text:
Average employee pay at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power rose 15% over the last five years, despite an economic slump that ravaged the city’s budget, records released Tuesday show.

DWP workers received significantly more generous pay increases than other city workers, who received an average raise of 9% over the same period.

The median household income for Los Angeles residents — the public utility’s customers — fell over roughly the same period, from $48,882 in 2008 to $46,148 in 2011, the latest year for which U.S. census numbers are available. By contrast, the average DWP pay rose from $88,299 in 2008 to $101,237 in 2012. DWP pay grew at about three times the rate of inflation in the Greater Los Angeles Area.

DWP compensation has become a central issue in the May 21 mayoral election, in which there has been much debate over whether the city’s labor contracts are too costly given the fiscal problems that have resulted in major cuts in services.

The union representing most of the DWP’s workers has become the single biggest source of campaign cash in the race, giving $1.45 million to an independent effort backing City Controller Wendy Greuel.

The only pay growth comparable to the DWP came at the city Fire Department, where average total salary and other payments also rose 15% over the five years to $132,131. But officials note that about 300 positions were cut from the Fire Department in that period, which required increased overtime payments to fill positions.

The firefighters’ union, which is also backing Greuel, has spent about $250,000 on her campaign.

Average Los Angeles police officer pay increased by 2% over the same period, The Times analysis found.

The Times requested the DWP pay data in early February. Agency administrators repeatedly postponed the release, saying more time was needed to ensure that disclosing the information would not endanger employees.

The state of California, Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles routinely release their payroll with employees’ names. Courts have allowed rare exceptions when employees’ safety might be put in danger, such as undercover police officers and people who have restraining orders against potentially violent stalkers.

The DWP was poised to release the data last week. But the employees’ union sued the agency, seeking more time for its roughly 8,000 members to object to the disclosure of their names. At a Los Angeles County Superior Court hearing Tuesday, the city attorney’s office said it found 112 employees who may have restraining orders. An additional 357 are on disability leave and might not be aware of the pending release of information, Chief Deputy City Atty. William Carter told the court.

After the hearing, the union and the DWP agreed to release the pay data without names. Both sides are due in court again Wednesday to argue over disclosing employees’ identities with their earnings.

The union may have relented because keeping the information secret has become a public relations problem, turning a once coveted political backing into a potential liability, said Jaime Regalado, professor emeritus of political science at Cal State L.A. “It looked really bad that they were trying to block access to their incomes,” he said.

And the timing of the pay increases probably won’t play well, he said. “The fact that they were those five years, when virtually all other city workers had to bite the bullet, it looks bad.”

The $101,237 average pay covers more than 10,000 employees, including temporary workers and full-time staffers. They range from the highest-paid engineers to line workers to customer service representatives.

DWP spokesman Joseph Ramallo attributed the pay increases to a range of factors including cost-of-living adjustments and variations in annual overtime payments.

The Times analysis found average base pay at the DWP increased 19% over the five-year period. Unused vacation time payouts for retiring employees jumped 32%. And “other pay”, which includes disability payments and compensation for unused sick time, rose 46%.

Overtime, which Ramallo said is driven mostly by responding to storm damage, was 22% lower in 2012 than it had been in 2008.

Last week, the Times reported that the DWP’s average worker pay was $99,308 in 2011, the most recent data available at the time. That was more than 50% higher than other city employees. Also, DWP employees were paid about 25% more than workers at comparable public and private utilities, according to a report commissioned by the City Council last year. In addition, agency employees receive free healthcare benefits.

The report set off a frenzy of finger-pointing by Greuel and her rival, Councilman Eric Garcetti, who blamed each other for the agency’s comparatively high pay.

Greuel noted that Garcetti voted for two sets of DWP raises in 2005 and 2009. Garcetti pointed out that Greuel voted for the 2005 raise too, and didn’t have a vote in 2009 because she left the City Council to become controller.

On Tuesday, Greuel spokeswoman Laura Wilkinson accused Garcetti of championing the “reckless” 2009 raise, which came at a time when city residents “could least afford it.” In the same period, funding for firefighters and 911 emergency response service was being slashed, she said.

Garcetti spokesman Jeff Millman said the 15% raises at the municipal utility are “exactly why the DWP [union] is spending a record amount of money to buy this election for Wendy Greuel, to protect the status quo.”

Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at USC, said the candidates should tell voters how they would negotiate a new contract as mayor to fix the problem.

“Each candidate has been very specific about what their opponent did wrong on this issue in the past,” he said. “These numbers should push the discussion toward what they’ll do if elected.”

_jack.dolan@latimes.com_

_Times staff writer Doug Smith contributed to this report._

question: By how much did the average employee salary at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power go up?

answer: 15% over the last five years.

question: By how much did the pay go up for other city workers?

answer: An average of 9% over the same period of five years

question: What has become a central issue in the May mayoral election?

answer: DWP compensation

question: Who blamed each other for the agency’s comparatively high pay?

answer: City controller Wendy Greuel and rival Councilman Eric Garcetti

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: In a Los Angeles report, records show average employee pay at the LA Department of Water and Power rose 15% over the last five years. DWP workers received significantly more pay, compared to other city workers who only received an average raise of 9% over the same period.


split: train

text:
[The swissinfo.ch building in Bern.]

SWI SWISSINFO.CH is a ten-language news and information platform produced by the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation. Its content is Swiss-centred, with top priority given to in-depth information on politics, the economy, the arts, science, education and direct democracy. Switzerland's international political, economic and cultural relations are other key points of focus. The website is available in ten languages.

History

In the mid-1990s, economic circumstances forced swissinfo.ch to take a new strategic direction. The internet was advancing fast, heralding a new era for the producing journalists and the Swiss Radio International (SRI) audience alike. The German, French, English and Portuguese sites went online in 1999. The Italian, Japanese and Spanish sites followed in 2000, with Arabic going live on 1 February 2001 and Chinese in September of the same year. Within just two years, the internet platform for expatriate Swiss was already better known than SRI's short-wave radio services.

On 21 March 2005, the Board of Directors of SRG SSR decided to reduce the swissinfo.ch service significantly. At the time, the decision was not final and still had to be confirmed by the regulatory body – the Federal Office of Communications – and the Swiss Federal Council. That decision was expected in the autumn of 2005. SRG SSR's intention to cut swissinfo.ch back to a minimum triggered an enormous response from users and readers. There was widespread lack of understanding for the move. The SRG SSR plan for the future was to produce a reduced service in English only. This service was to be integrated into SR DRS. Only specific information for Swiss people living abroad would be provided in Switzerland's national languages. One journalist would be responsible for each language, and the service would be produced by one of the existing SRG SSR enterprise units. In the end, the public had their way. In the summer of 2007, the Federal Council issued swissinfo.ch with a new charter to provide a specific and clearly defined internet-focused news, information and entertainment service.

Peter Schibli became the new editor-in-chief of swissinfo.ch on 1 January 2008. Schibli, who holds a doctorate in law, succeeds Christoph Heri, who retired on 31 March 2008 after a 30-year media career, the last six years of which were spent with the swissinfo.ch editorial team. The new editor-in-chief is charged with fulfilling the content aspects of the Federal Council charter and with positioning swissinfo.ch as a leading nine-language news and information platform for both expatriate Swiss and an international audience with an interest in Switzerland. In November 2008, Schibli became the director of swissinfo.ch. The new editor-in-chief Christophe Giovannini worked for swissinfo.ch from November 2008 until February 2015. In 2013, swissinfo.ch welcomed Russian as 10th language of the information platform.[1] In January 2016, Larissa M. Bieler started as the new editor-in-chief. Today more than 100 persons from 14 nations are working for swissinfo.ch.[2]

Special features

swissinfo.ch's themed dossiers offer a high-quality complement to its websites. Produced specifically for an international audience, these multimedia dossiers examine and present current issues in detail. There is also a special section for expatriate Swiss that gives information on forthcoming referenda and elections. swissinfo.ch is also active on different social media channels: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc.

Services

In addition to the websites, information can be called up from or downloaded to mobile devices. The headline service automatically updates computer desktop headlines from the swissinfo.ch homepages. Headlines can also be linked via live news feeds directly to other websites. In March 2017 swissinfo.ch launched a new app (for iOS and Android).[3]

[1]

[2]

[3]

title: Swissinfo

question: What does the article say about the transition to an internet-focused service for swissinfo.ch?

answer: In the mid-1990s, economic circumstances forced swissinfo.ch to take a new strategic direction. In particular, the internet was fast gaining popularity heralding a new era for journalists and audience alike. They emphasized putting together news for expatriates and foreigners interested in Swiss news. They initially offered news in German, French, English, and Portuguese in 1999. Italian, Japanese, and Spanish sites followed in 2000. Arabic and Chinese went live in 2001. Within just two years, the internet platform was better known than SRI's short-wave radio services. In 2005, the Board of Directors decided to reduce the swissinfo.ch service significantly. However, users and readers responded overwhelmingly to keep the services. The public had its way. In the summer of 2007, the Federal Council issued swissinfo.ch with a new charter to provide a specific and clearly defined internet-focused news service. Now, swissinfo.ch maintains a presence on different social media channels including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, etc. They also allow downloading of information for mobile services, desktop headlines and homepages, and news feeds through an app.


