Reader's Digest 2008 - May 2008 Pg 50 - 55
I must applaud the author, Lynn Sherr, for her bravery in overcoming colon cancer and her ability to share her near death experience with readers. The independence she portrays in her determination to triumph over colon cancer should well be a motivation for other cancer-stricken patients to be optimistic about their own situation and not give in to the virus. Her goal was that simple- To be a normal person living normal life- and she achieved it because she kept fighting.
I am flabbergasted by the insensitivity and irresponsibilty of the doctors and fellow medical personnel who treated Sherr. She had that gut feeling that something was wrong with her and it was not appendicitis as the doctors thought. The use of the word 'thought' already shows the uncertainty of Sherr's situation. The dagger-like pain to her gut had left her gasping and it was a sign it was worse than appendicitis. The feeling she had was partly attributed to her husband's death to cancer, yet, despite insistent questioning, the surgeon could still say that he thinks Sherr did not have cancer. Even if there was a possibility, it would be only a small chance and insisted it was appendicitis. In my point of view, I think that doctors and surgeons alike should leave the word 'think' out of their vocabulary when dealing with patients. It only gives patients a sense of doubt and leaves them in worry. This also leads to suspicion of the doctor's capability. They should always give confirmation and not compromisation, not assuming or inferencing situations. Health is key in life, and worrying alone deters a healthy life.
I guess the doctors were surprised by Sherr as well, because she was right, it was not appendicitis. It was something more serious. She must haved proved them wrong and thus they hesitated to reveal her state. Again, doctors should not hesitate to reveal the truth unless they are very sure the patient will not be able to take the blow. In this case, Sherr lives a very professional life. She was likely to be able to handle the situation professionally and not freak out. This shows the lack of communication and information between the doctor and the patient, which is essential in gaining each other's trust.
Upon knowing her situation from her sister, Sherr was not shocked. In fact, she was determined to learn everything she could about his assault on her life. I am impressed by her initial reaction, because hardly anyone could handle a life concerning situation with such calm attitude. She could even joke about her sickness, singing her e-mails with a semi-colon. Such optimism deserves commendation. If I were to be in her shoes, I would probably be 'boasting' about my health and have everyone pity me. Not a good example, obviously, but Sherr's keep-fighting attitude eliminates such thoughts.
She was on the right track. Her situation got better by the day but she had to decide whether or not to have chemotherapy. Colon cancer was known as a silent killer, so that dagger-like pain she felt saved her. She was lucky. As she wanted to be a normal person living a normal life, she decided to take up chemotherapy. When she saw people who were in much worse conditions than her, it must have motivated her to go forward in life. However, when she found at there was a risk of recurrence, she burst into tears. This is natural, having led quite a normal life for quite awhile and then taking another blow. But another motivation came- two baseball players who were in the same condition and all of them acknowledged how this brush with death changes their perception of the world. To them, it's about being alive.
In the end, Sherr passed the recurrence mark and would only need to be checked in a year. She felt great to be considered normal again. This article teaches the importance of optimism. Imagine you were the author, could you have taken this situation into good hands? For me, I possibly could not have. Lynn Sherr is definitely a role model for everyone. Her never-say-die attitude certainly deserves applaud.
Done by: Bernice (3)
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The Rise of Cyber Bullying
Over the years, technology has improved greatly. The Internet have made things alot more convenient and has also benefited us in many ways, but it has brought us more harm than good. Cyber bullying is one example, cyber-bullies are making use of information and communication technologies to harm others intentionally.
Most of the consequences leading to cyber bullying are bad, with some victims going to the length of commiting sucide due to the continuous harrasments of their peers. In my opinion, cyber bullying is a scandalous act and should not have been present. Cyber bullying not only hurts the victim deeply but also leaves a permanent scar in them, together with all the negative memories.
As it is hard to identify bullies through internet, they would have the mentality that no matter what they do, they would not be exposed. This had give cyber bullies better conditions and confidence to bully their victims much harsher than the conventional way.
