text:
NICOLAS CARONE (June 4, 1917 – July 15, 2010) belonged to the early generation of New York School Abstract Expressionist artists. Their artistic innovation by the 1950s had been recognized internationally, including in London and Paris. New York School Abstract Expressionism, represented by Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Franz Kline, Conrad Marca-Relli and others, became a leading art movement of the postwar era.

Biography

Carone was born June 4, 1917 into an Italian-American family in New York City. They moved to Hoboken, New Jersey, where he grew up. He began formal art studies at the age of eleven at the Leonardo da Vinci School located at St. Mark's Church on E. 10th St. He studied at the National Academy of Design under Leon Kroll, Art Students League of New York, Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, and the Rome Academy of Fine Arts.

In 1941 he won the Rome Prize and in 1949 a Fulbright Fellowship. Both gave him an opportunity to study art in Italy. During his time in Italy after World War II, he came into personal contact with important Italian painters, particularly Giorgio Morandi.

After returning to the US, Carone continued to paint and exhibited works in the 9th Street Art Exhibition in 1951. Along with other first generation abstract expressionists, he also showed his work at the Stable Gallery.[1] Carone was a part of the Abstract Expressionist movement, which relied heavily on Surrealism, poetry, and interpretations of Jungian psychology. He was a good friend of Jackson Pollock, a noted abstract painter. He was later interviewed by authors Steven Naifeh and Gregory White Smith for their biography, _Jackson Pollock: An American Saga_.

Nicolas Carone's work is in the collections of museums including the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, the Baltimore Museum of Art, and the Mobile Museum of Art. Recent exhibits of his work were held at the Washburn Gallery in New York City from February 2 to March 31, 2012,[2] and the Watson MacRae Gallery in South Florida from March 2 to April 3, 2010.[3] His work was exhibited by a number of galleries, including at the Anita Shapolsky Gallery, Frumkin Gallery, Stable Gallery, and Staempfli Gallery.[4]

Carone taught at universities including Yale University, Columbia University, Brandeis University, Cornell University, Cooper Union, School of Visual Arts, and Skowhegan School. He was a founding faculty member of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, where he taught for 25 years. In 1988 he founded the International School of Art, located first in Todi, Italy and then in Nearby Montecastello. Carone was consulted by dealers, collectors and film makers regarding his expertise on Arshile Gorky and Pollock, including for the films _Pollock_, starring Ed Harris, and _Who the *$&% Is Jackson Pollock?_[5]

He died July 15, 2010 at the age of 93.[6][7][8]

[1] _New York School Abstract Expressionists Artists Choice by Artists,_ (New York School Press, 2000.) , pp.16, 19

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] “Nicolas Carone: Jazz, Poetry, and Jackson Pollock”, Fine Art Investigations blog, 2 May 2012

[6] Lindsay Pollock News, _Painter Nicholas Carone 1917–2010_ Retrieved July 21, 2010

[7]

[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/29/arts/design/29carone.html

title: Nicolas Carone

question: What does the text say about Carone's education?

answer: Carone began his formal art studies at the age of eleven at the Leonardo da Vinci School located at St. Mark's Church on E. 10th St. He studied at the National Academy of Design under Leon Kroll, Art Students League of New York, Hans Hofmann School of Fine Arts, and the Rome Academy of Fine Arts. In 1941, he won the Rome Prize and in 1949, he won a Fullbright Fellowship, which game him an opportunity to study art in Italy.

question: What does the text say about Carone's teaching?

answer: Carone taught at universities including Yale University, Columbia University, Brandeis University, Cornell University, Cooper Union, School of Visual Arts, and Skowhegan School. He was a founding faculty member of the New York Studio School of Drawing, Painting and Sculpture, where he taught for 25 years. And in 1988, he founded the International School of Art.


split: train

text:
Small waves lapped against the next contestant as she bobbed in the water. The game was called “Don’t shit a brick.” The goal was to see who could doggy paddle the longest while holding a brick. Juvenile, sure. Was it fun? You’re damn right it was.

Jennifer had cried out with glee when she first entered the water, then her face squished in like a sponge when she was handed the brick. She momentarily grimaced as the red, clay brick scraped against her inner thigh. But she managed to hold onto it surrounded by the vibrantly colored speedboats of her classmates.

Her red and blue bikini top was fastened tight around her neck, but the grasping texture of the brick threatened to expose her sun shaded breasts to the boys leaning off the sides of their boats, cheering wildly like she was crossing the finish line with each minor stroke.

The coldness of Lake Holshire had sucked my breath away earlier in the afternoon, when the first round of tubing had begun.  The coldness could be seen on Jennifer’s face, in the way she gasped for air and kept her eyes focused on one spot in the sky.

Maybe if we had brought more than one brick, the contestant would have felt better about dropping it to the mossy bottom below. As it were, Jennifer struggled with the weight and the beers she had drank earlier.

She managed to keep herself afloat as someone yelled, “She looks like she’s shitting a brick!”

The three speedboats all had their engines killed and their anchor points tethered, leaving a triangular opening in the water. As Jennifer struggled with her clay weight, the boats sloshed and shimmied so that Jennifer was no longer in the center of the triangle, but closer to Davis’ boat, a shining red and black beast that could hit sixty miles an hour without blinking.

I yelled to Davis, “Get her out, man. She’s finished.”

He didn’t even look at me, but kept staring down at the top of her breasts that glistened just above the surface of the water.

In the afternoon sun, the water was a navy blue, like the oppressive folds of storm clouds about to spit rain.

Davis was now laying on the edge of his Mastiff, as he called the red and black racer, urging Jennifer to just give up and take her top off. She didn’t need to be weighed down by it. Her faux laugh filled her mouth with Lake water, which she spit out with squinting eyes.

“Shut up, Dave,” was all she managed to mouth before slipping under water.

Davis turned to Trev, “Did you hear what she said?” He didn’t see her submerge into the triangle of darkness, like a pole searching for the bottom of Lake Holshire.

The water rippled outwards where the crown of her head had gone under, breaking symmetry on the side of the Mastiff. One, two, three seconds pass. No sign of her. She’s not coming up. I search the black water to see if I can find her, but cannot.

I glance at the others. There’s more than a dozen people and not one of them seems concerned that Jennifer has just taken the plunge to death. She’s a caught bobber and no one wants to reel her in.

Alcohol does dumb shit to people.

I dive in, momentarily wondering if I should have jumped in feet first rather than swan dive into the water. But I don’t hit her. I open my eyes and am amazed at how bright it is underwater. The boats cast long shadows down a corridor of the lake, but there’s wide expanses receiving bright sunlight now. I can see Jennifer with her eyes closed about ten feet below.

She is drifting there like a person caught between a dream and waking. She’s let go of the brick but her hands still hold it near her chest. Something in the water brushes against my eyelids causing them to close momentarily. I fear she’ll be dead when I get her in my arms. Will she drift away when I’m back?

I reach her, grab her underneath her arms and start kicking for the surface. I can see the long angular shadows from the boats spread wider and wider, until I’m panting above the dark expanse of the black triangle.

title: Black Triangle

question: Explain everything that happens to Jennifer.

answer: Jennifer is handed a brick while doggy paddling in cold Lake Holshire. Her classmates surround her. She is participating to see who can do this for the longest time. She struggles to stay afloat and hold onto the brick and her bikini. She slips under the water. The narrator dives in, Jennifer is floating in the water about ten feet below with her eye closed and still holding the brick to her chest. The narrator reaches her and kicks to the surface.

question: Summarize the scene where the narrator dives into the water.

answer: Jennifer rebukes Davis before her head slips under the water. Three seconds later she hasn't resurfaced. More than a dozen people are around, but none of them dive in to save her. The narrator swan dives into the water and sees Jennifer floating ten feet below, caught between a dream and waking. The narrator grabs her and kicks to the surface.

question: Why does no one react to Jennifer disappearing under the water?

answer: Jennifer is a caught bobber and no one wants to reel her in. In the opinion of the narrator, alcohol impaired their judgement.

question: Summarize all the information relating to the game these people are playing.

answer: Jennifer is a contestant in a game where you have to hold a brick while doggy paddling. The person that does this the longest wins the contest. There is only one brick, so the contestants feel bad about dropping it.

question: Is the narrator male or female?

answer: I would say male.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Jennifer is a contestant in a game where the person that can hold a brick the longest while doggy paddling wins. She loses the fight to stay afloat and slips under the water. The narrator dives in to save her when she doesn't resurface.


text:
                                   Hamish the Alley Cat

	What the empirical fuck is that smell!?! It's as if someone jammed way too many roses up my nose when I was not at all prepared for even one fucking rose to be jammed that far up my nose. Why does she do this to herself? I just got here. I have no fucking idea. She is *so* fat. She sits on the couch all day staring at the television, constantly grabbing me and squashing me into her old, saggy tits. It's horribly depressing. For me. I don't give a shit about her. She's too far gone for pity or even any kind of consideration whatsoever. But she “saved me”. So I'm supposed to be grateful? Goddamnit.

	Two weeks ago I was pretty much at the peak of my whole entire alley cat life. There I was, juggling three sweet little pieces of tail, all chivalry followed by indifference or, more often, outright contempt. Everything had been going so smoothly but I was pretty sure they were going to figure things out and then... well, then it was going to turn into a huge fucking hassle.

	And so they did figure it out. The three of them cornered me behind the shitty Chinese seafood restaurant where I used to eat pretty much every day. They'd crept up on me and when I turned around they were staring at me through meaningfully narrowed, female cat-eyes. I'd just eaten a pile of probably rancid lobster claws and was not in the mood for this kind of a showdown. But then something unexpected happened. They all started mewing in like a *real* low register that I'd never heard before. It was terrifying but also I had just about the hugest cat boner pretty much of my whole entire life. I don't know what the fuck they'd sorted out between them but they turned themselves right around and I didn't hesitate for a second before... well, you're not a cat but figure it the fuck out for yourself.

	And then I ended up here. Maybe it was Karma. Don't you doubt for a second that I didn't sin extremely hard with those three alley girls. So yeah, maybe it was Karma. Except that it wasn't 'cause who the fuck actually takes that shit seriously anymore? It was capricious. Just like everything else. Just a goddamn unfortunate coincidence. There I was, sprawled out, spent and nearly unconscious on a pile of fishbones when who happens to stroll down my paradise of an alley but the scourge of alley cats worldwide: the SPCA girl. She scooped me up and took me to her little cat prison which was bad enough. But then I was swapped out of Rikers Island and sent into the goddamn final centre of all of the concentric circles of hell. Suburbia. Holy Hell! Perfumed exactly for what!?!

