text:
The boy had no idea how long he sat in the corner, waiting. It was cold, and even though he had a blanket, there was little it could do against the stony chill that seemed to emanate from every wall in the room. The food had come, cold porridge in a wooden bowl, through the slat at the bottom of the door. He hadn't even touched it yet. All he wanted to do was sleep, but it was too cold, to uncomfortable. Before, he had had a bed, an actual, real bed, and he would have given anything for that plain white room right then.

He sat shivering in the corner, the thin wool blanket wrapped around his shoulders, and let his mind wonder. If he could only get some sleep, maybe, just maybe, he could get away. After all, it was after he had changed things in his dream that he had found himself in the cell instead of the white room, and from the look of his clothes and the  sporadic memories, or images, as he referred to them in his mind, he had been in the dank musty cell for some time.

For hours he sat, huddled in the corner, his only friend a rat who had found it's way into the cell somehow, and even the rat had barely touched the horrid porridge, and had left and not returned. It was a long time before anything happened at all, and when it did, it was not but the slat at the bottom of the door sliding open to reveal another bowl, and then sliding shut again. The boy realized that this was breakfast, and that he had stayed awake all night. Surely sleep would find him soon.

It did.

But he had no dreams.

He woke to a small tapping noise, like a birds beak on a window sill, and he took a moment to come to and get the sleep from his eyes and brain. Then he realized; *he hadn't dreamed*! How could that be? He always dreamed. Always. And always the same dream. So what happened? It was then that he realized the tapping sound. He sat very still for a moment, and began to notice a rhythm to the tapping; three quick taps, then two slow ones, then three fast, then four slow. He didn't know what they meant, but something about them lifted his spirits and he almost laughed out loud. But he didn't know why. The tapping seemed to be coming from the wall on his left, behind the cot, and he slowly crawled over to it, pushing the cot out of the way and putting his ear to the brick wall. Suddenly the tapping stopped. The boy pulled his head away from the wall and looked at it as though a face was going to appear in the cold smooth stone. For several minutes he sat crouched there, then he had an idea. It was so obvious, he kicked himself mentally for not thinking of it before. He scrambled back to the bowl of porridge and grabbed the spoon, then moved back to the wall. He hesitated only a moment, then he began to tap the same rhythm into the stone wall.

*taptaptap. tap-tap. taptaptap. tap-tap-tap-tap.* And repeat.

He did the whole sequence three times, then stopped. After a few seconds the tapping resumed from the wall, and the boy couldn't help but smile. There was someone there, someone on the other side of his wall, and they were trying to communicate. But what? Suddenly another thought came to him. A crazy, wonderful, brilliant, dangerous thought. But he needed to sleep. He needed to dream. And he hadn't dreamed the last time he slept. He need to sleep, and he needed to dream.

He spent the rest of the day tapping on the wall with the other person. He had decided it was another boy, probably his age, maybe even from the same orphanage, someone he might recognize. Hopefully one of the boys he had gotten along with, and not one of the bigger bullies.

That night, when the porridge came, he forced himself to eat some. After all, how was he to get any sleep on an empty stomach? Then he curled himself into as tight a ball as possible and wrapped the wool blanket around himself like a cocoon, and prayed that sleep would find him quickly, and that he would dream. He stared at the stone wall for a while, then closed his eyes and started counting to a thousand. And suddenly, he was back in the orphanage...

*The noise woke him, and he was ready for it. He quickly jumped off the bed and ran to great the two men coming to get him.

"I am coming with you," he said to the two men. He saw the looks of shock cross their faces, but they simply stepped aside and let him walk between them. The one on the left grabbed his arm as though to guide the boy, and he ripped his arm free.

"I can walk fine, thanks," he said as condescendingly as possible. The man did not try to grab him again. They made their way to the car outside and the boy climbed in the back. And the car began to drive...*

He snapped wide a wake, and had to squint at the light spilling through from the balcony. He let his eyes adjust a moment, then looked around... and his jaw fell to the floor.

He was in a huge room, quite possibly the largest room he had ever seen occupied by only one person before. The walls were a bright yellow, and there were paintings hanging sporadically across the walls. There was a door way that led out into the hall, he knew, from the memories rushing into his head, and the hall was one of many in the mansion. The sunlight was spilling through the balcony doors, and it fell warm on his face. the bed was a huge four-poster, with curtains pinned back on the posts so as the let in the light, and the mattress was so soft and warm, and the blankets thick and wonderful. He jumped off the bed and walked out onto the balcony. And this time he *did* laugh out loud.

He was standing on a cliff on the sea, and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The waves crashed against the base of the cliff and billowed in white and blue and green, and the sun was rising over the water, the bright yellow sun, and it warmed everything it touched. He simply stood there and let the warmth wash over him for  moment. Suddenly he heard the shuffling of feet from the room behind him, and he spun around and almost screamed.

"Your breakfast for you, young master," said the Fat Lady. She held a tray of food in her arms, and the smell, a smell the boy could remember, but had never truly had. It was amazing. The sweetest, most mouthwatering smell ever. He walked into the room cautiously, eyeing the Fat Lady.

"Put it just there," he said, pointing to the small table by his bed. He knew this was where he always had her place the tray.

The fat lady put the tray on the table and made a small bow, then simply stood there.

"What do want?" the boy asked harshly. The Fat Lady flinched at his tone, and he had a memory, somewhere, and image. A very confusing, disturbing, image. Of them on the beach together, and he was laughing, and was sitting reading a book, and he felt something for her, felt that she could be something to him.

The boy pushed the images from his mind. He had seen what this lady could do, what she would become, had he not turned things around.

"Get out out," he snapped at her. He saw her look at him with a hurt, confused look on her face, but then she made the same small bow and left. He went over to the table and, sitting at the edge of his bed, began picking at the food. Then he checked himself. What was he doing? He was there on a mission, that was it, and he needed to get it done. Right? But how, really, and the food was just sitting there. What could it hurt to eat a bit of it.

The first bight was delicious, like heaven in his mouth, and he took his time chewing. then he swallowed. Then he took another bite. And another. Soon the entire tray was polished off, and he lay back on his bed a moment, and his eyes felt heavy. But he had just woken up, hadn't he? Why was he so tired? He had something to do, he couldn't go back to sleep, not now. Not now...

*The dream was different. He wasn't in the orphanage, he was in the house, with his imaginary parents, and the father sitting at the dinner table talking about his day, and his sister, sitting across from him, looked at him, and the question, the question he had never heard, came from her lips.

"Why?"

Why? That was it? Why? And the boy thought about it a moment, then replied, "Why not?", and a smile began to form on his sisters lips, and then he was smiling, but then the world was shaking....*

And they were gone, and there was a face above his own, a face he did not recognize, the face of an old man with not hair and a crooked nose, and he tried to move, but couldn't. He looked at his feet and hands and saw that they were clamped to the chair he was now sitting in, and he turned his head this way and that, taking everything in, trying to find a way out.

"You cannot escape, not here," said the old man, a cruel smile revealing crooked yellow teeth. "Here, you can't even sleep, so you can't change it."

The boy looked at the man, shocked. How did he know? Who was he? The boy tried to ask a question, but nothing came out of his mouth. He felt as though every fiber of his body was on fire, and sizzling for action, needing to move. He was awake. So awake. He felt as though he would never sleep again, and the thought made his heart fill with dread.

    TO BE CONTINUED

title: The Boy Who Dreamed: Part Two

question: What does the story say about being trapped?

answer: The boy is first stuck in a cell where he seems to have been trapped for some time. The only way he is able to escape it is when he dreams. At the end of the story the boy finds himself completely trapped when he wakes to a man telling him he cannot escape here. The boy's hands and feet are clamped to the chair he sits in and he's told he can't sleep. Without sleep, the boy can't dream and is completely stuck.

question: Summarize what happens when the narrator wakes in the huge room.

answer: In the boy's dream mission, he's in one of the largest rooms he's ever seen in a mansion on the sea. He's in a regal bed and is being served breakfast by the Fat Lady, who refers to him as "young master". He speaks harshly to the Fat Lady and it causes him to have a disturbing image in his head. He's seen what this lady could do if he hadn't turned things around. The food she gives him is irresistible and, despite being on a mission, the boy eats all of it. The food causes him to fall asleep before he's ready.

question: Summarize what happens at the end of the story.

answer: After the boy falls asleep from the food from the Fat Lady, he has a dream that he is in the house with his sister and imaginary parents. This dream quickly disappears, and he is faced by a man who tells him he cannot escape. He tells the boy he can't sleep and the boy notices his hands and feet are clamped to a chair. The boy tries to ask the man how he knows he uses dreams to escape, but nothing comes out of his mouth. His inability to move and the feeling of being so awake causes him to panic.

question: What does the text say about the narrator's love interest?

question: What does the text say about food?

answer: When the boy is stuck in the cell, his only meal is a bowl of porridge. He seems to have to eat this every day. He described the porridge as so horrible that not even a rat would eat it. During a dream he has, the Fat Lady gives him some food when he wakes up. The boy describes it as having the most mouthwatering scent ever. He is unable to resist this food despite him being on a mission. The food is heaven in his mouth and ends up causing him to fall asleep.


split: test

text:
[1851 plasterwork at Gawthorpe Hall, showing arms of Sir James Phillips Kay-Shuttleworth, 1st Baronet, with inescutcheon of pretence for his wife]

SIR JAMES PHILLIPS KAY-SHUTTLEWORTH, 1ST BARONET (20 July 1804[1] – 26 May 1877) (born JAMES KAY) of Gawthorpe Hall, Lancashire, was a British politician and educationist.[2] He founded a further-education college that would eventually become a university.

