ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The Economist has covered several stories recently that document the ongoing issue of religious objections to various aspects of science. In schools and in the halls of government, these articles suggest, there is a gulf between those who trust scientifically demonstrated facts, and those who feel that ideology or religious belief preclude the acceptance of scientific findings. This conflict has direct economic implications for any nation. The impact of human decisions on the environment, and therefore on economic health, for example, is potentially very large. These articles in The Economist point up the disturbing potential for that a future population is being nurtured that will be uneducated regarding evolution and scientific inquiry (S.M., Opting out of Evolution: Darwin shmarwin) (S.M., Faith and Reason: Scientists are not as secular as people think). Such a population will run the risk of failing to compete globally in the marketplace of ideas and innovation. Of greater worry is that they make choices in their own lives or in the leaders they elect that could destroy the environment through ignorance or willful rejection of science on religious or ideological grounds S.M. of The Economist , in an article titled “Opting out of evolution” describes the situation in Missouri’s school system, where a bill is proposed that would all allow parents to keep their kids out of class when evolution is discussed. As the article points out, this is a bit different from asking that one’s child be offered a virtual alternative to actual animal dissection, or even from excluding one’s child from sex education. Evolution is so fundamental to life sciences that to stay out of a class whenever it is discussed would mean not taking the course at all (S.M., Opting out of Evolution: Darwin shmarwin). Not understanding the life sciences places people at risk for not understanding issues that affect their own life, for example health, and nutrition. An entire generation of leaders who do not understand, and even reject evolution and science generally, could wreak a disheartening degree of damage on the environment and, thus, on the economy. The article “Faith and reason” describes the way that current leaders who dismiss scientific thinking address key issues such as global climate change. As an example, the article discusses Illinois Congressman John Shimkus, whose committee assignments relate to the environment. He interprets the Biblical covenant after the Flood as meaning that the human race is protected from rising waters. He maintains this opinion although the promise in scripture appears to say that the Creator will not wipe humans out again, not that humans cannot ever wipe themselves out through carelessness, greed, or ignorance (S.M., Faith and Reason: Scientists are not as secular as people think). Based on his interpretation of Scripture and his rejection of scientific evidence, this leader is not like
Introduction The logistics of national debt across many of world’s developing countries hit diversity of rationality in global think tanks and diplomats. Developing countries have continued to be tied in wrangles of post-colonialism from the dense dictates on the modalities for the expenditure of foreign funds. Due to the low economic development status in such developing countries, external borrowing from the developed countries and other global financiers such as the IMF and World Bank has been the main tool for sanctioning their fiscal deficits. However, a lot of inequality exists between the financial inflow from the financiers and the purpose for which these funds are used for. From a logical point of view however, one would wonder whether the high spending behavior in social welfare activities has a positive relationship with the high scale of debt contributions in the developing countries. Indeed however, the much external borrowing which is still growing day after day has not seen the required economic development in such developing countries as expected. Generally therefore, excessive spending in social welfare activities than investment projects is a solid contribution towards the high national debt within the developing countries. Main text Generally, the aspect of economic growth and development by the developing countries in the relationship with the spending system of their national income is highly inadequate for optimal scales of economic development. Developing countries have been described and characterized by huge spending on social welfare issues than on investment programs. They are highly weak and irrational in terms of the most optimal scales of spending. Due to the diversity in the spending behavior, disequilibrium in their development portfolio has been the hallmark of attribute in every activity that is defined in terms of national spending. In the broad view of the macroeconomic variables, investments are the primary object and form the launching pads for any activity towards economic development. From the income equation of an individual, the level of such income is taken as a dependent variable with consumption and savings as the component independent variables. The magnitude of one (between consumption and savings) determines the level/scale of the other. Their relative influences and effects to the income level determine the relative marginal propensities (to consumer and to save). (Boyer, Young, 1) The directional phenomenon in the government spending is perhaps not too different from that of personal spending. However, social welfare spending is a basic inhibitor to the state of savings for investment purposes. From their high social welfare spending patterns, this is synonymous to final consumption of the foreign borrowed income. Various so
