ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction “Trash” is a collection of several short stories. In this collection, Allison focuses on her main agenda concerning politics, emotions and aesthetics. Having been brought up in a poor family background surrounded by poverty and suffering, Allison is not disturbed by what she went through and insists that nothing can make her change her attitude. She is described as a Southern trash simply because of the life she used to live while still a child. The term trash means something that has no value. It also implies something that is considered a waste or needs to be thrown away. This is how Allison perceives herself. “Allison is described as a feminist and a lesbian coming from Southern Carolina in the United States of America” (Allison, 1988, p. 4). In the preface of these stories known as deciding to live , Allison cuts short the message in all the stories by use of strong descriptive words. She says that the stories have a message of the life experience of a working class cross-eyed lesbian full of hope in life and addicted to violence as well as language. Considering the kind of life she lived while in Southern Carolina with her family members, Allison’s love to women in general is very strong. In her description, she does not give up easily and rarely gives consent to any efforts meant to downgrade her. Through the life she experienced, she believes that what happened was enough and should not happen to women in general. She feels for female characters and wishes no harm to them. She does not want any woman or young female to pass through the kind of life she passed through when she was still young (Allison, 1988). In river of names , the narrator explains how she lost several of her relatives through mysterious incidences. Back in her home place Southern Carolina , Allison lived a life full of suffering and acts of child abuse. After loosing her father, her mother decided to get married to another man who became a step father to her. In the beginning, the step father seemed to be good and well behaved showing love to Allison’s mother and the rest of the family. The relationship between Allison and her step father turned out to be a nightmare when her step father started to molest her and abuse her sexually. He actually raped her on several occasions and physically molested her. The problem is that even after her mother learnt of her husband’s behaviors, she was still confused whether to chase away the husband and protect her daughter or continue staying with the husband. Due to the strong love that Allison had towards her mother, she decides to accept everything that happens to her. She decides not to hate her step father who molests and abuses
The business environment in which companies operate today is always changing, and it is becoming more and more complex. Organizations, both private and public, feel increasing pressures that force them to react quickly to changing conditions and to be innovative in the way they operate. Managers have always directed their focus on information systems (IS) because such investments are deemed to provide real economic value to the business. The decision made by Google to enter fashion e-commerce presumes that there would be high returns in regards to gaining market share and expanding customer experience. This article (Efrati & Morrison, 2010) elicits several IS strategy issues that are common in any business environment. With its newly implemented e-commerce site, Boutiques.com, Google seeks to widen its market base by offering customers new ways of searching and purchasing clothes and accessories. The site incorporates knowledge based systems such as machine learning to recommend products for buyers. This is an interesting IS strategy because the site helps the company to implement its business strategy of becoming an international search engine. It is also cost-effective since marketing through the Internet is cheaper as compared to traditional media such as television and newspapers. The move to implement the website is driven by the need to compete with other companies such as Amazon.com Inc and EBay, thus gaining a competitive advantage. Although Amazon and EBay employ full e-commerce capability in their websites, Google seeks to enter the e-commerce market by first acting as an intermediary between the merchants and buyers. Google has been able to conduct research on the need to establish a fashion website. This has been the major breakthrough in embracing Internet and knowledge based technologies towards achieving its business goals (Efrati & Morrison, 2010). In addition, the organizational strategy of the company is to find new ways of serving customers. IS supports this strategy by enabling the company to direct customers to use their newly implemented website. Through the Internet, the company is able to reach its customers directly because the Internet spans the world. According to Pearlson and Saunders (2009), a proper information system that meets the organizational requirements should be developed or acquired to support a firm’s business process. Google purchased Like.com in August 2010 for almost $100 million with an aim of improving the IT infrastructure of Boutiques.com. Google integrates managers, websites, employees, network, and data in driving its IS strategy. Managers make planning decisions; websites are the systems that link the company with its customers; employees ensure that strategies are followed; networks such as the Internet enable the company to build customer-driven websites; and data about the company and its customers enhance planning and business processes. Information systems do not appear randomly in business, their developm
The three challenges of a criminal justice agency administration (discipline, liability, and labor relations) appear to be interrelated. The liability within the system of criminal justice is always a challenge. In general, the cases of police brutality (or perceived police brutality) are typically controversial, and the guilty party is not always easy to find. An example is the death of Eric Garner, which was caused by an officer when he did not release the man who was claiming to be unable to breathe (Susman & Haller, 2015). The public was outraged by the case, which is understandable especially since Garner was unarmed, but the officers’ community felt unprotected and unsupported as well, which is similarly understandable given the specifics of their job. Similarly controversial is the case of corrections workers who are responsible for the people in their custody and can be sued if, for example, an inmate commits suicide (Peak, 2011). As pointed out by Peak (2011), corrections workers were the last to form a professional union, which only proves the need