ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
The presented project is devoted to comparing the perceptions that can be viewed as dominant for Early Renaissance and modern people. In particular, the perceptions related to the topics of money, wealth, and power are of interest. This project can provide insights into the evolution of mindsets and improve our understanding of modern views. Topic Review and Bibliography   * Brucker (2015): Renaissance money and power (Florence).   * Burke, Clossey, and Fernández-Armesto (2017): European Renaissance: cultural impact on values.   * Cohn (2012): Renaissance possessions.   * Huber (2016): Renaissance money and art.   * Petrocchi (2017): Renaissance business.   * Huey-ling (2015): money in Renaissance literature; contemporary perspective.   * Salvatore (2013): Medici: wealth and power.   * Strathern (2016): Medici: money and art. This slide describes some of the modern literature that will be employed in the project. For example, Brucker (2015) discusses the Renaissance notions of money and power in Florence. Similarly, Burke, Clossey, and Fernández-Armesto (2017) focus on the European Renaissance values in general. Also, the authors demonstrate the fact that Renaissance values may have been influenced by culture. Cohn (2012), Huber (2016), and Petrocchi (2017) discuss money and wealth to some extent: in the form of possessions or business in general and in relation to art. Strathern (2016) also considers the relationship between money and art, using the House of Medici as an example. Salvatore (2013) also considers the House of Medici and related values of wealth and power. Finally, Huey-ling’s (2015) work introduces the modern perspective on the topic of money in Renaissance literature. Conclusions   * Renaissance is better-researched.   * Power: not a worthy pursuit; humility and power; more upheavals.   * Money: can be used for evil or good (art).   * Wealth: attachment to possessions; Black Death-related interest in balancing secular and spiritual.   * Led to consumerism? In sum, it seems that the topic of Renaissance values is well-researched, but they are rarely compared to the modern-day perspective. Still, some conclusions can be drawn from the information provided. For example, in the Renaissance period, power was a questionable pursuit and could be viewed as less stable due to more frequent upheavals (Salvatore, 2013). Also, Salvatore (2013) reports that the period’s population saw a connection between humility and power, suggesting that the former can be the basis of the latter. This view appears to be rather foreign to the modern world. According to Huber (2016), the concept of money in the Renaissance era included the perception that it could be used for good or evil, and the good usage of money could be related to artist encouragement. As for wealth, Cohn (2012) highlights the importance of the aftermaths of the Black Death for the people of Renaissance: the tragedy taught them to be attached to their possessions and seek a balance between secular and spiritual life. In general, the a
Introduction Clarence Thomas book, My Grandfather’s Son explores his biography in terms of his childhood, life achievements and also his misfortunes in life. The memoir is based on a real-life story of Clarence Thomas. The narrative is inspiring and at the same time illustrates the challenges that individuals encounters in life. Clarence Thomas refers to himself as My Grandfather’s Son since his grandfather played a key role in his upbringing. Clarence Thomas was born in 1948, in Georgia, Deep Southern part of United States. The book re-counts that, Clarence was brought up in a humble background. However, the divorce of his parents provided a new challenge in his life. The book asserts that, his mother was employed as a maid. Hence her income was not that enough to sustain major family obligations. Thomas (25) illustrates that, the money was too little to sustain the family; hence, to purchase sugar, breakfast cereal was an absolute nightmare to the family. The challenging economic conditions the family was experiencing compelled his mother to transfer caring role of him and his younger brother to Mr. Myers Anderson, their grandfather. Mr. Myers thus played a big responsibility in taking care of their education. Clarence Thomas went to school while living with his grandfather in his savannah home. The absent of a father figure in their lives contributed to the grandfather assuming the role. His grandfather was a supporter of racial discrimination. He believed that racial discrimination will only be eradicated when complete self-reliance is encouraged among the blacks. Besides, Myers Anderson ethics of a; being strict disciplinarian, hard work ethic and a figure-head provided a role model in the lives of Clarence and his brother. This greatly contributed to their sound and hardworking personalities. This is illustrated in the examples in the book, for instance, he made Clarence and his brother to understand that by observing hard work, self-discipline, time-consciousness and obedience among other good habits, they would end up getting a salaried job. He adored the wise advices bestowed to him by his grandfather to the extent that, in most cases, he woul