Early life

He was born James Kay at Rochdale, Lancashire, the son of Robert Kay. He was the brother of Joseph Kay and of Sir Edward Ebenezer Kay.[3]

Career

At first engaged in a Rochdale bank,[4] in 1824 he became a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. Settling in Manchester about 1827, he was instrumental in setting up the Manchester Statistical Society. He worked for the Ardwick and Ancoats Dispensary. While still known simply as Dr. James Kay, he wrote _The Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Class Employed in the Cotton Manufacture in Manchester_ (1832), which was cited by Friedrich Engels in _The Condition of the Working Class in England_. The experience which he thus gained of the conditions of the poor in the Lancashire factory districts, together with his interest in economic science, led to his appointment in 1835 as poor law commissioner in Norfolk and Suffolk and later in the London districts. In 1839 he was appointed first secretary of the committee formed by the Privy Council to administer the Government grant for the public education in Britain.[5]

In 1840, he founded with E. Carleton Tufnell, the Battersea Normal College for the training of teachers of pauper children.[6] This became the College of St Mark and St John at Battersea, London and later the University College Plymouth St Mark & St John. In 2012 it obtained full university status as the University of St Mark & St John. The original college was the first training college for school teachers; today's system of national school education, with public inspection, trained teachers and its support by state as well as local funds, is largely due to the original founders initiative.[7]

Later life

[Funerary monument, Brompton Cemetery, London] A breakdown in his health led him to resign his post on the committee in 1849,[8] but recovery enabled him to take an active part in the working of the central relief committee instituted under Lord Derby, during the Lancashire cotton famine of 1861–1865. He was created a baronet of Gawthorpe Hall in the County Palatine of Lancaster in 1849.[9] Until the end of his life he interested himself in the movements of the Liberal Party in Lancashire, and the progress of education. His _Physiology, Pathology and Treatment of Asphyxia_ became a standard textbook, and he also wrote numerous papers on public education. He was also one of the key figures in the foundation of the Girls' Public Day School Company and was a member of their council until shortly before his death. He was High Sheriff of Lancashire for 1864. Charlotte Brontë first met Elizabeth Gaskell at his house.[10]

James Kay-Shuttleworth died in 1877 in London and is buried in Brompton Cemetery, London.[11]

Personal life

In 1842 he married Janet Shuttleworth (born 9 November 1817, a half-sister of Marianne North), assuming by royal licence his bride's name and arms. His wife had inherited the estate centred on Gawthorpe Hall in Padiham at aged four months.[12]

They had five children.[13] His son, Sir Ughtred James Kay-Shuttleworth (1844–1939), the eldest, became a well-known Liberal politician, sitting in parliament for Hastings from 1869 to 1880 and for the Clitheroe division of Lancashire from 1885 till 1902, when he was created Baron Shuttleworth. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1886, and secretary to the Admiralty in 1892–1895.

[1]  British educator |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en|access-date=2020-04-12}}

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] _XIX Century Fiction_, Part I, A–K. Jarndyce, Bloomsbury, 2019.

[11]

[12]

[13]

title: James Kay-Shuttleworth

question: What does the article say about who was Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth?

answer: Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth was a British politician and educationist who founded with E. Carleton Tufnell the Battersea Normal College for the training of teachers of pauper children, which become later the University College Plymouth St Mark & St John.

question: What does the article say about James Kay-Shuttleworth's career?

answer: At first, he was engaged in a Rochdale bank. Then he became a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. Later, he worked for the Ardwick and Ancoats Dispensary. He wrote 'The Moral and Physical Condition of the Working Class Employed in the Cotton Manufacture in Manchester'. Later, he was appointed the first secretary of the committee formed by the Privy Council to administer the Government grant for public education in Britain. He founded with E. Carleton Tufnell the Battersea Normal College for the training of teachers of pauper children, which become later the University College Plymouth St Mark & St John. The original college was the first training college for school teachers.

question: What does the article say about James Kay-Shuttleworth's personal life?

answer: In 1842, he married Janet Shuttleworth. They had five children. His son, Sir Ughtred James Kay-Shuttleworth, the eldest, became a well-known Liberal politician. He was Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster in 1886, and secretary to the Admiralty in 1892–1895.

question: What does the article say about James Kay-Shuttleworth's daughters?


text:
CHAVES COUNTY is a county in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2010 census, the population was 65,645.[1] Its county seat is Roswell.[2] Chaves County was named for Colonel Jose Francisco Chaves, a military leader there during the U.S. Civil War and later in Navajo campaigns. The county was created by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature on February 25, 1889, out of land from Lincoln County, New Mexico

Chaves County comprises the Roswell, New Mexico Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.[3] It is the fourth-largest county in New Mexico by area.

Adjacent counties

-   De Baca County - north
-   Roosevelt County - northeast
-   Lea County - east
-   Eddy County - south
-   Otero County - southwest
-   Lincoln County - west

National protected areas

-   Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge
-   Lincoln National Forest (part)

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 census,[4] there were 61,382 people, 22,561 households, and 16,085 families living in the county. The population density was 10 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 25,647 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 71.95% White, 1.97% Black or African American, 1.13% Native American, 0.53% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 21.25% from other races, and 3.12% from two or more races. 43.83% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 22,561 households, out of which 35.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.70% were married couples living together, 13.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.70% were non-families. 24.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.17.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 29.10% under the age of 18, 9.40% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 95.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $28,513, and the median income for a family was $32,532. Males had a median income of $26,896 versus $21,205 for females. The per capita income for the county was $14,990. About 17.60% of families and 21.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.10% of those under age 18 and 13.90% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 65,645 people, 23,691 households, and 16,646 families living in the county.[5] The population density was . There were 26,697 housing units at an average density of .[6] The racial makeup of the county was 70.9% white, 2.0% black or African American, 1.2% American Indian, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 21.9% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 52.0% of the population.[7] In terms of ancestry, 10.1% were German, 9.3% were Irish, 8.5% were English, and 4.6% were American.[8]

Of the 23,691 households, 37.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 14.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 29.7% were non-families, and 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.22. The median age was 34.7 years.[9]

The median income for a household in the county was $37,524 and the median income for a family was $43,464. Males had a median income of $37,573 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,504. About 15.9% of families and 21.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 27.1% of those under age 18 and 14.6% of those age 65 or over.[10]

Politics

Chaves County is a Republican stronghold. No Democratic presidential candidate has won Chaves County since Lyndon Johnson's landslide victory of 1964. Even in that election, Johnson took Chaves County by only 1.3 percent.[11]

  Year                               Republican                                          Democratic                                         Third parties
  ---------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- ---------------
  style=“text-align:center;” |2016   style=“text-align:center;” |'''63.5% ''' _12,872_   style=“text-align:center;” |27.3% _5,534_          9.2% _1,865_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2012   style=“text-align:center;” |'''64.5% ''' _13,088_   style=“text-align:center;” |32.5% _6,604_          3.0% _600_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2008   style=“text-align:center;” |'''61.7% ''' _13,651_   style=“text-align:center;” |37.1% _8,197_          1.2% _264_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2004   style=“text-align:center;” |'''68.1% ''' _14,773_   style=“text-align:center;” |31.0% _6,726_          1.0% _206_
  style=“text-align:center;” |2000   style=“text-align:center;” |'''62.7% ''' _11,378_   style=“text-align:center;” |34.9% _6,340_          2.4% _431_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1996   style=“text-align:center;” |'''54.0% ''' _9,991_    style=“text-align:center;” |37.9% _7,014_          8.2% _1,514_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1992   style=“text-align:center;” |'''47.0% ''' _8,872_    style=“text-align:center;” |33.7% _6,360_          19.4% _3,666_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1988   style=“text-align:center;” |'''65.8% ''' _13,367_   style=“text-align:center;” |33.2% _6,730_          1.0% _206_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1984   style=“text-align:center;” |'''73.4% ''' _15,248_   style=“text-align:center;” |25.7% _5,332_          1.0% _202_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1980   style=“text-align:center;” |'''67.2% ''' _12,502_   style=“text-align:center;” |28.8% _5,350_          4.0% _742_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1976   style=“text-align:center;” |'''59.3% ''' _10,631_   style=“text-align:center;” |39.8% _7,139_          1.0% _170_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1972   style=“text-align:center;” |'''70.9% ''' _11,493_   style=“text-align:center;” |26.5% _4,296_          2.6% _427_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1968   style=“text-align:center;” |'''63.6% ''' _8,866_    style=“text-align:center;” |25.9% _3,612_          10.5% _1,460_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1964   style=“text-align:center;” |49.2% _8,419_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''50.6% ''' _8,650_   0.3% _43_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1960   style=“text-align:center;” |'''59.1% ''' _9,089_    style=“text-align:center;” |40.4% _6,212_          0.6% _91_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1956   style=“text-align:center;” |'''63.4% ''' _7,538_    style=“text-align:center;” |35.9% _4,270_          0.7% _88_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1952   style=“text-align:center;” |'''63.9% ''' _7,018_    style=“text-align:center;” |35.3% _3,880_          0.7% _81_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1948   style=“text-align:center;” |40.4% _3,123_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''59.2% ''' _4,569_   0.4% _33_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1944   style=“text-align:center;” |48.3% _3,149_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''51.4% ''' _3,350_   0.3% _17_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1940   style=“text-align:center;” |40.8% _2,981_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''59.0% ''' _4,304_   0.2% _14_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1936   style=“text-align:center;” |35.7% _2,505_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''62.6% ''' _4,394_   1.7% _118_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1932   style=“text-align:center;” |29.0% _1,830_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''67.3% ''' _4,257_   3.7% _235_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1928   style=“text-align:center;” |'''69.5% ''' _3,124_    style=“text-align:center;” |30.3% _1,364_          0.2% _8_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1924   style=“text-align:center;” |39.4% _1,519_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''56.2% ''' _2,168_   4.4% _168_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1920   style=“text-align:center;” |45.5% _1,765_           style=“text-align:center;” |'''53.7% ''' _2,080_   0.8% _31_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1916   style=“text-align:center;” |25.9% _862_             style=“text-align:center;” |'''68.4% ''' _2,275_   5.7% _191_
  style=“text-align:center;” |1912   style=“text-align:center;” |18.2% _465_             style=“text-align:center;” |'''52.5% ''' _1,339_   29.2% _745_

  : PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS RESULTS[12]

Communities

City

-   Roswell (county seat)

Towns

-   Dexter
-   Hagerman
-   Lake Arthur

Census-designated place

-   Midway

Unincorporated communities

-   Dunken
-   Elk
-   Elkins
-   Greenfield
-   Mesa

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11] http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/index.html

[12]

title: Chaves County, New Mexico

question: What does the article say about the people in Chaves County?

answer: There are over 65,645 people as of 2010, which is a 7% increase from 2000. The county is 70%+ white and has a mix of minority races for the remainder. Hispanic or Latino origins make up 52% of the populace in 2010 versus about 44% in 2000. 37.7% of the 23,691 households have children under 18, and 29.7% are individuals. The average household has 2.7 people, and the median age in the county is 34.7. Per capita income is $18,504 with 21% of the population living below the poverty line. The county is a stronghold for Republicans.

question: What does the text say about Hugo Chaves?

question: What does the text say about Chaves County's claim to fame?

answer: The county is named after a famed commander, Colonel Jose Francisco Chaves, who served in the Civil War and the Navajo campaigns. It was created from land that belonged to Lincoln County, New Mexico. Chaves is the fourth largest county in New Mexico and contains Bitter Lake National Wildlife Refuge and a part of Lincoln National Forest.


text:
PROVIDENCE COUNTY is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. As of the 2010 census, the county's population was 626,667, or 59.5% of the state's population.[1] Providence County contains the city of Providence, the state capital of Rhode Island and the county's (and state's) most populous city, with an estimated 179,335 residents in 2018. Providence County is included in the Providence-Warwick, RI-MA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn constitutes a portion of the greater Boston-Worcester-Providence, MA-RI-NH-CT Combined Statistical Area. In 2010, the center of population of Rhode Island was located in Providence County, in the city of Cranston.[2]

History

Providence County was constituted on June 22, 1703, as the County of Providence Plantations. It consisted of five towns, namely Providence, Warwick, Westerly, Kingstown, and Greenwich and encompassed territory in present-day Kent and Washington counties. Washington County was split off as King's County in 1729, while Kent County was split off in 1750. The town of Cumberland was acquired from Massachusetts and added to Providence County in 1746–47, and the towns of East Providence and Pawtucket were made part of Providence County when the final border with Massachusetts was settled in 1862.

County government in Rhode Island was abolished in 1842. Providence County, like other counties in Rhode Island, has no governmental functions (other than as court administrative and sheriff corrections boundaries which are part of state government).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (6.0%) is water.[3] It is the largest of Rhode Island's five counties by land area. The county is drained by the Blackstone River, which runs partly along the east border, the Woonasquatucket River in the central part of the county, joining with the smaller Moshassuck River in downtown Providence, and the Pawtuxet, which forms a portion of the southeastern boundary of the county.[4] The Pawtuxet is dammed in the western part of the county to form the Scituate Reservoir, which supplies drinking water for Providence and surrounding communities.

The highest natural point in the county and the state of Rhode Island is Jerimoth Hill at 812 feet (247 m). Sea level is the lowest point.

Adjacent counties

-   Norfolk County, Massachusetts - northeast
-   Bristol County, Massachusetts - east
-   Bristol County - southeast
-   Kent County - south
-   Windham County, Connecticut - west
-   Worcester County, Massachusetts - northwest

National protected areas

-   Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park (part)
-   Roger Williams National Memorial

Major highways

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

Demographics

2000 census

As of the census[5] of 2000, there were 621,602 people, 239,936 households, and 152,839 families living in the county. The population density was 1,504 people per square mile (581/km²). There were 253,214 housing units at an average density of 613 per square mile (237/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 78.38% White, 6.55% Black or African American, 0.51% Native American, 2.90% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 8.02% from other races, and 3.58% from two or more races. 13.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 19.0% were of Italian, 10.9% Irish, 8.1% French, 7.7% Portuguese, 7.2% French Canadian and 5.8% English ancestry according to Census 2000. 72.7% spoke English, 13.4% Spanish, 4.9% Portuguese, 2.5% French and 1.6% Italian as their first language.

There were 239,936 households, out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.50% were married couples living together, 14.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.30% were non-families. 29.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.00% under the age of 18, 11.10% from 18 to 24, 29.80% from 25 to 44, 20.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,950, and the median income for a family was $46,694. Males had a median income of $35,336 versus $26,322 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,255. About 11.90% of families and 15.50% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.30% of those under age 18 and 12.70% of those age 65 or over.

Providence County is 71% Catholic, making it among the most Catholic counties in the country.[6]

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 626,667 people, 241,717 households, and 149,691 families living in the county.[7] The population density was . There were 264,835 housing units at an average density of .[8] The racial makeup of the county was 73.4% white, 8.5% black or African American, 3.7% Asian, 0.7% American Indian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 9.6% from other races, and 4.2% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 18.8% of the population.[9] The largest ancestry groups were:

-   18.5% Italian

-   15.8% Irish

-   12.3% French

-   9.4% English

-   8.6% Portuguese

-   5.4% French Canadian

-   5.4% Dominican

-   4.9% Puerto Rican

-   4.3% Cape Verdean

-   4.2% German

-   3.8% Polish

-   2.9% Guatemalan

-   1.7% Scottish

-   1.6% American

-   1.2% Swedish

-   1.2% Colombian

-   1.1% Mexican

-   1.0% Scotch-Irish

-   1.0% Arab

[10]

Of the 241,717 households, 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.8% were married couples living together, 15.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 38.1% were non-families, and 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age was 37.0 years.[11]

The median income for a household in the county was $48,500 and the median income for a family was $61,265. Males had a median income of $44,964 versus $36,447 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,169. About 11.6% of families and 15.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.1% of those under age 18 and 11.5% of those age 65 or over.[12]

Communities

[Map of Providence County, Rhode Island showing cities, towns, and CDPs]

Cities

-   Central Falls
-   Cranston
-   East Providence
-   Pawtucket
-   Providence (traditional county seat)
-   Woonsocket

Towns

-   Burrillville
-   Cumberland
-   Foster
-   Glocester
-   Johnston
-   Lincoln
-   North Providence
-   North Smithfield
-   Scituate
-   Smithfield

Census-designated places

-   Chepachet
-   Clayville
-   Cumberland Hill
-   Foster Center
-   Greenville
-   Harmony
-   Harrisville
-   Pascoag
-   Valley Falls

Other villages

-   Albion
-   Arnold Mills
-   Branch Village
-   Esmond
-   Forestdale
-   Georgiaville
-   Glendale
-   Lime Rock
-   Lonsdale
-   Manville
-   Oakland
-   Primrose
-   Quinnville
-   Riverside
-   Rumford
-   Saylesville
-   Smithville-North Scituate
-   Slatersville
-   Union Village
-   Waterford

Politics

Given its urban nature, Providence County normally votes Democratic. The last time a Republican candidate carried the county was in 1972, by Richard Nixon. The county was won by a very narrow margin, however.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

title: Providence County, Rhode Island

question: What is one of the most striking changes between the Providence County census of 2000 and 2010?

answer: There was a big median household income reduction (more than 40%) in 2010 compared to 2000.


text:
THE TREASURY () of the Isle of Man is the finance department of the Isle of Man Government. It prepares the annual budget for the Government,[1] and also handles taxation, customs and excise, economic affairs, information systems, internal audit, currency and the census in the Isle of Man.

The Minister for the Treasury is Alfred Cannan MHK.

History

The Finance Board was established in 1962, although the Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man functioned as Chancellor of the Exchequer and gave the budget speech in Tynwald until the 1970s.

From 1765 to 1979, the collection of customs revenues in the Isle of Man was undertaken by UK Customs and Excise staff. From 1980, under the terms of the Customs and Excise Agreement of 1979 with the UK, the collection of customs revenue has been undertaken by Manx civil servants. The current Customs and Excise Agreement covers customs duties and many other (but not all) indirect taxes. The agreement, which is backed by both UK and Manx legislation, means that for VAT, customs and most (but not all) excise duty purposes the 2 territories are treated as if 1. Most of these indirect taxes and duties are pooled and shared. This negates the need for customs barriers between the 2 countries. Manx legislation exists which mirrors the equivalent UK law where required.[2]

In 1986 the Finance Board was abolished and its functions transferred to the Treasury as part of the reorganisation of the Isle of Man Government on a ministerial basis.

Functions

-   Budget
-   Taxation
-   National Insurance
-   Investments and Banking
-   Economic Advice and Statistical Analysis
-   Capital Projects Unit
-   Internal Audit
-   Pay and Payments
-   Insolvency Office
-   Rates
-   Valuations

Isle of Man Customs and Excise

Customs and Excise operates from Douglas, situated by the steam railway station with approximately 55 staff cover all aspects of Customs and Excise work. There are approximately 9,000 traders currently registered for VAT in the Isle of Man and this figure is steadily growing, reflecting the interest shown on the Island as a business centre. On average more than 100 new applications to register are received per month. The service aims to register new traders within 7 days of application, provided all the relevant information has been provided.

