text:
_TAUR_ is an action-strategy sci-fi game developed and published by Swedish[1] studio Echo Entertainment, released on 20 February 2020.[2][3] The game is inspired by the tower defense genre and mixes strategy with wave survival.[4]

Plot

The game is played in a world called Taurea, homeworld for the technically advanced Taurea-droids. These drones are threatened by the enemy faction Imperion, which is controlling a major part of the galaxy. The player is supposed to stop the invasion of the emperion and destroy the overlord of the robotic aggressors.[5] The player is the commander of the “Prime Cannon” and has to complete missions featuring different types of enemies with specific tactics, some are for example wave-based and others are more offensive in their strategy and way of behaving.[6]

Gameplay

The player has the ability to take 360-degree control over the Prime Cannon, which in the start of the game is equipped with a railgun and can eventually be upgraded to contain a laser, surface-to-air missiles, limited slow-mo and other destructive equipment. The Prime Cannon is equipped with a primary and secondary weapon that can be fired simultaneously. Later into the game the player gets a chance to construct smaller towers around the Prime Cannon, which can be used for firepower in battle. These mini-towers can be constructed on the so called hex grid. Players can also construct auto-turrets, droids, airplanes etc.[7][8] Completing missions gives the player resources that serves as a currency in the game, which can unlock new hex grids as well as new abilities and upgrades in the research tree and tech tree. To be able to buy new abilities in the different sectors the player needs to have enough energy for it. However, the upgrades in the hex grid are not permanent and can get destroyed. An important factor in the game is therefore to have enough defenses to complete the missions and beat the enemies.[9] Gameplay also involves destroying items and units in the environment, which can change the course of the battle if used correctly.[10]

Reception

_Taur_ received generally mixed reviews from video game critics. Review aggregator website Metacritic rated the game 70/100, based on five reviews, indicating “mixed or average reviews”.[11]

Writing for _GameStar_, Florian Zandt gave the game a mixed to positive review, describing the game as well-balanced and praising the graphics. However, he mentions the game's setting as a bit bland.[12] Alex V of the _New Game Network_ gave the game a mixed review, stating that “_Taur_ has a respectable enough gameplay foundation, but it doesn't really do much with it”. He continues with saying that “Unlocking new towers and units along the way, and boosting their strengths does satisfy. But sadly, the battles never evolve beyond the basics, and your direct control of Prime Cannon never becomes enjoyable. If you're wanting something new to play in the tower defense genre, _Taur_ is a decent option, but that's about it”.[13] Jordan Devore of _Destructoid_ gave the game an overall mixed review, saying the following: “As is, _Taur_ has a wonderful central idea – it lets you tear up the place with a ridiculously powerful sci-fi cannon that's a joy to control – but the elements surrounding that core concept aren't as fleshed-out, refined, or engaging. It's the kind of game that leaves you wanting a sequel that can fire on all cylinders”.[14]

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title: Taur (video game)

question: Summarize Taur's gameplay and the reception to it.

answer: It's a tower-defense game where the player takes control of the Prime Cannon in 360 degrees. The Prime Cannon starts with a railgun but can be upgraded to have a laser, surface-to-air missiles, and more. The cannon has a primary and a secondary weapon, and it's possible to use them at the same time. The area around the cannon can be utilized to build smaller towers for additional firepower. These can be destroyed. The player also needs to manage the resources they get at the completion of the levels for new research and tech. The game is praised for its well-implemented basics, but it's found lacking in doing creative things with the mechanics.

question: What does the article say about how video games incite violence?


split: test

text:
_STOREFRONT HITCHCOCK_ is a 1998 American concert film featuring Robyn Hitchcock and directed by Jonathan Demme. It was conceived as “a document not a documentary”,[1] and the performance was shot in New York City in December 1996, in an abandoned used clothing store on 14th street.[2] Over the course of the performance, simple props and set pieces are varied, such as a bare lightbulb and a tomato sculpture, and occasionally a passerby on the street glances in.[3]

Jonathan Demme met Hitchcock after Demme attended a live show, and offered to direct a live performance video for a song, which was then revised to be a full concert.[4] Demme was inspired to film in the storefront setting by a Hungarian theatre group, Squat Theatre, who operated in New York City in the 70s and 80s and typically performed in a storefront against a large plate glass window facing the street.[5]

Demme subsequently cast Hitchcock in small roles in two other films, _The Manchurian Candidate_ and _Rachel Getting Married_, and used one of his songs in _The Truth About Charlie_.[6]

Setlist

All songs composed by Robyn Hitchcock.

1.  “Devil's Radio”
2.  “1974”
3.  “Filthy Bird”
4.  “Let's Go Thundering”
5.  “I'm Only You”
6.  “Glass Hotel”
7.  “I Something You”
8.  “The Yip! Song”
9.  “I Am Not Me”
10. “You and Oblivion”
11. “Airscape”
12. “Freeze”
13. “Alright Yeah”
14. “No, I Don't Remember Guildford”

Personnel

-   Robyn Hitchcock - vocals, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, harmonica
-   Tim Keegan - guitar, vocals
-   Deni Bonet - violin

Release

The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival on March 19, 1998.[7] It was funded by Orion Pictures just before it declared bankruptcy and was bought by MGM, and did not receive the hoped-for distribution or promotion in the United States.[8] In Hitchcock's words, “when MGM kind of unzipped their stomachs to see what they'd swallowed, they pulled out Orion, and they cut open Orion's stomach. And inside Orion's stomach was wriggling Storefront Hitchcock, a little kind of minuscule million-dollar project that MGM wasn't particularly interested in.”[9] In fact in its original US release it only played in one theater in New York City, Film Forum, for one week starting in November 18, 1998.[10]

The film was released on DVD in 2000 by MGM.

Reception

Dennis Harvey in _Variety_ said that Hitchcock's “rich, supple voice shines, and his seemingly impromptu between-song patter suggests a pleasing form of mild insanity” also saying that “the songs are the real attraction here, and they provide a good overview of a large personal catalog.”[11] Stephen Holden in The New York Times wrote that the film “captures the sensibility of this smart, quirky folk-rocker in the most appealing possible light”,[12] while Scott Tobias in The A.V. Club wrote that “Demme's relaxed, ego-free direction is a reminder that the quirky humanist behind Melvin And Howard and Married To The Mob hasn't lost his touch”, and “his clean, elegant compositions enhance the intimacy of the performance”.[13] However Douglas Wolk of the Village Voice described it as a “simple but nicely presented document of a middling Hitchcock solo performance”, complaining that “the set list dips generously into his lamest recent material”.[14]

Soundtrack

[1]

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title: Storefront Hitchcock

question: Summarize everything relating to Jonathan Demme's filmography.

answer: Jonathan Demme directed Storefront Hitchcock, a 1998 concert film featuring Robyn Hitchcock. He subsequently cast Hitchcock in small roles in his films The Manchurian Candidate and Rachel Getting Married. He also used one of Hitchcock's songs in The Truth About Charlie. Scott tobias of the A.V. Club wrote that Demme's direction is a reminder that he hasn't lost his touch since Melvin and Howard and Married To The Mob.

question: Summarize everything relating to the performance featured in the film.

answer: The performance was shot in New York City in December 1996 in an abandoned used clothing store on 14th street. During the performance, simple props and setpieces were used, such as a bare lightbulb and a tomato sculpture and the occasional passerby on the street. Demme was inspired to film in a storefront setting by a Hungarian theatre group, Squat Theatre. According to Dennis Harvey, Hitchcock's rich supple voice shines and his between-song patter suggests mild insanity. The songs provide an overview of his large personal catalog. Douglas Wolk, however, described it as a middling Hitchcock solo performance.

question: What does the article say about Hitchcock as a musician?

answer: Hitchcock provides vocals as well as playing acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and harmonica. Dennis Harvey praises his rich, supple voice. Douglas Wolk, however, complains that the set list dips into Hitchcock's lamest recent material and calls the performance middling.

question: What does the article say about Hitchcock's career during the 1980s?


text:
KHANON DOK (; ; also spelt KHANON HTOK) is a traditional Burmese snack or _mont_. The word _khanon htok_ is a portmanteau of Thai _khanom_ (lit. 'dessert') and Burmese _htok_ (lit. 'parcel'). The snack is essentially a stuffed crepe-like omelette filled with sauteed chicken or shrimp, and rolled like an eggroll.

