text:
The McDonalds executives sat at a meeting together at the top of a very tall building that, from outside, looked like it was made of glass, but inside was as comfortable as a five-star hotel. Michael Moore had made a documentary recently exposing the poor quality of their food and many of their dirty business secrets.

“We have to do something to counter this documentary,” one executive, called John was saying, “improve our image. Show the world that McDonalds is still number one. I think we should start by tidying up our restaurants, but that alone isn't enough. We should make ourselves more nationalist and show that we have an interest in current affairs. We should try and give McDonalds the image of a hero.”

A few weeks later giant American flags were flown near every McDonalds restaurant in America, Australian flags near every restaurant in Australia, and so for every country in the world that had a McDonalds restaurant. McDonalds flags began to appear in public streets with slogans like: “McDonalds supports your nation. McDonalds supports YOU.”

“This still isn't enough,” John said to the executives at their next meeting, “we need something more. Let's get our mascot, Ronald McDonald, and send him to Syria. We can have him surrounded by cameras and American soldiers, and bring back footage of him killing lots of terrorists.”

So, one day while Ronald McDonald was magically conjuring a delicious McDonald's burger for a group of school-children like usual, he received a tap on the shoulder by a man in sunglasses and a black suit who said “We have a new mission for you.”

Shortly afterwards he was sent to Syria, more of an actor than a soldier- but the base he was sent to was attacked by the enemy shortly after he arrived and he was captured by ISIS.

He woke up in a tiny cell strapped to a chair, and a light in front of his face made him blink. A dark, bearded man emerged from the shadows, sat in front of him and began to ask him lots of questions. He interrogated Ronald McDonald and especially demanded to know about American military secrets, to which Ronald said “I don't know, I don't know!”

“You don't know?” the terrorist said, the lamp still shining on Ronald's face. “Do you think this is a game? Do you think this is funny, you little piece of filth? You've spent your whole life insulting Islam!"

“No- I've never insulted Islam, I swear! I've never even met him!”

“Don't play ignorant with me! You've insulted Islam every single day since you were born. You've used your fame to advertise pork!”

“No, I haven't!” Ronald McDonald cried desperately, “it's beef in those burgers, I swear!”

“Do you think jihadists are stupid!?” the terrorist screamed, “what do you think is in the Bacon and Egg Breakfast McMuffin!?” he banged his fist down the table.

“I... I...” Ronald McDonald stammered.

“Well? What do you think's in it? Bananas? Pickles!?” he banged his fist down on the table again.

“I've never heard of it, I swear!”

“Oh, really?” the terrorist stood back with deadly calmness, and turned slowly around as Ronald McDonald watched him anxiously.

Someone in the shadows handed the terrorist something, then he threw some photos down on the table. The top one featured Ronald McDonald holding up the Breakfast McMuffin, smiling and surrounded by children. “I guess that's just some other Ronald McDonald, is it?” the terrorist said sarcastically, almost spitting with disgust. “I guess you'll try and tell me there are lots of people who go around dressed like that, just pretending to be Ronald McDonald the Clown, advertising bacon, are there? I suppose McDonalds just drags people off the street for no reason and says “here's a clown suit, go pretend to be Ronald McDonald and we'll pay you handsomely!”, do they?”

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!” McDonald wailed, “please stop, I can't take it anymore!” and he burst into tears.

The terrorist sat back in his chair and watched the clown for a few moments, waiting for him to calm down. Eventually the man showed him a copy of the Koran and said, “Are you familiar with this book?”

“No” said Ronald McDonald, “what is it?”

The Muslim began to explain the Koran to him, and flipping through a few pages found the verse he wanted and said “See this? This Koran challenges disbelievers to find any other book in the whole world that is the like of this Koran. In fourteen thousand years no one has been able to.”

“Wow,” said Ronald McDonald to himself, “I don't know what this book is, but I've never heard of any book so sure of itself that it issued a challenge to the whole world to find a single book as excellent as itself! This must be something really, really special!”

The Muslim then began to talk about how America had a long history of oppressing Muslims; how it had attacked Iraq under false pretences; expounding on all the crimes of the kafir and the grace of Prophet Mohammed. The more Ronald McDonald heard, the more he felt drawn to this new religion, and before long Ronald McDonald expressed shock, horror and anger at every atrocity of the west the Muslim mentioned, and amazement and wonder at the love, patience, kindness and grace of Prophet Mohammed. In fact Ronald McDonald soon converted to Islam, and swore to say his five prayers a day, abstain from alcohol (even though he had never really drunk any) and never again advertise pork, but only healthy, halal alternatives. He became quite popular among the jihadists, in large part due to his ability to magically conjur chips, coke and beef burgers, and they even forgave the fact that the food was American. “Ronald McDonald is a good Muslim, always bringing with him the splendrous bounties of Allah”, one said approvingly as he dug into his chips. Eventually ISIS released him.

One day, a man covered from head to toe in black with a black turban and veil over his face was seen walking through an airport with a long, cylindrical object.

“Sir,” one of the airport security said, “what is that object you're holding and trying to bring on board your flight to America?”
“Oh this?” said the man with a heavy Arabian accent, “It's nothing, nothing!”

It was a bazooka.

“Security! Help!” the airport guard shouted, then he added, “There is no way you're bringing THAT onto an airplane!” When they tore the veil from the man's face it turned out to be Ronald McDonald. They looked at him in surprise and then someone said: “Search him.” … The only other thing he had on him was a copy of the Koran.

News of this incident came to John, who, when he heard of it, could scarcely believe Ronald McDonald had been found. He paid off the right people, including the American government, and had Ronald McDonald brought to him somewhere in the executive's building to arrange a meeting.

“Ronald McDonald!” he exclaimed, “where have you been? After the base was attacked we didn't hear from you! We were all worried you were dead!  Why didn't you contact us to tell us where you were? Are you alright? You're not hurt?”

Ronald McDonald's eyes were full of hatred. “Filthy American dog,” he hissed. “You butcherer of our people. You kafir pig. We shall take revenge on every man, woman and child of the West for the Muslim blood you've spilled, and still spill every single day!”

“What? Look, Ronald-”

“Don't speak to me, American swine! Your portion is with the disbelievers, but my portion is with Allah!”

“Ronald-”

“Allahuakbar! Glory to Allah and to His Prophet, peace be upon him!”
“Ronald?”

“I said, Allahuakbar!”

“Ronald-”

“ALLAHAKBA!”

John tried to reason with Ronald McDonald, but it was no use, the only responses he got were accusations of crimes against Muslims mixed in with slurs such as “American swine” and exclamations of “Allahuakbar!”

… At the next meeting of executives John said, “As most of you have probably heard, we've found Ronald McDonald... But I don't think we should use him as our mascot anymore.”

“Why not?” the executives asked. “Whatever happened, it can't be that bad.”

“I think I can best answer that,” replied John, “with some of the footage we got from Syria...” he pressed a button on a remote control and the footage appeared a large flatscreen TV.

There were seven hostages on their knees with black bags over their heads. Ronald McDonald stood in front of them waving a machine gun in the air, furiously shouting “Allahakba! Allahakba!”. John pressed another button and the footage changed: Ronald McDonald was marching across the sand carrying the gigantic, black flag of ISIS. In the background the Arabic song “Al Sawarim” or “Clash of Swords” was playing, so this scene was probably taken from one of ISIS's upcoming propaganda videos. John pressed another button and the image changed again: now Ronald McDonald had a machine gun. He was surrounded by gunfire, clouds of dust rose everywhere, in the background there was an explosion and a building crumbled to the ground with shouts of shock and exclamations and “Allahuakbar!” Ronald McDonald was firing at an enemy that couldn't be seen on the screen, and next to him a man in a turban suddenly fell down dead as a bullet blasted his brains out. Ronald McDonald fell on his knees beside the dead man. “My brother in Allah!” Ronald cried. His eyes turned wet with tears and his fists clenched so hard they shook. Ronald McDonald leapt up: “American dogs!” he screamed up at the air, perhaps looking at a helicopter or American plane, his eyes red and swollen with furious tears, “You'll pay for this! You will pay for the blood of every single one of my Muslim brothers and sisters!” he began firing his machine gun again and again as bullets raged around him: “Allahuakbar!” he shouted furiously, “Allahuakbar!”

John pressed a button and the video paused. Ronald McDonald's face was frozen against the screen in a look of terrible rage. John turned around to face the McDonalds executives. There was a stunned silence that lasted for about one minute.
“Well,” someone said, “... I really don't think there's any good response I can give to that.”

“Maybe we could just edit out the parts where he says “Allahuakbar” and make it look like he's killing terrorists?” another suggested, “and I'm sure if someone just spoke to him-”

John put up his hand to cut the person off short. “Are you telling me,” he said, “... Are you really- I mean... Look, none of you can possibly think that THIS,” (he unpaused the video and pointed to the TV screen. Ronald McDonald stood there with a black turban screaming “Allahakba! Allahakba!”) - “could POSSIBLY make a good mascot for our restaurant?” He re-paused the TV.

There was another awkward silence.

“Who would have guessed that Ronald McDonald would get radicalized?” one executive murmured.

“Well, that's what terrorists do,” another said, “brainwash people who feel marginalized from mainstream society, or left out. Come to think of it, that's probably how Ronald McDonald felt... I mean, how many other clowns do you see in this society? And you don't exactly see them in respectable well-paid jobs, do you?”

“Yeah,” another executive agreed. “Maybe it's partly our fault. I mean, it can't feel good for them- clowns, I mean. You know. Always getting laughed at by people all the time.”

“I guess if you mistreat clowns too much,” another executive said, “this is what happens?”

(Ronald McDonald screamed on the TV: “Allahakba! Allahakba!”
“-Sorry,” John said, pressing the button again, “Accidentally un-paused it.”)

“Well, we have no choice,” someone said at last. “We'll just have to try and un-radicalize him. It'll be hard, but how else are we going to restore our image? It just isn't the same without Ronald McDonald.”

“No, I've already tried,” said John. “I think he's too far gone. The best we can do is try and pretend he's still dead, that he died in the war. We should try and make a martyr and a war hero of him- don't know why we never thought of that before.”

Suddenly there was a desperate knock at the door.
“Come in!” said John.

“It's Ronald McDonald!” a secretary said as she came quickly in, “somehow... he's escaped from the building!”

