text:
Some Republican Senators recognize the potentially disastrous consequences for mental health and substance use disorder care contained in the American Health Care Act (AHCA). They appear to be attempting to address this concern by proposing billions in new funds.

Several Republican Senators seek to add $45 billion over 10 years to compensate for the lost support for mental health and substance use disorder treatment that would result by enacting the House-passed AHCA. Unfortunately, their proposal falls far short of the resources needed to fight this crisis. In fact, it will cost more than $183 billion over ten years to cover the lost coverage opportunities caused by the AHCA and to fight the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Where did the $45 billion come from? The $45 billion appears to be based on estimates of 2016 spending for behavioral health care made by Sherry Glied and me.

We estimated that in 2016 people in the Medicaid expansion group incurred about $4.5 billion in costs for behavioral health treatment. That represents the number of people with mental illnesses and substance use disorder that sought and received treatment for those conditions under the Medicaid expansion in 2016.

This estimate only counts a sliver of the health care needs for people with substance use disorders. What that estimate does not count is important. First, the $4.5 billion only counts behavioral health services and not all health care services. Data from several state Medicaid programs and recent analyses from the CDC show that people with an opioid use disorder incur health care costs between $11,000 and $12,000 per year.

This is because people with mental illnesses and especially substance use disorders typically have other significant health care needs like HIV-related illnesses, hepatitis C, diabetes and asthma that require treatment. So simply applying the full costs of care to the 1,286,550 people that use behavioral health services under the Medicaid expansion and who would lose that coverage raises the 2016 total to at least $14.2 billion (1,286,550 x $11,000).

Due to problems of affordability, treatment availability, stigma and denial of a problem existing, only 35 percent of people covered by Medicaid with mental illnesses and substance use disorders use behavioral services in a year. That does not mean they do not receive any health care. People with untreated opioid use disorder nonetheless incur an average of about $9,000 per year in health care expenditures.

The tragic shortfall is perhaps best illustrated by considering the urgent problem of opioid use disorders. According to the National Household Survey on Drug Use and Health, in 2015 there were roughly 1.35 million Americans with an opioid use disorder with incomes less than 200 percent of the federal poverty line. Only 25 percent of these people get treated in a year, but there are massive efforts underway to close this treatment gap. And the epidemic continues to grow. Mortality grew 15.5 percent between 2014 and 2015 and has averaged 9 percent a year since 1979.

Recent data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality shows that opioid-related hospitalizations growing at 5.7 percent per year and opioid related emergency room visits growing at 8 percent per year since 2005. If we want to address this population’s healthcare needs stemming from the lost coverage opportunities caused by the AHCA with an epidemic’s costs growing at a minimum of 5.7 percent per year, it will cost $14 billion in the first year and over $23 billion in 2026 or in excess of $183 billion over 10 years.

Putting aside these spending patterns and cost, a fixed-dollar block grant is no substitute for Medicaid. Currently, Medicaid spending contracts and expands based on need as well as new treatment options. That means that funding is there for people and states when they need it the most. For example, the opioid epidemic will likely continue to morph and require different interventions of care should new synthetic drugs cause different health problems.

And people recovering from addiction may no longer qualify for the block grant funding, but need ongoing supports and other services to stay drug-free that would fall outside narrow service definitions of targeted grant programs but would have been paid for under Medicaid. In short, not only is $45 billion not enough, but grants are not a substitute for health care coverage and cannot be enough to tackle this complicated epidemic.

_Richard G. Frank, Ph.D., is the Margaret T. Morris Professor of Health Economics in the Department of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School. From 2014 to 2016, he served as the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services._

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

_The views expressed by contributors are their own and are not the views of The Hill._

question: What is the main focus of this article?

answer: The consequences of the mental health and substance use disorder care contained in the American Health Care Act, and Republican Senators' request for $45 billion to compensate.

question: When was this article published?

answer: Unclear, but sometime in or after 2016.

question: What are Republican Senators requesting?

answer: $45 billion over a period of 10 years to compensate for the lost support for mental health and substance use disorder treatment in the AHCA.

question: Explain the contents of the American Health Care Act.

answer: That informtaion can't be found.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This article concerns requests by Republican Senators for $45 billion over a period of 10 years to make up for the lost support for mental health and substance use disorder treatment in the American Health Care Act. The number is based on estimates of 2016 spending for behavioral health care but falls short because people with mental illnesses typically have other significant health care needs and only about 35 percent of people covered by Medicaid with mental illnesses and substance use disorders actually use behavioral services. The healthcare needs resulting from the lost coverage caused by the AHCA will actually cost in excess of $183 billion over a period of 10 years.


split: train

text:
Hey Reddit, I had to write a narrative for English class addressing a social injustice. Feed back would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

This is a story about a man, his name does not matter, the only thing important about him is how different he was. Different because of the way he was raised and brought up, different in a way in which he could do very little to control. He was not the only one like this, there were others, some still exist to this day. This man was every word in the book. He never accepted any help from anybody, instead he was rude and offended when they offered. He spat on those who had good intentions, and cursed those who did anything they thought would make him a better person. Living a sad and lonely life he kept his mind closed from the opinions possibly wiser than him, in fear of change in reality. His only defense was his caustic tongue from the ongoing barrage of kindness. He was raised from abusive parents. He never felt like he belonged or was loved so he shut out the world around him. He one day took a fall. A softening of his thick head. His frail old body broke on impact with the earth; his teeth cracked and tongue twisted, he lay there helpless and speechless. His eyes were clouded with tears but it was now clear what he had been missing. Ready to be reformed, to be reborn, he relaxed. Although no one would help him. The iron was hot but not a single hand was lent out to pick him up off the ground. So he would lay there to rot, like a piece of trash in the gutter. No redemption, just damnation. Everyone that passed to see the freak show just kept walking, they laughed and pointed as if it was his punishment. He was never heard from again; and no one thought twice about it. He grew to hate society even more. Bad turned worse. He never loved anything again. He blamed himself. When he died his body was only found because of the neighbors complaining about the smell.  With just one whiff  it burned their nostrils and made them sick to their stomachs. You can still smell it today, wafting around all of humanity.

title: A story I had to write for English, feedback would be appreciated

question: What made the man different?

answer: The man did not like being helped by others, he was rude and offended people.

question: Why did the man not like people with good intentions?

answer: It may be implied that since the man was brought up by abusive parents it impacted his thoughts for society.

question: Did the man live alone?

answer: Yes, the man lived alone.

question: Did anybody help him get up again?

answer: No, instead people pointed and laughed at him as they walked by.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
There lived a man, different from others. He was different since he did not like people helping him and was generally rude to people who tried to help. He was raised by abusive parents and now lived a lonely life.

One day he took a fall and realises what he had been missing. Nobody tries to help him get up as the man lay there helpless, in tears.

He started hating society more and ultimately died alone.


text:
I wrote this up today, and didn't really know where else to put it. So,

***The Last Day***

It was 0400, the alarms sounded and the CO’s rang with orders to gear up. Everyone was briefed the night before on where they were going. There was an erie silence in the bunk room as everyone thought this was there last morning. Right then the CO broke through the door yelling “it’s time”, I walked outside into the dawn of the morning, salt water spraying all over my face. You could hear the tension in everyone’s voices, and their apprehension to go, but they went in, everyone went in. As I climbed down the rope ladder a wave breached and threw me into the craft, I landed on my back ears ringing. That is when the Barrage started, every ship firing a salvo at the beach the loudest noise I have ever heard, the knock on the german door. Our landing craft sputtered out from beside the ship and we began to form up with the others in our company. It was rough seas, the men were puking all over the boat, only to be washed away. As the clock struck 0615, the barrage stopped and we began to make our advance toward the shore. The only thing you could hear was the motor of the tiny craft, and the hopes of the men praying to their god, there would be no mercy on this day. The shore came into view and the bunkers were clearly visible without any apparent damage. There was no gunfire to be heard, every man was asking himself the same question and the answer was a sharp and loud no. Machine-gun fire lit up the craft, I was in the rear corner of the boat with the officer, his split open like a banana and with an expressionless face he fell to the ground. I couldn’t feel anything anymore, not joy, not fear, not a single emotion, I was about to die and I couldn’t care at all. The craft suddenly stopped and the door dropped open, I ran forward the only place I knew would lead me somewhere. As we ran up the beach to search for cover, you could hear the cries of the wounded, all of them screaming for their mothers of mercy. The men of my platoon were being cut down around me by the torrent of bullets, hitting the sand with an unmistakable thud.  I was meters away from the small sand dune in front of me, some men from the boat which had landed beside us yelling orders at each other. Then it hit.

A mortar landed right in the middle of them. I dropped to the ground not being able to feel, see or hear anything. When I looked up I saw it, the horror, there was no soldiers behind that dune anymore. Something else, something that wasn’t human or animal. It was just, existing, there in that crater, completely void of any life or consciousness. Those soldiers who were crouched behind that dune had turned into something not of this world, something of our own creation. My eyes focused on the scene laid out before me. I could see them, it, the torn lifeless carcasses of those boys. Their limbs scattered about the crater, blood, bone, and brain staining the white sand. I felt something rising in me, lying next to the scene, an anger, so deep it was the only thing I could sense. All of the commotion around me was drowned out by it, there was no guns firing, no shells exploding, no screams from the wounded, and no orders being shouted. All there was, was the anger. I could no longer control myself I was merely a witness in my own body.

