text:
Between appointing his daughter and son-in-law to senior White House positions, engaging in business deals with foreign governments, and “encouraging” diplomats and dignitaries to book rooms in his hotels, Donald Trump’s administration is setting new records for executive malfeasance. When corruption is so widespread, so pervasive, so ingrained in the political culture in Washington, D.C., and the executive branch, how do you push back? Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a thorn in the side of Wall Street who is widely assumed to be considering a 2020 run for the presidency, joins Mehdi Hasan in an exclusive interview on this week’s episode of Deconstructed to discuss her anti-corruption legislation and how she plans to drain the corporate money out of Washington.

SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN: Money is going to drown our democracy, and if we don’t start fighting back, and fighting back more aggressively, then we are part of the problem as well.

[Musical interlude.]

MEHDI HASAN: Welcome to Deconstructed. I’m Mehdi Hasan. Today on the show: The C-word. No, not Samantha Bee’s C-word about Ivanka Trump. No. And not Robert Mueller’s C-word in relation to Trump and Russia. Today’s show is not about collusion. But it is about something perhaps just as bad: corruption.

EW: Powerful corporations and their Republican allies are working overtime to roll back basic rules that protect the rest of us. So, why is this happening? The answer’s pretty simple. Corruption.

MH: That’s my guest today. Yes, you may have recognized her voice, Senator Elizabeth Warren, the senator from Massachusetts, banker-basher-in-chief for the Democrats and possible presidential candidate come 2020. I’ll be talking with her about her new plan to clean up U.S. politics.

So, let’s talk corruption in Trump’s America.

CONGRESSMAN HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, there’s a cloud of corruption hanging over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, and the more that we learn, the worse that it gets for the Trump administration.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Maryland and the District of Columbia allege that the president has received improper from foreign governments through his D.C. hotel.

CHRIS HAYES: The president of the United States attempted to use the power of his office to financially injure a company owned by a man who published journalism the president doesn’t like.

JAKE TAPPER: He frequently visits properties that he owns, raising the profile of his private enterprise on the taxpayer’s dime.

PETER ALEXANDER: Does the president believe he is above the law?

PRESS SECRETARY SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS: Certainly not. The president hasn’t done anything wrong.

MH: One of the things you may not know about me is where my parents are from. Because I’ve mentioned on the show before that I’m British, I was born and brought up in England, but I’m also of Indian heritage. My parents are originally from India, before they moved to England. And since the election of Donald Trump last year, I keep getting into conversations with friends of mine, family members of mine — both from India and still living in India — and they all say the same thing: “Wow Trump’s corrupt. He’s really corrupt. He’s so corrupt, he’d make one of our Indian politicians blush.” And, at first, I thought that’s kind of unfair: Indian politics is notoriously, historically corrupt, in a massive, sweeping way. But then I realized maybe they have a point: because Indian politicians, for all their corruption, at least pretend not to be corrupt, and when they do their illicit activities, when they take their bribes, they do it behind the scenes — in private, in secret, not in broad daylight.

The weird and astonishing thing about President Trump, though, is how openly corrupt he is — unashamedly, nakedly, flagrantly. He even brags about how he’s immune from the charge of corruption. He’s above it all:

JOHN KARL: President Trump declared himself effectively immune from prosecution, tweeting: “I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?”

MH: This is a president, lest we forget, who tweeted out of the blue last month that he was personally working with the Chinese government to help the Chinese state-controlled phone and telecom equipment maker ZTE get back into business and avoid U.S. sanctions. Hmm, that’s weird. Why’d he tweet that?

He tweeted it around the same time as the Chinese government was extending a $500 million loan to a Trump-linked real estate project in Indonesia.

This is a president who lives at the White House. Yet down the street, on Pennsylvania Avenue, you have the Trump International Hotel, where foreign diplomats and dignitaries are quote unquote, encouraged, to book rooms and thereby pay money directly into the pocket of the president of the United States.

This is a president who appointed his unqualified daughter and unqualified son-in-law to senior White House positions, from which they’ve tried to make money for their own brands, their own businesses, from foreign governments: whether it’s the Japanese government, the Chinese government, the Qatari government, the U.A.E., the list goes on and on.

ALEX WITT: Investigators are looking at whether Jared Kushner’s business ties are shaping White House policy.

JOY REID: Jared Kushner is doing very big-dollar deals with Chinese government-owned businesses. They’ve just gotten 38 new patents.

RACHEL MADDOW: Qatar was also approached by Jared Kushner’s family about funding their real estate company.

MH: And it’s not just Trump and his family of grifters: It’s the entire Trump administration. Take Scott Pruitt — seriously, just take him — the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, a one-man walking corruption scandal.

The Huffington Post reported this week that Pruitt has racked up 10 new corruption scandals in just the past month alone, including: ordering an aide to set up a call with the chairman of Chick-fil-A to discuss getting his wife a franchise with them — nice; going to a basketball game as the guest of a billionaire oil executive who just happens to be lobbying the EPA to rollback Obama-era environmental rules; and — my favorite — using more than $3,000 of taxpayers’ money to buy himself personalized journals and pens from a luxury Washington jewelry store. Again, I could go on and on.

But look: it’s not just right-wing Republicans. Yes, they’re more corrupt than the rest. Yes, they’re more brazen than the rest. But the Democrats don’t have clean hands here either. There’s a reason why the United States is so corrupt, why there’s so much money distorting politics here, in a way that it doesn’t distort politics in other Western countries, FYI. Because corruption in the U.S. is a bipartisan activity. We all know about the Clintons, for example, and some of their dodgier donors. We all remember Hillary squirming on the debate stage to explain why she wouldn’t release the transcripts of her paid speeches to Goldman Sachs.

HILLARY CLINTON: And I have said, if everybody agrees to do it — there are speeches for money on the other side, I know that. [Audience boos.] But I will tell you this —

MH: And just this past week, Democratic Senator Robert Menendez won his primary in New Jersey with the full backing of the local Democratic Party establishment despite dodging a conviction for a series of corruption and bribery charges.

NEWSCASTER: The jury in the Senator Menendez corruption trial deadlocked today, just 48 hours —

MH: So when corruption is so widespread, so pervasive, so ingrained in the political culture here in Washington D.C., what do you do about it? How do you push back? How do you save democracy from it?

[Musical interlude.]

MH: My guest today may have some of the answers to those questions. Elizabeth Warren is the senior Democratic senator from Massachusetts, a thorn in the side of Wall Street and is widely assumed to be considering a run for the presidency in 2020.

Senator Warren really isn’t a fan of bank bosses or CEOs, especially when they’re in front of her Senate committee:

EW: At best you were incompetent, at worst you were complicit. And either way you should be fired. Wells Fargo needs to start over and that won’t happen until the bank rids itself of people like you, who led it into this crisis. Thank, you Mr. Chairman.

TIM SLOAN: Mr. Chairman, could I respond to that?

MH: This week, Warren announced in a speech that she would be introducing sweeping legislation to clean up Washington D.C., to ramp up the fight against corruption of the pre- and post-Trump variety:

EW: In the coming weeks, I will introduce sweeping, anti-corruption legislation to clean up corporate money sloshing around Washington, and make it possible for our elected government to actually work for the American people, again.

MH: So I went to Capitol Hill to ask the senator, in an exclusive interview for Deconstructed, exactly what she’s planning to do to crack down on corruption, whether she’s willing to stand up to her fellow Democrats in order to do so and, of course, to ask her the inevitable question about the 2020 election.

[Musical interlude.]

MH: Senator Warren, thanks for joining me on Deconstructed.

EW: Oh, I’m delighted to be here.

MH: Earlier this year, you called the Trump administration the “most corrupt administration ever.” Would you extend that description to Donald Trump himself? He’s the most corrupt president ever?

EW: So far as we know. That’s what the data show. And I think of it because corrupt is a very special word for people who are in government. This is about people who feather their own nests instead of the public good.

MH: And of all the most brazenly and outrageously corrupt things that Trump and members of the Trump clan have done since coming to office, because I know it’s a long list, but what stands out to you as the one that really made your jaw drop. Is there one that you thought: Wow, I can’t believe that one?

EW: This is hard. This is genuinely hard.

I think it went back for me before Trump had his first meeting with Chinese officials. And that the Chinese, who are very, very reluctant to give trademark and copyright out to foreigners, and that Trump and the Trump enterprise had been looking for forever.

And so, Donald Trump gets elected and the Chinese want to make nice and suddenly he gets granted multiple copyrights —

MH: And now recently his daughter —

EW: — that help him. And I just want to be clear — let me underline — that do not go to the benefit of the American people for whom he now works. Go to the benefit of Trump enterprises and Donald Trump and his family, personally.

MH: Yeah. And you mention family: We recently had Ivanka getting the same trademarks and patents.

EW: That’s right. You know, in fact, can I just make a little point here about the Constitution of the United States? The Constitution specifically says that the president cannot accept emoluments.

MH: Yeah.

EW: And basically that just means gifts — giveaways — to the president. And you have to stop and think: Why? So there they were, you know, they’re back in the late 1700s, they’re all sitting down, trying to work on the Constitution. They got the quill pins out, they got the little inkwells, they’re having a lot of conversation. And one of the things they want to make clear is that no one in America should doubt on whose behalf the president works. And so, specifically saying, you can’t be taking these gifts from foreigners because you’ve committed to work for the American people.

MH: And almost all the other presidents managed to pull it off.

EW: But, exactly!

MH: It’s not like it was an impossible bar.

EW: No, exactly. It’s not like we’ve had to have this conversation multiple times already.

MH: And what I find so amazing is that they don’t even pretend to hide it!

EW: And that’s the part! It’s right out there in the headlines for everyone.

MH: OK, so it’s right there in the headlines. We’re now having this conversation that we didn’t think we needed to have, but we are.

EW: Yeah.

MH: You gave a big speech earlier this week where you spoke about corruption, you talked about a sweeping anti-corruption bill you want to bring in to “clean up Washington D.C.” you plan to introduce in the Senate in the coming weeks.

What is that legislation? How is a bill going to clean up Washington D.C.? That’s a big ask.

EW: OK. So let me start with the problem I’m trying to clean up.

