Saturday, December 28, 2019

Beto ORourke Biography

Beto O’Rourke (born Robert Francis O’Rourke on Sept. 26, 1972) is a Texas politician whose progressive politics, enthusiastic following on the campaign trail, and aspirations to the presidency have earned him comparisons to a  Kennedy  and  a young Obama. O’Rourke is a former businessman who served three terms in the  U.S. House of Representatives  before embarking on what would be the most expensive, yet unsuccessful, campaign for  U.S. Senate  in the midterm elections of  President Donald Trump’s first term. Fast Facts: Beto O'Rourke Full Name: Robert Francis O’RourkeKnown For:  American politician and potential presidential hopeful. His unsuccessful campaign against Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz was the most expensive in the 2018 congressional midterm elections, costing $80 million.Born:  Sept. 26, 1972, in El Paso, TexasParents:  Pat and Melissa O’RourkeSpouse:  Amy Hoover SandersChildren:  Ulysses, Henry and MollyEducation:  Columbia University, bachelor of arts degree in English literature,  1995.Famous Quote:  I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up, or take a knee, for your rights, any time, anywhere, in any place.Fun Fact:  ORourke played bass in a punk band called Foss. Early Years  and an Unusual  Nickname for an Irish Kid O’Rourke was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of Pat and Melissa O’Rourke. His father was in politics, serving as a Democratic county commissioner and judge before switching  parties and mounting an unsuccessful campaign for Congress. His mother worked in a furniture store. O’Rourke’s family had immigrated from Ireland four generations before, but the young man went by Beto—short for Roberto in Mexico. â€Å"My parents have called me Beto from day one, and it’s just—it’s kind of a nickname for Robert in El Paso. It just stuck,† he has said. As a young man, ORourke often accompanied his politician father around town. He told an interviewer in 2018 that he and his father were far apart in their enjoyment of glad-handing and schmoozing.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"He had this real joy in public life, in meeting people and representing people,† the younger O’Rourke recalled about his father. In some ways, I really hated it.  It was the kind of stuff you don’t want to do when you are 10 years old, unless you were really into that. And I wasn’t. I was an awkward and shy kid, so it was the last thing I wanted to do, but now I can look back and bless my experience in it.† As a young teen in high school, ORourke sought distance from his father by transferring from the public high school in El Paso to an all-male boarding school in Virginia, Woodberry Forest. After graduation he entered Columbia University in New York, where he majored in English literature, worked at a publishing house, and wrote fiction while playing bass with a punk band with some friends. After graduating from college, ORourke moved back to El Paso in 1998, and co-founded a software and technology company called Stanton Street Technology Group. He also became a partner in a real-estate firm and invested in property in his home town. Political Career ORourke was catapulted to political fame with his folksy 2018 bid for U.S. Senate against  Republican incumbent Ted Cruz—he livestreamed a 254-county tour of Texas—and his accessibility in the House. He was popular with small-money donors and progressive activists, much the way  Bernie Sanders  was in running for president in 2016. But his political career began on a much smaller level, as a member of El Paso city council from 2005 to 2011. It was during his tenure on city council that he became involved in a controversy that placed him squarely between the interests of his wealthy investor father-in-law and the angry residents and small businesses he was elected to represent. ORourke sided with his father-in-law and publicly supported the plan to replace  tenements and boarded-up buildings in  downtown El Paso with restaurants, shops and an arts walk, a move that angered his constituents. His first step into the national political spotlight came in the May 2012 Democratic congressional primary in Texas, when ORourke knocked off an eight-term incumbent who had been endorsed by  President Barack Obama  and  former President Bill Clinton,  U.S. Rep.  