text:
_ROME REBORN_ is a paid virtual reality project consisting of apps and videos that allows users to experience a digital reconstruction of Rome at the peak of its civilization.[1] The project produced five individual modules that showcase different monuments and locations in the city during 320 A.D. Two additional modules are under development with releases expected soon.

The project is regarded as a success among critics, with reviewers seeing it as an educational innovation for the archaeological field.

History

The idea for _Rome Reborn_ initially came from virtual heritage scholar, Bernard Frischer, in 1974. After witnessing Italo Gismondi's miniaturized 3D model of Rome in the Museum of Roman Civilization, Frischer took interest in the possibility of recreating Rome in a virtual format.[2]

The project was launched in 1996 under the development of the UCLA Cultural Virtual Reality Laboratory with Frischer as director.[3] Version 1.0 was completed in 2007 and version 2.0 rolled out in 2008. This version received two subsequent updates with version 2.1 releasing in 2010 and version 2.2 releasing in 2012. The team completely reworked the software for the current 3.0 version, making it available to the public through virtual reality devices.[4] It is currently available for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Smasung GearVR, and HTC Vive. The project's budget is estimated to be around $3 million.[5]

For their initial reconstruction of Rome, the University of Virginia development team used the existing physical 3D model of Rome from Gismondi.[6] This allowed them to create their own digital 3D model of Rome which would then be digitally modeled to their standards.[7] In total, the project was developed by roughly 100 people spanning Italy, the United States, Britain, and Germany.

Version 1.0's release was accompanied by a ceremony held on Rome's Capitoline Hill. It was attended by the Frischer, the Roman mayor, and many American researchers.[8]

Modules

Flight over Ancient Rome

Users are positioned in a virtual hot air balloon overlooking the city of Rome that is transported to stationary locations. Frischer guides viewers through over 35 different locations in the city, providing commentary that gives historical context to each area. Some of the spaces included are the Circus Maximus, the tombs of Augustus and Hadrian, the Imperial Fora, the Forum, and the Colosseum.[9] It serves as a general introduction into the city of Rome with its many landmarks.

The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum module lets users to traverse what was the center of Rome during 320 A.D.[10] The free-roaming camera allows for up close looks at relatively detailed buildings, monuments, and statues located in the Forum. Some of the buildings included in the environment are the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina, the Basilica Aemilia, the Arch of Septimius Severus, the Temple of Vesta, the Curia Julia, the Basilica Julia, and the Arch of Augustus. It also includes the Rostra's statues of Pompey, Sulla, Camilius, and many other political figures from Rome's history.

An optional guided tour is provided by the Frischer if they wish to hear about the historical significance of the structures located in the Forum. Users are also presented with a “Time Warp” feature that switches the setting to the current day ruins.[11]

The Basilica of Maxentius

The user is inserted into the final civic building of the Roman Empire before its Christianization, the Basilica of Maxentius.[12] Smarthistory hosts, Beth Harris and Steven Zucker, provide users with a virtual tour of the building. The experience showcases 3D reconstructions of the painted marble walls, the barrel vaulted ceiling, and Constantine's 15 meter statue.

The Pantheon

The Pantheon is the most recent module to be released by this project. Users are able to tour a reconstructed visualization of one of Rome's most famous and well preserved temples.[13] Just like the previous modules, this addition includes a virtual tour delving into the significance of the structure in 320 A.D.

The Colosseum district

Users can experience the district of the Flavian Amphitheater (“Colosseum”) as well as its surrounding structures with an optional guided tour. The recreated structures in this module include the Colossus of the Sun, the Ludus Magnus, the Meta Sudans, the Temple of Venus and Rome, the Arch of Constantine, the Arch of Titus, and the Colosseum.[14] The free-roaming camera allows for detailed looks at the recreated reliefs, architecture, and statues found in the district.

This virtual environment gives access to reconstructed sections of the Colosseum's underground chambers.[15]

The Imperial Fora

The Imperial Fora had a projected release date of 2019, but is currently still under development.[16] A virtual tour will provide information on its construction and influence from Julius Caesar, Augustus, Vespasian, Nerva, and Trajan.

The Imperial Palace

The Imperial Palace has a projected release date of 2020.[17] Users will be able to visit the palace of the imperial family located on Palatine Hill.

Controversy

Frischer created the initial version of the project with the help of historians and 3D modellers from UCLA. Development on version 2.0 was then transferred to the University of Virginia where paid employees and students were tasked with the version's completion. Upon the release of version 2.0 in 2008, the project was free to download through a 3D Google Earth layer.[18]

During version 3.0's development of an entirely new city model in the period 2009 to the present, Frischer shifted _Rome Reborn_ towards a paid downloadable format, developed and copyrighted the program by his employee-owned business, which operates under the name Flyover Zone (www.flyoverzone.com).[19]

In early 2019, it was alleged by Sarah Bond (who was not involved in any way with Rome Reborn) that members of the development team for _Rome Reborn_ were subject to exploitation from Frischer. Former members of the development staff at UCLA and the University of Virginia were supposedly dissatisfied with the director using student labour and university funds to release a paid service under his own copyright. None were named and none have come forward to support this charge. As noted, the copyrighted 3.0 version of the Rome Reborn model was actually developed with private funds outside a university, so the allegation appears to have arisen from a misunderstanding. A concern was also raised about the occlusion of credit towards developers in the About section of the project's website.[20] Frischer denied these charges in a reply (https://www.romereborn.org/content/comment-recent-criticism-social-media), pointing out that due credit to earlier developers had been given on the company's project website but had been missed by the critic. To prevent recurrence of this, he added more explicit mention on the About page of the project's website. Frischer also pointed out that version 3.0 of the Rome Reborn model, which is the one in commercial use, had been created entirely by private funding through his employee-owned company. Finally, Frischer noted that since 2007 he had taken steps to make the publicly financed versions of the Rome Reborn model freely available. Through the years it has had over three million views.

[1]

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[19]  Rome Reborn|url=http://www.romereborn.org%7Caccess-date=2020-10-18%7Cwebsite=www.romereborn.org%7Clanguage=en}}

[20]

title: Rome Reborn

question: What are the origins of Rome Reborn?

answer: The idea for _Rome Reborn_ initially came from virtual heritage scholar, Bernard Frischer, in 1974. After witnessing Italo Gismondi's miniaturized 3D model of Rome in the Museum of Roman Civilization, Frischer took interest in the possibility of recreating Rome in a virtual format

question: How was the original 3D structure made?

answer: For their initial reconstruction of Rome, the University of Virginia development team used the existing physical 3D model of Rome from Gismondi.[6] This allowed them to create their own digital 3D model of Rome which would then be digitally modeled to their standards.[7] In total, the project was developed by roughly 100 people spanning Italy, the United States, Britain, and Germany.


split: test

text:
'And don't forget my prescription' she held after him. They hadn't been intimate in over a year but still she took the pill 'for headaches.'
'And I have my bridge class tonight at the Y' which had been chained shut for six months. As he stood on the platform he turned way from the street that reminded him of college and something that smelled like cheep beer and happiness. A train rattled past and he saw sludge ooze out from under the tracks and send its way down the concrete, little steps. His soggy mood superseded by a wave of sadness and he wanted to comfort the bleeding city. He hugged it and went back to sleep with a rail for a pillow. The warmest bed he had ever known.

title: 8:56 to Grand Central

question: How is cheap beer associated with happiness?

answer: Memories of college may be happy

question: Why does she claim to have a bridge class at the Y if it has been closed for six months?

answer: Perhaps she is having an affair and doesn't know as he does that the Y has been chained closed

question: Is he committing suicide with his head on a rail?

answer: Perhaps the rail is lying loose and not one that a train will use, or perhaps he will rise when he hears the train coming.

question: Why does he feel that the city needs his comfort?

answer: He may be transferring his own despairing emotions to the city or the city may be an unhappy place uncared for and filled with lonely people.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer:
They haven't been intimate in over a year but still, she takes the pill 'for headaches.'
She claims to have a bridge class at the Y but it has been chained closed for six months.

As he stands on the platform, he turns away from the street that reminds him of college and something that smells like cheap beer and happiness. A train rattles past and he sees sludge ooze out from under the tracks and sends its way down the concrete. His soggy mood is superseded by a wave of sadness and he wants to comfort the bleeding city. He hugs it and goes back to sleep with a rail for a pillow. The warmest bed he has ever known.


text:
Exactly three weeks ago I have seen a blond dyed stunning girl standing infront of her seated family in the Old Man's bar in Canggu Bali. My thoughts? ... what an amazing looking young woman... sexy ... hot ... stylish. What a nice - too large - shirt. I follwed her moves. Seems she can dance, but I lost sight of her.

Wait... here she is again. Sitting at a table ... alone ... playing with her phone. Guys were approaching and trying on her. She did not care and left the table.

She was gone. Again. She is like a phantom. I need to get a drink. Coke Zero.

Wait... here she is again. Now or never. I took all my courage and asked her for a drink. Not really verbally, but with gestures. She refused and damaged my confidence. I got my drink and started dancing. But I did not get more than one eye contact from her.

Midnight. Party's over. Why so early? She was taking pictures with her family. Obviously she was too shy to approach me and I did not wanna get turned down again... They left :-(
Shall I go home? I cannot get her out of my mind. Where did they go? Home? Means I won't see her again. Or to the beach? Lets check. Puuhhhh.. here she is. Dancing on the sand and in the water. When they gonna leave I need to talk to her. Cannot let her go without having spoken to her. So I went to the exit, danced on the steps. Once turning around there she was again. Standing almost behind me. Such a beautiful thing. I waved my hands indicating her to come down to me, however she appeared to be too shy again. Or she is just not interested... mmmhhh. Suddenly she was pushed by her sister. She literally fell into me. Here she was!!! Finally standing next to me!!! Saying "hi"! My night was about to turn into something good. Finally she accepted my drink offer. No alcohol... how impressive. So we talked while having orange juice. She wants to see the waterfall and emphasized this again. 'So lets go tmr' I said. She agreed.