Let’s say spill on aisle three, here. You know, we get everybody over to look at what’s wrong here. Rich and powerful corporations figured out decades ago that they could have a business model that was about: Oh, let’s come up with a great product, let’s sell that product, let’s put some money into R & D and let’s put some money into capturing government to work for us, to make the rules on us just a little easier.

Because it turns out that investing money and lobbying Washington, investing money in influencing Washington, invest, hey, $100 million and it can pay back in the billions.

MH: Oh yeah.

EW: Even trillions over time.

Right now, people get bribes from their companies to come work in government. I’ll give you an example of that: Gary Cohn was being mentioned as an economic advisor. Goldman Sachs said: Hey baby, go do this and we will give you more than a quarter of a billion dollars to do that. That’s just a pre-bribe, so that he would go in and advise the president and while he’s advising the president.

MH: He’s not going to screw over Goldman Sachs while he’s advising the president.

EW: In fact, you know, I bet Goldman Sachs got more than a quarter of a billion dollars worth of value out of that one, baby.

MH: Indeed.

EW: Or, let’s look at it on the backend. Everybody who’s in government right now, who might just be looking over the edge to say, you know, someday this gig will be over.

MH: What’s my next job?

EW: What’s my next gig? What’s my next job? During writing Dodd-Frank, the financial regulations, do you know that there were 125 former congressmen and top legislative aides who were lobbying? And what were they lobbying on behalf of? The big banks, to make those regulations as weak as possible.

So my bill just says: When you know what the problems are, you know what the solutions are. The first one is, it says you just stop the pre-bribes. You don’t get to pay people to go take those fancy government jobs.

Let’s be clear: Goldman Sachs was not offering Gary Cohn a quarter of a billion dollars if he wanted to go take a job as a firefighter, or he wanted to go take a job as a teacher. It was only if he was going to be in that position to be able to advise the president.

So, for openers: No, no, no — you do not get pre-bribes. Second part, while you’re serving in government, you’ve got to divest. You can’t own individual stocks: Duh. You can’t own parts of companies that are going to be affected by the decisions you make.

MH: And this applies to the president, as well, I’m guessing?

EW: Uh, yes! Yes. Yes. This applies to everyone. And you’ve got to be totally transparent about it.

And the third one, coming out the other side: I tell you one thing we could do for openers. How about if we put in place for the president, for senators, for members of the House, for the heads of all of the agencies, for all of the cabinet officials and for the top aides a lifetime ban on lobbying?

MH: Lifetime ban. Several 100 people there you’ve just named.

EW: Hey, listen: Boo hoo. My view is —

MH: Why would people, why would your colleagues in this place, here on Capitol Hill, including your Democratic colleagues, why would they vote for this? This is turkeys voting for Christmas.

EW: So, so the question is: Can we get enough American people to demand that they vote for it? That’s what democracy is about.

MH: I hope you’re right. But it is a very radical proposal.

EW: You bet.

MH: You’re proposing, as a Democratic senator. Now, when it comes to taking money from big corporations, you don’t need me to tell you that the Democrats don’t have clean hands here.

EW: I understand.

MH: They haven’t been reluctant recipients of that kind of money. Barack Obama, when he was running for president in 2008, actually raised more money from Wall Street than John McCain, the Republican challenger did. We know about the Clintons and all of their donors — some dodgy, some not. You know, Senator Robert Menendez who won his primary this week, who’s been accused of all sorts of things involving corruption and bribery and gifts. So would you accept that your party, even when it was in office, is if not more guilty, as guilty? Nearly as guilty?

EW: Oh, come one. This is not about comparisons.

MH: It is, because you have to win over all these people to get them on board your bill, and I’m saying it’s not like your party’s going to be behind you.

EW: Yeah. But here’s, here’s what I think — it’s if people are behind us. That’s how we make change. This place is corrupt. And the problem is that everything I just described: the pre-bribes, the taking care of yourself instead of the American public, the doing your job and keeping an eye on what the next job is in the revolving door,

MH: It’s common sense.

EW: Every one of those things is legal. But they’re all legal.

MH: So, I’m from abroad. People around the rest of the Western world look at the role of money in America and go, “Wow!” There’s nothing comparable in France, Germany, Canada, Britain.

But you also have the Supreme Court. It’s not just about this place, it’s not just about changing legislation. Even if you change all the laws here, the Supreme Court comes out and says: You know, corporations are people, money is speech, all of these things are now entrenched in constitutional law, culture, precedent. How do you get past that? You know, a lot of people feel very defeatist, saying, well, we can change, we can vote people out or in, but the Supreme Court has said: Go for it with the spending.

EW: OK so let’s cut right to the bottom line of this. Understand: I taught law for a very long time and talking about constitutional amendments, it actually makes my eyelashes frizz. Because that just seems like oh my gosh, what a dangerous place to go. But on this one? It may be where we have to go.

Citizens United is taking the legs out from underneath democracy. And we have to be willing to overturn Citizens United. One of the tools available to us is a constitutional amendment.

The second tool available to us is a Supreme Court that revisits some of the facts that underlie Citizens United. But the bottom line is —

MH: This court ain’t gonna do that.

EW: — it’s hard. Yeah. I get it that it’s hard. But we can’t give up on it, because money is going to drown our democracy. And if we don’t start fighting back and fighting back more aggressively, then we are part of the problem as well.

MH: You say money’s going to drown our democracy: A lot of that money comes from two brothers, the Koch brothers.

EW: Yeah! I’ve heard of them!

MH: One of them — one of them, David Koch — announced he was standing down from his business empire and his political campaign for health reasons. We all wish him well with his health. But that still leaves the other brother and an entire infrastructure. How damaging are the Koch brothers to American democracy? Can you encapsulate it?

EW: It’s staggering. They have changed — fundamentally changed — democracy. They have been among the leaders in making this government work better and better for a smaller and smaller group.

You know, if you just pick environmental issues for an opener. There was a time, not so very long ago, 20 years, maybe, 15 years, when Republicans and Democrats were very worried about climate change. And then along come the Koch brothers who want to protect their oil and coal-based empire. And notice, because here’s the point about corruption, it wasn’t just about contributions that they made to politicians, although they sure made plenty. It was the contributions they made to so-called independent think tanks. It was about the money they used to hire bought and paid for experts —

MH: They built an entire echo chamber.

EW: They built an entire industry that doubted the science.

MH: And the Democrats don’t have anything equivalent. George Soros sadly —

EW: No, no. We do not have the equivalent of that.

But the consequence was: Republicans who were taking money and were inclined to lean in the direction of the big donors got cover and got some protection from the Koch brothers who created this whole environment that created this — “Maybe, maybe there’s climate change and maybe there’s not.” That’s the kind of damage they’ve done on and not just there.

MH: Yeah, the wider deregulation agenda now. Even Trump is on board with it.

You have been very passionate in slamming bankers, CEOs, especially when they come to testify in front of you in the Senate. The videos of you doing that have gone viral. It’s what you’re known for by many people, it’s what you’re admired for by many on the left in particular. Why do you think it is that more Democrats don’t do what you do? Why don’t a lot of your colleagues in the Senate feel as strongly as you do about some of these issues, dare I ask?

EW: Oh, you know, I genuinely don’t know the answer to that. I don’t think much about it.

MH: You must think about. Like, for example, earlier this year, there was a roll back of the Dodd-Frank regulations.

EW: Oh yeah, but that’s a different point. I thought you were asking the question about why people don’t get hot when we have —

MH: Well, I think they’re linked together.

EW: Well, I’m not so sure. For example: We had the Equifax folks in, and boy, I looked down the aisle on our side, on people who are asking questions and I thought Catherine Cortez Masto, boy, she planted her feet and landed some good solid, blows. Sherrod Brown, who is the ranking member of the Democrats, really gets in there and fights. So I get to see a lot —

MH: So on the bankers front, we have the Dodd-Frank law, 10 years on from the financial crash, parts of it are repealed in a vote in the Senate: 17 Democrats voted for that; 33 Democrats in the House voted to repeal parts of that legislation. Why?

EW: So this all started, supposedly, with community bankers, the small banks. And they argued that the regulations put in place following Dodd-Frank were too complicated for them. And basically, by about three years ago, four years ago, pretty much Republicans and Democrats who worked in this area said: OK, we could make some changes for the community banks. But, no, said the Republicans, and their big-bank donors. They said: The only way this bill goes forward is if there are giveaways for the giant financial institutions.

MH: But you expect that from the Republicans. My question is: the Democrats who did that, was that a betrayal?

EW: And, look, what it did is it made the system riskier. Because what that bill now permits is there were 40 of the largest financial institutions in this country are on a special watch list. It means you look at them carefully, more regular inspections and so on and so forth. This bill said 25 of those 40 get moved off of the watch list and they get treated like a tiny little bank out in Western Oklahoma.

MH: So, does it make a crash more likely in your view?

EW: Not just in my — yes, and, not just in my view. Understand: The Wall Street Journal editorialized against this, saying it increased the risk in the system. Bloomberg Business editorialized against it —

MH: Ok, and yet 17 Democrats in the Senate —

EW: And the Congressional Budget Office —

MH: So tell me why 17 Democrats in the Senate and 33 Democrats in the House voted to repeal this. Was it money? Was it the influence of money? What we’ve been talking about in this interview?

EW: They helped make this a riskier system and I think that is a bad decision. All day long, they said they were there for the community banks, but using the community banks as human shields to be able to get giveaways for giant banks was wrong.

MH: So I asked Bernie Sanders on this show a few weeks ago about the attitude of Democrats towards big money and he said: “Are there some who have the guts” — referring to Senate Democrats — “Are there some who have the guts to take on the billionaire class? Yeah. Most don’t.” Do you agree with him?

EW: Yeah.

MH: You don’t think enough of your Senate Democrats are willing to on the billionaire class?

EW: Look, there are not enough of my Senate Democrats, there are not enough of the Republicans. What do you expect, we give them a pass?

MH: No, I don’t give them — but we expect a higher standard from the Democrats.

EW: But you are right. There are not enough. Because until we have all of the Democrats who are willing to take on the billionaire class, until we have all of the Democrats who are willing to fight for the American people and not for a handful of billionaires and giant corporations, then it’s going to stay an uphill fight.