As the executives stood up in a panic there was a sudden, distant shout of “Allahuakbar!” and then an explosion that toppled their entire building.

Ronald McDonald had been wearing a suicide vest under his clown clothes, and, after a final shout, had detonated the trigger and died a martyr.

This is the true story of how Ronald McDonald went to Syria, became radicalized, and turned into a suicide bomber. So remember that the next time you want to go around laughing at clowns.

title: [RF] The story of an ordinary American who got radicalized by Islam (with unique insight into some of the radicalization techniques of ISIS)

question: Summarize everything about Wendy's.

question: Summarize the primary source of tension in the story.

answer: The main source of tension in the story is McDonald's executives trying to do whatever it takes to improve the company's image. They send Ronald McDonald to Syria as a publicity stunt, but it blows up in their faces when he gets captured and tortured by ISIS. The clown becomes radicalized by Islam in the process, and wages war on America.

question: What does the story say about the relationship between Ronald McDonald and the McDonald executives?

answer: The executives treated Ronald McDonald like property when they sent him, at great personal risk, to Syria. They didn't consider the mascot's feelings or thoughts on the matter. Some executives also didn't care about the person behind the clown suit when Ronald McDonald came back, and even wanted to use what happened to him for marketing the brand. The executives realized that the clown probably felt marginalized, but it was too late because he already got radicalized.

question: Summarize the climactic event of the story.

answer: After Ronald McDonald gets captured and radicalized by Islam, they release him so he can wreak havoc on America. He returns home, gets arrested at the airport, and is brought to McDonald's HQ so John and the other executives can talk to him. They didn't know that the clown was wearing a suicide vest under his costume. Ronald McDonald screams "Allahuakbar!" a final time before blowing up the building and dying a martyr.


split: test

text:
The following article from Politically Incorrect is a fitting follow-up to the video posted earlier today about the dhimmi Church of France. This time, it’s the dhimmi responses of the leadership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church to the destruction of the interior of one of their churches by an Afghan culture-enricher.

May thanks to Nash Montana for the translation:

  HAMBURG: AFGHAN DESTROYS INSIDE OF CHURCH

  _by Michael Stürzenberger_

  It happened a week ago, but since the police kept the incident under wraps and the church didn’t press charges, we only now find out about it: A 19-year-old Afghan stormed into the church in Hamburg last Friday evening around 7:20pm, during an open community evening; he overturned chairs and benches, threw a rack with Bibles to the ground, which made the glass on the rack shatter, and he threw songbooks to the ground. According to a witness, the worshippers who were present were very afraid and just let him continue. No wonder, he was wearing a flowing Islamic garment, under which an explosives belt could easily have been hidden.

[]

  Update: A picture of the attacker and an eyewitness report. And when he was asked why he did it, he yelled: “Because I am Muslim!”

  The Muslim didn’t speak during his rampage, and he also didn’t have any connection to Salafists, and therefore the department of state security of the land office of criminal investigation in all earnest says that they do not assume an “Islamic” motive. It is inconceivable just how little knowledge there is in these circles about Islam.

  Update: Eyewitness Peter H., who took the picture of the Afghan attacker, asked him in front of the church in Hamburg-Eilbek, after the man was done with his rampage, why he did it. The Afghan yelled his answer: “Because I am (a) Muslim!” Peter H. told this to the police on multiple occasions. It is incredibly outrageous that the police ignored this important information and did not make a report about this scandalous incident. It goes to show again and again that the police very obviously take their orders directly from the government to hide and omit as many incidents as possible that have any connection to asylum seekers, so-called “refugees” and Muslims.

  The fact alone that he is Muslim shows his Christian-hostile motive: Christians are cursed in the Koran (sura 9, verse 29), they are vilified as “evil creatures” (98:5), one should never take them as friends (5:50), but instead fight them (9:28), until Islam has gained the victory over all other religions (48:27).

  The hammer: This Afghan Muslim was known to the police for several incidents of causing bodily harm. He first became a delinquent in Hamburg as a 15-year-old and as a consequence was sentenced to multiple so-called “disciplinary measures” such as “social studies” (whoa!). In the past year he was looked after by a “juvenile court aid”.

  Just imagine for once what would happen in this country if 19-year-old Max were to vandalize the inside of a mosque in this way: The chain of lights would go from Flensburg to Garmisch, our spineless politicians would stand in line in front of the mosque to utter their statements of shock and dismay, and the media would outdo themselves with warnings of a new “crusade” of the supposedly aggressive Christendom against such a peaceful Islam.

  The crowning: The churches in Hamburg decided to forgo taking increased security measures. This was “a terrible single incident” but the level of threat in Hamburg has “not changed”, says Remmer Koch, speaker of the Evangelical Lutheran Church district Hamburg-East.

  Even the larger church districts were prompted to retain the “openness” of the Christian church. “A house of God is a location that stands for peace and brotherhood; any kind of violence does not fit this stance,” says Karl-Heinrich Melzer, deputy bishop in Sprengel Hamburg and Lübeck.

  Well, Herr Bishop, that is so nice for the Christendom, but you are obviously overlooking the fact that violence in Islam is inherently a part of their “religion”. With your pacifism and your refusal to take a fighting stance, you and your sheep are doomed to go down. You obviously do not know with whom you are dealing. Just a single look at the 57 Islamic countries with their massive persecution of Christians and mass killings should open your naïvely blinded ‘Gutmenschen’ eyes. It is also a threat to stupidity to read the most dangerous book in the world. It is known as the Koran.

  These pious church people will probably only slowly wake up from their comatose state of suppression once one of them gets his head cut off like in France. State security itself doesn’t see any “concrete evidence for a specific threat for churches and church interiors”, as the _Hamburg Abendblatt_ reported.

  The simple presence of thousands of Muslims in Hamburg, among them many “refugees” from fundamentalist-oriented Islamic countries, in which Christians are fair game, should indeed speak for an acute threat. But Germany is slumbering in a naïve Gutmenschen twilight sleep until the Islamic apocalypse really starts. Everything that has happened up until now is merely a lame intro for that which still is ahead of us.

question: What does the article state the attacker gave as a motive?

answer: According to the article, the attacker stated he attacked the Church because he is Muslim.

question: Why is the article upset with the government response?

answer: It claims that the government is doing the wrong thing by not listing the motive as being "Islamic."

question: What is the bias of this story?

answer: This story is biased against Muslim refugees. It claims the refugees from the Syrian crisis are "so-called" refugees, when they are definitely, factually, refugees.


text:
The mounting tension between a leading progressive presidential campaign and a leading progressive cable news network has reached a new peak.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and MSNBC have always had a complicated relationship. Sanders, a top-tier contender for the Democratic nomination, has long questioned the news media’s biases, while pundits have taken fresh shots at the Vermont senator this cycle. But officials in Sanders’ campaign contend that leading up to the 2020 election, the network is one of several cable news outlets directly contributing to a media climate where false claims go unchecked and requests for progressive voices on-air are frequently turned down.

“More often than not these commentators are injecting their opinion without any policy discussions,” Nina Turner, the national co-chair of Sanders’ campaign, told The Daily Beast. “They’re not there to tell the gospel truth.”

The backlash from Sanders-world reached a new high on Sunday, when MSNBC analyst Mimi Rocah, a former assistant U.S attorney for the Southern District of New York and occasional contributor to The Daily Beast, launched a personal critique of Sanders during a segment with host David Gura, saying that he makes her “skin crawl” and that he’s not a “pro-woman candidate.”

“Bernie Sanders makes my skin crawl,” Rocah started when discussing the lineup for the upcoming Democratic debate in Detroit, where Sanders will share a stage with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). “I can’t even identify for you what exactly it is. But I see him as sort of a not pro-woman candidate,” she continued. "So, having the two of them there—like, I don’t understand young women who support him. And I’m hoping having him next to her will help highlight that.”

Rocah’s comments—which multiple campaign officials contended went too far—were part of a larger issue they see brewing, where the fact-checking process appears to be largely removed from the day-to-day political discourse among some commentators and hosts.

“It takes a certain kind of woman to ignore that education, healthcare, and the economy are women’s issues too.#privilegedmuch? This is not what intersectional feminism looks like. It’s corporate feminism at its finest. Full stop,” Sanders’ national press secretary Briahna Joy Gray wrote onTwitter.

“Here we go again.. It is so belittling to constantly tell young women that they HAVE TO vote for someone JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE A WOMAN. Mam, we have brains, we're voting on policy and a candidates vision + work, not their sex. This is#WhiteFeminism at its finest,” Belén Sisa, Sanders’ Latino press secretary,tweeted.

A senior campaign aide said the campaign believes there are possible biases in the network, but instead of shunning MSNBC they’ve been aggressive in getting their people booked. Sanders has been on the network at least nine times this cycle, granting multiple interviews to hosts Chris Hayes, Ali Velshi and Stephanie Ruhle, and Al Sharpton, among others. He has done at least the same amount of appearances on the network as he did in the first six months of the 2016 election.

Still, a separate campaign official said there’s only a small handful of guests closely aligned with Sanders who regularly appear on the network, and that while they’re hopeful more will be added as the field narrows, their suggestions thus far have been largely turned down.

To help supplement that, his campaign has taken steps to create new chances for independent public exposure, including creating a live-streamed show, “The 99,” that runs twice per week and a new podcast called “Hear the Bern” produced by Gray.

Officials agreed that the more Sanders appears on major news networks, the better chance he has to make his case to the public. But that increased exposure also comes with a perceived bias among hosts and commentators, officials cautioned.

“It doesn’t even have to be ‘rah rah rah, Bernie Sanders!’” Turner said, pointing to Zerlina Maxwell, an MSNBC political analyst and former official on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign who shared the segment with Rocah. “Just someone who would push back.”

After the segment aired, Turner personally asked women to share stories detailing why they support Sanders, saying that while she wasn’t surprised in the volume of responses she received, the depth of personal accounts women chose to divulge connected to Sanders’ policy platform was compelling.

“Their voices matter just as much as Mimi’s,” Turner said. “They may not have a platform on MSNBC, but their voices matter.”

A spokesperson for MSNBC seemed to dismiss the campaign’s claims, without mentioning Sanders by name. “A presidential campaign complaining about tough questions and commentary speaks for itself,” the spokesperson said. “Our anchors and analysts are doing their jobs: discussing day-to-day developments that have an impact on the race.”