I picked her up the next morning. Look at her long shirt, I love it. What an amazing day we had. The best part of it? Laying on the bamboo in the water based restaurant. Talking to her. I didn't wanna return home, was too good there. We headed towards potato head beach club finally. Pool time. I kissed her! I told her before! I liked it. I like spending time with her. What's happening here...? We spent the first night together. Felt kinda weird but most important she was close to me.

Three days passed by so quickly. She gave me the best time in my life. Really. It felt like ... I have no words for this. She loves me she said after two days. Is she insane saying this? Nope. She talks feelings. I love her too. But I didnt say it. However, I am sure she knows. What a woman. I am impressed. Running her own biz, she knows what she wants, her talking is profound and based on experience. She is a good person and a fun girl.

She accompanied me to the airport. I didnt like this idea at first, but of coz I had to like it. I missed her already the night before I left. She cried, she is not playing the tough woman any longer. I must see her again! So many thoughts running thru my head. In the aircraft I cried as well. I am sad and in parallel the happiest person on earth.
What did she do to me... what an outstanding and special time we had?
I will see her again. Soon!!!

title: [RO] True story

question: Who are the main characters of the story?

answer: The male narrator and the woman he met at the beach.

question: What is the narrator's relationship with the woman?

answer: They became really close and she told him she loves him after two days.

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: Canggu, Bali

question: Where did they go for their date?

answer: They presumably went to see the waterfall and spent time laying on bamboo in a restaurant on the water.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is in Old Man's bar in Canggu, Bali when he sees a beautiful woman who catches his eye. He follows her around from a distance and even offers to buy her a drink, but she refuses. He finally gets his chance at meeting her on the beach and they get to know each other really well. They spend the next three days together and it was the best time of his life. The woman says she loves him after two days together, and he loves her too but doesn't say it. She cries before he leaves and takes him to the airport. He vows to see her again soon.


text:
WALI KHAN (sometimes spelled Vālī-khan[1]) was a member of the Ak Taghliq clan of East Turkestan Khojas, who invaded Kashgaria from the Kokand during the Afaqi Khoja revolts on several occasions in the 1850s, and succeeded in ruling Kashgar for a short while.

Although Ak Taghliks had been expelled from Kashgaria by the Qing in the 1760s, they had not abandoned their hopes of reconquering the region, and regularly invaded it from their base in Khanate of Kokand. Wali Khan followed in the footsteps of his father, Jahangir Khoja, his uncle Yusuf, and cousin Katti Torah, who had all invaded Kashgaria with various success through the first half of the 19th century.

He invaded Kashgaria in 1852 (with Divan Quli), 1855 (with Husayn Ishan Khoja), and most famously in 1857. Wali Khan, who was reputed for his brutality and tyranny, let a rebellion in 1855 and began by attacking Kashgar.[2]

Chinese were massacred and the daughters and wives of the subordinates of the loyalist Turki governor were seized. Adolphe Schlagintweit, a German, was executed by beheading by Wali Khan and his head put on display. Wali Khan was infamous for his cruelty and if courtiers “raised their eyes” to him he would murder them, when the call to prayer was made by a muezzin and his voice was too loud the muezzin was murdered by Wali Khan. A 12,000 strong Chinese army crushed and defeated the 20,000 strong army of Wali Khan in 77 days of combat. Wali Khan was abandoned by his “allies” due to his cruelty. The Chinese inflicted harsh reprisals upon Wali Khan's forces and had his son and father in law executed in harsh manners.[3]

In the West Wali Khan is mostly known for his execution of the German explorer Adolf Schlagintweit in 1857, but his cruelty found many other reflections in the local legends. It is said that he killed so many innocent Muslims that four or six minarets were built from the skulls of the victims ( _kala minara_ ); or that once, when an artisan made a sabre for him, he instantly tested the weapon with the words, “Well, I'll try it now,” by cutting off the artisan's son head, who had come with his father and was standing nearby. Then, with the words, “Yes, it's a really good sabre,” he presented artisan with a gift. This treatment did not make Kashgarians miss the khoja too much when he was defeated by the Chinese troops after ruling the city for four months.

The local Uyghurs of Altishahr grew to hate and despite Wali Khan for his forcible introduction of Kokandi culture and suppression of Kashgari culture and for his brutality.[4]

In 1865, after Kokand Khanate had been successfully invaded by the Russian and its ruler Alimqul killed, Wali Khan joined a large group of Kokandian officials who decided to try their luck in Kashgaria. They appeared in Kashgar in September 1865, but had to submit to the fellow Kokandian Yaqub Beg, who had already firmly established himself as the ruler of the city. Wali Khan's followers attempts to bring him to power again very easily foiled by Yaqub Beg, who had Wali Khan arrested and sent to Yangihissar under armed guard, where he was later poisoned.

[1] L Newby, "“'Us and Them'...,” in Bellér-Hann et al., Situating the Uyghurs..., p. 19.

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title: Wali Khan (khoja)

question: What are some of the horrible things Wali Khan is said to have done?

answer: Wali Khan is said to have killed so many innocent Muslims that four or six minarets were made from their skulls. In another story, he tested a sword and artisan made for him by cutting off the artisan's son's head, and then returning the sword to him, saying "it's a really good sabre."


text:
PAPHLAGONIA (; , _Paphlagonía_, modern pronunciation _Paflagonía_; ) was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia (later, Galatia) by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus. According to Strabo, the river Parthenius formed the western limit of the region, and it was bounded on the east by the Halys river. The name _Paphlagonia_ is derived in the legends from Paphlagon, a son of Phineus. (Eustath. ad Horn. II. ii. 851, ad Dion. Per. 787; Steph. B. t.v.; Const. Porph. de Them. i. 7.)

Geography

The greater part of Paphlagonia is a rugged mountainous country, but it contains fertile valleys and produces a great abundance of hazelnuts and fruit – particularly plums, cherries and pears. The mountains are clothed with dense forests, conspicuous for the quantity of boxwood that they furnish. Hence, its coasts were occupied by Greeks from an early period. Among these, the flourishing city of Sinope, founded from Miletus about 630 BC, stood pre-eminent. Amastris, a few miles east of the Parthenius river, became important under the rule of the Macedonian monarchs; while Amisus, a colony of Sinope situated a short distance east of the Halys river (and therefore not strictly in Paphlagonia as defined by Strabo), grew to become almost a rival of its parent city.

The most considerable towns of the interior were Gangra – in ancient times the capital of the Paphlagonian kings, afterwards called Germanicopolis, situated near the frontier of Galatia – and Pompeiopolis, in the valley of the Amnias river, near extensive mines of the mineral called by Strabo _sandarake_ (red arsenic or arsenic sulfide), largely exported from Sinope.

History

In the time of the Hittites, Paphlagonia was inhabited by the Kashka people, whose exact ethnic relation to the Paphlagonians is uncertain. It seems perhaps that they were related to the people of the adjoining country, Cappadocia, who were speakers of one of the Anatolian branch of the Indo-European languages. Their language would appear, from Strabo's testimony, to have been distinctive.

[King of Paphlagonia Pylaimenes II/III Euergetes. Circa 133 to 103 BC] The Paphlagonians were one of the most ancient nations of Anatolia and listed among the allies of the Trojans in the Trojan War (ca. 1200 BC or 1250 BC, where their king Pylaemenes and his son Harpalion perished (_Iliad_, ii. 851—857). According to Homer and Livy, a group of Paphlagonians, called the Enetoi in Greek, were expelled from their homeland during a revolution. With a group of defeated Trojans under the leadership of the Trojan prince Antenor, they emigrated to the northern end of the Adriatic coast and later merged with indigenous Euganei giving the name Venetia to the area they settled.

[Detail of a 15th-century map showing Anatolia, with Paphlagonia at top] Paphlagonians were mentioned by Herodotus among the peoples conquered by Croesus, and they sent an important contingent to the army of Xerxes in 480 BC. Xenophon speaks of them as being governed by a prince of their own, without any reference to the neighboring satraps, a freedom perhaps due to the nature of their country, with its lofty mountain ranges and difficult passes. All these rulers appear to have borne the name _Pylaimenes_ as a sign that they claimed descent from the chieftain of that name who figures in the Iliad as leader of the Paphlagonians.

Under the Kingdom of Pontus

At a later period, Paphlagonia passed under the control of the Macedonian kings, and after the death of Alexander the Great, it was assigned, together with Cappadocia and Mysia, to Eumenes. However, it continued to be governed by native princes until it was absorbed by the encroaching power of Pontus. The rulers of that dynasty became masters of the greater part of Paphlagonia as early as the reign of Mithridates Ctistes (302–266 BC), but it was not until 183 BC that Pharnaces reduced the Greek city of Sinope under their control. From that time, the whole province was incorporated into the kingdom of Pontus until the fall of Mithridates (65 BC).

Roman and Byzantine empires

Pompey united the coastal districts of Paphlagonia, along with the greater part of Pontus, with the Roman province of Bithynia, but left the interior of the country under the native princes, until the dynasty became extinct and the whole country was incorporated into the Roman Empire. The name was still retained by geographers, though its boundaries are not distinctly defined by the geographer Claudius Ptolemy. Paphlagonia reappeared as a separate province in the 5th century AD (Hierocles, _Synecdemus_ c. 33). In the 7th century it became part of the theme of Opsikion, and later of the Bucellarian Theme, before being split off c. 820 to form a separate province once again.