Customs and Excise Division also has important law enforcement functions to perform and these duties can range from the investigation of local customs offences such as bootlegging of alcohol and tobacco and drug smuggling into and out of the Isle of Man through to assisting other jurisdictions with the investigation of international money laundering.

In the area of financial crime the Division works closely with the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) and currently there are intelligence officers and investigation officers working with their police colleagues at the FIU

The Division's law enforcement work contributes to the Chief Minister's Drug and Alcohol Strategy, which complement its performance of the more traditional customs work including attendance at ports and the airport, dealing with passengers, examining freight, courier and postal packets, road fuel testing and excise visiting. In most of these areas officers are seeking to seize offending items and to disrupt those that try to bring into the Island prohibited or restricted goods, which include drugs, alcohol, tobacco, weapons, paedophile materials and endangered species or meat products. Where prohibitions are broken the division has close working and intelligence sharing with the Isle of Man Constabulary

The Division also operates a 7.5 metre trailer based rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) bought using the seized proceeds of illegal activities[3]

Previously the Division had a Cutter 'Panther' that was gifted to Sierra Leone to be used for fisheries enforcement[4]

In addition to its customs role relating to import and export prohibitions and restrictions the Division is responsible for administration of export licensing and export controls, these being in addition to controls on the removal of cultural items administered by Manx National Heritage. It is also responsible for administering UN and EU sanctions, both trade-based and financial sanctions.[5]

Below is a list of Assigned matters to the Division [6]

-   Agricultural imports, controls Agency function on behalf of DEFA
-   Air Passenger Duty, An excise duty on flights departing the Island
-   Anti-Dumping Duty (ADD), A customs duty on imports from outside the EU
-   Anti-terrorism controls Preventive work, - “port controls” as Examining Officers for persons entering the Island
-   Appeals Case work, re appeal against decisions, penalties, assessments concerning assigned matters to the independent VAT & Duties Tribunal
-   Approval of wharves, airport cargo sheds, warehouses etc Premises approved for use in, allowed duty suspension or some other special relief or concession
-   AWRS Alcohol Wholesalers Registration Scheme, Control of wholesalers of alcoholic products
-   Biosecurity Controls, plant and animal health as agency function for DEFA
-   Boarding of Isle of Man flag vessels in customs and excise warehouses etc, Delegated responsibility for approval for other “Convention states” to board Manx vessels in connection with drugs trafficking
-   “Bootleg goods” control (smuggling) Control of excise goods imported from EU Member States without UK/Manx excise duty being accounted for
-   Cash declarations, Cash exceeding €10,000 must be declared when it enters/ leaves the Island (including postal, freight, carried by passengers etc)
-   Chemical import/export, Including precursor chemicals for drugs and explosives
-   CITES Import/export control relating to endangered species, Agency function on behalf of DEFA
-   Counterfeit or pirated goods See “Intellectual property rights”
-   Cultural items Import and Export controls
-   Customs approvals, authorisations and reliefs
-   Customs duties Import or export duties chargeable under EU customs law
-   Drug trafficking Import/export of controlled drugs, trafficking of same (anywhere in world) and financing of/proceeds from such trafficking
-   Drugs precursors Precursor chemicals, used in the production of illegal drugs
-   Duty-/tax-free shopping Where permitted - control of operators, shops, warehouses etc
-   Excise duties on oils, alcohol, tobacco
-   Export controls and export licensing Advice on, assistance in application for, and preparation of licences for exports outside UK/EU. Also investigations and assurance of Island-based exporters. Includes exports of “cultural goods”.
-   Explosives precursors Precursor chemicals used in the production of explosives Control of Explosives Precursors
-   Financing of Terrorism
-   Fireworks Import control requirements, as agency function for DEFA
-   FLEGT See “Timber” EU action plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Freeport control
-   Intellectual property Control of imports, counterfeit and other goods infringing IP rights
-   Intrastat, Trade statistics collection for intra-EU commerce
-   Import/export control of trade in “conflict” or “blood” diamonds, as agency for FCO
-   Light Dues Levy on vessels to pay for lighthouses and other aids; agency function for Trinity House
-   Lottery Duty Excise duty on sales of National Lottery tickets
-   Machine Games Duty (MGD) Excise duty on takings of gaming machines
-   Maritime patrol work Patrol, boarding, surveillance at sea using patrol craft (and DEFA vessel), and in conjunction with Border Force
-   Money laundering AML work associated with assigned matters, mutual assistance requests etc
-   Mutual assistance and mutual recovery, Handling/responding to request from UK, other EU, other countries re customs, excise, VAT, sanctions etc matters; including mutual recovery possible for UK and EU
-   NOVA (vehicle imports) Pre-clearance of all vehicles other than from UK before they can be registered/ licensed in Island
-   Oil Duties Excise duties Hydrocarbon Oil Duties Act 1986
-   Online gambling
-   Postal traffic control Import and export controls, plus agency work for other agencies re goods prohibited in Isle of Man (including controlled drugs)
-   Prohibitions and restrictions General name for goods the import into the Island (either from UK or elsewhere) is banned (prohibited) or restricted (subject to licensing or other control); general agency function for another Island/UK body
-   Public health controls, As part of preventive customs duties, agency function for DHSC
-   Public Health Orders
-   Registered Firearms Dealers See “Firearms”
-   RFTU Road Fuel Testing Unit - control of road fuels liable to excise duties
-   Sanctions Administration, implementation, investigation etc of UN and EU sanctions (plus domestic anti-terrorism legislation)
-   Other financial sanctions including counter financing of terrorism 
-   Trade embargo controls, Controls include arms and other embargoes, and bans on technical assistance, financing etc UN and EU sanctions measures
-   VAT

Non-Governmental Agencies reporting to Treasury

-   Financial Supervision Commission
-   Insurance and Pensions Authority
-   Gambling Supervision Commission
-   General Registry
-   Public Lottery Trust

Ministers for the Treasury

-   Alfred Cannan MHK, 2016–Present
-   Eddie Teare MHK, 2011–2016
-   Anne Craine MHK, 2010–2011
-   Allan Bell MHK, 2001–10
-   Richard Corkill MHK, 1996–2001
-   Donald Gelling MLC, 1989–96
-   David Cannan MHK MLC, 1986–91

Chairmen of the Finance Board

-   David Moore MHK, 1985–86
-   Dr Edgar Mann MLC, 1981–85
-   Percy Radcliffe MLC 1977–81
-   John Bolton MLC, 1967–77
-   Norman Crowe, 1964–67
-   Bert Stephen MHK, 1962–64

[1]

[2] https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/the-treasury/customs-and-excise-division/

[3] https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/the-treasury/customs-and-excise-division/

[4] https://www.energyfm.net/cms/news_story_210407.html

[5] https://www.gov.im/about-the-government/departments/the-treasury/customs-and-excise-division/

[6] https://www.gov.im/media/1351807/notice-1003-man-assigned-matters-jun-16.pdf

title: Isle of Man Treasury

question: What does the article say about the responsibilities of the Isle of Man Treasury?

answer: It is the finance department of the Isle of Man Government. It is tasked with preparing the governmental annual budget, handling taxation, customs, excise, economic affairs, information systems, internal audit, currency, and the census. Customs and Excise employ 55 people, and they aim to register new traders within 7 days if all paperwork is correct. The division handles investigation cases related to smuggling or money laundering as well as financial crimes. Overall, the division handles almost 50 responsibilities.

question: What does the article say about the population of the Isle of Man?


text:
MATTHEW “MATT” SARACEN is a fictional character in the NBC/DirecTV (The 101 Network) television drama series _Friday Night Lights_ portrayed by the actor Zach Gilford. He is the former backup quarterback of the Dillon High School Panthers before being thrust into the starting spotlight after Jason Street suffers a career-ending injury. His character is based on Chris Comer from the original 1990 book and the 2004 film.

Background

Matt is the son of Henry Saracen and Shelby Garrett. He lives alone with his grandmother, Lorraine Saracen. Matt takes care of Lorraine due to her old age and battle with dementia. At one time, Matt's relationship with both of his parents was strained. His father, Henry, was in the U.S. Army and his mother, Shelby, left Matt when he was a child after divorcing Henry. The full extent of their relationship is unknown, but it is implied that Henry may have been an abusive husband.

Overview

He is the back-up quarterback for the Dillon Panthers in the ”Pilot” as a sophomore. Eventually, he is the starting quarterback for the Dillion Panthers in seasons 1 and 2. He then becomes a wide receiver for the Dillon Panthers in season 3, his senior year. He is a main character in seasons 1 through 3 and continues to play an important role in the series throughout seasons 4 and 5.

In season 1, when Henry is first introduced, the difficult relationship between father is revealed, and throughout the show, it is shown that Matt sees Coach Eric Taylor as more of a father figure than Henry. Henry exhibits some symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (P.T.S.D.). Landry warns Matt that he [Henry] may be “all messed up from the war.”[1] However, the term is never explicitly mentioned in the show, leading him to become distant and uncaring of his family, which deeply hurts Matt. During his senior year of high school, in season 3, Matt slowly begins reconnecting with his mother, who desperately wants to be a part of her son's life again. The season after graduating, season 4, Matt's father dies after stepping on an IED. Matt became an East Dillon supporter following Coach Taylor coaching the EDHS football program, along with Julie and Landry attending EDHS.

