1) I learned so much from Hunters wiki page. I like how he explained what global warming was and how it is happening. I found it very interesting that new energy sources are being made to prevent global warming. I also did not know that the temperature hasn’t been increasing at a universal rate; rather that it is different for each continent. It was great how he incorporated how to prevent global warming into his presentation. I did not know that simple things like not using hot water would help prevent global warming. I also liked how he showed the other side of the thought about how the earth goes through warming and cooling periods.
2) Skips wiki page looked awesome. I really liked the way his presentation looked. It had a relevant background and on top of that he incorporated voice which made it 10 times better. I learned that censorship was actually a problem in many other countries and is much worse in some cases. This makes me realize how lucky we are to live in the US. From his presentation I learned that censorship takes away the populations ability to share and discuss ideas and information, which is critical for making well educated opinions. This shows how censorship takes away so much from a population and is a problem today.
3) Evans wiki page had many links on it and had a lot of information on it. I really enjoyed that animoto. It had cool music to go with it and good pictures which made it flow well. I did not know all the reasons for going to Iraq before watching this. I also did not know that more than 150,000 Iraqi’s had been killed and nearly 5 thousands US soldiers had died. I also did not realize that once you broke down the cost it would work out to be $12 billion a month! I really enjoyed the fun facts at the end. Breaking down the deaths on holidays puts the war into a different perspective on the war.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Midterm
Biological Warfare Final Project
When looking through the choices of contemporary issues, biological warfare caught my eye. This topic interested me from the get go. I was intrigued about biological warfare and felt that I could enjoy the project and learn a lot through research. According to the Federation of American Scientists, “Biological Warfare is the use of Biological pathogens as biological weapons. Biological weapons (BWs) deliver toxins and microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria, so as to deliberately inflict disease among people, animals, and agriculture. (fas)” These attacks can do immense damage to agriculture, an economy, and humans. This is a problem because it is very hard to defend against and can be used in terrorism, known as bioterrorism.
Biological warfare has been practiced throughout history. Its three most popular forms before the 20th century were, infecting food or water, using biological weapons in a weapon system, or use of infected fabrics. Biological warfare since then has evolved into a more severe and threatening attack. Agents such as Anthrax, Small Pox, and even AIDS have now become common.
Anthrax is one of the oldest recorded diseases. Anthrax can enter the human body through the intestines (ingestion), lungs (inhalation), or skin and causes distinct clinical symptoms based on its site of entry. Smallpox has become a very common form of biological weapon. Years ago the United States and the Soviet Union began trying to harness smallpox and use it as a weapon. “The United States produced a powdered substance capable of floating through the air and infecting thousands of people. The Soviets created a liquid form of smallpox which was just as deadly. (acronym)” There have been conspiracy theories that AIDS was made by the U.S. to deal with overpopulation in our country. It has also been said that the U.S. gave it to growing countries to slow down their growth.
Biological warfare has been so serious that there have been many efforts to make the use of biological weapons in war illegal. In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a global treaty, called the Biological Weapons Convention, along with more than 100 other nations, including Iraq, banning all biological weapons. However many countries do still produce biological weapons without admitting it. According to Hank Ellison, “another problem with this treaty is that countries still have left over biological weapons from when they did produce them, and there is no easy way to destroy them without harming some living organisms.” Also, since the signing of the treaty, the number of countries capable of producing such weapons has increased substantially.
A major issue with biological warfare is the ability to use these weapons in terrorism. “According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. (cdc)” Biological agents can be spread through the air or through water. Terrorists uses these agents because they are hard to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to even several days. On September 18, 2001, the United States was subject to an anthrax attack. Five letters were mailed to members of the U.S. Congress and others, filled with the anthrax virus. This attack killed five people and 22 were infected. This is an example of how easy it is to administer an attack and how hard it is to defend an attack.
Not only have others used biological weapons on us, but according to an A&E documentary the U.S. has also tested biological weapons on their own citizens. They did so by using a Ford Mercury with a hidden exhaust pipe pumped out bacteria into the streets of Manhattan. They also had undercover agents with briefcases equipped with motors that dispersed the bacteria bacillus globuli, and dropped lightbulbs filled with bacteria into vents of trains to see how fast it would infect the people. For years these public experiments were kept secret however we know about it because the army faithfully documented it all.
Although biological warfare is technically illegal, it is still a threat to our lives. Many countries still produce and use biological weapons and it is near impossible to stop them. Biological attacks may not through direct war but also through terrorism. This makes biological warfare even more threatening and more of an issue.
Websites Used:
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/bio/resource/introtobw.html
http://www.acronym.org.uk/bwc/index.htm
http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/international_security/v028/28.3koblentz.html#
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/bioter/biowarfareexpertsques.html
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1122303
http://www.acronym.org.uk/bwc/index.htm
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/999
http://www.denison.edu/offices/publicaffairs/pressreleases/alibek.html
http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/
http://www.cissm.umd.edu/papers/display.php?id=393
http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/terrorists-target-laboratories-for-expertise-on-nuclear-biological-weapons/
http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/smallpox.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/bio/resource/introtobw.html
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/overview.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySw-0uY4CUA
When looking through the choices of contemporary issues, biological warfare caught my eye. This topic interested me from the get go. I was intrigued about biological warfare and felt that I could enjoy the project and learn a lot through research. According to the Federation of American Scientists, “Biological Warfare is the use of Biological pathogens as biological weapons. Biological weapons (BWs) deliver toxins and microorganisms, such as viruses and bacteria, so as to deliberately inflict disease among people, animals, and agriculture. (fas)” These attacks can do immense damage to agriculture, an economy, and humans. This is a problem because it is very hard to defend against and can be used in terrorism, known as bioterrorism.