Notable people

-   Artoxares (5th century BC) eunuch, envoy of Persian kings Artaxerxes I and Darius II
-   Diogenes of Sinope (4th century BC) Greek philosopher, one of the founders of Cynic philosophy.
-   Alexander of Abonoteichus (c. 105 – c. 170 AD), also called Alexander the Paphlagonian, or the false prophet Alexander
-   Saint Philaretos (8th century)
-   Theodora (9th century) wife of the Byzantine emperor Theophilus
-   John Mauropous (11th century) Eastern Roman poet and author
-   Michael IV the Paphlagonian
-   Eumenes of Cardia (until he decided to leave for Troja and return to Cardia)

title: Paphlagonia

question: Where was Paphlagonia?

answer: Paphlagonia was an ancient region on the Black Sea coast of north central Anatolia, situated between Bithynia to the west and Pontus to the east, and separated from Phrygia by a prolongation to the east of the Bithynian Olympus.

question: Summarize everything related to Roman and Byzantine empires.

answer: Pompey united the coastal districts of Paphlagonia, along with the greater part of Pontus, with the Roman province of Bithynia, but left the interior of the country under the native princes, until the dynasty became extinct and the whole country was incorporated into the Roman Empire. Paphlagonia reappeared as a separate province in the 5th century AD. In the 7th century it became part of the theme of Opsikion, and later of the Bucellarian Theme, before being split off to form a separate province once again.


text:
_Portland’s City Council reversed its denial of one tall apartment building; we commend them_

Back in March, we were critical of a decision by the Portland City Council to deny approval of a 17-story apartment building in the city’s growing Pearl District. The building was opposed by neighbors (who lived in other, recently build residential towers), who complained the new building, called Fremont Place, would block their views. The Council decided, ostensibly because the building didn’t fully comply with the cities riverside greenway setback requirements, to deny the approval.

[]

We argued that this use of the city’s discretionary approval power ran counter to the City Council’s stated concern about city housing supply, and that it would send a chilling signal to other developers. The Fremont Place project generated considerable discussion in the media.

Council members, to their credit, re-thought their initial decision. The developers agreed to make some very modest changes to the building’s ground level plan to accomodate a wider walkway along the river, but kept the height and bulk of the proposed building the same. They also reached an agreement to get the local neighborhood association, which had fought the project, to endorse it with changes (and also with the promise of a $35,000 payment to the neighborhood association to cover its legal costs in the matter.

On May 31, the Council voted unanimously to reject the appeal, approving the project moving forward.  Portlander’s should be grateful to the City Council for drawing a deep breath, giving some time for the parties to make some adjustments, and then approving this needed housing.

[]

Two steps forward, one step back?

While this is good news, another land use matter showed that this issue is hardly settled. Across the river from the Pearl District, in Portland’s Walnut Park neighborhood, a different developer sought a zone change to allow the conversion of a church parking lot into an apartment building. The developer was offering to 50 below-market, affordable apartments adjacent to the Alberta Abbey. As in the case of the Fremont Place matter, this decision was one in which the City Council had broad discretion to approve or not approve the project. (This is seldom the case in Portland, where state land use law provides that once an area is designated for a particular land use, such as apartments, the city must approve or deny the proposed development based on a limited set of clear and objective standards). Because this case involved a plan change–redesignating a parking lot designated for lower density use to a higher density, commercial category, it was subject to council discretion.

After a public hearing, the Council declined to move ahead with the needed zone change proposal. According to Portland for Everyone’s Michael Anderson, that means the property’s developer is likely restricted to building a much smaller building with no more than about 28 units. It’s a far smaller battle than the Fremont Place project, but it’s a reminder that Portland’s City Council–like municipal government’s everywhere–is always facing a steady stream of decisions about whether to allow more housing. The fact that rents and home prices are rising, especially in close-in urban neighborhoods,  is a good indication that demand is still outpacing supply, and that the city needs to lean more heavily in favor of making it possible to build more housing.  The change of heart on the Fremont Place project is a big step in the right direction, but the council will have to take many more similar steps in the months and years ahead, if it hopes to seriously address the city’s affordability challenges.

question: Where is Portland?

answer: Portland is a city in Oregon, United States.

question: How tall will Fremont Place be?

answer: 17-stories

question: Why did the Portland City Council initially deny the application to construct the building?

answer: Ostensibly, because the building did not fully comply with the cities riverside greenway setback requirements.

question: Why are the authors in favor of the construction of large buildings?

answer: because, the authors claim, housing demand is outpacing supply, as evidenced by increasing home prices in the city.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article commends the Portland City Council for approving the construction of a new 17-story building, Fremont Place, in the city's growing Pearl District.


text: IDLIB, SYRIA—Explaining that they hoped the personnel changes would enable the organization to avoid the State Department’s scrutiny, ISIS leaders announced Monday that they had added a few violent white supremacists to the group in a bid to get the U.S. to rescind its designation of ISIS as terrorists. “Being branded a terrorist organization has really made it difficult for ISIS to operate, so we’re pleased to introduce several members of racist white militia groups considered to be safe, respectable, and law-abiding in the eyes of the U.S. government,” said ISIS spokesman Abu Hassan al-Muhajir in a video released by the organization, adding that he would go so far as to label the white supremacists “the new face of ISIS.” “We know we have a checkered past as far as America is concerned, but we hope bringing in members of white hate groups with documented histories of death threats and violence will prompt the State Department to view us in a new light. We expect this to be a fruitful collaboration, as we actually have a lot in common, and it turns out they have many more guns than we do. We anticipate the U.S. will extend to us the same understanding and support they offer to their own sectarian racial supremacists.” At press time, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that ISIS was no longer officially considered a terrorist organization based on their members’ newfound strong support for President Trump.

question: Is the text real news?

answer: Probably not.

question: What did ISIS leaders announce?

answer: That they had added a few violent white supremacist to the group in order to get the US to stop designating them as terrorists.

question: Who was the spokesman who relayed the news?

answer: Abu Hassan al-Muhajir.

question: Did the US side respond?

answer: Yes. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that ISIS was no longer officially considered a terrorist organization.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text seems to be a fake news article about ISIS adding white supremacists to its ranks in order to get the US to stop considering them terrorists.


text:
Sure as the sun rises, businesses are making plans to get the hell out of post-riot Minneapolis.

Here's the first known domino, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

  A Minneapolis manufacturing company has decided to leave the city, with the company's owner saying he can't trust public officials who allowed his plant to burn during the recent riots. The move will cost the city about 50 jobs.

  "They don't care about my business," said Kris Wyrobek, president and owner of 7-Sigma Inc., which has operated since 1987 at 2843 26th Av. in south Minneapolis. "They didn't protect our people. We were all on our own."

  Wyrobek said the plant, which usually operates until 11 p.m., shut down about four hours early on the first night of the riots because he wanted to keep his workers out of harm's way. He said a production supervisor and a maintenance worker who live in the neighborhood became alarmed when fire broke out at the $30 million Midtown Corner affordable housing apartment complex that was under construction next door.

  "The fire engine was just sitting there," Wyrobek said, "but they wouldn't do anything."

  Two days after the riots began, Gov. Tim Walz described the city's response as an "abject failure."

It's completely true.  The city did nothing as his business burned, and he was supposed to eat the cost.  Who'd want to stay in a place with that little regard for what he does and the people he employs?  The far leftists on the city council consider business evil.

And the man has fabulous prospects everywhere he looks because...Minneapolis ranks near the very rock bottom on its climate for doing business.  The charts here are stunning.  Even if he goes to far-left blue Illinois, he'll get an improved business climate.  Minnesota ranks 46 on the Tax Foundation's business tax climate ranking. Illinois ranks #23.  Texas is a popular choice, ranking #14.  But his best prospect is a lot closer, in neighboring South Dakota, which ranks #2.  Relocation costs and employee retention might just be pretty manageable.

Why the heck should he bother with Minneapolis or Minnesota itself, whose sky-high taxes are there to pay for a bigger government?  He can't even get a fire engine when his factory, which employs 50 people, is literally burning down.  Here's the disgusting response from out-of-touch chicken-dancing Mayor Jacob Frey, emphasis mine:

  Frey said Monday that he was UNAWARE of 7-Sigma's decision to move, and he DECLINED TO SAY whether the company's decision reflects the challenges facing city leaders as they try to convince business owners to rebuild in Minneapolis. Many business owners have criticized the city, saying their pleas for help went unanswered.

  Frey said the city was OVERWHELMED BY THE RIOTS. He said every fire truck was operating during the protests.

  "This was a Guard-sized crisis and demanded a Guard-sized response," Frey said. "And once we had the full presence of the National Guard — which by the way hasn't been deployed since World War II — there was a significantly different result."

Note: He called the guard in late after significant persuading.

It's bad stuff, given that the losses throughout Minneapolis have been horrendous.  According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 500 businesses that it knows about have been damaged or destroyed by fire, property damage, or looting.  Of this group, 67 were burned to the ground, and the figure keeps getting progressively higher with each successive news report.  The charming Lake Street area, which is known for its international blend of businesses, its "Landmark of Diversity," was hit extremely hard.  And those businesses are mostly tiny, making recovery very hard for most of them.  They're about to start looking like Van Nuys, California, or South Central Los Angeles, still trying to recover from riots of more than two decades ago.

Here are some of the 67 that were totally annihilated by fire, over the supposed spontaneous rage in the streets over a white cop killing a black suspect, provoking a supposed race riot: Addis Ababa (probably a restaurant), 7 Mile Fashion, Bismillah Grocery and Coffee, Bling Bling Beauty Supply, El Nuevo Rodeo (probably a restaurant), El Sabor Chuchi (same), Fatima African Hair Braiding, Gandhi Mahal Restaurant, Mirasol Express, Paraiso Lounge, Popeyes, Rongo's Auto Service, U2 Nails. Bole Ethiopian Restaurant.

