The commercial invoice; the pro forma invoice Assignment

The commercial invoice; the pro forma invoice - Assignment Example Question 2 The amount of risk that a business will bear will depend on whether the business is the importer or the exporter, as well as the particular incoterms that are involved on a particular transaction. For instance, if the business is an importer, the business will incur the least risk if the incoterm being used is CIF, because this will have the least risk (William, 2009). This is because the seller (exporter) will have to take care of the goods on their way not only to the destination port but all the way to the inland destination of the buyer. This includes buying the insurance for the goods as they are on transit. As a result, this means two important things to the buyer, who is the importer. First, is that there is no risk of the goods on transit that the importer will have to bear incase the risk materializes. Second is that even if the risk was to materialize, the importer would be protected because the insurance will pay off the losses. The importance of Cost, Insurance and Freight (named port of destination) is that incase the goods are lost or damaged and the seller was not in a position to compensate the buyer, the buyer doesn’t have to incur the loss because the insurance will pay for the goods. ... The fact that the process by which the US government uses to create money and value for the same money is faulty and needs to be changed is not debatable. However, as Maxwell (2009) says, it can only be hoped that the new technology that is eliminating the issuance of printed money will solve part of this problem. However, this is a problem that will need to be solved and a better mechanism be put in place to avoid the problem that fiat currency is causing. This as McGregory (2009) says, is going to be one of the main things that will have to be solved in the twenty-first millennium for the world economy to succeed. Question 4 Part i FOB – Free on Board to a named port of shipment This incoterm makes sure that the risk of the goods is shared between the two sides of the deal. The buyer assumes the risk after the goods have been loaded for shipping, while the seller assumes the risk of the goods only until the goods have been loaded for shipping. Part ii CIF – Cost, Insu rance and Freight to a named port of destination This incoterm puts all obligation, both transport and insurance of the goods in transit to the seller and makes sure that the buyer is fully protected from any risk or obligation. Part iii CIF – Cost, Insurance and Freight to a named port of destination Same as above, the exporter assumes all risks and costs for shipping the goods. Part IV EXW – Ex Works to a named place of delivery. This incoterm minimizes the obligation of the exporter so that the exporter only has insurance and freight costs only up to the point where the goods are loaded at the port of export. The buyer has to know how to get the goods from the seller’s premises and decide on whether they want to

Developing a training program for middle-mangers Essay

Developing a training program for middle-mangers - Essay Example Such skills include appropriate personal traits such confidence, humility, honesty, and kindness. The different sessions may also include training programs on achieving team goals, understanding the innovation process and proper decision-making, effective communication and commitment to long-term success. A good leader must be visionary and be in a position to use that vision to lead other employees (DaleCarnegie 1). Today’s business world dictates that the leader should be a team player. A leader needs to be able to engage the team and lead them towards meeting organization goals and objectives. As such, the training program should prepare a leader to win the team for the benefit of the organization. The training program should focus developing the leadership skills of the managers. The training program should transform managers from managing employees to leading employees. The training program for middle managers should be designed in a way that it touches on important aspects of leadership. After the training, the managers should be able to build effective teams, have good listening and communication skills and master the art of problem analysis and decision-making (DaleCarnegie 1). Workshops and seminars can also help enhance the leadership skills of managers. The transition from a typical employee to a manager requires a transformed mindset and a set of skills necessary to lead other people. The seminar should change the manager from a normal employee to a leader. In this context, the workshop should train managers to take charge and establish their authority. Building authority does not translate into dictatorship or authoritative leadership. It means that leaders should boost their credibility and earn respect from fellow leaders and even other employees. The leader should also learn to respect the boundary between leaders and employees. The workshops should also have sessions on leadership as s

Wiki Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Wiki - Assignment Example The journey was influenced by a vision that Xuanzang experienced even after official refusal to travel by Emperor Taizong on grounds of safeguarding national security, Xuanzang’s state-supported decision (Hwui-Li 28). The travel chronological of Xuanzang was as a result of the conflicting Chinese traditional principles and his adherence to the doctrines of Buddhism. Chinese followed filial piety and Confucian orthodoxy, but on the other hand, Buddhism advocated for Monatic discipline and Mahayana progressivism. Having undergone a confusion education system, Xuanzang sought to re-define the philosophies of Buddhism by going to the cradle land of Buddhism, India. Travel tales of Xuanzang, therefore, allow the audience to actualize the travel experiences of Xuanzang, in relation to the influential people he met in his journey and the resultant imperial and scholastic elements of the Buddhism in China (Wriggins 21). During his journey, Xuanzang encountered different societies, each with their own traditional influence, Confucianism, Persian and Buddhis. Upon arrival in India at the Nalanda monastery, his incorporation as a Silabhadra disciple incorporated his observations in previous societies encountered to the taught philosophies at the monastery. India and China acknowledged his histrorian influence. In India, Xuanzang ousted notable Buddhist Indian potentates, Brahmins, Jains and heterodox Buddhists. Back in China, Xuanzang became the historian of the day. Even after leaving as an imperial fugitive, Emperor Taizong acknowledged his historical influence all over central Asia, influencing huge Chinese populations to adopt his Buddhist ideologies (Hwui-Li 182). The reception from the different people he countered in his journey amused him, while bad encounters such as robbers and the Gobi Desert were the challenges along his route. During his journey, Xuanzang encountered a tale that almost resembled Greek tragedy. While at Silk Road,

African Economic History Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

African Economic History - Essay Example Speaking about Africa, at first we should mention that is the poorest country in the world with its 887 million people population. And it became even poorer than it was some 20 years ago. We could see Africa's regress looking on the foreign trade, international investments and the people's living standard. Its poor resources Africa's rebels spent on the military equipment and provisions for the warriors. The country overcame the civil and international wars. (Gleave, and Morgan 139) The Cold War triggered a great conflict between the African states. Given from another countries money aid was spent on the weapons and the donor countries shut their eyes to the wrong usage of their investments. In the region of the Great Lakes were the civil wars: in Somalia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Ivory Coast and Liberia. And of course we should mention the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire) that raged in the 1990s. ("Niger, Country, Africa")Experts say this war dubbed Africa's First World War. The participants were six neighbouring states (Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, and Angola). This war was a result of genocide in Rwanda in 1994 and the fall of President Mobutu with his decayed state. (Gleave, and Morgan 139) At the end of this war 4 million people were dead, and mostly all of the victims were civilians. The remarkable thing of the war, however, was the transfer from apartheid to majority rule in South Africa. By the end of 1990-s Somalia had still no government. And a lack of authority left it in a state of economic weakness and vulnerability, but on the other hand the conflict rate was low.

