text:
This is an ex/crosspost from shortstorycritique I posted, not sure if its okay so please tell me if I'm doing something wrong.

This is my first short story, its a a rough draft, there's some more things I want to add.
I'd like to know whats good and whats bad please
Also any ideas in general.
I'm still not sure how to end it. I can rework the last half, I don't really like that part, I prefer the first half honestly.
Also I suck at grammar, so please help with any mistakes you find :)

Allan William’s cold eyes bore into his reflection. The very picture of death, the only reassurance of life being the slight tremble that silently shook throughout his body.

“I... there is reason to believe the culprit may have been of foreign decent” Noah spoke up, he could no longer bare the silent tension in the air.
“This must be a mistake, he was here... I saw him just moments ago” Allan replied firmly.
“...He’s been gone since noon-”
 “-There has to be a mistake, take me to the site, only I can confirm it myself”
“Something like that... The characteristics are unmistakable, I advise against you seeing it for yourself”

Allan’s eyes met Noah’s through the mirror and in that moment he could have sworn they were the very black of the coals from hell. They demanded compliance. They were the kind that could instil even the very king into docility.

~~~~

Keeping a steady fast pace, Allan strode purposefully towards the small wooden gate, Noah trodding behind. It stood precariously – almost pathetically against its two worn down supports poles. Allan launched it aside, seemingly indifferent to the severed wooden panels and shards collapsing to the ground. It hadn’t stood a chance.

Never faltering Allan made his way past the towering stone walls till he reached the end of the abandoned building and froze. The sun gazed down upon his back in a fiery defiance to the rising chill Allan felt throughout his body. Sure enough the familiar tussle of brown hair lay in a puddle crimson.
His gaze fixed, he slowly made his way towards the body, each step feeling like a million miles.  Stopping just inches away, blood pooling at his boots.
The body’s eyes stared at him in the same soulless way which reflected his own gaze. Crouching down he fondled the gold-plate necklace, identical to his own- meaningless now.
A long moment passed.
“I never knew a man could have this much blood” he finally murmured.
Stepping out of his trance, at last he started to notice his surroundings.

Mrs. Gerald stood solemnly against the stone wall, gazing into the woods as if she weren’t really there at all.
Noticing his transfixion on her, she decided now was her cue to speak.
“Obsidian. His hair as black as the devils heart. That was my first thought, although I only got a glance, I only needed one.”

Allan shot her a hard glare, not intending to be sinister, but menacing nonetheless. “The perpetrator--- You know who it is?”

“I do believe there is only one such anomaly out there with hair so black and eyes so blue.”

Allan shifted his position. He stared intently at his brothers gashed neck, fluid still oozing out of the open wound. Eyes, nose, mouth, everything so like his own, identical. He could practically taste the metallic  blood filling his mouth.
This was the closest he had ever come to seeing himself die. Which was too close.

A trembling anger quaked throughout his tense physique, simmering at boiling point.
Still he held a collected stance and voice, “Why?”

“I don’t know the details. I was quite far into the forest at first before I heard something. A loud ‘Halt!’ I started to move towards the clamour, but remained hidden throughout. I am under the impression Dominic approached your brother- approached Allon, intending to loot him of his valuables, this did not sit well with Allon though, who attempted to fight back. A man with a sword and a man with his fists are hardly an equal match. Whether the killing or not was planned is unbeknownst to me.

A dark fury reigned over Allan, each new word bringing on more hatred by the second, building up a string of intense animosity, with no one-nothing to release it on.

He turned around swiftly, marching with purpose but without destination. Noah had picked up the sword evidently used in the scuffle. He was observing it carefully, watching how the red tinted metal glistened in the sun. Snatching the blade off from his friend’s analytical eyes, he smoothed it across his palm, wiping the blood away, which might as well be his own.

“What do you plan to do with that Allan? ALLAN!?”

Ignoring his calls he strode fast towards his next destination. His long legs giving him vantage that he was practically jogging at a normal persons pace. As he heard footsteps and calls behind him, without so much as a peer or a peek he fastened his pace, so much so it wasn’t long before Noah was out of sight and out of mind.

~~~~~

Dominic had scrubbed himself raw until he wasn’t sure whose blood was on his skin anymore.
Entering his home he still felt dirty. Impure, whatever innocence he had left at 27 had been destroyed, by none other than himself.
Sitting down he shook and shook until he felt he had used up all his energy for a life time and hoped he would never wake up. His vision became blurry, starvation taking over.
A clatter sounded from outside, suddenly he feared the worst. Did anybody know what he’d done? Surely the body wouldn’t have been found so soon, the place he chose was completely deserted. Surrounded by trees and a road hardly touched. Although he swore the energy in him was completely depleted, suddenly a rush of adrenaline had him upright on his feet and he could have sworn his heartbeat echoed throughout the house. A whisper of a woman’s voice from outside was like the blessing of an angel.
As his wife and two daughters poured inside tears of relief threatened to spill, but he swore he wouldn’t let his kids see him weep. He had to be strong, at least for them.

With his heart rate still racing, silently he embraced his wife, surprising her for a man who rarely shows affection. His feelings sat on the brim of his eyes and his nose, but he kept them at bay because Dominic was a man of pride.

~~~~~

Finding an anomaly is not too hard, people notice anomalies and people talk. As Allan’s target destination gets closer, the bursting flames of his emotions begin to erupt.
Vengeance- No, justice, will be served.
Bursting into the doors, Allan is welcomed with the sight of a blissful family. This stirs up his wrath even more so, the insidious black of the family hair reminding him of his own darkened heart and eyes. In a split second Dominic looks up, his face instantly pale with pure terror, and a startled recognition. Then in a split second Allan seizes his body, the brim of the sword barely touching his neck and puts him in a secure hold, himself strategically placed behind him, Dominic’s life on the line.

Despite his shock at the development, before anyone else can utter a word, Dominic spouts warily “Y-You’re... alive?” In spite of his position a wave of relief pulsates through him.

“Guess, again, I suppose you’ve never heard of the William brothers”

As dread and realisation sinks in on Dominic’s side, horror and confusion beset his family.

“H-HELP! What is this!?” Clarissa shouts in terror.

“Leave Clarissa, NOW!” Dominic demands desperately.

Despite his effort the house remains still, fear being the biggest emotion, just next to wrath.

“I have come here for a well-deserved justice” Allan whispers menacingly, blind with rage.

Stroking Dominics neck with the blade of the sword, he creates a small slit.
“You know what they say, an eye for an eye...”

He grasps the ends of the sword tighter

“...A neck for a neck”

Shocking the household into silence he continues, pushing the blade a little further in.

“Give me one good reason why I should not kill you right now”.

Quivering under the blade, he swallows a hard knot in his throat.

“I...” thinking carefully he continues, “There is no good reason for you not to kill me, I am a guilty man, but I am a guilty man with a duty to provide for my family.
When a man is faced with tough times he resorts to bad decision making. I assure you I did not intend for this to happen!” choking back it takes all his will to persevere. “I just wanted to take a little something from a rich looking cove”.

“And instead you took his life” Allan added bitterly

“I did not expect him to fight back, I am lousy with a sword, it was a slip-up, an accident!”

Clarissa whimpered, shocked, in the corner of the room, hugging her children forcefully.

Their looks brought Dominic back to reality

“Regardless of my intentions, I am a guilty man, but know this, I have a responsibility. When you take my life, you essentially take the life of my wife, of my children... They are a divine innocence, a pure bliss, an oasis in a sea of black. By taking their lives from them and taking their innocence you are essentially making the world a dimmer place.

Allan stared at the petrified huddle, and he instantly knew what Dominic had said was true.

Slowly he released his tight grip and lowered down his sword.

Dominic instantly grabbed his neck, the small gash a testimony to his freedom. He was certain his fate was doom. For the first time in a long time Dominic wept. Wept because he was glad to be alive, wept because he loved his family, and wept because he was grateful for all god had given him.

Allan left the house irate and tired, but also with a sense of calm and serenity.

Wandering the roads Noah caught sight of him, looking rather dejected.

They walked together in silence, until Allan decided to sit down, Noah followed.

“My brother is dead you know Noah. If I can’t get my revenge then where is the justice in this? This is not justice, this isn't fair, where’s my eye? Where’s my tooth?”

“You know, if every man took an eye for an eye, we’d all inevitably end up blind.”

title: short story on justice

question: What does the story say about why Dominic killed Allan's brother?

answer: Dominic did not intend to kill him. It was an accident. Dominic is lousy with a sword and did not expect Allan's brother to fight back.

