ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
History scholars have always favored orthodox ideas over the unorthodox ones. This means there is a likelihood that scholars who front unorthodox ideas can easily be ignored regardless of whether those ideas are valid or not. Over the years, there have been unorthodox books that have managed to infiltrate the mainstream scholarly world and achieve some recognition. Examples of books that lean towards unorthodox research, claims, and findings are the books written by revisionists or deniers of the Holocaust. Deborah Lipstadt’s book “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory” is written as a response to these unorthodox claims. Lipstadt, a university professor offers a rebuttal to the Holocaust deniers by providing credible research in her book. Throughout the book, the author refrains from treating her work as sacred history but presents facts that are devoid of emotions. Her attack on deniers is well researched and presented in a coherent manner. Lipstadt’s book presents opposition to the deniers’ fascist-apologist propaganda. Lipstadt’s book focuses its attack on the research methodologies that most scholarly Holocaust deniers use. The book exposes how deniers participated in the fabrication of historical materials and twisted various truths to further their denial agendas 1 . According to the author, the lies that are often used by deniers have the capacity to bring down nations if they are accepted 2 . Lipstadt’s analysis focuses on the patterns and methods that are employed by Holocaust deniers. The book is divided into chapters that focus on the history and methods that are used to distort the truth and the memory of the Holocaust. The term ‘historical revisionism’ is used to refer to the objectives of Holocaust deniers. There are chapters that are dedicated to the statements, activities, and literary works of various deniers. Some of the Holocaust deniers whose work is explored in the book include Arthur Butz, Austin App, and Mark Weber. In addition, the author extends her criticism to the “Committee for Open Debate on the Holocaust” and the “Institute for Historical Review” 3 . The author does not waste time in launching her attack on revisionists and deniers of the Holocaust history. This helps the readers to understand the author’s stand right from the start. However, the author is able to use valid points in her work. For instance, the author uses the case of one of the experts whose opinion is usually cited by the deniers’ literature. Engineer Fred Leuchter is one of the people whose expert opinion was sought to ascertain the presence of gas chambers in Nazi concentration camps. The author reckons that Leuchter’s services were sought and paid for by a neo-fascist group. Luechter’s final report indicated that gas chambers did not exist in concentration camps 4 . However, after being investigated Leuchter was found to be a fraud. He did not possess any engineering degree and his earlier attempts to work with the United States government had been denied. Even though this has been proven, revisionists and den
The American Road to Independence was a movement that was started by free people in colonial America before 1775. “The revolution was in the minds and hearts of people….before a drop of blood was shed in Lexington” long before the armed struggle began” on April 19 th 1775; as the then ex- President John Adams asserted in the year 1818. (Miller et al 99-100). Colonial America started to show signs of internal struggle after the year 1763. This was due primarily to one action started by the government in London, England. That one action was simply the action of passing taxes on the colonies without any type of American representation in the parliament in London. The French and Indian war, victory had given Great Britain total control over North America. The cost to the Kings treasury was great. It has been estimated the cost to the English crown for the war in America was in excess of 130,000,000 pounds. The seven-year war had almost doubled Britain’s national debt. Revenue was needed and needed quickly to sustain the cost of English troops needed to maintain order in the Colonies and to reduce the debt incurred from the war. The English Parliament started to levy a series of taxes on British American citizens. What upset the colonial Americans the most was the fact that this parliament in London had no Americans representing the very citizens affected by taxes being levied upon them! British Americans look upon themselves as free men. “One free people cannot govern another free people. “(Miller et al 100) The colonies in America, starting with the first settlement in Virginia, were governed primarily by themselves, The American colonial states had long developed economic and cultural independence; gained self government and accumulated combined populations of more than 1,500,000. This is helpful in depicting that traces of self-government that had already developed, long before the revolution began (Kennedy et al. 115-150). Colonial rights as perceived from the American perspective were expressly accounted for in the declaration of colonial rights; which was documented by the continental congress in October 14, 1774 prior to the onset of the Declaration of Independence. These rights were presented in ten resolves that included natural rights; entitlement to all liberties, rights, and immunities of autonomy of natural born relative to England. Other rights documented included the reserve of the ancestral rights embraced by their older generations that moved into America and receiving representation in the legislative commission. Also documented were the rights to control external commerce as well as rejecting to be taxed from it, without willful consent. Additionally, provided were the right to the entitlement to the British conventional law and free lawful trial and entitlement to British statutes at the tim