Can a machine have a conscience Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Can a machine have a conscience - Research Paper Example Computers have failed to exhibit creativity, free will or emotions. Most machines operate by their components. Therefore, machines have zero consciousness. Despite the argument that computers, for example, have the ability of performing computation roles and are sufficient in possessing conscious mind, computers have no conscience. It is quite evident that computations have the ability of capturing other systems causal organizations. However, computers have no mental properties within them. In most cases, machines operate under instructions (Hall, 45). Running the right computations kinds does not instantiate mental properties in the computers. There is more to mental properties and consciousness than simply operating a computer. There are various consciousness aspects, which are deemed necessary for anything to be artificially conscious. Such aspects are not available in machines. However, with technological progress in the future, the possibility of machine conscience is still open. This will, however, require aspects such as awareness, learning and anticipation. In this case, anticipation would mean that the computers have the predicting ability something, which makes the whole, process

Costco warehouse corp in 2012 Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Costco warehouse corp in 2012 - Case Study Example This paper is going to analyze the success story behind this company and how it has managed to be very successful in 2012. 1. One of the strategy that this company has been able to utilize in order to attain success is to establishment of good employee relations. As a CEO Jim Sinegal managed to visit most of their stores. In a day he would visit 8-10 stores daily. As a CEO he was in charge to be a producer, director, and knowledgeable critic. The second strategy that this company has managed to use is the pricing. Following their mission, their pricing was aimed at encouraging customers to come to their shops. This means that their prices are always low. It is argued that the strong business relationship that Sinegal has with Wal-Marts CEO is a contributing factor to using this strategy. This is because Wal-Mart the largest merchandise producer in the US also utilizes similar pricing strategy. For quite a long time the pricing strategy for this company is to cap its markup brand name merchandise at 14% compared to other supermarkets which markup their merchandises at 20-50%. The company managed to desig n most of the basic products especially food to be equal or better quality than national brands. This was aimed at ensuring that the company provided quality goods at the least prices (Barrera). This strategy has been criticized by Wall Street Journalists as lowering the shareholders profits. However, the CEO of the company argues that their strategy caters for both the shareholders and stakeholders by providing them with quality products at the least costs while the company still makes higher profits. The other strategy that this company uses is the price selection. Most of the supermarkets like Wal-Mart would stock 40,000 or even 150,000. However, Costco’s strategy was to deploy only 3,600 active items in their shelves.

See instructions Research Proposal Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

See instructions - Research Proposal Example Furthermore, in terms of my primary resources, I will conduct interviews with students, teachers, and the police, regarding what they think the motivations of vandalism are and what proper situational (school management and police) and offender-centered resolutions are. I will also conduct a survey in class regarding the prevalence, motivations, and resolutions to vandalism in College Park. I will ask another teacher and student first for the pilot testing of the interview and survey questions to improve my instruments’ validity and reliability. For the final project, I will conduct interviews with students, teachers, and the police, regarding what they think the motivations of vandalism are and what proper situational (school management) and offender-centered resolutions are. I will interview three from each group- students, teachers (including Gloria Aparicio Blackwell, Director of Community Engagement, and Andrea Goodwin, Director of Student Conduct), and the campus police- using convenient sampling. I will ask them these questions: Besides this interview, I will also conduct a survey in class regarding the prevalence, motivations, and resolutions to vandalism in College Park. I will ask another teacher and student first for the pilot testing of the interview and survey questions to improve my instruments’ validity and reliability. The survey questions are: I will prepare for these interview and survey through asking for participants this week and conducting them as soon as possible. I will contact the target audiences too beforehand to acquire their permission. I will ask them to read the interview questionnaire beforehand if they have time and to tell me if there is anything I need to

How do Consumer Characteristics Influence Buying Behavior Research Paper

How do Consumer Characteristics Influence Buying Behavior - Research Paper Example On the contrary, previously marketers and organizations were able to comprehend the consumers buying behaviors and patterns through their experiences of selling the products to the consumers. However, firms and marketing decision makers lost direct contact with the customers with the augmentation of the market and organizations. Therefore, consumer-buying behavior is one of the most significant aspects for the organizations in today’s time to be acquainted with the buying patterns and habits of the consumers so that they can focus on their products or services to the market (Pride  & Ferrell, 2008). Since the consumer market profoundly depends upon the buying behaviors of the customers, therefore organizations should understand the market before developing or designing any marketing strategies. As a result, to the constantly changing buying patterns of the consumers, consumer research has become one of the imperative methods for the marketers and enterprises where they are s pending millions of dollars for the study of consumer habits. Moreover, consumer research allows the marketers to gain more knowledge about the consumer behavior and their habits of buying a particular product or service. Furthermore, this research also makes the enterprise identify and recognize with the response of the customer towards the overall product that include its features, price, advertising and several others over its competitors (Pride  & Ferrell, 2008). The research will also lead to the surveillance that consumer enormously varies in age, income, education, taste and quite a lot of other factors. In addition, the consumer characteristics that influence their purchasing habits also include elements such as cultural, social, personal, and psychological characteristics. Therefore, the consumer research findings provide a great deal of assistance to the firms, as they are then able to determine the strong association between the marketing stimulus and the customer react ion. In addition, the consumer characteristics that deeply persuade the buying behaviors are constructive and valuable for the marketers to identify and understand the consumers that the firms are making an effort to influence them (Pride  & Ferrell, 2008). In particular, the researcher will put efforts on the below mentioned research statement to achieve aims and objectives of the research: â€Å"To identify and analyze the influence of consumer characteristics on buying behavior?† Background Information Back in the old days, it was easier to determine what makes consumers buy what they buy. A market was just that- a marketplace. Bazaars and shops directly dealt with the customers they were selling products to and thus were aware of the moods and preference as well as how different contexts influence the consumption of various products (Pride & Ferrell, 2010). However, as time passed and the trade industry expanded, shops grew into brands and brands became large multinatio nal companies, making it much more difficult for the shopkeepers to interact with the public to find out about their preferences (Pride & Ferrell, 2007). Thus, these companies started hiring firms and people whose only job was to find out what consumer behaviors affects their purchase and consumption of va

