text:
The CITY OF PARIS DRY GOODS COMPANY (later CITY OF PARIS) was one of San Francisco's most important department stores from 1850 to 1976, located diagonally opposite Union Square. In the mid-20th century it opened a few branches in other cities of the Bay Area. The main San Francisco store was demolished in 1980 after a lengthy preservation fight to build a new Neiman Marcus, although the store's original rotunda and glass dome were preserved and incorporated into the new design.[1]

Origins

[The sign on the building's roof] The store's history is rooted in the 1849 California Gold Rush. The company was founded by Felix and Emile Verdier in May 1850 [2] when Emile arrived in the San Francisco Harbor on a chartered ship, the _Ville de Paris_ (City of Paris), loaded with silks, laces, fine wines, champagne, and Cognac. Verdier brothers had previously owned a silk-stocking manufacturer in Nîmes and Paris in France. The citizens of San Francisco quickly surrounded the ship with rowboats and purchased all the goods without them ever being unloaded from the ship. Many purchases were made with bags of gold dust. Emile Verdier quickly returned to France and loaded the ship bound for San Francisco arriving in 1851, where he opened a small waterfront store at 152 Kearney Street called the City of Paris. The store's Latin motto (_Fluctuat nec mergitur_, “It floats and never sinks”) was borrowed from the city seal of Paris.

The store's final and best-known location was a Beaux-Arts building designed by architect Clinton Day, built in 1896 on the corner of Geary and Stockton streets across from Union Square.[3]

The Verdier family initially created a famous restaurant in Paris in 1839 La Maison Dorée by Louis Verdier and then the Etablissements Gaston Verdier (textile industry in France).[4]

Branches and offshoots

The San Diego branch of the City of Paris opened in 1886 in the Bancroft Building on the southeast corner of Fifth and G Streets in what is now the Gaslamp Quarter. The building was designed by San Francisco architect Clinton Day.[5]

In the 1940s City of Paris opened a branch in the outlying Vallejo, California, and other locations around the Bay Area.

French emigre Auguste Fusenot (French Consul in Los Angeles 1898–1907)[6] arrived in the U.S. in 1873 and soon became a partner in the City of Paris Dry Goods Co. After learning the business, he founded the Ville de Paris department store on Broadway in Los Angeles in 1893. It would later become the B. H. Dyas Co. and in the 1930s it would go out of business, its two locations becoming The Broadway Hollywood and Myer Siegel (downtown).[7]

There was also an unrelated City of Paris (Los Angeles) dry goods emporium from 1874 to 1897.

San Francisco earthquake

The building was one of the few in the neighborhood to survive the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and ensuing firestorm, although the interior was badly damaged by fire. The interior was redesigned by John Bakewell and Arthur J. Brown after the earthquake, and rebuilt with an opulent central rotunda capped with a stained glass dome.[8] The store reopened in 1909, moving from a temporary location in the Hobart Mansion on Van Ness Avenue. Also in 1909, the store established the tradition of placing a huge Christmas tree in the center of the rotunda, thereafter recognized as the city's official Christmas tree.

The City of Paris maintained a connection with French culture reflected in the store's décor and merchandise. The Verdier Cellars stocked many fine French vintages and was the most extensive wine department of any American department store. At the time of Prohibition, the lower level of the store was redesigned as a French village and named Normandy Lane. This concept was borrowed by the across the street neighbor Macy's California where the store's lower level was similarly transformed and named Macy's Cellar. Macy's Cellar was later installed in other Macy divisions' locations. In 1961 when Julia Child and Simone Beck were promoting their just published _Mastering the Art of French Cooking_, they spent an entire day at the store doing cooking demonstrations. The bookseller Brentano's opened a branch within the City of Paris store; it became the largest bookstore west of Denver. The City of Paris had multiple branch stores in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Closure

[City of Paris rotunda dome] The City of Paris remained under the ownership and management of the Verdier family until it closed in March 1972. The store was not bankrupt, but it was losing money. The store building was purchased by Liberty House (Hawaii) and reopened as Liberty House at the City of Paris. Liberty House built a new store at Stockton and O’Farrell streets closing the City of Paris building in 1974 and selling the site to Neiman Marcus. Joseph Magnin operated its clearance center called Magnarama, on the first floor, from 1974–1977. Neiman Marcus' announcement that it planned to demolish the old building to build a flagship department store of its own on the site set off a protracted preservation campaign.[9] Despite being listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as a California Historical Landmark, 66,000 gathered signatures of citizens who wanted the building preserved, and various legal challenges the building was demolished in 1981. The new building, designed by postmodernist architect Philip Johnson, was often disparaged by architecture critics,[10] but over time has become popular with tourists and locals. The architectural centerpiece of the building is the original rotunda and stained glass skylight under a glass dome, preserved and moved to the corner of the building that faces Union Square. The old atrium is sheathed inside a modern glass wall, encircled on the top floor by a restaurant.[11]

Notes

[1]

[2] Généalogie Verdier https://gw.geneanet.org/asimoneton_w?lang=en&m=N&v=VERDIER

[3]

[4] https://www.facebook.com/lefildesoie1/

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

title: City of Paris Dry Goods Co.

question: What does the article say about the City of Paris Department Store locations?

answer: The original City of Paris was a ship that sold its load at the San Francisco dock. The next year, Emile Verdier opened a shop with the same name at 152 Kearney Street. The most famous location was on the corner of Geary and Stockton streets across Union Square. City of Paris opened its first branch office in San Diego in 1886 in the Bancroft Building. It opened more branch stores in Vallejo, California, and other locations around the Bay Area. The original building was one of the few buildings that survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the fire. It remained open until City of Paris closed in March 1972.

question: What does the article say about the influence of the store?

answer: In addition to being a national store with many branches, the San Francisco store became culturally important. The building survived the earthquake and the fire in 1906, and its redesign included a Christmas tree under a stained-glass dome. The tree was recognized as the official tree of the city. After the store closed, and the building came into the possession of Neiman Marcus, the building was demolished despite being a historical landmark in California, and the preservation protests of 60,000 people. However, the new building kept the original rotunda and stained glass dome at its corner.

question: What does the article say about Ile de France?


split: train

text:
The HUNDRED OF STRATHALBYN is a cadastral division of the County of Hindmarsh in South Australia. It lies west of the Adelaide Hills and east of Lake Alexandrina and includes at its southwestern extremity the town of Strathalbyn. Its name is derived from that used for a sub-division granted in 1841. No definitive derivation for the subdivision of Strathalbyn name is known but it is deemed probable that John Rankine or his brother William provided the name with the meaning given as “white valley” from the Scottish _srath_ and _albion_.[1] Mount Barker Creek forms much of the northern hundred boundary while the Bremer River forms the eastern border.

[Plan of the Hundred of Strathalbyn in 1964]

The localities of Highland Valley, Red Creek, Salem and the township of Woodchester are also within the hundred along with parts of Belvidere, Bletchley, Gemmells, Hartley, and Langhorne Creek. Parts of the Bugle Ranges, Mount Barker, Mount Barker Springs, Petwood and Wistow localities also overlap the northwestern part of the hundred.[2]

Local government

The District Council of Strathalbyn was established within the south of the hundred in 1854. The Corporated Town of Strathalbyn seceded in 1868 to formed dedicated local government for the township until it re-amalgamated with the district council in 1976.[3] In 1997 the Strathalbyn council was dissolved and absorbed into the new and much larger Alexandrina Council.

[1]

[2]

[3]

title: Hundred of Strathalbyn

question: What is the Hundred of Strathalbyn?

answer: It is a cadastral division of the County of Hindmarsh in South Australia?

question: What does the name Strathalbyn possibly mean?

answer: The name Strathalbyn possibly means "white valley".

question: When was the District Council of Strathalbyn established?

answer: It was established in 1854.

question: Where is the Hundred of Strathalbyn located?

answer: It is located west of Adelaide Hills and east of Lake Alexandrina.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article describes the Hundred of Strathalbyn, along with the many beautiful places it is surrounded by and the local government creation of the town of Strathalbyn.


text:
Jack was a happy man. He had a good wife, a good son who took care of him, a good job, and a good house. Jack was a happy man. He wore sharp suits, gold watches, silk ties. Jack was a happy man. He hosted parties and everyone came. He never forgot anyone’s name. He had six Mustangs in his garage that he never drove, and two that he did. Jack was a happy man. He got along with his in-laws, his parents visited him often. Jack was a happy man.

One day Jack went to a train station. He didn’t have a ticket, but he wanted to go to the train station. He walked to the train station and saw many people he knew on the way to the train station. The people smiled and waved at Jack, and Jack smiled and waved at them. Jack was a happy man. When Jack got to the train station, he had to wait for a little bit, because someone he knew was waiting for a train. Jack knew most people. Jack was a happy man. Jack and his friend talked for a long while about sports, the weather, and politics. Jack’s friend told Jack he should run for mayor, because he was smarter than the current mayor. Jack said he’d consider it. Jack was a happy man.

Jack’s friend boarded the train that pulled in at the station. Jack’s friend waved good bye. Jack waved good bye. Jack knew the conductor, and they waved to each other. The train left the station. Jack was a happy man. Jack took off his hat and coat. He looked around and saw a homeless man. Jack gave the homeless man his hat and coat, and, as an afterthought, his wallet as well. There were four hundred dollar bills and three fifty dollar bills in that wallet. Jack was a happy man. Jack looked down the tunnel, and he saw his train approaching. Jack was a happy man. The train was almost to the station when Jack stepped directly in front of it. At his funeral, Jack’s family was confused. Jack had never had a problem in his life, everything was easy for Jack. They all said “but Jack was a happy man.”

title: Jack Was a Happy Man (trying out a new kind of different style, feedback appreciated!)

question: Who is the main character in this story?

answer: Jack. He is an accomplished man with a family, successful career and friends.

question: Explain why Jack committed suicide?

answer: It is not clear from the text. It is stated multiple time that he was a happy man.

question: Was Jack a happy man?

answer: He committed suicide, he wanted to escape from his perfect life. He was not happy.

question: What are the things that defines Jack's happiness?

answer:
According to the author: Wife, son, job, house, cars, suits, watches, ties, parties, friends, family.
Jack wanted to escape from this definition.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Jack is a happy man by all accounts. He has a good wife, good son. He has a good job, house, cars and friends. Jack goes to the train station, on his way there he greets and speaks to multiple people. He hands his jacket, hat and wallet to a homeless man and steps in front of an oncoming train. At his funeral no one understands what happened and why it happened because Jack was a happy man.


text:
Unfamiliar street signs cite flower names, and I’d like to stop and appreciate the irony of the street consisting of tenements and uneven concrete slathers forming the dilapidated earth below my feet, but I can’t. The pavement is slipping under my feet fast as I desperately search for something. Anything. As much as I love flowers, I have no idea where I am. Rose, Lilac, Daisy: all useless to me. Third time tonight I’ve had to laugh at the irony of it all. Third time I’ve circled around here.