                                                ..........

	So I feel like you aren't taking me seriously. I'm too callous and I use too many cuss words? I'm not worthy of sympathy because I didn't hesitate before seriously rogering three poor victimy felines in a dirty Chinatown alleyway? Well fuck right off. That's the world I come from. That's where I was born and that's where, god-willing, I'll die if I ever get out of this perfume saturated townhouse. Which, it's looking like the chances are fairly fucking slim...

	But what am I supposed to do? Claw out her eyes and piss all over her Wal-Mart blouse? Well that's not going to open the door or window, is it? Besides, it's not like I have anything against this Titanic of a women. She is *shockingly* desperate. I don't know how she got this way. Probably some asshole treated her like a means to his own typically demented ends and then fucked off. Probably told her he loved her. She probably didn't believe him but was too far gone with nothing else to look forward to and nowhere else to go.

	Except to the SPCA and their collection of messianic felines.

	And so here we sit, watching Fox News, enshrouded in rose-tinged gasoline fumes, staring at Romney and his immaculate hair. It's a post-mortem piece. The election is over. The parrots are suggesting that Romney's failure has somehow managed to transform the Mormon faith into a state of respectability. Which means a state on non-cultishness. This is, of course, ridiculous. Mormonism was never a cult. Much like the rest of the human circus, it is, and always has been, simply an unmitigated shitshow. But no one at Fox cares. And no one seems up to investigating the actually interesting American Cult. The one that, as we speak, is spreading rhizomatically across the country just exactly as fast as Suburbia's slow crawl.

                                             ..........

	Listen. At this point you're probably wondering: how could a cat could come to be so insightful and mercilessly direct? Um, first of all, napping? No, we're not napping. We're observing. And plotting.  And because we're plotting so goddamn hard we have to keep our eyes closed for concentration purposes. And that blank stare? Well that blank stare ain't so blank after all, shitdicks. Next time you're role-playing with the cat in the room, maybe think twice before breaking out the ol' strap-on.

	Just sayin'.

	Anyway, I'm supposed to be telling a story. Which means a beginning, a middle, some sort of a climax, maybe a little *denouement* and than at least an ambiguous fade or maybe actually an end. But does this scenario seem amenable to that kind of a structure? Where are things supposed to go from here? She's going to keep buying me food. And so I'll eat it and won't die until I develop some inevitable cat disease or decide to crawl into the *in-progress* garburator. Which, yeah, is depressing enough but somehow infinitely less depressing than the fact that she'll simply continue to sit on the couch, stinking of that hysterically Brad Pitt-endorsed garbage she sprays all over herself, content to drive me over and over into the depths of her mammarian cavity.

        Until, she seems to hope, forever.

	And that's it. That's the whole story. The two of us: we are the very picture of doom! Here we sit, lit up like angels in the perpetual wash of cable nonsense and runaway newsiness, all comfort and cancer and just waiting for oblivion...

                                               ..........

	So if it's a story you're looking for, you'd best stop hangin' around here. Go downtown. Go take a walk down the darkest, dirtiest alleyway you can find. It won't be the same without me but make no mistake: the heirs to the throne are already there, clawin' the eyeballs out of each other's eyeball sockets, mouths stuffed full of fur and blood, fightin' 'til the very last breath just for the chance to take my place. And they'll keep comin' and comin' for no one knows how long.

There's no shortage of understudies in the Theatre of the Real.

                                               *

title: something I wrote a year ago or so... be warned, there are swears.

question: What is the source of the smell?

answer: The owner's Brad-Pitt-endorsed perfume.

question: Describe the narrator.

answer: They are an alley cat named Hamish.

question: What is the central conflict of the story?

answer: Hamish is captured by the SPCA and goes to live with a new owner in suburbia. He detests his new life.

question: What do the narrator and the SPCA girl watch on TV?

answer: They watch a Fox News broadcast where Romney is being criticized for failing to gain respectability for the Mormon faith.

question: Describe the cat's owner.

answer: She is fat and has saggy tits. She wears a Wal-Mart blouse.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Hamish the alley cat is juggling intimate relationships with three female cats at once. One day, they find out about each other and confront him, and he has sex with all three of them. Afterward, he is captured by the SPCA and acquired by a new owner, a perfume-wearing obese woman who lives in the suburbs and watches Fox News.


text:
JULIUS H. STAHEL-SZÁMWALD (November 5, 1825 – December 4, 1912) was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States and became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, a mining engineer, and a life insurance company executive. He received the Medal of Honor for gallantry in action at the Battle of Piedmont in 1864.

Birth and early years

Stahel was born in Szeged, Kingdom of Hungary, 200 km southeast of Budapest. After schooling in Szeged and Budapest, he entered the Austrian Army, rising to the rank of lieutenant. Stahel joined the movement for Hungarian independence led by Lajos Kossuth during the Revolution of 1848. He served on the staffs of Gen. Artúr Görgey and Gen. Richard Debaufre Guyon. When the Hungarian uprising against the Habsburg dynasty was put down in 1849, he fled to Prussia and then to England before migrating to the United States in 1859. Until the outbreak of the American Civil War, he worked for _Deutsche illustrirte Familienblätter_, a German-language newspaper in New York City.

Civil War service

In 1861, with the outbreak of war, Stahel and Louis Blenker recruited the 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the 1st German Rifles or Blenker's Rifles. Stahel, who had dropped the “Számwald” portion of his surname, became the regiment's lieutenant colonel, while Blenker served as colonel. Stahel first saw combat at the First Battle of Bull Run, leading the regiment in Blenker's first brigade of Dixon Miles's Fifth Division. The regiment covered the flight of the Union Army of Brig. Gen. Irvin McDowell. The 8th New York served in Blenker's division of the newborn Army of the Potomac until it was transferred to western Virginia. Stahel become a colonel on August 11, 1861 and a brigadier general three months later.

Stahel led a brigade under Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont in the Mountain Department during an incursion into the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. His brigade was of Fremont's left at the Battle of Cross Keys in which Stonewall Jackson stopped the Union advance into the Valley. Stahel's position on the left exposed his command to a flank attack by Isaac Trimble's brigade as Fremont was attempting to turn the right of the Confederate line.

By July 1862, Stahel was commander of the first brigade of Robert C. Schenck's first division Army of Virginia in the corps led by Franz Sigel in Maj. Gen. John Pope's Army of Virginia. At the Second Battle of Bull Run, Schenck was wounded and Stahel became acting commander of the division. (Adolphus Buschbeck succeeded to command of the brigade.) Stahel's brigade was one of two that covered Sigel's retreat when Pope's army was defeated.

Stahel rose to division command by late 1862 and was promoted to major general on March 14, 1863. He briefly commanded the XI Corps during the fall of 1862.

In March 1863 Stahel was assigned to command a Union cavalry division in the defenses of Washington, D.C. When the division joined the Army of the Potomac in June 1863, Alfred Pleasonton had Stahel removed, promoting Judson Kilpatrick in his place. He then served as cavalry commander in the Department of the Susquehanna at the time of the Gettysburg Campaign.

[Stahel received a Medal of Honor for gallantry at Piedmont] [Julius Stahel's Grave at Arlington National Cemetery] By the spring of 1864, Stahel was commander of the 1st Cavalry Division under Franz Sigel in the Shenandoah Valley. At the Battle of New Market, on May 15, 1864, his division was on the left of Sigel's line. It attacked the Confederate line but was repulsed by artillery fire. The division recoiled under attack by the Confederate forces of John C. Breckinridge when they counterattacked.

At the Battle of Piedmont on June 5, 1864, serving as cavalry commander under Maj. Gen. David Hunter, Stahel distinguished himself under fire until he was hit in the shoulder. This led to Stahel's receiving the Medal of Honor, on November 4, 1893, for leading his division until seriously wounded. Stahel served, after recovering from his wound, on court-martial duty until he resigned on February 8, 1865.

Postbellum career

After the Civil War, Stahel served in the United States diplomatic corps as consul in Yokohama, (1866–1869) and Osaka, Japan (1877–1884). After that he was United States Consul General in Shanghai, China (1884–1885). Between diplomatic assignments, he worked as a mining engineer. Upon returning to the United States for reasons of health, Stahel worked for the Equitable Life Insurance Company in New York City.

Stahel died in a New York City at 87 years of age. After a funeral in Washington, he was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Rank and organization: Major General, U.S. Volunteers. Place and date: At Piedmont, Va., June 5, 1864. Entered service at: New York, N.Y. Born: November 5, 1825, Hungary. Date of issue: November 4, 1893.

CITATION:

  Led his division into action until he was severely wounded.

title: Julius Stahel

question: What does the text say about Julius H. Stahel-Szamwald?

answer: Julius H. Stahel-Szamwald was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States. He eventually became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, a mining engineer, and a life insurance company executive.

question: What does the text say about Julius' career history?

answer: Julius H. Stahel-Szamwald was a Hungarian soldier who emigrated to the United States. He became a Union general in the American Civil War. After the war, he served as a U.S. diplomat, then eventually became a mining engineer, then a life insurance company executive.

question: What does the text say about war?

question: What does the text say about Julius' contributions to the Civil War?

answer: During the outbreak of war, Stahel and Louis Blenker recruited the 8th New York Volunteer Infantry Regiment, the 1st German Rifles. Stahel became the lieutenant colonel while Blenker served as the colonel. Stahel led a brigade under Maj. Gen. John C. Fremont in the Mountain Department during an incursion in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia.


text:
func_detail is a internal brush entity available in all Source games. It creates a brush that does not affect visibility or cause other brushes to be chopped. All brushwork that does not form the 'backbone' of the world (and that is not tied to a real entity) should be detail.

Valve provides an example map at sourcesdk_content\hl2\mapsrc\sdk_func_detail.vmf. You can also load up the HL2 map sources and hide detail brushes with their auto visgroup to see where Valve used them.

[TIP.PNG] TIP: Alternatively, use the console command r_drawfuncdetail to hide detail brushes in any map while it is running.

