ShantanuT01/DACTYL-Pretraining huggingface dataset:
Greetings Thanks to everyone who contributes to the Make-A-Wish Foundation and its initiatives! I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who support, donate, and volunteer for this organization. I believe that the inspiration to grant wishes should be shared with all people. Brief Introduction to the Organization Nowadays, the Make-A-Wish Foundation accounts for thousands of wishes granted to children diagnosed with terminal diseases. For example, the organization granted the wishes of more than 15 thousand kids in 2016 (“From the President,” 2018). However, their vision does not focus on numbers but actual lives of children. Every contributor strives to provide hope and encourage children struggling against illnesses. Wishes to Be Implemented What kind of desire can a child make? Almost any! As stated by David Williams, the President of the organization, if sponsors, volunteers, and other contributors try hard and think about it, everything will be planned, organized, and negotiated with the corresponding people (“From the President,” 2018). As a result, even seemingly impossible wishes will be granted. The Make-A-Wish Foundation emphasizes that there are no obstacles and difficulties when it comes to the desire of a sick child. Why Contribute to Make-A-Wish? The first reason is that the organization supports not only terminally-ill kids but also those who have life-threatening conditions. Children aged between 2,5 and 18 years old are eligible to make a wish and receive empowerment to combat a disease. These children need the help of the whole society since their lives may be significantly enhanced by common efforts. What do the children ask for? Over time, several categories of desires have been identified: I want to visit…, I want to meet …, or I want to have …. The second reason is that these wishes are vital for children. 12-year-old Amaya, suffering from the incurable liver disease and unable to get up from a wheelchair, dreamed of a friend – a tiny Yorkshire puppy that she could hold in her hands (“Amaya’s teacup-sized bundle of hope,” 2013). 8-year-old Luke with leukemia wanted to see sea turtles, and he went with his parents to Hawaii. 11-year-old Karl with leukemia saw a B-17 bomber in the museum and realized that he wants to become a pilot of the Second World War, and Make-A-Wish organized a show at the naval base especially for him. These examples show that kids’ conditions tend to improve after the implementation of their desires. This is amazing! The third reason that should be discussed refers to the fact that the Make-A-Wish relies solely on the donations of individuals, while the state does not render financial support to the fund. Therefore, the fund’s employees appreciate any help. In this connection, there are several ways everyone may help the organization. During the events or through the official website, one may give a donation. Another way is asking the fund’s representative about how one may help in the organization and accomplishment of wishes. In addition, Make-A-Wish welcomes everyone to join it and become a member. Conclusion In conclusion, it is essen
Torture occurs when a person imposes severe psychological or physical pain on someone else for a specific reason. Authorities torture a person to obtain a confession for a crime or to gain information from them. According to Amnesty international (2020), it is used as way of punishment in prisons around the world. Under international law, torture, among other forms of ill-treatment of inmates, is always illegal and has been outlawed for decades. However, many countries have failed to criminalize it as national law hence defying international law. The United States criminal justice system is one of the countries that ignore the guidelines in regard to the law. High profile bodies such as the CIA have misled the public to understand torture to be generally confined to national security and terrorism cases. However, research reveals that it can happen to anyone found on the wrong side of the law (Amnesty international, 2020). Torture methods have several variations: they can be physical; the torturer gains total authority over the prisoner’s body and, in most cases, is done by more than one person for physical dominance. It involves practices like an electric shock of the body, extreme beatings, pulling off body parts like nails, and many more (Amnesty international, 2020). The main aim is to have the prisoner suffer physically, either with or without direct contact with the torturers. For instance, depriving sleep does not directly involve physical contact, yet an inmate ends us excessively exhausted hence suffering physically (Amnesty international, 2020). It is a form of torture which is not generally undertaken to punish the victim but to break the prisoner’s will. For instance, when a spy is being tortured to obtain information, the torturer must first break his/her will. Therefore, physical torture as punishment does not consist of pre-set, lawful guidelines over a definite period. The second form of torture is long term isolation in prisons. For the safety of prisoners, the prison officials isolate those who exhibit violent behavior and those sentenced for the extremely severe cases (Amnesty international, 2020). In this light, different classes of isolation units range from very restrictive to less restrictive. Isolation in less restrictive cells allows the inmates to socialize once in a while with others. However, for those in very restrictive cells, total isolation is involved where inmates are confined for up to 25 years (Amnesty international, 2020). Due to this, many penology scholars have condemned this form of punishment and labeled it as a level of punishment similar to psychological torture. Amnesty international (2020) states that the probability that long-term isolation contributes to a reduction i