I got up and started sprinting toward the bunker a ways in front of me. I could see the torn barbed wire, and the bodies around me. I kept going. There was nothing in this world that would dare stop me. I could make out the enemy beyond the next hill. I saw their faces, the people I was sent to destroy, the enemy, the devils.  As I came closer, I saw a boy he lifted his head up and we locked eyes. I saw in him a panic, a truly horrified look, the same look I had on my face only moments ago. This was the devil; the inhuman barbaric person I was told needed to be eliminated. I couldn’t believe it; I wouldn’t believe it. The anger, which had taken control over me disappeared and I stopped right there, dropping my weapon to the ground. What was I doing, was I really going to turn that man into whatever it was my comrades had become. He still stared at me with that same look on his face. Behind him, what looked to be an officer, pushed him aside raised his weapon and fired.

I fell down not feeling any pain, but something like euphoria. I rolled onto my back to see what had happened to me. There was hole in my thigh, with blood pulsing out of it like a geyser.  I couldn’t feel a thing; I lay my head back down onto the soft sand, and looked at clouds. I just lay there; totally unaware of how much time had passed, just looking up. A medic slid up beside me on his knees, and inspected the wound. He turned his head, and looked me in the eye, as if to say I’m sorry, got up and ran off. Everything dimmed away, and I lay there in the silent dark and though, this is it. In my final moment, I though about the bottle of scotch I had the night before.

title: [HF] The last Day

question: Summarize everything related to casualties.

answer: The officer splits open like a banana and falls to the ground. As they run up the beach, the men of the narrator's platoon are cut down by the torrent of bullets. A morter lands in the middle of the men, transforming them into something completely devoid of life or consciousness. The narrator sees the torn lifeless carcasses of the soldiers. The narrator himself is shot, and as his consciousness fades, he thinks about the bottle of scotch he had the night before.

question: Summarize everything related to negative emotions.

answer: The tension is audible in everyone's voices, as well as their apprehension, as they prepare to go to battle. When the officer is shot, the narrator is unable to feel anything, not even fear. After the mortar hits, the narrator stares in horror at the aftermath. He is overcome by anger. The boy gives him a horrified look when they lock eyes. The narrator's anger disappears.

question: What does the story say about the motivation for the war?

question: Summarize the narrator's movements over the course of the story.

answer: The narrator exits the bunk room and climbs down a rope ladder onto the craft. He exits the craft and starts running up the beach. He drops to the ground when the mortar hits. He starts sprinting toward a bunker. He nears an enemy soldier beyond the next hill. He is shot and falls, rolling onto his back.


text:
Hundreds of delegates meet in Qatar’s capital to raise funds to rebuild Sudanese region racked by conflict.

Qatar has pledged $500m in aid to rebuild Sudan’s Darfur region after a decade-long conflict, an official has said.

Monday’s announcement came as hundreds of delegates met for the final day of a two-day donor conference in Doha to raise support for a multi-billion dollar project to rebuild Darfur.

“Qatar has pledged an amount of $500 million as grants and contributions for rebuilding Darfur,” said Ahmed bin Abdullah al-Mahmud, the Qatari minister of state for cabinet affairs.

The conference, which began on Sunday, was agreed to under a July 2011 peace deal that Khartoum signed in the Qatari capital with an alliance of rebel splinter groups.

“Peace time has begun in Darfur. A peace that will be protected by development, not by force,” said Qatari Prime Minister Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, at the opening of the conference.

UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY

Jorg Kuhnel, team leader of the UN Development Programme in Sudan, said the conference would be a unique opportunity for Sudan and Darfur to turn the destiny of the conflict-ridden region.

It seeks support for a development strategy requiring $7.2bn for a six-year effort to move Darfur away from food handouts and other emergency aid, laying the foundation for lasting development through improved water facilities, roads and other infrastructure.

Al Jazeera’s Omar Al Saleh at the conference said that the second session had started and speaker Al-Tijani Sisi, head of the Regional Darfur authority, was “calling on the international community to help rebuild Darfur and to start the recovery strategy”.

Britain on Sunday pledged at least $16.5m for Darfur annually over the next three years to help communities to grow their own food and for providing skills training to help people find work.

“It is not good enough to simply offer more handouts,” Lynne Featherstone, Britain’s international development minister, said.

“Our aid will help the poorest to get the help they need to stand on their own and make them better able to cope when crises occur.”

The development strategy calls for agricultural upgrades, access to financing and other measures to help Darfuris support themselves under a more effective system of local government.

Al Jazeera’s Harriet Martin, reporting from Khartoum, said aid agencies at the conference would be stressing that Darfur is a complex region.

“[Aid agencies say that] what Darfur needs is a more nuanced approach – humanitarian aid in some places, development aid in others,” she reported.

PROTESTS IN DARFUR

Ahead of the meeting, protests against itwere reported in refugee campus in Darfur, with demonstrators calling for an end to insecurity.

Al Jazeera’s Al Saleh said demonstrations were held in camps controlled by rebel groups who were not signatories to the donor conference.

“Darfur is not 100 percent secure,” he said. “It’s a region that is bigger than France, and the fears of insecurity are valid.”

The Doha meeting comes 10 years after rebels rose up in the western Sudanese region to seek an end to what they said was the domination of power and wealth among the country’s Arab elites.

Qatar brokered a peace deal between a rebel faction and the Sudanese government in 2011, but major rebel groups like the Justice and Equality Movement rejected it.

The Doha peace deal was seen as a cornerstone of international efforts to end the violence, but the hundreds of thousands of refugees forced to flee say they can go home only when they are compensated for their losses.

Tweets about “#Darfur”

question: What were delegates meeting in Qatar to raise funds for?

answer: They want to raise funds to rebuild Darfur after a decade-long conflict.

question: Why does Darfur need to be rebuilt?

answer: It has been racked by conflict for a decade.

question: Describe the unique opportunity?

answer: The opportunity is the conference in Quatar, which could turn the destiny of the conflict-ridden Darfur region.

question: Who says, "Our aid will help the poorest get help..."?

answer: Britain's international development minister, Lynne Featherstone

question: Why are there protests in Darfur?

answer: Some people were protesting the conference in Qatar, calling for an end to insecurity.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This document discusses when hundreds of delegates met in Qatar’s capital to raise funds to rebuild Darfur region racked by conflict. Recovery strategies and history on Darfur's conflict is discussed as well.


text:
Every year Archer Group holds the Archer Open, where employees create their own mini-golf holes then compete for prizes and glory. Each year it seems that the holes get more intricate and creative. Since I’ve been getting into VR all year, I decided to create a virtual golf hole as part of my nefarious scheme to get everyone at the company to try VR (whether they want to or not).

For this project, I used Unity 3D, which is a popular game engine that has been used in the overwhelming majority of VR titles. For creating 3d models, we used Blender, which is a free, Open Source modeling program. Our VR headset is the HTC Vive. The Vive supports ‘Room Scale’ VR meaning you can walk around within a 6ft by 6ft volume, and you have 3d tracked controllers. VR systems like the Vive are able to report the 3d position and orientation of the controllers and your head with millimeter accuracy. I would be zip-tying a real golf club to a controller to help increase the sense of immersion in the virtual world.

[Image for post]

VR presents unique challenges not faced by other mediums. People can move around, but not very far. Typically with mini-golf people take a swing, walk to the place where the ball ends up, then take another swing until they score. That might present issues in VR, since you’d likely be able to hit it outside of your 6’x6’ box. Games typically solve this problem by allowing you to teleport to places outside of your reach. But this would require educating each user about the controls and brings us to the next design consideration: This event lasts about two hours and involves 70+ employees taking their turn at each of the 18 holes, which means each person is only going to get a couple minutes at most at the VR Golf Hole. So, this means we need to make speed a design goal. People will need to be able to put on the headset, figure out what they’re doing and do it in a short period of time.

To address these issues, I settled on having a golf course where you would not need to teleport to advance the ball — in fact, you would either score on each swing or not. Visually I decided on the theme of floating islands with floating rings in place of golf holes. If you miss, your ball falls into the ocean and you lose a swing. If you successfully get the ball through the ring, you win. As a side goal, I also wanted to make sure that the golf course looked great, since this would be many people’s first time using VR.

[Image for post]

I played with the idea of doing multiple ring-courses, increasing in difficulty, but even just successfully hitting the ball through one ring proved challenging enough that it was unnecessary. Plus, expecting someone to complete a longer golf course in under a couple minutes wasn’t feasible.

Getting the physics right was my next challenge. Game physics is notoriously inaccurate and silly (just check youtube if you don’t believe me) and attempting to use ‘out of the box’ physics in unity was no different. Probably the worse issue was just that if you swing the golf club at a reasonable speed, it’s possible that your club may go right through the ball without even triggering a collision. So instead of relying on physics collision events, I do my own collision checks each frame. To determine how much force to apply to the ball on a collision, I use a combination of the club’s speed, the direction the club is angled and some other factors. This was a reasonable enough approximation to feel good and make good gameplay.

[Image for post]

Next, I wanted to make sure that players had enough UI prompts that they could figure out what to do whether I told them or not. I used a combination of floating text saying things like “Pick up the golf club” and arrow lines to direct their attention where it was needed. I also needed to figure out what the states of the game were so that it could naturally know when one player was starting out and when they had finished their turn. So I split the game into several steps. First you have to pick up the club, then you take a bunch of swings until you either score or run out of swings, then you put the club back in a specific place. Figuring out the exact states of the game allowed me to figure out when to show the correct instructional text and ensured that the score would be reset for each new player, etc. In practice it mostly worked.