Second time I’ve gotten lost out here. Incomprehensible maps, my own poor sense of direction, every person who I run into either wanting money or not knowing where anything is because they refer to the city as “Frisco”; the night is stacked against me. And I have to be home. I have to be at the station at the stroke of tomorrow. When the clock strikes midnight, Cinderella won’t just lose everything: she’ll be stranded in the city.

I don’t know where I’m going, and it shows. I’ve run past that same homeless person three times. He’s laughing at me now, like he’s the one who has everything figured out. Like his place below the graphitized overhang of a restaurant closed up with a heavy, rusted gate is so much better than the home I have to go back to. But he’s right. It is. He knows that his place on the uneven pavement is his. I only know that every step I take marks one more stretch of land that isn’t mine. I’m lost; he has already found everything that he needs, even if he doesn’t know where his next meal will come from. I want to spit at him, but I can’t. I respect him too much.

Streetlights stare down at me condescendingly, the area of blackness between their diffuse spheres of influence giving me a feeling of insecurity as I cut corners with an indeterminate path in mind. It’s as if they’re mocking me, guiding me along through the abyss of lost-ness only to say “Ha! I’ve got you!” when I realize that I’m back at the same market that I passed five minutes ago. I’m misguided, listening to light and watching the scenes change as if I’m helpless, lost in my own body as much as the body of the city.

I run past a middle aged black man twirling a cane awkwardly and mumbling to himself. He extends a hand out to me just as I am about to pass. I stop to shake it. What’s going anywhere when you’re lost? I can feel the calluses of a life either well lived or wasted away, and the decrepit man smiles back at me. “Hi, I’m James.” He’s complaining about a pinched nerve in his leg and something about getting home. I can half understand him. The topic turns to money. $2.27. I laugh. Tell him to walk with me. I’ll break a twenty at the corner store.

It’s cold outside. Glad I brought a jacket, but the sweat staining my jean legs makes the night breeze chill me to the bone. James won’t stop complaining about being cold. And his pinched nerve. “Been there, done that” I tell him. And all I want to ask him is if he knows Ginsberg. America, two dollars twenty-seven cents January 17, 1956. America, stop pushing, I know what I’m doing. America, I’m putting my queer shoulder to the wheel.

I envy Ginsberg sometimes. I envy homeless people sometimes. Old story of Ginsberg and his shrink, Phillip Hicks: “What would you like to do?” “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I really would like to stop working forever—never work again, never do anything like the work I’m doing now—and do nothing but write poetry and have leisure and to spend the day outdoors and go to museums and see friends.” “If that is what you really feel would please you, what in the world is stopping you from doing it?”

I ask James. James says that he knows Ginsberg. James doesn’t know Ginsberg. James knows Ginsberg. Ginsberg is where he’s going after he gets a few bucks off of the sucker taking him to the corner store.

James doesn’t exist anymore, and I don’t have a twenty. I have a ten and a five. But I don’t have two dollars and twenty-seven cents. I don’t want to have two dollars and twenty-seven cents right now. A month ago, I read about Romeo talking about money being poison. And for this guy, my money might very well to prove to be his poison of choice. It might not. At least he knows what he wants. At least he knows where he’s going.

The streets are nearly empty, rare for the city at this hour, yet every streetlight is still lit up. False beacons of direction leading me everywhere and nowhere. And yet, as I walk out of that corner store, I see brighter lights, the road to the BART station and then home. For now, it’s salvation from the unknown. But I don’t know if it’s my path. The one I want to take. But tonight, it’s the one I have to take. Probably going to be the same path tomorrow. But one of these days, I’ll make my own path. I’ll be the Ginsberg of my generation. I’ll be the James with the calluses in my hands. I’ll be who I want to be. But tonight, I’m taking the yellow line back home. Good night San Francisco.

Constructive criticism and general feedback are greatly appreciated.

title: Direction (Meditation on being lost, the wonder years, Ginsberg, homelessness and the future)

question: What is the main impediment to the narrator getting home?

answer: He does not know his way home and no one ain the area seems to know how either.


text:
UPDATE as of 2:15 p.m.

Officials with the city of Broussard fired back this afternoon at a proposal to extend Lafayette Utilities System's fiber optics network to other cities in Lafayette Parish.

A statement was sent to The Daily Advertiser by public relations specialist Amy Jones on behalf of Johnnie Foco, Broussard councilman-at-large and mayor pro-temp that said:

"There is no way we are going to give LUS the money to extend their fiber lines in Broussard for them to profit off of our infrastructure and the business of our citizens.

"If they are not financially solvent enough to be able to lay down the infrastructure necessary to expand their services, then they are not prepared to grow."

Broussard has more than 700 businesses and thousands of residents, making it attractive to LUS Fiber operations, Foco said in the statement.

"But the same rules and conditions that apply for other Internet providers will apply to LUS. We wouldn't pay for infrastructure for LUS's competitors," he added.

Companies like Cox Communications "have made the infrastructure investment because it is good for their bottom line. If LUS wants to be seen as a major player in the technology world, then they need to act like it as well," Foco's statement concluded.

Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel on Wednesday announced a proposal to expand LUS fiber optics lines to other municipalities in the parish. But Broussard was basically excluded because Durel's plan requires any municipality to have an annexation agreement with Lafayette and be a "good neighbor."

Broussard does not have an annexation agreement with Lafayette and has gone to court with Lafayette over annexations. Broussard and LUS also clashed when LUS discovered Broussard, which buys water from LUS, was not being charged at one meter.

LUS Director Terry Huval said LUS Fiber will not pay for or incur debt to extend fiber optics outside the city of Lafayette. It will be up to each city to pay for the lines, he said.

UPDATE:

A proposal announced Wednesday to offer Lafayette Utilities System Fiber high-speed internet service outside the city does not include unincorporated parts of the parish, LUS Director Terry Huval said.

The only way other cities will get fiber optics is if that city finds a way to pay to extend the LUS lines, he said. LUS will not incur debt or make an investment outside the city because the 2004 bond to fund fiber is a city one, Huval said.

LUS Fiber has been extended along every street in the city of Lafayette that existed in the city at the time the 2004 bond was approved by voters, Huval said. The bond sale generated enough money to lay fiber on streets that existed in 2004, not beyond, he said.

Since then, new subdivisions have been added and areas annexed into the city of Lafayette. Those areas do not have LUS Fiber at this time, Huval said. That's a small percentage and the plan is to ultimately get there, he said.

Residents of apartment complexes in the city of Lafayette also don't have LUS Fiber. Huval said the apartment complex owners have to want it.

Apartments aren't on city streets, so fiber was not extended to them. Several complexes in the city worked with LUS Fiber and offer it to their residents, Huval said.

But other apartment owners, particularly those owned by businesses from outside Lafayette, have package deals with other providers like AT&T or Cox Communications to serve all of their apartments, Huval said. In some cases, the apartment complex owner gets a commission from the private provider, he said.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Municipalities outside the city of Lafayette and outside the parish -- to the possible exclusion of Broussard -- may soon have the opportunity to connect to high-speed Internet service through LUS Fiber.

City-Parish President Joey Durel made the announcement Wednesday in his final State of the Parish Address.

Businesses in the city of Youngsville could be the first to connect to Lafayette Utilities System Fiber, but the city's leaders have to find a way to pay the cost of extending the fiber lines, LUS Director Terry Huval said. The project must not add debt to the LUS Fiber system, he said.

Broussard Mayor Charles Langlinais' poor relationship with Durel and the city of Lafayette may cost that city the opportunity for LUS Fiber because of prerequisites which include being a "good neighbor" to Lafayette and having an annexation agreement with Lafayette.

"Considering that we are currently in the process of executing infrastructure projects that extend into Lafayette at no cost to the city of Lafayette, we are confident that we meet the qualifications of a good neighbor," Amy Jones, a public relations spokesperson wrote on behalf of Langlinais in response to The Daily Advertiser's request for comment.

"And considering Broussard is the second largest tax base in the parish, not extending LUS Fiber to Broussard would not make financial sense. We look forward to working with Lafayette now and for many years to come," she concluded.

Durel is entering his final year of his third term as leader of Lafayette Consolidated Government. Term limits prevent him from seeking re-election.

In his final State of the Parish Address Wednesday, part of TheInd Lecture Series, Durel reflected on his administration's achievements and discussed unfinished business.

Offering affordable high-speed Internet service to residents and businesses in the city of Lafayette via Lafayette Utilities System's fiber optics network was one of the first big issues the Durel administration tackled after taking office.

[Lafayette City-Parish President Joey Durel delivers his State of the Parish address at the Cajundome Convention Center in Lafayette, LA, February 5, 2014.]

question: What is LUS?

answer: LUS is a fiber optics company. It is Lafayette Utility Systems Fiber.

question: Who are LUS's competitors?

answer: Cox Communications and AT&T.

question: What are the conditions under which LUS will expand to other cities in the Lafayette Parish?

answer: Any city must have an annexation agreement with Lafayette and be a "good neighbor."

question: What is the controversy covered in the article?

answer: LUS wants to expand its service to the city of Broussard. LUS wants [the city of] Broussard to pay for the infrastructure for their expansion. Broussard says that LUS needs to pay for the expansion as its competitors have had to.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: LUS, Lafayette Utility Systems Fiber, is a fiber optics company that wants to expand its services to other municipalities in Lafayette parish, including the city of Broussard. LUS wants [the city of] Broussard to pay for the infrastructure for their expansion. Broussard says that LUS needs to pay for the expansion as its competitors have had to.


text:
[Attorney General Brian E. Frosh]

Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (Lloyd Fox / Baltimore Sun)

Maryland’s Attorney General Brian E. Frosh announced plans Thursday to file a lawsuit challenging the legality of part the new federal tax law that disproportionately hurts high tax states like Maryland.

Frosh said he intends to join a New York-led lawsuit challenging the new $10,000 cap on deducting state and local taxes, which Frosh said “disrupts the longstanding balance of taxing power between the states and the federal government.”

That deduction, known as SALT, was previously uncapped and allowed Maryland residents to reduce their taxable bills by accounting for all the money paid in state and local income and property taxes.

With the cap in place, 554,000 Maryland residents will lose an average of $11,800 in deductions, according to a recent report from the Maryland comptroller.

