On the face of it, Facebook's suicide prevention plan seems like a good idea, if not an ambitious idea. There are a couple of things that I question, one of which is that its users can flag when they think a friend may be considering suicide and click on "Report Post" and the next time that person logs in, he will be told to contact the person who is concerned about him, enlist the help of another friend, or put them in contact with a suicide helpline.
Now, imagine yourself having a really bad month or two and under a lot of stress at home and at your job and thinking that you have a good friend with whom you usually share your ups and downs. Now, this friend reports your post as a possible suicide when all you wanted to do was confide in him or her as you've always done about what's going on in your life. You've always been able to vent about these things and here you are, having this friend report your post as a possible suicide.
If you are not suicidal, and most of the time a friend's rants are just a way of venting, not an indication of committing suicide, wouldn't you feel betrayed? And, more important, wouldn't you stop confiding in your friend for fear of him turning your confidential email over to a Facebook suicide prevention line?
The one thing that is noticeably absent, if Facebook really wants to prevent suicides, is to make it their responsibility to delete the posts that bully people. I hear more about that from my clients than almost anything else.
There have been so many suicides because of the bullying that takes place on Facebook and Facebook's response is that it's not severe enough to delete, or it's not their responsibility.
A few examples of this come to mind. One teenager committed suicide because of the bullying by a group of kids and one of those girls wrote on Facebook that she was glad she had caused the girl to commit suicide.
Another girl's life was threatened on Facebook after the girl was raped, pictures of her naked body posted on Facebook, and had her attackers sent to prison. And still, Facebook did nothing to alert authorities or to delete those posts.
And what about all the pictures that have been posted on Facebook of girls being raped? Some are unconscious and some are trying to fight them off, and these pictures of naked girls being raped have been posted on Facebook and Facebook didn't delete them.
Several of my clients, many of whom are successful professional people, tell me that Facebook bullies are ruining their lives and their appeals to Facebook to delete those posts have done nothing. Facebook keeps saying that they aren't vicious enough for them to do anything about them. And yet, it's those very posts that are vicious enough to cause people to be so scared and scarred for life, that push them into committing suicide.
My guess is that if Facebook would take a more proactive role in removing those bullying posts, especially where the victims and their parents, have pleaded with them to remove those posts, there would be a lot fewer suicides taking place and Facebook wouldn't have to roll out these suicide prevention plans that may cause more damage to relationships than help them.
Connie H. Deutsch is an internationally known business consultant and personal advisor who has a keen understanding of human nature and is a natural problem-solver.
Connie is the author of the books, "Whispers of the Soul," "A Slice of Life," "Whispers of the Soul for the Rest of Your Life," "From Where I'm Sitting," "View from the Sidelines," "Reaching for the Brass Ring of Life," "Purple Days and Starry Nights," "Here and There," "And That's How it Goes," and "The Counseling Effect." Her website: http://www.conniehdeutsch.com/ See more of her articles by clicking here ConnieHDeutsch Articles
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8941412
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
The Cost of Cyber-Security in the War on Terrorism
Governments and private industry have dramatically increased their expenditures on physical and cyber-security almost to the point of panic. With respect to cyber-security, each breach of a major firm or government institution - those that are publicly acknowledged - adds political pressure to increase resources to safeguard America's information.
The reason for the panic is that this particular risk cannot be quantified in order to justify the expenditures. Thus the only option is to throw more money at the problem hoping that it eliminates the threat. Because this is a national security issue, the additional funding amount will not be publicly revealed nor will government officials authorized to fund such projects be held accountable. It's one big technical, economic and political black box.
This begs the question how many and even whether these cyber-breaches are simply probes or deep intrusions. How do you define a breach? Was it a cut that required a dab of mercurochrome and a band-aid or an emergency trip to the ICU? There is no independent firm that can confirm the level of such breaches.
One may also ask whether the level of this new class of industrial espionage and warfare is grossly over-stated similar to what the U.S. government consistently informed the American public of the Soviet Union's so-called powerful armed forces which turned out to be nothing more than a paper tiger to justify spending billions of taxpayer money on unneeded military equipment.