Introduction Charles de Gaulle was the President of France from 1958 to 1968. During his tenure as the President, de Gaulle transformed a country, which had a shattered economy, a fractious political establishment, and a dependency on American aid into a first-rate power with its own standing in the comity of nations. This essay attempts to explain the qualities of leadership displayed by de Gaulle, which led to the resurgence of France as a major power. Main body As a youth, Charles had always shown great interest in military affairs. Consequently, he joined the French military and distinguished himself in World War I by winning three awards. During the war, he was wounded thrice and was made a prisoner of war for over two years. He tried to escape five times from his incarceration thus displaying enormous courage , tenacity , and resolve . During the interwar period, de Gaulle rose up the ranks to become a colonel. All through he was clear-minded and bold enough to write memos based on necessity and not on the likes and dislikes of his superiors. His independence of thought earned him the ire of his seniors who ensured that de Gaulle never got promoted above the rank of a Brigadier General. However, his sterling qualities of leadership were recognized by the French government of Paul Reynaud who appointed him as the undersecretary of state for defense and war in 1940. After Germany overran France in the early part of the Second World War, de Gaulle shifted to Algiers to run a shadow government and lead the Free French Forces for the liberation of France from German occupation. To gain the leadership of the Free French Forces, de Gaulle showed great political acuity in outmaneuvering his possible contenders for the top job. In doing so, de Gaulle displayed great qualities of flexibility and a gility . De Gaulle’s firm and resolute leadership during the resistance period, together with Allied help, led to the liberation of France. After the war, the French political establishment was in turmoil, with no clear direction, goals, or structure. De Gaulle rightly concluded that if he was to lead France, it would be done legally, through constitutional means. The patience that he displayed bore fruit, when in 1958; the people of France and the political elite accepted him as the President with sweeping executive powers. With great courage of conviction , de Gaulle embarked on a mission to empower France. His vision , administrative efficiency , and energy led to a slew of reforms. Firstly, he declared that France would follow an independent foreign policy. He used the European Economic Community (EEC) to further French agricultural interests and quickly brought the French economy back on track. In 1966, de Gaulle announced the complete withdrawal of France from NATO, thus ensuring an independent role for France in World Affairs. Conclusion A good leader must not only possess good judgment and deliver sound decisions
Introduction The issue of comparative effectiveness of centralization and decentralization is prevalent in the case study presented by Stojkovic, Klofas, and Kalinch (2014). While the National Advisory Commission (NAC) provided recommendations on the structure of criminal justice organizations back in the 1970s, the heated debate regarding its effectiveness is still in place. This assignment briefly examines the issue of centralization and decentralization, overviewing the negative consequences of the attorney’s office funded by the state, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of the commission’s recommendations. Negative Consequences of the State’s Funding of the Attorney’s Office The central idea why the local prosecuting attorney’s office should not be funded by the state refers to the concept of separation of power. The aforementioned principle balances to support the stability of the government, providing checks to each branch of the government. If one branch (or even person) is entitled to more power than others, making decisions to one’s best interest rather than for a collective good, the intended mandate of the position shall be dismissed. Not only the separation of power balances the organization’s right for authority, but it also contributes to lower levels of corruption and prejudice in the industry. Therefore, in the case of the local prosecuting attorney, the official should receive payment from municipal funds to avoid external influence and pressure of other authoritarian figures. Provided this position is funded by a state, the likelihood of the conflict of interest arises, as the prosecutor makes a decision in the city’s best interest rather than that in the state’s. Another possibility for the conflict appears if the prosecutor is assigned to investigate a state official. To secure the principle of separation of power, funding for municipal positions should be separated, as well. Similar strategies are to be applied not only on the local but also on the federal level of the governmental hierarchy. Advantages and Disadvantages of the Commission’s Recommendations The implementation of the commission’s recommendations remains a controversial issue in the industry, as well. On the one hand, it is beneficial to apply these guidelines as they were thoroughly researched by legal experts. Before finalizing the proposals for recommendations, the Law Commission (LC) consults with federal, local, and state officials to find common ground on the issue. Commission recommendations frequently touch several areas of law simultaneously. In other words, by implementing one commission recommendation, it may be easier to understand a multitude of law cases. Despite the aforementioned pros of the commission recommendations, several disadvantages should be explored. Implementation of the commission recommendations is a slow process that needs to be approved and finalized by the government. Even after the final approval, the parliament does not have to follow all the