MH: So, just to shift gears to a big story of the week. The president said on Monday, in a tweet, where else? That he has “the absolute power to pardon himself.” He’s basically above the law, he thinks.

Now last month you said, you’re quote, “Not there yet in terms of being up for impeaching Donald Trump.” Were he to try and pardon himself, would that be enough to get someone like yourself to say: It’s time to impeach.

EW: Oh, look — let’s separate these two things. First of all, he does not have the power to pardon himself. I’ve read the Constitution, it does not have a part where it says: You know, we’ve got all these laws, we’ve got all these checks, we’ve got all these balances. We had a chance to create a king. We decided not create a king, which is what our Constitution basically says — except, if there’s ever a guy who wants to pardon himself, he can do it. That part is not there in the Constitution.

MH: Is that impeachable, if he were to go down the road of trying something along those lines?

EW: So, let’s do the other half. I take this question of impeachment very seriously. This is one of the most serious things —

MH: Agreed.

EW: — that any Congress can ever be called on to do. Right now we have a special prosecutor who is continuing an investigation. Mueller should be permitted to complete his investigation. He has already come up with, I think it’s 19 indictments or guilty pleas. And he needs a chance to finish without interference.

MH: And we know Trump wants to fire him. We know that. If he were to fire him, would that be an impeachable offense?

EW: If he were to fire him, I believe he would create a constitutional crisis. So my view right now, and it is the view, the stated view of multiple Republicans as well: Let Mueller complete his investigation without political interference.

MH: But what are the consequences? I want to hear what are the consequences, what is everyone going to do about it if I fire him?

EW: Then, like I said, I don’t believe he can fire him without provoking a constitutional crisis. Republicans in the Senate and in the House have both said publicly that he will not fire Mueller.

Now look, I’d like to pass a law right now that prohibits him from firing him. But they say: We don’t need to do that because he’s not going to fire him. We need to let Mueller issue his report to the American people and then make a decision.

MH: OK. So, you’re right: Impeachment is a serious thing. A lot of people say: Don’t impeach him and make him a martyr. Beat him at the ballot box. Vote him out of office in 2020.

A lot of those same people say they would like you to be the one who pushes him out of office. Are you considering, are you willing to run against him for president in 2020?

EW: I’m not running for president. I’m running for Senate.

MH: That’s not what I asked.

EW: But here’s the answer: I am running for Senate in Massachusetts 2018. I’m up for reelection, along with many other Democrats in the Senate.

MH: But you’re not ruling out the 2020 presidential run.

EW: I am not running for president. Let me make this pitch because I think it’s so powerfully important.

MH: Yeah.

EW: We have a lot of fights in front of us over the next five months. And they may include Mueller.

MH: Yeah.

EW: They include what’s happening all around the country, they include what’s happening right here in Washington. We’ve got to stay focused on those fights. But more than anything else, we have got to stay focused on this 2018 election.

As Democrats, as progressives, we cannot take our eye off the ball and say, “Oh, it’s all going to be about 2020.” No, it’s going to be about 2018, right now.

MH: Fine, but you’re not ruling out 2020.

EW: I am not running for president.

MH: One last question, and then we’re out of time. One very last question: Donald Trump isn’t good at many things, I think we can all agree on that. One thing he’s very good at is bullying people. He’s very good at giving people nicknames. He’s given you a rather racist, offensive one of Pocahontas. He called Hillary Crooked Hillary. I just wonder: Have the Democrats considered trying to reverse-brand. I never hear anyone trying to brand Trump.

We opened the interview saying he’s the most corrupt president in history. Have you thought about, you know, going into elections, branding him, labeling Crooked Donald. Dirty Don! How about Dirty Don?

MH: You know, you’ve got some very creative ideas there. Maybe we should have a big group effort on this. For me, right now though, it’s about going out and talking about these core issues. And they may not be as sexy, but corruption, what’s happening to America’s families, what’s happening to students today in this country, what’s happening to women, what’s happening to Muslims, we can just keep going through the list. We have to make this an America again that works for the people. Not for the rich and the powerful, and not for the likes of Donald Trump.

MH: Elizabeth Warren, thanks for joining me on Deconstructed.

EW: Thank you. It’s good to be here.

MH: Thanks so much.

[Musical interlude.]

MH: That was Senator Elizabeth Warren, and that’s our show.

Deconstructed is a production of First Look Media and The Intercept, and is distributed by Panoply.

Our producer is Zach Young. Dina Sayedahmed is our production assistant. Leital Molad is our executive producer. Our theme music was composed by Bart Warshaw. Betsy Reed is The Intercept’s editor in chief.

And I’m Mehdi Hasan. You can follow me on Twitter @mehdirhasan. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to the show so you can hear it every Friday. Go to theintercept.com/deconstructed to subscribe from your podcast platform of choice: iPhone, Android, whatever. If you’re subscribed already, please do leave us a rating or review — it helps new people find the show! And if you want to give us feedback, do email us at [email protected] Thank you so much!

See you next week.

question: Approximately when was the article written?

answer: Likely sometime early in 2019, since Warren has not announced her presidential bid yet

question: What is this a transcript of?

answer: An episode of Deconstructed, featuring an interview with Elizabeth Warren

question: Who is the host of the interview?

answer: Mehdi Hasan

question: Who is the featured guest?

answer: Senator Elizabeth Warren

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Medhi Hasan interviews Senator Elizabeth Warren on an episode of Deconstructed about corruption in government and how it can be fixed.


split: train

text:
According to the World Health Organization (see: http://www.who.int/en/), tobacco is the second biggest cause of death in the world and is responsible for about 5 million deaths each year, or one of every 10 adult deaths. Smoking will kill 10 million people per year by 2020 if current smoking patterns continue. Half of the people who smoke today, about 650 million people, will eventually die from tobacco-related illness.
On February 27, 2005, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) came into force. Countries that signed the treaty are bound by its provisions, which include tobacco advertising bans, price and tax increases, and measures to protect against second-hand smoke. There are 168 signatories to the treaty.
Earlier in the month, Cuba, which is famous for its cigars, instituted new anti-smoking regulations which will ban smoking in many workplaces and the sale of cigarettes near schools.

question: If smoking is considered unhealthy and a fatal activity, why hasn't it been banned completely?

answer: That information is not known.

question: How many people per year will die by smoking by 2020 if smoking patterns continue?

answer: 10 million.

question: What did the WHO do to control tobacco?

answer: They created a treaty that protects against second-hand smoke, banned tobacco adverts, and increased the price and taxes on tobacco.

question: Did the anti-smoking regulations in Cuba reduce the rate people buy and smoke cigars?

answer: That information is not known.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: At the time of this article, the WHO estimated tobacco as the second biggest cause of death globally, killing 10 million people per year by 2020. They stated that half of the people that smoke will die from tobacco-related illnesses. In February 2005, Cuba instigated a new anti-smoking regulation, banning smoking in many workplaces and the sale of cigarettes near schools.


text:
He was just an ordinary kid at school. Kind of chubby, brown hair, average height, your average middleschooler. Every day, her would go about his schedule, go home, and wait for the next day. But one day, he noticed a very pretty girl. Long, Blonde, Flowing hair. Kind of tall, the kind of person who stands out in a crowd. Every day this boy would just stare at this girl in the hallway. He didn't even know her name. Imagine that. That boy wanted to meet this girl, and get to know her. He approached her the next day.
"Uh.. Hi."
"Hello.."
"I'm Sean.. are you new here?"
"Umm.. yeah. I still need to memorize this place, I still get lost."
"I could show you around, if you'd like."
"I'd like that. I'm Rachel, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Rachel."
       Every day after that they would talk, study together, and sometimes just.. talk.
But one day, Rachel knocked on Sean's door.
"Hey Rachel."
She appeared to be crying, tears streaming down her face.
"Oh Sean.." She said, "Cody cheated on me... I saw him kissing a girl behind the gym!"
"That's... horrible. I'm so sorry..."
"Please... I need someone to talk to.."
"I'm always here."
"I'm glad you're my friend.... I wish more guys were like you.."

       Months past and Rachel was still dating guys, while Sean always comforted her through harsh times. No matter how many boyfriends she had... Sean always loved her.
One day, Sean couldn't hold it in anymore. He had to tell Rachel how he felt. He went to her house, and noticed something in her window. Rachel and her ex-boyfriend, the one who cheated on her, was sitting on her couch, kissing her. Sean was heartbroken. He couldn't tell her now! He ran back to his house, and just sat in his room in silence. He continued to admire her, without her knowing his feelings. Years past, and that love still went on strong. No matter what happened, he couldn't get her out of his head.

title: Unexpected Love

question: What is the moral of this story?

answer: The moral of the story could be to tell someone how you feel when you feel it, or else you won't be able to.

question: Why was Rachel crying?

answer: She learned that her boyfriend Cody had cheated on her by kissing a girl behind the gym.

question: Why didn't Sean tell Rachel how he really felt about her?

answer: It's possible he didn't want to ruin their friendship if the romantic feelings weren't reciprocated.

question: What is the context around "Sean was heartbroken"?

answer: Sean was prepared to tell Rachel that he loved her, but he came across her and the ex who cheated on her kissing.


text:
MUSICA SECRETA is a British vocal ensemble that was founded in 1991 by soprano Deborah Roberts[1] to explore music written by and for women in the 16th and 17th centuries. In 2000, musicologist Laurie Stras[2] joined the ensemble as a co-director. The group has made several award-winning albums. They collaborated with novelist Sarah Dunant in a musical dramatization of Dunant's novel _Sacred Hearts_ which ran between 2009 and 2012.[3]

Their album _Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter_ (2017) is a recording of the earliest known published music intended for performance by nuns.[4] The recording features motets printed in the anonymous _Musica quinque vocum motteta materna lingua vocata_ printed in 1543; some may have been written by Suor Leonora d'Este, the only surviving daughter of Lucrezia Borgia and Alfonso I d'Este, Duke of Ferrara.[5]

Members

The original members of the group were Roberts, Tessa Bonner,[6] Mary Nichols,[7] and harpsichordist John Toll.[8]

Group members have sung with the Tallis Scholars, the Consort of Musicke, The Sixteen, I Fagiolini, Tenebrae, and Magnificat. Collaborators have included Suzie LeBlanc (_The Secret Music of Luzzasco Luzzaschi_), Emily Van Evera (_Dangerous Graces_), Catherine King (_Songs of Ecstasy and Devotion, Dialogues with Heaven, Dangerous Graces_), and Clare Wilkinson (_Sacred Hearts, Secret Music_). Featured instrumentalists include Paula Chateauneuf, David Miller and Lynda Sayce (lute, theorbo, and chitarrone); Frances Kelly (harp); Mark Levy and Kinga Gáborjáni (viol); Matthew Halls and Nicholas Parle (organ and harpsichord). The instrumental team is Claire Williams and Alison Kinder.

