It’s Time to Ban the Use of Landmines
El Salvador, 6 April 1992--Three siblings died near the Guazapa volcano last weekend when they stepped on a mine planted during the period of civil warfare. Ironically, their parents had returned to the area only a few days earlier. The children were four, six and eight years old. Parts from the three children's bodies were found as far as 30 metres from the explosion site. (qtd. in Grant 25)
Antipersonnel landmines kill thousands of people every year. Antipersonnel landmines do not recognize a cease-fire; they continue killing or maiming for many years after the conflict is over. Antipersonnel landmines do not discriminate between soldiers or civilians. On the contrary, more and more they are being used in an indiscriminate way, terrorizing civilians and transforming agricultural fields into killing fields. In addition, de-mining is a very slow and very expensive process, and after a war most countries are not prepared to cope with the constant health care demands imposed by the number of injured by landmines. Finally, landmines make it very difficult for refugees to go back to their cities and villages. As response to the landmine problem, the international community has come up with a treaty to ban landmines. On March 1, 1999, the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty came into effect; so far 134 countries have signed the treaty. Unfortunately, the U. S. is not one of them.
The Encarta Encyclopedia defines a landmine as "an encased explosive device that is concealed below the surface of the ground." It can be made of "metal, plastic, glass, or wood" (n. p.). Probably the concept of landmines is almost as old as the existence of organized armies. Philip C. Winslow, in his book Sowing the Dragon's Teeth, describes how Roman soldiers, before the beginning of the first millennium, used a plant with spikes as a landmine in order "to delay pursuers" (126). The Chinese, according to Delbruck, used "ground mines" made out of explosives in the year 1232 (qtd. in Winslow 126). Six hundred years later, in 1840, the use of landmines was introduced in the United States; they were used "in large quantities" during the Civil War (Winslow 126, 127).
As we move into the Twentieth Century the similarities are almost identical. The First World War has shaped not only modern warfare but even produced global attention to the brutal and inhumane death toll of the war. As stated in the Geneva Protocol, which prohibited the use of chemical weapons in warfare, which was signed in 1925? While this was a welcomed step, the Protocol had a number of significant short comings, including the fact that it did not prohibit the development, production or stockpiling of chemical weapons.
Insert the key, turn, and vroom. And down the road you go. Most people take for granted the strange conglomeration of metal and plastic under that sheet of metal either in front or back of their vehicle. The engine as you may have guessed, is modern marvel- so to speak. They’re found in cars, trucks, boats, airplanes…All with various power outputs.
Imagine yourself as an Ixil Mayan at the local marketplace. You wander around the stalls, viewing the hand-crafted goods. As the midday sun beats down on you, the sound of footsteps coming towards you becomes audible among the chatter of your fellow Mayans. Suddenly, the voices stop, and a gunshot echoes in the air. For what seems like an eternity, the marketplace is drowned in the slight whimpers of children as their mothers’ skirts muffle their moaning. You are still frozen in your place in front a stall. Then, a quick moment of common sense drives you to hide behind a wall. Before you know what is happening, the space around the market is filled with screams. A man falls down beside you with his eyes rolled back and a gaping wound in his chest. Blood trickles through the wall. The pleading cries of the women have a chilling effect. As more bodies fall down beside you, you suddenly become aware of an officer standing above you. A gun is pointed at you. Up until now, you didn’t think of running, but once the trigger is pulled, you know you don’t have a chance. Moments later, you are gone. The genocide that occurred in Guatemala tragically cost thousands of Ixil Mayan lives and ruined many others.
...815 eruption of Mount Tambora. With over 70,000 deaths and a rating of 7 on the volcanic exclusivity index, this eruption is one of the largest in recorded history. Not only did this volcano cause destruction in Indonesia but the consequences were further felt around the world, as volcanic ash and sulphuric gases were dumped into the stratosphere causing a global climate shift. Dark clouds covered the sun, and dramatic weather changes ensued. Flash floods frequently occurred wiping out a great deal of crop eventually causing prices to skyrocket. Disease began to spread due to malnourishment and unsanitary living conditions. Eventually these consequences subsided and citizens began to migrate towards Mount Tambora once again. Today the government has placed seismic sensors are set up in the most volatile areas to ensure preparedness in the event of another volcano.
