text:
Part 2

Unit RF-54 Directive : find and locate possible surviving humanoid lifeforms and or possible existing plant matter .

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Log Date May 12th 2152: After further analysis of my mission i have made an "independent " decision and determined to stop recording my registered distance traveled per day . My Mission is to identify,document, and report on humanoid lifeforms and possible existing plant matter. And considering the wide expanse of distance that is yet left to be traversed in my travels . It seems pointless to document how much small progress is made periodically . It seems more fitting to report on the more substantial accomplishments . Which is why i have picked up with these log dates 5 days after my last series of transmitted logs.

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As previously recorded my "javelina friends" have become much more comfortable around me . They are now consistently follow me and now trail behind me at all times at a safe 200 feet away from my position . I do not understand they're reasoning for doing so . I am mechanical and have no organic matter for them to digest , so there would be no logical reason for them to do so ... right?

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I've been giving it some thought \[Evaluation Required = "Thought"\] and , i think the  javelinas are lost . The wasteland i have been searching is completely barren . My scanners have been active non stop for the past week and i have not detected 1 bit of organic matter apart from the javelinas since i left the town. I appear to have become a Beacon of sorts to the creatures. with no idea of where to go they've attached themselves to me in an act of desperation . I hope i do not let them down ,  i too wish to find life somewhere on this rock . i do not at the moment have any other programmed function besides finding life . As strange as this might sound ... i am unsure of what exactly i am suppoused too do once i have located said life .My memory banks appear to have become damaged , and that part of my programming has been lost . still though i will press on . Perhaps one day it will become clear to me again . Or more likely ill spend the rest of eternity scouring this god forsaken rock . \[End Of Mission Log\]

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Log Date May 13th 2152: I witnessed an incredible weather phenomenon . A tornado , the likes of which my data banks have no recorded evidence for such an occurrence to ever have happened . My scanners indicated that south of my location a slight increase in humidity was detected . Desperate to leave this god forsaken desert i headed that way (my friends close behind) and about 3 hours into my detour i saw it . A mass of what appeared to be 3 f5 tornadoes clustered together. At the center of the cluster , what could only be described as a large mass . Scanner readings on the shape of the mass indicate that of a serpentine lifeforms . However this determination might be faulty . As no registered accounts of a 9 headed 1200 foot serpent appear to be in my data banks . In the same way that a hurricane is known to have a calm center or "eye " this cluster of twisters too did have an eye , i believe this too be where the creature resided. As i stopped my journey and gazed upon the creature so too did my friends . I sat down and gazed upon the creature , and for the first time my pig friends sat next to me . They were within arms length from me but , i decided not too reach out and try to touch them . We just sat there side by side in silence for a while , gazing upon the creature until it departed to the east and was out of view. As it left our field of view i could've sworn for a second that the creature turned to look at me one last time . All 18 eyes glowing crimson red . \[New Data Bank Entry = "Fear"\]  \[End Of Mission Log\]

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Log Date May 15th 2152 : Minor findings worthy of reporting . I found an old plant . Dried up to the bone , dead , and completely withered away ; But a sign that i was heading in the right direction nonetheless . There was a colony of blue ants leeching themselves onto the plant . There mandibles dug into the plant . Were they feeding off it ? If that were the case then these creatures must be desperate . Also something of interest i noticed was that the javelinas noticed these insects and yet ... did not make an attempt to try to eat them  .  In fact the moment they noticed the creatures they picked up the pace and ran away from them . Further analysis on this behavior should be conducted at a later date . \[End Of Mission Log\]

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Log Date May 17th 2152 : The closer south that i head the higher my humidity sensors read . Today i picked up a whopping .42% humidity . I was definitely getting closer to any possibility of life appearing . I have lost one of my javelina friends . As the journey has progressed  and they have presumably been without food or water for a considerable time ... i awoke this morning too the larger of the two violently killing and eating its smaller counterpart . cant say i blame the creature , I've no way of knowing the pain hunger might bring to one ... or "pain" for that matter ; but if it drives one to eat one of its own kind in the manner i witnessed today i can only imagine the severity of it . We are down too two now . just me and one of the creatures. i have given my previous data bank "fear" entry some thought and upon further meditation on the subject . I believe that i am beginning to understand the feeling of fear . Now that the only other source of meat is gone ... i fear what this creature might try to do to me when it gets hungry again ...

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\[End Of Transmission\]

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title: [SF] "Tales From The Wasteland "

question: Describe the narrator's mission they mention in the story.

answer: The narrator's mission is to find and locate possible surviving humanoid lifeforms and or possible existing plant matter. They use scanners but have not detected any organic matter apart from the javelinas in the beginning. Later, they find an old, dry plant and a colony of blue ants. The narrator notices that humidity increases and realizes that they are getting closer to any possibility of life appearing. There is no food and they are worried that the only javelina that is still alive might eat them.

question: What does the story say about how the mission ended?


split: test

text:
The Government will on Tuesday agree to introduce legislation to allow same-sex couples register both their names on their baby’s birth certificate.

As indicated by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the weekend, Minister for Health Simon Harris will seek approval to draft a Bill to address an anomaly which currently exists in law.

The Bill will allow for the retrospective registration of same-sex couples on a child’s birth certificate and passport.

The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 was designed to provide same-sex couples with parental rights.

Parts 2 and 3 allow for parentage through donor-assisted human reproduction. However, these clauses have not been enacted and have resulted in some rights exclusively being afforded to the birth mother.

  I assure all members that the Government shares their sense of urgency and wants to resolve the matter

In effect, they have resulted in an inability to have same-sex couples registered as the legal parent.

Mr Harris will seek approval to address this issue and have it passed by the summer recess.

Speaking last week, the Minister said: “I assure all members that the Government shares their sense of urgency and wants to resolve the matter. The Deputies are entirely correct.

“I intend to go to Cabinet very shortly with a view to bringing about a legislative solution that I hope we can work with on a cross-party basis to try to pass it by the summer recess.”

The move to be agreed by Cabinet comes after the State issued an apology to men criminalised for being gay and at the commencement of Pride week.

Former president Mary McAleese will participate in this weekend’s parade alongside her son, Fianna Fáil representative Justin McAleese. Minister for Children Katherine Zappone will also accompany Ms McAleese under the BeLongTo banner.

Pay gap

Meanwhile, the Government will also consider legislation to oblige companies to detail the difference in pay for male and female employees.

The proposals would require firms in both the public and private sectors to detail any discrepancies in hourly pay, bonuses and the pay of part-time workers in an annual report.

Those that do not comply with the legislation will be sanctioned and could potentially be subject to significant fines or Circuit Court compliance orders.

The legislation will also include provision for personnel from the Workplace Relations Commission to conduct on-site inspections to ensure compliance or gather information.

The figures from 2014 are based on gross hourly earnings, and compare with a 12 per cent difference between men and women’s pay in 2012.

_Is it time to make
your next career move?_

question: Which country does the article refer to?

question: Who is Mr. Harris?

answer: The Minister of Health

question: What happened at the beginning of Pride week?

answer: the State apologized for the criminalization of gay men.

question: How does the Government intend to close the pay gap?

answer: Sanction and fine companies that have discrepancies in hourly pay by gender.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The Government is considering legislation to allow same-sex couples to both be registered on a baby's birth certificate, and to oblige companies to fix the pay gap between males and females.


text:
	I didn’t snap. It was much more gradual than that. It was like slipping off the edge of a cliff, fingers scraping the top, until in one moment that seemed like an echo of something that never existed I was falling. When I went to bed last night, I was still hanging on; when I woke up, I was crashing. I don’t know what came undone while I slept. It had been three weeks, two days, and thirteen hours, I’d guess, since I went over the edge—nothing special.  But that was the day I knew I’d never see the top of the cliff again.

	That morning I didn’t know it had happened. I felt the same, that sort of feeling that I was a rusty machine and when I walked I could feel every screw and bolt and joint twisting slowly, grating in place because the whole thing was wound up too tight. I was so used to it by then. I wasn’t even surprised when I could walk through the ghost.

	Her name was Dr. Aimee Joyce, and I have seen her every day for three months.

	Three weeks and two days ago, my alarm clock went off at 5:30 a.m. and I woke up to a glimmer of light slowly burning along the edges of the room like a fuse. I blinked, trying to bring it into focus, and I felt the bed shift.

	“Good morning.” A hand rolled me onto my back, and Aimee kissed me on the cheek.

 	I moaned something unintelligible. She chuckled, patted my shoulder and stood up, the springs squeaking. I heard the patter of her footsteps and squeezed my eyes shut, but the burning yellow light still seeped in.

	“Is there any chance we could come up with a gentler wakeup call?” I rolled out of bed, rubbing my eyes.

	“The alarm clock and a kiss have yet to be effective, so this is the only option left.”

	Lights turned on in the bathroom, and I fumbled through my drawers, squinting. A whisper of water signaled the shower starting.

	“And you’d be late if I didn’t get you up.”

	“That’s true.” I buttoned my shirt. “But it’s kinda . . . disorienting.”

	“That’s alright,” she called. “You’re sort of cute when you’re blinking and confused.”

	I rolled my eyes. Pulling my pants on, I shuffled into the kitchen, started the coffee, and opened the fridge. While I waited for the coffee, I took out some yogurt and poured a little granola in it and grabbed a plastic spoon to mix it up. Then I looked at my reflection in the fridge and fixed my hair a bit—close enough.

I’ve never been much for putting an effort into anything I don’t care about, like neat hair. Aimee tells me I’m a bit of a cowboy: I only follow my own rules. Aimee, on the other hand, sticks to the rules. Everything is as orderly at home as it is at the hospital. She has the light touch of a surgeon and a voice full of light to match. She makes mornings bearable.

