text:
**Tone, Voice, Style, Story: Feedback would be very much appreciated.**

I suppose it started when I first heard her name. For a thing begins much before the actuality in the imagining and the presupposing and building up in the brain of what it could be.

Madison.

It was a pretty name.

At the time I was living in a small one-bedroom apartment on the fringes of the notoriously crime ridden Earen Street. Notorious may be too harsh a word but it was well known as a place where sadists and tourists alike often visited, although only quickly, and then after left quicker still. The houses were small and laboriously neglected; the front lawns of every household were little more than whispers of dying grass and dirt and old cars that would never run again. The rent was cheap and I was rather poor and had little of value so I didn’t fear being robbed as much as I should. The last of my luck was spent on that hope. Honestly, I didn’t mind the surroundings (not even the blue-red flashing lights that almost nightly pattered across my window). I worked for a local bakery; earned only enough to immediately spend or spent as much as I earned; I was never sure which but had little money either way. I had just moved to the City having pushed east towards the coast from the rugged, sparsely populated bushland that dominated most of the state, looking for work, looking to carve a life for myself and deny the hapless, soft fool I had once been.

These facts are rudimentary to a brisk, autumnal Saturday afternoon as I made my way home after an arduous shift at the bakery. The evening was chasing the cusp of night and the sun hung low over the blocky City horizon. I walked and enjoyed the cool weather, letting the ache of sustained concentration seep from my body. But as I neared the junction of Earen Street a man appeared along the footpath. He was half-hidden by the twilight gloom of the evening but his shady, dishevelled silhouette cut a menacing figure. Missing a shoe, his shirt half torn, the beast hobbled towards me. As he approached I could sense the tension that like a disease infected the air around him. I paused and he pushed on past me, a desperate gleam to his wet eyes. And then he started to yell loudly and frantically a single word:

“Madison!”

I thought nothing of it at the time.

I liked to go out on weekends; head deeper into the City in pursuit of the bustling nightlife that was so alien and so strange and so alive and nothing like I had ever experienced in the almost-savage outback. It demanded inebriation and I, the willing sacrifice, spent many early mornings dancing, drinking, smoking and vomiting amid the swirl of civility that could expect nothing less. That’s where I met her. She was outside a small pub called Samson’s that was situated between two larger clubs and was a favourite resting place among those who knew it. She leant against a tall neon lit streetlamp, cigarette burning short between her lips.  Her hair was toned twice between differing shades of blonde and her eyes, like gems, shone a piercing blue. She smiled easily. Her small, round face was very pretty. Her lips were full and red. As I stumbled towards Samson’s, giddy from having just avoided a raucous and completely unnecessary but somehow integral fistfight at one of the clubs I caught her eye and grinned.

“You look like shit.” she said as I neared her. It was an honest statement.

“Thank you… you look.. like a sunrise.” I was liquored-up and she laughed to spite me. Undeterred, I asked for a cigarette and she happily complied.

“I’m Sam, by the way.”

“I’m Madison.”

Something moved at the fringes of my blurred recognition then as I lit the smoke and took a drag but I pushed it away.

“Where are you heading tonight?” I asked.

“Nowhere in particular, you?”

“By my lonesome tonight.”

“You aren’t a crazy loner creep are you?”

“I suppose I am.” I conceded.

“Well at least you’re honest about it.”

“If anything, I am honest. What about you? What are you if nothing else?”

“Probably crazy.” her smile was devilish.

“Well, crazy and lonely. We’d make a good villain.”

“You can tag along with me, if you like.”

We did that modern manoeuvre of exchanging numbers then I stubbed out my cigarette and went in search of a celebratory drink. I remember having one final swig of some sticky sweet mixed spirit before collapsing to the ground unconscious. I awoke the next morning upon the front step of my apartment.

The week that followed passed slowly and uneventfully. I thought quite a bit of Madison in the quieter moments and many times I considered calling or texting her on the number she had given me. But somehow, I didn’t. I suppose I feared substantiality.
Yet, despite myself I did visit Samson’s every afternoon hoping that we could by chance (because chance is the one thing that could supersede denial) meet again but Madison didn’t return and the food was bland and overpriced. And the days passed on as normal. She plagued my mind, though, and it was uncomfortable the amount of time I spent thinking about her; but it was good and fun when I gave into it. I conjured up images of her ruining men; of flitting from one to the other as she was fawned upon and beseeched for attention. Somehow, she was pure in even that. That is how I saw her and over the long week she became known to me like one knows an old acquaintance: with absurd familiarity.

Another day of work passed and later, as I lay in bed that night having called home and let them know that I was okay, and after congratulating my younger brother on his fourteenth birthday, having tidied my small apartment and given in to the temptation of fast food I retreated to comfort.
I was accompanied by thoughts of her again. She was truly pretty; one of those girls that men look upon and think immediately of matrimony and children and a comfortable life of three meals, of white-picketed fences and the blissful slipping into age and happy unrequired but partnered existence that follows. I held my phone in my hands, turning it slowly, considering what I’d say if I did call her, how, when and if I truly wanted to at all. Just as my nerves started to berate my conscious I stood, half dressed and retrieved the packet of smokes from above my fridge that I kept for emergencies. I cracked open the front door and stood in the frame, taking long, slow drags of the pleasurable toxin as I looked out upon the lamp lit street. Dogs barked not too far away, and cars continued to roll past in semi-regular intervals. The sky above was starless and black and the verdant smell of rain was carried upon a slight breeze. I finished a smoke but as Madison still complemented my thoughts: lit another.
I watched the night unfold upon the urban sprawl and then i spotted, in the distance someone running up the street along the path across from my apartment. It wasn’t particularly alarming; having lived along Earen Street for the last few months such sights became almost common occurrences. But then my heart flew into my throat. The figure stopped under one light and for a moment became fully, intricately visible.

It was Madison.

She was wearing a hoody and denim jeans; her hair tucked up in a half bundle but her eyes, those gem-like blue eyes, shone with a neon glare that my imagination had deified. Without thinking I breathed her name, and then shouted it down the street. Her head spun around and she locked eyes with me.

“It’s Sam.” I clarified with a wave, stepping into the light, “We met  last week. I owe you a smoke, don’t I?”

She was tense as she walked over to me.

“I could use a coffee.” she suggested, glancing over her shoulder nervously.

I let her into my apartment and closed the door. As soon as my front door clicked shut behind her, Madison began to relax. I put the kettle on to boil and offered her a seat and something to eat.

“Thanks, Sam, right?”

“Yeah.”

“You disappeared that night, if I remember.”

I blushed: “Drank a little too much.”

She raised an eyebrow and smiled. I noticed that she carried herself with a particular certainty; one borne of stolen youth and sudden, violent maturity. She reminded me of a stray cat in a way; so unlike that which I had envisaged. But it wasn’t an unpleasant realisation. Her lips too were less vivid, and her eyes more wild. I started to pour us each a hot mug of coffee.

“So, what makes you come to Earen Street on a night like this?” I asked, jesting.

“My ex-boyfriend lives nearby.”

I froze, mid-pour of measured cup. It occurred to me that this had happened before and I had been a second too late; discovering the boyfriend, a mess, moving down the street with desperation. My confidence taunted me; would i be next? I almost glanced out the window, expecting to see the same crazed eyes staring back; his or mine.
“We broke up not long ago,” she explained, “but I hoped we could work it out. Apparently, we can’t.”

I smiled as the memory flashed, and faded, and was then forgotten. But the seconds dragged on and I have always been terrible at small talk. I had been raised to speak plainly and honestly and, although infinitely useful for a mother to rein in her child, it was a curse to my adult self.

“He was probably a dick.” I said gruffly and she smiled.
And then we started to talk. We spoke of the places we grew up, of why we moved to The City and how, of what we were planning on in the future as well as now. It was an easy conversation filled with longwinded explanations synonymous with comfortable friendship but soon the weight of time started to press upon us and we realised it was closing on midnight.

“You’re a good guy, Sam.” said Madison.

She moved closer.

“You’re wonderful.” I said.

She moved closer still.

And then our lips were pressed against each other’s and her breath tasted of coffee and sugar and something bitter like blood. She pressed herself onto me and we found our way to my bedroom. Leaning heavily into each other; smothered in embrace. She took off her hoody and then her shirt. Her breasts were small and pale in the half-light that spilled through the window, her nipples erect. I undressed quickly.
It was quick and loud and awkward at first but soon we fell away from each other sweaty and tired. Madison fell asleep almost immediately after and I leant over and kissed her lightly on the forehead. She looked so beautiful then. I pressed my nose into the back of her neck and slept.

The next day she left early and without saying much.
And I saw her never again.

title: [RF] I Suppose

question: Describe the narrator's encounters with Madison.

answer: For the narrator, Madison was both captivating and fleeting. Captivating because after they first met and exchanged numbers, the narrator's days were filled with thinking about her. She made a strong and lasting impression upon him. However, she is also fleeting. Though one could say it was also the narrator's choice to not make contact with her after they met, for their second encounter, it was implied that it was Madison who never appeared again.

question: Who is Madison's ex-boyfriend?

answer: It is somewhat implied that the man who was missing a shoe may have been the ex-boyfriend (since he lived in the area and had said her name).


split: test

text:
image copyrightGetty Images

UK GOVERNMENT "BADLY UNDERESTIMATED" THE RUSSIAN THREAT AND THE RESPONSE IT REQUIRED, ACCORDING TO AN INQUIRY.

The Intelligence and Security Committee's long-awaited report into Russian activity in the UK said the government was "playing catch-up" and needed to take "immediate action".

