text:
HARILLA PAPAJORGJI (11.10.1933 - 7.9.2019) was an Albanian Politician, Professor of Economics[1] and Statesman.[2] He served as Chairman of the State Planning Commission from 1982 to 1985,[3][4] member of People's Assembly[5] from 1982 to 1987[6] and Vice Director of the Scientific Institute of Central Party Committee from 1985-1991.

Early life and Education

Harilla Papajorgji was born on 11 October 1933. He grew up and spent his childhood in Vlore. After World War II Papajorgji studied at the Commercial and Trade School in Vlore and finished his University studies with excellent results at the Tirana Higher Economics Institute in 1956. He was the first generation of Graduates that were appointed Lecturers at the newly established Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana in 1956. He received his scientific title of “Scientific Collaborator” in 1972, his “PhD Title” in 1982 and the academic title of “Professor” in 1986.

Political career

After finishing his studies in 1956, Papajorgji was appointed full time Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana where we worked until 1964. He was member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty until 1991. In 1964, he was appointed First Secretary in Tirana and worked at the Scientific Institute of Central Party Committee from 1969-1981.[7] He was appointed Chairman of the State Planning Commission from 1982 - 1985 and was elected member of People's Assembly from 1982 to 1987.[8][9][10] He succeeded Petro Dode on the position of Chairman of the State Planning Commission until November 1985 in the Çarçani II Government. Because of health reasons, he resigned from the Chairman position and was appointed as Vice Director of the Scientific Institute of Central Party Committee.

Published works

Harilla Papajorgji has published more than 10,000 pages in the form of monographs, University textbooks, chapters in scientific studies, research articles and proceedings books. Some of his books are translated in English, French, Russian and Greek. List of selected publications:

-   The development of socialist industry and its prospects : in the People's Republic of Albania
-   Our friends ask
-   Razvitie socialističeskoj promyšlennosti v Narodnoj Respublike Albanii i ee dal'nejšie perspektivy
-   Gnoseis politikes oikonomias : gia ta mesaia scholeia / Harilla Papajorgji; Theodhori Bej; Priamo Bollano
-   Nos amis nous demandent ...
-   Mbi disa probleme dhe aspekte të përqëndrimit, specializimit e kooperimit ne industri
-   Struktura social-klasore e klasës punëtore
-   Probleme të organizimit e të drejtimit të ekonomisë popullore në RPSH / Hasan Banja; Jani Fullani; Harilla Papajorgji
-   Bazat e organizimit socialist të punës dhe drejtimit / E. Sejko; Harilla Papajorgji; Jani Fullani
-   Mbi disa probleme të rikonstruksionit dhe modernizimit të industrisë në kuadrin e revolucionit tekniko-shkencor : konferenca kombëtare e studimeve shoqërore : kumtesë / Fejzo Bino; Harilla Papajorgji
-   Ekonomia e industrisë RPSh : tekst mësimor / Pleurat Xhuvani; Harilla Papajorgji; Vladimir Misja; Aristotel Pano
-   Organizimi dhe planifikimi i ndërmarjeve industriale socialiste / E. Sejko; Harilla Papajorgji
-   Mbi disa probleme të përqëndrimit, specializimit e kooperimit në industri / Harilla Papajorgji; Edmond Luçi
-   Njohuri të ekonomisë politike : për shkollat e mesme / Harilla Papajorgji; Theodhori Bej; Priamo Bollano
-   Organizimi dhe planifikimi i Ndërmarjeve Industriale Socialiste / Emin Sejko; Harilla Papajorgji

Honours, decorations, awards and distinctions

Harilla Papajorgji has received First Prize of the Republic of Albania in 1989 for his study on demographic and family developments, improvements to the economy of centralized planning and social problems of the time.

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title: Harilla Papajorgji

question: What does the article say about the 1950s?

answer: Papajorgi finished his University studies with excellent results at the Tirana Higher Economics Institute in 1956. He was the first generation of Graduates that were appointed Lecturers at the newly established Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana in 1956. After finishing his studies in 1956, he was appointed full-time Professor at the Faculty of Economics, University of Tirana.

question: What does the article say about Harilla's personal life?


split: test

text:
1.  REDIRECT Hazbin Hotel

Category:1992 births Category:Living people Category:People from Frederick, Maryland Category:American animators Category:School of Visual Arts alumni Category:American people of Salvadoran descent

title: Vivienne Medrano

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A Wikipedia page on Vivienne Medrano.


text:
NPR'S Michel Martin speaks with former health insurance executive Wendell Potter about the differences between U.S. and Canadian health systems highlighted by the coronavirus pandemic.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to turn back now to the coronavirus pandemic, which has been the major story around the world these past few months. And one of the things exposed by the crisis has been the wildly varying quality and form of health systems around the globe. This week, a former Cigna health insurance executive went on Twitter to highlight how much better he says Canada's COVID response has been compared to that of the U.S. And he made what he called a confession, writing, quote, "amid America's COVID-19 disaster, I must come clean about a lie I spread as a health insurance exec. We spent big money to push the idea that Canada's single-payer system was awful and the U.S. system much better. It was a lie, and the nation's COVID responses prove it. I'll regret slandering Canada's system for the rest of my life," unquote.

That was just part of Wendell Potter's Twitter thread, so we've called him to hear more. And he is with us now from Philadelphia. Welcome, Mr. Potter. Thank you for joining us.

WENDELL POTTER: Thank you, Michel.

MARTIN: Your tweets have really made a splash, with both Americans and Canadians weighing in about the issue. I do want to mention that, you know, you've actually been talking about this for a while. But I'm just wondering, you know, why now? I mean, why do you - what inspired you to post this thread now? And why do you think it's having such a response?

POTTER: Well, two reasons. One, yes, you're right. I have been talking about this for quite a long time. But I hadn't talked very fairly recently about what I used to do for a living as it pertained to vilifying the Canadian health care system. I was recently on a webinar. One of the speakers was from British Columbia, and she was talking about the different approaches the countries that take in Canada and the United States and how the Canadians, it seemed, were quite better prepared than the U.S. was. And the incidence of COVID has been lower in Canada, and the deaths per capita in Canada have been significantly lower.

Canada has done a better job, I think, because of having the kind of health care system you have in making sure that everyone who needs to be treated is treated. And so that was what prompted that. And I felt that to provide some context, I needed to describe what I used to do for a living to try to scare people away from the Canadian health care system because insurance companies fear that. They know that if the U.S. moves to a system like that, it would certainly put a real crimp in their profits.

MARTIN: So let's talk about your role in this. In one of your tweets, you say, "here's the truth. Our industry PR and lobbying group, AHIP, supplied my colleagues and me with cherry-picked data and anecdotes to make people think Canadians wait endlessly for their care. It's a lie. And I'll always regret the disservice I did to folks on both sides of the border," unquote. Did you know at the time these things were lies? Or is this something you subsequently learned?

POTTER: I was becoming concerned, as it was necessary for me to spread this misinformation, and it really began in 2006. And that was sort of when my crisis of conscience began, and it pertained to the premiere of Michael Moore's movie "Sicko." And part of our campaign to push back against that movie was to spread misinformation about Canada or use cherry-picked data and anecdotes. For example, AHIP sent me and my counterparts at other insurance companies a binder just as that movie was premiering with bullet points of things that we should say in our conversations with reporters and others about the Canadian system or the British or French system for that matter but, particularly, the Canadian system. These really were cherry-picked data points and was not in any way painting an accurate portrayal of the Canadian health care system.

MARTIN: So why did you do it?

POTTER: You know, I was believing my own PR for a long time. I rose up through the ranks. I had a good job. I was leading corporate communications at Cigna when I left. I was able to kind of compartmentalize as well, too, but also keep myself removed from the problems that so many people in this country are facing when it comes to getting care that they need and can afford. But on the other hand, if I hadn't done that, I wouldn't know what I know. And I've been one of the very few people who has some insider information to share with the public and with policymakers. I've testified before Congress many times and written lots of columns and done lots of media work to try to help people understand our system better and how it compares and contrasts to other systems around the world.

MARTIN: What was that aha moment for you? Do you remember it?

POTTER: Oh, I sure do remember it. There were two or three. But the real aha moment for me came when I went back home to visit my family in east Tennessee, where I grew up. I just happened to read about something that was called a health care expedition that was being held at a county fairground close to where I grew up. And I'd never heard of it because I lived away from there for many years and just happened to be there that weekend. And it said people would be driving from hundreds of miles away to get care that was being provided at this county fairground over three days, and it was free. And it said people typically would spend two or three nights in their cars waiting to get in to get treated.

I went there out of curiosity. And when I got there, I just was absolutely stunned at what I saw. I just couldn't imagine that I was still in the United States. When I walked through the fairground gates, I saw people who were lined up by the hundreds waiting to get care, and it was truly an epiphany. I also realized that what I was doing for a living - I had to take some responsibility for that because I was perpetuating myths about the Canadian health care system, myths about this health care system in this country, spreading this information to protect profits for my company and for the industry. And I was a journalist in my first career, a newspaper reporter. And I realized, also, that what I was doing for a living was in many ways the exact opposite of what I tried to do as a reporter, which was to be accurate.

And I just for various reasons felt, gosh, I - what happened to me? I looked in the mirror at one point. I said, what happened to you? How did this happen? And I made a decision soon after that that I would have to find some other way to earn a living. And it wasn't too long after that that I did leave.

MARTIN: That's Wendell Potter. He is the former head of corporate communications at Cigna Health Insurance and the current CEO of Medicare for All NOW. That's a nonprofit group that advocates for universal access to health care. Mr. Potter, thanks so much for talking to us.

POTTER: Thank you, Michel.