Khanon dok is a popular delicacy in Mandalay, where it was considered a favorite snack of the Mandalay Palace royals during tea time or supper.[1][2] A series of Burmese–Siamese wars beginning with Hsinbyushin's reign resulted in the emergence of Thai-inspired delicacies, including khanon dok, shwe yin aye, mont let hsaung, and mont di.[3]

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title: Khanon htok

question: Where does the name khanon htok come from?

answer: It translates as dessert parcel from the Thai "khanom" - dessert - and Burmese "htok" - parcel.

question: What is khanon htok?

answer: It is a snack that is a stuffed crepe-like omelet filled with sautéed chicken or shrimp, and rolled like an eggroll.

question: Why are there Thai-inspired snacks in Burma?

answer: A series of Burmese-Siamese wars resulted in the emergence of Thai-inspired delicacies.

question: When is khanon htok consumed?

answer: It is a favorite snack during tea time or supper.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Khanon htok is a Burmese snack that incorporates Thai cuisine. It was considered a favorite snack of the Mandalay Palace royals during tea time or supper.


text:
ANTELOPE COUNTY is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 6,685.[1] Its county seat is Neligh.[2] The county was formed in 1871.[3] It received its name after a group of early settlers killed and ate several pronghorn.[4] Although these are not true antelope, they are colloquially known by that name.[5]

The Ashfall Fossil Beds National Natural Landmark is located within the county.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Antelope County is represented by the prefix 26 (it had the 26th-largest number of vehicles registered in the state when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Geography

According to the US Census Bureau, the county has an area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.[6]

Adjacent counties

-   Pierce County – east
-   Madison County – southeast
-   Boone County – south
-   Wheeler County – southwest
-   Holt County – west
-   Knox County – north

Major highways

-   [] U.S. Highway 20
-   [] U.S. Highway 275
-   [] Nebraska Highway 13
-   [] Nebraska Highway 14
-   [] Nebraska Highway 45
-   [] Nebraska Highway 70

Protected areas

-   Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park

Demographics

As of the 2000 United States Census,[7] there were 7,452 people, 2,953 households, and 2,073 families in the county. The population density was 9 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 3,346 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.82% White, 0.05% Black or African American, 0.31% Native American, 0.05% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 0.70% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 57.9% were of German, 6.6% English, 6.6% American and 5.9% Irish ancestry.

There were 2,953 households, out of which 32.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.50% were married couples living together, 5.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.80% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 3.05.

The county population contained 27.50% under the age of 18, 6.20% from 18 to 24, 23.30% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 19.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 96.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.30 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,114, and the median income for a family was $36,240. Males had a median income of $26,288 versus $16,926 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,601. About 10.30% of families and 13.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.20% of those under age 18 and 11.90% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

-   Elgin
-   Neligh (county seat)
-   Tilden (part)

Villages

-   Brunswick
-   Clearwater
-   Oakdale
-   Orchard
-   Royal

Townships

-   Bazile
-   Blaine
-   Burnett
-   Cedar
-   Clearwater
-   Crawford
-   Custer
-   Eden
-   Elgin
-   Ellsworth
-   Elm
-   Frenchtown
-   Garfield
-   Grant
-   Lincoln
-   Logan
-   Neligh
-   Oakdale
-   Ord
-   Royal
-   Sherman
-   Stanton
-   Verdigris
-   Willow

Politics

Antelope County voters are strongly Republican. In only one national election since 1916 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.

  Year                               Republican                                  Democratic                                  Third Parties
  ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------- ----------------------------
  style=“text-align:center;” |2016   style=“text-align:center;” |83.3% _2,732_   style=“text-align:center;” |11.7% _383_     5.1% _166_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2012   style=“text-align:center;” |80.3% _2,596_   style=“text-align:center;” |17.7% _571_     2.0% _65_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2008   style=“text-align:center;” |74.8% _2,383_   style=“text-align:center;” |23.8% _757_     1.4% _45_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2004   style=“text-align:center;” |80.6% _2,761_   style=“text-align:center;” |17.9% _613_     1.5% _50_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2000   style=“text-align:center;” |76.1% _2,562_   style=“text-align:center;” |20.1% _678_     3.8% _128_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1996   style=“text-align:center;” |59.5% _2,005_   style=“text-align:center;” |26.2% _884_     14.3% _481_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1992   style=“text-align:center;” |52.4% _1,979_   style=“text-align:center;” |17.2% _650_     30.4% _1,147_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1988   style=“text-align:center;” |73.8% _2,626_   style=“text-align:center;” |26.2% _933_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1984   style=“text-align:center;” |81.8% _3,222_   style=“text-align:center;” |17.7% _697_     0.5% _20_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1980   style=“text-align:center;” |78.7% _3,192_   style=“text-align:center;” |16.2% _659_     5.1% _206_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1976   style=“text-align:center;” |64.0% _2,488_   style=“text-align:center;” |34.1% _1,325_   1.9% _74_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1972   style=“text-align:center;” |79.1% _3,228_   style=“text-align:center;” |20.9% _851_     style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1968   style=“text-align:center;” |68.1% _2,805_   style=“text-align:center;” |23.1% _952_     8.7% _360_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1964   style=“text-align:center;” |56.2% _2,566_   style=“text-align:center;” |43.9% _2,004_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1960   style=“text-align:center;” |71.1% _3,617_   style=“text-align:center;” |28.9% _1,470_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1956   style=“text-align:center;” |73.0% _3,607_   style=“text-align:center;” |27.0% _1,334_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1952   style=“text-align:center;” |80.4% _4,377_   style=“text-align:center;” |19.6% _1,068_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1948   style=“text-align:center;” |60.5% _2,868_   style=“text-align:center;” |39.5% _1,873_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1944   style=“text-align:center;” |70.6% _3,888_   style=“text-align:center;” |29.4% _1,618_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1940   style=“text-align:center;” |66.8% _4,331_   style=“text-align:center;” |33.2% _2,155_   style="text-align:center;|
  style=“text-align:center;” |1936   style=“text-align:center;” |49.5% _3,304_   style=“text-align:center;” |47.4% _3,165_   3.0% _203_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1932   style=“text-align:center;” |35.4% _2,270_   style=“text-align:center;” |63.2% _4,053_   1.5% _93_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1928   style=“text-align:center;” |67.8% _4,277_   style=“text-align:center;” |32.0% _2,016_   0.2% _15_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1924   style=“text-align:center;” |47.1% _2,598_   style=“text-align:center;” |20.9% _1,150_   32.0% _1,765_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1920   style=“text-align:center;” |70.9% _3,322_   style=“text-align:center;” |24.6% _1,154_   4.5% _209_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1916   style=“text-align:center;” |43.3% _1,495_   style=“text-align:center;” |54.5% _1,881_   2.1% _74_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1912   style=“text-align:center;” |27.9% _877_     style=“text-align:center;” |39.4% _1,238_   32.7% _1,028_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1908   style=“text-align:center;” |51.7% _1,658_   style=“text-align:center;” |45.4% _1,455_   3.0% _95_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1904   style=“text-align:center;” |64.7% _1,813_   style=“text-align:center;” |12.6% _353_     22.7% _635_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1900   style=“text-align:center;” |48.8% _1,342_   style=“text-align:center;” |49.3% _1,356_   2.0% _55_

  : PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS[8]

[1]

[2]

[3]  Retrieved March 14, 2008.

[4]

[5] “Pronghorn”. San Diego Zoo. Retrieved August 21, 2014.

[6]

[7]

[8] http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS

title: Antelope County, Nebraska

question: What does the text say about the difference between a city, a village, and a township?

question: Summarize what the text says about Antelope County, NE racial demographics.

answer: As of 2000, there are 7,453 people in Antelope county. The county is mostly white and Hispanics/Latinos, Black or African American, Native American, Asian, and other races all making up less than 1%. Of the whites, most are of German descent with English, American, and Irish making up about 6% each.

question: Summarize the main surprise in the text.

answer: The county got its name, Antelope County, when a group of early settlers hunted several pronghorn. Pronghorns are not actually antelope but are colloquially called antelope. Thus, the town's name is a misnomer.


text:
The FBI's counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump campaign officials had improper contacts with Russia was triggered by information the bureau obtained about George PapadopoulosGeorge Demetrios PapadopoulosFlynn spurs questions of who Trump might pardon next Not treason, not a crime — but definitely a gross abuse of power Tale of two FBI cases: Clinton got warned, Trump got investigated MORE, a former adviser to the campaign, according to the memo released Friday by House Intelligence Committee Republicans.

Allies of President Trump[]Donald TrumpBiden and Harris named Time's 2020 'Person of the Year' US to sanction Turkey over Russian defense system: report Federal government executes Brandon Bernard despite last-minute appeals MORE have claimed the Russia probe began with the so-called Steele dossier that was paid for in part by Hillary Clinton[]Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBette Middler blasts McConnell: 'How did he win with an 18% approval rating?' Hillary Clinton: Republicans that 'humor' Trump election claims 'have no spines' Trump leaves mixed legacy on veterans affairs MORE and the Democratic National Committee (DNC). That would mean the Russia investigation itself — and by extension, special counsel Robert Mueller[]Robert (Bob) MuellerBarr taps attorney investigating Russia probe origins as special counsel CNN's Toobin warns McCabe is in 'perilous condition' with emboldened Trump CNN anchor rips Trump over Stone while evoking Clinton-Lynch tarmac meeting MORE’s probe — was launched from political opposition research.

But the memo states that FBI agent Pete Strzok opened the investigation in July 2016 based on "information" about Papadapoulos, rather than the dossier.

The New York Times has previously reported that Papadapoulos bragged to an Australian diplomat that the Russians had damaging information on Clinton before the hack of the DNC became publicly known. The Australian government tipped off the FBI to what Papadapoulos had said, according to the Times.

Papadopoulos has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with special counsel Mueller’s investigation.

Still, the revelation that Strzok, who sent text messages disparaging Trump, launched the original investigation into the Trump campaign will further fuel debate over political bias at the FBI.

Strzok and Lisa Page, who is a lawyer at the FBI, exchanged private text messages during the campaign that were disparaging of Trump. Strzok and Page, who were having an affair, were both on Mueller’s special counsel team at one point before being reassigned last year

Strzok was also a central figure in the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s private email arrangement. Republicans, citing text messages between Strzok and Lisa Page, have said the FBI determined ahead of time to give Clinton an election year pass.

