text:
Tom woke to the sound of blaring music once again, his tired eyes glanced over to his clock “5:00” it read. “What the hell is going on?” Tom decided to go investigate further, he peeked out of his room to discover his roommate Guy and 3 other people getting drunk in the living room. “I can’t do this much longer.” Tom thought, reflecting on the many times Guy has done similar things. “Well, might as well get ready for work.” he murmured, heading to the bathroom. He glanced in his mirror almost not recognizing what he saw before him, his once neat black hair had become greasy and unkempt and his skin was growing more and more pale, his arms growing skinnier. The more hours Tom had to put in at his work as an I.T. Consultant the worse and worse he looked. “Today’s the day.” he said, forcing a smile on his face “Today’s the day.”

  The day seemed to drag on, seconds felt like hours, minutes like days. Tom had been planning on quitting his job for months now, working up the courage to do so. He was not very confident and rarely acted out on his desires. He was constantly being harassed by his boss George Howard who was a very controlling man and often went the extra mile to make Tom miserable. Tom was on break when he passed George’s office, he knocked on the door. “What!?” George screamed, as if Tom was about to pull his teeth. Tom froze, speechless, he knew what he wanted to say but the words were not coming out.
“Quit standing there like a fucking moron and get back to work.” Tom’s face was becoming red as he remembered all the times George had harassed him at work.
”Screw you fat ass.” Tom said immediately regretting what he said. George’s eyes bulged out of his head. “What the hell did you just say to me” George was now stomping closer and closer to Tom. “Fuck, yo-.“ Before Tom could get his word out George’s fist met his face with stunning force. Tom’s body went limp as his head hit the floor with a loud thump.

“It’s about time you woke up, you were starting to worry us.” Tom heard as he was opening his eyes. “Where am I?” “St. Josephs Hospital.” She replied. The woman was tall and had long brown hair. “You’re way to hot to be a nurse.” Tom was surprised by his own bluntness. “Thank you Tom” she said, she didn’t seem effected by his comment at all. “What is that?” Tom said referring the green liquid she was putting in his I.V. “Just something to sooth the nerves.” As soon as she injected the liquid Tom felt a Freezing tingling sensation all over his body and was unable to move. “Damn it!” he thought, “What the hell is going on!” His vision began to tunnel as his nurse drew closer. She slipped something around his neck and give him a kiss on the mouth. “Good luck Tom, you’ll need it” He immediately passed out.

“Am I stuck in some sort of dream? I can’t be.” He thought as he finally came to. He quickly reached around his neck to reveal what the mystery woman left him. “What the hell?” It was a bight silver key with a ball on the end, Tom examined it further T.K. “Those are my initials, this has got to be a coincidence” Tom didn’t have much time to look at the key before a strange man in a black over coat barged into the hospital. “Where the hell is she!?” he screamed “Where is the key?” Tom’s eyes light up “There is no way he’s talking about this.” He thought. “Where is the woman!?” he kept yelling. Tom overheard a nervous clerk stating they don’t know what he’s talking about. Just then the man pulls out a gun. “Screw this!” Tom said, jumping up head still pounding from the punch. He spotted a door down the hall with an exit sign. As he was stealthily making his way to the door he spotted his clothes on the chair next to him quickly grabbing them as quietly as possible. “What the hell is up with today?” he thought getting closer and closer to the door. The man with the gun was growing more angry, he let out a warning shot sending everyone into panic. Tom had finally reached the door, grabbed the handle and pulled with all his might, the door wouldn’t budge, it was locked. “Can this day get any worse.” he thought. Just then the glimmer from the key caught his eye. “Well it’s worth a try.” He thought as he took it off his neck and cupped it in his hand.

“Tom Keen!!” Tom turned around and froze like a deer in the headlights, the man with the gun was now pointing it at him and walking his way. “Give me the God Damn key Tom before people get hurt!” Tom glanced at the key and smiled moving it closer and closer to the door, all Tom could think about was how he wanted to be home in his own bed. “Tom I will shoot you if you don’t hand it over!” Tom thought for a second looked towards the door and back at the man with the gun “Fuck yo-“ Just then the door opened with a bright light that absorbed Tom.

Tom woke up in a sweat, looking around he was in his room, blaring music coming from the living room he glanced at the clock as it read “5:00”. Tom was beginning to freak out he immediately look down at his hand to reveal that key still grasp firmly in his fist. “What the hell is happening?” He looked at the key again, He began smiling drawing it close to his bedroom door. “I want to go to Paris.” he said half jokingly. As soon as the key touched the door it flew open with the same bright light and in the blink of an eye Tom was standing only a few feet away from the Eiffel Tower. Tom then grew the biggest smile. “Today’s the day.”

title: My first Short Story.

question: What transformation does Tom undergo in the story?

answer: Tom confronts his boss at work. Then he gets punched in the face. This gives him newfound confidence, and he is then given a drug, which seems to transport him to another reality - or, is it all in his mind? It's not clear, but Tom is given a magic key with his initials on it. After fleeing a man with a gun, he uses the magic key to transport himself to Paris.


split: test

text:
Cartoons have existed for a long time to make you happy.  Even when Bugs Bunny was fighting Hitler, they were still generally designed to put a big old smile on your face or at the very least, let you zone out over a bowl of cheerios on a Saturday morning. For some reason, Avatar: The Last Airbender decided to come around and upset that comfortably numbing cartoon experience (thank you, Mike and Bryan. I hate/love you forever). For every couple of silly moments of Aang riding some new hybrid beast or a kick-ass action sequences, there’s a truly touching or heartbreaking scene that has us fans bending the tears right out of our eyeballs. Seriously, thank god I saw this show when I was basically an adult because while I was barely able to handle all the feelings at 18, I can’t imagine how a 12 year-old would cope. Anyway, if you’re in the mood for some punishment, take a gander at the list below.

10) KATARA GROSSES US OUT WITH SOME BLOOD-BENDING.

[]

When the leader of your team is an adorably pure child-monk, it’s hard to consider yourself a champion of goodness. However, as far a morally righteous characters go, Katara is pretty up there. That’s why it was so emotionally trying to watch her battle with her own demons and unethically awesome power of blood-bending.

This wasn’t the last time we’d see the issue of benders subjugating their will upon non-benders(*cough*  Legend of Korra *cough*), but we were right with Katara’s ultimate conflict between stopping the vengeful Hama and using a forbidden art.

Plus, how disgusting is the sound effect used for blood-bending? I want to hurl-bend every time that I hear it.

9) AANG FINDS GYATSO SLIGHTLY…DEAD.

[]

After 100 years of war, I think it can be generally summed up that Aang’ abandonment of his Avatar duties was largely a bad move. However, he really was just a scared kid so we forgive him. Besides, the little monk probably had a harder time of forgiving himself.

While Aang remained in pretty good spirits after waking up from his ice ball, perhaps he did not realize the consequences of a world without an Avatar fully until finding the long dead skeleton of his friend and mentor, Air Nomad Gyatso. The Southern Air Temple was destroyed in the Fire Nation’s pursuit of total domination and Aang’s consuming grief over their loss was enough to bring us all to tears.

Ultimately, Gyatso’s death was just another mark on Aang’s path to a fully realized Avatar and he was able to let go of his grief with the help of Pathik. Still, our hearts go out to the little dude who will always consider his greatest weaknesses to be those moments when he fails to save a friend’s life.

8)ZUKO’S VERY FIRST AGNI KAI AND BANISHMENT FROM THE FIRE NATION

[]

At the beginning of Avatar, Zuko was just the angry dude with the scar and top-knot who happened to be on a relentless quest to find the Avatar. We didn’t like him, but we also didn’t know much about him. Well turns out, his dick-wad father punched him, scarred him, and then banished him for daring to speak out against irresponsible actions of his generals and then refusing to fight his father in an Agni Kai.

This back story gave incredible depth to our favorite prickly prince, whose pursuit of the Avatar became an obsession of a hurt boy whose concepts of family, duty, and honor were completely warped. Plus, we learned that his face wasn’t actually always permanently frozen in that terrifying scowl. We maybe still didn’t outright _like_ Zuko after this flashback (He was still imperialistic and ruthless fire nation after all) but at least now we knew he was a human being and not just an evil bratty prince Joffrey( I don’t know how to help people who don’t know their Game of Thrones. I really don’t).

7)APPA GETS KIDNAPPED AND NOBODY CARES

[]

As if losing Appa wasn’t emotional enough, we then get to witness the normally very cool and calm Aang flip the flip out when none of the gaang seems to care very much. He first freaks out on Toph accusing her of never caring for the fuzzy air bison and then rails on the group for only lamenting on losing their designated driver. Not only does an angry Aang make me want to go cuddle in a corner somewhere, we also get a touching picture of how close Aang and Appa are. He’s not his pet, he’s his best friend, and in that instant, his new chums weren’t looking all that good or worth the hassle. It arrives at a conflict every Avatar must deal with: how much should they sacrifice for an undeserving and selfish world? All I have to say is that thank Agni Appa returns.

6) ZUKO’S SECOND AGNI KAI VERSUS AZULA.

[]

The last few episodes of The Last Airbender were like a kick to all the major organs. While Aang was busy triumphing over the Phoenix King, Zuko faced his own battle against his sister, Azula. Not only was the fight scenes amazing, but we get to see Zuko finally battle his own inner demons (as well as the outer, Azula), but we see Katara entering the fray in defense of her former enemy.

Plus, Zuko masters the art of channeling lightening and symbolically becomes the man his uncle believes he could have always been. As fun as it was to see Zuko finally kick the snot out of that…well, bitch, in the end I still felt for her in that any descent in to madness is pretty hard to stomach.

5) IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S JUST THAT I HAVE TO GO BE THE MOON.