Business Ethics Essay Example for Free

Business Ethics Essay Fred, a 17-year employee with Sams Sauna, was fired for poor job performance and poor attendance, after accruing five disciplinary penalties within a 12-month period under the companys progressive disciplinary policy. A week later, Fred told his former supervisor that he had a substance abuse problem. Although there was no employee assistance program in place and the company had not been aware of Freds condition, their personnel director assisted Fred in obtaining treatment by allowing him to continue receiving insurance benefits and approved his unemployment insurance claim. Fred subsequently requested reinstatement, maintaining that he had been rehabilitated since his discharge and was fully capable of being a productive employee. He pointed to a letter written by his treatment counselor, which said that his prognosis for leading a clean, sober lifestyle was a big incentive for him. Fred pleaded for another chance, arguing that his past problems resulted from drug addiction and that Sams Saunas should have recognized and provided treatment for the problem. Sams Saunas countered that Fred should have notified his supervisor of his drug problem, and that everything possible had been done to help him receive treatment. Moreover, the company stressed that the employee had been fired for poor performance and absenteeism. Use of the progressive discipline policy had been necessary because the employee had committed a string of offenses over the course of a year, including careless workmanship, distracting others, wasting time, and disregarding safety rules. Questions: 1) Should Fred be reinstated? 2) Was the company fair to Fred in helping him receive treatment? 3) Did the personnel director behave ethically toward Fred? 4) Did he act ethically for his company? 5) Would it be fair to other employees to reinstate Fred?

The Spread Of Hellenism History Essay

The Spread Of Hellenism History Essay The Hellenistic Period dates between Alexander the Greats death, in 323 BC, to the Roman annexation of Egypt in 30 BC. At that time, Greek power and culture spread out to the world. Hellenism resulted from conquests by Alexander the Great. Between 334 BC and 323 BC, Alexander had managed to take over the entire Persian Empire and to bring down its ruler, King Darius III. Alexanders empire covered parts of Europe, Africa and Asia. It included Egypt, Assyria, Asia Minor, Mesopotamia, Levant, Persia, Media and parts of present day Pakistan and Afghanistan (Heckel, 2008). While Hellenism was the result of Alexanders conquests, it took off after his death in 323 BC. This paper discusses the beginnings and spread of Hellenism. Alexander was a son to Phillip II of Macedon. When his father died, Alexander battled with Greek city States against Macedon. He inherited his fathers role as supreme commander. After he had managed to consolidate Grecian City States, he re-launched the war his father had begun against Persia. Alexander and his forces easily moved across whatever was left in western Persia. He conquered all areas towards the east of the Euphrates. Darius gathered his troops in a final attempt to reclaim his empire, and the two met at the Gaugamela plain (Stoneman, 2004). Heckel (2008) narrates that after easily crossing both the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, Alexander came face to face with Darius troops. Their battle seemed to be almost a stalemate, but Darius had the advantage of numbers. When Alexander found a chance, they attacked Darius and he fled. Most Persians gave up and Darius was killed by his own men. Alexander then became the king of Macedonia, Persia and Greece. He was not satisfied and headed for India but his forces refused and he went back hoping to continue with his conquests later on, but he suffered from Malaria and died shortly thereafter. Alexanders commanders competed for control of the empire and eventually divided it into three parts; Greece/ Macedonia, Pergamum/Asia Minor, West Asia and Egypt. This marked the end of Alexanders Era and the beginning of the Hellenistic Age. In the Hellenistic times, the Macedonians did not only control the territory. They also initiated an active exportation of Greek culture. Greek literature, politics, art literature and law found their way into Asia, Africa and Europe. The exportation of culture in such a scale was a new phenomenon at the time. It led to a strong influence of Greek culture on others that later emerged in these areas. Greek culture had a role in shaping Islam, Christian, Roman and Jewish cultures. Throughout the new empire, Hellenization occurred. Where Greek art and architecture was introduced, the Greek way of life and language were also adopted. The influence covered a very large territory that extended from Greece to India then Mongolia and further to states beyond the Oecumenas frontiers (Spielvogel, 2007). According to Stoneman (2004), Greek culture and language spread as Alexanders armies progressed. The Romans on their part took up a considerable amount of Greek culture. They preserved and spread it to other areas of the world. When Rome fell, Greek culture was kept and revisited during the Byzantine Empire years. It was also spread into the Arab world and transmitted to the West during the Renaissance. Ancient Greece therefore impacted on a variety of subjects for instance scientific medicine, mathematics, literature, poetry, language and theater. Architecture, politics, history and philosophy in virtually every part of the world gained a Greek characteristic and names such as Hippocrates, Herodotus, Plato and Aristotle had new meaning. The new testament of the Christian bible was translated to Greek. Herodotus came to be considered as being the father of history. The concepts of democracy and philosophy were related to scholars such as Plato and scientific theory was linked to Gree k scholars. After Alexander died, the Hellenism era started fully. During the time, the known parts of the world accepted and adopted Grecian ideals and culture. Cities that were established by Alexander became the centers of trade, government and culture. Greeks introduced their theatres, temples and schools, as a result of which Greek culture was easily exported. In a way, much of the world embraced Greek culture and the Greek language took up a new international status. Arts and education were founded on classical Greek ideals. They were therefore characterized by ideas of figures such as Aristotle. With Hellenization, there was also a spiritual revolution and change in religious viewpoints. With time, there was a reduction in the influence of Greek gods. This was replaced by a strong influence from Eastern religion which led to the development of the cult of Isis (Spielvogel, 2007). Stoneman (2004) explains that while Alexanders empire had expanded fast, its demise was even faster. His death was untimely, leaving no arrangements for his succession. He therefore left the kingdom in turmoil. Hellenisms complete decline started as from 146 BC. In this year, Romans conquered a large part of mainland Greece. It took away the entire ancient Macedon and marked the beginning of the Roman Empire. By 30 BC, even the Egyptian side of the Hellenistic kingdom had been taken over by Rome. This marked the end of Hellenistic civilization. In conclusion, the death of Alexander the great marked a turning point in world civilization. His ambition for power led to the creation of a large empire that passed through three continents. As the conquests occurred, Greek culture was transmitted to the areas. After his death, the Hellenistic period started in earnest. Practically every aspect of Greek culture was exported and gained prominence in terms of influence. Subsequent historical periods were characterized by Greek aspects of culture, both in artifacts and intellectual contributions.