The report also claimed the government made no effort to investigate Russian interference in the EU referendum.

The Russian Foreign Ministry called the report "Russophobia".

No 10 said the government was "fully aware of the significant and enduring threat" Russia posed.

The ISC's inquiry covers a number of topics, including disinformation campaigns, cyber tactics and Russian expatriates in the UK.

Much of the "highly sensitive" detail was not published due to fears Russia could use the evidence to threaten the UK.

'Hot potato'

The committee said Russian influence in the UK was now "the new normal", and the UK was a "top Western intelligence target" for the state, only behind Nato and US.

ISC member, Stewart Hosie, told reporters the government "took its eye off the ball, because of its focus on counterterrorism", adding: "The government had badly underestimated the response required to the Russian threat, and is still playing catch up."

In its report, the group said UK was "clearly a target" for disinformation campaigns around its elections, but that the issue was described as a "hot potato", with no one organisation taking a lead to tackle it.

The report criticised intelligence agencies for not taking action during the EU referendum, despite there being "credible open source commentary" suggesting "influence campaigns" from the Russians during the Scottish independence referendum in 2014.

And it said the government only "belatedly realised the level of threat which Russia could pose" after the so-called "hack and leak" operation against the Democrats in the 2016 US election, calling it a "game changer".

The committee said: "Had the relevant parts of the intelligence community conducted a similar threat assessment prior to the [EU] referendum, it is inconceivable that they would not have reached the same conclusion as to Russian intent, which might then have led them to take action to protect the process."

The report also said that social media companies "hold the key and yet are failing to play their part", adding that the government should "name and shame those which fail to act."

media captionStewart Hosie MP says the government "didn't take action to protect the UK"

Mr Hosie also said no-one in Government wanted to touch the issue of Russian interference when it came to elections with a "10-foot pole".

He told reporters: "The report reveals that no one in government knew if Russia interfered in or sought to influence the referendum, because they did not want to know.

"The UK government have actively avoided looking for evidence that Russia interfere."

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab later told a press conference the government 'categorically rejected' the claim, saying it was "the comment of one MP" on the committee.

The government also rejected the committee's call for a full assessment by intelligence agencies of potential Russian meddling in the 2016 referendum, saying it had "seen no evidence of successful interference".

Committee places blame at government's door

This report may not be what some expected, but it is still damning.

Many expected the committee to have answered the question of whether there was interference in political events like Brexit.

Instead, it says the problem was the government and the spy agencies failed to even look at this question.

British intelligence has, at least in recent years, been reluctant to get involved in anything that looks "political" and treated the issue of trying to protect democracy like a "hot potato".

But ultimately it's the government that the committee blames.

More broadly, there are serious questions about the failure of the UK to confront the spread of Russian money and influence over a long period.

And there is an urgent call for new legislation to deal with an ongoing challenge.

Lords links

The report also accused successive governments of welcoming Russian oligarchs "with open arms" due to the investments they brought with them.

The committee said "few questions if any were asked about the provenance of this considerable wealth", with particular issues around the UK's investment visa scheme, the housing market, the judicial system and PR firms.

They said: "A lot of Russians with very close links to Putin who are well integrated into the UK business and social scene, are accepted because of their wealth."

The report said it had concerns about links between these wealthy Russians and the House of Lords.

"It is notable that a number of members of the House of Lords have business interests linked to Russia, or work directly for major Russian companies linked to the Russian state," it read.

"These relationships should be carefully scrutinised, given the potential for the Russian state to exploit them."

A big collective shrug from Russia

The reaction to the ISC's report from Russia has been a big collective shrug.

The Russian foreign minister dismissed it out of hand and called it "Russophobia".

And a Kremlin spokesman said Russia doesn't meddle in other countries elections.

What this report has done is to present a broad picture of Russia as a powerful foe.

And I don't think in the Kremlin they will be too unhappy at that.

'No reason for delay'

Committee members also criticised No 10 for the delay in the report's publication - seven months after it was submitted to No 10 to sign off.

Downing Street was accused of holding back the report ahead of December's UK election and for delaying its nominations to set up the new committee - both claims it has denied.

But speaking at a press conference to launch the report, one of the ISC's committee members, Kevan Jones, criticised Boris Johnson for not signing it off sooner, saying there was "no reason for delay".

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab tweeted: "We've been clear that Russia must desist from its attacks on the UK and our allies.

"We will be resolute in defending our country, our democracy and our values from such Hostile State."

The ISC's former chair, Dominic Grieve - who pushed for the report to be published before the election - told BBC News his pleasure at seeing it come to light was "mitigated by a sense of frustration and bluntly anger at the way the government behaved".

media captionDominic Grieve says there were “no valid reason” and no explanation for delaying its publication

Labour's shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy accused the PM of taking a "political decision" to block the report.

She added: "The government has underestimated the response required to Russia and it is imperative we learn the lessons from the mistakes that have been made."

question: What is the main topic of this article?

answer: The main topic of this article is the Russian threat to the UK's intelligence.

question: What did the Intelligence and Security Committee report?

answer: The inquiry covers disinformation campaigns, cyber tactics, and Russian expatriates in the UK. The committee also stated that Russian influence in the UK was now the new normal.

question: According to the article, what are Russia's top three "Western intelligence targets"?

answer: NATO, the US, and the UK.

question: Did the Russians influence elections?

answer: The report indicated that the UK was clearly a target for disinformation campaigns around its elections.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The main topic of this article is the Russian threat to the UK's intelligence. The inquiry covers disinformation campaigns, cyber tactics, and Russian expatriates in the UK. The committee also stated that Russian influence in the UK was now the new normal.


text:
not everyone knows this, but every time someone creates a time machine and use it to his benefit, he doesn't go back in time nor go into future. Instead, he goes far away, some light years away from our solar system. some ends up dead immediately in some hot or cold planet, or eventually die from monsters or starvation or loneliness.

so far it has been created 6 times. the one who is to be blamed was a greek man. he created the first time machine ever which was surprisingly worked to his benifit in 167 BC. he made it so to a point that no one can make an efficient time machine. to trick people over the history he made a textbook to teach everyone the initial parts needed for creating such machine. he enjoyed torturing these poor souls.

the end

title: [SF] Time traveling is a trick

question: Who created the time machine?

answer: There were several people who created time machines. The first-ever time machine was created by a Greek man.

question: What was the time machine used for?

answer: The Greek man used his time machine to trick people who attempted to make their own time machines into creating a device that would get them killed.

question: Describe the time machine.

answer: That information can't be found.

question: How many time machines are there?

answer: Six different time machines have been created.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A Greek man invents the first time machine. He creates a textbook that fools people trying to create their own time machines into making a device that will transport them to a far-away planet, where they will be killed.


text:
Buy FlatOut as a Steam Key.

Experience the drive of your life in Flat Out as you throw yourself around 45 challenging tracks in one of 16 fully upgradeable cars. The track environment is subject to an advanced physics system unique to this game, and is set to define a new standard in racing games. Fences will shatter, tyre walls will explode, water tanks and barrels will fly across the track into other cars. Every time you lose control, you will truly feel the weight of the car as it collides with and destroys a barn, or smashes into the pack of cars ahead of you, and with 40 deformable pieces on every car sparks are guaranteed to fly.

Anything you destroy or alter stays a part of the race, increasing the carnage to unprecedented levels. Broken fences, free rolling tyres, and even mangled parts of cars are left scattered around the track, increasing the mayhem with every lap. The expansive free-roaming tracks also allow you to dictate exactly how you drive your race, whether that be taking every shortcut, jump and by-road you can find, or keeping to the racing line and using your driving skills to rein supreme.

An extensive championship mode will keep you "flat out" for months on end as you battle through a huge variety of races, mini-games and the most outrageous arenas of destruction you could possibly imagine. And it doesn't stop there. Online and multiplayer gaming options add even more variety to the game play. Challenge your closest peers, or the best gamers from across the globe and compete in the most realistic racer to date.

FlatOut Features

-   16 different cars to race, customise and upgrade
-   Full car damage modelling which also affects the performance of the car
-   Unparalleled realistic scenery and debris damage with fully destructible driving environments
-   Carefully tuned car physics to give a truly realistic feel to each car
-   45 tracks to master over 5 different environments including the challenge of snow-covered terrain.
-   Two-player split screen mode for a AAA racing experience with friends
-   A whole host of extra fun enhancing mini-games including 'Figure of 8' and 'Demolition Bowl'

question: What kind of game is Flat Out?

answer: A racing game

question: When was the article written?

answer: That information can't be found

question: Who is the publisher of Flat Out?

answer: That information can't be found

question: How many different cars are available in the game?

answer: 16

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Flat Out is a racing game featuring 16 different customizable cars and 45 different tracks. It features realistic simulation of car damage and debris.


text:
SUSAN ARNOLD ELSTON WALLACE (December 25, 1830 – October 1, 1907) was an American author and poet from Crawfordsville, Indiana. In addition to writing travel articles for several American magazines and newspapers, Wallace published six books, five of which contain collected essays from her travels in the New Mexico Territory, Europe, and the Middle East in the 1880s: _The Land of the Pueblos_ (1888), _The Storied Sea_ (1883), _The Repose in Egypt: A Medley_ (1888), _Along the Bosphorus, and Other Sketches_ (1898), and _The City of the King: What the Child Jesus Saw and Heard_ (1903). She was also the wife of Lew Wallace, a lawyer, American Civil War general, politician, author and diplomat. Susan completed the manuscript of Lew Wallace's two-volume autobiography following his death in 1905, with the assistance of Mary Hannah Krout, another Crawfordsville author. Wallace died in Crawfordsville in 1907.