New Jersey and Connecticut have also announced planes to join the lawsuit, which Frosh said he expects to be filed within weeks.

Frosh said the suit will make several arguments, but the primary one is the cap violates state sovereignty.

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“Essentially what they’ve done is make it harder for states to support themselves,” Frosh said.

He quoted framer Alexander Hamilton, architect of the state’s financial system and the country’s first treasury secretary, from The Federalist Papers saying that “states should possess an independent and uncontrollable authority to raise their own revenues for the supply of their own wants. … an attempt on the part of the national government to abridge them in the exercise of it, would be a violent assumption of power.”

Frosh said that this state sovereignty idea “is something that the framers had in mind from the beginning.”

Frosh, a Democrat, has initiated or joined more than 20 lawsuits against the federal government since last year, when the General Assembly expanded his powers and allowed him to file suits without the governor’s approval.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan told reporters Thursday Frosh has not discussed this latest suit with him.

“I have no idea what the legality of that is,” Hogan said. “I don’t think it has much of a chance.”

-   Brian Frosh
-   Maryland General Assembly
-   Larry Hogan

Recommended on Baltimore Sun

question: Why does Brian E. Frosh want to file a lawsuit against the federal government?

answer: He opposes the latest cap placed on tax deductions, which hurts high tax states like Maryland disproportionately.

question: Explain the reasoning behind the unfairness allegation of the tax deduction caps.

answer: The $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions from the federal taxes means that half a million Maryland residents are expected to lose $11,800 each on average. This kind of problem doesn't exist for low tax states.

question: Why does Frosh initiate or join so many federal lawsuits?

answer: He is a proponent of state sovereignty. Last year, the General Assembly expanded his powers to allow him to file lawsuits without the governor's approval.

question: What was the previous tax deduction arrangement?

answer: There was no cap on deducting state and local taxes from the federal tax bill.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Maryland's Attorney General Brian E. Frosh (D) announced plans to file a lawsuit against the new federal tax deduction cap. He argues that this hurts high tax states disproportionately. Frosh's main argument is that the cap violates state sovereignty. Republican Gov. Larry Hogan doesn't think the lawsuit has much of a chance.


text:
*Hello, I wrote this quickly at work this morning after I dreamt about it. Please let me know what you think and any comments or critiques you may have are welcomed.*

**Not Quite Paradise**

It was hot in the garage; the dryer had only just stopped running so the heat hadn’t left yet not that it would matter. Actually come to think of it, it was hot everywhere. Even stepping outside and taking a deep breath feels like a drag on a cigarette without the nicotine. Sweat dripped down my face and back. I should have been used to it by now after having been here for almost a year, but it hasn’t gotten any better.

I pull the clothes from the machine with both arms being careful not to touch the scalding metal sides. I go to close the dryer door when my eyes spot a lone black sock at the back of the dryer. I reach for it. A pulling sensation, like that of two magnets held close together begins to tug at my fingers, then my hands, then my arms, and eventually the rest of my body. The world turns bright white. A loud rushing sound fills my ears.

“Oh god…Not now, I’m not dressed for th---“

*Ooopppfff!* The air escapes from my lungs as I tumble face down onto the black and white tiles of a familiar kitchen. The sudden coldness of the floor against my bare skin sends a chill down my back.
An even more familiar voice breaks the silence, “Good, you’re here. I’m trying to get this jar of pickled radish open, but the lid is stuck. I even ran it under hot water for two minutes.”

“You’re twenty-three years old and you still force me to come here to open a jar for you?” I say while still lying on the ground. Looking up, my eyes passed by pink fluffy puppy slippers, long slender legs, a short light blue apron, and finally the face of a beautiful young woman with long brown hair who was clearly not in the mood for games judging by her scowl.

“Yisssshhhh!” she hissed stamping her puppy slippers on the ground. “If you aren’t going to make yourself useful then you can just go back and stay there.”

“Gimme that jar,” I tell her, picking myself up off the ground. Her kitchen is nice and cool; a stark contrast to my hot and humid garage.

Standing up I am almost a head taller than she is, but the gaze from her large brown eyes makes me feel small and insignificant. She hands me the jar, our fingers brush and I can feel a cool pleasant tingling where our skin touch. I make my way over to one of the drawers, fish out a spoon, and begin using it to tap the edges of the lid, loosening its grip on the jar. It finally pops open and I hand her the pickled radish.

“What are you making anyway?” I ask.

“Gimbap (Korean sushi) you want some?”

My stomach rumbles. It has been a long time since I’ve eaten anything substantial. “Sure! I mean…is it alright? It is allowed?”

“Just sit there,” she says pointing to a stool at the counter.

For the next few minutes I watch her while she prepares the food. She hums, wiggles her hips, and bobs her head as she cooks. I cannot help but stare. Gradually my eyes force their way off of her and towards the window. It is so clear there I checked twice to be sure there was anything there to begin with. Outside the sky is blue, the sun is shining, and tall palm trees sway back and forth against a peaceful ocean in the background. It was beautfiul and I get to be a tiny part of it today.

“Done!” she exclaims. Spinning around she reveals a plate of delicious looking Gimbap with a little mayo dressing on the side for dipping. A small pile of kimchi sat on one side of the plate.

“Say ahhh” she says picking up a piece with a pair of chopsticks and maneuvering it towards my face.

“Ahhh” I open my mouth. As the roll touches my tongue I can feel my body jerk violently backwards as I fall off the stool. The magnetic feeling fills my body once again, while darkness fills my vision. A high-pitched siren is all I can hear.

I wake up with my head in the dryer. It is hot. Beads of sweat have already formed on my forehead. I chew the Gimbap that has somehow made its way into my mouth.

“Delicious.” I whisper while swallowing slowly, savoring every morsel. Sighing, I grab the lone sock, put it in the basket, and head out the door back into an equally hot and humid house. Out the window the sky is filled with dark ominous looking clouds. The trees forever smoldering with fiery ash caked on the ground.

This is how my days are spent. Today I was her jar opener, yesterday a deckhand her boat, and tomorrow I might be her maid. I am her personal assistant making her life whatever heaven she chooses, while I serve out my eternity in hell.

title: Not Quite Paradise

question: Where is the story set?

answer: The narrator's house in hell and a woman's kitchen in heaven

question: Who are the main characters?

answer: The narrator and a woman he serves

question: What is the narrator wearing?

answer: That information can't be found

question: What is the narrator's name?

answer: That information can't be found

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is collecting his clothes from the dryer in his hot, humid garage when he is suddenly transported to a woman's kitchen. The woman asks him to open a jar and tells him she is making gimbap. The narrator opens the jar and watches her cook. She gives him some of the gimbap and he suddenly reappears in his garage. He lives in hell, and he must serve the woman in her personal heaven.


text:
KEN BALLANTYNE (15 October 1940 – 10 November 2016) was a Scottish athlete who specialised in the mile.[1] He represented Scotland in international competition between 1961 and 1966.[2]

Athletics

Ballantyne was born in India and educated at Blairmore School and Strathallan School in Scotland.[3] Whilst at Strathallan he won the Scottish Schools Championship mile in 1958.[4] In 1959 he won the Scottish junior mile beating the previous record by 5 seconds.[5]

He became a trainee manager with the Commercial Union insurance company in Edinburgh and joined Edinburgh Southern Harriers athletics club. Initially, he trained at Old Meadowbank and Inverleith Park. Like many athletes of the time, he was self coached and was a disciple of Arthur Lydiard.[6]

In 1964 he became Scottish champion at the mile, placing in the medals on a further three occasions.[7] On 21 July 1965 at Motspur Park he became famous for running the fastest time in the mile race by a home-based Scot, in 4m. 1.1, narrowly missing out on the four-minute mile.[8][9] Between 1959 and 1971 he featured in the national rankings every year at a range of distances from the mile to six miles.[10][11]

Ballantyne was also a talented cross country and road runner.[12] With the Edinburgh Southern Harriers team he won three gold medals, as well as silvers and bronze at the National Cross Country Championships.[13] He also won gold at the Edinburgh to Glasgow road relay in 1969, and had several top three placings.[14]

After his competitive retirement he joined the Edinburgh Southern Harriers committee.[15] He became their British League assistant manager to Jimmy Smart, taking over in 1982.[16] Under his stewardship the club had some success competing in the first division of the British League and winning the 1975 British Gold Cup.[17]

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title: Ken Ballantyne

question: Who was Ken Ballantyne?

answer: a Scottish athlete who specialised in the mile

question: Who coached Ken Ballantyne?

answer: he was self coached

question: Who was the Scottish champion of the mile in 1964?

answer: Ken Ballantyne

question: Who was the Scottish Schools Championship mile in 1958?

answer: Ken Ballantyne

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Ken Ballantyne was a Scottish athlete who specialised in the mile. He represented Scotland in international competition between 1961 and 1966.


text:
Miguel Facussé, a biofuels magnate entangled with the drug trade, is waging a bloody war against campesinos—with American support.

October 21, 2011
Since 2009, beneath the radar of the international media, the coup government ruling Honduras has been collaborating with wealthy landowners in a violent crackdown on small farmers struggling for land rights in the Aguán Valley in the northeastern region of the country. More than forty-six campesinos have been killed or disappeared. Human rights groups charge that many of the killings have been perpetrated by the private army of security guards employed by Miguel Facussé, a biofuels magnate. Facussé’s guards work closely with the Honduran military and police, which receive generous funding from the United States to fight the war on drugs in the region.

New Wikileaks cables now reveal that the US embassy in Honduras—and therefore the State Department—has known since 2004 that Miguel Facussé is a cocaine importer. US “drug war” funds and training, in other words, are being used to support a known drug trafficker’s war against campesinos.

Miguel Facussé Barjum, in the embassy’s words, is “the wealthiest, most powerful businessman in the country,” one of the country’s “political heavyweights.” The _New York Times_ recently described him as “the octogenarian patriarch of one of the handful of families controlling much of Honduras’ economy.” Facussé’s nephew, Carlos Flores Facussé, served as president of Honduras from 1998 to 2002. Miguel Facussé’s Dinant corporation is a major producer of palm oil, snack foods, and other agricultural products. He was one of the key supporters of the military coup that deposed democratically elected President Manuel Zelaya on June 28, 2009.