Cluster bombs are a bomb that has a bunch of missiles that on impact to wound or damage people and vehicles. They mean to hit many different areas at one time. Land mines are explosives that are on the ground or hidden so that soldiers cannot find them. They hide from view so that when someone steps on them ...
Between the years of 1976 to 1983, the period known as the ‘Dirty War’ was in full force in Argentina. During this period, thousands of people mysteriously went missing, and are referred to now as the ‘Disappeared’. It is believed that many of the disappeared were taken by agents of the Argentine government, and perhaps tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves or rural areas. Whenever the female captives were pregnant, their children were stolen away right after giving birth, while they themselves remained detained. It is estimated that 500 young children and infants were given to families with close ties to the military to be raised. Within this essay I would like to touch on the brief history of the Dirty war and why the military felt it was necessary to take and kill thousands of Argentina’s, and also the devastating affects the disappeared, and stolen children are having on living relatives of those taken or killed. It is hard to imagine something like this happening in North America relatively recently. To wakeup and have members of your family missing, with no explanation, or to one day be told your parents are not biologically related is something Argentina’s had to deal with, and are continuing to face even today.
Although volcanoes are difficult to predict, geologists have made many efforts in order to caution the people of Orting and other surrounding towns of possible lahar slides. Residents have been made aware of emergency response plans and they know the proper precautions to take in the case of a volcanic activity emergency. Sirens have been put into place by the fire department and governing bodies of surrounding communities that detect volcanic activity and warn the community of ...
On January 12, 2010, while vacationing in Santo Domingo, DR. Tragedy hit and my strong foundation no longer stood. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.0 shook and uprooted homes, places of business and my sense of peace. After hearing news of the earthquake, I rush to Port-au-Prince to check on my family. I was reassured that my family was secured and had no life threatening injuries, but the same was not said to my grandparent’s neighbor. Their neighbor suffered from a head injury and deep laceratio...
While all atoms of the same element have the same number of protons, it is possible for atoms of one element to have different numbers of neutrons. Atoms of the same element with different numbers of neutrons are called isotopes . For example, all atoms of the element carbon have 6 protons, but while most carbon atoms have 6 neutrons, some have 7 or 8. Isotopes are named by giving the name of the element followed by the sum of the neutrons and protons in the isotope's nucl...
Segre, Kaplan, Schiff and Teller. Great Men of Physics: The Humanistic Element in Scientific Work. Los Angeles, CA: Tinnon-Brown, Inc., Book Publishers, 1969.
One of the theories of the collapse of Mayan Civilization was because of the wars and fatal rivalries which led to catastrophe. In the year 800, war had erupted. The nobles including the king and the queen were taken as hostages. They were killed at the ceremonial courtyard and deposited into the cistern. The king and queen were buried 90 meters away in a 0.6 meters of construction fill which were abo...
from the University College of London in Physics. He later became a candidate for a
Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Although his parents first believed he possessed a learning disability (due to the fact that he did not speak until the age of 3), he showed an outstanding interest towards nature and retained the ability to understand complex mathematical ideas in his youth. At this time, his family moved to Munich, Bavaria and opened a small shop that made electric machinery. By the age of 12, he successfully taught himself Euclidean geometry.
One of the smartest people ever to live, Albert Einstein, changed our society's development forever with his views, theories, and developments. Einstein was born in Ulm, Germany on March 14, 1879. He was the only son of Hermann and Pauline Kech Einstein. He spent his youth in Munich, where his family owned a small electrical equipment plant. He did not talk until the age of three and by the age of nine, was still not fluent in his native language. (Discovering World History) His parents were actually concerned the he might be somewhat mentally retarded.
He studied electrical engineering at Graz Politechnic in Graz, Austria. He then moved to Budapest to work for the American Telephone Company in 1881. He then moved to Yugoslavia, where he became chief engineer to that country's first telephone system. Later he moved to Paris to work for the Continental Edison Company. While there, he developed devices that used rotating magnetic fields, for which he later received patents.