question: What does the story say about why Allan gives up killing Dominic?

answer: Because he realizes that if he kills Dominik, Dominic's wife and children will die.

question: what does the story say about Clarissa's character?


split: test

text:
An SR-25, AR-10 or LR-308 PATTERN MAGAZINE is a type of detachable firearm magazine based on the original Armalite AR-10 “waffle” magazine design introduced in the late 1950s. The design has been used on many AR-10 derivatives (generally referred to as AR-308 style rifles), for instance in the Knight's Armament SR-25 and DPMS Panther LR-308, as well as bolt action rifles such as the Mossberg MVP .308, Ruger Precision Rifle and Q FIX. Aftermarket magazines are produced by Magpul, Lancer Systems, and others.[1] Not all AR-308 rifles use magazines compatible with the SR-25 pattern. For example, HK417/MR308/MR762 uses a proprietary design. Notably, Armalite switched from their original pattern magazines to modified M14 magazines in 1996 with their new AR-10B model,[2] but reintroduced their original (SR-25 pattern) magazine design with the AR-10A model in 2012.[3]

Firearms compatible with SR-25 pattern magazines

AR-10/AR-308 type rifles

-   Armalite AR-10A
-   Bushmaster .308 ORC
-   Colt CM901-16S (.308 configuration)[4]
-   CORE Rifle Systems CORE30[5]
-   DPMS LR308
-   JP Enterprises LRP-07[6]
-   KAC SR-25
-   LaRue OBR
-   Les Baer .308[7]
-   LMT .308 MWS
-   LWRCI REPR[8]
-   M110 SASS
-   Mega Arms MATEN
-   POF P-308
-   PSA PA-10
-   Remington R-25[9]
-   Remington RSASS
-   Ruger SR-762
-   SIG716[10]
-   Smith & Wesson M&P10

Other rifles

-   Mossberg MVP
-   IWI Tavor 7[11]
-   IWI ACE (7.62 NATO version)[12]
-   POF USA ReVolt Heavy
-   Troy Pump Action Rifle (PAR)
-   Q FIX

Notable incompatible firearms

SR-25 pattern magazines are in general not compatible with rifles using Springfield Armory M1A pattern magazines, FN FAL pattern magazines, or HK41/HK91/G3 pattern magazines. As mentioned, the AR-10B variant (produced since 1996) uses proprietary modified M14 magazines, while the AR-10A variant uses standard SR-25 pattern magazines. The Noveske N6 version prior to Gen 3 used AR-10B type magazines, but with the introduction of the N6 Gen 3, however, the design was changed to utilize the more common SR25-type. Rock River Arms LAR8 uses proprietary FAL style magazines.[13] MKEK MPT-76 uses a proprietary design. As mentioned, HK417/MR308/MR762 uses a proprietary magazine. FN SCAR 17S use their own proprietary design.[14] Furhtermore, HK41/HK91/G3 and PTR-91 uses a proprietary design.

[1] Modern AR-10 Magazines: Our Four Top Picks For Dependable, Well-Made AR-10 Magazines - Gun World Magazine

[2] The Original Retro AR-10: Armalite’s AR10B – Forgotten Weapons

[3] New from Armalite: AR-10A - The Truth About Guns

[4] DefenseReview.com - DR Exclusive: Colt CM901 7.62x51mm /.308 Win

[5] Shooter's Bible Guide to AR-15s, 2nd Edition: A Comprehensive Guide to Modern Sporting Rifled and Their Variants, by Doug Howlett and Robb Manning, November 1, 2016

[6] JP LRP-07 Long Range Precision Rifle 7.62mm with Left-Side Charging System – DefenseReview.com

[7] Les Baer .308 Ultimate Match Rifle

[8] Return of the REPR: Wringing Out LWRCI's REPR MKII Rifle

[9] American Hunter | Remington R-25

[10] GUNS Magazine SIG SAUER SIG716 Patrol - GUNS Magazine

[11] Hints of the Future: The TAVOR 7 - The Mag Life

[12] Gun Review: IWI Galil ACE in 7.62 NATO - The Truth About Guns

[13] GUNS Magazine Rock River LAR-8 - GUNS Magazine

[14] https://www.guns.com/news/2012/08/04/custom-scar-17-lower-receiver-handl-defense-sr-25-ar-10-m110-20lr-magazine Custom SCAR 17 Receiver Accepts SR-25/M110 Magazines - Guns.com]

title: SR-25 pattern magazine

question: What does the text say about magazines for the Colt 1911?

question: What does the text say about the SR-25, AR-10, or LR-308 Pattern Magazine?

answer: The SR-25, AR-10, or LR-308 Pattern Magazine is a type of detachable firearm magazine based on the original Armalite AR "waffle" magazine design introduced in the late 1950s. The design has been used on many AR-10 derivatives (referred to as AR-308 style rifles) such as the Knight's Armament SR-25 and DPMS Panther LR-308, as well as bolt-action rifles such as the Mossberg MVP .308, Ruger Precision Rifle, and Q Fix. Aftermarket magazines are produced by Magpul, Lancer Systems, and other companies.

question: What does the text say about one of the issues with the SR-25 pattern?

answer: Not all AR-308 rifles use magazines that are compatible with the SR-25 pattern. For instance, the HK417, MR308, and MR762 all use a proprietary design. Armalite switched from their original pattern magazines to modified M14 magazines in 1996 with their new AR-10B model. However, they reintroduced their original SR-25 pattern magazine design with the AR-10A model in 2012.

question: What does the text say about the SR-25 pattern magazines' incompatibility with notable firearms?

answer: SR-25 pattern magazines are generally not compatible with rifles using Springfield Armory M1A pattern magazines, FN FAL pattern magazines, and HK41/HK91/G3 pattern magazines. Rock River Arms LAR8 uses proprietary FAL-style magazines. FN SCAR 17S and MKEK MPT-76 use their own proprietary design.


text:
Seventh grade was a complicated period of my life. I was basically a Freudian therapist's sloppy wet dream. With the early age of the internet at my disposal and a rapidly developing lust with no sexual outlet (due to the fact that my mother fixed my hair for me in the morning and that's just not what a girl's looking for in her first sex partner) rivaling that of a serial rapist, a sixth sense had evolved in me that could sniff out pornography like a fucking hunting dog.

My brother and I had a tradition of spending every Saturday night at my grandmother's. Legos. Mystery Science Theater 3000. Breakfast. Yard Sales. It was kind of a big deal. Just the most fun. The next morning, she'd make her way to the local grocery store to shop for breakfast acquisitions for the three of us. I'd had some suspicions about my grandmother's fast and loose nature in her younger years from fleeting comments that she'd made (referring to a series of wigs in her bedroom as 'bar bait' for instance). Therefore, I figured that a woman with such an insatiable sexual appetite must have a healthy collection of pornography at any age. A thorough search of her closet was called for while she was out, and I enlisted my brother as a lookout.

What we discovered in my 60-year-old grandmother's closet can't be described using traditional vernacular. It was the holy grail of pornography. El Dorado. The joy that swept through us surely beared some semblance to the elation that the team discovering King Tut's tomb had felt. Over the course of two months, I took every last fucking piece. Smuggled it out of her house VHS by VHS in the gay little blue "Going To Grandma's!" suitcase I'd bring along for our sleepovers. Which is also not what a girl's looking for in her first sex partner. Needless to say, we pulled the wool over her eyes pretty hardcore and I maintain a small pang of guilt because of it. But shit, bitch. It was an entire closet of hardcore pornography. What was I to do?

I learned some really disturbing things about my grandmother from that experience. Memories that I can't erase. Aside from the fact that it was largely porn from the 70's and 80's, which is essentially just grainy shots of matted clumps of fur bouncing off one another (explosively impressive mustaches buried in a jungle of pubic hair), her collection was alarmingly heavy in the hermaphrodite respect, which I wanted no part of. I was weird. But not that weird. I don't judge. Hey, I'm into some weird stuff, too. Must be genetic. She was also holding a lot of interracial gems too which was curious because she'd always been, well, kind of a racist. In a really sweet, older lady kind of way though. So I started selling the porn I didn't want and gradually became the Larry Flynt of my middle school. I kind of made bank for a seventh grader with no vehicle or job, not gonna lie. Money I used entirely on 90's PC adventure games, perpetuating a cycle of social exclusion.