[Image for post]

Addressing all these issues and settling on the final design ended up taking about a week with a decent amount of trial and error.

Here’s a video from the VR experience:

For the actual event I decided to be on hand to man the VR Golf Hole. For VR, it always helps to have someone to assist with putting on headsets and telling people where to look etc. Plus there are usually unforeseen technical issues. You should consider this a requirement if you’re looking to put on your own VR demo.

The biggest issue became immediately evident: people were accidentally knocking the ball off the tee quite frequently. When you’re wearing a VR headset, your Field of View is limited, and the most important side effect of that is you can’t see what’s at your feet unless you make an effort to look down. This lack of peripheral vision should definitely be taken into account when designing experiences.

[Image for post]

People would knock the ball off the tee when they first picked up their golf club, and they would accidentally knock it off when the ball re-appeared after a missed swing. In retrospect, I could have mitigated this if I coded the game so that the ball would not appear until you moved your club out of the way. This shows the importance of user testing!

The other issue was that the hit box for the club was slightly bigger than the actual club, and a lot of people held their club right next to the ball before taking a swing, which lead to many accidental hits. This emphasizes the importance of getting measurements and scales correctly in VR. Even small discrepancies will be noticeable.

To roll with the punches, I made sure to warn each person about accidentally hitting the ball and offered extra swings to people who accidentally hit it.

Overall, people were pretty excited by the VR golf hole and the reaction was positive. We got everyone in the company to try it. One person had to abstain due to extreme motion sickness and we had only one instance of accidentally unplugging the headset with a wild golf swing, and no broken monitors or TV’s 😀

It did not win Best Hole, but it got a few votes and a lot of smiles. It also introduced a lot of people to VR for the first time. Here’s looking forward to next year. ⛳

[Image for post]

If you’re interested in designing for VR, you may want to check out this article:

Our past VR articles:

question: What's the Archer Open?

answer: Is an event held by Archer Group for their employees, where everyone creates their own mini-golf courses and competes for prizes.

question: What did the narrator use to create 3d models?

answer: Blender, which is a free, Open Source modeling program.

question: How did the game go?

answer: It was well-received, except there were some design issues that caused players to accidentally hit the ball.

question: Did he manage to get everyone at his company to try the VR?

answer: Yes, except for one person with motion sickness.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text describes the narrator's attempt at creating a VR golf hole and getting all his work colleagues to try it.


text:
March 2021-

The MC just finished summarizing the operation,
calling it "The most successful infantry op of the 21st century"

     I'm the only man in the ballroom not wearing the Army Service Uniform.
It's a small gathering, just a platoon, a small platoon of thrity men or so.
The only reason why I was here is because of my job. I'm the MI liason for
the CIA, providing key information to SF and Infantry units. I provided the
information on this op, and I know now that I'll live to forget it.

      There was a silence, then a young corporal stood up and spoke.

"To Lieutenant Morton! For his leadership got the job done, and kept us alive!
To John!"

The audience followed suit. "To John!"

I raised my glass half-heartedly, knowing that I have ruined that man's life forever.
The festivities began, and I stood up. I walked towards the officer's table. He was
surrounded by his family, and the family of his late Platoon Sergeant. It's been almost fifteen
years since I've seen John. He was my best friend through Junior high and high school years.
I haven't spoken with him since we left for college.

I got medically declined  my third year of ROTC in college. He was commissioned top of his
class at West Point, class of 2019.  So I got a job at the CIA, serving and working as close
to the army as I could, working as a mission spook. In a way, we were doing the same job,
except I made two hundred thousand dollars a year versus his fifty-three.

I tapped his shoulder.

"John? John Morton?" I asked in confirmation of his name.

"Yes" He replied.

John didn't look like he was in his twenties at all. He had a long, jagged scar across his face,
and mutliple pale patches of skin on his right hand, making the skin grafts noticable. His left
hand, there was no left hand. A metal plastic prosthetic replaced his missing flesh.

"Who are you?"  He asked, looking at my face intently, like I looked familiar.

"I'm Matthew Magee, the spook." Smiling afterwards.

John excused himself from the table and walked with me to an empty table.

"Matt! Damn! It's been years since we've talked. What's going on?"

The man who had once been my best friend in school at been shot at, blasted at,
and gave his right hand for his country, yet he was still lively and friendly as he
was in school. My eyes watered as we talked about our lives. The family, the army life,
spook life, and eventually the mission that we had just taken part of.  There was a
brief pause in the conversation. He then spoke.

"Thanks for the info you gave us. You got most of us out of there alive--"

A tear rolled down my eye.
He stopped talking and asked me what was wrong.
I pointed to his prosthetic. I blinked back my tears and cleared my throat.
"John, the mines...." I paused. "I knew about them. I tried to tell your Platoon
Sergeant, but I was cut off by radio security procedures. Then the mines went off."

He put his left hand on my shoulder. He and shared tears that only combat veterans
can share. Serving the country, the guilt of alternative service.

title: The Guilt of Alternative Service

question: Why is the narrator not wearing the Army Service Uniform?

answer: He works for the CIA as a spook.

question: Why is Lieutenant Morton being celebrated?

answer: He kept his platoon alive and succeeded in getting an operation done.

question: What caused the narrator to be medically declined from ROTC?

answer: That information can't be found in the story.

question: What type of emotion does the narrator experience when a tear rolls down his eye?

answer: The narrator feels guilt for not warning John's Platoon Sergeant about the mines in time. It seems the mine explosion caused John to lose his hand.

question: Is the narrator's name revealed?

answer: Yes, his name is Matthew Magee.

question: Describe the interaction between John and the narrator.

answer: Matthew expresses guilt over having not been able to communicate about the mine explosion that caused John so many injuries. John comforts Matthew and they share tears together.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Matthew Magee is a CIA spook attending a small celebration of a successful infantry op. His old friend, Lieutenant John Morton, is being celebrated for his leadership and keeping his platoon alive. Matthew feels guilt because he wasn't able to tell John's Platoon Sergeant about a mine explosion before it happened, causing John many injuries. Matthew introduces himself to his old friend and expresses his guilt. John puts his hand on Matthew's shoulder and they share tears that only combat veterans can share.


text:
The 2016 Best Footballer in Asia, given to the best football player in Asia as judged by a panel of 38 sports journalists, was awarded to Shinji Okazaki on Dec 26th, 2016.

Voting

The prize witnessed the first significant enlargement of the panel of jurors since its birth. There were 38 jurors in the panel. 33 jurors were from different AFC nations/regions including Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Kuwait, Lebanon, Macao, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Syria, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, United Arabic Emirates, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. Five jurors were invited from non-AFC media outlets.[1]

Rules

Each juror selects 5 best footballers and awards them 5, 4, 3, 2 points and 1 point respectively from their first choice to the fifth choice. The trophy of the Best Footballer in Asia is awarded to the player with the highest total of points.[2]

Tiebreakers

When two or more candidates obtain the same points, the rankings of the concerned candidates would be based upon the following criteria in order.

-   a) The number of the 1st-place vote obtained

-   b) The number of the 2nd-place vote obtained

-   c) The number of the 3rd-place vote obtained

-   d) The number of the 4th-place vote obtained

If all conditions are equal, the concerned candidates will be tied in rankings.

Ranking

  Rank        Name                   Club                                 Points
  ----------- ---------------------- ------------------------------------ --------
  1           SHINJI OKAZAKI         LEICESTER CITY                       126
  2           Omar Abdulrahman       Al-Ain                               123
  3           Son Heung-min          Tottenham Hotspur                    109
  4           Sardar Azmoun          Rostov                               46
  5           Leonardo               Jeonbuk Hyundai                      34
  6           Genki Haraguchi        Hertha BSC                           30
  7           Hammadi Ahmad          Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya                    16
  8           Paulinho               Guangzhou Evergrande                 15
  9           Adriano                FC Seoul                             13
  10          Wu Lei                 Shanghai SIPG                        11
  11          Koo Ja-cheol           FC Augsburg                          10
  12          Hiroshi Kiyotake       Hannover 96 / Sevilla                7
  13          Lee Jae-sung           Jeonbuk Hyundai                      6
  14          Romarinho              El Jaish                             5
  15          Chanathip Songkrasin   Muangthong United                    5
  Tom Rogic   Celtic                 5
  17          Ahmed Khalil           Al-Ahli                              4
  18          Aaron Mooy             Melbourne City / Huddersfield Town   2
  19          Sharof Rashidov        El Jaish                             2
  20          Kwon Sun-Tae           Jeonbuk Hyundai                      1

[1]

[2]

title: Best Footballer in Asia 2016

question: Who won the contest?

answer: Shinji Okazaki

question: How many jurors were there?

answer: 38

question: When was the winner declared?

answer: December 26, 2016

question: How many jurors were from non-AFC media outlets?

answer: 5

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The 2016 Best Footballer in Asia was an award given to the best football player in Asia as judged by a panel of 38 sports journalists. It was awarded to Shinji Okazaki on December 26, 2016.


text:
$ 54.95

[Afterpay] More info
 Available in 4 interest-free payments

Size

ADD TO WISHLIST

[] []

[]

HOW CAN A FEW SIMPLE COLORS BRING SUCH A SPECIAL FEELING? YELLOW LIKE THE FADED BEACH UMBRELLA YOU CATNAP UNDERNEATH. PASTEL GREEN AND BABY BLUE FOR THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA CRASHING AGAINST THE ROCKY COAST. YOU'VE SEEN THAT SAME PURPLE AND PINK DURING A SUNSET WHILE DRIVING ON THE AMALFI COAST. CALMING, CAREFREE, AESTHETIC. NEAPOLITAN IS MORE THAN FIVE COLORS. IT'S A WAY OF LIVING. THIS IS WHAT IT FEELS LIKE TO WEAR NEAPOLITAN. DON THIS DESIGN AND YOU'LL KNOW.