(SOUNDBITE OF DECAP'S "WAKE UP!")

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NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by Verb8tm, Inc., an NPR contractor, and produced using a proprietary transcription process developed with NPR. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

question: Why did Wendell Potter lie that the U.S. health system was better than the Canadian health system?

answer: Potter probably lied because he worked for Cigna health insurance as an executive and part of his job was to sell their products to the American people. An unethical way to do that is to compare it with something tagged as inferior, which in this case, was the Canadian health system.

question: What is the point of no return for Potter?

answer: The point of no return came when Potter was handed cherry-picked data and anecdotes about Canadian healthcare in 2006 to push back against Michael Moore's movie "Sicko". He was becoming concerned and knew these binders were lies, but he was tasked to spread this misinformation and he still did.

question: What drove Potter to come clean and fight the misinformation propagated by the American Health Insurance industry?

answer: When he went home to Tennessee and attended a health care expedition at the county fairgrounds out of curiosity because he has never heard of it before. What he saw shocked him, and couldn't believe he was still in America as hundreds of people were lining up to get free healthcare. Most of these people drove hundreds of miles and waited in their cars for three days waiting to get treated.


text:
"Your name?"

“Margarete."

“Last name as well ma’am."

"Excuse me. Margarete Bjornson."

“Mhm, Occupation?"

“Birther."

“Valiant occupation ma’am. Just valiant."

“Yes, it was."

“Date of birth."

“01/12/2195."

“Ok good. Then we will proceed."

“Aren’t you going to ask for my consent?"

“Oh Margarete, of course you know you gave us your consent when you signed your pledge. Everyone did. Myself included."

Margarete's eyes went dim. Her mind delving through her memory to the moment, proud parents to either side, she signed her *Pledge to Community* form that was apart of her work assignment ceremony.
“How certain I was the future was so far away. Don’t believe that deception for a second. You hear me?” Her eyes now focused on the second nurse with the IV in her hand.

Without a reply and eyes darting down, the associate nurse slid the IV into Margarete’s left forearm.

The lead nurse, recognizing doubt being introduced into the room quickly intercepted the moment. “Ok, are you ready Margarete?"

Margarete nodded without lifting her head up again.
The lead nurse shot a glance to his associate who in turn flipped a large red dial on the machine connected to Margarete’s IV. Two vials, one green, one blue flowed into the singular tube leading to her arm.

“Thank you for your service, Margarete."

“*Here to serve. For benefit of all.*"

“*And this community forever.*”

At once, her body became rigid, as if suddenly filled to capacity with air and just as quickly went limp, silent, still.

“Hmm.”

“That’s a new reaction.”

“We may have to report that to the Board.”

The lead nurse checked for a pulse on Margarete’s wrist.

“Didn’t change the result, however. Another successful release Sam.”

“Another mouth we don’t need to support you mean.”

“You know that is not what this is about."

“Tell that to the Principle."

“You are going to get yourself released with statements like that.”

“Pft, well let’s see. Would that qualify as a pro-social action?" Sam, now thinking back to her own *Pledge to Community* that she signed.

“Enough, that is enough. Did you take your emotion suppressor today?"

“As always."

“Maybe you need to up your dose."

“Maybe."

“You know emotion leads to confusion, confusion to delusion, delusion to chaos, and what comes after chaos?”

“Destruction. I know. I know. Just a weird day I guess.”

“Mhmm. Best not have many more of those.”

“What was her occupation again?”

“Birther."

“Valiant occupation."

“Mhm."

The two nurses opened the hatch that led to nowhere and pushed the bed where the now released laid. The front of the bed, clearing the hatch, gave way. The released slid and was gone.

“Another successful release."

Sam, muttered under her breath, “God help us.”

“What was that?”

“Another successful release, I agree. I agree.”

“Mhm.”

Hunter, opening the door to the room adjacent theirs, announced loudly.

“NEXT.”

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

The Principle, pausing the video and turning to the board announced somewhat hurriedly, “This is exactly why we need to introduce a sedative before release. Look how this birther introduced subversive thoughts into the mind of our Dear Sam. Chaos. CHAOS is what these ideas lead to. Get an action plan on my desk by the end of the week on how we will limit exposure to conversation between our nurses and the soon-to-be-released. End of life, it’s a makes people revert back to our… primitive ways.”

“Yes ma’am. We will begin immed—“

“And release Sam. We do not need this doubt to spread. And find out for the love of community where she heard the word, God.”

"Also, before I forget, let's all give Hunter a round of applause for bringing this to the attention of the board and myself."

"*Here to serve. For benefit of all.*" Hunter recited proudly.

"*And this community forever.*" All together they responded.

title: [RF] The Taker

question: What is the forbidden word that Sam says?

answer: The forbidden word is God.

question: What has the woman Margarate volunteered for?

answer: She has volunteered for euthanasia.

question: What is the most important principle in the lives of the workers?

answer: The workers exist to serve the community.


text:
She is a lone teenage girl sat cross-legged and armed with nothing more than the Russian constitution.

They are a line of Moscow’s notoriously brutal riot police, equipped with shields, batons and helmets.

But the image of a young pro-democracy demonstrator single-handedly defying Vladimir Putin’s security forces looks set to become one of the most powerful symbols of resistance to the president’s autocracy.

Olga Misik, 17, was photographed sitting in front of the officers reading out the country’s constitution – which affirms the right to peaceful gatherings – during protests on Saturday.

Apparently unsure how to handle such a show of calm audacity, the police hold back.

 Vladimir Putin's Photo ops – Russia's Man of Steel?

Show all 20
[Vladimir Putin is pictured with a horse during his vacation outside the town of Kyzyl in Southern Siberia on August 3, 2009.]

The image has gone viral across the world, being shared thousands of times, the peaceful defiance central to the photo faintly reminiscent of that present in the the iconic picture of Tiananmen Square’s Tank Man. It is now being used by Russian opposition to rally support in the face of continuing state oppression.

“I just wanted to remind them [the police] that we are here with peaceful purposes and without weapons, but they are not,” the high school graduate told the Riga-based _Meduza_ website.

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“It never even occurred to me that someone other than them would hear it … I sat on the ground and began to read out our constitutional rights, specifying that what is happening here [police arresting protestors] is illegal.”

The weekend’s demonstrations were ostensibly a protest against the banning of several leading opposition politicians from running in September’s Moscow City Duma elections.

But they also called more widely for greater political freedoms and transparency in Russia, where elections are widely viewed to be rigged.

Constitutions are often waved around at such protests as a reference to how Mr Putin continues to ignore article 31 – the right to free assembly – to ban such demonstrations.

“Injustice always concerns everyone,” Olga said. “Today the Moscow City Duma, tomorrow the governor of the region, a week later the head of the Resurrection District. It is only a matter of time.

“It is foolish to think that this is a rally only for free elections or the admission of candidates. This is a rally in defence of elementary constitutional rights that would not be questioned in a democratic state.”

The teenager herself, whose own father is a supporter of Mr Putin, was allowed to walk away after the reading, but was later arrested by police as she walked to a subway station.

“They did not introduce themselves, did not explain the reason and grounds for detention,” she said.

“There was not a rally or a crowd of people in this place. They grabbed my arms and legs and dragged me down the street and through the underpass … I screamed that they were hurting me, but they told me that they knew better.”

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She was held until the next day and says she will now appear in court next month charged with attending a public event which was held without filing a notice.

question: Who is featured in the image?

answer: The image is featuring a 17-year-old Olga Misik sitting in front of the officers reading the country's constitution.

question: Why is the image a powerful symbol of resistance?

answer: It is a powerful symbol of resistance because the young girl is single-handedly seen defying Vladimir Putin's security forces.

question: What is Olga's take on the presence of the police at the protest?

answer: She says that she was there for a peaceful purpose without any weapons while the police were not.

question: Did the police arrest Olga?

answer: Yes, Olga was arrested later while walking to a subway station.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer:
The 17-year-old Olga Misik sits in front of Putin's security forces, reading out the country's constitution. She says she is there to tell the police that arresting the protestors is illegal.

Olga is later arrested while walking to a subway station. The security forces grab her by her arms and legs and drag her down the street.


text:
[Human anatomy exploded view, deconstructed. Separate elements muscle, bone, organs, nervous system, lymphatic system, vascular system.]

Bones make up about 15 percent of overall body mass.

Image Credit: ChrisChrisW/iStock/Getty Images

Our body composition is as unique as our fingerprints, but some general proportions for healthy individuals are constant. Human beings are made up of a few basic components such as bone, muscle and fat, and the percentage of each of these components in relation to overall body mass differs according to gender and genetics. Generally speaking, your bones make up about 15 percent of your overall body mass.

How the Building Blocks of Bone Contribute to Body Mass

The different parts of the human body can be reduced to a few basic building blocks that make up your bones and everything else. In fact, 96.2 percent of your body is made up of just four elements: hydrogen, oxygen, carbon and nitrogen. Most of these elements are in the form of water, which makes up 55 to 65 percent of the body mass in healthy, well-hydrated adults. Even your bones contain a good amount of water: up to 31 percent, according to the USGS Water Science School. Calcium, the element many people commonly associate with bones, makes up just 1.5 percent of the elements in the human body by mass.

Skeletal Weight and Body Mass

Your bone density is a good indicator for your weight and body mass. The relative density of your bones can predict your body mass within 87 percent using two methods: measuring your bone mineral density (BMD) and the calculating the cross-sectional area of the proximal femur. The combination of these methods is one of the best current indicators of obesity for skeletal remains. This indicates that the mass of your bones is proportional to your weight. Heavier or obese individuals will have denser bones, and their skeletons will make up a similar percentage of their overall mass.

