Analysis of Emergency Healthcare in Nigeria

Analysis of Emergency Healthcare in Nigeria 1.1 Background of Study USAID reported in 2009 that in Nigeria out surveyed 107 healthcare centre, 20% health care givers washed their hand before and after giving injection, 63% receive vaccination, 43% have no training or information on how to dispose waste, 32% use an off-site disposal method, 20% burn waste of theirs in the open hole which burn freely to the air, this shows that we have a long way to go in achieving a stable and good health care environment to start with and making sure our emergency are safe and secured for the patients to come. Also from the report release by the Economic Global Forum, life expectancy rate of the people in Nigeria is on the average as 47% for the female, 46% for the male, this gives an insight to the level of their survival at the emergency unit. In order to improve the chances of survival, there’s need for improvement on the performance level of the emergency for quality of life for both adult and children; the emergency unit of the hospitals is responsible to provide initial urgent treatments for patients with severe form of illness and injuries. Emergency unit was first introduced in the 20th century in response to the need to manage critical illness and acute health emergency situations, it has been observed in Nigeria that most patients about 54 percent end up at the hospital emergency as a last resort after seeking help elsewhere, like from healthcare traditional givers, praying houses, dealers in drugs and so on, due to self acclaimed knowledge, belief and lacking of enlighten and ignorance and sometimes because they cannot afford the bill of the modern healthcare centre as they belief their other options are cheaper. However some of the healthcare centre has their own challenges like inadequate facility and man agement staff which falls the expectation of the patients, because the expectation of an emergency unit is to increase survival chances for accident victims or patients that need urgent attention with acute critical situations, and through the emergency unit, one can have an insight of the equipments, organization and level of man human resources of the healthcare institution, as some emergency department have poor electricity supply nor do they have a standby power supply which has decrease the survival chances of the patients. In Nigeria most of the emergency situations are road accidents usually motor cycle bikes and automobiles cars, heart attack also known as cardiovascular attack, asthmatic challenge, domestically accidents, riot violence and occupational hazards and others in which from this research we will find out seasonal trends and projection to provide the hospital management with a good information and how to improve on their future budget and funding. Observing that road traffic accidents are on the increase and the major cases at the hospital emergency as seen that in Nigeria hospital emergency unit, one of three persons dies and these have claimed more lives since the civil war ( from Time Series Analysis of Emergency Unit ) The emergency management team of the emergency unit exists so as to address issues concerning the healthcare management of the unit which over sees the maintenance and development of the emergency procedures, coordination of staff, ensuring they are qualified and have professional knowledge of the field, adequate supply and maintenance of new age equipments and facilities, proper human resources training and on time attention to patients on arrival at the hospital emergency. It has been observed that time pressure continually increase at the emergency, therefore effectiveness, efficiency and speed have become very important and highly demanded at the emergency unit of the hospitals to eliminate complains of long wait by patients and avoid them leaving before being attended to making them unsatisfied and risk of being expose to more dangers, volume of patients have been lost to about 10 percent because threshold for left before exam (LBE) of 1 percent shows that for every nine patients who LBE due to long wait lines or long time wait and left for another hospitals. Patients dissatisfaction is not all that suffers here but the risk of their survival at critical emergency situations and can be expressed through angry family members over waiting for long, in the case of accidents, patients are not being attended to immediately unless there is a police report about the situation, these situation have result to some patient’s death and eliminated their chances of survival. Fifty percent of the issue of efficiency here is system issue while the other fifty percent is management issues, the five sub-unit of the emergency unit include: Staffing of qualified doctors and nurses Clerical unit staff of cleaners and attendants X-ray and lab unit Chart flow system Patients admission unit The efficiency and speed from this units and there turnaround time determines the performance rating to be high, moderate or low, hence a need to put in place strategies for doing thing better and faster (Clinical practice management 2004) Another task is to include emergency medicine physician who is someone who intervenes to resuscitate and stabilize acute patients that need urgent attention, this person is physician who practice basically at the emergency unit trained to take care of adult and children patients with serious injuries or illness that requires an immediate attention medically, although he/she does not provide a long term care to continual care he/she makes sure emergency patients are stable and at a safe state before referring them to other units of the hospital and sometimes the intensive-care unit. Also the emergency medicine aside general medicine attention include