To provide timely, quality and efficient medical services, medical staffs need to be accountable of their actions. Positive organizational culture and effective checks and balances within an organization reinforce accountability. This paper discusses the importance of accountability in hospitals and the role of leaders in maintaining positive organizational culture in their facilities. Why is accountability important in the health care industry? Medical facilities have the role of offering quality and affordable services; staffs in such organizations should be accountable of their actions. Accountability is of importance in two angles: Costs: when hospital’s human resources are accountable, there is increases efficiency in a medical facility leading to reduced cost of offering the service, the reduced cost leads to affordable services. Quality: incase a staff injures a patient; the staff should be accountable and report to proper authorities to have the patient looked into; they should be accountable for the service they offer. When accountability has been adopted in a hospital, it increased the quality of service and makes the service affordable (Cleverly & Cameron, 2007). How is an employee’s accountability measured in the health care industry? Accountability is measured by the rate at which an employee is able to use the available resources effectively, as well as how he/she upholds integrity when it comes to money matters. Accountability is a personal value that every staff should respect and uphold in the facility. What does a checks and balance process look like in a successful organization? Checks and balances are internal control tools that are used to monitor the delivery of service and the general operation of an enterprise. Successful checks and balances system has the following characteristics:   * Before making a commitment that involves money, more than one person has to sign and give his approval   * There is no one center of power, however more than one person process in a line of production and are held accountable for the line   * In modern times, and where applicable, there is use of computers with codes and passwords   * When making an invoice, the costs are fragmented in the different heads in which they were incurred   * There is flow of information between the managers and the staffs (Finkler & Ward, 2006). How does accountability affect an organization’s working culture? Organization culture affects the way people in an organization work, the way they perceive things and the way they interact with each other. An organization with high levels of accountability has the staffs willing to work as a team for the benefit of the company; they develop element of integrity at individual and team level that becomes a positive organizational culture. On the other hand, an organization that does not uphold high levels of accountability will have employees who are actively looking for opportunities to defraud the organization; it will be characterized with culture that rewards corruption. The result is a company with a nega
Hitler escaped from prison in 1924 and he was determined to obtain power legitimately from rulers. It was around the same time when the Nazi party grew in strength, although its presence in society was not yet felt. Nazi was considered a small group of activists that would not threaten any politician or political party. Nazi party gained a lot from the death of Gustav Stresemann, who was a strong politician believed to have held Weimar Republic together. Hitler took advantage of leadership vacancy created by Weimar’s death. He mobilized supporters to develop loyalty to the Nazi party by coming up with various wings. The party had the political wing, military wing and communal wing, which belonged to everybody. Hitler’s influence in leadership was supported by various factors and events that prevailed at the time. This paper looks at some of the factors that encouraged Nazism and the rise of Hitler. One of the factors that helped Hitler to ascend to power was the Great Depression of 1920s. The New York Stock Market, which boosted major investments in Germany, crashed in 1929. This meant that American loans could no longer be availed to German citizens. Many people suffered mainly because of unemployment and lack of investment opportunities. This caused panic, uncertainty and fear to the people of Germany because they were unsure about the future. Parliamentary government that ruled Germany at the time could not contain the rising prices of food and major commodities. This gave Hitler a chance to sell his ideas to the desperate citizens, who were mainly women and the youth. In 1930, Hitler’s ambitions and the rise of Nazism was boosted by president’s declaration that the state was to be ruled autocratically. This meant that demonstrators were to be separated brutally in case they attempt to strike. The president was completely intolerant to democracy, having served as Germany’s military commander during the First World War. In the same year, the Nazi party gained approximately 18.3% of the total votes cast in Germany. The president failed to convince various traditionalists to compromise in order to serve in the same government. This was because socialists and capitalists could not unite to form a strong government. In 1932 elections, the Nazi party gained many seats than any other political party. Nazism gained political influence because it presented hope and a sense of emotional belonging to the frightened individuals (Sherman and Joyce 739). The doctrines of Nazism attracted many youths and displaced veterans who wanted to regain their lost glories. Nazism was viewed as the organizational will of the young people. Hitler promised to develop some policies that would mitigate people from recession. This included revisiting the treaties made during the First World War, which stated that Germany had to pay fully for damages. Hitler promised to get rid of unskilled leaders who spent money from taxpayers illegall