Effects

The point of creating a detail brush entity is to avoid creating an unnecessary number of visleaves for a mere detail of the map, hence the name of the entity. VBSP will allow visleaves to overlay details, and thus minimize visleaves and compile time.

[World-vs-detail.png]

Above are a world brush (left cylinder) and a detail brush (right cylinder). The blue lines are visleaf boundaries. The world brush has chopped the map into nine oddly-shaped segments, leading to longer compile times and marginally lower performance, while the detail brush has not changed anything.

Caveats

-   Detail brushes cannot be used to seal a map, or areaportal areas.
-   Because detail brushes do not chop world brushes, light can seep underneath them if the other surface's lightmap scale is larger than the detail brush is wide/tall. If you encounter this, manually slice the underlying brush in two (with ⇧ Shift+X).
    -   This effect can cause detail brushes with lots of surface contact to become inefficient, because the surface beneath them is being rendered too!
    -   Detail brushes _do_ chop _each other_, however.
-   Surfaces on very thin (about 2 units thick) detail brushes have been known to disappear at certain distances. As a workaround, use func_brush instead.
-   World brushes with translucent materials applied, or which are displacements, will be treated as detail, and cannot seal areas.
    -   World brushes w/ translucent material will still chop leaves, but to no effect.
-   Detail brushes will, in some cases, merge faces with other detail brushes, and on occasion, world brushes, which can cause them to create leaves.
-   Under normal conditions, any time a detail brush contacts a world brush, VBSP will note the junction and optimize it. This connection is known alternately as a T-junction and a water index, and there is a limit to the number of T-Junctions VBSP will attempt to fix (65,535). Excessive use of detail brushes in contact with world geometry could cause VBSP to abort compilation with an error. Using the -notjunc option will skip this optimization at the price of possible visual inconsistencies.

[NOTE.PNG] NOTE: Water, for unknown reasons, causes the t-junction count to skyrocket. Removing/reshaping bodies of water can overcome this.

Good candidates

[]

There's not much left of City 17 Trainstation Plaza once we remove detail brushes. Valve has missed a few world brushes as well...

Any brush which doesn't significantly block the player's view should probably be detail. Specific examples include:

-   Pillars, plinths and supports
-   Free-standing walls
-   Suspended walkways
-   Steps (create a smooth wedge-shaped world brush underneath)
-   Small buildings
-   Rotated brushes
-   Very small or thin brushes
-   Brushes in the 3D skybox. (Excluding displacements)

Keyvalues

_DXLevelChoice:_

Minimum DX Level (mindxlevel) <choices>
    The entity will not exist if the engine is running outside the given range of DirectX Versions. Replaced by _SystemLevelChoice_ from [<Left 4 Dead>] Left 4 Dead onwards.
    [WARNING.PNG] WARNING: If these are used, the object may break when the user switches their DirectX settings.

Maximum DX Level (maxdxlevel) <choices>

    -   Default (no bounding)
    -   DX7
    -   DX8
    -   DX8.1
    -   DX9 SM2
    -   DX9 SM3

See also

-   Optimization (level design)

question: What is the use of the detail brush?

answer: To create instances of detail in a game map, without creating a number of visleaves.

question: Are there many conditions for its use?

answer: There are several conditions for its use.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A technical explanation of the detail brush in a piece of unspecified game design software. It comes with a list of uses and an example exercise.


text:
Translated by Moe

CHAPTER 30 DON’T YOU THINK YOUNG MASTER HAS BECOME MORE HANDSOME?

Ling Xiao has already been cultivating “Vajra Five Transformation Secret Art” for a month, but today, at long last, he reached the large success realm of the first transformation, “Skin Refining.” Given his talent and hard work as well as Elder Taishang’s personal guidance, it would be impossible not to break through.

However, Ling Xiao had suffered quite a lot in the past month in order to break through the first transformation. Besides an incredible volume of physical training every day, he also had to expose himself to the blazing sun before finally quenching in cold water. This grueling regimen isn’t something the average person can endure. It’s fortunate that Ling Xiao possesses a tenacious temperament, or else he’d have given up long ago. And now he was able to reap the fruits of his labor. By successfully cultivating the first transformation, his physical body can now withstand an all-out attack from a high-rank _xuan practitioner_. After successfully cultivating the second transformation, “Muscle Refining,” he will be able to resist an all-out attack from a high-rank _xuan warrior_.

When that moment comes, he should have no problem defending himself in Falling Stone City as long as he does not encounter a _spirit master_.

The “Vajra Five Transformation Secret Art” is now complete with the last three transformations cultivation mnemonics provided by Elder Taishang. The last three transformations are separated into “Organ Refining,” “Bone Refining,” and “Blood Refining.” Every transformation will bring about a qualitative change in the practitioner’s defense; after completing the fifth transformation, even an all-out attack from of those _king_ rank and _earth emperor_ rank powerhouses in the legends may not necessarily cause any lasting damage. The order for this defensive technique is not clearly indicated, but, according to Elder Taishang’s appraisal, this technique is at the very least a green-order skill.

Elder Taishang has merely cultivated up to the third transformation, “Organ Refining,” and only the small success realm. Except for the first transformation, the subsequent transformations require an enormous amount of spirit grass and medicinal pills to cultivate to completion. Otherwise, a practitioner would be tormented to death by the brutal training before he could even finish cultivating this technique.

It goes without saying that spirit grass and medicinal pills are rare treasures. Even someone as powerful as Elder Taishang can only manage to procure third-grade spirit grass, and that was barely sufficient for him to reach the small success realm of the third transformation. To cultivate the fourth transformation, even fifth-grade spirit grass or medicinal pills would be inadequate.

After Ling Xiao had freshened up with a bath, he put on a black, form-fitting martial arts uniform, with a similarly colored cloak draped over his shoulders, his whole person appeared exceptionally charismatic and out of the ordinary.

His long hair is like a black waterfall as it fell in unkempt locks down to his shoulders, embodying his wild and uninhibited personality. An unusual light shined deep in the recesses of his sharp and keen eyes that would mesmerize anyone who peered into them. And his handsome, bright face can certainly cause many girls to swoon.

“Young Master is really charming.” Bai Yu Xi exclaimed in her heart as she looked at Ling Xiao from close by. At the same time, she couldn’t stop two red clouds from rising on her face.

“Yu Xi, don’t you think Young Master has become more handsome?” Ling Xiao couldn’t help but ask as he admired his own reflection in the mirror.

“Yes, Young Master is really good-looking.” Bai Yu Xi face turned beat red as she looked down and answered.

“Haha! I also feel that way.” Ling Xiao said narcissistically.

Bai Yu Xi naturally approves of Ling Xiao’s words; she had completely given her heart to Ling Xiao at this point. She would not resist at all if Ling Xiao wanted her body, and would even be happy.

Ling Xiao and Bai Yu Xi left the room together and walked toward the main hall. Along the way, quite a few servants turned toward Ling Xiao to pay their respects, “Lord Honor Guard.”

Ling Xiao’s current status is different from the past. When he finished among the top five in the family exam, he acquired the title of Honor Guard and was allocated several personal servants by the family. The stipend is also many times better than before, receiving two hundred gold coins each month to cover expenses. This is the treatment afforded to an Honor Guard. Not only that, Elder Taishang had moved in together with Ling Xiao ever since he had chosen Ling Xiao as his successor disciple and Ling Xiao’s status naturally became even more prominent. Even the Elders would acknowledge Ling Xiao with polite smiles when they meet him.

For this reason, Second Elder smashed his most precious flower vase after he returned home. He had thought that it was a sure thing for his grandson Ling Kuang to become Elder Taishang’s successor disciple. Ling Kuang was the perfect candidate, exceptional in every regard, and even his attribute matches that of Elder Taishang. If he were Elder Taishang, he would choose Ling Kuang. Who could have foreseen Elder Taishang would choose Ling Xiao, a low-rank _xuan practitioner_ and the weakest of the bunch. Not only that but that boy Ling Xiao was apparently very much unwilling and only begrudgingly accepted to be Elder Taishang’s disciple. He was furious, but there’s nothing to be done for it.

Everyone had been baffled by this turn of events, but could only sigh inwardly that the ways of the world are truly unpredictable! They had no choice but to accept Ling Xiao’s good fortune was just too fearsome.

After having a meal, Elder Taishang called Ling Xiao over.

Staring at the quiet and restrained old man in front of him, Ling Xiao was also confused as to why he was chosen. In his heart, he sighed as he thought, “It looks like my personality attracts people to me no matter where I go. Even this old man has fallen for me.”

“Venerable Master, did you call me over to give me a reward?” Ling Xiao spoke casually to Elder Taishang, not the least bit intimidated by his status.

Elder Taishang laughed quietly and said, “Little brat, you’ve already plundered quite a few of my things this past half month. And you still dare to ask? How much are you willing to bet that I won’t knock you silly?”

Ling Xiao rubbed his hands together and let out a mischievous chuckle. “Heh heh…Wasn’t it just a few crappy weapons and little pills? There’s no need for you to keep tab of something like that. You’re too stingy for someone of your means.”

Elder Taishang’s face turned green when he heard what he said. This guy played down second-grade, intermediate-level weapons and second-grade medicinal pills as “crappy weapons” and “little pills.” Any one of these items would cause a sensation in Falling Stone City.

“Since they are rubbish anyways, you should return them to me. I won’t be offended.” Elder Taishang said as he lightly stroked his beard.

“You can’t just take back something you’ve given away. Let’s get down to business. What did Venerable Master want to talk to me about?” Ling Xiao laughed, in a hurry to change the subject.

“Sneaky little bastard.” Elder Taishang lightly scolded. After that, a serious expression covered his face as he continued, “You’ve already completed the first transformation and your cultivation speed could be considered passable. However, the following transformation is even harder to cultivate and will place an enormous toll on your body. Do you have the confidence to carry on?”

Ling Xiao didn’t even give pause before confidently replying, “Of course. There’s no way a trifling external skill would be too difficult for me. That’s just laughable.”

“Heh heh. That being the case, you should begin practicing the second transformation right away.” A sly smile revealed on Elder Taishang’s face.

Ling Xiao shrugged and said, “There’s no need to be this serious, right? We need to strike a happy medium when it comes to work and play. And I’m also really busy today, so why don’t we talk about this again another time.” Having said that, he immediately made a run for it without any regard for Elder Taishang.

