ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction As the American civil war was ending in 1980, the focus turned to the west. There was later a confirmation in the same year indicating that there was a shift of the frontier. This hence raised questions pertaining to the manner in which this frontier was settled in approximately 25 years. With the development of the American nation, there was a shift of the frontier to the west. In addition to this, the territory known as the final west stretched from Missouri to Pacific Ocean. This vast land was composed of 1.2 million square miles, which was approximately 40% of the whole nation. The Great American desert was a branded name of this vast area that was labeled by ancient travelers. The annual rainfall of the area is said to be less than 20 inches of rain, thus suggestions have been put forward suggesting this as the cause of the branded name. The dry conditions of this area resulted to great treeless plains that contained prairie grass. These mountains were rich in lumber and minerals and sloped to Washington, Oregon and California coast areas that were fertile. In spite of possessing a vast wilderness, the West incorporated different types of cultures and surroundings [1] . Development and settlement The development that took place in the West escalated after the civil war. In 1860s, the initial steps of these developments began and later in 1970s, the development activities increased significantly thanks to the just completed transcontinental railroad that was completed in 1869. Transportation changes took effect with the coming of this railroad as Americans could only take a period of one week to travel from one coast to another. Apart from transformation changes, the railroad also contributed to both economic development and capital investment. The Homestead Act of 1862, stories from relatives and friends and advertisements were among the major factors that contributed to the buying and settling on portions of the millions of free acres. These free acres were bought by black freedmen, farmers from the eastern region and Europe’s immigrants. These homesteaders underwent numerous calamities as they tried to settle in their newly acquired pieces of land. These calamities were composed of hailstones, thunderstorms, harsh winters, and tornadoes. The occurrence of these calamities did not deter the spirit to succeed of these settlers as they innovated ways of surviving using the available resources in the plains. For instance, they would use buffalo chips as a source of fuel [2] . Culture and politics Although the conditions faced by the homesteaders were harsh, they used different activities to adapt to the environment. They adapted a culture of farming in which they would plant drought resistant crops. Use of windmills and dry farming techniques were also employed for the sole purpose of succeeding in countering the dry and arid area they settled in. On settling on the Great Plains, “these families faced isolation and cultural deprivation” and at the sa
Abstract This paper will discuss and evaluate the significance of business intelligence from a manager’s and internal decision maker’s point of view. It would also cover an overview of what business intelligence is, what are its relevant and associative terms, what are its general uses, and especially how it is helpful to a company’s management. In the contemporary corporate sector set up, the competition among various business entities has gone far beyond. Companies use all tactics to meet this strategic competition on al levels. Business Intelligence has become inevitable now for survival in the business market nowadays. Introduction Most people do some form of analysis on a regular basis throughout their lives—when they buy a house, a car, or go on a holiday, for example. Every business also does some form of analysis, whether it is looking at productivity improvements, benchmarking, cost savings, or using the balanced scorecard. However, change is passing by every business that is focusing internally and on information derived from internal data. Strategic and industry risk to any organization come from the external environment. Despite this, many organizations and their decision-makers today are investing a vast amount of resources in attempts to obtain the solutions to their (external) market and industry challenges via enhanced information technology (IT) and information systems capabilities. Management guru Peter Drucker (1997) has noted that managers have come to rely too heavily on computerization and systems and that this fails the manager when they cannot gather the necessary data in the first place. He further notes that a large number of executives spend all their time with data that is both internal and incomplete. Drucker concludes that the information that executives need the most is about the “outside world, ” and that most important decisions should be focused on data gathered about what is going on externally to, rather than inside, the company (Drucker 1997, 46-54). Definitions of Business Intelligence (BI) There are two popular BI definitions: one is broad and the other is narrower. The broad definition suggests that BI is information concerning the business environment in which a company operates (Prior 1998, 66-68), including customers, competitors, industry trends, public policy, and other STEEP (Social, Technical, Economic, Environmental, and Political) factors. This is viewed to be broader and more inclusive than CI in that it includes these “noncompetitive” or indirectly competitive facets of the environment. This use of the term BI reached its height of popularity, as measured in a number of publications and studies, during the 1970s when it was viewed as an effective new way for organizations to respond over the longer-term to what were then viewed to be fundamental or structural changes to the macro-environment of business (Fleisher and Bensoussan 2003, 85-87). The term “business” intelligence also provi