Large Scale Milk Power Production

Large Scale Milk Power Production Introduction Milk powder production is a very simple process. But now it become on a large scale. It involves the gentle removal of water at the lowest possible cost under hard health conditions. But while this process we want to retain all the desirable natural properties of the milk such as color, flavor, solubility, nutritional value. There are two types of milk. Whole milk (full cream)- typically about 87% water Skim milk-about 91% water During milk powder production, this water is removed by boiling the milk under reduced pressure and low temperature. This special process is known as evaporation. The result is concentrated milk. Then it sprayed in a fine mist into hot air to remove further moisture and then give a powder. Approximately 13 kg of whole milk powder (WMP) or 9 kg of skim milk powder (SMP) can be made from 100 L of whole milk. Demand Demand of powdered milk is being increased according to the rate of the population growth of Sri Lanka. The calculated requirement of milk powder in 2015 is 91156730.43kg, shown in table 1. Table 1 – Estimated Requirement of milk powder 2010-2015 Year 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 Population (million) 20.653 20.869 20.328 20.483 20.646 20.812 Recommended Dietary Allowance (ml/.person/day) 100 100 100 100 100 100 Requirement of Milk (million liters) 753.834 761.719 741.972 747.630 753.611 759.639 Requirement of Milk Powder (million kg) 90.460 91.406 89.037 89.716 90.433 91.157 World Bank. Population. Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL World Bank. Population growth (annual %). Retrieved from http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.GROW Ministry of Livestock and Rural Community Department. (2010). Diary Development Project. Retrieved from http://www.livestock.gov.lk/site/images/stories/dairy_deve.project_rev_150_last.pdf Supply Total supply of milk powder is fulfilled by local productions and imports. As local production of milk powder in the first half of 2014 has increased 65% than 2013, the amount of imported milk powder decreases 10% to 32,500 metric tons in the first half of 2014. Central Bank of Sri Lanka. (2013). Annual Report. (ISBN 978-955-575-288-6). Retrieved from http://www.cbsl.gov.lk/ Figure 1 – Production and Imports of milk powder 1998-2010 Agriculture and Environmental Statistics Division. Milk Production. Retrieved from http://www.statistics.gov.lk/agriculture/Livestock/MilkProduction.html Total supply of milk powder can be calculated by using milk powder consumption and population. Local production of milk powder is estimated by using annual imports and total production. Estimated total production of milk powder will be increased by about 1.8% to 86.97 million kilograms by the 2015. Imports were reduced due to investigation of DCD and melamine in imported milk powder from New Zealand and duty taxes. Local productions are being improving about 65% during 2013 and 2014 and estimated local production of 2015 is 25.22 million kilograms, shown in table 2. Table 2 – Estimated Milk Production 2013-2015 Year Unit 2013 2014 2015 Milk Powder Consumption average month per person 341.36g 344.77g 348.22g Total Production Million.kg 83.91 85.42 86.97 Imports Million.kg 71.5 65 61.75 Local Production Million.kg 12.41 20.42 25.22 Department of Census and Statistics. (2012/13). Household Income and Expenditure Survey. (ISBN978-955-577-856-5). Retrieved from www.statistics.gov.lk Figure 2 – Forecasting of Production and Imports of milk powder 2015 Forecast About 91.16 million kilograms of milk powder will be required to satisfy the demand of 2015, but 86.97 million kilograms of milk powder will be supplied by present industries and imports. The estimated gap of 4.19 million kilograms of milk powder should be produced by Sri Lankan fresh milk supply. Figure 3 Annual Milk Production Agriculture and Environmental Statistics Division. Milk Production. Retrieved from http://www.statistics.gov.lk/agriculture/Livestock/MilkProduction.html Estimated fresh milk production of year 2015 will be 309.28 million litres, shown in figure 3. If all fresh milk converted into milk powder, 37.11 million kilograms of milk powder will be produced. Table 3 – Estimated Production of Milk Powder from Sri Lankan Milk Supply 2015 Estimated Demand 91.16 million kg Estimated Imports 61.75 million kg Required Local Production 29.41 million kg Estimated Fresh Milk Production 309.28 mllion l Feasible Milk Powder Production 37.11 million kg The fresh milk supply of Sri Lanka is well enough for fulfil required local milk powder production of 29.75 million kilograms of 2015. Therefore milk powder production is a feasible industry for Sri Lanka. PROCESS There are five main unit operations. Separation Preheating Evaporation Spray Drying Packaging and Storage SEPARATION This is the first step of milk powder production. Milk powder manufacturing is starts with taking the raw milk to dairy factory. Then pasteurize them. There is a machine called centrifugal cream separator. It use to separate raw milk into skim milk and whole milk. When whole milk powder is to be manufactured, a portion of this whole milk powder is added back to the skim milk. The reason is to produce milk with standardized fat content. Typically milk powder should have 26-30% of fat content. Surplus cream is used to make butter. PREHEATING The next step in the milk powder process is preheating. In this process standardized milk is heated to temperatures between 75 C and 120 C. this temperature is held for a specified time from few seconds to several minutes. Like 72C foe 15s. Preheating causes: controlled denaturation of the whey proteins in the milk It destroys bacteria, inactivates enzymes Generates natural antioxidants Imparts heat stability. The exact heating/holding conditions depends on the type of product and its intended end-use. High preheats in whole milk powder are associated with improved keeping quality. But it reduce solubility. Three types of Preheating: Indirect (via heat exchangers) These indirect heaters are generally used waste heat from other parts of the process as an energy saving measure. Direct (via steam injection or infusion into the product) Mixture