Released in 2009, The Blind Side is an American football movie based on a 2006 book of the same name. Despite mixed critical reviews, it was a commercial success. Below, you will find The Blind Side summary, as well as movie analysis. Introduction The Blind Side is a movie produced in 2009 that focuses on the life of Michael Oher. Michael is a teenager who overcomes numerous challenges such as homelessness and loneliness to become one of the most reliable offensive linemen in the National Football League (NFL) of America (Lewis, 2009). The movie was directed by John Lee Hancock and was based on the book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. The movie stars Quinton Aaron as Michael Oher, Tim McGraw as Sean Touhy, Sandra Bullock as Leigh Anne Touhy and Jae Head as S.J Touhy. These characters shape the plot of the movie. Sean and Leigh Anne are foster parents to Michael while S.J is their only son who has good relations with Michael as his big brother. Before moving in with Sean and Leigh, Michael had lived in other foster homes, as well as on the streets (Lewis, 2009). This movie is quite thematic because the viewer experiences sad feelings for what Michael goes through, as well as feelings of joy for Michael’s life transformation from solitude and misery to success and greatness. The Blind Side: Summary Essay The movie’s plot revolves around courage, communication, and American football. Michael Oher, played by Quinton Aaron, is a homeless black teenager with a troublesome life. Eventually, he is taken in by a well-off white couple, Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy, played by Tim McGraw and Sandra Bullock. Together, the family goes through many challenges, teaching each other many moral lessons. The Blind Side: Full Plot Summary The main character in this movie is Michael, a seventeen-year-old black and homeless American teenager. He does not know his father and his mother is a drug addict. He puts up at various foster homes. However, he escapes in several instances due to various reasons. Hopping between foster homes leaves Michael without much formal education or essential skills that can help him get a job (Lewis, 2009). One of Michael’s foster parents tries to enroll him into Wingate Christian School despite his poor academic records. His athleticism
Exxon Mobil Exxon Mobil Corporation is a Fortune 500 American multinational oil and gas firm headquartered in Texas, United States. The company is the world’s second largest firm by revenue after Wal-Mart during the fiscal year 2013. The firm is also the second largest publicly traded corporation based on its market capitalization. Exxon Mobil Internal and External Stakeholders Internal stakeholders Employees are responsible for daily operations of the company. Exxon Mobil leverages on its employees to create competitive advantage in the industry. Shareholders provide financial support for the company and expect returns on their investments. External stakeholders Governments are responsible for regulating the oil and gas industry in which the company operates. These regulations may favor or introduce stringent measures that can affect business operations and revenues. Suppliers are Exxon Mobil partners that provide required products and services to support the company’s operations. Customers buy the company’s products and services. They continue to demand high quality products and services from Exxon Mobil. Communities are spread globally in areas where Exxon Mobil runs its operations. The company must protect environments and communities in such areas through CSR activities. NGOs continue to watch operations of Exxon Mobil with the aim of protecting environments and human rights. Academic institutions work with the company to develop the best technologies and management practices in the industry. Exxon Mobil Vision and Mission Mission “Exxon Mobil Corporation is committed to being the world’s premier petroleum and petrochemical company. To the end, must continuously achieve superior financial and operating results while simultaneously adhering to high ethical standards”. From this mission statement, Exxon Mobil focuses on making high returns and profits, and it has been successful on this mission. Moreover, it also operates under ethical principles that guide its relationship with all stakeholders. Exxon Mobil Goals Global expansion – a strategic plan Exxon Mobil continues to expand globally. The company can focus on strategic partnership with countries, which have recently discovered oil and gas, especially in Africa. It may also seek further alliances with oil-rich countries. This would ensure global presence and high returns for investors. Meeting energy demand The company will have to continue to invest in energy in order to meet the rising global demand. The use of hydraulic fracturing – an operational plan The use of hydraulic fracturing to extract shale gas has brought about environmental issues. On this regard, Exxon Mobil can leverage on the best technologies in order to enhance operational efficiency with the aim of reducing environmenta
