text: I turned off the radio as I pulled up.  I never cut off Neil Young for anything less than an emergency but I think this qualifies. I turned off the car and opened the wood paneled door. As I gazed out over the lake, where I had spent most of my childhood, a breeze drifted over the water.  The smell of the pine trees and the old wood cabin brought about a sudden rush of memories. I stood for a moment and began to walk, past the canoe in which I used to paddle across to the local store, past the fire pit in which had burned a thousand happy memories. I took off my shoes and walked down to the lake’s edge.   I felt the sand between my toes and in that moment the rush of childlike wonder, innocence, and freedom came to me as if through a haze.    I turned and took in the entirety of the camp, the old swings we used to jump off, the mounds of dirt we used to shoot our BB guns at, the rocks we would play on, the table where we would eat cold cuts and the occasional moose meat stew, and the dock we would sit on when we got older and smoke cigarettes lifted out of our mothers purse. I remember the way this place used to make me feel, as if the birds in the trees where flying with me through a sky of infinite possibility. Now it just feels numb, like a photograph of a younger brother I had lost.  I can recall the memories and know  the way I once felt but I cannot feel it in my soul.   I just feel empty. The lake rippled as I looked across to the old house once owned by my friend Dan.  The windowpanes broken, roof losing shingles, a derelict skeleton of a once beautiful home. I remember swimming over there every morning to visit my childhood friend.  But that property had not been properly kept up, after Dans mother passed the property was bought by a rich stock broker.  To my knowledge he hadn’t been there even once. I found myself full of resentment for time, taking away the person I used to be, the places I  loved.  Stealing all the fun I once had and replacing it with a cold hollow feeling as I slowly worked myself to death.  I used to think I would never sell out.  `I would work outside, breath fresh air, see mountains. It was a slippery slope from there.   I told myself that an internship was just something I needed to pay the rent while I worked towards my real goal.  Then I told myself the full time position was just more money for the same amount of work and of course I would still work towards communing with nature and finding my true calling and regaining that happiness that I once knew. Eventually a full time position turned into a promotion and then another.   Before I knew it I was 15 years down the road.   I wasn’t in contact with any of my old friends but I told myself people grow apart and it was normal. Somewhere along the line Dan had got himself a wife and we had been growing apart ever since, she didn’t like me. Slowly I found myself alone.   Parents claimed by age.   Fiancé taken by cancer.   I realized I was without ties to the  human world.   I  had no friends at work and my old Aussie Shephard mix, Bear, was getting sicker and sicker. Then one day he couldn’t make it up the stairs anymore.  He could hardly make it outside to pee, he was in pain but I couldn’t bare to let go.  He was my only tie to life, the only thing that made me feel real. Eventually I knew I had to do it.   I brought him to a veterinary hospital and he died with his head in my lap.  I could hardly contain my grief. I thought of his ashes in my car. I went and got them brought them to the cabin and tried the door. It was unlocked, nobody had been here in years.  I walked over to the bed in which I slept every summer back when I was happy.   I  reached into my pocket and  pulled out a piece of paper with only one sentence on it.   I laid it on the bedside table and laid down on the bed.  The springs creaked and sagged.  I rested Bears ashes on my chest and reached for into the  waistband of my pants.  Don’t be afraid, this is the answer.  I can be happy again, together with my dog and my memories forever.  My fingers fumbled in nervousness and then as my hand found the cold metal handle.  It was a source of inner calm. The note reads ‘John O’Malley a sinking ship on the turbulent ocean of the mind.’

title: Just a short story I wrote for school that I thought was pretty good, let me know what you think

question: Where was the narrator driving to?

answer: To the lake house he spent his childhood.

question: What was the narrator's only tie to life?

answer: His Aussie shephard mix, Bear

question: What happened after Bear got too sick and could no longer walk?

answer: The narrator brought him to the vet and euthanized him.

question: Explain what happened after the narrator lost his parents, fiancé and dog.

answer: He became depressed and resorted to writing a note and reaching for the gun.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator pulls up to the lake house which he spent his childhood and reminisces on happy memories there. After his dog died, he became depressed as it was his only tie to life. He had also lost his parents and fiancé. He brought his dog's ashes to the lake house, wrote a note and reached for the gun.


split: train

text:
YUAN DEZHAO (元德昭) (891-April 2, 968),[1][2] probably né WEI DEZHAO (危德昭), courtesy name MINGYUAN (名遠), was an official of the Chinese Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period state Wuyue, serving as a chancellor during the rule of Qian Hongzong (King Zhongxun) and Qian Chu (King Zhongyi, né Qian Hongchu).

Background

Yuan Dezhao was born in 891, during the reign of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang, probably under the name of Wei Dezhao. While he was described to be “from Nancheng (南城), in Fǔ Prefecture (撫州, in modern Fuzhou, Jiangxi),” he was actually probably born at Xin Prefecture (信州, in modern Shangrao, Jiangxi) — because his uncle Wei Quanfeng, who then controlled Fǔ Prefecture, had sent Wei Dezhao's father Wei Zaichang () to take over Xin in or around 882.[3] While at Xin, Wei Zaichang had once called out his sons to be viewed by a fortuneteller so that the fortuneteller could tell their fates. When the fortuneteller saw Wei Dezhao, he stated to Wei Zaichang, “Of your sons, only this one is not going to serve in the military.” Later, when he began to study, his teachers several times, after marveling at his talent, left their seats and stated, “You, son, have the ability to be a chancellor. You should take good care of yourself.”[4]

In 909, by which time Tang dynasty had fallen, Wei Quanfeng tried to take over the rest of Zhennan Circuit (鎮南, headquartered in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi), mostly possessed by one of Tang's successor states Hongnong at that point. He was defeated and captured by the Hongnong general Zhou Ben, and his Fǔ Prefecture was taken over by Hongnong. Wei Zaichang initially submitted to Hongnong's prince Yang Longyan, but when Hongnong forces then approached Xin, Wei Zaichang decided to flee to Hongnong's southeastern neighbor Wuyue. Wuyue's prince Qian Liu gave Wei Zaichang the title of deputy military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu) — an honorary title, because at that time Huainan was under Hongnong's control (and was, in fact, Hongnong's main circuit). He changed Wei Zaichang's surname from Wei to Yuan — as he disliked “Wei” (i.e., “danger”).[5][6]

It is not known when Yuan Dezhao entered governmental service, but it was said that he started as a surveyor for Qian Liu under Qian's role as the military governor (_Jiedushi_) of Zhendong Circuit (鎮東, headquartered in modern Shaoxing, Zhejiang), as well as the magistrate of Qiantang County (錢塘, in modern Hangzhou, Zhejiang), the county housing the Wuyue capital. He later successively served as the military assistant to the prefect of Mu Prefecture (睦州, in modern Hangzhou); acting prefect of Tai Prefecture (台州, in modern Taizhou, Zhejiang); and the commander of Xinting Base ().[7]

During Qian Yuanguan's and Qian Hongzuo's rules

After Qian Liu's son and successor Qian Yuanguan (King Wenmu) succeeded Qian Liu in 932,[8] he found it difficult to find people to draft his orders for him. His assistant Lin Ding recommended Yuan Dezhao to him. After Qian Yuanguan had a lengthy conversation with Yuan Dezhao, he told Lin, “Yuan Dezhao has the ability to serve as a guide of the state. My descendants will not need to worry.” He then put Yuan in charge of drafting his orders.[9] It is not clear whether Yuan continued those responsibilities after Qian Yuanguan died in 941 and was succeeded by his son Qian Hongzuo (King Wenxian).[10]

In 946, when Li Da, the former Min general then occupying Min's capital Fú Prefecture (福州, in modern Fuzhou, Jiangsu, note different tone than Yuan's ancestral prefecture) was being attacked by Southern Tang forces, sought aid from Qian Hongzuo, Qian Hongzuo decided to send an army to aid Li Da. He put Cheng Zhaoyue () in charge of army supplies, while putting Yuan in charge of military strategies.[11]

During Qian Hongzong's rule

After Qian Hongzuo died in 947 and was succeeded by his brother Qian Hongzong (King Zhongxun),[12] Qian Hongzong continued to entrust Yuan Dezhao with the military matters in campaigns involving the former Min territory. He soon thereafter made Yuan chancellor.[13]

Around the new year 948, Qian Hongzong considered killing the powerful guard general Hu Jinsi, but could not resolve to do so immediately. When the news leaked to Hu, Hu put Qian Hongzong under house arrest and forced him to pass the throne to his younger brother Qian Hongchu, under the guise that Qian Hongzong had suffered a stroke and could no longer attend to the affairs of the state. Before the order could be issued, Hu, in Qian Hongzong's name, summoned Qian Hongchu and Yuan. When Yuan arrived at the palace, he looked at the screen outside the hall and could determine that both Qian Hongchu and Hu were inside, so he refused to bow (effectively, to Hu), stating, “I need to see the new lord.” Only after Hu exited from the screen (leaving Qian Hongchu inside alone) did Yuan bow to him. Thereafter, Qian Hongchu, after extracting an assurance from Hu that Hu would not try to kill Qian Hongzong, took the throne.[14]