Characterization

Matt is something of an “anti-jock” who “listens to Bob Dylan and draws pictures”[2] and is generally out of place with his teammates, such as Smash Williams and Tim Riggins, who are often seen hanging around girls or at parties, and even his predecessor, the charismatic and popular Jason Street. He is more socially awkward and often looks uncomfortable with the attention he receives as the star quarterback. His closest friend is Landry Clarke, a “nerd”. An introvert, Matt's shy nature sometimes comes across as a lack of self-confidence and, according to Smash, he was “so shy he had to e-mail his plays in”.[3] Unlike most of his teammates, college football is not high on his priority list after high school.[4]

Storylines

Season 1

When the series begins, Matt is the back-up quarterback and something of a social outcast. His best friend is Landry Clarke, an honor student who does not play football. Matt spends much of his varsity career in the shadow of senior, Jason Street, but is thrown in the deep end when Jason suffers a career-ending spinal cord injury during the opening game of the season. Although he does well, his scrawny build does not inspire much confidence from the fans and the Panthers lose the very next game. Matt's name board is vandalized and he is routinely mocked by rival high school students. Crushed by Jason's injury, the town and particularly the team booster club force Coach Taylor to find a new quarterback because they do not believe that Matt can get the job done. As Matt continues to work his heart out and impress his teammates, a new quarterback who was displaced due to Hurricane Katrina, Ray “Voodoo” Tatum, joins the team and temporarily replaces Matt as the starter. However, Voodoo's inability to be a team player and temper causes Coach Taylor to bench him and give the starting position back to Matt. Despite the upturn of events, Matt still struggles with feelings of inferiority and lack of confidence from time to time. In the episode, “Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes”, he, Jason, Riggins, and Smash hang out at the field and confesses that he is not confident of his chances in the upcoming state semifinals against the Brant Vikings, leading Jason to give him an impromptu coaching session right then and there. Jason is seen giving advice and encouraging him at the state semifinals against the Vikings, playing in pouring rain and a muddy field.[5] Saracen finishes his sophomore season with a 60% completion percentage, 2,586 yards, 19 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, and a 121.3 quarterback rating. In the state championship game, he passes for 283 yards and 2 touchdowns in leading the Panthers to a 27–26 epic comeback victory over West Cambria High School.

Matt also begins a relationship with Coach Taylor's daughter, Julie. Beginning as a one-sided crush because of Julie's intentions never to date a football player, the relationship blossoms when Julie recognizes that Matt is not a stereotypical jock. Coach Taylor is not very pleased that they are dating and often interferes with their relationship. Matt also develops a father-son bond with Coach Taylor and feels betrayed when Coach Taylor accepts a job at TMU at the end of the season. Matt's relationship with Coach never fully recovers.

Season 2

Season 2 begins with Matt's relationship with Julie, who stays in Dillon with her mom while Coach Taylor lives in Austin, falling apart. Julie's problems at home, coupled with a crush on her older co-worker, cause her to break up with Matt. After some time, Julie attempts to reconcile. At first, Matt is receptive, but he eventually refuses, saying that he will feel like a chump if he takes her back. Matt begins dating the new cheerleader at school. Matt's friendship with Smash also begins falling apart. Matt believes that Smash, now a heavily-recruited senior, no longer cares about the team and cares only about himself and his college prospects. The two get into a fight after the first game of the season and continue fighting until Coach Taylor, back from his stint at TMU, benches them until they can get their act together. Thanks to a pep-talk from Landry, they quickly realize that they are fighting for nothing and become friends again.

Problems at home force Matt to get an at-home nurse named Carlotta for his grandmother. At first, neither Matt nor his grandmother like Carlotta very much, but they soon begin to welcome her into their home. Matt develops feelings for Carlotta and breaks up with his cheerleader girlfriend so he can be with Carlotta. She rebuffs him at first, but gives in eventually and she and Matt have sex. Their relationship does not last long, as Carlotta leaves the Saracen house to return to her family in Guatemala.

Tired of everything he has gone through, Matt begins skipping school and practice so he can get drunk with Tim. A night at the strip club with Tim ends early when Matt's grandmother has an accident at home and is taken to the hospital. Matt passes out waiting for his grandmother to be released, which forces Coach Taylor to drive them both home. A furious Coach throws Matt into a cold shower and berates him before Matt breaks down, asking Coach what is wrong with him that everyone in his life leaves him for something better. Coach responds by telling Matt that there is nothing wrong with him at all. Matt shapes up afterwards.

Season 3

Season 3 begins almost a year after the conclusion of Season 2. New freshman quarterback, J.D. McCoy, who has just moved to Dillon, threatens Matt's position on the team. While Matt is still playing well, the new quarterback's skills, along with public pressure, force Coach Taylor to give J.D. the starting position. Matt, furious, threatens to quit before Coach talks him out of it.[6] Matt agrees to stay on the team and sit on the bench, though he eventually convinces Coach to allow him to play wide receiver. Matt's final game as a Panther sees him return to the quarterback position in the second half of the state championship game after J.D.'s poor performance. After being held scoreless in the first half, the Panthers take the lead due to Matt's strong play, but they lose on the final possession when the other team kicks a field goal.

During the season, Matt slowly begins reconnecting with his mother, whom he sets out to find to become an emancipated minor and take care of his grandmother's medical issues. After learning about Matt's problems, his mother comes to Dillon hoping that Matt will allow her to help out at home even if he does not forgive her for leaving when he was a child. Matt also begins dating Julie again after a day spent together at the lake. Coach Taylor once again is not too pleased, especially after catching Julie in bed with Matt.

Matt's college prospects also come into play. He will not be playing football anywhere after being benched as a senior. He once confides to his mother after being benched that he never wanted to play in college and felt undeserving to be starting quarterback at all, given the circumstances leading to him becoming “QB1”.[7] Matt looks at different art schools before deciding on the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Knowing he will be away from home, he helps his grandmother move into an assisted living home. In the end, Matt changes his mind, unable to leave his grandmother, the only person who has stayed by his side all of his life.

Season 4

Season 4 marks a transition for Matt Saracen, and the departure of his character in a leading role as the show shifts its focus to other characters. As the season begins, Matt is a pizza delivery driver attending community college. He begins to realize that his past in Dillon is holding him back, finally admitting this on a hunting trip with Tim Riggins. Upon hearing the news that his father was killed in action in the war, a devastated Matt attempts to make sense of his life. After military compensation for his father's death (along with life insurance) is enough for his grandma to live comfortably, Matt abruptly leaves for Chicago to finally attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago—without telling Julie. Matt eventually calls her to offer an apology, but she refuses to accept it. Matt returns to Dillon for Thanksgiving, hoping to finally make amends. He tells Julie that if he did not leave when he did, he may have never left. He still, however, wishes to be with her and has already bought her a plane ticket back to Chicago. Julie still cares for Matt and wants to go with him, but she declines, saying that upending her life to follow him to Chicago will prevent her from pursuing her own dreams. Matt recognizes she is right, and the two amicably go their separate ways. Matt reconnects with his best friend by giving the ticket to Landry.

Season 5

Julie visits Matt in Chicago on her way back to college after an incident with her History TA. Even though Julie says that she does not fit in Matt's life anymore, the two quickly resume their relationship. Before Julie leaves, Matt tells her that they will figure out a way to make things work. Matt surprises Julie and his grandmother by returning home for Christmas. He tells Julie that he wants to be with her forever and proposes, in front of the Alamo Freeze. Despite worries from Coach Taylor and Tami, the young couple convinces them that they are making the right choice. In the final moments of the series, which occurs eight months later, the two are shown happily living together in Chicago.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

title: Matt Saracen

question: What does the text say about the qualities that make a good football coach?

question: What does the text say about Matt Saracen?

answer: Matthew "Matt" Saracen is a fictional character portrayed by actor Zach Gilford in the NBC/DirecTV television drama series "Friday Night Lights" based on Chris Comer from the 1990 book and the 2004 movie. He is the main character in seasons 1 through 3 and continues to play an important role in the series throughout seasons 4 and 5. Matt is the son of Henry Saracen and Shelby Garrett but lives alone and cares for his elderly grandmother Lorraine Saracen, who suffers from dementia. His parents are divorced and his mom left when he was a child. Matt's mom slowly reconnects with him and wants to be a part of his life. Matt has a difficult relationship with his dad, a soldier who returns home with PTSD symptoms, and sees his coach Eric Taylor as more of a father figure than Henry. His dad eventually dies in the line of duty when he steps on an IED. Matt is the backup quarterback for the Dillon Panthers but eventually becomes the starting quarterback when Jason Street, the original quarterback, suffers a career-ending injury. He becomes a wide receiver for the team during his senior year. Despite being on the football team, Matt is characterized as an "anti-jock" due to his shy and introverted nature. He is out of place with his teammates and is socially awkward. Matt has an on/off relationship with Coach Taylor's daughter, Julie. The two eventually live together in season 5 when Matt proposes.

question: What does the text about the relationship between Matt and Coach Taylor?

answer: Matt sees Coach Eric Taylor as a father figure and they develop a father-son bond. Taylor isn't pleased when Matt starts dating his daughter, Julie, and often interferes with their relationship. Matt feels betrayed when Taylor accepts a job at TMU at the end of the season and their relationship never recovers fully.