Silvestre Reyes. ORourke was elected that year to represent the 16th Congressional District in El Paso. ORourke served three two-year terms in Congress, and had several pieces of legislation signed into law. One was the â€Å"Honor Our Commitment Act,† which expanded mental health care to veterans with â€Å"other-than-honorable† discharges from the military.   He did not seek re-election to the House in 2018 and chose instead to challenge Cruz for one of the states seats in the U.S. Senate. Cruz narrowly won the race, which in an of itself was shocking because Texas is overwhelmingly Republican. ORourke, though defeated, had accomplished much by running so close to an entrenched incumbent. ORourke has said he is weighing a run for president in 2020. Personal Life and Wealth ORourke married his wife, Amy, in 2005.  She is  the daughter of wealthy real estate mogul  William â€Å"Bill† Sanders. The ORourkes have three children: Ulysses, Molly and Henry.   The Center for Responsive Politics estimated Beto O’Rourke’s net worth as $9.1 million in 2016. His net worth and familial ties to a wealthy real estate investor made him an unlikely star among young progressives in 2018. Arrests O’Rourke has been relatively open about facing criminal charges—one for drunk driving and another for breaking into a facility at the University of Texas at El Paso. Both cases have been used against him by political opponents. In the drunk-driving case, from September 1998, O’Rourke was allegedly driving at a high rate of speed when he crashed his car about a mile from the Texas border with New Mexico. A breath-test administered by police found O’Rourke’s blood-alcohol level was above the legal threshold, 0.10 percent. The 26-year-old’s reading was a high of 0.136, according to published reports. The charge was later dismissed after O’Rourke completed a court-approved program. He has described the DUI as a â€Å"serious mistake for which there is no excuse.† Three years earlier, in 1995, O’Rourke had been charged with attempted forcible entry to the physical plant at the University of Texas at El Paso, where he was a student. He spent a night in the El Paso County Jail, made bail the next day and was released. The charge was later dropped. I along with some friends were horsing around, and we snuck under the fence at the UTEP physical plant and set off an alarm. We were arrested by UTEP police. ... UTEP decided not to press charges. We werent intending to do any harm, he has been quoted saying. Sources and Further Reading Saul, Stephanie. â€Å"Beto ORourke Once Supported an El Paso Real Estate Deal. Barrio Residents Remember.†Ã‚  The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 Oct. 2018,  www.nytimes.com/2018/10/29/us/politics/beto-orourke-el-paso-texas-senate.html.Golshan, Tara. â€Å"The Raging Controversy over Beto ORourkes Full Name, Explained.†Ã‚  Vox.com, Vox Media, 8 Mar. 2018,  www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/3/7/17091094/beto-orourke-full-name-ted-cruz-controversy.Bailey, Holly. â€Å"Like Ted Cruz, Beto ORourke Had a Fiery, Charismatic Father. The Similarities End There.† Yahoo! News, Yahoo!, 2 Oct. 2018,  www.yahoo.com/news/like-ted-cruz-beto-orourke-fiery-charismatic-father-similarities-end-090017531.html.Livingston, Abby. â€Å"Disclosures Offer Window into Personal Finances of Ted Cruz and Beto ORourke in Senate Race.†Ã‚  The Eagle, 4 Oct. 2018,  www.theeagle.com/news/texas/disclosures-offer-window-into-personal-finances-of-ted-cruz-and/article_6dc925 eb-df8a-5037-8f24-573abc4b35ac.html.

