ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Introduction No matter how developed and civilized the world has become, there is always space for a variety of distinctions between people. Differences may be based on skin color, sexual orientation, or religious beliefs. However, there is one more issue that has always existed and is highly unlikely to disappear – the problem of belonging to various social classes. Some people are poor and others are rich, and the disparity between them has always inspired people of art. There are many kinds of music, literature, and other pieces that depict class differences. Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s “Two Scavengers in a Truck, Two Beautiful People in a Mercedes” and Ana Castillo’s “Napa, California” belong to the masterpieces of poetry illustrating social inequality. The current paper will discuss the issue of class division as the most prominent theme of Castillo’s “Napa, California” and Ferlinghetti’s “Two Scavengers…” The Issue of Class Inequality in the Poems Both Castillo and Ferlinghetti discuss the lack of balance between different social groups of people by means of depicting hard labor. In “Napa, California,” the story is being told in the first person. The narrator describes the grueling work of grape pickers and the unfair treatment of landowners where these people are employed. In “Two Scavengers in a truck…” the story is being told in the third person, and two different kinds of work are described. Both authors manage to present a distinct contrast between the jobs of poor people and those who can afford education and well-paid positions. In Castillo’s poem, grape pickers have “weatherworn hands” (l. 4) and “sun-beaten brows” (l. 10). They are so exhausted that they “pick / With a desire only survival inspires” (l. 18-19). It is impossible not to feel sympathy towards these poor workers who never have any rest. They work from early childhood and never manage to notice any fun in life: “our youth seems to pass before us and we have grown” (l. 14). The laborers do not see anything pleasant in their life, and they are deprived even of pride and dignity. Their pessimism is most vividly seen in these lines: “And the land / That in turn / Waits for us” (l. 24-26). People who spend their whole life in hard labor have only one thing to wait for: death. Their only consolation is “A little love” (l. 29) in the end. Ferlinghetti’s poem is less pessimistic, but it also depicts a rather hard and underestimated job: that of garbagemen or scavengers. As well as grape pickers in Castillo’s poem, these two men grow rather tired towards the end of their working day. They are “up since four a.m.” (l. 16) and “Grungy from their route” (l. 17). Ferlinghetti does not use many words to describe the hardships of the scavengers. However, it is possible for the readers to understand that doing strenuous work all day long cannot be an easy thing. Unlike in Castillo’s poem, “Two Scavengers…” does not depict a disparity between the workers and their employers. Howe
Those who believe that booking travel tours online is much more compelling and fascinating are mistaken. In fact, the World Wide Web provides you only with also necessary information about the itinerary you are going to choose to enjoy the trip. Recently, I have visited Bay Travel and Adventure Show to take a look at the scope of travelling from a different viewpoint. The event is indeed worth your time because the organizers of the show can inspire you to engage with a variety of activities and discover the most beneficial travel possibilities. I have had a marvelous chance to learn a lot from experts, including Patricia Schultz, Rick Steeves, and Joe Dias. These people have given me much valuable information about what needs to be done to make my dreams come true. I have been fond of travelling since my childhood because visiting different places allows me to gain new experience, meeting new people, and learning more about new places. So, I decided to attend the nation’s leading travel event on February 16. As soon as I arrived at the place, I was immediately transferred to another world where people enjoy listening to the music, dancing, and communicating with each other. The travel show represented over 200 travel and tour experts so that I could receive professional advice concerning which places should be visited first, as well as which remarkable cities should be attended and could be perpetuated my experience. As soon as I was acquainted with the experts, I decided to visit one of the travel seminars to learn more about what it meant to be a travel-addicted person. During the seminar, I was interested in the information about the main attributes of extreme journey. I listened to the real stories from life about the challenges and difficulties that travelers had to overcome, as well as valuable skills that should be acquired before going on trip. Apart from exciting seminars, the show was also accompanied with incredible activities that the entire family could visit. Although I attended this event alone, I had so many activities to engage with. In particular, I decided to try my skills and strengths to master zip lining and rock climbing. I should admit that these activities required much effort; yet expert guidance allowed me to climb the rock quickly, almost without additional help. As soon as I learnt more about these authentic experiences, I was determined to set out for the journey of my life and visit Machu Picchu, the most captivating place in the world. Surrounding by gorgeous mountains, the site amazes by its scale and picturesque landscapes. So, after I consulted one of the experts about the travel possibilities, I decided to visit a couple of exhibitions to learn more about destination travels and discover new vacation options. Tour operators were glad to discuss the most exciting experiences in traveling, as well as advice new sites for me to visit. After I received a bulk of valuable recommendations on travelling, I made my way to another place – the Global Beats Stage – where I
“Influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in acute-care hospitals” by Benet et al. (2012) and available through Monroe College Medline database, is an example of an article explaining a case study about the effects of influenza vaccination of healthcare workers (HCW) on hospital-acquired influenza (HAI) among patients. However, there is no documented proof of the protective effect of (HCW) vaccination in acute-care units on the spread of hospital-acquired influenza (HAI). The author’s primary goal is to prove the efficiency of vaccinating HCW against the spread of HAI amongst the patients. To understand the effectiveness of HCW vaccination, the author uses a “nested case-control investigation” in studying “influenza-like illness (ILI)” in a tertiary acute–care University hospital (Benet et al. 2012). The cases used by the author are the patient with virologically-confirmed influenza that occurred more than 72 hours after being admitted. Controls were patients who had ILI that presented themselves throughout hospitalization with harmful influenza results after nasal swab testing. The author used four controls for every case and matched each with the season of influenza, i.e. (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07), which were selected randomly. The models used by the author in assessing the factors associated with HAI among patients were “univariate and multivariate conditional logistic regression models” Benet et al., (2012). Therefore, this helped the author evaluate factors related to HAI. It is critical to understand that Benet et al. (2012) do not try to convince people that vaccinating HCW effectively prevents the spread of HAI. However, the author’s observational outcome indicates a protective result of more than 35 percent of vaccinated HCW on the spread of HAI in acute-care patients. Nevertheless, additional research on restricted clinical tests is required to validate the effectiveness of HCW vaccinations on incidences of HAI infections in patients. Reference Bénet, T., Régis, C., Voirin, N., Robert, O., Lina, B., Cronenberger, S., &… Vanhems, P. (2012). Influenza vaccination of healthcare workers in acute-care hospitals: a case-control study of its effect on hospital-acquired influenza among patients. BMC Infectious Diseases , 12( 30), 1-6. Available through Monroe College Medline database. Web.
According to Osborne (2010), Paul Nipkow, a German was the first person to transmit pictures over wires. He used the scanning principle developed by a rotating disc technology in 1884. The Nipkow’s scanning floppy thought was developed by John Logie Baird in the 1920’s, which led to development in electronics. He patented the idea of using arrays of transparent rods for television images transmission. In 1923, Charles Francis had helped in transmission of mobile images (silhouette) – this used a system of mechanical television. Vladimir Zworykin (Russian) improved his own cathode ray tube in 1929. In 1948, multiple contributions were made by Louis Parker, who developed the idea of the modern Television. Later major inventions were made on color television and cable television (1953), remote controls (1956), plasma televisions (1964), and web television (1996). According to Street (2006), Paul Nipkow developed the Nipkow disc in 1884, which was capable of transmitting pictures by use of a cable. More innovations were made in 1920’s. By then, John Baird used a collection of clear bars for delivering images, and they were protected by law. He had started his studies in 1924 and in 1927 – the first complete electronic television was designed by Philo Farnsworth. Werner Flechsig in 1938 patented a modern signal analog color television. Dumont Company in 1939 became the first company to start manufacturing television sets and became the first television network in 1946. In addition, Goldmark delivered a color Television in the same year – this television could deliver images in blue, red, and green colors, by help of a cathode ray pipe. The development of the television set is quite a complex series of events, and saying that one particular man may have invented the television is an overstatement since many contributed and improved on the works and inventions made in earlier times. In Ingram (2006), the media have come through a lot of changes. From the times of 15 th Century when Johann Gutenberg rediscovered printing work in Europe to today when internet is the new and biggest source of information. The media have transformed in a big way since then, a couple can receive messages at the comfort of their living rooms from the times when messages were sent because of emergencies to a time when messages are easy to send. In the earlier times, it was hard to send a message for its expense of time. A letter sent across the Atlantic Ocean took ages to sail across just because there was no other means for transportation. The recent transformations have allowed easier ways of dissemination of information.
