ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction In a world where ethical production is becoming as important as ever, the issue of child labor remains unsolved and dismissed by many major companies. By definition, child labor is the illegal use of children and adolescents in industries or businesses where they are often forced to fulfill their duties in inhuman, harmful conditions. Despite numerous adverse effects of child labor, many organizations, especially those involved in the fashion industry, still outsource production to developing countries and overlook if minimum age requirements are met. This essay will discuss the role that H&M and its CEO might play in eliminating child labor and setting a positive example for other large companies. Main body Due to rapid growth throughout the last several decades, H&M, a large Swedish company, developed an outsourcing strategy that so far includes suppliers from 39 countries. Currently, 98,5% of production is outsourced; production is processed and manufactured in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America (H&M, n.d.). Even though in its vision, H&M claims that it supports and fosters self-autonomy and sustainability in suppliers, the company has generated a number of controversies regarding child labor. For instance, it was revealed that 14-year-old workers were hired at Myanmar factories and their daily working hours amounted to 12 (Butler, 2016). In taking measures to tackle the problem, H&M might show how a large corporation may recover its reputation and pave the way for other organizations. H&M might adopt several strategies to address the pressing issue. Since the company has always been active and engaged on many social media platforms, it has a wide outreach regarding communicating the message. First, the company could use hashtags to spread factual information about child labor. For instance, the fact that almost 11% of the overall child population is involved in child labor is alarming (International Labor Organization, 2015). Second, H&M could generate educational content in which it would advocate for the importance of continuing education for children. In many developing countries, for instance, Bangladesh and India that collaborate with H&M, the learning process is often disrupted due to families’ financial instability. Thus, the first audiences of these two campaigns would-be consumers and families in developing countries respectively. Yet, it is clear that providing the issue with more publicity will not address it on a deeper level. One may argue that it would be more useful to take measures on-site, and namely, in these countries where child labor was documented. Extensive use of child labor usually has many underlying reasons each of which should be addressed separately by both the organization and a country’s authority. What H&M is capable of doing is getting the manufacturing more centralized and setting strict standards concerning minimum wage and employees’ age. However, excessive control may only aggravate the situation, and, thus, promoting a shared vision with the managing boards of supplying companies cou
The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is the document regulating selling and buying goods in the United Kingdom. This Act carries out certain functions. First, the main peculiarity of this act lies in the fact that the Sale of Goods Act does not impose substantial restrictions and is predominantly based on implied terms and presumptions. Instead, the contracts concluded under this Act depend on the mutual agreement. This case has many contradictions due to the restricted liability. In this way, the brightest example of the disadvantage is George Mitchel (Chesterhall) Ltd v Finney Lock Seeds Ltd, a case where Finney Seeds denied to take responsibility for the seed sold, even they turned out to be defective, due the excluding clauses of the Sale of Goods Act 1979. According to section 55 of the Sale of Goods Act 1979, all the clauses are subjected to the terms of reasonableness and fairness and, therefore, they directly relate to schedule 2 revealing its reasonableness due to specific circumstances. In particular, section 55(5) assumes that “…any term would be fair and reasonable regard shall be had to all the circumstances of the case”. Unlike schedule 2 of UCTA 1977 that “requirement of reasonableness…shall have been a fair and reasonable one to be included having regard to the circumstances…”, the Act under consideration is more focused on the circumstances, which are more beneficial for the sellers that have much fewer responsibilities for the goods already sold. Still the advantage is that buyers should be reimbursed “if some condition is not compiled with whether it was reasonable at the time of the contract to expect that compliance with that condition would be practicable”. Referring back to the case under analysis, it should be stressed that the problems of this contradiction lied in the fact that the damage of the seed was not covered by the terms of the contract due to the restricted liability of Finney Lock Seed Ltd. However, in reliance on the exemption clauses admitting the circumstances of schedule 2 and sections 55, the terms were not fair and reasonable, as the seeds that were sold were not seeds at all. In order to be confident regarding the reasonableness of the terms, it is first necessary to specify where the clauses were accomplished by the contract and whether they covered the infringement of terms, if occurred. More importantly, the terms should be void regarding UCTA 1977. A thorough consideration of the exemption clauses and their correlation with schedule 2 of UCTA, section 55 the Sale of Goods Act 1979 failed to consider the reasonableness on the part of the buyers so as to incorporate t