Miguel Facussé’s power base lies in the lower Aguán Valley, where campesinos originally settled in the 1970s as part of an agrarian reform strategy by the Honduran government, which encouraged hundreds of successful campesino cooperatives and collectives in the region. Beginning in 1992, though, new neoliberal governments began promoting the transfer of their lands to wealthy elites, who were quick to take advantage of state support to intimidate and coerce campesinos into selling, and in some cases to acquire land through outright fraud. Facussé, the biggest beneficiary by far of these state policies, now claims at least 22,000 acres in the lower Aguán, at least one-fifth of the entire area, much of which he has planted in African palms for an expanding biofuel empire.

Campesino living standards in the region, meanwhile, have eroded dramatically. In December 2009 thousands of organized campesinos began staging collective recuperations of lands in the lower Aguán that they argue were stolen from them, or else legally promised to them by the government through previous agreements or edicts.

The campesinos’ efforts have been met with swift and brutal retaliation. According to Committee of Families of the Detained and Disappeared of Honduras (COFADEH), the independent, highly respected human rights group, at least forty-four have been killed, at least sixteen this past summer alone. The victims include leaders of groups such as the Movimiento Unificado de Campesinos de Aguán (MUCA), which is involved in land occupations, but also members of stable communities that have been in place for decades, such as Guadalupe Carney, Rigores or Prieta, whose residents believed they had secure title to their holdings. According to a recent statement by Human Rights Watch calling for investigation, no one has been arrested or prosecuted for any of these murders.

Many of these killings and related attacks have been attributed to Miguel Facussé’s private security guards, as well those of his associates. Known locally as _sicarios_ or hired assassins, they wear either plainclothes or Grupo Dinant uniforms and are reported to number between 200 and 300. Facussé himself admits that on November 15, 2010, his guards shot and killed five campesinos from the MUCA at the El Tumbador community. A July 2011 report from a joint fact-finding mission from the World Council of Churches, Foodfirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) International, and other international groups on the killings of campesinos in the Aguán, states: “In all cases, according to witnesses and members of the peasant movements, the security guards working for Miguel Facussé and René Morales are seen to be the primary actors,” including in the deaths of three MUCA members on August 17, 2010.

Alleged assassinations and armed attacks by Facussé’s guards continue. On October 5, Facussé’s security guards allegedly shot at and gravely injured two MUCA members at the San Isidro campesino community, according to FIAN. On October 11 at La Aurora, FIAN and other human rights groups report, at least six security guards on lands claimed by Facussé’s Dinant Corporation, together with police and military forces, shot and killed Santos Serfino Zelaya Ruiz, 33, and opened fire on fifteen women spreading salt, who hid for hours afterwards in the palm trees.

On January 8, 2011, opposition activist and journalist Juan Chinchilla was kidnapped in the Aguán Valley, tortured and interrogated. He escaped after two days and reported in an interview that his captors “almost all wore uniforms of the military, police and private guards of Miguel Facussé.”

Human rights groups worldwide have denounced Facussé’s attacks on Honduran campesinos. On April 8, the German development bank DEG (Deutsche Investitions und Entwicklungselleschaft mbH), cancelled a $20 million loan to Dinant after investigating the situation. A week later EDF, a major French energy corporation, announced it was canceling plans to buy carbon credits from Dinant.

Facussé has lashed back aggressively with full-page advertisements in his defense. He also recently sued both Honduras’ Bishop Luis Alfonso Santos and Andres Pavon, President of the Comité para la Defensa del Los Derechos Humanos (CODEH), a well-known human rights group, for defamation.

In tandem with the killings and disappearances of individual activists, in the past year and a half, the Honduran police and military have launched successive waves of repression against entire campesino communities, both newly occupied sites and stable ones with long-term legal status. On December 15, 2010, between 500 and 1,000 police and military surrounded the small campesino town of Guadalupe Carney with snipers and helicopters, and staged a house-by-house search for alleged arms—which they never found. Troops have remained encamped in the middle of the town ever since. In April 2010, 2,000 Honduran police and military occupied the entire lower Aguán valley, controlling access and intimidating its residents.

The situation has worsened since May, and continues to escalate. Five security guards, a policeman, and five others, in addition to over sixteen campesinos, have died. The region is once again occupied by 1,000 troops in a military operation known as Xatruch II—which is aimed at combating armed guerrillas, of whose existence there is no evidence. Nor has any evidence been produced linking campesinos to the other deaths.

Overall, the occupation and repression of the lower Aguán have assumed terrifying proportions. “With the militarization of Xatruch II they are trying to convert our zone into Iraq,” COFADEH and the MUCA charge. “Our settlements are being submitted to a permanent state of siege.”

On June 24, with one hour’s notice, police burned down almost the entire ten-year-old community of Rigores of over 100 houses and bulldozed down its three churches and seven-room schoolhouse. The residents began to rebuild their homes with tarps and sticks, but on September 16–18, in response to the death of a policeman nearby, police rampaged through the town, randomly grabbing and detaining people, including children. One of them was a 16-year-old boy who has testified that police put a bag over his head, sprayed him with gasoline and threatened to kill him. On September 20 police and military successfully ejected all those who remained in the community .

Multiple eyewitnesses and human rights groups report Facussé’s private guards, police, and military all working together in these violent evictions and associated deaths— at El Tumbador on November 15, 2010; in Guadalupe Carney on December 15, 2010; in Rigores on June 24, 2011; and at La Aurora on October 11, where the women hid in the trees—as well as during Chinchilla’s kidnapping. This past August 15, COFADEH reports, Facussé’s guards along with police and members of the military brutally attacked campesinos on the African palm plantation known as Finca Panamá.

According to Rights Action, the Washington, DC, and Toronto–based human rights group, “Military, police and private security forces are reported to exchange uniforms depending on the context, to mobilize jointly both in police patrol cars and automobiles that belong to private security companies employed by the African palm planters.” COFADEH concludes: “The relationship between the military and the private security guards demonstrates clearly that the security guards are acting as paramilitary forces.”

In the past two years since the coup US funding for the Honduran military and police has escalated dramatically. The US has allocated $45 million in new funds for military construction, including expansion and improvement of the jointly operated Soto Cano Air Force Base at Palmerola (supplied now with US drones) and has opened three new military bases. Police and military funding, almost $10 million for 2011, rose dramatically in June with $40 million more under the new $200 million Central American Regional Security Initiative, supposedly to combat drug trafficking in Central America—which is, indeed, rampant, dangerous and growing in Honduras under Lobo’s post-coup government, especially in the Aguán.

Honduran military operations in the lower Aguán valley, including joint operations with Facussé’s guards, benefit from these funds, as well as special training. This summer seventy members of Honduras’ Fifteenth Batallion received a special thirty-three-day training course from the US Rangers. According to the Honduras Solidarity Network, members of the Xatruch Special Forces group in the Aguán Valley, in a September meeting, “confirmed that they had received training from the United States military in special operations, which include sniper and anti-terrorism training.” Eyewitnesses informed Rights Action they saw US Rangers also training Facussé’s security guards.

Most recently, on October 6 members of Operation Xatruch II captured, detained without charges, and tortured Walter Nelin Sabillón Yanos, a MUCA member, FIAN reports. Sabillón testified to FIAN that while he was in detention at the Tocoa police station, authorities beat him, repeatedly placed a hood on his head, and three times applied electric shock to his hands, abdomen and mouth while interrogating him about the campesino movement.

On September 17 I called the Tocoa police station to inquire about the condition of more than thirty campesinos that had been rounded up and were being detained. “Tell her they’ve killed all the campesinos,” the official laughed, and then hung up. A colleague who called immediately afterward was told the detainees were being treated “like dogs.” “Are they being tortured?” she asked. “I hope so,” the official replied.

Now cables released by Wikileaks on September 30 suddenly shed light on the US military and State Department’s role in the Aguán Valley conflict and in Honduras more broadly. A March 19, 2004, cable from the US embassy in Tegucigalpa, entitled “Drug Plane Burned on Prominent Honduran’s Property,” reports that “a known drug trafficking flight with a 1,000 kilo cocaine shipment from Colombia…successfully landed March 14 on the private property of Miguel Facusse.” According to the cable’s author, Ambassador Larry Palmer, sources informed police that “its cargo was off-loaded onto a convoy of vehicles that was guarded by about 30 heavily armed men.” The plane was seen burned and its wreckage then buried by a “bulldozer/front-end loader.” Palmer writes that “Facusse’s property is heavily guarded and the prospect that individuals were able to access the property and, without authorization, use the airstrip is questionable.” One source “claimed that Facusse was present on the property at the time of the incident.”

Ambassador Palmer also reported that “this incident marks the third time in the last fifteen months that drug traffickers have been linked to this property owned by Mr. Facusse.” In a subsequent cable on March 31, 2004, Palmer noted the confiscation by Honduran authorities of “approximately 700 kilos of cocaine” and conveyed the belief that the drugs may have come from the burned plane on Facussé’s property.

On February 22, 2009—four months before the coup—_El Heraldo_, a right-wing Tegucigalpa newspaper, reported that, according an official of the Honduran government’s anti-narcotics office, a Cessna aircraft with 1,400 kilos of cocaine had been found in Farallones, east of the Aguán Valley in the department of Colon, “on a landing strip that according to our information belongs to Miguel Facussé.” It seems safe to presume that the US embassy reads _El Heraldo_ daily and carefully.

Other cables released by Wikileaks establish that embassy officials met with Miguel Facussé in June 2006 and on September 7, 2009, ten weeks into the coup, when the embassy had lunch with Facussé and Rafael Callejas, another of the coup government’s powerful backers.

A new US ambassador, Lisa Kubiske, arrived in Honduras this August. She is an expert on biofuels—the center of Miguel Facussé’s African palm empire.

How does this all add up, then? First, the US embassy met at least twice with a known, prominent drug trafficker. Second, it was aware that he was a backer of the coup and met with him as it was playing out, as if he were merely a “prominent businessman.”

Third, most importantly, the United States is funding and training Honduran military and police that are conducting joint operations with the security guards of a known drug trafficker, to violently repress a campesino movement on behalf of Facusse’s dubious claims to vast swaths of the Aguán Valley, in order to support his African palm biofuels empire.