During Qian Chu's rule

Qian Hongchu continued to treat Yuan Dezhao with great respect, and Yuan remained chancellor. As chancellor, he was said to be kind, serious, and full of strategies. He was also said to be decisive, and whenever there were disputes between other officials on policy decisions, his arrival would allow decisions to be reached. He favored drinking, but it was said that while he was frequently drunk, he did not fail to carry out his duties.[15]

In 956, when Southern Tang's northern neighbor Later Zhou, to which Wuyue was a vassal, launched a major attack on Southern Tang, Qian Hongchu launched his army and stationed it on the border with Southern Tang, waiting for orders from the Later Zhou emperor Guo Rong on whether to attack Southern Tang. The army officer Chen Man () argued to Yuan's chancellor colleague Wu Cheng that Southern Tang was in shock over the Later Zhou invasion and that its important city Chang Prefecture (常州, in modern Changzhou, Jiangsu) would be defenseless and could easily be taken; subsequently, Chen falsely informed Wu that the Later Zhou emperor had already ordered Wuyue to attack. Wu advocated to Qian that Wuyue launch an attack. Yuan opposed, however, stating to Qian Hongchu: “Tang is a large state, and we cannot take it lightly. If we enter Tang territory and Zhou forces do not arrive, we would be with no other allies, and we would be in danger. Please wait.” Qian Hongchu, however, ultimately listened to Wu, and put him in charge of the operations, with the generals Bao Xiurang () and Luo Sheng () serving under Wu. Wu told the soldiers, “Chancellor Yuan does not want to launch the attack.” The soldiers became angry and tried to attack Yuan. Qian Hongchu hid Yuan in his palace and ordered that those advocating assaulting Yuan be arrested, while sighing, “Just as the army is launched, the soldiers want to attack the chancellor. This is a sign of misfortune.”[16]

Wu's attack on Chang was initially successful, as the outer city fell. The Southern Tang military prefect of Chang, Zhao Renze (), was captured by Wuyue forces and delivered to Qiantang. When brought to Qian Hongchu, Zhao refused to bow to him and rebuked him for breaking the peace between Wuyue and Southern Tang. In anger, Qian had his face lacerated severely, from mouth to ear. Yuan pitied Zhao for his faithfulness, and obtained the best medicine for him to save him. Subsequently, the Southern Tang general Chai Kehong () defeated Wu, who was forced to flee back to Wuyue territory, and Qian relieved Wu of his offices.[17] In 959, after the end of the war between Later Zhou and Southern Tang, Wu Yanfu () and he were sent on a mission to pay homage to Guo Rong, and it was said that he acted appropriately during the mission.[18]

In Yuan's late years, he appeared weary and tired. When Qian Hongchu saw Yuan, he quietly spoke and wept to his attendants, “Yuan Dezhao's expressions looked weak and tired. If the unspeakable happened to him, who can assist me?” When Yuan subsequently fell ill, he made preparations for his own burial and tomb inscriptions. He died in 968, and was given posthumous honors, including the posthumous name _Wenzhen_ (文貞, “civil and honest”).[19]

Notes and references

-   _Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms_, vol. 87.
-   _Zizhi Tongjian_, vols. 285, 287, 292, 293.

Category:891 births Category:968 deaths Category:Politicians from Shangrao Category:Wuyue people born during Tang Category:Wuyue chancellors Category:Later Tang people Category:Later Jin (Five Dynasties) people Category:Liao dynasty people Category:Later Han (Five Dynasties) people Category:Later Zhou people Category:Song dynasty people

[1] _Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms_, vol. 87.

[2] Academia Sinica Chinese-Western Calendar.

[3] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 255.

[4]

[5] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 267.

[6]

[7]

[8] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 277.

[9]

[10] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 282.

[11] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 285.

[12] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 287.

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 292.

[17] _Zizhi Tongjian_, vol. 293.

[18]

[19]

title: Yuan Dezhao

question: When was Yuan Dezhao born?

answer: 891.

question: What was the courtesy name of Yuan Dezhao?

answer: Mingyuan.

question: During what Emperor's reign was Yuan Dezhao born?

answer: Emperor Zhaozong of Tang.

question: What was Yuan Dezhao's probably birth name?

answer: Wei Dezhao.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Yuan Dezhao, a Chinese official from the end of the Tang dynasty in the 9th-10th centuries.


text:
    _For other people named Brian Nelson, see Brian Nelson (disambiguation)_

BRIAN NELSON (30 September 1947[1] – 11 April 2003) was an Ulster loyalist paramilitary during The Troubles in Northern Ireland. He was an intelligence chief of the Ulster Defence Association (UDA), and also a clandestine agent for the British Army during the conflict.[2]

Early life

Nelson, a Protestant from the Shankill Road, Belfast, served with the British Army's Black Watch Regiment before joining the Ulster Defence Association in the early 1970s, where he became a low-level intelligence agent for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC).[3] In 1974 he was jailed for seven years for the kidnap and torture of an Irish man, Gerald Higgins, who died several weeks later from his injuries. Nelson served three years for the crime.[4][5] After his release, Nelson resigned from the UDA and left for a construction job in West Germany. In 1985, however, the British Government approached him on the basis of his previous military career and requested him to re-enlist with the UDA as a covert British Government agent to assist its security agencies to infiltrate the organization to impede its activities. Nelson agreed, and upon rejoining the UDA went on to become its senior intelligence officer, partly with the clandestine assistance from the British Government. The British Army's close relationship with Nelson was such, that on one occasion, it is reported to have received from him a suitcase filled with disorganized UDA intelligence that he was having trouble with using administratively, which its Intelligence Corps sifted, streamlined in an effective systemic manner, and returned to him for use.[6]

Stevens Inquiry

In the early 1990s, following the murder of Loughlin Maginn, John Stevens was named to investigate allegations of collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). Stevens was able to use advanced fingerprint technology, then unavailable to the RUC. The Inquiry team uncovered Nelson's fingerprints on some security force documents. The team began an investigation that, despite the obstructions encountered, would lead to Nelson's arrest.[7]

When the Stevens Inquiry Team arrested and interrogated Nelson, he claimed that he had been acting on behalf of the British government. Stevens spoke to John Deverell, head of MI5 in Belfast, who confirmed that Nelson had worked for Army Intelligence and not the RUC. Sharp disagreements developed between the two security branches as the extent of Nelson's illegal activities within the Force Research Unit (FRU) was uncovered.[8]

Over a period of two months, Nelson dictated a police statement covering 650 pages. He claimed that he had been tasked by the British Army to make the UDA a more effective killing machine. Using information that should have been confidential to his handlers, he produced dossiers or “Intelligence Packages” including backgrounds, addresses, photos and movements on proposed targets, which were passed on to UDA assassins.[9]

Blue card index system

Nelson had a blue card index system whereby he would pick out information on individuals from the mass of information reaching him. The selection of names for the index was Nelson's alone and Stevens concluded that Nelson was actually choosing the people who were going to be shot. Nelson passed on the names of only ten people to his FRU handlers, claiming he could not remember the others. Those ten were never targeted. Four others, including solicitor Pat Finucane, were all shot dead. In Stevens' words “the FRU had been inexcusably careless in failing to protect the four who lost their lives”. Nelson handed out his blue cards, between twenty and fifty at a time, to members of the Ulster Volunteer Force. The FRU had no agents within the UVF and these targeted people were consequently unprotected. Many loyalists never bothered to destroy their blue cards, however, and the Stevens team was able to obtain fingerprint evidence.[10] [Brian Nelson represented as a silhouette holding a placard in a Belfast mural (February 2006).]