On that infamous day in question, the memory of which still haunts me, the father of one of my high profile clients discovered his son's lunch money purchases in his backpack one day. Some pretty fucking ball-slapping filth. He always wanted the worst of the worst. His dad turned up the heat on him and he squealed like a pig, revealing his dirty, dirty source. Imagine that! It turns out to be the pale, chubby weirdo wearing shirts that are too big for him. I was being profiled, I'm sure of it. I was thrown to the academic wolves and forced to confess to my parents that I'd been smuggling interracial 70's hermaphrodite porn from my grandmother's trailer for months and peddling it during passing periods. That's a difficult one to live down. I should probably be on some kind of public listing for it, really.

title: "The Legend of the 70's Pornography Collection," the destruction of adolescent reputation in one act.

question: What does the story say about how the narrator's reputation was destructed?

answer: He and his brother discovered in their grandmother's closet many VHS with pornography, and the narrator started selling porn he did not want in their high school. One day, one of the kids who used to buy porn from the narrator was caught by his father. Soon he was forced to confess to his parents that he had been smuggling interracial 70's hermaphrodite porn from his grandmother's trailer for months.

question: What does the story say about how the narrator was punished for selling porn?


text:
ACADEMIC BUOYANCY is a type of resilience relating specifically to academic attainment. It is defined as 'the ability of students to successfully deal with academic setbacks and challenges that are ‘typical of the ordinary course of school life (e.g. poor grades, competing deadlines, exam pressure, difficult schoolwork)'.[1] It is, therefore, related to traditional definitions of resilience but allows a narrower focus in order to target interventions more precisely.

The academic buoyancy model was first proposed by psychologists Andrew Martin and Herbert W. Marsh, following the identification of significant differences between classic resilience (the ability to thrive despite the experience of severe adversity) and the day-to-day setbacks experienced by students.

It has been recently extended and adapted through the work and writings of British psychologist Marc Smith[2]

More specifically academic buoyancy is defined as ‘the process of dealing with isolated poor grades and patches of poor performance, typical stress levels and daily pressures, threats to confidence due to poor grades, low-level stress and confidence, dips in motivation and engagement and the way in which learners deal with negative feedback on schoolwork'. [3]

Basic theory

The model of academic buoyancy assumes that academic attainment is, in part, related to the ability to cope with school-based demands and to bounce back when setbacks are encountered. Smith likens the differences between resilience and academic buoyancy to those of major stressors and daily hassles.[4] To this end, certain personal attributes have been found to be present in those students who are more likely to flourish in educational environments. These attributes (or predictors of academic buoyancy) are referred to as the 5Cs.

THE 5CS

Martin and Marsh identified five predictors of academic buoyancy, referred to as the 5Cs,[5] consisting of:

1. Confidence (self-efficacy)

The belief in our ability to complete a given task. 5C confidence is task specific.

2. Coordination (planning)

The ability to set and pursue goals, plan, monitor and manage tasks within a specific timeframe (e.g. meeting deadlines and allocating study time to competing tasks).

3. Control (low uncertain control)

The extent to which people feel they are in control of the own learning, including the manner in which they attribute the causes of success and failure.

4. Composure (low anxiety)

The extent to which people can remain relatively calm in potentially anxiety provoking situation (e.g examination environments). Students prone to high levels of anxiety have been found to perform poorly in high stakes exams and to have increased difficulty in coping with setbacks.[6]

5. Commitment (persistence or conscientiousness)

The ability to stay on task, resist distractions, act on feedback and recover from setbacks.

Academic buoyancy and attainment

The positive outcomes of academic buoyancy are linked to the 5Cs.

Commitment is synonymous with Big Five conscientiousness (a personality trait), as well as newer constructs such as grit. Studies consistently find that conscientious students have a higher Grade Point Average (GPA).[7]. Duckworth’s studies have also discovered that grit is a trait found in a number of highly effective people, including West Point candidates and skilled spelling bee participants.[8]

Composure is a factor related to anxiety and the ability to regulate emotional reactions (trait neuroticism-emotional stability).

Resilience interventions in schools

Smith has been critical of current resilience interventions in schools, citing reviews that found methodological and practical flaws.[9]

Dray et al. found that resilience interventions are relatively messy, with mixed results, varying techniques, competing definitions and little in the way of defined outcomes.[10]

Leppin et al. had previously found a similar pattern of mixed results, along with a distinct lack of any agreed theoretical framework.[11]

Smith has proposed that schools move away from the traditional view of resilience and adopt a view that is focussed wholly on academic buoyancy.[12]

Criticisms

Professor Angie Hart of the University of Brighton, UK, has stated that an academic buoyancy approach can never do as much for children as ‘a resilience perspective that addresses systems, and issues of social justice, will do.’ Hart addresses the importance of systems and structures as well as the building of ‘character’ and ‘grit’.[13] In response to these criticisms, Smith stresses that there is no reason why buoyancy interventions can not be used in unison or in parallel with those aimed at increasing wellbeing and reducing inequalities, leading Smith to propose the addition of a 6th C - Community.[14]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

title: Academic buoyancy

question: What does the article say about the predictors of academic buoyancy?

answer: Five predictors of academic buoyancy are confidence (the belief in our ability to complete a given task), coordination or planning (the ability to meet deadlines), control (of our own learning), composure (low anxiety in stressful situations), and commitment or persistence. Later, Smith adds the 6th predictor - community.

question: What does the article say about what is academic buoyancy?

answer: Academic buoyancy is the ability of students to successfully deal with academic setbacks and challenges like poor grades, competing deadlines, exam pressure, difficult schoolwork, patches of poor performance, typical stress levels and daily pressures, threats to confidence due to poor grades, low-level stress and confidence, dips in motivation and engagement, and the way in which learners deal with negative feedback on schoolwork.

question: What does the story say about experiments that support Smith's theory?


text:
The President of the Bundestag (__) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag. Since the introduction of the office in 1949, thirteen people held the office. President of the current 19th Bundestag is, since 24 October 2017, Wolfgang Schäuble (CDU).[1]

List of

POLITICAL PARTIES

+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Portrait        | Name            | Term of office  | Party           |
+=================+=================+=================+=================+
| Took office     | Left office     | Duration        |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1949            | 1950            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Koehler”      |                 |                 |
|                 | | ERICH KÖHLER  |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1950            | 1954            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Ehlers”       |                 |                 |
|                 | | HERMANN       |                 |                 |
|                 | EHLERS          |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1954            | 1969            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Gerstenmeier, |                 |                 |
|                 | Eugen” | EUGEN  |                 |                 |
|                 | GERSTENMAIER    |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1969            | 1972            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Hassel,       |                 |                 |
|                 | Kai-Usw von” |  |                 |                 |
|                 | KAI-UWE VON     |                 |                 |
|                 | HASSEL          |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1972            | 1976            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Renger,       |                 |                 |
|                 | Annemarie” |    |                 |                 |
|                 | ANNEMARIE       |                 |                 |
|                 | RENGER          |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1976            | 1979            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Carstens,     |                 |                 |
|                 | Karl” | KARL    |                 |                 |
|                 | CARSTENS        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1979            | 1983            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Stuecklen,    |                 |                 |
|                 | Richard” |      |                 |                 |
|                 | RICHARD         |                 |                 |
|                 | STÜCKLEN        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1983            | 1984            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Barzel,       |                 |                 |
|                 | Rainer” |       |                 |                 |
|                 | RAINER BARZEL   |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1984            | 1988            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Jenninger,    |                 |                 |
|                 | Philipp” |      |                 |                 |
|                 | PHILIPP         |                 |                 |
|                 | JENNINGER       |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1988            | 1998            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Suessmuth,    |                 |                 |
|                 | Rita” | RITA    |                 |                 |
|                 | SÜSSMUTH        |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 1998            | 2005            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Thierse,      |                 |                 |
|                 | Wolfgang” |     |                 |                 |
|                 | WOLFGANG        |                 |                 |
|                 | THIERSE         |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 2005            | 2017            |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Lammert,      |                 |                 |
|                 | Norbert” |      |                 |                 |
|                 | NORBERT LAMMERT |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| []              | scope=“row”     | 2017            | _Incumbent_     |
|                 | style=“font-wei |                 |                 |
|                 | ght:normal”     |                 |                 |
|                 | data-sort-value |                 |                 |
|                 | =“Schauble,     |                 |                 |
|                 | Wolfgang” |     |                 |                 |
|                 | WOLFGANG        |                 |                 |
|                 | SCHÄUBLE        |                 |                 |
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Weblinks

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[1]

title: List of presidents of the Bundestag

question: Write a ~0 sentence summary.