Current Honduran President Porfirio Lobo was in Washington, DC, the first week in October, trumpeting his commitment to defending human rights and fighting drug wars—with President Obama’s full blessing. In reality, both are providing cover and support for a war against impoverished campesinos, to promote the economic interests of Honduras’ richest and most powerful man.

question: Who is Miguel Facussé?

answer: He is a businessman and the most powerful man in Honduras. A biofuels magnate with ties to the drug trade,  he's waging a bloody war against campesinos (poor farmers) with American support.

question: How is the US involved?

answer: The State Department has known since 2004 that Miguel Facussé is a cocaine importer, yet still supports his biofuels business and provides funds and training to fight the "drug war" in Honduras. Facussé uses American funds to support his war against campesinos.

question: What is Dinant Corporation?

answer: Miguel Facussé’s Dinant corporation is a major producer of palm oil, snack foods, and other agricultural products founded in 1960.

question: What do human rights groups say about Miguel Facussé?

answer: Human rights groups in Honduras have accused Facussé of using the police, military, and his security guards for killing and disappearing campesinos who speak out against him.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Miguel Facussé is a powerful businessman in Honduras who is waging a brutal war against campesinos (poor farmers) who are accusing him of stealing their land. He is also a known cocaine importer. Despite all these crimes, the US government is still working with Facussé and the government officials he controls by providing money and training for the "drug war." Facussé uses US funds to support his own war against poor farmers, many of whom are killed or have disappeared. Entire towns in the Aguán have been destroyed by the military, police, and security guards of Facussé, who use brutal tactics on even women and children.


text:
[Carl Gustaf Thomson] CARL GUSTAF THOMSON (October 13, 1824 in Malmöhus – September 20, 1899 in Lund) was a Swedish entomologist.

Thomson became a student in the University of Lund in 1843, graduated in 1850 and became associate professor of zoology there in 1857. In 1862 he became the curator of the entomological department of the Zoological Museum and in 1864 became a lecturer in entomology as well. An 1872 scholarship enabled him to travel to the continent for scientific study. He was offered the post of Director of the Entomological Museum in Berlin, but he declined.

Carl Gustaf Thomson was the author of _Coleoptera Scandinaviae_ (ten volumes, 1859–68), _Skandinaviens inseckta_ (1862), _Scandinavia Hymenoptera_ (five volumes, 1871–79) and _Opuscula Entomologica_ (22 bands, 1869–97) He also published descriptions of the insects collected on the voyage of the Fregatten Eugenies (HSwMS Eugenie), the first Swedish vessel to circumnavigate the world. Leagues, especially in _Diptera, species novas_, etc. (1858).

title: Carl Gustaf Thomson

question: Why wouldn't Thomson have been able to travel to the continent for scientific study without the scholarship?

answer: He probably couldn't have afforded it.

question: Why did Thomson decline the post of Director of the Entomological Museum?

answer: It's possible it's because he lived in Sweden and the job was in Germany.

question: What is significant about the Fregatten Eugenies?

answer: It was the first Swedish vessel to circumnavigate the world.

question: What are the common themes in Thomson's work.

answer: Entomology


text:
GLENN EMILE DUNCAN (May 12, 1918 – July 4, 1998) was a career officer in the United States Air Force and one of the leading aces of Eighth Air Force in World War II in Europe and the top ace of the 353rd Fighter Group.[1][2][3] Duncan was credited with 19.5 victories, one probable victory, and seven damaged German aircraft. He also destroyed at least nine enemy aircraft on the ground, while flying P-47 Thunderbolts with the 353rd Fighter Group. He flew combat missions in the P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs in Europe.[4]

Early life

Duncan was born on May 19, 1918, in Bering, Texas.

Military career

He enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Corps on February 9, 1940, and was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and awarded his pilot wings at Kelly Field, Texas, on October 5, 1940.

World War II

Duncan served as an instructor pilot for a year and then served in Panama from December 1941 to January 1943, before completing P-47 Thunderbolt training and being assigned first to the 361st Fighter Group, and then to the 353rd Fighter Group in England in March 1943.[5] [Republic P-47D Thunderbolt.] In mid-1943, the 353rd FG was initially stationed at RAF Goxhill in Lincolnshire, England, before moving to RAF Metfield in Suffolk, England in August 1943. After switching its base to Metfield, the 353rd FG flew its first combat mission. On September 23, 1943, Duncan scored his first victory, a Fw 190 over Nantes. He began flying frequent escort missions and destroyed a Fw 190 and Bf 109 on November 11, for which he received the Distinguished Service Cross. He was made full Colonel on November 1944. [6]

[353rd Fighter Group] Duncan became a flying ace, when he destroyed a Fw 190 over Rastede on December 20, his fifth aerial victory. During a bomber escort near Ans, Belgium on 20th January 1944, his flight encountered four twin-engined Me 110s. In the dogfight, he destroyed two Me 110s. On April 1944, the 353rd FG moved to their new base in RAF Raydon.

By June 7, 1944, he had accumulated 15½ kills. On the 12th June, he shot down three Bf-109s. He claimed his 19th and last aerial victory on July 5, when he shot down a Bf 109 over Pont-Audemer.[7]

On July 7th 1944, while leading an aerial attack on an aerodrome at Wesendorf, his P-47 was hit by anti-aircraft fire. His crippled P-47 continued to fly on until he belly landed near Nienburg. As he left his aircraft, he tossed a grenade into it to ensure that it won't fall into the German hands, resulting in the destruction of the aircraft.[8]

He then evaded capture on foot and walked towards Netherlands. He joined the Dutch resistance, before being liberated by the Allied forces 10 months later, on April 1945.

[P-51 Mustang of the 353rd Fighter Group]

Duncan then rejoined the 353rd Fighter Group as its commanding officer, which was now equipped with the P-51 Mustang. He served until October 1945, when he returned to the U.S. He then returned to Germany and served on occupation duty from January to August 1946.

During World War II, Duncan was credited in the destruction of 19.5 enemy aircraft in the air, 7 damaged and 1 probable. He was also credited in destroying 9 enemy aircraft on the ground, while strafing enemy airfields.

During his time with the 353rd FG, he flew aircraft bearing the name “Dove of Peace”, with code LH-X. There were P-47s and P-51 with this title in the 353rd Fighter Group at that time.

Post war

He then served as an instructor with the Air National Guard until June 1949, when he became a White House Liaison Officer. Duncan served at the White House and with Headquarters U.S. Air Force in the Pentagon until May 1953, when he was transferred to Japan to serve as Deputy Commander of the 39th Air Division at Misawa Air Base, from August 1953 to July 1956.

His next assignment was as Commander of the 1st Fighter Wing at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan, from September 1956 to August 1959, before attending the Industrial College of the Armed Forces from August 1959 to July 1960. Duncan next served on the staff of Headquarters Air Defense Command at Ent Air Force Base, Colorado, from July 1960 to September 1965, followed by service as Deputy Commander of the 314th Air Division at Osan Air Base, South Korea, from September 1965 to June 1966. [9]

He served as Base Commander of Stewart Air Force Base, New York, from August 1966 to August 1969, and then as Special Assistant to the Vice Commander of 1st Air Force at Stewart AFB, from August 1969 until his retirement from the Air Force on February 1, 1970.

Later life

Duncan died on July 14, 1998, and was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

Awards and Decorations

Glenn Duncan's ribbons, including retroactive awards:-[10]

[]  Command pilot badge

  -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
     Distinguished Service Cross
     Silver Star
     Distinguished Flying Cross with one silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters
     Air Medal with three bronze oak leaf clusters
     Air Force Commendation Medal with bronze oak leaf cluster
     Army Commendation Medal
     Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
     American Defense Service Medal
     American Campaign Medal
     European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with four bronze campaign stars
     World War II Victory Medal
     Army of Occupation Medal
     National Defense Service Medal with one bronze service star
     Korean Service Medal
     Korea Defense Service Medal
     Air Force Longevity Service Award with silver and bronze oak leaf cluster
     Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
     Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)
     _Croix de Guerre_ with Palm (France)
     _Croix de Guerre_ with Palm (Belgium)
     United Nations Service Medal for Korea
     Korean War Service Medal
  -- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Distinguished Service Cross citation

    Duncan, Glenn E.
    Lieutenant Colonel (then Major), U.S Army Air Forces
    353rd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force
    Date of Action: November 11, 1943
    Headquarters, European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army, General Orders No. 2 (January 10, 1944)

_Citation:_

_The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Distinguished Service Cross to Lieutenant Colonel (Air Corps), [then Major] Glenn Emile Duncan, United States Army Air Forces, for extraordinary heroism in connection with military operations against an armed enemy while serving as Pilot of a P-47 Fighter Airplane in the 353d Fighter Group, EIGHTH Air Force, in aerial combat against enemy forces over enemy-occupied Europe while leading a group of fighter aircraft on 11 November 1943. As a result of leading a squadron of his group against a large number of enemy aircraft, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan became separated from his group. He observed enemy aircraft attacking bombers and, though at an unfavorable altitude and in the face of overwhelming odds, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan vigorously attacked the enemy aircraft, destroying one and dispersing the remainder. While proceeding to his home base, he observed four enemy aircraft attacking a straggling Fortress. Although his gas supply was dangerously low, he engaged the enemy and dispersed them, thereby saving the Fortress and its crew. The action of Lieutenant Colonel Duncan reflect the highest credit upon himself and the armed forces of the United States._[11]

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title: Glenn E. Duncan

question: Which fighter jets did Duncan fly?

answer: He flew P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs.

question: When did Duncan join the armed forces?

answer: Duncan started his military career in 1940, joining the Aviation Cadet Program of the U.S. Army Air Corps.

question: Why did he receive the Distinguished Service Cross?

answer: Duncan received the Distinguished Service Cross for destroying an Fw 190 and Bf 109 on November 11.

question: Which was Duncan's last aerial victory?

answer: Duncan's 19th kill and his last aerial victory were on 5 July 1944. He shot down a Bf 109 over Pont-Audemer.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer:
Glenn Emile Duncan was a U.S. Air Force career officer. Duncan has flown P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51 Mustangs. He joined the armed forces in 1940 and has served during World War II.

Duncan has received the Distinguish Service cross for destroying an Fw 190 and Bf 109.

His last aerial victory was on 5 July 1944, when he shot down a Bf 109 over Pont-Audemer.

Post the war, he had served as an instructor with the Air National Guard, as a Commander of the 1st Fighter Wing at Michigan, as a Base Commander of Stewart Air Force Base, and much more.