I heard the whoosh of the blow-dryer. When the coffee was ready, I poured it into two to-go cups with two creams in hers and one sugar in mine. Just as I finished, Aimee walked out with her strawberry blonde hair twisted into a damp bun. I handed her the coffee and the parfait.

	“Thanks,” she murmured, taking a swig. “What are you going to eat?”

	I shrugged. “I’ll get a breakfast burrito on the way into work.”

	“You know that, as a doctor, I’m obliged to tell you that isn’t healthy, right?”

	I grinned, taking a sip. “I know.”

	She shook her head, a small smile creeping across her face. “I can’t always take care of you. You need to learn to live on your own.”

	While she was eating, I brushed my teeth and took my gun from the lockbox and holstered it.

	“You ready to go?” I walked in and grabbed the keys off the counter. She nodded and took her own. I was turning the front door
knob when she her fingers curled over my shoulder.

	“Be careful, Dave.”

	“I will.”

	“I love you.”

	“Love you too.” And I kissed her, and we went out the door. That was the last time we spoke.

	Every morning after I saw her the way I used to: smiling and talking and kissing me good morning and goodbye, and when I walked out the door I realized I saw her in the dark because there was no one to open the blinds and I realized there was nothing except cold and hollow space. I was alone.

	I never hear her because the last time I saw her—really saw her, not just something my mind conjured up—there was a glass wall between us, and I guess my mind has always kept that there.

	Three weeks and two days ago, my partner, Ramsey, and I were filling out paperwork for a case we’d just wrapped up with the news running in the background when something caught my ear: Crown Hill Hospital, where Aimee worked. I dropped my pen.

	“Ramsey, turn up the volume.”

	He raised an eyebrow and obliged.

	“…on the fourth floor. Police estimate there are almost sixty hostages.”

	Aimee’s floor. I jumped up, and Ramsey jumped after me.

	“Dave, wait.” He grabbed my arm. I wrenched away. My vision tunneled as I stormed across the room. “We have to let local LEOs handle this.” I pounded down the stairs. “You know they get pissed when feds—.”

	“I DON’T GIVE A SHIT.” I whipped around, vision blurry, knuckles white, air buzzing.

	Ramsey looked at me calmly and held out his hand. “Give me your keys.”

	It took ten minutes. The whole ride, it felt like my bones were slowly turning to lead. We stopped in a parking lot full of cop cars and sirens. Red and blue lights flashed on dull concrete and a dripping gray sky. The glass walls of the hospital rose tall and turquoise from the ground. When I looked at the building, every room behind the glass was empty except one on the fourth floor packed with cowering people and three masked men with automatic weapons.

	“We should—,” Ramsey began. I turned my head sharply and turned off his voice.

	I ran toward the chief of police. He turned around as I came sprinting up, bushy eyebrows furrowed.

	“Is there a Dr. Aimee Joyce in there?” I panted.

	“Who are you?” His voice was rough like sandpaper.

	“FBI Agent David Bretton. Is there a Dr. Aimee Joyce in there?”

	Ramsey came up and put his hand on my shoulder.

	“And who are you?”

	“His partner. Can you tell us anything about the people up there?”

	“This isn’t your case.” The chief began to turn back around.

	I lunged. Ramsey caught me. “Tell me if she’s there!”

	He looked at me, scrutinized, narrowed eyes. Ramsey loosened his grip when I stopped struggling. He sighed. “She’s there.”

	Static. There was that weird buzzing all over like we were on TV and the satellite signal had been lost. I looked up at the glass and tried to make words but they wouldn’t come.

	“Dave?” Ramsey said. The corners of my eyes pixelated into black and white: static.

	I looked back at the chief. “Are you getting them out?” sounded like muffled thunder.

	“We’re trying to negotiate.”

	“Chief, they’re saying they’re going to prove they’re serious.” A person appeared next to us. “We need you over here now.”

	He walked away. I looked up. People were crouched down, barely distinguishable as they melded into a mass of fear and flesh. The men, all in black, stalked through them. I couldn’t find her.

	“Dave, can you hear me?”

	I couldn’t find her. I had to find her. Everyone had their faces buried behind their knees. I couldn’t find her. Where was she? The green-blue tinted glass distorted everything. I couldn’t

	“We need to go.”

	find her. I just had to

	“You shouldn’t be”

	find her and

	“here. You can’t help. We need”

	get her out. If I could see her maybe I could help her, tell her

	“to go. Let’s get in the car. Come on, let’s”

	how to escape. She wasn’t there, she wasn’t there, I couldn’t

	“get in the car. Dave, can you”

	find her, I needed to find her, I needed her

	“hear me? are you listening? Dave, look”

	with me. I needed to hold her

	“at me. Look away from”

	hand and tell her everything was going to be okay because

	“the building. Look at me. You’ve got to look away.”

	right now it was going to hell and I just needed to find her. But I couldn’t.

	One of the men bent over, and every sound died. He slung the automatic behind him, grabbed someone and yanked them up by the hair: strawberry blonde. Aimee. Her hands were clawing at his on her neck as he pushed her toward the glass. She was fighting, but he was winning. Slowly, steadily, he pushed her closer to the glass walls that twisted the light around them. She kicked at the ground, scratched at his arms, but he never flinched. He threw her at the glass, and she bounced into it, elbows smashing against it, where I could see her face.

	She was crying. Her face was distorted, and the fight was shaking through her body. She turned and ran and he pulled a handgun and shot her straight through the head. Scarlet slung across the glass shattered like a spider web and I saw her body slam into the ground between the cracks.

	I don’t remember anything after that.

	Later, they told me there was nothing I could have done or could do. That it was random. That the men wanted to prove they would kill. That Aimee was the only one they killed. That I couldn’t have her body because it was part of an ongoing investigation. That they couldn’t tell me what the men wanted because it was part of an ongoing investigation. Because after they killed Aimee they got away.

	I didn’t snap. I walked through the ghost and realized that I would never be able to find her behind that glass, that it was always going to be cold and hollow. So I grabbed my bag, grabbed my gun, grabbed my keys, and I got on the highway, driving west until the dawn seemed to retreat before lost nights rumbling toward me. I drove to find the men who killed Aimee.

title: Extraordinary Measures

question: What does the text say about why there is hostility between cops and feds?

question: What does the text say about the hostage-takers?

answer: Three masked men with automatic weapons are holding sixty hostages on the fourth floor of Crown Hill Hospital. The police try to negotiate, but the armed men kill a random person, who happens to be Dr. Aimee Joyce, to prove they are serious. After that, they escape. Their motive is not revealed by the police as an investigation is still ongoing.

question: What does the text say about how Dave knew about the hostage-taking?

answer: Dave is an FBI agent. While he and his partner, Ramsey, are filling out paperwork for a case, he hears from the news about a hostage-taking happening at Crown Hill Hospital.

question: What does the text say about Dave's next course of action after Aimee's death?

answer: After the armed men killed Aimee and got away, Dave is determined to find them and bring justice to Aimee's death.


text:
10pm

The polls closed with the shock prediction that Theresa May was on course to lose her overall majority in a hung parliament.

2am

The handful of polls that favour Labour’s chances suggest the party could take back Hastings and Rye, the Sussex coastal seat, from the home secretary, Amber Rudd. That would be a major scalp. It would also be a coup for the party to regain middle England marginals such as Telford in Shropshire from the Tories: Corbyn did a well-attended rally here in recent days. Thurrock will also be fascinating as it was a three-way marginal between the Tory incumbent and Ukip and Labour challengers. If Ukip collapses, which way will its former voters swing?

[Nigel Farage campaigning in Thurrock last week.]

Nigel Farage campaigning in Thurrock last week. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

2.30am

Corbyn’s Islington North will declare. This will certainly stay Labour but will be worth watching for his victory speech – whether he is sounding triumphant or working out how to pitch defeat.

3am-4am

A swath of Scottish seats will be announcing their results, which should give a hint about whether the Conservatives and Labour are seeing any kind of revival against the dominance of the SNP, which won 56 out of 59 seats last time. The Tories would love to remove Angus Robertson, the SNP Westminster leader, in Moray, as well as targeting areas of Edinburgh and South Aberdeen. Labour would like to claw back East Renfrewshire, East Lothian, and Edinburgh North and Leith among others.

[Jeremy Corbyn campaigning in Glasgow.]

Jeremy Corbyn campaigning in Glasgow. Photograph: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian

3.30am

Watch out for the result of strongly pro-EU Vauxhall, where there has been a concerted Lib Dem effort to unseat the Brexit-supporting Labour MP Kate Hoey, who memorably shared a photoshoot on a flotilla with Nigel Farage. It is a long shot but Tim Farron’s party has been going after torn former remain voters hard. Not long after, expect a battle over Bermondsey and Old Southwark, where Sir Simon Hughes, a former Lib Dem minister, is trying to get his old seat back from Labour’s Neil Coyle.

[Kate Hoey and Nigel Farage on the leave flotilla last year.]

Kate Hoey and Nigel Farage on the leave flotilla last year. Photograph: Ben Stansall/AFP/Getty Images

4am

Curtice will pop up on the BBC to give his considered view on whether his exit poll was on the money and further observations about how the night has unfolded so far. This is likely to be one of the better places to find a considered view on how the parties are doing – although better still will be the Guardian’s unmissable live blog and stories through the night.

4am

The Liberal Democrats are not expected to have the revival they hoped for but they are targeting three remain-voting seats held by Conservatives – Twickenham, where the former business secretary Vince Cable is running, Bath and Cheltenham. They are also after the SNP’s East Dunbartonshire, fought by former minister Jo Swinson. But Lib Dems are at risk in several more seats, including Tom Brake in Carshalton and Wallington, Norman Lamb in North Norfolk and even possibly Farron in Westmorland and Lonsdale.

