Are Bitcoins Really Legal?

       There is a fairly new type of currency that is becoming more and more popular. It is called bitcoin, a type of digital money that is all stored and managed electronically. The value of one Bitcoin has increased dramatically in its short life. Currently one Bitcoin equals 381.03 USD dollars, but the value is intentionally flexible.

        It was introduced as an open-source software in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. Nakamoto is a pseudonym, meaning the true identity of the creator is unknown. There is much speculation on whether the creator is one man or a group of people.

Bitcoin is a type of digital money that isn't backed up by any specific government. You purchase Bitcoins and then store them inside of your virtual wallet, and then can use these Bitcoins to purchase anything of your choosing. Bitcoins are made by a process called Bitcoin “mining.” Mining is when the computers in the network perform difficult math problems, and as the mathematics get harder it becomes more difficult to mine. This system has made a limit on how many coins can be mined, which is around 21 million.

         A major advantage to using Bitcoins is that there are lower transactions costs, which over time saves the user a significant amount of money. Another advantage is privacy it offers, because each transaction is anonymous. There are also major disadvantages of using Bitcoins. One disadvantage is the sizable volatility of the price of the Bitcoins, meaning the value of the Bitcoin can change.

The main question that keeps popping up is “is it legal?” The answer is yes, when used the right way. Law enforcement is concerned about how the currency is decentralized. They worry that Bitcoin will be a place that criminals will dabble in illicit activities with no paper trail or records of the transaction taking place. Congress is also concerned with the possibility of illegal transactions, as well as the fact that it could disturb the objectives of the Federal Reserve.

        There are many security issues associated with using Bitcoins. The wallet is susceptible to theft because it is stored unencrypted, making it an easy target for hacking. They have been connected to several thefts, scams and reported losses of wallets holding large amounts of money.  There is also no way of finding your Bitcoins if they are stolen. Because Bitcoins are not regulated by a bank and there is no way to trace an exchange, there is no way to track that Bitcoin, so it essentially disappears. So while there are many advantages to using Bitcoins, the user risks losing a lot of money with no hope of reimbursement if they are hacked.

        Although it is a new interesting way to store and manage your money, I personally think that the negatives weigh out the positives in regards to the Bitcoins. Yes, it may be cheaper to do international transactions but the security risks are way too high. Bitcoin has had major theft problems in the past and because it is a decentralized system it is quite easy for someone to hack it. I also do not think it is a good idea to have a way to buy something online and have no way of tracing who bought it. 

http://www.cnbc.com/id/101213462#.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-how-does-bitcoin-work

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43339.pdf

http://consumerist.com/2014/03/04/bitcoin-what-the-heck-is-it-and-how-does-it-work/

Solar Roadways

     In 2006, two electric engineers introduced the idea of solar panel roadways to form smart roads. It is a company and idea that has taken solar energy to new heights.

     So how does it work? Solar power cells convert sunlight into electricity by using the energy of speeding protons to create an electric current within the solar panel. These intelligent solar panels, which are shaped in hexagonal forms, are covered in a tempered glass material that has been designed to accommodate the maximum weight and traction requirements. They have LED lights to create the pavement lines and warning and with simple reprogramming can be changed to fit the needs, which is much easier than having to repaint it. 

These smart solar panels will use the suns energy and distribute it to surrounding areas, making it a decentralized system. This offers more security because even if somehow the roadways are destroyed, only the ones that were damaged would stop producing energy. The distribution of the energy is simple. a cable corridor would be placed that runs along side the road. These corridors are much safer than things like telephone poles because they are protected by bad weather. Other companies are also excited to store their cables in the cable corridor because of the safety and the easy access.

What are the negative consequences to solar roadways? very few actually, making this a very clean way to produce energy. The company uses as much recycled material as possible. The only risk is releasing greenhouse gases during manufacturing. 

The Solar Investment Tax Credit, which began in 2008 with an 8 year extension, is a good way to encourage more people to invest in solar energy and support solar roadways. It reduces the tax liability for people and businesses that purchase qualifying solar energy technologies. 

The cost of installing hundreds of  thousands of panels will obviously be expensive, but having to mass produce these will create thousands of jobs for our country. These solar roadways will also pay for itself, because they will produce 3x as much power as we do now. Many are also skeptical about the safety of the solar panels and how they will withstand certain weather. They are worried about the traction, how much weight it can hold, and how these panels will work in the rain. 

http://www.seia.org/policy/finance-tax/solar-investment-tax-credit

http://www.solarroadways.com/intro.shtml

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Department-of-Transportation-Official-Discusses-Solar-Roadways

http://solarpowerisfun.weebly.com/negative-aspects.html

Halifax Explosion

On December 6, 1917 a large French cargo ship carrying tons of wartime explosives set sail from Halifax, Novia Scotia to Bordeaux, France. This ship, called the Mont Blanc, was barely off shores when it collided with the vessel SS Imo in the Narrows. This vessel was sailing to New York to get relief supplies for the war. The collision was at a very slow speed, just 1 or 1.5 mph. The Mont Blanc caught fire and very quickly got out of the crewman’s control, so everyone aboard abandoned ship and rowed to Dartmouth, leaving the ship to burn and sink.The ship sailed its way over to the Halifax harbor. The fire soon spread to the waterfront of Halifax, where spectators had gathered to watch the display.   