...

-   100% original designs crafted exclusively for Vapor95. Every order is handmade specifically for you.
-   To ensure your All Over Print Sweatshirt maintains it's eternally flawless vibrant colors, we use a customized sublimation process that bonds the artwork directly into the fabric.
-   We use a proprietary Poly-Fleece material that has an extremely soft lining and a water repellent, durable, and lustrous exterior.
-   Your sweatshirt is manufactured in and shipped from Los Angeles.

[] []

question: What is this a product description for?

answer: A sweatshirt

question: Who is selling the sweatshirts?

answer: Vapor95

question: Are these products waterproof?

answer: They are water repellent.

question: Do you have to pay all at once?

answer: You have the option to pay in installments.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This is the product description for a kind of sweatshirt. Many designs are offered and details on its construction and durability are given. The product is manufactured in LA.


text:
Checking out at the store, the young cashier suggested to the older woman, that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.
The woman apologized and explained, "We didn't have this green thing back in my earlier days."
The young clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment f or future generations."
She was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.
Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were truely recycled.
But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Grocery stores bagged our groceries in brown paper bags, that we reused for numerous things, most memorable besides household garbage bags, was the use of brown paper bags as book covers for our schoolbooks. This was to ensure that public property, (the books provided for our use by the school) was not defaced by our scribblings. Then we were able to personalize our books on the brown paper bags.
But too bad we didn't do the green thing back then.
We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.
But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.
Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throwaway kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy-gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry our clothes back in our early days. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing.
But that young lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.
Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana. In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us. When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used wadded up old newspapers to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap. Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.
But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water. We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.
But we didn't have the green thing back then.
Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service. We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 23,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest burger joint.
But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?

*I didn't write this story, and I don't know who did. I like it and want to share.

title: Being Green

question: What is the green thing that the narrator is speaking about?

answer: By the "green thing," the narrator is referring to the green and environment-friendly initiatives that have picked up pace in the current world.

question: Is the narrator an old person?

answer: Yes, the narrator is an old woman.

question: Who are the major characters?

answer: An old woman.

question: Is the narrator speaking to herself or someone around her?

answer: She is speaking to herself.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
A young cashier suggests an old woman get her own bag to carry the groceries. The clerk explains to the old lady that the green initiatives had to start because their generation did not take care of the environment.
The old woman ponders over all that her generation did. All that did not harm the environment in any way. She wonders how the young cashier could easily blame them for making the world what it is today.


text:
The taxi station was dark when I walked in. As usual, before my night shifts would begin, I turned on the lights and slid myself onto a chair in the kitchen. No one had arrived yet. I got out a pack of cigarettes and placed them on the table, getting through three before Pedro barged in.

“Eeeh bro, what the fuck you think you doin’. There’s no smoking in here’.

“Fuck you, Pedro”.

Pedro giggled and went over to the coffee pot and turned it on. He had a wry smile like a birth mark. It was a part of him.

“Any bookings tonight, Prashnath?”

“Yeah. I got a weird one. I got to go out of Seattle. Tiger Mountain state forest. It’s not even near anything. Middle of nowhere. I’m shit scared, man. No houses nearby, I looked it up on maps. It’s scary as shit outside at this time of night, already, without getting killed by demons or some shit, man”.

Pedro was listening, pouring his coffee. He sat down next to me, lit a cigarette and smiled.

“You are fucked, bro”

“Shut up, I am serious. I want to cancel it. Before you walked in I was going to send this guy a message. Was going to tell him to shove his creepy forest up his arse, man”.

Pedro chuckled in the tobacco of his cigarette.

“What is the name of the place again, Prashnath”.

“Tiger Mountain”.

Pedro winced. For a moment the birth mark disappeared.

“Do not go there, bro. I am not even trying to be funny here. That place is bad. There is some fucked up stories from there. Couple of guys that worked with me back at city cabs ran into trouble there”.

“What. What do you mean. Don’t mess with me”.

“I mean if you go to this place tonight, you will seriously get sacrificed to demons or something. I swear I am not messing with you. Look at my face, bro. I am serious about this”.

“What did the guy’s at city cabs say. I swear if you are messing with me..”

“There was this big Russian guy I used to work with, yeah? His name was Vladimir or Vladislav or something like that. Anyway, doesn’t matter. This guy, like you, gets a booking at this place in Tiger forest. It was just me, Vlad, and two other guys on shift that night. Real quiet. We all head off, do our thing, and me and the two other guys are back at the station at four o’ clock.

So here we are waiting for Vlad to get back, getting really pissed off because we cannot lock up, and we want to go home. We call this guy, send him messages and everything, but no reply. Of course we start to think the worst, right. ‘Shit, Vlad’s hit a fucking tree’, we thought.

Well, we were all about to start looking for this guy when he fucking turns up. I swear to Christ bro, this guy was dirty, and had holes all over him, cuts all over his face and shit.

‘Vlad, what the fuck. What happened’ I said.’

Does not say a thing. Just sits down, has a smoke. Not a fucking thing. Eventually Vlad says he was attacked, right? Now, I want you to get this picture in your head. This guy, Vlad, is huge, bro. He is a beast. He could take anyone in a fight. Shit, he could take three. So when you see this guy walking in all torn up, saying he got attacked, it makes you think, bro: who the fuck could do that to this guy.

So I question him. It doesn’t make sense

‘What do you mean attacked. Who the fuck attacked you’ I said.

This is exactly what he said, bro.

‘I take job in Tiger forest. It take me forty minutes to get to this place, and no one there. I wait for ten, twenty minutes, no one there. I come back. There was man on road, his car broke down. I get out, I help. I tell you, man. I got bad feeling from this guy. I don’t know why, sometime you just get bad feeling, you know? But I ignore the bad feeling, I help. I go to him, but then I hear noise from tree line along side of road. All these people wearing black, only black. They come out of the trees. Some holding torches, some holding knives. It was an ambush.’

Vlad was surrounded by a satanic fucking cult in the middle of the forest, I shit you not. He tried to run back to his car, get away that way, but they got there before he did. They closed in on him, saying all this weird shit in another language. Vlad was lucky he was built like a house because he was able to charge one of the guys holding a torch. Knocked him to the ground. Had to run away into the forest.”

“That is crazy, man. There is no way I am taking this booking. I am not even going to message him back.”

I went to light another cigarette when I noticed the wry smirk reappear on Pedro’s face.

“Oh fuck you, man. Do not scare me like that.

Pedro laughed.

“No bro, for real. Watch out”.

“Yeah, yeah”.

I finished the cigarette quickly, grabbed my coat and hopped into the car, ready to start my shift; ready to go to Tiger Mountain. Pedro was full of shit, he was always like that. I started the engine. As the car sat and quietly roared I thought about Pedro’s smile, and how it collapsed into fear when I told him I was going to Tiger Mountain. Admittedly that was strange. Very strange. But Pedro was full of shit, he was always like that..

title: Tiger Mountain.

question: What is the danger in Tiger Mountain?

answer: The possibility of being attacked and abducted by a cult to be sacrificed to demons -at least, according to Pedro's story.

question: Is Pedro serious about what happened to Vlad?

answer: While Prashnath seems to take Pedro's story in stride (mostly attributing the whole tale as joke on account of Pedro's smirk), Pedro seems to want to warn Prashnath anyway. So regardless of the truth of the story, Pedro certainly said it as a cautionary tale.

question: What are Pedro and Prashnath's occupations?

answer: They appear to be drivers working for a cab company and they seem to specialize in booked rides.

question: Is Prashnath acting consistently?

answer: No. Even without Pedro, Prashnath already determined that the Tiger Mountain booking was too dangerous to take and he was planning to cancel the booking before Pedro arrived. Even if he may have assessed that Pedro was just kidding, it should not influence a change in the decision he already made.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Prashnath says he has a booking at Tiger Mountain, but Pedro tells him not to take it. Pedro recounts the story of Vlad, who had been attacked at Tiger Mountain by some cult. However, due to the humorous banter between the two friends, Prashnath interprets Pedro's tale as a joke. As Prashnath heads out to Tiger Mountain, he tries to comfort himself that Pedro is always joking, but he also cannot deny the fear that appear on Pedro's face when Tiger Mountain was first brought up.


text:
ARTHUR EUGENE SUTHERLAND JR. (Feb 9, 1902 – Mar 10, 1973) was an American lawyer, law professor, and author.