text:
He woke up, the message flashing “End of Reel.” over and over, a hell of a way to start your day. He reached over, slapping at the deck on the bedside table before blindly finding the off button. As the Stimdeck wound down he removed the inputs tossing them on top of the small black deck and placed his bare feet on the cold floor. With his head in his hands he sighed trying to pull together the motivation to stand, to push himself out of bed and face the world. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fuzzy glow of the deck’s status lights and in it the image of a glowing lotus. He fumbled through the tapes, picking out the one with the holographic blossom on it, he held it in his hands, studying the petals. He had this one specially made, just for him. Just for today.

He’d always been able to take a punch, that’s part of what lead him into the ring, why he’d been one of the biggest names in boxing. There were only two times he’d ever been knocked on his ass, neither of them happened in the ring. The first time was on a blind date, Frank his manager set him up with his niece Molly. Molly, was a creature of infinite grace and the most beautiful woman he’d ever laid
eyes on. She had hair that reminded him of the way light looked if you caught it just right in a bead of honey, her smile was the thing that made him forget that he had three broken ribs and a busted nose. On top of the most stunning woman that he’d ever seen, Molly was brilliant. He never knew what a woman as smart as Molly had ever seen in a meat-head like him, maybe it was the security she felt when she leaned against him, maybe those deep blue eyes of her saw something in him that everyone else missed. He didn’t ask too many questions or think too hard about it, all he knew was that somehow he made her happy and that became all he wanted in the world. The second time was when he woke up beside her in bed to find her cold and lifeless.

It’s been five years, five years since she died. StimCorp covered the funeral, paid him a reasonable sum, if any sum could be called reasonable, and put safety checks in place so another accident didn’t happen. He’d always hated that, referring to it as “the accident”, it wasn’t an it was her, it was Molly. But none of that, the money the safety checks, referring to it as an accident, none of that changed that she was gone. Molly was gone and along with her the bright blue eyes, the golden hair and the reason to get out of bed, the reason to fight for anything.

Molly worked for StimCorp for fifteen years, doing research and development for them. It had paid well and allowed them to play with the newest toys and tech, including the first Stimdeck. She was
so excited when she brought their first deck home. The thing was the size of a full keyboard, maybe a bit bigger. She’d made him sit on the couch in their living room while she went on and on about the possibilities of being able to experience someone else’s memories first hand. Not just what they saw and heard, but what they smelled, tasted and felt. He remembered the way the sun had illuminated her
honey colored hair, the way her hands moved as rapidly as she talked. He remembered having to tell her to slow down as she talked so he could keep up. Molly hadn’t been able to tell him anything about the Stimdeck project for months, and now that she could it was a torrent of information and ideas pouring out of her. She showed him how the deck worked, where the inputs connected to it and how they fit on his temples, being patient with him as his thick fingers worked the inputs clumsily trying to get them in the right spots. Her soft hands gliding over his fingers guiding the inputs to the deck and then to his temples.

 StimCorp hadn’t been able to send any tapes for the deck home with her, but they did provide blanks and everything needed for them to record their own. They started out with small events to test the deck, dinner together one evening, a walk through the city at dusk and an afternoon in Molly’s garden. He sighed heavily remembering Molly’s garden. The smell of her roses, the way the wind from the ocean blew her hair back, even the way she shielded her eyes from the afternoon sun. That tape had always been his favorite, and Molly’s garden seemed a lifetime ago. A dream that the gray rain soaked city outside his high rise window could never imagine, a warmth the city seemed incapable of.

After a week of recording their own tapes and sharing them with each other, Molly brought home their first officially produced tape. It was a night out seen through the eyes of one of StimCorp’s young executives. Dinner at one of the city’s most expensive restaurants, dancing at one of the most exclusive clubs, and barreling down a seaside highway in a car not slated to be released to the public for another two years. This became the standard marketing tactic to show off the deck’s capabilities, “Live the life you want, not the one you have” became StimCorps motto. That night Molly fell asleep with the deck on, the seaside highway racing past her as she drifted off. The doctors said that when she woke up to the static at the end of the reel and it had wiped her mind. Something about the brain’s transition from delta to theta waves, he never was too interested in the details, all he knew was that Molly was gone. The half crooked smile, the gleam in her eyes when she laughed, the blush in her cheeks when she got excited, all of it gone. Just gone, no explanation, no preparation just an empty side of the bed where she should be, a hollow deserted kitchen and a garden turned barren.

When she first passed he’d see her around the house, she’d just turn the corner, he had just missed her but when he caught up there’d be no one there. He kept seeing her car in the drive way expecting her to walk in the front door any second only to remember the funeral. The day had been sunnier than it had any right to be, there was a small grave side service, and he’d even thrown the first handful of dirt on her casket. After the third time he found himself waiting by the door he sold the car. That made it easier to deal with he told himself, at least he didn’t expect her to open the front door anymore.

He spent the first year after everything happened slipping away, there never seemed a point to it anymore. He wasted away to a third of himself, a diet of frozen soy meals and vodka didn’t do much for keeping him filled out. His name still held weight in the ring though, enough to draw a crowd even if some of the crowds were in back alleys and weren’t sanctioned. He’d show up and get beaten. Broken
nose, bruised ribs, the physical pain was a nice distraction but after a while even that wasn’t enough for him to feel anything. After a while he was back to being as hollow as an empty booze bottle. He wanted
to feel something, anything even broken again.

After his last fight he woke up, drunk and nearly drowning in a city gutter as the city spat its cold impersonal rain down on him, another empty man who couldn’t hack it anymore. Desperate to feel anything he stumbled into the storage shed where he kept all of the things from his other life, his happy life. He came across Molly’s deck, not sure why he hadn’t thrown the damned thing away, he fit it on, and for a moment her smile flashed in front of his eyes, he could feel her fingers as they helped him guide the inputs into place. After that first flash of Molly’s smile he slipped into the world that the Stimdeck could offer him, he began to fill the hole in himself with journeys he never actually took, sights he’d never actually seen.

After a while, the joy in the decks wouldn’t last, he’d be left with pain, a pain of memories he never got to have with Molly. The things they never did together or said to each other, but at least the pain was something. The pain wasn’t hollow or empty or lonely. His tastes in tapes quickly spiraled downward as he tried to feel anything. He began looking for tapes on more taboo subjects, a junkie’s high, robberies, gang violence. But none of it seemed to fill the hole in him. He spent most of his money from the settlement and the sale of their house on his tapes trying to find something that would fill his void, something to spark him back to his old self. His apartment was covered in them now, but still nothing among them kept his interest, nothing kept his mind off of Molly, he always returned to dinner with her when he laid down to sleep. But today nothing motivated him as he sat by the side of his bed, barely away of his feet on the cold apartment floor. No junkie’s overdose, no gang shooting, no decadent sex scene, nothing held any appeal as he listened to the rain pour down and wash over the gray scale city. A life without Molly wasn’t something he ever wanted.

After a match one night he caught up with Frank, he asked him about some people who could work on a tape for him. After Molly’s passing StimCorp placed security measures on all of their tapes before they went out now to prevent another accident. Instead of static you got a message stating “End of Reel.” until you shut the deck down. This allowed the user’s brain to transition normally between the different states of sleep without incident. All of the tapes were now safe, the original tapes were recalled and the new safety measures added. That was unless you knew some people willing to fix them for you. Suicide by tape wasn’t uncommon but wasn’t reported on heavily either, it was one of those facts that usually only the desperate knew, and knew how to do. Frank nodded to him, said he knew a guy. Frank said he was sorry to see him go but knew that he just wasn’t the same without Molly and he’d given him the guy’s number.

He picked up the tape with the shimmering lotus on it once again, holding it in his hands feeling its weight, tracing his fingers over the surface, and studying the lotus’ petals. He slid the tape into the deck and lay back on the bed placing the inputs on he reached over and flipped the switch labelled “Play” and breathed the first easy breath he’d drawn in five years. existence around him grayed for a moment as the deck spun up, and then the world exploded into a sunny summer afternoon. The smell of roses and sea breeze washed over him. There she was again smiling at him. She was as beautiful as ever, her honey colored hair blowing in the wind, her smile as vivid as he remembered. The eyes that he fell in love with and woke up to on the best days of his life, once again looking back at him, tasting the salt in the air his heart began to fill, the void within himself shrinking. As Molly reached out to take his hand the world slipped into a state of static and he drifted off to sleep.

title: [SF] Molly's Garden

question: What does the story say about MMA?

question: What does the story say about Molly?

answer: Molly was Frank's (the narrator's manager) niece. She was a creature of infinite grace and the most beautiful woman the narrator has ever laid eyes on. She had hair that reminded him of the way the light looked when it gets caught in a bead of honey. Her smile was the thing that made him forget he had boxing injuries. She had bright blue eyes and the narrator loved her. Molly was stunning and brilliant. She worked in R&D for StimCorp for fifteen years and she got to play with the newest tech and toys the company designed, including the first Stimdeck. Unfortunately, Molly died while using the Stimdeck when she fell asleep with the deck still on, which wiped her mind.