The Republicans It is very clear that the website for the Republican Party is all aboua t winning in the just concluded GOP elections. In the home page, there are two major graphic images that immediately caught the eye of the visitor. The first one is a GOP store sell,ing t-shirts that says I Fired Pelosi: Guess Who’s Next! It is of course about their overwhelming victory at the polls. The second is a link to the newly elected Republican leaders. In the bottom-half of the homepage one can see the major subgroups of information that they want to relay to visitors and members of the party. The first sub-group is all about winning the elections and aptly titled Steps to Victory. The second and third sub-group is also related to the elections and focused on destroying the credibility of the Obama government while highlighting the achievements of the party. The website was designed to be easily accessible to the younger generation of voters. It is evidenced by a link that will allow volunteers and members to create some sort of a virtual social network linking them together and empowering them to contribute more to the GOP elections. However, it must be pointed out that a significant portion of the site was devoted to the impact of women as leaders and as volunteers therefore it can be said that the Republicans targeted the youth and women. The Republicans on the other hand made an appeal to logic by using research data taken from the Federal government. One article pointed to the failure of the Obama government to deal with financial reforms issues and that after almost two years in office the American people had yet to see genuine financial reforms. This is the reason why their website is more convincing than those of their political rival. The Republicans pointed to this weakness to convince people why they should volunteer and donate money for the Republicans to win in the GOP elections. The Democrats The overriding message that one can get from their website is this: Change that Matters. As a result, the site can be seen as a mixed-bag of information not necessarily focused on the GOP elections. Nevertheless, it has to be pointed out that there is a clickable link on the topmost portion of the site that says: Elections. Interestingly a significant amount of information that can be accessed talks about the Obama government and there were many videos and articles where the core message is Obama’s victory in the past presidential elections. One can also sense that the Democrats were on the defensive while the Republicans were on the offensive. For example the featured stories that took up space in the homepage talked about the significance of voting for Obama. In one video a young woman said that her vote changed history. In another video the message was all about the impac
The short TED talk by Arthur Benjamin, who is the professor of mathematics and the self-proclaimed ‘Mathemagician,’ left me somewhat befuddled. He spoke about calculus and its use in the real world, about how most of us would not really need it, and about how an emphasis on statistics would help keep our country from being in the economic mess it is currently in (Benjamin, 2009). The reason why I found his statements so confusing is because he seemed to overinflate the importance of statistics while ignoring the reasons why most of us do not need calculus. As Benjamin (2009) mentioned in his brief talk, calculus is used in engineering, economics, medicine, physics, and statistics. All of these are related to high-end, well-paying jobs, which most Americans do not have. In fact, 40% of the labor force in the US is currently being occupied in a low-paying economy, working as cashiers, food preparation, dishwashers, laundry-cleaners, and so forth. Calculus is used even in statistics, in order to check the answers provided by it. Thus, before learning statistics, we need calculus. As for when I use statistics in real life, it is to understand what various statistical data cited in newspapers means. I do not play poker nor do I gamble at the stock market. And even then, statistics do not play that big of a role. Sure, I can understand them, but chances are I will not go and fact-check any of them, as it would take too much time and effort to do so. Neither would the majority of readers, even if they have had any understanding of statistics. I cannot recall the last time I used calculus outside of the classroom, but the world around us works using those principles. If humanity forgets these principles and leaves the hard math to machines, it will eventually lose grasp and understanding of it. What was understood before would become magic to us in the future. Which is why I think Arthur Benjamin is exaggerating the value of statistics to the average citizen and underestimates the strategic value of calculus. Reference Benjamin, A. (2009). Teach statistics before calculus! [Video]. TED.