The redrawing of Miami’s school boundaries would profoundly influence the students, and the school stakeholders in general. Information has it that, the process shall entail the incorporation of other neighboring schools (Meligrana, 2005). For instance, there will be the integration of a high school by the year 2013. Thereafter, other high schools shall be slipped in to offer grade 9 through 12. The key idea behind this process is to reduce the current myriad transitions encountered by the students. The resulting effect of the process would entail the diminishing of the students’ overcrowding and transfer of the current district space. This would enhance equal share of district’s space by the schools. Therefore, the redrawing procedure would facilitate an improvement in the students’ performance. This implies that, the marginalized students would enjoy the positive impacts of the reforms. Concisely, the parents among the stakeholders of the school have developed their concerns on the new reforms (Frankberg, 2011). In addition to the above, the management, the residents of the school and the surrounding community belong to the stake holding family. Moreover, the vendors are stakeholders, but at the secondary level. In my plan, I will endeavor to analyze the claims of the parents thus instituting a plan that would solve worries about the new reforms at Miami school. The stakeholders have for instance, revealed their concern on the impact of the reforms to the value of education. Parents have for instance argued that, this will lead to overcapacity of the students and consequently the ratio of the educator to the student will rise. This for instant will lower the quality of services given by the teacher to students (Meligrana, 2005). Due to the high student population, the teacher would not be in a position to meet the student’s needs. The parents have also argued that, there would be the problem of insufficient facilities and learning materials. Thus, the quality of education acquired would be squat. The plan, would address the problem by assuring ample, as well as, competent personnel, adequate facilities, and learning materials. The government would also increase its budgetary allocation to the education sector, therefore, acquisition of satisfactory resources. Significantly, the teacher to student proportion would remain at tolerable heights. Students would also enjoy adequate resources and learning materials. Thus, there would be a guarantee of eminence services, as well as, products. The parents have lamented about the travel time to be spent by the students. The parents have reasoned that, students voyaging from extreme distance are feasible t
When man discovered how to use fossil fuel as a major energy source, the world was never the same again. It was a time when fossil fuels such as oil and coal were considered a cheap and abundant alternative to firewood, animal fats, etc. However, this is no longer true today. In the oil crisis of the 1970s Americans reeled from the impact of fuel shortages. In the 21 st century, many began to realize that expensive petroleum products cannot be sustained in the long run and therefore the need to find another alternative energy source especially when it comes to fuel-guzzling cars that Americans had grown to love. One temporary solution is the hybrid car – a combination of a conventional internal combustion engine and an electric motor. The only challenge is the design of the car battery for it needs to be charged and discharged. It was discovered that a solid-state lithium-ion battery is the most suited for hybrid cars. The Battery The inventor of the battery realized that there are only three major ingredients needed to produce a direct current: two different metals and an electrolyte (Gilles, p.404). This can even be demonstrated using a potato, an orange, or a soft drink as the electrolyte (Gilles, p.404). When two types of metals are poked into say an orange a direct current is produced and a voltmeter can then be used to measure the voltage between the two dissimilar metals (Gilles, p.404). In the case of a battery cell, the design is more sophisticated but uses the same principle. Instead of orange and soft drinks, there is a negative and positive plate immersed in an electrolyte solution. A typical battery is composed of a positive plate made up of lead dioxide, a negative plate made up of sponge lead and an electrolyte which is made up of sulfuric acid and water (Gilles, p.407). When a battery is charged, current flows into I,t, and the unit stores this energy until it is needed (Gilles, p.406). Charging a battery is achieved when an energy source “puts electrons on the negative plate” and as a result, the positive and negative plates will have a difference in voltage or potential (Gilles, p.406). What occurs is a voltage imbalance between the negative and positive plates and this requires equalization by creating a current path where energy can flow out of the system (Gilles, p.406). When the voltage imbalance is equalized the battery is discharged and current flows out of it. This is made possible by what is known as the “electron current flow” – electrons passing through the electrolytes as it travels from the negative plates to the positive plates (Gilles, p.406). A chemical reaction occurs and as a result, materials are being used up in the process. The continuous charging and discharging of the battery will wear out the active material in the cell plates (Gilles, p.408). This is a problem for battery-opera