question: What does the story say about the relationship between the narrator and Molly?

answer: The narrator met Molly, the niece of his manager, Frank, on a blind date. He still can't believe that a woman as smart as Molly is with a meat-head like him. He thinks that she saw something in him that everyone else missed, so he didn't ask too many questions. Molly felt secure when she was with him. He knew that he made her happy and that was all he wanted in the world. When Molly died, the narrator lost the very reason he got out of bed, his reason for everything. It broke him. He would imagine her around the house or her car in the driveway, only to remember her funeral. The narrator wasted away on a diet of vodka and frozen meals. He let himself get beat up in the ring because the physical pain distracted him from his emotional pain.

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

answer: The primary source of pain in the story is the death of Molly, who was the narrator's everything. All the money in the world, all the alcohol, and even getting beat up in the boxing ring wasn't enough to numb the pain of losing Molly to the very device that her company made. It was a senseless death that could've been avoided, had StimCorp put safety measures into the device.

question: Summarize how the main character changes throughout the story.

answer: The narrator was one of the biggest names in boxing because he could take a punch. He was never knocked down on his ass in the ring. The day he met Molly was the day everything changed. Molly was all he ever wanted in the world and when she died, he lost all reason and wasted to a third of himself. He would show up on to a fight, only to get beaten. Despite how many broken bones and bruises he suffered, these were no match for the pain of his loss. He became a drunk, broken, and empty man, a far cry from his days as one of the best boxers in the world.

question: Summarize the climactic event of the story.

answer: The narrator finally had enough. He was desperate. The life he had without Molly wasn't a life worth living anymore, so he talked to Frank about hooking him up with someone who could make a tape that would allow him to die as Molly did - hooked up to the Stimdeck. The narrator had a tape made of the best memory he had of Molly, the one in her garden. He saw her again, as beautiful as ever. He experienced that day again, all the sights, sounds, and smells - before slipping into a state of static and sleeping forever.


text:
In April 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. made his way to Memphis, Tennessee, where sanitation workers were striking for a pay raise with the support of local ministers. On April 3, King delivered his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech and made plans for a march to be held on April 5. But the evening of April 4, while at his lodgings at the Lorraine Motel, King was shot through the jaw. An hour later, he was pronounced dead at age 39.

Long before the public had any answers as to the identity of the assassin (a man named James Earl Ray, who pled guilty to the murder in March 1969 and was sentenced to life in prison, despite questions about the involvement of groups like the FBI or the Mafia), the nation was swept up in a frenzy of grief and anger. When King’s funeral was held the following Tuesday in Atlanta, tens of thousands of people gathered to watch the procession.

Despite King’s father expressing the family’s preference for nonviolence, in the 10 days following King’s death, nearly 200 cities experienced looting, arson or sniper fire, and 54 of those cities saw more than $100,000 in property damage. As Peter Levy writes in _The Great Uprising: Race Riots in Urban America During the 1960s_, “During Holy Week 1968, the United States experienced its greatest wave of social unrest since the Civil War.” Around 3,500 people were injured, 43 were killed and 27,000 arrested. Local and state governments, and President Lyndon Johnson, would deploy a collective total of 58,000 National Guardsmen and Army troops to assist law enforcement officers in quelling the violence.

King’s death wasn’t the only factor at play in the massive protests. Just weeks earlier, an 11-member commission established by President Lyndon B. Johnson had released its investigation of the 1967 race riots in a document called the Kerner Report, which provided broad explanations for the deadly upheavals. “Segregation and poverty have created in the racial ghetto a destructive environment totally unknown to most white Americans,” the report stated. “What white Americans have never fully understood—but what the Negro can never forget—is that white society is deeply implicated in the ghetto. White institutions created it, white institutions maintain it, and white society condones it.”

While the conditions the Kerner Report described—poverty, lack of access to housing, lack of economic opportunities and discrimination in the job market—may have come as a surprise to white Americans, the report was nothing new to the African-American community. And at the time of King’s death, all those problems remained, including the need for access to housing.

President Johnson openly acknowledged how painful King’s murder would be to African-American communities, in the context of all that they’d already suffered. In a meeting with civil rights leaders following news of King’s death, Johnson said, “If I were a kid in Harlem, I know what I’d be thinking right now. I’d be thinking that the whites have declared open season on my people, and they’re going to pick us off one by one unless I get a gun and pick them off first.” Although Johnson successfully pushed Congress to pass the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (which prohibited discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing) four days after the assassination, the legislative victory was a meager palliative in the face of the loss of Reverend King.

To better understand the days following King’s death, explore the responses of five cities across the country. While all were united in mourning the loss of a civil rights champion, the conditions in each city led to varying levels of upheaval.

Washington, D.C.

[DC-Riot-WR.jpg]
A soldier stands guard on the corner of 7th & N Street NW in Washington D.C. on April 8, 1986, with the ruins of buildings that were destroyed during the riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Library of Congress)
Of the dozens of cities involved in uprisings and demonstrations after King’s death, the nation’s capital experienced the most damage. By the end of 12 days of unrest, the city had experienced more than 1,200 fires and $24 million in insured property damage ($174 million in today’s currency). Economic historians would later describe the Washington, D.C. riot as on par with the Watts Riot of 1965 in Los Angeles and the Detroit and Newark riots of 1967 in terms of its destructiveness.

Economic conditions largely fueled the upheaval; African-Americans made up 55 percent of the city’s population by 1961, but were crammed into only 44 percent of the housing, and paid more for less space and fewer amenities, writes historian Dana Schaffer.

Although activist Stokely Carmichael, a leader of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee, encouraged businesses only to remain closed until King’s funeral, he couldn’t stop the crowds from turning to looting and arson. One young man who witnessed the rioting told Schaffer, “You could see smoke and flames on Georgia Avenue. And I just remember thinking, ‘Boy it’s not just like Watts. It’s here. It is happening _here_.’”

It wasn’t until President Johnson called in the National Guard that the rioting was finally quelled. By that time, 13 people had died, most of them in burning buildings. Around 7,600 people were arrested for looting and arson, many of them first-time offenders. The fires that ranged across multiple neighborhoods left 2,000 people homeless and nearly 5,000 jobless. It would take decades for the neighborhoods to fully recover, and when they did, it was mostly gentrifying white professionals reaping the benefit.

Chicago

[AP_6804070503_Chicago-WR.jpg]
Soldiers stand guard in front of a supermarket on 63rd Street on Chicago’s South Side on April 7, 1968. (AP Photo )
African-American communities in the Second City had a special relationship with King, who in 1966 lived in the poverty-stricken West Side while campaigning for open housing in the city. Almost immediately after news of King’s death arrived, looting and rioting began. One local of the West Side told the _Chicago Defender_ on April 6, “I feel this is the opening of the door through which will come violence. Because of the way Dr. King died, I can guarantee it’s gonna be rough here.”

By Friday evening, the day after King’s assassination, the first of 3,000 Illinois National Guard troops began arriving in the city and were met by sniper fire in West Side neighborhoods. Mayor Richard Daley ordered police to “shoot to kill any arsonist or anyone with a Molotov cocktail” and to “shoot to maim or cripple anyone looting any stores in our city.” By the time the protests came to an end, 11 people had died, of which seven deaths were by gunfire, reported the _Chicago Defender_. Nearly 3,000 more people were arrested for looting and arson.

As in Washington, protestors saw their actions in the broader context of segregation and inequality. “Violence is not synonymous with black,” wrote a columnist in the _Chicago Defender_ on April 20. “Who shot President Kennedy? Who shot King? The black revolt is a social protest against intolerable conditions that have been allowed to linger far too long.”

Baltimore

[AP_070117029598_Baltimore-WR.jpg]
One of four black men arrested by police in down Baltimore April 8, 1968 spreads his arms wide. (AP Photo)
Of all the cities that saw unrest in the wake of King’s assassination, Baltimore came second only to Washington in terms of damage. Although the crowds that gathered in East Baltimore on Saturday. April 6. began peacefully, holding a memorial service, several small incidents that evening quickly led to a curfew being set and the arrival of 6,000 National Guard troops. The protests that erupted thereafter led to nearly 1,000 businesses being set afire or ransacked; 6 people died and another 700 were injured, and property damage was estimated at $13.5 million (around $90 million in today’s currency), according to the Baltimore City Police Department.