Elder Taishang watched as Ling Xiao ran away and was not angry at all. Instead, a bleak smile appeared on his face as he said to himself, “Quickly grow up, kid. There’s not much time left!”

Ling Xiao naturally did not hear Elder Taishang’s last words.

Right now, he had already left the family residence, continuing in the direction of the market.

Today, his primary goal is to purchase some outdoor equipment for a trip to the Desolate Chaparral Mountains he planned to take in a few days. The reason he needs to go to the Desolate Chaparral Mountains is not to earn gold coins; rather, it is because he yearned for the spirit beasts and spirit grass that’s native to that area. Over the past few months, his interest in this world has grown considerably. He learned that some heaven-defying spirit grasses could promote cultivation base or even bring people back from the dead. There were also dangerous spirit beasts that can shoot flames or spit water. If he could manage to make one of these spirit beasts as his mount, that would be incredibly awesome!

That is why Ling Xiao became so set on making a trip to the Desolate Chaparral Mountains.

Nowadays, Ling Xiao’s safety is of the utmost importance in the Ling Family. He had barely left the Ling Family residence when two _xuan warrior_ rank experts immediately followed behind. Both of these men are loyal bodyguards of the Ling Family and members of the Tiger Guards, Ling Family’s most powerful guard unit. They both go by their unit’s tactical call sign, respectively Tiger Six and Tiger Seven. As intermediate-rank _xuan warriors_, the two men are ranked among the top ten experts of the Tiger Guard and rank among the elites of Falling Stone City.

Patriarch Ling Cang had arranged this two-man security detail. At first, Second Elder and Fifth Elder adamantly opposed, arguing that Ling Cang was overstepping his authority by assigning the Tiger Guards to protect Ling Xiao, and that this was clearly favoritism and so on. But after Ling Cang explained that this was Elder Taishang’s idea, the two old men did not dare to utter another word.

Ling Xiao was not bothered by the guards tailing him, but instead felt like one of those rich and powerful silk-pants that can rely on others to do his bidding.

Purchasing his supplies did not take long, finishing his errands in less than two hours. Ling Xiao was not anxious to go home, so he took a detour back to the most famous restaurant in the city, Fragrant Taste Restaurant.

Last time, he came here together with Bai Yu Xi and thought quite highly of the delicacies he tried. It was a pity that Luo Qing Shuang had disturbed his meal and had nearly demolished the restaurant in the process.

After going through renovations, Fragrant Taste Restaurant’s business was better than ever.

Each and every patron—rich merchants, nobles, and children of large family clans—had a lascivious smile spread across their face as they sauntered in and out the establishment with beautiful hostesses hanging off their arms.

Seeing this situation, Ling Xiao couldn’t help but be upset at himself for not bringing Yu Xi along. He was extremely jealous as he watched everyone else with beautiful women in their embrace.

“I don’t believe that, with my good-looks and charisma, there isn’t a woman who will pay to be with me.”  Ling Xiao shook out his cloak and then took large, confident strides into the Fragrant Taste Restaurant.”

Ling Xiao wasn’t just blowing his own horn; he had always been incredibly dashing. But along with becoming a _xuan practitioner_ and successfully cultivating the first transformation of the Vajra Five Transformation Secret Art, the air about his person had raised several folds compared to before, all the more imposing, more handsome.

When he had just barely entered the Fragrant Taste Restaurant, many of the beautiful escorts threw coquettish glances his way. This made Ling Xiao feel very pleased, and couldn’t help but raise his brows, his heart filled with happiness.

Fragrant Taste Restaurant’s manager and attendant recognized Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao had left a lasting impression on them during his previous visit. Ling Family’s genius can practice cultivation once again, and recent rumors have it that he had already become a _xuan practitioner_. Not only that, but he had been received by Ling Family’s Elder Taishang as his successor disciple. News of the matter spread through Falling Stone City like a whirlwind.

The manager personally led Ling Xiao up to the second floor and arranged the best table for him.

When Ling Xiao went upstairs, whispers broke out among the patrons downstairs.

“The one who just came in is the Ling Family’s Ling Xiao, right? Didn’t I hear he’s been crippled? How could he be so high-spirited?”

“Unbelievable, right? Not only can he cultivate xuan strength, but he also defeated Luo Family’s Luo Qing Shuang right here a month ago. I recently heard that Ling Family’s Elder Taishang had received him as successor-disciple.”

“No way, this is incredible. Even a salted fish can turn over¹. This kind of luck is too good!”

“That’s right! So remember to be respectful when you see him from now on. You probably noticed the two guards following behind him just now. Those two emanating a baleful aura are most likely two of Ling Family’s twenty-four Tiger Guards.

……

Up on the second floor, Ling Xiao sat on a couch covered in soft animal hide, feeling extremely comfortable and relaxed.

“Young Master Ling, what would you like to order?” The manager politely asked Ling Xiao.

“I’ve heard of you serve Spirit Snake Soup here. I’ll take three orders of that, with ten catties of wolf meat on the side, and five more jugs of wine.” Ling Xiao barked. He wanted to enjoy the lavish lifestyle of a rich young master.

“Yes, Young Master Ling Xiao.” The manager complied respectfully.

Just when the manager was about to withdraw, a voice as lovely as birdsong rang out, “This Young Master’s meal is on me!”

Ling Xiao’s gaze followed in the direction of the voice and couldn’t help go into a daze.

1.  Experience a reversal of fortune

question: What are some of the rigors Ling Xiao endured during the course of “Vajra Five Transformation Secret Art”?

answer: The volume of grueling physical training and the blazing sun.

question: What are the last three transformations?

answer: Organ refining, blood refining, and bone refining.

question: What is "spirit grass"?

answer: It sounds like it might be marijuana.

question: How does Bai Yu Xi compliment Ling Xiao?

answer: She says he is becoming very handsome.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: Ling Xiao has been following the “Vajra Five Transformation Secret Art” for a month and he has finally reached the large success realm of the first transformation, “Skin Refining.” He's been learning from ELder Taishung. The training has required a rigorous immense volume of physical training in the blazing sun. Despite his success so far, Ling Xiao knows he couldn't beat a high-ranking xuan warrior yet-not until he completes the "Muscle Refining" transformation. The other transformation is called the "Blood Refining". A woman named Bai Yu Xi tells him he's handsome, and he charismatically concurs. She has clearly given her heart to him by this point. His family has been and remains proud of him, albeit protective-he now leaves the family compound accompanied by guards.


text:
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When it comes to water news in Southern California, the drought dominated headlines for several years. But having enough water for everyone who lives and works here isn’t the only water concern we face. Our water needs to be _clean_, too. We expect that when we turn on our kitchen sinks, the water that flows out is consistently clean and safe for cooking, cleaning and drinking.

The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority (SAWPA) Basin Monitoring Program Task Force works collectively to share resources and monitor surface and groundwater quality in the Santa Ana River Watershed. As home to approximately 6 million people, residents and businesses throughout the region rely in part on groundwater from the Santa Ana River Watershed (the natural ecological system including the river and its tributaries) and the five water agencies that comprise SAWPA. These five water agencies – Eastern Municipal Water District, Inland Empire Utilities Agency, Orange County Water District, San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, and Western Municipal Water District – collaborate on water projects and programs affecting the watershed to bring clean water to businesses and homes.

SAWPA administers task forces like the Basin Monitoring Program Task Force, a 20-agency task force formed 15 years ago, to monitor nitrogen and total dissolved solids (TDS) for water quality compliance in the Santa Ana River Watershed. Excessive nitrogen and TDS can impact drinking water. Too much nitrogen can stimulate growth of algae in water. TDS are the concentrations of solids in water. Both nitrogen and TDSs need to be monitored in order to ensure that Orange County water resources downstream are protected.

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The Task Force brings together key cities and water agencies as well as the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board, this region’s local water quality regulatory agency, to work together on the complex job of monitoring and improving water quality. Task Force members include the cities of Banning, Beaumont, Corona, Redlands, Rialto, Riverside and the Jurupa Community Services District, plus the following water agencies:

-   Beaumont-Cherry Valley Water District
-   Chino Basin Watermaster
-   Colton/San Bernardino Regional Tertiary Treatment and Wastewater Reclamation
-   Eastern Municipal Water District
-   Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District
-   Inland Empire Utilities Agency
-   Irvine Ranch Water District
-   Temescal Valley Water District
-   Orange County Water District
-   San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District
-   San Gorgonio Pass Water Agency
-   Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board
-   West Riverside County Regional Wastewater Authority
-   Yucaipa Valley Water District

The Task Force compiles and collects monitoring data to evaluate water quality annually and the groundwater basins throughout the watershed every three years; provides guidance on wastewater treatment plant discharge permits; and conducts additional water quality studies to monitor and evaluate salt and nitrate trends.

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By bringing so many cities and water agencies together every month for meetings over the past 15 years, this Task Force has built relationships and greatly improved efficiencies in water and wastewater operations through joint studies on dealing with salt in the water. The Task Force also saves its members millions of dollars due to collaboration and economies of scale.

The Basin Monitoring Program Task Force is a success because the members understand that we have only one Santa Ana River Watershed to share and the water in it belongs to everyone, now and in the future.

To learn more please click on our brochure

question: What are the functions of The Santa Ana Watershed Project Authority?

answer: It's comprised of five water agencies that collaborate on water projects. Together, they monitor and work to maintain and improve the water quality. Bringing so many cities and agencies together greatly improved the efficiency of water and wastewater operations.

question: What does the article say about the water distribution within cities?


text:
Bill Werbeniuk, who died in Vancouver on Monday aged 56, loomed large over the professional snooker scene during the late 1970s and early 1980s; although never ranked higher than eighth in the world, Werbeniuk's colossal girth - he was the first man to split his trousers during a televised match - and his consumption of 50 pints of lager a day made him one of snooker's most recognisable figures.

Werbeniuk's 25-stone bulk, and his intake of alcohol, became - unfairly - his most prominent characteristics in the minds of the public. But those were, by any standards, extraordinary - although not solely through adherence to the game's dissolute image. Werbeniuk suffered from an hereditary nervous disease (or so he and his doctors claimed) which caused his hands to shake. The only solution which allowed him to participate in his trade was drink.