Automatization is a broad term that describes all processes that are carried out automatically by software or robots. Robotization, on the other hand, encompasses only that part of the practice where physical machines replace human beings. One of the main benefits of automation is that business efficiency increases and staff costs go down. At the same time, there are also significant disadvantages, such as the inferiority of the technology and the threat of job losses for the real people. However, digging deeper into this topic, it becomes clear that automation and robotization are not acute threats to the workforce and cause far more benefits than detriments. The automatization process appeared almost immediately with the emergence of manufacturing. However, with the emergence of automation of work processes and its active implementation in almost all areas of human life, there have also been opponents of such a transformation. The Luddite movement in the early 19th century is sometimes attributed to psychological or even religious causes. The workers are portrayed as almost savages who were frightened by incomprehensible machines and tried to destroy them. Still, everything was much simpler than that – the machines endangered the most skilled workers. In nineteenth-century England, where there were no social security arrangements, wage cuts could easily have been disastrous: workers lost their homes and the means to support their families. Their protest was directed against the injustice symbolized by the machines (Coniff 2). In many ways, their discontent turned out to be prophetic. Britain’s industrialization had benefited the rich and the country as a whole, but it had been a disaster for the workers themselves. Longer working hours, reduced wages, the use of child and women’s labor, and the famous London smog were all direct consequences of the mass proliferation of machine tools. It took a century of hard political and social struggle before factory workers began to benefit at least somewhat from the mechanization of their work. Nowadays, technophobia is primarily based on the fear that the growth of automation will start to reduce the value of the live workforce or make several professions irrelevant altogether. This does happen for a limited period at each new stage of development (Nova 4). In the past, this temporary negative effect was offset by the general trend. However, in recent years, the situation has started to change. What is fundamentally new is that machines have begun to creep upon intellectual work. Today, people who have spent years of their lives learning are just as likely to lose their jobs as skilled workers were in the past. Improvements in tools and the adaptation of machines to replace humans in production processes caused an increase in the level of production is recognized as the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Industrial Revolution shaped the required conditions for the mechanization of production, primarily in spinning, weaving, metal, and woodworking. Scientists of that time prompted the transitio
Introduction Global warming is the new AIDS. Every educated and articulate opinion leader accepts the conventional wisdom that the unabated emission of greenhouse gases is slowly choking the earth, preventing heat from dissipating into space. For perspective, the chief “greenhouse gas” is carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), fourth in concentration among the major gases in the atmosphere. At one observatory in Hawaii, CO 2 concentration is already reported to have exceeded 380 parts per million or about 0.04% of total gases. Figure 1. Atmospheric CO2 at Mauna Loa Observatory. In the last century, there have been measurable increases in average temperature (about 0.3 to 0.6 Celsius) and a general rise in sea levels of from 2 to 10 inches (British Broadcasting Co. (BBC) News 1). Perhaps we can blame record-setting summer temperatures, the odd drought and freakish storms on greenhouse gases, perhaps not. What is certain is that growing populations need more electricity, buy fleets of cars, and consume more goods from factories that spew heat or carbon dioxide. Since the advent of the Industrial Revolution, mankind has used the earth as a giant trash bin, trusting that dirt would dissipate to somebody else’s backyard or that the atmosphere could absorb ceaseless plumes of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). By one estimate, global CO2 levels have climbed rapidly since the 1930s. Figure 2: Global atmospheric concentration of CO2. (2000). In UNEP/GRID-Arendal Maps and Graphics Library. As Figure 3 (overleaf) reveals, the best available scientific models predict that global warming will accelerate in this century. Figure 3: Predictions of Global Warming (pre-2001). The above shows predicted climate model and in particular global warming under the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios A2 variant model, with global average temperatures in 2000 as baseline = 0. Far from being an alarmist model, note that predicted values are for the end of the 21st century. Termed the “business as usual” scenario, SRES A2 assumes that the population has reached 15 billion (versus 4 billion today), the world is politically and socially