Trial

At his trial in 1992,[11] the prosecution alleged that Nelson failed to alert his handlers to all the assassination plans of which he was aware.[12] Gordon Kerr (“Colonel J”), a senior officer, who was later investigated himself, testified on Nelson's behalf. Kerr claimed that Nelson had warned the Intelligence Corps of more than 200 murder plots by loyalist death squads, including one which targeted Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams. Kerr claimed that Nelson's warnings allowed the British Army to prevent all murders but three.[13]

Nelson claimed that in 1989 he had warned his handlers of UDA plans to murder solicitor Pat Finucane, who had been successfully representing IRA suspects in court. According to Nelson, Finucane was given no warning and was fatally shot in front of his wife and children.[14] Eventually Nelson pleaded guilty to 20 charges, including five of conspiracy to murder and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. A number of charges, including two counts of first degree murder, were dropped as part of his plea bargain.[15]

Further allegations

Following Nelson's conviction, the BBC _Panorama_ programme “Dirty War”, broadcast on 8 June 1992, made new claims about Nelson's involvement in further murders and conspiracies. One allegation was that, following a tip off from Nelson, the Intelligence Corps kept secret a plot to murder Paddy McGrory, a solicitor representing the families of the Gibraltar Three.[16]

In January 1993, Gerry Adams claimed the British government was fully aware of Nelson's involvement in Ulster Resistance's January 1988 importation of weapons[17] from South Africa[18] including 200 AK47 rifles; 90 Browning pistols; 500 fragmentation grenades and 12 RPG 7 rocket launchers. A different branch of the security forces was able to intercept a large part of the weapons before the Loyalists were able to use them.[19][20][21] The weapons which did get through, together with the reliance by loyalists on leaked, although often outdated, military and police intelligence files on potential targets, meant that by 1992 loyalists were killing more than the republicans, a situation not seen since 1975.[22]

Jimmy Smyth extradition case

Sir Patrick Mayhew, Northern Ireland Secretary, declared the Nelson affair was “dead and buried”.[23] However, in May 1993, a San Francisco, California judge, in the extradition case of a Maze prisoner escapee, James Joseph “Jimmy” Smyth, who had used the alias “Jimmy Lynch”, demanded disclosure in court of suppressed reports, including documents on Nelson, or risk having the case dismissed.[24] The papers were not produced, but Smyth was eventually extradited to Northern Ireland and to jail on 17 August 1996.[25]

Francisco Notarantonio

Nelson was accused of setting up the killing of an Irish republican, Francisco Notarantonio, to divert the UDA from targeting “Stakeknife”, Frederico Scappatici, a senior IRA member believed to be informing for the FRU. Loyalist Sam McCrory shot Notarantonio, aged 66, who had been interned in 1971[26] but had not been active for many years, dead at his home in Ballymurphy, West Belfast on 9 October 1987.[27]

Legacy

Loyalist Billy 'Twister' McQuiston revealed to journalist Peter Taylor that he and his comrades believed the Stevens Inquiry and the arrest of Brian Nelson did the UDA a favour, declaring “The Stevens inquiry got rid of all the old guard within the UDA and fresher men took over”. In its aftermath, Loyalists began out-killing the IRA for the first time in decades.[28][29]

Death

Nelson died, reportedly from a brain haemorrhage, on 11 April 2003, aged 55, after suffering a heart attack a fortnight before his death. Although news reports described Nelson as living in a secret location in England, it was not disclosed whether he had been granted witness protection as part of the supergrass policy.[30][31]

[1] RUC report re Brian Nelson, 11 July 1990, accessed 12 December 2012

[2] _The Independent_ obituary for Brian Nelson, 14 April 2003

[3]

[4] John Stevens _Not for the Faint-Hearted_, Weidenfeld & Nicolson; 2005. ; p. 157

[5] Collusion: British Military Intelligence and Brian Nelson , Sinn Féin website

[6]

[7] _Not for the Faint-Hearted_, p. 156

[8] _Not for the Faint-Hearted_, pp. 161-64

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12] The Guardian, _Jail move “step to freedom”_, 28 December 1992

[13]

[14] “Army faces legal case over killing”, _The Guardian_, 17 August 1993

[15]

[16] _The Times_, “Tory asks Major to protect agent”, 9 June 1992

[17] _Spy “rearmed loyalists”_, _The Guardian_, 8 January 1993

[18] Ken Livingstone editorial, _The Guardian_, 8 March 1993

[19] Sean Boyne, Gunrunners, The covert arms trail to Ireland, Dublin, O'Brien, 2006. pg.369

[20] Irish Times 6 February 1988 “Arms find linked to three-way Loyalist purchase”

[21] Irish Times 17 November 1988 “Ten questioned after part of huge arms shipment is found”

[22]

[23]

[24] “US judge asks for secret British papers in IRA case”, _The Guardian_, 5 May 1993

[25] Report about the deportation of Jimmy Smyth from the United States back to Belfast

[26] _Crimes of loyalty: a history of the UDA_; Ian S. Wood; Edinburgh University Press, 2006, p. 125

[27]

[28] _Loyalists_ by Peter Taylor 1995 page 209-210

[29] ^ Clayton, Pamela (1996). Enemies and Passing Friends: Settler ideologies in twentieth-century Ulster. Pluto Press. p. 156. “More recently, the resurgence in loyalist violence that led to their carrying out more killings than republicans from the beginning of 1992 until their ceasefire (a fact widely reported in Northern Ireland) was still described as following 'the IRA's well-tested tactic of trying to usurp the political process by violence'”

[30]

[31] “Former British agent Brian Nelson dies” RTÉ News, 13 April 2003; retrieved 8 May 2012

title: Brian Nelson (Northern Irish loyalist)

question: When was Brian Nelson born?

answer: 30 September 1947.

question: What political group was Brian Nelson allied with?

answer: Ulster loyalists paramilitary.

question: What period in history is Brian Nelson associated with?

answer: The Troubles.

question: Where did Nelson come from in Belfast?

answer: Shankill Road.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Brian Nelson, a paramilitary from the Ulster Loyalists during The Troubles in Northern Ireland.


text:
JOHN PRENTISS “PRINT” MATTHEWS (August 27, 1840 – November 6, 1883) was an American sheriff and social reformer of the Reconstruction era. An advocate for African American rights in Copiah County, Mississippi, he was murdered while voting in 1883 after defying the orders of local white supremacist Democrats, who told him not to vote.

Education and family life

Matthews, best known by the nickname “Print”, was born on August 27, 1840, near Hazlehurst, Mississippi, the seat of Copiah County.

Career

Although his parents were wealthy and owned 35 slaves. Matthews supported the Union. During the American Civil War, most local whites supported the Confederacy.

After the war, Matthews ran a store and was elected the county sheriff. When Democrats regained power in the state government in 1875, Matthews helped organize the Independent Party in Copiah County, consisting of black and white farmers. However, in 1881, Democrats began night riding to intimidate African Americans and attempt to suppress their voting, and Matthews lost his bid for re-election by 84 votes, as Democrats claimed a mule had reached through a window and eaten all the ballots from Mt. Hope precinct, primarily African American and supportive of Matthews (although 2 blacks remained on the county council).[1]

In 1883, the night rides grew worse, although the Independent Party slate only included one black. Ablack church was burned and a husband and wife murdered on October 26. The riders ordered voters not to vote for the Independent Party in the upcoming 1883 elections; and blacks and some whites even spent the night before the election in the woods for fear of further intimidation tactics.[2]

Death

The white Democratic leaders of Hazlehurst delivered a written ultimatum to Matthews, ordering him not to vote. When he persisted, the precinct captain, a white farmer and doctor named Erastus Benjamin Wheeler (1840-1900, nicknamed “Ras”) who had an account at Matthews' store, reached inside a wooden box for a double-barreled shotgun and shot and killed Matthews at the polls.[3][4]

The evening after his murder, Matthews' political enemies, organized in a local group known as the “Trail-Hold Club”, gathered in the yard of his residence. They mocked and celebrated the killing.[5] A mass meeting “resolved” that the Matthews family “shall keep out of politics in Copiah county” and some talked of having Wheeler run for governor. Wheeler was elected marshal of Hazlehurst, Meanwhile, the gravedigger who had helped bury Matthews on his own property was threatened and left town, as did the Matthews family (though some members including his then-15 year old son later returned).[6]

Trial

After a special investigation, Wheeler was tried in May 1884. The _New York Times_ covered the trial. The carefully chosen, all-white jury quickly returned a verdict of not guilty, much to the pleasure and expectation of the judge and the community. The jury posted a statement noting that if an “error” occurred, it was “one of the head, and not of the heart.”

J.T. Dameron, a merchant, testified that he saw Ras Wheeler in a street car in the capital of Jackson on the 13th or 14 February. He said that Wheeler was talking in a low tone. He said; “Yes, old Hoar is coming down here on an investigation committee. If I get a crack at him I will kill him, too. I killed Print Matthews, or rather it was the Democratic party that did it. If it had not been for politics, I would not have done it; but it was politics that did it.”[7]

Ras Wheeler went on to have a successful political career in the state.[8]

Legacy

Matthews was survived by his wife Mary “Tine” Barlow, whom he had married on June 6, 1862. Their son John Prentiss Matthews, Jr. carried on his father's principles and became a leader in Republican politics. President Benjamin Harrison made him postmaster of a town 130 miles away, Carrollton, Mississippi. On Christmas Day, 1890, local Democrats shot the 22 year old dead.[9] Another son, Simon Matthews, became an activist in the People's Party during the 1890s, when a biracial coalition temporarily elected some positions, defeating the Democrats.