Do those places sound white-run?  The riots were clearly about something else.  I also noticed a lot of private staffing and employment agencies, hardly a looter's paradise, on the list of completely burned out places.  Peoples Organics, on the other hand, merely sustained damage.

The state has been bleeding businesses for years, according to the Minnesota Business Partnership.  Twenty years ago, it had 21 Fortune 500 headquarters in Minneapolis.  Today, it has 16.  Here's the MBP's statement about just how bad it is:

  The Competitiveness Challenge Minnesota businesses and entrepreneurs are faced with some of the nation’s highest tax burdens. The state’s tax structure deters business expansion and relocation in Minnesota and discourages companies from locating high-skill, high paying jobs here. Our anti-competitive tax code contributed to Minnesota ranking 43rd out of the 50 states in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. As Minnesota competes with other states and countries for future investment and job growth, lawmakers should be mindful of how Minnesota's tax and business climate compares to our competitors.

Now that 7-Sigma is pulling up stakes, I'm just waiting for a Minneapolis City Council member to say 'F*** you!' the same way California's far-left state legislator Lorena Gonzalez screamed at Elon Musk after he vowed to take his manufacturing operation for Tesla automobiles, out of state and over to Nevada or Texas.

Frey is clueless and the Minneapolis city council is business hostile. The fact that they are trying to get rid of the police signals just how little they care about the well being of businesses, which require stable property rights and personal security. Businesses costs will inevitably rise if they get rid of the police, and it will come at th expense of jobs.

Why shouldn't they all leave? What's on offer is soaring taxes, a hostile business climate and the expectation that things will never get better for them so long as the people in power remain in power. The clowns of the city council will get religion when enough businesses leave or fail to reopen. Teaching them a lesson is the best thing these businesses can do.

Thomas Lifson adds:

Having been born and grown up in Minneapolis, I retain fondness for the city, but considerable anger against those who have ruined it over the past few decades.

Minnesota has long been a hotbed of entrepreneurship, but the state and its largest city have embraced high taxes, high regulation, and progressive craziness, driving many companies to expand elsewhere and even move their headquarters out of state (and even out of the country, as Medtronic, a leading high tech medical electronics firm, moved to Ireland).That was _before_ rioting made business survival questionable.

Brutal winters are a fact of life there. But residents have long believed that other factors -- primarily social factors like the friendliness of “Minnesota nice” and the culture of rigorous work and play – made up for the incredibly long, cold winters. But if you layer psychotic leftism and state-of-nature lawlessness and racial resentment on top of the former Scandinavian-influenced culture, there is really no reason to hang on.

Unless Minnesota goes through a restoration movement, it is in for a long and painful decline.

_Image credit: Theresa Thompson, via Flickr_.

Sure as the sun rises, businesses are making plans to get the hell out of post-riot Minneapolis.

Here's the first known domino, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

  A Minneapolis manufacturing company has decided to leave the city, with the company's owner saying he can't trust public officials who allowed his plant to burn during the recent riots. The move will cost the city about 50 jobs.

  "They don't care about my business," said Kris Wyrobek, president and owner of 7-Sigma Inc., which has operated since 1987 at 2843 26th Av. in south Minneapolis. "They didn't protect our people. We were all on our own."

  Wyrobek said the plant, which usually operates until 11 p.m., shut down about four hours early on the first night of the riots because he wanted to keep his workers out of harm's way. He said a production supervisor and a maintenance worker who live in the neighborhood became alarmed when fire broke out at the $30 million Midtown Corner affordable housing apartment complex that was under construction next door.

  "The fire engine was just sitting there," Wyrobek said, "but they wouldn't do anything."

  Two days after the riots began, Gov. Tim Walz described the city's response as an "abject failure."

It's completely true.  The city did nothing as his business burned, and he was supposed to eat the cost.  Who'd want to stay in a place with that little regard for what he does and the people he employs?  The far leftists on the city council consider business evil.

And the man has fabulous prospects everywhere he looks because...Minneapolis ranks near the very rock bottom on its climate for doing business.  The charts here are stunning.  Even if he goes to far-left blue Illinois, he'll get an improved business climate.  Minnesota ranks 46 on the Tax Foundation's business tax climate ranking. Illinois ranks #23.  Texas is a popular choice, ranking #14.  But his best prospect is a lot closer, in neighboring South Dakota, which ranks #2.  Relocation costs and employee retention might just be pretty manageable.

Why the heck should he bother with Minneapolis or Minnesota itself, whose sky-high taxes are there to pay for a bigger government?  He can't even get a fire engine when his factory, which employs 50 people, is literally burning down.  Here's the disgusting response from out-of-touch chicken-dancing Mayor Jacob Frey, emphasis mine:

  Frey said Monday that he was UNAWARE of 7-Sigma's decision to move, and he DECLINED TO SAY whether the company's decision reflects the challenges facing city leaders as they try to convince business owners to rebuild in Minneapolis. Many business owners have criticized the city, saying their pleas for help went unanswered.

  Frey said the city was OVERWHELMED BY THE RIOTS. He said every fire truck was operating during the protests.

  "This was a Guard-sized crisis and demanded a Guard-sized response," Frey said. "And once we had the full presence of the National Guard — which by the way hasn't been deployed since World War II — there was a significantly different result."

Note: He called the guard in late after significant persuading.

It's bad stuff, given that the losses throughout Minneapolis have been horrendous.  According to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 500 businesses that it knows about have been damaged or destroyed by fire, property damage, or looting.  Of this group, 67 were burned to the ground, and the figure keeps getting progressively higher with each successive news report.  The charming Lake Street area, which is known for its international blend of businesses, its "Landmark of Diversity," was hit extremely hard.  And those businesses are mostly tiny, making recovery very hard for most of them.  They're about to start looking like Van Nuys, California, or South Central Los Angeles, still trying to recover from riots of more than two decades ago.

Here are some of the 67 that were totally annihilated by fire, over the supposed spontaneous rage in the streets over a white cop killing a black suspect, provoking a supposed race riot: Addis Ababa (probably a restaurant), 7 Mile Fashion, Bismillah Grocery and Coffee, Bling Bling Beauty Supply, El Nuevo Rodeo (probably a restaurant), El Sabor Chuchi (same), Fatima African Hair Braiding, Gandhi Mahal Restaurant, Mirasol Express, Paraiso Lounge, Popeyes, Rongo's Auto Service, U2 Nails. Bole Ethiopian Restaurant.

Do those places sound white-run?  The riots were clearly about something else.  I also noticed a lot of private staffing and employment agencies, hardly a looter's paradise, on the list of completely burned out places.  Peoples Organics, on the other hand, merely sustained damage.

The state has been bleeding businesses for years, according to the Minnesota Business Partnership.  Twenty years ago, it had 21 Fortune 500 headquarters in Minneapolis.  Today, it has 16.  Here's the MBP's statement about just how bad it is:

  The Competitiveness Challenge Minnesota businesses and entrepreneurs are faced with some of the nation’s highest tax burdens. The state’s tax structure deters business expansion and relocation in Minnesota and discourages companies from locating high-skill, high paying jobs here. Our anti-competitive tax code contributed to Minnesota ranking 43rd out of the 50 states in the Tax Foundation’s State Business Tax Climate Index. As Minnesota competes with other states and countries for future investment and job growth, lawmakers should be mindful of how Minnesota's tax and business climate compares to our competitors.

Now that 7-Sigma is pulling up stakes, I'm just waiting for a Minneapolis City Council member to say 'F*** you!' the same way California's far-left state legislator Lorena Gonzalez screamed at Elon Musk after he vowed to take his manufacturing operation for Tesla automobiles, out of state and over to Nevada or Texas.

Frey is clueless and the Minneapolis city council is business hostile. The fact that they are trying to get rid of the police signals just how little they care about the well being of businesses, which require stable property rights and personal security. Businesses costs will inevitably rise if they get rid of the police, and it will come at th expense of jobs.

Why shouldn't they all leave? What's on offer is soaring taxes, a hostile business climate and the expectation that things will never get better for them so long as the people in power remain in power. The clowns of the city council will get religion when enough businesses leave or fail to reopen. Teaching them a lesson is the best thing these businesses can do.

Thomas Lifson adds:

Having been born and grown up in Minneapolis, I retain fondness for the city, but considerable anger against those who have ruined it over the past few decades.

Minnesota has long been a hotbed of entrepreneurship, but the state and its largest city have embraced high taxes, high regulation, and progressive craziness, driving many companies to expand elsewhere and even move their headquarters out of state (and even out of the country, as Medtronic, a leading high tech medical electronics firm, moved to Ireland).That was _before_ rioting made business survival questionable.

Brutal winters are a fact of life there. But residents have long believed that other factors -- primarily social factors like the friendliness of “Minnesota nice” and the culture of rigorous work and play – made up for the incredibly long, cold winters. But if you layer psychotic leftism and state-of-nature lawlessness and racial resentment on top of the former Scandinavian-influenced culture, there is really no reason to hang on.

Unless Minnesota goes through a restoration movement, it is in for a long and painful decline.