The memo released by Republicans on Friday, which was authored by staffers for House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes[]Devin Gerald NunesBiden's Cabinet a battleground for future GOP White House hopefuls Overnight Defense: Trump loyalist to lead Pentagon transition | Democrats ask VA for vaccine distribution plan | Biden to get classified intel reports Ex-Nunes aide linked to Biden conspiracy theories will lead Pentagon transition MORE (R-Calif.), also criticizes the FBI’s use of the Steele dossier in a warrant application.

After the counterintelligence investigation began, the memo states, the FBI used the Steele dossier, in part, to obtain surveillance warrants for Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, who is not related to Lisa Page.

Then-FBI Director James Comey[]James Brien ComeyTrump's self-pardon would clash with his impeachment The Hill's Morning Report - Presented by Mastercard - Dem leaders back smaller COVID-19 relief bill as pandemic escalates Trump blasts special counsel Durham for moving too slowly MORE sought and received a warrant to spy on Carter Page in October 2016, the document states.

The surveillance applications typically involve several layers of authentication. Justice Department lawyers must show probable cause that the target of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court warrant is acting as an agent of a foreign power.

The memo asserts that the FBI hid details about the origins of the dossier from the surveillance court. The memo also states that there is “not evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy between [Carter] Page and Papadopoulos.”

question: What exactly made the FBI convinced of foreign interference in the United States' 2016 election?

answer: It was because of the information provided by the Australian government about Papadopoulos.

question: Prior to obtaining any information from the Australian government, was the FBI ever planning to investigate any Russian threat to the election?

answer: There has already been a preliminary investigation, based on some unknown information about Papadopoulos.

question: What there any personal vendetta involved in the investigation of the Trump campaign and its links with Russia?

answer: There seems to be, considering a few FBI officers who were involved in the investigation were also involved in a disparaging conversation about Trump during his campaign.

question: Did the FBI really believe Trump would pardon himself?


text:
A new study released by the Pew Research Center supports what some of us have argued all along about online harassment: that it affects men as much as women and that the problem should not be framed as a gender issue—or defined so broadly as to chill legitimate criticism.

If anything, the study says, men tend to get more online abuse than women, including serious abuse such as physical threats (though women are, predictably, more likely to be sexually harassed). However, when people are asked about free speech vs. safety on the internet, women are more likely to come down on the side of the latter. Thus, it is very likely future efforts at speech regulation will continue to be cast as "feminist" initiatives.

Online harassment has become something of a _cause célèbre_ in the last three years. It has been explored (and deplored) in numerous media reports; it has attracted the attention of politicians and even of the United Nations.

A basic premise of these discussions has been that women, especially outspoken women, are specifically and maliciously targeted for hate, abuse, and threats; many feminists have claimed internet misogyny is the civil rights issue of our time.

The Pew survey of over 4,000 American internet users over 18 conducted in January challenges those contentions. Forty four percent of the men and 37 percent of the women said that at some point, they had experienced at least one of the behaviors the study classified as harassment.

Most of this abuse involved offensive name-calling and being embarrassed on purpose. However, 12 percent of men and 8 percent of women said they'd been the target of a physical threat; 6 percent of men and 8 percent of women said they had been stalked; 8 percent of men and 7 percent of women they had experienced "sustained harassment"; and 4 percent of men and 8 percent of women said they had been sexually harassed.

Men and women under 30, who are the most likely to spend a lot of time online, are, unsurprisingly, the most likely to experience all kinds of online abuse, including its more severe forms.

It's true that women who been targets of online abuse were more than twice as likely as men to describe their last such experience as extremely or very upsetting (35 percent vs. 16 percent). But, interestingly, there was no gender gap in actual negative effects of online harassment, be it mental stress, problems with friends and family, romantic problems, reputational damage, or trouble at work. Twelve percent of both male and female victims—or about 5 percent of all respondents—said that online harassment had made them fear for their or their loved ones' safety. One percent, with no gender difference, had been victims of doxing—the unwanted disclosure of their personal data online, ranging from real names for those who post under pseudonyms to place of work or home address.

Few will be surprised to learn that women under 30 were substantially more likely than their male peers—53 percent vs. 37 percent—to report receiving unsolicited sexually explicit images. But in a more counterintuitive finding, men in that age group were more likely than women—14 percent vs. 10 percent—to say that explicit images of them had been shared online without their consent. (For those 30 and older, the figure was 5 percent for both sexes.)

This differs sharply from feminist scholars' claims that 90 percent of so-called "revenge porn" targets women, a figure based on a self-selected and mostly female sample. But it supports a 2013 study by McAfee Security in which men were more likely to report both being threatened with having intimate photos of them posted online and actually having such photos posted.

More women than men in the Pew Study, 11 percent vs. 5 percent, said they had experienced gender-based abuse online. But this gap may be partly due to differences in what men and women perceive as gender-based. A woman who is called fat and ugly on Twitter is likely to see the insult as sexist; a man who has a similar comment slung at him will likely see it simply as a personal insult.

And all the dramatic claims about the terrible hardship of being a woman on the internet with an opinion? Entirely wrong: men in the Pew survey were almost twice as likely as women (19 percent vs. 10 percent) to say they had been harassed online due to their political opinions. Part of the disparity is no doubt due to the fact that men are more likely to talk politics on the internet; in one recent study, 60 to 65 percent of Twitter users tweeting on political topics were men. But it certainly doesn't sound like men who talk politics have it any easier.

There is really no way to massage the Pew data to fit the women-as-victim narrative—but some tried. _Gizmodo_'s Bryan Menegus simply misstated the findings, asserting that although men are targeted more overall, "women—especially young women—make up an outsized proportion of users who experience the most severe forms of harassment, like stalking and threats." _Vox_'s Aja Romano wrote that "more severe harassment disproportionately affects younger internet users, women, and people of color."

But the dishonest reporting prize goes to _Slate_'s Christina Cauterucci, who cherry-picked the few numbers showing worse harassment of women, ignored the ones showing equal or worse abuse of men, and finished by upbraiding males for not taking online harassment seriously. Headline: "Four in 10 People Get Harassed Online But Young Men Don't Think It's a Big Deal, Says New Survey."

As bad as it is, Cauterucci's article highlights the survey's real gender split on the issue of safety vs. freedom online. Asked whether offensive online content is taken too seriously or too often excused, women are evenly split; men come down, nearly 2:1, for "taken too seriously." Among women under 30, a small majority (54 percent) agree that offensives online content is taken too seriously; but three-quarters of young men agree.

The divide was even sharper on the question of whether it's more important for people to be able to "speak their minds freely" or "feel welcome and safe" online: 56 percent of men opted for more freedom, two-thirds of women for more safety. (Interestingly, despite millennials' reputation for wanting safe spaces, young adults of both sexes were more pro-free speech than their elders—but the gender gap was still large: speaking freely was a higher priority for nearly two-thirds of men under 30 and only four out of ten women.)

Before anyone rushes to declare women enemies of freedom, it should be noted that the sexes actually don't differ all that much in their view of what should be done about online harassment. Only slightly more women than men (35 percent vs. 29 percent) say that elected officials have a major role to play in combating it; while women are more likely than men to see a major role for law enforcement (54 vs. 43 percent), the age gap on this issue is far larger (58 percent of seniors vs. 37 percent of young adults).

Meanwhile, there is a broad consensus that social media platforms and other online services have a responsibility to stop harassing behavior by users: 82 percent of women and 75 percent of men agree. Clearly, both men and women believe that some curbs are necessary, but they tend to want the lines drawn in different places. It is also likely that women's views of the issue are influenced by the false perception that women are singled out for constant and vicious abuse on the internet.

The Pew report points out that online harassment is, to a large extent, a subjective concept. Even something as ostensibly straightforward as a physical threat can be a matter of interpretation: Is "I hope you get cancer" a threat? How about "Kill yourself"? The definition of sexual harassment is even blurrier: "Wow, you look hot" in response to a photo posted to Twitter or Facebook could be sexual harassment to an overzealous feminist but a perfectly acceptable compliment to someone else.

The Pew survey shows that a small number of people experience internet abuse severe enough to cause serious negative consequences, including problems at work (3 percent of all users and 7 percent of young adults), financial loss (2 percent), and trouble getting a job or housing (1 percent each). It's also troubling that more than one in ten internet users have feared for their safety due to online harassment, even if it's hard to tell how often those fears were based on a serious threat.

Is there a need for better law enforcement responses when online harassment escalates to the point of causing real harm or credible fear of harm? Probably. And, of course, service providers have every right to curb behavior that is not illegal but causes persistent aggravation to other users and even drives them away from online platforms.

Unfortunately, the social media's attempts to police harassment have been plagued by accusations of left-wing bias and political favoritism. And some feminists and other progressives have a disturbing tendency to equate criticism with abuse.

Just recently, culture and videogame critic Anita Sarkeesian, one of the most high-profile targets of online harassment, called YouTuber Carl Benjamin—a.k.a. "Sargon of Akkad"—"one of [her] biggest harassers." Yet Benjamin's videos critiquing her are well within the bounds of polemics; indeed, he has voiced support for the suspension of Twitter accounts that engage in harassment, though also suggesting that Sarkeesian is not particularly bothered by it. (Despite numerous accusations of harassment, the "Sargon of Akkad" account remains in good standing with YouTube; Patreon, the popular crowdfunding platform, also recently said that he was not in violation of its rules of conduct.)