[Vince Cable and Tim Farron campaigning in Twickenham.]

Vince Cable and Tim Farron campaigning in Twickenham. Photograph: Niklas Halle'N/AFP/Getty Images

4am-5am

This is the most exciting time of the night, as a deluge of results from key swing seats across the country come through. Labour will be hoping to gain seats such as Gower and Vale of Clwyd in Wales, where it has been performing better in recent weeks, Croydon Central and Hendon in London, the Plymouth seats, and Lincoln.

The Conservatives have been throwing a multitude of resources at Nottinghamshire seats such as Gedling, and across the West Midlands in Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley and parts of Birmingham, Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent. Watch Cumbria as well to see if the new Tory MP Trudy Harris can repeat her byelection victory over Labour in Copeland, and whether the anti-Corbyn Labour MP John Woodcock can save his seat in Barrow-in-Furness.

4.30am

Frustrated NHS staff might want to tune in at this point to see whether Jeremy Hunt, the Conservative health secretary, has been defeated by an independent candidate backed by some local Labour members, Greens and Liberal Democrats in South West Surrey. It would be a huge – though unlikely – coup.

[Dr Louise Irvine of the National Health Action party in Haslemere, part of Jeremy Hunt’s South West Surrey constituency.]

Dr Louise Irvine of the National Health Action party in Haslemere, part of Jeremy Hunt’s South West Surrey constituency. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

5am

The Greens will want to hang on to their only MP, Caroline Lucas, in the leftwing seat of Brighton Pavilion against Labour and potentially even add to their numbers in Bristol West, although this is a long shot.

5am

We should know by now whether May has pulled off her aim of eating into Labour’s northern heartlands. Two ultra marginals, Halifax in Yorkshire and Chester in Cheshire, could easily swing to the Tories at this time but Corbyn will be having an excellent night if he manages to keep them.

5.30am

Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, is contesting Boston and Skegness, a heavily leave-voting area that has been represented by a former remain Tory, Matt Warman. His chances are slim though, and there will be questions over his leadership if he fails and Ukip’s vote collapses across the country overall.

[A Ukip sign in Boston, Lincolnshire.]

A Ukip sign in Boston, Lincolnshire. Photograph: Jack Taylor/Getty Images

6am

May’s seat of Maidenhead in Berkshire will declare, and she will give a speech at the count. It should be pretty clear where the result has headed by this point.

6am

A few more interesting marginals will be trickling in at this time. Labour will be very keen to win back Derby North, contested by Corbyn’s ally Chris Williamson. Also look out for Brighton Kemptown, a Tory seat, and Brentford and Isleworth, a Labour marginal, where the Green candidates have stood aside to help boost Corbyn’s party. They are key tests of the effectiveness of the progressive alliance theory.

7am

South Thanet will be extremely interesting because its Tory incumbent candidate, Craig Mackinlay, has been charged with electoral offences relating to the 2015 contest when he saw off Nigel Farage. Will the people of Ramsgate and Broadstairs give him the boot – and Ukip or Labour a chance instead?

[A woman holds a sign at an anti-Ukip demonstration in Ramsgate.]

A woman holds a sign at an anti-Ukip demonstration in Ramsgate. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

7am

There could still be dozens of seats left to declare but, by breakfast time, it should be obvious who has won the night or if there will be a hung parliament. Dimbleby will retire for some sleep, while the campaign advisers will be hurriedly organising victory or concession speeches.

If the Conservatives are ahead at this stage, the key question for May will be by how much. When she called the election her party had 330 seats to Labour’s 229, and her working majority was 17. A majority of less than this would represent a serious setback, and a figure of 30 or less would prompt questions about her leadership. She will be satisfied with a majority of more than 50, pleased at 70 and delighted with 80 to 100, a figure implied by ICM and some of the pollsters.

Guardian/ICM poll
[Theresa May at Smithfield Market in the City of London on the final day of campaigning.]

Theresa May at Smithfield Market in the City of London on the final day of campaigning. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Meanwhile, if defeated, expect the Labour leader’s team to compare his share of the vote with Miliband’s 30.4% in 2015 as a sign of a successful campaign and an argument that he should stay on as leader. Anti-Corbyn forces in Labour will begin to argue that any failure to win a majority should result in his resignation.

Labour support since 1979
But if the Conservatives lose their majority, strategists will be quickly trying to work out whether May can govern with the help of the DUP in Northern Ireland. If the arithmetic allows, Corbyn could try to form a minority government supported on a vote-by-vote basis by the SNP, Lib Dems and an array of small parties. In that case, there would be huge pressure on May from within her own party to resign – with Rudd and Boris Johnson two potential successors.

And if Corbyn wins outright, Labour will be jubilant and a lot of people will have to eat a lot of humble pie about his electability. No poll, though, has shown Labour to be ahead.

Midday

Only a handful of seats are not being counted overnight. The last official results will be in from Berwick, Blyth Valley and Wansbeck. It should be clear who the prime minister will be unless there is a complex coalition situation. Whoever has won will head off to the Queen to tell her that she or he is in a position to form a government.

[The Queen]

Waiting for a visit. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

question: What updates are given between 3 AM to 4 AM?

answer:
The Scottish seats would announce their results, which would give a hint of whether the Conservatives and Labour will see any kind of revival against the SNP. The Tories would like to remove Angus Robertson in Moray, while Labour would like to get back East Renfrewshire, East Lothian, and Edinburgh North and Leith.
Lib Dem has made a considerable effort to unseat the Brexit-supporting Labour MP Kate Hoey. In Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Sir Simon Hughes is trying to get his old seat back from Neil Coyle of Labour.

question: What is the status of the seats at 5 AM?

answer: The Greens should hang on to their only MP, Caroline Lucas, in their leftwing seat in Brighton Pavilion against Labour. They should also add to their numbers in Bristol West. By this time, there should be an idea of whether May has pulled off getting into Labour's northern heartland.

question: What is the end result of the poll?

question: Why are a few seats not counted overnight?

question: What is the situation like during midday?

answer: The official results from Berwick, Blyth Valley, and Wansbeck would come in. After this, it would be clear who the prime minister will be unless there is a coalition situation. Once known, whoever has won will head off to see the Queen and tell her that they are in a position to form a government.


text:
KEAH BROWN (born September 19, 1991)[1] is a disability rights activist, author, journalist, and writer. She is also known as the creator of the hashtag #DISABLEDANDCUTE, which first went viral in February 2017 and caught the attention of such celebrities as Sophia Bush and Brie Larson.[2] Brown has been featured on _3rd Hour of Today_ to discuss her first published book, _The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love, with Me._

Publicity

#DisabledAndCute (Campaign)

Brown “was already an accomplished freelance journalist and writer”[3] when, on February 12, 2017,[4][5] she created the hashtag #DisabledAndCute in a Twitter post that included “cute” photos of herself, a disabled black woman. Brown then invited members of disabled and non-binary communities to do the same in an act of self-love against the notion that being disabled and being cute (i.e. attractive) are mutually exclusive. #DisabledAndCute went viral within days, catching the attention of celebrities such as Sophia Bush and Brie Larson.[6] With steadily rising popularity as a result, Brown went on to acquire an agent[7] and book deal,[8][9] which lead to the publishing in August 2019 of her first book, _The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love, with Me_.[10]

_The Pretty One_ (Book)

Brown's first book, _The Pretty One: On Life, Pop Culture, Disability, and Other Reasons to Fall in Love, with Me,_ published by Atria Publishing Group, is a collection of personal essays/stories in which she relates to popular culture, beauty and body image, romantic love, and physical pain as a black woman with both cerebral palsy[11] (a physical disability) and invisible disabilities.[12] Brown also writes about her relationship with her non-disabled identical twin.[13][14]

Media Appearances

Brown was featured on _3rd Hour of Today_ on November 7, 2019, when she was interviewed by Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer. Earlier in 2019, the _New York Times_ also named Brown as having been chosen by Brie Larson, the lead role in _Captain Marvel (film)_ (2019), to profile Larson for the international magazine, _Marie Claire_. Handpicking Brown was part of Larsen’s “[vow] to seek out more underrepresented journalists.”[15] Back in September of 216, _Amy Poehler's Smart Girls_ profiled Brown in the article titled “Meet Smart Girl Keah Brown: Brilliant writer and disability activist.”

Literary Work

Brown's work has appeared in a number of literary magazines, such as _Wildness,_ an online bimonthly that _Poets & Writers Magazine_ has called one of “Nine New Lit Mags You Need to Read.” _Poets & Writers_ reviews _Wildness_: “Launched in December 2015, _Wildness_ features formally inventive work by both established and emerging writers that embraces the mysteries of the self and the outside world. Issue Five, Tranquility, features new poetry from Cynthia Arrieu-King and Christopher Citro, fiction from Renee Bibby and Wyl Villacres, an essay by KEAH BROWN, and more.”

Brown's writings have covered a range of genres and subjects, from fiction and nonfiction, blogging, interviews, and essays to pieces pertaining to movies and TV, beauty and fashion, sports, and other popular culture, as well as to body positivity and her relationship to body image as a black woman having grown up with cerebral palsy. She has written for Cosmopolitan (magazine), Teen Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Refinery29, and Bustle (magazine), among others, as well as online women’s organizations and under-represented communities’ media outlets, such as Essence (magazine), _Disability Visibility Project_, _DIVERSEability_, Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, _Bitch Magazine_, _The Establishment_, and _Gay Mag_ (a partnership between Roxane Gay and _Medium_).[16]

Brown contributed an essay for the literary magazine _Catapult_ called “Love, Disability, and Movies,” on how “my black disabled body is not the body reflected on screen,”[17] in the romantic comedies and dramas to which she relates.

