ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The county has hit the headlines recently because of uncontrolled misuse of public funds among officials to an extent that an audit was ordered to establish the real culprits, the strategies used, and the number of resources misappropriated. The federal agents were given a go-ahead to raid the homes and the offices of top county officials, as well as contractors who had been awarded contracts erroneously. Currently, over thirty-six officials and private contractors have been charged with bribery crimes, all of them pleading guilty to the accusations. Several cases of corruption and subsequent court proceedings have been reported in the media. In one incident, it is reported that Frank Russo was offered home improvement while he was expected to give out jobs and tax breaks. The relatives of contractors were employed in the county without necessarily possessing the needed documents, which means that the principle of meritocracy interfered as expected in American society. Because of this, he was charged with two counts of corruption. In 2006, the official was accused of receiving unspecified work from Salva and Valentin while he was supposed to play a role in hiring Valentin’s friend. In a different case, Kevin Kelley was accused of misusing his powers to acquire financial benefits and gifts while he was to give out a contract to renovate and develop the Parma school (Fisman & Miguel, 2008). Damir Blecic, who was a former Cuyahoga County auditor, was charged with giving inaccurate information to the FBI as regards the corruption case. The bribery issues in the county raise several ethical
Introduction A national cinema entails films that are produced within a nation state, and have always been used to portray the culture of the particular nation. The understanding of most films, always have one or more protagonist, and this protagonist seek adventure, redemption or escape (Klinger 1997, p. 2). Most nation cinemas are associated with the culture embedded in the people, however modern films show how globalization has affected people’s culture (Wood2007 p. 3). The great depression really affected the movie industry in Hong Kong; national cinema fans asked major producers and directors in the movie industry to come up with something different, new and unique. The founding fathers of Hong Kong cinemas were created by the Shu Tong in 1922, Nanook of the North. This included traveling to foreign places and taking pictures, and recording what was to be unknown by most people (Hugo 1986, p.70). In the early film years, national cinema movies were about discovery of new lands and expansion of the land scope. However, today it show movies are defined by the identity crisis of the protagonist and how they restructure themselves. The film ‘police story’ a Hong Kong film produced in 1985, starring Jackie Chan is a martial art action movie was a success across East Asia and when it was translated to English it received a rating of 83%. The martial art stunts by Jackie Chan appealed to many foreign viewers. Martial art is a known art across Asia and is part of the culture (Morrison 2009, p.2) The whole attitude of the movie is complex because it starts out with no plot and the protagonist is set to bring out a certain theme (Schweingruber 2005, p.3). The film writers in Hong Kong movies often embed the people’s culture, their lifestyle and livelihood. In the age of globalization, movies writers are approaching a system of blending the modern with ancient tradition. For example in the film, Jackie Chan holds the ancient ways of martial art, but is in a modern setting with subways and cars. This is police story was one of the great Hong Kong movies, that end up representing the whole plot in a fusion that the feelings are actually felt by the audience (Hugo 1986, p.68). This film carries a lot of experimental and does not follow the contemporary arts of filmmaking. Chan is acknowledging for daring to explore in these movie and the unique set ups placed in the movie. Directors in modern movies in Hong Kong have embraced road trip movies, all which seem to carry on the same theme and patronage (Klinger 1997, p.12). The theory of a road movie before was put up in a set up where pictures were borrowed and background scenes. Today, the directors trace round the world in order to shoot a film in a diverse setting (Warshow 1970, p. 37). The road trips movies bring out the dysfunctionality of a setting, and when the protagonist want to change setting, there is even more chaos where they are heading (Kubrick1993 p. 40). The road movies were a borrowed strategy from an American film ‘Easy ride” shot back in the 1900’s that captured a different film approach. The Hong Kong films certai
Introduction Ludwig van Beethoven a Germany citizen is today known for his contribution to music. He was a composer as well as a pianist; skills that he learnt when he was young. His musical career was successful as he was a composed up to nine complete symphonies. The Germany musician suffered ill health that in the end left him deaf while in his twenties. However, he did not quit music as he continued living his life style in music. The sickness contributed to his financial crisis as he was not able to make enough income to support himself. Besides the deafness, Beethoven was a creative composer. In his works Beethoven carefully made masterpiece that were original. Additionally, made the works formed a basis for future composition and left room for further exploration in composition to achieve creativity. Among his works are the choral fantasy and the ninth symphony. They contain similarities that provoke one to think that Beethoven had thought of the ninth symphony before the choral fantasy where as the choral fantasy came years before the ninth fantasy which was his final piece. Therefore, this essay will discuss Beethoven life and discuss the choral fantasy and the ninth symphony and point out the similarities. Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy and Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony The Choral Fantasy was presented at the end of the year in 1808 in a concert among other artist to present their new musical composition. Beethoven and the other musician had been given the venue for free to hold the concert in closure of the year. At that time musicians met the cost of the venue and other expenses like paying the choir by raising money during concerts. Beethoven was experiencing financial turmoil in his personal life and he took on this opportunity. Besides his deafness at the time he completed and presented the master piece. The money he was going to get from the concert was going to bring a relief in his financial difficulties (Broyles p. 264). The choral fantasy was written in C minor and had been composed in a hurry following the fifth symphony. The concert was done in a theater that was extremely cold because there were no arrangements to warm the theatre. The singer had little practice and so the presentation of the orchestra did not sound like it intended. The group had not perfected its vocal sounds since there was inadequate practice and the soloist was replaced the day of presentation. Despite the cold weather, the piece was presented and the presentation had irregularities. This is because there was poor coordination between the musical instruments and the singing group as well as the soloist. In this piece Beethoven avoided using the symphony he often used in the end of his masterpiece. Although the presentation was not perfectly presented the choral fantasy has survived to date d
The Balboa is Panama’s national currency, named after Spanish explorer Vasco Nez de Balboa, who encountered the Pacific Ocean. One Balboa represents one U.S. Dollar, and the U.S. Dollar has been lawfully exchanged in Panama since then. As a result, Panama is regarded a highly inflationary country; however, Panama can profit from the U.S. dollar’s resilience as the foundation of the world banking markets. For example, this implies that Panama will not face hyperinflation as a consequence of shifting exchange rates. Consequently, Panama has become a more attractive investment and tourist destination. Nevertheless, a dollarized system has outstanding inflation performances and may even lessen the influence of global trust shocks but not real external upsets (Bakari & Mabrouki, 2017). Furthermore, it is unclear whether Panama’s loose monetary policy resulted from the dollarization system or the competing, increasingly globalized banking sector. Panama’s geographic position as a key maritime route adds to the significance of the Agreement. Approximately two-thirds of the Panama Canal’s yearly transits are destined to or from U.S. locations (Park et al., 2020). Almost all U.S. automotive and commercial goods shipments to Panama will be duty-free initially, with residual levies phased away over a ten-year period (Park et al., 2020). Information systems gear, farming, large machinery, aircraft and components, healthcare and measure environmental, ecological products, medicines, fertilizer, and agrochemicals are among the U.S. items that will benefit from immediate duty-free accessibility. The U.S. and Panama exchange crops like corn and bananas if we talk about exports and imports.
Hume argues that we study history in order to understand our origin and satisfy our human curiosities. He says “in an effort to make us bound to the truths we discover” (Hume, 1920, p.23). Hume further argues that the only way to understand human nature and to be contended with our roots is to know our history. It is for this reason that he introduces philosophy as a means of understanding human nature. Hume classifies the different reasons for the study of history into various categories that he uses to explain the expected outcome of man in his quest for historical knowledge. He attributes the presence of different categories of philosophy to the advent and study of history. According to Hume, it is from history that different branches of philosophy emerge. These are natural philosophy and philosophy that is totally dependent on human nature. He also argues that for one to fully understand the nature of human philosophy and natural philosophy, they should have an idea about their own origin (Hume, 1902). Hume’s other argument consists in the fact that the study of history helps us achieve the basic understanding of where ideas originate from and why we possess some ideas and not others. Hume argues that for one to understand the origin of ideas, they should embrace their memories; it is in this premise that our history lies. History, according to Hume, is developed in a chronological manner and so is our ability to understand and associate ideas with their sequences (Hume, 1902). The argument on the probability of certain events to occur is also backed up with the study of history. Hume argues that it is from history that we derive our experiences. He states that experiences are able to determine the probability of occurrence of certain events. In the next chapters, Hume underlines the importance of history in the field of applied epistemology and its links to human nature. The similarity between Hume and Collingwood’s arguments on the reasons for the