Early life and education

Susan Arnold Elston was born on December 25, 1830 in Crawfordsville, Indiana. She was the third daughter, the fourth of nine children, born to wealthy and influential parents, Isaac Compton, a Crawfordsville dry goods merchant, and Maria Eveline (Akin) Elston, whose family were Quakers from upstate New York.[1][2] Susan was educated at home in Crawfordsville and at Dr. Gibbons' Friends' Boarding School in Poughkeepsie, New York.[3][4] While at boarding school, she studied literature, geometry, and writing, but preferred music, especially playing guitar and piano.[5][6]

Marriage and family

Susan married Lew Wallace on May 6, 1852.[7] The couple first met in 1848 at the home of Joanna and Henry Smith Lane in Crawfordsville. Joanna was Susan's older sister; Lane was Wallace's former military commander during the Mexican War and became one of his closest associates.[8] At the time of their courtship, Wallace was a prosecuting attorney in Covington, Indiana. His earlier reputation for getting into trouble caused Susan's father to disapprove of him initially, but the courtship continued.[9][10][11] Susan accepted Wallace's marriage proposal in 1849. Three years after their first meeting, the couple were married at the Elston family home in Crawfordsville.[12] Late in life she still described him as “my first, last, and only love.”[13][14]

The Wallaces established their first home at Covington, where Lew continued to practice law, but moved to Crawfordsville in 1853, to be closer to her family.[15] The couple had one son, Henry Lane Wallace, born on February 17, 1853, in Covington. He was named for their brother-in-law, Henry Smith Lane.[16]

Although Susan was a talented writer and musician, she preferred to remain largely in the shadows as her husband's companion and advisor.[17] Lew became a major general during the American Civil War, who was later appointed governor to the New Mexico Territory and served as the U.S. Minister to the Ottoman Empire. He also went on to become one of the most celebrated American authors of the 19th century, following the publication of _Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ_ (1880).[18]

On occasion, Susan accompanied her husband to his various posts, but Crawfordsville remained their home.[19][20][21][22] In February 1879, Susan joined Lew in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he served as the territorial governor, but she disliked its dusty, dry climate, and returned to Indiana in October.[23] In 1881 Susan accompanied her husband to his diplomatic post in Constantinople, Turkey, and traveled throughout Europe, Egypt, and the Holy Land during their years abroad.[24] When Lew's diplomatic assignment ended in 1885, the Wallaces returned to Crawfordsville, where Susan was prominent in the town's literary community. She befriended other local writers, including Mary Hannah Krout and her sister, Caroline Virginia Krout, and continued to write.[25]

Career

Susan Wallace was a published author long before her husband was.[26] “The Patter of Little Feet”, one of her best known poems, first appeared in the _Cincinnati Daily Gazette_ on April 17, 1858. Largely forgotten by modern readers, her works focused on home, friends, travel, and Christianity.[27][28] She was also very interested in women's roles, especially after traveling with her husband to Turkey and the Middle East. Her travel writing is described as more reflective and poetic than a detailed travel guide. She offered romantic and sentimental narratives of her travels in addition to vivid descriptions, with touches of realism and humor.[29]

Susan's writing first appeared in American magazines and newspapers, but collected essays later appeared in her books, which were published between 1883 and 1903, after she had reached the age of fifty.[30] During her brief time in the New Mexico Territory in 1879, Susan described her experiences in a series of articles that she had previously sent to the _Atlantic Monthly_, the _New York Independent_, and the _New York Tribune_. A collection of these essays were later included in her book, _The Land of the Pueblo_ (1888).[31] Susan also wrote about her travels abroad for American magazines and syndicated newspapers. Collected essays were later published in four books: _The Storied Sea_ (1883), _A Repose in Egypt, A Medley_ (1888), _Along the Bosphorus, and Other Sketches_ (1898), and _The City of the King: What the Child Jesus Saw and Heard_ (1903).[32][33] _Ginèvra; or, The Old Oak Chest, A Christmas Story_ (1866), which is based on a Samuel Rogers poem, initially appeared in 1884 in the _New York Independent_.[34]

In addition to her own writing, Susan was involved in her husband's literary career. Lew acknowledged Susan's role as his editor, reader, and critic, and attributed much of his success in writing to her literary criticism.[35] Wallace was writing his memoirs when he died in 1905, and Susan completed his manuscript with assistance from Mary Hannah Krout, another Crawfordsville author. Using correspondence, speeches, notes, and other materials, they added another 204 pages to his two-volume work, _An Autobiography_ (1906).[36] In volume two, page 796, of the 1906 edition, Susan added: “And here the Autobiography ends. What follows must be a plain record of facts without attempt at polish or effect.”[37]

Death and legacy

Susan Wallace died in Crawfordsville on October 1, 1907, at the age of seventy-six.[38][39] She is buried beside her husband in Crawfordsville's Oak Hill Cemetery. A collection of her papers are preserved as part of the Wallace Collection at the Indiana Historical Society in Indianapolis.[40][41]

Selected works

-   _The Storied Sea_ (Boston: James R. Osgood and Company, 1883).[42]
-   _Ginèvra; or, The Old Oak Chest, A Christmas Story_ (New York: Worthington, 1887) [illustrated by Lew Wallace].[43]
-   _The Land of the Pueblos_ (New York: John B. Alden, 1888) [with illustrations by Lew Wallace].[44]
-   _The Repose in Egypt: A Medley_ (New York: John B. Alden, 1888).[45]
-   _Along the Bosphorus and Other Sketches_ (Chicago: Rand, McNally and Co., 1898).[46]
-   _The City of the King: What the Child Jesus Saw and Heard_ (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1903).[47]

Notes

[1] Stephens, p. 10.

[2] Spragg, p. 1.

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 39.

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] Stephens, p. 10–11.

[11] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 40.

[12]

[13] Boomhower, p. 136.

[14] Spragg, p. 5.

[15]

[16]

[17] Russo and Sullivan, p. 419.

[18] Forbes, p. 387.

[19] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 444.

[20] Stephens, p. 229–230.

[21] Boomhower, p. 98 and 101.

[22] Ferraro, p. 142.

[23] Boomhower, p. 105–106.

[24]

[25] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 412 and 444.

[26] Boomhower, p 89.

[27]

[28]

[29] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 339–40.

[30]

[31] Spragg, p. 4.

[32]

[33] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 316–18, 326, 339, 359, 412, and 437.

[34]

[35] Russo and Sullivan, p. 309.

[36] Boomhower, p. 135.

[37] Lew Wallace, _Autobiography_, vol. II, p. 796.

[38]

[39] Morsberger and Morsberger, p. 339.

[40]

[41] _The Papers of Lew and Susan Wallace_, a documentary edition published in 2008 on forty-nine microfilm rolls, includes letters, essays, speeches, and other items collected from more than a hundred repositories. See Mason, Caudell, Bellamy; Boomhower, p. 176–81; and

[42] Russo and Sullivan, p. 421.

[43] Russo and Sullivan, p. 423.

[44] Russo and Sullivan, p. 424.

[45] Russo and Sullivan, p. 428.

[46] Russo and Sullivan, p. 431.

[47] Russo and Sullivan, p. 435.

title: Susan Wallace

question: Describe Susan's relationship with her husband.

answer: Susan and her husband, Wallace met in 1848. She accepted his proposal in 1849 but they only married in 1852. Susan's father didn't approve of Wallace at first because he had an earlier reputation for getting into trouble. Late in life Susan still described Wallace as “my first, last, and only love.”


text:
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greenwavesportugal@gmail.com
+ 351 920 213 568

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Vegan Surf Retreat

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PLANT-BASED. SURFING. YOGA. PORTUGAL

06 / 09 / 2020 - 13 / 09 / 2020

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Omelettes, scramble, pancakes, oatmeal, a diverse buffet...
all made from nutritious plants! Coffee and tea included.

7 vegan breakfasts

Delicious and healthy meals to nourish you after a surfing session. Starter, main and...
a well deserved sweet treat on Saturday ;)

6 vegan dinners

1 vegan BBQ

Friday night we all gather together to grill vegan goodies, sit next to the fire and watch
a surf movie!

5 surf lessons

Our lessons with certified surf instructors are suitable for all levels, especially complete beginners. All equipment
and insurance during the lessons included.

To complement your surfing experience we added yoga sessions with an experienced yoga teacher.

5 yoga lessons

1 tour with a local guide

You can add an extra excursion to Obidos or Nazare on the weekend. The tours are organized by a local guide with no more than 6 people per group.

Our vegan coach Miguel cares
about your nutrition especially
when you do intense physical activities.

That's why all our meals are
homemade, nutritious, with a wide
variety of local fresh produce
and a pinch of our secret ingredient - love.

Our vegan coach Miguel cares
about your nutrition especially
when you do intense physical activities.

That's why all our meals are
homemade, nutritious, with a wide
variety of local fresh produce
and a pinch of our secret ingredient - love.

Our vegan coach Miguel cares
about your nutrition especially
when you do intense physical activities.

That's why all our meals are
homemade, nutritious, with a wide
variety of local fresh produce
and a pinch of our secret ingredient - love.

Our vegan coach Miguel cares
about your nutrition especially
when you do intense physical activities.

That's why all our meals are
homemade, nutritious, with a wide
variety of local fresh produce
and a pinch of our secret ingredient - love.

Our vegan coach Miguel cares
about your nutrition especially
when you do intense physical activities.

That's why all our meals are
homemade, nutritious, with a wide
variety of local fresh produce
and a pinch of our secret ingredient - love.

Our vegan coach Miguel cares
about your nutrition especially
when you do intense physical activities.