Hurricane Katrina is undoubtedly one of the most overwhelming storms in United States history, going by the number of fatalities caused and damage in dollar terms (Rogers, Keating, & Minutaglio, 2015). A penetrating analysis provided in the videos and articles offers deep insights into how a natural disaster turned into one of the worst manmade disasters due to systemic failures by stakeholders. The present paper provides a narrative description of some of the issues that transpired to qualify Hurricane Katrina into a manmade disaster. The evidence provided in the materials shows that New Orleans is vulnerable to flooding due to its low elevation, continuous human interference, haphazard construction of levees, and disappearance of natural wetlands and barrier islands. The innovation of draining swamplands to allow for the city’s expansion was counterproductive in terms of making New Orleans more susceptible to storm surges. Although wetlands serve as nature’s best natural defense against storms, the narratives provided in the videos show that manmade activities caused the wetlands to disappear at an incredible rate, leaving the city exposed to natural calamities. Another factor relates to the planning failure and the inability by officials to put in place measures to deal with a storm even after information was availed about an impending hurricane. Here, evidence demonstrates that the huge investments made to divert the Mississippi River and build defensive levees actually hastened the sinking of whole neighborhoods below sea level, while poorly constructed levees served to worsen the flooding. Additionally, it is evident that city officials were unable to plan on how to prevent the tragic aftermath of the storm despite the accuracy of information provided by scientists about the harmful impact of the hurricane (Kasinitz, 2006). It is disturbing to note how officials ignored the warning despite having prior knowledge of Hurricane Ivan that ravaged Louisiana in 2004. The engineering failures of the levees and canals aptly demonstrate how human mistakes, rather than nature, conspired to trigger the worst devastation in New Orleans history. Here, it is important to note that the Industrial Canal, 17 th Street Canal levee, London Avenue Canal, and Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Canal failed to contain the floods due to inadequate design and construction by the Corps of Engineers (Bergel, 2007). These breaches caused massive flooding in New Orleans City and other neighborhoods, such as St. Bernard, Tennessee Street, Lower Ninth Ward, and Jefferson. Further evidence demonstrates that there was social strife in the days after Katrina hit New Orleans, whereby cases of looting, violence, and rape increased dramatically. Although these events may have informed the police to use ‘martial law’ and deadly force, it is clear from the evidence presented in the videos that the police went overboard in instigating what is now commonly referred to as premeditated homicide. The Henry Glover incident and the Danziger Bridge shootings are good examples that show New Orleans p
In the case State vs. Stu Dents the following charges and the evidence were analyzed: homicide, assault of a police officer, kidnapping, burglary and crimes related to drugs. In the charge of homicide the evidence is as follows—the skin particles under the victim’s finger nails match the DNA that were acquired from the accused. This is seen as a sign of the struggle between the victim and the accused because there is no reason why the accused would want to voluntarily leave his skin particles under victim’s nail. The rope fragments with which the victim was bound were found in the victim’s apartment, together with blood traces. Numerous evidence from Stu Dent’s diary, confirms instances of him buying the tools necessary to carry out the homicide. Oklahoma defines homicide as “the killing of one human being by another.” This law is equally enforced in all the states throughout United States. The assault of a police officer was witnessed by the other police officer and this fact was confirmed by their sworn testimony in front of the court. The law states that anyone commits assault upon police officer who without a justifiable cause knowingly assaults a police officer during the performance of the police officer’s duties. This law is the same for all the states as the work of a police officer is considered a public service and any interference, especially physical assault is not accepted. The charge of kidnapping has been established on the following grounds: it is reasonable to conclude that the victim would not tie her own hands, go to a remote area and then inflict numerous stab wounds to herself. Her hands were tied and she was delivered to the place where she was found. The law states that anyone who without any authority seizes, confines, kidnaps, abducts or carries away another, with intent to cause the other person to be confined or imprisoned has committed the act of kidnapping. This is a very grievous offence as it deal with the rights and freedoms of another person and forcible confined is treated as a serious offence punishable by law. Burglary is the next charge that is laid upon the accused. Its main points are: the perpetrator is armed with a dangerous weapon, which in this case was established to be a knife as blood traces were found in the apartment. And the next element is that the entry had to be unlawful into the place where another person resides and was not permitted, was accomplished through having false keys or by picking the lock. From the large quantity of photographs found in Stu Dent’s apartment it is clear that he was monitoring and following the victim. Upon his entrance into her apartment he already had an intention to commit a crime inside, making it deliberate and planned prior to his arrival at the apartment. The fact that Stu Dent had victim’s jewelry in his possession also point to the fact that his intentions upon entering her dwelling were criminal. The home of a person is their property and protection and the law is very strict