[1] James Loewen, Lies across America: What our Historic Sites get Wrong (New York: the New Press, 1999) pp. 231-2

[2] Loewen p. 233

[3] _The Republican Campaign Textbook for 1884_, New York: Republican National Committee, 1884; pp. 156–160.

[4]

[5] Frank Abial Flower, _History of the Republican Party: Embracing Its Origin, Growth and Mission_, Grand Rapids, MI: Union Book Company, 1884; pg. 449.

[6] Lowen p. 233

[7]

[8] “The Election Murder Trial”, _New York Times,_ May 14, 1884.

[9] Loewen p. 234

title: Print Matthews

question: Summarize the context of Matthews' perceived dissent.

answer: John Prentiss was a white man in a time when slavery was still legal throughout the United States. He was a vocal Union supporter, who was elected sheriff in Copiah County, Mississippi following the Civil War. His race and his wealthy upbringing led other white people who were Confederate supporters to view Prentiss as a traitor.

question: Summarize what Print's supporters would go on to do in support of his legacy.

question: Summarize the price Prentiss paid for advocating equality.

answer: The white Democratic leaders of his town had been conducting "night rides" to intimidate black voters. Prentiss had organized an Independent Party in Copiah County, and both Black and white farmers formed the constituents of the party. Matthews had lost his bid for election due to likely election fraud. The leaders ordered Print not to vote, but he did anyway, and was shot at the polls.

question: Summarize the disgraceful way opposing party members mourned Print.

answer: His political enemies and others in town gathered to celebrate the murder. They called themselves the "Trail-Hold Club" and convened on his lawn, mocking the killings. Additionally, they ran his family out of town, though some members including his teenage son would return.


text:
The latest update to the popular server-side web development language includes new features and speed improvements.

PHP 7.3, the newest update to the widespread server-side web development language, was released on Thursday, bringing with it a handful of new features, modernizations, and modest speed improvements. For programmers who gave up on PHP prior to 2015 due to performance issues and implementation frustrations, the 7.x branch brings landmark usability and speed improvements to the language, which version 7.3 refines substantially.

The largest improvements in 7.3 include support for Foreign Function Interface (FFI), allowing programmers to write inline C code inside PHP scripts. Though this feature does not presently provide the same level of performance as native PHP code, it can under certain circumstances be used to reduce the memory footprint of a given task.

PHP 7.3 also includes flexible heredoc and nowdoc syntax, now no longer requiring closing markets to be followed by a semicolon or new line. The feature proposal for this notes that the previous rigid requirements "caused them to be, in-part, eschewed by developers because their usage in code can look ugly and harm readability." The Perl Compatible Regular Expressions (PCRE) library was updated to PCRE2, as the previous 8.x branch of PCRE is limited to bug fixes only. Improved LDAP support also makes authentication easier. The full list of changes can be found in the release announcement.

SEE: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION IN 2019: A BUSINESS LEADER'S GUIDE TO FUTURE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES (TECH PRO RESEARCH)

Linux benchmarking website Phoronix finds that the last release candidate of PHP 7.3 brings nearly 10% performance improvements over 7.2 in the popular PHPBench test suite. It is 31% faster than 7.0, and nearly three times faster than PHP 5.6.

PHP 7.3 does bring some backward incompatible changes and deprecated functions. The use of case-insensitive constraints is now deprecated, as is the use of case-insensitive constants with a case that differs from the declaration. The ext_skel utility has been redesigned with new options and now has no external dependencies. Additionally, support for BeOS was dropped in this release, if for some reason you were hosting a server on BeOS.

Developers also released the PHP 5.6.39 security update on Thursday, for deployments with dependencies on the 5.6.x branch. Support for this legacy version is ending on December 31, 2018, making the release of PHP 7.3 a good opportunity to upgrade, though major global changes between 5.x and 7.x may complicate this type of migration. (PHP 6.x was not released, due to development issues.) Likewise, support for the original PHP 7.0 branch ended on December 3, 2018, making upgrading an urgent task for application owners using that version.

Source downloads are available from php.net, though Linux users are best served by waiting on their distribution to provide updated packages. Windows users can get it from the PHP for Windows site. Upgrade notes are available on GitHub, and a full migration guide will be published on the PHP website shortly to assist developers in making their existing code compliant with PHP 7.3.

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

-   _PHP 7.3 allows for inlining C code, as well as making heredoc and nowdoc more flexible, among other code readability and flexibility improvements._
-   _PHP 7.3 is nearly 10% faster than PHP 7.2, and three times faster than PHP 5.6 -- Phoronix, 2018_

[]

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Also see

-   Special report: A guide to data center automation (free PDF) (TechRepublic)
-   Around 62 percent of all Internet sites will run an unsupported PHP version in 10 weeks (ZDNet)
-   Cross-site scripting attacks: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)
-   When it comes to cloud-based PHP development, the sticking point is the debugger (ZDNet)
-   WordPress 5.0 release brings brand new editor for easier page design (TechRepublic)
-   Programming languages and developer career resources coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)

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DragonImages, Getty Images/iStockphoto

question: What does the text say about server-side web development?

answer: tPHP 7.3 is the newest update to the widespread server-side web development language. It was released on Thursday bringing with it a handful of new features. The largest improvements in 7.3 include support for Foreign Function Interface.

question: What does the text say about PH 7.3?

answer: PHP 7.3 is the newest update to the widespread server-side web development language. It was released on Thursday bringing with it a handful of new features. The largest improvements in 7.3 include support for Foreign Function Interface.

question: What does the text say about the PCRE library?

answer: The PCRE (Perl Compatible Regular Expressions) library was updated to PCRE2. It has fewer bugs than the previous PCRE. Improved LDAP support also makes authentication easier.

question: What does the text say about bug fixing?


text:
MICHAEL B. SPORN (born 1933) is a professor emeritus of pharmacology, toxicology and medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. His research focuses on the prevention of cancer.

He graduated from Harvard University in 1952 received his MD at the University of Rochester in 1959.[1]

Sporn was Chief of the Laboratory of Chemoprevention at the National Cancer Institute from 1978 to 1995 where he was an officer of the United States Public Health Service. In 1995, he joined the faculty at Dartmouth.[2]

His recent research has focused on the use of triterpenoids in breast cancer prevention.[3]

His work has been funded by the NIH and Breast Cancer Research Foundation.[4] He is listed as an author on over 500 research papers.[5]

Awards

-   1982 Lila Gruber Award for Cancer Research, American Academy of Dermatology
-   1991 AACR-Bruce F. Cain Memorial Award
-   1994 Mider Lecture Award, National Institutes of Health
-   1994 Medal of Honor, American Cancer Society
-   1995-2005 Editor-in-Chief, Cytokine and Growth Factor Reviews
-   1996 ASCO - American Cancer Society Award and Lecture
-   1998 Elected Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science
-   1998 Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Cancer Research
-   2002 AACR-Cancer Research Foundation of America Award for Excellence in Cancer Prevention Research
-   2004 National Cancer Institute Eminent Scholar
-   2005 Brinker Award, Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
-   2013 Elected Fellow of the AACR Academy[6]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] https://www.bcrfcure.org/researchers/michael-b-sporn

[5]

[6]

title: Michael B. Sporn

question: Summarize all the information relating to Michael B. Sporn's education.

answer: Sporn graduated from Harvard University when he was 19. He received his MD at the University of Rochester in 1959.

question: Summarize all the information relating to Michael B. Sporn's career.

answer: Sporn was the Chief id the Laboratory of Chemoprevention at the National Cancer Institute from 1978 to 1995. He was an officer of the United States Public Health Service.

question: Summarize all the information relating to Michael B. Sporn's academic career.

answer: Sporn joined Dartmouth's faculty in 1995. He is currently a professor emeritus of pharmacology, toxicology and medicine at Dartmouth Medical School.

question: How many awards were awarded to Michael B. Sporn?

answer: 12 awards.

question: Summarize all the information relating to Michael B. Sporn's reasearch.

answer: Sporn's research focuses on the use of triterpenoids in breast cancer prevention. His work has been funded by the NHI and Breast Cancer Research Foundation. He is listed as an author on over 500 research papers. He has received 12 awards.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Michael B. Sporn is a professor emeritus of pharmacology, toxicology and medicine at Dartmouth Medical School. His research focuses on the prevention of cancer.


text:
Les Miles' press conference after a thrilling win over Ole Miss isn't one long amazing ramble. It's like four separate stories in one, each with its own wisdom. Listen to Les; learn from Les.

1. LES IS EMOTIONAL. Les Miles loses control of his voice defending his team from the descriptor "flop." Note: no one appears to have made this argument, nor is arguing with Les, but Les is having none of your reason because _he is on a roll_.