Biological warfare has been practiced throughout history. Its three most popular forms before the 20th century were, infecting food or water, using biological weapons in a weapon system, or use of infected fabrics. Biological warfare since then has evolved into a more severe and threatening attack. Agents such as Anthrax, Small Pox, and even AIDS have now become common.
Anthrax is one of the oldest recorded diseases. Anthrax can enter the human body through the intestines (ingestion), lungs (inhalation), or skin and causes distinct clinical symptoms based on its site of entry. Smallpox has become a very common form of biological weapon. Years ago the United States and the Soviet Union began trying to harness smallpox and use it as a weapon. “The United States produced a powdered substance capable of floating through the air and infecting thousands of people. The Soviets created a liquid form of smallpox which was just as deadly. (acronym)” There have been conspiracy theories that AIDS was made by the U.S. to deal with overpopulation in our country. It has also been said that the U.S. gave it to growing countries to slow down their growth.
Biological warfare has been so serious that there have been many efforts to make the use of biological weapons in war illegal. In 1972, the United States and the Soviet Union signed a global treaty, called the Biological Weapons Convention, along with more than 100 other nations, including Iraq, banning all biological weapons. However many countries do still produce biological weapons without admitting it. According to Hank Ellison, “another problem with this treaty is that countries still have left over biological weapons from when they did produce them, and there is no easy way to destroy them without harming some living organisms.” Also, since the signing of the treaty, the number of countries capable of producing such weapons has increased substantially.
A major issue with biological warfare is the ability to use these weapons in terrorism. “According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a bioterrorism attack is the deliberate release of viruses, bacteria, or other germs (agents) used to cause illness or death in people, animals, or plants. (cdc)” Biological agents can be spread through the air or through water. Terrorists uses these agents because they are hard to detect and do not cause illness for several hours to even several days. On September 18, 2001, the United States was subject to an anthrax attack. Five letters were mailed to members of the U.S. Congress and others, filled with the anthrax virus. This attack killed five people and 22 were infected. This is an example of how easy it is to administer an attack and how hard it is to defend an attack.
Not only have others used biological weapons on us, but according to an A&E documentary the U.S. has also tested biological weapons on their own citizens. They did so by using a Ford Mercury with a hidden exhaust pipe pumped out bacteria into the streets of Manhattan. They also had undercover agents with briefcases equipped with motors that dispersed the bacteria bacillus globuli, and dropped lightbulbs filled with bacteria into vents of trains to see how fast it would infect the people. For years these public experiments were kept secret however we know about it because the army faithfully documented it all.
Although biological warfare is technically illegal, it is still a threat to our lives. Many countries still produce and use biological weapons and it is near impossible to stop them. Biological attacks may not through direct war but also through terrorism. This makes biological warfare even more threatening and more of an issue.
Websites Used:
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/bio/resource/introtobw.html
http://www.acronym.org.uk/bwc/index.htm
http://muse.jhu.edu/login?uri=/journals/international_security/v028/28.3koblentz.html#
http://www.ph.ucla.edu/EPI/bioter/biowarfareexpertsques.html
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1122303
http://www.acronym.org.uk/bwc/index.htm
http://www.lanl.gov/news/index.php/fuseaction/home.story/story_id/999
http://www.denison.edu/offices/publicaffairs/pressreleases/alibek.html
http://cns.miis.edu/research/cbw/
http://www.cissm.umd.edu/papers/display.php?id=393
http://topics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/12/terrorists-target-laboratories-for-expertise-on-nuclear-biological-weapons/
http://www.cdi.org/terrorism/smallpox.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_anthrax_attacks
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/bio/resource/introtobw.html
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/bioterrorism/overview.asp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySw-0uY4CUA
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Working on Project
Im currently working on my powerpoint. I have found a few interesting videos and have posted them onto my wiki page. I am now looking for another aspect to add to this powerpoint.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Final Project
For my final project I will be making a very informative powerpoint on Biological Warfare with some history involved. I have a few videos that I would like to incorporate with it.
Another Podcast
I found another Podcast regarding Biological Warfare. This one is called "Just War Theory & Chemical/Biological Weapons" by Professor Larry May. This podcast is 1 hour 16 minutes long. It discusses the rules of war and how you determine what is banned and what is not. The point that it is making is that we have allowed killing but not using biological weapons. Professor Larry May says that there are gray lines and it is hard to determine what is wrong. He brings up the difference between poisoning water supplies and mining harbors and poisoning water supplies is the only one banned. One could argue that poisoning the water supplies is devistating to the population invovled but so is mining harbors because it cuts off the food supplies to the population. With this you could also say that mining harbors is worse because it would lead to a slow death rather than a quick death.
New Website
http://www.acronym.org.uk/bwc/index.htm
On this website there is alot of great info on Biological Warfare. I learned that the use of chemical and biological weapons in war was prohibited in 1925 as a result of universal abhorrence at their effects on First World War soldiers. This website also talks about the Biological Weapons Convention or the BWC. The BWC did alot in stopping the use of Biological Weapons
On this website there is alot of great info on Biological Warfare. I learned that the use of chemical and biological weapons in war was prohibited in 1925 as a result of universal abhorrence at their effects on First World War soldiers. This website also talks about the Biological Weapons Convention or the BWC. The BWC did alot in stopping the use of Biological Weapons
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Search for an expert...
My conquest for an expert has now ended... I have finally contacted an expert and have set up a time for a conference call to talk to him.
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