In the movie Doubt there is a conspicuous power struggle that rages strongly in an elementary Catholic school in Bronx, New York. The power struggle is between Sister Aloysius; the school principal, and father Flynn, the school’s a priest cum games master. The power struggle rests on the fact that Sister Aloysius is a very strict principal who believes in instilling discipline and religious virtues to the students. As the principal, Sister Aloysius is very strict in ensuring that nuns become watchful to note any emergence of unbecoming behavior amongst students. On the other hand, Father Flynn seems liberal; he holds that students need freedom to enjoy secular music to connect with the ever-changing world. The differences in the perception of discipline and management lead to power struggle in the school. Dargis posits, “The winds of political change are sweeping through the community, and indeed, the school has just accepted its first black student, Donald Miller” (Para. 11). Conflict arises when the school accepts Donald Miller; Sister Aloysius accuses Father Flynn for allegedly having sexual relationship with the boy on top of letting him (Miller) to drink wine whilst in school. The discussions surrounding the school matters revolve around the interests of the two conflicting powers. In the church, Father Flynn gives an inspiring sermon about the nature of doubt and its unifying effect; a teaching that Sister Aloysius finds unusual as she later seeks the opinion of other nuns regarding the same. She is afraid that Father Flynn is referring to some indecent behavior she has noted amongst students of late; consequently, orders all nuns to be watchful. Since Father Flynn is critical in his sermons, Sister Aloysius does not want to give him a chance to criticize her. In response to the sermon, Sister Aloysius orders nuns to observe keenly the unique relationship between Father Flynn and Donald Miller; the black student and allegedly Flynn’s ‘lover’. Dargis argues that, “Sister Aloysius sets off on a personal crusade to unearth the truth and to expunge Flynn from the school, now, without a shard of proof besides her moral certainty, locking into a battle of wills with Father Flynn” (Para. 5). This implies that, Sister Aloysius is looking for an excuse or opportunity to expel Father Flynn from the school because he antagonizes his powers. After Sister Aloysius’ instructions to nuns to investigate the relationship between Father Flynn and Donald Miller, Sister James reveals that Father Flynn has close relationship with the boy; actually, he is sexually molesting the boy! Sister James reports that Father Flynn called the boy from class and offered him some wine to drink. Moreover, Sister James allegedly saw Father Flynn place the boy’s shirt into his locker. This information is very substantial for Sister Aloysius to accuse and expel Father Flynn from the school. Hearing the rumors and allegation leveled against him, Father Lynn attacks Sister Aloysius and nuns during a Sunday sermon by preaching on gossip; he says, “stopping gossip is like putting all the feathers back into the pillowcase, which is impo
Mythology is one of the treasures of historic culture and all the historical societies had their mythologies. The mythologies are treasured even today. Greek mythology is one of the most read mythologies nowadays and it is one of the most discussed topics in literature too. The great Roman poet Ovid (43 BC – 17 or 18 CE) wrote The Metamorphoses , which is a narrative poem. The book describes the Creation of the World and continues to the time of Julius Caesar and is considered as a mythic-historical document (Schipper 1-6). In this book there is the story of Daphne. In Greek Mythology, Apollo, the son of Zeus, chased Daphne, who was a nymph. The Greek religious cult the pursuit of a nymph by an Olympian God is a stirring issue and in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, this is given a dramatic turn. In the book the God Eros deliberately shot an arrow at Apollo, Apollo mocked Eros’ archery skills and also he wanted to show Apollo the power of love’s arrows. It caused the God’s infatuation with the nymph. By the power of the arrow, Apollo’s majestic attitude went away and he turned into an elegiac lover. “ Daphne prayed for help from the river God Peneus or Gaia ” (Schipper 2). And she is turned to ‘Laurel’, a tree (Barnard 137). According to legends, her feet transformed to roots, her hair turned to leaves and her arms turned to branches. Her breasts become the thin bark of the tree. But her innocent and shinning beauty remained intact in the case. “ Due to her presence the laurel became very important to Apollo and the winners in the Pythian Games were awarded by crowns from the laurel leaves” (Gregory 19). Another very old culture is the Indian culture and instances of mythology are abundant here too. Like the Greek Classical Literature it also had two epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata. Basically they are the treasure houses of mythological stories, along with the Puranas, the Upanishads, the Vedas, and the Vedanta along with many other specimens found in Indian Mythology. Here in this discussion we deal with the story of Ahalya. “ The story can be found in the great Indian Epic Ramayana ” (Venkataswami 77). One of the most powerful and important Gods in Hindu culture, Brahma created Ahalya. She was the most beautiful woman ever born. “The word ‘Ahalya’ means without any type of deformation” (Venkataswami 78). Brahma decided that the person who would travel the three World “ Earth, Air and Water ” (Venkataswami 81), first, will get to marry her. The king of the Hindu Gods, Indra Dev, also the king of thunder, wanted to marry her along with many other Hindu Gods. He used all his magical powers and at last traveled the three worlds to satisfy the condition of Brahma. When he was ready to marry her, Narada, another Hindu God told Brahma that Gautama, a renowned “Maharishi”, that is a saint, had performed the feat earlier than Indra and so Gautama is the person to marry her (Venkataswami 104). Narada also described that why Gautama is the person to marry he