Biography

Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. was the youngest son of Arthur E. Sutherland a Justice of the New York State Supreme Court.[1] He was born and raised in Rochester New York. He attended college at Wesleyan University class of 1922, and graduated from the noted Harvard Law School Class of 1925 with a J. D.. He clerked for US Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. 1927–1928.[2][3]

After law school Sutherland returned to practice law for 14 years in Rochester, N.Y. where his father, Arthur E. Sutherland Sr., and uncle William Sutherland were both in the legal profession.[4]

Sutherland married Margaret Susanne Adams[5] and had four children: David, Peter, Eleanor and Prudy.[6] Mrs. Sutherland passed away New Year's Eve 1957/1958, one of the 70,000 Americans who died of the Asian flu during the 1957 pandemic. His second wife was Mary Elizabeth Genung Kirk.[7]

Arthur E. Sutherland died of cancer in 1973 in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Career

Military service

As a young man, in 1919 Sutherland was sent with Captain Emory H. Niles to survey areas of the recently toppled Ottoman Empire and report back. The result was the Niles and Sutherland Report for the US Congress.[8]

During the Second World War, Sutherland served as Aide-de-Camps to General Mark W. Clark with distinction in the U.S. Army.[9] He left the Army in 1945 as a Colonel, with a number of high honors, including the Bronze Star and the Order of the British Empire.[10]

Awards and decorations

See Historical Bio[11]

  -- ----------------------------------------------------------------
     Order of Ouissam Alaouite, Grand Cross - First Class (Morocco)
     Legion of Merit, with cluster (America)
     Order of the British Empire (England)
     Croix de guerre 1939-1945 (France)
     Czechoslovakian War Cross, War Cross (Czechoslovakia)
  -- ----------------------------------------------------------------

Law professor

Cornell University invited Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. to teach law after WWII in 1945.

Soon after, in 1950 Harvard Law School invited him to teach.[12] Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. was the Bussey Professor of Law Emeritus, author of a number of books on the law, and a frequently cited legal scholar on topics of both constitutional and commercial law. He was a member of the Harvard Faculty of Law for twenty years between 1950-1970. Sutherland helped draft the Uniform Commercial Code, a body of laws establishing common trade practices among the United States. He was chair of a special committee working to revise Massachusetts “blue laws” in 1962.[13] The simpler and more coherent set of laws was later adopted by the Massachusetts Legislature.[14] Sutherland was on the opposing legal team in the Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market “Blue Laws” case brought before the US Supreme Court.[15]

Sutherland was an associate of Harvard's Adams House and was acting Master of Lowell House for a year from 1965 to 1966.[16]

Loeb University Professor, Paul A. Freund said of Sutherland that he “was an unusual combination of the scholarly and the homespun,” with great “liveliness of mind and spirit.” “His teaching was enlivened by anecdotes from the real world of law practice. He was one of the most popular Law School Faculty members within the larger University,” Freund continued.[17]

Selected works

-   _The Law at Harvard: A History of Ideas and Men, 1817-1967_
-   _The Path of Law from 1967: Proceedings and Papers at the Harvard Law School Convocation Held on the One-Hundred Fiftieth Anniversary of Its Founding_, edited by Arthur E. Sutherland Jr.
-   _Government Under Law A Conference Held at Harvard Law School on the Occasion of the Bicentennial of John Marshall Chief Justice of the United States, 1801–1835_, edited by Arthur E. Sutherland Jr.
-   _Constitutionalism in America: Origins & Evolution of Its Fundamental Ideas_
-   _Apology for Uncomfortable Change: 1865/1965- Oliver Wendell Holmes Lectures At the University of North Carolina_ October 1963
-   _Constitutional Law: Cases and Other Problems_, Henry Monagham, Paul A. Freund, Arthur E Sutherland, Mark DeWolf Howe, Ernest J. Brown

[1] [https://www.nycourts.gov/library/ad4/library_information/..%5Clibrary_information%5Cportr.shtml/ List of Portraits of the NY Supreme Court Justices at the Appellate Division, Fourth Department Law Library in Rochester NY]

[2]

[3] NYTimes Arthur E Sutherland Dies at 71

[4] The Crimson: A. Sutherland, Legal Scholar, Is Dead at 71

[5] Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) 02 Feb 1941, Sun Page 52 Photo and mention of Mrs. Arthur Sutherland. (Subscription may be required to view)

[6]

[7]

[8] For more information see also, _Americans Investigating Anatolia_ by Brian Johnson

[9] Calculated Risk by Mark W. Clark

[10]

[11]

[12] Arthur E Sutherland: In Memory of a Colleague by Robert Braucher

[13] The Crimson: New Proposal Asks for Change in Blue Laws

[14]

[15] ProCon.org: Gallagher v. Crown Kosher Super Market 1961

[16]

[17]

title: Arthur E. Sutherland Jr.

question: When was Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. born?

answer: Feb 9 1902.

question: What did Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. do?

answer: He was a lawyer, law professor and author.

question: What college did Arthur E. Sutherland Jr. attend?

answer: Wesleyan University and Harvard Law School.

question: Who was Arthur E. Sutherland Jr.'s 2nd wife?

answer: Mary Elizabeth Genung Kirk.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Arthur E. Sutherland Jr., a lawyer, law professor and author from the 20th century.


text:
New International Version (NIV)

Version

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

Previous
Next
Peace and Hope

5 Therefore, since we have been justified(A) through faith,(B) we[a] have peace(C) with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,(D) 2 through whom we have gained access(E) by faith into this grace in which we now stand.(F) And we[b] boast in the hope(G) of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings,(H) because we know that suffering produces perseverance;(I) 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope(J) does not put us to shame, because God’s love(K) has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit,(L) who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time,(M) when we were still powerless,(N) Christ died for the ungodly.(O) 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(P)

9 Since we have now been justified(Q) by his blood,(R) how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath(S) through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies,(T) we were reconciled(U) to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!(V) 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.(W)

Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man,(X) and death through sin,(Y) and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned(Z)—

13 To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law.(AA) 14 Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam,(AB) who is a pattern of the one to come.(AC)

15 But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,(AD) how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ,(AE) overflow to the many! 16 Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17 For if, by the trespass of the one man, death(AF) reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life(AG) through the one man, Jesus Christ!

18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,(AH) so also one righteous act resulted in justification(AI) and life(AJ) for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man(AK) the many were made sinners,(AL) so also through the obedience(AM) of the one man the many will be made righteous.

20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase.(AN) But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,(AO) 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death,(AP) so also grace(AQ) might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life(AR) through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

6 What shall we say, then?(AS) Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?(AT) 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin;(AU) how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized(AV) into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death(AW) in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead(AX) through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.(AY)

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his.(AZ) 6 For we know that our old self(BA) was crucified with him(BB) so that the body ruled by sin(BC) might be done away with,[d] that we should no longer be slaves to sin(BD)— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.(BE)

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.(BF) 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead,(BG) he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.(BH) 10 The death he died, he died to sin(BI) once for all;(BJ) but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin(BK) but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign(BL) in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness,(BM) but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.(BN) 14 For sin shall no longer be your master,(BO) because you are not under the law,(BP) but under grace.(BQ)

Slaves to Righteousness

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?(BR) By no means! 16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey(BS)—whether you are slaves to sin,(BT) which leads to death,(BU) or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God(BV) that, though you used to be slaves to sin,(BW) you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching(BX) that has now claimed your allegiance. 18 You have been set free from sin(BY) and have become slaves to righteousness.(BZ)

19 I am using an example from everyday life(CA) because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness(CB) leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin,(CC) you were free from the control of righteousness.(CD) 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!(CE) 22 But now that you have been set free from sin(CF) and have become slaves of God,(CG) the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.(CH) 23 For the wages of sin is death,(CI) but the gift of God is eternal life(CJ) in[e] Christ Jesus our Lord.

Released From the Law, Bound to Christ

7 Do you not know, brothers and sisters(CK)—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? 2 For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him.(CL) 3 So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress.(CM) But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

4 So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law(CN) through the body of Christ,(CO) that you might belong to another,(CP) to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the realm of the flesh,[f](CQ) the sinful passions aroused by the law(CR) were at work in us,(CS) so that we bore fruit for death.(CT) 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law(CU) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.(CV)

The Law and Sin

7 What shall we say, then?(CW) Is the law sinful? Certainly not!(CX) Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.(CY) For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”[g](CZ) 8 But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(DA) produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.(DB) 9 Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. 10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life(DC) actually brought death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment,(DD) deceived me,(DE) and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(DF)

13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good(DG) to bring about my death,(DH) so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

14 We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual,(DI) sold(DJ) as a slave to sin.(DK) 15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.(DL) 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.(DM) 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.(DN) 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[h](DO) For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.(DP) 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.(DQ)

21 So I find this law at work:(DR) Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being(DS) I delight in God’s law;(DT) 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war(DU) against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin(DV) at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?(DW) 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!(DX)

So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law,(DY) but in my sinful nature[i] a slave to the law of sin.(DZ)

Footnotes

1.

    Romans 5:1 Many manuscripts _let us_
2.

    Romans 5:2 Or _let us_
3.

    Romans 5:3 Or _let us_
4.

    Romans 6:6 Or _be rendered powerless_
5.

    Romans 6:23 Or _through_
6.

    Romans 7:5 In contexts like this, the Greek word for _flesh_ (_sarx_) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit.
7.

    Romans 7:7 Exodus 20:17; Deut. 5:21
8.

    Romans 7:18 Or _my flesh_
9.

    Romans 7:25 Or _in the flesh_

Cross references

1.

    Romans 5:1 : S Ro 4:25
2.

    Romans 5:1 : S Ro 3:28
3.

    Romans 5:1 : S Lk 2:14
4.

    Romans 5:1 : ver 10
5.

    Romans 5:2 : Eph 2:18; 3:12
6.

    Romans 5:2 : 1Co 15:1
7.

    Romans 5:2 : S Heb 3:6
8.

    Romans 5:3 : S Mt 5:12
9.