of the two. EVAPORATION In this step the preheated milk is concentrated in stages. After evaporation we can produce: 9% of skim milk 13% of whole milk This is achieved by boiling the milk under a vacuum. The temperature is below 72C in a falling film on the inside of vertical tubes. And water is removed as vapour. This vapour, which may be thermally or mechanically compressed, is next used to heat the milk which in the next effect of the evaporator. It may be operated at a lower pressure and temperature than the preceding effect. Modern plants may have more effects for maximum energy efficiency. More than 85% of the water in the milk is removed in the evaporator. Evaporators are extremely noisy. Reason is the large quantity of water vapour travelling at very high speeds inside its tubes. SPRAY DRYING Spray drying is the step of atomizing the milk concentrate from the evaporator next into fine droplets. This is done inside a large chamber. There is a flow of hot air in the chamber. The temperature of this air is up to 200C. This flow of air is holed by using either a spinning disk atomizer or a series of high pressure nozzles. The milk droplets are cooled by evaporation. And they never reach the temperature of the air. And these milk droplets never reach the temperature of air. The concentrate may be heated prior to atomization to reduce its viscosity and to increase the energy available for drying. Much of the remaining water is evaporated in the drying chamber. It leave fine powder of around 6% moisture content with a mean particle size ( PACKAGING AND STORAGE Milk powders are immensely more stable than fresh milk. But milk powder is protection from moisture, oxygen, light and heat. It is needed in order to maintain their quality and shelf life. Milk powders quickly take up moisture from air and leading to a rapid loss of quality and caking or lumping. The fat in whole milk powder can react with oxygen in the air to give a off flavor. It happens at especially high storage temperatures. (>30C) Milk powder is packed into either plastic bags or bulk bins. Whole milk powders are often packed under nitrogen gas to protect the product from oxidation and also maintain their flavor and extend their keeping quality. The packaging is chosen to provide a barrier to moisture is air, oxygen and light. Bags also consist of several layers to provide strength and the necessary barrier properties. c HEALTH AND SAFETY Physical hazards Biological hazards Chemical hazards Exposure to heat, cold, and radiation Noise and Vibrations PHYSICAL HAZARDS Physical hazards include exposure to same-level fall hazards due to slippery conditions, the use of machines and tools, and collisions with internal transport equipment (e.g. forklift trucks and containers). How do falls happen? Statistics show that the majority (66%) of falls happen on the same level resulting from slips and trips. The remaining 34% are falls from a height. Slips Slips happen where there is too little friction or traction between the footwear and the walking surface. Common causes of slips are: wet or oily surfaces occasional spills weather hazards loose, unanchored rugs or mats flooring or other walking surfaces that do not have same degree of traction in all areas Trips Trips happen when foot collides (strikes, hits) an object causing you to lose the balance and, eventually fall. Common causes of tripping are: obstructed view poor lighting clutter in your way wrinkled carpeting uncovered cables bottom drawers not being closed uneven (steps, thresholds) walking surfaces In addition to above mentioned reasons collision with transportation vehicles when lifting the packages into the truck also contribute to physical hazards to people working in the processing factory. BIOLOGICAL HAZARDS Exposure to biological and microbiological agents may be associated with inhalation and ingestion of dust and aerosols, particularly in milk powder operations. Dust from the ingredients used in dairy processing and high levels of humidity may cause skin irritation or other allergic reactions. The elaboration of above stated point is that in diary processing plants due to the presence of microbiological agents involved in the milk products can cause infections to employees working there. It can also be seen there that emissions of dust particles from the burning of aerosols used for obtaining energy can also cause respiratory diseases Inhaling of particulates from the milk powder production can also cause respiratory diseases in employees. The present study provides new evidence that workers exposed to milk powder by inhalation are at an increased risk of nasal symptoms, wheezing and breathlessness, and exhibit reduced Spiro metric lung function, even at relatively low air concentrations of milk dust. CHEMICAL HAZARDS Exposure to chemicals (including gases and vapors) typically involves chemical-handling activities related to cleaning operations and disinfection of process areas, in addition to the maintenance of heating (thermal oils). In milk processing factories certain chemicals are used for sanitizing, detergents for cleaning of storage tanks as well as emission of certain gases (CO2, CO, NOX, SO2) in the process of combustion can cause smog which in turn is carcinogenic. As well as emission of CFC’s and NH3 into the air as a result of leakage and stripping of chilling machines when out of use. EXPOSURE TO HEAT, RADIATION AND COLD In the production of milk powder employees are frequently exposed to heat due to heating up of machines and near the evaporation unit. Cold can be experienced by employees in the cooling room for the storage of the milk. In the pasteurization process small amount of gamma rays are used which is dangerous to employees since frequent radiation for small time frequently can also be dangerous as being exposed for a long time. REFERENCES Imported and Manufactured Food Program Inspection Manual – Canadian food inspection agency Manual for safety by Canadian centre for Occupational health and safety Respiratory effects of occupational exposures in a milk powder factory by Sripaiboonkij P, Phanprasit W, Jaakkola MS from the records of US National Library of Medicine. Articles from FAO Corporate Document Repository.