Introduction Major issues The influence of the government and the bureaucrats on the civil service is major concern for the civil servants, the public, and the reform advocates. Irrespective of the changes that have previously been proposed, none has realized the full initial intent. In fact, undue pressure from politicians has been blamed for this. The appointees to the civil service positions are also pointed out as a source of the partial implementation of the projected objectives. The authors remark on the history of civil service restructuring and the hurdles that have been met by reformers. Themes to be used as framework for comparing and contrasting the articles The articles that will be compared, contrasted, and analyzed in this study have political approaches integrated in the text. In order to avoid biasness in the analysis, the study will take a professional approach for analyzing the articles irrespective of the intention of the author to the reader. By doing so, this study will articulately analyze the articles with the view of addressing the structure, content, attitude, and approach of the authors towards the issues they address. Summary of major points A Return to Spoils? Revisiting Radical Civil Service Reform in the United States by Patricia Wallace Ingraham Ingraham started the article with a precise abstract. The abstract covered the author’s opinion regarding the federal public service reforms. She indicates that the urge for such reforms is brought about by political necessity. She states that Pendleton Act was devised to re-establish the professional capability within the government service. It also aimed at limiting the political interference. The Act provided that the admission to the federal service must be open and competitive. However, it prohibited the sacking of employees from service based on any grounds except the cause. The author stipulated that civil servants should be exempted from any political coercion. The development did not completely abolish patronage. Actually, it introduced the merit system. The civil service commission advised the president on the political appointment. Besides, it ensured that the appointees never interfered with the operations of the public service. The pecking order of the organization system specified by the rule guaranteed that technical processes and functions would be the main attributes of the system as it developed. Every characteristic enclosed the seeds of dysfunction. The players it sought to serve only appreciated the new system briefly before and after its passage. Thereafter, it did not gain much deference. The fact that the system was only exploiting the discontent and mistrust of the admiration makes Ingraham inquire whether the system instilled the much sought after merit. The authors seek to refute the idea that it was a merit system by quoting Jimmy Carter who stated that the ‘merit system had no merit’ (Ingraham, 2006). Merit is not limited to the essential expertise and capability to meet the job requirements but a core public service attribute.
Policy Brief Schistosomiasis is a prominent global disease, second to Malaria in NTD (neglected tropical diseases) where snails are widely known to be its intermediate host. It affects many countries, especially less developed countries such as Africa (Chitsulo, Engels, Montresor, &Savioli, 2000). According to Relman and Choffnes (2011), a basic main feature to the transmission of schistosomiasis disease are related to poverty and underdevelopment; hence poor water sanitation. They are transmitted when humans swim in infected open water which then causes an impact on the socio-economic well-being of countries where it is endemic. The fight against this parasitic disease using molluscicides is an ongoing effort while useful; it is expensive. Although it is desirable to eradicate the snails to eliminate the parasitic worms, there are concerns in the continuous use of these synthetic molluscicides. Mainly, it being a potential environmental damage; let alone it harms non-target bio life such as fish, tadpoles and other aquatic organisms (Augusto, Mello-Silva, &Correa, 2018; Takougang, Meli, &Angwafo, 2006). It has led to it being favored (Takougang et al., 2006). Augusto, et al. (2018) stress the importance of taking into account the logistical and environmental costs involved in the Molluscicide programs. Li and Wang (2017), in their article, recognize the effectiveness of the molluscicides. However, they state that its mechanisms and effects on the environment require further investigation as it could potentially lead to adverse environmental outcomes. Molluscicides have proven to be somewhat effective in combating schistosomiasis in countries such as China, Brazil, Saint Lucia, Iran, Tunisia, Morocco, Saint Kitts and Egypt (Yang et al., 2012; King & Bertsch, 2015; Coelho & Caldeira, 2016). The World Health Organization (WHO) stressed the importance of using molluscicides in fighting against schistosomiasis (WHO report, 1953; WHO report, 1961) but has also addressed the characteristics that molluscicides needed to have without severely affecting other sectors of biodiversity (Souza, 1995). Such features include having low concentrations of toxicity as this could lead to a chain of effects not just to faunas but humans as well. When consumed, molluscicides could affect biodiversity through its consumption by different types of organisms, whereby these organisms could then potentially be consumed by humans. The inability of molluscicides implementation can also be attributed to its costly treatment. Molluscicides spraying requires it to be done repeatedly as snails have a high generative rate and that they are able to re-establish themselves after the treatments. In addition, labor cost should be considered in the repeated use of molluscicides. The labor cost for countr