The rights to Brown's picture book debut, _Sam's Super Seats_, have been acquired by Sydnee Monday at Kokila.[18] The story, about loving yourself, laughter, and the importance of rest, follows a girl with cerebral palsy who goes back-to-school shopping with her best friends. Sharee Miller (author and illustrator of _Don't Touch My Hair!_) will be illustrating the book, which is scheduled to be published in the fall of 2020.

Activism

As a disabled black woman and activist, Brown has been known as a critic of the entertainment industry. In June 2016, Brown wrote the article, “Season Four of ‘Orange Is the New Black’ Has a Race Problem,” which would be cited later in the peer-reviewed _Canadian Review of American Studies,_ in 2017.[19]

In September 2016, _Amy Poehler's Smart Girls_ did an interview with Brown that reflected some of Brown's other writings when she said she wanted “to see more women of color with disabilities, specifically black women” acting in lead roles on film and TV.[20]

In February 2017, Brown started the viral campaign, #DisabledAndCute (see above).

In 2018, following the death of Stephen Hawking, Brown was one of multiple activists who “took to social media to protest the portrayal of Hawking in death as 'freeing,' and a meme of him standing, having walked away from his wheelchair, looking up at the stars.” Brown had stated that that kind of representation signified “to other disabled people that we should be excited for the opportunity to be 'free' of our bodies, but it also reduces Stephen Hawking, one of the greatest intellectuals ever, to his disability and nothing more.”

Brown also questioned in 2018 the entertainment industry’s use of remakes, tweeting: “Instead of rebooting shows, why not try letting black and brown people share our ideas for brand new shows where we exist?”[21]

_Bitch Magazine_ has described Brown as “on a mission to change how disabled people are perceived in pop culture, in fashion, and in our everyday lives.”[22]

Notes

[1] Brown, K. (2019). _The Pretty One_, p. 65.

[2]

[3]  Keah Brown is trying to change how disabled people are viewed. Listen to her.|last=Yap|first=Diana Michele|website=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2020-03-31}}

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8] Dickey, S. (2019). _Library Journal_, para. 1.

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]  Prepub Alert|last=Hoffert|first=Barbara|website=Library Journal|access-date=2020-03-31}}

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[17]  Keah Brown|date=2016-04-27|website=Catapult|language=en|access-date=2020-03-31}}

[18]

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[20]

[21]

[22] [Review of The pretty one: On life, pop culture, disability, and other reasons to fall in love with me]. (2019). _Bitch magazine: Feminist response to pop culture_, (83), 73. Retrieved from

title: Keah Brown

question: Summarize all the information relating to Keah Brown's literary work.

answer:
Brown's work has appeared in a number of magazines such as Wildness, Catapult, Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, Refinery29, and Bustle as well as online women’s organizations and under-represented communities’ media outlets, such as Essence, Disability Visibility Project, DIVERSEability, Amy Poehler's Smart Girls, Bitch Magazine, The Establishment, and Gay Mag.
Brown's writings have covered a range of genres and subjects, from fiction and nonfiction, blogging, interviews, and essays to pieces pertaining to movies and TV, beauty and fashion, sports, and other popular culture, as well as to body positivity and her relationship to body image as a black woman having grown up with cerebral palsy.
The rights to Brown's picture book debut, Sam's Super Seats, have been acquired by Sydnee Monday at Kokila. Sharee Miller (author and illustrator of Don't Touch My Hair!) will be illustrating the book, which is scheduled to be published in the fall of 2020.

question: Summarize all the information relating to Keah Brown's media appearances.

answer: Brown was featured on 3rd Hour of Today on November 7, 2019. There she was interviewed by Sheinelle Jones and Dylan Dreyer.

question: In what field does Keah Brown work?

answer: She is a disability rights activist, author, journalist and writer.

question: What is the relationship between Keah Brown and Brie Larson?

answer: Keah Brown got the attention of Brie Larson after her hashtag #DisabledAnd Cute went viral. Brie Larson chose Keah Brown to profile Larson for Marie Claire. Handpicking Brown was part of Larson's drive to seek out underrepresented journalists.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Keah Brown is a disability rights activist, author, journalist and writer. She created the hashtag #DisabledAndCute to raise awareness of black, disabled women in pop culture.


text:
NIEDERKIRCHEN is an _Ortsgemeinde_ – a municipality belonging to a _Verbandsgemeinde_, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Its population is roughly 2,400.

Geography

Location

Niederkirchen lies 2 km east of Deidesheim. The municipality belongs to the _Verbandsgemeinde_ of Deidesheim, whose seat is in the like-named town.

History

In 699, Niederkirchen had its first documentary mention as _Didinnes-chaime_ in a document from the Weißenburg Monastery in what is now Wissembourg in Alsace, France. The first documentary proof of winegrowing in the vicinity stems from a document from Fulda Abbey, dated to 770. With the building of the Romanesque church with its striking tower, begun in 1060 and still standing today, Niederkirchen acquired its landmark. In the course of the 11th century, the village passed into the ownership of the Prince-Bishops of Speyer. It is believed that in the 13th century, the current Deidesheim split away from the municipality, whereafter the municipality's name changed first to _Unterdeidesheim_ and then _Niederdeidesheim_ (both meaning “Lower Deidesheim”), later settling on Niederkirchen. Its location in the heart of Europe time and again brought Niederkirchen misfortune in wars. Thus it was in the Thirty Years' War, as a result of which the village almost died out. With the annexation of the lands on the Rhine’s left bank by French militia in 1794, Niederkirchen became part of the French Republic, and in 1798 it was assigned to the Department of Mont-Tonnerre (or Donnersberg in German). From 1815 to 1935 the municipality belonged to Bavaria and was then part of the Gau of Saarpfalz in National Socialist times. As of 1940, this became the Gau Westmark, which included parts of Alsace-Lorraine. Since 1946, Niederkirchen has been part of the then newly formed state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Religion

In 2007, 70% of the inhabitants were Catholic and 17.1% Evangelical. The rest belonged to other faiths or adhered to none.[1]

Politics

Municipal council

The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:

  Party   Results in %[2]   No. of seats
  ------- ----------------- --------------
  CDU     59,3 (+2,6)       10 (+1)
  FWG     33,2 (-10,1)      5 (-2)
  SPD     7,6 (+7,6)        1 (+1)

Mayors

The Mayor of Niederkirchen is Josef Seckinger (CDU), who at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009 beat his challenger from the FWG, Hans Stähly, in a direct vote, winning 68.4% of the total. Seckinger succeeded Helmut Kähs (CDU).

Coat of arms

The German blazon reads: _In Rot ein schwebendes angetatztes goldenes Kreuz, oben links und unten rechts bewinkelt von je einem sechsstrahligen silbernen Stern._

The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Gules a cross pattée humetty Or between two mullets argent, one each in sinister chief and dexter base.

The arms were approved in 1927 by the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior and go back to the arms borne by Deidesheim, from which Niederkirchen originally split. To distinguish the two coats, the tinctures and the arrangement of the mullets (star shapes) were altered.[3]

An earlier seal showed two crossed swords and a star. Yet another coat of arms, used by Niederkirchen in the 19th century, was the same as the one still used today except that the cross was azure (blue) instead of Or (gold). Upon the official granting of the arms on 27 December 1927, the cross's tincture was changed because it was “not heraldically correct” .[4]

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

[St. Martin's Parish Church] The Catholic Saint Martin's Parish Church (_Pfarrkirche St. Martin_) is one of the Palatinate’s oldest Christian building monuments. The church had its first documentary mention in 1235. Building features, however, lead to the conclusion that its striking Romanesque crossing tower has its beginnings in the latter half of the 11th century. The church’s quire is believed to have come from the time about 1300, while the nave was built onto the church in 1955 and 1956. The crossing tower originally also fulfilled the function of a sanctuary, making it a sanctuary tower, a widely found building type in mediaeval country churches.

As one of the few preserved 11th-century churches in the Palatinate and because of its immediate proximity to the stylistically similar Limburg Monastery church near Bad Dürkheim and to Speyer Cathedral, the Niederkirchen parish church is of special importance to art history.

Sport

Surely the greatest success for a team from the Province was scored by the women’s football team from TuS Niederkirchen, the local gymnastic and sport club, when they won the German championship in 1993.

Regular events

On the last weekend in June, the _Fest um den Wein_ (“Festival About Wine”) is held in Niederkirchen which, as the name suggests, is a wine festival. At this time, local winemaking businesses run temporary wine bars round the village square.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

-   Susanne Winterling, Palatine Wine Queen 2006/2007, German Wine Princess 2007/2008

[1] KommWis, Stand: 31. Dezember 2007

[2] Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz, zugegriffen am 11. Juni 2009

[3] Karl Heinz Debus: _Das große Wappenbuch der Pfalz_. Neustadt an der Weinstraße 1988,

[4] Description and explanation of Niederkirchen’s arms

title: Niederkirchen bei Deidesheim

question: When was Niederkirchen first mentioned?

answer: Niederkirchen was first mentioned as Didinnes-chaime in a document from the Weißenburg Monastery in what is now Wissembourg in France. The first documentary proof of winegrowing in the vicinity stems from a document from Fulda Abbey dated to 770.


text:
On 30 April 1990, a Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton AEW Mk II aircraft, of No. 8 Squadron RAF, based at RAF Lossiemouth, crashed into a hill on the Isle of Harris whilst attempting to land at RAF Benbecula. All ten crew on board died in the crash, which included the wing commander who was in charge of No. 8 Squadron at the time. The Shackleton was the last of the fleet to be involved in a fatal accident, and the type was withdrawn from RAF service in 1991.

A Board of Inquiry (BoI) later determined the accident as a controlled flight into terrain, but could not ascertain as to why.