    Romans 5:3 : S Heb 10:36
10.

    Romans 5:5 : Php 1:20; S Heb 3:6; 1Jn 3:2, 3
11.

    Romans 5:5 : ver 8; Jn 3:16; Ro 8:39
12.

    Romans 5:5 : Ac 2:33; 10:45; Tit 3:5, 6
13.

    Romans 5:6 : Mk 1:15; Gal 4:4; Eph 1:10
14.

    Romans 5:6 : ver 8, 10
15.

    Romans 5:6 : Ro 4:25
16.

    Romans 5:8 : Jn 3:16; 15:13; 1Pe 3:18; 1Jn 3:16; 4:10
17.

    Romans 5:9 : S Ro 4:25
18.

    Romans 5:9 : S Ro 3:25
19.

    Romans 5:9 : S Ro 1:18
20.

    Romans 5:10 : Ro 11:28; Col 1:21
21.

    Romans 5:10 : ver 11; Ro 11:15; 2Co 5:18, 19; Col 1:20, 22
22.

    Romans 5:10 : Ro 8:34; Heb 7:25
23.

    Romans 5:11 : S ver 10
24.

    Romans 5:12 : ver 15, 16, 17; Ge 3:1-7; 1Co 15:21, 22
25.

    Romans 5:12 : ver 14, 18; Ge 2:17; 3:19; S Ro 6:23
26.

    Romans 5:12 : S Ro 3:9
27.

    Romans 5:13 : S Ro 4:15
28.

    Romans 5:14 : Ge 3:11, 12
29.

    Romans 5:14 : 1Co 15:22, 45
30.

    Romans 5:15 : ver 12, 18, 19
31.

    Romans 5:15 : Ac 15:11
32.

    Romans 5:17 : S ver 12
33.

    Romans 5:17 : Jn 10:10
34.

    Romans 5:18 : S ver 12
35.

    Romans 5:18 : S Ro 4:25
36.

    Romans 5:18 : Isa 53:11
37.

    Romans 5:19 : ver 12
38.

    Romans 5:19 : S Ro 3:9
39.

    Romans 5:19 : S Php 2:8
40.

    Romans 5:20 : Ro 3:20; 7:7, 8; Gal 3:19
41.

    Romans 5:20 : Ro 6:1; 1Ti 1:13, 14
42.

    Romans 5:21 : ver 12, 14; S Ro 6:16
43.

    Romans 5:21 : S Ro 3:24
44.

    Romans 5:21 : S Mt 25:46
45.

    Romans 6:1 : S Ro 8:31
46.

    Romans 6:1 : ver 15; Ro 3:5, 8
47.

    Romans 6:2 : S ver 6; ver 10, 11; S ver 18; Ro 8:13; Col 3:3, 5; 1Pe 2:24
48.

    Romans 6:3 : S Mt 28:19
49.

    Romans 6:4 : S ver 6
50.

    Romans 6:4 : S Ac 2:24
51.

    Romans 6:4 : Ro 7:6; S 2Co 5:17; Eph 4:22-24; Col 3:10
52.

    Romans 6:5 : ver 4, 8; Ro 8:11; 2Co 4:10; Eph 2:6; Php 3:10, 11; Col 2:12; 3:1; 2Ti 2:11
53.

    Romans 6:6 : S Gal 5:24; Eph 4:22; Col 3:9
54.

    Romans 6:6 : S ver 2; ver 3-8; 2Co 4:10; Gal 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Php 3:10; Col 2:12, 20; 3:3
55.

    Romans 6:6 : Ro 7:24
56.

    Romans 6:6 : S ver 16
57.

    Romans 6:7 : S ver 18
58.

    Romans 6:8 : S ver 5
59.

    Romans 6:9 : ver 4; S Ac 2:24
60.

    Romans 6:9 : Rev 1:18
61.

    Romans 6:10 : S ver 2
62.

    Romans 6:10 : S Heb 7:27
63.

    Romans 6:11 : S ver 2
64.

    Romans 6:12 : ver 16
65.

    Romans 6:13 : ver 16, 19; Ro 7:5
66.

    Romans 6:13 : Ro 12:1; 2Co 5:14, 15; 1Pe 2:24
67.

    Romans 6:14 : S ver 16
68.

    Romans 6:14 : S Ro 2:12
69.

    Romans 6:14 : S Ro 3:24
70.

    Romans 6:15 : ver 1, 14
71.

    Romans 6:16 : 2Pe 2:19
72.

    Romans 6:16 : ver 6, 12, 14, 17, 20; Ge 4:7; Ps 51:5; 119:133; Jn 8:34; Ro 5:21; 7:14, 23, 25; 8:2; 2Pe 2:19
73.

    Romans 6:16 : S ver 23
74.

    Romans 6:17 : Ro 1:8; S 2Co 2:14
75.

    Romans 6:17 : S ver 16
76.

    Romans 6:17 : 2Ti 1:13
77.

    Romans 6:18 : S ver 2; ver 7, 22; Ro 8:2; 1Pe 4:1; S ver 16
78.

    Romans 6:18 : S ver 22
79.

    Romans 6:19 : Ro 3:5; Gal 3:15
80.

    Romans 6:19 : S ver 13; S ver 22
81.

    Romans 6:20 : S ver 16
82.

    Romans 6:20 : ver 16
83.

    Romans 6:21 : S ver 23
84.

    Romans 6:22 : S ver 18
85.

    Romans 6:22 : ver 18, 19; Ro 7:25; 1Co 7:22; Eph 6:6; 1Pe 2:16
86.

    Romans 6:22 : S Mt 25:46
87.

    Romans 6:23 : ver 16, 21; Ge 2:17; Pr 10:16; Eze 18:4; Ro 1:32; S 5:12; 7:5, 13; 8:6, 13; Gal 6:7, 8; Jas 1:15
88.

    Romans 6:23 : S Mt 25:46
89.

    Romans 7:1 : S Ac 1:16; S 22:5; Ro 1:13; 1Co 1:10; 5:11; 6:6; 14:20, 26; Gal 3:15; 6:18
90.

    Romans 7:2 : 1Co 7:39
91.

    Romans 7:3 : S Lk 16:18
92.

    Romans 7:4 : ver 6; S Ro 6:6; 8:2; Gal 2:19; 3:23-25; 4:31; 5:1
93.

    Romans 7:4 : Col 1:22
94.

    Romans 7:4 : Gal 2:19, 20
95.

    Romans 7:5 : S Gal 5:24
96.

    Romans 7:5 : Ro 7:7-11
97.

    Romans 7:5 : Ro 6:13
98.

    Romans 7:5 : S Ro 6:23
99.

    Romans 7:6 : S ver 4
100.

    Romans 7:6 : Ro 2:29; 2Co 3:6
101.

    Romans 7:7 : S Ro 8:31
102.

    Romans 7:7 : S ver 12
103.

    Romans 7:7 : S Ro 4:15
104.

    Romans 7:7 : Ex 20:17; Dt 5:21
105.

    Romans 7:8 : ver 11
106.

    Romans 7:8 : S Ro 4:15
107.

    Romans 7:10 : Lev 18:5; Lk 10:26-28; S Ro 10:5; Gal 3:12
108.

    Romans 7:11 : ver 8
109.

    Romans 7:11 : Ge 3:13
110.

    Romans 7:12 : ver 7, 13, 14, 16; Ro 8:4; Gal 3:21; 1Ti 1:8; S Ro 4:15
111.

    Romans 7:13 : S ver 12
112.

    Romans 7:13 : S Ro 6:23
113.

    Romans 7:14 : 1Co 3:1
114.

    Romans 7:14 : 1Ki 21:20, 25; 2Ki 17:17
115.

    Romans 7:14 : S Ro 6:16
116.

    Romans 7:15 : ver 19; Gal 5:17
117.

    Romans 7:16 : S ver 12
118.

    Romans 7:17 : ver 20
119.

    Romans 7:18 : ver 25; S Gal 5:24
120.

    Romans 7:19 : ver 15
121.

    Romans 7:20 : ver 17
122.

    Romans 7:21 : ver 23, 25
123.

    Romans 7:22 : Eph 3:16
124.

    Romans 7:22 : Ps 1:2; 40:8
125.

    Romans 7:23 : Gal 5:17; Jas 4:1; 1Pe 2:11
126.

    Romans 7:23 : S Ro 6:16
127.

    Romans 7:24 : Ro 6:6; 8:2
128.

    Romans 7:25 : S 2Co 2:14
129.

    Romans 7:25 : S Ro 6:22
130.

    Romans 7:25 : S Ro 6:16

dropdown

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION (NIV)

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.