[]

Normally our big gift of comedic relief, this is Sokka’s first appearance on the list. It’s got to be rough when not only does your first girlfriend’s family consider you pond scum but she is also the moon spirit. Basically, the universe decided that it was wrong for Aang to be the only one to sacrifice things to save the world, so it decided to take a shot at Sokka next. While Sokka remains disturbed by losing Yue or failing to protect her, I honestly can’t say that I cry for him too much since warrior bad-ass Suki is a much funner love interest for our boomerang wielding-water-tribesmen. Still, it sucked for Sokka.

4)THE FIRE NATION CLUB

[]Ok, so I have mixed feelings about this episode. On one hand the Azula beach party was a fun time, but it was also bit of a complaint fest. Ultimately though, even if you’re incapable of feeling truly bad for a bunch of spoiled teenagers who spend their time trying to kill our heroes, you can at least sympathize with their situation. These are really just kids who, like the Gaang, are given heavy responsibilities way beyond their years.

In the face of their waning childhoods, they look back and realize they never had much of one in the first place. What was supposed to be a few moments of respite turns in to the interlude that prepares us for the final battles. In the end, these teens will have to make choices that will either forsake their family, duty, or sense of righteousness, and this short confessional on the beach gives us a chance to still like these characters for their small display of humanity after the bloody conclusion to come.

3)NO BUT REALLY, WHERE IS URSA?

[]

Aang defeats the Phoenix King, YAY. Aang get the girl, YAY. Hakoda reunites with his kids, YAY. Iroh opens a tea shop, YAY.

Ok but wait, what happened to Ursa, the misplaced Fire Lady and Zuko’s beloved mother? After the incarceration of his father, Fire Lord Zuko demands that Ozai reveal the fate of his mother. Yeah, nothing doing. It was emotional seeing the newly crowned Zuko have to come crawling back to his father for the one power the crippled emperor still possessed, the power to fuck with his son.

All we really wanted was a scene reuniting mother and son next to a pond of turtle ducks, but Avatar can’t just love its fans like that. Those few who still care about the poor Fire Lady, check out Avatar: The Promise, which continues where Book Three Ended.

2) IROH AND ZUKO REUNITE.

[]

The relationship between Iroh and his young angry nephew is probably the best on the show. After the death of Iroh’s son and the banishment of Zuko, the young prince and general assume the roles each has lost.

While Iroh embraces his new duty as surrogate father to Zuko, the prince decides to just become a giant brat. However, giant brats are a lot more terrifying when backed with an army and royal status. Once stripped of his title and powers, Zuko spends a great deal of Book Two shedding his darkness and becoming closer to his uncle…that is until he betrays him and the Avatar.

Unlike most characters, Zuko is given a second chance at redemption, one that he embraces…for good this time. Despite proving himself to Aang and the resistance, nothing is as difficult for Zuko as asking the forgiveness of the uncle that raised him. In one of the most heart-wrenching moments in the whole series, General Iroh embraces his nephew in a teary hug and admits he was never angry with Zuko, only sad that he had lost his way. Oh. My. God. The. Tears.

1) YOU SHOULD ALREADY KNOW WHAT IT IS.

[]

In the most emotionally heart-wrenching moment in cartoon _history,_ Avatar tries to trick you with a fun and light episode of cute vignettes. Just when  you think Tales of Ba Sing Se is fun filler fluff, it hits you with this: The Tale of Iroh.

In the short segment, Iroh bops around Ba Sing Se like his happy Iroh-self, collecting different objects and getting in mini adventures. You’re right there with the loveable teddy bear until the final scene: his small shrine to his late son, who passed away during the siege of the city years ago. Iroh sings us a song so beautiful, if you don’t cry, you’re just a monster. ( Amonster…not the time for jokes).

Not only is this a touching scene, but we are shown the reason General Iroh stopped fighting and gave up the throne and it is so freaking sad.

If your heart can stand it, come back later for the most touching moments from Legend of Korra.

For more avatar fun check out Outfits Inspired by Avatar’s Airbenders!

question: Summarize the most touching moments of Avatar: The Last Airbender as laid out in the passage.

answer: Avatar: The Last Airbender has many touching moments. One of them was when Aang discovered his mentor, Gyatso, was dead. His grief over his fellow monk death as well the devastation of the monastery made an indelible mark on Aang's journey to being a fully realized Avatar. Another touching scene in the series was the loss of Appa as well as the reunion of Iroh and Zuko. Iroh and Zuko both embraced their roles as mentor and mentee respectively and it is charming to see both working through difficulties to become the best they can be. One of the most harrowing scenes in the series is that of the episode: Tales of Iroh. In that episode, we witness Iroh helping various people in Ba Sing Se on his way to lay down flowers at this son's grave. We are able to understand the reason why Iroh quit the war and renounce his claim to the throne.

question: Why did Iroh not bury his son in the Land of Fire?


text:
[Mary G. Burdette Memorial Home, the National Training School for Women and Girls, glass negative]

MARY G. BURDETTE (1842 - 1907) was an American Baptist teacher, preceptor, writer and missionary leader.[1]

Biography

Burdette was born in Greensboro, Pennsylvania and grew up in Peoria, Illinois.[2] Robert J. Burdette was her brother.

She was the secretary for the Women's American Baptist Home Missionary Society.[3] In 1881, the society established the Baptist Missionary Training School and appointed Burdette its leader for the first six years.[4] She then became one of three women who administered the school.[5]

She also edited the society's publication _Tidings_ and traveled extensively in the U.S. for her work. She wrote and edited several articles[6] including _A Trip Through Indian Country_ (1863),[7] _Home Mission Lessons_, “Sunlight Mission : sought, sound, opened”, "Cuba : discovered, degraded, delivered (1911), “Twenty-two years' work among Mormons”, “Work in Mexico : 1885-1905”, and _Young women among blanket Indians (1895)._ [8]

The Mary G. Burdette Memorial Home, a gift of the Women's Baptist Missionary Society, was used as the National Training School for Girls in Washington.[9]

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title: Mary G. Burdette

question: Who was Mary G. Burdette?

answer: She was an American Baptist teacher, writer, and missionary.

question: Name one of the roles Burdette undertook with the Women's American Baptist Home Missionary Society?

answer: She was the secretary for the organization.

question: What other roles did Burdette undertake?

answer: She edited the society's publication, Tidings.

question: What did the society gift to the government that was in Burdette's name?

answer: The society gifted a building called Mary G. Burdette Memorial Home.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
Mary G. Burdette was an American missionary, writer, and teacher. She was a secretary for the Women's American Baptist Home Missionary Society for a while, before becoming its leader for six years.

After her death, a building named Mary G. Burdette Memorial Home was given as a gift to the government.


text:
The same could pretty much be said for every team in the NFL. With the New York Giants looking to potentially trade star receiver Odell Beckham Jr., it’s not a surprise that a ton of other teams are interested in his services.

However, there’s only a select few who could make a real play for the embattled Pro Bowl pass catcher. As we’ve seen, that already includes the up-and-coming Los Angeles Rams.

We can now add their NFC West counterparts, the San Francisco 49ers, to the mix.

  “Very much in the same proactive mode as the Rams, trying to build a top offense around a young play-calling head coach,” CBS Sports NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported Friday. “I continue to hear San Francisco is monitoring this thing closely, has real interest, and this could shape up as a very interested NFC West arms race.”

In no way should this be a surprise. While active this offseason, the 49ers decided against adding a receiver in free agency. Instead, head coach Kyle Shanahan wants a specific type of receiver to team up with the recently re-signed Jimmy Garoppolo. Based on the success we saw from Julio Jones during Shanahan’s days in Atlanta, OBJ would seem to fit that definition.

After adding multiple free agents and handing Garoppolo what was then the richest contract in NFL history, San Francisco still has $46-plus million in cap room. It also boasts the No. 9 overall pick in next month’s draft as well as four total picks in the first three rounds.

The idea here would be to present the Giants with an offer Los Angeles can’t match. In turn, San Francisco would add one of the game’s best offensive weapons while keeping him away from the division-rival Rams.

question: Who is Odell Beckham Jr.

answer: He's the embattled New York Giants star receiver the team is looking to trade.

question: Which NFL teams have a legitimate shot at trading for Beckham?

answer: The Los Angeles Rams and the San Francisco 49ers.

question: What city did 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan use to coach at?

answer: Atlanta

question: At the time of the article, which player owned the richest contract in NFL history?

answer: Jimmy Garoppolo

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The New York Giants are looking to trade their embattled star receiver, Odell Beckham Jr. (OBJ). The NFL teams who have the most assets to add OBJ to their roster are division rivals Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers. The Rams are trying to build a top offense around a young play-calling head coach, while the 49ers are trying to add a specific type of receiver to pair with recently re-signed Jimmy Garoppolo. The 49ers also have $46-plus million in cap room and the No. 9 overall pick in next month’s draft as well as four total picks in the first three rounds they can use to entice the NY Giants to trade OBJ.


text:
FINSBURY is a district of Central London, forming the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington. It borders the City of London.

The Manor of Finsbury is first recorded as _Vinisbir_ (1231) and means “manor of a man called Finn”.[1] Finsbury lay just outside Cripplegate (and on its later construction, Moorgate) in London Wall. At that time, much of the manor was part of the _“great fen which washed against the northern wall of the City”_.[2]

Finsbury give its name to two larger administrative areas: the Finsbury Division of the Ossulstone Hundred of Middlesex, from the 17th century until 1900, and from 1900 to 1965 the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The Metropolitan Borough included Finsbury (also known as St Luke's) and Clerkenwell.

The area should not be confused with Finsbury Park, a public space roughly three miles to the north and which gives its name to its surrounding mainly residential area.

Geography

The area lies immediately north of the City of London, and approximates to the part of the London Borough of Islington east of Goswell Road and south of City Road. It also includes a small area north of City Road, focused on the City Road Basin

[Finsbury Square, looking north.] The parts of the City of London's Coleman Street Ward that lie outside the line of the former City walls (now mostly covered by Finsbury Circus) were historically part of the Manor of Finsbury and still sometimes described as part of the area.