Background

WR965 was introduced into RAF service in 1957, originally sent to RAF Khormaksar, and served on No.s 37, 38, 203, 204, 205 and 224 Squadrons before its conversion to an Airborne Early Warning (AEW) aircraft in the early 1970s.[1] The need for an AEW platform was brought about by the retirement of the Royal Navy Fairey Gannet airframe. No. 8 Squadron RAF, started flying the Avro Shackleton aircraft in 1971.[2] The Shackleton itself, was a stop-gap measure that was developed from the MR2 Shackleton variant, which was developed from the original bomber type from Avro which had descended from their Lancaster and Lincoln aircraft.[3] The Nimrod AEW was to have assumed the role of the Shackleton's in the mid-1980s, but the technological problems proved “insurmountable”, and so that programme was cancelled in favour of the Boeing E-3 Sentry aircraft in December 1986.[4][5]

The squadron was based at RAF Lossiemouth at the time of the crash, and all of their aircraft were named after characters in the children's TV programme, _The Magic Roundabout_.[6] The aircraft as a whole were collectively referred to as _Growlers_, on account of the engine noise, and the _Old Grey ladies_, due to their colour scheme.[7] The engines were noisy due to their contra-rotating propellers.[8]

Incident

WR965, had taken off from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray, Scotland, at 8:00 am on 30 April 1990, with a callsign of _Gambia Zero 8_ and had flown to the Outer Hebrides.[9][10] The aircraft had been partaking in a military exercise (Ex Bushfire) when the accident occurred. The radar onboard the aircraft had been turned off due to the parameters of part of the exercise, which involved “mutual training” with a Tornado F3 aircraft. Early reports by eye-witnesses lead to accusations that a missile strike was responsible for bringing the aircraft down, something which the RAF denied.[11]

Just before 12:00, the pilot radioed ahead to RAF Benbecula to ask for an approach, stating that the aircraft was out. Permission was given for a landing from the west and the aircraft was seen to circle at least twice by RAF personnel on the island before it crashed into Maodal, a high peak near the village of Northton, (at ).[12] The weather was described as “poor” and WR965 was said to have been flying at a low altitude,[13] (one witness claimed that had the aircraft been higher, then it would have cleared the peak easily).[14]

Despite the remote landscape, emergency services and members of the public were quickly on the scene, but the first police officer said “We came across debris and then some bodies and we knew it was really bad. Helicopters arrived from Lossiemouth and it was a very, very busy scene. We could only account for nine from the plane and some of us were sent to the back of the hill to see if someone had survived and had walked off in a daze. We were later told there was nobody alive.”[15]

Crew

A normal operational sortie for a Shackleton in the AEW role, consisted of a crew of ten; a pilot, a co-pilot, a flight engineer and seven other personnel operating the equipment on board (three navigators, a fighter controller, two air electronics operators and a corporal technician).[16] One of the crew was Wing Commander Stephen Roncoroni, who was the officer commanding No. 8 Squadron at the time.[17]

Aftermath and inquiry

[Memorial on Maodal] Two days later, a private notice question in the House of Commons discussed the matter with some stating that cutbacks in the number of aircraft had led to operational inefficiencies. Allan Rogers, then opposition MP for defence, stated that “It is with these cutbacks that we get such tragedies as this. It is a task which has been made extremely difficult in recent years because of cutbacks in operational Shackletons from eleven to six in this squadron.”[18]

Three days later, ten coffins were taken across the island to be flown by RAF Hercules, from RAF Stornoway, back to the base at RAF Lossiemouth.[19] More than 2,500 people lined the streets on the isle of Harris to witness the event.[20] On 31 May 1990, a memorial service was held in one of the hangars that No. 8 Squadron operated from at RAF Lossiemouth.[21]

A Board of Inquiry determined that the Shackleton had its radar turned off as part of the exercise with a Tornado F3 aircraft. It radioed RAF Benbecula for an approach, stating they were west of the airfield, however, it was determined they were actually north of Benbecula.[22] At 11:34 am, the crew radioed Benbecula tower to inform them that the weather was too bad for an approach, and that they were turning right and climbing to try again; this was the last transmission from the aircraft before the crash. Benbecula tower asked them to relay their last message again as the transmission was distorted.

The aircraft crashed below the summit with all four engines “developing cruise power” (what is known as Controlled Flight Into Terrain). Meteorological evidence from the day suggests that the cloudbase extended from above sea level to for the tips of the clouds. The official conclusion of the board of inquiry was;

The Shackleton fleet was due to be replaced by an upgraded Nimrod variant aircraft, but this was dropped in favour of the Sentry AWACS platform.[23]

A memorial is located on Maodal (at ) and includes the Orange Harvest ESM receiver that was affixed to the top of WR965 _Dylan_ when it crashed.[24] The crew are remembered on Panel 201 of the Armed Forces Memorial, at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.[25]

Aircraft losses

Besides the Shackleton crash, two other RAF aircraft crashed on the same day, though without fatalities. A Tornado GR1 (ZA454) crashed at Goose Bay in Canada after an engine fire, and a Phantom FGR2 (XV402) suffered a damaged wheel and fire on the underside of the aircraft on landing at RAF Valley.[26][27][28]

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[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

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title: 1990 Scotland RAF Shackleton crash

question: What does the article tell us about the names of the Shackleton planes?

answer:
All of their aircraft were named after characters in the children's TV program,
The Magic Roundabout. The aircraft as a whole were collectively referred to as Growlers, on account of the engine noise, and the Old Grey Ladies, due to their color scheme. The engines were noisy due to their contra-rotating propellers.

question: What was the cause of the accident?

answer: The opposition MP for defence claimed that cutbacks in operational Shackletons from eleven to six was the cause. There were, however, a number of contributors to the accident. The radar was turned off and the pilots seemed confused as to where they were stating that they were west of the airfield when they were in fact north of it. The weather was also very bad so the plane had tried more than one approach to the airfield.


text:
[Jon_Atack]_Jon Atack is the author of_ A Piece of Blue Sky_, one of the very best books on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. He has a new edition of the book for sale, and for more than a year on Saturdays he helped us sift through the legends, myths, and contested facts about Scientology that tend to get hashed and rehashed in books, articles, and especially on the Internet. He was kind enough to send us a new post._

Jon, we’re tickled that your column this time was prompted by a response one of our readers made to a previous piece. We really do have a great commenting community here. So please take us on another exploration of Scientology lore…

JON: Some months ago, an astute reader pointed to some of Hubbard’s comments about games. I copied the note, but not the reader’s name, so I apologize for that, because credit is due for pointing out one of the most important Hubbard admissions, in the welter of chatter, contradiction, and misdirection that constitutes the work of Our Founder. I had to hunt out the specific lecture, which deals with the “caste system of games.” It is Philadelphia Doctorate Course lecture 39. The astute reader had this to say: “It contains some priceless insight into how Ron viewed other people, structured his organizations, and generally ran Scientology.” And he (or she) was so right.

On a historical note, Hubbard assigned all of his rights in Dianetics, including the book _Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health_, to Don Purcell, the Kansas oilman who had bailed out the original foundation, after Hubbard had spent all the money. Hubbard and Purcell believed that Dianetics would be lost in bankruptcy. Neither had predicted that the rights would be offered by the court, and Purcell was there to buy them, for a few hundred dollars. Hubbard had his new “business manager,” one James Elliot, steal the Kansas Foundation’s mailing lists, and poured forth a stream of over 30 letters, whining about his fortunes and pleading for people to leave Dianetics and join his new venture. He was not very successful.

Because Dianetics was gone, Hubbard had to think of something new. That something was Scientology, which came into being at the start of 1952. The famed Philadelphia Doctorate Course lectures were delivered at the end of the year. Dianetics had swept the US as a craze, with 150,000 sales of the book, before the publisher withdrew it as fraudulent. By the time of the PDC, only 38 people could be persuaded to part with their money.

Scientology was not drawn from whole cloth, but much of it has a single and sinister source. Hubbard had distanced himself from reincarnation in _Science of Survival_, suggesting that others had introduced the topic (just as he would pretend that he didn’t register the first “Church” of Scientology, which he did, in Camden, New Jersey, in December 1953). Hubbard had been an avid fan of Sex Magickian, Aleister Crowley, for some time, and he drew heavily on Crowley’s ideas, for Scientology. He makes direct reference to his “very good friend” Crowley in the PDC lectures, although they never met and when Crowley heard of Hubbard and Parsons’ attempts to conjure the diabolic Scarlet Woman in an OTO ritual, he wrote about the “idiocy of these louts” (and it is “louts” not “goats” as some authors have reported).

Early on, and heavily influenced by a diet of booze, barbiturates and speed, Hubbard simply grabbed at Crowley’s ideas and wove them into a new “science” to replace the lost Dianetics. Unlike other scientists, he did not bother with any experimental trials. Ultimately, Purcell returned those rights to Dianetics — stimulating _Dianetics 55!_ — but in the meanwhile, Hubbard needed inspiration and Crowley provided it.

Hubbard was never much of a scholar, so most of the ideas can be found in a single volume — _Magick in Theory and Practice_ — which Hubbard, ever deceptive, calls _The Master Therion_, in a PDC lecture. This was actually Crowley’s “magical name,” not the title of any book (for the curious, the lectures which mention Crowley are numbered 18, 35 and 40). I have documented the plagiarisms long since in _Possible Origins for Dianetics and Scientology_. Some other time, I will perhaps talk more about the influence of Crowley’s _Book of Thoth_ and the importance of the Fool and the Empress in the tarot deck, which is analysed in that book — or indeed the use of the crossed out Christian cross on the back of those cards, which was adopted by Hubbard for his Scientology (along with the lisped word “satan” to describe the human spirit). But I digress.