text:
January 18, 1952

It was the dead of winter on the hollowed grounds of the Turner family’s vacation estate in northern Colorado. All was calm and quiet across the endless array of rolling hills, which so plainly swept through the ancient valley.
Mr. and Mrs. Turner were in a hurry, as they rushed to slide their coats on. Maurine Daniels, a seventeen-year-old New Yorker, new to Colorado helped them out the door.
“Alrite Maurine, emergency contacts on the fridge, there’s some games and food in the kitchen, no sweets for either of them, and off to bed at nine thirty, no exceptions.” “You two just have fun, we’ll be fine here.” Mrs. Turner chimed in; honestly Roger, trust the girl”, she said with a chuckle. “Maurine dear, if there’s anything at all you need don’t hesitate to give us a ring. Mr. Turners been a bit grouchy. Tonight the American Psychiatric Association is recognizing him for his contributions to the field.  “I swear, it’s year after year with these people.”  “Oh come on you old grouch. Bye kids!”
 The Turners dashed out the door. The skies opened up as heavy rain began to plummet down. Maurine shut the door as she heard the revving of an engine. The lights flashed on as the car zipped down the driveway.
	A few hours passed as Cindy and John played board game after board game with their baby sitter who forced a smile and pictured money. The clock struck nine thirty as Maurine lit up with anticipation. “Okay kids. Time for bed.” “Ten more minutes?” “John your father said no exceptions.” The children ran upstairs and hurried off to bed.
	Maurine dropped to the couch as if she had been shot. She rolled over, got up and turned on the television. “Thank God these kids don’t argue that much”, she thought to herself.  Suddenly the phone rang.
	Maurine walked over to pick it up. “Hello?” She could hear nothing more than a slight crinkling sound. “Hello?” After hanging up the phone she fell fast asleep. A few minutes later Cindy came downstairs.
	“What are you doing up?” asked Maurine playfully with a yawn. “I can’t sleep.” “Why, what’s wrong?” “The statue in my room is scary.” “Come on, we’ll take care of it. Let’s go see.” The two walked up the endless staircase to Cindy and John’s room.
	Maurine paced the vast room. She saw three statues. There was a knight, a clown, and a half-sized sculpture of a horse. She covered all three admittedly frightening figures. “All better. Now off to bed you”, said Maurine with a warm smile. Cindy smiled back and hopped into bed. “Good night.”
	Maurine went back downstairs and the phone rang as soon as she hit the couch. She rushed to the phone this time. “Hello?” “Maurine dear, its Mrs. Turner. I just wanted to check in. How are the kids?” “They’ve been perfect angels. I just put Cindy back to bed.” “Oh is she making a fuss?” “No she couldn’t sleep because of the clown statue in her room.” There was a long pause.
“Darling, there’s no clown statue.” “The one across from her bed?” Mrs. Turner went hysterical on the other end of the phone.
“Get the children out of the house! I’ll phone the police!” Mrs. Turner hung up.
	Maurine was confused. She walked up the stairs and slowly began to realize the horrific reality of her situation. At the same time, it hit her all at once. She panicked and exploded up the stairs, anxiously swung the door open, saw two of three statues, and the kids were gone. “Shit!”
There was an open window, which so calmly introduced the howling of winds that blew the white curtains of the children’s bedroom. They looked like ghosts dancing, taunting her.
 	She sprinted to the opening and gazed out into the endless flash of white that appeared to be the beginnings of a blizzard. Maurine hopped out the window onto the massive ledge, which canopied over the second floor porch on the massive three-story estate. She looked around, there was nothing in sight, and nowhere they could have gone.
 As she gazed into the far distance, she could make out what seemed to be a colossal barn. “Its too far away”, she thought to herself in a panicky disposition. She noticed a tiny window on the great wooden barn. It illuminated the pitch white of the furious storm.
Maurine’s eyes entranced, a chill ran down her spine, not from the five-degree monster that gave her frostbite, but from the nightmare that was her reality.
She rushed across the glowing white desert and bombarded the monstrous wooden door to find both Cindy and John asleep on the ground. Maurine rushed over and picked them up. She cried at the thought of her certainty that there was a clown lurking somewhere in the barn.
 She realized her intuition to be fact when the door slammed shut before she could set foot to freedom.
The clown “statue” glared at her and slowly paced her way, plank-by-plank, creak-by-creak.
She could feel herself stepping backward. “Who are you? Why are you doing this?” The clown, who stood in a narrow doorway, began to cackle wildly. He had a crackly thunderous voice. The kind of voice one gets from smoking three packs a day for over thirty years.
 “Why don’t you know my name?” “Oh my God, who are you?” she begged. “Oh I’m just -.”
Out of nowhere, the clown had a face of shock, he froze as his eyes widened and his expression went stoic. He fell to the ground. Maurine looked at the children and slowly made her way to the clown. There was a huge stab wound in his back. The monster laid face first in a pool of its own blood.
Maurine ran back to see who had saved her. “Oh thank . . . you.” Maurine stood there disappointed, her rescuer was nowhere in sight. She took the kids back to the house. Twenty minutes passed, and another hour before the Turners arrived. “Mommy, daddy!” yelled the children as they leapt into their parent’s arms. Mrs. Turner was in tears; “I’m just glad you’re all unharmed.” Mr. Turner walked up to a detective. “Who was this man and what did he want with my children?”
 The detective looked around and pulled Mr. Turner aside. He slowly leaned in and whispered; “He wasn’t after you or you’re kids. He knew Maurine would be here tonight. His name’s Douglas Daniels, no relation. He followed her from New York. He’s an old neighbor.”
“Who killed him?” “We aren’t sure.” Maurine was grateful to be alive. A detective came downstairs. “Ms. Daniels, you said there were three statues.” “There were.” “We only found a small horse statue.” “No there was that, the clown, and a . . . there was a knight.”
Another detective came down; “we found a sword with blood on the ridge.” Maurine felt that same chill she had when the window lit up, only this time a smile crossed her face.

title: Silent Ridge

question: Who is Maurine Daniels?

answer: A seventeen-year-old New Yorker, babysitting for Mr. and Mrs. Turner.

question: Why couldn't Cindy sleep?

answer: Because the clown statue, which wasn't actually a statue, in her room scared her.

question: Where did Maureen find Cindy and John?

answer: Asleep on the ground of the barn.

question: Who did the clown turn out to be?

answer: Douglas Daniels, an old neighbor of Maureen's from New York. They are not related.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer: Maureen Daniels is babysitting for the Turner family. She puts the kids, John and Cindy, to bed, until Cindy says she can't sleep because of the statues in her room. There is a clown, a small horse, and a knight. The clown turns out to be a real man, who takes the kids to a barn across a field. Maureen chases after, finding the kids asleep on the floor. The clown approaches Maureen menacingly, then falls dead due to a massive knife wound to his back. When the detectives and the Turners arrive home, the knife wound is found to be from the knight statue, which has now mysteriously disappeared.


text:
Lieutenant General SIR MAURICE ROBERT JOHNSTON (born 27 October 1929)[1] is a retired British Army officer. He served as Deputy Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) from 1981 to 1982, and Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1996 to 2004.[2][3]

Early life and army career

The son of Brigadier Allen Leigh Johnston OBE and of his wife Gertrude Geraldine Templer, Johnston was educated at Wellington College and the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.[4] From Sandhurst he was commissioned into the Royal Artillery in 1949,[5] promoted lieutenant in 1951,[6] and captain in 1955,[7] when he also transferred to The Queen's Bays.[8] He served in Germany, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Northern Ireland, and Borneo before being posted as an instructor at the Army Staff College from 1965 to 1967.[9] He was promoted major in 1962[10] and lieutenant colonel in 1967.[11] He was Military Assistant to the Chief of the General Staff from 1968 to 1971 and commanding officer the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 1971 to 1973,[12] before promotion to brigadier,[13] and command of the 20th Armoured Brigade from 1973 to 1975.[14] He was Brigadier (General Staff) at Headquarters UK Land Forces from 1977 to 1978, joined the Senior Directing Staff of the Royal College of Defence Studies in 1979,[15] with acting promotion to major general,[16] was appointed Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 1980,[17] his rank was made substantive in 1980,[18] and Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) in 1981, with promotion to lieutenant general,[19] before retiring in 1984.[20]

Business career

After retirement from the British Army in 1982, Johnston was managing director of Freshglen Limited (1984 to 1985) and of Unit Security Limited (1985 to 1988), then Chairman of Secondary Resources PLC, 1988 to 1991 and of Detention Corporation, 1988 to 1994. He was also a director of Partek Cargotec Limited from 1984, and of Shorrock Guards Limited from 1988 to 1991.[21]

Voluntary work

He has served as a governor of Dauntsey's School since 1987 and was also a governor of St Mary's, Calne, from 1988 to 1994, as well as supporting Wiltshire County Scouts. He was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Wiltshire in 1990,[22] as High Sheriff of Wiltshire for 1993–1994,[23] and served as Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire from 1996 to 2004.[24][25][26] As Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, he was an _ex officio_ member of the Court of the University of Southampton.[27]

Publications

-   Johnston, Sir Maurice, 'More Power to the Centre: MOD Reorganisation' in _RUSI Journal_, March 1983[28]

Honours

-   Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE), 1971 New Year Honours[29][30]
-   Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB), 1982 New Year Honours[31][32]
-   Colonel of the 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards, 1986–1991[33][34][35]
-   Knight of the Venerable Order of Saint John, 1996[36]
-   Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Swindon, 2004[37]Agenda and Minutes of Special Meeting of Swindon Borough Council on

Thursday, 18 November 2004, online at swindon.gov.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008: “...this Council resolves by virtue of Section 249(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, to hereby admit Sir Maurice Johnston, KCB, OBE, to be an Honorary Freeman of the Borough of Swindon as a token of the high esteem in which he is held by the townspeople of the Borough and in recognition of his eminent services to the community.”