_Image credit: Theresa Thompson, via Flickr_.

question: Why is business moving out of Minneapolis

answer: Company owners have lost their businesses to riot damage. Fire trucks watched businesses burning and did nothing. Minneapolis ranks near the very rock bottom on its climate for doing business. Minnesota ranks 46 on the Tax Foundation's business tax climate.

question: What was the mayor's response to the decision by the owner of 7-Sigma to move his business?

answer: The mayor was unaware of 7-Sigma's decision to move. He DECLINED TO SAY whether the company's decision reflects the challenges facing city leaders as they try to convince business owners to rebuild in Minneapolis. Frey said the city was OVERWHELMED BY THE RIOTS. The mayor called the National Guard in late after significant persuading.

question: How many businesses suffered as a consequence of the riots?

answer: 500 businesses have been damaged or destroyed by fire, property damage, or looting. Of this group, 67 were burned to the ground. This figure keeps getting progressively higher with each successive news report.

question: Where is 7-Sigma moving to?


text:
They’re Coming

My name is David Johnson, Sargent Johnson, and I’ll never forget the day it all went down, the day it collided with Earth. We had a century to plan for this one asteroid, barely 100 km wide, but only the rich saved themselves, went off to their ships and left us all here to die. They promised the military refuge, but when the asteroid came sooner than expected, they just turned tails and ran. For the last 2 years, I’ve been searching for survivors along with my squadron and what we found isn’t what we expected nor is it pleasing. The outside world is a wasteland devoid of life… until now.
While patrolling the perimeter we heard a small cry. When we found the source we were surprised by a small girl around 12 who looked confused and scared. We helped her up and took her to our base. Along the ride she started mumbling incomprehensible sounds and when we tried calming her she just blurted “They’re coming” and fell unconscious.
Subsequently, we stabilized her and let sleep overcome her. Then my squad and I started talking, thinking who this girl was, how had she survived, and most importantly what she meant by “They’re coming”. Of course the latter gave us all the creeps, although nobody openly admitted it. That was, after all, what the military was all about; showing strength and hiding weakness no matter what the situation presented.
When she finally woke up, we stared at her with expectant eyes and after an unbearable minute she got the cue and started explaining, to be honest, it’s not what any of us expected.
“They’re coming, we have to run.” She said in a normal fashion.
“Who the hell’s coming!” At that point, I’d lost my temper and started screaming at her.
“The ones who did this to us and the only ones who escaped it,” she exclaimed as she pointed towards the wasteland that lay behind us. Her words stinging and leaving a bitter taste in the back of our mind.
The same people who had promised to save us were the same people who set doom upon us. I was startled and couldn’t believe her words, didn’t want to believe her words. I mean, the scientist said an asteroid was coming, but a little push to it would explain why it came sooner, and according to this girl that little push was made by the rich folks. After a while of trying to explain to myself how it was possible since I couldn’t find any other explanation, she continued to talk:
“There’s a way to stop them,”
“Why would we?” I questioned, “We barely know you and now you’re asking us to stop an imaginary enemy who might or might not come here to destroy what’s left of us.”
“If you don’t believe me look outside,”
Just to prove her wrong, I walked through the door and took a peek outside. In the middle of the wasteland, I saw a single human figure just staring at us as if waiting for something. Then... all hell broke lose. As it came charging towards the encampment at an unnatural speed sirens started blaring to announce the base was on high alert. We grabbed our weapons and prepared for battle. Since we couldn't trust anyone, we started firing when it got within firing range. The bullets clashed against his skin, but it didn’t even flinch.
“I told you so,” I heard from behind me. It was the girl again.
“Would you shut the f-,” I retorted but, before I could finish she proceeded to use her arm as blades that went right through my upper torso, and with a vicious smile she pushed even farther until I could see the blood dripping off her fists.
“They’re coming.”
 Those were the last words I heard before darkness embraced me.

title: [SF] They're Coming

question: Summarize the main conflict.

answer: On an Earth that's been destroyed and abandoned due to an asteroid, the narrator and his squadron find a scared and small girl around 12 years old. She warns that "they are coming". The narrator is irritated, scared, and confused by this. The conflict comes in the form of anxiety about who she is referring to. The girl hints to the narrator that "they" are the rich people who had left them to die, but this confuses the narrator further.

question: Summarize the plot twist.

answer: The narrator and his squadron find a scared and small girl around 12 years old. She warns that "they are coming". She hints to the narrator that "they" are the rich people who had left them to die. Later on, she tells them that there's a way to stop them. She shows them a human figure outside who is totally unaffected by gun shots. The girl then cuts through the narrator with her blade-like arms, and it becomes clear that she was the one who was coming.

question: What does the story say about living in a post-apocalyptic state.

answer: In this post-apocalyptic state, the rich had saved themselves and left every one else to die. The world is now a wasteland that's devoid of life, as the military has been unable to find survivors. The military had been promised refuge, but this didn't happen.

question: What does the text say about food rations?


text:
The participation of BULGARIA IN THE JUNIOR EUROVISION SONG CONTEST first began in Rotterdam, Netherlands, at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2007. Bulgarian National Television (BNT), a member organisation of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), have been responsible for the selection process of their participants, since their debut in 2007. The first representative to participate for the nation at the 2007 contest was Bon-Bon with the song “Bonbolandiya”, which finished in seventh place out of seventeen participating entries, achieving a score of eighty-six points. There has been four absences from the competition, those being in , , and . Bulgaria's most recent return to the contest in proved to be successful, when Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim represented them with the song “Planet of the Children”, achieving one-hundred and forty-seven points and finishing in second place out of sixteen participating countries, the country's best ever result in a Eurovision competition. They hosted the contest at Arena Armeec in . On 11 June 2016, Lidia Ganeva won the national selection _“Decata na Bulgaria sa super”_, earning the right to represent Bulgaria at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016, in Valletta, Malta. Ganeva performed the internally selected song “Magical Day (Valsheben den)” at the contest. She received one-hundred and sixty-one points and therefore finished ninth out of seventeen participating countries.

History

Bulgaria has entered the Junior Eurovision Song Contest six times, first entering in 2007. Bulgaria's first entry was Bon-Bon with “Bonbolandiya”, which finished 7th at the 2007 contest in Rotterdam. Their second entry was Krestiana Kresteva with “Edna mechta”, which finished 15th and last at the 2008 contest. The Bulgarian broadcaster BNT withdrew from the 2009 contest, and Bulgaria did not compete in the contest in Kiev or at the 2010 edition in Minsk. Bulgaria returned for the 2011 contest in Yerevan, then they took a break from the 2012 and the 2013 contests.

Bulgaria returned for the 2014 edition in Malta, earning their best ever result in a Eurovision competition when Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim placed second performing “Planet of the Children”.[1] Their success helped reinvigorate public interest in the contest. According to Google Trends, Junior Eurovision was the eighth fastest trending event in Bulgaria for 2014, ahead of the Australian Open 2014 and New Year's 2014.[2]

On 26 January 2015, it was announced that Bulgaria would host the 2015 edition at the Arena Armeec in Sofia on 21 November.[3] The 2015 junior contest has been credited by some for providing BNT with the financial support they needed to return to the adult Eurovision in 2016, for their first Eurovision since 2013 - perhaps not coincidentally, their entrant in Stockholm was the Junior Eurovision's 2015 host, Poli Genova. In June 2016 BNT selected their artist for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2016 in Valletta, Lidia Ganeva. After initially confirming their participation for the 2017 contest in Georgia,[4] Bulgaria withdrew their application due to restructuring within the broadcaster[5] and did not appear on the final list of countries released by the EBU on 9 August 2017.

Participation

  -- ---------------------------------------
     Second place<!--
     Third place-->
     Last place<!--
     Entry selected but did not compete-->
  -- ---------------------------------------

  : Table key

  Year   Artist                               Song                            Language             Place   Points
  ------ ------------------------------------ ------------------------------- -------------------- ------- --------
         Bon-Bon                              “Bonbolandiya”                  Bulgarian            7       86
         Krastyana Krasteva                   “Edna mechta”                   Bulgarian            15 ◁    15
         Ivan Ivanov                          “Superhero”                     Bulgarian            8       60
         Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim              “Planet of the Children”        Bulgarian            2       147
         Gabriela Yordanova & Ivan Stoyanov   “Colour of Hope”                Bulgarian            9       62
         Lidia Ganeva                         “Magical Day (Valsheben den)”   Bulgarian, English   9       161

Photogallery

File:Krisia Todorova during opening act of JESC 2015.jpg|Krisia Todorova during the opening act of the contest, Sofia File:Gabriela Yordanova & Ivan Stoyanov at stage of JESC 2015.jpg|Gabriela Yordanova & Ivan Stoyanov in Sofia () File:JESC 2016 stage at Mediterranean Conference Centre.jpg|Lidia Ganeva in Valletta ()

Awards

Winners of the press vote

  Year   Song                       Artist                    Place   Points   Host city
  ------ -------------------------- ------------------------- ------- -------- ----------- -----
         “Planet of the Children”   Krisia, Hasan & Ibrahim   2       147      Marsa       [6]

Commentators and spokespersons

The contests are broadcast online worldwide through the official Junior Eurovision Song Contest website junioreurovision.tv and YouTube. In 2015, the online broadcasts featured commentary in English by junioreurovision.tv editor Luke Fisher and 2011 Bulgarian Junior Eurovision Song Contest entrant Ivan Ivanov.[7] The Bulgarian broadcaster, BNT, sent their own commentator to each contest in order to provide commentary in the Bulgarian language. Spokespersons were also chosen by the national broadcaster in order to announce the awarding points from Bulgaria. The table below list the details of each commentator and spokesperson since 2007.