In those early days, before his ducks were in a row, Hubbard often explained principles that he would soon hide. He told us that for anything to persist, it must contain a lie, and Scientology contains some real whoppers — for instance the idea that it is for our benefit, rather than solely for Hubbard’s. The same openness was true for his early statements about hypnosis, examined _ad nauseum_ in my most important paper, _Never Believe a Hypnotist_.

At the beginning of Scientology, Hubbard let slip some highly significant ideas, which are the true foundation of this pretend science (oddly, the word Scientology was first coined to mean “pretend science”). Marty Rathbun has recently cognited (forgive me) that Hubbard intended to elevate himself to godhood. In this PDC lecture he explained how he would achieve this end.

Here is a tad more of PDC 39 than our astute reader shared, though he found the most relevant passages, a little later: “The aberration above time is ‘there must be a game’ … So, you have the Un-maker of Games quite as important as the Maker of Games. Now, we get ‘the rules of the game are as follows: limitations on self and others, obedience to rules, unconsciousness of rules and reality’ — we pretend the rules are real. ‘ARC [affinity] with others to play. Pain as a penalty which will be obeyed … ‘” In this game, suffering is just the penalty, exactly as Mary Baker Eddy had taught — pain is an illusion. It only hurts because we believe it hurts. Though when Hubbard fell off his motorbike, 20 years after dismissing pain, he most certainly screamed and demanded painkillers. He continues, “Agreement to rules and penalties is necessary to continue a game…”

Here Hubbard has put forward his basic notion that life is a game and that we “satans” are playing that game. Similar ideas can be found in mythology. Indeed, that great expositor of mythology, Joseph Campbell, had much the same to say, though he didn’t exploit people with the idea. The truth is that like anyone else, Hubbard didn’t think it was much of a game when he hit his thumb with a hammer, but, high on uppers and downers, and speaking to his devotees, he was above the world. In private, he was devoured by envy and rage, as many of his personal slaves would discover over the remaining thirty years of his life, but in public he was as cool as a cucumber: the Clear has to pretend that he’s OK _pour encourager les autres_, as the “Open Letter to Clears” explains, and Hubbard kept his violent emotions off the stage, where life did indeed become a game.

He goes on, in PDC 39, to talk about the “Peculiarity or liability of a maker of games, people attempting to play the game of Maker of Games. It is a game itself … There is a game called freedom, which is what you’re playing right at this minute.” Bear in mind that your freedom is only a game. “And games contain trickery and misdirection to win – your 180 degree vector of Have and Agree.”

Here Hubbard has explained the Game of Scientology. He is the Maker of the Game and it certainly does include “trickery and misdirection”… For instance, it only takes a moment’s thought to realize that believing everything that someone else says and doing everything that they direct is not “self-determinism,” but, in this case the “180 degree vector” of Ron-determinism, yet I spent nine years in that condition — Ron-determinism — without understanding the painfully obvious reality. Eventually, I decided to Not Have Scientology and to Disagree, and thereby became far more self-determined. And far less anxious.

“The prize of winning is making a new game … or permitting a new game to be made or making it possible for a new game to be played. Those are all the prizes and that’s [sic] all the prizes there are.’

He then turns to the “necessity to have a new game coded before one ends the old game.” Adding, “Otherwise, everyone becomes a maker of games with no game.” As is often the case, we are led along a tortuous path. Hubbard is evidently reading from a list of notes, without really fleshing out his ideas, so we have to concentrate to extract the meaning, but meaning, for once, is there to be extracted. This isn’t the usual ramble of anecdotes that makes up so many Hubbard lectures. He has a point to make, and we are almost there.

“Now, the value of pieces. Ownership of pieces may be also the ownership of players. And the difference between players and pieces, and the difficulty of players becoming pieces … so, you’ve got to hide the rules from the pieces…” Oh, yes!

Now we come to the meat of our astute reader’s comments. First to recap: there is a Maker of Games — Hubbard — who makes the rules, but knows that they are bogus, and does not follow them. So, for instance, when Hubbard was sick, it was not because he was PTS. When bad things happened to him, it was not because he had committed overts. When he criticized psychiatrists, it was not because they had missed his withholds, nor were his “broad generalities” about them because he was Suppressive. The rules do not apply to the rule maker.

Below the Game Maker are the Players, who follow the rules, and, finally, there are Pieces (elsewhere he added broken pieces, but lets keep it simple, for today): “Now the caste system of games consists of this: The Maker of Games, he has no rules.” Let’s pause for a moment and reflect on that thought, again: “He has no rules.” And then, “he runs by no rules. The player of the games: rules known but he obeys them.” Now that is thee and me, if we were lucky, we followed the rules. We were obedient. “And the assistant players merely obey the players.”

At the bottom of this caste system we find: “And the pieces obey rules as dictated by players, but they don’t know the rules.” They get their stats up for 2pm on Thursday, as instructed, so that the cash keeps pouring into the Maker of Games’ back pocket. Occasionally, on a Sunday, they’ll be given a baked potato instead of their daily rice and beans, for pouring another fifty grand into the Maker of Games’ back pocket.

We are nearly at the end of this cogent explanation of Scientology, so take heart: “Now, how to make a piece … First, deny there is a game. Second, hide the rules from them” — and the bank accounts — “Third, give them all penalties and no wins” Apart from the baked potato, that is, and the knowledge that Ron is happy with his birthday stats. “Four, remove all goals. All goals. Enforce them – their playing.” This is the RPF. “Inhibit their enjoying” And this is “pain and sex.” Let’s face it, at the end of a Sea Org week, all you have to look forward to is washing your socks.

“Make them look like, but forbid their being like players.” Put them in uniforms, with badges and medals, perhaps. He then says, “[make them] look like God but, you can’t be God.” This is the state of OT, whereby not a single miracle has been demonstrated in sixty years. Unless you count changing traffic lights and moving clouds, by people incapable of moving a bit of tinfoil a single millimeter by willpower alone.

We end our diatribe (I think that’s the word) with this, “To make a piece continue to be piece, permit it to associate only with pieces and deny the existence of players … It can’t be a game. ‘Don’t play with me. I mustn’t be played with. Life is serious. This isn’t a game. We’re playing for keeps. I’ll never get out of this…'” We must clear the planet, and wipe that smug grin off Mrs Pattycake’s face, remember? We’re in it for the duration. “In other words, the postulates which they’ve made to convince themselves that these are the rules and the only rules that can be played.” He ends the lecture, a couple of paragraphs later by saying that this is “the backbone of what we are doing.” Convincing people to follow the rules, without deviation, without discussion, or they’ll come to understand the rules and the flimsy nature of those rules. So, it was that Hubbard the Maker of Games was the only one allowed to make rules, or discover Tech. We’d never be capable of discovering any fundamental law, no matter how OT we became.

There were perhaps a few players: Mary Sue Hubbard at times accused her husband of being a charlatan, because she couldn’t go “exterior,” despite hundreds of hours of trying. Otherwise, the players were simply told the rules – the directors of the Guardian’s Office and those close to Hubbard knew that the rules were fairly nasty, as the wag who wrote the brilliant deconstruction of Scientology, _The Story of a Squirrel Part Two_, said (and I’m not really quoting, because I’ve misplaced my copy): People confuse tech and ethics. Tech is to make money and ethics is to deal with anyone who finds out about this or me.

But then, the Governing Policy of Scientology, according to Hubbard is “Make money, make more money, make others produce so as to make even more money.” You can see why the IRS thinks it’s a religion! And you can see why Hubbard made life in the Sea Org so hard for his pieces. As he said, “We build a world from broken pieces.” Yes, Ron, but first you had to break them.

——————–

BEHIND THE SCENES AT ‘THE WAR IS OVER’

Camilla Andersson gives her eyewitness account of what it was like to be around David Miscavige at a legendary 1993 event…

——————–

SCIENTOLOGY’S CASTING IN NEW YORK!

Rod Keller spotted this gem and posted it to Facebook yesterday. It was an ad put up by Scientology casting director Valerie Light.

Here are the wonderful descriptions for talent Valerie’s looking for…

  [GIRL IN SUBWAY]

  Female/Featured/All Ethnicities/18-25: Beautiful, “Ascendance-type girl”, “Anthropologie-model look” walking down the streets of New York and going on the subway… Wardrobe: casual
  Rate: $300 for shoot; additional $200 if used in edit

  [HIPSTER]

  Male/Featured/All Ethnicities/20-25: Hipster/grunge guy living his life in style he is creating — we see him walking down the streets of New York and spending time in library… Wardrobe: casual
  Rate $300 for shoot; additional $200 if used in edit

Isn’t that great? And the shoot is tomorrow! Bunker folks in New York, please help us spot this shoot and get a photo of it. It’s got to be epic!

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on August 21, 2014 at 07:00

_E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page._

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology

question: Summarize why Hubbard moved ahead of Dianetics.

answer: Hubbard assigned his rights in Dianetics to Don Purcell. The reason behind this was that he believed that Dianetics would be lost in bankruptcy. He also decided to start a new venture and sell Dianetics to Purcell for a few hundred dollars.

question: Summarize the rules of the games.

answer: The rules of the games are limitations on self and others along with obedience to rules, unconsciousness about rules and reality. Additionally, it includes ARC with others to play. Pain as a penalty will be obeyed. It also states that agreeing to the rules and penalties is important for continuing the game.

question: Summarize the formation of Dianetics.


text:
[Audio stereo power amplifier made by Unitra] [ The internal view of a Mission Cyrus 1 Hi Fi integrated audio amplifier (1984)[1]]

An AUDIO POWER AMPLIFIER (or POWER AMP) is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals such as the signal from radio receiver or electric guitar pickup to a level that is high enough for driving loudspeakers or headphones. Audio power amplifiers are found in all manner of sound systems including sound reinforcement, public address and home audio systems and musical instrument amplifiers like guitar amplifiers. It is the final electronic stage in a typical audio playback chain before the signal is sent to the loudspeakers.