It was a tumultuous, terrifying week for those living in the neighborhoods under siege from protestors and law enforcement. “The Holy Week Uprising engendered a great deal of fear. Fear of getting shot, of being bayonetted by the Guard, of losing one’s home, of not being able to find food or prescription medicine,” writes historian Peter Levy. Making matters worse was Maryland governor Spiro Agnew, who blamed African-American community leaders for not doing more to prevent the violence, describing them as “circuit riding, Hanoi visiting, caterwauling, riot inciting, burn America down type of leaders.” Agnew’s response to the riots, and to crime more generally, drew the attention of Richard Nixon, and led him to recruit Agnew as his vice presidential running mate later that year.

The upheaval continued until April 14, and only came to an end after more nearly 11,000 federal troops had been deployed in the city.

Kansas City

[AP_6804110796_Kansas-City-WR.jpg]
A police officer watches for a flash from a sniper’s rifle after police officers were fired on in Kansas City, Missouri, April 11, 1968. (AP Photo/William P. Straeter)
In a city stretched across two states, on the Kansas-Missouri border, Kansas City was a telling example of what could happen when a community’s desire for peaceful demonstrations were stymied. After King’s death, the Kansas City, Kansas School District canceled classes on Tuesday, April 9, so that students could stay home and watch the funeral. In Kansas City, Missouri, however, schools remained open.

“When school authorities rejected their request, the young people [of Kansas City, Missouri] began to demand that they be permitted to march to City Hall to protest,” recalled Revered David Fly, who participated in the marches that week. Initially, it seemed as if the students might achieve their desire to demonstrate; Mayor Ilus Davis ordered police to remove barricades they had installed in front of schools. He also attempted to march with the students to show his support. But for reasons that remain unclear—perhaps because a student threw an empty bottle at the police line—law enforcement unleashed canisters of gas into the crowd.

“Students began running as the police in riot helmets and plastic masks charged into the crowd with tear gas, mace, dogs and clubs,” Fly said. Over the next four days, vandalism and fires plagued the east side of the city in Missouri (Kansas City, Kansas was largely unaffected thanks to the proactive efforts of city officials to memorialize King). More than 1,700 National Guard troops joined police officers to disrupt the rioting and arrest nearly 300 people. By the end of the protests, 6 people had been killed and city damages totaled around $4 million.

New York City

[AP_680407071_NYC-WR.jpg]
New York City Mayor John Lindsay and civil rights leaders marched through Central Park on their way to a memorial service for the slain Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., in New York City on April 7, 1968. (AP Photo )
Despite President Johnson’s empathy toward the “little boy in Harlem” responding to King’s assassination, New York City proved to be one of the exceptions to the broader unrest. Although Harlem and some neighborhoods in Brooklyn experienced fires and looting, the damage was relatively minimal. This was, in part, due to the efforts of Mayor John Lindsay.

As deputy chair of the commission that wrote the Kerner Report, Lindsay was well aware of structural inequality and the problems that plagued African-American communities. He pushed the Kerner Commission to demand federal spending efforts to undo decades of segregation and racism. When Lindsay learned of King’s assassination, he ignored the advice of aides and immediately headed to Harlem, writes historian Clay Risen, author of _A Nation on Fire: America in the Wake of the King Assassination_. At 8th Avenue and 125th Street, Lindsay asked police to take their barricades down and addressed the growing crowd, emphasizing his regret that the death happened. Lindsay also met with students marching from City University of New York and civil rights leaders.

Although 5,000 police officers and firemen were deployed around the area, and some arrests were made, the city emerged from the weekend relatively unscathed. “Everyone agreed that Lindsay had made a huge difference by showing up at a time when many mayors across the country were hiding out in bunker-like emergency operations centers,” Risen writes.

question: What does the article say about the aftermath of King's death?

answer: Following King's death, nearly 200 cities experienced looting, arson, or sniper fire. It also resulted in more than $100,000 in property damage in 54 cities. His death resulted in massive protests. Around 3,500 people were injured, 43 were killed, and 27,000 were arrested.

question: Summarize the events in Chicago.

answer: Looting and rioting began almost immediately after news of King's death arrived. By Friday evening, Illinois National Guard troops arrived in the city and were met by sniper fire. By the end of the protests, 11 people had died and nearly 3000 more were arrested.

question: What does the article say about the motivation for King's murder?


text:
NOAH HERSHKOWITZ (August 16, 1941 – November 13, 2020) was an American experimental plasma physicist.[1][2] He was known for his pioneering research on the understanding of plasma sheaths, solitons and double layers in plasmas,[3] as well as the development of the emissive probe which measures the plasma potential (i.e. the electric potential within a plasma sheath).[4][5][6]

In 2004, Hershkowitz was co-awarded the 2004 James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics for his contributions to the field of low-temperature plasmas.[7] He was also awarded the 2015 IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award for his research and education of basic and applied plasma science.[8]

Early life and career

Hershkowitz obtained a bachelor's degree from Union College in 1962 and a Ph.D. in physics from Johns Hopkins University in 1966. Upon graduation, Hershkowitz remained at the university to become an instructor in physics until 1967, where he was employed as assistant professor at the University of Iowa until 1980. During this time between 1974 and 1975, he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. Between 1980 and 1981, he was a visiting professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. In 1981, he became a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and was the Irving Langmuir Professor of Engineering Physics.[9]

In 1992, Hershkowitz founded the journal _Plasma Sources Science and Technology_ as the editor-in-chief.[10]

Scientific contributions

Hershkowitz' work on low temperature plasmas included radio frequency wave heating,[11][12] sheath physics,[13] potential profiles,[14] diagnostic probes[15][16] and the industrial applications of plasmas.

His work also has applications in magnetic confinement fusion (e.g. tokamaks, magnetic mirrors).[17][18]

Honors and awards

Hershkowitz has been a fellow of the American Physical Society and the IEEE since 1981.

In 2004, Hershkowitz was jointly awarded the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics with Valery Godyak for his research on low-temperature plasmas.[19] In 2015, he received the IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award for “_innovative research and inspiring education in basic and applied plasma science_”.[20]

[1]  College of Engineering @ The University of Wisconsin-Madison|url=https://directory.engr.wisc.edu/ep/faculty/hershkowitz_noah%7Caccess-date=2020-02-27%7Clanguage=en-US}}

[2]  Madison.com|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/madison/name/noah-hershkowitz-obituary?pid=197124530%7Curl-status=live%7Carchive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118181845/https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/madison/name/noah-hershkowitz-obituary?pid=197124530%7Carchive-date=2020-11-18%7Caccess-date=2020-11-18%7Cwebsite=www.legacy.com}}

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title: Noah Hershkowitz

question: What does the text say about particle physics?

question: What does the text say about Noah Hershkowitz's personal life, education, and early career?

answer: American experimental plasma physicist Noah Hershkowitz was born on August 16, 1941. He got his bachelor's degree from Union College in 1962 and a Ph.D. in physics from John Hopkins University in 1966. Hershkowitz stayed at the university after graduation and became an instructor in physics until 1967. He was employed as an assistant professor at the Univerity of Iowa until 1980. Hershkowitz was a visiting professor at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1974 to 1975. Between 1980 and 1981, he was a visiting professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Hershkowitz became a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was the Irving Langmuir Professor of Engineering Physics. He died on November 13, 2020.

question: What does the text say about Hershkowitz's contributions to science?

answer: Hershkowitz founded the journal "Plasma Sources Science and Technology" as the editor-in-chief in 1992. He was known for his pioneering research on the understanding of plasma sheaths, solutions, and double layers in plasmas, as well as the development of the emissive probe that measures plasma potential. His work on low-temperature plasmas included radio frequency wave heating, sheath physics, potential profiles, diagnostic probes, and the industrial applications of plasmas. Hershkowitz's work also has applications in magnetic confinement fusion, such as tokamaks, magnetic mirrors, and others.

question: What does the text say about Hershkowitz's awards and honors?

answer: Hershkowitz has been a fellow of the American Physical Society and the IEEE since 1981. In 2004, he was jointly awarded the James Clerk Maxwell Prize for Plasma Physics with Valery Godyak for his research on low-temperature plasmas. In 2015, he received the IEEE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award for "innovative research and inspiring education in basic and applied plasma science.


text:
Dear /r/ShortStories,

I just finished an english course which had the benefit of an amazingly inspirational teacher. That means I recently got into writing; I've done some shorts here and there, and I mostly kept these to myself, but I recently became confident enough to share some of these stories. That said, I've also come to appreciate honest criticism as a way to grow stronger.

Thank you for taking the time to read it.