Celestial Sirens

Roberts and Stras also co-direct an amateur female-voice choir, Celestial Sirens.[9] Musica Secreta and Celestial Sirens first performed together at the Brighton Early Music Festival in 2006.[10] Stras's work with Celestial Sirens was recognised by the National Coordinating Centre for Public Engagement in 2014, for Best Individually-Led Project in the Engage Awards 2014.[11]

Awards and honors

-   Diapason Découverte from _Diapason_ magazine for _Dangerous Graces_, 2002 [12]
-   Best Arts and Media Project from the Society for the Study of Early Modern Women for _Alessandro Grandi: Motetti a cinque voci (1614)_, 2007[13]
-   Editor's Choice, _Gramophone_ magazine, _Sacred Hearts, Secret Music_, November 2009[14]
-   Noah Greenberg Award from the American Musicological Society for _Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter_, 2016[15]

Discography

-   _The Secret Music of Luzzasco Luzzaschi: Luzzasco Luzzaschi: Madrigali...a uno, doi e tre soprani (1601)_ (Amon Ra, 1992)
-   _La virtuosissima cantatrice: the Vocal Music of Barbara Strozzi (1619–c.1665)_ (Amon Ra, 1994)
-   _Songs of Ecstasy and Devotion – Lucrezia Vizzana: Componimenti musicali (1623)_ (Linn, 1997)
-   _Dialogues with Heaven: Motets by Chiara Margherita Cozzolani_ (Linn, 2000)
-   _Dangerous Graces: Music by Cipriano de Rore and His Pupils_ (Linn, 2002)
-   _Alessandro Grandi: Motetti a cinque voci (1614)_ (Divine Art, 2007)
-   _Sacred Hearts, Secret Music_ (Divine Art, 2009)
-   _Lucrezia Borgia's Daughter_ (Obsidian, 2017)

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

title: Musica Secreta

question: What is Musica Secreta?

answer: a British vocal ensemble founded in 1991 by soprano Deborah Roberts to explore music written by and for women in the 16th and 17th centuries

question: Who is Deborah Roberts?

answer: the article does not answer this question

question: What is Celestial Sirens?

answer: an amateur female-voice choir co-directed by Deborah Roberts and Laurie Stras

question: What is the first recording released by Musica Secreta?

answer: The Secret Music of Luzzasco Luzzaschi

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Music Secreta is a British vocal ensemble founded in 1991 by soprano Deborah Roberts to explore music written by and for women in the 16th and 17th centuries.


text:
This was my first short story I had to write for my Creative Writing class back when I was a Junior in high school. I hope you like it!

    "Ooohhhh," Helen groaned. She hurt everywhere. Being in a hospital for six weeks is really something that she wasn't looking forward to. She was about to call for a nurse to change the channel on her tiny tv (golf was not her thing!) when all of a sudden there was a knock on the door. "Come in," she called weakly.

   "Hello, I'm Dr. Bandade, how are you feeling?" He smiled a toothy smile.

   She gave the burly man a sarcastic look. "How do you *think* I'm feeling? I fell out of a five-story window!"

    The doctor pulled up a chair next to her. "Yes about that, how exactly did it happen? On this statement is says that you were pushed?"

    Helen cringed at the very thought of it, not only because it was painful, but she wasn't sure if he would believe her. "Well, it started out as a normal day. I woke up, ate breakfast, completed the daily crossword puzzle in the paper.

    "It was then I noticed that my window was open. A cool breeze swept through, so I decided to close it. I got up and went over to the window.

    "Right as I reached out to grab the handle, Rufus, my cat, rubbed against my leg, causing me to lose my balance. Before I knew it, I was falling out the window!

    "I screamed. I heard people screaming below me. I felt breathless. Panic swept over me.

    "It was only too soon when I came into contact with the ground. I heard bones shattering and I cried out in pain. In the distance, sirens wailed. The ambulance charged down the street.

    "After they put me on the stretcher, they hauled me away to the hospital, where they told me I was lucky to even be alive. They said I broke every bone in my body. I'll be here about six weeks, if not more." Her face fell when she told the doctor this. "And that's all that happened."

    Dr. Bandade looked over at her. "So you fell out accidentally then."

    "No! I was *pushed* out!" she yelled.

    "But you even said that you lost your balance, and no one was with you."

    "Yes there was... Rufus! *He* pushed me out!"

    The doctor rationalized, "But he's a *cat.* He probably didn't realize that rubbing against you to show affection would-"

    But Helen cut him off. "He *deliberately* rubbed too hard and made me lost my balance."

    "What would be the purpose for Rufus to push you?" The doctor raised an eyebrow.

    "He's just evil," she simply said.

    "Oh." He wrote some things down on his clipboard.

    Helen stared at him suspiciously. "What kind of doctor are you anyway, asking me all these questions?"

    "I'm a psychiatrist." He wrote some more things down.

    "What? You think I'm crazy don't you?! I'm telling you, my cat is trying to *kill me!"*

    Before Dr. Bandade could say anything, there was a knock at the door.

    "Excuse me, doctor," the nurse said, "but there's someone here to see her."

    Helen perked up a bit. A visitor to see her!

    The visitor walked into the room.

    "Rufus!" Helen shrieked.

    Standing there was the tabby cat. He was staring at her with glossy green eyes, slanted into slits. His tail twitched as if to say, "I'm *back."*

title: Paranoid?... Or Just Plain Evil?

question: What are two possible explanations for Helen thinking the cat was out to get her?

answer: One possible explanation is that Helen is overreacting and being paranoid about her cat, who is just a cat. Another explanation is that the cat really is evil and pushed her, and is now taunting her.


text:
Ink is widely used in the printing and publishing industry for printing books, magazines, newspapers, etc.; and in the packaging industry for labelling on plastic bottles, aluminium cans, jars, etc. According to a new report by Expert Market Research, the GLOBAL INK MARKET reached a value of US$ 20.6 Billion in 2020 and is further expected to reach US$ 23.88 Billion by 2026.

The production of ink witnessed a steady growth during 2016-2020. A significant development in the end-use industries like printing, publishing, packaging, letterpress, etc. has led to an increase in consumption of ink. Moreover, increasing affordability, innovation and introduction of environment-friendly inks, and rising demand from developing countries are some of the other factors which are encouraging the market growth.

KEY FINDINGS FROM THE REPORT:

-   The two-major end-uses of ink include packaging and publishing, and commercial printing.
-   Region-wise, Asia-Pacific dominated the market with a share of one-third of the total global production in 2019. It was followed by North America and Europe.
-   The types of ink available in the global ink market are oil based inks, solvent based liquid inks and water based liquid inks.
-   Different kinds of printing technologies in which ink is used are Lithographic, Gravure, Flexographic and Digital.
-   Being fragmented in nature, the global ink market is surrounded by a number of players. Some of these players include Sun Chemicals, Flint Group, Toyo Ink, Siegwerk Group, Sakata INX and Huber Group.

CLICK HERE FOR SUMMARY OF THE REPORT: HTTPS://WWW.EXPERTMARKETRESEARCH.COM/REPORTS/INK-MARKET

[global ink market]

EXPERT MARKET RESEARCH HAS ANALYSED THE GLOBAL INK MARKET ACCORDING TO KEY APPLICATION AREAS, MAJOR REGIONS, INK TYPE, TECHNOLOGY USED AND TOP PLAYERS:

MARKET BREAKUP BY END-USE

-   Packaging
-   Publishing and Commercial Printing

MARKET BREAKUP BY REGION

-   North America
-   Europe
-   Asia Pacific
-   Latin America
-   Middle East & Africa

MARKET BREAKUP BY INK TYPE

-   Oil based inks
-   Solvent based liquid inks
-   Water based liquid inks

MARKET BREAKUP BY TECHNOLOGY USED

-   Lithographic Printing
-   Gravure Printing
-   Flexographic Printing
-   Digital Printing

TOP PLAYERS

-   Sun Chemicals
-   Flint Group
-   Toyo Ink
-   Siegwerk Group
-   Sakata INX
-   Huber Group

ABOUT US:

Expert Market Research (EMR) is a leading market research and business intelligence company, ensuring its clients remain at the vanguard of their industries by providing them with exhaustive and actionable market data through its syndicated and custom market reports, covering over 15 major industry domains. The company's expansive and ever-growing database of reports, which are constantly updated, includes reports from industry verticals like chemicals and materials, food and beverages, energy and mining, technology and media, consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and packaging.

EMR leverages its state-of-the-art technological and analytical tools, along with the expertise of its highly skilled team of over a 100 analysts and more than 3000 consultants, to help its clients, ranging from Fortune 1000 companies to small and medium sized enterprises, easily grasp the expansive industry data and help them in formulating market and business strategies, which ensure that they remain ahead of the curve.