text:
The plan was to take three friends, and our motorcycles to the summit of Mt. Washington New Hampshire. The planning began in a bar, only this hair brained idea seemed to stick with me more then anyone else. Over beers, me and two friends were thinking of destinations that we could ride our motorcycles to. Being in New Hampshire, ten minutes out of the city and you are in motorcycle heaven. Twisty roads along all the best scenery possible; farms, forrests, and winding roads that follow riversides for hours. The plan was to ride up to Mt. Washington, New Hampshires' tallest peak. A date was chosen about two Sarurdays away.
Over the next two weeks we would plan our route, our stops and where to stop for lunch.
Plans have a way of falling apart. Commitments from friends, especially commitments made at the bar, have a way of falling through. For this trip I would be on my own.
The Saturday morning came, and I sprang out of bed ready for for action. I had my bike a 2006 Honda CBR 600rr, ready to go and recently tuned. I ate a hurried breakfast too excited to get on the road and begin my adventure. I left and jumped onto the highway, a quick blast to get the blood flowing. Merging into traffic with the throttle wide open, shifting through gears  up into sixth. Looking down I was suprised to see my speed. It didn't feel like I was going that fast. Easing up on the throttle and asimulating with the flow of the traffic around me, I took a deep breath and settled into the seat.
The first leg of the journey was about an hour of highway. (this is a classic new hampshire coloquialism: in reference to distance, give the travel time rather then the mileage.) Legal highway riding is usually uneventful. The corners are usually mild, the engine noise is very consistent, it can almost place the rider into a lull or meditative state. You can completely forget everything. The everyday problems of your life are trivial. You aren't quite completely focused but not quite in a trance like state. This can be dangerous because you are travelling on a vehicle that you are actively balancing, at 70 mph. The actual reality is that any small mistake could kill you or leave you seriously injured. That is why the best highway rides are uneventful.
I arrived in Lincoln New Hampshire, and merged onto Route 112, also known as the Kancamangus Highway. (kank-a-mangus) This is where the real motorcycling begins. In the heart of the White Mountains, the motorcycle is free at last. Twisting turns through untouched forrest keep you sharp and alert. The air is sweet, and smells different then city air. Climbing hills with banking turns, the CBR was made for this. The hills peak quickly and just a quickly as I reach the top I am descending in the opposite direction. Constantly working the controls, just to stay on the road, takes all your focus and attention. Racing up the hills are simple enough crack the throttle open and hang on, as I reach the apex of a hill I can feel my stomach lift for a moment as the road quickly turns, I feel as though I'm going too fast to hold my line. Trusting my tires and my technique, I stay on the gas and look as far down the road as I can see. Descending hills with turns at speed is equally challenging. I make a wise decision to downshift, the engine revs up and I lose a bit of speed and gain a bit more time before the corner. I take an intentionally wide entrance to the turn, and as I lean in I can see the corner opens up into a long downhill straightaway. I open the gas all the way and let the bike stay in the lower gear until the engine crescendos.
At the base of Mt. Washington there is a small field and a small shack. Its two dollars to take the auto road to the top. The man in the booth gives me a sticker "this motorcycle climbed Mt. washington" Thats a bit premature, I thought, but I accepted it and pulled over just past the shack. I got off my bike and stretched my legs. You can't see the summit from here but you can tell this mountain is quite steep. Meandering around I see a plaque. Travis Pastrana next to a Subaru, world record ascent, very quick time , forget the time but he looked happy.
I mounted back onto my bike and began my ascent. I was suprised the road was paved. The road is nice and there are lots of trees, every now and then in the trees would be a clearing, and I could see how much altitude I was gaining. At this point the riding was very mellow. The road was paved but with very old pavement. There were cracks and potholes everywhere. I was taking in the scenery and enjoying the ascent. needing to keep my speed well below 30. Cars would wave me past, I guess figuring I was more nimble then they were amongst the bumps and holes. As I  made my way above the treeline, the pavement ends. It is replaced by a smooth dirt road. It is easy to ride on even on a sportbike. The views are spectacular even before the summit. I can see the nearby mountains, and their peaks, a sea of green forrest in painted variance that is impossible to capture. As the dirt road continues upward wrapping up the sides of the mountain, the colors around me change from green to brown. Gone are the trees and pavement, replaced by basketball sized rocks, jagged and sharp lining the road. Peering over the edge quickly makes me wish I hadnt. It is a long way down, a mistake would surely be fatal. Roads below look pencil thin, cars on then look like they could be crushed if you were to step on them.
When I do reach the top, I am surely the only motorcycle, and an out of place one at that. Most of the other vehicles are four wheel drive SUVs and dirt splattered subaru outbacks. My CBR is next to spotless and looks very bright. I park the bike and find a rock to put under my kickstand. Up a small staircase to the mount washington weather center the wind picks up. Mt. Wahington is one of the windiest places on earth. Even on a mild day down below, the temperature, is easily 30 degrees cooler at the summit, and the wind is constant. The wind pushes  around 30 mph, and gusts to 50 every minute or so. There is a large concrete structure at the top. Inside the building are some historic photos, black and whites of some tough looking men who built the road to the summit. Also cheesy t-shirts of a tourist hanging onto a flag pole being blown horizontal by the world record wind. I left empty handed from the gift shop and went back outside. I took one more long look out from the top. Annother plaque indicated that on a clear day, you can see skyscrapers in  Boston, some 200 miles away. I made my way back to my bike and started her up, and turnded it around. From there I began a long and winding road home.

title: What it's like to Fly

question: How does the narrator protect themselves when driving their motorcycle?

answer: The narrator mentions at the beginning that driving a motorcycle is dangerous because you enter a trancelike state while balancing a vehicle at 70 mph. The narrator stays alert on twisting turns through the forest. They are also careful when reaching the top of the hill, when they feel they are going too fast. But they trust their technique, watch the road ahead of them, and make a wide turn. When they reach Mount Washington they take a break to get ready, and then are careful with the road and potholes. They also have to be careful of a steep cliff. But they make it to the summit successfully.


text:
is a former Japanese actor known for his role as Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius in the 2006-2007 tokusatsu series _Ultraman Mebius_ and several spin-offs in the Ultra Series following that. Igarashi was affiliated with the acting unit D-BOYS, produced by Watanabe Entertainment.

Career

Igarashi started his entertainment career auditioning for D-BOYS in the group's first open audition, held on July 27, 2004. Winner of the Grand Prix second place, Igarashi joined the group shortly after, along with first placer Yuichi Nakamura and third placer Katsuki Nakamura.[1]

In early 2006, Igarashi conquered his first lead role as Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius in the tokusatsu series Ultraman Mebius, the 40th anniversary production in the Ultraman series. He was chosen for the role for being able to convey the part of a “rookie” hero well, being at the time a new actor with little experience in demanding lead roles himself. A fan of the Ultraman series, Igarashi has declared that the desire to play the role of Ultraman was one of the reasons he entered the entertainment world, and that being able to work with the same actors who had played his childhood heroes was one of his highest personal accomplishments.[2] Igarashi was so fond of his work in the series that he eventually incorporated the Möbius strip sign “∞” to his autograph.

With the end of Mebius in March 2007, Igarashi turned his focus to television series and invested on broadening his work. The heroic Mirai of Mebius was followed by diverse characters such as the young psychopath Otoya in the adult drama Watashitachi no Kyokasho, the naive otaku Shinji in the teenage comedy Hana-Kimi and the lively street musician Mitsuru in the late night suspense Shigeshoshi, allowing Igarashi to develop his acting through various genres and different character types.

June 2007 marked Igarashi's theatre debut, guest-starring in the musical _D-BOYS STAGE Volume 1: Kanbai Onrei_, a D-BOYS project featuring all group members, in the same manner of the 2006 drama/documentary series _DD-BOYS_. In 2008 he will again guest star in _D-BOYS STAGE Volume 2: Last Game_.[3] In October 2007 came Igarashi's radio debut with D-RADIO BOYS, another D-BOYS project. Igarashi hosts the weekly show with _Shigeshoshi_ co-star Masato Wada, featuring guest D-BOYS members in each show.

He has also been chosen as a member of D-BOYS special unit D*DATE. After the successful release of D*Date's 2013 single “Glory Days”, Igarashi Shunji declared his retirement by the end of November 2013 from the Entertainment Industry in one of the D8Date live performances. At the beginning of November prior Igarashi announcing his retirement, this announcement was officially introduced in the D-Boys official page.

Filmography

Television

  Title                          Character                      Year        Network
  ------------------------------ ------------------------------ ----------- ----------------
  Ruri no Shima                  n/a                            2005        NTV
  Hatsukare                      Tabane                         2006        GyaoNet Cinema
  DD-BOYS                        Himself                        2006        TV Asahi
  Ultraman Mebius                Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius   2006/2007   TBS
  Hanazakari no Kimitachi e      Noe Shinji                     2007        Fuji TV
  Kuuneru to koro sumu to koro   Keita Aoki                     2007        ktv
  Watashitachi no Kyokasho       Otoya Ameki                    2007        Fuji TV
  Shigeshoshi                    Mitsuru Natsui                 2007        TV Tokyo
  Oishii Depachika               Kensaku Kashiwagi              2008        TV Asahi
  Isshun no Kaze ni Nare         Kagiyama                       2008        Fuji TV
  Rookies                        Tetsuro Yufune                 2008        TBS
  Ando Natsu                     Kenji                          2008        TBS
  Giragira                       Eagle                          2008        TV Asahi
  Ninkyo Helper                  Kurosawa Goro                  2009        Fuji TV
  Paradise Kiss Movie            Isabella                       2010
  Answer                         Hasebe                         2012

Cinema

  Title                                   Character                            Year
  --------------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ------
  Neo Horror Series: Oresama Dai Kouzui   Takumi                               2005
  Ultraman Mebius & Ultraman Brothers     Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius         2006
  Drift 3: Taka                           Hayato                               2007
  Drift 4: Hayato                         Hayato                               2007
  Superior Ultraman 8 Brothers            Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius         2008
  Mega Monster Battle: Ultra Galaxy       Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius         2009
  Ultraman Zero: The Revenge of Belial    Mirai Hibino/Ultraman Mebius         2010
  Paradise Kiss                           Daisuke Yamamoto/Isabella Yamamoto   2011

Other media

Theatre

-   Out of Order (2007)
-   D-BOYS STAGE Vol.1: Kanbai Onrei (2007)
-   D-BOYS STAGE Vol.2: Last Game (2008, in pre-production)

Radio

-   D-RADIO BOYS (2007–present, Bay FM)

Promotional media

Igarashi has been featured in the following promotional releases:

CDS

:* _Ultraman Mebius/Run through! -CREW GUYS-_ - Project DMM with Ultra Bouei-tai (Ultraman Mebius)

PHOTOBOOKS

:* D-BOYS: D-BOYS (2005/04, )

:* D-BOYS: START! (2006/03, )

:* mirai (2006/09, ) - _solo photobook_

:* Hanazakari no Kimi Tachi e - Ikemen Paradise Making Book (2007/09, )

[1]

[2]

[3]

title: Shunji Igarashi

question: Based on the article, summarize what Ultraman is.

answer: Ultraman appears to refer to a brand for a Japanese tokusatsu film and television series. It appears to also be the name of the titular character in the show. The article is focused mainly on the Ultraman Mebius series (which is a stylization of the term mobius). Japanese actor Shunji Igarashi plays the role of Mebius from 2006 to 2007 for the TV series, and from 2008 to 2010 in three Ultraman related films. Based on this, it is likely that there are other Ultraman series aside from Mebius.

question: Summarize Shunji Igarashi's career as an artist.

answer: After a successful audition to D-BOYS in 2004, Igarashi began modeling work in 2005 to 2007 where he was in 4 photobooks. In 2005 and 2006 he appeared in minor roles in three television shows and one film before landing the lead role in Ultraman Mebius which is where his career truly took off. As an television and film actor, he would appear in several works until 2012. In 2007, shortly after gaining popularity as Mebius, Igarashi would debut in both theatre and radio. While his theatrical work is short lived, his radio appearances continue until present. In 2013, after becoming part of D-BOYS single "Glory Days", Igarashi declared that he would be retiring from the entertainment industry.


text:
[Arms of Sir Robert de Vere, as 9th Earl of Oxford, upon his installation to the Most Noble Order of the Garter] ROBERT DE VERE, DUKE OF IRELAND, MARQUESS OF DUBLIN, AND 9TH EARL OF OXFORD KG (16 January 1362 – 22 November 1392) was a favourite and court companion of King Richard II of England. He was the ninth Earl of Oxford and the first and only Duke of Ireland and Marquess of Dublin.

Early life

Robert de Vere was the only son of Thomas de Vere, 8th Earl of Oxford and Maud de Ufford.[1] He succeeded his father as 9th Earl in 1371, and was created Marquess of Dublin in 1385. The next year he was created Duke of Ireland. He was thus the first marquess, and only the second non-princely duke (after Henry of Grosmont, 1st Duke of Lancaster in 1337), in England. King Richard's close friendship to de Vere was disagreeable to the political establishment. This displeasure was exacerbated by the earl's elevation to the new title of Duke of Ireland in 1386.[2] His relationship with King Richard was very close and rumored by Thomas Walsingham to be homosexual.[3]

Robert, Duke of Ireland, was married to Philippa de Coucy, the King's first cousin (her mother, Isabella, was the sister of the King's father, Edward, the Black Prince and the eldest daughter of Edward III). Robert had an affair with Agnes de Launcekrona, a Czech lady-in-waiting of Richard's queen, Anne of Bohemia. In 1387, the couple were separated and eventually divorced; Robert took Launcekrona as his second wife.

Downfall

Since Robert was hugely unpopular with the other nobles and magnates, his close relationship with King Richard was one of the catalysts for the emergence of an organised opposition to Richard's rule in the form of the Lords Appellant.

In 1387, Ireland led Richard's forces to defeat at Radcot Bridge outside Oxford, against the forces of the Lords Appellant. He fled the field and his forces were left leaderless and compelled into ignominious surrender.

He was attainted and sentenced to death _in absentia_ by the Merciless Parliament of 1388, which also made him forfeit his titles and lands. People associated with him were also affected, for the parliament also dismissed his Irish Administration, composed of John Stanley, his deputy, who had been serving as Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, James Butler, 3rd Earl of Ormond, the governor, Bishop Alexander de Balscot of Meath, Lord Chancellor of Ireland, and Sir Robert Crull, Lord High Treasurer of Ireland.[4] Fortunately for him, he had already fled abroad into exile directly after Radcot Bridge.

Death

He died in or near Louvain in 1392 of injuries sustained during a boar hunt. Three years later, on the anniversary of his death, 22 November 1395, Richard II had his embalmed body brought back to England for burial. It was recorded by the chronicler Thomas Walsingham that many magnates did not attend the re-burial ceremony because they 'had not yet digested their hatred' of him. The king had the coffin opened to kiss his lost friend's hand and to gaze on his face one last time.[5]

Succession

After Ireland's death, his uncle Sir Aubrey de Vere, was restored to the family titles and estates, becoming 10th Earl of Oxford. The Dukedom of Ireland and Marquessate of Dublin became extinct.

Footnotes

[1] .

[2] McKisack (1959), pp. 425, 442–3.

[3] Saul, Nigel (1997). Richard II. New Haven: Yale University Press. . p. 437.

[4] Peter Crooks, _The 'Calculus of Faction' and Richard II's Ireland_, in Fourteenth Century England, V, ed. Nigel Saul. Woodbridge, England: The Boydell Press, 2008. 111-112

[5] Saul, 461.

title: Robert de Vere, Duke of Ireland

question: Describe the relationship between Robert de Vere and King Richard II.

answer: Robert de Vere was a favorite and court companion to the King. Their relationship was rumored by Thomas Walsingham to be homosexual. At the least they were very close. He received titles very quickly and his close friendship with the King was seen as disagreeable to the rest of the court. After de Vere was killed in a boar hunt in France, his body was embalmed and returned to England. Richard wanted the have the coffin opened one last time so he could kiss his lost friend's hand, further evidence of a closeness which was at minimum highly emotional, if not sexual and romantic.

question: Why did Robert de Vere flee England?

answer: Robert's unpopularity with the other nobles lead to an organized opposition. Ireland lead Richard's forces to defeat at Radcot Bridge outside Oxford. Robert de Vere fled the field, leaving his forces leaderless, after which they surrendered. The Merciless Parliament of 1388 sentenced him to death in absentia, also causing him to forfeit his titles. However, he had already fled to France to live in exile after his defeat.


text:
Making Heap fast is a unique and particularly difficult adventure in performance engineering. Our customers run hundreds of thousands of queries per week and each one is unique. What’s more, our product is designed for rich, ad hoc analyses, so the resulting SQL is unboundedly complex.

For some background, Heap is a tool for analyzing customer interactions. We gather data from web, iOS, android, and a growing list of third-party tools such as Stripe and Salesforce, and provide a simple UI our customers can use to query that data.

A core concept in our product is the idea of an “event definition”, which is a mapping between a human-level event like “Signup” or “Checkout” and what that event means in terms of raw clicks. This layer of indirection between the concept being analyzed and the underlying data makes the product very powerful and easy to use: you can add a new event definition and run an analysis over all of your historical data, as if you had been tracking “Signups” since you first installed the product. But it comes at a cost: EVERYTHING WE DO BECOMES MORE COMPLICATED BECAUSE THE ANALYSIS IS IN TERMS OF A DYNAMIC SCHEMA THAT ISN’T FULLY KNOWN UNTIL READ TIME. Handling this indirection at all is its own fascinating topic.

To execute a query, we take the query expressed in the UI, compile it to SQL, inline the event definitions, and then run the resulting SQL query across a cluster of PostgreSQL instances. This process can easily result in incredibly hairy SQL queries. As an example, consider this “simple” query, graphing daily unique users who view a blog post, broken down by their initial referrer:

[]

This analysis is about as simple as it gets, and yet it produces this hairy SQL query:

The queries only become more complicated as they make use of the more powerful features we support. A query can include filters on the number of times a user has done a given event in an arbitrary time range as well as break down the results by multiple different fields simultaneously. For example, we might want to filter the above for users who had never seen a blog post before, or for users who later viewed our pricing page, or break down the above query by the specific blog post viewed in addition to the initial referrer of the user viewing the blog post. This isn’t even getting into any of our other query types such as funnels (measuring the conversion rate between a series of events) or retention (calculating a table showing, of users who did event X, what percentage of users did event Y after 1 week, 2 weeks, etc). Each additional part of the query only makes the SQL more complicated.

Our product is designed for ad hoc, interactive analysis, as opposed to pre-canned dashboards, so IN ADDITION TO BEING COMPLEX, THESE QUERIES ARE TYPICALLY UNIQUE as well. Furthermore, since we shard our data by customer, any query run by customer A will touch a completely disjoint dataset from any query run by customer B. This makes comparing queries between two customers a fool’s errand since the datasets for those two customers are completely different. Making this kind of product fast is an incredibly difficult challenge. How are we even supposed to determine where we should be focusing our attention to best improve query performance?

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

When the company was small, we did this by having an engineer go through a sample of slow queries, and rerun them with EXPLAIN ANALYZE. EXPLAIN ANALYZE is a Postgres feature that shows how Postgres executed the query, how much time was spent executing each part of the query, as well as some additional execution information. The engineer would write up a summary explaining why the queries were slow and how they could be improved.

There were two main issues with this approach. First of all, AN ENGINEER WOULD ONLY BE ABLE TO GO THROUGH A SMALL NUMBER OF THE SLOW QUERIES. Analyzing these queries one at a time meant that an engineer could go through a few dozen queries at most in an afternoon. This is an extremely small sample of all of the queries we run each week, and is likely to miss issues unless they are very common.

Second, WHAT CAUSED A QUERY TO BE SLOW MAY NOT BE REPRODUCIBLE AFTER THE FACT. This can happen for a variety of reasons. The query could have been slow due to intermittent high load, or the plan Postgres uses to execute the query can change due to updated table statistics or a number of other reasons. Quite often, we would come across queries that had been slow, but we were unable to come up with an explanation for why.