A Trip To the Dentist
-

A few years ago I read an article about a man who had gotten into trouble when a newspaper reporter learned that he was operating a “dental clinic” in his basement. He managed to brush off the reporter by saying that it was his own private museum, but by then he became somewhat notorious for actually doing dental work.

This got me thinking two things: first, whenever I go to a museum, most of the exhibits aren’t in any shape to be doing what they were originally meant to be doing. Ever see an axe at the museum? They’re all rusty and missing bits, and they’d probably vapourize under the pressure of trying to get stuck in a tree. I think the reason I’ve never seen much in the way of dentistry at the Royal Ontario Museum is because they’re afraid it would scare people away from the museum and terrify what few people otherwise brave the dentist today!

I’m one of the lucky few who’s never had a bad experience at the dentist, so a few years ago, when I hadn’t gotten a proper dental cleaning in a decade, it wasn’t out of fear, but out of ignorance. When I think about gaps in what I think I know, I try to fill them in, and that was my second thought: that with the Internet, you can learn ANYTHING! We have the combined power of Wikipedia and YouTube, and surely someone saw a void in the at-home orthodontist video market. And so, keen to learn about something new, I unassumingly decided to look up dentistry.

What a horrific mistake that was…

There were a few videos, with some cautionary messages at the beginning. Usually it was people describing the bone-melting acids they’d use to etch the surface of a tooth, followed by details skimming over the dangers of the medical-grade epoxies they use to seal up valleys and cracks. Amateur dentists take great pride in their work, and with good reason: few people know anyone who talks about their surgical hobbies, and I imagine fewer still would be eager to assist with performing surgery. They need to act solo.

Novocain can’t exactly be bought off the shelf, either – the only practical solution is to either take a pile of pain killers (which makes it hard to co-ordinate) or “go clean”, without taking anything to prepare (due to the potential of extreme pain, this makes it harder to co-ordinate). And then the bleeding. And then the diseases, not from the original cavity, but from the botches and failures! I’ve read about tattoo artists who can ink their own skin, but slipping means either going with the flow or covering up, not trying to find a donor set of teeth while wrangling penicillin from strangers on a long weekend; patching a tooth isn’t a two-hour chore.

The great news is that learning and seeing these horrors redoubled my intention to never, ever let things get so bad that I’d become like one of those gruesome images. In fact, any lingering fear of dentists evaporated into respect. I go to the George Brown Wave Clinic for annual cleanings now, and in the process, ironically or not, I’ve even learned a lot about dental hygiene. I even became an exhibit myself once – I still have my wisdoms, making for a full set of teeth. One student hygienists described me as the weirdest patient they’d ever had, but she brought out a tray of dental tools and challenged me to identify the various weapons of oral warfare - I guess that’s a plus. I find it curious that the periodontal probe they use has a black-and-yellow waspy look – that shit terrifies me.

I’m also deathly afraid of museums.

title: [NF] A Trip To the Dentist

question: Explain how the story fits its genre.

answer: The non-fiction elements are represented by the casual voice of the narrator and the anecdotal tone of the information.

question: Why did the narrator watch dentistry videos?

answer: They hadn't been to the dentist in a while and were curious about how it worked. With all the information available online, they decided to indulge their curiosity.

question: Explain the narrator's fear of the dentist.

answer: The narrator did not initially have any fear of the dentist, and after being horrified at amateur dentistry videos, they had more fear of a dental emergency than going to the dentist.

question: Explain the correlation between dentists and museums.

answer: The narrator read about a dentistry museum, which prompted the rest of the piece.

question: Is the narrator a character separate from the author?

answer: No, this is a first-person non-fiction piece of writing in which the author themselves narrates their experience.


text:
EARTH CITY, Mo. — If Nick Foles really is the answer at quarterback for the Rams this season, then the questions about Tavon Austin’s production might finally cease. See how that works? Shore up the Rams’ long-standing issues at the game’s most critical position, and the ripple effect promises to lead in a lot of different positive directions.

That’s the plan at least in St. Louis, where arguably no one stands to benefit more from Foles's arrival than Austin, the undersized receiver-return specialist whose play has yet to live up to the lofty expectations that came with the Rams trading up to select him eighth overall in the 2013 draft, making him the first receiver taken.

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Austin hears the steady background noise as he enters his pivotal third NFL season. He knows it’s time to show more than flashes of the tantalizing and versatile skill set that made him a top 10 pick. But he also realizes his first two years in the NFL featured four different Rams quarterbacks throwing to him, and 25 of those 32 games were started by the likes of career backups Kellen Clemens (nine), Shaun Hill (eight) and Austin Davis (eight). Sam Bradford, the Rams’ oft-injured franchise passer, played just seven games with Austin, losing most of the past two years to season-ending ACL tears. That most definitely was not the plan.

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But enter Foles, the former Eagles starter who was traded to St. Louis in exchange for Bradford, and add in the elevation of Rams quarterbacks coach Frank Cignetti to offensive coordinator in place of the departed Brian Schottenheimer, and there’s hope that a new quarterback and new play-caller will translate to a dramatically new level of playmaking impact by Austin. Sounds like a plausible preseason storyline, but only time will tell if it comes to pass.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that his production level should increase,” fourth-year Rams coach Jeff Fisher says following the first full-pads practice of training camp at the team’s suburban St. Louis complex. “I think one of the key things for us as we move forward is Nick and the fact that he’s 6'5" and can see Tavon and get the ball to him. That was the plan with Sam [Bradford is 6'4"], but it didn’t happen. He didn’t really have Sam throwing him the ball for two years.

“This has nothing to do with Tavon. It’s not a reflection on what he’s done. Tavon has done everything he possibly can. He’s in great shape, and he’s highly talented and a passionate teammate. This has been more about the circumstances of our situation. This potentially could be a breakout year for him. Because he’s got the potential to win outside and inside.”

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So the long and short of it in St. Louis seems to be that Foles’ height and vision could be the difference-making element to bring out the best in the 5'8" Austin, in a way that the 6'2" Austin and 6'2" Clemens couldn’t. (Hill is 6'5", but I digress.) Fisher and Rams general manager Les Snead both made the point to me that Foles’s size could prove very beneficial to Austin, and in theory, I get that. But a simple sense of quarterback stability combined with the balancing threat of an improved running game led by Todd Gurley might truly be the key to getting Austin the ball in space, thus unlocking his big-play potential.

It doesn’t hurt that Austin senses the urgency of his situation, after his production dropped noticeably in 2014, with his receptions falling from 40 in '13 to 31 last year and corresponding dips in receiving yardage (418 to 242), touchdown catches (four to zero) and targets (69 to 44). Though he also contributed as both a rusher (36 carries for 224 yards and two scores) and a punt returner (35 for 391 yards, one touchdown and an 11.2 average), Austin has to become far more than a return specialist and gadget-play threat if the Rams are to get enough return on the investment of trading up to No. 8 to land him.

“It can kind of get to you,” Austin said of the bust chatter that surrounds his first two seasons in St. Louis. “But anybody who really knows football, they kind of know what’s going on. I’ve been through four or five quarterbacks in the past two years, and that’s not making excuses. But I’ve had my glimpses, and had my times when I came on. And I had my times when I wasn’t playing too much. For the most part, it’s out of my hands. All I can do is come in and work hard and hope my number is called.”

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It’s early in the process, but Cignetti is said to have a better feel than Schottenheimer ever did for how to best utilize Austin’s speed and elusiveness, and will more fully integrate him into the scheme. The new offensive coordinator has also lauded Austin’s focus and commitment this off-season, pointing out how much his strong classroom work has translated to the practice field. In the opening days of camp, at least, Foles and Austin seem to have an emerging connection, with the new quarterback looking early and often for him, especially when he lines up in the slot.

“I’ve been making some good plays out here and that started in OTAs,” Austin says. “I basically stayed here the whole off-season and didn’t really go anywhere. I stayed here and worked out with the trainers, put a couple pounds on me and got a little bigger [he’s listed at 176 pounds]. I think if Nick stays healthy and I stay healthy, we’re going to go from there and make some plays.”

Fisher promises more creativity in how the Rams use Austin, with or without the ball in his hands.

“I think you’ll see more of an attempt to either get the ball to him in space as a runner, as an outside runner, as an underneath receiver, as a deep receiver and also, unfortunately for his case, as a decoy,” he says. “Because people react to him, defenses react, when he’s in the game. People are really concerned about him on offense. Opponents don’t want the ball in his hands. And we do have other options this year. We only have one ball.”