surgery which include surgical sub-specialties, they see a lot of patients, giving them immediate attention and making sure they get continuous medical attention after them at the hospital or discharging them from the hospital if they do not need any further medical observations, then the professional emergency medicine physician, who is believed to have broad knowledge in very important fields like, resuscitation of trauma, cardiac arrest, life support, procedure for surgical situations and managing advance airway problems, amidst other skills needed is the ability to stabilize and resuscitate a patient from a critical situation, manage a difficult anesthesia i.e. difficult airways, attending to dislocated joint and fractured bones, treating a heart attack, ability to stop a nose bleed, vagina bleeding from pregnant patients, conduct, read and interpret x-rays from the radiology (World Health Organization). It is also important to improve on pain management at the emergency because this is one common thing present at the emergency yet it might be difficult to identify pain in some patients and unfortunately there is no test that can prove or disprove a patient’s pain level, more than 60 percent of patients at the emergency have pains symptoms, due to the fact that there is no vivid signs, but can easily be read from the expression of the face, body reactions or language and instinct and guts understanding of the healthcare giver can be useful to validate a patient’s rate of pain, many studies have shown that there is inadequacy to which pain is treated, in most cases it can only be suppress with analgesic after which survey feedback shows about 43 percent of the patients were still in severe or moderate pain and 50 percent of patients show that their post-operative management of pain has proven to be inadequate unfortunately one of the barriers to effective pain management is proper training, even in the medical schools few hours only are dedicating to the study of analgesia while the healthcare givers are expected to pick up these knowledge at the clinical locations during rotations. With the new pain management standards set with some guidelines by the American Pain Society (APS), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), these have been applied to emergency medicine where healthcare practitioners are asked to ask screening questions to assist in easily identification of patients in pain, these should be assessed and documented, staff with relevant link to the emergency unit should be adequately trained and importantly the patience be involved in decision making of their pain managing situation not forgetting to put in place policies and procedures for effective pain management at the emergency unit (practical pain management) 1.2 Problem Discussion The major challenge of the emergency unit is inadequate implementation of the management emergency system, not adequately or fully manned, making it to lack in complete resources, under qualified or unqualified healthcare staff with improper training and development of their skills. It has been observed that most emergency unit of the hospitals in Nigeria do not have an emergency medicine physician so is professional in the field of emergency, someone that is always readily available to give urgent attention to an acute critical situation, resuscitating the emergency patients and bring them to a point of stability, the presence of an emergency medicine physician eliminate any time wastage in getting the hospital doctors or nurses to attend to the emergency patients. Secondly, just like a need to include an emergency medicine physician, a police protocol officer should be included in the management emergency team (MET) system, because in Nigeria, when there is an accident especially a traffic road accident, the victims are rushed to the hospital emergency unit by witnesses and just kind hearted people and in most cases they are not allowed to sign a consent form to secure the urgent commencement of treatment, and sometimes due to delay to reach out to the victims, a police officer is required to give a police report to guarantee the commencement of treatment, most times the patients die in the process of delay in signing of the consent form for their treatment as most of them are unconscious in the situation, therefore including a police protocol officer means putting a police officer their standby to meet this need and eliminating any time wastage, hence increasing the survival rate of accident victims in the emergency unit. Thirdly inadequate facilities and equipment at the emergency department, most of the equipments are either outdated or faulty and most times absence of the needed equipments. It is very important for an hospital emergency to be well equip with recent high technology machines to meet up with the new age change and demand, so that time wasting can be eliminated and proper healthcare attention given to increase the survival level of the patients, presence of oxygen at all times cannot be over emphasize, but most hospitals in Nigeria do not have this on standby and has become a major challenge and have cause the lost of lives. Lastly, the level of power supply is a challenge and big issue in my country Nigeria, the absence of adequate and uninterrupted power supply to the hospitals has been a big challenge, some patients have lost their lives due to this problem, either in the middle of medical attention the light goes off or there is no light at all to start a treatment, especially those that need presence of light before treatment commencement, the only alternative in this situation is to get a standby generator that can also supply electricity but this is not fully guarantee because it might just break down in the middle of an operation, and have caused the hospital management to increase the medical bills so that they can maintain the extra expense, this can leave the patients with inability to make up for the bill and increase the level of LBE (leave before exam) patients. 