ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction According to Bourdain, “traveling” can be a compulsion. Traveling can be a privilege because it helps a person see the world’s colors and flavors. Trips can help many people examine the unique differences and similarities existing among human beings. Bourdain’s discussions can help a person remember all his or her important trips in life. This explains why I have remembered my first trip to a foreign country. I will always remember this “important” event because it gave me a new opportunity to explore the world. The trip was a rare experience because it gave me the chance to examine the world from a different perspective. The trip took place after completing high school. I had gone to a foreign country for my studies. An Important Trip To begin with, the trip was a turning point in my life. The trip helped me rediscover new skills and ideas. It became one of my “memorable” experiences because I had the opportunity to interact with people from different backgrounds. I also acquainted myself with various cultural practices and behaviors. The trip was a wonderful experience because it helped me explore the world from a new dimension. I will always remember everything about this trip because of certain “occurrences”. To begin with, it was my first time to stay alone. The other memorable thing about my “trip” to a foreign country was the opportunity to see new landscapes and sceneries. It was my pleasure to enjoy the country’s “wonderful” climate. I also had the opportunity to see new plant species, animals, modern infrastructures, traditional costumes, and architectural designs. During my stay in a foreign country, I interacted with many people from different cultural backgrounds. These people had various religious beliefs and traditional practices. Humans will always communicate amongst themselves because they are “social beings”. The trip allowed me to interact and exchange views with different people. This experience also wide
Communication technology has a direct impact on society; it changes the way people communicate and think. Moreover, new communication technology shapes the new culture. Inventions and discoveries cause the languages to evolve and, subsequently, change the methods of speaking and thinking through language. Theorists consider communication technology as a potential revolution similar to the industrial one. Communication technology has evolved into multi-purpose and multi-media machines providing immediate access to all information stored anywhere. Media, in general, is said to serve the public interest, however, according to the research on wartime communication, media fails to provide an objective overview of events. Historically, the printing technologies contributed to the growth of Protestantism as well as censorship, to the rise of libertarian urges as well as codification of law. Despite the numerous discussions, printing technology has modified the life of society and its impact was positive. Modern communication technology is also beneficial for individuals and society in general. Unfortunately, advanced communication technology does not guarantee the delivery of trustworthy information. 1. Revolutionary transformations in systems of communication involve the interplay of technology, human actors, and institutions. In what ways is it possible to argue that technology plays a decisive role in such transformation? How could one argue that human agency and institutions, both political and economic, trump technology and create the conditions for communications revolutions and technological change? Modern revolutionary transformations in the system of communication involve the interplay of technology, human actors, and institutions. Technology plays a central role in this transformation. Printing technology allowed historical publishing which provided better records of the past. The core idea of “progress might not have risen if vagueness about the past allowed people to forget how very different things had once been” (Chapter 1, p. 6). The digital communication revolution is purely technological. Technology has erased the distance barrier to communication; speech, text, and pictures can be immediately represented and sent; technology allowed work and leisure to be spent in communication; finally, the mass media revolution allowed the adaptation of electronic messages to the specialized needs of individuals. The twentieth century was marked by the rapid growth of technology. In 1939 the number of telephone calls exceeded the number of letters mailed (Chapter 1, p. 9). By the year 1965, the percentage of homes that contained a television set was over 90 percent. Today, it is hardly possible to find a person who does not know
Introduction Modern-day life is increasingly becoming stressful and hectic. People have to work longer and harder in a bid to fulfill their life expectations. Despite the fact that stress is seen as an unavoidable fact, minimizing it is crucial to maintaining a healthy population. Tourism that focuses on health and well-being is developed to include several activities that lead to action as well as passive relaxation effects. This paper analysis ten academic works developed on the subject of tourism, health and well-being. Its analysis the effectiveness of the methodology adopted in developing the topic and points out the strongest contributions and the interrelationship of the ideas presented in the article. Health tourism Numerous academic writings have been developed regarding the relationship between health and tourism prompted by the realization that tourism is one of the most effective relaxation effects. Goodrich (1993) in a study of the state of health tourism in Cuba provides a very clear historical perspective of health tourism. He argues that in the early times, people periodically left their homes and went to areas near water bodies like rivers, mineral springs, and lakes to relax and access some healing properties. He uses an example of stories given about the people bathing in the Nile, the Ganges as well as the Yangtze. The sources to back such stories are very weak. More importantly, he discusses the interaction of tourism and health with health being viewed as a major consideration in the tourism industry. This view converges with the study conducted by Cohen (1988) which presents a historical case of sex tourism and implications on the emergence of AIDS, a sexually transmitted disease. The implications on the health of both locals and visitors are of concern in both articles. Yang and Chen (2009) bring in the element of intermittent health concerns resulting from epidemics such as SARS. The works are very educating on the gravity of health concerns on international tourism. As a student, I learn that the association of tourism and health is an age-old concept, which has been ignored in academic circles. Jones (2003) in an analysis of the effect of the holiday taking on the well-being of cancer patients found out that there were several positive results. First, they regained independence due to the new hope, energy boost and newfound optimism. Secondly, the patients undergo the rebuilding of personal confidence and inner strength. Thirdly, the patients had their social effectiveness boosted by the experience of meeting and interacting with new people. His work informs on the therapeutic effect of tourism on patients. Similar views are shared by Jones (2005) in his exploration of the relationship between health and research.