CONTACT US:

EXPERT MARKET RESEARCH
WEBSITE: www.expertmarketresearch.com
EMAIL: sales@expertmarketresearch.com
US & CANADA PHONE NO: +1-415-325-5166
UK PHONE NO: +44-702-402-5790

question: Summarize the key findings of the Expert Market Research report.

answer: According to Expert Market Research, the Global Ink Market reached a value of $20.6 billion in 2020. It is expected to reach $23.88 billion by 2026. The major uses of ink include packaging, publishing, and commercial printing. In 2019, the Asia-Pacific region dominated the market with one-third of global production. Some of the biggest companies in this industry include Sun Chemicals, Flint Group, Toyo Ink, Siegwerk Group, Sakata INX, and Huber Group.

question: Summarize the different end-uses and types of ink.

answer: There are three types of ink, oil based, solvent based, and water based. Ink is used in the printing and publishing industry, and in the packaging industry. Since 2016 these industries have grow in size, resulting in a larger consumption of ink. Ink works with several printing technologies, including Lithographic, Gravure, Flexographic, and Digital.

question: Summarize what Expert Market Research does.

answer: Expert Market Research is a market research company covering over 15 major industry domains. They provide actionable market data through market reports to their clients. These reports are in industries such as chemicals and materials, food and beverages, energy and mining, and more. Expert Market Research employs a team of over 100 analysts and more than 3000 consultants. They recently published a new report on the global ink market.


text:
For one year the tides of change came to the shore of time, promising things to be that were not were before. Things of which did and did and did and did then stopped, and this left the rocky coast without a single stone. Soon the sandy beach was given name "Water's Tail", for no creature would swim near there, fish, shark, or whale. Days would fade to night as there no star would ever shine, and the wind would blow and blow so there no bird would fly. For you see, darkening beneath the coral reef, ways of which the water flow would go, as far more frightening, there, lurking was the point of no return to any living being, slowly pulling life out of a soul and known to man and beast alike as where one not should go. Then a scholar named Otaro sought to venture there as the only man who would, knowing he would surely die, or lose his sanity. Off he headed to the shore of time, Water's Tail, seeing no ways to avail, plainly bound to fail, he would find what secret grown there shown to him alone. As he got there glowing slightly was his gaunting dare, clearly demonstrating of his life he did not care, losing fear, for why else then was this place of dark forboding name a where if not to be by who came near enough to it to say here?

As Otaro thought of all the fame he would secure, he walked over as to claim his fabled victory of the sandy beach known to be where none can be, the same coast that countless more have died as they tried to return, closely trailing where the only lack of no path had been worn by the rock that was by tides of change turned to no stone. Fair well, his only thoughts, he grew in mind more bold, and stepped into waves of water, neither hot or cold, he as reaching where the coral reef began to submerge and swim to where he was surely headed, to the dreaded point of no return, and as he neared where lore told of was he heard the sound of the most absurd, after that he knew his glory told by his own story never would unfold, for you see, that day he died, when time in water form pulled the hearing out of his own mind by way the ears and those heard last the noise of no sound like an underwater storm, the last sight the light had shown was the water waving at him with his now dear departed soul.

title: Wrote this story some time ago, it's kind of out there, and has no title. Only two paragraphs.

question: Who is the main character?

answer: Otaro, a scholar.

question: Why is the beach devoid of life?

answer: The author describes a place under the sea, a point of no return that takes life from any creature that goes there.

question: What does the author/narrator mean by 'Fair well'?

answer: From context, the narrator seems to be saying goodbye, wishing [] well, but that phrase is 'fare well', so 'fair well' could reasonably be describing/addressing the well of water. It's probably a mistake, meaning the former.

question: Does Otaro die?

answer: Yes, he dies.

question: What is the main character's motivation?

answer: He wants to gain fame and glory with the story of his boldness in facing the thing below the sea.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: There is a place or presence beneath the sea that ensures the water around it is devoid of life. Otaro, a scholar seeking glory, goes into the depths and dies, seeing the water waving at him with his own soul.


text:
HENRY TUFTS (1748–1831) was an infamous 18th-century thief who committed various crimes in northern New England. Most of what we know about his life and crimes comes from his 1807 autobiography _A Narrative of the Life, Adventures, Travels and Sufferings of Henry Tufts, Now Residing at Lemington, in the District of Maine. In Substance as Compiled from his own Mouth._[1]

This autobiography was reprinted in 1930 as _Autobiography of a Criminal_.[2] Neal Keating's 1993 reprint of Tufts' autobiography summarizes Tufts as a “horse thief, bigamist, burglar, adulterer, con man, scoundrel, counterfeiter, (military) deserter and common criminal.”

“An uncommonly misspent life”

[Title page of Henry Tufts' book] Tufts was born in Newmarket, New Hampshire, in June 1748 to a tailor and his wife. Tufts would grow up in the nearby town of Lee, where he would first exhibit his “natural propensity to theft.”

Tufts began his criminal activities at the age of 14 with thefts of “apples, pears, cucumbers, and other fruits of the earth,” and then graduating to “a paper money bill” of a neighbor. He soon went on to stealing horses (which he disguised by coloring them) including the theft and subsequent selling of his own father's horse. The autobiography goes on to list numerous thefts of everything from silver spoons to livestock and clothes. He stole from houses, barns, and stores. He usually sold the stolen objects in neighboring towns.

He married one Lydia Bickford around the age of 22, but would later marry other women without divorcing Lydia.

Tufts was first imprisoned in 1770, where he attempted his first of many escapes by using the cell's heating fire to burn through a wooden wall of the jail.

Many of his jail escapes were accomplished with due small tools concealed on his person or passed to him visits from friends. Not even his fellow prisoners were safe from his sociopathic ways: once he and a fellow prisoner “stripped off all our clothes, turn(ed) them inside out, and (flung) them out” of the small hole Tufts had made in the jail wall. Tufts exited first and, before waiting for his accomplice to follow, “gathered up (his) apparel, which I expected in all likelihood to need…and sped away.”

When imprisoned, Tufts often saw himself as the unfair victim, once commenting on his time in a jail as “in the shocking circumstances…described, I continued for upwards of three months, without aid or assistance from either friend or foe, or so much as the expectation of relief – no eye had pity on me!”

Tufts spent several years among the Abenaki Indians in or near Bethel, Maine and learned their natural medicines from Molly Ockett shortly before his final arrest in 1794 at Marblehead, Massachusetts. Sentenced to hang, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Samuel Adams. After five years imprisoned on Castle Island in Boston Harbor, he was transferred to the jail in Salem, from whence he escaped to Maine. If his autobiography is to be believed, he thereafter lived as a healer and farmer without further criminal misdeeds.[3]

Ultimately, while an entertaining book, it is difficult to tell how much of Tufts' autobiography is completely true. In his foreword to a 1993 reprint of the book, Keating points out that “Henry Tufts' favorite scheme was lying…(and) in his autobiography he lies.…”

Sources

Tufts, Henry. _The Autobiography of a Criminal_; Loompanics Unlimited, 1993. .

[1]

[2]

[3]

title: Henry Tufts

question: In your opinion, what is the most interesting thing about Henry Tufts, and why?

answer: One answer could be that they find it interesting that he spent time among the Abenaki Native Americans and learned their natural medicines. For most of Tuft's life, his skills were something he developed pointedly to increase his chances of getting away with crimes. It does not seem that learning medicine from the Natives would fall beneath this umbrella. It does, however, make sense that he would have hidden among them following his escape.


text:
[]

Groundworks, Mini Digger Hire, Driveways & More
Throughout The Cotswolds

Our Services

About Us

J.K. Ayers Groundworks is a family-run business based in Cirencester, Gloucestershire.
We have been established since 2004 and have over 25 years experience in all aspects of groundworks.

Providing our Services to both domestic clients and the building trade throughout Gloucestershire and the surrounding counties.

We pride ourselves on our good reputation, reliability and a friendly approach to each and every job with a small selection of high quality up to date machinery to compliment the services that we provide.

Our services include:

-

    Plant hire (With operator)
-

    Foundations
-

    Drainage
-

    Driveways
-

    Landscaping
-

    Domestic, Agricultural and Equine work undertaken
-

    Fully insured
-

    CITB qualified

Mr & Mrs Penn
(Cirencester, Gloucestershire)

"When we had our driveway renewed JK Ayers Groundwork’s were very efficient and tidy and were very considerate towards our neighbours also.
James was friendly and very knowledgeable."

T. Earnshaw
(Bourton-on-the-water, Gloucestershire)

"A first class operator, very professional and polite. Not afraid to get off the seat and use some muscle when needed. A pleasure to have around and will definitely use again."

Mr D. Mizzi
(Cirencester, Gloucestershire)

"Groundworks recently completed on our new extension. We couldn't have found a more honest and hard working person to complete the job."

S. Taylor
(Charlton Kings, Cirencester)

"Yippee our drains are no longer blocked! Thanks for your hard work and good advice James!"

B. Webber
(Nr Moreton-in-marsh, Gloucestershire)

"Hired JK Ayers Groundwork’s to dig foundations for my new garage. Very professional and tidy. Will be using again for my driveway when garage complete"

Recent Projects

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Foundations, drainage & oversite slab

[]

Drainage field

[]

Concrete base for garden room

[]

Groundworks for a new workshop

Accreditation

[]

Construction Industry Training Board

CITB are dedicated to ensuring the construction workforce has the right skills for now and the future based on our three strategic priorities – Careers, Standards and Qualifications, and Training and Development.

[]

Construction Skills Certification Scheme

CSCS cards provide proof that individuals working on construction sites have the appropriate training and qualifications for the job they do on site. By ensuring that the workforce are appropriately qualified the card plays its part in improving standards and safety on UK construction sites.

question: What does J.K. Ayers Groundworks offer?

answer: A variety of services from Landscaping to building for animals.

question: What animals do they specialize in?

answer: Domestic, Farm and Horse.

question: What is a CITB qualification?

answer: A certification from the Construction Industry Training Board

question: Are their customers satisfied?

answer: It would appear that they have favourable reviews to put on display.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A page for J.K. Ayers Groundworks, a company based out of Cirencester in Gloucester. The page also shows reviews from satisfied customers.


text:
ALFRED GOONAN (3 April 1904 – 22 January 1942) was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

Family

The son of William Goonan (1868–1957), and Emma Goonan (1866–1925), née Williams,[1] Alfred Goonan was born in North Melbourne on 3 April 1904.

Football

North Melbourne (VFA)

Goonan joined the North Melbourne under 19s and, later, played the last two games of the 1924 season for the North Melbourne VFA team.[2][3][4]

North Melbourne (VFL)

He played in North's first ever VFL game, against Geelong at Corio Oval. Playing at forward pocket, he scored North's first score in a game of VFL: a behind. He kicked 1.1 for the match.[5]

Playing against Fitzroy at Arden Street, in North Melbourne's second VFL match, Goonan kicked 4 goals.[6]

Military service

He joined the Australian Imperial Force in 1940 at Mildura, and was deployed to British Malaya in August 1941. After the invasion of the colony by the Japanese Empire, Goonan's battalion fought fiercely, resulting in Goonan being wounded. The battalion fought the Japanese until forced to retreat at the Simpang-kiri River. The battalion left its wounded behind, including Goonan, in the hope that the Japanese would give them medical care. All 110 left behind were executed near Johor in the Parit Sulong Massacre, including Goonan.[7]

[1] Deaths: Goonan, _The (Melbourne) Herald_, (Saturday, 18 July 1925), p.26.