But Sanders’ campaign argues the incident was not isolated. “There’s no effort to push for fact-based analysis,” one campaign official told The Daily Beast. “Cable news allows that sort of spin to exist in the world in a way that doesn’t get checked.”

The official said that when contributors on the network engage in more robust policy discussions, including shortly after Sanders gave a speech on Medicare-for-all, the campaign reached out to the network to push for several fact-based corrections, a standard practice among presidential campaigns.

“It’s a full-time job,” the official said of the back-and-forth dialogue with the network.

For all the campaign’s gripes with the left-leaning news network, there’s early indication that his message is going over better with an ideologically opposite cable news network. A recent Morning Consult poll found that Fox News viewers are more likely to support Sanders than those who prefer to watch MSNBC. According to the survey, 22 percent of Fox News viewers who identified as possible Democratic primary voters said they would back Sanders, as opposed to 13 percent of MSNBC viewers. That statistic was bolstered further by Sanders’ ratings during his own town hall appearance on Fox News, where more than 2.5 million viewers tuned in to hear Sanders make his case, according to Nielsen data.

A source with direct knowledge told The Daily Beast that Sanders recently called _Morning Joe_ co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski to have an off-the-record talk.

This comes as the top MSNBC hosts said Sanders’ Democratic socialist platform would give Trump an upper hand in a possible match-up.

“My God if you’re afraid to say you’re a capitalist,” Scarborough, who recently criticized Sanders’ general tone and temperament, said. “Let me let you in on a little secret. If that is a crisis for your party, you’re gonna lose in 2020.”

Addressing Scarborough’s comments directly, frequent MSNBC guest Donny Deutsch said he wanted to “take it one step further” with his own hypothesis: “A socialist candidate is more dangerous to this country as far as the strength and wellbeing of our country than Donald Trump,” he said.

—_Additional reporting by Lloyd Grove and Maxwell Tani._

question: What did Bernie Sanders accuse MSNBC of being?

answer: Biased, and he said that it spread fake news.

question: What does analyst Mimi Rocah say about Sanders?

answer: That he is not a pro-woman candidate.

question: Which network of viewers are more likely to support Sanders?

answer: Potential Democrats who watch FOX.

question: What does Joe Scarborough say about Sanders?

answer: That if he is afraid to say he is a Capitalist his movement will not work.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The article reflects on Bernie Sanders' critique of MSNBC as being biased against him, and the ways in which MSNBC has been critical of Sanders for being too far to the left. It closes by quoting a speaker who claims that if he is afraid to call himself a capitalist he is dangerous for the party in the 2020 election.


text:
Updated on: June 17, 2020 / 5:38 PM / CBS News

 Former cop charged in Rayshard Brooks shooting

 Former cop charged in Rayshard Brooks shootin... 04:01
_Update: Garrett Rolfe, the officer who fatally shot 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, has been charged with felony murder and 10 other criminal charges in the shooting._

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

An Atlanta police officer was fired early Sunday following the fatal shooting of a black man, which triggered unrest and new waves of protests in the city. Rayshard Brooks, 27, was fatally shot by police at a Wendy's drive-thru after officials said he resisted arrest and stole an officer's Taser.

An autopsy found that Brooks suffered two gunshot wounds to his back and he died of organ injuries and blood loss, the Fulton County Medical Examiner said on Sunday. The manner of death was listed as a homicide.

The fired officer, Garrett Rolfe, was hired by the department in October 2013, a department spokesperson said. Devin Brosnan, another officer at the scene, was placed on administrative duty.

Rolfe's firing follows the resignation of the city's police chief, Erika Shields, who left the department just a day after the deadly shooting. Former Assistant Chief Rodney Bryant, who is black, will serve as the city's interim police chief.

In a statement, Shields said: "I have faith in the mayor, and it is time for the city to move forward and build trust between law enforcement and the communities they serve."

[rayshard-brooks-3.jpg ]
Rayshard Brooks  Stewart Trial Attorneys
Police said Brooks fell asleep in the Wendy's drive-thru on Friday night and had failed a sobriety test. When police tried to take him into custody, Brooks resisted and stole a Taser from an officer, they said. Brooks ran from the officers, and at one point, aimed the Taser at police before the officer fired his weapon, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation said, citing surveillance video that was released to the public.

"While there may be debate as to whether this was an appropriate use of deadly force, I firmly believe that there is a clear distinction between what you can do and what you should do," Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said in a news conference. "I do not believe that this was a justified use of deadly force."

Brooks was taken to a local hospital where he died after surgery, officials said. One officer was treated for an injury and discharged from the hospital.

L. Chris Stewart, an attorney for Brooks' family, said the officer who killed Brooks should face charges. "Black, white, Hispanic, whatever you are," Stewart said in a news conference. "Are you not tired of seeing cases like this happen?"

Brooks' eldest daughter turned 8 years old the day after his death. His family said he planned on taking her skating on Saturday but he never returned home. "She had her birthday dress on. She was waiting for her dad to come pick her up and take her skating," Smith said.

Brooks has three daughters, ages 1, 2 and 8, and a 13-year-old stepson. Tomika Miller, who was married to Brooks for eight years, said she dropped to her knees when she heard the news.

"It was murder — that was not justified," Miller told CBS News. "He was shot running away. He wasn't dangerous. He wasn't coming at them in any kind of way to where they felt a threat, they shouldn't have felt threatened."

Miller never imagined she'd be in the same position as the family of George Floyd, a 46-year-old who died in the custody of Minneapolis police.

"I want them to go to jail," Miller said of the officers. "I want them to deal with the same things as if it was my husband who killed somebody else. If it was my husband who shot them, he would be in jail. He would be doing a life sentence."

Brooks' niece, Chassidy Evans, remembered him in a news conference Monday. "Not only was he a girl dad, he was a loving husband, caring brother and most importantly, to me, an uncle I could depend on," Evans said. "Rayshard Brooks was silly, had the brightest smile and the biggest heart, and loved to dance since we were kids."

Brooks' death ignited angry demonstrations in the city. Protesters on Saturday set fire to the Wendy's restaurant where Brooks was killed and shut down an interstate highway in both directions. At least 36 people were arrested, police said.

[Police Shooting Atlanta ]
A man walks by as a Wendy's restaurant is on fire during protests on Saturday, June 13, 2020, where Rayshard Brooks was shot and killed by police Friday evening. Brynn Anderson / AP
The city of Atlanta was roiled by protests following Floyd's death. Six officers were charged with assault and four were fired after video showed police pulling two college students out of their car during a demonstration on May 30. The officers used a stun gun on the driver and passenger. Footage of the incident was broadcast live by WGCL-TV.

_Mark Strassman contributed to this report._

question: What was the outcome of Brooks' murder?

answer: The police officer that shot him was fired. Another was put on administrative duties. The police chief resigned. Brooks' death ignited angry demonstrations in the city. Protesters set fire to Wendy's restaurant where Brooks was killed and shut down an interstate highway in both directions. At least 36 people were arrested.

question: What does the article say about Brooks' family?

answer: Brooks has three daughters, ages 1, 2, and 8, and a 13-year-old stepson. Tomika Miller was married to Brooks for eight years. Brooks' eldest daughter turned 8 years old the day after his death. His family said he planned on taking her skating on Saturday but he never returned home.


text:
For fans of wizarding and witchcraft the world over - let us work with you to design your very own magic wand!

Please note - THIS LISTING is for BASIC custom wands ONLY - Oak, Ash, Maple, Walnut, Mahogany, Poplar, Birch, Pine, and Hickory - up to 14" length. Make sure you tell us how long it needs to be!

HARRY POTTER CHARACTERS, POTTERMORE STYLES, AND ENGRAVINGS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS LISTING, SORRY!

================================================

PLEASE CONTACT US FIRST if you want any of the following:

- Exotic woods - these typically add between $5 and $25 per wand

- Complex handles and other designs - these add at least $5, and sometimes a LOT more.

- Wands longer than 14 inches - these may add another $5 extra, or more.

- Engravings / Woodburnings - these typically add at least $5 extra. Dragon scales could add a lot more.

It never hurts to discuss design ideas ahead of time. We'll be glad to make a custom listing just for you, so send us your notes and drawings, and you can have the wand of your dreams!

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

OR - Use your imagination and our wand-making skills to get yourself the perfect wand from scratch. Here's how:

1 - Pick your wood - We always have large supplies of Oak, Ash, Maple, Walnut, Mahogany, Birch, Poplar, Pine, and Hickory in-house. We stock over 125 different woods!

2 - Pick a length. This is wicked important! :)

3 - Design your Pommel - that is the "handle-tip" part of the wand. Choose Rounded, Squared, Pope-hat, Pointed, Flattened, Spherical, or some other shape we've not done yet. We have shown some ideas :)

4 - What kind of handle - round, tapered, squared, faceted, spiraling, etc. Maybe reference the third image if you're lost on this one...

5 - Do you want a waist or other feature in the middle?

6 - Design the shaft and tip. Squared, rounded, conical, wavy, faceted, helical spiral, and more..

7 - Pick your finish... gloss or semi-gloss? Black, brown, gray, or red (or other colors - how about blue?), or leave it natural (unstained). Most finishes are included free.

Share your thoughts with us to craft a wand that is uniquely yours!

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***Overseas customers - please include a phone number for fastest processing thru customs****

Please also note that our shipping does NOT cover any fees or VAT/Customs duties which may be charged by your own government.

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Made in USA of 100% domestic materials (when available - some woods are foreign-native)

Boxes and stands are available for display & storage. See our listings to purchase these.

Looking for a plastic or resin formed wand? Then sorry - this isn't for you. These aren't cookie-cutter lathe-turned wands, either - we never use a lathe! Each wand we make is solid wood, completely hand-crafted, and totally unique - no two are ever alike.

Plenty more custom options are also available, just send us an email and we'll be glad to tailor a wand to your exact specifications.

Visit our website: www.OrchardWorksCT.com

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Although we are thrilled to share the love of "Harry Potter" with all of you, please note that we are not affiliated with Universal Studios, Warner Bros., or JK Rowling in any way.

© 2011-2018 OrchardWorks Magic Wands

All rights reserved.