There is no doubt that severe harassment can chill speech and debate on the internet. But accusations of harassment can also easily turn into a weapon for silencing and punishing legitimate speech that someone finds undesirable.

Efforts to find the right balance are not helped by peddling a false women-in-jeopardy narrative. It would be a good idea to remind everyone, including women, that annoying words on the internet can nearly always be safely ignored.

Ladies, woman up.

question: Summarize how men get more online abuse than women.

answer: The article states that a study released by the Pew Research Center supports the claim that men tend to get more online abuse than women, which includes serious abuse such as physical threats. 44% of the men versus 37% of the women said that at some point they had experience a behavior that's classified as harassment. Men in the study experienced a slightly higher percent of being stalked, having sustained harassment, and a target of a physical threat than women. Interestingly, it was found that men under 30 were more likely to say that explicit images of them had been nonconsensually shared online, and that they had been threatened with having intimate photos of them posted online. Additionally, men who talk politics are more likely to get harassed due to their online opinions of politics.

question: What does the text say about law enforcement?

answer: In regards to the sexes' view on what should be done about online harassment, both believe elected officials have a major role to play in combating it. However, women are more likely than men to see a major role for law enforcement, 54% vs. 43% of men. The article ponders whether there's a need for better law enforcement responses when online harassment escalates to the point of causing real hard, or true fear of harm. The author believes it's possible there's a need.

question: What does the text say about women under 30?

answer: Women who are under thirty, who are most likely to spend a lot of time online, are the most likely to experience all kinds of online abuse alongside men of the same age group. Women under 30 were way more likely than males (53% versus 37%) to report receiving unsolicited sexually explicit images. Young women also make up a large proportion of users who experience the most severe forms of harassment like stalking and threats. However, they were less likely to have explicit images of them shared online without their consent compared to men. 54% of this age group of women agree that offensive online content is taken too seriously. Only four out of ten women were found to see speaking freely on the internet as a priority. Overall, it's purported that men under 30 seem to get more online abuse than women under 30.

question: What does the text say about sexual harassment?

answer: The text explains that more women have said to have been sexually harassed online than men have. They are in general more likely to be sexually harassed. Women are more likely to report receiving unsolicited sexually explicit images than men. Younger men however report having explicit images of them posted without their consent more than women. This contradicts some scholars claims that 90% of revenge porn targets women. In terms of policing threats online, the definition of sexual harassment is blurrier. It's not clear what should and shouldn't be labeled as sexual harassment.

question: Summarize the Obama administration's take on online harassment.


text:
I am only familiar with this term when I know about the anime.

-   Is this term only used in Japan?

Sometimes I read light novels on the internet but I never see the book myself. How is a light novel different from a regular novel? Except for light novels being... light, are there any other differences?

And usually I see the cover done in a manga-style drawing:

-   Are light novels used exclusively for anime or manga adaptations?
-   Are there any light novels that do not use manga-style drawings?

I tried to search "Light novel cover" and the result is as expected:

[Google Images results for "Light novel cover"]

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senshin♦

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asked Aug 7 '14 at 11:08

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DarjeelingDarjeeling

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What is a light novel?

A light novel is a style of Japanese novel targeting teenagers and young adults. These novels contain mostly illustrations in anime or manga style. They are usually published in _bunkobon_ size (A6 – 105 x 148mm). Light novels are not very long. The length is comparable to a novella in US publishing terms.

Light novels are very popular in Japan as you can see in Japanese bookstores.

[Japanese Bookstore]

Where does the term come from and what does it mean?

The word “light novel” is actually not an English word. It is a _wasei-eigo_ (literally translated “Japanese-made English”) which is a Japanese term formed from words in the English language.

The term is everywhere used where you read such novels. In Japan you will use the word _raito noberu_ (sometimes also _ranobe_ or _rainobe_ as an abbreviation) which is the Japanese term of light novel.

In the western culture light novels are normally called Japanese Novella.

What is the difference between a novel and a light novel?

In short: Light Novels are usually shorter and they also contain few illustrations. In addition they are easier to read. This is particular because the text contains much simpler and easier to read modern _kanji_.

The illustrations are mostly at the beginning of capitals or when a new characters respectively a new place is described. On the picture below you see an example on how a light novel is build up. Left an image from the scene and to the right the text to read.

[Example Page]

In typical light novels you will find mostly black and white illustrations. But today you also find many novels that include colored illustrations.

[Colored Illustration]

Why is a light novel styled like an anime or manga?

The reason because light novels are styled like anime or manga is because of their history and they are actually from Japan.

  Light novels are an evolution of pulp magazines. To please their audience, in the 1970s, most of the Japanese pulp magazines, which had already changed from the classic style to the popular anime style covers, began to put illustrations in the beginning of each story and included articles about popular movies, anime and video games.

  The narrative evolved to please the new generations and became fully illustrated with the popular style. The popular serials are printed in novels.

  In recent years, light novels' stories have been popular choices for adaptation into manga, anime, and live-action films, though in the case of the former two, usually only the first two novels are adapted.

Information\ from\ wikipedia,\ englishlightnovels,\ animanga.wikia,\ tvtropes.

Pictures\ from\ englishlightnovels,\ afrobonzai.unblog.

answered Aug 7 '14 at 14:07

[]

When referring to a novel, you'd be talking about...

  A fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.

Therefore I always assumed a light novel to be a short story of sorts, something you could read on the bus or on the train. After looking it up, I was wrong. A light novel apparently is a Jenglish or wasei-eigo expression for a novella, which would be a short novel, but not as short as a short story according to it's wiki page.

So before I continue and answer your questions, I'll let wikipedia explain what a light novel would be.

  A light novel (ライトノベル raito noberu?) is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting middle and high school students (young adult demographic). "Light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Such short, light novels are often called ranobe (ラノベ?) or LN in the West. They are typically not more than 40,000–50,000 words long (the shorter ones being equivalent to a novella in US publishing terms), rarely exceed 200 pages, often have dense publishing schedules, are usually published in bunkobon size, and are often illustrated. The text is often serialized in anthology magazines before collection in book form.

IS THIS TERM ONLY USE IN JAPAN?

Yes it is. If you would use the term in the west, you would be referring to Japanese novella.

HOW IS A LIGHT NOVEL DIFFERENT FROM A REGULAR NOVEL?

I guess novels would printed in the A5 format, but a light novel would be printed in the Bunkobon format, which would be the A6 format.

IS A LIGHT NOVEL USED EXCLUSIVELY FOR ANIME OR MANGA ADAPTATION?

Since the target group of light novels are primarily middle and high school students, it wouldn't surprise me if most of them are. They aren't exclusively used for anime or manga adaptations though. If you read further on the wiki page it is mentioned that popular movies as Star Wars have also influenced the content. But they do mention that

  In recent years, light novels' stories have been popular choices for adaptation into manga, anime, and live-action films, though in the case of the former two, usually only the first two novels are adapted.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

While searching about Light novels I encountered the wiki how page on Light novels. So if you ever wanted to write one yourself, check it out.

answered Aug 7 '14 at 14:09

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Peter RaevesPeter Raeves

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Is this term only used in Japan?

This term ORIGINATED IN JAPAN as a 和製英語 (_wasei eigo_ [meaning Japan-style English] = Japanese-invented WORDS THAT "SUPERFICIALLY APPEAR TO COME FROM ENGLISH, BUT IN FACT DO NOT"). _Wasei eigo_ differs from 外来語 (_gairaigo_ = loanwords or real “words from abroad”) and Engrish (misuse or accidental corruption of the English language by native speakers of some East Asian languages).

The term "light novel" has been adapted from Japan for USE IN OTHER ASIAN COUNTRIES, where it refers to imported light novels from Japan as well as to LOCALLY-PRODUCED BOOKS OF SIMILAR STYLE (In Korea, it is called "라이트 노벨" [_laiteu nobel_], in China it is called "輕小說" [_qīng xiǎoshuō_] = "light fiction"), whereas IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING COUNTRIES, the term refers EXCLUSIVELY TO JAPANESE LIGHT NOVELS which are imported under that term. In the English usage, the term is only used to refer to such books produced in Japan (i.e. there cannot be a legitimate American light novel just in the same way as there cannot be American anime).

How is a light novel different from a regular novel? Except for light novels being... light, are there any other differences?