That's why all our meals are
homemade, nutritious, with a wide
variety of local fresh produce
and a pinch of our secret ingredient - love.

Baleal is one of the best places in Portugal to practice surfing.

Due to its specific coast shape we have waves all year round and suitable for any level: from complete beginners to pros.

Yoga is a great way to complement surfing and train your balance
and muscles utilized when surfing.

That's why we combined surfing and yoga in our program.

Portugal is the best surf destination
in Europe!

"Every time you do surfing, it somehow allows you to leave all your problems behind, for maybe just a moment—but sometimes that moment is enough,"

Gerry Lopez, famous surfer, 71 year old.

A trip to Portugal cannot be complete without visiting authentic Portuguese places.

Óbidos - is one of them, a small village which preserved its medieval spirit until today. You will walk in the labyrinths of narrow streets and try its traditional cherry liqueur.

Our local guide Ivo avoids crowded tourist paths, therefore can accept no more than 6 people at once. He will reveal the secret city legends and answer all your historical questions.

Autumn also is the perfect time to visit Nazaré to witness big wave surfing - up to 30 meter waves - a breathtaking view!

Outstanding vegan food, the perfect hosts, and knowledge, patient surf instructors. I had such an amazing time with Miguel and Alina. They know how to look after their guests, great attention to detail and genuinely friendly hosts. I felt like I was hanging out with friends. They were superb surf instructors - I love Alina's genuine excitement as I progressed. Their passion for their "work" shines through. I will definitely be back and I would recommend this retreat to anyone.

We stayed with Alina and Miguel for 7 days. We were super happy with how everything went. The surf lessons were fun and successful. Besides the lesson we just went to the beach whenever we wanted which was very close and we got information about the current surf situation (there are many spots where you can surf in walking distance). If you don't feel like surfing (really? 🙃) there is Nazare (please google it, big waves) or Obidos (historic walled city) you can visit on a day off from surfing. The food is simply amazing (not joking). The house where we stayed is very close to the beach and has everything you need.

Gregor D. and Michaela D.

We were with Miguel and Alina in september and we loved it. Every meal was on point- super delicious. The surfing classes were a lot of fun and we learned a lot about the ocean and the waves. The instructions were very clear and the photo analysis was crucial to avoid wrong movement patterns from the beginning. We enjoyed our time in Baleal with Miguel and Alina and we would definitely recommend it!
Thanks guys!

An amazing concept to bring the best from two worlds - surfing and vegan food! Every aspect of the retreat is well thought and arranged. Alina and Miguel are fantastic surfers, instructors, cooks and hosts. I was looking forward for every surfing session and every meal... oh that food, vegan you or not, you will enjoy every bite! I left Peniche stronger, healthier, relaxed and renewed. Looking forward for my next change to surf with Green Waves Portugal.

Beautiful place & people. Alina's the best coach for a beginner: professional wave pusher and supporter. Not to mention her cooking is outstanding (even for a non-vegan person). And Miguel is the most enthusiastic and educated gym partner you could wish for.

The perfect people organized camp in the perfect place! Highly recommended to come!

I had private surf lessons with the guys last year in Portugal and it was an amazing experience, especially when you know that you can surf in the Atlantic Ocean, at probably one of the safest places! Totally recommended if you want to try something new. Both guys are cool and have a lot of knowledge to share with you.

Green Waves rocks! Definitely can recommend to anybody who is looking for surfing retreat in Portugal (Peniche area). Lovely couple who will not only take a goood care of you and teach you how to properly stand on your board but also know how to cook - big time!! :) Even though our time was limited, Alina did her best and gave us superfast course which totally make our surfing enjoyable and safe in a same time. Cheers guys, love xxx

Amazing teachers in a beautiful place ! We had so much fun and learned so quick with their useful advices and attention. They give me the taste of surfing at the first lesson 😁 Thanks again !

We combined our vacations with Green Waves Portugal for surfing lessons and tours since the guys took us to Obidos and around Peniche, Baleal and Ferrel, also came along with us to Lisbon and gave us a tour there as well. Miguel and Alina explained to us the basic principals about surfing and gave us a push to learn, literally. Pleasant personality and friendly feeling, positive environment around them and food was unexpectedly delicious, told us many tips for vegan diet that was very helpful.
We had no experience with surfing before but after that experience I consider to start pursuing this sport and for sure to join the Green Waves Portugal next year...!!
Thanks for the experience hope to see you soon.

We enjoyed 2 days at the retreat with Miguel and Alina. We didn't want to leave after day 2, as we were having a blast. The surfing, the food and the good vibes all made our short stay amazing. Thank you Miguel especially for all the good laughs and Alina for all those great tips to help me ride all those waves in day 2!

— 7 nights stay in shared bedroom (3 people, same sex)
— 7 vegan breakfasts (drinks included)
— 6 vegan dinners
— 1 vegan bbq dinner
— 5 group surf lessons
— 5 group yoga lessons
— Free transfer from Peniche bus station and back
— Holiday photographs as a memory gift

— 7 nights stay in private bedroom (double bed)
— 7 vegan breakfasts (drinks included)
— 6 vegan dinners
— 1 vegan bbq dinner
— 5 group surf lessons
— 5 group yoga lessons
— Free transfer from Peniche bus station and back
— Holiday photographs as a memory gift

— 7 nights stay in private bedroom (double bed)
— Private bathroom
— 7 vegan breakfasts (drinks included)
— 6 vegan dinners
— 1 vegan bbq dinner
— 5 group surf lessons
— 5 group yoga lessons
— Free transfer from Peniche bus station and back
— Holiday photographs as a memory gift

5% OFF FOR FRIENDS

Bring a friend so you both benefit

10% OFF EARLY BIRD

Discount valid until July 1st

Our spacious villa is located in Baleal, Portugal,
2 minutes away from the beach.

Inside you will find:
5 bedrooms
3 bathrooms
Fully equipped shared kitchen
Common living room
2 balconies
Big barbecue area with sunset view

Private double room with private bathroom

Private double room with private bathroom

Vegan Personal Trainer,
certified in London, UK.
Knows everything about
vegan nutrition and has
coached dozens of people.

In love with Portugal
and surfing since forever!
If she is not in the water,
you can find her at the kitchen
making mouth watering delicacies.

[]

© Green Waves 2020 - all rights reserved

[]

[]

[]

question: Why is Baleal one of the best places to practice surfing in Portugal?

answer: Due to its specific coast shape and year-round waves that are suitable for all levels.

question: What is Green Waves Portugal known for?

answer: It's a surf retreat for vegans.


text:
DISCONNECTION is the severance of all ties between a Scientologist and a friend, colleague, or family member deemed to be antagonistic towards Scientology. The practice of disconnection is a form of shunning.[1] Among Scientologists, disconnection is viewed as an important method of removing obstacles to one's spiritual growth. In some circumstances, disconnection has ended marriages and separated children from their parents.[2][3][4][5][6] The Church of Scientology has repeatedly denied that such a policy exists,[7][8][9] though its website acknowledged the practice and described it as a human right.[10] In the United States, the Church has tried to argue in court that disconnection is a constitutionally protected religious practice. However, this argument was rejected because the pressure put on individual Scientologists to disconnect means it is not voluntary.[11]

Policy

Antagonists to the Church of Scientology are declared by the Church to be antisocial personalities, Potential Trouble Sources (PTS), or Suppressive Persons (SPs). The Church teaches that association with these people impedes a member's progress along the Bridge to Total Freedom.

In _Introduction to Scientology Ethics_, L. Ron Hubbard sets out the doctrine that by being connected to Suppressive Persons, a Scientologist could become a Potential Trouble Source (PTS):

Hubbard defined “handling” as an action to lessen a situation towards an antagonistic individual by means of communication, and _disconnection_ as a decision to cut communication with another individual.[12] Hubbard also wrote that Scientology Ethics Officers should recommend handling rather than disconnection when the antagonistic individual is a close relative.[13] He also stated that failure, or refusal, to disconnect from a Suppressive Person is a Suppressive Act by itself.[14] In one case cited by the UK Government, a six-year-old girl was declared Suppressive for failing to disconnect from her mother.[15] Sociologist Roy Wallis reports that Scientologists connected to a suppressive would usually be required to handle _or_ disconnect, although he found some “Ethics Orders” which ordered unconditional disconnection.[16]

According to Church statements, disconnection is used as a “last resort,” only to be employed if the people antagonistic to Scientology do not cease their antagonism — even after being provided with “true data” about Scientology, since it is taught that usually only people with false data are antagonistic to the Church.[17]

Originally, disconnection involved not only ending communication with someone but also declaring it publicly.[18][19] The Scientology publication _The Auditor_ included notices of disconnection from named individuals. It was also common for Scientologists to send short letters to the suppressive person, to warn them that they were disconnected.[20] Roy Wallis interviewed a number of people who had been declared suppressive, some of whom had received hundreds of these letters.[21] The Scientologist was also required to take “any required civil action such as disavowal, separation or divorce” to cut off contact with the suppressive.[22]

The policy was introduced in 1965 in a policy letter written by Hubbard.[23] The “Code of Reform” introduced by Hubbard in 1968 discontinued Fair Game and Security Checks, and cancelled “disconnection as a relief to those suffering from familial suppression.”[24] In reality, these practices were never discontinued; however, the words “Fair Game,” “Disconnection,” and “Security Checking” were discontinued, as the use of these words caused bad public relations.[25] When the New Zealand Government set up a Commission of Inquiry into Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard wrote to them saying that disconnection had been cancelled and that there was no intention to bring it back. The Commission welcomed the letter, but noted Hubbard did not promise never to re-introduce the practice of disconnection.[26]