Finsbury Town Hall and the Finsbury Estate lie further west, in Clerkenwell and are named after the former borough of Finsbury which included both Finsbury and Clerkenwell.

Origins and administration

Soke of Cripplegate

The Soke of Cripplegate was a landholding outside Cripplegate and Aldersgate. Bordered (in part at least) by the Walbrook to the east, it covered the areas subsequently known as Aldersgate Without and the parish of St Giles-without-Cripplegate (which included Cripplegate Without, the part of Coleman Street Ward north of the wall and the Manor of Finsbury). [ Origin of Finsbury: The Soke included Aldersgate Without, Cripplegate Without, the parts of Coleman Street Ward north of the Wall and a much larger area, in the modern London Borough of Islington, that would become the Manor of Finsbury.] The Soke was granted to St. Martin's Le Grand by William the Conqueror in 1068, in exchange for prayers for the souls of his parents.[3] It is thought the estate may be much older dating back to the establishment of the Diocese of London in the 7th century.[4] [The Empress Matilda wished to develop a northern suburb.]

The churches of St Botolph without Aldersgate and St Giles-without-Cripplegate appear to have been built in the early decades of the twelfth century (possibly under the aegis of Matilda of Blessed Memory[5]) and there was very little, if any, development north of the wall before that time. St Martins rights to the Soke were confirmed by the Empress Matilda (daughter of Matilda of Blessed Memory) around 1140. St Martins was permitted to enclose land there to prevent rubbish dumping in the area, but it is thought the Empress' principle intention was to promote planned development of a northern suburb.[6]

The development of streets such as Redcross Street, Whitecross Street, Grub Street, Fore Street, Moor Lane, Chiswell Street and others were subsequently recorded.

Manor and parishes

It is not entirely clear how the territory and rights of the Soke evolved into the subsequent administrative and ecclesiastical units.

The area covered by the Soke was served by two parishes; the little parish of St Botolph without Aldersgate served the extra-mural City Ward of Aldersgate Without, while the parish of St Giles-without-Cripplegate served the extra-mural City Ward of Cripplegate Without and the Manor (estate) of Finsbury.[7] In the 17th Century, Little and Lower Moorfields, previously in the Manor of Finsbury and Parish of St Giles, was transferred to the Coleman Street Ward of the City of London (and also to the parish of St Stephen Coleman Street for religious purposes). This meant that Coleman Street Ward also possessed an extra-mural area.[8][9]

[Detail from London Map by William Morgan (1682), showing siting of new Bethlem Hospital (1676) built in Moorfields, North London|Lower Moorfields, north London in 1676, including the re-sited Bethlem Hospital. London’s Wall and the Moorgate are clearly shown, and some of the administrative boundaries can also be discerned.]

From mid-12th century the Manor of Finsbury was owned by St Paul’s cathedral and managed as a Prebendary Manor to provide a prebend (a stipend of money or goods) to support an ecclesiastic person such as a canon, or an institution. For a long time the prebendary income went to Holywell Priory in nearby Shoreditch, so the estate became known as the _Prebend of Halliwell and Finsbury_,[10] thought the Priory itself did not lay adjacent to the prebendary manor or form part of it.

The prebendary manor of Finsbury was, from 1315,[11] leased by the Lord Mayor of London, so that after that the formal title of the Mayors has been _Mayor of London and Lord of Finsbury_.[12] The mayoral manor house, _Finsbury Court_, lay on the junction of Chiswell Street and Finsbury Pavement.

[ The parts of Coleman Street Ward north of the Wall, were part of the Manor of Finsbury.] In this way the part of St Giles parish, _Cripplegate Without_, that was part of the City was also known as _The Freedom_ and governed by the Mayor as a part of, or a dependency of the City. The remaining part, _The Manor of Finsbury_, was also known as _The Lordship_, where the Mayor's position was that of a lessee, albeit with the title _Lord of the Manor of Finsbury_.

Other accounts suggest the Manor passed to the Lord Mayors later, being made over their use by Richard II, in gratitude for the killing of Wat Tyler by Mayor William Walworth at Smithfield in 1381.

In 1733, the growth of the local population, led to the part of St Giles-without-Cripplegate outside the City, the area which had been the Manor of Finsbury, being made an independent parish, known as _St Luke's_, after the parish church.

Latter administration and representation

The parts of the parish of St Giles outside of the City (originally the Manor of Finsbury, later organised as the Parish of St Luke) were part of the Hundred of Ossulstone in Middlesex. By the 17th century, population growth made this unit inefficient, so it was sub-divided with the area north of the walls becoming part of a new Finsbury Division which handled the responsibilities previously managed by the Hundred. Parish-level institutions continued to manage the Poor Law and ecclesiastical matters.

In 1832 the parliamentary borough of Finsbury was created to represent the area in parliament. This area loosely approximated to the Finsbury division, but also included parts of west London. In 1857 Finsbury Park was opened some three miles north, for the enjoyment of the residents of this parliamentary borough.[13]

[The wards of the Metropolitan Borough preserved the boundary between Finsbury (St Luke's) and Clerkenwell. Finsbury comprised the five eastern wards.] The Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury in the County of London was created in 1900, covering the area of Finsbury (also known as St Luke's) and Clerkenwell, with Finsbury Town Hall located on Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell. In 1938, Dr. Chuni Lal Katial was elected mayor of Finsbury, making him the first Asian mayor in the United Kingdom.

[]
_The arms of the Metropolitan Borough refer to the London Wall and the northern gates_

The Borough’s coat of arms included an embattled chief (top of the shield) representing the London Wall, a Barbican representing the three northern gates (Aldersgate, Cripplegate and Moorgate) and a Winged Bull, the heraldic symbol of St Luke.[14]

In 1965 the area merged with Islington to form the new London Borough of Islington, though Finsbury Circus remains part of the City of London.

History

Growth

Urbanisation was slow, despite the building of a new gate in the adjacent London Wall, Moorgate, in 1511. In 1665 the Bunhill Fields burial ground was opened in the area. [Moorgate was built in 1511, the last gate to be created in the originally Roman wall. The creation of the gate encouraged development to the north of the wall.]

Building on Finsbury Fields began in the late 17th century. The parish church of St Luke's was built in 1732–33, development was accelerated by the building of the City Road in 1765, and at the end of the 18th century a residential suburb was built with its centre at Finsbury Square.[15] Little and Lower Moorfields remained open until Finsbury Circus was developed after 1815.

Military history

[Finsbury Barracks] In 1641 the Honourable Artillery Company moved to Finsbury, where it still remains. The City of London Yeomanry, founded at the time of the Second Boer War, made its headquarters in Finsbury Square.

In 1862 Finsbury gave its name to a volunteer infantry unit — the Finsbury Rifles, which recruited in both Finsbury and Clerkenwell, and saw distinguished service in several conflicts.

Medical district

Before Harley Street rose to prominence, Finsbury was London’s principal medical district. In the mid-19th century it was home to a large number of hospitals,[16] but now only Moorfields Eye Hospital remains. [Finsbury Moorfields Eye Hospital]

The area included the following hospitals:

-   Royal Hospital for Diseases of the Chest
-   Royal London Opthalmic Hospital (Moorfields)
-   St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics
-   French Huguenot Hospital
-   St Mark's Hospital for Fistula and other Diseases of the Rectum
-   Holborn & Finsbury Poor Law Union
-   Bethlem Hospital, on the site of what is now Finsbury Circus

Famous residents

-   Charles Gordon, cricketer and grandson of the founder of Gordon's Gin
-   Violet Kray, mother of the gangster Kray brothers. Twins Ronnie and Reggie were arrested at her flat in Braithwaite House, Finsbury, in connection with gangland crimes including murder and fraud on 8 May 1968.[17]
-   Eric Maxon, Shakespearean and early film actor, died in Finsbury
-   Arthur Mullard, comic actor
-   Dadabhai Naoroji, Indian politician

Points of interest

-   St Luke Old Street (also known as Finsbury St Luke),completed in 1733 as the parish church, now used as a concert venue by the London Symphony Orchestra.
-   Ironmonger Row Baths
-   Whitecross Street Market
-   Moorfields Eye Hospital
-   Artillery Ground, open space.
-   Bunhill Fields, a former burial ground and open space.
-   Finsbury Square
-   King Square Gardens
-   City Road Basin, a canal basin on the Regent's Canal.
-   Golden Lane Estate
-   Finsbury Circus, in Coleman Street Ward, in the City of London.

[1] Mills, D. (2000). _Oxford Dictionary of London Place Names_. .

[2] Recorded by William FitzStephen, writing in the 1170s, a discussion on the extent of the marsh is included in “reclaiming the Marsh” by Pre-Construct Archaeology. This was authored by Johnathon Butler and others and sub-titled “Archaeological excavations at Moor House, City of London

[3] London Encyclopaedia, Weinreb and Hibbert, 1983

[4] London, its origin and early development, William Page 1923, p129-30

[5] London 800-1216, Brooke and Keir, p144-146. Matildas devotion to St Giles is described and links to the process by which the several St Botolphs dedications appeared in London

[6] Archaeological Excavations at Moor House, Jeremy Haslam p48

[7] Records of St Giles without Cripplegate, Chapter 6 see https://archive.org/stream/recordsstgilesc01dentgoog/recordsstgilesc01dentgoog_djvu.txt

[8] The development of Moorfields [London], the historical background’, in Reclaiming the Marsh: Archaeological excavations at Moor House, City of London, 1998-2004 (ed. J Butler), PCA Monograph 6 (London)

[9] Stow, writing in 1603 describes the boundaries of Cripplegate and Coleman Street Wards and the area is in neither at that time. The Ogilby and Morgan Map of 1676 shows the Little and Lower Moorfields as part of Coleman Street Ward

[10] 'Religious Houses: Houses of Augustinian canonesses', in A History of the County of Middlesex: Volume 1, Physique, Archaeology, Domesday, Ecclesiastical Organization, the Jews, Religious Houses, Education of Working Classes To 1870, Private Education From Sixteenth Century, ed. J S Cockburn, H P F King and K G T McDonnell (London, 1969), pp. 170-182. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/middx/vol1/pp170-182 [accessed 13 August 2020].