-   A light novel is short in page length and usually features intermittent manga-style illustrations --- but that same description can be said of many Japanese children's novels! IN CONTRAST, LIGHT NOVELS ARE FOR ALL AGES & DEMOGRAPHICS. Although it is approximately equivalent in length to the Western novella, THE LIGHT NOVEL CANNOT BE CALLED A JAPANESE NOVELLA: the Japanese term for "novella" is 「中編小説」(_chuuhen shousetsu_), and is not used to refer to light novels (it is used for short stories by Murakami Haruki, for example, which are considered high-quality literature).
-   Though each published volume is short, light novels can stretch into long series. Some of the series premier in magazines, so you can think of those like LITERARY SERIALS (think Charles Dickens); a serial is EPISODIC, "a printed format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in sequential installments." As such, a serial is written differently than a full-length novel that gets published into a chunky book at once. A serial must grab the reader's interest in the first chapter, and plot out the development so that at least one exciting thing happens in each chapter. It intentionally ends chapters with a cliff-hanger when possible. It cannot leisurely build to the climax, or take a whole chapter or so to only tell you what a minor character is doing somewhere else (which a novel printed all at once is free to do). Thus, THE FORMAT OF THE STORY IS STRUCTURED IN A SPECIFIC WAY THAT OTHER NOVELS ARE NOT BOUND TO. This is another aspect in which the light novel differs from average Japanese children's novels. This is also why, if _Harry Potter_ had been written in Japanese with manga-style illustrations, it still would not have been a light novel: it is not short in length and it was published all at once rather than serialized.
-   A large percent of light novels are read by people involved in some sort of SUB-CULTURE, such as manga, anime, and/or gaming. However, just because a certain percentage of light novels include _moe_, light novels are not limited to such content and tone; ALL GENRES ARE INCLUDED, from horror to romance to sci-fi. Some are the novel-equivalent or adaption of shoujo manga and are marketed at young girls. Some genres are less likely to be exported based on the otaku demographics outside of Japan, so those genres are less well-known to the international subculture community.
-   IN CONTRAST TO STANDARD JAPANESE (AND WESTERN) NOVELLAS AND NOVELS FOR ADULTS, light novels are OFTEN ILLUSTRATED.

Are light novels used exclusively for anime or manga adaptations?

-   No, some light novels are serialized as their own original works in non-manga magazines and NEVER HAVE A RELATION TO MANGA.
-   Some light novels now ORIGINATE ONLINE and never have a relation to manga or any other mediums.
-   Some light novels are created as ADAPTIONS of manga/anime/games after the manga series or game has gained a lot of popularity.
-   Some light novels start as original works and then GET ADAPTED into manga/anime/games/live-action afterward.

Are there any light novels that do not use manga-style drawings?

Yes. Artists of the earliest light novels included those who worked in 油絵 (_abura-e_ = OIL PAINTING) and 水彩画 (_suisaiga_ = WATERCOLOR). In 1987, the 少女小説 (_shoujo shosetsu_ = girl's novels) genre began, and for the first time shoujo manga style was used, which helped establish the trend of manga-style art as the standard for light novels from the 1990s.

While illustrations are a common feature, SOME LIGHT NOVELS DO NOT INCLUDE ANY ILLUSTRATIONS WHATSOEVER. The ones without any illustrations are less likely to be exported to other countries and are therefore less well-known outside of Japan.

[]

answered Jun 1 '15 at 0:36

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seijitsuseijitsu

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  Is this term only use in Japan?

It originated in Japan but not exclusive of Japan. There are light novel writers in Korea and China, since it can be used for anything written within certain criteria.

  How is light novel different from regular novel?

If I had to describe it in few words: a easier to read novel.

If you check out some novels, like _Another_ and see most Light Novels the difference is evident. Light novels have shorter paragraphs, characters less complicated to read (i.e. the appearance of obscure Kanji in a sentence is rare), and generally shorter.

  Is light novel use exclusively for anime or manga adaptation?

Actually, most light novels (LN from now on) don't make it to anime production, and some are adapted to manga to promote the novel itself rather than to make a illustrated carbon copy of the LN. This is, as with all business, mostly motivated by marketing reasons, rather than some secret rule. Granted, if your LN is popular, it will get advertised in more media (manga, anime, live action, etc.) than if it's not popular.

  Is there any light novel that do not use manga style drawing?

Drawing depends on the artist, and most artist also do other things like doujins or the very manga. The drawing is merely a representation of what they know to do, rather than following a predefined style.

answered Aug 12 '14 at 0:24

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BraiamBraiam

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The expanded definition and description of "light novel" appears to correspond to pulp fiction which started as magazine serials in the 19th century in English and Western European language markets - with the exception of it having the sensibility to be age appropriate for young-adults or the modern YA market. The format length appears to be driven by the market, and series light novels are much like series pulps - but with aiming the stories to be age appropriate for 10 and 11 year olds (and up).

answered Apr 11 '18 at 14:08

[]

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged terminology light-novel-production or ask your own question.

question: How does a Japanese light novel differ from a Novella

answer: A light novel is short in page length and usually features intermittent manga-style illustrations. Although it is approximately equivalent in length to the Western novella, THE LIGHT NOVEL CAN NOT BE CALLED A JAPANESE NOVELLA: the Japanese term for "novella" is 「中編小説」(_chuuhen shousetsu_), and is not used to refer to light novels. Light novels have shorter paragraphs, characters less complicated to read (i.e. the appearance of obscure Kanji in a sentence is rare), and generally shorter.

question: How does the sum of a number of Japanese light novels create a longer story?

answer: Though each published volume is short, light novels can stretch into a long series. A serial is EPISODIC, a printed format by which a single larger work, often a work of narrative fiction, is published in sequential installments. It intentionally ends chapters with a cliff-hanger when possible so that the reader is motivated to read the next installment.


text:
“Tell us Roger, what do you think you will sound like?”
“My song….hmm…”
Roger closed his eyes, and began to drift between his memories.

Flashback.

A young Roger was staring up at a T.V. screen. There was an interview with a man dressed in a crisp suit regarding his latest invention, the life song. Life songs were a strange concept. A song formulated by the memories of a person. It was an one hour soundtrack of a person’s life and by listening to it, one could hear the entire collection of memories stored in a person’s brain. All the ups and downs of a person’s life converted to major and minor keys, and peacetime and turbulence into tempo. By listening to one’s song, you would be able to feel every experience ever felt by that person. However, process only worked on dead bodies, after all neural activity had stopped.  It had hardly been released worldwide a month ago and it was already being called the greatest trend of the 22nd century. As Roger watched the man talk about the complexities involving scanning the brain for prominent memories, Roger felt a calling. What an idea! A person’s whole life nested into one clean hour of universal expression!

Back to the present.

“You know, I’ve never really thought about it. I prefer not to over think these things, sometimes it’s just better to let them happen.”

“Words of wisdom from a wise man. Now, we’ve all heard of your career, but where and how did it begin? Do you have any advice for people who’re also heading in this direction?”

Flashback.

Roger was 17 now. He was in a crowded room with white walls. There was a large tube like structure near the back, almost like an MRI scanner. It was hooked up to a computer and what appeared to be a confusing series of switches and dials. Roger was interning at a small local company that produced life songs. Roger stepped up to the dials for the first time in his life. He watched an old man’s body being loaded into the scanner and fidgeted as he prepared to debut into his desired career. As he put on the headphones and scanned the memories of the person, he realized how difficult it was. Finding the right memories to represent the person’s life, adjusting the pitch and rhythm to correct the flow of the song, censoring out unnecessary details, everything had to be perfect. After six grueling hours, it was complete. As Roger listened to it, he was severely disappointed. It sounded all wrong. He wiped the disk clean and started over. Day after day, Roger tried again and again. At last, four days after he started, it was complete to perfection. Roger put on the headphones to listen to his masterpiece, featuring the life of the old man. He pressed play. The beats pounded in his ears. The soothing melodies blended into the harsh instrumentals and the tempo shifted and danced with the mood. Roger took off the headphones and stood in stunned silence. He had witnessed something sacred and understood the importance of it, and he wanted more.

Back to the present.

“My career huh? Well, my career started out when I was just 17 years old, interning at a now extinct company started by a few family friends. It was hard at first and I wasn’t very good at it-“

“THE Roger not being good at life-composing?”

“Well, even the great have to learn. Over time we get better at whatever we do, we develop skills which we didn’t have, skills which we now take for granted. And, if there was any advice I wanted to give, this is it. Just work hard, keep trying and you’ll make it there one day.”

“Words of inspiration. Now, Roger, we all know that you’ve been around since before the first life song was produced. What all of us are wondering is, how, in your opinion, has the world changed as a result of this technology?”

Flashback.

Roger was now a successful young man. Working in one of the most prestigious record labels, Roger had it all. Money, success, fame. His face appeared on magazines. People would ask for his autograph. He had his pick of women and lifestyle. Despite all this, Roger felt a deep seated uneasiness and dissatisfaction. Roger felt as though by extracting the memories of a person, he could see who those people really were on the inside. He saw the sanctity of people’s lives being violated. For example, he had once met an elderly woman who had signed a document requesting that her life song be never extracted, and her mind untouched after death. However, her family members countersigned it minutes after her death, hoping to know what she truly sounded like. Roger was introduced to the true face of disillusionment that day, as he saw the faces of the woman’s family shift uneasily. The woman’s song was a cacophony of confusion and depression, the few relaxing melodies spread out across large intervals, lasting only a few seconds. There was also a movie star (a former particular favorite of Roger’s) who’s song revealed the actor’s true personality, shallow and callous.  These sort of events tended to distress Roger. He had seen people for whom their song had become an obsession. They lived their lives just to make it sound good. Everywhere he turned he saw mothers who disciplined their screaming children by telling them that their life songs would sound terrible if they didn’t comply with their parent’s demands. There was even an artist, who led his life specifically to make it sound in a certain way, without giving regard to any human aspects of life. While all this lead to good songs, it was only superficially good. Like popular music on the radio, it sounded good just to sound good. There was no depth to the sound. Roger felt as though people had forgotten how to appreciate reality without thinking about how it would influence their songs. As a result, Roger wasn’t entirely sure about he felt regarding the “22nd century’s greatest achievement”.