One possible advantage for victims of cyber-bullying over traditional bullying is that they may sometimes be able to avoid it simply by avoiding the site/chat room in question. Unfortunately, this obviously does not protect against all forms of cyber bullying; publishing of defamatory material about a person on the internet is extremely difficult to prevent and once it is posted, millions of people can potentially download it before it is removed.
In conclusion, I hope that cyber bullies would truly know the consequence of their actions and stop their bullying act.
Done by:( Benjamin)
Most of the consequences leading to cyber bullying are bad, with some victims going to the length of commiting sucide due to the continuous harrasments of their peers. In my opinion, cyber bullying is a scandalous act and should not have been present. Cyber bullying not only hurts the victim deeply but also leaves a permanent scar in them, together with all the negative memories.
As it is hard to identify bullies through internet, they would have the mentality that no matter what they do, they would not be exposed. This had give cyber bullies better conditions and confidence to bully their victims much harsher than the conventional way.
One possible advantage for victims of cyber-bullying over traditional bullying is that they may sometimes be able to avoid it simply by avoiding the site/chat room in question. Unfortunately, this obviously does not protect against all forms of cyber bullying; publishing of defamatory material about a person on the internet is extremely difficult to prevent and once it is posted, millions of people can potentially download it before it is removed.
In conclusion, I hope that cyber bullies would truly know the consequence of their actions and stop their bullying act.
Done by:( Benjamin)
Saturday, June 21, 2008
This article, "Searching For Marita" is about a woman, Susana Trimarco of Argentina who set out to find her missing daughter. Instead she discovered a shadowy world of human trafficking and forced prostitution. Her daughter, Maria de los Ángeles Verón had been missing since April 3, 2002.
Reading this article arouses mixed emotions in me, that of anger and admiration for Susana Trimarco. I think that she is a very brave woman and a very good mother. Looking at how determined Susana is to find her daughter, I find that her daughter is very fortunate to have such a good mother like her. I am not saying that my mother is bad but it is just that not all mothers will do what Susana did.
It is rather surprising that even now, in this modern society, things like forced prostitution and human trafficking still exist. The reason behind all these hideous crimes is believe is because of those dirty old 'tek ko peks' who often patronise brothels. If they do not patronise brothels, brothels whold not have existed and therefore, prostitution will be wiped out. Even if there is brothels, woman should not be forced into them. This action is inhumane and barbaric.
However, the senario of prostitution being wiped out is rather impossible as nowadays, many girls, including well-educated ones, think that there is nothing wrong in resorting to prostitution to satisfy their materialistic cravings. I do feel sad for some of these girls as they betrayed their body just to get money for their materialistic cravings.
On the other hand, Susana exemplies bravery and initiative in helping those kidnapped young prostitutes. She opened the Fundacion Maria do los Angeles Por la Lucha Contra la Trata de Personas in Tucuman and Buenos Aires in October to help victims of sex trafficking to get medical and psychological treatment besides providing food and shelter for such victims.
Reading this article arouses mixed emotions in me, that of anger and admiration for Susana Trimarco. I think that she is a very brave woman and a very good mother. Looking at how determined Susana is to find her daughter, I find that her daughter is very fortunate to have such a good mother like her. I am not saying that my mother is bad but it is just that not all mothers will do what Susana did.
It is rather surprising that even now, in this modern society, things like forced prostitution and human trafficking still exist. The reason behind all these hideous crimes is believe is because of those dirty old 'tek ko peks' who often patronise brothels. If they do not patronise brothels, brothels whold not have existed and therefore, prostitution will be wiped out. Even if there is brothels, woman should not be forced into them. This action is inhumane and barbaric.
However, the senario of prostitution being wiped out is rather impossible as nowadays, many girls, including well-educated ones, think that there is nothing wrong in resorting to prostitution to satisfy their materialistic cravings. I do feel sad for some of these girls as they betrayed their body just to get money for their materialistic cravings.