Friday, December 20, 2019

Genetically Modified Organisms in Food Essay example

Genetically Modified Organisms in Food Tomatoes, soy beans and McDonald’s French fries- what all of these things have in common? They are all some of the most commonly genetically modified foods on the market today. With scientists in the race to invent newer and better everythings, genetically modified organisms, or â€Å"GMOs† have become a hot topic of research in just the past 10 years. By using the genetic information from one organism, or the â€Å"DNA† and splicing it with the DNA of another, scientists can make food crops grow bigger, stay fresh longer, or even create their own pesticides. In this case however, and often with any case involving genetic modification, the technology has exceeded the practicality of this innovation.†¦show more content†¦Among the list of foods genetically created is a product from the Biotech Corporation; A modified tomato called the â€Å"FLAVR SAVR†, and in theory this sounds like marvelous invention. It is larger, better tasting, and stays fres h longer than commercial tomatoes on the market. How did they do it? The FLAVR SAVR tomato was created by combining conventional tomato genes with genes of an arctic trout. This was no natural or logical combination of genes and certainly presents a lot of complication when arriving to the market. Will people with a sea food allergy be able to eat the FLAVR SAVR? Would these new trout genes allow new types of bacteria to form on the tomatoes making them especially hazardous to eat? With so many new attributes introduced through this new DNA it is difficult to know the potential side effects from these new foods. For centuries now farmers have been able to cross breed various strains of sweet corn to make it grow even sweeter, or to make potatoes grow bigger, but mixing tomatoes and fish is a match that could only have been made in a laboratory. Since it wasn’t until recently that such technology was feasible, there is no real way of knowing whether genetically modified foods would take a negative impact on the body. Many activists tend to cite an incident that occurred in 1989 concerning the nutritional supplement, L- Tryptophan. What was originallyShow MoreRelatedGenetically Modified Organisms And The Food844 Words   |  4 Pages Do you know exactly what is in the food you eat every day? Do you read the food labels every time you eat different food? Are companies, factories, or stores stating the truth when they claim that their food is â€Å"organic† or â€Å"natural†? The answer is probably no, unless you really are interested in what you eat. But for the most part, a great majority of the population in this country have no idea what is in their food. Most of them probably don’t even know what the definition of the word â€Å"organic†Read MoreGenetically Modified Foods and Organisms974 Words   |  4 Pagesuse of biotechnology in agricultural production is a major tool for enhancing food security and sustaining the environment. Biotechnology is considered important in addressing the challenge of food availability, alleviation of poverty and environmental conservation. In this regard (Tramper et al 408), it is important to note that GMOs are produced by the introduction of extra genetic information into a certain organism through genetic engineering. The methods are a natural creation of the strategiesRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms And Foods1445 Words   |  6 PagesGenetically Modified foods have been around for many years and have been in the products we consume daily. By being able to alter their genes into making them grow in a certain way like faster, tastier, and reproduce faster, these modifications allow for the plants and crops to have new varieties of plants and crops that will be formed gradually. These modifications allow the plants to be more resistant to viruses, pesticides, and insects that can ruin the lifespan of the plants and crops and harmRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms And Food1200 Words   |  5 Pagesâ€Æ' Genetically Modified Organisms in Food Genetically Modified Organism’s were introduced back in the 1990’s; however, scientists first discovered that DNA could be transferred from one organism to another back in 1946 (Bawa and Anilakumar, 2013). It consists of organisms in which their genes have been altered. Whether it’s an animal or a plant, nothing is perfect; desired traits are scattered all around so scientists are now able to retrieve the DNA from one living organism, virus, or bacteria andRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms And The Food Supply1642 Words   |  7 Pagesconsumer’s food without the world’s communities approval and it still continues today. Genetically modified organisms have contaminated the food supply. â€Å"A GMO (genetically modified organism) is the result of a laboratory process where genes from the DNA of one species are extracted and artificially forced in the genes of an unrelated plant or animal† (Seeds of Deception). The results have no health benefits, only financial benefits to the companies that produce them. The genetically modified organismsRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms And The Food System1684 Words   |  7 Pages or â€Å"genetically modified organisms,† are plants or animals that have been genetically engineered with DNA from bacteria, viruses or other plants and animals. These experimental combinations of genes from different species cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding. There are currently eight Genetically modified organisms available in grocery stores across America, they are cotton, alfalfa, papaya, squash, soybeans, canola, corn and sugar beets. Many believe putting genetically modifiedRead MoreGenetically Modified Foods and Organisms Essay949 Words   |  4 PagesThe people’s interest in where their foods come from and how they are processed has increased steadily with growing health concerns and ecological problems. As the amount of genetically modified (GM) crop s have increased rapidly in recent years, the debates on whether GM foods are truly beneficial or not have become prevalent. Scientists around the world are making their sentiments known. Over eight hundred scientists around the world signed an open letter to all governments, the UN, the World TradeRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms and Food Essay951 Words   |  4 PagesThe term GMO or Genetically Modified Organism refers to an individual form of life in which the genome is changed or modified through genetic engineering. In other words, the DNA from an organism is modified in a laboratory and then inserted into another organism’s genome for the purpose of producing positive traits that would be useful, creating a new organism. This science of genetic manipulation has been utilized for many different purposes. One important area in which it is controversial is agricultureRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms For Food Sources Essay1430 Words   |  6 PagesIntroduction: GMO, genetically modified organisms, are organisms that are used for food sources and are manipulated by biotechnology, most often by gene transfer (Ahmed, 2002). Most agricultural food sources such as fruits, vegetables, or any other mass-produced crops are known examples of GMO (Owens, 2000). Many question the ethics or reasoning behind the production of GMOs due to its interference with naturally bound events but biotechnological gene transfer is vastly beneficial because it leadsRead MoreGenetically Modified Organisms And Food Benefulation1774 Words   |  8 Pagesmade it necessary to selectively breed plants and animals to keep up with the demands for food. As technology has evolved even further, biotechnology has become a popular option. Recently, there has been a push for the use of genetically modified seeds and organisms (GMOs) for food relief. This push of genetically modified seeds in North America is at such a large scale that the quality of non-genetically modified cro ps is being jeopardized. The GMO push has become a controversial issue and concern globally