-   Commander of the Royal Victorian Order, 2005[38][39]
-   Patron of the Shaw Trust[40]

Private life

Johnston married Belinda Mary Sladen in 1960, and they have one son and one daughter.[41]

In 2004, Johnston was reported to live at Ivy House, Worton, near Devizes.[42][43]

[1]

[2]

[3] : appointment of successor, John Bush

[4] _Who's Who 2003_ (A. & C. Black, London, 2003), page 1146

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27] The University Court from Southampton University Calendar 2005, online at soton.ac.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008

[28] Smith, Paul, _Government & Armed Forces in Britain 1856–1990_ (Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003, ), page 250 online at books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37] Free at last for Sir Maurice in _Salisbury Journal_, 17 November 2004, online at salisburyjournal.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008

[38]

[39] Sir Maurice is made a CVO dated 5 January 2005, at wiltshiretimes.co.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008

[40] Annual Accounts of the Shaw Trust Ltd for year ended 2 April 2005 online at shaw-trust.org.uk. Retrieved 24 April 2008

[41]

[42]

[43] Johnston, Sir Maurice at Burkes Peerage. Retrieved 12 May 2012

title: Maurice Robert Johnston

question: What does the text say about the names of Sir Maurice Robert Johnston's children?

question: Summarize Lt. General Sir Maurice Robert Johnston's military career.

answer: Sir Maurice Robert Johnston started in the Royal Artillery in 1949 and quickly moved up the ranks from a lieutenant in 1951 to a lieutenant colonel in 1967. After stints as commander of the 1st Queen's Dragoon Guards and the 20th Armored Brigade (1971-1975), Johnston was promoted to Brigadier (General Staff) at Headquarters UK Land Forces from 1977 to 1978. He was promoted to major general and appointed as Assistant Chief of the General Staff in 1980. In 1981, Johnston was appointed Chief of the Defence Staff (Operational Requirements) with a promotion to lieutenant general. He retired from the British Army in 1982.

question: What does the text say about Sir Maurice Robert Johnston's business career?

answer: Sir Maurice has largely been successful outside the British Army. He has held positions as either a Managing Director, Director, or Chairman in several companies. The companies he was affiliated with were mostly cargo and security-related businesses.

question: What does the text say about Sir Maurice Johnston's private life?

answer: He married Belinda Mary Sladen in 1960 and they have a son and a daughter. Sir Johnston was reported to live at Ivy House, Worton, near Devizes.


text:
CILLIAN RYAN is an academic economist and pro vice-chancellor at Nottingham Trent University.[1][2]

Career

Ryan received his BA and MA in economics from University College Dublin and his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario. Prior to his current appointment, he was pro vice-chancellor at De Montfort University, Leicester (2014–2016), and was the founding dean of liberal arts & sciences at the University of Birmingham (2011–2014).[3] Other roles at the University of Birmingham included deputy head of the College of Social Sciences, (2008–2014), head of the European Research Institute (2005–2008), director of the university's Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence (1998–2014), and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Economics (1998–2014).

Ryan has advised the European Commission, UNCTAD, the WTO and many national governments on matters relating to trade in services, particularly financial services and financial service regulations, ranging from NAFTA in the 1980s to the present day. Most recently he has been an advisor to the UK Cabinet Office on the UK Treasury and BIS EU Balance of Competencies Reviews.

He is the chair of the Leicestershire Police Ethics, Integrity and Complaints Committee, a member of the board of the Economics Network, an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham, and has served in a variety of capacities the Higher Education Academy, the European Jean Monnet Network, and the Royal Economics Society (including running the UK Royal Economics Society Easter School from 1992 to 2001).[4][5]

Research

His edited volumes include:

-   "Financial Market Integration and Growth; Structural Change and Economic Dynamics in the European Union " P.J.J Welfens, Ryan, C, (eds). Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, 2011.
-   EU-ASEAN: Facing Economic Globalisation, P.J.J Welfens, Ryan, C, Chirathivat, S, and F Knipping (eds). Springer-Verlag Heidelberg, 2009, XVI, 246 p. 48 illus.,
-   INTEGRATION IN ASIA AND EUROPE: Historical Dimensions, Comparative Analysis and Politico-Economic Dynamics, Chirathivat, S, Knipping, F, Ryan, C and P.J.J Welfens (eds). Springer-Verlag Heidelberg (2005).

Awards

In 2008 he was the recipient of the EIIW European Economics Science Prize and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts in 2014.

Personal life

Ryan was educated at Synge Street CBS.[6]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5] https://www.economicsnetwork.ac.uk/about/board

[6]

title: Cillian Ryan

question: What are Ryan's educational qualifications?

answer: Ryan has a BA and MA in Economics. And a Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario.

question: Summarize Ryan's career.

answer: Ryan is currently the pro-vice-chancellor at Nottingham Trent University. Prior to this, he was appointed as a pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and was the founding dean of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Birmingham. He was also the head of the European Research Institute, Director of the university's Jean Monnet European Centre of Excellence, and holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in European Economics.

question: What are the awards he has received?

answer: Ryan was awarded the WIIW European Economics Science Prize.

question: Has he written any papers/volumes? If yes, which?

answer:
Yes. Ryan has written three volumes, titled:
- Financial Market Integration and Growth: Structural Change and Economic Dynamics in the European Union.
- EI-ASEAN: Facing Economic Globalisation
- Integration in Asia and Europe: Historical Dimensions, Comparative Analysis, and Politico-Economic Dynamics.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer:
Cillian Ryan is the pro-vice-chancellor at Nottingham Trent University. Prior to this, Ryan was the pro-vice-chancellor at De Montfort University and the founding dean of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Birmingham.

He has also advised the European Commission and many other national governments on matters relating to trade in services.

He is the chair of the Leicestershire Police Ethics, Integrity and Complaints Committee and an honorary professor at the University of Birmingham.


text:
She sat at the edge of her hospital bed looking out to the misty morning rolling over the city. She watched the birds roll and play with the wind that came off of the sea; she did this every morning. It had been hard for her these past few weeks, ever intensive treatments or  experimental drugs, she was fighting but losing her stamina.
	She got up slowly cringing at the feel of the chilled floor on her bare feet. She supported herself with the iv, she found it sad that  she was so young but she needed help just to walk down the hall.
	She was on her usual morning stroll around the hospital to see if there was any new excitement this morning. She noticed her favorite nurse and gave her a wave but she looked right past her with very sad look on her face. This wasn’t uncommon some mornings, they were always busy.
She walked to one of her favorite hallways, it was her favorite because of the pattern on the carpet in this section of the hospital. Also it was one of the most used hallways in the hospital and from here she could sit in one of the big couches and watch people as they came or left. She loved watching people leave, walking out into the morning daylight, she was envious.
	It was then that she noticed the kind looking elderly man sitting contently alone on one of the couches, it looked as though he was pondering something with a happy gaze on his face. She didn’t know what it was but there was something about this kindly looking old man that seemed so familiar to her, and so she decided to make a friend this morning.
	She loved talking to new people and hearing their stories of why they were there, Sometimes she comforted, sometimes she waited with people expecting new family members. Those were her favorite, seeing the joy on the family's faces when they got to see a new baby; she hadn’t felt that kind of joy ever.
	As she approached the old man he broke his stare into the distance and greeted her with a kind warm smile.
	“What’s your name my dear?” he asked with  a slightly trembling deep voice as she sat down next to him.
	“Katherine, but my friends just call me Kathy. You can call me Kathy.” she said so sure of herself, though she appeared so weak.
	“Ahhh Katherine, what a beautiful name. You know I had a daughter named Katherine, she was so beautiful.” he replied giving the young girl a slight wink.
	She giggled at this, “So what brings you here today mister?”
	“Ahh, just visiting someone. I was waiting for them to come get me, you see I can’t walk that well anymore.” He said with a slight grin showing in his eyes.
	“Well...” Katherine coughed slightly “Well, I can’t walk that well either so that makes both of us!” She smiled at the old man.
	“What is your favorite animal Kathy?” The old man asked softly.
	“Well any type of bird really.” She responded with happiness in her weak voice.
	“Have I got a story for you.” Said the old man.
	He told her all about birds and it was the most amazing story she had ever heard. He told about his time as a pilot, flying so fast and gracefully with the birds, rolling and playing on the currents of winds. She was entranced. He told her about his time paragliding, “Sometimes it was as if I had wings, just like the birds.” he told her.
	They talked for hours it seemed but no one came to meet the old man.
	“Well I’ve taken up enough of you time mister I really should get back to my bed.” Kathy started to get up.
	“Do you have time for just one more story Kathy?” The old man asked.
	“Well I guess just one more.” She sat back again getting comfortable.
	“Well this one is about a strong young girl. She was so beautiful, but she had such a horrible illness.” There was a hint of sadness in his voice. “She fought for so long, but her body became so tired.”
	Kathy saw a tear rolling down the old man’s face. She looked away and noticed her parents rushing into the hospital through the big glass doors, tears in their eyes. She got up as fast as she could calling to them, but they just kept on walking to the elevators and got in.
	She turned around to the old man confused “What’s going on mister?” she asked.
	“They can’t hear you sweetie, that’s why I’m here” he replied.
Goosebumps raced across her body because, it was then that she knew exactly who he was, she knew he’d seemed familiar.
	“But why did you make me fight, why did you make me feel all that pain? Why would you do that to me?” She was becoming upset.
	Another tear rolled down his face. “My sweet Kathy, all the pain you felt I felt doubly, I tried to let you fight it, I really did. You are one of the strongest people I’ve ever watched over, I wanted you to win, but some fights we just can’t. Please, understand I was always with you, I was always holding you through the worst of it.” There was pain in his voice.
	She walked back to him and wiped the tears from his face, she was walking more stable now. “It’s okay, I know it’s time.”
	With this the old man slowly stood up. “I have and will always love you so very much Kathy, you are always so strong.” The wrinkles had faded from his face now as he stood up.
	“Would you like to go for a nice walk Kathy?” The man inquired.
	“Only if you’ll tell me those wonderful stories again.” She said with a smile.
	“Come, I’ll show you.” He took her hand and they walked through the big glass doors together, into the beautiful morning light.

title: The Visitor (also it's my first post, please be nice!)

question: What is the story about?

answer: It's about accepting death.

question: Who is the old man?

answer: He seems to be Kathy's deceased father.


text:
Part One:

It was playing again, her Music. She tried not to let it move her. The Music had a way of doing that. In a quiet room, void of all sound, it sang to her. Louder and louder in her own ears, she alone felt the horror and beauty of--

"Checks!"

She pretended to have been roused from sleep. The Colors were gone, but she could still hear The Music. Moving slowly, deliberately, she sat up, rubbing her eyes in a syncopation. It was a beat that most couldn't pick up on.

"Breakfast in ten."

The door closed, cocooning her like a pale moth. All the time indoors, inside these white walls took the color from her. If not for her copper locks she could melt into the crisp sheets and fade away forever. She would become an empty room with a dingy window, void of scars or blemishes.