 

20 minutes after the crash, a fire ignited a catastrophic explosion that ripped through the districts of Halifax, killing 2,000 from debris, fire, and collapsing buildings and injuring 9,000 more. The explosion was the second largest man-made explosion, behind the atomic bomb. The explosion, however, did not just effect Halifax. The power of the explosion created a tsunami that crashed into the shores of Dartmouth, killing people and children that were viewing the explosion from that standpoint. 

There were many vulnerabilities that led to the fire and the explosion. The crew of the Mont Blanc were obviously careless with their cargo. They also could not prevent the fire from getting bigger because they did not have the equipment on the ship to diminish the inferno.

        

  Another vulnerability of this disaster was that the rescue and relief efforts were busy with the blizzard that had struck the region earlier that night. This slowed down their efforts of getting to the site of the disaster. 

Halifax after the explosion

Halifax before the explosion

 

Globalization of Soap

Nearly everyone on this planet uses soap. It has become an essential part of our lives, one that we have come to take advantage of. The first evidence of soap is in Ancient Babylon, around 2800 B.C. From this time to the early 18^th century, soap was not widely used by the common people because of the cost and the unpleasant smell. The industrial revolution came with a quick solution to the smell, as exotic ingredients were being imported from Africa and Asia, such as palm and coconut oils, soap and it’s smell became more appealing and more demanded among the wealthy.

The real turning point was in the mid-19^th century. It wasn't until the Crimean War, which was fought by the British (in which today is the Ukraine), when more deaths were due to illness than by battling. Florence Nightingdale, historic and celebrated nurse who tended to injured soldiers and founder of modern nursing, brought hygiene to the battling fields and the number of British deaths dramatically decreased. This idea spread to the soldiers battling the Civil War, who in turn brought their clean habits home to their families.

According to the World Health Organization, 2.4 billion people do not have access to proper sanitation. On average, 1.5 million children die every year because of weakened immune systems not being able to fight diarrheal and respiratory diseases spread by contamination. Places that lack proper hygiene today are the poorest regions in sub-Saharan Africa, Central and South America, East Asia and the Caribbean. In recent years, we have begun expressing the importance of human hygiene to countries that have high poverty. Now there are more than 40 countries and regions that have started hand hygiene campaigns. 

Legalizing Euthanasia

Euthanasia, by definition, is “the painless killing of a patient suffering from an incurable and painful disease or in an irreversible coma.” It has been a universal topic of controversy for a couple decades now, and few countries have seen progress in legalizing the act, though many have tried. As of this year, euthanasia is legal only in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland, Germany, Albania, Colombia, and Japan. In the United States, a judge from New Mexico deemed physician-assisted suicide to be constitutional in early 2014. Oregon, Vermont, and Washington are the only other states that have legalized physician-assisted suicide. Montana has legal physician-assisted suicide via court ruling.

There are many people who are scared of the potential hazards that could happen if euthanasia was legalized. They believe that the notion that people have the right to die would inflict on doctors a duty to kill, instead of working as hard to save a life. There is also the fear of a ‘slippery slope.’ This means that they fear that if euthanasia is legal, the voluntary killing of patients would soon become involuntary, and doctors would decide when a life is not worth living. In the Netherlands in 1990 around 1,000 patients were killed without their request.

 

There is also massive support of legalizing euthanasia all across the globe. A whopping 75 percent of citizens in Australia supported euthanasia and assisted suicide. The first main argument is that it is a personal right to die. It is someone’s choice when they decide to alleviate themselves of suffering because it is their life. To deny someone’s right to die would only force them to continue to suffer, and in some cases, find another, most certainly painful way to die. Another argument is it really does not shorten life. In 1991, a Dutch report on euthanasia found that it shorted life by a maximum of a week in 86 percent of cases. This is really just relieving the suffering of the patient and showing compassion towards them. To legalize euthanasia would also save lives. Instead of wasting medical resources on some who is terminally ill and voluntarily wants to die, give that medical treatment to someone who can actually be cured. An appalling amount of countries do not have the medical resources that they need, and this could help save the lives of those who are curable.

A new study finds that more and more people from mostly the UK, France, and Germany are traveling to Switzerland, where Euthanasia is legal, to die. There was a slight decrease in tourists between 2008 and 2009, and then the number doubled between 2009 and 2012. These people, deemed “suicide tourists, seek assisted dying that is painless. People seeking death were between the ages of 23 and 97 years old, the most common being around the age of 69. Nearly 60

percent of the suicide tourists are women. 47 

percent of those seeking assisted suicide were suffering from a neurological disease, and 37 percent had cancer.

            My personal opinion is that euthanasia should be legalized. People have the right to die and the right to do what they want with their own selves. I believe that it will take a long time, but already 5 states in the US have made it legal, so slowly were are starting to get there.

http://listverse.com/2013/09/12/10-arguments-for-legalising-euthanasia/

http://www.care.org.uk/advocacy/end-of-life/euthanasia-the-arguments-for-and-against

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/21/world/europe/more-people-going-to-switzerland-for-assisted-suicide-study-finds.html?_r=0

http://euthanasia.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000132

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/euthanasia/infavour/infavour_1.shtml#h6