[2] The VFA Project: Alf Goonan.

[3] Thrilling Finish at Northcote, _The Age_, (Monday, 25 August 1924), p.15; Northcote Hard Pressed, _The Argus_, (Monday, 25 August 1924), p.14.

[4] The Association: Principal Match, _The Argus_, (Saturday, 30 August 1924), p.19; North's Great Performance, _The Age_, (Monday, 1 September 1924), p.6; Footscray's First Defeat, _The Argus_, (Monday, 1 September 1924), p.14.

[5] North Finish Well, _The Sporting Globe_, (Saturday, 2 May 1925), p.1.

[6] Fitzroy Very Strong, _The Argus_, (Monday, 11 May 1925), p.17.

[7]

title: Alf Goonan

question: When was Goonan born?

answer: April 3, 1904

question: Who were Goonan's parents?

answer: William Goonan and Emma Goonan

question: How did Goonan die?

answer: He was wounded while serving in the Australian Imperial Force at British Malaya during a Japanese invasion. His battalion left him and the other wounded behind, and the Japanese executed them.

question: What team did Goonan play for?

answer: North Melbourne

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Alfred Goonan was an Australian rules footballer who played with North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League. He was born in 1904. In 1940, he joined the Australian Imperial Force; in 1942, he was killed during the Japanese invasion of British Malaya.


text:
ÖZDEM SANBERK (born 1 August 1938[1]) is a retired Turkish diplomat.

Sanberk was ambassador to the European Union from 1987 to 1991 and to the United Kingdom from 1995 to 2000.[2] In 2010, he became director of the International Strategic Research Organization (USAK).[3]

He is a Senior Network Member at the European Leadership Network (ELN).[4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

title: Özdem Sanberk

question: Who is Özdem Sanberk?

answer: A retired Turkish diplomat

question: Who was Özdem Sanberk ambassador to?

answer: Ambassador to the European Union from 1987 to 1991 and to the United Kingdom from 1995 to 2000

question: What did Özdem Sanberk become director of?

answer: Of the International Strategic Research Organization

question: What is Özdem Sanberk a member of?

answer: He is a Senior Network Member at the European Leadership Network

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Özdem Sanberk, a retired Turkish diplomat, served as ambassador to the EU and UK in the 1980's and 90's. He is director of the USAK and member of the ELN.


text:
I kneel to the dusty sand and rock covered ground as I hide behind a graffitied white chipped and weathered brick wall. I look down at my filthy uniform and scarred hands which hold an over sized gun. It is now that the realization hits me, after years of suppressing it.

*This has come too far.*

On one side of the wall there is a brutal and bloody scrimmage of soldiers fighting soldiers. On the path that to the opposite direction is the base. If I went around the other side of the wall death was almost certain. If I went back to the base I would be labelled a coward, I would be ostracized and sent into solitary confinement. “For shame, for shame” they would say. “For shame, for shame” my father would say.

*Oh, How that bastard would hate me, maybe as much as I hate him. No, nobody could hate as much as I hate him.*

He was the one who had forced me into this, this hell. I was never good enough for him, nothing could satisfied his lust for perfection, and I was no exception. My passion is painting but he made t his life goal to mold me into his puppet, to make me a 'real man'. I was told to put down my paint brush and join the army. What other choice
did I have? If I hadn't he would of kicked me out and I would have had nowhere to go and there was no way my mother would try and interfere, she's just as much of a coward as I am. This is how I ended up in the middle of this useless battle for power.

*These enemy soldiers, they use weaponry for brains and have robot emotions from mechanical hearts that have been fueled and ready to destroy. No feelings, No emotions, Just the sound of cold gears turning slowly, constantly. Clunk, Clunk, Clunk.*

*I know what I have to do.*

I steady my hands enough to pick up my weapon and stand. I don't wipe away my tears, I want them to see them. My body takes me into my doom, my heart takes me into salvation.

title: Soldier

question: Where is the narrator?

answer: The narrator is a soldier in a fight.

question: Describe his feelings about being a soldier.

answer: The narrator never wanted to become a soldier. He was passionate about painting and wanted to become a painter. But his father made him his puppet and wanted him to be a 'real man' and so made him join the army.

question: Why did the narrator hate his father?

answer: The narrator hated his father because he didn't let him pursue what he wanted to (painting) and made him join the army.

question: Does the narrator fight back against the enemies?

answer: Yes, after replaying whatever had led him to this point in the war, the narrator picks up his weapon and goes to fight while tears rolled down his cheeks.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator kneels to hide from the enemies behind a wall. On one side was the fight and on the other was the base. He thinks of how everyone, including his own father, would think of him as a coward if he didn't fight.

He thinks of how his father had stopped him from following his passion for painting and forced him into the army.

The narrator ultimately picks his weapon up again and with tears rolling down his cheeks heads to fight back.


text:
[]

Social media marketing is one of the most accessible routes you can take to promote your brand identity, products or overall business. The costs are nearly non-existent but the rewards are great.

The proof is in the numbers, too – 79 percent of American Internet users are on Facebook, while 1.3 billion people in the world are regular Facebook users. Plus, high percentages of adult internet users are active on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and every other major network. Those numbers translate into high traffic to websites and foster a strong connection between brand and users.

Lucky for you, capitalizing on the success of social media marketing is easier than you think. Below are 4 tips that will help you hone the perfect social media strategy to start promoting your company with ease.

1.  REFINE YOUR DEMOGRAPHIC

Before you create your accounts and start posting away, take stock of your demographic (or determine it, if you haven’t gotten that far yet). Many social media channels skew older or younger, or cater to certain media forms better than others – and there are far too many social media networks to keep up with anyways. Understanding the channels that will play to your audience will be better for your time, sanity AND company down the road.

2.  FIND A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Managing several platforms and everything that comes with them can be time consuming. However, there are plenty of social media management systems that can streamline your workload and maximize your content strategy in one easy-to-access place.

I recommend looking into Buffer if you have a simple strategy with just a few profiles, Hootsuite if you want something more middle-of-the-road, or Sprout Social if you want a robust management system. Each platform offers varying degrees of insight into demographics, your competition, and ways you can improve your own posts.

[]

3.  CREATE A COMMUNITY

Part of why social media is so popular is because it creates an interactive community of people who have similar likes, as opposed to traditional marketing and advertising, which flatly tells consumers why they should purchase a product. Thus, spending time cultivating a community where followers and users feel seen, heard and appreciated is imperative.

Spend time each and every day engaging in conversation on Twitter, commenting in posts on Instagram, and replying to comments on Facebook, for example. What’s better? Not only will you gain a reputation for caring about your users (a major bonus point!) but you’ll help beat the algorithms and get pushed higher into potential consumers’ news feeds, broadening your reach.

4.  ENLIST THE HELP OF AN EXPERT

Once your social media marketing starts to gain some footing, it may be time to invest in an expert – after all, every business has a lot of moving parts, so at some point it’s always worth handing the baton to someone who really knows how to throw it.

This expert can take many forms – consultant, in-house strategist, or social media marketing agency. Whoever you choose, just be sure that have experience reaching the goals you hope to achieve, such as growing followings or executing targeted campaigns.

CONCLUSION

Creating a social media marketing strategy takes some time, but there are some tricks and tools that can make the task a little easier. Follow the guidelines below, and you’ll see your online presence booming in no time.

-   Note your company’s demographic and focus on social media platforms that compliment that
-   Find a management system that will help you post and engage with your followers
-   Create a more personal community on all of your channels
-   Enlist the help of an expert to improve strategies and create campaigns

question: Summarize the main idea of this passage.

answer: Social media marketing is one of the most accessible routes for businesses to reach their audience. The important things to keep in mind are to note the company's demographic, finding a management system that helps the company engage with its followers, creating a close community on all of the company's channels, and enlisting the help of a social media expert to improve strategy and create campaigns.

question: What are some examples of the results of growing one's social media marketing?


text:
[detwater]

A list was finally published of some of the top commercial water customers with delinquent accounts. They have ranged from companies who have been in trouble in the past with Michigan’s Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) to individuals who seem to have attempted business ventures that failed. What is most surprising is that among the top 40 delinquent commercial accounts there is a cluster in Midtown and Downtown – the newly named “Innovation District.”

The Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD),a not-for-profit by Michigan mandate, estimates that 18,073 commercial accounts make up about $26 million of the deficit or almost a quarter of accounts past due.

We looked into a few of these corporations and found some odd things:

-   Vargo Golf– with the highest amount past due, manages six golf courses in metro Detroit with three in the City of Detroit – Palmer, Rouge, and Chandler.
-   Borman LLC was taken to court in 2010 for defaulting on a commercial mortgage, the property at 18718 Borman St. is a large industrial property located where I-96 and Southfield Fwy meet.
-   Metro Livernois LLC received millions in brownfield redevelopment funds for work on the Metro Plaza Redevelopments, it is unclear what or where that project is
-   State of Michigan-DMB, one of the downtown locations, claims that it doesn’t owe the city this money
-   G F H Enterprises could not be found listed anywhere
-   Brodhead Armory, built 1930, has not been used by the military reserves since 2004. Check out the abandoned building on detroiturbex.

Peruse the full list of data HERE, let us know if you have other information on any of these accounts.

[detroitdata_get]

question: Who has the highest amount past due?

answer: Vargo Golf has the highest amount past due.

question: When was the Brodhead Armory built?

answer: The Brodhead Armory was built in 1930.

question: Who received millions in redevelopment funds?

answer: Metro Livernois LLC received millions in redevelopment funds.

question: Where is there a cluster of delinquent commercial accounts?

answer: There is a cluster of delinquent commercial accounts in the Innovation District.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: There is a large amount of commercial water customers with accounts that are past due. These customers range from large corporations to individuals, and many have not been found.


text:
Bethesda trademarks "an on-going television program set in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world."