The preceding stages in such a chain are low power audio amplifiers which perform tasks like pre-amplification of the signal (this is particularly associated with record turntable signals, microphone signals and electric instrument signals from pickups, such as the electric guitar and electric bass), equalization (e.g., adjusting the bass and treble), tone controls, mixing different input signals or adding electronic effects such as reverb. The inputs can also be any number of audio sources like record players, CD players, digital audio players and cassette players. Most audio power amplifiers require these low-level inputs, which are line level.

While the input signal to an audio power amplifier, such as the signal from an electric guitar, may measure only a few hundred microwatts, its output may be a few watts for small consumer electronics devices, such as clock radios, tens or hundreds of watts for a home stereo system, several thousand watts for a nightclub's sound system or tens of thousands of watts for a large rock concert sound reinforcement system. While power amplifiers are available in standalone units, typically aimed at the hi-fi audiophile market (a niche market) of audio enthusiasts and sound reinforcement system professionals, most consumer electronics sound products, such as clock radios, boom boxes and televisions have relatively small power amplifiers that are integrated inside the chassis of the main product.

History

thumb|upright=0.6|De Forest's prototype audio amplifier of 1914.

The audio amplifier was invented around 1912 by Lee De Forest, made possible by his invention of the first practical amplifying electrical component, the triode vacuum tube (or “valve” in British English) in 1907. The triode was a three terminal device with a control grid that can modulate the flow of electrons from the filament to the plate. The triode vacuum amplifier was used to make the first AM radio.[2] Early audio power amplifiers were based on vacuum tubes and some of these achieved notably high audio quality (e.g., the Williamson amplifier of 1947-9).

Audio power amplifiers based on transistors became practical with the wide availability of inexpensive transistors in the late 1960s. Since the 1970s, most modern audio amplifiers are based on solid-state transistors, especially the bipolar junction transistor (BJT) and the metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET). Transistor-based amplifiers are lighter in weight, more reliable and require less maintenance than tube amplifiers.

The MOSFET, invented by Mohamed Atalla and Dawon Kahng at Bell Labs in 1959,[3] was adapted into a power MOSFET for audio by Jun-ichi Nishizawa at Tohoku University in 1974.[4] Power MOSFETs were soon manufactured by Yamaha for their hi-fi audio amplifiers. JVC, Pioneer Corporation, Sony and Toshiba also began manufacturing amplifiers with power MOSFETs in 1974.[5] In 1977, Hitachi introduced the LDMOS (lateral diffused MOS), a type of power MOSFET. Hitachi was the only LDMOS manufacturer between 1977 and 1983, during which time LDMOS was used in audio power amplifiers from manufacturers such as HH Electronics (V-series) and Ashly Audio, and were used for music and public address systems.[6] Class-D amplifiers became successful in the mid-1980s when low-cost, fast-switching MOSFETs were made available.[7] Many transistor amps use MOSFET devices in their power sections, because their distortion curve is more tube-like.[8]

In the 2010s, there are still audio enthusiasts, musicians (particularly electric guitarists, electric bassists, Hammond organ players and Fender Rhodes electric piano players, among others), audio engineers and music producers who prefer tube-based amplifiers, and what is perceived as a “warmer” tube sound.

Design parameters

thumb|upright=0.8|Three rack-mounted audio power amplifiers used in a sound reinforcement system.

Key design parameters for audio power amplifiers are frequency response, gain, noise, and distortion. These are interdependent; increasing gain often leads to undesirable increases in noise and distortion. While negative feedback actually reduces the gain, it also reduces distortion. Most audio amplifiers are linear amplifiers operating in class AB.

Until the 1970s, most amplifiers were tube amplifiers which used vacuum tubes. During the 1970s, tube amps were increasingly replaced with transistor-based amplifiers, which were lighter in weight, more reliable, and lower maintenance. Nevertheless, there are still niche markets of consumers who continue to use tube amplifiers and tube preamplifiers in the 2010s, such as with home hi-fi enthusiasts, audio engineers and music producers (who use tube preamplifiers in studio recordings to “warm up” microphone signals) and electric guitarists, electric bassists and Hammond organ players, of whom a minority continue to use tube preamps, tube power amps and tube effects units. While hi-fi enthusiasts and audio engineers doing live sound or monitoring tracks in the studio typically seek out amplifiers with the lowest distortion, electric instrument players in genres such as blues, rock music and heavy metal music, among others, use tube amplifiers because they like the natural overdrive that tube amps produce when pushed hard.

In the 2000s, the Class-D amplifier, which is much more efficient than Class AB amplifiers, is widely used in consumer electronics audio products, bass amplifiers and sound reinforcement system gear, as Class D amplifiers are much lighter in weight and produce much less heat.

Filters and preamplifiers

Since modern digital devices, including CD and DVD players, radio receivers and tape decks already provide a “flat” signal at line level, the preamp is not needed other than as a volume control and source selector. One alternative to a separate preamp is to simply use passive volume and switching controls, sometimes integrated into a power amplifier to form an _integrated amplifier_.

Power output stages

The final stage of amplification, after preamplifiers, is the output stage, where the highest demands are placed on the transistors or tubes. For this reason, the design choices made around the output device (for single-ended output stages, such as in single-ended triode amplifiers) or devices (for push-pull output stages), such as the Class of operation of the output devices is often taken as the description of the whole power amplifier. For example, a Class B amplifier will probably have just the high power output devices operating cut off for half of each cycle, while the other devices (such as differential amplifier, voltage amplifier and possibly even driver transistors) operate in Class A. In a transformerless output stage, the devices are essentially in series with the power supply and output load (such as a loudspeaker), possibly via some large capacitor and/or small resistances.

Further developments

For some years following the introduction of solid state amplifiers, their perceived sound did not have the excellent audio quality of the best valve amplifiers (see valve audio amplifier). This led audiophiles to believe that “tube sound” or valve sound had an intrinsic quality due to the vacuum tube technology itself. In 1970, Matti Otala published a paper on the origin of a previously unobserved form of distortion: transient intermodulation distortion (TIM),[9] later also called slew-induced distortion (SID) by others.[10] TIM distortion was found to occur during very rapid increases in amplifier output voltage.[11]

TIM did not appear at steady state sine tone measurements, helping to hide it from design engineers prior to 1970. Problems with TIM distortion stem from reduced open loop frequency response of solid state amplifiers. Further works of Otala and other authors found the solution for TIM distortion, including increasing slew rate, decreasing preamp frequency bandwidth, and the insertion of a lag compensation circuit in the input stage of the amplifier.[12][13][14] In high quality modern amplifiers the open loop response is at least 20 kHz, canceling TIM distortion.

The next step in advanced design was the Baxandall Theorem, created by Peter Baxandall in England.[15] This theorem introduced the concept of comparing the ratio between the input distortion and the output distortion of an amplifier. This new idea helped audio design engineers to better evaluate the distortion processes within an amplifier.

Applications

[Pyle two-channel power amplifier] Important applications include public address systems, theatrical and concert sound reinforcement systems, and domestic systems such as a stereo or home-theatre system. Instrument amplifiers including guitar amplifiers and electric keyboard amplifiers also use audio power amplifiers. In some cases, the power amplifier for an instrument amplifier is integrated into a single amplifier “head” which contains a preamplifier, tone controls, and electronic effects. These components may be mounted in a wooden speaker cabinet to create a “combo amplifier”. Musicians with unique performance needs and/or a need for very powerful amplification may create a custom setup with separate rackmount preamplifiers, equalizers, and a power amplifier mounted in a 19" road case.

Power amplifiers are available in standalone units, which are used by hi-fi audio enthusiasts and designers of public address systems (PA systems) and sound reinforcement systems. A hi-fi user of power amplifiers may have a stereo power amplifier to drive left and right speakers and a “monoblock” single channel power amplifier to drive a subwoofer. The number of power amplifiers used in a sound reinforcement setting depends on the size of the venue. A small coffeehouse may have a single power amp driving two PA speakers. A nightclub may have several power amps for the main speakers, one or more power amps for the monitor speakers (pointing towards the band) and an additional power amp for the subwoofer. A stadium concert may have a large number of power amps mounted in racks. Most consumer electronics sound products, such as TVs, boom boxes, home cinema sound systems, Casio and Yamaha electronic keyboards, “combo” guitar amps and car stereos have power amplifiers integrated inside the chassis of the main product.

[1]  Cyrus Audio: Product Archive: Cyrus One

[2] http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/physics/transistor/history/ The Transistor in a Century of Electronics

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] Walter G. Jung, Mark L. Stephens, and Craig C. Todd (June 1979), “An overview of SID and TIM”, _Audio_

[11] “Circuit Design Modifications for Minimizing Transient Intermodulation Distortion in Audio Amplifiers”, Matti Otala, Journal of Audio Engineering Society, Vol 20 # 5, June 1972

[12] Distribution of the Phonograph Signal Rate of Change, Lammasniemi, Jorma; Nieminen, Kari, Journal of Audio Engineering Society, Vol. 28 # 5, May 1980.

[13] “Psychoacoustic Detection Threshold of Transient Intermodulation Distortion”, Petri-Larmi, M.; Otala, M.; Lammasniemi, J. Journal of Audio Engineering Society, Vol 28 # 3, March 1980

[14] Discussion of practical design features that can provoke or lessen slew-rate limiting and transient intermodulation in audio amplifiers can also be found for example in chapter 9 in John Linsley Hood's 'The Art of Linear Electronics' (Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1993).