The Internet as a New Medium of Communication Essay -- Internet Commun

The internet, a new medium of communication that allows us to communicate over large distances with an impressive outcome, the internet has improved long distance communication with its ever growing means of communicating. In this essay I will elaborate on my understanding on the internet as a new medium of communication, I will also state relevant theories and examples to back up my result. â€Å"The paradigm of the new mode of communication and clearly the emerging infrastructure for the hypermedia environment is networked computing, and in particular, the loose conglomeration of worldwide net worked computer known as the internet† (deibert, p.131). The internet began in the 1970s as a US military experiment, where they designed a computer network called ‘Arpanet’ that would survive a nuclear attack; the primary theory of the network was a distributed form of communication without any central control. The Arpanet eventually became a tool for researching inform ation for the public. In the early 1990’s the internet became a successor to the Arpanet, networked communication had exploded to include private individuals around the world which was linked through the anarchic web of computers, surfing, sharing information and online discussion. The internet then became a phenomenal as everyone from governments to universities, businesses and individuals exploring this medium of communication. The growth of internet users was indescribable as it was now spread worldwide; the internet was now user friendly. The World Wide Web emerged due to the growth of the internet and the revolutionary development, which permits the integration of hyper textual links and multimedia in a single platform. â€Å"In providing globally-networked, hyper textual, ... ...ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2878_1%26url%3D https://blackboard.le.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=/webapps/blackboard/execute/launcher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2878_1%26url%3D https://blackboard.le.ac.uk/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_group=courses&url=/webapps/blackboard/content/contentWrapper.jsp%3Fattachment%3Dtrue%26navItem%3Dcontent%26content_id%3D_561171_1%26course_id%3D_2878_1%26displayName%3Dthe%2Bworld%2Bwide%2Bweb%2Bof%2Bsurveillance%2540%2Bthe%2Binternet%2Band%2Boff%2Bworld%2Bpower%2Bflows.pdf%26href%3D/%2540%2540/AA8A813A99BD4A059CE4EB843F104663/courses/1/MS2007/content/_561171_1/the%252520world%252520wide%252520web%252520of%252520surveillance%252540%252520the%252520internet%252520and%252520off%252520world%252520power%252520flows.pdf

Online Pay-Per-View Movies :: Computer Entertainment Papers

Online Pay-Per-View Movies I choose to discuss the topic of the internet as a new medium for pay-per-view movies because I feel it is a very fresh and new topic that has not been discussed, nor received much attention. The onset of this new medium comes from an attempt to deter online movie pirates from stealing the movies to actually purchasing them for a low price. I feel this is especially important for me to be writing this on a college campus because that is where a great deal of movie pirating occurs due to the fast online connections that the universities provide. File sharing programs like Kazaa and Limewire run ramped on college campuses making this an interesting alternative to explore. With this subject hitting close to home, I choose to research it and find out why it would be a good alternative to the free downloads that we receive from online people to people file-sharing programs. While there are a few sites out there that offer this kind of pay-per-view service, I choose to specificall y focus on the site Movielink.com because it is backed by five major Media Corporations comprised of Universal, Sony, Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer, Paramount, and Warner Brothers. For this reason, it was the ideal internet site to explore to show the recent trend towards getting new movies online, even if only for a short time. For this paper, I had to do a lot of research to find information on how the internet sites for pay-per-view movies worked, and how they were going to be marketed. Since the prevalence of this kind of internet site is very recent, I received the majority of my information from periodicals. For this, I did a lot of research on my University Library Site looking for newspaper and magazine articles from all around the world. I came up with a few very good articles that gave me a plethora of knowledge that I attempted to incorporate into my story. Since I choose to focus on the site Movielink.com, which is backed by the previously mentioned entertainment companies, I choose to make each of the CEO’s of the companies a character in my paper. It is important to note that none of these CEO’s ever met, nor do they necessarily reflect the personality traits that I created.

Counter-Terrorism Strategies Reveal the Limits of Human Rights as a Cosmopolitan Discourse in the Age of Global Terror