study of history is that they are unanimous about the fact that we study history in order to acquire knowledge, they also associate the process of acquiring knowledge as a journey that involves personal discoveries and requires a good understanding of our history. However, the major difference between the works of Hume and Collingwood in tackling the relevance of history to our human nature is clearly seen in their arguments. Collingwood unlike Hume uses facts from history to relate the nature of man and to predict the future. He uses facts of events that have either occurred or have been mentioned in history to explain certain occurrences, while Hume in his arguments uses historical premises to prove his theories and explain their relevance to history (Collingwood, 1946). Furthermore, Hume’s arguments require a deeper understanding of philosophical premises to correctly comprehend their meaning. Collingwood uses an example of someone fearing to cross the mountains because there are wolves there. He says “someone fearing to cross the mountains is not suffering merely for the sins of his fathers who taught him to believe”, wh
Abstract Immigration is a vital context of the American Dream and national identity. However, the outdated immigration system and globalization trends have led to a shift in perception of immigration as white nationalism is on the rise. There are socio-political concerns about the impact of immigration on self-identity and security of the United States. This report seeks to investigate these fears and compare them to the benefits for the country to determine if immigration should be curbed. A discussion is held regarding the perceptions and realities of international migration and its principles from a political and ethical perspective. Recommendations are then provided regarding reform of the national immigration system. Introduction Immigration is the foundation of the United States as a country. It was built on the labor, ideas, and cultural melting pot of immigrants coming to the US in the hopes of achieving the American dream, finding a new life, and establishing a home for their families. This report seeks to investigate whether the United States should be defined as a nation of immigrants or should it take extensive efforts to curb foreign entry into the country. The United States has built its self-identity on immigration and its extraordinary socio-economic and technological progress depends on it, but in the realities of an unstable global society, measures should be taken to ensure neutrality and competence in immigration policy. National Concerns The US has one of the largest immigrant populations in the world, exceeding 40 million individuals, which is around 14% of the total population (Migration Policy Institute, 2019). In recent years, there has been a rise in nationalism which places the blame on the nation’s socio-economic issues on immigration and challenging the concept of the US self-identity. There is an overwhelming public debate and policymakers are commonly unable to reach an agreement on immigration due to the complexity of economic, security, and humanitarian concerns. From an economic standpoint, anti-immigration critics consider immigrants to be taking away jobs and creating a strain on public services funded by taxes. Security is being challenged as a significant amount of violence and drug crime is attributed to immigrants, particularly those illegally entering the country. The current Trump administration was elected and continues to gather massive support on its strong anti-immigration policies, particularly targeting Muslim and Hispanic migrants for security purposes (Felter & Renwick, 2018). Self-Identity The words of an identity crisis are unheard of in other parts of the world where everyone is classified based on their characteristics, family, or religion. Mukherjeee (1997) recalls “The concept itself — of a person not knowing who he or she is — was unimaginable in our hierarchical, classification-obsessed society” (par. 6). However, the United States and many countries in Europe have been or becoming increasingly culturally pluralistic and diverse. As a result of populations and cultu
WATTS: Welcome, everyone, my name is Dave Watts, I am UPIU Local 7-837 President. I am glad to see you here to discuss the problem of winning a fair contract. Today, we are facing one of the hardest struggles for our rights and freedoms. I insist that now, after several years of fighting, the union has a strategy to win a fair contract. Today, we cannot stop and give up our struggle against the injustice and we should continue fighting for our rights as employers. This is more than just a talk, this is the way we should protect our dignity, our safety and our families. For two years we have been locked out and we should not let it happen again. The labors are right, Tale Lyle does not treat as for people (Deadly Corn), they implemented unacceptable labor politics and completely ignored all environment regulations (Deadly Corn). They introduced a 12 hour working day and they do not thing about the labors’ safety. I argue that we should not get back to work until the fair contract is signed. GOSS: Hello, I am Glen Goss, the UPIU Vice President. I completely support the fact that Tale and Lyle operate unfairly and put on workers very harsh conditions of working. Moreover, I do agree with Watts that the employees suffer from these conditions and urgent actions should be taken to change the situation. However, the previous experience shows that the fair contract is impossible at present moment and the company does not show any signs to sign it. As watts said, the employees have been locked out for two years and one cannot guarantee that something will change. What we need is to work-to-rule and accept company’s demands. WATTS: It would be a good idea if we could be sure that those demands will be acceptable for workers. However, these days, we do not see the other way, but the organize strikes and stand out for our rights. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the company did not pay any attention to all cases of injury. There are hundred evidences from workers when people died because of the bad organization of the process. Remember when Jim Beals died because of the toxic gas. He could be saved, but there were no oxygen balloons and there was no necessary medical help (Deadly Corn). If we want to work in safe conditions, we should insist on significant changes that should be included into the fair contract. The city council, which is ignor
Introduction In reading this story, I wondered about the title, Caviar, until the end, when I saw that this was Nathanial’s triumph and reward. The ending, as a whole, was a metaphor for what Nathanial wanted to do to Wendy: open her up and capture her eggs. The drive down to the dock in the ’62 Rambler is a powerful phallic image culminating in the catch of the recently dead Sturgeon full of eggs, which were his and worth quite a lot of money. In a way, he has metaphorically inseminated Wendy, captured her in his net where she died, then slither up to her chin and claimed her eggs. The Caviar would also bring him a nice chunk of cash, so he is also doing much better than his father did. The story is full of metaphor, from the beginning with his father dying from PCB poisoning and then Marie’s mother being hit by a semi, and finally that Nathanial delivered spawning Striped Bass to Con Ed to replace the fish destroyed by the Nuclear Plant. Nathanial is a savior on a mission. Main body In the beginning, Nathanial inherits the boat, the seine, and the Rambler, which all figure in the last scene. He is taking over his father’s business, but he does better at it because he branches out from just catching fish to sell at the market. In many ways, he is simply a good husband and a son who has outdistanced his father. He is never shown as a bad man, nor a bad husband, just a little promiscuous. However, that is understandable and forgivable at the time. If his wife had cheated, then it would have shamed him more than if he cheated, since the mores of the time frowned more on a man’s wife cheating on him than him cheating on her. It was believed that men were simply almost incapable of fidelity since their instincts were more animal. Nathanial does not have any illusions about his class, as is evidenced when he accepts that he is not eligible as Wendy’s mate, because he is blue-collar and uneducated, even though he immediately beats up his rival anyway in a fit of anger. We might even see this as a metaphor for him rising above his station, just as he has risen above his father’s history. His father left him very little to work with, but he has obviously done better with the same tools. In fact, he got back money from the plant that created the PCBs which killed his father for delivering to them the spawning fish to replace those they destroyed. Nathanial is a misunderstood all-around savior. The doctor is symbolic of the powers that are destroying his environment. Nathanial is the simple man of the earth and water who brings salvation in the form of new life in the spawning Striped Bass. He then delivers sperm for the insemination of the surrogate. (Whether or not they are used is immaterial.) We even have a description of him imagining his wife impregnating the surrogate with a syringe filled with his ejaculate. This image makes Marie also the father of the child and reinforces N
Throughout the history of Western culture, the white race was frequently represented as superior, while non-white races were misrepresented and stereotyped. The attribution of the white origin to the Ancient Egyptian civilization is one of the most apparent examples of this situation. Critically evaluating various literary and art sources, Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop investigates this issue in detail in the third chapter of his book, “The African Origin of Civilization: Myth or Reality.” Diop claims that “by running away from the evidence of a Negro origin [of the Ancient Egyptian civilization], the specialists fall into improbabilities and dead-end contradictions” (58). Thus, the present paper will aim to summarize these contradictions, as well as major arguments put forth by the author in order to reveal the truth about the racial background of Ancient Egyptians and the origins of their culture. The first pieces of evidence supporting the assumption about the Negro origin of the Ancient Egyptian civilization are the old ethnographic descriptions of the North African regions and peoples. One of the authors of such ethnographic records was Herodotus who is conventionally considered the father of history. In his writing, Herodotus notes that during pre-historic times there was the Capsian civilization situated in the area where modern Tunisia is located. However, the close seat of that civilization to the territory of Ancient Egypt is not the only fact supporting the connectedness between them. They shared some cultural features, such as the fertility cult, the use of spherical symbols and common attributes of deities in visual arts, which indicate the connection as well. This observation is important because it goes against the ideas written down by later authors considering tha