Introduction Technology has found its way to all spheres of people’s life, including health care. Present-day health practitioners should be aware of the latest developments in order to come up with the best treatment solutions for their patients. Using research for analysis and synthesis of scholarly data is one of the most effective ways of finding out details about important healthcare issues. The ability to critique data found via search engines testifies about a nurse’s professional skills and the level of preparation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of various databases, knowledge, and wisdom to perform and interpret research. Research Question Diabetes is one of the most common diseases with high mortality rates. Healthcare practitioners and scientists are constantly working on finding methods of relieving the symptoms and providing patients with appropriate treatment. However, some of the available medicines are not entirely beneficial for patients, leading to dangerous side effects. To conduct a review of literature, it is necessary to identify a patient-related problem and then look for the most relevant information through web-based search engines. The research question is “Are the side effects of metformin in diabetes treatment strong enough for practitioners to stop prescribing it to their patients?” Evidence-based practice (EBP) indicates that gastrointestinal infections decrease metformin tolerance in patients with diabetes (Huang et al., 2015a; Huang et al. 2015b). EBP also reports that about one-fifth of diabetic patients treated with metformin develop gastrointestinal side effects (Dujic et al., 2015). Thus, the literature review will be focused on searching evidence of metformin’s adverse effects on patients’ gastrointestinal system. Databases and Search Words When performing research, it is necessary to pay thorough attention to databases. For the current search, databases were limited by the subject “health sciences.” Such engines as MEDLINE, Science and Technology Collection, CINAHL, and Agricola were consulted. These are considered as some of the most reliable and extensive healthcare-oriented databases. To obtain the most relevant and trustworthy results, the hits matching the keyword were filtered twice: firstly, by the publication date (within the last five years), and secondly, by the source of publication (peer-reviewed scholarly journals). The following data were obtained for each database with the help of keywords and filters. Medline Keywords – metformin gastrointestinal side effects. Results – 8,119,185 hits. Inclusion – within the last five years. Results – 1,754,700. Inclus
Introduction With examples like Mulan 1998 vs. Tom & Jerry, cartoons have created considerable political controversies worldwide. Globalization and technological advancements have impacted on the children’s lives and entertainment (Cantor & Wilson, 2003). Cartoons have been specifically used occasionally for children’s entertainment. Evidently, this has been noted to occur within all social environments. These include homes, schools, and within entertainment joints (Scibelli, 2010). The application of cartoons for amusements is particularly common amongst the children. There is increased cartoon consumption by children. It is notable that not much attention has been focused on certain implications and impac
Research Background Information flow within an organization has always been the subject of unceasing interest for researchers (Welch, 2011). Entering into the global economy has posed new challenges to the communication process and at the same time provided new avenues for addressing standard communication issues. However, when descrying communication as a crucial part of an organizational performance, one rarely considers it from the perspective of personal performance. On the one hand, disregarding individual communication concerns seems quite legitimate, as operating within global economy means viewing every element of the entrepreneurship as a part and parcel of the corporate mechanism. On the other hand, neglecting the individual needs of the staff and, therefore, their personal efficacy may result in a range of minor conflicts amassing to a major crisis within entrepreneurship. The communication issues, which the entrepreneurship is facing at present, will be addressed from the perspective of organizational performance and corporate values. Research Question This research will attempt at proving several key statements concerning the role of communication on the efficacy of the staff’s performance within entrepreneurship. Specifically, the research will seek the answer to the question whether efficient communication is the key to the organization of the entrepreneurship’s key processes and the successful implementation of the corporate goals, including the ones regarding production and expansion. In addition, the paper will provide the answer to the question concerning efficient communication as the essential tool for addressing conflicts in the workplace, especially those arising due to a culture clash. Finally, the significance of communication in terms of increasing the productivity of the organization in general, as well as the need to deploy the latest technological innovations in order to facilitate the environment for an impeccable communication process, will be defined. Literature Review Communication and personal effectiveness Researchers show that there is an obvious link between communication and personal efficiency. For instance, the study carried out by Welch (2011) points at the fact that employee engagement and, therefore, motivation is among the key products of enhanced communication process (Welch, 2011). This does make sense, seeing that most organizations require quality data processing in order to function properly in the era of information technology. At this point, it should be noted that the process of communication may be viewed from two perspectives, i.e., the process of information transfer among the members of the staff, and the one of data transfer between an employee and a manager. The latter, in its turn, is traditionally structured in a more cohesive manner, yet more complex at the same time. Welch (2011) has discovered in their study that the communicational pattern chosen in the second scenario has a palpable impact on the personal efficacy of each mem
Introduction Women have remained active in advocating for representation in decision-making across the board. In the past, those who advocated for fair representation of women were branded as “feminists.” However, this attitude has changed gradually. The situation today is very different from the era when women could not vote because the society did not deem them fit to make decisions. In fact, women suffrage was only granted in the early 1920s through the 19 th amendment to the US Constitution. Nevertheless, equal rights for women were not been achieved in a short span. The experience was painstaking, spanning centuries, right from the time when the founding fathers upheld the notion that women could not be granted the same rights as men. Fast forward, women empowerment has opened up space for women to compete for positions that were previous perceived to the preserve of men. For the first time in history, the US has a female presidential candidate. Despite the major strides taken to overcome the suppression of women, the trait has continued to manifest itself in certain areas. The athletic field is one area where women representation has remained consistently low throughout the course of history. Fewer women participate in sports relative to men. Even the amount of media airplay and attention granted to male-dominated sports is much higher relative to the one given to women’s sports. Additionally, women reportedly earn less compared to men f