Since the start of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, human rights were introduced as a system that exceeded any boundaries, such as religion, gender, ethnicity and nationality, in order to protect each individual. It was an attempt to universalize human standards of decency, morality and dignity, by way of constructing a global human community. It is through this that human rights were able to be changed and recognised as a standard for global order, regulated through international law. The act of terrorism is not a new concept, and has been responsible for many innocent lives over many years, however not until the attacks on the United States, known as 9/11, has terrorism become such a globalized issue. It was through the symbolic destruction of capitalism, coupled with the vast media outlets to create witnesses that allowed for Western society to face a new threat of vulnerability. The mass production of human rights violations aimed at such a seemingly powerful Western country induced a culture of fear, specifically regarding the weaknesses in national security. Terrorism, national security, and war became the dominant dialogue throughout international politics, and governments began to develop counter-terrorism legislation in order to enhance feelings of safety and security, but also to seek retribution against terrorist groups. It is through this introduction of new counter-terrorism legislation that allows the expectations of human rights protection to become confused, as state security becomes the prime concern. This new legislation becomes a shield to hide behind when human rights violations are committed, allowing the state to use the premise of counter terrorism as a justification for neglecting what was previously an internationally standardized notion of human rights protection. It then becomes a paradoxical debate of violation and protection, where policies designed to protect society from these human rights violations, not only affect the terrorists whom they are aimed at, but start to affect the people who’s rights they aim to protect. Where the notion of human rights is concerned in protecting the individual, counter-terrorism in the age of global terror re-employs these boundaries between the individual in the interest of the state, and disregards human rights. Pojman (2006) states that terrorism is a type of violence employed to deliberately target non-combatants in a ruthlessly destructive and often random manner in order to support concrete political or religious objectives. Because of its random ature, the act of terrorism destabilizes any notion of a human rights system by allowing each individual to be susceptible to its effects. Denying one their right to life is depriving them of their most fundamental human right. According to Anthony Giddens (in Pojman), the difference between what he labels as â€Å"old-terrorism† and â€Å"new-terrorism† lies in its locality in geographical terms, where the first is concerned with nationalist ideology and remained local, and the latter is focused on its global implementation (2006). September 11th became the poster for this â€Å"new-terrorism†, bringing with it the stark realisation that Western Society was not impervious to terrorist regimes. The vulnerability of the United States seemed not to have been considered previously, and the mass murder evoked an intense culture of fear amongst the people, only to be further manipulated by the media, causing governments to strike with new legislation. The notion of prevention was a strong instigator for new strategies, where the state intended to seek out terrorist activity before it happened. Terrorism uncovers the limits of the human rights system in achieving universal consensus. However the authority of rights is more so undermined when counter-terrorist acts violate these moral principles in the constant pursuit of their re-avouchment. Under the title of counter-terrorism, democratically defined countries are deserting fundamental principles of human rights that were once upheld, such as the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression and the right to seek asylum (McCulloch, 2003). The entire premise behind having a universal declaration of human rights was to maintain a society in which people could have access to a global mechanism of protection and support. However counter-terrorism has dismantled these ideals and replaced them with suspect and presumed guilt. The position of human rights in the international community has been seen as dispensary to the higher priority of achieving security through counter-terrorism. Faced with the exposure of the weakness to its homeland, the US opted for a military based counter-terrorism approach, resulting in the deployment of military forces into the Middle East and Central Asia, initiating what was known as the War on Terror (Schorlemer, 2003). The invasion of Afghanistan was designed to strengthen state borders from afar by defeating terrorists at their source. However, in order to do so, the US strategy was to utilize violence to secure their human rights. In using violence, they contradicted exactly what they were fighting for. The state of emergency that was declared following 9/11 and the climate of fear fostered by terrorist activity destabilized the notion that all individuals are entitled to rights protection. In a state of war, honouring human rights is neither practically possible nor theoretically required (Luban, 2002). It becomes intrinsic in the system of war that constitutional rights and civil liberties of populations can be brought to a halt under the pretence of enhancing state security, all the while allowing for the deterioration of basic human rights under circumstances of organised violence. The US disregard for abiding to the universal human rights of global citizens can strongly be seen in the military intervention in Afghanistan, and further in the counter-terrorism strategies of rendition, torture and detainment practiced by the US and their allies in pursuit of security. Under the model of war, the lethal use of force on enemy troops is permissible, and the accidental maiming and killing of civilians is seen as collateral damage rather than victims of atrocities (Luban, 2002). Therefore, by declaration of war, George W. Bush implemented a counter-terrorism strategy, that by virtue of its nature undermines the system of human rights as an internationally enforceable system available to all individuals. This is reinforced by highlighting its illegitimacy in instances of war. As terrorism is not an enemy in the conventional war sense, as it is not a visible and tangible body with a defined territory, the US forces in Afghanistan have relied on using air strikes to atta ck insurgents, according to Garlasco (reference). Usual requirement of evidence or proof before a conviction becomes less regulated or required when at war, with plausible intelligence and insufficient evidence adequate as the foundation for action (Luban, 2002). In situations of flawed or limited intelligence, it has not been terrorists but civilians that have become victims of air strike assaults, thus having their right to life stolen from them (Garlasco). An example of this kind of fatal mistake occurred in the Afghani town of Uruzgan in 2002, where faulty intelligence concerning the location of Al-Qaeda fighters led to the execution of a lethal air strike, killing 21 civilians. This problematic endeavour to protect our rights is therefore legitimizing civilian casualties as collateral damage of war. Counter-terrorism strategies have justified the illegal detainment, torture and rendition of suspected terrorists as a necessary process in achieving security and paradoxically reasserting the human rights of moral citizens. The aftermath of September 11th brought about the legitimization of human rights violations through new counter-terrorism laws, whereby these violations can most distinctly be witnessed through the treatment of prisoners in the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba. Democratic rights such as the presumption of innocence, the right to a fair trial, and freedom from torture were all eradicated in the operations that took place at the base, denying them these basic civil liberties in an unrelenting pursuit of truth and justice for the violence inflicted on American citizens on September 11th. Common practice has been the illegal detention of suspected terrorists, where the rights to due process and a fair trial are not upheld. Recently, the evidence against the military has been growing, including official Pentagon documents, indicating that interrogators consistently employed hard line counter-resistance measures in absolution to induce prisoner co-operation. Such measures include sleep deprivation, prolonged isolation, painful body positions, feigned suffocation, beatings, sexual provocation and displays of contempt for Islamic symbols (Bloche and Marks, 2005). Under the 1984 United Nations Convention Against Torture (CAT), an event is considered torture if it satisfies three constitutive elements; the infliction of severe mental or physical suffering, for the recipient to be perpetrated for a purpose, and for this to occur by way of an official (Hocking and Lewis, 2007). The operation of torture in counter-terrorist tactics echoes the breakdown of moral consensus on the use of torture, with the US disrespect for this international human right setting a negative global standard (Wilson, 2005). Therefore, when another State executes this act of torture, the US and their Western Allies seek their services for interrogating their own suspected terrorists, rather than condemning the act. The US, since September 11th, has engaged in transferring their suspects to other countries, where the torture and interrogation can be carried out. This instance of rendition mirrors the practices undertaken by the Swedish Government, where they abducted extremist Islamic suspects and transferred them to Egypt, where torture under interrogation is considered legal custom (Bloche and Marks, 2005). Counter-terrorism has allowed for the undermining