Introduction Kenneth Lay, the CEO of the Enron Company, had a major impact on the development of business and corporate ethics (Ferrell & Ferrell, 2011, p. 1). An analysis of the ethical conduct of this famous business figure will help shed light on his character, the motivation for his decision-making, as well as aspects of transformation in action. Analysing Lay’s ethical perspective is of great value to the study of business ethics today. Features of Character Kenneth Lay was a senior executive of Enron, a giant Texas energy company. In 2004, Lay stood trial on charges of corruption, fraud, and conspiracy and was eventually found guilty ( Kenneth Lay: Biography , n.d., para. 5). Samuel (2008) describes Kenneth Lay as an intriguing personality, exhibiting contradictory qualities in his personal and business life (p. 3). The author points out that Lay was loved and admired in his local community for being kind and generous, but managed to lead his company to moral and financial disaster. Samuel analyzed the features of his character from two different standpoints – humanistic and existential. From the psychological perspective, Kenneth Lay displayed the characteristics of a person suffering from bipolar disorder (Samuel, 2008, p. 18). Thus, his decision-making could have been influenced by the contradictory nature of his character. Samuel (2008) indicates that his bipolar disorder coupled with extreme narcissism and a distorted sense of humanism might have led him to make the decisions that resulted in a disastrous outcome (p. 19). Aspects of Spirituality Studies have shown that certain aspects of spirituality have a significant influence on a person’s organizational and ethical conduct. Ferrell and Ferrell (2011) claim that Ken Lay’s allegedly criminal conduct is neither evident nor straightforward (p. 3). The authors interviewed with Lay, where he admitted that he used to rely on his subordinates in the legal and accounting department to report any cases of misconduct (Ferrell & Ferrell, 2011, p. 3). Therefore, we can conclude that trust is the first aspect of Lay’s spirituality that determined his decision-making. The second aspect that must be mentioned is his commitment to organizational learning and creativity, as the Enron Company employed innovative and complex strategies that were a priority for succeeding. In the interview, Lay admitted that even though the company experienced difficulties or even faced scandals, it did not mean that success was not possible. The latter point shows the third aspect of spirituality – job involvement and commitment. Aspects of Transformation in Action Envisioning a productive community is the first key aspect of Kenneth Lay’s business attitude. Trust and loyalty to the employees were important for the CEO, which eventually proved fatal. Lay envisioned an innovative, fearless team of professionals that are bold enough to face the current challenges. Thus, the second aspect of transformation in action is transcending fear. As Lay admitted in
Rhetorical analysis of the text can be held on the basis of any text, should it be an advertisement, a newspaper article, a speech, or a story. The main objective of the rhetorical analysis is to detect and study the connections and interactions between the text, the author of the text, and its target audience. Basically, the point of the rhetorical analysis of the text is to read carefully and closely in order to have a deeper understanding of the meaning and contents of the text. This paper is focused on rhetorical analysis of the political speech of Musallam Al Barrak given as a provocative address to the Amir and held on behalf of the free people of Kuwait. Since the rhetorical analysis of the text is focused on the understanding and examination of the text in-depth, it is crucial to conduct background research and find out who the author of the text and the target audience were. Musallam Al Barrak is the former Kuwaiti lawmaker, who has a heavy political weight in contemporary Kuwait. Barrak is known for its fiery temper and expressive addresses. This political has never spared the words or made his expressions milder to confront the policies or leaders he deemed unjust or improper. The people of Kuwait know Barrak as the ultimate and fierce protector of the Constitution and the power of law. The former lawmaker often protested the enforcement of laws he considered corrupt. In the speech analyzed in this paper, Barrak gives a passionate address to the Emir Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmad Al Jaber Al Sabah and his attempt to enforce the one-man rule on the territory of Kuwait and depower the country’s democracy and human rights. The speech was accepted very well by the public; many citizens supported Barrak and his views partly because his speech was fashioned in a very skillful way and was focused on engaging the masses and calling them to act. The inspirational speech worked very well; many citizens of Kuwait marched together, supporting the former lawmaker. In spite of such immense support from the side of the citizens, the politician still was put in jail, as according to the laws of Kuwait, such an address is offensive to the Emir and has to be punished. Rhetorical analysis of the text of Barrak’s speech is focused on the identification of means that helped the author engage the crowd, inspire, and earn support and trust. The combination of ethos, pathos, and logos in this text allowed the author to achieve incredible goals, convince the people of Kuwait to follow him even though what they did together was against the current policies protecting the country leader. Rhetorical analysis of Barrak’s speech follows the composition of words, sentences, implications, and meanings together with the emotional stimuli in order to locate the sources of this speech’s power and influence. The speech can be divided into three main elements. The first one is the initial part of the speech, where Barrak introduces his address and explains what it is going to be about. He mentions the Emir and states that his violations of law and abuse of authority are the cause of Barrak’s and Kuw