  Year   Commentator                           Spokesperson
  ------ ------------------------------------- ------------------------
         Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev   Lyubomir Hadjiyski
         Marina Baltadzi
         rowspan=“2”                           rowspan=“2”
         Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev   Samuil Sarandev-Sancho
         rowspan=“2”                           rowspan=“2”
         Elena Rosberg and Georgi Kushvaliev   Ina Angelova
         Vladimir Petkov
         Milen Pavlov
  –

Hostings

  Year   Location   Venue          Presenters
  ------ ---------- -------------- ----------------
         Sofia      Arena Armeec   Poli Genova[8]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

title: Bulgaria in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest

question: Summarise Bulgaria's history with the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.

answer:
Bulgaria has entered the Junior Eurovision Song Contest six times in its history. The first entry was in 2007 with a group called Bon-Bon with the son "Bonbolandiya" which finished 7th in the contest. The country's second entry was in 2008 with Krestiana Kresteva singing "Edna Mechta" which finished last. Bulgaria did not participate in 2009 and 2010 contests. The country returned for the 2011 contest but withdrew from the 2012 and 2013 contests.
Bulgaria hosted the 2015 competition in Poli Genova. In 2016, the country selected Lidia Ganeva to compete however, Bulgaria withdrew from the 2017 competition.

question: Why did Bulgaria withdraw from the 2013 and 2014 Junior Eurovision Song Contest?


text:
OLIVIA SOPHIE L'ANGE SHIPP (also known as OLIVIA PORTER, May 17, 1880 – June 18, 1980) was a multi-instrumentalist known primarily as a bass violinist. She performed in dance bands, jazz bands, chamber music ensembles and orchestras in New York City and other parts of the U.S.A. She was also a founder of the Negro Women's Orchestral and Civic Association.[1]

Early Life and Education

Oliva Shipp's first musical instrument was a comb and tissue paper. While still a child, she taught herself to play on an old pump organ given to her family by a local minister's wife and then began playing for the junior choir at church.[2] She also went on to take voice lessons from Abbey Lyons, who was a member of the Fisk Jubilee Singers.[3] Her sister, May Kemp, who was also a musician, as well as an actress, left New Orleans to join the Black Patti Troubadours and then to form the Bob and Kemp vaudeville act in New York City. Shipp joined her there and began working in vaudeville while also studying piano.[4] She performed as a pianist, cellist and bassist under the name Olivia Porter, until her marriage when she began to use her married name.[5] Both sisters chose professional names different from their actual surnames, because working in entertainment was considered by their parents to be disreputable.[6] After hearing a cello and piano performance, Shipp began trading piano for cello lessons with cellists she was accompanying.[7] Soon, she bought her own cello and began studying with Paul Turkisher.[8] When Turkisher left New York, Shipp began studying with Black cellists Wesley Johnson and Leonard Jeter (band leader, composer, and cellist in the Shuffle Along Orchestra).[9] She then joined the Martin-Smith Music School, where she served as Jeter's assistant and became a member of the school's orchestra. While at the school she also studied bass violin with Umberto Buldrini (a double bass player with the New York Philharmonic).[10] During this time she participated in radio performances as part of black violinist Charles Elgar's ensemble and performed with an all-female trio.[11]

Career

Shipp went on to play string bass with Marie Lucas's Lafayette Theatre Ladies' Orchestra, as a replacement for bassist Nellie Shelton.[12] She frequently sat in with other bands, and accompanied rag pianist and band leader Charles Luckyeth “Luckey” Roberts and violinist/pianist/band leader Allie Ross, among others.[13] In the 1920's, Shipp organized her own group, Olivia Shipp's Jazzmines -- Famous Female Orchestra, specializing in “Music for All Occasions.”[14][15]

She was an active participant in community activities and was a founding member and president of the Negro Women's Orchestral and Civic Association.[16] The city's first civic orchestra, the Negro Women's Orchestral and Civic Association was established with the help of American Federation of Musicians Local 802 and U.S. Representative (and future New York City mayor) Fiorello La Guardia.[17] Shipp and her Jazzmines also performed at civic events, receptions,[18] and charity benefits (for organizations like the Colored Artists Guild of America,[19] and the Harlem Home for the Blind[20]) and led the Harlem chapter of the Girl Scout Council of Greater New York.[21] [22] [23][24]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

title: Olivia Sophie L'Ange Shipp

question: What instruments did Olivia Porter master over her long musical career?

answer: While still a child, she taught herself to play on an old pump organ. She also played the piano, the cello, and stringed bass. She performed in dance bands, jazz bands, chamber music ensembles, and orchestras in New York City and other parts of the U.S.A.


text:
“Where am I? Who are these people around me?” I thought to myself when I first woke up. I slowly lifted myself up and rubbed my eyes thoroughly as if there was something in them, but nothing was. I looked over; a lady kindly greeted me and handed me a folder. As soon as the folder was within my possession I knew what must be done; it was pure instinct. I immediately opened it up and read all of the information.

     I remembered that my name was Bob Lamron. I am 23 years old, have neither children nor a wife; they were only given to you if you had proven yourself faithful and intelligent enough. I asked the women who handed me the folder where I was and what events had occurred that left me in this situation. She just looked at me and smiled.

     Two rather large males, who appeared to be body guards disguised as physicians, led me out the front door. As soon as I walked out, a car appeared out of nowhere. From the car came a robotic voice; it addressed me by name and commanded me to enter the automobile. As I got in the car, the voice spoke again. It asked me what my home address was. I had no clue; I could not even remember if I had children 10 minutes ago. How was I supposed to answer the voice with details of my forget life? The women who had presented me with the folder, a nurse, that I had woken up next to, ran out of the building and handed me the same folder that I had left behind in the room. I opened it up and aloud, “2534 Egareva Rd.” As soon as the words had left my mouth, the taxi immediately sped off, presumably to the address.

      As I saw the things I passed by I started to remember details, like I had never forgotten them at all. Trees, Birds, people, restaurants, fountains, everything! It was all flooding in as if there was a dam in my brain and it had just been ruptured without notice. We arrived at my house and I opened the front door. I walked into my room and sat down. I could not recall the events that had occurred before I woke up. It was like the dam of knowledge in my mind had been concealed.

     My mind had locked away any memories of the events and I could not do anything about it. The more I thought, the more my head hurt.
It felt like one of those moments when you are mid conversation with someone and another person, uninvolved in the conversation, calls your name. You stop talking in order to address the interjection of your name, but when you try to come back into the original conversation, you can’t remember what you were talking about no matter how hard you try. I sat there on my couch and tried as hard as I could to recall what had happened.

     I then positioned myself so that I could see out of the window. I saw a grey, bleak world. Everything was so average, so normal. The only color people were given permission to wear were different shades of grey. The lighter your color, the higher up your social class was. I was just an average grey.

     As I was thinking through all of this, my eyes were fixed upon a section of peeling paint in the right corner of my peripheral vision. For some reason I knew I was supposed to go over to it; it was like I had some kind of cosmic urge. My hand lifted from my side and I started to peel the paint. It came off fairly easily, far too easier than any paint should have, for that matter. Suddenly, I saw something concealed under the peeling paint. I knew I had to uncover it. As I tore the paint off a fit overcame me. Next thing I knew, I was tearing, ripping, and enjoying this more than anything I had enjoyed before. I was ripping everything in sight off the wall.

     I stepped back and looked at my wall and there was writing everywhere. The memories started flooding back into my head of what had happened. I had uncovered something big. The government had been spiking everyone. Now they wouldn’t just bug a room, or a camera in a park to see what was going on, they were putting microphones in you. They had put chips in your brain so that they could see, think, hear, and smell everything you have ever come in contact with. Knowing I had just remembered this I knew they would be after me. I shut the blinds and closed the door in my room.

     I lightly lifted a blind cover and looked out the window. I saw a slim, black, shiny car pulled up to the front of my building. The same two men who had accompanied me out of the hospital got out of the black car. I sat there shaking, wondering what I could do. The second I saw them barge in through the front door, I jumped out of my second story bedroom and landed on the pavement. My ankle buckled and I felt a sharp pain but I knew I had to get out of here and tell someone what is going on. I screamed names but no one would listen to me. I was living in a selfish world where people only cared about themselves. I gave up. I fell to the floor, my ankle throbbing, and looked at the door to my building, expecting the two men to walk through. I was doomed.

     The two men eventually came out of my building and grabbed me. They didn’t say a word; all they would do is stare straight forward. Then they put me in the back of the car and drove off. It was the exact same route that led back to my house. I had only been out for an hour, at most and here I was, being dragged back.

     When I got there the female nurse was sitting there with a needle filled with what appeared to be a sedative. As she inserted it in my vein, two doctors walked into the room. The first said, “Okay, begin sedation and we’ll get ready for the micro-chip reset.”
The other doctor responded, “Looks like this one didn’t turn out to well again like the last time.”

	As they finished their sentences I realized something. They have been resetting everyone until they get every single one of us to be perfect for their society. They don’t want people to have character or personality; they are just looking to create the most generic human being, like emotionless robots. As I thought this, I started to black out.

     “Where am I? Who are these people around me?” I thought to myself when I first woke up. I slowly lifted myself up and rubbed my eyes thoroughly as if there was something in them, but nothing was. I looked over; a lady kindly greeted me and handed me a folder.

title: Deja Vu

question: What is the aim of the experiment described in the story?

answer: They are looking to create the most generic human being, like emotionless robots. They don’t want people to have character or personality. They have been resetting everyone until they get every single one of us to be perfect for their society.

question: What does the story say about why the narrator cannot remember anything?

answer: He is a part of an experiment. The doctors sedate the narrator to reset him. They want to create the most generic human being, like emotionless robots. They don’t want people to have character or personality.

question: What does the story say about the narrator's education?


text:
Edward Follis (left) and Hajji Juma Khan. Photo courtesy of Edward Follis

Before balloons of smack reach the pockets of users in Liverpool or Berlin or Oslo, 80 percent of the world's heroin passes through the hands of a very rich group of Afghan opium traders. By financing the Taliban—which still has a lot of influence over much of the country, especially in the south—these men operate with near impunity, preserving the opium poppy as the lifeblood of Afghanistan's economy.