1.3 Research Purpose From the above discussed problem, there is need to urgently address the problems associated in Plateau state hospital, as they are faced with all this challenges, and eliminating this challenges means improving a high performing emergency for the hospital emergency management team, increasing the survival rate and decreasing the mortality rate for patients brought to the emergency. The essence of this research to help improve health care performances at the hospital emergencies, in terms of quality healthcare service rendering, adequate and proper emergency equipments, with adequate and well trained health care givers (man power), protocol observations, security presence and general presence of emergency team and it’s necessity, which summarizes the improvement for the MET (Medical Emergency Team) systems of the hospitals, therefore reducing the mortality rates which has been observed to be on a high rate at the emergencies and increasing the survival level of emergency victim s. Most times when accident victims are rushed to the hospital, the medical personnel cannot attend to these patients immediately due to absence of protocol officers to give in their consent or due to the immediate absence of the medical personnel at the emergency because they are attending to some patients within the same hospital, amidst attending to other challenges. The delays to give prompt attention in the process have caused the death rate at the emergency to increase. To attain this, some important questions need to be asked and clarified: What is healthcare givers qualification in Nigeria focusing on the Plateau State hospital? What knowledge, attitude and skills do the healthcare givers have towards emergency situations of the hospital Do the hospital have a first aid box Are the emergency management team staff trained on how to use the first aid box What is the status of the equipments available at the emergency 1.4 Objectives of the Study To have the enlightenment knowledge of the situation currently for the healthcare emergency unit of the plateau state hospital To efficiently know those qualified to be healthcare personnel and their specializations. To understand what and who makes up for the emergency management team and how to improve on the system To identify the modes of practices and how the patients are attended to at the Plateau state hospital emergency. To add knowledge to the operations of the emergency unit of the hospital 1.4 Research Hypotheses The patients are the most vulnerable in the situation of emergency; therefore it is very important to access the knowledge, practice, behaviors and attitudes of the healthcare givers towards making the emergency high performing, for effectiveness and efficiencies of the outcome. Formulating the hypothesis includes: Improving the MET system by including an emergency medicine physician and a police protocol officer, this will strengthen the MET and eliminate a lot of time wastage Training and development of the MET members so that they can improve on there skills Improving on the right attitude for the job for the personnel Putting in the right ethical practices for the emergency unit Improving the equipment of the emergency unit Proper training on how to use this equipments, especially the on new high technology machines Basic first aid training on use of the first aid box at the emergency unit Questionnaires will be distributed to get a surveyed feedback from the patients, their relatives and the healthcare givers (Nurses, doctors and attendant) 1.6 Delimitations My focus here is at the emergency unit of the hospital only; therefore other patients in the hospitals are my delimitations as I will not investigate the performance level nor measures or controls of any other patient survival at the hospital except those at the emergency. 1.7 Outline of Study This research study is divided into five chapters, where chapter one is the general introduction where all the content are discussed, then chapter two which involves the general review of related literature, generally know as literature review, base on the works and research other authors have done in their books, journals and articles on improving the MET system for a high performing emergency unit, chapter three provides an in-depth methodology on the study, by extracting the feedback gotten through the questionnaires shared and reviewed, chapter four where the result gotten from the previous chapter will be analyzed and result be presented from the data followed by discussing the findings. The last chapter is five, showing conclusion base on the findings from the research, through the study, research and questionnaires for further recommendations. 1.8 Operational Definition of Terms Emergency Department: is a department of the hospital responsible for providing urgent medical treatment and specializing in acute care for patients arriving to the hospital due to injuries, attacks, accidents or any casualty requiring an urgent attention Management Emergency Team (MET) System: they are made up of a group of hospital personnel who are responsible to give acute care to patients arriving at the hospital in a capacity of a emergency manager, doctor, nurses, emergency medicine physician, attendants and sub-staff like the cleaners and waste management team. Healthcare Personnel: is someone who has been trained to give healthcare services to the patients, who need them, they can involve professionals Sub-staff: are the supporting staff to the emergency unit, they include the cleaners and waste management team.