In his book _A Piece of Blue Sky_, Jon Atack cites an internal document dated August 1982 that, he alleges, re-introduced the disconnection policy.[27] A belief that disconnection was being used again, and not as a last resort, led a group of British Scientologists to resign from the Church in 1984, while keeping their allegiance to the beliefs of Scientology.[28] Their interpretation was that the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard “encourage the unity of the family” and therefore that the disconnection policy was “a misrepresentation or misapplication”.[29]

Examples of application

The 1960s

In 1966, UK newspaper the _Daily Mail_ quoted a disconnection letter from Scientologist Karen Henslow to her mother:

Henslow, a thirty-year-old sufferer from manic depression, had been a Scientology staff member for two weeks when she disconnected. The message was accompanied by a second letter apologising for the first and saying that it had been mailed without her permission.[30]

Raymond Buckingham, a singer who ran a voice school in Manhattan, was recruited into Scientology by one of his pupils. He was asked to disconnect from a business associate who had been labelled suppressive. When he spoke out publicly against Scientology, his Scientologist pupils disconnected from him and refused to pay him. One of these was a famous singer for whom he had arranged a series of performances.[31]

Roy Wallis reproduced a “Disconnection Order” from 1965 which orders a Scientologist to disconnect from the publications of the Food and Drug Administration. It states, “The FDA literature he comes in contact with is not to be read by him at all.”[32]

Disconnection was the subject of a 1970 court case in which the Church of Scientology unsuccessfully attempted to sue Geoffrey Johnson-Smith MP over negative comments he had made on BBC television. To defend his claims that families were being alienated, he produced evidence of specific cases in court. The judge described it as “astonishing” that the Scientologists did not contest these allegations.[33][34]

In 1969, the New Zealand government set up an official inquiry into the Church of Scientology. The ensuing Dumbleton-Powles Report quoted from a number of disconnection letters and also reproduced some “Ethics Orders” which identified Suppressive Persons who were “not to be communicated with in any way.”[35] Teenage Scientologist Erin O'Donnell had written to her non-Scientologist aunt, “If you try to ring me I will not answer, I will not read any mail you send, and I refuse to have anything to do with you in any way whatsoever. All communication is cut completely.” The Commission concluded that Scientologists had been required to choose between family relationships and continued involvement in Scientology.[36]

The 1971 UK government investigation into Scientology and ensuing _Foster Report_ reproduced a number of internal “Ethics Orders”. One of these, dating from November 1967, concerns a member who had asked for a refund. It declares him to be a Suppressive Person and continues, “Any and all persons connected [to him] are declared Potential Trouble Sources and are not to be Trained or Processed before they have presented evidence in writing (...) of handling or disconnecting.”[37]

Joe Boyd, the manager of the Incredible String Band, was a Scientologist for a time in the early 1970s. He left when he was told that friends who were hostile to Scientology were interfering with his progress and he must disassociate from them.[38]

Cyril Vosper received a “Declaration of Enemy” in response to his violations of Scientology “ethics”. It is reproduced in his book _The Mind Benders_ and states, “Anyone connected to him is not to be processed or trained until he or she has disconnected from him in writing.”[39]

The 1980s and 1990s

In 1982, David Mayo and other former Church of Scientology executives were subjected to an internal “Committee of Evidence” for alleged transgressions. The committee issued a permanent writ of Disconnection, forbidding all other Scientologists from having contact with the accused.[40]

In _A Piece of Blue Sky_, Jon Atack describes being ordered to disconnect from a friend in 1983, shortly after the policy was re-introduced.[41]

In his 1984 High Court judgment, which considered many aspects of Scientology, English judge Justice Latey wrote that “many examples [of disconnection] have been given and proved in evidence.” As examples, he reproduced two disconnection letters. One is written by a Scientologist to his fiancée. In the other, a man writes to his business partner and former friend, “What you are now doing in setting yourself against the Church is not only very suppressive but also non-survival for you, your family and any group you are associated with.”[42][43]

That year, the _Daily Mail_ brought up further examples of disconnection, including a 13-year-old boy who disconnected from his father and a woman who said her fiancé was forced to abandon her. The fiancé concerned said “it was a personal decision” and a Church of Scientology spokesman was quoted denying that there is a policy to split up relationships.[44]

Also in 1984, _The Mail on Sunday_ interviewed Gulliver Smithers, a former Scientologist who had left the group's base at Saint Hill Manor when he was 14 years old. Smithers explained that disconnection was an everyday part of life in Saint Hill, “It goes round by word of mouth when someone is an outcast. He or she is just ignored and shunned. It was what we were brought up to do.”[45]

In a lengthy court case in the 1980s, ex-member Lawrence Wollersheim successfully argued that he had been coerced into disconnecting from his wife, parents, and other family members. Since the disconnection was not voluntary, it did not count as protected religious practice.[46]

In 1995, the UK local paper _Kent Today_ talked to Pauline Day, whose Scientologist daughter Helen had sent a disconnection letter and then dropped all contact, even changing her phone number. A spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology denied that this decision had anything to do with the Church.[47][48]

21st century

A _Buffalo News_ investigation in 2005 spoke to the sisters and brother of Fred Lennox, a Scientologist who, according to them, was being manipulated and exploited financially by the group. The paper also quoted an internal so-called “Ethics Order” instructing him to “handle or disconnect” from his sister Tanya because of anti-Scientology comments she had made online. Lennox himself and Church of Scientology spokesmen denied this.[49]

Ex-Scientologist Tory Christman told _Rolling Stone_ magazine that her Scientologist husband and friends refused to talk to her after she left the Church.[50]

In January 2008, Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of David Miscavige, spoke out about the policy's effect on her family. She revealed that, once her parents left the Church while she remained, she had been forbidden to answer the telephone in case she spoke to them and that her parents only restored occasional access to her by threatening legal action.[51] Another second-generation Scientologist, Astra Woodcraft, told ABC's _Nightline_ that she had been forbidden any contact with her father once he left the Church and she was still a member. She used her weekly laundry time to secretly meet up with him.[52]

To make the television documentary _Scientology and Me_, the BBC _Panorama_ team spoke to two mothers whose daughters had disconnected, one for nearly seven years.[53] Mike Henderson, an ex-Scientologist, told _Panorama_ how he had not spoken to his father during his time as a member. When Henderson left Scientology, he re-established communication with his father, but most of the rest of the family disconnected from Henderson as a result.[54]

Actor Jason Beghe has alleged that after he left the Church of Scientology in 2008, former friends who remained in the Church disconnected from him.[55]

In 2009, a man named Shane Clark was about to be declared a suppressive person for being employed by Marc Headley, author of _Blown for Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology_. Clark secretly recorded a meeting between himself and Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis and his wife Jessica Feshbach. In the tape, Davis is heard not only threatening Clark with suppressive person declaration, but telling him he will be the subject of disconnection. Clark was later declared, and his family disconnected from him.[56] Despite the direct evidence to the contrary, Davis denied the existence of the disconnection policy in a television interview on CNN.[57] Paul Haggis, a film director, disputed this in his 2009 resignation letter from Scientology. Haggis wrote, “We all know this policy exists”, and said his wife had been ordered to disconnect from her ex-Scientologist parents, “although it caused her terrible personal pain. For a year-and-a-half, [she] didn't speak to her parents and they had limited access to their grandchild. It was a terrible time.”[58][59] In response, Davis reiterated that there is no Church policy of disconnection.[60]

When actress Leah Remini publicly left the Church in 2013, Remini's sister, Nicole, revealed that she and the rest of Remini's family did as well to avoid being split up by the Church's disconnection policy.[61]

Comments by religious scholars

The _St. Petersburg Times_ consulted three religious scholars about disconnection in Scientology, two of whom had been recommended by the organization itself.[62] One, F. K. Flinn of Washington University in St. Louis, said that shunning practices such as disconnection are common to young religions. He drew parallels with the dis-fellowship practiced by Jehovah's Witnesses.

This view is not shared by all religious scholars. J. Gordon Melton, of the Institute for the Study of American Religion, said that disconnection goes much further than the policies of most modern religions. Newton Maloney of Fuller Theological Seminary also described the policy as “too extreme.” The _Buffalo News_ report consulted Stephen A. Kent of the University of Alberta, who said that hostility towards critics, including the member's own family, is an ingrained part of Scientology Ethics, according to which the survival of the Church is all-important.[63]

In popular culture

William S. Burroughs, who briefly dabbled with Scientology, wrote extensively about it during the late 1960s, weaving some of its jargon into his fictional works, as well as authoring nonfiction essays about it. He uses the term “Disconnect” in a Scientological context in _Ali's Smile: Naked Scientology_ and other works. In the end, however, he abandoned Scientology and publicly criticized it in an editorial for the _Los Angeles Free Press_ in 1970.[64]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] “What is Disconnection” explanation by Church of Scientology

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17] Church of Scientology What is Disconnection? (archive.org copy of website Retrieved on 2008-05-16)

[18]

[19] Hubbard, L. Ron (23 December 1965) HCO Policy Letter “Suppressive Acts” reproduced in

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24] Hubbard, L. Ron (29 November 1968) “Code of Reform” reproduced in

[25]

[26]

[27] Scientology Policy Directive 28 “Suppressive Act - Dealing with a Declared Suppressive Person” 13 August 82. cited in Atack (1990), p. 35

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42] Judgement of Mr Justice Latey, Re: B & G (Minors) (Custody) Delivered in the High Court (Family Division), London, 23 July 1984

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46] California appellate court, 2nd district, 7th division, Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, Civ. No. B023193 Cal. Super. (1986)

[47]

[48]

[49]

[50]

[51]

[52]

[53]

[54]

[55]

[56]

[57]

[58]

[59]

[60]

[61] Traynor, Bradley (July 17, 2013). " EXCLUSIVE: Leah Remini's Sister Nicole Talks!" . myTalk 107.1 FM.