Modern day torture constitutes an interrogation technique that entails inflicting suffering to the suspect with the aim of obtaining information or a confession. The methods utilized here also include waterboarding, shock treatment and denial of food as well as application of thumbscrews. Torture therefore ensures that the victim is in extreme anguish with the torturer having total control over the body of the victim (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy, 2011). The concept that underlies torture has been the subject of debate from various angles. These include moral and utilitarian as well as political perspectives. The controversy has further been fuelled by the increased cases of terrorism around the globe. Groups that argue in favor of torture have their support based on the fact that torture involves inflicting pain on a defenseless person. These have seen to the formation of policies such as the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy, 2011). This was adopted by the United Nations in 1984. In addition, the arguments are consequential in nature. This implies that the issues raised are directed at the impact of failing to use torture in interrogation of suspects of terrorism. These include suspects that may hold information that is vital to intelligence officials such as planned attacks (Casebeer, n.d). On the other hand, arguments in favour of torture, are grounded on the fact that it becomes a case of human rights violation. This is especially the case when the information witheld is inconsequential. Arguments in favour The ticking bomb scenario presents one of the major instances that are argued to justify the use of torture as an interrogation technique. In this case, it is considered ethical to inflict pain when psychological suffering fails to bring a suspect to a confession on the location of a ticking time bomb. For example, if a timed explosive device is planted in London and the police have the suspect (Stanford Encyclopedia Of Philosophy, 2011). The scenario further emphasizes that it is ethical to subject one person to torture in order to save thousands others. In addition, the argument that torture can be converted into a habit that may become entrenched into the justice system is heavily overwhelmed (Vaknin, 2007). This is due to the fact that other interrogation techniques have been noted to be equally misused. For instance, the use of guns and knives are equally susceptible to similar levels of abuse. Torture is also ethical in that it constitutes an ordinary method interrogation rather than a punishment to suspects. It should instead be regarded as an ordinary procedure used before trial in the same level with detention and oral interrogation. This is due to the fact that other interrogation techniques are also bound to inflict equal levels of punishment to a suspect before they are cleared of any wrong doing.
It should be noted that Chaplin’s Tramp character changes quite drastically from One A.M. to The Kid . In the first movie, he portrays a drunken man who cannot stand straight, which causes him a lot of inconvenience and results in awkward interactions with regular objects (Melton, 2017). The film exhibits the ridiculousness of the situation in which the main character finds himself due to excessive alcohol consumption. In the second movie, Chaplin’s character evolves from a comic character into a more complex one with a dramatic mood to it. The main hero is a mature and kind person who decides to take responsibility for an abandoned child (Coyote Cinema, 2018). In contrast with the first character who cannot take proper care of himself, the second hero provides care and protection to another human being, which makes Chaplin’s character attractive. Chaplin’s interactions with inanimate objects at One A.M. are both ridiculous and amusing since the drunk character refuses to be beaten while the household objects attempt to thwart his ambition. When the main hero gets back home, he immediately faces the difficulty of entering his own house. The household objects such as the rug, whiskey refill, the bed additionally worsen his unsteady footing (Melton, 2017). I do not fully empathize with Chaplin’s character, nor do I find him the crooked one. However, I believe that his experience is relatable to almost any human being, and Chaplin’s exaggerated acting is understandable since it reflects the experience of people. Chaplin’s walk is also quite curious since it is not easy to determine straightaway why his manner of walking is so strange. At One A.M. , it is possible to assume that the character thinks his walk gives his intoxicated state away, so he tries to control it. Nevertheless, in The Kid , the viewer may understand that the hero walks this way because of the ill-fitting clothing, which allows further speculation on the main character’s destiny.