Abortion is one of those issues that force a person to take sides. There is no middle ground in this issue. The bone of contention centers on the meaning of human life because once it has been established, one can determine whether abortion is murder or another medical procedure. It is a procedure that a woman can avail because she owns her body, so the argument goes. Therefore, she has the right to terminate her pregnancy. This paper will examine the underlying issues regarding abortion and then, use virtue ethics to determine the best course of action. The Problem with Abortion At the most basic level abortion is the termination of pregnancy (Haney, p.10). This termination procedure can be performed in different ways but the end goal is the death of the fetus or embryo. It must be pointed out that abortion after the third trimester of pregnancy is illegal. However, abortion prior to the third trimester is legal in many areas in the United States of America. The legal justification is based on a Supreme Court ruling in 1973 – Roe vs. Wade – wherein the Supreme Court Justices agreed that women have a choice regarding their pregnancy and if they want to terminate it or not. The opinion of the Supreme Court justices was based on the idea that pregnancy can be divided into trimesters (Payment, 44). They decided that a woman can chose to terminate the pregnancy and in effect kill the fetus or embryo as long as it is still within the first trimester. After the second trimester a woman can still choose to abort the fetus but the State has the right to impose restrictions. The State also has the option to make the procedure illegal in the final trimester. The main reason given can be summarized in the following statement: “The mother’s right to privacy becomes less important than the fetus’s right to life only when the fetus could possibly survive without the mother – at around six months” (Payment, p.44). Therefore, the main reason why a woman can choose to end pregnancy is that she has full control of her body and the fetus. But in the third trimester the baby can live without the mother’s support and therefore it is considered murder. Those who support the right of a woman to an abortion even after the final trimester makes the assertion that the Constitution does not provide any legal rights for a child that is still within the mother’s womb. In other words a child has to be born first before he or she can enjoy the same rights as others. T
Introduction In the story “The Invisibles: Migrant Workers in Canada” the author focuses on the plight of migrant workers in the country and how they are at the receiving end of adverse labor practices (i.e. being paid far less than the average Canadian citizen for the same type of job) as well as being subject to instances of abuse (sometimes leading to death) due to the nature of their work contracts and the fact that they are not subject to the same legal protections that Canadian citizens are entitled to. First and foremost, it is important to examine the nature of migrant workers in the case of Canada and how it results is the aforementioned adverse practices. Based on the work of Choudry and Henaway, it was noted that as countries move from being considered a “developing country” to a “developed and industrialized state”, changes occur within its societal framework resulting in an internal employment shift. This can be referred to as the state wherein people increasingly want to pursue white-collar careers (i.e. desk jobs for corporations) over blue-collar methods of employment (i.e. jobs where physical labor is necessary) (Choudry and Henaway 36). This particular shift is further enabled by the proliferation of government education programs which lowers the likelihood of people being categorized as “low skilled workers” as more students enter college and get their degrees. The inherent problem with such a state is that it creates a “gap” in employment so to speak wherein there is a distinct lack of low skilled and semi-skilled workers for particular jobs in Canada (ex: service jobs, factory jobs, construction, drilling, maintenance, farming, etc.). It is due to this that countries such as Canada bring in migrant workers in order to support the industries that lack workers due to the shift in the type of employment that ordinary Canadian citizens think they “deserve” (Choudry and Henaway 40). In light of migrant workers being essential to various industries within Canada, the fact remains that they are subject to the following faces of oppression exploitation, marginalization, and powerlessness by virtue of the fact that they are not born Canadian. Faces of Oppression Exploitation in the case of migrant workers in Canada comes in the form of businesses paying the workers a lower salary (sometimes 15% or even less) as compared to what would normally be paid for a Canadian placed in a similar job. Other faces of exploitation come in the form of dangerous working conditions, a lack of proper safety standards in the workplace, absurdly long hours and a distinct lack of benefits. The reason behind why migrant workers continue to work in