“a Vietnam Veteran Opposes the War, 1971”

Brianna Obermiller English 1000 â€Å"A Vietnam Veteran Opposes the War, 1971† In 1971, veteran John Kerry stands for himself and many other veterans in a speech opposing the Vietnam War. Relaying how the veterans feel after coming back from such a horrific war, the audience is sympathetic with those who return with such terrible memories that they must bare for the rest of their lives.For John Kerry, it may be hard for him to describe such atrocities to his audience, and it may be even harder for the audience to believe that what he is saying is truthful, because what was going on in Vietnam at the time was much different than what the citizens of the USA believed it to be. For them, knowing the truths of the Vietnam War may simply put them in denial, however I believe Kerry’s descriptions were effective in convincing the audience of the truths of the war, because he conveys his truths by appealing to the audience’s pathos.The speech begins with John Kerry speak ing on behalf of a large group of veterans. Describing the â€Å"war crimes† that they committed in Southeast Asia, a disgusting picture is painted of â€Å"cut off limbs, blown up bodies, [and] randomly shot at civilians† (23). To the American Citizen, it would be hard to imagine that this was what the young soldiers were doing in Southeast Asia at the time; Even harder to believe.However, when he speaks of how the young men feel upon their return, the truth of what he is saying becomes apparent. â€Å"The country doesn’t know it yet but it has created a monster, a monster in the form of millions of men who have been taught to deal and to trade in violence and who are given the chance to die for the biggest nothing in history; men who have returned with a sense of anger and a sense of betrayal which no one has yet grasped† (24).For the mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers whom have sent one of their own to live in such conditions, this would be such a shock that denial may be imminent. And for the listeners of this speech who have little or no personal connection, the sympathy as well as the horror would be overwhelming. How then does Kerry convince his audience that what he is saying is indeed the truth? First he chooses to speak for himself and the other men in Asia.In response to West Point Vice President Agnew’s statement that â€Å"Some glamorize the criminal misfits of society while our best men die in Asian rice paddies to preserve the freedom which most of those misfits abuse,† (24). Kerry states that â€Å"for us, as boys in Asia whom the country was supposed to support, his statement is a terrible distortion from which we can only draw a very deep sense of revulsion† (24). Why is it a terrible distortion? This would be a very common view for most Americans at the time.Kerry states that it is a distortion â€Å"because we in no way consider ourselves the best men of this country; because those he ca lls misfits were standing up for us in a way that nobody else in this country dared to†¦ because so many of those best men have returned as quadriplegics and amputees- and they lie forgotten in†¦ Hospitals†¦ We cannot consider ourselves America’s best men when we are ashamed of and hated for what we were called on to do in Southeast Asia† (24). The graphic descriptions that Kerry provides may convince the audience that what he is saying is indeed truthful, because it appeals to their pathos, as well as shocks them.His descriptions alone are, what I believe, his main advantage in convincing the readers of his point. In conclusion, the speech that John Kerry gave in 1971 would have been such a shock to his audience, that the truthfulness of his words may have been questioned. However, I believe that through appealing to the audience’s pathos, Kerry was very effective in swaying the audience to believe that what he was saying was indeed the truth, as well as effective in getting his point and his hope for the outcome of the war across to Wartime America. We wish that a merciful God could wipe away our own memories of that service as easily as the administration has wiped away their memories of us†¦ [in] 30 years from now our brothers [will] go down the street without a leg, without an arm, or a face, and small boys [will] ask why, and we will be able to say â€Å"Vietnam† and not mean a†¦ filthy obscene memory, but mean instead a place where America finally turned and where soldiers like us helped it in the turning† (26). Citations: Kerry, John F. A Vietnam Veteran Opposes the War, 1971. Apr. 1971. U. S Government

Metaphysics; Plato and Aristotle Essay

a. Introduction As a major assignment for this course, you are to write an essay paper on a topic relating to the subject matter of the course and drawing on course material. This should be a new paper, written by you individually, specifically for this class. You have two options to do this assignment. First option: You can write an essay paper in a rather classic style by selecting one of the listed topics in part b. If you decide to do the first option, you are required to pick one of the listed topics and write a philosophical essay according to the description provided for each topic. Second option: You can conduct a philosophical project and write an essay on the findings of the project. For this option, you need to become an â€Å"undercover philosopher† and interview 5 different people on a philosophical topic given in part c. The final outcome of your project should include the interviews results and your own analysis. Regardless of the option you choose you are required to