[Great Commission 2020]

question: What is the progression to hope?

answer: Suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.

question: Why were people at the receiving end of God's wrath?

answer: Because of Adam, all of his descendants were considered to be slaves to sin.

question: Why did God forgive people?

answer: God manifested Himself as Jesus Christ through Mary and died for mankind. In his resurrection, God forgave all people. However, the text doesn't touch on the reasons.

question: Explain what it means to be slaves to the law.

answer: The text doesn't really produce a coherent explanation.

question: Why does God unleash his wrath on the entire human race for the sin of one man and then forgive all for the virtue of one man?

answer: No one knows. Perhaps God overreacts too much.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Sin entered the world through Adam, and death through sin. Then, God forgave everyone through Jesus Christ. People are released from written law so that they may serve in the ways of the spirit by becoming slaves to righteousness.


text:
CLIFTON is an unincorporated community in Schuyler County, in the U.S. state of Missouri.[1]

History

A post office called Clifton was established in 1865, and remained in operation until 1904.[2] The community most likely has the name of a local family.[3] The area was sometimes called “Germania”.[4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

title: Clifton, Schuyler County, Missouri

question: What is CLifton?

answer: An unincorporated community.

question: Where is it?

answer: Schuyler County.

question: Where is Schuyler County?

answer: Missouri.

question: When was Clifton established?

answer: A post office was established under that name in 1865.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: CLIFTON is an unincorporated community in Schuyler County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. A post office by that name was established there in 1856, and it remained in operation until 1904. It's likely that the name came from a local family. The are was sometimes called "Germania".


text:
AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE: _SWAN LAKE_ -
LYRIC THEATRE, QPAC, 28 AUGUST -

There was disappointment voiced by some diehard balletomanes when _Swan Lake_ was announced as one of the ballets American Ballet Theatre (ABT) would be performing in Brisbane. Too clichéd! But as the measure of a company, this classic cannot be matched, and besides, the 2000 revival by ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie had been described as spectacular and breathtakingly beautiful, therefore promising much.

Visually it certainly delivered – I don’t think I have seen a more opulent setting of the ballet. The bucolic village scene of Act One and sumptuous gold and silver decorated Great Hall of Act Three are in sharp contrast to the gothic lakeside setting of gnarled woods and dank looking rocky outcrops.

Zack Brown, who designed both sets and costumes, has located the ballet somewhere in Europe around the 17th century, with the Elizabethan styled costuming of lilac, oranges, saffron and lime green in the third act particularly striking.

McKenzie has massaged the original story only a little, using the overture to create a prologue, which effectively explains Odette’s bewitchment, and at the same time revealing Von Rothbart as both the sorcerer and nobleman, well before the third act. It gives logic to the ensuing tale.

In spite of its visual splendour, this evening the ballet took some time to get off the ground with a decided lack of urgency in Act One and some of the dancers appearing less than fully engaged. While the traditional pas de trois was danced with finesse and vivacity by Melanie Hamrick and Stella Abrera, Blaine Hoven, (also Benno in this production) gave quite an expressionless performance. Perhaps the sometimes rather slow delivery of the Tchaikovsky score, otherwise lusciously played by the Queensland Orchestra under Ormsby Wilkins, was a contributing factor.

The second act however, conveyed all the requisite magic, with the familiar shapes and moving patterns of the Ivanov choreography danced on the whole, with exquisite precision. The entrance of the swans by the well-drilled corps de ballet was quite thrilling, while the four cygnets were as one.

As Odette, Hee Seo was beautiful looking and dramatically convincing. Long tapering legs, beautifully articulated feet and fluid, almost boneless arms made her interpretation of fragility and vulnerability quite spellbinding. In contrast, her glittering Odile was delivered with a killer smile and razor sharp technique that oozed seduction. It was a pity that her fouettes, executed through rather than on the beat, were less secure.

Cory Stearns, as Siegfried, has a glorious ballon, with huge juicy landings, beautiful phrasing and a seamless line. Although there was little in the first act to give much support to any development of his character beyond that of a lovelorn prince (his first act solo is also largely done away with), his wonderment on meeting Odette was palpable, as we saw his hesitation before touching her. It was a lovely moment.

The third act has all the requisite princesses and dances from distant lands; the Neapolitan dancers, Joseph Gorak and Zhiyao Zhang in particular bringing energy and chutzpah to the proceedings with a duet of snappy turns and beaten jumps.

Von Rothbart, in his guise as a nobleman, is more central to the action in McKenzie’s version. The bearded Alexandre Hammoudi was both sorcerer and seducer as he ‘bewitched’ the court with a very controlled and mesmeric solo to music usually for the Russian Dance.

With the lavish third act set taking up over a third of the stage, some of the broader movement particularly in Siegfried’s solo and coda appeared a little compromised. In fact slight difficulties managing the space were noticed throughout.

However, aside from what I assume were first night issues only, this is a _Swan Lake_ worth seeing. And with a different principal cast on almost every performance, probably more than once.

– DENISE RICHARDSON

question: What does the story say about how Denise Richardson likes the American Ballet Theatre's performance of Swan Lake in Brisbane?

answer: Denise thinks that the performance was not perfect. The setting is opulent, but McKenzie does not make it to massage the original story completly. Denice notices that some dancers are not fully engaged and that some of them give an expressionless performance but likes the entrance of the swans. Hee Seo (Odette) is convincing, and Gorak's and Zhang's turns and jumps bring energy. In spite of some issues, Denise recommends watching the balley.

question: What does the article say about the number of spectators?


text:
Just before the new year, both the stage and screen lost a legend. While we mourn the sad passing of our favorite space princess, Carrie Fisher, and her mother, it’s now more than ever that we appreciate the late Debbie Reynolds’ impact on the world of theatre.

This movie-musical goddess will forever live on in these five tunes:

_Hotdog! Hallelujah!_ Considered by many to be one of cinema’s most iconic scenes, this “Singin’ in the Rain” tune is still beloved. Reynolds is incomparable opposite Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor. The choreography allegedly took 15 hours to shoot, but the result was pure magic and, of course, one of Reynolds’ most memorable performances.

This Oscar-nominated song comes from the 1957 film “Tammy and the Bachelor.” It also topped music charts for several months. Due to its popularity, Reynolds continued to sing “Tammy” decades later during performances around the world.

In the ‘60s, Reynolds swapped rain boots for nun attire in the role of Sister Ann. With musical movies already under her belt, she led “The Singing Nun,” which went on to become an Academy Award-nominated classic. It featured this well-remembered song, “Dominique.”

Meredith Willson, composer of “The Music Man,” also created music for a memorable film based on the life of Margaret Brown. Reynolds took on the titular role in “The Unsinkable Molly Brown” and went on to receive numerous nominations and recognition. “He’s My Friend” reminds us all that Reynolds held true triple-threat status!

Though many or Reynolds’ musicals debuted in the ‘50s and ‘60s, she continued to perform staple songs over the years. In 2011, she appeared on “Oprah” and did a duet with her daughter, Carrie. You can’t get much more theatrical than a good ole rendition of “Happy Days (Are Here Again)” combined with “You Made Me Love You,” a song from “Irene,” the Broadway revival Reynolds starred in back in 1973.

question: What is the main topic of the story?

answer: The post is a remembrance of Debbie Reynolds' impact of the world of theatre.

question: How is Debbie Reynolds specifically remembered in this post?

answer: She is remembered through her music.

question: Which of the musical mentioned became an Academy Award-nominated classic?

answer: The Singing Nun.

question: When did many of Reynolds' musicals debuted?

answer: In the 50s and 60s.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The post is a remembrance of Debbie Reynolds' impact of the world of theatre. She is remembered through her music.


text:
ORANGEBURG MUNICIPAL AIRPORT is a city-owned, public-use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) south of the central business district of Orangeburg, a city in Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States.[1] It is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a _general aviation_ facility.

 The airport does not have scheduled commercial airline service.

During World War II, the 58th Flying Training Detachment, operated by the Hawthorne School of Aeronautics, trained both U.S. and French airmen at what was Hawthorne Field. The detachment was supervised by the 29th Flying Training Wing.

Facilities and aircraft

Orangeburg Municipal Airport covers an area of 300 acres (121 ha) at an elevation of 195 feet (59 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 17/35 is 5,399 by 100 feet (1,646 x 30 m) and 5/23 is 4,508 by 100 feet (1,374 x 30 m).[2]

For the 12-month period ending August 12, 2011, the airport had 22,420 aircraft operations, an average of 61 per day: 99% general aviation, 1% air taxi, and <1% military. At that time there were 22 aircraft based at this airport: 73% single-engine and 27% multi-engine.[3]

[1]

[2]

[3]

title: Orangeburg Municipal Airport

question: Where is the Orangeburg Municipal Airport?

answer: It is located 4 km south of the central business district of Orangburg City,  in Orangeburg County, South Carolina.

question: What is the purpose of the airport?

answer: It is a general aviation facility that, on very few occasions, is also used for air taxi and military purposes. During World War II, it was also used for the training of US and French airmen.

question: How much area does the airport cover?

answer: The airport covers 300 acres.

question: Are there commercial airline services available at the airport?

answer: The airport has no commercial airline services.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The 300 acre Orangeburg Municipal Airport in South Carolina is a general aviation facility that, on very few occasions, is also used for air taxi and military purposes. It has no commercial airline services.


text:
“You know, you accuse me of horrible atrocities; War crimes, treachery, genocide, among others. I could try to defend my actions, tell you why this is not the case, but I fear you would not believe me. You don’t see the world how I see it, you don’t understand what needs to be done. Your world is what you see around you, your neighbours, your postman, the waitress at the bar you visited that one time on holiday. You think of the world as countries, places, people. It is this view that prevents you from seeing what I see. And unfortunately it is a view shared by the vast majority of our species.”

“Try me. You act as though you are a saviour to mankind. Messiah come down to save our mortal souls.”

“Save you? I’m not here to save you. I do not deny what I have done, what I plan to do, will cause loss of life. I will even concede it may cause a large number of deaths. This however, is irrelevant. I am no messiah, no saviour. I am however, a necessary part of the future.”

“Careful Mr. Thomas, you’re in danger of descending into a bond villain.”