Naturally, these enigmatic opium traders are targeted by the DEA, intelligence agencies, and the military. Between 2006 and 2008, undercover DEA man Edward Follis spent two years hanging out with Hajji Juma Khan, then one of the world's biggest opium merchants and a billionaire Taliban financier. Follis was briefed to gain Juma Khan's trust, tap him for info, and then take him out of action.

_The Dark Art: My Undercover Life in Global Narco-Terrorism_ is a memoir of Follis's experiences chasing down opium traders and infiltrating drug gangs across the world. Amid all the action in his book, however, the time Follis spent targeting Juma Khan stands out the most, mostly because his target eventually became a close friend.

I called Follis, who describes himself as "an Irish boy from St. Louis," to tell me more about the brotherly relationship he developed with the powerful opium king, a man he would ultimately have to screw over.

A counter narcotics team burning a heroin stash house in Afghanistan

VICE: JUMA KHAN WAS A POWERFUL OPIUM TRADER AND CLEARLY NOT STUPID. HOW DID YOU CAJOLE YOURSELF INTO HIS WORLD?
EDWARD FOLLIS: We were introduced through a mutual confidant as people who could help each other. I was upfront about who I was—the head of the DEA in Kabul—but I suggested to him that I was a pliable man with whom he could work, a relationship he could benefit from. I told him I was very aware of his competitors, and they were of great interest to me. He saw me as a value-added figure in his empire. He could feed me information about his rivals. In turn, I implied the US would focus on targeting his competition. Although, all the time, it was Juma Khan who was the real target.

We first met in his favorite Persian restaurant, an upmarket place called Shiraz. He dwarfed me. He was in his fifties, six-foot-five tall, and weighed about 26 stone [350 pounds]. I remember he had trouble fitting through doors. Apart from his size, he looked like any other Afghan businessman. He was dressed in simple clothes: a battered pinstriped jacket over a _salwar kameez_. He constantly played with a string of prayer beads. He was a huge eater, and as I found out, he would often devour about 20 kebabs at each sitting, while I'd nibble on one or two. He was extremely personable and charming.

SO THIS WASN'T A BRIEF ENCOUNTER?
It's common courtesy in business in central Asia that you do not pursue your goals immediately. There has to be, for want of a better word, "foreplay" before a business relationship can be formed. It took time to reach an implicit understanding. I had to maintain the courtship for two years, much longer than usual, as he had to trust me and we needed to build evidence for the indictment over his links to the Taliban. Luckily for us, as his business machine worked so well, he had time on his hands. We spent a lot of time together.

I'M INTRIGUED TO KNOW WHAT AN AMERICAN DEA AGENT AND AN AFGHAN OPIUM TRAFFICKER TALK ABOUT OVER DINNER.
He didn't want to talk about the opium trade at first. Most of what we discussed was about our families, our lives, and our fates. He had 14 wives and 29 children. We talked a lot about religion. He was a very religious man. He knew the Qur'an off by heart and had been on seven hajjis. He sometimes took me to the mosque to pray, although I prayed to God and he prayed to Allah. We watched _The Passion of the Christ_ together. One thing he could not understand about Christianity was why God had to put his son through so much suffering.

He was certainly not a fundamentalist. He sympathized with the US over 9/11. He told me it was wrong and that Bin Laden—whom he knew—should never have been allowed to carry out the attack. His heart went out to the innocents who died.

WHAT KIND OF MAN WAS HE?
He's almost exactly the same age as me: I was enlisting in the Marine Corps when he was in the trenches fighting Russians laying waste to his land. He was a magnificent businessman who grew up in poverty. He survived the Soviet occupation, civil wars, the Taliban, al Qaeda—he survived them all and profited the entire time to build his empire.

He was a leader, but not a dictatorial leader. He had dignity; people had a lot of respect for the way he handled his competitors, enemies, and his friends. I never heard a disparaging word out of his mouth about anybody. He didn't have to commit violence to maintain control over his turf.

He saw himself as the emperor of his tribe. He was a strong, proud man in the community and he valued that. His face beamed when he talked about his people, his family, and his underlings. He loved being praised—he glowed with it—and he was generous. I never paid for a meal, and even though it was _haram_, he would make sure waiters served me up some Johnnie Walker Black at the end of a meal.

YOU SAID IN THE BOOK THAT YOU FELT LIKE BROTHERS. YOU EVEN FLEW HIM OUT TO SEE A CANCER SPECIALIST IN WASHINGTON, DC, TO GET HIM CHECKED OUT.
To be honest, the time I spent with HJK was a source of solace for me, away from all the spooks and the embassy staff in Kabul. I was more at ease with HJK compared with with my colleagues at the embassy. Some of the spooks didn't trust me—they accused me of knowing rocket attacks were being planned on the embassy, but failing to alert them.

It was a kind of intimate relationship. One day I noticed he had a growth on his chest. I thought it might be cancerous as I had previously had a melanoma cut out, and showed him my scars. I offered him treatment in DC and we went, although it was a false alarm. I was helping a friend, but also it was a way of building trust. At that time we did not have enough information from him to arrest him, so he was returned to Afghanistan.

HOW PRODUCTIVE WAS YOUR FRIENDSHIP IN TERMS OF YOUR UNDERCOVER DEA WORK?
His power base was in the Balochistan region of Afghanistan near the Iranian border, although his network and inordinate wealth spread across central Asia to Dubai and Pakistan, where he had property and businesses.

He had close friends and relatives in the highest ranks of the Karzai government. His was a "total enterprise"—from the poppies at the farm gate, processing in clandestine labs, wholesale dealers at bazaars, importing precursors to process from morphine base, trans shipment across Iran to Turkey. He was a major player in the global heroin trade and our aim was to cut off the supply of money from opium kingpins like him to the Taliban and terrorists such as al Qaeda. He was an unofficial spy in the end. He gave us useful information that we passed onto the military.

An anti-poppy propaganda poster in Afghanistan. Photo by Todd Huffman via

AND THEN YOU HAD TO SHOP HIM.
In 2008 I offered him the carrot that was needed to get him out of Afghanistan; it was too dangerous to arrest him there. I told him I had been promoted to a counter drug mission in Iran, and we would mutually assist each other over there—he would boost my cred in unchartered waters, and he'd benefit from having people in high places to smooth his path shipping heroin across Iran.

We arranged to meet to discuss this in Jakarta in Indonesia, although in truth we would rendition him and fly him to the US. At the airport, when he arrived off the plane, he picked me up like rag doll and kissed me on the cheek. He was arrested before being flown to the US, where he's been in jail charged with funding terrorism since 2008. He will never see the light of day again. His attorneys decided against a trial because HJK is more concerned for the welfare of his family than the survival of his business empire.

DID YOU FEEL GUILTY AT TURNING IN A MAN YOU HAD GROWN TO RESPECT SO MUCH?
Well, there was an ulterior motive to getting him out of Afghanistan. I saved his life. He was on what we call the "kinetic list," a list of people to be targeted by a drone attack. His time was coming soon, and I decided to take away his comfortable, contented life in order to save it.

I had many emotions at the airport. I spotted him after his arrest and our eyes met. He had an expression of disbelief, and I felt ashamed. I ran behind a pillar and hid behind it. I didn't want to look back at him—I felt like a little boy. But if I didn't feel this way about a target, I'm not human; and if I'm not human, I'll never be able to carve my way into their soul and convince them to do my will.

What I had to keep remembering was that the Taliban and al Qaeda are developing weapons using money provided by people like HJK. That kept me going. Tackling the financial network behind the terrorists is the bottom line.

WILL YOU EVER SEE HIM AGAIN?
I can't visit him. If I did it would precipitate resentment—I took him from an unbelievable existence where he was the king, and I convinced him to give everything up. My wife knows I've had restless nights about this, and yeah, it messes with me. I've not had a chance to explain to him about the drone attack. One day it will go to trial, and I will see him there.

I still have the Kmart cell phone I used to call him on; it's right here in front of me. He always picked up. Even though he had 20 phones, he always carried it with him and answered it.

_The Dark Art: My Undercover Life in Global Narco-Terrorism_ _by Edward Follis is published in the UK by Scribe Publications._

_Follow Max Daly on Twitter._

question: What does the text say about heroin and the Taliban?

answer: 80% of the world's heroin passes through the hands of a very rich group of Afghan opium traders. This finances the Taliban.

question: What does the text say about Juma Khan?

answer: Juma Khan was a powerful opium trader although he believed himself to be a good man and emperor of his tribe. He had dignity and he was not a dictatorial leader. He didn't have to commit violence to maintain control over his turf. He loved being praised and he was generous.

question: What does the text say about the relationship between the DEA agent and the Afghan opium trafficker?

answer: The DEA agent, Edward Follis,  became close friends with Hajji Juma Khan, one of the world's biggest Afghan opium trafficker, during his undercover work. He spent two years hanging out with him and claims they felt like brothers. He feels turning in Juma Khan saved his life from his enemies. He reminded himself that Juma Khan and his people are financing terrorist groups and that tackling their network is his priority although he feels immense guilt turning in his close friend.


text:
“If we don’t get to Jupiter in the next 5 minutes and stop Asgarthicon from deploying the intergalactic laser of destruction, the universe as we know it will cease to exist”, said Starlust.

“The computer is telling me that we have 4 hours until arrival” said Vixen.

“The universe will be destroyed by then!” exclaimed Starlust, and he was getting pretty angry at this point. “I must save the universe. The prophecy foretold it.”

“Let me try upping the thrusters to hyper-warp-super speed” yelled Vixen over the loud noise of the engine because spacecrafts can get loud if you didn’t know. Vixen began the necessary calculations to initiate hyper-warp-super speed.