[BMI or Body Mass Index on black block with blurred background]

Check your body mass index (BMI) using a BMI calculator.

Image Credit: pichet_w/iStock/Getty Images

What Bone Mass Means to Your Body Mass

If you're keeping track of your bone mass, there's a good chance you might be checking your indicators for obesity or other weight-related diseases as well. While bone mass as a percentage of total body mass may not vary considerably, your fat percentage definitely varies according to your weight. Checking your body mass index (BMI) using a BMI calculator can help you determine if your body composition resembles that of a healthy individual of the same height and gender. Everyone's body composition may be unique, but waistline and weight are robust indicators of overall health and risk factors associated with obesity.

Cultivating Healthy Bone Density

If you're concerned with keeping up your bone mass, there are a number of strategies for maintaining healthy bone density and good skeletal health. Impact exercises such as running and jumping, done in moderation, stimulate bone growth and an increase in bone density in individuals of all ages. In a study conducted by Kerri M. Winters-Stone of the Oregon Health & Science University, subjects that supplemented high-impact exercise with weight training saw additional bone density increases, with increases of up to 2 percent in the spine for individuals who implemented weight training in both the upper body and legs.

Calcium, the often-discussed key to bone health, hasn't shown the same scientific promise; a study conducted by the Department of Medicine at the University of Auckland found no relationship between dietary and supplemental calcium and bone density, in an applicant pool of over 13,000 individuals.

[rich in calcium, milk, salad greens, almonds, sardines Food]

Dairy, produce and seafood are foods rich in calcium.

Image Credit: Haydoce/iStock/Getty Images

Osteoporosis Warnings

People most at risk for osteoporosis – "a disease of the bones that happens when you lose too much bone, make too little bone or both," according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation – include women, those over 50, women with menopause, people with a family history of the disease, those with low body weight and a small frame and those who have broken bones or lost height.

The organization also notes risk factors that can be managed, including getting enough calcium and vitamin D; eating enough fruits and vegetables; limiting protein, sodium and caffeine in your diet; maintaining an active lifestyle; not smoking; limiting alcohol; and maintaining a healthy weight.

The NOF's Guide to Calcium-Rich Foods includes dairy, produce, seafood and more.

question: How can adults reduce their risk of osteoporosis?

answer: Risk factors can be managed by getting enough calcium and vitamin D; eating enough fruits and vegetables; limiting protein, sodium, and caffeine in your diet; maintaining an active lifestyle; not smoking; limiting alcohol; and maintaining a healthy weight.

question: Who is most at risk of getting osteoporosis?

answer: People most at risk for osteoporosis include women, those over 50, menopausal women, people with a family history of the disease, those with low body weight and a small frame, and those who have broken bones or lost height.

question: What is the risk percentage of getting osteoporosis?


text:
The WORLD'S LARGEST STOVE (also called THE MICHIGAN STOVE and MAMMOTH GARLAND) was an oversized replica of a kitchen stove that was made for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair as a representation of Michigan Stove Company and its products. After the fair finished, the replica was displayed and used for advertising for decades at the company's headquarters in downtown Detroit. The wooden stove replica eventually deteriorated to a poor state and in 1974 the pieces were stored in a warehouse. In the late 1990s, the replica was restored and given a permanent home at Michigan State Fairgrounds. In 2011 it was destroyed by fire, likely caused by a lightning strike.

Origin and design

thumb|upright 1.012|alt=Colored sketch of a Mammoth Garland exhibit from the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, showing the World's Largest Stove|1893 Chicago World's Fair brochure sketch of Michigan Stove Company's mammoth 'Garland' stove exhibit.

The World's Largest Stove was an oversized reproduction of Michigan Stove Company's popular kitchen cooking stove. The company, founded by Jeremiah Dwyer in 1872, wanted to grab the attention of visitors attending the 1893 Chicago World's Fair so had the replica built to represent what the company manufactured.[1][2] The company's vice president George Harrison Barbour was appointed to the national commission board of the World's Fair and passed the idea of making a giant replica onto Dwyer.[3][4] Company superintendent William J. Keep was charged with designing and engineering the replica; he supervised its construction and coordinated the logistics of the work. Built from oak upon a steel frame, the replica was high, wide, long, and weighed .[5]

The stove was finished with hand-carved basswood, Michigan white pine, and laminated redwood. The sides were painted with a unique metallic appearance to look like one of the company's Garland brand steel kitchen ranges. The mammoth replica was transported to Chicago in three railroad cars and was put into the Manufacturers Building, a high and long structure.[6] The giant model that appeared to be walking formed the company's exhibit pavilion in Section O. Cast-iron stoves were placed under the mammoth Garland stove to showcase the company's products, and nearby salesmen discussed the stoves' qualities.[7]

Return to Michigan

thumb|upright 1.0120|right|alt=Black and white photograph showing the World's Largest Stove outside the Michigan Stove Company headquarters|Michigan Stove Company, c. 1920 with commemorative bronze tablet on the wall _“Largest makers of stoves and ranges”_

The stove was taken back to Detroit after the World's Fair finished; it was placed on a pedestal in front of Michigan Stove Company's manufacturing factory on East Jefferson Avenue at Adair Street. There was an official celebration July 31, 1902 of the unveiling of a bronze tablet placed there to mark the exact spot upon which formerly stood the Pontiac tree around which occurred the battle of Bloody Run on July 31, 1763. The tablet was located on a brick wall which ran between company's buildings on Jefferson avenue from the main office building to the factory building. Between the two buildings once stood the big Garland. The center of this stove between the legs was exactly where the old Pontiac tree grew. The tablet was placed in the center on top of the six foot high wall immediately in front that advertises _Largest makers of stoves and ranges._[8] thumb|upright 0.35|left|

The factory building partially burned down in 1907 but the replica survived undamaged.[9][10] In 1927, it was moved to the front lawn of the newly-formed Detroit-Michigan Stove Company plant located at the entrance to Belle Isle Bridge in Detroit.[11] It was placed on a new base for display to the public.[12] At that time the sides of the gargantuan replica was repainted to _Detroit-Michigan Stove Co._ Between 1957 and 1965, Schaefer Bakeries leased the stove at that location and used it to advertise its bread, painting _Schaefer Bread_ on its sides.[13]

Michigan State Fairgrounds

In 1965 the stove was relocated to Michigan State Fairgrounds on Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan from the factory headquarters near Belle Isle.[14] The stove eventually deteriorated due to weather and broke into pieces; in 1974, the _Detroit Free Press_ wrote that “[t]he carved bottom trim on the side facing Woodward split and fell apart; dozens of layers of blistered, peeling paint made the surface resemble dried, caked and cracked black mud. The roof sagged at crazy angles. The gate of the fence surrounding the base was open; empty wine bottles, mounds of litter, and the soggy remains of a campfire lay on the trampled grass beneath the stove.”[15] Later in the year the pieces were stored inside a warehouse at Detroit Historical Museum.[16] The Detroit Historical Society's museum then formed the Detroit Stove Restoration Committee to solicit time and money contributions to save the replica.[17]

thumb|upright 1.0120|alt=Color photograph showing the World's Largest Stove displayed at Michigan State Fairgrounds in 2009|World's Largest Stove in 2009 In the early 1990s, interest in restoring the replica stove grew. advocates termed the stove a Detroit industrial landmark,[18] representing Detroit's nineteenth-century prominence as a center for metalwork and foundries,[19] and its claim in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the world's stove capital. A restoration project was formed, led by former state fair manager John C. Hertel. Donations from companies, unions, and individuals raised $300,000. In 1995, twenty truckloads of pieces of the wooden replica were taken to Michigan State Fairgrounds, where artisans from Greenfield Village started the restoration project, which involved the removal of twelve coats of lead-based paint and the replacement of forty percent of the original wood that was beyond repair. During the restoration. a rubberized top layer was added for better protection against rain and snow.[20]

Michigan governor John Engler unveiled the finished restoration on August 24, 1998.[21] The replica's legs were framed by a concrete wall bearing the names of the major contributors. The walkways leading up to the replica stove were paved with memorial bricks naming donors who had each given $25 for the restoration project. The stove then was a major attraction for the annual state fair; it was promoted as far away as Chicago and Indianapolis, some 300 miles away,[22][23] and across the border in Windsor, Ontario.[24]

The Michigan's state fair had been eliminated altogether by 2009 due to budget cuts and a new home for the replica stove was sought.[25] Ideas for a new home included the Henry Ford museum, and the Garland resort lodge at Lewiston, Michigan.[26]

Demise

A new home for the World's Largest Stove was never found for the giant stove at the Michigan State Fairgrounds. It was ultimately destroyed by fire on August 13, 2011.[27] A Detroit Fire Department chief said the fire was from natural causes,[28] and that a lightning strike was the likely cause. Firefighters arrived around 8:00 pm but the wooden replica had already burned down to its steel frame and could not be saved. The State of Michigan planned to return the bricks purchased as memorials and used as paving for the walkways to their donors.[29]

Footnotes

Sources

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[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

title: World's Largest Stove

question: What was the World's Largest Stove made for?

answer: The World's Largest Stove was made for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair.

question: When was the World's Largest Stove destroyed?

answer: The World's Largest Stove was destroyed in 2011.

question: What company made the World's Largest Stove?

answer: The World's Largest Stove was made by the Michigan Stove Company.

question: Who founded the Michigan Stove Company?

answer: Jeremiah Dwyer founded the Michigan Stove Company.

question: Where was the World's Largest Stove taken after the World's Fair?

answer: The World's Largest Stove was taken to the Michigan Stove Company's manufacturing factory after the World's Fair.

question: When was the World's Largest Stove moved to the Michigan State Fairgrounds?

answer: The World's Largest Stove was moved to the Michigan State Fairgrounds in 1965.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The World's Largest Stove was made by the Michigan Stove Company for the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Afterwards it was placed outside the Company's factory to promote its products. Eventually it was restored and moved to the Michigan State Fairgrounds. In 2011 the World's Largest Stove burned down, probably due to a lightning strike.


text:
MARY KERSHAW is an American museum curator and director.