Rising, she prepared for another day. She could not waltz to the table, or tap her fork to Tchaikovsky. The only rhythms could be breathing in and out steadily, marching down the hall out of step in a choreographed stumble. Deep inside her where they never thought to look, however, her heart beat wetly in time to every note.

"Another quiet day," she mused. It made them believe The Music was fading. That she, and everyone else, was getting better. Of course they weren't, but false optimism was getting her farther than fighting to prove her innocence.

She placed her free hand under her leg, catching herself about to tap on the table. Mother said hearing that infernal tapping all day drove her mad. If that were the case, why was she not here instead?

Part Two:

Little white bed, little white cords, little white lies. She had to go back to the lightening room. They had pulled her there in a horrible tango, she thought. Is that what happened? Eyes swimming, bobbing about on the pallid ocean square above her bed, she tried to remember.

*Ting*

Blue freckles peeked out, nearly too fast for her to know she had even seen them. A tear ran down her cheek. Her head lolled lazily to the side, but the sea followed her, rolling and roiling nauseously with her.
Black to white to black. Lightening strikes, cold ocean splashes. Music...the music was quiet now. She could hear the others' screams over it, smearing it out. The moon spun outside her window, smiling and winking the nights away.

All was still and Stygian inside her, all was stock and snowy within the walls, all was pitch and dead beyond. The only thing that stirred was her heart, and it was tired. She was tired.

^*ting*

Sitting up was nearly impossible. Her blood ran thick as molten lead. Crying fire, she lifted her arms to play her violin once more, to the new moon.

Part Three:

Sister has glass eyes like a doll. She speaks of lightening rooms and marching men. Sister is pale, sister is thin. Father smokes and mother shrieks, and I hide my secrets deep. There is a song playing for sister, but they try to make it quiet. I can't imagine her songs are much louder, but I'm better at denying it.

My big doe eyes must make me look scared. Mother leads me down the hall. *Clack, clack, clack.* She is brisk but I must crawl, as she talks, knowing I can't speak back. *Clack, clack, clack.*

The Woe is Me and Dreadfully So, wrist to forehead, sigh. The Stiff Upper Lip, patting my crutches, cry. Father follows, stoic, as we trek outside. Behind all of our charades we try to hide.

title: [RF] White Waltz

question: Why are the protagonists in the passage trying hard to suppress the Music?

answer:
The narrator tries not the let the Music move her. She is careful not to get carried away. She acknowledges the absence of colors but seems to value the presence of the Music in its stead. She begins to tap to the Music but catches herself quickly - she does not want to risk the wrath of her Mother who does not like the tapping because it drives her insane.

In another section of the passage, another narrator speaks of her sister's music which is overwhelming. The narrator speaks of trying to deny her sister's songs. All in all, it seems the narrators are all scared of their parents.


text:
Michael B. Sauter, Thomas C. Frohlich, Alexander E.M. Hess and Ashley Allen

24/7 Wall St.

How well run is your state? It can be difficult to objectively assess the quality of a state's management. The economy and standard of living can be affected by decisions made decades ago, forces outside the control of the state's government and administrators, as well as the government's own actions.

Every year, 24/7 Wall St. tries to answer this question by conducting an extensive survey of every state. To determine how well states are managed, we examined their financial data, as well as the services they provide and their residents' standard of living. This year, North Dakota is the best-run state in the country for the second year in a row, while California is the worst-run for the third year in a row.

[In North Dakota, only 11.2% are below the poverty line.]
Identifying appropriate criteria to compare the 50 states can be challenging because they vary so much. Some states have abundant natural resources, while others rely on services or innovation. A few have been burdened by struggling industries. Some are more rural, while others are more urban. Because of such differences, a spending or tax policy that can be beneficial in one state can be disastrous in another.

Many of the best-run states in the nation benefit from an abundance of natural resources. North Dakota, Wyoming, Alaska, and Texas, among the best-run states, are all among the states with the greatest concentration of GDP in the mining industry, which includes activities such as oil and natural gas extraction, as well as coal mining. The presence of this industry benefits states in several ways. North Dakota and Texas led the nation in real GDP growth in 2012, while Alaska has used its oil revenue to establish a permanent fund that pays residents an annual dividend.

The housing crisis has had a major negative impact on a number of the worst-run states. It caused a drastic decline in construction employment in states like Arizona, California, and Nevada. Many of these lost jobs have yet to be replaced. In the hardest-hit states, this has resulted not only in worsening unemployment, but increased poverty and budget shortfalls. Although the economies of these states have largely improved, the residual effects of the housing crisis remain.

While these can be considered extenuating circumstances, the fact is that each state must deal with the cards it is dealt. Governments must plan for worst-case scenarios, including the collapse of an industry. Several resource-rich states have squandered their advantages and rank poorly on our list. Good governance involves raising and spending enough to provide for the well-being of the population without risking the state's long-term stability.

To determine how well the states are run, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed hundreds of data sets from dozens of sources. We looked at each state's debt, revenue, expenditure, and deficit to determine how well it was managed fiscally. We reviewed taxes, exports, and GDP growth, including a breakdown by sector, to identify how each state was managing its resources. We looked at poverty, income, unemployment, high school graduation, violent crime and foreclosure rates to assess the well-being of the state's residents.

While each state is different, the best-run states share certain characteristics, as do the worst run. For example, the populations of the worse-off states tended to have lower standards of living. Violent crime rates in these states were usually higher and residents were much less likely to have a high school diploma.

The worst-run states also tended to have better fiscal management reflected in higher budget shortfalls and lower credit ratings by Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poors.

The better-run states tended to display stable fiscal management. Pensions were more likely to be fully funded, debt was lower, and budget deficits smaller. Credit ratings agencies also were much more likely to rate the well-run states favorably. Only two poorly run states received a perfect credit rating from either agency. California and Illinois, which are ranked worst and third worst, received the lowest ratings from both agencies.

The states that were well-managed also tended to have lower unemployment rates. Eight of the 10 states with the lowest unemployment rates ranked as the best-run states. California, Illinois, and Nevada — the states with the highest unemployment rates as of 2012 — were among the five worst-run states.

BEST-RUN STATES

1. NORTH DAKOTA

> Debt per capita: $3,033 (20th-lowest)
> Budget deficit: None
> Unemployment: 3.1% (the lowest)
> Median household income: $53,585 (19th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 11.2% (6th-lowest)

North Dakota's economic output has surged in the past few years, with GDP climbing 13.4% in 2012, well above the second-fastest growing state, Texas, whose GDP grew by 4.8% in 2012. The Peace Garden State has continued to reap the benefits of fracking in the oil-rich Bakken Shale formation, which accounted for about 90% of the state's oil production in 2012. That year, nearly 10% of North Dakota's total GDP was generated by the mining sector — which includes crude petroleum and natural gas extraction — more than five times the national rate. The state continued to have the nation's lowest unemployment rate, at just 3.1% last year. Because of economic prosperity and the availability of jobs, North Dakota's population grew the most in the country between 2010 and 2012, increasing by 3.7%. This may partly explain recent spikes in property values. Home values in North Dakota skyrocketed 33.4% between 2007 and 2012, by far the largest increase nationally.

2. WYOMING

> Debt per capita: $2,409 (13th-lowest)
> Budget deficit: None
> Unemployment: 5.4% (7th-lowest)
> Median household income: $54,901 (17th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 12.6% (13th-owest)

Wyoming was the nation's largest producer of coal and the third-largest producer of natural gas in 2011. Mining accounted for 28% of the state's GDP in 2012. Additionally, the Cowboy State has the nation's best business tax climate, according to the Tax Foundation, due in part to the lack of corporate or individual income tax. Together, these factors may have contributed to the state's healthy economy, which featured low unemployment and foreclosure rates as of 2012. The state's population is also well-educated. Nearly 92% of adults over 25 years old had a high school diploma last year, better than all but a handful of states. Despite the many positive factors, the state's GDP growth was weak last year, growing at just 0.2%.

3. IOWA

> Debt per capita: $2,478 (15th-lowest)
> Budget deficit: 2.5% (41st-largest)
> Unemployment: 5.2% (tied for 5th-lowest)
> Median household income: $50,957 (23rd-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 12.7% (14th-lowest)

Agriculture and related industries accounted for 6.7% of Iowa's GDP last year, six times the national rate. Like many well-run states, it has a perfect credit rating from both Standard & Poor's and Moody's. Additionally, while home values across the nation fell by more than 10% between 2007 and 2012, in Iowa they increased considerably — by 7.1% — over that time. Also, Iowa's unemployment rate and underemployment rate — which includes the unemployed, discouraged workers, and those who work but want to work more — were both among the lowest in the nation last year, at 5.2% and 10%, respectively. Iowa's budget shortfall in fiscal 2012 was under 3%, one of the smallest budget gaps in the country.

4. NEBRASKA

> Debt per capita: $1,277 (2nd-lowest)
> Budget deficit: 4.8% (38th-largest)
> Unemployment: 3.9% (2nd-lowest)
> Median household income: $50,723 (25th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 13.0% (16th-lowest)

Nebraska received strong scores for its fiscal management, with a perfect credit rating from Standard & Poor's and extremely low debt as of fiscal 2011. The state's pension plans were well-funded relative to most other states. Nebraska also faced a total budget shortfall of just 4.8% in fiscal 2012, one of the smaller deficits in the country. Nebraska's unemployment rate was just 3.9% last year, less than any other state except for North Dakota. The Cornhusker State also had an underemployment rate of just 8.8%, the third lowest in the country. Nebraska also performed well in several measures that reflect quality of life. The state's violent crime and poverty rates were lower than the national rates in 2012, while a higher percentage of residents had health insurance, and a high proportion of adults were high school graduates.