Suffrage is the right to vote, and women’s suffrage is the right of women to take part in the process of voting. Women in different parts of the globe suffer from denial of this right from time to time. This has often led to rise of activist movements such as feminism, in an effort to secure equal rights for women in voting (Foner 5-15). This situation has also made several authors and researchers write books and articles regarding women’s right to vote. This paper illustrates the thoughts and comments of Professor Kuhlman and Professor Woodworth-Ney, regarding the issue of women’s suffrage in America. Professors Kuhlman and Woodworth-Ney, both of Idaho State University, have no sharp, contrasting views about women’s suffrage. They have more similarities than differences. They see a trend whereby women in each state of the United States have been fighting for their rights since time immemorial, including the time of the two world wars. This led to the formation of the Federal Woman Suffrage Amendment in 1920. Consequently, there was the enactment of several legislations regarding women’s right to vote, thereafter. Woodworth-Ney looks at women’s suffrage from a consideration of women’s history (Woodworth-Ney 55-85). On the contrary, Kuhlman is inclined towards war, and how it led to women’s denial of their rights, especially the right to vote for democratic leaders. Woodworth-Ney talks about women’s rights as mothers and landowners, whereas Kuhlman is more concerned with their rights as widows and war victims (Kuhlman 66-125). Kuhlman is more stringent than Woodworth-Ney. She is of the notion that women should have been granted the right to vote at the same time with men. They agree that women were denied the right to vote for a long time, until women’s rights movements brought women’s suffering into the limelight of the society. However, it was not an easy task to grant women this right. Besides women’s suffrage, the professors and Foner bring out the reproductive role of women and the existing role of patriarchal societies, as well as culture. Women got the right to vote, but they are not fully emancipated from cultural practices that keep them in the private (domestic) sector of societies (Woodworth-Ney 122). They continue to do most of the household chores while men are at work. Moreover, they rarely hold leadership positions due to cultural practices which suggest that virtuous women are just wives and mothers, who should stay at home (Kuhlman 201). Therefore, women’s suffrage did not address the subordinate role of women in society. The patriarchal society still influences political, social and economic sectors, not only in the United States, but also in the world. Allowing women to vote was revolutionary. Foner says that the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States constitution was not a solution to women’s problems, as observed by the Radical Republicans (Foner 23). This statement already shows that there was a tag of war between the government and women’s rights activists, regarding women’s right to vote
Corporate Fraud in the US A few major fraud scandals like Enron and WorldCom weren’t the only fraud actions in the history of US. There were many before and many are still involved in frequent activities. According to the ‘Corporate Fraud Task Force’, it has convicted more than 1,300 companies for fraud in about six years including more than 350 top executives (Tobak, 2008). The average financial cost associated with fraudulent activities is around $1 million according to the ACFE’s 2004. Furthermore companies now have to expend more on compliance to laws, hire more consultants and accountants etc. to keep their records clean. And nobody can deny the unquantifiable loss of reputation if a company is even suspected of being involved in fraudulent activities. Solution – Ethical Training The question then pops up is why don’t companies try to prevent it in the first place. According to some critics, if choosing the right (ethical decision) was so easy, then why doesn’t everybody do the right thing? The reason is that ethical decision is easy but the non-ethical decision may be easier thus people get involved in fraud. According to a Grundfest, people need to be scared into making the right decision and this can only happen if the government catches the wrongdoers quickly and make them suffer for their mistakes. However this view is contradictory to the ones given by most people who believe that training the employees for ethical decisions will help solve this problem. Dr. Bauer says that people are generally good but get involved in inappropriate behavior in pressure or crisis situations. The training should not be to teach people to be ethical, but to teach people how to react in crisis situations and show them an appropriate course of action. (Singleton et al., p85-94). Financial Statements Components to Red Flag Fraudulent Activity The companies’ financial accounts are the first source to spot any fraudulent activities in the company. The two components that can be used are  1. Sales: The sales figure gives an important idea as to how the company is growing in terms of revenue generation. From a higher sales figure, one can judge that the company will become more profitable. Thus if the company does not become more profitable, then there might me a reason explaining it like increase in costs.  2. Assets: A company purchases more assets to help in the profit generation. How