[62]

[63]

[64]

title: Disconnection (Scientology)

question: Summarize the disconnection letters from the 1960s.

answer: Karen Henslow sent a disconnection letter to her mother in 1966, two weeks after being a Scientology staff member. Raymond Buckingham was asked to disconnect from a business associate and his Scientologist pupils then disconnected from him. A disconnection letter from 1965 is cited ordering an individual to disconnect from FDA literature.

question: What does the text say about volunteering?

answer: Voluntary acts are references in connection with the Church of Scientology's efforts to make disconnection a constitutional right in the U.S. and possibly legally protected elsewhere. However, because of the evidence that supports that disconnection is usually not voluntary but coerced, that right cannot be granted.

question: What does the text say about the staff members of Dumbleton-Powles Report?


text:
A jailed jihadi was put in segregation for plotting to behead prison guards – but a judge has ruled that the move breached his human rights.

Nadir Syed, 24, was placed in isolation at the top-security Woodhill jail after he led other Muslim inmates in chanting ‘Allahu Akbar’ (‘God is Great’), banging on cell doors and threatening to decapitate warders.

Documents seen by The Mail on Sunday reveal that staff were warned not to be left alone with him to ‘prevent the risk of hostage-taking’, while Syed had also claimed he would ‘radicalise the whole unit’ in another prison.

Prison officers have been warned about the dangers of possible radicalism in British prisons, although this Muslim inmate has not been suspected of any form of extremism or terrorism

Nadir Syed, 24, was placed in isolation at the top-security Woodhill Jail over fears he was trying to radicalise an entire unit and led fellow inmates to shout Allahu Akbar and threaten staff

But Syed, serving a life sentence for planning to behead a poppy-seller in a Lee Rigby-style attack, successfully sued the Ministry of Justice after he was placed in a unit by himself.

The astonishing revelation comes just two days after the Government announced a flagship policy to tackle radicalisation behind bars, with special ‘prisons within prisons’ being set up this summer to hold the most dangerous extremists.

Ministers are taking the drastic step amid growing concern that hundreds of vulnerable inmates are at risk of having their minds warped by extremists and being turned into terrorists when they are released.

Last night Philip Davies, the Tory MP for Shipley who sits on the Justice Select Committee, said: ‘It’s all right for the judge respecting the human rights of the prisoner, but what about the human rights of the prison staff he was threatening to behead? The reason why so many people have lost faith in the justice system is because you get ridiculous decisions like that.’

He added: ‘I welcome the new separation centres for extremist prisoners because they often target other, more vulnerable prisoners and radicalise them. But there is a risk that extremist inmates will launch legal action against the new jails on human rights grounds, and a judge might rule in their favour and undermine the whole thing.’

Syed, from Hounslow, West London, is serving life for plotting to behead a poppy-seller on Remembrance Sunday with a 12in kitchen knife, inspired by the killing of Fusilier Lee Rigby on the streets of London four years ago. When he was sentenced to a minimum of 15 years last year, Syed was told he may never be released to protect the public.

But chillingly, he remains intent on carrying out a beheading, even while locked up in Britain’s most secure institutions.

According to court documents, the authorities claim that while he was on remand before his trial began, Syed had ‘commented that, if he were convicted (as he was in December 2015), he would carry out the act that he was in prison for (that is, the act of preparing for an act of terrorism by acquiring a knife in order to kill, and behead, a person)’.

Police recovered this knife from Syed at the time of his arrest days before he planned to decapitate a poppy seller following the brutal murder of Fusilier Lee Rigby

Just weeks after he was found guilty of preparation of terrorist acts, he was heard making murderous threats at Category A Woodhill jail in Buckinghamshire. ‘On the morning of January 7, 2016, there were reports that the claimant was part of a group of prisoners who were hitting cell doors, stating that officers oppressed Muslims, shouting Allahu Akbar and uttering threats of beheading,’ according to the High Court judgment.

When a guard entered Syed’s cell, the prisoner said that if officers ‘violated one [Muslim] brother, they violate all’, making more threats to behead prison staff all morning.

He then tried to get one particular officer to come into his cell, which the judge concluded was ‘an aggressive act and, indeed, reflects the same kind of hostility that had led to the act resulting in his conviction’. Syed was put in a segregation cell shortly afterwards, and weeks later was placed in a secure wing called the Central Managing Challenging Behaviour Unit (CMCBSU), because of the threat he posed to guards, and because of the fear that he was inciting other inmates to attack warders.

Prison authorities want to keep Syed in a special unit at HMP Woodhill for the safety of staff, but he has appealed the decision to the High Court under Article 8 of the ECHR

A Prison Service assessment of him said: ‘Mr Syed has a lot of intelligence stating that he has intentions to take staff hostage and behead them. He is also documented inciting others to disruptive behaviour and at HMP Belmarsh took part in this in the segregation unit, at the time he was also calling out “this is jihad”, and he threatened to radicalise the whole unit. Mr Syed presents a risk to others, especially staff and should be treated as such at all times. Staff are not to be alone with him to prevent the risk of hostage-taking.’

How staff segregate dangerous inmates

Currently, prisoners considered a risk can be held in segregation in their cells.

About 60 of the country’s most dangerous criminals are taken out of main wings and locked up in Closed Supervision Centres, with little human contact.

Others are put in less restrictive Managing Challenging Behaviour Strategy Units, where they are closely monitored but are allowed to mix with fellow inmates.

Now the MoJ is creating three new ‘Separation Centres’ for extremists deemed a threat to national security or who are trying to radicalise inmates.

Despite the danger that he posed to staff, a High Court judge has ruled that Woodhill prison breached Syed’s human rights by locking him in the CMCBSU.

His lawyers argued that restricting his ability to talk to other prisoners breached his right to respect for his private life under Article 8 of the controversial European Convention on Human Rights.

And Mr Justice Lewis agreed that Syed’s confinement was unlawful because the prison authorities did not notify him beforehand that he was to be placed in the unit, and thereby give him an opportunity to respond. The detention was ‘unlawful’ because it was ‘procedurally flawed’. In a ruling seen by this newspaper, the judge said: ‘There has been an interference with the claimant’s right to respect for his private life and… the interference was not justified.’

The Ministry of Justice has refused to say if Syed is back at a normal cell at Woodhill. Last night a spokesman would say only: ‘We are considering the implications of this judgment carefully, including whether to appeal.’

Syed’s case highlights the danger that jihadi prisoners pose in British jails. Of the 13,000 Muslim inmates in the country’s prisons, about 1,000 are either extremists or are vulnerable to radicalisation, a parliamentary report found last year.

Some of Britain’s most dangerous extremists are believed to have been radicalised while in custody. Westminster killer Khalid Masood, 52, is believed to have converted to Islam in prison and became radicalised. Richard Reid, 44, the Briton who was convicted in the US of trying to blow up an airliner with a bomb hidden in his shoe, is also believed to have converted to Islam while in prison.

The problem is deemed so serious that the Ministry of Justice has revealed it will open a ‘prison within a prison’ in the maximum-security Frankland facility in County Durham in the coming weeks. It will be followed by two more in other jails.

Michael Adebolajo, 32, who killed Fusilier Rigby in South-East London in 2013, is in Frankland, as is Dhiren Barot, 45, who was convicted in 2006 of a plot to explode a radioactive ‘dirty bomb’ in London. Experts believe other notorious extremists such as hate preacher Anjem Choudary, 50, the leader of the banned group Al-Muhajiroun, will be locked up at the new separation centre in Frankland.

Critics have described the ‘jail within a jail’ as Britain’s answer to Guantanamo Bay, but the MoJ says the move is essential to protect other inmates from being radicalised.

The MoJ also said far-Right extremists will be put in the special centres with the jihadis. A briefing note says: ‘Referral to a Separation Centre is non-discriminatory and may include Right-wing extremists or religious extremists.’

THREAT TO BRAVE OFFICERS HAS NEVER BEEN GREATER, WRITES FORMER JAIL BOSS IAN ACHESON

This case illustrates the risks prison staff are exposed to when dealing with extremist offenders. I saw the dangers first-hand last year when I interviewed officers in high-security prisons as part of my review of jail extremism for the then Justice Secretary Michael Gove.

I was shocked and concerned by what I heard.

Staff had become so used to the possibility of being taken hostage and killed by Islamist-inspired prisoners that they had ‘normalised’ it so they were able to function properly on the wings.

Unarmed officers relied on teamwork and hyper-vigilance to stay safe. Their daily working environment was saturated with menace leavened only with gallows humour. Prisons are hard places to work in at the best of times and we are not in the best of times, with a collapse in order, control and decency across the system.

I was a prison officer and loved the job, but I am not sure I would have the right stuff to survive today’s environment.

It is rather chilling to sit with a group of men and women on the front line talking calmly about how to avoid being beheaded. Not one of the staff I spoke with felt properly understood or protected from harm by the bosses in London. And when we looked at the response to the threat at HQ level, we felt bound to agree.

My team saw little real understanding of the psychological impact on these brave public servants managing some of the most formidable and dangerous extremists in the world.

The system for gathering intelligence on Islamist prisoners was fractured and inadequate to the point where there was no real understanding by bureaucrats of the dangers posed. The arrangements to protect staff and respond to incidents were sometimes hopelessly muddled and out of date. Few of the very well paid senior administrators in London responsible for counter-terrorism roles had any operational experience of running prisons.