5. UTAH

> Debt per capita: $2,577 (17th-lowest)
> Budget deficit: 8.2% (32nd-largest)
> Unemployment: 5.7% (tied for 10th-lowest)
> Median household income: $57,049 (13th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 12.8% (15th-lowest)

By several measures, Utah had one of the stronger economies in the country in 2012. The state ranked fifth in exports per capita, and GDP growth was among the highest. The unemployment rate was just 5.7%, compared to a national rate of 8.1%. According to the Tax Foundation, Utah has one of the most business-friendly tax policies in the country. The state's residents also have a relatively good quality of life. The state was among America's safest last year, with just 205.8 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Educational attainment was also strong, with 91% of residents over the age of 25 holding a high school diploma. The state received the top credit rating from both Standard & Poor's and Moody's, with the latter reasoning that Utah has responsible fiscal management and strong economic fundamentals.

WORST-RUN STATES

50. CALIFORNIA

> Debt per capita: $3,990 (20th-highest)
> Budget deficit: 27.8% (3rd-largest)
> Unemployment: 10.5% (2nd-highest)
> Median household income: $58,328 (11th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 17.0% (18th-highest)

For the third year in a row, California is the worst-run state in America. California faced a nearly $24 billion in budget shortfall in fiscal 2012, including a mid-year shortfall of $930 million and $8.2 billion carried over from the year before. California carries an A credit rating from Standard & Poor's, and an A1 from Moody's — both worse than any other state except for Illinois. Explaining its rating, Moody's pointed to the state's history of one-time solutions to resolve its budgetary gaps. It also noted the state's "highly volatile revenue structure," due to its over reliance on wealthy taxpayers. The Golden State was also among the worst states in the nation for educational attainment, health coverage, and unemployment.

49. NEW MEXICO

> Debt per capita: $3,914 (21st-highest)
> Budget deficit: 8.3% (31st-largest)
> Unemployment: 6.9% (tied for 19th-lowest)
> Median household income: $42,558 (6th-lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 20.8% (2nd-highest)

New Mexico ranked this year as the second worst-run state in the country, scoring better than California by only a small margin. One measure that helped put it above California was its credit rating. Standard & Poor's rates the state AA+, and Moody's gives it a perfect Aaa rating. The state's debt load relative to its size was average, and its budget shortfall of 8.3% for going into fiscal 2012 was better than many states. Outside of fiscal management, however, New Mexico performed poorly in several areas in several areas. The state was among the worst 10 nationwide for violent crime, high school graduation rates among adults, and health insurance coverage. More than one in five residents lived below the poverty line in 2012, worse than all states but Mississippi. Last year, state GDP grew by just 0.2%, worse than all but a handful of states.

48. ILLINOIS

> Debt per capita: $5,041 (11th-highest)
> Budget deficit: 18.5% (9th-largest)
> Unemployment: 8.9% (10th-highest)
> Median household income: $55,137 (16th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 14.7% (tied for 24th-lowest)

Illinois has the worst credit rating in the U.S., having received the lowest rating of any state from both Standard & Poor's and Moody's. Explaining its reasoning, Moody's pointed to the state's underfunded pension and ongoing weak fiscal practices such as bill payment delays. Only 40.4% of the state's pension obligations were funded in 2012, the worst rate in the nation. Illinois also had the fourth-largest debt in the country at the end of fiscal 2011 at nearly $65 billion. The state faced high foreclosure and unemployment rates in 2012, both among the worst in the country.

47. RHODE ISLAND

> Debt per capita: $8,721 (3rd-highest)
> Budget deficit: 6.9% (35th-largest)
> Unemployment: 10.4% (3rd-highest)
> Median household income: $54,554 (18th-highest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 13.7% (tied for 20th-lowest)

Rhode Island had more debt per resident than any other state except for Alaska and Massachusetts as of fiscal 2011. Although its budget shortfall was relatively small in fiscal 2012, the state currently faces unplanned expenses and may have to revise its budget, according to The Providence Journal. Moody's cited the state's eight consecutive years of budget gaps as part of its justification for its relatively poor credit rating. In an attempt to improve funding levels, the state reformed its pension program in 2011, turning its pensions into hybrids with 401(k)-like features, as well as suspending both cost-of-living adjustments and benefit increases. Still, as of last year, the state had funded just over 58% of its pension obligations, compared to a 72.4% average across all states.

46. NEVADA

> Debt per capita: $1,548 (6th-lowest)
> Budget deficit: 37.0% (2nd-largest)
> Unemployment: 11.1% (the highest)
> Median household income: $49,760 (24th-lowest)
> Pct. below poverty line: 16.4% (19th-highest)

Nevada was arguably the hardest hit state during the collapse of the housing bubble. Home values fell by more than 50% between 2007 and 2012, the largest decline in the country. And years after it started, Nevada is still reeling from the housing crisis. The state had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country last year, at one in every 37 homes. The 2012 unemployment rate of 11.1% was the worst in the country. The state's violent crime rate of 607.6 incidents for every 100,000 residents was worse than all but one other state. The state also suffers from low health insurance coverage. More than 22% of the population was without health coverage in 2012, worse than any other state except for Texas. This rate may improve in 2013. The state opted to provide its own health insurance exchange site rather than rely on the widely criticized national exchange site, healthcare.gov. According to the Las Vegas Sun, the state's health care exchange site has been functioning relatively smoothly and hasn't received the same kind of criticism as the national site.

METHODOLOGY

24/7 Wall St. considered data from a number of sources, including Standard & Poor's, Moody's Investors Service the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), the U.S. Census Bureau, the Tax Foundation, RealtyTrac, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Center on Budget Policies and Priorities (CBPP).

Unemployment data was taken from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Credit ratings were from ratings agencies Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service. We relied on the FBI's Uniform Crime Report for violent crime rate by state. RealtyTrac provided foreclosure rates. Pension figures are from Morningstar.

A significant amount of the data we used came from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey. Data from ACS included percentage of residents below the poverty line, high school completion rates for residents 25 and older, median household income, the percentage of the population without health insurance and median home values from both 2007 and 2012.

Once we reviewed the sources and compiled the final metrics, we ranked each state based on its performance in all the categories. Most figures are for 2012. Debt per capita, obtained from the Tax Foundation, and state budgetary data, which came from the U.S. Census Bureau, are for fiscal year 2011. Figures from the CBPP are for the fiscal year 2012. Credit ratings and the Tax Foundation's rankings for business tax climate are based on the most recently available publications.

question: What publication is this?

answer: 24/7 Wall St.

question: Who wrote this article?

answer: Michael B. Sauter, Thomas C. Frohlich, Alexander E.M. Hess and Ashley Allen

question: What criteria does the article use to determine the best-run states?

answer: The authors looked at each state's debt, revenue, expenditure, deficit, taxes, exports, GDP growth by sector, poverty, income, unemployment, high school graduation rate, violent crime rate, and rate of foreclosure.

question: Which state does the article claim is best-run?

answer: North Dakota

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This is an article comparing the quality of state management between states in the United States.


text:
JOHN JOSEPH HORNYOLD (19 February 1706 – 26 December 1778) was an English Catholic bishop, titular Bishop of Phiomelia, and Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, England for twenty-two years.

Life

He was descended from two ancient Catholic families, his father being John Hornyold, of Blackmore Park and Hanley Castle, Worcestershire; his mother, Mary, daughter of Sir Pyers Mostyn, 2nd Baronet, of Talacre, Flintshire. At the age of 22, on 7 August 1758, he entered the English College at Douai to study for the priesthood. After his ordination he returned to England and served the mission at Grantham for some time, meeting with persecution and more than once narrowly escaping arrest as a priest.[1]

In 1739 he went as chaplain to Longbirch near Wolverhampton, the seat of “the good Madam Giffard”, a widow. When the priest-hunters would search for him, he would conceal himself at one of the Longbirch farms.[2] While there he published his first work, _The Decalogue Explained_, published in London in 1744, and afterwards running through many editions. Bishop John Milner, in a Memoir of him in the _Laity's Directory_ (1818), says: “This was so generally approved of, that he received something like official thanks from Oxford for the publication. It was not to be expected, however, that he should be thanked from that quarter for his other works, which appeared in succession, on the Sacraments and on the Creed.”

In the former of these, _The Sacraments Explained_ (London, 1747), he included several discourses written by his predecessor at Longbirch, the Rev. John Johnson. The book on the Creed was called _The Real Principles of Catholicks or a Catechism for the Adult_ (London, 1749), One of the later editions appeared as _Grounds of the Christian Belief or the (Apostles') Creed Explained_ (Birmingham, 1771). In this book, according to Charles Butler, he made large use of Maurus Corker's _Roman Catholic Principles in Reference to God and the King_, but this was denied by Milner.

In 1751 John Talbot Stonor, the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, applied for a coadjutor and Hornyold was selected. He was consecrated 10 February 1752, but continued to act as Mrs. Giffard's chaplain until her death, 13 Feb., 1753. Her house was then rented for the use of the vicar Apostolic and Hornyold resided there for the rest of his life.[3]

On Bishop Stonor's death, 29 March 1756, he succeeded as Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, which comprised sixteen counties.[4] In 1766, as his health was failing, he obtained the Thomas Talbot as his coadjutor, and consecrated him in 1767 (not in 1776 as has been erroneously asserted, in consequence of a misprint in Milner's “Memoir”). In 1768 he undertook the responsibility of carrying on Sedgley Park School, which had been founded, on the initiative of his intimate friend Bishop Challoner, six years previously, and thus preserved it for the Church. He lived just long enough to see the Papists Act 1778, died at Longbirch, Staffordshire, and was buried in Brewood churchyard, Staffordshire. There is an oil painting of the bishop at the family seat, Blackmore Park, Worcestershire.