Introduction Soren Kierkegaard makes a clear elaboration on the concept of sickness not leading to death in the Christian perspective. A clear illustration of that ideology is supported by the biblical story of Jesus raising Lazarus from death. While narrating the story of Lazarus, the author suggests that if Lazarus’ sickness led to death, then raising him would not have been beneficial. A contrast between what is termed as a natural person and a Christian is drawn so as to understand their varying perception on death. The natural person views death as the end, while to a Christian death is a mere step on the journey to eternal life. The message conveyed in the introductory statement shows that sickness does not lead to death in the Christian sense; hence ruling out any fear by a Christian towards death. On the same note, sickness unto death is discussed. It is termed as the spiritual death, which according to Kierkegaard is something a Christian ought to fear (Kierkegaard, 9). What amounts sickness unto death The notion that sickness does not cause death has been narrowed to an explanation of what amounts to a death. Despair is what is referred to as sickness unto death in the life of a Christian. Despair creates a barrier between a Christian and God’s plan. In other words, a Christian becomes inconsistent with God’s plans for the Christian. It has also been termed as losing the self. To present a further elaboration on the concept of one losing self, humanity is defined as the existence of significant tensions between the infinite and finite. The said tensions are held at a balance on one hand, while tensions between what is necessary and possible. The said elements of desire are interlinked with dialectical balancing of the antagonistic features (Kierkegaard, 63). Though human beings are said to be inherently reflective and self alert, this alone does not result in self realization. To achieve self realization, human beings ought to be conscious and in conformity with a higher purpose; that is, God’s plan for a human being. Any individual who denies the existence of the higher purpose which has the duty of sustaining life, he/she is said to be in despair (Kierkegaard, 25). Despair and its three categories The failure to recognize the existence of God has been explained as despair. Despair is divided into three main types. To start with, is the unconscious despair which entails the unnoticed element of a self. This desire is also described as inauthentic despair since it is a despair created by ignorance. In this state of affairs, an individual is totally unaware of self distinct from reality. The second form of despair is using the immediate events or terms to define self. In this form of despair, an individual appreciates that he/she has self but desires to lose it by arranging the finite life hence losing the power to realize the self. The last form of despair encompasses the awareness of self but a staunc
Nursing organizations   * Nursing Board:       + Oversees nursing licenses;       + Provides nursing regulations guidance;   * Nursing Association:       + Represents nurses across the country;       + Supports high nursing standards. The work of nurses in the U. S. is regulated and supported by different organizations, mainly they are Nursing boards and nursing associations. On a federal level they are represented by The National Council of State Boards of Nursing and the American Nursing Association. The boards are responsible for overseeing different regulations. NCSBN also helps different boards across the country to communicate to together decide on the best policies for creating regulations. Boards also control the licensing of nurses, and takes disciplinary actions in case of any violation of the regulations. Associations are more concerned with advocating for work and rights of practicing nurses. They support their interests, at the same time providing proper work conditions to ensure the high standards of their work. The Maryland Board of nursing   * 13 members.   * 8 RN members.   * 2 consumer members.   * 3 nursing educators. Maryland nurse practice act – Health Occupations Article, Annotated Code of Maryland. (2012) Board Membership (§ 202). Maryland board of nursing is concerned with overseeing and developing the conditions or health services in the state. The board controls the quality of educational and training programs, and also certification exams and licensing. The members of the Maryland Board of nursing are selected by the Governor of the state. They are appointed for 4-year terms and can be on the Board for 2 consecutive terms only. To become a member one should have specific qualifications, detailed membership conditions and terms are stated in the Nurse Practice Act – Maryland Health Occupations §202. The Current Board members are presided by Gary H. Hicks, RN. All the members are residing in Maryland. Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act   * Created in 2005.   * Collects information about unsafe conditions.   * Advocates for workers revealing medical errors.   * Authorizes AHRQ to create a list of patient safety organizations. The Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act was created in 2005 and its main aim is to provide prope