Any reference to Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are © & TM Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Publishing Rights ©JKR.

question: What does the text say about Voldemort's wand?

question: Summarize what the text is all about.

answer: The text is aimed at fans of wizarding and witchcraft all over the world. It is an advertisement for OrchardWorksCT, a company that makes custom and unique magic wands made from over 125 different woods, including Oak, Ash, Maple, Walnut, Mahogany, Poplar, Birch, Pine, and Hickory. Customers can request complex handles, exotic woods, engravings, woodburning, and wands longer than 14 inches. All wands are made in the USA using 100% domestic materials. The company says that they would never use a lathe and don't offer plastic or resin-formed wands because their products are not cookie-cutter lathe-turned wands.

question: Describe the process of getting a custom wand.

answer: Customers need to choose the type of wood they want for their wand (oak, maple, birch, etc.) and decide on a length. Next is designing their own pommel or the "handle-tip" part of the wand. Pommels can be rounded, squared, pointed, flattened, or just about any shape. Customers will then choose what kind of handle they want - round, squared, tapered, spiraling, etc. and decide if they want to add another feature in the middle. Next is choosing the shaft and tip, which could be rounded, conical, squared, spiral, and more. The last step is choosing a color finish. Customers can select a gloss or semi-gloss finish of any color, or choose to leave it natural (unstained).


text:
	Caleb and I went on the see-saw. He pushed his feet upwards while mine touched the ground. Then it was my turn to float and his feet landed on the ground. Up, down. Up down. Up, down. The see-saw creaked rythmatically, matching our up-down patterns.

	Eventually, my legs became tired and I stood up to stretch. The see-saw gave a long creak, as though it was sighing in relief as a heavy load has been taken away. Caleb watched as I walked towards the swings. He smirked while watching my struggle to swing up higher. Frustrated, I called out to him.

	“Rather than watch me awkwardly push myself higher, why don't you help me out?”

	He shrugged and walked over to me. From behind me, he gave me a soft, slow push. Then another, but this time a harder push. And eventually, my feet were way too high above the ground.

	“Stop, stop, STOP! Caleb, stop it!” I begged him but instead of coming to my rescue, he laughed cheekily. “Weren't you the one who wanted to reach for the sky? I was just helping you achieve your dreams.” He cheekily said as he grabbed the side of the rope attached to the swing. The swing slowed down but my heartbeat coninued to race both from the adrenaline and sadness.

	Caleb sat on the swing next to mine and pushed himself back and forth slowly with his feet. He seemed rather calm, happy even. As for me, I was absolutely heartbroken.

	“How can you still look so happy?” I asked. He didn't reply me, silently swinging himself to the front then to the back.

	Caleb and I go way back in the days while I was still in diapers. We've watched each other grow up- attended tea parties (so much regret) and have sleepovers in my room... No, it's not that sort of sleepover. We were more than childhood best friends, but not even close to being boyfriend and girlfriend. Because it was impossible.

	While we were still kids, our parents came up with “Caleb and Megan, the Cheeky Duo”. But as I grew up, Caleb seemed to be a nuisane to them. “You're sixteen, Megan. Two more years to college and you're still playing children games with 'Caleb'. Don't you think it's time to leave your childhood and start acting maturely?”

	Normally, I'd just roll my eyes and ignore them while Caleb and I mocked the desperate statuses girls posted, begging for guys to like them, or pictures of the people from my school getting drunk and high from parties. My parents should be glad I wasn't involved with that sort of thing.

	But last night, Caleb said something that literally broke my heart and left me confused, angry and sad.

	“You know... they're right,” he suddenly says. “Hmm?” I replied, absently flipping through an old magazine. “I think it's time you ditched me.”

	At first, I thought he was just kidding around. “Mmhmm, go ahead then. The door's just right there.” He was silent for a moment, and finally said it.

	“I think it's time for me to go. It's time for you to grow up.”

	I literally chased him out of my room after that. Fat tears rolled down my cheeks, unbelieving his words. He looked so serious, so mature, so... grown up. I never expected that from him. Never in a million years would I have thought that Caleb, of all the people around me, would be the one to tell me to grow up. Out of all the “Grow up!” statements I have ever been given, his was the one that affected me most. I skipped dinner and cried myself to sleep. I woke up with blotchy red eyes and a tear-stained face.

	And here we are again, at the playground where we first met, first talked, first became best friends. Nothing much has changed, except some trees seem to have grown bigger while others have been chopped down a couple years ago. The sandpit is still sandy and filled with earthworms while the paint of the benches has started to chip off. But the biggest change was of me and Caleb. We're teens now. We're big children. We can't go down the slides anymore because of our wide hips. The see-saw sometimes tend to give a warning creak of not being able to sustain our weight for long- it normally happens after I come home from a buffet.

	“It's not fair. Just because everything else is changing, why should we? Is our friendship harming anyone else? Why can't we continue being besties and grow old together?” I asked, my lips quivering slightly. Finally, he lets out a deep sigh and says, “I guess it's because nothing lasts forever.”

	I was about to ask him about what he meant by that but he continued:
“Childhood isn't forever. Each and everyday, you slowly grow up and start to step forward to teen life, and eventually adulthood. There comes a point when even the most beautiful rose in the garden will eventually die.”

	“Love? You can love someone for a long, long time. But it's not forever. Because one day, when both husband and wife are no longer in this world, the love won't be there anymore. Who is there for them to love when they're both dead? And I can't be here forever. You know it, I know it. We both knew all along that this day would come. We just didn't want it to. But now, it's time.”

	He turned to look at me, wanting to say more, but stops himself when he sees me cry. I cried because he was right; because he had to leave; because life was unfair. I cried because without him, it wouldn't be the same anymore.

	“Megan...” he calls my name and I start to bawl. Yes, I'm sixteen but I didn't care because at that time, I felt like I was six, as though someone had taken away my favorite teddy bear. Except this time, it was my friend who will be taken away from my life.

	“But... But if you go...” I sobbed. “I'll be all alone. Who do I go to when no one will listen to my problems. Who's going to laugh with me at those terrible duckface selfies the girls from school take? Who's going to lend me a shoulder to cry on when the guy I have a crush on calls me weird and rejects me?”

	“Megan, if I keep staying here with you, I'll be destroying your future. Face it, Megan. All this while, you've only been talking to air.”

	Those words hit me hard and brought me back to reality. He's right. I never thought I would admit it, but it was the truth. In my eyes, Caleb was there. But everyone else would search high and low and give me strange looks when I talk to him. Because in their eyes, there was no 'Caleb' but air. This crazy girl was talking to space, all by herself.

	“I have to go, we both know its for the best. If I stay, you'll never get married, no job, friendless. Just invisible me.”
	I pouted. “I don't need all that when I have you.” I stubbornly argued. He rolled his eyes, obviously annoyed. “Megan, I have to. Haven't you heard of the phrase 'You lose some, you gain some'? It means, when I'm gone, you'll get so much more. New friends, a boyfriend, a place in university. So give me up, for both our sakes.”

	“Then what about you? What would you get?” It couldn't just be for me. What would he do when he's all alone? What will he gain from losing me? But he smiles and says “I'll be happy. If you're happy, then I'm happy too.”

	I was touched. He was willing to do that all, for me? Was it really worth it? But there wasn't a choice for me to choose because all that's left to do was to let go and say goodbye. I teared up thinking about it and he gives me a warm, long hug.

	“Will you visit me every now and then?”

	“I can't promise you on that. But it all depends on you too because if you stop thinking about me, I'll eventually disappear. Not that it'd make much of a difference.”

	I clicked my tongue. “It's a lot for me,” I said bitterly. He smiles and hugs me once more, for the last time. “What would I do without you?” I asked.

	“You can move on, live your life the way you want to. I'm just your imaginary friend.”

	“You're not just an imaginary friend. You're my best friend.” My eyes started to tearing up again when I said it.

	“And you mine,” he said and kisses my forehead. “I'll still be near, I promise you. You won't see me anymore, but just remember that I was and will forever be in your memories and heart.”

	“I'll never forget you,” I swore and he kisses me again, this time on the cheek.

	We turned our backs against each other. Once I step out of this playground, back to my home, Caleb won't be there anymore. I turned around and he did the same. We whispered “I love you” and the wind carried our voices to each other. Finally, we said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

title: Talking to Air

question: Why must the narrator break friendship with Caleb

answer: Caleb is an imaginary friend. He doesn't exist. Until the narrator accepts this and agrees to let him go, she can't get on with her life. Others think that she is a bit weird because she hangs onto a friend that doesn't exist. The narrator must give Caleb up to move on to college and find new friends;


text:
In _Destiny 2_, public events spawn in the overworld areas of Earth, Titan, Nessus and Io, inviting any Guardians nearby to join a tough fight. If anyone involved completes a certain action, though, it will become a HEROIC PUBLIC EVENT. These are much harder fights with much better rewards. It’s kind of hard to define what better means here, but generally speaking, you’ll get higher level, higher damage weapons, better armor and more glimmer than usual.

There are several types of public events, and each requires its own action to turn it into a Heroic Public Event. We’ll break them down below.

VEX CROSSROADS PUBLIC EVENT

Triggering the Heroic version of the VEX CROSSROADS PUBLIC EVENT is relatively simple. Play through the event like normal, killing the Vex until the percentage hits 100. Once the Vex are dead and the Gatekeepers come out, choose a side and take them down. Grab their charges and place them on either side of the gate. This will turn the man-cannon around and launch you over to an island. Destroy the KEEPER OF AGES here and slam their charge into the middle of the island.

This is where things change. Instead of returning to the central area, look to the BACK OF THE ISLAND. There will be a CRYSTAL floating in the air. Naturally, you'll want to shoot this until it explodes. The destruction of the crystal will create a platform. Jump on the new platform and look for more crystals in the air. Repeat this process until you reach the top of the island.

Once up here, stand on the middle plate to turn the Public Event Heroic. Finish the event, and you will be rewarded with two chests and a heap of XP. You do not need to destroy the crystals on both islands. You only need to destroy one.

CABAL EXCAVATION PUBLIC EVENT

In a CABAL EXCAVATION PUBLIC EVENT, you have to capture a Cabal drill from the (Cabal) troops guarding it. Just stand within the white circle surrounding the drill, and you’ll see a timer counting up to 100 that reads “Overriding Lander.”

When the drill is about 30 percent captured, a flying THRESHER will appear. Destroy it (rocket launchers work great) to turn this into a Heroic Public Event. Don’t worry if you don’t destroy the evil flying machine the first time it appears. I’ll retreat and loop back around in a minute or so.