follow these criteria: You are required to do only one of the mentioned options. But it is better to make decision as soon as possible since it will take time to accomplish either of them. This assignment is due no later than 11:59 p.m. on Monday, April 28. Late papers will only be accepted with an appropriate excuse and a point deduction. Your paper will be submitted via TurnItIn through the Blackboard site for the course. Just so you are aware, TurnItIn automatically checks your paper for plagiarism and will catch it if you try. No email or paper submission will be accepted. You should use the MS Word template file provided in your Blackboard. Papers not prepared in that format will not be graded. The final paper should be named as: Your Last Name_Your EU ID_Your Course Section.DOCX o For example if your last name is Jones and your EU ID is mhj034 and you are in PHIL 1050 section 001 then your file name should be: Jones_mhj034_001.docx. Another example: Ahmadi_kia9801_002.docx for student named Ahmadi with kia9801 as EU ID taking 002 section of the course. There must be â€Å"_† (underline) character between name, EU ID, and class section. o EU ID is the ID you use to login to your Blackboard account. You can find your class section by looking at the title of the course listed in your Blackboard account. Your paper must be no less than 1000 and no more than 1500 words (this is content only; this is not counting name, title, footnotes, bibliography, etc.) Papers with less than 1000 or more than 1500 words will be graded with a point deduction. You may find a PDF copy of Writing Philosophy on Blackboard, it is strongly recommended that you utilize this resource to help you write a good paper. All sources, including assigned readings, must be formally cited according to the Chicago Manual of Style (resources for which can be found online). Use of secondary sources is strongly encouraged but not required. Remember that failure to cite sources technically constitutes plagiarism! For further information, you can review the university’s policy on academic integrity at: http://www.vpaa.unt.edu/academic-integrity.htm. Regarding citations, long quotes of 4 or more lines are not allows and will result in a noticeable point penalty if used. Remember also that not only direct quotes also paraphrasing of another person’s material must be formally cited. All sources must be listed as footnotes. No bibliography or reference list at the end of the paper is required. Further details about citation can be found in the MS Word template file in your Blackboard account. This assignment makes up 25 out of 100 points for your final grade. You will be graded equally on writing, your summary of material, and your own critical response. Beyond these you can lose points for having a paper that is too short, failing to cite sources, or in any other way failing to adhere to the instructions and criteria for the assignment. Grading Criteria: An â€Å"A† paper is one that follows all format requirements, is at the standards of college writing, contains an excellent summary of course material, and  shows careful thinking about the topic. A â€Å"B† or â€Å"C† paper is one that follows most format requirements, is at or near the standards of college writing, contains a summary that shows a good or at least basic understanding of course material, and shows your own thinking about the topic. A â€Å"D† or â€Å"F† paper is one that is well below the paper requirements or the standards of college writing, contains a summary which shows a poor understanding of course material, and/or where any thought of your own on the topic is lacking. And, of course, any paper containing plagiarism will receive an â€Å"F†. Given that this a college course, it is expected that all students are capable of a certain level of writing quality. If you feel that your writing skills are not the best, I would strongly encourage you to seek help from the UNT Writing Lab (http://www.unt.edu/writinglab/). b. First Option: Classic Essay For your essay you may select from a list of topics below. Your topic will involve two aspects. First, you should summarize a theory or set of theories of philosophy that we have learned or discussed in class. Second, you should give your own argument for what is the proper view regarding that topic. Your paper must have both a summary of course material and your own original thinking on the topic, in roughly equal measure. Essay Topics: If you decide to write a classic essay paper you are required to choose one of the following topics. Otherwise you could do the second option described in part c. (1) Metaphysics; Plato and Aristotle: First,  summarize Plato’s theory of the Forms as ultimate reality (â€Å"The Republic†). Then, summarize Aristotle’s theory of the four causes and form/matter as ultimate reality (â€Å"Physics†). The second half of your paper should critically compare and contrast the two, and give your own argument for which you think is more correct, and ultimately state and argue for what you think the true nature of reality is. (2) Knowledge; Descartes and Hume: The first half of your paper will involve summarizing Descartes’ view of knowledge (â€Å"Meditations†), then summarizing Hume’s view of knowledge (â€Å"Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding†). The second half of your paper should critically compare and contrast the two, and give your own argument for which you think is more correct, and ultimately state and argue for how you think we acquire true knowledge and what the limits of knowledge are. (3) Cogito; Argument and Counter-Argument: The