Bourgeois, a French woman, was a famous artist who died from a heart attack on at 98 years old. She had a painful childhood experience which became “the grist to her mill of artistic”. Her mother died when she was eight and this affected her psychologically. Bourgeois started her career in art in the late 1940’s after moving to New York. Her art express the theme of loneliness, anxiety and betrayal. Most of her work was constructed from scrap metal and wood which she used to curve sculptures, in he fifties, she made transitions from metal and wood sculptures to marble, plaster and bronze (McCrae 1). Her sculpture, Maman, is one of the largest and the most impressive sculptures in the world. It was first displayed outside the Tate museum in 2000. The idea of the sculpture comes from the strength of her mother which means “spinning, nurture, weaving and protection”. Maman is 30 feet tall and 9 meters female spider made from stainless steel. Under its belly it carries 26 eggs, arguably for protection, which are pure white marble. The spider itself is black in color, and Louise made sure that the placements of the legs of the spider were strong so as to support it. She gave it a mystical character because the eggs the spider holds give it a sense of vulnerability and it also brings out the sense of her protective nature. To some the sculpture is fantastic while to others it is scary and that its presence brings back painful memory to her (McCrae 1). Source: McCrae, Trisha. Louise Bourgeois. Maman: From the Outside In. 15 April 2000. Web. Bourgeois artwork is related closely to Wojick’s work. The ideas relating to overcoming personal struggle that I found present in Wojick’s pieces were even more apparent in Bourgeois’s work. The majority of Bourgeois’s work relates to her early childhood experiences and shows a sexual and dark side of art. She believes that a key part of art is a about “expressing struggling, loneliness and pain.” Her sculptures of massive spiders take a phobia held by many and amplify it, by making a normally small creature in to a large and powerful creation. Visual response Source: Wojick, Amanda. Amanda Wojick: Scuptures. 2009.Web. A large part of her work takes sculptures of body parts intertwined that suggests a very sexual nature. This suggests Bourgeois was sexual abused at a young age and now deals with this pain by expressing it within her artwork. I found Bourgeois’s use of pain and struggling in her artwork interesting and decided to pursue it more. Art sometimes amazes me, this spider looks like a real life giant spider dominating its surrounding with power and dignity. This was Bourgeois’s of showing her personal appreciation for her mother, and showing an intimate relationship she shared with her mother. I agree with analysts that this spider is both metaphorical and symbolical that it “a gigantic spider acting as Bourgeois’s transitional space”. In a complicated way, Bourgeois had to choose a spider, a small but threatening creature. This spider reminds me of a movie, “The Eight Legged Freaks” directed
To remain competitive, any organization should constantly develop and evolve. Organizational change is one of the key elements of success and personnel’s training is one of the central components of the change. However, employees are often reluctant to adjust to new settings. Employees also tend to pay little attention to the information associated with the change. This is when a thought leader can inspire the employees to get involved into the process of the change. In the first place, it is necessary to engage a thought leader. This should be an active and creative employee (a HR professional). The thought leader should be aware of the goals of the change and all the details related to it (Crow, 2012). Once the goals are set, the thought leader is ready to take the next step. Spiro (2011) stresses that leaders should always bring together key players to enable the entire staff to get involved. Thus, the thought leader should know which employees are the most active and engaged. These people should be flexible and ready to change. The thought leader should be able to listen carefully to the key players’ expectations and possible fears (Crow, 2012). These expectation and fears are usually shared by all the members of the staff. The thought leader should create the necessity, i.e. he/she should explain the benefits of the change and set the goals. The leader should be consistent and persistent while outlining peculiarities of the change to the group of the key players. Finally, the leader along with the group of key players is ready to develop a training program for the employees. Of course, the training should not be confined to a lecture on the aspects of the upcoming change. There should be a number of training sessions. These sessions should be really dynamic and the thought leader should engage each member of the staff (TED, 2009). Of course, the training sessions should not take too muc