On the other hand, Susana exemplies bravery and initiative in helping those kidnapped young prostitutes. She opened the Fundacion Maria do los Angeles Por la Lucha Contra la Trata de Personas in Tucuman and Buenos Aires in October to help victims of sex trafficking to get medical and psychological treatment besides providing food and shelter for such victims.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
The Rise of Cyber Bullying
Although the internet and communication systems may be blamed right now for what it has been believed to cause, they are not entirely at fault. Predators who started to cyber bully others have been caused by several factors. These predators, majority of which are students and young teenagers, have faced many situations and problems they are unable to overcome. In school, peer pressure and mocking may have caused mental turmoil and psychological harm towards the victim, and the victim, unable to retort or retaliate, will start to accumulate his animosity. Over time, when he is unable to take it any longer, he will vent it out, not physically in reality, but psychologically and virtually.
At the point of time where the victim starts to cyber bully others, he turns into a bully as well, continuing and seeing no point in stopping when he is being tormented in reality as well. This is when he falls into a deep obsession in cyber bullying, and starts to cross the borders and limits of harassments. He will find it a ludicrous to see others shrivel in pain psychologically, ignorant of the feelings of the new victim and the grievance he has inflicted. This starts another chain effect where the new victim himself, starts to rebel and vent his anger, taking it out on others through the cyber world. Repeating its cycle, this system will soon become a trend. I am inclined to think that cyber bullies not only work alone, they usually form groups such as cyber gangs and clans in order to team up against each other. This is an utterly foolish act as both sides will end up with emotional wounds, and I find it very brazenfaced of them to seethe over such feuds.
Nevertheless, actions have been taken to stop these cyber bullying. For example, in Singapore, chat rooms, forums and e-mails have been moderated by junk or spam filters, word filters, and people themselves as moderators, these will help to reduce the transmission of bad and unwanted messages. Also, the media filtering, such as the MDA (Media Development Authority), prevents users to access or upload sites that present rude, violent or hurting acts, such as mocking and insulting videos, pictures or even sounds. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, also have their own parent filtering. I feel that this attempt towards preventing cyber bullying and other forms of offence has greatly improved the security and privacy of many internet users, and I sincerely hope that cyber bullying will be nullified and voided like the epidemic of SARS, and break the chain effect of cyber bullying soon enough.
However, with the latest and advanced technology, computers and their systems are brought to a certain level that these cyber bullies take advantage of them, to keep anonymous and unidentified. Examples are internet proxies where these bullies are able to access into communication systems anonymously and start to act towards the victims, with them being unable to trace back the into details of the bullies. Such acts indubitably show how immoral and malicious the teenagers of today can be.
The impact of cyber bullying has created many problems in the victims. Examples are the two cases of suicide by the 13-year-old boy whose psychological strength broke down when he was unable to cope with his friend's online mocking, and the 15-year-old girl who received relentless silent prank calls which lasted until the middle of the night when her limit was crossed and took her own life. These two, alone is already traumatising enough to display the intense effects of cyber bullying.
I believe there are already many laws put up against cyber bullying and it is deemed illegal. Nonetheless, one should never neglect what we have learnt through lectures and talks. There are several ways to deal and not to deal with cyber bullying. Firstly, we should not get involved in cyber bullying or retaliation. "Laugh at it and you're part of it", that is what yp.direct.gov.uk quoted. We should never laugh or encourage any form of offence or threat sent through the cyber world, as we may soon get involved. We should put ourselves in the bullied's shoes, and think how would we feel like if we were aimed at instead.
We should also talk to someone we trust about the matter, like our parents or teachers, and should not keep it to ourselves or deal with the problem alone. Being unable to cope may lead to further problems which may be harder to solve. Also, revealing too much personal information can cause our identities to be leaked over the net and cyber bullies may easily locate and act towards their targets.
In conclusion, although cyber bullying may be a form of illegal act, there are many ways to prevent it and deal with it. We should never get involved in cyber bullying in any way, for it is hard to shun, as every action has its consequence. If we stay out of it, we will not become a victim of it, or a predator. My opinion on it: Mind our P's and Q's.