2. LES IS POSSESSED BY BO SCHEMBECHLER. Les grits his teeth, curses, and then describes his team as "a spectacular group of men" before suggesting everyone hug his football players, and if they are female, kiss them on the mouth. Les Miles goes a bit too far out of his way to be heteronormative here, but that's not his fault. That's Bo Schembechler's, because his ghost is from the 1940s, and thus trapped in the attitudes of a very different time while possessing the captive body of his former player, Leslie Miles.

3. LES MILES IS TEN YEARS OLD. "WOW WHAT A GAME." Les Miles' most endearing trait is the ability to become ten years old in a matter of nanoseconds, as he does here. Les has gone to Target for jumper cables, and returned home with three hundred dollars' worth of Nerf guns. That's happened, and do not deny that it has.

4. LES MILES IS A MIME.

[]

_Look through SB Nation's many excellent college football blogs to find your team's community._

Follow @SBNationCFB

[Check out the SB Nation Channel on YouTube]

question: What is Les defending his team for?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: What does the article mean by 'Les Miles is a mime'?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Is it morally correct for Les to suggest that females kiss his football players on the mouth?

answer: No, it is morally incorrect and insensitive of him to have said that.


text:
Charlie's eyes opened to the world he had been living everyday. His skin was now warm on the bed sheets that were under him. Today was another day off from work and he hoped to use the best of it. He considered using the bathroom for starters, but he was too tired at the moment to act on it. Instead his mind began to run and the insides of his ears began to itch.

Charlie had no idea why his ex girlfriend appeared in his thoughts.  Lustful visions indulged him for a while. He could see her breasts being exposed as if she was taunting him, or her in this very bed of his wrapped around him in love. Ha, love. If he was the same young man a year ago, he'd be crying right now. He'd be curled up in a ball, begging for the fake memories to cease. It didnt matter much now. He was forgotten, and long distance was the joke he fell for.

Yet he was desperate.

College came into his mind now. He realized come September he “should" be at school of some sort. Making music was his passion, but he never knew if he really wanted to pursue it. Family pushed him off the edge all the time and told him things he already knew. His music style was much different than the popular flow of things. In the end, Charlie sometimes wished he would disappear. Till then, his music would have to do.

Headphones now on, he listened to a song he was familiar with. Melodies calmed him down a bit. Not some stupid katy perry gaga beiber song, oh no. The stuff that counts. He closed his eyes as trumpets sang and beats rolled on. He sighed as double bass pedals rumbled and beautiful symphonic strings took his soul away.

“Good morning world." Charlie whispered to himself. “Another day to fend for my life."

And his day began.

title: Good Morning Charlie

question: What did Charlie do for work?

answer: Information not found.

question: Why did Charlie and his ex-girlfriend break up?

answer: Information not found.

question: What is he going to do on his day off?

answer: Information not found.

question: How did he meet his ex-girlfriend?

answer: Information not found.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Charlie wakes up on his day off from work thinking about his ex-girlfriend. He stays in bed a bit longer, thinking about his life. Eventually, he starts his day while listening o music.


text:
Any US resident can submit a sample of polyurethane foam (PUF) from furniture, child car seats, or any other product containing PUF using the submission form on our website. After completing the form, samples can be mailed to us at Duke University, along with the unique ID number generated from the submission form.  Individuals are notified by email upon receipt of their foam sample in the laboratory. Our laboratory will analyze the sample for the presence or absence of 7 common flame retardant chemicals. Approximately 6-8 weeks later, we will mail back a report detailing our findings, along with a fact sheet about the 7 common flame retardants. We can answer any additional questions you may have after receiving your results.

Who can send in samples?

Currently, we are only able to test foam sent to us from US residents. We are not aware of another testing service outside of the United States.

Why should I test my sofa?

In the US, flame retardant chemicals are sometimes intentionally added to the foam filling present in many types of furniture (including some baby furniture and other products such as child car seats) to meet a California state flammability standard commonly known as Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117). While only residential furniture sold in the state of California is required to meet this standard, manufacturers often make all their furniture to meet this standard [1]. The state of California has revised TB 117, and a new standard, referred to as TB 117-2013, went into effect starting in January 2014. This new standard led to a significant reduction  in the use of flame retardants in furniture products and child car seats (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27552529), but it is still too early to tell how the standard will ultimately affect flame retardant use overall.

How does this issue affect me, a member of the public?

Over the past 10-15 years, scientific evidence has demonstrated that some of these flame retardants are released from products and accumulate in indoor environments. People can be exposed to these chemicals indoors through inhalation and unintentional ingestion of dust particles [2,3,4]. The use of one flame retardant known as PentaBDE was phased out in 2004 due to concerns about the chemical’s persistence, its tendency to concentrate in human tissues, and potential human health effects.

The phase-out of PentaBDE means that other chemicals are currently used to meet flammability standards, but limited information is available on how we are exposed to these new flame retardants, or if there are potential health effects, though research is ongoing. Because manufacturers are not required to label products with the specific flame retardant applications used, consumers cannot determine if flame retardants are in their products without laboratory testing.

How does this project help our participants?

We at the Duke Superfund Research Center can help you find out what chemicals may be present in the furniture or other products in your home.  This information can be used by individuals to make more informed decisions about product use in the home.

If you are interested in sending us a sample of your foam for analysis, please complete the sample submission process.

How does this help the Duke Superfund Research Center?

Data collected from this testing helps us to understand which flame retarding chemicals are currently being used in furniture. As we gain a better understanding of what chemicals are being used, we'll be able to investigate how people are exposed to these chemicals in their homes and understand if the chemicals may impact human health.

question: What is the post all about?

answer: Duke University is urging US residents to send samples of the foam in their sofas child car seats, or any other furniture containing polyurethane foam (PUF)

question: Why is Duke University asking for polyurethane foam (PUF) samples from the public?

answer: In the US, flame retardant chemicals are sometimes intentionally added to the foam filling present in many types of furniture (including some baby furniture and other products such as child car seats) to meet a California state flammability standard commonly known as Technical Bulletin 117 (TB 117).

question: How is the public affected by flame retardants in PUF?

answer: Some of the flame retardants released from products accumulate in indoor environments. People can be exposed to these chemicals indoors through inhalation and unintentional ingestion of dust particles.

question: What is PentaBDE?

answer: PentaBDE is a flame retardant that was phased out in 2004 due to concerns about the chemical’s persistence, its tendency to concentrate in human tissues, and potential human health effects.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The post is from Duke University asking the public to send them samples of the polyurethane foam (PUF) in their sofas, child car seats, and other furniture to test for flame retardant chemicals that are harmful to health when inhaled or accidentally ingested.


text:
DEFENCE ESTABLISHMENT MYAMBAT, also referred to as the MYAMBAT AMMUNITION DEPOT, is an Australian Defence Force munitions storage facility located approximately west of in the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.[1]

The facility was established in 1938, and has been in use since that time.[2] A factsheet published by the Department of Defence in 2012 stated that “the facility stores all forms of ammunition used by the Australian Defence Forces”. In addition, its demolition range is used by private companies to test explosives intended for use in mines. At this time the entire site covered an area of .[3]

In 1991 the Parliament of Australia's Joint Standing Committee on Public Works recommended that 21 earth covered storehouses be constructed at Myambat so that particularly hazardous types of ammunition could be stored in facilities which met NATO standards; the _Canberra Times_ reported that this recommendation meant that the works were “almost certain” to take place.[4] 34 explosive storehouses were eventually constructed during the early 1990s by the private company Spantech.[5] A 2014 submission to a parliamentary inquiry provided by the Department of Defence described Defence Establishment Myambat as “Australia’s largest and most comprehensive ammunition storage depot”.[6]

As of 2015, the facility was to be expanded and upgraded as part of the works being undertaken to accommodate the Royal Australian Air Force's Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft.[7] This will include building new earth-covered bunkers, as well as a storage facility for the F-35s' defensive countermeasures.[8] The 2016 Defence White Paper also allocated funding to expand the facilities at Myambat and increase the stockpiles of ammunition stored there.[9]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

title: Defence Establishment Myambat

question: Where is the Myambat Ammunition Depot, and what is it?

answer: The Myambat Ammunition Depot can be found west of the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the munitiions storage facility for the Australian Defence Force and is also known as the Defence Establishment Myambat.

question: What is the purpose of Defence Establishment Myambat?

answer: It was established in 1938 to store all forms of ammunition for the Australian Defence Forces. Aside from storage, the facility also has a demolition range that can be used by private companies.

question: By what standards is the facility built to?

answer: For the initial construction, no information was given. But as of the 1990's, the storage facility meets NATO standard for storing hazardous types of ammunition.

question: What other changes has the facility undergone?

answer: During 2015, the facility was expanded to be able to house the RAF's Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter. While it was not stated directly in the article, it is likely to include a runway for the aircraft. The expansion also includes bunkers.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Built in 1938, Myambat Ammunition Depot houses all the ammunition for use of the Australian Defence Force, it also has a demolition range that can be used by private companies. The facility has undergone expansion and upgrades over the years to including explosives storage facilities, meeting NATO standards, housing for an F-35A Lightning II fighter, bunkers, and more ammunition storage. It is located in an area west of the Upper Hunter region of New South Wales, Australia.


text:
Dear A,

It might seem weird and stuff that I'm writing you a letter. There's just something I need to tell you.