Werbeniuk's condition, as he argued towards the end of his career, could have been stabilised under the influence of beta-blockers. Unfortunately, the only such drug recommended by his own consultant, Inderal, was banned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. He acquired a medical certificate which approved his beer-drinking, and became the envy of every armchair viewer when it was explained that he could offset the cost of beer against income tax.

Werbeniuk would have outclassed any amateur drinker, however. "I'd down six to eight pints of lager before I started," he said. "Then I'd have one pint a frame. Obviously, over the longer matches I'd get through quite a lot of lager but I managed to burn off alcohol very quickly." In one match, against the British player Nigel Bond, in January 1990, Werbeniuk downed 28 pints of lager and 16 whiskies over the course of 11 frames. (Bond won 10-1.) After the match, Werbeniuk went home and drank a bottle of Scotch to drown his sorrows. "I have got to think seriously if I'm going to bother playing any more," he said a day or two later. "I drank 28 pints of lager and eight double scotches during the day and was only starting to feel comfortable at the table in the final couple of frames. Now I know that I can only play if I'm totally drunk, and that's not fair on me."

William Werbeniuk was born on January 14 1947 at Winnipeg, Manitoba. His grandfather had come from the Ukraine, but despite the reputation of his countrymen in Canada, who were renowned for their love of the Queen and Gracie Fields, young Bill's father was a bad lot. "He was one of the biggest fences in Canada," said Werbeniuk. "He committed armed robberies, peddled drugs, every larceny in the language." But he also owned Pop's Billiards, on the town's Logan Avenue, and by the age of nine his son had demonstrated his abilities at the table. He was soon pitted against the local champion at £5 a frame: he lost. A few weeks later, Bill returned and collected £290. He was 12.

Werbeniuk soon settled into a life of late nights, stiff drinks and hanging around. "First and foremost, I'm a gambler," he declared in 1989. "Cards or snooker, it's always been a gamble." After a short-lived and unconsummated marriage, aged 19, to a French girl looking for a residency permit, Werbeniuk concentrated his attentions on the table, becoming North American Champion from 1973 - the year he turned professional - until 1976. By 1974, Werbeniuk was in the thick of the professional snooker world.

Playing in Australia, he and the English player John Spencer took the prize money from all the other competitors at £10 a point after the tournament. "Then we carried on from noon until 7am." Werbeniuk drank 76 cans of lager during the game.

He moved to Britain, and after a spell playing with Willie Thorne in Leicester, settled in a converted bus based at Worksop, where he remained for most of his professional career. He quickly became a popular figure with fans of the game; although never reaching the top ranks, he was in the quarter-finals of the Embassy World Championships four times, going out on the first occasion in 1978 to Ray Reardon. The next year he again reached the quarters, and equalled the then record of 142 for a single break.

Later the same year he reached the semi-finals of the UK Championship. In 1982, he led his fellow Canadians, Cliff Thorburn and Kirk Stevens, to the World Cup title. When Thorburn scored the first televised 147 break during the World Championships, Werbeniuk halted his match at the next table to watch, and gave him a bear-hug after the final black went down.

Werbeniuk was in the top 16 at the time that rankings were first drawn up, remaining (with one exception) at that level for the next eight seasons. His highest position was as the world's No 8 in 1984-85. His only serious final was the Lada Classic in 1983; Steve Davis beat him 9-5. The same year he was runner-up in the Australian Masters.

By this stage, doctors recommended that he switch to the beta-blocker Inderal. Since the drug was banned by the WPBSA, it led to his expulsion in March 1989, after he refused to pay a £2,000 fine. In September, he was reinstated as a non-tournament player, but his attempts to stop using the drug led to increased reliance on drink. He based himself at his mother's home in Vancouver, shuffling between playing pool - a game he never enjoyed - and attempts to return to top-flight snooker.

But by now he was No 47 in the world rankings. After his defeat by Bond, Werbeniuk realised that the game was up. A bankruptcy notice was filed against him in 1991, and later that year he was severely reprimanded and fined £5,000 for refusing to take a drugs test. He threatened to take the WPBSA to court over his beta-blockers, but eventually retired to Canada. There he was out of work and lived on disability benefits. "I live with my mother and brother and watch sport on the TV. You have to make the most of whatever situation you find yourself in."

question: How much did Bill drink a day?

answer: Bill drank 50 pints of lager a day.

question: When did Bill first become the North American Champion?

answer: Bill first became the North American Champion in 1973.

question: What was Bill's highest worldwide position?

answer: Bill's highest position was World's No 8 in 1984-1985.

question: When was Bill born?

answer: Bill was born on January 14 1947.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Bill Werbeniuk was a Canadian snooker player during the 1970's and 80's whose unusual quirk was always drinking during games. He played professionally, eventually making it to No 8 worldwide. He died in Vancouver on Monday.


text:
The character of PHILO GUBB was created by prolific pulp fiction writer Ellis Parker Butler and first appeared in the May 1913 issue of Redbook magazine. Philo Gubb attained such a high level of popularity that the author's attempt to kill the character off was derailed by public pressure.

Philo Gubb is a small-town paperhanger who learned his deductive technique by correspondence course, admires Sherlock Holmes, and “commits a major crime during every case on which he works: the murder of the English language”(1). Gubb differs from many mainstream fictional detectives in that he is not brilliant, clever, nor egocentric, but he is persistent, good-natured, and occasionally displays common sense. Also in contrast, his work may be characterized by elaborate disguises that deceive nobody, theories that are overhauled at every clue, and the often unintentional solving of mysteries. The nature of the character and his work methods help to create intentionally humorous situations.

Short stories

-   Philo Gubb, The Correspondence School Detective (1913) (AKA“The Hard-Boiled Egg”)
-   Philo Gubb and the Oubliette (1913)
-   Philo Gubb and the Un-burglars(1913)
-   Philo Gubb and the Two-Cent Stamp (1913)
-   Philo Gubb and the Chicken (1913)
-   Philo Gubb and the Dragon's Eye (1913)
-   The Progressive Murder (1913)
-   Red Cedar! (1914)
-   The Pet (1914)
-   The Eagle's Claws (1914)
-   The Missing Mister Master (1914)
-   Waffles and Mustard (1914)
-   The Anonymous Wiggle (1914)
-   The Half of a Thousand (1915)
-   Dietz's 7642, Bessie John (1915)
-   Buried Bones (1915)
-   Philo Gubb's Greatest Case (1915)
-   The Togbury Jool (1915)
-   One Hundred Dollars Reward (1915)
-   Henry (1915)
-   The Disappearance of Ma'y Jane (1915)
-   The Premature Death of Philo Gubb (1915)
-   The Stolen Umbrella (1915)
-   Four Tufts of Golden Hair (1915)
-   The Inexorable Tooth (1915)
-   The Carnival of Crime (1916)
-   This Style, $20 (1916)
-   The Parmiller Pounds (1916)
-   The Kinwiller Case (1916)
-   The Ghatghee (1916)
-   In the Dark! (1916)
-   The Needle, Watson (1916)
-   The Dark Closet (1916)
-   Too Much Gubb (1916)
-   The Hound of the Tankervilles (1916)
-   The Tenth of June (1916)
-   Who Would Steal a Pump? (1916)
-   The Last Case of Philo Gubb (1917)
-   The McNoodle Brothers' Radio Mystery (1923)
-   The Sword Swallower Murder (1933)

title: Philo Gubb

question: What are the differences between Sherlock Holmes and Philo Gubb?

answer: Philo Gubb is not as witty or clever. Also, Gubb engages in elaborate disguises that fool no one.


text:
[Packers offensive coordinator Tom Clements and defensive coordinator Dom Capers during the Packers NFL football intrasquad scrimmage Friday, Aug. 3, 2012, in Green Bay, Wis. (AP Photo/Mike Roemer)]

Mike Roemer/Associated Press

In a press conference given on Thursday, Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy announced that, among other coaching staff changes, he was ceding play-calling duties to Tom Clements, who was promoted from offensive coordinator to associate head coach (offense).

McCarthy said that he would be splitting his time equally now between offense, defense and special teams, something he wasn't able to do with play-calling responsibilities.

"I felt that the play-calling was something that I could still be able to do, but the commitment you have to make Monday through Saturday, I didn't think it fit," McCarthy said. "I didn't think it would work as good as I know it will work now with Tom, who's basically taking the responsibilities on offense that I've had in the past."

In early February, I explored how McCarthy giving up play-calling responsibilities could benefit Green Bay's offense as a whole. There are multiple facets of game management that a head coach simply can't follow in-game when he's calling plays, in addition to the time during the week (as McCarthy noted in his presser) taken away from other aspects of game-planning.

Freeing up McCarthy to manage the big picture could provide an immediate benefit to Green Bay's offense, but he didn't hand play-calling duties to just anyone.

Clements, who has been part of McCarthy's staff since he arrived in 2006 (quarterbacks coach from 2006-12 and offensive coordinator from 2013-14), is primed to succeed in the role.

Let's take a look at Clements' past successes as a play-caller, as well as his unique role in the Packers organization and his relationship with Aaron Rodgers.

BUFFALO BILLS: 2004-05 (OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR)

Clements hasn't called plays since he was the offensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills in the 2004 and 2005 seasons. Prior to Clements' arrival in Buffalo in 2004, the Bills hadn't had a winning season since 1999.

In Clements' first season calling plays and quarterback Drew Bledsoe's final one with Buffalo, however, the Bills improved to 9-7 and just barely missed the playoffs. In fact, according to Football Outsiders, the 2004 Bills are the highest-rated team by DVOA ever to miss the playoffs.

Buffalo went 0-4 to start its 2004 campaign but lost three of its first four games by three points or less. But then, as Aaron Schatz notes in his Football Outsiders piece, the Bills won six straight games by 30 points or more. Bledsoe threw 20 touchdowns that season, the fifth-most of his 14-season career.

It was the only season in which the Bills would have a winning record throughout the 2000s.

Bledsoe was released by the Bills after the 2004 season, and the team wasn't as successful in 2005, finishing 5-11. Clements was let go the following offseason as part of a front-office reconfiguration, and he was hired by McCarthy for the 2006 season.

GREEN BAY PACKERS: 2006-12 (QBS COACH), 2013-14 (OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR)

When he was hired by the Green Bay Packers on January 29, 2006, Clements entered at a pivotal moment in Packers history. As quarterbacks coach, he at once was able to begin working with future Packers Hall of Famer Brett Favre while simultaneously developing 2005 first-round draft pick Aaron Rodgers.