We found more concern about political correctness and ministerial briefings where we should have seen decisive leadership and support. We made recommendations to correct these serious problems and I expect the Government to ensure all those reforms are put in place urgently.

It is pleasing to see that one of our main recommendations is being adopted.

We argued that the most dangerous and subversive extremists in the system must be prevented from influencing and radicalising others by placing them in special units. For this to work effectively, the selection process must be rigorous and fair. The regime on these units must not be punitive but must be capable of holding extremely dangerous people for a long time.

To run these units we will need outstanding, resilient staff. Careful selection, training, support and outstanding leadership will be required. We are asking a huge amount from these men and women and they deserve the best.

Further up the greasy pole and away from the front line, serious questions must be asked about the current capability in the boardroom to help them defeat this threat to national security.

question: What are the legal impediments to the "prison within a prison" system?

answer: It risks trampling on the rights of prisoners, discriminating against them even when they have not done anything illegal whilst serving their sentences.

question: What gives Syed the confidence to threaten prison wardens and radicalize fellow inmates?

answer: Because the legal system in the UK is not sophisticated enough to deter the threat of radicalization. The law focuses on the act or intent of committing physical crimes, and not on the psychological manipulation of the mind to think in a certain way that will ham citizens.


text:
[Ripple Rock]

This film shows a complicated three-year engineering project leading to the destruction of Ripple Rock, a deathtrap in the shipping lane between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Also shown are tunnelling beneath the ocean floor of Seymour Narrows, the placing of the explosives and a close-up view of the successful explosion in 1958.

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question: What is Ripple Rock?

answer: A deathtrap in the shipping lane between Vancouver Island and the mainland.

question: What does the Ripple Rock film highlight?

answer: The destruction and successful explosion of the ripple rock deathtrap.

question: When did the successful explosion take place?

answer: in 1958.

question: What is being placed beneath the ocean floor of Seymour Narrows?

answer: Explosives for the destruction.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The "Ripple Rock" film highlights a three-year engineering project leading up to the destruction and successful explosion of Ripple Rock.


text:
[Donald Trump Chris Wallace]

President Donald Trump on Thursday and the Fox News anchor Chris Wallace during a broadcast about the impeachment inquiry into Trump.
 NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP via Getty Images/Twitter/FoxNewsSunday
-   PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP AGAIN ESCALATED HIS WAR ON FOX NEWS, CRITICIZING THE ANCHOR CHRIS WALLACE'S COVERAGE OF THE UKRAINE SCANDAL THAT HAS LED TO AN IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY.
-   TRUMP TWEETED ON SUNDAY: "SOMEBODY PLEASE EXPLAIN TO CHRIS WALLACE OF FOX, WHO WILL NEVER BE HIS FATHER (AND MY FRIEND), MIKE WALLACE" — A CBS INTERVIEWER WHO DIED IN 2012 — "THAT THE PHONE CONVERSATION I HAD WITH THE PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE WAS A CONGENIAL & GOOD ONE."
-   FOX NEWS, LONG TRUMP'S FAVORITE NETWORK, HAS IN RECENT MONTHS BECOME A SOURCE OF ANGER FOR HIM.
-   VISIT BUSINESS INSIDER'S HOMEPAGE FOR MORE STORIES.

President Donald Trump escalated his war on Fox News again, slamming the anchor Chris Wallace for his coverage of the Ukraine scandal and comparing Wallace unfavorably to his father, who died in 2012.

Trump tweeted on Sunday: "Somebody please explain to Chris Wallace of Fox, who will never be his father (and my friend), Mike Wallace, that the Phone Conversation I had with the President of Ukraine was a congenial & good one.

"It was only Schiff's made up version of that conversation that was bad!" he added, referring to Rep. Adam Schiff, the Democratic chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.

  —Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 14, 2019

Trump has rejected that there was any wrongdoing during his July call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, which was the basis of an explosive whistleblower complaint that last month prompted Democrats to launch an impeachment inquiry into Trump.

_READ MORE: As the impeachment probe intensifies, 40% of Americans say they think Mike Pence would make a better president than Trump_

The White House's notes of the call showed that Trump, shortly after saying the US does "a lot for Ukraine," asked Zelensky to investigate the dealings of Joe Biden, the former US vice president who's now Trump's election rival, in Ukraine while Biden's son was on the board of a Ukrainian gas company. There is no evidence of wrongdoing by the Bidens.

Schiff, who's leading the inquiry stemming from the whistleblower complaint, has described Trump's call with Zelensky as a "classic Mafia-like shakedown." Trump has repeatedly accused Schiff of treason.

Mike Wallace, who died in 2012 at age 93, was a longtime CBS journalist who interviewed Trump when he was still a businessman for "60 Minutes."

Following his father's death, Chris Wallace described him as "the best reporter I have ever known."

[]

Mike Wallace interviewing Trump in 1985.
 YouTube/CBS News
"And while work often came first for him, over the last 20 years, he worked hard to make connections with his family," Chris Wallace said. "He became my best friend. And at the end, he was surrounded by children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. I already miss him terribly."

Fox News, long the president's favorite network, has become the subject of much of his ire in recent months as controversies around him deepen and some polls have found a slump in support. He reportedly fears that the network is not loyal enough to him.

_READ MORE: Trump is reportedly worried that Fox News is being taken over by liberals trying to undermine him, as his war on the network escalates_

In August, Trump said the network had "changed" and was "a lot different than it used to be."

"There's something going on at Fox, I'll tell you right now," he said. "And I'm not happy with it."

That prompted one of its anchors, Bret Baier, to hit back.

The network remains the home of some of Trump's closest allies, including some who've worked as hisinformal advisers. It often defends even his most controversial policies.

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More: Donald Trump Chris Wallace Fox news Ukraine
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question: Approximately when was the article written?

answer: Late 2019

question: Which Fox anchor is Trump criticizing?

answer: Chris Wallace

question: Who was Chris Wallace's father?

answer: Mike Wallace, a CBS journalist

question: What news source published this article?

answer: That information can't be found

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Trump is criticizing Fox news anchor Chris Wallace for his reporting on the Ukraine scandal which led to an impeachment probe.


text:
The prompt was "When everyone turns 18 they receive a pet that is figurative of their personality. You're the first person to receive a dragon..."

“They keep calling me ‘Ghost Boy’” Joqur said, he found it hard to look into Chelsie’s eyes as he said it.

Before his Choosing Ceremony, staring into her eyes was a favorite pastime of his, albeit a covert one. Two years his elder, she always seemed to be there for him when he needed her. In a city the size of Gilead, her constant presence was truly a feat—the logistics of which he had not quite determined.

In part he refused to question out of fear. Ten years now they had been inseparable. Her touch, her eyes, and most of all her words had kept him going during the most trivial of trials and those more demanding. His most cherished memories of her were blurred kissed, shared under moonlight in the fields of the outer walls after drinking cheap root drink her and other students had stolen or smuggled for the New Year celebrations.

Yet, since her Choosing Ceremony two years and not a fortnight passed, she had changed. She was still there when he needed her, without question. Yet since receiving her Sea Eagle she spoke more and more of her travels to come; the lands she would explore, the new tongues, the colored people. These travels of course did not involve the studious Joqur—his travels were little else but through ink and parchment. To date, however, she had not left.

And of course she spent time tending to her resonant. Sea Eagles were large creatures. Hers was the size of a man and the wingspan of four. Given time and special attention it was said even some could be ridden.

“Joqur…” Chelsie reached over and gave him a soft pat on the shoulder and stared where his eyes should’ve been if his head weren’t downturned. After some time his eyes met hers. She gave a soft but strong smile.

“Ghost boy because of all the 79 men of my day-of-birth this Choosing Ceremony I was the only one to receive no resonant whatsoever. They said my resonant must be a Ghost and he hides in the books I cling to.”

“Joqur, please stop.” Her voice was gentle yet firm.

“I’ve talked to my father as I told you I would. He says the records at the Changing Gate indicate that this has happened before. In the last Century a pair of twins didn’t receive their resonant at their Choosing Ceremony either. They had to wait a month for theirs to come.”

Chelsie lived not far from Joqur, though their families were of different report. His family walked to the second wall during the faming season and worked for their rice and roots. Chelsie’s father worked in the Great Temple and her mother ran a large Inn close to the Capital Building.
Chelsie’s voice rose in pitch as she saw some light pop back into Joqur’s eyes.

“Well it has been only three days. Maybe I’m like them then? My resonant has yet to come?” Joqur’s chest finally rose and he pulled his hands away from his face as he took a deep breath and offered a slight smile.

“I think it could be.” Chelsie said smiling. She soon began to chuckle and this built in to a roaring laugh.

Joqur’s laughter slowly joined with hers and rose in volume until they were both rolling on the floor in her parent’s sitting room as though they were youngins again.

Their laughter was harshly interrupted as Chelsie’s father abruptly entered the room.

“Joqur? Well, I’m surprised to see you here… But relieved. I’ve been sent to find you” Joshua was tall, guant and regal. He too spent much time in books. After meeting Joqur by chance as a young boy he began paying for his schooling. He always assured Joqur that his mind was sharp as any and that no low-birth could dull the wit the gods had given him.

“My parents must need help with the sorting at home, I’ll—“

“No Joqur, not your parents.” Joshua’s tone was clear, almost harsh. His normal quite demeanor was not to be seen.