At the point of time where the victim starts to cyber bully others, he turns into a bully as well, continuing and seeing no point in stopping when he is being tormented in reality as well. This is when he falls into a deep obsession in cyber bullying, and starts to cross the borders and limits of harassments. He will find it a ludicrous to see others shrivel in pain psychologically, ignorant of the feelings of the new victim and the grievance he has inflicted. This starts another chain effect where the new victim himself, starts to rebel and vent his anger, taking it out on others through the cyber world. Repeating its cycle, this system will soon become a trend. I am inclined to think that cyber bullies not only work alone, they usually form groups such as cyber gangs and clans in order to team up against each other. This is an utterly foolish act as both sides will end up with emotional wounds, and I find it very brazenfaced of them to seethe over such feuds.
Nevertheless, actions have been taken to stop these cyber bullying. For example, in Singapore, chat rooms, forums and e-mails have been moderated by junk or spam filters, word filters, and people themselves as moderators, these will help to reduce the transmission of bad and unwanted messages. Also, the media filtering, such as the MDA (Media Development Authority), prevents users to access or upload sites that present rude, violent or hurting acts, such as mocking and insulting videos, pictures or even sounds. Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and MSN, also have their own parent filtering. I feel that this attempt towards preventing cyber bullying and other forms of offence has greatly improved the security and privacy of many internet users, and I sincerely hope that cyber bullying will be nullified and voided like the epidemic of SARS, and break the chain effect of cyber bullying soon enough.
However, with the latest and advanced technology, computers and their systems are brought to a certain level that these cyber bullies take advantage of them, to keep anonymous and unidentified. Examples are internet proxies where these bullies are able to access into communication systems anonymously and start to act towards the victims, with them being unable to trace back the into details of the bullies. Such acts indubitably show how immoral and malicious the teenagers of today can be.
The impact of cyber bullying has created many problems in the victims. Examples are the two cases of suicide by the 13-year-old boy whose psychological strength broke down when he was unable to cope with his friend's online mocking, and the 15-year-old girl who received relentless silent prank calls which lasted until the middle of the night when her limit was crossed and took her own life. These two, alone is already traumatising enough to display the intense effects of cyber bullying.
I believe there are already many laws put up against cyber bullying and it is deemed illegal. Nonetheless, one should never neglect what we have learnt through lectures and talks. There are several ways to deal and not to deal with cyber bullying. Firstly, we should not get involved in cyber bullying or retaliation. "Laugh at it and you're part of it", that is what yp.direct.gov.uk quoted. We should never laugh or encourage any form of offence or threat sent through the cyber world, as we may soon get involved. We should put ourselves in the bullied's shoes, and think how would we feel like if we were aimed at instead.
We should also talk to someone we trust about the matter, like our parents or teachers, and should not keep it to ourselves or deal with the problem alone. Being unable to cope may lead to further problems which may be harder to solve. Also, revealing too much personal information can cause our identities to be leaked over the net and cyber bullies may easily locate and act towards their targets.
In conclusion, although cyber bullying may be a form of illegal act, there are many ways to prevent it and deal with it. We should never get involved in cyber bullying in any way, for it is hard to shun, as every action has its consequence. If we stay out of it, we will not become a victim of it, or a predator. My opinion on it: Mind our P's and Q's.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Rising of Cyber Bullying
Over the years, IT has developed very fast and IT is totally different from now and then. The Internet benefits us a lot and brings a lot of convenience. For example, many people used the Internet for the convenience of their jobs.
As online shopping becomes more and more popular, people does not even have to step out of their house to buy anything and also the product can be delivered to your house. But looking at the bad side, the progression of IT have bought more harm than good and cyber-bullying is one of the problems that has spoil the image of IT. As more and more people use the Internet, there tends to be some black sheep that take advantages of the Internet. As more and more people used the Internet, there tends to be more black sheep’s. This factor has caused the number of cyber-bullying to increase drastically, and even worse, cyber-bullying has caused deaths of many teenagers. An example is the recent case of a 15-year-old British girl named Gails Jones who committed suicide after she received many prank calls for almost 30 minutes on her mobile phone. We may think that receiving prank calls may not have a link with cyber bullying but the reason behind the prank call is that this girl had disclosed her personal information on the Internet. Cyber-bullying can be done in many different ways. From sending insulting messages to posting insulting video footage on the Internet are just some of the examples of how cyber-bullying is conducted. Youngsters ranging from 13-19 are mostly the targets of these cyber-bullies as they are heavily active in social networking and online communication. The reason of the severe damage done by cyber bullying is because many people will have access to all this insulting videos and photos once it is being posted on the Internet. This will cause extreme stress to the victim, who will cause severe depression or even death is the problem is not being treated. Curing the psychological wound is easier said than done. It requires a lot of effort and support from the victim’s family as the support will let the victim have the courage to overcome the psychological barrier. As the Internet is available every seconds, it explains the frequency of cyber-bullying.