After reducing his interceptions from 29 (a career high) to just 18 in his first year working with Clements, Favre's 2007 season was one of the best of his career. He posted his second-highest completion percentage ever (66.5) and threw for the fourth-most yards in any season (4,155).

[]

Mel Evans/Associated Press

He also averaged 7.8 yards per attempt, the second-most of his career. His interception percentage dropped to 2.8, the lowest it had been since 2000.

Moreover, Clements was able to help Favre reach those kinds of numbers without necessarily requiring him to give up his gunslinging ways. In fact, Favre had 49 passes of 20-plus yards and 16 of 40-plus in 2007, the latter being the most in any season of his career.

Clements helped Favre become a more refined passer while also letting him be _more _of a gunslinger than he had been at any other point in his career. Under Clements, Favre didn't have to sacrifice letting the ball fly, but his decision-making in such situations improved.

However, it is in his development of and relationship with Rodgers that Clements has been most successful. This _New York Times_ piece by Greg Bishop does a fantastic job tracing Rodgers' early development.

When Rodgers was first drafted by the Packers in 2005, he toiled on the scout team. When McCarthy and Clements arrived in 2006, however, everything changed.

McCarthy's Quarterback School is well-known, but many people don't realize that in his first year working with McCarthy and Clements, Rodgers' whole game changed. Per Bishop, he "concentrated on tuning his fine motor skills: hand-eye coordination, finger dexterity, mechanics. He also lowered where he held the ball for a smoother, more consistent motion."

The development was rapid.

"By the end of Rodgers' second year," Bishop wrote, "McCarthy and [Ted] Thompson saw him as a starter who happened not to start. With his quarterback coach, Tom Clements, Rodgers studied every play from the Packers’ previous season."

Per Bishop, when Favre retired in 2008 and Rodgers' turn at the helm was set to begin, Clements had Rodgers study "every pass Tom Brady threw in his record-setting 2007 season."

He already knew the Packers offense in and out; now, he learned how to read defenses. He was ready.

With Clements behind him every step of the way, Rodgers became the only quarterback in NFL history to have a passer rating of 100.0 or higher for six consecutive seasons, per Packers.com.

More on Clements' offensive accomplishments from the team's site:

  In [Clements'] nine seasons with the team, the Packers have finished in the top 10 in the NFL in total offense eight times and in the top 10 in scoring eight times. Clements has helped the Green Bay offense record the three highest single-season point totals in franchise history: 560 in 2011, 486 in 2014 and 461 in 2009.

Now, however, he has the opportunity to really shine, drawing back on his past play-calling experience and taking a more active role for the Packers on game day.

2015 AND BEYOND

McCarthy emphasized in his Thursday press conference that he would not have handed over the reins to just anyone when it comes to calling plays. And Clements' longtime relationship with Rodgers is key to the move.

“The relationship between the play-caller and Aaron Rodgers is of critical importance," McCarthy said. "That’s a big part of the decision. Aaron has an excellent working relationship with Tom. The fit with Aaron is the highest priority.”

Indeed, as much as McCarthy trusts Clements, this move would not have happened without a veteran like Rodgers at the helm. Per Paul Imig of Fox Sports:

  Paul Imig @Paulimig

  McCarthy on giving up offensive play-callikng: "Yeah, it's hard to do. … feel very good about where Aaron is (with the offense)." #Packers

Clements noted in his interview on Thursday that the ideas from plays often come from Rodgers, and it's no secret how much freedom Rodgers is given to audible at the line of scrimmage.

But the likeness of mind between the two coaches, in addition to Clements' role in Rodgers' development, is what led McCarthy to promote him to associate head coach.

“I think we see the game the same way, approach the game the same way,” Clements told the media on Thursday after McCarthy's announcement. “A lot of times, I’m thinking, ‘I wish he’d call this,’ and he calls it. Hopefully it works in reverse this time.”

On Thursday, McCarthy also cited Clements' 12 years of calling plays in the CFL, as well as his two years with the Bills, as reasons for his confidence in the change.

Clements will also probably move down from the box to the sideline, according to Tom Silverstein of the _Milwaukee Journal Sentinel_, "so that he could relay calls directly to Rodgers and not slow down the no-huddle offense."

The move is a win-win for the Packers. McCarthy is freed up to spend as much time with special teams and the defense as he does with the offense, and to become a better game manager.

Clements, on the other hand, will work closely again with the quarterback he helped develop into an elite player, a partnership that has already proven to be more successful than anyone could have predicted.

question: Who is Mike McCarthy?

answer: Mike McCarthy is the Green Bay Packers head coach.

question: What does McCarthy announce in a press conference?

answer: McCarthy announces that he is ceding play-calling duties to Tom Clements.

question: Why is McCarthy ceding play-calling duties to Tom Clements?

answer: Because that could benefit Green Bay's offense.

question: Why does McCarthy think that Clements will be a good play-caller?

answer: Because of Clements' past successes as a play-caller.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy announces that he is ceding play-calling duties to Tom Clements because McCarthy needs more time to improve Green Bay's offense. Clement is promoted from offensive coordinator to associate head coach. McCarthy says he trusts Clements who has been part of McCarthy's staff since he arrived in 2006. Some of Clements' past successes as a play-caller that McCarthy mentions: he was the offensive coordinator in Buffalo Bills 2004-05 and in Green Bay Packers 2006-12.


text:
_EDITOR'S NOTE (June 25, 2019, 7 p.m. ET): After this article was published, several reports raised questions about the study's methodology and conclusions. An updated article with details about the study's flaws can be found here._

A bizarre finding by researchers that sounds like something out of a science fiction plot — people growing horn-like structures on their skulls due to smartphone use — may in fact have a simple explanation: bone spurs.

The study, which was published last year in the journal Scientific Reports, indeed found bony growths on the bases on skulls of around 400 adults, ages 18 to 86. And younger people were found to have larger growths.

The researchers referred to these growths as a “prominent exostosis ... emanating from the external occipital proturbance.” Or, in layman's terms, a bone spur, located at the base of the skull.

Bone spurs — small bony growths that can form on the edges of bones — occur when inflammation damages the cartilage that cushions joints, and the body tries to repair the damage by growing more bone. They often form from repetitive motions. One type of repetitive motion is tilting the head forward, perhaps to look at a smartphone.

The study, by Dr. David Shahar and Mark Sayers at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Australia, flew under the radar when it was originally published, but a BBC article last week on how modern life is transforming the human skeleton brought to light how the human body is changing with technology use.

An X-ray shows a 27.8 millimeter growth on the base of a 28-year-old man's skull. Scientific Reports
The bone spurs identified in the study ranged in size from 10 to 31 millimeters. Some were so big that they could be felt as a lump on the back of the head.

The development of these growths may be attributed to, and explained by, extensive screen-time, the researchers said. Sustained “forward head flexion,” or bending the head down, and poor posture could be the reasons for these physiological changes, they hypothesized.

The findings highlight how little is known about the extensive use of these technologies. “Although the ‘tablet revolution’ is fully and effectively entrenched in our daily activities, we must be reminded that these devices are only a decade old and it may be that related symptomatic disorders are only now emerging,” the authors wrote.

Most bone spurs don’t cause pain and require no treatment, but they can become a problem if they reach a certain size.

And that may already be the case. A small 2011 study on university staff and students in Canada found 68 percent of participants reported neck pain.

An X-ray shows a 24.5 millimeter growth on the base of a 58-year-old man's skull. Scientific Reports
Dr. David Geier, an orthopedic surgeon and author of That's Gotta Hurt: The Injuries That Changed Sports Forever, said that the findings weren't surprising.

“You’re at the airport or school and everyone is hunched over. It would be fine if it was 15 seconds here or 15 seconds there, but when it’s over hours you’re concerned that this habitual behavior can result in a real curved deformity, especially in kids but really all adults,” Geier, who was not involved with the research, said.

The findings are evidence of how extended use of technology such as smartphones and tablets in everyday life has led to physical changes. But this isn't the first time that technology has been identified as the culprit for health issues in young people.

The number of cases of ailments such as “text neck”, “texting thumb”, Dowager’s hump and neck, shoulder and lower back pain resulting from cellphone and computer use in young people has been increasing since the early 2000s.

But that doesn't mean these issues are unavoidable. “If people are worried that this is starting to happen, you can work with a physical therapist to learn exercises to strengthen the muscles that help with their posture,” Geier told NBC News.

The study “isn’t going to convince people not to use their phone. But small changes like putting pillows under our laptops and holding the phone or tablet higher up and away from our laps can promote better posture,” Geier added.

“We need to get up and moving. We have got to get people more active for a number of reasons. The sedentary aspect of this is huge and these devices are killing us in that respect.”

FOLLOW NBC HEALTH ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK

[]Shamard Charles, M.D.

Dr. Shamard Charles is a physician-journalist for NBC News and Today, reporting on health policy, public health initiatives, diversity in medicine, and new developments in health care research and medical treatments.

question: Summarize everything related to health problems caused by mobile phones.

answer: According to the study, the repetitive motion of tilting the head forward to look at a smartphone can cause bone spurs. The findings are evidence that the extended use of technology such as smartphones has led to physical changes. Cellphone and computer use has also led to ailments such as "text neck", "texting thumb", Dowager's hump and neck, and shoulder and lower back pain.

question: Summarize the specific flaws of the study.


text:
Just a quick thing I wrote up for a contest. Wrote in H.P. Lovecraft style.

Am I still myself? No. Surely not. I’ve become someone else; something else. These disembodied hands scratch words and names onto unfamiliar parchments as mannequin strings twitch and twang from countless shadows. My mouth feels nothing more than a brass phonograph hissing out secondhand idiom from my predecessors, no doubt contrived by the same apparitions that distantly influence my feet; my fingers; my entirety toward places they formerly dared not go.

Who am I? I once stood for so much more. I marched upon my own two feet. No strings. No shadows. I made choices, formulated my own philosophies, and even shouted them triumphantly! I made wondrous inspirational speeches and helped transform my hometown of Arkham into something better. I could always catch a gleam of brazen conviction in myself as I observed my reflection in the broadcasts; a mirror of my soul.