[15] “Audio power amplifier design”, Peter Baxandall. Wireless World magazine, February 1979

title: Audio power amplifier

question: What is an audio power amplifier?

answer: An audio power amplifier is an electronic amplifier that amplifies low-power electronic audio signals to a level that is high enough for driving loudspeakers or headphones.

question: What are the application of an audio power amplifier?

answer: Audio power amplifiers are found in public address systems, theatrical and concert sound reinforcement systems, and domestic systems such as a home-theatre system. Instrument amplifiers including guitar  amplifiers and electric keyboard amplifiers also use audio power amplifiers.


text:
No spinoffs, please —

We recall the ways some solid, recent series knew the glory of a one-and-done run.

[Screenshot from premiere of Watchmen TV series.]
Enlarge / A small army of Rorschachs.

YouTube/HBO

HBO's choice to adapt two critically acclaimed book series, _Game of Thrones_ and _Watchmen_, may seem like a case of two peas in a pod. They're game-changing works in their respective fields with cult followings and "unadaptable" reputations.

But _GoT_ and _Watchmen_ differ in a key respect: where they sit on the "epic television" spectrum. Arguably, both examples prove, in very different ways, that TV series needn't last multiple seasons to be considered "great."

When _Game of Thrones_ ended in May of this year, a small cottage industry of worriers fretted that this was somehow the end of HBO. But the channel is already back with a new high-profile series, inspired by Alan Moore's comic classic _Watchmen_. Showrunner Damon Lindelof insists that, like its source comic, he plans to stick to a "limited series" run, instead of any intention to run the series for multiple seasons.

HBO's _Watchmen_ results, so far, are promising—and recall the golden era of the TV miniseries. What happens when a series' run is truly limited and every episode's stakes matter? Let's rewind to other classic, memorable examples of the limited series to advocate for what _Watchmen_ already appears to be getting right.

_Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_ (BBC series)

Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell trailer

Some series are willing to take a slim novel of 300 pages and stretch it into season upon season of TV. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there's the BBC's _Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell_. Susanna Clarke's story, set on an alternate, magical earth, is a doorstopper of a tale. (My copy rings in at 1,006 pages.) Most production studios would have rung a half-dozen seasons out of it. But the BBC condensed the novel's events into a single seven-episode story.

The series used the visuals of the medium to lay out the world-building, trusting the audience to absorb through the setting what the novel took pages and pages of footnotes to explain. It proved there was no need to belabor the point. Even better, the series swerved from the book's inconclusive ending, killing off Lascelles, for instance, and making the disappearance of Norrell and Strange into another dimension feel less like a loose end and more like the only outcome that could possibly make sense.

_Watchmen_ (Comic)

In the world of comic books, nothing ever ends, and that has been the reality ever since the format was popularized in the United States in 1938. From _Superman_ radio plays that went on so long they became TV series, to today's Marvel Cinematic Universe, this is a genre where not even death can stop the next issue. But not _Watchmen_.

Alan Moore and David Gibbons defied what was not only an accepted norm but a hallmark of the entire superhero oeuvre by creating a single 12-issue run with a definitive ending from which there was no miraculous return for anyone. (Not that DC Comics didn't try.) Rather than turning audiences off, it earned the series respect rarely afforded to comics. By limiting its characters to a single adventure, _Watchmen_ only explored its characters' lives during this small slice of time. We never learn, for example, how the emotional wallop of carrying the secret of the "Alien Monster" hoax emotionally affects these characters long-term. Instead, they will forever remain as strange and complicated in the imaginations of readers as they were when it began.

_Good Omens_ (novel, Amazon series)

Like comics, fantasy is another genre where authors will keep churning out volume after volume. One of the brilliant exceptions to this rule is the collaboration between Neil Gaiman and the late Terry Pratchett, with their satirical story of the apocalypse, _Good Omens_. The book was wildly popular, and it would have been easy for the two beloved authors to continue a collaboration. But part of why the book's laughs work is the brevity of it all. Any attempt to keep it going would have assuredly fallen flat as the novelty of that first hit wore thin. After all, once you've stopped the apocalypse, is there really a way to top it in a sequel?

Moreover, many of the funniest bits may be screamingly funny the first time, but they can grow tired if stretched. The rewriting of biblical passages to reflect modern British parlance, like "26 And the Angel said, 'I had it here only a moment ago, I must have put it down somewhere, forget my own head next,'" are great. But they would never be enough to keep a trilogy afloat.

-

    The angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant) team up to avert the Apocalypse.

     Amazon Prime

-

    The beginning of a beautiful friendship.

     Amazon Prime

-

    Aziraphale and Crowley in days of old.

     Amazon Prime

-

    It all started with Eve and the apple.

     Amazon Prime

-

    The book that foretold it all: _The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch._

     Amazon Prime

-

    Angry villagers converge on the cottage of Agnes Nutter, accused witch.

     Amazon Prime

-

    The quaint London bookshop owned by Aziraphale.

     Amazon Prime

-

    That is a disastrous haircut, Crowley.

     Amazon Prime

But it's not just the book that opts for brevity. When Amazon Studios agreed to an adaptation, the streaming service went with a single run of six episodes rather than stretch it over several seasons. One only wishes STARZ had done the same for Gaiman's other novel-turned-TV adaptation, _American Gods_, which is still dragging along long after the novelty has worn off.

_Chernobyl_ (HBO series)

Just as _Game of Thrones_ ended, HBO accidentally reminded the world that fantasy and long-running series were not the only road to a hit. _Chernobyl_ was brutally short, five episodes all told, during which the series dove into the corrupt government layers that both caused the accident and then compounded the damage with a cover-up. Though it did condense history to make its larger point, it kept the narrative super tight.

-

    A scene of the reactor explosion.

-

    Adam Nagatis plays a firefighter who is called to the scene in the immediate aftermath of the explosion.

     Adam Nagatis

-

    Emily Watson plays an amalgam of scientists in her role as Ulana Khomyuk.

     Liam Daniel/HBO

-

    Soviet Deputy Prime Minister Boris Shcherbina and Soviet nuclear physicist Valery Legasov try to decide what to do next in the aftermath of the reactor explosion.

     Liam Daniel/HBO

-

    A firefighter's wife tries to visit him in a Moscow hospital.

     Liam Daniel/HBO

-

    Adrian Rawlins plays Chernobyl chief engineer Nikolai Fomin.

This meant that scenes of those exposed to radiation fallout never went on too long, and the pacing meant even the worst of the scenes, like the mass murdering of infected dogs, were as much left to the audience's imagination as put on screen. This allowed audiences to absorb the horror of the incident without ever feeling like it was gratuitous. By the time the finale rolled around, the series had done the impossible. It beat out the most-watched titan of HBO, _Game of Thrones_, in digital viewership. It turns out all you need to get audiences to tune in is a riveting story told well.

question: Which example graphic novel turned film adaptations were kept short on purpose?

answer: Watchmen, Good Omens.

question: According to this article, is it better to stretch out an adaptation or keep it short?

answer: Keep it short.

question: What novel did the BBC condense into a single season rather than extend it?

answer: Johnathan Strange & Mr. Norrell

question: How many issues long was the Watchmen graphic novel?

answer: Twelve

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: With the ending of HBO's "Game of Thrones," the network has created another equally epic show based on "Watchmen." Rather than prolong and extend the works beyond their original source material, HBO has kept it conservative and relatively short. It is common place for source material to be stretched out for film/television, but these pieces were kept truer to their original than usual.


text:
[Electrify]

[Image for post]

_History is filled with tales of the little guy taking on giants. We cheered when Average Joe’s beat Globo Gym and gave roaring applause when Leicester City won the Premier League (anyone but City, really). Underdog stories are the most compelling._

Entry into foreign markets is a major challenge for companies of all sizes. A variety of differences in cultural, regulatory and operational practice in foreign markets has seen to the swift exit of many ambitious multi-national corporations. The problem herein lies; many of these barriers can be non-tariff in nature and perhaps, the most terrifying thing is that you do not know what you do not know.

Japan has always been a target market for Electrify. We did not just want to show up and plant a flag — we wanted to do so in a manner favourable to success and longevity in the Japanese market. It is a tricky path and Electrify would settle for no less than a significant partner. The importance of strategic partnerships cannot be overstated. Much like the business advisors we sought, we needed a partner that has ‘been there, done that’.

THE TEAM STANDS PROUD ALONGSIDE THE TRIBE TO ANNOUNCE THAT ELECTRIFY HAS SIGNED A MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH TEPCO, THE LARGEST ELECTRIC UTILITY IN JAPAN (4TH LARGEST IN THE WORLD), WITH OPERATIONS SPANNING FROM ELECTRICITY GENERATION TO RETAIL AND DISTRIBUTION.

Our partnership with TEPCO involves co-developing a Proof-of-Concept (POC) for our P2P energy trading platform, Synergy, in Singapore. Following that, an implementation of Synergy’s architecture in the Japanese market beckons. There are no heroic moments to recount. There are only intents and outcomes. We set off with the intent to establish presence in the Japanese market, and we are now a step closer to realising that as an outcome.

Electrify came from humble beginnings. Two regular men invested their hearts into one simple vision of enablement. The foundation of this vision rests on an ability to first enable themselves. Today, a Tribe stands with them as a reminder of intent and validator of outcome.

This tale of growth and collaboration has only just begun. The next announcement coming out of Japan in May will reinforce our commitment to entering the Japanese market.

question: Why is entry into foreign markets a challenge for companies?

answer: Entry into foreign markets is a challenge due to the cultural, regulatory, and operational practices.

question: What is Electrify?

answer: It may be implied that Electrify is an electric utility company.

question: What is Electrify's target market?

answer: Japan.

question: Who does ELectrify partner with?

answer: Tepco, the largest electric utility in Japan.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
Entering a foreign market is always a challenge for companies due to the differences in cultural, regulatory, and operational practices. Japan has always been a target market for Electrify but, they need to partner with a firm that has been there.

They have signed a Memorandum of Undertaking with TEPCO, one o the largest electric utility in the world.