Cyber bullies never show their identity when online. Thus, they will tend to do things that they want to do in real life but they can’t. These people are perverted and sick in the mind. Research has shown that quite a handful of cyber bullies has been bullied in real life. Usually, they don't dare to retaliate. Therefore, they will go into the cyber-world to experience the life of being bullies. After doing it, they will have a sense of satisfaction. These are acts of a coward. Additionally, it is also suggested that cyber-bullying may be influenced from videos uploaded in Youtube and Metacafe, which contain offensive materials and acts of bullying. Although many countries have taken action to deal with the offenders, it proves to be ineffective as the number of cyber-bullying cases reported is still increasing. In my opinion, I think the best solution is to exercise self-control. Do not chat with strangers online frequently and avoid meeting with strangers when they requested it. The most important thing is not to disclose your personal information to anyone on the Internet no matter how close you are with him or her.
DONE BY : Desmond
As online shopping becomes more and more popular, people does not even have to step out of their house to buy anything and also the product can be delivered to your house. But looking at the bad side, the progression of IT have bought more harm than good and cyber-bullying is one of the problems that has spoil the image of IT. As more and more people use the Internet, there tends to be some black sheep that take advantages of the Internet. As more and more people used the Internet, there tends to be more black sheep’s. This factor has caused the number of cyber-bullying to increase drastically, and even worse, cyber-bullying has caused deaths of many teenagers. An example is the recent case of a 15-year-old British girl named Gails Jones who committed suicide after she received many prank calls for almost 30 minutes on her mobile phone. We may think that receiving prank calls may not have a link with cyber bullying but the reason behind the prank call is that this girl had disclosed her personal information on the Internet. Cyber-bullying can be done in many different ways. From sending insulting messages to posting insulting video footage on the Internet are just some of the examples of how cyber-bullying is conducted. Youngsters ranging from 13-19 are mostly the targets of these cyber-bullies as they are heavily active in social networking and online communication. The reason of the severe damage done by cyber bullying is because many people will have access to all this insulting videos and photos once it is being posted on the Internet. This will cause extreme stress to the victim, who will cause severe depression or even death is the problem is not being treated. Curing the psychological wound is easier said than done. It requires a lot of effort and support from the victim’s family as the support will let the victim have the courage to overcome the psychological barrier. As the Internet is available every seconds, it explains the frequency of cyber-bullying.
Cyber bullies never show their identity when online. Thus, they will tend to do things that they want to do in real life but they can’t. These people are perverted and sick in the mind. Research has shown that quite a handful of cyber bullies has been bullied in real life. Usually, they don't dare to retaliate. Therefore, they will go into the cyber-world to experience the life of being bullies. After doing it, they will have a sense of satisfaction. These are acts of a coward. Additionally, it is also suggested that cyber-bullying may be influenced from videos uploaded in Youtube and Metacafe, which contain offensive materials and acts of bullying. Although many countries have taken action to deal with the offenders, it proves to be ineffective as the number of cyber-bullying cases reported is still increasing. In my opinion, I think the best solution is to exercise self-control. Do not chat with strangers online frequently and avoid meeting with strangers when they requested it. The most important thing is not to disclose your personal information to anyone on the Internet no matter how close you are with him or her.