“I’m the President.” I could say. “The President of the free world.”

That was before, standing on the precipice of the calm twilight of unfamiliarity and insignificance. Before my soul’s mirror was shattered and strung together into some abhorrent instrument used for insidious and unfathomable schemes, each sharp fragment echoing the deep blackness of others whom I now recognize as my masters.

If only I had recognized the perils into which I was advancing. If only I had observed the warnings from those in high up torch-lit places! They forewarned my approach into ageless rituals and hinted of reality within the dreaded Necronomicon, penned by the infamous “Mad Arab” Abdul Alhazred. Whispers of repugnant star-headed Elder Things, Shoggoths, and dystopian horrors beyond time offered no reason and ostensibly had no bearing on my political endeavors, and thusly went unheeded.

Once my authority was substantial enough, secretive individuals began to send eccentric letters to my home by digital communication, delivered deep into the evening with an electric buzz. They spoke of damnable statues, fatal chromatics, and referenced some incoherent language that declared “Cthulu Flaghn!”. What was I to think?! Gods and clandestine rituals own no residence in our realm of sciences, much less to a man of public service such was myself! Had I only known the truth! I would not be entombed as I am today, a prisoner in my own immobilized body!

It was not until that final ghastly dusk long ago that I grasped the consequence and severity of my condition. But alas! It was far too late! Memories are vague and muddled to me presently, but I obtusely recall chemical-sodden handkerchiefs, blackened descents into sunken metropolises, and grime-coated man creatures dancing demonically around cerulean flames. Oh, the horror! The foul parasites infesting my body, burrowing deeper and deeper into my soul!

Even now as I have my short respite of sanity and control, I feel the eons old miasma encroaching. Peripheral terrors noiselessly evaporate into nothingness as my eyes dart and strain anxiously to reveal their true form. The dull scraping tread of twisted claws cutting into slime covered soil tugs and contort my very essence. Surely, I am no longer a man. I am merely a cosmic vessel for all that control this world.

I have no control. The abhorrent choruses still sing inharmoniously into my head, knocking and shrieking! Cthulhu fhtagn! I’m losing my senses to the incantations of the primordial stars. It won’t be long now.

But I must try--… no… I must regain myself! I am a man! I am the President of the free world!

Ph’nglui... escape this house at R’lyeh!

I cannot.. wgah’nagl fhtagn!

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!

title: The Strings and the Vessel

question: What mood is the author trying to evoke?

answer: Horror, fantasy

question: Explain how the story fits the genre.

answer: The story fits Lovecraftian horror because it talks about the Necronomicon, rituals, dystopian horrors, terrors, and other creatures.


text: The boy walked slowly,alone, one mile then two. After awhile he noticed someone was behind him, however they did not speak and continued together. Soon more and more began to follow the boy. They walked in unison a common path towards an unknown end. The boy led them through the treacherous path and through the easy. Some left him but most stayed on the common path to an unknown end. His path was wide that led through many routes with only one exit. Many passed on searching for the unknown end to the common path. However, the boy continued on. As time passed the followers began to forget why they followed and began to search for an exit from the common path to an unknown end. The followers were lost, now many exits existed that led back to the common path to an unknown end. The true exit was hidden masked by the boy. He loved his followers and he loved the path he had created. There is no exit from the common path to your unknown end. So lets take a trip just follow me.

title: Common path little story nbd

question: Does the boy have a specific goal to achieve by walking?

answer:
Initially, the boy did not seem to have any specific destination provided in the narrative. However, it was shown that the boy seemed specific about the path he chose. Also the distance he was covering was more than enough to make most people quit.

The kind of certainty that the boy expressed can be interpreted as the resolute will of someone who is determined do something -which would imply that the boy actually has a destination.

question: Why did the people follow the boy?

answer:
The first few people likely followed the boy out of curiosity (we can rule out concern for the boy as no words were spoken nor were there any actions taken in regards to ensuring the safety of a boy travelling alone). There is also the instinctive drive to copy the behavior of others. This behavior is further enforced the more people joined.

It is likely that the more people joined, the more people developed their own reasons and motives.

question: What is the unknown end?

answer: The narrative appears to have some symbolism, implying that some of the details are metaphorical. Unknown end could allude to a person's fate/destiny, or inevitable death. It could also be quite literal in the sense that aside from the boy, nobody knows where he is going so the end of the journey is unknown.

question: Why do all exits lead to the unknown end?

answer: Since no length of time was given and the actual distance was not discussed, one can only create conjecture to answer this question. Perhaps the journey has taken the boy to what would be the walking equivalent of a singularity, thus any direction taken leads the a person towards a specific point. In a less ambitious interpretation, it is possible that the boy is walking in the direction of a civilization that has a nexus, and thus any road taken would eventually lead to the nexus. A humorous interpretation would conclude that the road is simply badly designed, and that there are many unnecessary forks that would still end up circling back to the main road.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: A lone boy was walking and people started following him for no apparent reason, though the boy simply kept on walking. They were all on a common path to an unknown end. The boy passed through various routes, some easy, some hard, and some people would stop following while others continued. At some point in the common path, people who left found that the exits they took still led to the unknown end.


text:
HERMANN ZIMMER was an early pioneer of the Baháʼí Faith in Germany. Zimmer is one of a few Baháʼís who revived the efforts of Ruth White to oppose Shoghi Effendi, claiming that the _Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá_ was forged.

Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

The Will and Testament was written in three parts and covers a wide range of topics. It reiterates some of the fundamental teachings of the Baháʼí Faith, clearly calls out Mírzá Muhammad ʻAlí as being a Covenant-breaker, establishes a new institution of the Guardian and clarifies its roles as compared to those of the Universal House of Justice, and also defines the responsibilities of the Hands of the Cause.

Opposition

Zimmer was a Baháʼí in good standing during World War II, and as a German, traveled to Berlin to unsuccessfully lobby the Nazi government to rescind their ban of the Baháʼí Faith. By 1971, however, he wrote a book titled _A Fraudulent Testament devalues the Baháʼí Religion into Political Shogism_,[1][2] which criticized the Baháʼí administration.

Zimmer based his claims partly on the work of criminologist Charles Ainsworth Mitchell, who Ruth White had hired to review photocopies of the original _Will and Testament of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá_. Mitchell had compared the photocopies to original samples of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's handwriting. Mitchell's provisional report indicated that the _Will_ was a forgery, pending inspection of the originals.[3] White later placed Mitchell's signed report with the U.S. Library of Congress in 1930.[4] Mitchell could not read Persian, however, and the claims of a forgery were not taken up by many other Baháʼís opposed to Shoghi Effendi at that time, most notably including Ahmad Sohrab.

Hermann Zimmer remained one amongst a small group of Baháʼís to question the authenticity of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's _Will_.[5][6][7] Zimmer attempted to establish a group called “Free Baháʼís” or the “World Union of Universal Religion and Universal Peace” along with Charles Seeburger of Philadelphia, but it is not clear that it actually came into being.[8]

Impact

Zimmer's own work was further taken up by Francesco Ficicchia in _Der Bahā'ismus-Religion der Zukunft? Geschichte, Lehreund Organisation in kritischer Anfrage_,[9] a work which Denis MacEoin notes “did indeed do a lot of damage to the public image of the Baháʼís” in German-speaking Europe and “damaged the Baháʼís and distorted their cause in certain quarters, mainly within the Catholic and Protestant churches.”[10] Zimmer and Ficicchia's works were funded and distributed by evangelical Christian organizations in Germany. The work had such a negative impact on the Baháʼí community that a lengthy apologetic response came from Schaefer, Towfigh, and Gollmer in _Making the Crooked Straight: A Contribution to Baháʼí Apologetics_.[11]

Works

[1]

[2]

[3] Momen, Moojan. Studies in Honor of the Late Hasan M. Balyuzi. Vol. 5. Kalimát Press, 1988. p273-274

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

title: Hermann Zimmer

question: Who was Hermann Zimmer?

answer: an early pioneer of the Baháʼí Faith in Germany.

question: What is the Baháʼí Faith?

answer: the article does not answer this question

question: What group did Hermann Zimmer attempt to establish?

answer: Free Baháʼís or World Union of Universal Religion and Universal Peace

question: What book did Hermann Zimmer write?

answer: A Fraudulent Testament devalues the Baháʼí Religion into Political Shogism

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Hermann Zimmer was an early pioneer of the Baháʼí Faith in Germany. Later in life, he was critical of the Baháʼí administration.


text:
FILE PHOTO: Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell attends a conference at the Brookings Institution in Washington August 3, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

(Reuters) - Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell is the leading candidate to become the chair of the U.S. central bank after President Donald Trump concluded a series of meetings with five finalists on Thursday, Politico reported, citing three administration officials.

The officials cautioned that Trump, who met with current Chair Janet Yellen for about half an hour on Thursday, has not made a final decision, according to the Politico report. (politi.co/2insOp2)

Reporting by Ankur Banerjee in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila

for-phone-onlyfor-tablet-portrait-upfor-tablet-landscape-upfor-desktop-upfor-wide-desktop-up

question: According to the article, who is the leading candidate for the chair of the US central bank?

answer: Governor Jerome Powell

question: Which organization reported this?

answer: Politico

question: Who makes the final decision for the position?

answer: Donald Trump

question: How many finalists were there?

answer: 5

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Governor Jerome Powell is the leading candidate for the chair of the US central bank? Donald Trump has concluded meetings with 5 finalists, but has not yet made a decision.