This summons a CABAL CENTURION for you to defeat. Also, the mortars all target you directly instead of aiming and firing at random.

GLIMMER EXTRACTION PUBLIC EVENT

During a GLIMMER EXTRACTION PUBLIC EVENT, you’re chasing FALLEN as they try to mine Glimmer. Mostly, you’re going to be focused on shooting the bad guys guarding the drill, but to turn this into a Heroic Public Event, you have to ignore them. There’s a small machine that appears on the ground near the drill. You have to destroy this machine at each location before __ killing the Fallen in each wave.

To complete the Heroic portion, you just have to protect the pile of glimmer that appears from the waves of incoming Fallen.

INJECTION RIG PUBLIC EVENT

[]
The arrows point to the rig’s vents. We destroyed them. That’s why they’re smoking.
Bungie/Activision
An INJECTION RIG PUBLIC EVENT sees the Cabal dropping an enormous rig into an area. As you’re fighting but before you kill the INFILTRATOR VALUS, look for the open heat vents on the rig. They’ll open in phases — three at the top, three in the middle, then one on the bottom — as you destroy them.

Once you trigger the Heroic Public Event, a CABAL CENTURION will appear. He’s your new objective. Kill him to receive your big reward.

ETHER RESUPPLY PUBLIC EVENT

An ETHER RESUPPLY PUBLIC EVENT is pretty straightforward. There’s a SERVITOR, it’s big, and you shoot it. (We didn’t say it was easy.) To turn this into a Heroic Public Event, you need to quickly take out the smaller Servitors that spawn around it. If you destroy them all quickly enough, the main Servitor will get a whole lot tougher.

Just keep fighting and destroy the beefed-up SERVITOR to complete the Heroic Public Event.

DISRUPT VEX CONSTRUCTION PUBLIC EVENT (SPIRE INTEGRATION)

Your job during a SPIRE INTEGRATION PUBLIC EVENT is to keep the Vex from rushing toward you and sacrificing themselves to a conflux — the altar-like thing made out of energy and guarded by three Harpies. For a regular version of this event, you just keep the Vex away until time runs out. While you’re probably focused on the Vex during one of these events, look around nearby for some plates to appear. Capture enough of these plates to activate the beacon to start the Heroic Public Event.

During the DISRUPT VEX CONSTRUCTION phase of the public event, you need to stand within the boundaries of circular plates. Look for vertical pillars with rotating tops. Stand in the area surrounding them. When you’re inside of the glowing white circle, a timer will count up to 100, indicating that you’re capturing it. It’s useful to split up and capture multiple areas simultaneously, as we did in the video above.

Stand in all of them and satisfy the timers, and you’ll trigger the Heroic version of the event. Now you’ll have to face waves of increasingly difficult Vex and still prevent them from getting to the conflux.

TAKEN BLIGHT PUBLIC EVENT

A TAKEN BLIGHT PUBLIC EVENT is a Taken-shooting free-for-all. During three waves, pillars surrounded by force fields will appear. Walk through the force fields surrounding the pillars. When you exit, you’ll have a buff called “BLIGHT RECEDING.” (You can see it on the lower left part of your screen.) Shoot the large Blight glob while the buff is active, which is the only time you can damage it. Repeat the process until you destroy the glob, and you’ll trigger the Heroic Public Event. This will summon a new, super-strong Taken for you to defeat.

WEAPONS EXCHANGE PUBLIC EVENT

These are a new twist on the familiar WALKER PUBLIC EVENTS. There are some shielded weapons around the area where you’ll be fighting. When you drop the Walker the first time, it’ll spew out some ARC CHARGES. If you use these ARC CHARGES to unlock all three shields before you defeat the walker, you’ll turn this into a Heroic Public Event.

[] Bungie/Activision
Another walker will drop in (because why not) and you’ll have to destroy that one, too, to complete this Heroic Public Event.

WITCHES’ RITUAL PUBLIC EVENT

A WITCHES’ RITUAL PUBLIC EVENT on Titan (and Titan only) requires you to prevent a pair of Hive Wizards from opening a portal. To do so, you have stand in the CIRCULAR GREEN AREAS and, from each, shoot one of two CRYSTALS at the top corners of the giant portal in the room. Doing this will summon an incredibly difficult enemy. Defeat it to complete the Heroic Public Event.

question: Summarize how to trigger the heroic version of the Vex Crossroads Public Event.

answer: It's easy to trigger the heroic version of Vex Crossroads Public Event. First, the player should simply kill Vex till the percentage hits 100. The gatekeepers would emerge once the Vex dies, so they should grab their charges and place them on either side of the entrance. In this method, the man-cannon will launch the player into an island. Next, the player should demolish the Keeper of Ages and charge towards the island's center. Then, at the Back of the Island, the player should blast the floating Crystal until it explodes and repeat till the player reaches the island's top. To be rewarded two chests and a heap of XP, the player needs to stand on the center plate atop the island to turn the Public Event Heroic.

question: What does the text say about the Witches Ritual Public Event?

answer: During the Witches' Ritual Public Event on Titan, participants must prevent a pair of Hive Wizards from opening a portal to complete the event. The players must stand in one of the Circular Green Areas and fire one of two Crystals located at the top corners of the big doorway in the area to complete the task. This will summon a problematic adversary to contend with. Defeat it to finish the Heroic Public Event.


text:
Stephen Thompson wants hometown showdown with Robbie Lawler after UFC Nashville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Stephen Thompson is trying not to look past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN+ 6 headliner with Anthony Pettis, but it’s difficult to ignore what’s on the horizon.

The UFC heads to South Carolina on June 22 to stage an event in Greenville, where Thompson (14-3-1 MMA, 9-3-1 UFC) resides. Having “Wonderboy” headline the card seems like a natural fit, and he has every intention of taking that spot as long as he’s physically capable.

Thompson already has an opponent in mind, too. He’s long pursued a matchup with former UFC welterweight champ Robbie Lawler (28-13 MMA, 13-7 UFC), and he hopes that fight can finally materialize.

“Lawler is definitely the fight I’ve been wanting for a while,” Thompson told reporters, including MMA Junkie, at UFC on ESPN+ 6 media day. “I’ve been a big fan of him and he’s been such a monster in the welterweight division. I thought he looked great in his last fight with Ben (Askren). He looked really strong and just really focused. I think that year off gave him some time to heal up and get his mind right. I think that would be awesome.

“I know there’s a card happening in Greenville, S.C., my hometown, three months from now. Hopefully come out of this fight unscathed and we’ll make that fight happen.”

UFC on ESPN+ 6 takes place at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. Thompson vs. Pettis headlines the card, which streams on ESPN+.

Thompson said he was close to booking a January showdown with Lawler. However, “Ruthless” said prior to his UFC 235 bout with Ben Askren earlier this month that the matchup was never on the table. Thompson begs to differ, but all of that is in the past, and he hopes they can make it happen in the future.

“To us it was (happening),” Thompson said. “The word we were getting is it was happening. It wasn’t until the fight – I was up in New York with Chris Weidman during his fight (at UFC 230) is when I actually found out he was fighting Askren. Up until then it looked like we would fight him. I don’t know if that was UFC or his coaches, I don’t know what the whole plan was there, but for a little while there it looked like it was a for sure thing. But things happen.”

The matchup with Lawler, No. 9 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA welterweight rankings, has slipped through his fingers before, and No. 5-ranked Thompson said he hopes it doesn’t happen again. With Tyron Woodley no longer champion at 170 pounds, Thompson has renewed championship aspirations and thinks beating Pettis and Lawler in back-to-back fights would give him a strong case to challenge current titleholder Kamaru Usman.

“I think a big win over Pettis is going to put me back in the limelight,” Thompson said. “It’s been almost 10 months since I fought and out of sight out of mind. People stop talking about you, forget about you and I just want to let everyone know that I’m still here. But a win over Lawler – he’s a former welterweight champion. He’s one of the best strikers in the division and has been in the game for a while.

“It may not move me up (in the rankings), but it still shows everybody I’m here if I can do what I’m going to do Saturday and fight Lawler in my hometown and prove that, ‘Stephen is still here, let’s give him that shot again.'”

For more on UFC on ESPN+ 6, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

Breaking, Robbie Lawler, Stephen Thompson, UFC on ESPN+ 11, UFC on ESPN+ 6, News, UFC

question: What does the text say about why Thompson wants to fight Lawler?

answer: Thompson makes several comments about his respect and admiration for Lawler, which is a large motivating factor. To win a fight with someone at their top of their game is a good way to showcase a comeback. Thompson has been away from the spotlight for 10 months and so is ready to make a statement with his return. He believes fighting Lawler will help accomplish that.

question: What does the text say about the welterweight division?

answer: The article establishes that Lawler fights in the welterweight division. Lawler is a former welterweight champion and and is ranked ninth in the MMA rankings as of the time this article was written. Thompson is ranked fifth.

question: What does the text say about jiu jitsu?

question: What does the text say about Pettis?

answer: Anthony Pettis is a UFC fighter with an upcoming fight in Nashville against Stephen Thompson. The Thompson vs. Pettis fight is the headline event. Thompson comments on beating Pettis as part of his strategy to get back in the limelight.


text:
President Donald Trump recently escalated his trade war with China, threatening to impose a 10 percent tariff on the remaining US$300 billion of untaxed Chinese imports.

If the new tariff goes into effect in September as promised, virtually all Chinese exports to the U.S. would be subject to levies ranging from ten percent to 25 percent. China, of course, has promised to retaliate.

Many Americans like me are now wondering: Is there any end in sight?

How to Win an Economic War

As a scholar of trade policy, I’ve repeatedly made the point that free exchange is a positive-sum game—meaning every participating country can benefit—rather than zero-sum—as Trump seems to believe. This is why commercial disputes are certain to harm all participants.

I believe that the United States could have avoided its current predicament by using the World Trade Organization’s existing dispute resolution process to address its justifiable concerns with Chinese behavior.

After nearly 18 months of escalating disputes between the U.S. and China, where are we?Still, from the perspective of a single country, starting a trade war could potentially be justified if the end result ultimately shifts the terms of trade in its favor.

Such a victory can only be achieved when the country has more bargaining leverage than its opponent—in other words when it can impose more pain on its adversary than it experiences itself.

And the longer the trade war continues, the more concessions that country will have to win in order to compensate for the damage caused.