He retired from the Air Forces on February 1, 1970.


text:
FULL NAME Mohammad Amir

BORN April 13, 1992, Gujjar Khan, Punjab

CURRENT AGE 28 years 232 days

MAJOR TEAMS Pakistan, Chittagong Vikings, Essex, Essex, Federal Areas, Federal Areas Leopards, Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Galle Gladiators, Imtiaz Ahmed's XI, Karachi Kings, Khulna Tigers, Khulna Titans, Maratha Arabians, National Bank of Pakistan, Northern (Pakistan), Pakistan Cricket Academy, Pakistan Cricket Board Patron's XI, Pakistan Under-19s, Rawalpindi, Rawalpindi Rams, Sind, Sui Southern Gas Corporation

ALSO KNOWN AS Mohammad Aamer

PLAYING ROLE Bowler

BATTING STYLE Left-hand bat

BOWLING STYLE Left-arm fast

[Mohammad Amir]

 Batting and fielding averages

                Mat   Inns   NO   Runs   HS    Ave     BF     SR      100   50   4s    6s   Ct   St
  ------------- ----- ------ ---- ------ ----- ------- ------ ------- ----- ---- ----- ---- ---- ----
  TESTS         36    67     11   751    48    13.41   1980   37.92   0     0    91    3    5    0
  ODIS          61    30     10   363    73*   18.15   444    81.75   0     2    32    8    8    0
  T20IS         50    14     6    59     21*   7.37    72     81.94   0     0    2     3    4    0
  FIRST-CLASS   67    102    16   1366   66    15.88   3050   44.78   0     2    168   12   15   0
  LIST A        84    38     16   413    73*   18.77   514    80.35   0     2    37    8    13   0
  T20S          178   63     29   235    21*   6.91    257    91.43   0     0    13    8    14   0

 Bowling averages

                Mat   Inns   Balls   Runs   Wkts   BBI    BBM     Ave     Econ   SR     4w   5w   10
  ------------- ----- ------ ------- ------ ------ ------ ------- ------- ------ ------ ---- ---- ----
  TESTS         36    67     7619    3627   119    6/44   7/64    30.47   2.85   64.0   6    4    0
  ODIS          61    60     3013    2400   81     5/30   5/30    29.62   4.77   37.1   1    1    0
  T20IS         50    50     1079    1263   59     4/13   4/13    21.40   7.02   18.2   1    0    0
  FIRST-CLASS   67    121    12394   5850   260    7/61   10/72   22.50   2.83   47.6   11   13   2
  LIST A        84    83     4244    3279   123    5/30   5/30    26.65   4.63   34.5   1    2    0
  T20S          178   175    3898    4609   207    6/17   6/17    22.26   7.09   18.8   5    1    0

 Career statistics

  ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  TEST DEBUT          Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Galle, Jul 4-7, 2009 scorecard
  LAST TEST           South Africa v Pakistan at Johannesburg, Jan 11-14, 2019 scorecard
  TEST STATISTICS
  ODI DEBUT           Sri Lanka v Pakistan at Dambulla, Jul 30, 2009 scorecard
  LAST ODI            Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Karachi, Oct 2, 2019 scorecard
  ODI STATISTICS
  T20I DEBUT          England v Pakistan at The Oval, Jun 7, 2009 scorecard
  LAST T20I           England v Pakistan at Manchester, Aug 30, 2020 scorecard
  T20I STATISTICS
  FIRST-CLASS DEBUT   North West Frontier Province v Federal Areas at Peshawar, Nov 6-8, 2008 scorecard
  LAST FIRST-CLASS    Kent v Essex at Canterbury, Aug 18-20, 2019 scorecard
  LIST A DEBUT        Sui Southern Gas Corporation v Rawalpindi Rams at Hyderabad (Sind), Mar 20, 2008 scorecard
  LAST LIST A         Pakistan v Sri Lanka at Karachi, Oct 2, 2019 scorecard
  T20S DEBUT          Rawalpindi Rams v Quetta Bears at Lahore, Oct 5, 2008 scorecard
  LAST T20S           Galle Gladiators v Kandy Tuskers at Hambantota, Nov 30, 2020 scorecard
  ------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Recent matches

  Bat & Bowl   Team         Opposition       Ground       Match Date    Scorecard
  ------------ ------------ ---------------- ------------ ------------- -----------
  1/31, 15*    Gladiators   v Tuskers        Hambantota   30 Nov 2020   T20
  0/46         Gladiators   v Kings          Hambantota   28 Nov 2020   T20
  3, 1/29      Gladiators   v Stallions      Hambantota   27 Nov 2020   T20
  0/38         Kings        v Qalandars      Karachi      17 Nov 2020   T20
  0/27, 1      Kings        v Sultans        Karachi      14 Nov 2020   T20
  0/29         Northern     v Southern PNJ   Rawalpindi   17 Oct 2020   T20
  1*, 0/24     Northern     v Khyber         Rawalpindi   16 Oct 2020   T20
  1/30         Northern     v Balochistan    Rawalpindi   15 Oct 2020   T20
  2/42         Northern     v Sindh          Rawalpindi   14 Oct 2020   T20
  0*, 0/36     Northern     v Central PNJB   Rawalpindi   9 Oct 2020    T20

 Profile

Mohammad Amir, a left-arm pace bowler, reveres Wasim Akram. Over 2007 and 2008, he also emerged, still improbably young, as a hot pace prospect. Even before he went to England on an U-19 tour, he had been picked out as a special talent by Akram himself at a pace camp he oversaw in Lahore in May 2007. By 2010, he had become the hottest pace bowling prospect around the world - but within months his career was in ruins following charges of spot-fixing.

-   Read More
-

 Latest Articles

-   LPL 2020 ready for take-off - powered by stars, riding the crest of chaos (Nov 24, 2020)
-   Amir, Hafeez, Malik, Wahab secure preferential PCB treatment for seniority (Nov 21, 2020)
-   Pakistan's biggest rivalry set to light up PSL final (Nov 16, 2020)
-   Babar, Wasim and Amir put Karachi in the PSL final after dramatic Super Over (Nov 14, 2020)
-   Asad Shafiq, Mohammad Amir, Shoaib Malik left out of 35-man Pakistan squad for New Zealand (Nov 11, 2020)

Latest Photos

NOV 25, 2020

[Mohammad Amir in the nets, Lanka Premier League (LPL), November 25, 2020]

Mohammad Amir in the nets

© LPL

AUG 30, 2020

[Mohammad Amir went off with a hamstring injury, England v Pakistan, 2nd T20I, Old Trafford, August 30, 2020]

Mohammad Amir went off with a hamstring injury

© Pool/AFP via Getty Images

MAR 2, 2020

[Mohammad Amir celebrates a wicket, Peshawar Zalmi v Karachi Kings, PSL 2020, Rawalpindi, March 2, 2020]

Mohammad Amir celebrates a wicket

© PCB

question: Who is the subject of this webpage?

answer: Mohammad Amir is the subject of this webpage.

question: According to this, when did Mohammad last play?

answer: According to this, Mohammad last played on November 30th, 2020.

question: When was Mohammad's first class debut?

answer: Mohammad made his first class debut on November 6-8th, 2008.

question: What batting style does Mohammad prefer?

answer: Mohammad prefers to left-hand bat.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This webpage details Mohammad Amir's cricket career. Included are several matches, some basic information about Amir, some pictures, and links to additional news articles.


text:
SUSAN “SU” RYDEN currently serves as Public Trustee of Arapahoe County, Colorado. She was appointed by Gov. John Hickenlooper in 2017 and re-appointed by gov. Jared Polis in 2019.

Ryden is a former legislator in the U.S. state of Colorado. Elected to the Colorado House of Representatives as a Democrat in 2008, Ryden represents House District 36, which encompasses eastern Aurora, Colorado.[1] Term limited, she did not run for re-election to the State House in the 2016 election. However, she ran for State Senate in District 29 but lost in the Democratic primary to Rhonda Fields. Her term in the State House ended in January, 2017.[2]

Biography

A native of Hastings, Nebraska, Ryden graduated from the University of Denver in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications.[3] She worked for marketing firms in Denver, San Diego, Pensacola, Florida, and Norfolk, Virginia while her husband, Jerome, served in the U.S. Navy. The couple worked as freelance photojournalists, traveling throughout the U.S. and Latin America before returning to Colorado in 1974. They founded Ryden & Associates, a marketing firm, in 1975.[4]

Ryden has served on the boards of the Denver Rotary Club Foundation, the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission, Leadership Aurora and the Aurora Fox Arts Center. She has also been active in the Colorado Kids 1st license plate campaign and the soberRide campaign against drunk driving.[5]

In 2004, Ryden received the Randolph P. McDonough Award for service to alumni of the University of Denver. In 2005, she received the Aurora Chamber's Women in Business “Unsung Hero” Award and the Elizabeth Johnson Award for her work in the field of historic preservation.[6]

In 2016, she received the Aurora Chamber's Outstanding Woman award, as well as the United Veterans Committee Legislator of the Year award.

Legislative career

2008 election

Ryden announced her candidacy for the state legislature in February 2008, after incumbent Rep. Morgan Carroll announced her candidacy for the state senate amidst a scandal that prompted the withdrawal of the previous candidate, Rep. Michael Garcia.[7] Ryden was endorsed by Rep. Carroll,[8] was nominated by unanimous acclamation at the Democratic house district assembly,[9] and saw no opposition in the August Democratic primary.[10]

Ryden faced Republican Kathy Green in the November 2008 general election. Ryden's candidacy was endorsed by the _Aurora Sentinel_[11] and the _Denver Post_, [12] and she won with 60 percent of the popular vote.[13]

2009-10 legislative session

For the 2009-10 legislative session, Ryden was named to seats on the House Business Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.[14]

2010 election

Representative Ryden won reelection with 54.7% of the vote.[15]

2011-12 legislative session

Representative Ryden was elected as the House Minority Deputy Caucus Chair in 2011. She served on the Judiciary Committee and House Agriculture, Livestock and Natural Resources Committee.[16]

2012 election

In the 2012 General Election, Representative Ryden faced Republican challenger James Parker. Ryden was reelected by a margin of 57% to 39%.[17][18]

2013-14 legislative session

Rep. Ryden was elected House Majority Deputy Whip in 2013. She also was appointed Chair of the State, Veterans & Military Affairs committee. She served on the Audit Committee and Business & Labor Committee.

2014 election

Rep. Ryden ran for her 4th and final term in 2014, and prevailed over Republican opponent Richard Bowman.

2015-16 legislative session

Rep. Ryden was elected House Majority Whip in 2015, and continued serving as Chair of the State, Veterans & Military Affairs Committee. She also served on the Audit Committee, the Health and Insurance Committee. As a member of the Health Exchange Oversight Committee, she helped oversee the launch of Colorado's health exchange under the Affordable Care Act of 2010.

Public Trustee Career

In June, 2016, Gov. John Hickenlooper appointed Ryden as Public Trustee for Arapahoe County. Colorado's Public Trustee system is unique among the 50 states and dates back to the Silver Crisis of the 1890s. At that time, Colorado was in a deep depression and record numbers of miners, merchants and homeowners were losing their property to foreclosure. The State Legislature decided to take the process out of the courts and put it in the hands of Public Trustees who were pledged to provide a relatively inexpensive process that ensured fairness for everyone concerned.