“Please.” Thomas said with an indignant smile. “I would think such comparisons are a touch naive. I am not pure evil, diluted down to the basest elements of my personality, so audiences know to hate me. No. I, like you and every other sane person on this planet, am a combination of good of evil; a moral cocktail, made of a mixture of ideals, beliefs, thoughts, both moral and immoral. I simply choose to embrace the side of myself, most would rather leave dormant and unused, fearing the consequences of tipping their ‘moral compasses’ too far into the red.”

“You say you are not evil, yet you do not deny intentionally killing millions of people?” Francis slapped the table quietly.

“You would not call mother nature evil would you? Or the bacteria responsible for disease? Just because something is responsible for many deaths does not make it evil. Our race kill hundreds of millions of other species every year, would you call yourself evil?”

“You compare yourself to a force of nature?”

“I am not so vain as to make comparisons like that. I only mean to demonstrate that causing death does not constitute evil. However, I may indulge in comparison this once to show you the benefit of my work. That said I would not compare myself, rather our works. I am a necessary step in our progression. I am doing what needs to be done to move our species forward.”

“Evolutionary process? Move our species forward? And you aim to do this by killing millions?”

“Those deaths are an unfortunate, unavoidable consequence of what needs to be done. They are a means to an end. It is not through the death of any one person, or group of people that this can be achieved. Only through the unfortunate suffering of many, through the conflict causing such suffering can we achieve our next step.”

“Thomas, war is never necessary. It can’t, shouldn't be. There are other ways. No matter what your master plan for the continuation of mankind is it cannot be necessary to cause the outbreak of another war.”

“No Mr. Kelly, there is no other way. War is the catalyst we need to trigger the next great step in our advancement, technologically, socially, economically. The vast majority of humanities great leaps happened during times of strife. War is our greatest tool in the drive forward, conflict our greatest teacher; A stimulus for the true advancement of our race. Only when there is a clear enemy, when people recognise that their lives are in danger if something is not done, will people accept what has to be done. They will rally together, endure economic rationing, and push harder for the technological advances they can use to win their war. That is where the real prize comes from. Our weaponry is what fuels the rest of the world. Man develops a new kind of weapon, and then that technology is adapted and used in other walks of life.”

“We do not need war to innovate and develop. Look at the last 100 years, we have practically lived with worldwide peace the entire time, with some outstanding innovations and technological advancements. Look at how far medicine has come, how much the world has changed with the advent of molecular transference. Not to mention finally sequencing the human genome, and all the possibilities coming from that. Is this not proof enough of our ability to push without conflict?”

“Medicine has stalled. You know that as well as I do. We have reached as far as we can with what we have. We need something new. And I wouldn’t count finishing a project started during the cold war as a victory for non conflict inspired thought. While I will give you the development of molecular transference as a good step forward, its implementation has been lazy. It was developed to be used as people expected, but where is the innovation now? Where are the uses that blow your mind? The uses no one saw coming? Give a technology like that to war time engineers and watch as it explodes into one of the greatest technologies ever created. We might still be creating, still innovating, we might even have the right people in place to make things happen, but at the minute they are handicapped. Kept on a shoestring in order to allow Johnny somebody out there to have a second home, buy a car for his daughter on her birthday, and retire early to a life more comfortable than 3 generations previous could’ve dreamed of. I mean to create an incubator for these kinds of ideas. When I succeed, and I will, you will see funding pour into laboratories around the world, each side vying to claim the next great discovery for themselves. The scientists and engineers around the world will have the freedom to try anything in pursuit of the perfect weapon. And when they find it, the war will end, and there will no longer be a need for a perfect weapon. They will find new ways to adapt their weapon to the new world, find ways to help the world. This is my goal.”

“Again you claim to help the world. And yet you desire the destruction of its inhabitants? You don’t want to help the world, you aim to destroy it. You are a monster.”

“Please Francis, try not to let your emotions run away with you.  I am no more a monster than you are. I give to the charities, and help the old ladies just like everyone else, I do not want to cause any unnecessary deaths. I cannot say the same about necessary ones. And I would hate for yours to become necessary. You need to return to your home, to your wife, and forget about your attempts to change my mind. I’m afraid it is a fool’s errand.”

With that, he got up and walked for the door, stopping only to hold the door for a woman carrying a small child. Francis watched him go.

*“Maybe he’s right” He thought. “Maybe I should just go home. I don’t know how to stop him. I know Kate thinks I’m paranoid, but he has just admitted to everything. I know now what he plans to do. But what do I do with that information? I don’t know how to stop him. I don’t even know how exactly he plans to do it. He has the ear of the right people. He can do it. I’m sure of it.”*

Francis got up and headed for the door. Outside he turned left. He didn't have a destination in mind. He just needed to think.

*“I can’t let him get away it. There must be something I can do. Someone I can talk to. I can’t just go to the police. Not yet. What would I tell them? Help, my neighbour wants to start a war? They’ll lock me up! No. I need some kind of proof.”*

He stopped outside a hardware store. He went in and bought a flash light, screwdriver, a padlock, and a bolt cutter.

*“For all the technologies, and advancements, sometimes old methods are best.”* He thought. Then he went home.

title: Tools of Men

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: The narrator is Mr. Thomas.

question: What does he see the world as?

answer: Mr. Thomas sees the people of the world as tools of advancements. He believes that some deaths are unavoidable and that only after that can we move forward to the next step of progress.

question: Who is the narrator conversing with?

answer: The narrator (Mr. Thomas) is in conversation with his neighbor Francis.

question: How does Mr. Thomas elucidate that he isn't evil after not denying killing millions?

answer: Mr. Thomas proves his point by saying that we do not call a disease evil for taking so many lives, nor do we call ourselves evil by killing hundreds of species every year.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
Thomas is in conversation with his neighbor Francis, discussing their own ideologies. Thomas sees the world differently, he believes that some deaths are unavoidable and necessary for the world to make advancements. Mr. Francis certainly does not agree to this and warns him that he may be turning into a bond villain.
Francis tries to explain to him that war is never necessary. While Thomas believes that war is the catalyst we need.
The conversation ends with Francis wondering if Thomas is right after all.


text:
Having gotten her start back in 1993, one would think that Candy Mokwena’s career would have reached this point earlier but the past 24 years have been one hell of a ride for the singer/songwriter.

Speaking to True Love for their August issue, Mokoena revealed that her father died when she was 14 and her mom sold fruits and vegetables to support their small family.

At age 17, she fell pregnant with her first child and got beaten up by her brother after he found out the news.

_“I have a scar on my nose. My brother beat me up when he found out I was pregnant and had to leave school. That was wrong, he could have sat me down and had a decent conversation,”_ she began.

_“In a rural area where I come from, there is no one to talk to about sex and contraceptives. Neither my mom nor my older sister spoke to me about boys. Wasn’t promiscuous, it was a one-time thing, and the father denied the baby,”_ added Candy.

By age 20, she fell pregnant with her second child and didn’t know she was pregnant until she was 6-months along.

_“I had two children by different fathers. I made huge mistakes, but I don’t regret having my kids.” _

She then went to work on a tea farm in Tzaneen as a secretary where she earned a R180 a month back in the early nineties to support those two kids. She then heard about a local audition which she went to and immediately got into a partnership with the late Shangaan artist, Peta Teanet.

It was then that she left her children with her mother in pursuit if a music career.

She has since worked with Papa Penny Penny and Oskido among many others.

During those years, she lost her first son in a hit-and-run accident, was subsequently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and sunk into a deep depression which her collaboration with Oskido pulled her out of.

Her 2009 solo debut album, Siki then did well enough for her to buy her first property and the SAMA nominated album she released last year, titled Easy Come, Easy Go finally did what it took to propel her into the limelight.

She has now set her sights on using her music and the traditional outfits she wears to contribute to the cultural socialization of black people in addition to her dream of one day working with the likes of Beyonce and R. Kelly.

In the mean time, she will be working on an entertainment show about the lives of celebrities called ‘Artist Rundown.’ The show will air on regional channel, GauTV. She will also be working on Selaelo Selota’s upcoming album.

-   WHAT TO READ NEXT: OSKIDO - THE LIVING MUSIC LEGEND

After all this time, she has learned one very important lesson though; _“our industry is not like America - you can work hard, but not be a millionaire like them. I’ve learnt that making money from music isn’t enough. You have to branch out into other businesses. I’m in transportation right now - I have a few cars working via Uber and Taxify.”_

And though her life may not be perfect, at least things are finally starting to look up after all that she has been to. So, if you find yourself feeling stuck in your current problems, remember Candy’s story and let it remind you that nothing lasts forever - not even the bad times.

MAIN IMAGE CREDIT: INSTAGRAM.COM/CANDYTSAMANDEBELESA

question: What does the story say about Candy Mokwena’s career?

answer: Candy Mokwena worked on a tea farm in Tzaneen as a secretary. She heard about a local audition which she went to and immediately got into a partnership with, Peta Teanet, a Shangaan artist. Later, she worked with Papa Penny Penny and Oskido among many others. Her debut album was released in 2009, and the album Easy Come, Easy Go was released last year. She realizes that making money from music isn’t enough so she has a few cars working via Uber and Taxify.

question: What does the article say about Candy's husband?

question: What does the story say about Candy's children?

answer: Candy had two children by different fathers. She fell pregnant with her first child at age 17, and the father denied the baby. At age 20, she fell pregnant with her second child. She said she made huge mistakes, but did not regret having her children. When she started her music career, she left her children with her mother.