[11] Remembrancia, compiled by W.H. and H.C. Overall p274

[12] Online dictionary of heraldry https://www.heraldryclipart.com/dictionary/dm.html

[13]

[14] Civic heraldry website http://www.civicheraldry.co.uk/lcc.html

[15] Weinreb, B. and Hibbert, C. (eds.) (1983) _The London Encyclopaedia_. Macmillan

[16]

[17] 1

title: Finsbury

question: Where is Finsbury located?

answer: Finsbury is a district in Central London. It forms the south-eastern part of the London Borough of Islington.

question: What is the military history of Finsbury?

answer: In 1641, the Honourable Artillery Company moved to Finsbury, where it still remains. The City of London Yeomanry, which was founded at the time of the Second Boer War, made its headquarters in Finsbury Square.

question: What is the Soke of Cripplegate?

answer: The Soke of Cripplegate was a landholding outside Cripplegate and Aldersgate.


text:
ST MARK'S CHURCH, DUNDELA, is a Grade A listed parish church of the Church of Ireland located in the Sydenham area of Belfast, Northern Ireland.

History

For much of its history, the parish of Dundela was located within the neighbouring parish of Holywood, County Down. In the mid-19th century, due to the constant growth of Belfast and the local area, the Church of Ireland began holding services in a coach-house, and in 1863, in what is now Strandtown Primary School.[1]

William Butterfield was commissioned to design a new church for the ever-growing parish, and groundbreaking for the new building took place in May 1876. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, Robert Knox, on 22 August 1878, after which it became a separate parish church from Holywood, with Thomas Hamilton as the first rector. The building was completed in 1891, with the addition of a chancel and two transepts, forming a cruciform structure.[2][3]The church underwent a large restoration in 1976, led by Stephen Dykes Bower.[4]The rectory, to the south of the church, was built in 1887.[5]

Bells

The bell tower contains a peal of ten bells, hung for change ringing.When the church was built, it was intended for there to be a ring of bells in the tower, and an eight-bell frame was provided, however only the treble and tenor were bought, due to the severe movement of the structure when these bells were rung.In the 1950s, a legacy was found providing for the installation of a ring, and the church commissioned John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, England for a ring of ten bells.[6]

The new ring, in the key of F#, was installed in 1955 in a new cast iron frame, and were dedicated on 23 April 1955 by the Reverend William Kerr, Bishop of Down and Dromore. Due to the structural movement, these were placed very low in the tower, and the weight of the tenor was kept as low as possible.[7][8]

C. S. Lewis

The church is best known in popular culture for its connection to C. S. Lewis (1898–1963), whose grandfather, Thomas Hamilton, was the first rector of the parish. Lewis was baptised in the church by him on 29 January 1899 as an infant.[9] It is popularly believed that the character Aslan, from _The Chronicles of Narnia_, was based on the door handle of a lion (the Lion of Saint Mark) on the front door of the rectory.[10][11][12][13] A replica is now installed in its place.

Lewis and his brother Warren (1895–1973) donated a window to the church in memory of their parents in 1935.[14]

Gallery

File:St Mark's Dundela.jpg File:St Mark's Rectory, Dundela.jpg|The now-disused rectory File:Rectory Doorknob, St Mark's Dundela.jpg|The door knocker thought to have inspired C. S. Lewis File:St Mark's Tenor Bell.jpg|The tenor bell, weighing 12-2-2 hundredweight and tuned to F# File:St Mark's Dundela, view from ringing room.jpg File:Dundela Church.jpg File:St Mark's Ringing Room.jpg|Ringing room of the church

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[11]  Narnia, Irish heritage, Erin go bragh|website=Pinterest|language=en|access-date=2020-02-28}}

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title: St Mark's Church, Dundela

question: What is the history of St. Mark's Church?

answer: William Butterfield was commissioned to design a new church for the increasingly large Dundela parish. Groundbreaking for the new building took place in May 1876. It was consecrated by the Bishop of Down, Connor and Dromore, Robert Knox, on August 22 1878. The building was completed in 1891. It underwent a large restoration in 1976.

question: What does the text say about bells?

answer: The bell tower contains a peal of ten bells. When the church was built, it was intended for there to be a ring of bells in the tower, and an eight-bell frame was provided, however only the treble and tenor were bought, due to the severe movement of the structure when these bells were rung.In the 1950s, a legacy was found providing for the installation of a ring, and the church commissioned John Taylor & Co of Loughborough, England for a ring of ten bells.

question: What is the church's relation to C.S. Lewis?

answer: The church is best known for its connection to C.S. Lewis, the author of "The Chronicles of Narnia." His grandfather, Thomas Hamilton, was the first rector of the parish. Lewis was baptized in the church on January 29, 1899. It is popularly believed that the character Aslan, from "The Chronicles of Narnia" was based on the door handle of a lion on the front door of the rectory.


text:
_READ MORE STORIES ABOUT NORTH KOREA: HOW SCARED SHOULD I BE? / WHAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER THE US ATTACKED? / THE CONTRABAND BOOK THE COUNTRY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ_

North Korean meth is the bomb—at least, according to US officials who tested two batches last year. The packages of sharp, ice-like crystals measured 98 percent and 96 percent for purity, respectively. According to an indictment against the suppliers, who were arrested in 2013, the drug was so pure that "people in New York, they went crazy… the places that we put it in the States, New York… Boston, all these places, I mean, they went crazy."

According to a new report by Dr. Sheena Chestnut Greitens, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Missouri, the North Korean government has used drug manufacturing and a host of other nefarious activities to raise funds since the 1970s. The regime defaulted on its international loans in 1976 and Dr. Greitens describes how that same year "a dozen members of North Korea's diplomatic corps, including the North Korean Ambassador to Norway, [were] ejected… for smuggling illicit goods" including "4,000 bottles of booze (mostly Polish vodka) and 140,000 cigarettes" in Sweden, and "400 bottles of liquor, 4.5 million cigarettes. and 147 kilos of hashish in Denmark."

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

**_Watch: Victor Cha on *_North Korea's_* Nuclear Threat_**

[]

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

After the collapse of the USSR, North Korea lost its communist financers and that, combined with tough sanctions and disastrous policy decisions, resulted in the famine of the 1990s where an estimated one million people died. Factories were not operating and fishermen starved in the harbor, as they had no oil to power their boats. Desperate to survive, the Kim regime forced community farms to cultivate opium poppies and demanded as much as 132 pounds of raw opium per harvest. "We should be growing grain, not poppies," said one defector quoted in Dr. Greitens' report. "But the instruction from the central government was that if we grow poppies we can sell the product for ten times as much to buy grain."

After the famine ended in the 2000s, North Korean factories began to produce a more modern type of drug: methamphetamine. "Officials from North Korea's various security agencies were reportedly involved in guarding the plants and factories," writes Dr. Greitens. Within the factories, real-life Walter Whites were hired to school local chemists in the art of synthesizing pure, potent meth crystals. "Experts were brought in to advise on production."

[]

_A line of crystal meth or "bangdu" in Chinese (Image via Flickr user Digitalcolony)_

North Korean meth and heroin was highly prized on the black market and Triad and Yakuza gangs were lining up to distribute the drugs across China, Japan, and the US, according to Dr. Greitens. "The gangs would pick up packages of drugs dropped at sea… Drugs were also transported by train (and other methods) across North Korea's northern border into China."

But why rely on desperate gangsters when you have a host of agents stationed legally inside target nations with diplomatic immunity? Indeed, North Korean embassy staff continued to be thrown out of their host nations on various charges. As well as drugs, North Korean officials have been caught smuggling such things as rhino horns and ivory, 500,000 counterfeit cigarettes and counterfeit $100 bills so convincing that US treasury officials dubbed them "supernotes."

"Given the variety of products involved in these incidents and the repeated presence of North Korean diplomats in them, these incidents appear to be primarily the result of a 'self-financing' policy," writes Dr. Greitens, "by which embassies are expected to finance their own operations, and contribute money back to the regime in Pyongyang."

Since 2005, the regime has apparently scaled back official meth manufacture. "The North Korean government already burned all the labs to show the Americans that they are not selling it any more [but] then they transferred it to another base," one of the meth importers arrested last year was quoted as saying in the indictment. Elsewhere in the document, he claims, "only [North Koreans] can get the real North Korean product now."

The closure of government meth labs has left a lot of talented meth cooks unemployed and many continue to operate in what Dr. Greitens calls "a hybrid space between public and private." In these gray markets, political elites grab a share of the profits raised from evil-smelling meth kitchens constructed in broken-down houses and abandoned school buildings.

While the regime asserts that "North Koreans with healthy mental and moral qualities have no intention of turning out or exporting narcotics," it's clear that no large-scale economic activity happens in North Korea without officials knowing about it—I mean, what kind of totalitarian regime would they be if they didn't?

[]

_North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un, and some generals (Image via)_

Unsurprisingly, domestic use of meth has skyrocketed. Suited elites in Pyongyang restaurants offer each other a "nose" after dinner, the middle classes take it as a cold cure or remedy for back pain, and the poor take it to ease the emptiness in their stomachs. The drug is apparently so common that the attitude of North Koreans has become blasé. "When meeting people we not infrequently swapped drugs to see whose ice was more potent," said one defector in Dr. Greitens's report. "We just did it naturally as if we were exchanging cigarettes." Another defector said, "If people in the countryside take ice, their back pain is cured… And if you give it to people who have had a stroke, they recover."