[1] Brady, William Maziere, _Annals of the Catholic Hierarchy_ (Rome, 1877), p. 210

[2]

[3]

[4] Brady, William Maziere. _The Episcopal Succession in England, Scotland and Ireland A.D. 1400 to 1875_, Tipografia della Pace, 1877, p. 212

title: John Hornyold

question: What does the text say about John Joseph Hornyold?

answer: John Joseph Hornyold was an English Catholic bishop, titular Bishop of Phiomelia, and Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, England for 22 years. He came from two ancient Catholic families and at the age of 22, he began his journey into priesthood.

question: What does the text say about John Joseph Hornyold and his family?

answer: John Joseph Hornyold was descended from two ancient Catholic families, his father being John Hornyold, of Blackmore Park and Hanley Castle, Worcestershire, and his mother, Mary, daughter of Sir Pyers Mostyn, 2nd Baronet of Talacre, Flintshire.

question: What does the text say about Bishop Stonor?

answer: According to the text, John Talbot Stonor, the Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District, applied for a coadjutor and selected Hornyold. On his death, he was succeeded by John Joseph Hornyold.

question: What does the text say about the Creed?


text:
“TREEHOUSE OF HORROR XXVIII” is the fourth episode of the Twenty Ninth season of the animated television series _The Simpsons_, and the 622nd episode of the series overall. It aired in the United States on Fox on October 22, 2017.

Plot

Opening Sequence: The Sweets Hereafter

The Simpson family is in a bowl with other treats left for trick-or-treaters in front of a house on Halloween. A Barterfinger bar fears being taken, the Marge bar comforts him by saying he is always the last taken, and the Oh Homer! bar adds that even a box of stale raisins gets taken before him. Nelson's Crunch and Kirkish Taffy get taken, and an apple complains about no one ever wanting the apples, as people are afraid of razor blades being inside them. Marge Bar tries to reassure her by saying apples are taken when dipped in caramel, to Apple Lisa's disgust. Shauna takes the Senior Mints, after Oh Homer! moves aside to evade her grasp, and eats its contents.

The next day, the Simpsons (not including Grampa) are the only ones left, and they get placed on a shelf when the residents of the house remove the Halloween decorations. Already on the shelf is a chocolate Easter bunny that tells them they will be left there, forgotten. Seeing his discomfort as no one ever takes him, Oh Homer! starts eating him. Marge Bar tries to stop him, but he tells her chocolate does not feel anything, and resumes eating it, with the rest of the family joining in when he eats the bunny's mouth to silence its objections. The camera pans to the wall, where “The Simpsons Easter Special” is written, but the chocolate from the bunny splatters all over it, covering the words, and dark chocolate resembling blood spells out “Treehouse of Horror XXVIII”.

The segment was loosely inspired by _Sausage Party_.

The Exor-Sis

On a pre-Christian temple site in northern Iraq (a parody of the opening scene of _The Exorcist_), a Pazuzu statue is dug up and sent through Amazon to the Simpsons home due to Homer accidentally ordering it, thinking it said “pizza”. After Homer sings a very disturbing lullaby with glowing red eyes, the statue is left on Maggie's bed as the demon within it possesses Maggie, with the possessed infant making her presence known during the cocktail party that Homer and Marge are hosting downstairs. The demon kills a complaining Helen Lovejoy before locking everyone in and then killing Dr. Hibbert while revealing that he is cheating on his wife. Ned Flanders tells the Simpsons that Maggie needs an exorcism before being killed himself from being beaten up and choking on a toy car. An Irish priest arrives soon after, and performs the exorcism that purges the demon from Maggie, but the demon ends up possessing Bart, which he fearfully regrets, declaring that Bart has the evilest soul he's ever seen.

Coralisa

In a parody of _Coraline_, Maggie is still recovering from Pazuzu while starting to violently vomit all over the dinner table, eventually flooding the kitchen with puke. In Lisa's room, Snowball V (Neil Gaiman) takes her through a secret tunnel that brings her to another version of the family, with pink buttons instead of eyes on their faces. While the alternate family are like a dream, Lisa runs back to her world in terror when she learns they want to sew buttons on her eyes so she can remain with them forever. Lisa reconsiders the alternate family's offer after Homer had killed a snake with Lisa's saxophone.

A few days later, the family finally realizes Lisa is missing with Homer accepting it and saying Maggie gets Lisa's room and clothes, while Bart gets her homework. Upon hearing this, Bart escapes through the door and is accepted in the alternate reality. After Marge follows after her children, Homer follows suit and a meeting with the alternate family results with him killing the alternate Bart while alternate Homer injures himself on a pair of scissors trying to avenge him. This infuriates alternate Marge as she transforms into an eight-legged spider-like creature to attack Homer, who decides to take advantage of the situation to benefit himself: bringing the surviving members of the alternate family home with his alternate counterpart attending parent-teacher meetings while alternate Marge does the chores and guards the house. Lisa accepts this outcome, claiming that it could have been much worse.

MMM… Homer

An opening scene features Lisa warning viewers about the following segment’s disgusting content, proclaiming, “What you're about to see is so disgusting, you'll watch _Game of Thrones_ to calm down!” The segment, a parody of “Survivor Type”,[1] then begins when Homer remains home while the rest of the family go on vacation with Patty and Selma. Homer gets comfy, but ends up eating his food supplies, ending up with only vegetables before finding a frozen hot dog. Losing the hot dog to Santa's Little Helper, Homer accidentally cuts his finger off while grilling. He cooks the finger and eats it. He discovers how tasty it is, losing interest in other food when invited by Ned for lunch, and starts cooking parts of his body before his family come back. They become suspicious with Homer constantly wearing oven mitts to hide his severed fingers, being 20 pounds thinner, and walking with a limp. When Marge discovered Homer's self-cannibalism one night while he was frying his own severed leg, she takes him to an addiction counselor for help, but Mario Batali, in search for new ingredients, convinces a despondent (and now missing the entire lower half of his body) Homer to cook his remaining body parts as ingredients sold at Chez Homer and several other restaurants across Springfield. Carl mentions that they are also eating Barney Gumble, Comic Book Guy, and horse meat. In Heaven, Homer comments to Jesus how he now shares people eating his body with him, as the Springfield residents have turned into cannibals.

Reception

This episode received mostly positive reviews. Dennis Perkins of _The A.V. Club_ gave the episode a B- stating, “The 28th ‘Treehouse Of Horror’ carries on the venerable Simpsons institution by, as ever, tossing a whole lot of stuff at the screen and seeing what sticks. To that end, this year’s outing gives us: An 'Exorcist' parody, a 'Coraline’ parody, Homer eating human flesh (just his own, but still), stop-motion segments, horror and fantasy-specific guest stars, a little light Fox standards-pushing (Homer does, as stated, eat human flesh), and the usual string of hit-or-miss gags. That last part isn’t really a criticism in itself. Freed up from the need to calibrate the heart-yucks equation, a ‘Treehouse Of Horror’ rises or falls on the strength of its jokes, although the annual Halloween anthology provides its own unique degree of difficulty.”[2]

Jesse Schedeen of _IGN_ gave the episode an 8.6 out of 10 stating, “The ‘Treehouse of Horror’ specials are rarely among the more memorable episodes in any given season of The Simpsons. However, Season 29 is likely to be a major exception. All three segments in this year's special were strong. The series finally plugged two major holes in its huge collection of horror movie parodies while also reminding us that it can offend and disturb with the best of them. Perhaps there's still more mileage to be found in this long-running Simpsons trope.”[3]

Tony Sokol of _Den of Geek_ gave the episode four out of five stars stating, “’Treehouse of Horror XXVIII’ had chills and spills, which Marge, of course, has to clean, but the thrills were only middling. It was a very funny episode, yes. It took chances, like leaving a kid alone with a catholic [_sic_] priest, but ultimately doesn’t reach the dizzying highs, terrifying lows nor the creamy middles of Halloweens past. It’s better than a Butterfinger, but doesn’t have a long-enough lasting aftertaste.”[4]

“Treehouse of Horror XXVIII” scored a 1.6 rating with a 6 share and was watched by 3.66 million people, making it Fox's highest rated show of the night.[5]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: Treehouse of Horror XXVIII

question: What channel is the "Treehouse of Horror XXVII" on?

answer: Fox

question: Summarize the opening sequence.

answer: The Simpson family are represented as candy in a bowl left out for Halloween trick-or-treaters. None of the Simpson candies are taken (except for Grampa), and they are stored on a shelf where forgotten candies reside.  A forgotten chocolate Easter Bunny expresses discomfort over never being taken, so the Oh Homer! bar eats him, splattering chocolate on the wall.

question: Who belongs to the Simpson family?

answer: Bart, Marge, Homer, Maggie and Lisa

question: What is the resolution in the Coralisa section?

answer: Homer decides to take the surviving members of the alternative Simpson family to the real world so that his alternate counterpart can attend parent-teacher meetings and alternate Marge can do chores.

question: What is the biggest source of conflict in the episode according to the article?

answer: There is no specific biggest source of conflict due to the episode having four separate stories.

question: What movies inspired this episode?

answer: The Exorcist and Coraline

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This article covers the Simpsons episode "The Treehouse of Horror XXVII" which aired on October 22, 2017. The episode had four Halloween themed segments: the opening sequence (loosely inspired by Sausage Party) , the Exor-Sis (inspired by The Exorcist) , Coralisa (Inspired by Coraline), and MMM...Homer (Inspired by Survivor Type). The episode garnered mostly positive reviews.


text:
	I was assigned to write a dystopian short story for my English class, and I'm wondering if I was able to get
	my point across. Tell me what you think.

They told us that time was to be sanctioned, and so it was. Not our time as individuals, but our time as a world.

They say it used to be that time was set by nature, and we all know that nature is bad. It’s almost impossible to grasp that concept, though, of some celestial glow dictating day and night to us. It would be as if we are its followers, its worshipers. It’s good that that primitive age is gone. Imagine the chaos that would be caused if time were unregulated, based on the arbitrary guidance of some light in the sky. In those days, apparently, it would be a different time everywhere in the world, all at the same time. Chaos indeed.

We’re fortunate that we live in the era of order. It’s good that They turn on and off the day. That way everything is in sync, everything is right. If They didn’t set the schedules, we’d all be at a loss. So it’s good that we have an order to follow. A human order, not some natural disorder. It’s comforting that They have replaced the natural system.

Humans, They’ve told us, take comfort in order and rote. It’s quite fortunate, then, that we have our endless sequence of cycles to keep us consistent and coherent. Without the cycle, we know, all culture and civil order would be lost, and we’d revert to our barbaric, primitive past.