Anyway, do you know what lucid dreams are? They're when you're dreaming and you realize you're dreaming, and then you can control it because it's all in your head. Anyway, that happened to me last night. I forget what happened at first, but I realized I was dreaming, and then I remembered about lucid dreams and stuff. And then you were standing there. I grabbed your hand and suddenly we were flying through the sky. Then we were falling (but just for fun, I didn't let us hit the ground or anything). Then we were soaring through the ocean past fish and stuff, but we could still breathe. Then we went to outer space to see the stars close-up, and we could breathe there, too. After that, we were suddenly just in a room together, sitting in two chairs and talking for hours and hours. I don't remember what we talked about. I guess it wasn't important.

Anyway, that's it. I don't know why I felt like I had to tell you that. Sorry if you're weirded out or whatever.

Sincerely,

C

title: Sincerely

question: What is the relationship between A and C?

answer: It is not certain the exact type of relationship between them.

question: Explain A's dream.

answer: A had a lucid dream where he/she met C and had an adventure underwater, out of space, and in the sky. They also talked, but A couldn't recall their conversation topic.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A describes his/her lucid dream to C in a letter.


text:
[]

 Mental health is as important as physical health in the workplace and in social settings. Flexing your emotional muscles is crucial to remain resilient and healthy in everyday life. Taking good care of your mental health can boost your mood, self-confidence and can add a positive effect on your overall enjoyment of life.

Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood to adolescence. Unfortunately, mental health is an ignored aspect of our everyday life. And mental health problems are actually very common, even young children show early warning signs of mental health concerns.

 So here are the 4 effective tips to improve your mental health.

Adopt a healthy life style

Taking care of yourself physically can improve your mental health. Be sure to adopt a healthy life style that includes:

-   ·         Eat healthy, nutritious and balanced meal with plenty of fruits, vegetable and whole grains- a healthy diet will help to keep your immune system and you will be better able to cope up with routine stress
-   ·         Regular exercise has numerous benefits for our physical as well as mental health. It increases level of serotonin and endorphin (feel good hormones) and helps in decrease the depression, anxiety and stress. It also helps in improving mood.
-   ·         Get enough sleep, lots of mental illnesses often associated with sleep deprivation. Maintain an ideal temperature of room, practice a calming sleep routine such as read a good book, and take a bath, mediation for few minutes.
-   ·         Always keep a check on your mental stress level.

Value yourself

  Value yourself and having a sense of self-compassion is the second important thing that improves mental health. It is one of the most critical aspects of life. It is must to give same kindness and care to ourselves that we did give to a good friend. If you don’t love, cherish and value yourself than it is unlikely that you will dedicate time and energy to living to living a healthy, happy and productive life.

So, for improving the mental health, it is must to:

-   ·         Value yourself; treat yourself with kindness and respect
-   ·         Avoid self-criticism
-   ·         Plan realistic goals in your life
-   ·         Always try to take out some quality time to your self
-   ·         Focus or develop a hobby, do whatever you want to do

Gratitude should be attitude

 It is all right to have plans, desires and ambitions in life but having a self-contentment is equally important. Life is much better when we acknowledging the brighter side. Expressing and practicing gratitude always help in improve mental well-being. Most of us often forget to be grateful for various blessings that God has given us.

 Track gratitude and achievements with a journal is a good idea to get started. Include 3 things you were grateful for and 3 things you were able to accomplish each day will help you to develop a sense of gratitude for your blessings. And also improve your overall mental health too.

Learn stress relieving techniques

Stress is an integral part of our everyday life. and constant stress put a negative impact on our mental health. stress relieving techniques like yoga, meditation not only relieves mental stress, also helps in improving overall mental health as well.

-   ·         Again regular exercise, even a simple 30 minutes walking per day can help you to reduce stress and boost mood
-   ·         Explore stress relieving programs such as tai-chi, meditation, yoga, gentle breathing exercise.  Relaxation techniques often combine breathing and focused attention on pleasing thoughts and images to calm the mind and the body. A schedule regular time for these and other relaxing activities always helps in improving the mental health.
-   ·         Take a nature walk, nature has amazing healing power. Being close to nature is the easiest way to get de-stressed
-   ·         Talk to your family, friends and stay connected with the people who understand your sentiments and helps you in recovering from low days.
-   ·         Practice mindfulness, the true treasure of life lies in sweet, tiny moments. So try to stay in moments, forget unnecessary worries and anxieties and enjoy the true essence of life.

 Additional Tips

-   ·         Surround yourself with positive people
-   ·         Volunteer your time and energy to help someone else
-   ·         Break the monotonous routine by doing simple changes such as go to a different park or try another cuisine for dinner.
-   ·         Work on your strength to build self-confidence and courage
-   ·         Keep an optimistic approach towards life
-   ·         Take the help of creativity (colouring, drawing, and writing) to get de-stressed
-   ·         Take time to laugh, laughter is the best medicine. It reduces routine aches, pain and anxiety level.
-   ·         Use social media wisely, get disconnected time to time to avoid constant mental pressure
-   ·         Spend some time in sunshine to get enough vitamin D (It believes it is a mood elevator)
-   ·         Practice forgiveness
-   ·         Enjoy a relaxing bath or spa to relieve stress
-   ·         Avoid alcohol, smoking or other drugs

So these are some incredibly effective ways to improve your mental health. Which one you liked most? How do you take care of your mental health? Please share!

Also a part of #wrtitingwednesday hosted by writetribe.com

question: What does the writer of the article hope to achieve?

answer: The article promotes mental health. It does so by providing readers with different factors that are needed in order to have a good mental health. It appears that the writer wants readers to consider changing some lifestyle practices in order to live better and generally healthier lives. This is likely because the writer is concerned that more and more people, including children are affected by mental health concerns and that these symptoms are often ignored in daily life.


text: they go to the store. When they get there, Ally is there and she gives them a big, cheesy grin, “Hey guys! Nice to see you two here ”. “Yeah... okay.” they said. Ally was mean to them, so they ignored her. In the back of the store, they casually browsed the section with toy cars. Ally was staring at them; she had a mean glare when she wanted one. She was also a hooker, they suspected. They left after five minutes, the shop was uncool. Outside, the clouds were high in the sky and a line of smog lay lazily on the horizon. “Man, this day... shit’s crazy dude.” “I know man. Love it here, aye.” They walked down the street. The sun was like their friend: it gazed happily down at them. They were glad to be rid of Ally. “Dude, Mary Jane is waiting for us inside.” “Yeah man, okay”. They jacked some bikes and rode home quickly. The ghetto was thriving with little kids; it really was a gorgeous day. As they pushed the door open, they were greeted with a comforting smell of old leather, mould and dirty clothes. They liked living there. Life is good, man.

title: So I wrote this story

question: Why did they suspect that she was a hooker?

answer: Probably boys being mean and trying to sound sophisticated. Do they know what a hooker even is?

question: Who is Mary Jane?

answer: Some one way cooler than Ally

question: In what way is Ally mean to them?

answer: Perhaps she's a bully. More likely a smart ass.

question: Why is the shop uncool?

answer: Not too many things to attract young boys perhaps

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer:
The boys go to the store where they run into Ally who greets them with a cheesy grin, but Ally is usually mean to them so they ignore her. They causally browse the car section of the shop. Ally has a mean glare and the boys suspect she is a hooker.

They leave after five minutes. The shop is uncool and outside the weather is great. Mary Jane is waiting for them so they jump on their bikes and cycle home. They like their home with its comforting smells of leather, mould and dirty clothes.


text:
GRAND PASS TOWNSHIP is an inactive township in Saline County, in the U.S. state of Missouri.[1]

Grand Pass Township was erected in 1841, taking its name from a mountain pass within its borders.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: Grand Pass Township, Saline County, Missouri

question: Where is the Grand Pass Township?

answer: The Grand Pass Township is located in the U.S. state of Missouri.

question: Is the township currently populated?

answer: No, the township is inactive.

question: When was the township created?

answer: The township was created in 1841.

question: Where does the township get its name from?

answer: The township is named after a mountain pass within its borders.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The Grand Pass Township located in Missouri was built in 1841. The township gets its name from a mountain pass within its borders. There are currently no inhabitants.


text:
During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton.

About three weeks earlier, Papadopoulos had been told that Moscow had thousands of emails that would embarrass Clinton, apparently stolen in an effort to try to damage her campaign.