With probably billions being spent on cyber-defense, this means significantly less for critical expenditures such as education and infrastructure maintenance.
For private industry, whether they confront the security issues directly or subcontract their security matters, they have significantly less for capital investment and employing new workers. For this reason private economic growth stagnates or is tepid at best. Additionally private industry must deal with the intangible 'soft costs' with respect to public relations damage control due to loss of prestige and goodwill for their clients.
As for hard-asset security, much has been discussed on the militarization of law enforcement and added security surveillance measures. The financially good news about these security measures is that at least their costs can be quantified even if camouflage uniforms in urban environments don't make any sense.
The recent terrorist attacks in Paris, horrific as they were, send security costs spiraling in a self-defeating cycle in which governments and industries believe spending more money will reduce attacks. Certainly an impressive show of force by law enforcement is required to calm the public. But to defeat terrorism you have to eliminate its causes in which the full participation of currently available talented human resources in addition to law enforcement from many disciples like sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, linguists, etc. can be utilized.
Copyright Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC 2015. All rights reserved.
Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC is a NYC-based global advisory service and think tank with connections at the highest levels. We provide you the tools to successfully negotiate cross-culturally in your global business endeavors. Tell us about your challenges. We'll get you on the "Short List".
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8945711
The reason for the panic is that this particular risk cannot be quantified in order to justify the expenditures. Thus the only option is to throw more money at the problem hoping that it eliminates the threat. Because this is a national security issue, the additional funding amount will not be publicly revealed nor will government officials authorized to fund such projects be held accountable. It's one big technical, economic and political black box.
This begs the question how many and even whether these cyber-breaches are simply probes or deep intrusions. How do you define a breach? Was it a cut that required a dab of mercurochrome and a band-aid or an emergency trip to the ICU? There is no independent firm that can confirm the level of such breaches.
One may also ask whether the level of this new class of industrial espionage and warfare is grossly over-stated similar to what the U.S. government consistently informed the American public of the Soviet Union's so-called powerful armed forces which turned out to be nothing more than a paper tiger to justify spending billions of taxpayer money on unneeded military equipment.
With probably billions being spent on cyber-defense, this means significantly less for critical expenditures such as education and infrastructure maintenance.
For private industry, whether they confront the security issues directly or subcontract their security matters, they have significantly less for capital investment and employing new workers. For this reason private economic growth stagnates or is tepid at best. Additionally private industry must deal with the intangible 'soft costs' with respect to public relations damage control due to loss of prestige and goodwill for their clients.
As for hard-asset security, much has been discussed on the militarization of law enforcement and added security surveillance measures. The financially good news about these security measures is that at least their costs can be quantified even if camouflage uniforms in urban environments don't make any sense.
The recent terrorist attacks in Paris, horrific as they were, send security costs spiraling in a self-defeating cycle in which governments and industries believe spending more money will reduce attacks. Certainly an impressive show of force by law enforcement is required to calm the public. But to defeat terrorism you have to eliminate its causes in which the full participation of currently available talented human resources in addition to law enforcement from many disciples like sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, linguists, etc. can be utilized.
Copyright Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC 2015. All rights reserved.
Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC is a NYC-based global advisory service and think tank with connections at the highest levels. We provide you the tools to successfully negotiate cross-culturally in your global business endeavors. Tell us about your challenges. We'll get you on the "Short List".
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8945711
Sao Paulo - Down to the Last Drop
Several health issues are already festering in water-starved Sao Paulo, Brazil as the historic drought continues to affect this mega-city of about 15 million. A spike in dengue fever cases has been reported as a result of citizens maintaining secret caches of water which harbor mosquitoes that carry the disease. This drought represents another kind of natural disaster which when it strikes a high-density mega-city can cause damage in a different way: civil unrest. In an earthquake or hurricane civil unrest such as looting takes place after the event has taken place.