“It’s not gonna work, we’re running out of time!” bellowed Starlust. They were running very low on time at this point, like there was maybe 2 minutes left before the end of the universe, so Starlust’s concern is completely understandable.

Vixen initiated hyper-warp-super speed and got them to Jupiter with like 30 seconds to spare. Starlust and Vixen totally defeated Asgarthicon and saved the universe.

By the way, Vixen is a fox. Like a talking fox.

THE END

title: [SF] Starlust And The Vixen

question: Why is the universe in threat of being destroyed?

answer: Asgarthicon is planning to deploy an intergalactic laser of destruction.

question: How did Starlust and Vixen save the universe?

answer: Vixen managed to initiate hyper-warp-super speed and get them to Jupiter, where they defeated Asgarthicon.

question: Who is Asgarthicon?

answer: It isn't explained who Asgarthicon is.

question: Describe Vixen.

answer: Vixen is a talking fox.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Asgarthicon is planning to deploy an intergalactic laser of destruction to destroy the universe. Vixen and Starlust travel to Jupiter to stop Asgarthicon. They make it in time, thanks to Vixen initiating hyper-warp-super speed, and they defeat Asgarthicon, saving the universe.


text:
Jack loved snacking. He loved it so much that, in his later years, the snacking that he had accomplished over his many, many years caught up to him. It settled in his hips, just under his chin (as he so sneakily hid by always slightly raising his nose to everyone, which was taken as being snobby), and of course, it conglomerated in a fantastic meeting around his belly. His utmost favourite vice, that he would leap over mountains for, or, rather, a more realistic example due to his lopsidedness from snacking would be to kill or maim for, was Macadamia nuts. No matter what he was eating, be it salad (minority) or a rather large slab of greasy cow, equipped with mounds of mashed potatoes and succulent gravy (majority), he added a heaping handful of delicious nuts of the Macadamia family. They were his mustard, his ketchup (ironically enough Jack despised both mustard and ketchup). When his favourite local coffee shop added a Macadamia nut cookie to their entourage of plain Jane snacks, Jack almost set up camp with a fistful of dollars and an over experienced jaw to help get rid of the abundance of pesky cookies the shop had upon its racks. He could have lived off the smell of them, and in a perfect Jack world, would eat, sleep, and think any multitude of forms of Macadamia nuts.

It would go on without a hitch for most of Jack’s life. He would happily snack as people would muse about his audacious choice to add the aforementioned crutch to meals ranging from pizza to his famous (or, rather, infamous) chicken noodle Macadamia nut soup. He even got his wife to accept this addiction and even become a connoisseur herself, having on occasion found herself finding her meals bland and without charm without that ever so hallowed nut that Jack did covet.

Much to Jack’s disappointment, his care free and lackadaisical life of enjoying his oh-so-favourite-I’d-rather-not-live-without-em’ nut would come screeching to a halt. On the afternoon of June 7th, 1994, Jack, on his 60th birthday, would discover his four-year-old son Jacob was oh-so-deathly-cannot-even-breathe-the-damn-fumes-in-without-certain-suffocation allergic to everything that is nut or nut related.

Jack was decidedly perturbed.

It occurred to Jack almost suddenly that, yes, he did love his son dearly, (so much so in fact that, as far as Jack was concerned, he’d stop a million bullets from a million guns just to see his son’s smile one last time as he breathed his last gasping breath) and he very much did love a delicious Macadamia in his mouth, but with his son being most certainly allergic, he’d have to quit. Cold turkey.

He stomped around pouting to his wife, Jackie.

He had yelled: “Why me?!”

He had shouted: “What am I to do!”

He had screamed and hollered and done every other synonymous word one can think of for making a hefty racket, but in reality it was no use.

It happened in slow motion when Jacob was at pre-school. Sounds were soundless and as if watching in super high-definition, he saw Jackie dump and trash his scrumptious nuts into the garbage. Jars atop the fridge. Containers hidden in nooks. Baggies stashed in crannies. Everything was gone; every last morsel glad-bagged and kicked to the curb. He closed his eyes and felt woozy.

Jack reached in his pocket, his heart racing, furious and shaking, he pulled out a pack of matches as an avalanche of nuts came out in a volcanic spew. He stepped slowly past Jackie, she was yelling his name and he could barely hear. In his weakened and unstable state, Jack thought he heard her chant a taunting snack, snack, snack, and this infuriated him more. He grabbed her arm and pulled her down the stairs with him, heading to the front door. Jacob appeared next to him at the foot of the stairs. With both hands pulling a loved one and the matches still trembling in his fingers, he exited the door and slammed it ferociously. From there he shoved Jacob and Jackie to the lawn, (a little too fiercely, he quickly admitted to himself in his enraged state) and stomped towards the garbage bag brimming with Jack’s dearly beloved Macadamia nuts, a beautiful flower pot that Jacob had made from clay at pre-school, and had broken (followed by tears) whilst skipping home, and refuse alike. With a tremendous roar, a plethora of things happened all at once: the roar took place, and it was from Jack.

“If I cannot eat these god damned things, then they will burn in hell!”

Secondly, Jack kicked at his front lawn. Pointless really, but a few blades of grass were decapitated and it ensured his wife and son that he was indeed angry.

Thirdly, he lit a match. It went off with an unusually loud ‘thissssss’ , and he stared down at the bag with hatred.

He looked back at his two loved ones and whispered: “I will not live in a prison cell my entire life.”

Jack dropped the match. Almost instantly, the bag erupted in flames. Giant, leaping, licking flames. It almost seemed alive as it popped and gagged and burped out fumes from the experimental concoction within the black plastic bag. He backed away slowly, his eyes dancing as the fire belched outward, intensely hot and ferociously orange.

A giant upward arm of fire seemed to latch onto the tree that he and his wife once watched being planted some thirty years ago atop his boulevard. The summer’s dry, elongated heat-wave had turned the leaves into parchment paper, and it almost exploded into a ball of flames. Jack backed away quickly, but still didn’t waver. He had truly snapped. He began to cackle as, within minutes, it could be seen that the single match’s flame was now slowly sod-cutting his front lawn, almost as if it were being unravelled.

The police and the fire department arrived, sirens wailing and flashing. The police tackled Jack to the ground, and as a fireman gathered his crew to erupt a stream of water towards Jack’s creation, Jack cackled even more maniacally.

His wife Jackie, terrified, fell to her knees as another officer held her back.

“Jack!” she screamed. “Jack!”

...”Jack.”

...”Jack?”

She slapped him softly in the face. “Jack? Wake up honey.”

He groaned, lifted his head wonkily and replied, quite woozy and out-of-sorts. “I...I fainted?”

“Yes, darling,” she replied, “right when we were pouring out your nuts.”

His head fell back softly, and he looked up at his wife.

“How will I live without them, baby?”
* * *
Fifteen years passed. Jack, for the most part, learned to live without his precious Macadamia nuts in the house. Jacob’s allergies developed so severely, that even traces of it would send him off with a wing and prayer in one fell swoop. But Jack survived. Until now.

Here we stand. Jack, at 75, has lived the life he was meant to live, and then some. His over-endulant snacking had finally taking a deathly toll on him. The hospital bed creaked as he turned his head to look out the window and he sighed. The heart monitor was blipping like sonar, and little did he know that the final torpedo was headed his way to crash into him in five minutes. And that was generous.

He breathed heavily and sighed again. He could hear his wife (oh, his beloved wife) chatting solemnly with visitors just out-side the hospital room. This was it. It was simply the end, and, for the most part, he had lived a good life. Or, rather, he had finished his remaining, Macadamia nut-free years in a satisfactory way.

A visitor that he had been waiting for, whom was doing his rounds of handshakes and thank-yous and sad, accepting nods with each travel worn relative outside the door, walked in. It was his son Jacob.

Jack realized in that moment that he had never told Jacob of his nutty past; he figured it was for the better.

Jacob had globular tears running down his cheeks as his eyes cast upon his withering father. He shuffled his feet around the bed and knelt down at his side.

“Hey, Pop.”

Jack wheezed.

“Hey, kiddo.”

Jacob blinked slowly, uneasy and emotional and not sure what to say.

“Listen, bud,” Jack shifted his weight with much effort and turned to his son. “You have to take care of Mom, okay? You’re almost 20 and I know you’ll be good to her.”

Jacob blinked again; his cheeks were wet and shiny.

“I’m immensely proud of you. So, so immensely proud.”

Jack managed a smile. He had not shed a single tear, but his heart was pounding, animalistic and terrified inside.

“I hope you know that," Jack whispered.

Again with painstaking effort, he reached out his hand and stroked his son's hair slowly.

He smiled and croaked: “You really need to cut this hair.”

Jacob smiled.

Moments passed.

The torpedo was knotting along, a minute away.

“Dad?” Jacob whispered.

Jack answered with a curious glisten in his eyes.

Jacob reached in his pocket and pulled out a ball of tinfoil. He placed it in the crook of his father’s side, and stood.

Jack slowly reached down and opened the ball, hands shaking. Sitting in the center, looking moist and juicy and delectable was a single, beautiful Macadamia nut.

Jacob smiled. Jack picked it up, glanced at his son with the love and pride of a million degrees of heat that would blaze from a burning front yard, and a tear slowly trickled down his cheek.

He popped the nut in his mouth and began to chew happily.

The torpedo hit, and everything went blank.

title: Nut

question: Does Jack really set the trash and his front lawn tree on fire?

answer: The whole ordeal involving a raging fire on the front lawn and the firefighters and police was all a dream from when he fainted.

question: Does the son Jacob kill his father with one last macadamia nut?

answer: There was a countdown to the end of his life in the story even before his son introduced one last macadamia nut, but in fact he may have killed his father.

question: How did his wife react to his death as a result of his son's one last macadamia nut?