Introduction Urban political economy refers to the study of how people inhabit and utilize space. Political economy in itself tries to dissect the relationship between material goods and the distribution of power. In the urban centers, there exists a big difference between political weakness and economic strength. The most crucial events to mankind have changed to taking place in the markets and not in the political arena anymore. Discussion On the other hand use of urban space can be pegged to the study of urban design which deals with the arrangement and functionality of the urban centers. With the increase in rural-urban migration, space has become a rare and a source of contention for many. It has been reported in the media more than enough times of a piece of land causing controversy in one city or the other. More often than not the piece of land in question is public land meant for the construction of a market or a recreation facility. However, due to the autonomous powers of our political leaders, they have been repeatedly accused of selling these pieces of land. Most of these cases though, take place in third world countries whereby laws and policies governing the political elite are very lax. The proliferation of skyscrapers that are used as business centers is a result of the limited space available for development. Though populations may increase, space remains constant and it is only through correct utilization that business objectives can be achieved. A good example of such a city is Dubai which is also renowned for entrepreneurship success. However, most politicians believe that having the lion’s share of the urban economic processes will in turn provide more political stability to them. This is especially so when it comes to formulating policies which concern the running of these businesses. Of most concern to urban economists is the rate of taxes charged on them in the course of their economic activities (Henderson, Thisse & Mills, 2004, p. 2390). Thus to earn political mileage, the politicians pretend to be fighting for the rights of the businessmen while in a real sense they are fighting for their own gains both politically and economically. Taking the example of a city such as Barcelona it is clear that some urban politicians are taking their job seriously in trying to provide for the citizens within their jurisdiction. Away from trying to r
Introduction In every country the issue of attracting tourists has remained paramount regardless of the security situation in such a nation. As a result the government through the relevant ministries and department has tried to allow the private investors to put up hotels and resort that the tourists will use when they visit the country. However owing to economic depression in the last two years, Faulk (2000)points out that many hotels and resorts have recorded low bookings and to minimize their losses they have reduced the prices in order to attract local people in their rooms. He has noted that with lowering of prices, the hotels have managed to record a significant increase in their collected revenue. According to Croce (2009) a hotel is place where people can have their meals, drinks and above all can spend their night there. On the other hand Wilkins (2004) contends that resorts are places that have been made to provide a chance for the people to relax besides offering all the other services offered in a hotel. In addition Bardi (2007) contends that hotels are usually found in places popular to a large number of people, for example in the towns, airports, or even in railway station. Resorts on the other hand are mostly located in those places that seems separated from the other parts for example the parks. Causin (2010) argues that hotels and resort have for a long time been contributing immensely to government revenue. He has noted that every time tourists from another country visit such hotels and resorts a certain percentage of the amount charged on them goes to the treasury. In return he argues that the government takes the responsibility of providing ample security to them. Through the ministry of finance, the government has been tasked with collecting all the levies charged on the hotels and resorts (Tanke, 2001). He further contends that the government should be responsible for marketing the country to the outside world. To him the marketing strategy adopted by the government plays a significant role in determining the number of tourists from abroad who will visit the advertised country. This way the hotel and resort owners will be the main beneficiaries of this program by the government as they are the ones tasked with providing accommodations to the tourists every time they visit the country. This paper attempts to look into some of the current issues that the hotel and the hospitality industry are facing in trying to achieve some of their set goals. I will in addition try to look into some of the achievement as well as the challenges faced by the hotel owners and administrators as they endeavor to attract more customers. Some of the achievements as will be discussed are as a result of innovations taken by some of the hotels while some of the challenges are as a result of government failure to put in place measures to cushion the hotel owners. For example poor economic management that results in low bookings in these hotels. Current issues in the hotel and resort management and management McDaniel (1997) contends that in the contemporary world the issues in everyone’s lips is how to maintain our environment as a
How can Buyers use Backward Integration? What are some of the Examples of how Backward Integration is used by Buyers? Backward integration is a very important aspect of contemporary organisations. The technique is also known as upstream integration. It is a situation where consumers of a given raw material acquire its supplier. For example, a business organisation dealing with the manufacture and supply of sugar products may opt to acquire the company supplying them with sugar. The scenario is just one example of backward integration. Another form of upstream integration involves the setting up of a subsidiary whose end products form part of the inputs for the production processes carried out by the mother company. The technique is closely related to the organisation’s supply chain management. To this end, backward integration incorporates supply chain management into the business processes of the organisation. One way through which the incorporation is effected is by the acquisition of suppliers or vendors working with the organisation. The buyers or consumers can engage themselves in the growing of the raw materials, manufacturing, and transportation of the same. In addition, the consumers of the raw materials can engage in the marketing of these inputs, as well as owning the retail outlets dealing with the raw materials. From this observation, it is obvious that backward integration is intended to help the buyer establish a secure source of supplies and raw materials. After securing the supply chain, the buyer is able to focus on other emerging issues and problems that need to be solved. The company will experience smooth business transactions from the supplies department. Moreover, the company will enjoy economi