The cycle is everything. Every cycle we get up with the light, and carry out our routines. Everyone goes about their regimen, all under Their guidance. Everyone goes through the shifts and then returns to their residence to prepare for the next cycle.

And that’s the genius of the standardization: They’ve made it so that we can repeat our routines, cycle after cycle, without the mundane interruptions that plagued the primitive world. We are free from their distractions, providing us with the efficiency needed to run this complex world.

Thankfully They do most of the running of the world. They keep us safe. Safe from ourselves. There have been some instances of people discarding their routines and living out of their cycles. That is very dangerous; those people always die.

Nobody remembers the age before human time. It must have been countless cycles ago. They tell us stories of those days. There were people who were victims of acedia and sloth back then, and those are some of the greatest crimes. People would fight against other people without Them guiding everyone as one. It was the time before humanization.

The only thing maintaining existence was the belief that one day, a new order would come and we would all live in paradise. It’s wrong, they say, to believe in anything that They have not provided for us.

Thankfully that time of order has come, despite their sinful belief. Thankfully we have fallen into Their hands, for They are humanity’s saviors.

title: Timeless

question: Why does the narrator believe it to be good that a human order has replaced the natural system?

answer: That way everything is in sync.

question: Summarize how the narrator describes the time before humanization.

answer: People would fight against other people and others would be victims of acedia and sloth.

question: Explain what would happen if there were not endless sequence of cycles to keep people consistent and coherent.

answer: All culture and civil order would be lost and people would revert to their barbaric and primitive past.

question: Why is standardization considered to be genius?

answer: So that people can repeat routines, cycle after cycle, without interruptions that plagued the primitive world.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator describes the unfortunate effects of humanity before standardization was introduced and explains the era of order. Standardization is considered genius as it follows a human order so that people can repeat routines, cycle after cycle, and not be plagued by a natural disorder.


text:
Carmen descended into the basement apartment where Uncle Frank was supposed to be temporarily staying but it was becoming more apparent this was going to be a long-term sort of deal. She refused to acknowledge the Uncle prefix, with him not being her blood relative and all, and didn't feel the need to feign warmth.
*Dinner time. And take your medicine.* The plate and small plastic cup flopped onto a small rickety aluminum side table adjacent to the chair. Frank's gaze didn't move from the television, where he was watching Jeopardy and calling out answers before Alex could finish reading them to the audience.
*FUCKIN' QUAIL*
*FRANK SINATRA*
*GODDAM WHATSHISNAME THE AUTHOR*
*Faulkner. Take your meds so I can go feed Lucy*
Frank glanced briefly at the plate of waxy brown meat and red skin potatoes then he deliberately pulled his lips into a wide leering smile and looked directly into Carmen's face. She could see the tv glare bouncing off the portion of his head that was shaved bare. The staples were still red and probably throbbing.
*ARENT YOU THE FUCKIN CHEF OF THE WEEK*
He settled his eyes back on Trebek and Carmen spun around to leave the room before the plate of waxy brown meat ended up splattered across Frank's face. She started up to the kitchen.
*I LOVE WATCHING THAT LITTLE ASS WALK UP THE STAIRS*
She hurried her step but *IM GOING TO FUCK THAT ASS LATER* chased her up the stairwell.
She went directly to Stephen and he was anticipating her arrival with both hands up in the air, palms forward and his head slightly tiled to one side.
*He's got to go. How can you not be doing something about this shit?*

title: Uncle Frank pt.1

question: What is Carmen's relationship to Frank?

answer: He is referred to by the narrator as "Uncle Frank," but he is not a blood relative of Carmen

question: Where does Frank live?

answer: In an apartment in Carmen's basement

question: Who is Stephen?

answer: That information can't be found

question: What is wrong with Frank?

answer: It's implied he recently had some kind of brain surgery

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Carmen brings dinner to a man called Uncle Frank, who is not a blood relative of Carmen and who is living in an apartment in Carmen's basement. She tells him to take his medicine and observes the staples in his head. She leaves as he goes back to watching TV, but he makes sexual harassing remarks as she leaves. Carmen asks Stephen to do something about him.


text:
Mark Hand married Mary Marks, beget Job Hand, and was haunted by the financial meekness of his youth. Mark's father, Les Hand, possessed less fiscal solvency than a pack of deer, the herd having at least one buck. Young Mark swore he would not always live so meagerly and that when he grew up he would be an adept business man. In fact, one could argue that only once did he ever fail at a business endeavor.

A newly unteened and wed Mark bought at a great discount a large section of land in southeastern Pennsylvania from his dad's brother which had been his uncle's legume farm. So that is to say Mark bought his relative's peanuts for relative peanuts. Shortly after this acquisition the Pennsylvania state government came around wishing to buy the land with a more than generous offer. Mark devised a clever strategy where in he would sell them the land save one acre, the land his house was on. He drew up the legal document and the government unwittingly signed it. When state officials realized what had happened he offered to sell them both plots, the acre of land and the now trademarked scheme they had fallen for, at a laughably unreasonable sum. They declined opting to teach Mark a lesson instead. The government proceeded with their plans and built their facility that would encapsulate the Hand homestead. And this is how it came to pass that Job Hand was born inside a high-security prison.

Job was born at this house on a Monday. He should have been born on a Sunday, but his mother, a very religious woman, refused to labor on the Sabbath. Job would spend the first 18 years of his life on that one acre of land comparable to a manslaughter rap without release for good behavior. Job though was a very well-behaved kid. This was owing to the caring, teaching, and ministering from his Bible thumping mother. Mary Hand instilled in her son the belief in a vengeful God. She told and retold the stories of God's wrath. The fear of God would be strong in Job.

Often Job would find himself staring past the beautiful white picket fence as well as the electrified chain-linked fence into the yard of the prison. The things he saw would make him grow to fear equally the punishments of man as well as the wrath of God.

Three days after his 18th birthday he left the walls of the prison for the first time. He was leaving for college. He left the state pen for Penn State, heading up state from "up state". The new environment would cause Job much anxiety. He worried constantly of the morality and legality of his every action. He would spend an entire night hoping that he had exited the crosswalk completely before the red "stop" hand had appeared. He only ventured from his dormitory for class and for books from the library. His roommate tried to loosen up the intense Job, but to little if not no avail. He would comment to his friends that Job had a virtually inaudible chortle almost as if he was afraid that God would hear him laughing.

Job studied theology as his mother wished. She hoped her son would become a fire and brimstone preacher. He also studied business as his father sternly advised. His father wanting his son's bank account not to be like a male kangaroo's toilet that is to say containing jack shit. Oh, how the Hand family loved their animal analogies.

Despite Job's anxiety, his studies moved along quite swimmingly and was well on his way to fulfilling his parents' wishes for him. That is until his last semester before graduation. A professor would open his eyes to a new idea: forgiveness.

It was Father John who entreated his students to remember that not one of us is perfect and the corollary that we would all make mistakes. He taught that God allowed into his fold those who had sinned yet asked for forgiveness. This wasn't a radically new idea to Job he had read it in the Bible, but he had never heard it preached by an authority figure who possessed a scientifically provable corporeal body. Job would become quite smitten with this new God that did more than just smiting. Job became more relaxed. The intensity of his fears diminished. He felt free. He began to take this new found freedom out onto the campus. He began convorting with his fellow matriculaters. Drinking and sex would enter his life. For this is how freedom manifests itself on college campuses. Eventually, Job would become free of all fear. Where freedom once caused Job so much anxiety it was now an addicting adrenaline rush. Drinking and drugs enhanced that feeling. It was under these stimulants that Job would hurt one of his fellow students. Not mortally, but severe enough for Job's freedom to be taken away from him.
He was sentenced to 18 months and would be sent back to his old state pen. Not all the way back within the walls of his childhood home, but confined nevertheless by the concrete walls of the prison.

At first Job thought he was being punished by a vengeful God, enraged that Job had lost the true way that he walked during his youth. He would come to fear God again. He got down on his knees and was ready to renew his fearful life when a thought came to him. Would it matter if I did this if God was just a vengeful God? If He was only this would not His back always be turned to me? For I did forsake Him. Even though I have sinned and done evil the fact that I am still here is proof that God still wants me to do good. This means that God must be a loving and forgiving God. Maybe, it is not that I should fear Him and fear making mistakes. Fear even the freedom I have to do so. Maybe, it is that I am to be responsible and accountable for my actions. That is what I was sent here to learn. Something so very simple yet hard. For Job, fear and self pity were so much easier than freedom and responsibility.

Job was released and walked for the second time out the gates of prison. His incarceration over, but his conviction just beginning. He had learned in 18 months what he hadn't in 18 years. He took with him his remodeled desire to do good and his new found responsibility, and lived a very good life indeed.

title: State Pen

question: Where was Job Hand born?

answer: In a high security prison

question: What made Job the most angry at God?

answer: when he just started to get his freedom, he felt as though God had punished him

question: What enhanced the feeling that would have Job serve 18 months?

answer: drinking and drugs

question: What did Job study?

answer: Theology

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Born in a high security prison, Job Hand had quite the start of his life. He grew up in a superbly religious household and when he left for college, he studied theology. He was filled with anxiety in his college environment and turned to drugs, sex, and drinking. This landed him in trouble and turned him angry towards God.


text:
_CONWENTZIA_ is a genus of net-winged insects belonging to the family Coniopterygidae or _dustywings_.[1][2] _Conwentzia_ species are present in most of Europe.[3]

These tiny insects, also known as waxwing lacewings or dustywing lacewings. They have only vestigial hindwings. Body and forewings are covered with whitish dust of waxy scales which the insect produces itself. Forewings are carried nearly side-by-side when at rest, like many other Neuroptera.

To distinguish various species, an accurate study of the genitals by microscope is usually necessary.