Looking at the history of the world at large, it becomes evident that all human societies from the most primitive of Paleolithic and Neolithic eras to the most modern technological ones of contemporary times have been socially stratified since ever. Sociological researches also reveal the very fact that even during ancient times different classes existed in every culture and civilization. Tumin has supported the existence of social classes in primitive ages. According to historical and archaeological records, he states, stratification was present even in the small wandering bands that characterized society in the earliest days of man. In such primitive conditions, according to him, both age and sex in combination with physical strength must have been important criteria of stratification. (1978: 16). This stratification is based on caste, class, clan, community, region, religion, race, ethnicity, gender, and age groups. There always exists a struggle between different groups of society for capturing more and more privileges and rights, which gives birth to class conflict. Thus, social conflict is often based on socioeconomic differentiation as well as unequal distribution of wealth, opportunities, and resources. All these conflicts on communal, national, and international levels have caused civil wars, anarchy and even great wars are also the outcomes of conflict and rivalries among individuals, groups, societies, and nations. There are many advantages and disadvantages of conflicts. Various philosophers and intellectuals maintain different views regarding class struggle. Since they are the brains of society, their theories are looked into with great curiosity. “The philosophical personalities”, Thomas & Thomas view, “represent an adventure in thinking; and when we examine the lives of the philosophers we find that the procession of a man’s thoughts can be as exciting a spectacle as the pageantry of a man’s deeds. Our world becomes wider, our imagination richer and our life more colorful and zestful as a result of our companionship with the travelers of the spirit and the pioneers of thought.” (1960:1). Jean Jacques Rousseau, the renowned French philosopher of the 18 th century has discussed class struggle and its causes in his famous “Social Contract”. Rousseau has demarcated human nature and society and declares natural tendencies among them as the purest ones. He is of the view that it is society and environment that corrupts the “noble savage” i.e. human being. Rousseau favors the class struggle and declares it imperative to seek social justice and equal opportunity of growth and opinion within a social setup. Freedom of thought and individual liberty give birth to class differentiation. The deprivation of rights results in the class struggle between haves and haves-not. “Man was born free, but everywhere he is in chains.” (Book I, Chap I) Society’s negative attitude towards an individual or class creates feelings of self-lov
Undoubtedly, the issue of whether or not the training of brains by use of computer programs leads to beneficial effects on subjects is a hotly debated topic. Despite the existence of this raging debate, the world has not established whether such computer games facilitate improvement in computer skills for different groups of subjects – both old and young. Specifically, it has not exhaustively been proven that such computer games lead to marked improvements in cognitive skills, such as reasoning, learning, and memory (Fernandez, & Goldberg, 2009). As such, commentators and critics have been ideologically divided into 2 groups; with one holding that computer brain training leads to enhancement of certain mental skills, for instance, reasoning, learning, and memory, while the other opposes this view. What remains is thus a debate whose resolution remains obscure. A closer scrutiny of the arguments advanced by both groups however indicates that the opposing group appears to be more believable. These arguments and the ensuing counterarguments stem from various studies as enumerated in the following discourse. To illustrate, Adrian Owen – an opposing neuroscientist – conducted a six-week online study whose outcomes indicated that computer training does not enhance cognitive abilities. Owen’s research did not witness even a single participant improving any of their learning, reasoning, and memory mental abilities. In addition, this study did not prove that re-coaching in a single brain task area shifted to other regions such as those linked to age-linked mental deterioration (Wiley Online Library, 2010). Owen refuted claims that practice in certain mental tasks improves mental abilities, adding that such allegations lacked empirical evidence. In line with Owen’s conclusions, Peter J. Snyder – a neuroscientist with Brown University’s Warren Alpert Medical School – noted that Owen’s study design had several limitations. For this reason, Snyder observes that Owen’s study derived the correct answer but for the wrong reasons. To demonstrate, Snyder opines that Owen’s research was not meant to evaluate improvements among older people. This concept der
Influence of General Agreement on Tariff and Trade on the Development of Lower Developed Countries Even though the General Agreement on Tariff and Trade (GATT) of 1948 is commonly regarded as such allows the continual development of the world economy, it can also be viewed as the international law that has been enacted specifically to prevent the so-called ‘developing’ (or ‘lowered developed’) countries from becoming fully developed. The reason for this is apparent – GATT is essentially concerned with lowering trade-tariffs. After all, whereas in 1948 the average rate of trade-tariffs in the world used to account for 40%-60%, by the year 2000 (after GATT was integrated within the WTO framework), this rate was effectively reduced down to about 5%. This, of course, means that by signing GATT the ‘developing’ countries say good-bye to the hopes of becoming industrialized. The reason for this is that to ensure the objective preconditions for the industry of any kind to take a strong root in the country, its government must enact several protectionist laws, inconsistent with GATT.To make things even worse, under the Agreement’s provisions the annual interest rate in the Third and Second world countries (charged by the National/Central Bank) is often set as high as 20%-30%, whereas the annual interest rate in Western countries is rarely higher than 2% (Feldmann, 20