Each Public Trustee office is required to be self-funded through fees earned from providing services. For over 125 years, the Public Trustees in the largest counties have been appointed by the Governor in an effort to keep the offices separate and independent from other state and county offices. In the other counties, where the volume of business is too small to support a separate office, the County Treasurer serves as the Public Trustee.

In 2019, the Legislature passed HB19-1295, which mandates that the currently appointed Public Trustee positions will be eliminated in July 2020, and the County Treasurers will assume the Public Trustee duties.

[1]

[2] Ballotpedia. Su Ryden. Viewed: 2017-01-14.

[3]

[4] http://www.ryden.com/our_staff/su/

[5]

[6]

[7] http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/feb/04/carroll-run-garcia/

[8]

[9] http://www.thecherrycreeknews.com/content/view/2632/2/

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

title: Su Ryden

question: What does the text say about Public Trustees in Colorado?

answer: Colorado's Public Trustee system is unique and dates back to the SIlver Crisis of the 1890s; at that time, Colorado was suffering a depression, and many people were losing property to foreclosure, so the state legislature established the trustee system to provide relatively inexpensive processes and ensure fairness for everyone. The office is required to be self-funded. The Public Trustees for the largest counties are appointed by the Governor, but in other counties, the County Treasurer serves as the Public Trustee. In 2019, the legislature passed a bill mandating that the Public Trustee positions be dissolved in July 2020, and County Treasurers would take over their duties.

question: What does the text say about Ryden's legislative career?

answer: Ryden announced her candidacy in 2008, and she was nominated by unanimous acclamation at the Democratic house district assembly. She won the 2008 general election with 60 percent of the popular vote. She was re-elected in 2010, 2012, and 2014, and then could not run again due to term limits. Over the course of her legislative career, she served on a number of different House Committees.

question: What does the text say about Ryden's parents?

question: What does the text say about Ryden's life before she entered state government?

answer: Ryden is a native of Hastings, Nebraska. She graduated from the University of Denver in 1967 with a bachelor's degree in mass communications. She worked for marketing firms around the US while her husband, Jerome, served in the US Navy. They worked as freelance photojournalists, traveling throughout the US and Latin America. They then founded Ryden & Associates, a marketing firm, in 1975. Ryden served on the boards of the Denver Rotary Club Foundation, the Aurora Historic Preservation Commission, Leadership Aurora, and the Aurora Fox Arts Center.


text:
Zak Storm (also known as Zak Storm: Super Pirate) is a computer animated children's television series produced by Zagtoon, Method Animation, De Agostini Editore, SAMG Animation, MNC Animation, and Man of Action. It debuted on Canal J in France on 2 December 2016. It debuted in the United States on KidsClick from 30 September 2017 to 7 January 2018, followed by Discovery Family on 14 October 2017. A second season is currently in the works.
 Premise
When teenager Zak Storm takes his father's necklace and goes surfing, he is suddenly sucked by a giant wave and ends up in the Bermuda Triangle where he is picked up by a sentient pirate ship called the Chaos with a talking sword named Calabrass. He discovers that the necklace contains a gem called the Eye of Beru, which gives him special powers, and that in order to return home, he needs to become the captain of the Chaos and unite the Seven Seas. He assembles a band of misfits: a ghost boy, an Atlantean princess, a Viking, and a space alien.
 Characters
 The Seven Cs
* Zak Storm (full name Conrad Zacharie Storm) is a 13 year old teenage boy who gets sucked into the Seven Seas of the Bermuda Triangle. Zak is voiced by Michael Johnston in the English dub, and by Hervé Grull in the French dub.
Zak's crew, the Seven Cs, includes:
* Cece Lejune (full name Chrysta Coraline Lejune), a 13-year-old Atlantean princess and Zak Storm's first mate, helping him stay grounded and keeping his brash side in check. Cece is voiced by Christine Marie Cabanos in English, and by Marie Nonnenmacher in French.
* Crogar, a 15-year-old Viking pirate and the muscle of the Seven Cs, often shouting "Ragnarok!" as a battle-cry. Crogar is voiced by Chris Smith in English, and by Marc Duquenoy in French.
* Caramba, a small green alien in a yellow exo-skeleton who serves as the Seven Cs' engineer. He is voiced by Max Mittelman in English, and by Olivier Podesta in French.
* Clovis, a 7-year-old Ectoplasmic-spectre-of-awesome (as he calls himself), not a ghost. Clovis is bound to the ship Chaos and supposedly lost his body, leaving him in his ethereal state. Clovis is voiced by Reba Buhr in English, and by Elodie Menant in French.
* Calabrass is Zak's magical talking sword that grants Zak his powers, and also serves as his mentor. Calabrass holds the Seven Eyes of the Seven Seas of the Bermuda Triangle, and these Eyes each grant his wielder, Zak, a different elemental power and turn Calabrass into a new weapon. However, for each transformation, he expends energy and needs time to recover. Calabrass is voiced by Kyle Hebert in English, and by Jérôme Wiggins in French.
* The Chaos, a living and surprisingly high-tech pirate ship, doesn't speak but counts as a member of the crew and is surprisingly full of personality. Very loyal to his crew, but can be moody at times. Saves Zak from nearly being eaten by the kraken, when he first comes into the triangle, and never lets his Captain down, even when Zak pushes him too far.
 Antagonists
* Skullivar, the undead, dark ruler of his own skeleton army, who wants to take over the triangle, is Zak's archenemy  and tries to steal the Seven Eyes of the Seven Seas for himself and capture Zak. Skullivar is voiced by David Roach in English.
* Golden Bones is Skullivar's undead, skeleton lieutenant. He is the captain of a ship called Demoniac and has a literal skeleton crew. He loathes Zak because he's "just a kid" who always beats him in battle. He would give anything to see Zak gone for good. Golden Bones is voiced by Matthew Mercer.
 Others
* Sassafras, a witch that helps out Zak and the 7Cs. She is voiced by Jessica Gee-George in English.
* Alan Gamble, A pirate who is considered a "hero",but he doesn't always act like it.
*Anubis; based on the Egyptian God Of Death, Anubis is the guardian of Dezer's Waypoint. He takes his role serious as a guardian because to him, trapped in the Triangle is like death; once you crossed over, you can never go back. He can control sand, giant scorpions and mummy minions. He has golden mechanics on his back that resembles a scorpion's tail and pincers. Voiced by David Roach.
* Lemurians are underwater dwellers who wage wars on the Atlanteans. They wear living obsidian armor.
**Admiral T'Halis, a Lemurian general and a powerful warrior among the Lemurian Guards. He's a sadistic warmonger who has great hatred to all Atlanteans, even in the Triangle, and seeks to conquer Atlantis and all the seas on Earth. He has a hatred for humans, or Terrans, as well. Voiced by Richard Epcar
**Lemurian Commander, his appearance is similar to the guards but his armor is colored red.
**Lemurian Guard. Their armor resembles allot like Spartan armor.
 Broadcast
Zak Storm was originally meant to air on Gulli in France. The series is also planned to air on RCTI in Indonesia, on Super RTL in Germany, DeA Kids and Super! in Italy, Clan and Canal Panda in Spain, OUFtivi in Wallonia, Kadet in Flanders, Radio Télévision Suisse in French Switzerland, Telekids in the Netherlands, SIC in Portugal, Pop and POP Max in the United Kingdom, Discovery Family, KidsClick and Netflix in the United States, Discovery Kids in Latin America, WNYO and Family Channel/CHRGD in Canada, Yoopa in French Canada, PLUSPLUS in Ukraine, TVNZ Kidzone in New Zealand, Okto in Singapore, Spacetoon in Middle East and in South Africa on eToonz.
 Episodes
The 39 episodes are organized by the French production numbering as posted by Télé Star. Airdates in the United States are for Discovery Family Channel (DFC) and release dates from Netflix. As the show was syndicated for broadcast in multiple countries, others may air prior to these dates.

title: Zak Storm

question: Who is Zak Storm?

answer: The main character from a children's TV series which aired in France but also debuted in the United States sometime in 2018.

question: Write a short summary of the show's premise.

answer: When teenager Zak Storm takes his father's necklace and goes surfing, he is suddenly sucked by a giant wave and ends up in the Bermuda Triangle where he is picked up by a sentient pirate ship called the Chaos with a talking sword named Calabrass. He later discovers the necklace contains a gem that gives him special powers and that he needs to unite the Seven Seas, with the help of a ghost boy, an Atlantean princess, a Viking, and a space alien.

question: List some of the main characters from the tv show.

answer:
- Zak Storm (main character)
- Cece Lejune (Atlantean princess)
- Crogar (Viking pirate)
- Caramba (small green alien)
- Clovis (a ghost)
- Calabrass (Zak's magical talking sword)
- The Chaos (a living and surprisingly high-tech pirate ship)
- Skullivar (the undead, dark ruler of his own skeleton army)
- Golden Bones (Skullivar's undead, skeleton lieutenant)

question: When did the show air?

answer: It aired on December 2, 2016.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Zak Storm: Super Pirate is a French children's TV series about a teenager, Zak Storm, who takes his father's necklace and goes surfing. He is suddenly sucked by a giant wave and ends up in the Bermuda Triangle where he is picked up by a sentient pirate ship called the Chaos with a talking sword named Calabrass. He later discovers the necklace contains a gem that gives him special powers and that he needs to unite the Seven Seas, with the help of a ghost boy, an Atlantean princess, a Viking, and a space alien.


text:
_OVTCHINNIKOVIA_ is a genus of Asian tangled nest spiders containing the single species, _OVTCHINNIKOVIA CAUCASICA_. It was first described by Yuri M. Marusik, M. M. Kovblyuk & A. V. Ponomarev in 2010,[1] and has only been found in Russia.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: Ovtchinnikovia

question: What is Ovtchinnikovia?

answer: Ovtchinnikovia is a genus of Asian tangled nest spiders.

question: How many species does Ovtchinnikovia contain?

answer: Ovtchinnikovia contains a single species, Ovtchinnikovia Caucasica.

question: Where is Ovtchinnikovia found?

answer: Ovtchinnikovia is found only in Russia.

question: Who was Ovtchinnikovia first described by?

answer: Ovtchinnikovia was first described by Yuri M. Marusik, M. M. Kovblyuk & A. V. Ponomarev.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Ovtchinnikovia is a genus of Asian tangled nest spiders that was first described in 2010. It is found only in Russia. It contains a single species, Ovtchinnikovia Caucasica.


text:
Thunder Bay

A disability rights advocate is expressing concern about the cancellation of a public hearing in Thunder Bay, saying people have lost an important chance to share their experiences during a provincial review of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, led by the Honourable David C. Onley.