for the protection of their negotiated rights. As a result, a criminal justice agency administration is torn between the need to protect the people from their employees’ misconduct and uphold the reputation of the institution and, at the same time, to protect the employees, who carry out their duties in most unfavorable circumstances, from unjust accusations. However, it is apparent that one of the best ways to ensure employee protection from the cases of misplaced liability consists in providing them with related rules and guidelines. In other words, the primary tool of discipline maintenance is the documents from official policies on various aspects of conduct to recommendations and codes of ethics. In case the employees are provided with clear rules and the rules are consistently enforced through the various tools mentioned by Peak (2011), it is e easier to ensure their protection from the cases of false accusation. Similarly, the same activities are directly connected to the improved protection of the population from justice system employees’ misconduct. In the end, the reputation of the agency and the justice system as such depends on the maintenance of discipline. Thus, it can be concluded that the three challenges of a criminal justice agency administration are indeed interrelated and interconnected, which means that the resolution of issues in one of these fields is likely to improve the situation with the two others.
The WEF states that sustainability means not compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Can you think of any specific examples when a specific country made a decision that did not support this? What were the gains and sacrifices involved with not promoting sustainable practices? Sustainability can be discussed as a high level of balance in solving the current environmental, social, and economic problems with references to the role of governance. Today the governments of the definite countries in North Africa are inclined not to follow the principles of sustainability with their intentions to achieve rapid economic growth by any means. In Egypt, the rapid urbanization, the development of industries, and not regular meeting the environmental requirements are affected by the necessity to gain direct economic benefits and shift the country to the new level. Nevertheless, the overuse of the natural resources which is typical for the country and caused by the lack of the necessary supplies and the incorrect usage of these resources result in negative effects for the environment and, in combination with the aroused social problems, provokes the emergence of the problematic issues associated with the population’s welfare, employment, and health. What do you think it would take for you to actively seek out sustainable products and services exclusively? Similarly, what types of programs, incentives, or policies would influence consumers, in general, to make the switch to only using sustainable goods and services? To be sure that the item is worth buying, it is necessary to pay attention to the realization of the combination of such aspects as the quality of the item, its reasonable cost, and sustainability. In this case, sustainability can mean the production of the item according to the environmental protection requirements and its possible further successful recycling or utilization. Thus, the choice of sustainable products or eco-products can be considered as a contribution to the global policy of preserving natural resources and environmental protection. Moreover, sustainable products can be discussed as more beneficial not only for social needs but also as more useful for people’s health. However, it is important not to force the public to seek out sustainable products, but to provide the necessary information about their usefulness as a means of the program and policy’s realization. It is necessary to focus on all the benefits and advantages of sustainable products such as the saving of energy and other possible resources. The WEF cites survey data reflecting 86% of participants felt transparency in production for goods they were purchasing was important or very important to their decision. Given such a high response, do you feel the current economy is reflective of this survey r
Critical infrastructure sectors (CIS) are assets and systems needed by the government to ensure the proper functioning of the economy and society. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) defined 16 critical sectors, among which healthcare, food, commercial facilities, nuclear, energy, and government facilities are the most important ones (CISA, 2020). In general, the failure or destruction of every facility from this list may have an adverse impact on public health, security, and the US economy. Global and regional conflicts always have the potential to endanger some critical sectors by terroristic attacks, means of war, and sabotage. International cooperation plays an essential role in fostering the efficiency of national security measures. In order to deal with cybercrimes involving CIS, states developed such treaties as Budapest Convention on Cybercrime written by the Council of Europe, which aims at improving law enforcement collaboration on cybercrimes to avoid stealing of information, money, and disruption of operations (Fidler, 2016). The convention encourages the prohibition of actions required to undertake modern cyber attacks by national law that should be harmonized. Countries very often use mutual legal assistance treaties (MLATs) and extradition agreements to facilitate information exchange in criminal issues. The International Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings is an example of an international agreement that outlaws terrorist actions and improves mutual judicial and police cooperation. International Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism enhances collaboration in preventing and prosecuting threats of nuclear terrorism (Fidler, 2016). International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and Convention on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts Relating to International Civil Aviation are among the 19 universal anti-terrorism instruments that prevent terrorist attacks worldwide. Moreover, the National Infrastructure Protection Plan (NIPP) includes tools that allow international cooperation with partners to protect such vital sectors as information technology, communications, and energy. The establishment of Critical Five in 2012 that consists of the UK, US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, helps to improve critical infrastructure security in the region and enhances the cross-border approach. The US-Canada cooperation is also crucial as it develops resilience and CIS security of both countries.