In the case of a drought, normally law-abiding citizens seeking a quickly depleting and scarce resource will gradually resort to desperate unethical, illegal and even violent methods to secure survival items to protect themselves and their families. Unfortunately the wet season of January through February has already passed with little relief, thus Sao Paulo may experience even more severe shortages and resulting illnesses for lack of clean water and sanitation.
Water trucks are useful with respect to short-term relief, however a longer-term solution will certainly be more logistically challenging and costly because a drought impacts the entire metropolis not a neighborhood or sector specific. The additional cost will occur when infectious diseases increase dramatically as a result of lack of cleaning water and sanitation. Hospitals and medical centers will have water rationed and law enforcement, not exactly held in the highest esteem in Brazil, will be overwhelmed as the cycle of violence spins out of control.
This case study is developing daily before our eyes and it's incumbent upon the municipal governments of other mega-cities worldwide to immediately put in place working contingency plans to combat nature's service cut-offs. Those who already have such contingency plans should review them to include previously unanticipated impacts. There is a legitimate security concern with respect to cyber-attacks on infrastructure and the electrical grid, yet more frequently the greatest impacts are a result of Mother Nature especially during this period of radical climate change, and who wields more power than all the terrorist groups combined today.
With the continual growth of current mega-cities and newly emerging ones, food security must be one of the top priorities at all levels of government to mitigate pandemics and the resulting civil unrest. These policies are usually applicable on a nation basis with respect to agricultural and securing food imports and storage. A more specific food security policy must be articulated to provide the necessary logistics (suitable storage and distribution) for local needs.
Copyright Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC 2015. All rights reserved.
Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC is a NYC-based global advisory service and think tank with connections at the highest levels. We provide you the tools to successfully negotiate cross-culturally in your global business endeavors. Tell us about your challenges. We'll get you on the "Short List".
Available for speaking engagements and workshops. Check out my international media profile as TV panelist, published articles and contact information:
Cable TV appearances on 2014 Emmy-award winning international talk show "Fresh Outlook":
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8947367
In the case of a drought, normally law-abiding citizens seeking a quickly depleting and scarce resource will gradually resort to desperate unethical, illegal and even violent methods to secure survival items to protect themselves and their families. Unfortunately the wet season of January through February has already passed with little relief, thus Sao Paulo may experience even more severe shortages and resulting illnesses for lack of clean water and sanitation.
Water trucks are useful with respect to short-term relief, however a longer-term solution will certainly be more logistically challenging and costly because a drought impacts the entire metropolis not a neighborhood or sector specific. The additional cost will occur when infectious diseases increase dramatically as a result of lack of cleaning water and sanitation. Hospitals and medical centers will have water rationed and law enforcement, not exactly held in the highest esteem in Brazil, will be overwhelmed as the cycle of violence spins out of control.
This case study is developing daily before our eyes and it's incumbent upon the municipal governments of other mega-cities worldwide to immediately put in place working contingency plans to combat nature's service cut-offs. Those who already have such contingency plans should review them to include previously unanticipated impacts. There is a legitimate security concern with respect to cyber-attacks on infrastructure and the electrical grid, yet more frequently the greatest impacts are a result of Mother Nature especially during this period of radical climate change, and who wields more power than all the terrorist groups combined today.
With the continual growth of current mega-cities and newly emerging ones, food security must be one of the top priorities at all levels of government to mitigate pandemics and the resulting civil unrest. These policies are usually applicable on a nation basis with respect to agricultural and securing food imports and storage. A more specific food security policy must be articulated to provide the necessary logistics (suitable storage and distribution) for local needs.
Copyright Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC 2015. All rights reserved.
Indo-Brazilian Associates LLC is a NYC-based global advisory service and think tank with connections at the highest levels. We provide you the tools to successfully negotiate cross-culturally in your global business endeavors. Tell us about your challenges. We'll get you on the "Short List".
Available for speaking engagements and workshops. Check out my international media profile as TV panelist, published articles and contact information:
Cable TV appearances on 2014 Emmy-award winning international talk show "Fresh Outlook":
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/8947367
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