So, after nearly 18 months of escalating disputes between the U.S. and China, where are we? Is either side winning, and can any concessions justify the economic harm that both sides have already experienced?

China’s Pain

First and foremost, it has become increasingly clear that the trade war is hurting the economies of both countries. Neither will emerge from this conflict unscathed.

Unfortunately, however, the last 18 months have done little to clarify who is winning—that is, who is hurting less and can credibly hold out for longer.

Take China. Before the trade war, it was already facing a number of significant challenges, first among them how to effect a transition from its current reliance on cheap manufacturing to the production of higher value-added goods. China’s growth rate still makes it among the fastest-expanding economies in the world, so the recent slowdown can hardly be termed a crisis.China’s political stability is also somewhat precarious, as evidenced by recent events in Hong Kong and Xianjing, as well as Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s authoritarian crackdown.

Moreover, China’s economic growth has slowed to a 27-year low of 6.2 percent. And perhaps more ominously for the country, there are growing signs that foreign companies from America and elsewhere are looking outside China as they expand their sourcing, production and distribution activities.

Of course, China’s growth rate still makes it among the fastest-expanding economies in the world, so the recent slowdown can hardly be termed a crisis. And the shift away from China, limited as it is, began before the trade war, spurred on by rising prices, intellectual property theft, and other issues.

Not Necessarily America’s Gain

The problem for the U.S. is that Americans are also increasingly feeling the pinch.

Perhaps most notably, farmers—many of whom continue to support Trump—are beginning to tire of the sacrifices they are making for his uncompromising positions. With the Chinese government threatening to retaliate if Trump follows through on the new tariffs, their willingness to go along may be even more sorely tested.

To keep agriculture on side, the Trump administration has channeled billions of dollars in subsidies to those hurt by his trade policy. But this approach also has its political costs, with more fiscally conservative backers of the president balking at the price tag.

From a broader perspective, recent studies have undercut Trump’s claim that Chinese companies are bearing the brunt of the tariff payments, showing that the bulk of costs are passed to U.S. companies and consumers. And the stock market is reacting very negatively to the latest Trump threats.

America’s negotiating credibility has become yet another casualty of its polarized politics.

It is true that the overall American economy remains strong, with expanding employment and a fast, though slowing, growth rate of 2.1 percent in the most recent period. But China has one more strategic advantage that could make a substantial difference: It can wait out Trump’s presidency.

If the Trump administration’s approach to trade represented a bipartisan consensus, the U.S. could keep up the pressure over the long term. Containment policy during the Cold War, in which the United States committed itself to curbing Soviet influence, represents the classic example of a consensus that was credibly maintained, in one form or another, across several administrations.

But because the tariffs are so associated with Trump’s personality, the Chinese government can afford to wait for a new president. If a Democrat wins in 2020, he or she will likely maintain a harder line on China than we saw before Trump, but will probably repudiate the current president’s penchant for punitive and precipitous tariffs.

In a sense, then, America’s negotiating credibility has become yet another casualty of its polarized politics.

In Other Words: No End in Sight

In the final analysis, then, China may have the most to lose from the ongoing dispute. But the U.S. bargaining position is more politically vulnerable.

And the Chinese can credibly claim that buckling under American pressure would be unacceptable to their domestic audience.

Studies of shooting wars indicate that they tend to continue until events on the ground reveal which side is likely to win. The same is surely true for trade wars.

Since neither side is clearly winning or losing, we have probably not seen the end of this conflict.

_This article is republished with permission from The Conversation._

question: Summarize the trade war between USA and China.

answer: President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 10 percent tariff on $300 billion of untaxed Chinese imports. If the tariff goes through, all the Chinese imports would be subject to a 10 to 25 percent levy. China, too, has promised to retaliate against any such measures.

question: Summarize how you can win an economic war.

answer: The narrator believes that commercial disputes harm everybody and a free exchange works the best. They believe that the United States could have avoided the situation by using WTO's resolution process. The narrator thinks that a trade war victory can be achieved when the country has greater bargaining leverage than its opponents. As a result, the longer the trade war goes on for, the other country will have to deal with greater damage.

question: Summarize China's pain from the trade war.

answer: The trade war between the US and China is hurting both countries. China was already facing numerous challenges before the trade war, especially in creating high-value goods. The political stability is also precarious (see Hong Kong and Xianjing). Its economic growth has also slowed down to the lowest in 27 years and many foreign companies are looking outside China for manufacturing and other activities.

question: Summarize the United States' side of things.

answer: Americans are also feeling a pinch. Farmers are getting tired of Trump's policies as they need to sacrifice a lot due to them. His approach of pleasing the farmers is having political costs too. Studies are also showing that the United States is bearing the brunt of the trade war. Economic growth has also reduced to 2.1 percent and China can wait out Trump's presidency. As a result of these issues, America's negotiating credibility has taken a hit.

question: Summarize how the trade deal broke.


text:
Two Houses.

Picture two houses across the street from one another. They looked perfectly normal and sturdy on the outside, but on the inside they were run down and falling apart. Inside of one lived a quiet and peaceful man, and in the other lived a beautiful and cheerful woman. Neither of them, however, liked being outside the confines of their own house.

One day, the peaceful man ventured across the street to the other house and was invited inside. The two strangers visited, shared laughs, told stories, and enjoyed the others company. At the end of the day, the man returned to his house.

The next day he visited again, but instead of talking, he started to slowly repair the inside of the run down house. When one of his repairs would break, he would immediately come over to fix the damage with a smile on his face. The two housekeepers became used to seeing one another each day, and eventually, the woman would come over to the man's house to visit. The woman noticed that his house looked much worse on the inside than hers, and started to sneak inside at night while he was asleep to make repairs. When the man would try to fix something himself, or repair damages to his own house, he would fail, and sometimes even make things worse. But the next morning,  he would notice that things would be fixed. This puzzled the man and he decided to ask the woman about it the next time she came over.

The next evening they spent together, he asked and she informed the man of what she had been doing, and the man asked why. She replied,
"Because people who show a caring and wholesome heart deserve to receive the same treatment they give to others." The man became confused.
          "But I am a shut in. Nobody gives to me, and I don't give to them. Why does somebody like me deserve somebody as wonderful as you?"

The woman put her hand on the man's shoulder and looked into his dark brown eyes. She noticed a hurt that had always seemed to hide beneath his smile, a sorrow that hadn't been revealed in a very long time. She said in a soft and gentle voice: "Somebody that prefers to be alone does not always prefer being lonely. There is always somebody who will care."

The two embraced, and the man sobbed and became limp in the woman's arms. Once he had calmed down, the woman kissed him on the cheek and returned to her house without saying a word.

The following morning, he noticed another man performing landscaping on her lawn, painting the outside of her house, and cleaning her patio. Each day the house would look more and more beautiful. He became sad that the woman had found somebody else to do her work, and started to loathe the landscaper that would beautify her house all the time.

The woman remained indoors all day, trying to make the interior of her house look as pleasant as the exterior. However, most of her attempts at repairs or renovation were disasters. The person she hired was no help, and was only after her money. She began to miss her neighbors company, along with his sturdy repairs and his gentle smile. As days went by, the man and woman thought about each other more and more, but never saw each other.

One afternoon, the woman heard her doorbell ring. Knowing it wasn't the landscaper she hired, she curiously approached the peephole of the door. Seeing that nobody was outside, she opened the door and looked for pranksters. Looking down, she saw a small, dirty looking tin with a bow neatly placed on top of it.

The interior of the unkempt tin was extravagantly decorated with soft velvet from top to bottom, and in the center laid a simple necklace with a key on it, resting on top of a small note. Putting the necklace on, she unfolded the small note and noticed little droplets of water on the page.

"You are the only one that can make it feel less empty. Please take care of it for me while I'm gone. I must go, but I will return one day."

After reading it the woman dropped to her knees, and tears started to form in her tightly shut eyes. For what seemed like years, she spent the next few months wishing the man would come back and going into his house to take care of it while he was gone. She noticed that every little thing she had done to the house remained unchanged, as if he never tried to correct the small mistakes she had made.

Eventually, the man returned. The woman was thrilled and filled with happiness, but also saddened by the fact that the man no longer came across the street to visit her. A few days after his return, she noticed he was packing his belongings into boxes. Fearing that he might move away, the woman mustered up the courage to go talk to the man.

"Why are you putting everything into boxes?" The woman asked.
    "Because," the man replied solemnly, "I am looking to create new memories and find a fresh start." The woman said nothing and returned to her house, slamming the door and fighting back tears.

The next morning, the man was loading his belongings into a moving truck when he saw a pile of boxes bigger than his own sitting in the woman's lawn. He walked across the street to the pile, and saw a note taped to one of the boxes.

"I will always love you, and I promise that I will always be next to you. No matter where we go."

The man's face turned into a broad smile, and he looked up to see the woman on her front patio, looking right back at him, the necklace glistening in the sunlight. She ran into his arms and they kissed for what felt like an eternity. The pair continued to load all of their belongings into the one moving truck, and left that very evening. Holding hands with his true love, the man looked into the rear view mirror to see the sun setting on the old, abandoned houses for the last time, and felt what was truly a pure happiness. An odd and relieving sensation washed over him like a tide, as he realized that he would never have to search for anything in his life, as long as he lived.

title: Some OC for you all to enjoy

question: What are the signs of affection shared between the man and the woman?

answer: The man repairs the inside of the woman's run-down house. The woman then sneaks into his house while he's asleep to make repairs for him. The next evening they embrace and the woman kisses him on the cheek. The man gives the woman a necklace along with a kind note. When the man decides to pack up his things and move away, the woman decides to move with him.

question: What does the story say about how to be a good neighbor?


text:
COUNTY ROSCOMMON () is a county in Ireland. In the western region, it is part of the province of Connacht. It is the 11th largest Irish county by area and 27th most populous. Its county town and largest town is Roscommon. Roscommon County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 64,544 at to the 2016 census.[1]

Etymology

County Roscommon is named after the county town of Roscommon. Roscommon comes from the Irish _Ros_ meaning a wooded, gentle height and _Comán_, the first abbot and bishop of Roscommon who founded the first monastery there in 550 AD.[2]

Geography

County Roscommon has an area of .[3] Lough Key in north Roscommon is noted for having thirty-two islands. The geographical centre of Ireland is located on the western shore of Lough Ree in the south of the county.[4]

Roscommon is the third largest of Connacht's five counties by size and the second-smallest in terms of population. It ranks 11th in size of Ireland's 32 counties, but 27th in terms of population, making it the 3rd most sparsely populated county after Leitrim and Mayo. The county borders every other Connacht county: Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Leitrim, as well as three Leinster counties: Longford, Westmeath, and Offaly. In 2008, a news report said that statistically, people from Roscommon have the longest life expectancy of any county on the island of Ireland.[5]

Seltannasaggart, which is located along the northern border with County Leitrim, is the tallest point in County Roscommon, measuring to a height of 428 m (1,404 ft).[6]

Baronies

There are nine historical baronies in County Roscommon.