Exactly how much Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Papadopoulos to their US counterparts, according to four current and former US and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australian's role.

The hacking and the revelation that a member of the Trump campaign may have had inside information about it were driving factors that led the FBI to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Donald Trump’s associates conspired.

If Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI and is now a cooperating witness, was the improbable match that set off a blaze that has consumed the first year of the Trump administration, his saga is also a tale of the Trump campaign in miniature. He was brash, boastful and under qualified, yet he exceeded expectations. And, like the campaign itself, he proved to be a tantalising target for a Russian influence operation.

While some of Trump’s advisers have derided him as an insignificant campaign volunteer or a “coffee boy,” interviews and new documents show that he stayed influential throughout the campaign. Two months before the election, for instance, he helped arrange a New York meeting between Trump and President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi of Egypt.

The information that Papadopoulos gave to the Australians answers one of the lingering mysteries of the past year: What so alarmed US officials to provoke the FBI to open a counterintelligence investigation into the Trump campaign months before the presidential election?

It was not, as Trump and other politicians have alleged, a dossier compiled by a former British spy hired by a rival campaign. Instead, it was first-hand information from one of the United States’ closest intelligence allies.

 The biggest names involved in the Trump-Russia investigation

Show all 17

Interviews and previously undisclosed documents show that Papadopoulos played a critical role in this drama and reveal a Russian operation that was more aggressive and widespread than previously known. They add to an emerging portrait, gradually filled in over the past year in revelations by federal investigators, journalists and lawmakers, of Russians with government contacts trying to establish secret channels at various levels of the Trump campaign.

The FBI investigation, which was taken over seven months ago by special counsel Robert Mueller, has cast a shadow over Trump’s first year in office — even as he and his aides repeatedly played down the Russian efforts and falsely denied campaign contacts with Russians.

They have also insisted that Papadopoulos was a low-level figure. But spies frequently target peripheral players as a way to gain insight and leverage.

FBI officials disagreed in 2016 about how aggressively and publicly to pursue the Russia inquiry before the election. But there was little debate about what seemed to be afoot. John O. Brennan, who retired this year after four years as CIA director, told Congress in May that he had been concerned about multiple contacts between Russian officials and Trump advisers.

Russia, he said, had tried to “suborn” members of the Trump campaign.

Papadopoulos, then an ambitious 28-year-old from Chicago, was working as an energy consultant in London when the Trump campaign, desperate to create a foreign policy team, named him as an adviser in early March 2016. His political experience was limited to two months on Ben Carson’s presidential campaign before it collapsed.

Papadopoulos had no experience on Russia issues. But during his job interview with Sam Clovis, a top early campaign aide, he saw an opening. He was told that improving relations with Russia was one of Trump’s top foreign policy goals, according to court papers, an account Clovis has denied.

Travelling in Italy that March, Papadopoulos met Joseph Mifsud, a Maltese professor at a now-defunct London academy who had valuable contacts with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mifsud showed little interest in Papadopoulos at first.

But when he found out he was a Trump campaign adviser, he latched onto him, according to court records and emails obtained by _The New York Times_. Their joint goal was to arrange a meeting between Trump and President Vladimir Putin of Russia in Moscow, or between their respective aides.

In response to questions, Papadopoulos’ lawyers declined to provide a statement.

Before the end of the month, Mifsud had arranged a meeting at a London cafe between Papadopoulos and Olga Polonskaya, a young woman from St. Petersburg whom he falsely described as Putin’s niece. Although Polonskaya told _The Times_ in a text message that her English skills are poor, her emails to Papadopoulos were largely fluent. “We are all very excited by the possibility of a good relationship with Mr Trump,” Polonskaya wrote in one message.

More important, Mifsud connected Papadopoulos to Ivan Timofeev, a program director for the prestigious Valdai Discussion Club, a gathering of academics that meets annually with Putin. The two men corresponded for months about how to connect the Russian government and the campaign. Records suggest that Timofeev, who has been described by Mueller’s team as an intermediary for the Russian Foreign Ministry, discussed the matter with the ministry’s former leader, Igor Ivanov, who is widely viewed in the United States as one of Russia’s elder statesmen.

When Trump’s foreign policy team gathered for the first time at the end of March in Washington, Papadopoulos said he had the contacts to set up a meeting between Trump and Putin. Trump listened intently but apparently deferred to Jeff Sessions, then a senator from Alabama and head of the campaign’s foreign policy team, according to participants in the meeting.

Sessions, now attorney general, initially did not reveal that discussion to Congress, because, he has said, he did not recall it. More recently, he said he pushed back against Papadopoulos’ proposal, at least partly because he did not want someone so unqualified to represent the campaign on such a sensitive matter.

If the campaign wanted Papadopoulos to stand down, previously undisclosed emails obtained by The Times show that he either did not get the message or failed to heed it. He continued for months to try to arrange some kind of meeting with Russian representatives, keeping senior campaign advisers abreast of his efforts. Clovis ultimately encouraged him and another foreign policy adviser to travel to Moscow, but neither went because the campaign would not cover the cost.

Papadopoulos was trusted enough to edit the outline of Trump’s first major foreign policy speech on April 27, an address in which the candidate said it was possible to improve relations with Russia. Papadopoulos flagged the speech to his newfound Russia contacts, telling Timofeev that it should be taken as “the signal to meet.”

“That is a statesman speech,” Mifsud agreed. Polonskaya wrote that she was pleased that Trump’s “position toward Russia is much softer” than that of other candidates.

Stephen Miller, then a senior policy adviser to the campaign and now a top White House aide, was eager for Papadopoulos to serve as a surrogate, someone who could publicise Trump’s foreign policy views without officially speaking for the campaign. But Papadopoulos’ first public attempt to do so was a disaster.

In a 4 May, 2016, interview with _The Times_ of London, Papadopoulos called on Prime Minister David Cameron to apologise to Trump for criticising his remarks on Muslims as “stupid” and divisive. “Say sorry to Trump or risk special relationship, Cameron told,” the headline read. Clovis, national campaign co-chairman, severely reprimanded Papadopoulos for failing to clear his explosive comments with the campaign in advance.

From then on, Papadopoulos was more careful with the press — though he never regained the full trust of Clovis or several other campaign officials.

Mifsud proposed to Papadopoulos that he, too, serve as a campaign surrogate. He could write op-eds under the guise of a “neutral” observer, he wrote in a previously undisclosed email, and follow Trump to his rallies as an accredited journalist while receiving briefings from the inside the campaign.

In late April, at a London hotel, Mifsud told Papadopoulos that he had just learned from high-level Russian officials in Moscow that the Russians had “dirt” on Clinton in the form of “thousands of emails,” according to court documents. Although Russian hackers had been mining data from the Democratic National Committee’s computers for months, that information was not yet public. Even the committee itself did not know.

Whether Papadopoulos shared that information with anyone else in the campaign is one of many unanswered questions. He was mostly in contact with the campaign over emails. The day after Mifsud’s revelation about the hacked emails, he told Miller in an email only that he had “interesting messages coming in from Moscow” about a possible trip. The emails obtained by The Times show no evidence that Papadopoulos discussed the stolen messages with the campaign.

Not long after, however, he opened up to Downer, the Australian diplomat, about his contacts with the Russians. It is unclear whether Downer was fishing for that information that night in May 2016. The meeting at the bar came about because of a series of connections, beginning with an Israeli Embassy official who introduced Papadopoulos to another Australian diplomat in London.

It is also not clear why, after getting the information in May, the Australian government waited two months to pass it to the FBI. In a statement, the Australian Embassy in Washington declined to provide details about the meeting or confirm that it occurred.

“As a matter of principle and practice, the Australian government does not comment on matters relevant to active investigations,” the statement said. The FBI declined to comment.

Once the information Papadopoulos had disclosed to the Australian diplomat reached the FBI, the bureau opened an investigation that became one of its most closely guarded secrets. Senior agents did not discuss it at the daily morning briefing, a classified setting where officials normally speak freely about highly sensitive operations.

Besides the information from the Australians, the investigation was also propelled by intelligence from other friendly governments, including the British and Dutch. A trip to Moscow by another adviser, Carter Page, also raised concerns at the FBI.

With so many strands coming in — about Papadopoulos, Page, the hackers and more — FBI agents debated how aggressively to investigate the campaign’s Russia ties, according to current and former officials familiar with the debate. Issuing subpoenas or questioning people, for example, could cause the investigation to burst into public view in the final months of a presidential campaign.

It could also tip off the Russian government, which might try to cover its tracks. Some officials argued against taking such disruptive steps, especially since the FBI would not be able to unravel the case before the election.

Others believed that the possibility of a compromised presidential campaign was so serious that it warranted the most thorough, aggressive tactics. Even if the odds against a Trump presidency were long, these agents argued, it was prudent to take every precaution.