first half of your paper involve summarizing Descartes’ arguments in support of Cogito and philosophical implications of it (â€Å"Meditations†), then summarizing an strong counter argument from another philosopher (Modern or Contemporary) against Cogito and its implications. The second half of your paper should critically compare and contrast the two, and give your own argument for which you think is more correct, and ultimately state and argue for the relevance and validity of Cogito argument. (4) Ethics; Aristotle and Kant: The first half of your paper will involve summarizing Aristotle’s virtue ethics (â€Å"Nicomachean Ethics,† books I and II), then summarizing Kant’s deontological ethics (â€Å"Foundation for the Metaphysics of Morals†). The second half of your paper should critically compare and contrast the two, and give your own argument for which you think is more correct, and ultimately state and argue for what you think is the proper approach to ethics, including whether ethics should be approached through good character or rules for action. (5) Knowledge and Method; Aristotle and Descartes: The first half of your paper will involve summarizing Aristotle’s view on knowledge and method (â€Å"Physics†), with emphasis on the Empiricist method and his teleological account of nature; and further will involve summarizing Descartes’ view (â€Å"Meditations†), with emphasis on the Rationalist method and Cartesian doubt. The second half of your paper should critically compare and contrast the two, giving the pros and cons of each as well as your own  critical reflection on the proper approach and method for knowledge. c. Second Option: Philosophical Project For this option you are required to interview five different people on a philosophical topic listed below. First you need to understand the topic well in order to conduct your interviews. Then you pick your interviewees and ask the questions. You need to accurately record their answers. Then you summarize each interviewees’ responses in a very concise but clear paragraph. To do this you need to extract the philosophical core implied in the answers. You should not simply write down everything they say, because only philosophical arguments of their responses are important and relevant to this work. You should ask your questions is a way that makes interviewees reveal their principles or assumptions regarding the topic. Then you give your original thinking on those philosophical arguments and principles by comparing, criticizing, and challenging them. Generally speaking, your essay should include at least 8 paragraphs. First paragraph should include the questions you asked in your interviews. Five next paragraphs could be dedicated to the summaries of five interviews, and one paragraph for comparing the philosophical arguments and criticizing them, and one last paragraph for presenting your original thoughts on the issue. You should be creative in your questions and let the interviewees speak in their own voices. However you should guide the interview so that you can grasp the underlying philosophical principles. You should not include the interviewees name or identity in the paper. This is absolutely against UNT regulations for such research. Also you don’t need IRB approval since this is only a class assignment and the results will not be published in any way. Interview Topics: (1) Ethical relativism. The main question is â€Å"is ethics relative or absolute?†. However in addition to this question you should ask more questions to make the interviewees clear about their idea of ethical principles. You should ask interviewees to explain their reasons with examples. Also you can challenge their responses by giving them counter-examples. For example, for a person who thinks ethics is relative, a  counter argument could be â€Å"then everything is correct at the same time† or â€Å"why killing innocent people for fun is always wrong then?† Or for a person who believes that ethical principles are absolute, a counter example is â€Å"what if an ethically wrongdoing (such as lying to a murderer, or torturing a terrorist) is the only way to stop a disaster?† (2) Absolute Truth. The main question is â€Å"is there an absolute truth?† You should ask interviewees to explain their reason. Also you should ask them if absolute truth de pends on human mind or whether or not is attainable by human mind. A challenge to people who believe in absolute truth is â€Å"how exactly they know there is an absolute truth?† or â€Å"how can they justify their position?† On the other hand, if they believe in relativity of truth, then the challenge is â€Å"then everything can be true or false at the same time and this is contradictory (isn’t it?)†. Also you can ask if scientific truths are relative in their opinion or not. In addition, they should make it clear on what parameters truth depends (e.g. social contract, power, culture, personal preference, utility, etc). And also if truth is relative then why do we think we know the physical world better than ancient thinkers (don’t we?) (3) Environmental Ethics. The main question is â€Å"do we have moral duty to nature and environment?† You should ask questions such as â€Å"are we morally responsible for nature and environment?†, â€Å"is there anything morally wrong about destroying nature (intentionally or unintentionally)?†, â€Å"what if destroying nature is necessary for human life?† and â€Å"what makes us responsible for nature?