Biography

Kershaw studied at the University of Pennsylvania and University College London before being appointed as an assistant curator at Harrogate's museums. She was the curator at the museums service from 1992 to 2003, overseeing redevelopments of the Mercer Gallery, Knaresborough Castle,[1] St Robert's Cave[2], and the Royal Pump Room Museum.[3]

She was appointed the Director of Collections at the newly formed York Museums Trust in 2003.[4] She left this post in 2009 to return to the USA as the director of the New Mexico Museum of Art.[5] In June 2019 she was appointed director of the Museum of Northern Arizona.[6]

Kershaw is a Fellow of the Museums Association.[7]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

title: Mary Kershaw

question: Who is Mary Kershaw?

answer: She is an American museum curator and director.

question: Where did Mary Kershaw study?

answer: The University of Pennsylvania and University College London

question: When was Mary appointed as the Director of Collections at the York Museums Trust?

answer: 2003

question: When did Mary leave the York Museums Trust and for what reason?

answer: Mary left her post in 2009 to return to the USA as the director of the New Mexico Museum of Art.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Mary Kershaw is an American museum curator and director who studied at the University of Pennsylvania and University College London. Mary started her career as an assistant curator at Harrogate's museums and served as the curator at the museums service from 1992 to 2003. After stints as Director for York (2003) and New Mexico (2009), Mary was appointed as Director of the Museum of Northern Arizona in 2019.


text:
I hired you because you were out of work and needed a job, not so you could to try to steal my girl.

You're fired, Luigi.

		--Mario

PS: The sooner you go to rehab for your shroom habit, the better. Mom would not be proud of your antics.

title: You're fired.

question: What is Luigi's relationship with Mario?

answer: He's Mario's brother.

question: Why did Mario fire Luigi?

answer: Because he stole Mario's girl.

question: Why did Luigi steal Mario's girl?

answer: That information can't be found.

question: What is Luigi's job?

answer: It is not stated.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Luigi steals his brother Mario's girl, so Mario fires him. He advises Luigi to stop his shroom habit.


text:
PEDER BRØNNUM SCAVENIUS (6 January 1795 - 4 December 1868) was a Danish landowner and politician. He was the owner of Gjorslev on the Stevns Peninsula, Klintholm on Møn and Petersgaard at Vordingborg. He was an also involved in politics and by royal appointment a member of the Danish Constituent Assembly.

Early life and career

Scavenius was born on 6 January 1795 in Copenhagen, the eldest son of Jacob Brønnum Scavenius and Karine L. Debes. His father had purchased Gjorslev, Erikstrup and Søholm on Stevns from the Lindencrone family in 1793 after spending 14 years in the service of thwe Danish Asiatic Company in Bengal.[1] Peder Brønnum Scavenius earned a law degree (cand.jur.) in 1816 and then worked for the Treasury until 1834.[2]

Property and titles

[Scavenius' coat of arms] Scavenius inherited Gjorslev and the other estates on Stevns upon his mother's death in 1825. He purchased Klintholm Manor on Møn from his younger brother in 1926. He purchased Petersgaard at Vordingborg[ in 1864.[3]

He was appointed as _Kammerjunker_ in 1818 and chamberlain (_Kammerherre_) in 1840. He was ennobled in 1943. He was made a Knight in the Order of the Dannebrog in 1945 and a Commander in the Order of the Dannebrog in 1854.[4]

Politics and public offices

Scavenius was in June 1837 elected as one of 15 board members of a committee that worked for the creation of the Thorvaldsen Museum in Copenhagen.[5] He was for a while president of Præstø Amts Landøkonomiske Forening and a member of Præstø County Council in 1842–54. He instigated the construction of Rødvig Harbour9. He was a member of Roskilde Constituent Assembly (Roskilde Stænderforsamling) in 1835– 48 and was later appointed by the king for the Danish Constituent Asscembly in 1848–49. He was a defensor of the estate owners' rights, arguing in favour of a model which only converted half of all copyholds into freeholds while the other half should remain in the free ownership of estate owners. He opposed the idea of a free constitution, arguing in favour of keeping kongeloven in a modified form and describing the king's position in the new constitution as “an automat...[...]...a decorated Puppet which for festive occasions could be displayed in Processions for the amusement of the public”. Scavenius' proposal was only supported by six votes. He was not elected for the new _rigsdag_ but was appointed for _rigsrådet_ by the king in 1854–59. He was one of the founders of the October Association in 1865.[6]

Personal life

Scavenius married Charlotte Sophie Meincke (8 December 1811 – 24 June 1872) on 12 May 1837 in the Church of Our Lady in Copenhagen. She was a daughter of military prosecutor Carl Henrik Lydius Meincke (1787–1862) and Anna Elisabeth Dorothea Falck (1784–1863). He was the father of Jacob Scavenius (1838–1915).[7]

Scavenius was an amateur astronomer and the owner of an extensive collection of maps and books. He died on 4 December 1868 and is buried at Holtug Cemetery.[8]

His eldest son Jacob Scavenius inherited Ghorslev, his second son Carl Scavenius inherited Klintholm and the youngest son inherited Petersgaard. Klintholm is still owned by the family.

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title: Peder Brønnum Scavenius

question: What does the text say about Scavenius' family?

answer: Scavenius was the eldest son of Jacob Brønnum Scavenius and Karine L. Debes. His father had purchased several estates on Stevns. Scavenius received these properties after his mother's death in 1825. He purchased Klintholm Manor from his younger brother in 1826. He married Charlotte Sophie Meincke in 1837, who was the daughter of military prosecutor Carl Lydius Meincke. His eldest son was Jacob Scavenius, who was born in 1838. Jacob inherited Ghorslev, his second son Carl inhered Klintholm, and the youngest inherited Petersgaard.

question: Summarize some of Scavenius' opinions.

answer: Scavenius was involved in public office and politics. He was a defender of the estate owners' rights, arguing in favor of a model which only converted half of all copyholds into freeholds while the other half should remain in the free ownership of estate owners. He opposed the idea of a free constitution, preferring to keep kongeloven in modified form. He described the king's position in the constitution as an "automat", which is essentially a decorated Puppet for festival occasions.

question: What does the text say about property?

answer: Scavenius was a Danish landowner living in the 1800s. He was the owner of Gjorslev on the Stevns Peninsula, which inherited along with other estates on Stevns upon his mother's death in 1825. He purchased Klintholm Manor on Møn from his younger brother in 1826. He also purchased Petersgaard at Vordingborg in 1864. His eldest son Jacob Scavenius inherited Ghorslev, his second son inherited Klintholm, and the youngest son inherited Petersgaard. Klintholm is still owned by his family.

question: Summarize how Scavenius' father died.


text:
The BBC SPORTS PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR 2019 took place on 15 December 2019 at the P&J Live in Aberdeen.[1]

The event was broadcast live on BBC One, and hosted by Gary Lineker, Clare Balding and Gabby Logan. Lewis Capaldi performed “Hold Me While You Wait” and “Someone You Loved” during the memorial to those sportspeople who died in the past year and Emeli Sandé performed “Shine” to commemorate the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup in France.[2]

Sports Personality of the Year

The nominees for the award were revealed on 25 November 2019.[3] On the night of the final, the public were allowed to vote for one of only six contenders pre-selected by “an expert independent panel”.[4]

The winner of this award was Ben Stokes with Lewis Hamilton in second and Dina Asher-Smith in third.[5]

  Nominee                     Sport                2019 Achievement
  --------------------------- -------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Ben Stokes                  Cricket              Helped England win the Cricket World Cup for the first time with a dramatic super-over victory against New Zealand in the final at Lord's and was named man of the match. Also scored 135 not out to lead England to an unlikely one-wicket win in the third Ashes Test match at Headingley.
  nowrap|Lewis Hamilton       nowrap|Formula 1     Became just the second driver (after Michael Schumacher) to win a sixth World Drivers' Championship.
  nowrap|Dina Asher-Smith     nowrap|Athletics     Won 200 metres gold at the World Athletics Championships with a British record, making her the first British woman to win a global sprint title. Also picked up silver medals in the 100 metres (with a British record also) and 4 × 100 metres relay.
  nowrap|Raheem Sterling      nowrap|Football      Helped Manchester City win the domestic treble of Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup titles. Also named as Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year.
  nowrap|Alun Wyn Jones       nowrap|Rugby union   Captained Wales to Grand Slam victory in the Six Nations and was named player of the championship. Also became Wales' most capped international player during the Rugby World Cup.
  Katarina Johnson-Thompson   nowrap|Athletics     Won heptathlon gold at the World Athletics Championships with a British record and the highest championship score since 2007.

