Raissa's Blog - Best of Sports, Culture, and Entertainment

Background Information on Cameroon’s Government Cameroon is a republic dominated by a strong presidency (Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, 2013) . Cameroon practices a multi-party system of government, but the Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) has remained in power since its creation in 1985.  The president of the republic retains the power to control legislation. The first ever Senate elections in Cameroon’s history held on the 14 th of April 2013, considered to have been free and fair. The CPDM Leader, Paul Biya, was re-elected in October 2011, and has been in power since 1982. The 2011 elections are rumored to have been flawed and marked by irregularities.  Corruption in Cameroon I believe corruption can be curbed in Cameroon’s public sector given that the government is putting in place solid measures to combat this cankerworm. The National Anticorruption Commission (CONAC) is the organization in charge of the combat of corrupt prac...

Corruption according to Transparency International is the abuse of entrusted power for private gain. Corruption can be classified as grand, petty and political, depending on the amounts of money lost and the sector where it occurs. It is a wrongdoing on the part of an authority or powerful party through means that are illegitimate, immoral, or incompatible with ethical standards (corruption, n.d.) . Corruption often results from patronage and is colligated with bribery. Corruption has many costs, some more severe than others, such as loss of lives. The cost of corruption can be categorized into political, economic, environmental and social costs. In economic terms, corruption exhausts national wealth. Corrupt politicians invest limited and scarce resources in projects that they will benefit from rather than those that benefit the communities. As such, they tend to prioritize high-profile projects like pipelines and refineries over less striking but more pressing infrastructure...

Ecosystems are communities of interacting organisms and the physical environment in which they live. An ecosystem is a smaller part of a biome (e .g forest, wood, pond) consisting of a community of plants and animals interacting with the physical environment. The ecosystem in which a particular organism lives is called its habitat. The environment of an ecosystem refers to the conditions which affect the plant and animal community. Examples of ecosystems abound, these include: a pond, a grassland, a forest, an estuary. Ecosystems are: ·        Systems combined of organic and inorganic matter and natural forces that interact and change, ·         Intricately woven together by food chains and nutrient cycles, ·         Living sums greater than their parts. The complexity and dynamism of ecosystems contribute to their productivity but make them challenging to manage. When...

Challenges Faced by the Plastic Industry With all the roles played by plastic in our lives in the 20 th century, it is hard to imagine a life without this material. Because many plastics are based ultimately on crude oil, there is a continuous rise in the cost of raw materials and this increasing cost is something that chemical engineers are trying to work around (Johnson, 2015) . If we used small amounts of plastic, the challenge wouldn’t be that big, but no, we use them in astounding quantities. In a small island like Britain, about 8 billion disposable plastic bags are used annually! We are literally drowning into plastic, being unable to get rid of them. Another domain of concern is that of environmental degradation. Getting rid of plastic is a daunting task. Burning is not an option as this entails the release of toxic chemicals like dioxins. Plastic disposal is a critical issue that needs to be addressed, we need to adopt more sustainable strategies in plastic disposal...

Plastics in the Automo tive  Industry All forms of automobile make extensive use of plastic. Plastic is used in seating, paneling, instrument enclosing, and surface coverings. Skateboards, bicycles, and roller blades are made from plastic (in combination with other materials used as structural elements). Plastics allow for weight reduction, innovative design, and energy absorption while improving passenger safety. Plastics are used in seatbelts, airbags, durable plastic safety seats and shock absorbers for bumpers. Plastics have gone a long way to suppress the explosion risks in fuel tanks. The connection between design innovation and plastic is illustrated by the aircraft industry. As of the 1970s, the use of plastic in airplanes has grown from 4 to all but 30%, and was expected to reach 50% by 2013!  Plastics in Home Construction The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that the use of plastic foam insulation in homes and buildings each year will ultimately ...