DONE BY : Desmond
Sunday, June 15, 2008
The Rise Of Cyber Bullying
What is meant by cyberbullying we may all wonder. Well, "Cyberbullying" is when a child, preteen or teen is tormented, threatened, harassed, humiliated, embarrassed or otherwise targeted by another child, preteen or teen using the Internet, interactive and digital technologies or mobile phones. Cyber-bullies may disclose victims' personal data at websites or forums, or may attempt to assume the identity of a victim for the purpose of publishing material in their name that defames or ridicules them. Some cyber-bullies may also send threatening and harrasing emails and instant messages to the victims. The content in these messages are sometimes so strong that a victim may commit suicide.
There are two kinds of cyberbullying, direct attacks (messages sent to your kids directly) and cyberbullying by proxy (using others to help cyberbully the victim, either with or without the accomplice's knowledge). Because cyberbullying by proxy often gets adults involved in the harassment, it is much more dangerous. Examples of direct attacks would be Instant Messaging/Text Messaging Harassment, Stealing Passwords, Sending Porn and Other Junk E-Mail and IMs, Impersonation. Cyberbullying by proxy is when a cyberbully gets someone else to do their dirty work. Most of the time they are unwitting accomplices and don't know that they are being used by the cyberbully. Cyberbullying by proxy is the most dangerous kind of cyberbullying because it often gets adults involve in the harassment and people who don't know they are dealing with a kid or someone they know.
We may womder why kids cyberbully each other? When it comes to cyberbullying, they are often motivated by anger, revenge or frustration. Sometimes they do it for entertainment or because they are bored and have too much time on their hands and too many tech toys available to them. Many do it for laughs or to get a reaction. Some do it by accident, and either send a message to the wrong recipient or didn't think before they did something. The Power-hungry do it to torment others and for their ego. Revenge of the Nerd may start out defending themselves from traditional bullying only to find that they enjoy being the tough guy or gal. Mean girls do it to help bolster or remind people of their own social standing. And some think they are righting wrong and standing up for others.
We should prevent cyberbullying by educating the kids about the consequences and teaching them to respect others and to take a stand against bullying of all kinds. Parents need to be the one trusted place kids can go when things go wrong online and offline. Yet they often are the one place kids avoid when things go wrong online.
I hope that the cases of cyberbullying would decrease and i pray that teens should mind their own business online and not interact with unknown strangers.
Done By: Valencia Sim (18)
There are two kinds of cyberbullying, direct attacks (messages sent to your kids directly) and cyberbullying by proxy (using others to help cyberbully the victim, either with or without the accomplice's knowledge). Because cyberbullying by proxy often gets adults involved in the harassment, it is much more dangerous. Examples of direct attacks would be Instant Messaging/Text Messaging Harassment, Stealing Passwords, Sending Porn and Other Junk E-Mail and IMs, Impersonation. Cyberbullying by proxy is when a cyberbully gets someone else to do their dirty work. Most of the time they are unwitting accomplices and don't know that they are being used by the cyberbully. Cyberbullying by proxy is the most dangerous kind of cyberbullying because it often gets adults involve in the harassment and people who don't know they are dealing with a kid or someone they know.
We may womder why kids cyberbully each other? When it comes to cyberbullying, they are often motivated by anger, revenge or frustration. Sometimes they do it for entertainment or because they are bored and have too much time on their hands and too many tech toys available to them. Many do it for laughs or to get a reaction. Some do it by accident, and either send a message to the wrong recipient or didn't think before they did something. The Power-hungry do it to torment others and for their ego. Revenge of the Nerd may start out defending themselves from traditional bullying only to find that they enjoy being the tough guy or gal. Mean girls do it to help bolster or remind people of their own social standing. And some think they are righting wrong and standing up for others.
We should prevent cyberbullying by educating the kids about the consequences and teaching them to respect others and to take a stand against bullying of all kinds. Parents need to be the one trusted place kids can go when things go wrong online and offline. Yet they often are the one place kids avoid when things go wrong online.
I hope that the cases of cyberbullying would decrease and i pray that teens should mind their own business online and not interact with unknown strangers.
Done By: Valencia Sim (18)
Loose Nukes
As time passes, the advancement in technology increases, so do the rise of terrorism. In this era, advancing technology has brought about nuclear technology, which can create nuclear weapons. Nuclear weapons are dangerous and cause a lot of damage, even after the explosion.