NORTH ROSCOMMON

-   Boyle (north Roscommon including Boyle and Arigna).
-   Frenchpark (north-west, including Ballaghaderreen and Frenchpark).
-   Roscommon (mid-north-east, including Tulsk).
-   Castlereagh (west, including Castlerea and Ballinlough).
-   Ballintober North (east including Rooskey and Tarmonbarry).

SOUTH ROSCOMMON

-   _Ballymoe_ shared with County Galway includes Ballymoe, Creggs and Glenamaddy.
-   Ballintober South (south-mid-east, including Roscommon).
-   Athlone (mid-south, including Knockcroghery and part of Athlone).
-   Moycarn (far-south, including part of Ballinasloe).

History

[River Suck at Athleague.] Rathcroghan (Rath Cruachán), near Tulsk, a complex of archaeological sites, the home of Queen Medb (Méadhbh, Maeve), was the seat of Kings of Connacht and then to the High Kings of Ireland. This was the starting point of the _Táin Bó Cúailnge_, or Cattle Raid of Cooley, an epic tale in Irish mythology. The county is home to prehistoric ringforts such as Carnagh West Ringfort and Drummin fort.

County Roscommon as an administrative division has its origins in the medieval period. With the conquest and division of the Kingdom of Connacht, those districts in the east retained by King John as “The King's Cantreds” covered County Roscommon, and parts of East Galway. These districts were leased to the native kings of Connacht and eventually became the county. In 1585 during the Tudor re-establishment of counties under the Composition of Connacht, Roscommon was established with the South-west boundary now along the River Suck.

Medieval art

A “well defined” and “original” fine metal workshop was active in County Roscommon in the 12th century. The Cross of Cong, the Aghadoe crosier, Shrine of the Book of Dimma and Shrine of Manchan of Mohill' are grouped together as having been created by _Mael Isu Bratain Ui Echach_ et al., at the same Roscommon workshop. The workshop has been linked to St. Assicus of Elphin.

Ordnance Survey

[Roscommon Castle] John O'Donovan (1806–1861), historian and scholar, visited County Roscommon in 1837, while compiling information for the Ordnance Survey. Entering St Peter's parish in Athlone in June 1837, he wrote, “I have now entered upon a region totally different from Longford, and am very much pleased with the intelligence of the people.” However, he had major problems with place-names. He later wrote, “I am sick to death's door of lochawns, and it pains me to the very soul to have to make these remarks, but what can I do when I cannot make the usual progress? Here I am stuck in the mud in the middle of Loughs, Turlaghs, Lahaghs and Curraghs, the names of many of which are only known to a few old men in their immediate neighbourhood and I cannot give many of them utterance from the manner in which they are spelled.”[7][8] [The River Shannon running through Athlone town.] [Lough Key]

Government and politics

Roscommon is governed locally by the 18-member Roscommon County Council.

For general elections, Roscommon forms part of the three-seat Roscommon–Galway constituency.

Rail transport

There are railway stations located in Boyle, Carrick-on-Shannon (Dublin-Sligo line), Roscommon, Castlerea (Dublin-Westport line), Ballinasloe (Dublin-Galway line) and Athlone (Dublin-Galway and Dublin-Westport lines).

Sport

Gaelic football is the dominant sport in Roscommon. Roscommon won the All-Ireland Senior Football Championships in 1943 and 1944 and the National Football League Division 1 in 1979, as well as Division 2 in 2015 and 2018. Roscommon have captured the Connacht Senior Football Championship on 23 occasions, the most recent being in 2019.

Roscommon's main hurling title was the 2007 Nicky Rackard Cup.

Soccer and Rugby are also popular sports in the county.

Notable people

In order of birth:

-   Charles O'Conor (1710–1791), historian and antiquarian of the O'Conor Don family
-   Matthew O'Conor Don (1773–1844) historian born in Ballinagare
-   Arthur French, 1st Baron de Freyne (1786–1856), Member of Parliament and landlord of Frenchpark House
-   Sir John Scott Lillie (1790–1868) CB, decorated Peninsular War veteran, inventor and political activist in England
-   James Curley (1796–1889), Jesuit and astronomer, born in Athleague
-   William Wilde (1815–1876), surgeon, innovator and father of Oscar Wilde, born in Castlerea
-   Michael Dockry (born 1817), member of the Wisconsin State Assembly
-   Thomas Curley (1825–1904), American Civil War colonel, farmer and Wisconsin legislator, born in Tremane, near Athleague
-   John Gately Downey (June 24, 1827 – March 1, 1894), seventh governor of California from January 14, 1860 to January 10, 1862
-   Henry Gore-Browne (1830–1912), Victoria Cross recipient, born in Newtown
-   Luke O'Connor (1831–1915), first soldier to receive the Victoria Cross, born in Elphin
-   John Fitzgibbon (1845–1919), Member of Parliament
-   William Griffiths (1841–1879), recipient of the Victoria Cross, born in Co. Roscommon
-   Percy French (1854–1920), born in Tulsk, was a foremost songwriter and entertainer, and water-colour painter
-   Sir Owen Lloyd (1854–1941), recipient of the Victoria Cross, born in Co. Roscommon
-   Thomas Heazle Parke (1857–1893, explorer and naturalist, born at Clogher House
-   Charlotte O'Conor Eccles (1860–1911) writer, journalist and translator born in the county
-   Roderic O'Conor (1860–1940), impressionist artist of the O'Conor Don Family
-   Douglas Hyde (1860–1949), scholar of the Irish language, first President of Ireland (1938–45), founder of the Gaelic League during the Revival of the late 19th – early 20th century, born in Castlerea and buried in the Hyde Museum, Frenchpark
-   Margaret Cousins (née Gillespie, 1878–1954), educationist and suffragist in India, born in Boyle
-   Maureen O'Sullivan (1911–1998), Ireland's first international movie star, born in Boyle
-   Brian O'Doherty (born 1928), artist and art critic in New York City, born in Ballaghaderreen
-   Albert Reynolds (1932–2014), Taoiseach, born in Rooskey
-   Nuala Quinn-Barton (living), US film producer, artist and model brought up at Killerr, Ballintober
-   Brian Leyden (born 1960), novelist, short story writer, screenwriter and documentarian of Arigna
-   Luke 'Ming' Flanagan (born 1972), politician and MEP born in Roscommon
-   Chris O'Dowd (born 1979), actor and comedian, born in Boyle

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Hunt, Roy, “Painful progress: the slow evolution of County Roscommon society, 1850-1914”. Unpublished Thesis, 2010, NUIG p. 8.

[8] John O' Donovan, “Letters containing information relative to the antiquities of the County of Roscommon, collected during the progress of the Ordnance Survey, 1837”. p. 5. Special collections section, National University of Ireland, Galway, 2009, reproduced by Rev. Michael O'Flanagan, Bray 1927.

title: County Roscommon

question: What is the mythological significance of Roscommon?

answer: Roscommon has both Christian and Pagan mythological significance. The name "Roscommon" refers to the "wooded hill of Coman" who was a Christian bishop. However, the county also contains Rathcroghan, the seat of Kings of Connacht and the High Kings of Ireland, and home of Queen Medbh. This area is where the Tain bo Cualigne, a famous Irish Epic similar to the Iliad, begins.

question: What are the nine baronies in County Roscommon?

answer: Boyle, Frenchpark, Roscommon, Castelreagh, Ballintober North, Ballymoe, Ballintober South, Athlone, and Moycarn.


text:
She lived inside the fever dream that played in Kurt’s mind when he zoned out in the backseat of his mom’s SUV on rides across town. His eyes would always fix solely on the streets that scrolled past, but to him there were no street names; they were just the blurs between places. He couldn’t tell a visitor directions to the Wal-Mart in the town where he had lived all of his 14 years. It was nearing the end of the first post-middle school summer, and it stretched outwards like a single, repetitive day. He lived in a run-on sentence, punctuated only by the commas of sleep, and the uneasy anticipation for a period provided an anxiety that incubated in Kurt’s gut.

Any time that summer when Kurt sat down with nothing to occupy him she would materialize, first as a repeating snippet of film; she smiled and tussled Kurt’s hair like she had done once in George’s kid sister’s treehouse, and she and the backdrop that stemmed off of her were foggy and soft and bright. He made it through a week on that image alone, until he craved more. He rebuilt her inflections, her pitch, lower and gruffer than the carbon copy schoolgirls, lacking the exaggerated Arkansan drawl that his classmates often hid behind. He conjured a story of both them in their 20s, until they were all tattoos and piercings. They smoked cigarettes next to a graffitied underpass by a faraway 7/11. They laughed about those suckers who shopped at supermarkets for family supper. She kissed him on a stained couch on the corner of some grimy Northern street, and because he didn’t know what a kiss felt like he imagined it, cushiony and moist and sweet-smelling.

The SUV pulled up to his friend Zack’s house. Kurt got out and rang the doorbell. His mom waited outside until Zack opened the door. She yelled “Make good decisions!” to them and waved before driving away.

“f------ b-----,” Zack said. “She’s still doing that?”

“Apparently she thinks everyone she doesn’t know is a rapist.”

Zack’s kitchen was littered with half-finished crossword puzzles and gunky dishes and flea market knick knacks. Zack’s dad Ed chain smoked by the window in his old rocking chair that was wrapped in a faded leather jacket with a stitched-on rebel flag. He looked 60 but seemed older when he started hacking. When he coughed it sounded like his lungs were filled with semi-liquified rusty nails, and the daily battle to expel bits of them from his chest was violent enough to wake up Kurt when he spent the night.

“That Kurt?” Ed said.

“Yes sir,” Zack said.

“Tell’m he ought to grow a pair,” Ed laughed.