The concept behind the creation of many of today’s criminal databases ranging from registered sex offenders to individuals with DUI offenses and more serious crimes is to identify patterns of behavior and to prevent a repetition of destructive actions. For example, databases within the U.S. at the present which deal with DUI offenders is meant as a preventative measure to ensure that individuals that repeatedly endanger other people by driving while under the influence of alcohol or an illegal substance are given stricter punishments up till the point that they are either imprisoned, lose their license or both. The reasoning behind this is to keep the roads safe and to prevent crimes related to vehicular manslaughter or the accidental destruction of private or public property. In the case of creating a database for juveniles with prior delinquent acts, a database created specifically for them would act in the same capacity wherein having a local, state and national database would allow the police to determine if a juvenile individual has committed similar acts in the past and if their pattern of behavior has not changed. Through this process, stricter punishments and better methods of observation can be implemented to prevent their behavior from continuing to negatively impact members of the general public (Leiber & Peck, 2015). As such, this paper wholeheartedly agrees with the creation of a juvenile database. Access to such a database should only be for law enforcement and members of the criminal justice system since juveniles should not be considered under the same criminal classification as adults due to the potential for their behavior to significantly change in the future. For example, individuals that have been registered as sex offenders wherein due to their actions (such as paedophilia) they can now be considered as a danger to children and, as such, limiting their capability to be around them is a necessity given the potential ramifications of their continued interaction. Since they are adults and they are more likely to be set in their ways as compared to juveniles, their records are available to the general public. However, with such a record comes a level of social stigma (even pariah status) which juveniles simply do not deserve due to their potential for change. Other databases have been created, each with their specific crimes, that enable local law enforcement and government officials to limit the actions of particular individuals who have been labelled as either social nuisances or real dangers to the general public. A majority of the actions of juveniles are often considered as social nuisances and, as such, should be approached under a stance that is not as harsh. That is why a juvenile database is important to help law enforcement identify what activities a juvenile offender should be dissuaded from doing; however, such information should not be available to the public. This is related to the concepts mentioned earlier surrounding social stigmas and criminal actions wherein individuals whose criminal re
A research on drug abuse is categorized as a social research where the researcher is seeks to explain certain aspects of behaviour. A study of drug use among students at London South Bank University will have various opportunities and challenges as explained below: First opportunity is that secondary data is easily available from previous researches and these can be obtained from bodies such as the office for national statistics, reports of the London drug policy forum. These will give background information about substance abuse, efforts that have been made to curb the vice and the results that have been achieved. As a result the research will be able establish the area to focus on with primary research (City of London, 2010). Challenges that will be encountered include finding respondents; it is not easy to get drug addicts to volunteer to give information as they fear their security. For the same reason those who know some addicts may also be reluctant to provide information. Researching on this topic can be risky because the substance users might feel that you are out to expose them hence they might turn hostile. Furthermore the best way of collecting information from such addicts is by interviews as they may not be in a position to feel questionnaires effectively under the drug influence. Observation also might not provide adequate information (Bernard, 2000). Effects of the dynamics From the above information it is evident that much of the information that is lacking and is hard to obtain in this type of research, is the views of drug abusers themselves. Particularly because they cannot be reached easily and being that interviewing which requires them to be personally present is the most effective method. It also comes out that qualitative data will be much helpful in this research as it will explain why the students involve themselves in the practice and after analysis find out new measures that can be put in place to help addicts (Bless, Higson-Smith and Kagee, 2006). Implications of integrity and the role of the researcher As far as integrity is concerned, the researcher is supposed to demonstrate maturity and self-discipline. Particularly because the researcher will be faced by instances of traumatic revelations, unbearable boredom and also rejection by the respondents. As a result the researcher needs to maintain professional demeanour. Therefore no matter how much the interviewer feels the urge to help, he must exercise restraint (Padgett, 1998). The researcher has a role of establishing trust between him and the respondent especially the drug addicts. This is important because the respondents will only be willing to give true information if they are sure that by doing that they will not be putting themselves to risk. This can be done by choosing an environment that is secretive and also ensuring the respondents remain anonymous. The resea