However, there is this disturbing fact that it is not very hard for terrorist to lay hands on nuclear weapons. Imagine the damage that would be done. Within a fraction of a second, the ground could be heated to 100 million degrees centigrade, melting all surrounding matter into formless plasma.
This is not an opinion but a fact that is backed with concrete evidence. Nuclear weapons can only be made with refined Uranium or enriched Plutonium. Although refining Uranium or enriching Plutonium is difficult and terrorist does not have the technology, there are many other sources.
Some countries like Russia has around 600 tons of weapons-usable nuclear materials spread around its country, guarded by poor security procedures and ramshackle infrastructure. Terrorists can easily steal some of the materials to create their own nuclear weapons. There are also research reactors, all around the world, which contains nuclear materials. These places are also located in places not conductive to high security, such as schools. These can also become targets of terrorist to obtain nuclear materials.
Although there are measures taken to an international extent, there are still some countries such as Iran which are reluctant to cooperate. It is very worrying to find out that the World is unsafe yet there are countries which are unwilling to help and put themselves in danger. It is just unbelievable that there are such selfish people.
If you balance out the points on both sides yourself, you will find out that there are more possibilities for the terrorist to obtain nuclear materials than the pre-cautions taken to keep the nuclear materials away from the wrong hands. This is something that will make us feel insecure as who knows what will happen if the terrorist obtain nuclear materials and construct their own nuclear weapons.
It is also quite suprising to find out that such an advanced country like Russia still lacks security on some parts. This shows that it is not easy to govern a big country. Thus, it is also hard for us to achieve world peace unless everyone work together and aim for a similar target. It will be just as hard to secure the nuclear materials from the terrorist.
Just as the article state, "With the age of terrorism threatening becoming an age of nuclear terrorism, there would be sacrifices, but none as great as losing a city." We will need to make sacrifices to achieve our targets, and I believe the United Nations will do a good job in securing the nuclear materials and making the right choice of sacrifices. This way, i will feel more reassured and less insecure.
Reader Digest May version Pg 28
Lai kunxian (33) 3D
However, there is this disturbing fact that it is not very hard for terrorist to lay hands on nuclear weapons. Imagine the damage that would be done. Within a fraction of a second, the ground could be heated to 100 million degrees centigrade, melting all surrounding matter into formless plasma.
This is not an opinion but a fact that is backed with concrete evidence. Nuclear weapons can only be made with refined Uranium or enriched Plutonium. Although refining Uranium or enriching Plutonium is difficult and terrorist does not have the technology, there are many other sources.
Some countries like Russia has around 600 tons of weapons-usable nuclear materials spread around its country, guarded by poor security procedures and ramshackle infrastructure. Terrorists can easily steal some of the materials to create their own nuclear weapons. There are also research reactors, all around the world, which contains nuclear materials. These places are also located in places not conductive to high security, such as schools. These can also become targets of terrorist to obtain nuclear materials.
Although there are measures taken to an international extent, there are still some countries such as Iran which are reluctant to cooperate. It is very worrying to find out that the World is unsafe yet there are countries which are unwilling to help and put themselves in danger. It is just unbelievable that there are such selfish people.
If you balance out the points on both sides yourself, you will find out that there are more possibilities for the terrorist to obtain nuclear materials than the pre-cautions taken to keep the nuclear materials away from the wrong hands. This is something that will make us feel insecure as who knows what will happen if the terrorist obtain nuclear materials and construct their own nuclear weapons.
It is also quite suprising to find out that such an advanced country like Russia still lacks security on some parts. This shows that it is not easy to govern a big country. Thus, it is also hard for us to achieve world peace unless everyone work together and aim for a similar target. It will be just as hard to secure the nuclear materials from the terrorist.
Just as the article state, "With the age of terrorism threatening becoming an age of nuclear terrorism, there would be sacrifices, but none as great as losing a city." We will need to make sacrifices to achieve our targets, and I believe the United Nations will do a good job in securing the nuclear materials and making the right choice of sacrifices. This way, i will feel more reassured and less insecure.
Reader Digest May version Pg 28
Lai kunxian (33) 3D
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