Kurt watched him smoke the filterless Marlboro. It was more of a suck than a smoke; he economically snatched as much nicotine as he could hold in a shallow breath. It took him seven inhales before the cigarette was gone. He jabbed it into one of the several ashtrays on the counter, each filled with identically crinkled butts.

Kurt and Zack walked down to the basement. In the room next to him there were two computers and a television set up on plastic buffet tables that seemed close to buckling from the weight. Automatically they both got on a computer. Zack commandeered the newer one because it was his house.

Zack’s older brother Rick lived in other basement room. He busted through the door. “What’s up boys?” he said.

“Not s-----,” Zack said.

“That little girlfriend of yours coming over today?”

“In a little bit.”

“You finger her yet? I remember when I was your age and that was the f------’ threshold,” Rick said.

“Not yet, but I’ll try today,” Zack said.

Zack and Kurt idolized Rick. He was 22, and sometimes Zack and Kurt could hear him having sex with his girlfriend in the next room. Sometimes he would let them see his box of condoms, and they would be in awe. Kurt was unsure of why Rick still lived there. ‘Some unsuccessful business venture,’ or something. When Kurt came over Rick would hang out with them regularly, mimicking George’s salivating problem or joking about how fat Phil was.

Before either of them started typing Kurt was already dreaming. Her name was Alex, but to him she was just the one who lived with him in his head, smoking cigarettes by the river and talking about movies that Kurt pretended to understand. Zack slapped him on the shoulder.

“Did you hear me? Alex is coming over. We’re going to the River Rapids.”

“All right,” Kurt said.

Kurt sighed and slumped down into the scoliosis-induced hunchback posture he constantly tried to hide. He had become a part of a begrudging three-person dynamic that started a month earlier at River Rapids, a rundown water park that became the City of Tweens in the summer when kids too young to drive got dropped off there. The water slides lost their appeal early on; the big draw of the park was its escape from adult supervision, its temporary illusion of autonomy. When Kurt pictured it, he saw hoards of bikini-clad preteens standing on wet concrete, cackling at a girl in a one-piece.

Kurt kept replaying the day. It was the first day after school let out, and he met Zack at the food court surrounded by the Lazy River. Zack was with Alex and two other girls, but he didn’t introduce them. He said “Ready to f------ with some lifeguards?” and they started walking. Alex’s black bikini had skulls on it. She walked next to Kurt for a minute silently. They measured their steps consciously so that they would line up. Kurt tried to recall what they said to each other, but couldn’t: she was just smiling and tussling his hair like she did in the treehouse. She was a rebel, she had small ears, she understood the things that Kurt felt cooking in his head but couldn’t explain, she lived outside of the world.

Usually he stopped his head from replaying here, but he decided to let it keep going. Some time later he and Zack were in their floral board shorts in the back of Kurt’s mom’s SUV on the way to River Rapids. Kurt felt like his fever dreams of Alex were overflowing, and he needed to release them. He started to feel sweat bead on his forehead.

“You know that girl?” Kurt said.

“What girl?” Zack said.

“Alex, I think was her name.”

“Yeah, Alex, what about her?”

“I was thinking about asking her...”

Zack perked up. “Asking her what?

“Out, on a date, or whatever.”

“You’re going to ask her out?” Zack was smirking. “You do that, tell me how it goes.”

“You think she’ll say yes?”

“Not sure, buddy, but you should definitely give it a shot.”

Kurt felt himself get closer to the picture in his head, and it made his heart palpitate. Kurt and Zack met up with several of their friends, and they all sat on a curb by the lockers.

“There’s your woman now, Kurt,” Zack said. He pointed across the sidewalk to Alex, who was sitting at a table with two other girls. “Are you going to ask her or puss out?”

Kurt stood up triumphant from the curb, walked towards her. He felt his heart beating in his eyes. He sat down at the only open chair at the table without saying anything. Ten seconds passed. Alex looked at her friends quizzically and laughed.

“Ummm. What’s up?”

“Hey, what’s up,” Kurt said. He looked over at Zack and his friends. Zack was hyperventilating, red from laughter. The rest were staring intently at Kurt.

“You’re the one that sat down,” Alex said.

“Oh, yeah. I was wondering... I was wondering if you wanted to go out or something.”

Alex’s eyebrows went up and she looked glanced at her friends. “Awww. You’re asking me out? You just asked me out. That’s so sweet of you. That’s really sweet. I’m sorry, but I have a boyfriend now. Your friend Zack actually asked me out yesterday and I said yes.”

Zack was rolling on the ground.

“Oh, g-gotcha, OK,” Kurt said.

Kurt wandered out of the entrance into the parking lot in a daze, waited there for hours until his mom picked he and Zack up. “Dude,” Zack said, getting into the car. “It was a joke.”

“It’s cool,” Kurt said. And that was it.

Kurt knew that his fever dream had grown unhealthy. He had spent dozens of hours with Zack and Alex. He had almost completely separated himself from her, but he still grew closer to the her that lived in his head. He nearly ignored her when she talked. Her voice was just a template for his story, where they smoked cigarettes and stole beer from convenience stores and protested oppressive leaders.

Kurt snapped out of it. Rick was clipping his toenails.

“How are you, bud?” Rick said.

“I’m all right. You?” Kurt said.

“Well, I’m trying, you know? I’m trying.”

There was a long silence.

“Trying to do what?” Kurt said.

“That’s why I like you, bud. You ask questions. I’m...trying to get better.”

“Is it working?”

“It’s real hard, but you just gotta do it. First time in how long you’ve seen me in a shirt with sleeves?”

“That’s true.”

Zack’s phone vibrated. “Alex is here. I’ll get this out of the way.”

Zack cracked his knuckles and walked up the stairs. Rick sat down at the computer. He and Kurt sat silent for a few minutes; it was a comfortable silence, and Kurt felt no need to add to the clicks of the keyboards with unnecessary conversation. It was the first time in as long as he could remember in which he felt that occupying space with someone else was enough.

“So how do you like Zack’s girl?” Rick finally said.

“I like her.”

“Yeah? Green haired little freak, right?”

“I guess.” Kurt took a deep breath. He needed to get the story out of his head again. “I asked her to go out with me. Zack didn’t tell me they were already were.”

“And he knew you were going to ask her?” Rick sighed. “Zack’s a f------—you know that, right? How you haven’t kicked his a-- once or twice yet is a constant amazement to me.”

“Yeah, I guess I know. That he’s a f------.”

“You just need to stop being a little fruit. You know?”

“Not really.”

Zack opened the stairway door and snickered into the room. He was holding two fingers up. “I did it. I fingered her.”

Rick sighed. Kurt could feel his heart beat in his eyes again.

“Kurt, you hear me? I fingered her.” Zack slapped Kurt across the face with the hand he was holding up. Kurt put his hand to his face and could feel it, slimy and pungent.

Rick kicked back his chair so that its corner punctured the thin drywall. He yanked Zack into the air by his collar, jerked him back and forth until Zack's shirt ripped and he crumbled to the ground. Rick picked back Zack onto his feet, grabbed him by the back of the head, and threw him headfirst into the plastic buffet table. The table collapsed when Zack's skull bashed against it, and the old, bulky computer crunched Zack’s ribs. He started to wheeze.

“f------ you,” Zack kept saying.

Rick was beat red, yelling four inches from Zack’s face, spitting worse than George does.

“Listen you f------ punk,” he screamed. “This is your friend? You’re going to treat your friends like this? You’re a f------ piece of s----- you know that? I don’t know how you turned out to be so f------ stupid, to do something like that to your friend. I don't care if he might be a little bit queer, no one deserves that. You're sure as hell not my brother, because my brother would never do something as sick as what you just did. I can't even look at you.”

Zack was crying and wheezing. “You broke my ribs,” he said through the snot and blood that ran from his nose to his mouth and bubbled when he talked.

Rick put his head in his hands for a long take. He stared at Kurt for what seemed like a minute. Kurt stared back, unfazed, then nodded at Rick.

Rick nodded back, and Kurt heard Rick's boots calmly clack against the wood stairs as he left without a word before gingerly shutting the upstairs door.

“Please call someone,” Zack said.

Kurt looked at Zack. He was back in his fever dream again, but there was no girl in it. He was still pierced and covered in tattoos. He came back to the same 7/11 and shattered its window with a brick. The quick-stop caught fire. He stood in front of it, watching it burn, and it all meant something, it all meant something that was bigger than Kurt, something that he could write down and read to a coalition of freaks in a rundown warehouse.

Kurt got up from the computer and stood next to Zack, who was a pile of mucous and oversized clothes. Kurt grabbed the windowsill for leverage and looked out the window at the old man in the yard over drinking a 40 on a beach towel, holding foil up to tan his leathered face. Kurt raised his foot and let it drop into Zack's gut. Zack started hacking like his dad did, but more violent, and kept saying “f------ you,” over and over. Kurt kicked him again, harder, and began to like the difference between his hard sole and Zack's soft stomach. He stomped on it repeatedly. Kurt wanted to tell Zack that Zack shouldn't have done what he did, but he figured Zack knew that by what was happening. Kurt liked that he didn't have to say anything.

Kurt felt like he was crying but there were no tears. He walked up the stairs, ignored Zack’s yelping. The house was empty, except for Alex. She was sitting in Ed's rocking chair, staring vacantly at the old neighbor.

“You all right?” Kurt said.

“I'll be fine.”

They sat for a long take, bathed in the pink-orange hue of dusk that made the kitchen glow.

“So, you really like Zack?”

“Not that much, really. I haven't found anything here worth liking that much."

Kurt took two cigarettes out of Ed's mint pack of Reds. He handed one to Alex, and she took it without hesitation. He sparked a match on his shoe and lit both in one motion. Silent, they watched the last silvery sliver of sun descend past the neighboring cul-de-sac's edge. Kurt let his cigarette dangle from the corner of his mouth like Clint Eastwood and told Alex about some movies he'd seen that could take them somewhere new.

title: The Place Outside of Arkansas

question: What relationship do Zack and Kurt share?

answer: Zack and Kurt are friends.

question: What were Zack and Kurt's thoughts about Rick?

answer: Zack and Kurt idolized Rick. Kurt always wondered why Rick still lived with his parents and would assume it was because of some unsuccessful business venture. The three would like each other's company, whenever Kurt came over Rick would hang out with them.

question: Why was Rick mad at Zack?

answer: Rick was mad at Zack for what he did to Kurt, who happens to be a very good friend of Zack.