In Memoriam

-   Gordon Banks
-   Billy McNeill Stevie Chalmers
-   Peter Snell Harrison Dillard Ken Matthews
-   Gordon Brand Jnr Brian Barnes
-   Jose Antonio Reyes Justin Edinburgh Fernando Ricksen
-   Alfie Linehan Abdul Qadir Malcolm Nash
-   Craig Fallon Iona Sclater Con de Lange
-   John McCririck Ferdy Murphy
-   Pernell Whitaker Saeideh Aletaha Patrick Day
-   Emiliano Sala David Ibbotson
-   Jordan Dawes Jerry Thompson Kat Lindner
-   Micky Steele-Bodger Garfield Owen Austin Rhodes
-   Chester Williams
-   Niki Lauda
-   Anthoine Hubert Charlie Whiting
-   Tommy Smith Brian Mawhinney Peter Thompson
-   Olly Croft Mike Watterson Paul Hutchins
-   Jake Burton Carpenter Stuart Fitzsimmons Matti Nykanen
-   Jean Stone Peter Carruthers Marieke Vervoort
-   Ron Saunders Bill Slater Jim Smith
-   Archie Bruce Peter Fox Natalie Harrowell
-   Vikki Orvice Hugh McIlvanney Dianne Oxberry
-   Bob Willis

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

question: Who hosted the award show?

answer: Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, Gabby Logan.

question: Who won the 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award?

answer: Ben Spokes, a cricket player who helped England win the World Cup for the first time.

question: Name 5 people memorialized during the event.

answer: Gordon Banks, Niki Lauda, Chester Williams, Bob Willis, Emiliano Sala.

question: How is the winner selected?

answer: The public vote for one of six nominees, which are pre-selected by an expert panel.

question: How many nominees were there?

answer: 6

question: Who performed at the show?

answer: Lewis Capaldi, Emeli Sandé.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The 2019 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award was hosted by Gary Lineker, Clare Balding, and Gabby Logan, featuring performances by Lewis Capaldi and Emeli Sandé. Cricketer Ben Spokes won the award over five other nominees by public vote.


text:
RAUNAQ KAPUR (born 6 February 2004) is a Hong Kong cricketer.[1] In November 2019, he was named in Hong Kong's squad for the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup in Bangladesh.[2] He made his List A debut for Hong Kong, against Bangladesh, in the Emerging Teams Cup on 14 November 2019.[3] Later the same month, he was named in Hong Kong's squad for the Cricket World Cup Challenge League B tournament in Oman.[4]

Prior to his debut for the Hong Kong Cricket Team, he also played for the Hong Kong Under-19 National cricket-team at the Asian Cricket Council's Eastern Region tournament in July 2019[5], in which he won the award for Best Bowler of the tournament.[6] Kapur took 11 wickets with a bowling average of 6.36,[7] including one five-wicket haul. He had also previously played for the Hong Kong Under-19 National cricket-team[8] at the 2018 ACC Under-19 Asia Cup.[9] Alongside this, he was also a part of the Hong Kong Under-16 Cricket Team at the 2019 ACC Under-16 Eastern Region Asia Cup.[10]

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title: Raunaq Kapur

question: Who is Raunaq Kapur?

answer: a Hong Kong cricketer

question: When was Raunaq Kapur born?

answer: 6 February 2004

question: What is a five-wicket haul?

answer: the article does not answer this question

question: Where was the 2019 ACC Emerging Teams Asia Cup held?

answer: Bangladesh

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Raunaq Kapur is a Hong Kong cricketer born 6 February 2004.


text:
Follow along: IG @birectifier

[]

[UPDATE! I have Arroyo’s birectifier glass laboratory still and I’m working with it as well as bringing to life other tests he used. I’m even working with someone to build an automation kit for operating the still (which otherwise takes two hours of active time.]

[]

But what is this all about? Through a grant from the U.S. government Arroyo set out to do detailed studies of rum production and he created new techniques in fermentation that revolutionized how rum was made. Even in Jamaica, which is known for dunder pits and muck holes, the leading producer, Appleton, likely favors the Arroyo method. I’m sure if you are here, you already know a little about Arroyo.

Not much happened with Arroyo’s work until decades later because of the timing of WWII (this was explained in _Rum: Yesterday and Today_), but everything was given an update with Puerto Rico’s _Rum Pilot Plant_ and those agricultural bulletins are mostly lost as well. The RPP works are a series of twenty something bulletins and are in both English and Spanish because of how they were funded by the U.S. government. These documents transformed how rum is made around the world and were supposed to be shared and accessible, but somehow they’ve become elusive and even the most serious PhD spirits researchers do not cite them in bibliographies.

I have collected probably all of Arroyo’s citations from the journals they were originally appearing in mostly courtesy the bibliography of the late John E. Murtaugh who was one of the great distillation educators as well as a significant contributing author to the _Alcohol Text book_. [I should also note that German globe trotting sugar technologist, Hubert Von Olbrich, also lists most of Arroyo’s original citations in his _Geschichte der Melasse_, 1970. He only misses a few.]

Arroyo R., Circular 106, Rum Manufacture, 1938
[This is a block buster paper which I translated from Spanish. It is possibly the single greatest short read on rum production any new distiller can do.]

Arroyo R. , Manzano M. Jamaica Type Rum in Puerto Rico. University of Puerto Rico, Agr. Expt. Station Report for 1937-38, p. 26-27; rev. : Facts about Sugar 35 (1940) , no. 4, p . 38.

Arroyo R., Marrero F., Haravidez L. Rum Types and the creation of new rum types from cane juice. Report University of Puerto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station, 1939, p. 43-44, rev. : Facts about Sugar 35 (1940) , no. 11 , p. 37.

Arroyo R. El Birectificador En La Justipreciacion De Los Rones Comerciales [my translation] (1938) Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 30, page 618-622.

Arroyo R. El Aroma del Ron [my translation]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 31 (1939) page 448-450

Arroyo R. El Aroma del Ron II (Seleccion de Levadura Adecuada) [my translation]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 31 (1939) page 578-580

Arroyo R. El Aroma Del Ron III (Influencia de la Técnica Fermentativa) [my translation]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 32, (1940) page 112-115

Arroyo R. The Aroma of Rum IV (Influencia del Tratamiento Pre-Destilatorio del Material Fermentado) [my translation]. Revista Agricultura Industria Commercio Puerto Rico, Vol. 32 (1940), No. 3, pp. 416-417.

Facts About Sugar 35-36 (1940) has reviews of many of Arroyo’s Revista articles and may contain an abstract of the missing Aroma of Rum V citation.

Arroyo R. The Aroma of Rum IV : Influencia del Proceso del Pretratamiento de la Materia Prima. [my translation] Revista agricultura industria commercio; Puerto Rico Vol. 32 (1940), no. 2, p. 284-286; rev. : Facts About Sugar 35 (1940), no. 11 , p . 37. [I finally got this one!]

Arroyo R. La Fabricacion de Rones del Tipo Jamaiquino en Puerto Rico [my translation]. Revista agricultura industria commercio; Puerto Rico Vol. 32 (1940) 131-134

Arroyo R. El Complejo Alcohol—Temperatura—Valor pH en Fermentacion de Ron [my translation]. Revista agricultura industria commercio; Puerto Rico Vol. 32 (1940) page 301-303

Arroyo R. Ron Viejo o Maduro [my translations]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 32, (1940) page 430-431

Anonymous. The Story of Rum—(Reprinted from Package Stores Journal) Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 32, (1940) page 453-455

Arroyo R. The Aroma of Rum : VI. Influence of the Distillation [my translation]. Revista agricultura industria commercio; Puerto Rico, Vol. 32 (1940), 593-594.

Arroyo R. El Aroma del Ron (VII) Influencia del periodo de curación [my translation]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 33 (1941), 127-132

Arroyo R. El Tufo Del Ron Crudo. [my translation] Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 33 (1941), 144-146

Arroyo R. Resultados Practicos de Nuestras Investigaciones en Manufactura de Ron [my translation]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 33 (1941), 283-285

Arroyo R. El Aceite de Fúsel en los Rones [my translations]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 33 (1941), 422-424

Julio S. Simons & Arroyo R. La Manzana Malaya (Jambosa Malaccensis) [my translation]. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 34 (1942), page 51-53

Arroyo R. Jambosa Malaccensis (Manzana Malaya) como Productora de Vinos y Brandies. [my translation] Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 35 (1944), page 119-126 [requested BPL]

Manzano, Miguel A. Pro Vinos Boricuas. Revista de agricultura de Puerto Rico, Volume 35 (1944), page 178-

Arroyo. 1940. By-Products of the sugar industry. Facts about Sugar, volumes 35-36 page 26-

Arroyo. 1940. By-Products of the sugar industry. Facts about Sugar, volumes 35-36 page 64-

Arroyo R. 1940. The Problem of the Ripening of Crude Rum. Revista de Agricultura del Puerto Rico, volume 32, pages 588-591. [my translation]

Arroyo, R. 1941. The manufacture of rum Part I. Sugar
36(26-27,34).

Arroyo, R. 1942. The manufacture of rum Part II. Sugar
37(29-32).

Arroyo, R. 1942. The manufacture of rum Part III. Sugar
37(26-29,33).

Arroyo R. 1942 The manufacture of rum Part IV. Sugar
37(29-31)

Arroyo R. 1942 The manufacture of rum Part V. Sugar
37(29-31)

Arroyo, R. 1942. US Patent 2,295,150. Ethanol Fermentation of Black Strap Molasses.

Arroyo R. Dilution Problem in Rum Manufacture, Sugar 38 (1943), no. 7,
p. 25, 26.

[I haven’t requested this because he covers it so well in the 1945 text.]

Arroyo R. Genuine and spurious Rums, Sugar 38 (1943), no. 8, p. 25 , 27.

Arroyo, R. 1945. US Patent 2,386,924. Production of heavy rums.

Arroyo, R. 1945. The production of heavy bodied rum. International Sugar Journal 40(11):34-39.

Arroyo, R. 1945. Studies on rum. Research Bulletin
No. 5 (University of Puerto Rico, Agricultural Experiment Station, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico), December. [I have this but have not shared it!]