Hearing was cancelled due to low registration, event is part of regular review of Ontario's accessibility act

[]

Disability rights advocate David Lepofsky wants the public hearings in Thunder Bay, about Ontario's accessibility act, to be rescheduled after they were cancelled due to low registration. He says the event was poorly publicized. (Natalie Nanowski/CBC)

A disability rights advocate is expressing concern about the cancellation of a public hearing in Thunder Bay, saying people have lost an important chance to share their experiences during a provincial REVIEW OF THE ACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, led by the Honourable David C. Onley.

The act mandates that by 2025 the province be fully accessible, said David Lepofsky, the chair of theACCESSIBILITY FOR ONTARIANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ALLIANCE.

The act pertains to people with physical disabilities such as being blind, deaf or needing to use a wheelchair. It also covers people with intellectual or developmental disabilities such as autism.

Approximately every four years the Ontario government must review how it's doing in terms of achieving that accessibility goal.

'Important to see how things are going'

"It's important to see how things are going," said Lepofsky, noting the review usually includes inviting people with disabilities, in communities all over the province, to share their experiences.

"Are kids with disabilities able to fully participate in their schools? Are people with disabilities able to shop in stores and eat in restaurants? Are people with disabilities able to use our public parks without facing barriers?"

A public consultation was scheduled for September 13 in Thunder Bay, but a posting on the act review website says it was cancelled due to low registration.

"There's been precious little done to publicize it," Lepofsky said, who is visually impaired. He added that he believes people didn't register for the event because they didn't know about the hearing.

'Reschedule Thunder Bay hearings'

He said as far as he's been able to determine the only advertising for the public consultation was on the review website.

"So unless you know about the website, most don't, and unless you check that website daily, most don't, you won't know first about the hearing, and then about it being cancelled."

Lepofsky wants the government "to step up and make sure this problem gets solved. The David Onley review should reschedule the Thunder Bay hearings. It should give the public proper and ample notice, well enough in advance, to enable people with disabilities, and the rest of the public, to be able to have their say."

The review committee posted online that people can email their comments or questions to _info@aodareview2018.ca. _It also tells people to stay tuned for a northern virtual consultation, but does not specify a date.

question: Why was a disability rights advocate expressing concern about the cancellation of a public hearing in Thunder Bay?

answer: He believed that people lost an important chance to share their experiences during a provincial "Review of the Accessibility of Ontarians with Disabilities Act".

question: What are the consequences of the hearings being cancelled?

answer: People who have a say in the matter no longer have a chance to speak up, and that affects how and the extent of their needs being met.

question: What is the context around "'There's been precious little done to publicize it'"?

answer: Lepofsky is referencing how the hearings were cancelled due to lack of registration, but that no one could have known about the hearings because it wasn't publicized or advertised.

question: How do the officials of Ontario feel about the outcry from the cancellation of the hearings?

answer: That information can't be found or inferred from the article.

question: What do the residents feel they could have gotten across if the hearings weren't cancelled?

answer: They could have voiced their opinions and experiences about Ontario's accessibility for disabled people.


text:
FRITZ AUGUST HOENIG (1848–1902) was a German officer and a military writer.

Biography

Hoenig became an officer in the infantry in 1866. He took part in the German Austro-Prussian War (Unification War) and the Franco-Prussian War. He was wounded in the Battle of Mars-la-Tour (16 August 1870) and retired as a captain in 1876.

Bibliography

Hoening works include:

-   _Zwei Brigade_ (1882)
-   _Oliver Cromwell_ (3 volumes, 1887–1889)
-   _24 Stunden Moltkescher Strategie_ (1891)
-   _Gefechtsbilder aus dem Kriege 1870/71_ (1891–1894)
-   _der Volkskrige an der Loire_ (6 volumes, 1893–1896)
-   _Die Entscheidungskämpfe des Mainefeldzuges Fränkischen an der Saale_ (1895)

Notes

title: Fritz Hoenig

question: When did ptHoenig die?

answer: 1902.

question: What nationality was he?

answer: German.

question: What was his profession?

answer: Military writer and German officer.

question: What was his rank upon retirement?

answer: Captain.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Fritz August Hoenig was a German officer and military writer. He served during the German Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War. He retired as a captain in 1876.


text:
_THE 20 CENT QUEST_ is an Australian ATOM Award-winning Macromedia Flash animation created at Lara Primary School by two grade 6 students in 2003. It was created by Nicholas Bouvier and Matthew Heilbronn and won two national awards for K-8 student animation in 2003.

Journey of “The 20 cent Quest”

Matthew and Nicholas began by learning to use Flash, and creating characters individually. They then worked out the basic plot of two characters bumping into each other, losing a coin, and then searching for said coin. Their story grew and evolved throughout production. The production didn't happen quickly, it took several terms to complete. In the early days, the animation was very basic, originally viewers had to click on the character's speech bubble each time they said something.

The two learned to use layers effectively, insert sound, motion tweens, morphing and became competent in using Macromedia Flash. After going to Canberra for their grade six camp, they included photos of the War Memorial and Parliament House and then included John Howard (Who had the letters “PM” on his head which, of course, stands for “Prime Minister”), Simon Crean and Ian Thorpe into the animation. The 20 Cent Quest has been shown on local Geelong television, The National Film and Sound Archive, in Canberra and many other places.

The animation won both K-8 categories of 'Best Junior (K8) Film/Video Production' and the 'Best Student Multimedia Production—Junior (K-8)' at the 2003 ATOM Awards.

title: The 20 Cent Quest

question: What makes The 20 Cent Quest worthy of an award?

answer: The article doesn't delve into the artistic merits of the animation, opting to detail its development process instead. However, its makers, two grade 6 students, may have been deemed worthy of the award due to the sheer amount of learning and exploration they had to go through.

question: What must have the students thought after winning an award?

answer: They were surely ecstatic since their hard work was recognized and awarded a prize.


text:
The ATHOLL STEEL HOUSE can refer to a steel-framed house or a steel-clad house built in the United Kingdom as a non-traditional house in the Homes fit for heroes period in the 1920s or to replace housing stock after the Second World War in the late 1940s.

Atholl Steel Houses was formed by Sir William Beardmore and the Duke of Atholl in 1924. The company built prefabricated houses from standard steel parts produced at the Beardmore steel plant at Mossend. Construction took place at the Dalmuir Locomotive Works, where there was surplus capacity due to the absence of orders for locomotives between 1924 and 1927.[1]

Included in BRE Report 469 - Non traditional houses.[2]

[1]

[2] Construction Industry Services report

title: Atholl steel house

question: Why were the Atholl Steel Houses constructed at the Dalmuir Locomotive Works?

answer: They had excess capacity because of a lack of orders for locomotives between 1924 and 1927.

question: Why were the Atholl Steel Houses built?

answer: They were built as a non-traditional house in the Homes fit for heroes period in 1920 and to replace housing stock after the Second World War.

question: What were the manufacturing materials?

answer: Standard steel parts.

question: Where did the raw materials for the houses come from?

answer: Beardmore steel plant at Mossend.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The Atholl Steel House is either a steel-framed or steel-clad house built in the UK as a non-traditional house in the Homes fit for heroes period in 1920 or to replace housing stock after the Second World War. Atholl Steel Houses was formed by Sir William Beardmore and the Duke of Atholl in 1924. They procured standard steel parts from the Beardmore steel plant and constructed the houses at the Dalmuir Locomotive Works.


text:
Following our commitment to ship new versions at a fast pace, I’m thrilled to announce the availability of UWP Community Toolkit 1.2. If you want to get a first glance, you can install the UWP Community Toolkit Sample App directly from the Windows Store.

-   The focus of this version was to stabilize current features while adding the most wanted ones that were missing. A full list of features and changes is available in the release notes. Here’s a quick preview:

-   NEW HELPERS. we worked on providing 7 new helpers to help with everyday tasks:
    -   BACKGROUNDTASKHELPER to help you work with background tasks
    -   HTTPHELPER to help you deal with HTTP requests in a secure and reliable way
    -   PRINTHELPER to help you print XAML controls
    -   DISPACHERHELPER to help you work with tasks that need to run on UI thread
    -   DEEPLINKHELPER to simplify the management of your deep links
    -   WEBVIEWEXTENSIONS to allow you to bind HTML content to your Webview
    -   SYSTEMINFORMATION to gather all system information into a single and unique class
-   NEW CONTROLS
    -   We introduced a new control named MasterDetailView that helps developers create master/detail user experiences

[controls-masterdetailsview]

-   UPDATES. We updated the following features:
    -   IMAGECACHE was improved to provide a more robust cache
    -   HEADEREDTEXTBLOCK and PULLTOREFRESHLISTVIEW now accept ContentTemplate customization
    -   FACEBOOK SERVICE now supports paging when requesting data
    -   RENAMED BLADECONTROL TO BLADEVIEW. BladeView now also derives from ItemsControl. This will allow for more common convention like data binding and will make the control aligned with SDK naming. To guarantee backward compatibility, we kept the previous control and flagged it as obsolete. This way, developers can still reference the new version and everything will work just fine. A compiler warning will just encourage you to use the new version. The current plan is to keep obsolete classes until next major version and then remove them.

We saw an increasing number of contributions from the community of 48 developers that led to several new features and improvements. We also observed some healthy dialogue about what should be include or not in the toolkit, architecture best practices, and feature prioritization that is going drive even higher quality of the toolkit.

For example, I would like to share the story behind the MasterDetailView. The story began with an issue created on the GitHub repo: “We need a MasterDetailView.” Immediately, the community reacted with  tremendous energy, discussing the implementation details, features wanted and the philosophy behind the control. We even ended up with two different implementations at some point (the community then voted and discussed to define which best fit with the toolkit principles). If you want to understand how a united community can create wonderful code, I encourage you to read this thread.

You can find the roadmap of the next release here.

If you have any feedback or if you’re interested in contributing, see you on GitHub!

Download Visual Studio to get started!

question: What is the UWP Community Toolkit?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: What makes the 1.2 version different?

answer: This version focuses on stabilizing current features and adding the most wanted ones that were missing.

question: Who came up with the new updates?

answer: 48 developers from the community contributed to bringing the new features and improvements.

question: Is the old version still active?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer:
The UWP Community Toolkit 1.2 has been announced. This version focuses on stabilizing current features and adding the most wanted ones. A few of the updated features include improved imagecache, Facebook service supporting paging when requesting data, and a few more.

The new features and improvements are contributed by the community of 48 developers.