A recent Bethesda trademark suggests a TV show based on Fallout could be on the way. According to an application filed on January 8th, Bethesda is seeking a trademark for “an on-going television program set in a post-nuclear apocalyptic world.”The trademark adds a bit of context to a recent tease from Fallout 3 voice actor Erik Todd Dellums, who wrote “to all my Fallout 3 and Three Dog fans: There may be more of the Dog coming! Fingers crossed!” At the time, many assumed Dellums was referring to a new game in the Fallout franchise, but it now appears that the actor may have been referring to the show instead.
We’ve reached out to Bethesda for comment and will update this story with any additional info we receive.
Thanks to Eurogamer for the heads up.
_Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN_.

Was this article informative?

question: What did Bethesda trademark?

answer: A TV show based on Fallout.

question: When was the application filed?

answer: January 8th.

question: What does the trademark add more context for?

answer: The release of Fallout 3.

question: What did people think Erik Todd Dellums was referring to beforehand?

answer: A new game in the Fallout series.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article speculates that Bethesda may have trademarked the rights to a TV show set in the Fallout world due to the comments of actor Erik Todd Dellums.


text:
	Ned Harper was an ordinary man with an ordinary job, which is why it came as no surprise that this particular Tuesday began like any other; he was running late. Ned whipped his beige Toyota into the gravel parking lot of the Ashland train station and skid to a rock-flinging halt.  The clock outside read 4:38 AM, 3 minutes after his train to was scheduled to depart.  “Please be running late,” he exclaimed as he snatched his suitcase from the passenger seat and belted towards the small white station that doubled as the Ashland visitor center.  The November air was icy cold and it bit at his cheeks and burned his lungs as he flung open the door of the building. “Has the 4:35 to Atlanta left yet?” he asked the small aging woman behind the ticket counter. Her gray hair was pulled back in a tight bun and she seemed too embroiled in removing a hangnail from her thumb to hear him.

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” she asked, looking up at Ned.

“The 4:35 train to Atlanta, has it left yet?”

“Yes, sir; I’m afraid you’ve just missed it. It was running ahead of schedule and departed about 10 minutes ago. Could I get you another ticket?”

“No, no that won’t be necessary” Ned replied, the disappointment evident in his voice. “Is there a public phone I could use? I forgot to charge my cellphone and I need to ring my manager to have him schedule another through our office.”

“Certainly, sir. Just outside on the platform, second door to your left.”

“Thanks.”

Ned picked up his suitcase and headed in the direction the woman had indicated. Although he’d only been inside a few moments, the Virginia air shocked him as it cut through his thick business jacket when he stepped outside. Even more surprising, Ned was immediately confronted with the sight of a hulking gray locomotive looming out of the dim, pre-dawn air of the platform. A tall, thin man in a dark blue uniform with brightly polished buttons leaned from one of its doors. He smiled warmly as Ned jogged up to the side.

“Excuse me, sir,” Ned asked. “Where is this train going?”

“Why, we’re on our way to Atlanta, son,” he said with a long southern drawl. “That where you’re headin’?”

“Oh thank God,” Ned sighed, relieved at the fortunate turn of events. “Yes, I’m going to Atlanta.”

“Well, step right up and we’ll get ‘ya there in a jiffy. Just grab a seat and tha’ inspector will be by shortly to check ‘ya ticket.”

“Thank you so much,” Ned replied and stepped inside.

	Faded teal paint coated the walls, starkly contrasted by bronze curtains on the windows and dark brown seats along both sides of the car. There were no other passengers save for a young man in an olive-green uniform seated across from a young black girl in a dress. Ned picked a seat one row down from them and settled in for a long day. He’d made the trip to Atlanta before, last year when he’d attended a restaurant equipment convention for work. This time it was for a corporate meeting at his company’s headquarters. Trimark U.S.A. had just opened a new showroom in Virginia and Ned was traveling down to personally meet with the chief financial officer to deliver their first annual sales report. It had been quite a year; they’d blown away every estimate they’d received from the company and Ned was excited he’d been chosen as the one to break the good news. He eyed the car’s other two passengers. The young soldier’s uniform seemed different from those he’d seen before. Then again, it seemed to him the military changed their clothes as often as where they fought. The train lurched away from the station and they spent the next hour or so in silence, the young girl reading a book, the soldier dozing off and on, and Ned reading the newspaper he’d packed the night before. Finally, after finishing the last of the sports page, he decided to strike up a conversation with the man in the next row over.

“How long have you been in?” he asked the young soldier.

“A little over a year,” he replied. His shortly cropped blonde hair and smooth face made him look young. Ned thought he couldn’t have been more than 19 at most.

“Did you sign up right out of high school?” he asked.

“No, sir. Got drafted as soon as I dropped out. I’ve been pretty lucky so far though. I took artillery shrapnel to the leg my first day in theater and so I’ve been working the supply lines and haven’t been sent to the front. I’m only home now because both my brothers were killed so they gave me a month of R&R to see my folks.”

*That’s strange*, Ned thought. *I didn’t know the Taliban had artillery. Although, with the way the Russians were selling things off at the end of the Cold War I’m not surprised some of it made its way to Afghanistan. And what does he mean, “drafted?”* “Sorry to hear that,” he offered. “My condolences to you and your parents.”

They were interrupted by the door at the end of the car opening to admit the ticket inspector. His handlebar mustache and pocketwatch marked him as someone fond of antique fashions. Ned checked his own to see how long they’d been traveling but was shocked to see it still read 4:39 AM. *Must have banged it getting on,* he thought to himself.
“Excuse me, sir,” he asked the inspector as he handed him his ticket. “Do you happen to have the time?”

“10 ‘till 6,” the man replied. “Looks like we’re right on schedule.”

“Thanks,” Ned said as he watched the inspector punch holes in the tickets of the other two passengers and move to the next car. “What about you?” he asked the young girl. “Visiting family as well?” She set her book down in her lap and smoothed the long folds of her skirt around her legs.

“No, sir. My mama’s sendin’ me to live with my aunt in Little Rock. She says they just started letting black folks go to the schools down there and they better ‘n the ones at home.”

“Surely the schools there have been integrated for quite some time now, haven’t they?” Ned asked quizzically.

“No, sir. Mama said not since the President sent the Army down there last year and made ‘em open ‘em up.”

“Well, that’s nice” he said. Confusion and worry crept onto his face over the next half hour as he began to wonder what was going on. *Is she messing with me?* he thought. *I think I need some air.* He stood and walked to the end of the car, intent on finding a place where he could open a window. As he neared the door he encountered the inspector returning to the front of the train.

“Um, what time is it, again?” Ned asked, his mind reeling with confusion.
The inspector pulled out his watch.

“10 ‘till 6,” the man replied. “Looks like we’re right on schedule.”

title: Wrote this for one of my graduate classes. Thought I'd see what you guys thought. It's called "Out of Time."

question: Explain what happens to Ned in the story

answer: Ned is trying to get to Atlanta for a meeting with the C.F.O of his company, but he misses his train since it left ahead of schedule. Ned manges to board another train and is in a car with a young black woman and a soldier. After an hour Ned talks to the other travellers and begins to realize something is wrong.

question: Describe the clues that Ned sees suggesting he is outside of his own time.

answer: The train he boards is old fashioned and the other travellers are dressed unusually for the time. Ned's watch has stopped and the ticket inspector tells Ned that the time is '10 'till 6' on two separate occasions.

question: Who are the other travellers?

answer: A soldier who was drafted when he dropped out of school, and a young black woman being sent to live with her aunt so that she can attend an integrated school.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A man misses his train and boards another, only to discover that he is travelling on a train that is mixed up in time.


text:
Bitter tastes leave me awake at odd hours of the morning; frigid sheet's and raw eye's. Tried as I may, the ice was thick; the ice was so god damn thick. Year's have past by since that fateful autumn noon. The faint embrace of a hand slowly slipping from mine, the faint terror in reality; the horror in knowing, not I, or anyone on looking, could stop what wouldn't, or what couldn't happen.

Fall is a time for many, in which, our love seeks tribune. It wishes too be remembered. Faint tales and soft whisperers, radiant eyes hosting a lousing abode; yes, fall's a time for the heart to travel old paths, and forge anew. Lost in the essence of memories. A heart travels many paths; contingent upon time, it was never meant to be bound by physical restraints; by time, or distance. A love known is a love lost. As long as it exists in the past and not the present. And now here I sit, tapping on my conscious backdoor, waiting to see her enter as she did many times before. The sound of a voice, playing in her entry, as she strode across the fabric of my being. Foot steps in the snow, leaves beneath her feet, winter's past you leave me haunted once again, with what was, or what may never be.

"My hand wishes to dance; dance it may, with pen, key, brush stroke in hand, lay out the facets of my imagination. Depicted in euphemism's, transcending the artists paradox of form. Dimensions matter, they do not, as long as you create. As long as dreams teem, as long as the heart spills forth; who is to put an end too the souls own ambitions. Our nature; my nature, what is understood, and what is lost in between; walls', sheets, lilac encrusted foliage crunching beneath my feet. Old growth gives way, so regrowth can take place. The cycle of our existence. It's nothing less and nothing more than what it is, and what has always been."

Words and form, a perfect pose was desired. If creation was at hand, then it was mine I would have admired. Treachery in forging, a sentence not your's, Winter's past, gave birth to Autumns depravity; and the hands wasted talent no more.

title: It's a confusing story.

question: How does the narrator present their ideas?

answer: They use the seasons as a reference to the change they have experienced in other parts of their life.

question: Is the narrator talking about love?

answer: In part, yes. They makes reference to a woman walking into their conscious back door.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator lyricises the feeling of change.


text:
This is the final part of my Inspiration Point Christmas hunt outfit series. There are a few items that I haven’t shown in this series because a few are different colours of the same item but if you’d like to see all of the hunt prizes you can find, just click here for an overview!

Both of these dresses are special colours of past Collabor88 items from The secret store and Color.me.HOF! I feel that both of these adorable dresses would make lovely sophisticated Christmas party outfits if you glam it up with some gold accessories and of course an obligatory Jingle Bell headband from Le Poppycock!) The pose I’m showing you above with a little photoshop trickery and a cloning machine (hehe) is the couple pose hunt prize from Kirin I spoke briefly about in my first post. Great for best friends!