Review of Studies on Rum, 1946, International Sugar Journal, June 1946: 163-164

Owen, William L. “The Fermentation of Molases: Some Observation on the Arroyo Process and the Typical Fermentations of Clarified Molasses Mashes” Sugar, vol 43-44, 1948. pages 37-

[Owen appears to be thanked in an Experiment Station report written by Arroyo. He was a Louisiana based fermentation chemist who I think also did work in Cuba and Puerto Rico. He may have been the person that advised Cuba on continuous stills and a focus on fuel ethanol. If published papers in the 20’s so by 1948 he must have been quite old and quite experienced.]

Arroyo, R. 1948. “The use of Turkey Red Oil in the Alcohol and Rum Distillery”. Sugar, vol 43-48. pages 31-
[sulfonated castor oil]

Arroyo, R. 1947. The economics of rum production. International Sugar Journal 49:292-294, 325-327. [part I, part II]

Arroyo, R. 1948a. The production of straight light rums from blackstrap. International Sugar Journal 50:150-152.

Arroyo, R. 1948b. The flavour of rum – recent chromatographic research. International Sugar Journal 50:210.

Arroyo, R. 1948c. Simultaneous production of light and heavy rum. International Sugar Journal 50:289-291.

Arroyo, R. 1949a. The Arroyo fermentation process for alcohol and light rum from molasses. Sugar Journal 11(8):5-12.

Arroyo, R. 1949b. A new rum distillation process. Sugar 44 (7):34-36.

Arroyo, R. 1949c. Rum distillery yields and efficiencies factors affecting them. International Sugar Journal 51:163-169, 189-191.

Arroyo, R. 1950. Advanced features in rum fermentation. International Sugar Journal 52:42-44.

Arroyo died in 1949 so a few of these would have published posthumously.

question: Summarize the Arroyo method.

answer: It is a method of producing rum. The man responsible, Arroyo, created new techniques in fermentation. The leading rum producer in Jamaica, Appleton, likely favors this method.

question: What does the text say about harvesting sugar cane?

question: What does the text say about the author?

answer: The author's Instagram handle is @birectifier. The author has translated a number of Spanish articles on rum production into English. They have Arroyo's birectifier glass laboratory and have been working with it to recreate Arroyo's tests.

question: What does the text say about alcoholism?


text:
“You’re like a needle. You make a good point,” she said to me.

I held my head low. I smiled. I stared across the table at her, eyes locked. She took a sip from her glass.

“Color me impressed,” she said.

The wild look in her eyes was unmistakable. She couldn’t get her hints across better if she screamed them.

“Want me to color you back at my place?” I said with a revealing smirk.

“I have crayons at mine.”

So we skipped the formalities, so to speak. And what a happy couple we became. For a new, young couple, these were exciting times. Exploring each other was all we could find interest in. She knew my favorite color, my favorite movie, my favorite book, my favorite sushi, my favorite cereal, my favorite drink, my favorite animal, my favorite sexual position, my favorite time of the day. For months, we were the object of each other’s full attention. Everyone knew how much we loved each other; it was just so plainly obvious. We knew stuff about each other. We knew everything.

Just a few weeks ago we took a canoe over to Flax Pond.

“Do you love me?” she asked.

“Yes. I bought you that necklace. I’m willing to spend so much money on you.”

“That’s sort of an inappropriate response, although it is a very pretty necklace. Say something to me that will make me have sex with you.”

“I love you.”

She ravaged me.

We also visited the park down the street at 11 o’clock at night. We were at the park at 11 PM. We were there, but nobody else was. Experiences at the park at 11 at night kept the proverbial candle of love lit. Of course, we were mature about it. We didn’t make too much noise.

We were inseparable. We loved each other. We understood each other’s twisted sexual sense of humor, the humor that made us so unique. We were such a unique couple, and we were made for each other. Our passion burned uniquely and brightly like explosions in the sky.

We soon broke up and never spoke with each other again. I met someone else and invited her out to dinner. She said she liked to write. I told her we should go back to my house after and have a little workshop session.

“That sounds like fun,” she said.

She took a sip from her glass.

title: [RO] Where I Was

question: List the main characters.

answer: The narrator and their unnamed love interest

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: That information can't be found

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: A restaurant, flax pond, a park at night, and again at a restaurant

question: Who says, "I love you?"

answer: The narrator

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator gets very close to a woman over the course of a few months. One day, the woman asks the narrator if he loves her and he says he does. They have sex in a park at night several times, but one day they break up. The narrator goes on a date with another woman who likes to write.


text:
Hello everyone this is a series sort of thing that will depend if I write more if you guys want to see more! So here it goes

I am not writing this for someone hopefully to see, I am writing this to keep my sanity. My name is John Williams I am 23 years old and I live, well, lived in Santa Barbara in California. You see being stranded on a 40’ boat isn't your ideal way of living. I escaped what is on land right before it took everyone and forced me to move out on my 40’ ancient ass boat. I am about 70 miles off the coast of San Francisco right now. There is really no way of explaining what they were on land. Zombies almost but they are fictional right? I don't know well it's late I'd say somewhere around 22:30.

I woke up this morning to the sweet ocean breeze slapping spray on the windows. My provisions are really well right now, I have only been out 3 days I think and still have enough food and water to stay out another 1-2 weeks if I ration just enough, gas is good too maybe I could sail down to Mexico if shit hasn't hit the fan there yet, electricity will never run out, solar panels keep electricity good, and I have a 12. Gauge Sega shotgun and about 100 shells, a AR15 556. With about 450 bullets, and a 45. 1911 handgun with about 200 bullets. Oh, I almost forgot, I do have a pit bull/lab mix, called Lucky. I got him 2 years back when he was just a puppy at the pound and he was, is, the only thing I have left in this world. I think about my mom and pops everyday, wondering if they are ok. You might be wondering why I don’t have dates and shit, plain answer is, I don't know the dates I lost count after it hit the fan. It's dark now I'll log in the morning.

Got up today to see a boat in the distance, didn't dare signal it though who knows who or what the fuck could be on that. I just made a ham and egg omelette and caught a fish for Lucky, I like to spoil him. I decided to tidy up my ship it looks like a shithole for not living on it for months.

I should explain how this all started, and that is what I'll do. I think the date was May 15, and I was studying for finals when I got an alert on my TV saying that a virus broke out, and I thought it was complete bullshit. That's when the riots started, it was as though one second everything was fine, the next all hell broke loose, in reality it was probably hours before shit started happening but it went by so fast. I heard screams outside, glass being broken, nothing you'd want to hear, ever.

I thought of everything I could do, go down to Los Angeles to find my parents, go find my girlfriend, Sophia, or go on my boat and go out there till shit calmed down. I chose the latter. Anyways, that night I packed my bags, went to the grocery store and got canned food and other food, and went to the gas station to fill up. Luckily even though my boat hadn’t been taken out in ages I keep my shit clean and tidy. So that night I left the harbor in Santa Barbara, enroute to well, I don’t really know, but I do know that I am just lucky to be alive. It is late I will fill you in tomorrow.

Woke up to rough seas with 8 foot swells and nasty wind. The wind and swells cleared up 2 hours later, and surprisingly I only sustained minor tearage in the sails that nothing a little duct tape can’t fix. Nothin’ else happened today, will log again soon.

About 8 hours after I last logged, I got a transmission on the emergency frequency on the radio. The transmission was a man's voice “Hello, is anyone there” he said, I immediately replied “Yes! Yes, who is this? Where are you at?” the mysterious voice behind the radio took awhile to respond but eventually I got the reply I had been waiting for for a long time “My name is Christopher Halloway, I am with my two kids Jack and Fred, we are in Carpenteria, right off the coast. Where are you at?” I couldn’t believe it, someone was still out there “Well I don’t really know, I am on my boat I would assume just off the coast of Santa Barbara, it’s just me and my dog, Lucky” he replied almost immediately “Wait, you have a boat? How big? Could it fit three more people?” he asked, I sensed a bit of hope in his voice “Possibly” I said “it’s a 40 foot hunk of steel, it has 2 cabins with a good amount of space, I could fit you three on, I just need more food, fuel, and water” he said “No problem, we have weeks worth of food and water, for a couple people, and we have some fuel probably 25 gallons” and just like that, I have more crew.

Tomorrow I will sail into the unknown and try and find this family I’m not even sure will be there tomorrow, but I need more crew, the more people the better. So I will log again after the journey in a couple days.

title: [FN] The Boat (Post Apocalyptic) Part 1 of series

question: Where is the narrator stranded?

answer: On a boat, presumably at sea.

question: How much longer can John survive out there on his rations?

answer: One-two weeks longer.

question: Is this a diary?

answer: If it is, there are no dates.

question: Why did John go to sea?

answer: He got word a virus had broken out.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: John, a 23-year-old male, is writing from a boat at sea, where he has roughly one or two more weeks' rations to survive. He made the knee-jerk decision to take the boat when he heard a virus had broken out. Now he is lost and unsure what to do or what's happening on dry land.


text:
“So, do you want it?” the salesman asked her. Rosa already knew that she did, but she was trying to get a better price. It wasn’t there yet, so she shrugged and turned her head away nonchalantly.

The salesman looked at her. Rosa Berger was attractive, and meeting her at the beach was her idea. He now knew why. She dressed in a bikini that had to be pushing the limits of any decency laws in the area. She was lying on a towel, sunning herself, looking like a model in a magazine. He was having trouble concentrating. His usual clientele were quite a bit older and more prudish. But she knew what she was looking for. He had a feeling she knew how to buy it, too.

“What do you want from me? This is not an easy find. I can’t go lower.” He tried, but he knew she was breaking him.

Rosa sat up and placed a hand in between her breasts, drawing the salesman’s eyes to them. She smiled when she noticed his face become far redder than what it should be for as little as he’s been in the sun. “I just can’t work that. It’s really important for my family to have this piece, but there’s only so much we can do ourselves. Are you sure you can’t drop the price? Even a little?”