The off-season theme in St. Louis has been that the Rams, in a bit of a throwback to Fisher teams of old, will largely try to ride a talented defense that returns 11 starters and a Gurley-led running game to success this season, with the firm belief that the former Georgia rusher will be one of the NFL’s next superstars once he’s fully recovered from last November’s ACL surgery. But this is still today’s NFL, and you’ve got to throw the ball to build a lead, in order to put games away with the running game and defense.

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“We can’t wait until Gurley comes, because it’ll definitely take a load off of us,” Austin says. “But one thing we know, we can’t run the football all day, because you’ve definitely got to pass it at some point. Short passes or deep passes, it’s not going to be like last year or the year before, when they played nine in the box on us. They can’t do that no more.”

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With the Rams largely in survival mode on offense the past two seasons, starting a backup quarterback so often, Austin’s development as a playmaking threat has been anything but a front-burner issue. But his time appears to have arrived, and St. Louis can’t afford the luxury of not getting more production out of the former West Virginia star.

“When you’re playing your backup quarterback, you get into the mode of being less willing to be really creative and you’re just trying to figure out how are we going to win the game?” Snead said. “So all those storms, all the adversity probably limited his production. Is that the whole story? No. I mean, he’s got to do his part.

“But I tell him, ‘Just play.’ He can feel the pressure of, ‘Okay, I should be producing more.’ Sometimes you want him to just relax, because he’s trying to live up to the standards and expectations. So you’ve got to just let him go. He’s hungry to succeed. The guy is like that Kentucky Derby horse. Man, he’s at the gate and ready to go, ready to break. He wants it so bad.”

And the Rams badly need him to be the force they drafted. This NFL season promises to be a unique one in St. Louis, in almost any scenario. Relocation issues aside, if the Rams are to make a move this year in the NFC West standings, it’s time Austin finally provides more answers than questions.

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[Baltimore-Ravens-Justin-Forsett-Joe-Flacco.jpg]

question: Summarize the main event.

answer: NFL quarterback Nick Foles joins the Rams' team. The author speculates that Foles' arrival may reduce questions about Tavon Austin's game. There is a lot of hope set on Foley's addition to the team, as well as a lot of pressure on Austin to up his game. Jeff Fisher, coach for the Rams, thinks that Foles will be a good match for Austin on the team.

question: What does the text say about Jeremy Macklin's personal life?


text:
Stephen Smith worked at an AT&T call center in Meriden, Connecticut, for over 20 years before the giant telecoms company announced it was closing the city’s three call centers in February 2019.

“At 46 years old, I’m looking for a new job,” Smith said. “They basically told us we either need to move south or lose our job. It was out of the blue. We had no idea.”

Smith and about 90 of his colleagues were offered severance packages or the option to relocate to Georgia or Tennessee. But for most workers who have spouses with their own careers, elderly parents nearby in need of care, or children still in school, relocating on a whim isn’t an option.

These sudden mass layoffs have become increasingly common for workers at AT&T and many other big firms. But it was not meant to be that way.

[Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T.]

Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T. Photograph: Laurent Gillieron/EPA
AT&T’s CEO, Randall Stephenson,promised in November 2017 to invest $1bn in capital expenditure and create 7,000 new jobs at the company if Trump’s hugely controversial tax cut bill passed. Many opponents had slammed the cuts as a corporate giveaway that benefited the super-rich. But big firms lobbied for it, saying – as AT&T did – that it would fund job-creating expansions.

The bill was voted into law in December 2017, reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. AT&T’s benefit was a tax windfall of $21bn and an additional estimated $3bn annually. But instead of creating jobs and increasing investment into the company, AT&T has eliminated 23,328 jobs since the tax cut bill was passed, according to a recent report by the Communications Workers of America. The CWA also said AT&T reducedtheir capital investments by $1.4bn.

“The promises that were made from that legislation have not been fulfilled,” said Betsy Lafontaine, an AT&T call center employee in Appleton, Wisconsin, for nearly 30 years who was laid off after her center was shut down in March 2019.

An AT&T representative told the Guardian: “We continue to hire in areas where we’re seeing increasing demand for products and services, but technology is changing rapidly and that affects hiring and employment. There are fewer jobs in parts of the business that are declining and facing technology shifts.”

AT&T is among several large corporations whose CEOs announced support of the Trump tax cut bill by claiming if the legislation passed, their companies would ensure workers reaped benefits from it. But a report published on 22 May by the Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan thinktank for members of Congress, found the tax cuts did not significantly affect the economy or boost wages, but benefited investors more than anyone else.

“The evidence continues to mount that the Trump-GOP tax cuts were a scam, a giant bait-and-switch that promised workers big pay raises, a lot more jobs and new investments, but they largely enriched CEOs and the already wealthy,” said Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness.

He noted only 4% of the US workforce saw any sort of pay increase or bonus from the tax cuts. Meanwhile, data collected by ATF shows corporations have cut thousands of jobs since the tax cuts were passed, while using tax windfalls to buy back $1tn of their own stock, which primarily benefits corporate executives and wealthy investors since half of all Americansown no stock.

[General Motors’ chair and CEO, Mary Barra.]

General Motors’ chair and CEO, Mary Barra. Photograph: Joshua Lott/Getty Images
General Motors’ CEO, Mary Barra, was one of Trump’s economic advisers on tax reform, and the company vocally supportedworking with the Trump administration on tax reform “that is beneficial to the US economy, beneficial to US manufacturing and creates jobs”.

In November 2018, GM announced it would cease operations at five plants in Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Ontario, Canada, resulting in the loss of more than 14,000 jobs in those communities. As GM is closing plants, the company has spent $10bn since 2015 on stock buybacks, and made a net profit of over $8bn despite paying no federal taxes in 2018. GM reported a tax windfall of $157m in the first three months of 2018 due to the Trump tax cut.

Daniel Adams worked at the General Motors plant in Lordstown, Ohio, for more than 25 years and is one of hundreds of workers faced with either being forced to uproot and relocate their families to continue employment at GM, or hope the company will cut a deal with the UAW union to reopen the plant.

“It’s like having a gun to your head,” Adams said. “They’re not only hurting workers, they’re hurting families.”

A GM representative said: “In November, we announced that four US plants would be on ‘unallocated status’ (meaning they don’t have a product assigned to them). The largest of the affected plants was our Lordstown Complex, which built compact sedans. We took the action because consumer demand has been rapidly shifting away from sedans and toward crossovers and trucks.”

[Donald Trump displays his signature after signing the tax cut bill on 22 December 2017.]

Donald Trump displays his signature after signing the tax cut bill on 22 December 2017. Photograph: Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Wells Fargo, the fourth largest bank in the US by assets, tied a minimum wage increase of $15 an hour to the Trump tax cuts and pledged increased investments in workers. The company is estimated to save $3.7bn annually due to the Trump tax cut. The bank’s 2018 tax savings were 47 times more than the costs of its minimum wage increases. Rather than invest in its workforce, Wells Fargo bought back 350m shares in early 2018, worthabout $22.6bn, increased CEO salary by 36%, and announced plans in September 2018 to eliminate at least 26,000 jobs in the US over the next three years as many of those positions are being sentoverseas.

“Nobody here saw any of that benefit; if anything, quite the opposite. They changed our healthcare plans in 2019, so the costs for everyone went up, the costs for prescriptions went up,” said Mark Willie, a Wells Fargo office employee in Des Moines, Iowa. “We need a voice because we’re often forgotten about in pursuit of profits, and that’s evident with the jobs being sent overseas.”

Wells Fargo said: “Savings from tax reform enabled Wells Fargo to further invest in our team members and communities. We have raised the minimum US hourly pay rate to $15 per hour, increased philanthropic support by 55% in 2018 to $444m, and we will target 2% of our after-tax profits for corporate philanthropy.”

question: Why does the article contend that the massive layoffs happening in big companies wasn't supposed to be that way?

answer: Big firms had lobbied for tax cuts saying that they would use the money to invest in their companies and create jobs. Opponents said that the cuts would benefit the super-rich. The latter is exactly what happened. Investors benefited while big companies reduced investment and laid off workers.

question: What did big business do with the money that they received from the tax custs

answer: Businesses used the tax windfalls to buy back $1 trillion of their own stock. This benefited investors and corporate executives. At the same time, they closed plants forcing people to relocate or lose their jobs. Only 4% of workers received increases or bonuses from the tax cuts.

question: Why did companies who had backed the tax cuts still lay people off?

answer: They offered a variety of reasons.AT&T claimed that technological changes had affected how many people they needed in various parts of the business. GM claimed that market requirements had changed and they were just responding to the changes and Wells Fargo were eliminating jobs because of a jobs export.

question: Why did Trump reduce corporate tax?