An invasive insect that is infesting trees in forested and urban areas of Alaska is the spruce bark beetle. Since 1980, these beetles have accounted for the demise of spruce trees on 4.4 million acres in Alaska. Of these, over 1 million acres were located in the Kenai Peninsula (Joling). In 1996 alone it was estimated that spruce bark beetles killed around 30 Million spruce trees. These beetles attack only wide stem spruce trees of the species Sitka, White, and Lutz. Black spruce trees are very rarely attacked. The beetles ignore other tree species like hemlock, birch, cottonwood, and aspen. A spruce bark beetle, scientific name ‘dendroctonus rufipennis,’ is very small in size. The typical length of an adult beetle is 6mm. It attacks the spruce tree by excavating a
Introduction In the history of mankind, the concepts of democracy and social justice have become very prominent only in the last two hundred and twenty-five years. The French Revolution and the American War of Independence contributed much to this turning point. In England, as in almost all European countries, the unlimited monarchy was the order of the day. From Magna Carta to modern times it took several centuries for the British to evolve democratic norms and they now form the basis of governments everywhere. Even then the transition from feudalistic privileges of a few to at least equal application and protection of the law for all required many struggles. The French Revolution loudly proclaimed the ideas of Equality, Liberty, and Fraternity to the whole world as universal ideals to be achieved and practiced. The founding of the United States of America was based on the principle that all men were created equal though it took a hundred years to abolish slavery and another hundred years to bring about legal acceptance of equality among races. If this is the situation in advanced nations of the world, the plight in the newly emerging states in Africa, Asia, and Latin America can easily be imagined as to how difficult would it be to bring about social justice where people had for centuries lived under one form of oppression or the other. Democracy and problems of social justice A democracy guaranteeing to its citizens the political rights and participation in the government has undoubtedly its merits. But mechanically voting in the elections and very formally participating in the democratic process is not enough. What made democracy gain a universal acceptance is its sense of justice, that too, social justice. It is true that absolute equality in all respects among the members of a democratic society would be very difficult to attain. Human beings are not endowed alike and there are differences in many respects. But the perpetuation of privileges for some and denial of opportunities to others would make democracy a mockery. Social, economic, and political justice should be the ultimate concern for anyone genuinely interested in the promotion of welfare and happiness of all. We will not worry here about the different economic theories or welfare concepts but will analyze some aspects of social justice and how they could pave the way for the true realization of human values. Historical circumstances bring about people together for the common objective of better living. The evolution of various factors in nations, therefore, varies from place to place. We have, however, racial, linguistic, gender, and economic injustices in some form or other everywhere. They inflict wounds upon the less privileged sections of the people in getting a good educ
Verizon’s Products/Services 4G LTE network. 3G network. Converged communications. Entertainment services. Integrated business solutions (Verizon, 2013). Employees Base Benefits Program Highly competitive salaries. 401(k) retirement scheme. Comprehensive medical plan. Life insurance. Educational reimbursement program. What can they do to move up on the Fortune 500 lest or maintain its current position? Enlarge existing customer base. Increase expenditure on research and development. Company History Expand coverage network. Formed in 2000. Resulted from Bell Atlantic Corp.-GTE Corp. amalgamation. Acquired MCI Inc. in 2006. Purchased Rural Cellular Corp in 2008. Acquired Alltel Corp. in 2009. Launched 4G LTE network in 2010 (Verizon, n.d.). Financial Information Ranked 15th on Fortune 500. Consolidated revenues of $115.8 billion. $31.5 billion in operating activities cash flow. Earnings per share $0.31. Declared dividends $2.030 (Olsen, 2012). What needs to be improved to fix it and why? High prices are relative to rivals. Large economies of scale capacity. Major Change and Implementation Maintain market leadership. Curtail competition from other players. Technology. Research and development. Steps in Building Corporate Competencies Design a competency architecture. Determine critical competencies. Establish a competency learning scheme. Identify knowledge gaps. Create development plans. Flexibility and adaptability. How organizational structures may impact strategy implementation Characteristics of stability. Goal unification. Process implementation. Cultural alignment (Hanafizadeh, Moosakhani, & Bakhshi, 2009). Technique showing superior results. Used as a benchmark. “Best Practices” Most efficient performance methods. Determined by:   * costs,   * time is taken,   * defects quantity, and   * actual performance relative to the industry benchmark. How corporate culture and leadership impact good strategy execution in Verizon Workforce diversity. Employee empowerment. Workplace equality. Business ethics and social responsibility: Influence on strategy development and implementation Increased stakeholder activism. Transparency and reporting. Employee focus. Business partners (Patzer, 2011). Corporate Social Responsibility: Verizon Non-business related acts of appreciation to the community. Environmental management. Health care assistance. Disaster response (“Verizon Singapore gets the award for sustainability efforts”, 2012). Key strategy-making principles at Verizon Differentiation. Growth. Change motivation (Koplyay et al., 2012). Major managerial issues to be addressed for successful strategy execution for Verizon Customer service delivery. Employment relations.
The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother is an autobiography by James McBride in which he describes the feelings and problems he had when tried to explore his identity and family background. A large part of the plot focuses on the life of the author’s mother, Ruth, who was a Jewish woman, married to a Black man. The autobiography raises such issues as race and religion, which are very personal. Therefore, there is a big chance that each reader can find their unique meanings in the book when comparing McBride’s experiences with their own. Individual factors such as race, religion, and family background that may affect one’s interpretation of The Color of Water will be discussed in this essay and showed which subjective responses to it they may have. The first obvious factor is race. The fact that McBride and his mother looked different made him question his relation to Ruth and explore all the distinctions and similarities between them. Some readers may have the same mindset as the one the narrator in the book has and actively engage in the investigation of their racial identity. Others may simply accept race as a fact without trying to get deeper into the issue of race and ethnicity. The second factor affecting text interpretation and response is religion. It is mentioned in the book that Ruth was born in a
As we take a close look at parenting and child development there is no doubt that we will have to take a close look at the excitement that parents do have when they hear the very first words that their children say because those first words grow into a sentence and after that into the conversation. A child learns the first words from the parents as they are their first teachers and thus the children will want to speak and pronounce words like them. When the children are young they find it more enjoyable playing games with their parents, listening to them, talking, reading with them, singing and so on. All this constitutes part of child development since they get important language skills that last for a lifetime. As far as communication is concerned, language development is very important, though there are times when some children fail to develop language due to many different factors that affect them and this could include factors such as birth weight, premature birth, and many other countable factors (Chaimay, Bandit & Jadsada, 2006). Single parents may not find it easy to raise their children because children need parental care from both the mother and the father thus the absence of one of them will affect the development of a child in one way or another. Considerable research has suggested that language development in children may be affected by behavioral problems or diseases and this may affect them psychologically since they have higher risks of academic difficulties and disabilities in learning in the future among other risks such as Specific Language Impairment (SLI) which is an important neurodevelopmental disorder in children. Breastfeeding is named as a protective measure against SLI. That is, SLI can be reduced by about 50-60 percent in children who have been breastfed for nine months. Further research has reported that the longer the breast feeding, the better the polysyllable babblers. In addition, SLI is more prevalent in boys than in girls. For instance, a woman with SLI will produce seven times boys with SLI and four times girls with SLI. The study also states that the birth order of children in a family can also contribute to the effects of their language development. The first-born child in a family is more likely to have a higher chance of better language development than the remaining children that follow him. The report further indicated the likelihood of children born later being more prone to SLI than firstborn children. Moreover, the education level of the parents extensively affects the language development of their children. A wide range of reports has shown that those children born of parents who have low education have higher chances of suffering from language impairment compared to those born of highly educated parents. The environmental factors also contribute to child language development. The environment is defined as the condition in which a child is raised and is also associated with his abilities to communicate effectively. Moreover, many investigator