Back to the present.

“Well, the world is always changing, so it’s hard to tell. But I’d like to think that for some people, they take it too far, they forget what life is and only remember what their song might be.”

“There’s some food for thought! Now, before we wrap up here tonight, do you have any final comments?”

Flashback.

The alarm clock rang loudly as the sun shone in through the curtains. Roger slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. Roger got up and threw the curtains back. He threw the curtains back and marveled at the beauty of the sunrise. Slowly he walked to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. Roger was by no means a member of the youth. His hair had finished graying, his skin had become wrinkly like a raisin, and he lacked the energy he once had. However, in exchange for age, he gained wisdom. Upon finishing his morning rituals, he went to his closet and sifted through his collection of clothing, looking for the appropriate articles. He finally settled on a simple yet comfortable monochrome shirt, and inconspicuous pants. He got into his car and entered the destination into the autodrive. As he sat back he began to reflect upon his life. Roger remembered staring up into a bright T.V. screen and watching an interview with a man who had invented the life song. Roger remembered that awe and hoped that some people would be inspired with the interview which he was scheduled for today. He stared absent-mindedly out the window musing over his life. Outside he saw many people with headphones on, ignoring the world around them, drowning themselves in their own plastic fantasies. Roger wondered if they had even noticed the perfection in the world around them. Roger was drawn out of his thoughts as he arrived at the front gate of the T.V. station. He opened the door and walked outside towards the building where he was enthusiastically welcomed by a young man waiting for him.

Back to the present.

“Final thoughts? Well, there’s just one thing that’s been bothering me these days.”

Roger paused and cleared his throat.

“It might sound  ironic coming from a man of my profession, but, I believe that with all this technology around us, Silence is a…a, truly forgotten art”

The interview ended uneventfully and the audience was left to reflect upon Roger’s statement. The following year after that passed rather quietly. Roger announced his retirement though, due to his experience his advice was still greatly sought after. Unfortunately, all  living things must come to an end. Roger, being a living thing, had run out of time, and died peacefully and content.
After his death, Roger was carried to the neural noise controller. The machine booted up slowly. Roger, being a man who had listened to the life songs of various people every day for over a decade, was having his life song being broadcasted internationally, by people who eagerly wanted to know what he would sound like after absorbing so many different sounds. Finally the machine booted up. Roger was reverently loaded into it. The lights flashed and the machine let out a soft glow. Roger’s successor worked carefully as he converted Roger’s mind into sound. At last, it was done. A buzz of excitement could be heard as it began to play.

It started out with a crescendo, building up to a symphony of violins and drums all in the exposition. However as the song progressed, it quieted down. Gradually, the sound became a hush. The distant hum of life passing by in the background was heard. Eventually even that disappeared and all that could be heard was the faint sound of birds chirping and leaves cracking. The faint gush of a waterfall could be discerned from the peaceful sounds of nature. If you closed your eyes, you could see sunlight beaming down from the gaps in the trees as nature grew and continued, without anyone influencing it in any direction. There was a melody, but it was not made of instruments. It was pure nature.

Roger’s song reflected his inner peace and tranquility. His ability to live life without worrying about how it may sound, without forcing it in any direction, and letting things flow. There was a subtle beauty in the tranquility of his song, but it was lost among the noise of the masses, who strove to best each other and to attain “beauty” without once stopping to realize why they did so.

title: In Requiem

question: What does the text say about how a life song is created?

answer: When a person dies, their entire collection of memories is scanned and made into a song that represents the person's life.

question: What does the text say about how Roger's career started?

answer: Roger started as an intern at 17 at a company that produced life songs. He was not good at composing life songs at first, but he practiced every day until he got better.

question: What does the text say about what bothered Roger about life songs?

answer: Despite his success and fame, Roger felt that life songs violate the sanctity of a person's life as some people become obsessed with making sure that their life songs sound good. There are also some whose memories are extracted to create their life song even though it is against their will.

question: What does the text say about the awards and recognition that Roger received?


text:
The Full Story

Some plants can be poisonous if you eat them. Others can hurt you if you get them on your skin. For some plants, all parts of the plant are poisonous. For others, only certain parts of the plant are harmful. The danger can range from mild irritation to severe illness or death.

Even non-poisonous plants can cause choking if someone tries to eat them. Every situation is different; these lists are just a guide.

-   If someone eats a poisonous plant, call Poison Control for advice.
-   Find out the names of your plants. If someone eats a plant, Poison Control needs to know what it is!
-   Keep indoor plants where children can’t reach them.
-   Watch young children carefully when they play outdoors.
-   Teach children always to ask an adult before eating or drinking anything.
-   When camping or picnicking - only eat wild plants if you know FOR CERTAIN what they are. People have died after mistaking hemlock for wild carrots.

The table below is an illustrated list of selected plants. The information divided into 3 sections:

-   poisonous plants,
-   non-poisonous plants, and
-   mushrooms.

Call Poison Control if you have plants that aren't on the list.

Poisonous Plants

 POISONOUS PLANTS
Common Name
Botanical Name
Photo
Apple (seeds, leaves)
_Malus spp._
[apple]
Apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines (seeds, leaves)
_Prunus spp._
[plum pit][peach pit]
 Autumn crocus
_Colchicum autumnale_
[autumn crocus]
Azalea, rhododendron
_Rhododendron_
[pink azalea flowers]
Caladium
_Caladium_
[calacium]
Castor bean
_Ricinis communis_
[castor bean plant][castor bean necklace]
Daffodil
_Narcissus_
[daffodil]
Deadly nightshade
_Atropa belladonna_
[atropa belladonna large attrib]

Dumbcane
_Dieffenbachia_
[dumbcane deffenbachia]
Elephant ear
_Colocasia esculenta_
[elephant ear]
Foxglove
_Digitalis purpurea_
[foxglove digitalis purpurea]
Holly
_Ilex_
[hilly]
Iris
_Iris_
[iris]
Jack-in-the-pulpit
_Arisaema triphyllum_
[jack in the pulpit]
Jerusalem cherry
_Solanum pseudocapsicum_
[jerusalem cherry]
Jimson weed
_Datura stramonium_
[jimson weed]
Lantana
_Lantana camara_
[lantana camara]
Lily-of-the-valley
_Convallaria majalis_
[lily of the valley]
Mayapple
_Podophyllum peltatum_
[mayapple fruit]
[mayapple]
Mistletoe
_Viscum album_
[mistletoe]
Monkshood
_Aconitum napellus,_ other _Aconitum spp._
[monkshood]
Morning glory
_Ipomoea_
[morning glory]
Mountain laurel
_Kalmia latifolia_
[mountain laurel]
Nightshade
_Solanum spp._
[nightshade]
Oleander
_Nerium oleander_
[oleander]
Peace lily
_Spathiphyllum_
[peace lily]
Pennyroyal
_Mentha pulegium_
[pennyroyal]
Philodendron
_Philodendron_
[philodendron]
Poison hemlock
_Conium maculatum _
[poison hemlock]
Poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac
_Toxicodendron spp._
[poison ivy]
Pokeweed
_Phytolacca americana_
[pokeweed purple berries pokeberries]
Pothos
_Epipremnum aureum_
[photos]
Rhubarb (leaves)
_Rheum spp._
[rhubarb leaves]
Rosary pea
_Abrus precatorius_
[rosary peas]
Water hemlock
_Cicuta maculata_
[water hemlcok]
Yew
_Taxus_
[yew]

Non-Poisonous Plants

This table shows a few non-poisonous plants. Familiarize yourself with these, along with the poisonous plants above.

Non-Poisonous Plants
Common Name
Botanical Name
Photo
African violet
_Saintpaulia ionantha_
[african violet]
Begonia
_Begonia_
[begonia]
Christmas cactus
_Schlumbergera bridgesii_
[christmas cactus]
Coleus
_Coleus_
[coleus]
Dandelion
_Taraxacum officinale_
[dandelion]
_ _Dracaena
_Dracaena_
[dracaena]
Forsythia
_Forsythia_
[forsythia]
Impatiens
_Impatiens_
[impatiens]
Inch plant
_Tradescantia fluminesis_
[inch plant]
Jade
_Crassula argentea_
[jade]
Petunia
_Petunia_
[petunia]
Poinsettia (may cause irritation)
_Euphorbia pulcherrima _
[poinsettia]
Rose
_Rosa_
[roses]
Spider plant
_Chlorophytum comosum_
[spider plant]
Swedish ivy
_Plectranthus spp._
[sweedish ivy]
 Wild strawberry
_Fragaria virginiensis_
[wild strawberry]

Mushrooms

Eating any amount of any wild mushroom could be very dangerous. Mushrooms may look alike but be very different. Call Poison Control right away if anyone eats any part of a mushroom picked from a yard or the woods.

_There are bold mushroom hunters and here are old mushroom hunters, but there are no old bold mushroom hunter. -- A wise person._

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For More Information

Wild Mushroom Warning (The Poison Post®)
Azaleas and Rhododendrons (The Poison Post®)

Daffodils (The Poison Post®)

Foxglove: Toxic to the Heart (The Poison Post®)

Bird of Paradise Plant is Beautiful and Non-Toxic (The Poison Post®)

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References

Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Dart RC. 2010 Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 28th annual report. _Clinical Toxicology._ 2011;49:910-941.

Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2009 Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 27th annual report. _Clinical Toxicology._ 2010;48:979-1178.

Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Green JL, Rumack BH, Giffin SL. 2008 Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 26th annual report. _Clinical Toxicology._ 2009;47:911-1084.

Bronstein AC, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Rumack BH, Dart RC. 2011 Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 29th annual report. _Clinical Toxicology._ 2012;911-1164.

Mowry JB, Spyker DA, Cantilena LR Jr, Bailey JE, Ford M. 2012 Annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers’’ National Poison Data System (NPDS): 30th annual report. _Clinical Toxicology._ 2013;51:949–1229.

Palmer MP, Betz JM. Plants. In:  Nelson LS, Lewin NA, Howland MA, Hoffman RS, Goldfrank LR, Flomenbaum. Goldfrank’s toxicologic emergencies, 9th ed. New York: McGraw Hill; 2011.  p. 1537-1560.

USDA, NRCS. 2014. The PLANTS Database [Accessed 15 June 2014] National Plant Data Team, Greensboro, NC 27401-4901 USA.

question: What are the ways to avoid ingesting poisonous plants as prescribed by the article?

answer:
1. Educating yourself about plants knowing their names and ow they look.
2. Teaching children to always ask adults before eating or drinking anything.
3. By eating only plants you are sure you can identify.


text:
DISCLAIMER: I am not a very good writer, neither are my ideas novel. This story may creep some out, and that is the intended effect. Unfortunately, I don't think I developed the main character well enough for the effect to really take hold. Comments and criticisms are welcome.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
He stood silently over the fresh corpse of the bodacious, blonde adolescent. There was a backpack strap roped around the woman’s neck, signaling that the obvious cause of death was strangulation. The observer bent down and placed the tips of his right index and middle fingers on the adolescent’s wrist to check for a pulse. There was none.

“I really do apologize for all this,” bemoaned the man as he stood back up and soaked in the surroundings. He found himself locked in his victim’s room – in her family’s house – and quite enjoyed the thrill of knowing that any moment the victim’s family could arrive back home, check on their daughter, and put an end to the man’s ruse. “You won’t mind if I dress you up, will you?” There was no response. There could be no response. The man was having a conversation with his deceased victim.

The murderer rummaged through the victim’s closet, running his fingers through the variety of silk and cotton fabrics that delicately hung within. A blue, silk dress caught the man’s eye. It was a dress that he had seen the victim wearing a few weeks prior. Had he not seen the victim wearing the dress, she might not be dead today. “I remember it vividly,” whispered the feminine voice as he removed the dress from its hanger and compressed it against himself. He proceeded to tuck his head into his chest and take a whiff of the dress’s odor. He could smell her victim’s flowery perfume. It took him back, reminding him of why he was there – why he had strangled his love.

The courtyard of Williamson High School left was not very pleasant, as the poorly maintained foliage obstructed the walkways and graffiti from previous graduating classes decorated many of the buildings and other structures. Still, it was the best place to people watch in all of the school. There were approximately seven or so standalone buildings in the courtyard, one for core each subject, plus electives, a cafeteria, a gymnasium, and an administrative building. Students had to walk through the courtyard to get to their next class. Students also had the option of sitting down at one of the picnic tables under a covered gondola that were scattered throughout the high school’s courtyard. One such gondola was in the center of the courtyard.

“Look at him,” remarked a prepubescent, male voice as he pointed at a classmate of his. “The kid is such a tool,” he added. “He’s in my geometry class and, he’s always offering to help the girls understand slope. I can’t stand him.” The angry teenager was pointing at his male classmate that was joking around with a cute brunette and one of her blonde friends. “Probably thinks they’ll sleep with him if he acts smart and generous. Does he ever offer to help me or someone else if we need help? Nope, because I don’t have a pair of tits! Fucking jackass.”

“What is he, your boyfriend?”

“No! I’m not gay; the kid’s just a dick!”

“It sounds like you have a crush on him,” replied one of the teenage boys sitting under the gondola. “Why don’t you ask him out? Maybe he’ll say yes, and you two can live happily ever after.”

“I’m not gay! I just don’t like that kid! He’s fake! He’s a big, fat phony!”

As the two teenage boys continued their banter with one another, a third boy – about sixteen, the oldest of the trio – kept his gaze fixated on the tool that his friend had pointed out to him. He interrupted his friends banter for a second to ask a question. “Who’s the blonde? She’s cute,” he commented.

“That’s Alyssa,” replied the original boy. “Why? Do you want to fuck her?”

The third boy blushed, unsure whether he should respond or keep to himself. He decided with the latter, gathered his stuff, and then took off for his next class. He kept his eyes fixated on the beautiful blonde teen, wearing the stunning blue dress that exhibited her petite figure.  She had set the trap, and he had taken the bait. He was obsessed with Alyssa.

Rather than go to his next class, boy number three followed Alyssa to hers. She was taking calculus, which meant that she was decently smart as well. “She’s amazing,” boy number three thought to himself as he made his way back towards his English class. He could not thinking about Alyssa. She, just from a glance, had made him feel things he had never felt before. The rest of the school day continued without incident. It was not until the end of the day that he saw Alyssa again. She was walking home. He could follow her. He could find out where he lives. So he did.

Alyssa lived in an upper middle class subdivision, containing about ten or so homes. Small residential developments were typical of the area. Each lot was about on an acre or so, which meant that the houses were spaced just well enough apart to give everyone privacy and space from one another. Alyssa’s home sat in the front of the development. Trees and bushes covered her home’s lot. They gave her stalker the cover he needed to watch her house, to watch Alyssa, without arising any suspicion. He spent many afternoons and nights concealed in the bushes near her bedroom, stealing a glimpse of her whenever he could. He learned a lot about Alyssa during these days and nights. He learned that she volunteered at the Humane Society, was obsessed with pop music celebrities like Justin Bieber, and was otherwise a generic high school girl prepping for college.

Armed with this knowledge, the boy decided to approach Alyssa one afternoon while she was walking home from school. “Hello,” commented the boy. “I’m Charles.”

“I’m Alyssa.”

“That’s a nice name. Anyways, I’m in Ms. Sanzone’s class, and I saw you walking out of her classroom the other day – god that sounds creepy – and I forgot what the calculus homework is for tonight, do you happen to know what it is?”

“Uhm, I wrote it down. I think it’s some derivatives problem set.”

“Yeah, but which one?”

Charles must have alarmed Alyssa in some way. The girl immediately closed up and ceased talking to Charles. “I don’t know, sorry,” she hastily replied as she upped her pace in an attempt to get away from the creepy sixteen year old. Had she spotted him stalking her?

“Did I do something wrong,” cried out Charles as he began running to keep up with Alyssa. She started running, too. She was almost home. She would be safe inside her house. “Which problem set is it? Are you going to tell me?”

“Just leave me alone! Go away! I know it was you the other night!”

Charles stopped dead in his tracks. Alyssa was rejecting him. She was scared of him, and he did not understand why. He had felt that he and she had bonded during those stalking sessions. She undressed with him around. She had intimate conversations with him around. They had become close, even if they had not spoken with one another. Charles was devastated. There was only one way for him to fix this. He had to talk with Alyssa. After a few moments of collecting his thoughts, he proceeded to walk towards her home.

“Alyssa, I’m sorry,” stammered Charles as he banged on her door.

“Go away! Or I’ll call the cops!”

Charles backed away from the door, and proceeded around the house to Alyssa’s window. It was open, just as it was on most sunny days. She had forgot to close it. Charles carved a hole out of the window screen with a pen, and then climbed through it. He heard a few footsteps coming from the hallway and figured that it was Alyssa coming in to her room. In a panic, he hid behind where the door would open.

As Alyssa walked through the doorframe, she could sense that someone was watching her. She figured that Charles was outside her bedroom window, but she feared to look. She kept her head down, careful not to look at the window. She made her way to it, planning to close it. Meanwhile, Charles had other plans for her. He emerged from behind her bedroom door, and removed his backpack from his back. Charles had one of those one-strapped backpacks, which he immediately roped around Alyssa’s neck and pulled towards him. The attack caught Alyssa by surprise, and she was unable to do much other than let out a few muffled screams that nobody was able to hear. Her neighbors were still at work. Her parents were not yet home. She was at the mercy of Charles, her stalker.

Charles wiped a tear away from his eye. “If you hadn’t run away from me, you would still be alive,” cried Charles as he compressed the blue dress against his chest. He looked down at Alyssa’s cold body, dressed in a ratty t-shirt and denim jeans. “You look better in this,” said Charles, obviously referring to the dress. He removed Alyssa’s t-shirt and jeans, then dressed her in the dress and placed her on her bed. He folded the cover the comforter over the top of her body, and then slipped into the bed right next to her corpse.