International business text has paid particular interest to the study of internationalization and entry mode approaches of companies in various segments. However, very little studies that consider cultural implications in internalization have been accomplished. This paper shall review different literatures on internalization and cultural implications for joint ventures in Saudi Arabia. First, a general explanation of the internalization process shall be presented followed by an in-depth review of joint ventures in Saudi Arabia and the cultural implications of doing business in Saudi Arabia, a nation dominated by the Islam, religion. A conclusion that summarizes the key points shall then be presented. Internalization During the process of internationalization, companies increasingly spread their business functions and activities outside their national borders (Ahmad and Kitchen, 2008). International extension compels companies to construct three tactical decisions including: which target markets to go into, the right time of entry, and the way to penetrate those preferred markets (Hill, 2008). Besides, a firm has to design a marketing plan with guidelines on how to enter the alien market and lay down a control mechanism to keep an eye on its business progress (Hill, 2008). Foreign market choice is a compound process and is separated into four phases including: state recognition, preliminary viewing, thorough viewing and final assortment (Johansson, 2008). To emerge victorious, firms must identify market prospects and discern appropriate foreign markets. Kirzner (2005) reveals that the market can not be at equilibrium due to the gaps amid the demand and supply. Hence, firms should identify these gaps and monitor the markets vigilantly for investment choices. According to Hohenthal et al. (2006), companies face diverse economic, cultural, political and organization’s situation from their home. As a result, firms may choose markets that are related to their state of origin to avoid insecurity in an alien nation (Johanson & Vahlne, 2006). Time of entry is another significant decision that influences the cost and profits of investment (Kwon& Konopa, 2003; Sivakumar, 2004). Market information plays a very important role in entry timing (Mitra & Golder, 2007). In case a company accumulates adequate information on the economic and cultural surroundings of alien markets; it is fitting to penetrate those markets. Deficiency of knowledge and risk evasion hinders several firms entering indefinite and risky borders (Griffin & Pustay, 2007). An essential subject in international extension is that according to the timing of entry, companies face different stages of institutional insecurity, which influences the competence of the entry plan (Papyrina, 2007). Entry manner is a type of strategy and dedication of resources that a company adopts when it settles on entering an alien market. The selection of the best entry mode is amid the vital strategic decisions for companies in the course of internationalization (Nakos and Brouthers, 2004). Assuming appropriat
The plan to venture into overseas markets represents strategic goals and missions that an organization has for its future. With the current economic down surge, most companies are not able to make investment decisions for fear of uncertainties that are likely to befall them. In these situations, investors are ever skeptical about the market and risk assessment becomes a critical activity in the entire organization. In the dynamic economic environment, successful are firms that take advantage of such prevailing circumstances to invest their funds with an expectation of good returns while many players remain unwilling. By taking a considerable amount of risks in different portfolios, a firm is likely to benefit most. Depending on the investors’ confidence and market perception, risk accepting organizations stand a better chance to yield a high required rate of return to their shareholders both institutional and individual than risk aversive organizations. This article, therefore, tries to demonstrate the qualities of good financial investors. China life is a large insurance group with the capacity to trade at both international and domestic levels. With an ambition to expand into external markets through acquisitions especially now when most economies seem to be in the recess, the company stands to benefit in two ways; Financial advantages: these include acquiring most entities at less than their market values. This is likely to offer an organization a splendorous economic opportunity to position itself in new markets. The organization can invest at a lower cost than if the economy was vibrant. This adds to additional investment income to the shareholders as well as the management. The general interest rates are down and that an organization can utilize this opportunity to secure a loan from a financial institution to finance its long-term investment. Though is considered aggressive financing, if its managed well contingent benefits are likely to materialize. Another advantage is to expand in market share. By using the available funds to invest in overseas markets the organization is secretly expanding into those regions which with time may turn into large market niches. With the current increasing competition in the domestic markets organizations are shifting their attention to international markets. This is to take advantage of the untapped opportunities and potentials. In my opinion, I fully support this decision purely on economic grounds. it is obvious that the company is going to gain tremendously this is because most troubled organizations are likely to sell their assets at less than market values to remedy their liquidity positions. By undertaking to sell these assets at less than market values the acquirer stands a golden moment to gain. Secondly, foreign investment is one of the strategies of venturing into overseas market niches. The company could one day expand to those markets when domestic pressure becomes uncontrollable. The rationale behind this article should be to provide the reader with knowledge on investment policies. I can therefore say that this is instrumental to me by expanding my knowledge on making investmen