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

After realizing how ineffective this “whack-a-mole” performance engineering approach was, we tried to design a better way. What we really wanted was some way we could collect enough information for every query as we initially ran it, such that we can always determine why a query was slow. As it turns out, we did manage to find a way to do that with Postgres.

Postgres provides an extension called auto_explain. When enabled, auto_explain automatically logs the query plan and execution information for every query as it’s run. It’s exactly like EXPLAIN ANALYZE, but automatically records the information for every query as it happens. Depending on how auto_explain is configured, you can obtain some or all of the following information:

-   How the query was executed.
-   How long it took to execute each part of the query.
-   How many rows were returned by each part of the query.
-   How many pages were read from disk or from cache from each part of the query.
-   How much time was spent performing I/O in each part of the query.

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE GOLD MINE OF INFORMATION FOR ANALYZING WHY QUERIES ARE SLOW. Importantly, all of this information is gathered as the query is run, so we do not run into issues where a slow query is not reproducible, since we no longer need to reproduce the slowness in order to determine why the query was slow. Even better, auto_explain has the option to obtain the output in JSON. This makes it easy to programmatically analyze the query plans.

To gather all of this information, we wrote a short job that tails our Postgres logs and watches for any Postgres plans. When the job sees a query plan, it sends the plan information to a separate Postgres instance. With all of this information gathered in one place we can easily ask all sorts of questions.

Since we now have the query plan for every single query that was ever executed in Heap, we no longer have this issue of trying to debug a slow query that is no longer slow. On top of that, WE CAN NOW RUN ANALYSES GET A SENSE FOR WHAT CAUSES QUERIES TO BE SLOW IN AGGREGATE.

Some of the questions we had and were able to answer with this data were:

-   WHAT PERCENTAGE OF QUERIES OVER TEN SECONDS SPENT MORE THAN TEN SECONDS PERFORMING AN INDEX SCAN THAT RETURNED MORE THAN 10,000 ROWS? This is looking for queries that had to read a lot of data from disk due to an event that occurred often.¹
-   WHAT PERCENTAGE OF QUERIES OVER TEN SECONDS SPENT MORE THAN TEN SECONDS PERFORMING AN ON-DISK SORT? An on-disk sort occurs when a Postgres process does not have enough memory allocated to sort the data in memory so it sorts the data on disk which is significantly slower.
-   WHAT PERCENTAGE OF QUERIES OVER TEN SECONDS SPENT MORE THAN TEN SECONDS READING FROM THE `PAGEVIEWS` INDEX OR THE `SESSIONS` INDEX? Session and pageview events are two commonly queried events as, well as two of the most frequent raw events. This makes them a common cause of slow queries.

WE ALSO USED THIS INFORMATION TO COME UP WITH A FAIRLY EXHAUSTIVE LIST OF ROOT CAUSES OF SLOW QUERIES. We did so by picking a random slow query, figuring out why it was slow, and then determine exactly how many queries were slow for the same reason. Then we filtered out that cause of slow queries and analyzed the remaining, unexplained slow queries. By doing this repeatedly, WE WERE ABLE TO COME UP WITH EXPLANATIONS FOR WHY >90% OF SLOW QUERIES ARE SLOW.

What’s more, we can track how these rates change over time, and prioritize work accordingly. A lot of these causes will require multi-month engineering efforts to resolve, so it is critical that we know upfront how much the overall impact will be on our query performance.

For example, we knew via anecdote that our time-based user segment feature commonly causes on-disk sorts. With this kind of analysis, we were able to determine what percentage of slow queries came from this feature _and_ were slow due to an on-disk sort. This turned out to be less common than we expected, and we deprioritized the work to invest in making this kind of query avoid on-disk sorts in favor of another query performance project.

We’ve found auto_explain to be an amazing tool for determining the causes of slow queries. It allows us to automatically collect detailed performance information about every single query as it executes. We can then use this information to determine how frequent different causes of slow queries are and prioritize what changes we should be working on.

After combing through all of the data, we decided to make use of table partitioning to improve query performance. By partitioning out session and pageview events, we can dramatically improve the performance of queries that require reading large amounts of sessions or pageviews. According to the data we’ve gathered from auto_explain, this directly addresses ~25% of all slow queries.

If all of this sounds interesting to you, Heap is hiring so please apply. If you have any questions feel free to reach out to me on Twitter at @mmalisper.

[1] This is 10,000 rows from a single shard. Since our data is heavily sharded, 10,000 rows is a lot more data than it sounds.

question: Summarize the purpose of Heap.

answer: Heap is a tool for analyzing customer interactions. They provide a simple UI to their customers so they can query the data they gather from web, iOS, android, and a growing list of third-party tools. Heap is designed for rich, ad hoc analyses to create an unboundedly complex SQL. A core concept in Heap is the idea of "event definition". This allows customers to run an analysis of their historical data.

question: What does the text say about event definition?

answer: An event definition is a mapping between a human-level event like "Signup" or "Checkout" and what that event means in terms of raw clicks. This is a core concept in Heap. It is a layer of indirection that makes the product very powerful and easy to use. The customer can add a new event definition and run an analysis over all of their historical data. However, this makes things more complicated over all because the analysis is in terms of a dynamic schema that isn't fully known until read time.  In order to execute a query, event definitions must be inlined.

question: Summarize the two main issues with an engineer writing up a summary explaining why the queries were slow and its context.

answer: There are two main issues with an engineer writing up a summary explaining why the queries are slow and how they can be improved. The context of these issues were that they happened when the company was still small and using EXPLAIN ANALYZE. The  company was determining where they should focus their attention to best improve query performance. The first issue is that an engineer would only be able to go through a small number of the slow queries. This can lead to issues being missed if they aren't very common. The second issue is that what caused a query to be slow may not be reproducible after the fact. Due to this, the company was unable to come up with an explanation for why these queries were slow.

question: What does the text say about artificial intelligence?


text:
[WaPo: Genocide, Famine and a Democratic Retreat--All After One Year of US Inaction]

_WASHINGTON POST‘s Jackson Diehl (1/21/18): “It’s getting easier for regimes to commit — and get away with — crimes against humanity.”_

“American leadership” is one of a long list of vague, seemingly benign pseudo-concepts our media throw around to justify increased spending on soft power and military adventurism. It’s a difficult concept to pin down, but it’s almost always presented as something the United States is “failing” to do when it doesn’t “engage” the world with enough war, sanctions or arbitrarily applied human rights scolding.

Lamenting a “lack of American leadership” is, therefore, a time-honored Serious Person cliche for those operating at major US papers, and one WASHINGTON POST deputy editorial page editor Jackson Diehl phoned in Sunday with his op-ed “Genocide, Famine and a Democratic Retreat—All After One Year of US Inaction” (1/21/17).

The piece began with a bizarre inversion of reality:

  Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but as the United States has retreated from international leadership in the past decade, several toxic global trends have gained momentum. Democracy is steadily retreating, according to Freedom House, whose annual study documents a decline for the 12th consecutive year. Famine is threatening more people than ever: Tens of millions are at risk of starvation in countries such as Yemen, South Sudan and Somalia.

It’s unclear exactly what “international leadership” is supposed to mean here, besides being inversely correlated with Bad Things happening. The piece is a broadside against both former President Obama and Donald Trump for “steadily retreating,” but the most serious Bad Thing he cites as a result of a lack of American leadership, the famine in Yemen, is a direct result of “American leadership.” Obama and Trump have logistically and politically supported the Saudi-led bombing and blockade of Yemen that caused the famine.

But Diehl’s not honestly engaging with the world as it is; his job is to advance the premise that the US has both the right and the moral duty to dictate the affairs of other countries. Diehl did the same cynical reality-inversion last June (FAIR.ORG, 6/26/17), when he not only ignored the US’s role in creating the Yemen famine, but painted them as the heroes coming to the rescue.

Similarly, Diehl cites “the tragedy of Syria” in Sunday’s piece as a result of a lack of American leadership, without mentioning the American leadership of the CIA—along with American leadership allies Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Qatar—helped fund, train and arm groups in that conflict, thus fueling the “tragedy.” Also omitted was the ongoing role of “American Leadership” in bombing seven countries, its deadly drone program that has terrorized thousands of civilians in Yemen and Central Asia, its continued use of offshore penal colonies outside the scope of international law and a number of other bad things that result from the active exertion of “American leadership,” rather than its absence.

The rest of the piece is about the Trump administration’s “inaction” over ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya in Burma, but the setup is very telling. Diehl uses this ethnic catastrophe to browbeat the US for not doing enough, but really what he wants, as evidenced by his years of writing (see, e.g., FAIR.ORG, 5/2/06, 12/23/14, 5/17/16), is more meddling and intervention and bombing in general; the tragedy in Burma simply serves as a moral lubricant for an assertion of the US’s superiority. To national security boosters like Diehl,  “American leadership,” like military spending, is always in a state of inadequacy. There’s never enough, we always need more. The possibility that said “leadership” or military spending may be causing the problems—even the ones he himself cites as the most urgent—rather than being their solution is simply not an option.

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

_Messages can be sent to the WASHINGTON POST at letters@washpost.com, or via TWITTER @washingtonpost. Please remember that respectful communication is the most effective._

question: What is Diehl calling for?

answer: More American leadership.

question: What does the article say is in retreat?

answer: Democracy.

question: What caused the famine in Yemen?

answer: U.S. support of the Saudi backed bombing.

question: What does the author say Diehl's proposal would mean?

answer: More intervention and more bombing.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The author criticizes the writings of a journalist, Diehl, who was lamenting the decline of American leadership and democracy in the world. The author notes that American leadership often means bombings and interventions, and claims that it is the cause of many of the problems in the world.