While the regime denies exporting meth, large amounts continue to leave the country. In 2011 Chinese authorities reported that they had seized over $60 million worth of drugs coming in from the hermit kingdom. In the Chinese border province of Jilin, the number of people addicted to drugs has leapt from a registered 44 in 1991 to an estimated 10,000 today.

North Korea's involvement in the drug trade is a result of economic necessity and the ideology of self-reliance. The tragic fallout of these policies has led many of the country's own citizens to become addicted to the drugs their country is peddling abroad.

_Follow Nathan on Twitter._

Get a personalized roundup of VICE's best stories in your inbox.

By signing up to the VICE newsletter you agree to receive electronic communications from VICE that may sometimes include advertisements or sponsored content.

question: What is about North Korean meth that drug dealers like?

answer: Meth from North Korea is of excellent quality. Two packages tested in the US measured 98% and 96% for purity. The drug was so pure people from across the country went crazy for it.

question: What led the North Korean government to push drug manufacture?

answer: After the collapse of the USSR, North Korea lost its communist finances. They also suffered tough sanctions and disastrous policy decisions. The result was famine. The Kim regime forced community farms to cultivate opium poppies and demanded as much as 132 pounds of raw opium per harvest. After the famine ended in the 2000s, North Korean factories began to produce a more modern type of drug: methamphetamine.

question: How did Kim's regime distribute the drugs?

answer: The drugs were distributed by gangs on the black market. They were also sold by embassy staff across the globe. Embassy employees have been evicted for selling various illicit products including counterfeit money, rhino horn, and ivory.

question: What was the tragic outcome of the government-sanctioned meth factories for the North Korean population?

answer: The tragic fallout of these policies has led many of the country's own citizens to become addicted to the drugs their country is peddling abroad. Domestic use of meth has skyrocketed. Suited elites in Pyongyang restaurants offer each other a "nose" after dinner, the middle classes take it as a cold cure or remedy for back pain, and the poor take it to ease the emptiness in their stomachs.


text:
I take a deep breath, adjust my goggles and sprint to the end. My feet barely touch the mass beneath me and I approach the tip of the wing, the wind screaming beautifully past me, a rush like the flow of blood through an artery, like a wave of water crushing a swimmer for a moment before allowing her respite, the swell of breath as you feel a lover’s touch on your thigh, her eyes locking with yours before her lips do the same. My left foot touches the edge, heel to toe; my knee flexes, and for a moment I think I hesitate, but perhaps I don’t and just wish I had. Perhaps I am pushed.  I launch and turn backwards, flipping so I can see the plane behind me, the earth upside down and for a moment, the briefest moment, I’m suspended in the air. According to physics it’s at this moment where I’m not moving in any direction. There is nothing pushing me this way or that, no commitment to worry about, no forces act on me at all. Then I fall towards the earth speeding along towards the cities, commitment, life, reality. For the next several minutes I feel myself speeding up, crushing down at the solid ground. Finally it feels like I’m not falling. I feel suspended again, floating full of life and feeling and power here 10,000 feet above terra firma.

Pushing through the sky like a bottle opener into a cork, I spin and spin diving further and further towards a certainty I cannot escape. Clouds come into view, glorious and looming. I see them so often from the ground they have become meaningless; up here where it’s different I see them for what they are: constantly shifting bodies. Clouds don’t move, they come into being in a different space, while leaving other parts to wisp away into the wind. They pulse and breathe. They hold you for a moment and then release you. Inside the cloud there’s a magic, a concrete feeling of luscious glory that lasts momentarily before I exit. Clouds come and go as do I, entering and exiting them at a velocity best described as wonderful but dizzying.

The ground is closer and more real than ever, and it’s time to pull. Put a stop to this freedom and embrace safety, end the charade of a freewheeling care-free young man and settle down. The equivalent of a wife and minivan, the kids and the bills and the security of others. Someone who doesn’t just give you the thrill and leave you, something that doesn’t feel like a one night stand. Time to plant your feet on solid ground.

I fall, hand on the cord, eyes on the altimeter, and slowly rotate so I fall looking at the sky. Looking at where I was, seeing how far I’ve come and wishing I was one minute ago, three days ago, 6 months ago. Being dropped is terrible, falling is exhilarating, but finding ground again…

Finding ground again is frightening. The idea of walking around miles below where you were and having to work to get back up here to the sky: well honestly it’s goddam awful. I want to be up in the sky again already, looking down at everyone beneath me, I want to be high up again. But no, right now I’m falling; falling increasingly faster and faster. The ground is rushing at me, that which was so unimportant only a moment ago is now so very important.

I think of what it took to get here. The training, the practice, the years of waiting, the checking of gas, wheels, equipment, radio, wings, instruments, and all the work just to reach the air. Learning and practice and practice and trust and building something that could work. Only to find yourself up high above the world, above it all, nothing can touch you. Packing the chute…

Oh god the parachute. I touch the cord handle of the cord and recall this fall isn’t like the others. I’ve been here before, but I always landed softly, holding the plastic handle that was attached to my chute. There’s nothing safe about it this time. This time I will land hard. I’m passed the moment where I can actually deploy and safely land on the ground. I yank hard on the cord and my chute rips open; a chest with ribs broken and a heart looking at the surgeon beating softly with the thump of a speaker. Wind fills the parachute and I feel myself slow down incredibly fast. I look down and I see the ground only one hundred feet away. I brace myself and try to glide in along the ground, I pull my feet up and I pull the cords by me and I look and I scream, my mouth opens wide and it all comes flying out of me. I slide through high grass going far too fast; my body instinctively curls up and I roll along the ground cracking bones, bruising ribs, and generally fucking up my body. I inhale dirt and scrape a gash on my shin that deposits blood on the ground every few feet. The roll last 6 seconds, but I feel like I’ve been tumbling for months. Dust is everywhere and the cloud billows up around me as I finally come to rest on the ground.

Broken, bruised, beaten, busted up and generally destroyed on every level of existence. I cough and blood mixes into the bare grass around me and I contemplate laying here forever. The sun is fading in the west I look over at it, and I watch, laying down in a mixture of brown, red, green, and yellow and realize that there’s nothing that has to happen, there’s nothing that is more important than finding my own strength and standing up to say I’m ready. I slowly rise up to my knees, and then one foot at a time, I stand up. I watch the sun burn the remnants of the day away, a bright orange ball that everyday cooks the world to a crisp, only to show up the next morning to a fresh new set of ingredients; ready to burn again. The sun’s flames lick the ground and for a moment, a lifetime of a moment, the ground glows red along the entire horizon. I shrug off my parachute and look back up the sky.

I’ll be back up there again soon.

title: Falling in Love and Falling out of a Plane

question: Why does the narrator hit the ground so hard?

answer: The narrator has taken too long to deploy his parachute. He is too close to the ground so he is no longer safe which is why he breaks bones in the fall.


text:
[Devin Nunes listens to testimony before the House Permanent Select Commitee on Intelligence related to the Russian cyber attack and investigations into wiretapping, on Capitol Hill on March 20, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Rex Shutterstock/Zuma Press/TNS)]

A pair ofGOP congressmen can call themselves farmerson the November ballot, a Sacramento judge has ruled, dismissing challenges financed by California Democratic groups.

Superior Court Judge Allen Sumner dumped the complaints Wednesday with a simple “writ denied” ruling, not even discussing the arguments filed against Reps. Devin Nunes of Tulare and Jeff Denham of Turlock (Stanislaus County).

The two suits, filed by local farmers but paid for by a pair of committees looking to flip seven or more Republican-held seats in California, argued that neither Denham nor Nunes was an actual farmer. The plaintiffs said the congressmen added those designations to their ballot descriptions in an effort to score political points in their agriculture-heavy Central Valley districts.

Denham “does not live on a farm or earn any income from work as a farmer,” said the suit challenging his designation. “Instead, he is a member of Congress who also owns a plastic business that sells products to those in the agriculture industry.”

The suit challenging Nunes’ description argued that the House Intelligence Committee chairman and fervent supporter of President Trump shouldn’t be allowed to call himself a “U.S. Representative/Farmer” because he no longer has a connection to his family’s longtime dairy business.

Nunes and Denham say they and their families have spent years as members of the farming community and still earn at least part of their living from agriculture.

The plaintiffs’ arguments may not have convinced the judge, but Democrats are making no apologies.

“This lawsuit was thrown out because Jeff Denham hid and purposefully avoided being in his district so he could not be served the legal paperwork,” said Andrew Feldman, a spokesman for the Democratic group Red to Blue California. “Let’s be clear — it was not thrown out because Jeff Denham is a legitimate farmer. He and everyone else knows he is not.”

Paul Buxman, the Fresno farmer whose suit against Nunes was backed by the Democratic group Fight Back California, also said the judge’s decision didn’t change the facts as he saw them.

“While we’re disappointed that the judge kicked the issue back over to another government agency, we know that Devin Nunes is not a farmer, and he’s lost touch with local farmers here in the Central Valley,” Buxman said in a statement. “By any credible description of what defines a farmer ... Devin Nunes is not a farmer.”

The judge also dismissed a challenge to Republican Young Kim’s “Small Business Owner” designation from plaintiffs who argued that her consultant business was not registered. She is a candidate for an Orange County congressional seat now held by retiring GOP Rep. Ed Royce.

__
John Wildermuth is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfwildermuth

question: Why did the congressmen describe themselves as farmers?

answer: They did it to score political points in their agriculture-heavy Central Valley districts.

question: Who sued the congressmen?

answer: Local farmers.

question: What did the congressmen have to say about this?

answer: Nunes and Denham say they and their families have spent years as members of the farming community and still earn at least part of their living from agriculture.

question: Did they get elected?

answer: Information not found.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text is a description of the 2 suits against 2 congressmen who described themselves as farmers (to gain more popularity with voters) when they were not in reality.


text:
Someday I want to be able to walk the earth, just like the greatest minds through history have. Think about it, Albert Einstein, Julius Caesar, Isaac Newton and in the future, me, Mike the fish. It will happen, i am fully convinced it will. I just need to find out how to get up there.