“I’ve looked into your Choosing Ceremony. The water priests at the Great Gate have informed us that your resonant his here but we must leave immediately. There will be no time to invite your parents; no ceremony at all. This must be done now. I’d be happy to escort you to the Great Gate and be your witness.”

“Father that’s great! I’m sure I could be his witness though, and I’m sure my company will be much more interesting than yours down the Central Canal. As if he needs a companion for the three minutes it will take to paddle there.” Chelsie shot her father a playful smile and nudged Joqur across the chin with her pinky finger.

“Chelsie you are to stay here, you presence won’t be needed.” His eyes lacked their usual twinkle and his prose was uncharacteristically witless.

“Father! I—“

“You. Shall. Stay.”

Joqur finally spoke. “Chelsie don’t worry, you know I don’t mind being alone. This makes my Choosing Ceremony that much more fitting.” A sudden rigor filled Joqur and he quickly stood tall and met the gaze of Joshua. “Let us go Sir Joshua.”

Joshua did little more than nod and they both left the room leaving
Chelsie still on the floor looking bewildered and hurt. They quickly walked out the back entrance and into their family ironwood boat. They each took an oar and began to stroke.

“Joqur, we have not much time. You must know you will not have your ceremony in the Choosing Room. I will take you through a small channel underneath the Sept. You will have your ceremony at the Pool of the Night Willows.”

The Autumn breeze was strong, the splash of oars soft, and Joshua’s many adornments and jewels clanged the loudest, yet Joqur heard his heartbeat above all else.

“I’m not a Priest… I, I, I don’t even go to the Sept as often as I should.
I didn’t even make It there but once during the Reap Moon, maybe twice, I—“

“Joqur! Listen to me.” Joshua’s voice turned deep and sharp. His jaw set firm yet, the muscles of his temples bulged as he ground his teeth yet his eyes revealed sadness.

In the silence created by his outburst their boat passed from the sunlit canal into a darker passage closed off to the sky. Slowly they wound their way down into smaller and smaller passages. Joqur’s breath quickened as he struggled to keep pace with Joshua’s stroke set by his long lean arms. Each breath seemed to rip between their silence while Joshua’s seemed to struggle only in reserving tears. His movements and breaths were as smooth as ever.

Finally, after what seemed to be an eternity to Joqur, Joshua stopped rowing and pulled his oar in. He gestured to Joqur to do the same. They slowly drifted down the canal as Joshua pulled a large crystal from underneath his billowing cloths. Soon the dark passage was light with the light of an amber crystal, the shape  of which seemed to be shifting after each glance though the light was more constant than any torch or gnomic orb.

“Joqur, I’ve loved you as a son and I always will.”

Their boat continued to drift at a constant pace though they had not pulled and oar for minutes. The tunnel they traveled through seemed to be more ancient by the minute yet the walls were free from any algae or marks of wear.

Joshua stood abruptly and handed the amber crystal to Joqur.

“I must leave you know. Be brave. I will tell your parents of your love and that you will see them again. Do not be afraid. You will pass a gate soon but the light from this gem shall open it for you. From there you will have precious moments to prepare for your ceremony. Use them.” Joshua finally looked at Joqur and smiled. His eyes twinkled in the amber light. His green eyes mixed with the red and produced a blue hue. He then leapt from the boat to the canal wall.

Joqur’s head wiped around as he watched Joshua stick to the rounded surface of the canal with just one hand. His right hand, always jeweled, light up as it clung to the wall and the stones that held the wall together slowly moved to form stairs that he put his feet upon. With his free hand he raised his fist to his right temple and tapped it with his knuckles. The movement was dexterous as any but it looked odd as the farewell gesture was always completed with one’s right hand. Then he turned up the newly formed stairs and was gone.

Joqur began to shake and realized he had worked up a cold sweat. He looked down at the crystal in his hand in fear of dropping it. What was once ephemeral was now not a crystal at all but a simple dark stone. In awe he started until he heard water rushing near him. As he looked up he saw a simple iron sewage gate swing open to allow his passage.
The movement shocked him and the rock fell from his grip yet it hovered in place. Joqur’s mind raced.

‘Never in ANY of the Histories of Gilead have I read of any Choosing Ceremony leaving a man-formed-new alone against the world with no resonant. Men and women, kings and queens have gone berserk, wild, and mad at the death of their resonants in wars, lov,e and espionage. Why is it that I receive mine now and here in these dark tunnels under the Sept?’

Joqur’s thinking then shifted from that of words to the more primal thoughts of images and emotions as he looked at the stone in front of him and the eerily shadow-less light it cast all around him. Everything seemed to glow as if the stone gave the gift of light to each object but itself cast none.

While lost in his mind the channel widened gradually and the ceilings grew taller and taller until they reached as high as the cone needles in the Silk Forest outside the final city gates. Then his boat stopped moving as it caught the root of the Night Willow.
Joqur’s head rushed as he stared at the purple luminescent Night Willow. The pool beneath him was shallow and blue.

Be brave…. Joshua’s words echoed in Joqur’s head yet fear kept him seated. The Night Willow was the most sacred of the Priestly Sanctuaries. He had never met anyone who had even seen a drawing of the Night Willow and he tried for years once he learned of its existence as a child.

The roots were woven together like those of his mother’s finest tapestries—her winter hobbies. The trees themselves reached as high and as far as his eyes could see beyond even the luminescence of the tress and the amber light of the stone.

Joqur’s thoughts dissolved from logic and became fear; pure primal fear. Be brave. Be brave for what? Why must I be brave? I’m not brave. I’m brave with a pen, my figures, my arguments, my thoughts are brave. I can be brave for a moment or two, but no more.

I’m not brave. It pulsed in Joqur’s head.

I’m not brave. I’m not brave. I’M NOT BRAVE.

“I’M NOT BRAVE!” Joqur shouted. The Night Willow all but swallowed his shouts. Yet when it did the amber light from the stone flickered and began to move. Once he realized it was moving away from him he swung to grasp for it yet just escaped his reach. The light began to dim as it traveled away from him, floating through the air.

Without thinking Joqur jumped from the boat to chase after the crystal. As soon as he began to chase after it he fell into the pool of knee-high water as his feet caught on a root. Fear surrounded him as he fell face first into the water.

He could NOT lose the stone. That he knew.

He quickly jumped up for air breathing water into his lungs as his did. Pain shocked his chest yet fear drove him forward.

Joqur chased after the crystal in a high stepping manner to avoid the more perilous roots so as not to fall again. At times he reached up to low hanging branches to swing a few steps and others he ducked under branches grown too low and roots grown too high. No matter how hard he ran, jumped, and climbed he could not catch the crystal. It was always past his reach.

Just as Joqur swore he could chase no longer without dropping from exhaustion his path became easier. The trees grew farther apart and his path grew wider. Yet with their scarcity so too diminished was the light.
Eventually the purple faded to a light glow and the path was clear.
The ground rose and so too the water disappeared.

Without warning the crystal stopped moving before him. He slowed his pace towards it and just as he reached out to grab it blue sparks erupted from the ground before him and the crystal vanished. Joqur found himself alone in the purple light barely able to see his hand in front of his face. Shocked, tired and sore he lay down, too tired to think or even fear. A light sleep almost took him within minutes but just as was about to give in to the comfort of the darkness a blue light caught his eye. Small at first yet it grew.

As the blueness grew he sat up and then stood. The blueness grew larger and closer. As it did it split into two blue orbs. Too tired to feel he stared, intrigued yet dumbfounded. Then, instantly it clicked; they were eyes and they were close.

Joqur took a sharp breath and turned to run yet has he did a brilliant blue light burst forth into the air, shocks and lightning flew into the chamber above. His head seared as a deep humming vibrated in his head. The pain was so instant and overwhelming he could do naught but drop to the ground.

‘I am dead’ Joqur thought. ‘This must be death. I am in the holiest of depths of the Sept chasing red lights, I must be dying and I must deserve it. Let it be quick.’

The pain reached a feverish pitch and vibrated Joqur’s teeth, his very bones shook. And then, serendipitously, the humming receded enough so that his consciousness stayed. The humming pulsed, not just in his head now but his whole body. The pain receded further and further until it all but disappeared completely and his body held but a light hum.

As he opened his eyes he realized his surroundings were now blue entirely. As he looked up before him, not thirty steps away stood a beast on four legs with two terrible eyes the color of lightening during the raining days. Each leg was the height of the tallest man though not as thick and each claw the length of a short sword one would find on a common body guard.

Before fear could creep into his mind his now softly vibrating body pulsed and a calmness rushed over him. Fear still lingered but it seemed more foreign now. The beast opened its mouth, drew in a breath and the air cracked and lightly boomed through the giant Night Willow Chamber. The beast’s wings were each seven or eight times as long as it was tall. Its face had two small horns atop its head where light shocks bounced back and forth as did bones that seemed to run down its back and across the front of its wings.

Joqur knew at once what he was gazing upon: the Mother of the Burnt Isles; the Shepard of the Sea Eagles; precursor to man; old as elves; as secretive as dwarves; as cunning as gnomes; as strong as treants; this was a dragon.

In his mind, thoughts, words, images and emotions fused as one. The message was clear as it pulsed through his being.

“Joqur. There are lands other than these. Be brave. You are no Ghost Boy.”

title: [FN] I posted this to WP thread. I wrote far more than I expected to.

question: Why was Joqur unable to receive is resonant at the same time as others?

answer: Unknown. However, it was theorized that his resonant might be a ghost, hidden in the books he loves so much. Apparently, there had been a precedent for this. His friend's father, Joshua, helped research how he might get is resonant. Within days, Joqur's ceremony was done again at a different time and location; this time it seemed he found his resonant.