of the adoption of human rights globally. Where western democratic states were formerly viewed as human rights advocates, they now deny this role of leadership in aid of suppressing this culture of fear induced by global terrorism. Counter-terrorism strategies have both enhanced the degradation of human rights in regards to the moral basis for international relations, and allowed for the threat of terrorism to be used by state governments to increasingly militarize the protocol of law enforcement and increase the surveillance of civilians (McCulloch, 2003). The war on terror has perpetuated a permanent state of emergency with no foreseeable end. Thus in many western countries, the prolonged war against terror is being used politically rather than legally, to justify the permanent restriction of civilian human rights (Zizek). Shielded by the counter-terrorism legislation, states have put into practice new national security laws whilst pre-existing emergency legislation has achieved legitimacy, claiming to be an essential response to the threat of terrorism (Wilson, 2005). In support of their counter-terrorism strategies employed abroad, states such as Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and the US have relied upon internal strategies to curtail the threat of terrorism. Such measures include the indefinite detention of suspected terrorists without trial or judicial review, the increased surveillance and reduced privacy protections, the dramatic increase in the powers afforded to domestic spy agencies, the right to silence and choice of legal representation eradicated completely, and the vastly expanded resources afforded to military and police engaged in homeland security (McCulloch, 2003). The civil and political liberties that were considered so important during the devising of the UDHR, are now ironically being violated by the very people who them in place. The power to detain people will increase state security organizations power to suppress dissent by adding detention to the potential adverse consequences of political opinions that challenge the political status quo (McCulloch, 2003). In times of global terror, the implementation of increased surveillance does not invoke a feeling of security amongst society, but conversely, further extends the culture of fear that occurs through constant intimidation and increasingly inhibited freedoms. The dispensability of human rights in times of state emergency is revealed when our global principles can be undermined by counter-terrorist strategies so immediately. The principle of counter-terrorism, to enhance state security, has reinforced the rigidity of national borders, by entrenching foreigners and citizenship as acceptable bases for distinction and discrimination and the rejection of humanitarian concerns for individual needs (Mertus and Helsing, 2006). The figure of the refugee as the individual, deprived of citizenship and reliant on the goodwill of other states, illustrates this collision between the protection of individual versus the protection of the state (Humphrey, 2002). After the Second World War, the refugee acquired a measure of political significance as victims of persecution. However the contemporary threat of terrorism has redefined refugees as victims of an international system of nation states founded on a hierarchy of exclusion (Humphrey, 2002). Rather than generously extending protection to individuals seeking asylum from persecution, torture and war, counter-terrorism strategies have increased the conditionality in the acceptance of refugees. ‘Boat people’ arriving on remote areas of the northwest shoreline of Australia constitute the manifestation of the international refugee crisis in this country. Recent asylum seekers are confined in remote detention centres in economically poor island communities to the north of Australia. This criminalization of refugees by the Australian government reflects a rejection of their moral responsibility as human rights guarantors whilst ironically committing human rights violations of their own. The detainment of asylum seekers inflicts a greater degree of suffering on these individuals with detention providing a re-traumatizing environment that may contribute to the development of mental health problems (Stout, 2002). The political discourse employed by the government in relation to ‘boat people’ stripped the refugee of compassion and their human rights by referring to them as ‘illegal’s’ that pay ‘people smugglers’ (Humphrey, 2002). Thus rather than alleviate the suffering imposed on refugees by virtue of their situation, various States are going to extreme lengths to undermine the legitimacy of their asylum claims by making invalid character judgments. Similar to human rights, the category of refugee is non-racial; in theory a state is obliged to extend support and assistance to a refugee without racial selectivity. Australia has a history of denying asylum based on race, such as the exclusion of Chinese immigrants during the 1880s, and now this racial exclusion is being inflicted on individuals of Middle Eastern descent based upon them sharing the same ethnicity as Al-Qaeda and Taliban terrorist groups. The racial assumptions that acquaint the Afghani or Iraqi race with terrorism have falsely led to the prolonged detainment and refused asylum of Middle Eastern individuals. Thus terrorism has accelerated the shift in global attitudes toward refugees from one of state moral responsibility to the prioritization of state security over accepting claims for asylum. Whilst viewed as a strategy of counter-terrorism, enhanced border security and the increased conditionality required for refugees to gain asylum disqualifies human rights as a unifying discourse without qualification. The implementation of counter-terrorism strategies by Western nations in reaction to the 9/11 attacks were largely reactionary and centred on enhanced state security to reduce the likelihood of terrorist activity infiltrating national borders. The contemporary manifestation of terrorism represents a clash of civilizations, pitting the culture of Islamic fundamentalism against a Western culture composed of modernity, secularity and democracy (Pojman, 2006). In this clash human rights rests precariously in the middle. On the one hand, terrorism denies victims their rights, yet the enactment of counter-terrorism strategies to address these violations paradoxically impedes on the rights of global citizens. The way in which western countries have responded to the threat of terrorism has not only violated principles of human rights and international law but has also proved to be ineffective in combating terrorism. Almost eight years after the proclamation of the ‘global war on terror’ terrorists are still striking with alarming frequency and ease in our cities: Madrid, London, Sharm el Sheikh, Bali and Mumbai represent the more recent and appalling acts. If our world is in a state of war, why is it that western forces have not been as successful as past governments in achieving victory in similar time periods as in past wars (Hocking and Lewis, 2007)? The First World War was won in five years and the Japanese Empire in World War II was defeated in four years following their attack on Pearl Harbour. Despite all the energies and resources deployed to strengthen the West’s ‘War on Terror’, global terrorism has not lost its power to recruit combatants and inflict destruction on unsuspecting communities (Hocking and Lewis, 2007). In the context of terrorism, war has proven to be ineffective as it fails to address the environment with which terrorism has evolved. Terrorist organizations flourish in societies that have been marginalized by globalization and where there are unresolved conflicts and few accountability mechanisms for addressing political grievances (Hocking and Lewis, 2007). The feeling of despair and sense of hopelessness rooted in oppression, ignorance, poverty and perceived injustice have been identified as causal factors in the development of terrorism. Just as the benefits of globalization and modernity have been unequally distributed so have the capabilities of marginalized populations to gain access to their human rights. Thus to combat terrorism, the implementation of social and economic policy can help to mitigate exclusion and the impact of rapid socio-economic change which foster the grievances which terrorists exploit to gain legitimacy (Hocking and Lewis, 2007). Greater emphasis on counter-terrorism strategies, which address the causal factors of terrorism, will thus increase individual access to human rights and diminish their marginalization and global inequality. Terrorism is a political and criminal activity that undermines the foundation of the contemporary human rights system. It rejects the notion that by virtue of every individual’s humanness they should have access to a host of civil, political and socio-economic rights. The attack of 9/11 exposed security weaknesses of the US, subsequently inducing fear in all western states that they could too be easily targeted by religious extremist factions. Counter-terrorism has aimed to heighten state security often to the detriment of upholding universal principles of human rights. Just as terrorism views all enemy citizens with the same contempt that is there is no distinction between the president and an average citizen, in many regards counter terrorism makes no distinction between terrorists and civilians in that human rights restrictions are imposed on all individuals in states of emergency. Once relied upon as states of human rights advocacy and leadership, western states have legitimized the rejection of human rights under the banner of counter-terrorism. The ‘War on Terror’, increasing surveillance of citizens, restriction of their constitutional rights and the abandonment of state’s moral duty toward asylum seekers symbolizes the dispensability and conditionality of universal human rights. The abrogation of human rights underlying contemporary counter-terrorism practices reflects the limits of the human rights system to neglect in times of emergency, fear and vulnerability.