Some people might wonder why, but the answer is very simple... Fish, are not particulary smart. I have yet to meet a fish whom I can have an intellegent discussion with. It seems that noone possess a deeper mind, a more profound way of thinking. I have searched every corner of the Atlantic ocean for answers. I have talked to every kind of creature that exists in this otherwise marvelous place, only to be met with more questions. All they seem to care about is food and procreation, what about the big questions. What about the purpose of evolution. What about the fearful afterlife. To fish or not to fish?

To me it is obvious that I need to find a way to get up there, with the land-fauna, or at least that is what I call them. Although, I'm sure they have a more sophisticated name for themselves.
If you wonder how I know that they are smarter than fish, it is because I have seen it.   I have seen their faces, their tall and not very fine prospected faces. Most of them have have big goggles surrounding their small marble eyes. Some have this big plastic gadget in their mouth that produces bubbles every once in a while. I'm certain that the goggles and the bubble-gizmo is of external constructions and not a natural part of their body, however I do not know what their purpose is. At first, I believed that the mouth-device was used for them to breathe under water. To my surprise, I some time later found out that they can indeed breathe in this, to them, foreign realm.
I know because I have met a land-fauna who did not have a mouth-gizmo. It was somewhere in the southwest Atlantic, not too far from the shore. I was of course thrilled to see him, however as it seemed, unresponded. He was rather rude to me to be honest. I introduced myself but he did not respond. He just stared at me with his seemingly fearful eyes. His pale white face appeared to be apathetic to my presence. He was not moving a single limb, he was not responding to anything I did. He did not put an effort to communicate. Not even a single bubble. There was not much I could do, so I left.

I suppose land-faunas can be as dumb as fish.

I have a plan on how to reach the other realm. The only problem is that it is slightly, just slightly based on luck. The plan itself is rather simple, it does not require much of me. The plan is as follows:
1. Find the right land-fauna.
2. Get the land-fauna to pick me up.
3. Use land-faunas ship to travel to shore.
4. Find answers.

See it is very simple.

I have seen land-faunas use these lines with a shiny metal figure on the end of it. I reckon it is to give us fish opportunity to get to the upper realm. I need to search long enough and not give up. Tenacity is the key to success, is what my father used to say, he was great fish.

Right there! My fate has finally crossed the path of the right land-fauna. He is the one. His line is right over there. I swim ferociously to it, I will not miss this opportunity. I examine the metal figure thoroughly. It is quite sharp and the only way to grip it is with my mouth. The metal figure pierce through my jaw. The excruciating pain that ensues is beyond comprehension, however not in vain. The line is rising, it is working. We are going towards the surface. I try to ignore the pain as much as possible, I drown the taste of blood with the soothing thought of lifelong fulfillment. Slowly but surely we reach above the surface. There he is, the land-fauna in his rightful realm. Majestic. My head is dizzy and it is getting darker. It must be from the pain and the loss of blood. I just hope he hurries to get aid.

I will be greater than Mozart, Julius Caesar and Albert Einstein combined. I am Mike the fish, is the last thought before everything disappears.

title: [MF] Mike The Fish

question: What distinguishes mike the fish from the other fish at sea?

answer: Mike the fish is smart and interested in the world. He aspires to be like Isaac Newton, Julius Caesar, Albert Einstein, etc. It's unclear how a fish knows about these luminaries, but Mike wants to be like them. Mike has yet to meet a fish with whom he could have an intellectual discussion. No other fish in the sea thinks as deeply as he does. Sadly, the others he met were mainly concerned about food and reproduction. Mike the fish ponders evolution, the afterlife, and whether or not to fish.

question: Describe Mike the fish's first encounter with a "land-fauna."

answer: Mike the fish calls humans land-faunas. He believes land-faunas are far more clever than fish and can prove it. Mike has seen their faces and seen that some of them wear huge goggles with a plastic bubble-making device in their mouth. Although Mike was unaware of its purpose, he thought it was strange. He thought it was to assist them in breathing underwater but later discovered that land-faunas can breathe independently. Mike was thrilled to meet a land-fauna without a breathing device. However, the land-fauna was unresponsive, and Mike thought he was disrespectful to him. When Mike presented himself to the land-fauna, he was met with silence. Mike departed in frustration since the land-fauna didn't respond to anything Mike said. After that, he thought land-faunas might be as stupid as fish.

question: How did Mike the fish plan to reach the other realm, and what does the plan say about Mike's intelligence?

answer: Mike was resolved to reach the land-fauna's world and find answers to his life's questions. So he devised a route. Firstly, he'd locate a suitable land-fauna. Then, get picked up by the land-fauna. The land-fauna's ship would then take Mike to shore. Finally, he hoped to discover answers once ashore. The plan's only flaw was that it relied on luck while not requiring much of him. Mike's plan is flawed since he did not consider the chance that he would die if removed from his natural habitat.

question: How did Mike eventually find himself in the other realm?

answer: A land-fauna came fishing at Mike's sea. Mike saw this as his opportunity to flee to the other realm. He then swam to the fisher's line and gripped its hook with his mouth. The metal pierced his jaw and caused him excruciating pain. Regardless of the agony, Mike was determined to reach the other dimension and find answers to his queries. Mike surfaced as the fisherman brought up the line. Mike could see the land-fauna in his natural place. But Mike felt dizzy, and everything darkened. He believed the land-fauna would help him recuperate. Mike's dying thoughts were that he would be greater than Einstein, Mozart, and Caesar combined.


text:
SARAH LYNN LIGHTNER[1] is an American politician from Michigan. Lightner is a Republican member of Michigan House of Representatives from District 65.

Early life

Lightner attended Springport High School.[2]

Education

Lightner earned an associate degree in Paralegal from Lansing Community College in Lansing, Michigan.[3]

Career

Lightner and her husband are business owner and operator in hay baling and wrapping, and deer processing.[4]

In 2004, Lightner was a paralegal until 2015.[5]

In 2013, Lightner became a Commissioner for Jackson County, Michigan.[6][7] In March 2015, Lightner was appointed by Governor Snyder as the Michigan Association of Counties Representative on the Criminal Justice Policy Commission.[8]

On November 6, 2018, Lightner won the election and became a Republican member of Michigan House of Representatives for District 65. Lightner defeated Terri McKinnon and Jason B. Rees with 59.26% of the votes.[9][10][11]

Lightner is the vice-chair person of Subcommittee on General Government. Lightner is also the vice-chair person of Subcommittee on Judiciary.[12]

Personal life

Lightner's husband is David. They have two children. Lightner and her family live in Springport, Michigan.[13]

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title: Sarah Lightner

question: Describe Lightner's family.

answer: She has a husband, David, and they have two children. David and Lightner are business owners and operators in hay baling and wrapping, and deer processing.

question: What is Lightner's political leaning?

answer: She is a Republican.

question: Describe Lightner's education.

answer: She went to Springport Highschool and earned an associate degree in Paralegal from Lansing Community College in Michigan.

question: What happened in 2004?

answer: Lightner became a paralegal.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses the life and career of Sarah Lightner, an American politician. She is a Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives from District 65.