Thursday, December 12, 2019

Religious and Social Significance Process

Question: Discuss about the Religious and Social Significance Process. Answer: Introduction: The journal talks about the religious and social significance of religious belief among the young people. Focus has been made on different religious groups including Muslim and the Hindus. It has been found that there is a commonality among the various religions even if they belong to different ethnic cultures. This clearly states that there remains a self-assigned affiliation among the individuals. The article highlighted the influence of behaviour of people when they are primed with the concept of their own religion. It has been observed that there remains a difference in the culture of the people especially this has been highlighted among the Christians and the Buddhists. The Christian tradition has always highlighted morality whereas the other religion talks about culture and supervision. In the Christian religion, God is the ultimate spirit who is responsible for all the situational factors and the life activities. The Human soul can get purified if the person believes in the power of the God. God is responsible for the creation and demolition of human soul. However, debate has been made on the existence of God and his presence. In the article, the author presented the idea that peoples religious view influences the worldview. Their alternative view can threaten the world view and can also strengthen and derogate the alternative religious view. When a group of religious people form groups, they are found to create a persuasive experience in the world. This can influence other people belonging to the same religion to a large extent. The author argued on the equality and anticipation of different religions. It has been observed that sociology revolves around the Christian Gospels and the way people are taught about the Christian culture. This particular perspective of people makes them to act as a critique towards the world view. The Christians become more aware about their religion and start considering the negative aspects of other religions. The article talks about the belief of life after death that the Christians belief that if they do not perform the right thing at the right time, they would have to suffer after their life. This is the reason that atheism has been found threatening among many religions. The Muslims are also included in the same underpinning and religious prejudices. This article talks about the beliefs of educated students towards the world. It has been stated that there is no doubt that people have different worldviews but the main topic lies in the fact that education alters the viewpoint of people. The Christian students have been found to share the similar approach towards the world but it is not same for non-Christian students. Similar approach has been made in this study and focus has been made towards understanding the perspectives of the people. It has been found that the worldview and the commitment of the students seem to change once they understand the theoretical perspective of God and religion. The perspectives of the students from the fields of psychology, theology, sociology and even epidemiology changes depending understanding of the subject. References: Clobert, M., Saroglou, V. (2013). Intercultural non-conscious influences: Prosocial effects of Buddhist priming on Westerners of Christian tradition.International Journal of Intercultural Relations,37(4), 459-466. Francis, L. J., Robbins, M. (2014). The religious and social significance of self-assigned religious affiliation in England and Wales: comparing Christian, Muslim and religiously-unaffiliated adolescent males.Research in Education,92(1), 32-48. Goplen, J., Plant, E. A. (2015). A Religious Worldview Protecting Ones Meaning System Through Religious Prejudice.Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin,41(11), 1474-1487. Mayhew, M. J., Bryant, A. N. (2013). Achievement or arrest? The influence of the collegiate religious and spiritual climate on students worldview commitment.Research in Higher Education,54(1), 63-84. Mayhew, M. J., Bowman, N. A., Rockenbach, A. B. (2014). Silencing whom? Linking campus climates for religious, spiritual, and worldview diversity to student worldviews.The Journal of Higher Education,85(2), 219-245. McGrath, A. E. (2016).Christian theology: An introduction. John Wiley Sons. Smith, C. (2014).The sacred project of American sociology. Oxford University Press. Soto, G. E., Prez-Hernndez, C. G., Hahn, I. J., Rodewald, A. D., Vergara, P. M. (2017). Tree senescence as a direct measure of habitat quality: linking red-edge vegetation indices to space use by magellanic woodpeckers.Remote Sensing of Environment,193, 1-10.