Species

-   _Conwentzia africana_
-   _Conwentzia barretti_
-   _Conwentzia californica_
-   _Conwentzia capensis_
-   _Conwentzia fraternalis_
-   _Conwentzia inverta_
-   _Conwentzia nietoi_
-   _Conwentzia obscura_
-   _Conwentzia orthotibia_
-   _Conwentzia pineticola_
-   _Conwentzia psociformis_
-   _Conwentzia sabae_
-   _Conwentzia sinica_
-   _Conwentzia yunguiana_

[1] Catalogue of life

[2] Boldsystems

[3] Faquna europaea

title: Conwentzia

question: What are Conwentzia?

answer: They are a genus of net-winged insects.

question: Where are the Conwentzia species most present?

answer: This species is most present in Europe.

question: What are the other names for the Conwentzia species?

answer: The other names are waxwing lacewings or dustywing lacewings.

question: What needs to be done to distinguish various species in this family?

answer: In order to distinguish various species, an accurate study of the genitals have to be seen by a microscope.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article describes the Conwentzia species, also known as net-winged insects that are present in Europe. The classifications of these insects as well as their appearances are described.


text:
A top staffer is exposed as a pro-secessionist radical, but it's not the first neo-Confederate on staff

By  Alex Seitz-Wald

July 9, 2013 7:30PM (UTC)

RAND PAUL (JEFF MALET, MALETPHOTO.COM)

Jack Hunter, who co-authored Rand Paul's 2011 book and now directs new media for the Kentucky senator, has a past alter ego as the "Southern Avenger," a provocative radio personality known for wearing a luchador mask emblazoned with the Confederate flag and for making outrageous comments about race and Southern secession, Alana Goodman of the Washington Free Beacon reveals today.

As the arguably white nationalist Southern Avenger, Hunter praised the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, saying he “raise[s] a personal toast every May 10 to celebrate John Wilkes Booth’s birthday," compared Lincoln to Saddam Hussein, and suggested the great American president would have had a homosexual relationship with Adolf Hitler, had the two ever met. He also advocated against Hispanic immigration and in favor of white pride, warning that a "non-white majority America would simply cease to be America."

Prior to that, Hunter was a prominent neo-Confederate and pro-secession activist, serving as a chairman in the League of the South, which, according to its website, "advocates the secession and subsequent independence of the Southern states from this forced union and the formation of a Southern republic.”

Many have called the League implicitly racist, but Hunter denied this in an interview with the Free Beacon, and disavowed many of his earlier statements, chalking it up to the naiveté of youth. “I was a young person, it was a fairly radical group -- the same way a person on the left might be attracted in college to some left-wing radical groups.” (He said in 2009, when he was in mid-30s, that he still believed much of it -- "In fact, I might be getting worse" -- and he continued to produce the radio show until 2012, when Paul hired him full-time.)

And the worst part for Paul-land is that it's hardly the first time something like this has come up. In late 2009, Rand Paul's campaign spokesperson was forced to resign after Kentucky blogger Joe Sonka discovered the MySpace page for Chris Hightower's heavy metal band, which was a fan of KKK gear and wishing people a “HAPPY N***ER DAY!!!” on Martin Luther King Day (that post was accompanied by a photo of a lynching). There was also, of course, Paul's momentary opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

As Dave Weigel pointed out on Twitter, "Jack Hunter was the Ron Paul 2012 campaign's main blogger. Not like he appeared out of nowhere." And the elder Paul has seen his own problems here, after a trove of dozens of racist newsletters sent under his name emerged two years ago. Paul denied writing them, saying they were ghostwritten and he didn't read them closely enough before giving approval to attach his name. And here's a video of Ron Paul last year in front of a giant Confederate flag giving a speech essentially saying the South was right in the Civil War (but not about the slavery part). Paul has also invited neo-Confederate activists to testify before Congress. And then there's the cast of characters on the advisory board of Paul's new post-retirement political organization.

It'd be bad for any politician, but Rand Paul has tried to build a brand that sets him apart from the rest of the GOP and to make himself more appealing to non-typical Republican voters, like minorities, so the damage could be especially severe. An interesting side note is the fact that the FreeBeacon, a conservative publication, broke the story. The website has staunchly pro-Israel views and tends to side with the muscular foreign policy wing of the movement, which is often at odds with Paul's anti-interventionist views.

UPDATE: In September of 2010, Paul's Democratic opponent called on him to return $1,200 in donations from three "white separatists," Virginia Abernethy, William Johnson and Carl Ford. Paul refused, with a spokesperson telling the Louisville Courier-Journal: "Dr. Paul condemns hatred and discrimination, and if the white separatists who donated to his campaign think he shares their views they are badly mistaken and would be in for a rude awakening when they see that 20% of his campaign staff is made up of African-Americans." The state chairman of the League of the South was also involved in a Paul-affiliated organization.

Alex Seitz-Wald

MORE FROM ALEX SEITZ-WALD • LIKE ALEX SEITZ-WALD

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question: Who is the "Southern Avenger"?

answer: Jack Hunter is known as Southern Avenger.

question: Why is Hunter called the Southern Avenger?

answer: Hunter is known as Southern avenger for his comments about race and Southern secession.

question: What does Hunter have to say about Abraham Lincoln?

answer: Hunter has praised the assassination of Lincoln saying that he "raises a toast every May 10 to celebrate John Wilkes Booth's birthday."

question: Why has Rand Paul made racist comments?

answer: Rand Paul has tried to set himself apart from the rest of the GOP and to make himself more appealing to non-typical Republican voters.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
Jack Hunter, also known as the Southern Avenger, has praised the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He has also advocated against Hispanic immigration saying that a "non-white majority America would simply cease to be America." Hunter has co-authored Rand Paul's 2011 book.

It is pointed out that Hunter was the Ron Paul 2012 campaign's main blogger. The elder Paul, Rand Paul, has tried to set himself apart from the rest of the GOP and make himself look more appealing to the non-typical Republican voters.


text:
by:

Posted: May 8, 2017 / 02:12 PM CDT / Updated: May 8, 2017 / 02:12 PM CDT

[]

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. - A spokesperson for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirms to WHNT News 19 that a complaint has been filed against Harmony Park Safari, after a kangaroo grabbed and bit a 9-year-old girl on Saturday afternoon.

The USDA regulates zoos and other animal exhibitors. The spokesperson tells us two different complaints have been filed against Harmony Safari Park this year, including one regarding the kangaroo attack. She says that complaint came from an outside source.

Now the federal agency will review the complaints. The spokesperson says that will include phone calls to the parties involved, likely accompanied by an unannounced visit.

According to documents provided by the USDA, APHIS, the arm of the agency that regulates animal exhibits, assesses potential actions:

  "APHIS may formally investigate alleged violations as warranted. Based on a review of the investigation, APHIS may resolve the issue with a notice of warning or a stipulation agreement, which sets civil penalties for AWA infractions. Civil penalties may include cease-and-desist orders, monetary penalties, and license suspensions or revocations. If APHIS officials determine that an infraction warrants additional action, APHIS submits all evidence to USDA’s Office of the General Counsel for legal review."

The spokesperson says as far as the kangaroo involved goes, their agency role is simply to determine the wellness of the animals exhibited. They do not determine what should happen to the animal.

The kangaroo was behind a fence, but reached through the wire to grab the girl. However, many note the enclosure is clearly labeled that the kangaroo bites. The mother of the girl attacked says her main concern is that she doesn't feel staff responded adequately.

Staff at the park told us on Monday they did not want to comment.

question: What was the May 2017 Harmony Park Safari complaint about?

answer: It is about a kangaroo who grabbed and bit a 9-year-old girl on a Saturday afternoon.

question: How many complaints have been previously filed against the safari before the kangaroo incident?

answer: One complaint.

question: What happens if the regulator finds a cause for additional action against the zoo?

answer: They must submit all evidence to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)for legal review.

question: What was the main concern of the mother of the child who was bitten by the kangaroo?

answer: She feels the staff did not respond adequately during the incident.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer:
In May 2017, a kangaroo grabbed a 9-year-old girl and bit her at the Harmony Park Safari. A complaint was filed by the girl's mother, claiming that the staff failed to respond adequately. There has been a previous complaint against the safari prior to the kangaroo incident.

The regulator has started an investigation on the case, and if it finds a cause for additional investigation, will pass its findings to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)for legal review.


text:
Orion Bus Front
The Orion Autobus is a bus from the Swiss manufacturer "Automobile Factory Orion" from Zurich.
 History and technical data
The Orion buses were built between 1899 and 1903 at the Orion factory at Zurich. They offered 12 seats for passengers. The entrance for the passenger compartment is at the rear. The vehicle is equipped with four solid rubber tires.
In August 1904, an automobile course was set up with Orion buses from the  Aktiengesellschaft für Automobilverkehr im Kanton Zug  from Zug via Hinterburg to Menzingen; An automobile course in the Ägerital was offered, which on 1 November 1905 took over also the post courses. The routes were extended to Zug - Baar - Menzingen and to Zug - Unterägeri - Oberägeri. However, in 1913, the tram canceled the automobile courses because the Orion buses were not yet reliable and with their solid rubber tires on the unpaved road not comfortable - the streetcar promised a quality increase.
An Orion bus was stored in the Swiss Museum of Transport, it was restored by the Orion Club and since 1 April 2000 it has been an exhibit in the Zuger Depot Technikgeschichte.
 Data
Orion Bus Seite.jpg
 Orion Bus Schraeg hinten.jpg
 Orion Bus Fahrgasttür.jpg|Entrance
 Orionbus Fahrstand.jpg|Drivers place

title: Orion Autobus

question: What was the Orion Autobus?

answer: A 12-passenger Swiss bus built between 1899 and 1903.

question: Why was the bus retired?

answer: Due to its unreliability and discomfort.

question: Where did the bus end up?

answer: It was stored in the Swiss Museum of Transport.

question: How many of the bus were produced?

answer: This information is not available in the article.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
The Orion Autobus is a 12-passenger Swiss bus manufactured by "Automobile Factory Orion" and built between 1899 and 1903.
The vehicle was retired in 1913 due to its unreliability and discomfort on unpaved roads. It was then stored in a museum, restored and exhibited in the Zuger Depot Technikgeschichte.