text:
The clean, cold snow falls slowly on to the streets of Chicago.  The snow crunches loudly under William’s feet.  The sound echoes of the large buildings surrounding him, making it sound like a crowd of people all pulling Velcro apart.  His eyes dart back and forth, always on the lookout for danger.  His breath puffs out in front of him and begins to condense on his thin beard.  Two rabbits are hanging off his back, his pace is hurried, it will be the best dinner he has had in weeks.  The tall skyscrapers eventually give way to old neighborhoods.  A light blue two story appears in the distance and William’s face cracks the ghost of a smile.  As he nears he takes in the boarded windows that clash with the white trim running along the roof.
“Home at last,” he whispers to himself.
Once inside he begins skinning the rabbits, one will be dinner and the other will be saved for later.  He is a small man with thinning light blonde hair.  He is days past his fortieth birthday, but the events of the last few months make him look closer to fifty.  His clothing is a mash up of whatever can be found.  A pair of faded jeans and a sweat shirt with Boston emblazoned on the front show their age.  The house sits on the North side of the city, a short walk from what used to be Wrigley Field.  A sturdy black pistol sits next him, reflecting light from the quiet fire.  William has barely survived these last six months and being a bit of a loner has not helped his situation.
	Blankets of all colors cover the walls in an attempt to keep what little heat inside the house.  Above the fireplace hangs a child’s blanket with a monkeys head on it.  Over across one of the windows hangs one with the Chicago Cubs logo splayed across it.  The red C clashing against the blue in the flickering light makes for a haunting reminder of days long gone.  He falls asleep in the chair, trying to keep warm on this cold Midwestern night.
	Ah, not again, he thinks.  I can’t keep sleeping like this, I’m going to wake up one morning and not be able to stand.  William stands and stretches the kinks out of his body.  His shoulder pops, and he lets out a groan.  His body isn’t holding up like it used to.  One of the perks of getting old, he thinks.  He moves to the wall near the door and looks through a peephole out into the new day.  His tracks have been covered nicely by the fresh snow, and all seems quiet.
	He can hear the sounds of the gangs roaming the streets.  A patchwork of communities has sprung up throughout the city, some controlled by gangs, others free.  William has always stayed apart though, living like this even before the disaster that befell the world.  Many died in the first few weeks, mostly from hunger and fighting each other.  Suddenly a scream rings through the clear air, carried by wind that gave this city its nickname.  William hurries over and collects the pistol, checking the ammunition as he shuffles back to the peephole.
	What could that be? The thought runs through his mind, as he waits tensely for the person attached to the scream to present themselves.  Suddenly, around one of the buildings on the next block, a figure comes streaking down the street being chased by a large man wearing the colors of one of the local gangs, bright yellow. He has a baseball bat and looks to be gaining on a small woman.  William can do one of two things; go back to his chair and stoke the fire back up, or intervene on behalf of the person being chased.  He usually keeps apart for a reason.  As they near, he can see now that the woman being chased is holding a baby.  That makes the choice easy.  William waits for them to near his home, and as they are running past he steps out and two shots ring out in the crisp morning air.  One bullet catches the large man in the shoulder, the other through the back of his neck. He dies instantly.  Deep red blood gushes from the wounds and stains the snow in a slowly spreading pool.  The snow retreats from the blood as if it poison.  Steam slowly rises from the body and young woman stares in horror at the sight.
	She slowly sinks to her knees in shock.
	“Come on, get up.  Get inside while I take care of this body, someone will be along shortly to investigate the gunshot.”  William walks over and pulls the woman to her feet and nudges her towards the door. “You should get the baby in out of the cold.”
	That snaps her out of it, and she glances down at the bundle in her arms and back up at William.  He smiles at her gently and gestures towards the door.  As she walks slowly towards the door, William begins his brutal work of moving the body into the park across the way and burying it in the snow for someone to find later.  He then grabs a shovel and starts throwing snow on top of the pile of blood.  When the street again looks white and clean, he heads back inside.  The woman is crouching by the fire with a look of apprehension in her pale blue eyes.  William slowly puts the gun down and away from her.  She has light brown hair that is cut short and is wearing baggy clothing that helps to conceal her form.  She has a thin face with a small nose and prominent cheekbones that make her look very striking.
William continues to stare intently at her.
	“I’m not going to hurt you, my name is William.  What’s yours?” William says, as he slowly gestures to himself.
	“My name is Linda.” She states quietly.
	“It’s nice to meet you Linda.  Would you like some food or water?” William asks with a gentle tone of voice.
	“No, thank you.”
	“Why was that thug chasing you?  The gangs don’t usually concern themselves with regular people very often; they are usually too busy fighting each other to worry about one woman and her baby.” William moves over to his chair and stares at her thoughtfully waiting for her answer.
	“This is Vincent Wilson’s baby….” Linda stares at the baby as she speaks the name of the leader of one of the gangs that controls the city.
	“Well, shit.” William stares at her in shock.  I can’t keep her here.  That will bring a whole army of goons down on us.  I need to figure out how to get her and the boy away from here.  Williams mind races with the beginning of a plan.
	“That is definitely a problem then.  You need to get away from the city.  As long as you remain here, you will be in danger.  Let’s get some food going and we can figure out what to do in the morning.  No one should be nosing around here for a few days.”  William starts pacing as he speaks.  “Can you protect yourself?”  His voice has on an edge to it and Linda shies away from him.
	“I just want to get out of the city with Michael,” Linda says as she clutches the baby a little tighter.
	William rubs his face with his hands.
“I’m sorry, I know this is happening fast, but you don’t have much time.  How do you expect a baby to survive in this new world if you don’t have any plan?  Let’s just button up for the day and night, and reassess the situation in the morning,” says Williams as he starts to gather blankets for an impromptu bed for Linda and baby Michael.  It has been six months since a massive solar flare knocked all of the electronics out throughout the entire world.  The government could not keep control and now the former United States is in anarchy.
	“Thank you for helping me William,” Linda says as she walks over and squeezes William’s arm.
	“You’re welcome.”
	In the middle of the night, William is awoken by movement off to his right, where Linda and Michael are sleeping.  He could see Linda’s figure get up and quietly make her way to the door and exit out into the icy night.  William gets up and checks on baby Michael, he is sleeping soundly, and then walks over to the peephole to check on Linda.  He sees a group of men outside with dyed blue rags tied around their arms, and Linda is in the middle of them pointing back towards the house.
	What the hell, thinks William as he runs over and grabs his pistol.  He checks the ammo, only six shots are left in it, and there are at least ten men outside.  He calls out to Linda, his voice ringing off of the buildings.
	“Linda! What is going on out there?” His voice sounds harsh as the reality of the situation slowly sets in.
	“I didn’t say I was Michael’s mother.  I stole him from Vincent so that I could get in with one of the rival gangs.  These gentlemen here have a vested interest in gaining an advantage over Vincent.”  A smile slowly spreads across her face as she regards William.  Though she is smiling, Linda’s eyes have become the cold and unforgiving eyes of a machine.  “It was no accident that I went by your place trying to escape.  You aren’t apart of any community, you live out here by yourself.  No one is going to miss you, and you make the perfect scapegoat for little Michael’s death.  These men are going to kill you and take Michael.  There isn’t anything that you can do to stop it from happening.”  There is a loud crack, and a red spot slowly spread across Linda’s chest.  Her smile wavered and she turned to regard the thug with the smoking gun standing behind her.  Her body topples into the snow like a doll discarded by a bored child.  All the men’s faces are hard, with scars and scowls giving them a menacing look, even though each face is different, they all have the same dead eyes and blank expressions.  They are more like robots than men.
	William shuts his eyes and looks back at baby Michael.  He walks over and regards him with sadness in his eyes.  Michael’s eyes open and stare at William with a wisdom that can only be found in the eyes of an infant.
	“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more to help Michael, but I don’t think I want to be here anymore after everything that has happened.  I can’t save you.”  William reaches down and strokes Michael’s soft cheek, and adds some more wood to the fire.  The orange flames lick at the new piece like a thirsty man who just spilled his water.
	William walks over to the corner and slowly slides down to the floor.  The pistol is still clutched in his hand and the weight of it is somewhat reassuring.
	“I truly am sorry,” William says to the silence of the room.  For the first time in a long while, William is not alone.
	A gunshot echoes as the cold, harsh light of morning bathes the city in fire.

title: *Chicago* My first short story for a fiction class.

question: Describe the setting of the story.

answer: The story takes place during the winter days of Chicago. The city is patrolled by gangs in a post-apocalyptic world. William, the protagonist, is alone but tries to save a woman and child who are under threat.


text:
(see comments for additional details)

The faint light of a single bulb did little to illuminate the dim funeral home room.  A small coffin sat on the podium.  A woman in a black funeral dress wept, kneeling in front of the coffin and burying her face in flowers.  By her side stood a tall, solemn man in a black suit, his face dry and his expression unwavering.  He kept his hand perpetually on the woman’s shoulder, determined not to express any emotion.

Besides the two, the room was unoccupied, but the disorganization of the chairs showed signs of recently being full.

For a while, the woman didn’t move except to shudder and cry.  Finally, she seemed to collect herself and stood up.  “I’m ready to go, James,” she whispered as she hugged him.  When she released him, she looked expectantly at him.  However, James simply stood there, looking at the coffin.  After a moment of silence, James spoke.

“I’m tired.”

“We all are,” the woman said.

“I’m tired of lying,” James clarified calmly, but his voice intensified with every word.  “Every week at church, every funeral.  Martha, I’m so damn tired!”

“James!” Martha exclaimed.

“Martha, how can you believe those lies?  ‘Jesus loves you!’  ‘God loves you!’  A loving God wouldn’t do this!  A loving God wouldn’t take away our daughter!”

“James!” Martha yelled again.  “Don’t do this!”

“Do what?  Tell the truth!  God is a lie!  A damn lie made up to trick people that are too damn ignorant to think for themselves!”

“James!”

“I used to believe it, too!  Back when I first decided to be a pastor, I truly believed it!  Jesus loved me!  My life was perfect.  I got the job of my dreams, the woman of my dreams!  You know what made me realize?”

“James, please!” Martha pleaded.

“You know *who* made me realize?  Cindy Williams!  When I buried her, it clicked.  A loving God wouldn’t take children from their parents!  A loving God wouldn’t let a little girl suffer through cancer.  A loving God…” James collapsed to his knees and started weeping.

“James, please,” Martha placed her hand on his shoulder.  He tried to move out of its way, but then stopped.  He grabbed his wife and pulled her close, staining her dress with his tears.  Martha held him tight, caressing his head and weeping with him.

When James could cry no more, he hugged his wife once more, stood up, and said, “Let’s go home.”

One hundred and fifty people sat in varying states of attentiveness in Hillgrove Baptist Church as Pastor James finished his sermon.

“The Israelites were in a tough spot, but God was watching out for them.  It was because of Moses’ faith that he was able to part the Red Sea and allow the Israelites to cross unharmed.”  James closed his Bible and bowed his head.  He stared at the pulpit, and the sweat glistened off his forehead.

Raising his head, he began to speak again.  “Church, I have an announcement.”  Grabbing a rag from the pulpit, James wiped the sweat from his brow and continued.  “As you all know, my daughter died last month.”  He paused, struggling to swallow the pain that came from saying those words.  “In the time since then, my faith has been tested, and I have been stretched to my limits.  It is my displeasure to tell you that as of right now, I am retiring from the position of pastor of Hillgrove Baptist Church.”  There was a collective sigh of disappointment and sympathy from the congregation.  “I need some time to myself, I need to meditate and pray.  You won’t be seeing me here for a while.”  With those words, James grabbed his papers and his Bible and walked down the aisle out the door.  The sanctuary was silent.

James didn’t stop walking until he reached the bed of his pastor’s cabin.