Democracy is an issue that has raised controversies in many parts of the world, including the United States. Some individuals support democratic ideals while others are of the view that democracy is the tyranny of the multitude because it does not represent the interests of the majority in society. In fact, some observe that justice should always be sought instead of democracy. May American Muslims are believed to the non-sympathizers of democracy, but modern studies show that they support democracy. Democracy allows the most individual or group to rule. In the United States, Muslims are also involved in the management of parties. Others engage in activism since they believe that human rights are sought through lobbying, but not other means such as terrorism. Research Question To what extent do American Muslims participate in the affairs of political parties and interest groups? Hypothesis American Muslims participate in the affairs of the political parties and pressure groups because they believe in democracy. Methodology Quantitative research is a kind of study that utilizes figures to arrive at certain conclusions. In this regard, the research would take the form of a survey whereby the researcher identifies the sample population and posts questionnaires to them. In this research, there would be need to compare the relationship between variables in order to establish the cause and effect The researcher is
It is widely accepted that culture is “an integrated pattern of behavior shared by people in a society” (Lee and Johnson 94). Admittedly, people of one cultural group can be characterized by similar behavior and perception patterns. People living in the contemporary globalized world have understood the importance of such cultural diversity. The importance of understanding cultural peculiarities is especially important in business. Scientists try to investigate to what extent cultural peculiarities affect individuals’ behavior, and businessmen try to find out how this can be used and how to make people buy their products worldwide. For instance, Richards et al. state that posters are “one of the most prominent carriers” of cultural values (1). They reveal some visual message which is to be perceived in a certain way. Admittedly, posters advertising the same products are perceived differently by people of different cultures. Thus, cultural peculiarities make people focus on particular things. To illustrate the difference in perception of people of different cultures it is possible to analyze posters from two different parts of the planet, South Korea and Switzerland. Admittedly, though the posters advertise the same thing, alcohol products, visualization is quite different. The analysis of 23 posters from South Korea and 20 posters from Switzerland suggests that people of Eastern culture concentrate on event revealing human figures socializing, drinking, whereas people of Western culture are more concerned with the product itself. Masuda et al. report that “object-focused attention” developed in the West and the “context-oriented” attention which emerged in the East “was not a mere coincidence” (1274). It is reported that “individualistic Europeans developed a linear perspective” which presupposes that spectators see the object, and “collectivistic East Asians developed a floating perspective” which presupposes that spectators see the social world “holistically” (1273). Peng and Knowles
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleeping disorder characterized by the intermittent blockage of airflow during sleep. This condition is correlated with other comorbidities, especially cardiovascular diseases, in different populations. Therefore, it is important to understand how OSA models cardiovascular dysfunction to come up with the appropriate intervention measures. The available research shows that oxygen desaturation that occurs at night due to OSA leads to the hypertrophy of left ventricular (LV), which is directly linked to increased risk for heart diseases (Korcarz et al., 2016). In children with Down syndrome (DS), incidence rates of hypertension and sleepiness are high, and the problem is compounded in the presence of OSA (Konstantinopoulou et al., 2016). This paper discusses three original research articles investigating the association between OSA and heart diseases. The three articles used in this paper indicate a strong correlation between OSA and different blood pressure complications. Korcarz et al. (2016) conducted a cohort study to investigate the relationship between OSA and adverse cardiovascular conditions. The study measured the associations between OSA and the predisposing factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The authors used participants from the Wisconsin Sleep Cohort Study, which is a population-based longitudinal study of OSA conducted from 1988. In the 1988 study, 6,947 government workers from five different state agencies in Wisconsin were recruited for a longitudinal study regarding their demographics, health, and sleep habits. Seventy-two percent (72%) of the contacted participants were finally included in the study. A sampling frame was constructed to come up with a stratified random sample of 2,884, who has no underlying heart conditions, and they were involved in overnight polysomnography studies repeated after every four years. The current study randomly selected 601 participants from the baseline