The term orientalism originates from the Latin term oriens that refers to “east” and this is in contrast to the Latin occidens that refers to “west”; therefore, the term has been employed for the imitation and representation of different aspects Eastern cultures in the west by authors and artists. It is important to note that the idea of the differences in culture between the East and the West can be traced back to the early Roman times in which there was an increasing opinion of the differences between Asia and Europe in terms of various aspects such as religious practices and artistic preferences. Although the East and the West associated from early Roman times through trade activities, voyages, cultural and intellectual exchange, and although they had many things in common, the idea of orientalism got increased recognition during the late Middle Ages in which the East and the West increased their relations and endeavored to exploit one another’s territory through various exchange activities. Nonetheless, the field of orientalism underwent a drastic transformation in 1978 when Edward W. Said, a Palestinian-American scholar, exposed orientalism as a colonialist enterprise in his book Orientalism. Even though Said study was centered only on the Islamic Middle East, he criticized orientalism as “a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having authority over the Orient” (Said, 15). His investigations have resulted in an enormous impact on the field of cultural studies. More so, various researchers in the other fields of traditional orientalist studies from various parts of the world have utilized his findings in undertaking their analysis. In the famous book, Said holds that orientalism is a collection of false assumptions lying beneath Western attitudes toward the East and he asserts that it is “subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture”(Pryce-Jones, middle section). Thus, he used the word to refer to the ubiquitous Western tradition, both scholarly and artistic, of bigotry understandings of the East, formed through the mindset of European imperialism that was common during the eighteenth and the nineteenth centuries, and he was critical both of this scholarly tradition and of some modern scholars who held the traditional opinion on orientalism. Said maintained that the long culture of deceptive and romantic impressions of Asia and the Middle East in Western culture had played a pivotal role in justifying the Europeans as well as the Americans colonial and imperial pursuits, and he sternly objected to the practice of some Arab elites who internalized the western orientalists’ views concerning the Arabic culture. Said takes note of the stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims
The desire to curb the production, sale and use of illicit drugs has presented governments all over the world with an insurmountable challenge. Drug hot spots such as Mexico are on the brink of legalizing narcotics after futile attempts at prohibition. In the US, the situation is not different. Although the leadership is reluctant to admit it, the fate of the war on drugs is already sealed. The failure of the efforts to curb the trafficking and use of illicit drugs may be a new experience for many countries across the world, but not for the US. In 1919, the US ratified the 18th Amendment to its constitution resulting in what came to be known as Prohibition I. Prohibition I was a 13-year span in US history during which alcohol was illegal. The bizarre occurrences that took place during this period resulted in the repeal of the 18th Amendment. The prohibition of alcohol was one of the country’s worst mistakes. Close to 40 years after the repeal of the 18th Amendment, President Richard Nixon’s administration set the Prohibition II ball rolling by officially initiating the war on drugs. Also, he facilitated the setting aside of 100 million dollars to fund the war. All the regimes that succeeded President Nixon incorporated the war on drugs in their agenda. In an attempt to improve it, they increased budgetary allocations towards it. During the 2009/2010 fiscal year, President Obama’s administration allocated slightly over 15 billion dollars towards this war. Analysts extrapolated that the 40 years that have gone by since the inception of the war on drugs have seen about one trillion dollars go down the drain. Unfortunately, the efforts of all the regimes that have participated in the war on drugs have proved futile. The prevalence of drug trafficking and abuse remains largely unaffected. It is creeping into areas that were initially free from drugs. In addition to the increased use of drugs, brutal killings akin to those witnessed during Prohibition I characterize most American urban settlements today. To the detriment of the public, a growing number of the political class, government departments, and security agencies are infiltrated by influential drug cartels. As a result, drug barons continue to coordinate their operations seamlessly while in custody. Arguably, the prohibition of drugs only leads to the emergence of a lucrative black market whose control is the reason behind the brutality associated with drug dealing. As such, liberally minded individuals are agitating for the legalization of drugs such as marijuana. They allege that if drugs are legalized, it will be easy to control their sale and use through measures such as harsh taxation. This way, the war on drugs will come to an amicable end, and the g