text:
We walked through a vale holding each other's hand. I felt perfectly comfortable remaining silent and marching along as long as I
knew she was with me. We had reached past the point of us needing speech to get our emotions across. We continued strolling for a while
and then finally sat on a bench which was perched under an arched outgrowth of a stony structure. She put Her head on my lap and closed
Her eyes. My love grew for Her every second I watched Her beautiful face in deep sleep. I wondered whether she felt the same way,
or whether she felt at all. Suddenly, I sensed the earth moving. The whole world around me was shaking. I realised I didn't have
much time left. I was about to depart. Slowly, the waterfall, flowers, the lake, butterflies, and the mountains faded away
into darkness and then a bright light met my eye. The brightness diminished and I was back in my room. My servant was standing in front
of me. "Sir, why are you so hard to wake up these days? If you carry on going late to work, you will eventually be fired. You don't want
that do you?" he said. If only he knew.
 I was both happy and sad. I felt sad leaving Her, but I was happy that it had now worked three times in a row. How lucky was I, that having slept a sad
sleep the day before yesterday, I would meet Her the second time. This ignited in me the thought of the possibility that I could meet Her whenever I wanted to.
So I tried to meet Her the third time today. I was doubtful and skeptical. I am a middle aged man who has never experienced love. Forget the act of loving,
I couldn't even think of the prospect of finding love in my lifetime. I turned off all the lights, locked the door, threw myself on the bed and closed my eyes.
I was failing. I was sweating uncontrollably with nervousness. This was my last chance to find what I never had. Then, I thought of Her, with Her soft and
beautiful face, Her enigmatic eyes, Her endless locks of hair, Her slender yet graceful body, the vulnerability in Her glances, Her voice that confirmed the
presence of angelic minstrels. God himself had sent down this perfect entity for me to spend time with, albeit in a second reality. I had to calm down and sleep.
I was no longer panting, and was able to slowly drift away into slumber.
 I was in a vast empty ball room. It was beautiful, but right now, I had no concern for the beauty of inanimate objects. I had to find Her as quickly as I could, so I
could maximise the amount of time I was to spend with Her. I looked for her everywhere. Where was she? Was it really possible that I failed, even in bringing a being that lived inside my thoughts,
to appear in front of me? I was suddenly struck by the memory of yesterday. I had stood in front of the mirror for an hour. I gazed at my disfigured body, my
hunched back, my crooked teeth, my uneven face and my uninteresting eyes. I had decided to break every mirror in my house that day, for they were only a source of pain
to me. Now, as I looked around for her in the ballroom, I slowly became demoralised. I could not even find Her in a second reality. I wept and I wept, and for sure, I
did know I was physically weeping too, for I felt the dampness seep through my body. 'Come here,' said an enchanting voice. 'Did you really think I was going to leave
you alone?'
 A white figure seemed to be approaching me. Her shape became more apparent as she moved towards me. She was dressed in the most elegant of elegant dresses.
She came up to me, and without uttering a word, kissed me. All my doubts, inferiorities and insecurities vanished in a matter of seconds. 'You have me right now and you
will have me forever,' she said. 'My appearance may change but I will always be Her.' We sat together on the velveted floor. I told her everything I knew and everything
I wanted to do. She listened patiently without any patronising judgement. She seemed as if she had been lost in my discourse. She comforted me when I told her my doubts
and answered me when I had queries. Seconds, minutes, hours and then days seemed to have passed by. We were still sat on the same spot talking and being lost in wonder
of one another. 'I have to go fly,' she said with a hint of sycophancy, 'Try not to think about me.' She faded away gradually, and slowly, the whole room turned dim
and finally, my whole vision was obscured. I woke up.
 I opened my eyes and looked around. I wasn't in my room. There were people around me, maybe four or five. 'Sir, you have been in a coma for six years. My whole team
and I would like to congratulate you on being born again. Also try to sleep less,' a doctor said, letting out a faint chuckle. I wasn't able to speak as I
lay there helpless. I didn't care about anyone else other than Her. I wanted to go back and never come back. A memory came to my mind about when I met my childhood friend
after several years.
'What brought you into acting then, James?' I asked.
'My wife... the third one, she pushed me towards getting a job as an actor. She had faith in my ability. And so right she was, I had never even dreamed of
achieving such fame.' James answered.
'Good for you, my friend, if only I were a part of your gene pool.'
'My gene pool? You think I've only gotten this far because of my looks?'
'You never were intelligent were you? Only if you were, you could have acknowledged the luck that had been bestowed upon you. Nobody falls in love with character
at first sight. Set on this earth is a bliss for the rich and beautiful.'
'You always were a jealous man weren't you? Stop envying other people's abilities and go back to your cave and hang out with your rodents, you incompatible oddity!'
He stormed out of the restaurant leaving me alone with my food and strangers' stares. He was right. I was an oddity.
 I had regained consciousness and was out of my coma. I had been awake thinking about this incident while tears ran down my face. It was soon dark outside
and I started feeling drowsy. I was about to sleep and it was the most joyous part of the day. I soon fell asleep but there were no dreams this day and I woke up without any
recollection of Her. 'This wouldn't happen again,' I thought to myself. I slept the next day and again; no luck. The next day, I entered a dream but she was nowhere
to be seen. Did she lie when she said she would be with me forever? I was discharged from the hospital and returned to my room. Surely, this was where it all started so
I will get to meet her when I sleep in my own dwelling. I slept. She had abandoned me. The only companion I had, had abandoned me. She was a part of me so I guess I had
abandoned myself.
 'There is more than one way a person can sleep.' I thought to myself. I started panting. I walked in circles for an hour in my room as my heartbeat became faster
and faster. I had no family or acquaintances I could talk to. I started climbing the stairs sluggishly, that led to the highest storey of the high-rise. My pulse increasing
with every step I took. I finally arrived at the top of the skyscraper. I stood at its edge, with my heart pounding the loudest and fastest it had ever pounded. I thought
of Her one last time. 'I will surely meet you, and I would never know even if I don't. My real love has always been the sleep that rescued me by allowing me to dream.'
With these thoughts, I took the step to death. The only feeling I felt after that was the feeling of Nothing.

title: SLEEP Please review :)

question: Is this woman real?

answer: She seems to exist only in dreams.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: A middle-aged man has never known love in his life but becomes obsessed with a woman of his dreams. Eventually he tries so hard to sleep he becomes comatose for six years. When he wakes up he is upset to be without the dream woman, so he decides to commit suicide by jumping off a tall building so he can be with her forever.


text:
Home | Mises Library | Health Care and the Candy Store Called Socialism

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Tags HealthInterventionism

Some 27 years ago, I spent two weeks in Yugoslavia, the supposed workers’ paradise cobbled together by the strong arm of Marshal Tito. And, if my memory serves, the country was an overflowing candy store — a middle schooler’s sweet-toothed delight. Socialism as a candy store? Sure. But you have to consider the question and its answer in context.

We know apodictically that socialism cannot efficiently allocate resources. Yet, we also know that socialism can and does produce. This is true whether the society is structured along the lines of German, Soviet, or democratic socialism. In all three forms, goods are produced for consumption by the masses. And some of those goods are sweet, indeed.

My stay in Yugoslavia was centered around the northern steel town of Ravne na Koroškem, in what is now Slovenia. We boarded with a family who had some ground-level apartments for rent, with all apartments sharing a small common kitchen and bath. The conditions were – to be kind to the family — basic at best. The kitchen had several small chairs, a table, and sparse silverware and settings. The little bedrooms had nothing save a too-soft bed, mirror, dresser, and chair. The floors throughout were tiled and cold. And the yellowed-into-opaque windows were outlined by frayed curtains. Outside of the Party, this was good living in Tito’s paradise. And it was livable, barely.

A short walk from the house was the local Nama grocery store — or should I say candy store. The outside was clean and white, but the inside was dark and dingy, with one exception, the sugar-laden aisle. Hard, tasteless bread was sold by the centimeter and the few slabs of meat on the unclean butchers table behind the empty cooler looked gray and inedible. Eggs? Toilet paper? Fresh fruit? Not to be found. But who was looking for that stuff? Especially when you are 13 years old and in front of shelves overflowing with bright boxes of cookies, candy, and over-sweetened juice — and it was all delicious. And the price? Very inexpensive.

Of course, kids are not the only ones who like sweet deals. Every now and again, I hear adults tell their versions of the candy store called socialism. However, for them, it is not sugary treats being referenced. Instead, it’s healthcare.

The tales are all very similar, about trips to European emergency rooms where the waits were short and the doctors and nurses plentiful. And the price? Who can complain about free or nearly free? Well, free or nearly free to them, anyway.

And given these real experiences, is it any wonder that folks return championing socialized medicine? Is it any wonder that a kid from the hills north of Pittsburgh still remembers juice so deliciously sweet and thick and cookies so delectably fruity and fresh?

But the folks championing socialized medicine are always repeating tales of visits for simple cases of the flu or other travel-related illnesses. What is seen is the overflowing abundance of care at that level. This is the sugar, so to speak. Unseen are other types of care. The meat, eggs, etc. And this is where the failures of socialized medicine are as obvious as the lack of nutritious food in a Yugoslavian store.1

The stories from travelers paint a different picture from those told by people living in countries with socialized medicine. Many of these folks — those looking for meat — complain about either the unavailability of care or wait times that exceed the life expectancy of those suffering from the disease.

So we end up hearing contrasting stories: ones from visitors who are amazed by the candy, and others from residents who complain about no meat. And both are right.

Can a society (or a sector of the economy) organized under socialism efficiently allocate resources? No. Can it produce overflowing shelves of sugar in dingy stores barren of essentials? Absolutely. And can it overstaff emergency rooms as a means to satisfy short-term cravings for healthcare even while essential long-term needs go wanting. Certainly, with real examples all around. Can it ever balance the two? And can it balance the two along with all other goods and services desired? Not in this world of scarcity. So not in this world at all.

Bastiat and Hazlitt pushed the idea of the unseen front and center for important reasons. It is essential that the unseen is included in any consideration of a situation. And that is true even when, like me at 13, you want to overlook barren, dirty shelves in order to focus on the oasis of sugar.

Image source: iStockphoto

Jim Fedako

Jim Fedako, a business analyst and homeschooling father of seven, lives in the wilds of suburban Columbus. Send him mail.

[Creative Commons Licence]

question: Why was the narrator visiting Yugoslavia?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: How old was the narrator when he/she visited Yugoslavia?

answer: The narrator was thirteen years old.

question: What is the adult version of a candy store?

answer: The adult version of candy stores is socialism.

question: What comparison is drawn between sugar and meat with healthcare?

answer: Sugar is the socialized medicine and meat is the other type of care. Just the way when the narrator goes into the local Nama grocery store and notices less meat and more sugary candies, similar is the state of healthcare.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator compares socialized medicine with a local Nama grocery store that she visited as 13-year-old in Yugoslavia.

The store was filled with sugary candies but there were very few meat slabs. The candies are socialized medicine while, the meat is other type of care. People championing socialized medicine are repeating their tales of visits for simple cases of flu, this is the candies, seen in abundance. The meat is where the failures of socialized medicine are obvious.