cohort to assess the link between OSA and CVD. The results indicated that OSA is causally associated with decreasing LV systolic function and reduced right ventricular (RV) function (Korcarz et., 2016). In other words, OSA is strongly correlated with CVD. Some of the confounding factors in this relationship include obesity and hypoxia, which stimulates hypertrophy in people with OSA. Another study on the issue of OSA by Konstantinopoulou et al. (2016) sought to establish the relationship between OSA and cardiac problems and sleepiness in children with DS. OSA is normally associated with “hypoxemia, hypercapnia, intrathoracic volume shifts, and sleep fragmentation, all of which can affect cardiovascular function” (Konstantinopoulou et al., 2016, p. 18). Children with DS have systemic heart conditions directly linked with OSA, which is a major problem in this population. Therefore, the authors hypothesized that the presence of OSA is positively correlated with heart dysfunction in children with DS. The study recr
Introduction   * Presidential debates aim at presenting candidates in a competitive context;   * The citizenry are free to evaluate candidates in presidential debates;   * Debates affect people and promote attitude reinforcement;   * Political interests and motivation are crucial for reinforcement during presidential debates;   * Argumentation is used by candidates as a powerful weapon. There is no other American office more powerful than the presidency (Campbell, 2008), and the political debates is one of the steps during the elections that determine, who can actually hold this office and use its powers. Debates are considered as the last opportunities for candidates to present themselves, introduce their positions and intentions, prove their necessity for society, explain why their opponents should not be supported in a vary polite (if possible) way, and make political reinforcement possible due to the demonstration of political interests and the use of motivation and argumentation. Arguments   * Serious decisions should be made in regards to the catastrophic problems society has to face (Freeley & Steinberg, 2013).   * The citizenry should understand that presidential debates and campaign advertisement are used to affect not to inform people (Huber & Arceneaux, 2007).   * Debates usually draw respectable audience so that many people undergo a considerable impact of the discussions which take place between candidates (Schwartz, 2008). Freeley & Steinberg (2013) admit that the fall of 2008 was turned out to be a problematic period for the American government. The debates had to enlightened the economic challenges as well as many other public issues (like women’s rights for reproductive health services, church freedoms, or health care reforms) and international relations that bother the citizens (Freeley & Steinberg , 2013). Unfortunately, candidates are usually motivated to gain some results and effects on the citizenry rather than think about the methods to achieve the desirable consensuses. This is why each person, who is engaged in presidential debates and elections, should consider personal political interests and rely on personal political opinions to make the elections fair and just. Statements Answers to the following questions should be given to realize a true worth of political debates:   * How can debates influence the evaluation of the candidates?   * Who can be affected by debates?   * What limitations are possible while evaluating presidential debates?   * What is attitude reinforcement and its effects? To comprehend how political interests, motivations, and opinions are united, it is necessary to answer a list of questions and rely on the studies offered in Mullinix’s article. The author believes that “the heterogeneity in reinforcement effects has normative implications for the study of political communication and public opinion formation” (Mullinix, 2015, p. 270). It is also proved that more politically interested people may be affected by debates. And in spite of the fact that debates are considered to be an important contri
Strategies for Stability Stability within a country often coincides with strong economic and domestic policies that create an ideal environment wherein businesses and various industries can operate without fear of sudden destabilizing economic events. As such, in order to attract foreign direct investments it would be necessary to develop strong fiscal policies that focus on limiting currency fluctuation, ensuring that inflation is kept under control while at the same time focusing on a development strategy that emphasizes on the creation of private-public partnerships for various infrastructure development projects throughout the cities of the country. It is expected that by keeping a tight rein on local banking policies through the central bank it would be possible to create a banking environment that focuses more on internal lending to various local corporations and entrepreneurs rather than investing into international markets. By doing so, this creates a platform by which local industries may sufficiently develop to a point that they become competitive in the international market through the sale of a variety of goods and services. Not only that, by developing special economic zones within the country that have no government tax rates this should encourage various corporations to outsource aspects of their operations and manufacturing processes to our country in order to take advantage of the encouraging business (Yang et al., 2012). This as a result would create higher local employment rates resulting in increased government tax revenue as well as create a society that has higher levels of localized de