† You can also ask questions about what elements and aspects in nature makes us responsible. For instance, we are responsible because it is useful for us, or because it is beautiful, or because animals and plants are alive (like us), or it is because of the next generations that we are responsible? Or combination of them. You should clarify what sort of ethical relationship each interviewee is assuming between them and nature. Also do they think that human is just a plain member of ecosystem or special member who stands above everything because it is human being? Also â€Å"to what extent we should care for nature?† (4) Existence. The main question is â€Å"what makes our existence valuable?†. You may ask questions such as â€Å"why we are here?†, â€Å"why we should not kill ourselves?†, â€Å"what is the most valuable in human life?†, â€Å"what makes life worthy of living?†, â€Å"what is  valuable about existence?†, â€Å"is the any purpose in human life?† and â€Å"is there any meaning in human existence?†. (5) Being Human. The main question is â€Å"what is human being?† Under this topic you should ask the interviewees to give a very clear and concise definition of human being and then ask them further questions to challenge their definition. For example, if human being is defined as a rational animal, then why we consider mentally impaired humans as human being? The main concern in this topic is to clarify the essence of human being. Also you should ask them to explain how philosophy/science/religion can help us understand the nature of human being. Also you may ask them to clarify whether or not human being has a fixed nature /essence. In this regards you can ask â€Å"do you think human beings have changed in their nature/essence over the course of history?† Also you may ask them how can we grasp the truth about human nature. P

Political Party Ads - Who Pays for Them

Finding out who pays for political party ads in election season can be tricky. Candidates and committees who purchase political party ads on television and in print are required to disclose their identities. But often times those committees have vague names such as Americans for Prosperity or Americans for a Better Future. Understanding who contributes money to those committees so they can buy political ads is an important function of democracy because the ads play such a large role in elections. Are they conservative or liberal in political philosophy? Do they have a special interest or issue they are trying to influence? It is sometimes difficult to discern what a committees motives are just by watching or reading political ads. Who Pays for Political Party Ads Generally speaking, there are several types of groups that pay for political advertising. They are individual candidate election campaigns such as those for President Barack Obama or 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney; political parties such as the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee; and political action committees or super PACs funded by industries and special interests. Some of the largest special interests in American politics are abortion and gun-control opponents, energy companies and senior citizens. In recent years, though, super PACs have emerged has powerhouses in the electoral process. So have 527 groups and other organizations who seek to exploit weak disclosure laws and spend so-called dark money. How to Tell Who Pays for Political Ads It is easy to tell when an individual political candidate or political party buys airtime for ads. They will disclose their identities, often at the end of the ad. Typically, the wording is This ad was paid for by the committee to re-elect Barack Obama or I am Mitt Romney and I approved this message. Political action committees and super PACs are required to do the same, but they are not required to provide a list of major contributors or identify their special interests on the air. Such information is available only through the committees own websites or through Federal Election Commission records. Those records, called campaign finance reports, include details about how much a political candidate or political party is spending on political ads. Disclosure Controversy Political action committees and super PACs are required by law to list their contributors in disclosures filed regularly in Washington, D.C. Such information can shed light on whether those super PACs are conservative or liberal in nature. But some super PACs exploit a loophole in reporting laws not addressed in the legal case that led to their creation, Citizens United v. the FEC. Super PACs are permitted to accept contributions from nonprofit groups classified as 501[c][4] or social welfare organizations under the Internal Revenue Service tax code. The problem is that under that tax code, 501[c][4] groups are not required to disclose their own contributors. That means they can make contributions to super PACs in the name of the social welfare entity without having to disclose where they themselves got the money. Attempts to close that loophole in Congress have failed. Greater Transparency The Federal Communications Commission requires television stations that get paid to broadcast political ads to keep a record of who bought airtime. Those records are required to be made available for inspection to the public at the stations. The contracts show the which candidates, political committees or special interests are buying political ads, the length and target audience, how much they paid, and when the ads aired. Beginning in August 2012, the FCC also required television stations to post online all contracts with candidates, super PACs and other committees buying airtime for political ads. Those contracts are available at https://stations.fcc.gov.