The Jingle bell headbands are only 15L$ from Le Poppycock and come in a few different colours. But you can also tint the colours yourself if you need it to match that special party dress this season! Also from Le Poppycock are the lipstick kiss face tattoo and the mistletoe which come together in the set. The mistletoe has a few different poses in it so you can surprise people with a Christmas smooch (not shown) while you’re out and about. And finally the poses above are part of a big fatpack of poses called Wine & Cheese at Le Poppycock and, as you can probably guess, they’re all named after fancy cheeses and posh wines (a few poses make you look like you’ve been on the sherry too!)

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this little mini-series of outfits you can make out of the very versatile pieces from the Inspiration Point Christmas Hunt. If you missed the other parts just click the links below!

Part 1

Part 2

*X*

question: What is the article about?

answer: The writer lists down several items that can be used for Christmas themed outfits.

question: What is the writer asking the reader to click on, And what poses are they referring to?

answer: The contents are originally written for a webpage and thus refer to links and images not seen in the excerpt.

question: What are the two items being talked about?

answer: One is the Jingle Bell headband which come in different colors. No details were given as to whether the headband has actual bells. The second is a face tattoo of a lipstick kiss mark that is supposed to allude to the Christmas tradition of kissing under a mistletoe. What makes the mark more Christmas-themed than a generic non-themed kiss mark is not stated.

question: Why does the writer refer to the items are outfits even if they are two simple accessories?

answer: It is possibly because there are photos of the items being used in tandem with other articles of clothing that completes a "Christmas" look.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The writer suggests that for anyone wanting to have a Christmas-themed look, to wear a Jingle Bells headband and a Mistletoe kiss mark tattoo.


text:
_ARMY OF SHADOWS: PALESTINIAN COLLABORATION WITH ZIONISM, 1917–1948_ is a book published in 2004 by Hillel Cohen. It is about the sale of land and other co-operation between Arabs and Jews in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel.[1]

Overview

In this book, Cohen, a scholar at the Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, documents the thousands of Arabs, ranging from wealthy absentee landlords to fellahin smallholders, who sold land to Zionist organizations. He shows that everyone understood that control of land was a necessary precondition to fulfillment of national goals, both Jewish and Arab. Cohen explains the varied motives of sellers: some wanted money, and some sold land or acted as intelligence agents for the Zionists even while they publicly denounced land sales, but there were also non-monetary motivations. Some thought that co-operating with the Zionists would improve the life of their clans and villages. Others thought that since it was impossible to defeat the Zionists, it was wiser to co-operate with them. Others were committed nationalists who believed that staying on the land was paramount and that working for and co-operating with the Zionists was the strategy that would enable them to stay on the land. Others were driven to collaborate with the Zionists or with the British out of their intense hatred for Hajj Amin al-Husayni.[2]

Cohen sees the Arabs of Mandatory Palestine as being split between two positions. There were those who agreed with Husayni that all of Palestine must remain Arab and the Zionists must be fought, and there were those who argued that the Zionists were too powerful to be defeated and so the path of wisdom lay in some sort of co-existence.[3]

According to Cohen, the Husayni clan tried to rid itself of opposition beginning in the 1920s. In 1929, Sheikh Musa Hadeib was murdered near the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. In the 1929 Palestine riots, Husayni spread the falsehood that the Jews intended to tear down the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a shrine on the Temple Mount. Over the course of the next decade, Husayni had 1000 Arabs murdered, 500 in 1938 alone. In 1939, the Husaynis were paying 100 Palestine pounds to assassins who murdered important “traitors”, 25 pounds for petty “traitors” and 10 pounds for murdering a Jew.[4]

Husyani's methods drove many Arabs to side with and even to fight alongside the Zionists.[5] Perhaps the most shocking allegation in the book is that Husayni often put his own position in Palestinian politics above the interests of the Palestinian nation, most crucially so in 1939. The result was that Husayni rejected the British White Paper of 1939, which reneged on the promise of a Jewish homeland made in the Balfour Declaration and effectively promised the Palestinian Arabs majority rule and independence within a decade. According to Cohen, Husayni rejected the offer because Britain did not guarantee his position as ruler of the Palestinian Arab state that it proposed to create.[6]

Critical acclaim

Writing in _The Nation_, Neve Gordon calls _Army of Shadows_ “groundbreaking” for exposing a “particularly nefarious side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the manipulation of paid Arab collaborators by Zionist organizations.[7] When the book came out, he says it caused a stir among Jewish and Arab intellectuals since both sides found the evidence presented by Cohen unpalatable.[8]

Benny Morris commented on Cohen's view of the integral role of Islam in the Palestinian national identity: “From the first, the nationalism of Palestine's Arabs was blatantly religious. Almost all the 'nationalist' statements Cohen quotes were couched in religious or semi- religious terms. We are dealing here with an Islamic nationalism.”[9] In _The New Republic_ he wrote: "His perspective—and this is one of his book's strengths--is neither pro-Palestinian nor anti-Palestinian, neither pro-Zionist nor anti-Zionist. Cohen argues-—with Talleyrand, who famously quipped that “treason is a matter of dates”—that “treason is ultimately a social construct. Definitions vary with circumstances,” and “collaboration” is “in the eye of the beholder.” So Cohen leaves “the moral and political judgment” to his readers".[10]

The most notable aspect of the book according to Stephen Schwartz, writing in the _Weekly Standard_, is the idea that some Palestinian Arabs refused to take up arms against Israel in 1948 out of hatred for Husayni. According to Cohen, Palestinian Arabs were in no hurry to join the battle: “Only a minority of Arabs were involved in offensive activities, this unwillingness to fight was frequently buttressed by agreements with Jews in nearby settlements.”[11]

[1] Advocacy Corner | The Jewish Exponent

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Shadowplays, by Neve Gordon March 24, 2008, The Nation

[8]

[9]

[10] The Tangled Truth by Benny Morris, the New Republic, May 07, 2008

[11] Stephen Schwartz, The Third Jihad

title: Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917–1948

question: What is the main point of the book being described in the article?

answer: The idea of the book is to show how Arabs and Jews in Palestine co-operated before the establishment of the State of Israel. Cohen describes how the trade of land was an important part of how the Zionists would improve their lives. Jews and Arabs worked together to fight against the Husayni clan. The book seems to celebrate the cooperation of the people of Palestine.

question: What does the article say about the Husayni Clan's role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

answer: The Husayni clan wanted all of Palestine to remain Arab, they murdered Sheikh Musa Hadeib in 1929. The clan spread the rumor that the Jews were intending to tear down the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, a shrine of the Temple Mount. The Husaynis paid assassins to murder traitors and less specifically Jews, which led to many Arabs joining the Zionists to fight against them.


text:
1.  Longtime Bat-gamers can consider Batman Begins the cave-engineered antidote to the Bat-crap that’s been dropping on consoles in recent years.

    -   Read full review

2.  3.  At least it’s easy on the eyes and ears: Batman Begins looks remarkably good, from twilight environments that make for a spooky Gotham City to some surprisingly impressive character models.

    -   All this publication's reviews
    -   Read full review

4.  Had the develop[ers] only thought about what it was doing a little bit more it could have made an astonishingly good game using the source material provided.

5.  Where the game really succeeds, however, beyond providing a robust and solid, if unassuming model of explorative stealth and attack, is in fulfilling that old and oft-forgotten criterion - putting the gamer inside the movie. [Aug 2005, p.95]

6.  Could anyone take less risks designing a license action-adventure? Nice graphics and sound, but super simplistic gameplay. Also super boring. [Sept. 05]

7.  You've basically got a barely interactive "Splinter Cell for Dummies." [Sept 2005, p.91]

See all 41 Critic Reviews

1.

     I'm just an occasional gamer. I've never played Splinter Cell, I LOVE burn out. But this is EVERYTHING I've ever wanted in a I'm just an occasional gamer. I've never played Splinter Cell, I LOVE burn out. But this is EVERYTHING I've ever wanted in a Batman game. Sneaking around, climbing things, dropping down on people and beating the info out of them. As a Batman fan I LOVE it.… Expand

2.

     This game is a batman game you will not stop playing on. It had everything I wanted and still does, stealth, interrigate, you even make them This game is a batman game you will not stop playing on. It had everything I wanted and still does, stealth, interrigate, you even make them scared by using the enviroment! My rating is 10/10 A must buy.… Expand

3.

4.

     THE best movie to game translation ever. Unfortunately it is short...but while it lasts it is graphically superb, with excellent controls, THE best movie to game translation ever. Unfortunately it is short...but while it lasts it is graphically superb, with excellent controls, great storyline and voiceovers...a must have.… Expand

5.

    Batman hasn't been known for having good games, but this game changes that bad rep, it's just so much fun to play, the graphics, sound, andBatman hasn't been known for having good games, but this game changes that bad rep, it's just so much fun to play, the graphics, sound, and controls are great, it has fun racing areas, and fun stealth scare tactics like gameplay, the only flaw is the camera, it rarely works with you, this is one you want to pick up if your a Batman fan, or just like good games, a blast to play.… Expand

6.

7.

    Could be a lot better if it wasn't so low-paced, but still the best Batman game on the console and it would be recommended to be played byCould be a lot better if it wasn't so low-paced, but still the best Batman game on the console and it would be recommended to be played by anyone who's into adventure games and super-hero games, but only if clunky controls doesn't bother you that much he's just less responsive than what's expected, it isn't terrible.… Expand

8.

    Rubbish it is so poor i burnt the disk and completed it in 3 hours.

See all 36 User Reviews

question: Why can longtime bat-gamers consider Batman Begins the cave-engineered antidote?

answer: According to some reviewers, Batman isn't known for good games. Batman Begins changed that perception.

question: What does the author mean by "Bat-crap"?

answer: Based off of the reviews, most Batman games in the past weren't very good.

question: What makes Batman Begins easy on the eyes and ears?

answer: Some reviewers describe the game's graphics as very good. One reviewer says the game has surprisingly impressive character models.

question: What is one positive response from a critic review?

answer: One critic describes the game as a Batman game someone won't stop playing.

question: What is a negative critique of the game?

answer: Some reviewers say the game is short.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: At the time of this document, the game Batman Begins was released. This document provides reviews of the game. It's mostly described as better than most Batman games with good graphics, but a short game time.