“This is all I wanted,” commented Charles as a smile developed on his face. His arm wrapped around Alyssa, and then he pulled his own body closer to hers. He cuddled with his victim, his love – pondering hard why she had rejected him.

title: Written in two hours, horror genre. I think it has potential, but needs more development and background. Thoughts?

question: What does the story say about the fastest way to learn calculus?

question: What does the story say about the relationship between Charles and Alyssa?

answer: The relationship between Charles and Alyssa is like predator and prey. Charles has predatory tendencies and becomes obsessed with Alyssa after seeing her wearing a blue dress while on campus. He starts stalking her, both in school and in her home. He would hide in the bushes and watch via her bedroom window. Charles feels like he intimately knows Alyssa just by watching her and listening in on her conversations. In his mind, they bonded, but it's one-sided because Alyssa doesn't even know him.

question: Summarize the climactic event of the story.

answer: The climactic event of the story is when Charles feels he already knows a lot about Alyssa (by stalking her) and decides to talk to her while she's walking home. However, he was being creepy and Alyssa somehow knew that Charles was watching her through her bedroom window. She tries to get away by running home and locks Charles out. He breaks in using a rear window and hides from Alyssa, who still thinks Charles is outside hiding in the bushes. With Alyssa's back turned, Charles surprises her and strangles her with the strap of his backpack. Now that Alyssa is dead, Charles looks for the blue dress she wore the day he saw her, strips her, and puts the dress on her. He lays Alyssa on the bed, covers her with the bed's comforter, and slipped under the sheets next to her corpse. Charles put his arm around the corpse and cuddled with his victim, wondering why she rejected him.

question: Summarize the reasons how Charles is a mentally unstable and dangerous person?

answer: Charles is mentally unstable and dangerous because got obsessed with Alyssa the first time he laid eyes on her. He stalked her for weeks, watching her undress, and was listening in on her intimate conversations. He thought they bonded during his stalking sessions. He wanted to learn everything about her, and he eventually did. Armed with this knowledge, he thought he could talk to her and be her friend. When Alyssa felt threatened and rejected him, Charles didn't take it well. He killed her in cold blood and cuddled with Alyssa's corpse. Charles also took pleasure in being in Alyssa's house and felt thrilled at the chance he might get caught.


text:
Ken Hagen dreamt of tumors and dull cutlery. In his nightmares a woman lays on an operating table surrounded by surgeons and nurses, a mass of sick tissue slowly choking her to death. The doctor, with the cool collected tones of an airline pilot announcing the altitude says “scalpel”. A nervous resident, probably only a couple weeks out of med school quickly hands him the instrument. The key. The key that opens the door to her salvation. The surgeon skillfully lines up the scalpel to make the incision, his hands steady, a nurse wipes his brow. As he places the blade to her skin, he realizes something is wrong, it won’t cut the flesh. He presses harder. Nothing. He grabs another scalpel, to no avail, it just won’t cut. From seemingly nowhere he grabs a large butcher knife and plunges it down with deadly force, only to have it bounce from her rubbery flesh without leaving a mark. “I need something sharp!”, he screams. But he is alone. “Dammit isn’t anything around here fucking SHARP?”. The woman’s breathing becomes ragged as the surgeon dashes from the room in a panic, the sound of shattering glass is heard and the man returns, but he is no longer a surgeon, he is Ron Popeil. Ron Popeil with an axe. He raises the axe above his head like a demented lumberjack, like Paul Bunyan about to fell a mighty pine with one swing. The woman flatlines. “This oughtta do it”, Popeil says. He swings the axe down with all his might.

SLAM!

Ken Hagen awoke in a cold clammy sweat, he was having the dream again. “Fucking Ron Popeil” he muttered to himself. The night was cold and Ken had only slept in fits, the tattered sleeping bag his only source of warmth. The squeals and click-clacking of the train told him it was time to move. Ken was a drifter, he traveled from place to place by boxcar, riding the rails like a ghost. He floated through towns an apparition, once he was gone no one was really sure if he had existed at all. He went by many names: Kenneth Hague, Kent Higgins, Kimbo Von Hindquarters to name a few. His breast pocket bulged with writing utensils. He had a pen for every occasion, blue ink, black ink, red ink, ball point, felt, permanent, semi-permanent and even an antique quill pen just in case. He carried a number two pencil, and kept it deadly sharp. He wore a feather in his cap, and he carried a small kit. This kit allowed Ken to do the two things he did best, the two things he was born to do.

Sharpen knives and cure cancer.

Curing cancer was of course his primary concern but he needed something to get his foot into people’s doors, and knife sharpening was his ticket. In fact, over the years Ken had gotten pretty damn good at sharpening things, he even considered settling down a few times when he came upon a sleepy town filled with fetching women and dull edges. But something always pressed him on. His destiny, he had come to realize was to kill cancer.

Cancer had nearly killed Ken once upon a time, he was so sick and in so much pain that he attempted to take his own life by drinking a mixture of jet fuel, shark cartilage, lentil soup, tabasco sauce, Pert Plus shampoo, and Steel Reserve. He awoke on the floor of his garage eighteen hours later and realized two things: His cancer was gone, and he had pooped his pants.

A clean pair of shorts later Ken realized that he had stumbled upon an elixir with amazing curative properties. A true nectar of the gods. Over the next few weeks Ken perfected the mixture and soon he was ready to begin his quest. “No one’s gonna believe me”, he said to no one in particular. He pulled a cucumber out of the refrigerator to slice up for a salad. His knife wouldn’t cut it, it was too dull. The faint sound of a train whistle could be heard miles away.

So much time had passed since then, it seemed like another life, like his life before the elixir was only a fever dream and his life since all too real. Ken darted from the train as it grunted to a stop, dashing into the bushes before anyone saw. He walked through a wooded area and wondered aloud “Do squirrels get cancer?”, they probably did he answered himself, they were just too primitive to understand it. Lucky them.

Lucky, Indiana was little more than a crossroads and a post office. The kind of town you could miss if you blinked, but Ken Hagen never blinked. Not very often anyway. He came here because of his list, the list of every person in America that had cancer. How he got the list is so secret that not even the person who invented Ken Hagen knows how he got it. He just got it. Now he was checking his list like Santa, if only Ken could travel the world in a single night like Old St. Nick he could cure cancer in a day. “Fat Bastard”, Ken muttered to himself, the next person on his list was not far from here. Betsy LaRue was her name.

Ken tapped a familiar rhythm “Shave and a haircut, two bits”, he mumbled to himself. He wondered about the origins of that phrase, and if two bits was a quarter then what was one bit? Twelve and a half cents? It didn’t matter, Ken didn’t even have that much. And what about. . .

The door opened revealing Ms. LaRue, a gaunt skeletal shell of a woman, a bandana covering her bald chemotherapy ravaged scalp. Death would soon be knocking at her door, luckily Ken Hagen got there first. “Hello Ms. LaRue, my name is Charlie Lininger”, Ken said, pulling the fake name out of his ass. “Might I interest you in my utensil and cutlery sharpening services?” a smile crossed her lips and Ken realized that she had once been beautiful, and still was in a way. “Sure”, she said, “I’m going to die in three months anyways and I might as well have sharp utensils the rest of the way.”

That’s what they all say.

She showed Ken to the kitchen, it was filled with slicers, dicers, choppers, and knife sets all sold by Ron Popeil. Ken hated Ron Popeil. His products were all bullshit, Popeil claims his blades stay sharp for life which is only true if you’re talking about the life of a fruit fly. Ken often daydreamed while riding the rails about slicing Ron Popeil’s throat with one of his own knives while whispering into his ear as he gurgled his last breath “Set it and forget it, dick”. But sharpening these substandard knives was not what he was here to do.

“Ms. LaRue, I know you’re sick”, Ken said “And I can help you”. Betsy took a step back, “I thought you were here to sharpen my knives”, she said. “I am, but I can also take away your cancer, I can fix you, if you’ll let me”. She slowly reached for the 32 piece RonCo knife set on the counter and said. “You’re crazy, get out of my house!”. Ken could only smile as he said “Ma’am, we both know that those knives are so dull they couldn’t cut Jell-O, now just hear me out, please”.

“How can you possibly help me? I’ve got terminal cancer of the liver”, she said with tears forming at the corners of her eyes. “I have an elixir that will rid your body of cancer, I know it sounds crazy but what do you have to lose? If it doesn’t work, then you’ll still die but if it works. ..”. “I could live”, she said. Her hand withdrew from the knife set.

Ken slowly poured the elixir into a mug with a picture of Snoopy on it, he was laying on top of his doghouse and that stupid little yellow bird was saying something to him but Ken didn’t bother to read it. “Now Ms. LaRue, drink the mixture down quickly.” She sniffed the liquid, her upper lip curling at the acrid smell, “Are you sure this will work Mr. Lininger?” she asked. Ken placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder, “It worked on me”, he said. Without another thought she downed the entire mug and promptly slumped over in her chair. Ken gingerly lifted her up and carried her to the couch where she could rest comfortably.

He pulled out his list, selected the proper pen from his wide assortment and crossed her name off. He then sharpened every one of her piece of shit Ron Popeil knives, helped himself to a sandwich and a beer from the fridge, took a hot shower and left unceremoniously. He had a train to catch, and a hell of a lot more names on his list.

Betsy LaRue woke up eighteen hours later and she realized two things: Her cancer was gone, and she had pooped her pants. She vaguely remembered a man knocking at her door.

But she couldn’t remember his name.

The faint sound of a train whistle could be heard miles away.

title: Ken Hagen. Cancer Killer.

question: What are the various bladed objects listed in the story?

answer: The doctor requests a scalpel and is handed one by a resident. When that doesn't manage to cut the patient's flesh, he grabs a butcher knife. Next, he tries to use an axe. He has a dull knife he tries to use to cut a cucumber. Ms. LaRue's kitchen is filled with slicers, dicers, choppers, and knife sets. She has a 32 piece RonCo knife set.

question: What does the story say about how to sharpen knives.