The salesman barely heard what she was saying. “N-name your price. We, uh, we can go from there.” He struggled to take his eyes off her chest.

The dark haired beauty took off her sunglasses and looked her “victim” in the eyes. Her gorgeous brown eyes looked full of innocent joy at the news, and she knew right then and there that she had him hook, line, and sinker. She damn near could have asked him to just give her the artifact for free and he would have done it.

Sometimes, Rosa felt bad for the sellers of her trinkets, but they almost always tried to oversell them. Probably usually got away with it with the older codgers who were trying to keep busy in their old age. She, on the other hand, knew what investing in those beauties was worth. Those objects told the story of the past. This is where we, as the human race, came from. This wasn’t some text in a history book from high school. This was the real deal. This was magic to Rosa, a way to view the past.

There was nothing more important.

“Really?” Rosa reached into her beach bag and grabbed a pad of Post-Its and a pen, wrote down her price, and handed it too him, surreptitiously getting into the sexiest pose she knew. The salesman was now clearly and uncomfortably aroused and at this point, Rosa knew by experience, he would say yes to the deal just to get out of the awkward situation.

The salesman briefly looked at the note, sighed, knowing full well that in normal situations he would never dare accept the offer, and handed it back. “Fine.”

“Yay!” Rosa exclaimed, keeping up the appearance that she was innocent. She again reached into her beach bag and grabbed her checkbook, filled it out for the amount she asked about, and handed it to the man. He grabbed it, opened up his briefcase, grabbed the object, handed it to Rosa, and quickly said his goodbyes, practically running to get away from her.

Rosa giggled to herself. She put the object into her beach bag and continued to sun herself, eventually falling asleep.

When she heard rustling, she awoke to find someone digging through her bag. She was short, blonde and wearing a jogging outfit of short shorts and a sports bra. As soon as Rosa sat up, the blond woman stood up with the object in hand and ran away. Rosa realized the thief knew exactly what she was after; she wasn’t just some trash stealing some other woman’s junk.

Rosa jumped up and followed the woman. She was good at running on the sand and had trained herself to run barefoot on nearly any surface. So when the jogger ran onto the pavement, the fact that all Rosa was wearing was a very skimpy bikini didn’t bother her. She was going to get that object back.

It seemed, however, that thief was just as athletic as Rosa. She ran through cars and buildings. Rosa was just a little faster and was catching up with her, until the jogger displayed a skill that Rosa did not have: free running. She ran into an alley full of junk that would slow down normal people, but she just jumped and flipped over whatever she needed to and sped far ahead of Rosa.

But Rosa was resourceful. There was an idling motorcycle nearby that the beautiful artifact collector had no qualms about “borrowing.” She jumped on it and took off around the block in hopes of catching the thief off guard.

When she rounded the corner, there was a little traffic and the blonde was just coming out of the alley. Rosa wove in and out to catch up. The jogger ran down another alley, this one clear. Rosa followed on the bike. The thief ran down another side alley, this one ended in a dead end with a overfilled dumpster.

Rosa sped up and, being so focused on her enemy, missed the brick laying on the ground in front of her. She flew off the bike as it flipped. Luckily she landed on the blond runner. Unfortunately, they both fell on the pile of garbage bags.

Still, Rosa wasn’t about to let her get away. She pulled her up and punched her square in the jaw. Something else she trained herself in: mixed martial arts. The thief wasn’t too bad either. She got up and took a stance that proved she knew how to fight. She gave a high kick to Rosa, who easily blocked and countered it with a punch in the upper thigh, which would definitely bruise. The runner managed to hit with an uppercut. Rosa kicked the other woman in the shin, followed by an elbow in the gut, then one in the face, landing square on the nose. This left the thief dazed enough for Rosa to one more punch in the exact same spot.

The blond jogger fell straight back, not even trying to break her fall. When Rosa checked, she had no pulse and her eyes were rolled back in her head. She was dead.

Rosa checked her for her prize and, finding it, moved the corpse to the dumpster burying her in bags. She found a mostly clean rag and wiped the bike clean of any evidence of her from it. She casually walked back out the alley, taking another path. Then back to the beach. Luckily, no one bothered her stuff. She put the artifact in her bag, then put the bag in her car. She then went back and finished sunning herself, as if she were perfectly fine with killing someone, as if she had done it before.

Because she had. There was nothing more important to her than the artifacts and the stories they told.

title: [AA] The Bikini Chase

question: How did Rosa lose the artifacts in the first place?

question: Why did Rosa use the seduction approach to get the salesman to drop his price?

answer: Probably because she knows she is pretty. Also maybe because she figures the man likes women a lot and the way she dresses might pressurize him to lower his price so as to get out of an awkward situation.


text:
Strange memories find me on days like this. Dreary days made up of dark skies and leftover sighs from things I wished I'd had the strength to say back then. Back when I was nothing.

 You know that girl in your class...the one who wore dorky glasses and outdated clothes? The one who always got picked last because people were disturbed by the constant hint of kool-aid around her mouth? Well, that or the fact that the ball always seems to gravitate to her face, rather than her hands or her feet where it ought to have gone...the one who had the tiniest bit of a lisp and always talked a little too loud about things no one was interested in? Well in my class, her name was Colleen. And even she knew that to sit next to me at lunch and trade the foil lid to her pudding cup to me was social suicide.

 There was a pretty Spanish girl who once asked me in disgust why I was wearing flip flops in Winter. I told her that they were all I had at the time, and her disgust turned to embaressment and pity. "I will buy you shoes for Christmas!" she promised fervently. When late December came and I was still wearing them, she fidgeted while she asked if I'd mind if she got me something else instead. I shook my head--I hadn't expected anything from her. She never spoke to me after that.

 There was a boy and a girl...siblings. The girl was in my class, the boy a grade above. Robin and Josh. I don't remember any of the specific insults, just the look of pure hatred the few times she made eye contact with me. I realize now that she must have told her brother something about me, and that was why he cracked insults over my head like eggs in the summer heat every single day when we lined up for the bus. At the time I didn't know why he targeted me. I remember more the insults he spewed, but they make my cheeks burn and I don't want to type them out.
 I don't know what possesed me to do it, but one day I came across a biography of Vanilla Ice. I knew Josh was a big fan of the guy, so in the line that day in the middle of his tirade I handed it to him and walked away. He was confused and never bothered me after that. I didn't even give it to him to make him stop--the thought was just in my head that he was the only person I knew of who'd like the book. Robin didn't give me dirty looks after that either, though she made no effort to speak to me. I stopped existing for them. It was a relief.

When I was 9, I lived in apartment building where the neighbor children were varied, but at least they were all just as poor as I. There was a Hispanic boy who loved me from afar, though I didn't get it then. I made friends with two Asian boys--their father ran a small donut shop and when I came in he would make sure to fill a jam donut until it threatened to burst with raspberry goodness, and he never charged me for it. The two boys and I made secret forts in the hedges around the complex. Older boys tore them out and accused us of having sex in them, which absolutely bewildered us. Later they threw rocks...actual rocks at us, with growing frenzy. The Asian boys never came back to play with me after that. There were no more donuts.

And ah, the church groups. Where I arrived 30 minutes early and stayed an hour after the closing prayer, offering to clean up the tables and put away chairs, just to be near people for a little longer. It didn't matter that even they wanted nothing to do with me. Within the walls and under the watchful eye of the youth leaders, the other kids had to at least pretend to tolerate me while I hung on every word spoken around me. Outside in the parking lot, where they sometimes played basketball, was much more of a risk. I took it gladly.

So, so desperate for love...

mm. My husband has just come home. I think I will go hug him close and leave the darker days where they lay.

title: darker days

question: Summarize everything the narrator has to say about Colleen.

answer: Colleen wears dorky glasses and outdated clothes. She's always picked last because of kool-aid around her mouth. People seemed to pick on her as the ball always tended to hit her on the face rather than her hands or feet. She also had a lisp and talked loud about things no one was interested to know.

question: Summarize the narrator's description of the Spanish girl.

answer: The pretty Spanish girl asked the narrator why she wore flip-flops in winter. She showed embarrassment and pity on the narrator when she told her that she didn't have any other things to wear. The Spanish girl offered to buy shoes for the narrator but she denied and the girl stopped talking to the narrator.

question: Summarize the narrator's description of the siblings.

answer: The siblings were a boy, Josh, and a girl, Robin. Robin was in the narrator's class while Josh was a grade above. The narrator remembers the pure hate that Robin showed every time she made eye contact with her. The narrator realizes that Robin must have told Josh something about her, which is why he insults her every day when they wait for their bus.

question: Summarize the narrator's childhood.

answer: The narrator lived in an apartment building when she was 9. The neighbor children were from different backgrounds, but all were poor. A Hispanic boy loved the narrator but she didn't understand it. She was friends with two Asian boys and played with them by making secret forts in the hedges around the complex. Older boys broke them and accused them of having sex in them and later threw stones at them, which led to the Asian boys deserting her. The narrator tried to be close to people in her church groups by volunteering to clean up the church after the closing prayer. She was desperate for love.

question: Summarize the climax of the story.

answer: The narrator was always yearning for love and the climax shows how she struggled to get it but then found it in her husband who's just come home then. She'll leave the darker days in the past and hug him close.

question: Summarize how the narrator found her husband.


text:
Oh, hello there.  So you're finally awake?  That's good to see.  Don't be surprised, this isn't actually your house.  Told you we should have come back to mine last night.  Would have made life a lot easier.

Who am I?  I must confess to being insulted.  I introduced myself last night.  Admittedly, we did have a fair bit to drink.  And the drug I gave you to get you here can make you forget things.  You may have read about me in the papers though.