James stood at the door of his daughter’s room.  Seeing all of her toys brought the bittersweet memories back to him, and the pain forced him to his knees.  He folded his hands together and tried to pray, but then he remembered, and forced his hands apart.  Tears welled in his eyes, but by sheer force of will he kept them there.  He closed his eyes and felt a single tear flow down his face.  With his eyes still closed, he stood up and turned away from the room.  He reopened his eyes and stormed out of the house, to the backyard shed.  He pried open the door and pushed through the various gardening tools until he found it.  With one arm, he lifted his sledgehammer off the ground and slung it across his shoulder as if it was a light plank of wood.  He walked back into the house, and stood at the doorway of his daughter’s room.  He forced himself to look, one last time, and then lowered the sledgehammer from his shoulder.  He pulled his arms backward, held for a moment, and then swung with all his might at the wooden doorway.  The wall cracked from the force of the swing, but it didn’t crumble.  James stooped and wiped sweat from his forehead and tears from his eyes.  He pulled back again, and swung, this time ripping off a chunk of the wall in an explosion of dust and splinters.  He grunted from exhaustion, but then gave in and started openly weeping.  He swung again and again, tearing down chunks of the wall with each swing.  He ran into the room and cracked the bed in half with a swing.  When he felt he couldn’t swing the sledgehammer any more, he stopped, wiped the tears from his eyes, and stood up.

While he stood in the wreckage, Martha came in through the front door, carrying a few groceries and her purse.  After turning to lock the door, she turned again and saw James standing in the ruined room.  She gasped and covered her mouth, dropping the groceries.  James heard the sound of the eggs cracking, and he turned around and stared at Martha with empty eyes.  Martha opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn’t conjure any words.  James saw her attempt and spoke for her.

“We don’t need this room anymore.”

Tears returned to James’s eyes, and he turned back to the half-demolished room.  He grabbed his sledgehammer and went back to work.

Five years passed, and James didn’t step foot in any church.  In fact, he rarely left his house.  He found fleeting happiness in weight lifting, and spent many hours each day improving his already strong body.  Although he was no longer the pastor, Hillgrove Baptist Church allowed James to keep the pastor’s cabin, which was just a few dozen yards away from the church.  They hoped their kindness would help win James back.  It didn’t.

Martha faithfully attended the church through those years, and all her attempts to bring James back were met with cold stares and a refusal to speak.  She was visibly stressed, and her hair started turning gray prematurely.

Whispers of a strange disease had begun to spread across the country, one that would turn men into mindless flesh-eating beasts.  James chose to ignore them.  He ignored the reports of wars in other countries, he ignored the reports of outbreaks in small American towns, he even ignored the reports about an outbreak in New York.  He didn’t care, he lived in urban Kentucky.  Nothing like that would ever reach him.

One particularly warm summer morning, Martha left the house to attend a prayer meeting.  As soon as she was gone, James turned on his radio and began blaring music from a local rock station.  He grabbed a weight, and right as he began to lift, his music cut off and a loud beeping tone screeched from the radio.  It beeped several times before an automated voice began relaying a message.

“The National Weather Service has been [commandeered] by the [United States Air Force] to provide coverage about the [disease outbreak] in the area.  Please remain calm and remain indoors as the [United States Air Force] deals with [breakouts] in the area.  The [United States Air Force] advises you to avoid [Hillgrove Baptist Church] due to a possible [disease outbreak.]  The National Weather Service wished to warn you that the [United States Air Force] will handle the outbreak, and warns you to stay a safe distance away.  Once again…” but James had already stopped listening.  He immediately ran out the door.

As the door closed behind him, a jet zoomed across the sky, out of sight almost as fast as it had arrived.  Just a second later, James was hit by a massive shockwave that knocked him on his back, and he was temporarily deafened by an explosion.  As he pulled himself up, his ears ringing, he saw Hillgrove Baptist Church collapse, fires everywhere.

“MARTHA!” James screamed as he ran towards the wreckage.  The entire building lay in ruins, and small fires raged everywhere.  He clambered over the rubble, frantically searching for his wife.  “Martha!”

James pulled a ceiling tile off of a pile of rubble, and he saw an arm protruding from the rubble.  He quickly pulled away all the rubble, and to his horror he found the badly crushed corpse of his wife.  “Martha!” he screamed as tears rushed down his eyes.  He collapsed to his knees, sobbing and holding her hand.  A million thoughts rushed through his brain, and he could barely comprehend what he was seeing.  In anger, he grabbed a piece of rubble and threw it.  When he lowered his eyes, something caught his eye.  A small pile of paper was burning near Martha’s body.  He crawled over to it, and realized that it was Martha’s Bible.  He quickly patted out the flames, but when he picked it up, almost the entire book was burned.  He turned charred, unreadable pages, most of them crumbling at his touch, and finally stopped at the last page, one of the few readable pages remaining.

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.”  Amen.  Come, Lord Jesus!

And the grace of the Lord Jesus be with us all.  Amen.

James had read that passage hundreds of times in the past, and it carried no real significance then.  But now, even though it did not relate to any of his circumstances, it deeply moved his heart.  Something stirred inside James, and he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time: guilt.

When his daughter died, James had abandoned his faith in favor of his selfish anger.  In this action, he abandoned his wife to struggle with her questions of faith alone.  He should have been a man and supported her in her trials, but instead he left her alone and insulted her for it.

“God, forgive me!” James moaned, and he stared up into the sky.

“*Gruuungh*,” James heard a voice grunt, and looking up he saw a charred human body stumbling forward through the ruins.  It didn’t take long to realize that this was one of the infected.  Seeing it brought a sense of terror into James.  He put his wife’s burnt Bible into his pocket and turned to run.

James ran to his house and closed himself inside his house.  He turned on the radio in hopes of hearing something helpful.

“Infected individuals have overtaken most major cities in the East Coast.”  “Reports say that infected activity is rampant throughout the entire country.”  “Experts suggest finding an isolated area, in order to minimize interaction with infected individuals.”  “Go as far west as possible.”

West.  It seemed like James’s best bet.  He ransacked the house for as much food and clothing as he could possibly find, and then loaded them into his car.  He started the engine, and then paused.  He glanced at his shed, and then hopped out of the car and threw open the shed door.  He searched through the shed until he found his sledgehammer.  He gripped it in his hand, its weight a comfort to him as it was those five years ago.  He was even stronger now, and he could lift it with very little effort.  He carried it with him to his car and set it carefully in the back seat.  He returned to the driver’s seat and pulled the car out of the driveway.  He pushed the gas and began his journey west.

title: The Vector: Moses' Story

question: Describe the journey of James' internal conflict.

answer: When James' daughter dies, he abandons his faith and job as a pastor. He does not understand how a loving God would take away a child. He becomes angry and reserved, which causes him to retreat inward and isolate from the world, including his wife. When the church collapses and kills Martha, James discovers her burnt Bible by her body, with the one of the only readable pages containing a quote "Surely I am coming soon." After this moment, James has found his faith once again.

question: Describe the negative events of the story.

answer: At the beginning of the story, James and Martha's daughter passes away at a young age. Because of this death, James retreats inward, quits his job, and his relationship with his wife seems to deteriorate. Five years later, reports of a disease that turns people into flesh-eating beasts begin to sprout around all over the country. It is implied that the Air Force bombs the church in which James used to preach at because there is a suspected outbreak of the disease. The explosion causes the building to collapse, and kills Martha.


text:
GARTNER, INC, officially known as GARTNER, is a global research and advisory firm providing information, advice, and tools for leaders in IT, finance, HR, customer service and support, communications, legal and compliance, marketing, sales, and supply chain functions.[1] Its headquarters are in Stamford, Connecticut, United States. The firm changed its name from GARTNER GROUP, INC to Gartner in 2000.[2] It is a member of the S&P 500.[3]

Research provided by Gartner has historically targeted CIOs, senior IT, marketing, and supply chain managers. The acquisition of CEB, Inc. has expanded its range and breadth of offerings to support every business function in every industry and enterprise size.[4][5] Gartner clients include large corporations, government agencies, technology companies, and the investment community. Its client base consists of over 15,000 organizations in over 100 countries.[6] The company's products and services include Research, Executive Programs, Consulting, and Conferences. Founded in 1979, Gartner has over 15,000 employees located in 100+ offices worldwide.[7]

[A graphical representation of a hype cycle, showing the stages of maturity, adoption, and social application of a new technology.]

History

The company was founded in 1979 by Gideon Gartner. Originally a private company, the Gartner Group was launched publicly the first time in the 1980s, then acquired by Saatchi & Saatchi, a London-based advertising agency, and then acquired in 1990 by some of its executives, with funding from Bain Capital and Dun & Bradstreet.[8] The company went public again in 1993.[9] In 2000 the name was simplified to Gartner.[10] Gene Hall has been the CEO of the company since August 2004.[11]

In the course of its growth, Gartner has acquired numerous companies providing related services,[12] including Real Decisions—which became Gartner Measurement, now part of Gartner's consulting division—and Gartner Dataquest, a market research firm.[13] It has also acquired a number of direct competitors, Meta Group in 2005, AMR Research[14] and Burton Group in early 2010, and Ideas International in 2012.

In March 2014 Gartner announced that it had acquired the privately held company Software Advice for an undisclosed amount.[15] In July 2015, Gartner acquired Nubera, the business app discovery network that owns properties like _GetApp (a peer review site)_, _AppStorm_, _AppAppeal_, and _CloudWork_. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.[16] In September 2015 it acquired the privately held peer review site (PRS)[17] Capterra.

In June 2016 Gartner announced that it had acquired the privately held company _SCM World_, headquartered in London, U.K.[18] On January 5, 2017 Gartner announced it had reached an agreement to acquire CEB, Inc. in a cash and stock deal worth about US$2.6 billion.[19][20][21] On March 7, 2017 Gartner announced that it has agreed to buy[22] New York-based L2 Inc, which specialises in benchmarking the digital performance of brands. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.[23]

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[3]  S&P 500 Companies {{!}} S&P 500 Values {{!}} Markets Insider|work=markets.businessinsider.com|access-date=2018-06-28}}

[4]  Gartner Acquisitions|website=www.gartner.com|access-date=2018-06-28}}

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title: Gartner

question: Summarize the history of Gartner Inc.

answer: Gartner was founded in 1979. It was based in Stamford Connecticut. It was acquired by a London-based firm in the 1980s, and then in the 1990s it was acquired by some of its executives. In the early 2010s it started acquiring companies of its own.