Wednesday, December 4, 2019

The Effect of Cyber-Crime and One Way to Fight Back free essay sample

Also during this study it was discovered that there had been a huge Increase of cyber-attacks, approximately 48 percent, with around 102 of them being successful per week. The number of successful attacks per week in 2010 was only around 50. More than 78 percent of the annual cybercafà © can be labeled as denial of service, malicious code, malevolent insiders, and stolen or hijacked devices. Businesses have no choice but to spend an increasing amount of money, time, and energy In order to protect themselves against these cyber-attacks that seem to be reaching unsustainable levels.Even though some companies are finding ways to lower the cost of security measures, the cost of time and energy spent cannot be eased. No matter what the solution is, it will always take time to incorporate any security and energy to maintain those securities. Additional key findings include: * Information theft and business disruption continue to represent the highest external costs. On an annual basis, information theft accounts for 44 percent of total external costs, up 4 percent from 2011. Disruption to business or lost productivity accounted for 30 percent of external costs, up 1 percent from 2011. Deploying advanced security intelligence solutions can mitigate the impact of cyber-attacks. Organizations that deployed security information and event management (SEEM) solutions realized a cost savings of nearly $1. 6 million per year. As a result, these organizations experienced a substantially lower cost of recovery, detection and containment than organizations that had not deployed SEEM solutions. * Cyber- attacks can be costly If not resolved quickly. The average time to resolve a cyber- attack is 24 days, but it can take up to 50 days according to this years study.The average cost incurred during this 24-day period was $591 ,780, representing a 42 percent increase over last years estimated average cost of $41 5,748 during an 18-day average resolution period. * Recovery and detection remain the most costly internal activities associated with cybercafà ©. On an annual basis, these activities account for almost half of the total Internal cost, with operating expenses and labor representing reported that cybercafà © is costing its 200,000 members a combined 785 million euros which breaks down to about 3,750 euros for every small business.Often these raids are carried out by a customer, client, or so-called card not present situations. Insider Security Threats An insider security threat is a malicious attack by a trusted employee, former employee, business partner or any contractor who had or has access to the organizations system, data, or network and intentionally misuses or exceeds the access given by the organization, in order to harm and affect the integrity, confidentiality, or availability of the organizations information system.Cyber-crimes committed by malicious insiders are among the most significant threats to networked yester a nd data. When developing policies and procedures for responding to cyber security events, it is important to consider the insider threat. As increased information-sharing exposes sensitive information to more insiders, such attacks will become an increasingly serious threat. With the seriousness of this problem growing the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service and other federal agencies came together to sponsor an advanced research project looking into insider security threats. These agencies put members of the Insider Threat Center at Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (CERT.) in charge of conducting and reporting this research. The goal was to develop and transition socio-technical solutions to combat insider cyber threats. By using previous case files that were provided by the U. S. Secret Service, they were able to analyze actual events of insider fraud, from the beginning to the sentencing. The researchers were then able to compare the most common security controls used to help prevent future internal as well as external attacks. Their research will be able to help impasses with creating informed decisions towards risk management. This information also helps local law enforcement agencies in their cyber-crime investigations.The foundation of their work is their database of more than 700 insider threat cases. They are able to use system dynamics modeling to characterize the nature of the insider threat problem, explore dynamic indicators of insider threat risk, and identify and experiment with administrative and technical controls for insider threat mitigation. The CERT. insider threat lab provides a foundation to identify, tune, and package technical controls as an extension of the modeling efforts.We have developed an assessment framework based on the fraud, theft of intellectual property, and IT sabotage case data that we have used to help organizations identify their technical and unethical vulnerabilities to insider threats as well as executable countermeasures. The Insider Threat Security Reference Architecture (TSAR) provides an enterprise-wide solution to insider threat. The architecture consists of four security layers: Business, Information, Data, and Application. Organizations should deploy and enforce controls at each layer to address insider attacks.None of the layers function in isolation or independently of other layers. Rather, the correlation of indicators and application of controls across all four layers form the crux of this approach. Empirical data consisting of more than damage when an organization failed to implement adequate controls in any of three security principles: authorized access, acceptable use, and continuous monitoring. The TSAR draws from existing best practices and standards as well as from analysis of these cases to provide actionable guidance for organizations to improve their posture against the insider threat.The HP Insider Threat solution gives you visibility into potential insider threats from within by identifying users who deviate from behavior normal for their roles or engage in risky activity. It also enables you to automate the enforcement of security controls, quickly cutting off access to risky users. By detecting abuses and anomalies in the behavior of high-risk, high-profile, or high-privilege users and taking action quickly, you significantly reduce your risk of cyber espionage as well and damage caused from within. Biometrics Law Enforcement is not the only ones using fingerprints anymore. Today they are being used by more and more corporations in the battle against cyber-crimes, internal and external. With the advancements of biometric technology, the press or swipe recognizes an individuals unique fingerprint that allows that person to access only what they are cleared to access and keeping them from the information they should not be accessing. A Tampa-based company, Real-time North America, has begun to use this growing technological advancement to help business of all sizes and even helping government agencies tighten up their security.Some of Real-times linens include the Polk County School District and the Bread County government as well as national clients such as Marathon Oil and Purdue Pharmacy. Thomas Undergone, the companys chief operations officer, stated It generally turns their mindset upside down because we show them something they didnt think was possible, referring to the companys biometric-based system marketed under the brand name Bullock. Although this system costs around $100,000 installed, Kenneth D. Pete Gun, who also was the one to recommend this technology to the government of Bread County, said The benefit is that the computer administrator an assign by terminal who has access to the information, and they have a recorded database, which shows who has access to data, when they accessed it, for how long and for what purpose, Gun also said, If theres ever an investigation into who released information, they have a handle on it. Biometrics has even taken the U. S.Department of Defense by storm, both as a tool to fight war on the battlefield and as a way to make its business practices more efficient. The director of the Armys Biometrics Identity Management Agency, Myra Gray, stated that biometrics has come an integral part of a soldiers mission, allowing troops to identify potential threats and confirm the link between name and face. You can identify an individual and associate him with certain actions. In this case you are able to figure out the associates of an individual as well as what they may have been involved in together.For an example, it makes it possible to find a link between such events as an Improvised Explosive Device (DE) and a protest, even though they happen in two different places. It builds a picture of what has gone on. Biometrics, of course, is the behavioral characteristics. The military uses iris, facial, palm and voice characteristics in the field. Now the Pentagon has begun to exploit the use of biometrics at home. Just like in the combat zone, where biometrics are used to grant people access to secure facilities, the Defense department is using them in its own facilities as a type of universal access.Every member of the military, their families and civilian employees have a common access identification card that is embedded with their fingerprints. For example: * At Gelling Air Force Base, Flag. , the Air Force uses a device that scans hand prints to Lear veterans who are receiving treatment at the Veterans Affairs clinic for access to the base hospital. * At Fort Believe, Va. , the Army uses iris scanning technology to provide Kyles entry to sensitive areas. The Navy uses biometrics equipment to confirm identifies as they board foreign vessels. But biometric technology is becoming better, and the military is already experimenting with new uses, such as the ability to scan people on the fly without requiring them to touch anything or stop moving. With the continuing strides that are being made by biometrics to help secure ND protect companies information as well as your own information, the future begins to look a little brighter towards regaining control from hackers and other malicious attacks.