However, you wouldn't know it was me just by that.  They always get the gender wrong.  I should really be offended, what with it being the 21st century and all, but, statistically speaking, I am a bit of an anomaly.  Unique, really.  Not many can say that.  That, and all the care I take with my appearance.

Now, I know you noticed that.  Gave me a standing ovation some might say.

You know who I am now, don't you?  Surprised?  Sorry, silly question, of course you are.  Want to know why I do it?  Don't worry, there's no kind of Freudian excuse.  Y'know, daddy beat and abused me and that's why I do it.  Boring.  And it is just me, there's no-one else secretly pulling the strings.

So then, if it's just me and it's not that I hate men, which you should remember from last night is certainly not the case, then why?  That's probably what you're asking yourself.  Well, I do it cos it's fun.  I find it amuses me.  Boredom, that's the excuse you are looking for.  I'm bored and I can do this, so I do.  It's an entertainment thing.  Pure and simple.  Some people read, some mess about online, some watch films, some learn a musical instrument.

Me?  I kill people.

I would take the gag off.  It might be interesting to hear what you've got to say.  But, sadly, you'll probably just scream.  And I can't have that.  Someone would hear and that just would not do.  I really should do something about that.  Can you imagine that phone call?  'Hi, I was wondering if you could come round and give me a quote.  I need my kitchen remodelling, my bedroom decorating and, oh yes, I need my basement soundproofed so that when I torture and kill people others won't be able to hear it.'  Don't think so somehow.

This thing I'm waving around?  You should know what it is.  But that's not what you're wondering about, is it?  So, to answer your questions.  Yes, it's real.  Yes, it's loaded.  Yes, it's fully working.  No, it doesn't actually scare me, waving it about and pointing it to my head.  I happen to be good with guns.  Best shot in my company when I was in Army cadets.  Besides, the safety is on.  I'm not an idiot.

But I'm not going to be using it on you.  That would be boring.  Didn't you hear me when I said I do this for the fun?

Yes, that is the door out of here.  You will be leaving through it.  Just not under your own power.  In fact, you could say that you'll be leaving here several times.

You've read the papers, you know how that's possible.  Just got to decide what I'm actually doing with you.  I could do things halal style.  I'm certain you know what that means, don't you?  It could be fun.  But, why change things now?  And aren't you curious to see what all that stuff inside you actually looks like up close and personal?

Enough talking.  I'm actually bored of the sound of my own voice.  And keen to get on with things.  There we go.  There's the body I enjoyed running my hands over last night.  Just need to put this down so I can actually use the knife.  There we are, ready to start.  Brace yourself, as the great Rod Stewart once said; the first is the deepest...

title: The first cut [664 words]

question: Who is the narrator speaking to?

answer: The narrator is speaking to their torture victim.

question: What does the narrator do for a living?

question: Why is the narrator committing crimes?

answer: The narrator states that they are amused by torturing and killing people.


text:
The Ardalent Strings

The bell chimed so everyone grabbed hold of their handled strings and walked out from their apartments. The strings came from brass cavities in the wall and the other ends attached to something unknown to the people. They were meant to pull the strings to taut and they all did this simultaneously at the chiming of the bell. The strings whirred out of each brass fixture activating some guessed at mechanics inside the walls, flywheels and gears and such, clicking and clunking like old clockwork. The strings were too long for the people to simply pull and stand in their rooms, pulled taut the length of these strings would leave the people standing in their hallways. Sometimes, the people would speak to each other.

Oliver was told about the unusual custom by Lester on the day he had moved into the old Abbey Apartment building on Flint Street; bell and line. “Who is it that rings the bell?” Oliver was new and knowing no one but directing his question to a sea of old faces in the hall, holding his handle and string.

“It is not for us to know, just accept that it is so,” replied old Mrs. Cardicole. “We pull our strings each time it rings. That is the nature of living here, though it may seem vain and queer. Our labor is to taut the strings whenever the bell of Abbey rings.”

“Where do the strings go?” Oliver asked, not wanting to give up so easily.

“We pull our strings, the brass handled strings and meet here in the hall. That’s all to say. It’s the way of things. There’s nothing more at all!” and Mrs. Cardicole gave a stern face as if to say, *I disapprove of this line*.

Everyone else looked on and felt for Oliver. The residents knew the custom was odd but it was truly simply the way of things in the old Abbey Apartments on Flint Street.

Then the strings pulled back into their holes by automatic mechanism and everyone returned to whatever they had been doing. Some were watching television, others were reading, others were having dinner. Young Lester and Sable were tending to their newborn son. Life in the apartment building on Flint Street was quiet and most like usual, save for this one quirk of the handled strings and the chiming bell.

Sometimes, people would venture to look for the bell. Most obvious was that it would be on top of the building, but Lester once discovered that it was not. He told a very few people about his searching and occasionally, people would help Lester to look for it. Mrs. Cardicole would watch the people searching from her custom one-way porthole. She would take notes on who was looking and what they might be saying. “Always searching for the bell, these transgressions lead to Hell.” Her hair was red and frizzed and she seemed a kind of recluse. Some might say that Mrs. Cardicole was a shut-in, but she had her reasons, and her husband Frank in his urn would not judge her like her neighbors did.

The bell rang early the following day and all the neighbors grasped their handles and pulled their strings from the brass fixtures in their apartments. They met out in the hall again and Mrs. Cardicole spied Oliver instantly and judged his efforts as lackluster, slack was his string. He was not doing as well and he could, and his string was not as taut as hers. The neighbor Lester saw the judgement on Mrs. Cardicole’s face and it entertained the dark parts of his mind. The ringing bell had twisted his thoughts and every day, sometimes twice in one, he’d be a slave to it. Mrs. Cardicole’s judgement was something new, Oliver was something new, so Lester looked on in madness and a voice screamed in his mind. He thought of scissors and of string, screaming madness and slicing blades. Lester’s string was taut and the mechanisms to it locked in and he dropped his handle in the hall and went inside his apartment. Lester came back a moment later with a pair of scissors and picked up his handle again, in front of everyone, and cradled the string between the scissor blades. He looked again at Mrs. Cardicole’s silent judgement and relished in it, for now it was directed at him and not Oliver. Lester severed the handle from the string and almost immediately after, the strings pulled back into their holes and the people followed after, continuing their quiet lives in their apartments. Lester’s string vanished beyond the wall, somewhere behind his holed brass fixture.

Oliver spent the day considering Lester. How long has the process been driving him mad? Oliver would like to speak to Lester at some point so he decided he would, next time he had the chance. But it was evening when the bell chimed again and everyone pulled their strings out into the hall but there was no Lester. Oliver looked for him to come out at his door, but nobody came. Of course, why would they? There was no string for Lester or Sable to pull. The curious neighbors decided to investigate, at least to see what had become of Lester’s madness. One held another’s handled string while one investigated Lester’s door. It was ajar and pushed open easily but Lester was nowhere to be seen, nor was Sable or the newborn.

“Claimed by sin and no line taut, this is what his cutting brought.” Mrs. Cardicole gave a wry smile. Everyone came back to their spots and held their strings, not daring to let go and dismissing all thoughts of stepping out of line, all thoughts of knives and scissors banished; all minds were bent on the taut strings. Even Oliver did not dare to ask Mrs. Cardicole any more questions.

For the second time in the day, the strings pulled back into their brass openings and the people retreated back into their apartments, neverminding the strange reality they had all accepted with reluctant grace. Mrs. Cardicole watched them all mindlessly slink through their doors through her porthole then waited a moment for good measure. She quietly left her apartment and descended the stairwell then went into the basement. She had a key, the only key that opened the boiler room and there she came to it again, the caged Ardalent, the demon toddler she kept in her charge, giant and harlequin. Mrs. Cardicole stepped over the bodies of Lester and Sable. The Ardalent had his own string that hung down into his cage, one that chimed the unseen bell, and the neighbors did as they always had upon hearing it. Their strings came to an engine of coiled metal that powered a music box set to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. It was his lullaby. Mrs. Cardicole fed the Ardalent what she could from the bodies of Lester and Sable. She blew a kiss to the demon toddler and left the boiler room, locking the door behind her. She ascended the stairs and went back, unseen, into her apartment to find the child of Lester and Sable, now hers to raise; a brother for her dear Ardalent.

title: The Ardalent Strings

question: Who is the main character?

answer: Oliver is introduced as the protagonist, but Mrs. Cardicole plays the biggest role in the story.

question: Where is the story set?

answer: An old Abbey Apartment building on Flint Street.

question: What is the purpose of pulling the strings?

answer: The strings are connected to a music box that plays a lullaby for a demon toddler, so the demon rings the bell when he wants the lullaby the play.

question: Do the residents ever find the bell?

answer: No.

question: What happens if the strings are not pulled?

answer: Oliver's neighbors Lester, Sable, and their newborn baby disappear after Lester cuts their string in defiance.

question: What does the title ('The Ardalent Strings') refer to?

answer: The strings are the main feature of the story - they must be pulled by the residents, and the mystery is the purpose of this. Ardalent is the name of the demon toddler who controls the bell that prompts the residents to pull the strings.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
Oliver moves into the old Abbey Apartment building, where the residents have an unusual custom of pulling taut the string from each of their apartments into the hallway. The string-pulling is prompted by the ring of a bell that no one has been able to find. One day, resident Lester cuts his string, and after that he and his family vanish.

The strings are connected to a music box that plays a lullaby for a demon toddler named Ardalent who lives in a cage in the boiler room. Mrs. Cardicole is behind everything, and feeds the bodies of Lester and Sable to Ardalent, while keeping their child to raise as a brother for him.