That included questioning Christopher Steele, the former British spy who was compiling the dossier alleging a far-ranging Russian conspiracy to elect Trump. A team of FBI agents travelled to Europe to interview Steele in early October 2016. Steele had shown some of his findings to an FBI agent in Rome three months earlier, but that information was not part of the justification to start an counterintelligence inquiry, US officials said.

Ultimately, the FBI and Justice Department decided to keep the investigation quiet, a decision that Democrats in particular have criticised. And agents did not interview Papadopoulos until late January.

_The New York Times_

question: When was the article written?

answer: Late 2017 or early 2018

question: Who published the article?

answer: The New York Times

question: Whose comments prompted the FBI investigation?

answer: Geroge Papadopoulos

question: Who compiled a dossier about a Russian conspiracy to elect Trump?

answer: Christopher Steele, a former British spy

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The FBI began an investigation of Trump's campaign in July 2016 due to comments made by George Papadopoulos, a campaign advisor, to an Australian diplomat. The investigation was a closely guarded secret, and senior agents were unsure how aggressively to pursue it or how public to make it.


text:
Mr. Robot

[Stephanie Corneliussen in “Mr. Robot.”]

Credit...Michael Parmelee/USA Network

-   Sept. 7, 2016
-

Season 2, Episode 10: ‘eps2.8_h1dden-pr0cess.axx’

The ugliest scene in this week’s “Mr. Robot” is also its most elegantly constructed. It serves as the climax and endpoint of the episode, which, like the previous few weeks’ installments, had been a steadily mounting drumbeat of dread. Acting on equal parts intuition and plain good detective work — both of which are ignored by her superiors, as usual — the F.B.I. agent Dom DiPierro realizes that the two major fsociety suspects who’d dropped off a wounded associate at a local E.R. had not fled the scene fearing discovery at all. They’d simply stepped out for a bite to eat before returning to check on their comrade’s condition, and if she wants to catch them before they return to the hospital, find it swarming with law enforcement, and fly the coop for real, she has to step out, too.

So out she heads into the darkened Manhattan streets — cluttered with uncollected trash, sparsely populated by strapped civilians — searching for her quarry. The lights dim as she runs in the direction of the few restaurants left open at this time of night, with E Corp’s rolling blackouts providing her sojourn the atmosphere of a dark fairy tale. Slowly our main vector of information shifts from sight to sound: the slap of her shoes on the pavement, the buzz of failing electrical wires, the keening whir of car alarms, squealing tires stopping short in the sudden absence of streetlights and stoplights, the pulsating hum and ominous strings of composer Mac Quayle’s never-better score.

A crosscut to Elliot and Angela, holed up on a subway car where she reveals her intention to turn herself in, prominently features fake ads reading, appropriately enough, “Phase: Excellent Audio for Discerning Listeners.” Their achingly romantic kiss, both a first and, it seems, a farewell, establishes a tone of terrible finality even before Angela is cornered by imposing figures, their faces obscured.

The orchestral portion of the score has crested and fallen by the time we return to Dom, who runs, panting, to the foreground of a static shot showing the restaurant (in reality, Lupe’s in Soho, for those who care) where her suspects, Darlene and Cisco, have retreated for a late meal. Still out of breath, she picks up her phone and summons all units to the location.

While Dom inaudibly argues with Darlene and Cisco inside the restaurant, a motorcycle pulls up and one of the riders produces a machine gun and methodically strides across the street. Suddenly Dom sees what’s coming and ducks. The Dark Army soldier opens fire, shattering the window and unleashing high-pitched screams from the diners inside as Darlene and Cisco disappear in the fusillade. Now the sirens are getting closer, and the walls of nearby buildings light up with the rooftop lights of approaching police cars. Dom returns fire from within and the attacker staggers back into the middle of the street. The remaining rider sizes up the situation, then abandons his associate and drives off just as the police pull up; the roar of the bike is so loud that it overwhelms the sound of the sirens even as it flees the scene.

Like the Dark Army attacker Dom winged in China, this one shoots himself in the head. Dom runs out from the restaurant. By now the score has dropped out entirely. Roll credits, accompanied only by the deafening noise of the crime scene.

The second season of “Mr. Robot” has been a deliberately dispiriting experience. It’s centered on the ultimate failure of fsociety’s revolution. “We can’t beat them,” Angela says outright in this episode. “Trust me, I’ve tried. No matter what we do, we will always lose to them.”

While the show has never been quite this explicit on this point, it hasn’t been any more upbeat about it, either. Now we’re also discovering a second throughline: the cost to Elliot’s friends and family as they suffer for a “Stage 2” that his alternate personality planned, from which he himself remains isolated and insulated.

“This was my plan,” he tells viewers via voice-over, “and I hid in a cage while everyone else took the risk.” At one point in this episode he even enlists us as accomplices directly, asking us to search his apartment for secret clues as the camera pans around while he talks to Joanna Wellick’s security guard.

Moreover, the plot has gotten baroque beyond simple description. This week’s “Previously on” segment is all but incomprehensible in its brief, disconnected snippets of cryptically relevant information. The number of factions involved in the overlapping conspiracies and counterconspiracies are expanding at a seemingly fractal rate: E Corp, fsociety, the Dark Army, the F.B.I., Tyrell Wellick, his wife (or widow), rogue elements of the Chinese government, _non_-rogue elements of the Chinese government, Elliot’s Mr. Robot persona, Elliot proper, Angela acting on her own, archvillains Phillip Price and Whiterose potentially playing all sides against the middle.

It’s getting to the point where there’s so much to say about each episode that moments as striking as Price asking a former colleague to pave the way for China’s takeover of Congo and saying he’d like to be the most powerful person on Earth since God, or Joanna Wellick dressing for her confrontation with Elliot while the Japanese hard-core band Bleach screeches in the background during the opening credits, can be comfortably reduced to mere asides.

Which makes it more important than ever to point out that there’s more to television than plot, or plot twists; there’s more to character than dialogue; there’s more to acting than line readings; there’s more to narrative fiction than figuring out what comes next. A sequence like the one that juxtaposed Dom’s confrontation with her suspects and their assassins with Elliot and Angela’s kiss shows how sight and sound, score and cinematography, body language and silence can produce an emotional effect far beyond the sum of its parts, and irreducible to sound bytes about “How ‘Mr. Robot’ Season 2 Lost Its Way.” On a show this good, getting lost — alone in the dark, the roar of the approaching monsters growing louder by the second — _is_ the way.

question: Who acts on equal parts intuition and plain good detective work according to the reviewer?

answer: Dom DiPierro.

question: Onto the streets of what city does the protagonist head out onto?

answer: Manhattan.

question: What has the second season Mr. Robot focused on, according to the reviewer?

answer: The ultimate failure of society's revolution.

question: How does the reviewer describe the development of the show's plot?

answer: Baroque beyond all simple description.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The article is a summary of the Season 2 Episode 10 of Mr. Robot.


text:
[]

Nov. 26, 2014, 9:31 PM UTC / Updated Nov. 26, 2014, 8:51 PM UTC

A British scientist didn't have to trek through the desert to discover a new dinosaur species. In fact, its fossils were already stored in a Canadian museum. It's called _Pentaceratops aquilonius,_ a smaller cousin of _Triceratops_ that was about the size of a buffalo. Nick Longrich might have also discovered a second new species, a cousin of the 15-horned _Kosmoceratops,_ but needs more complete fossils to confirm it.

British paleontologist Nick Longrich discovered Pentaceratops Aquilonius, a new species of dinosaur, in a Canadian museum.University of Bath / PA Wire
Longrich, a paleontologist at the University of Bath, came upon the fossilized bones at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa, where they had been stored for more than 75 years. Scientists initially believed the bones belonged to two other species of dinosaur, _Anchiceratops_ and _Chasmosaurus,_ thatroamed Canada around 75 million years ago, near the end of the Cretaceous Period. Longrich studied the skeletons and determined that they were more similar to dinosaurs that lived in the American Southwest. Longrich's findings were published in the journal Cretaceous Research.

[]

IN-DEPTH

-   'Pretty Goofy': Weird Dinosaur Was Cross Between Barney and Jar Jar Binks
-   Fossil Skull Reveals Monster Mammal From Madagascar

SOCIAL

— Keith Wagtaff

question: What is the main topic of the article?

answer: A British paleontologist "discovered" a new dinosaur species in a Canadian museum. It's called Pentaceratops aquilonius, a smaller cousin of the Triceratops.

question: Who is the paleontologist?

answer: Nick Longrich

question: When was the discovery?

answer: The discover was in 2014.

question: How did the paleontologist "discover" a new species in a museum?

answer: Longrich came across the fossilized bones that had been stored for more than 75 years. He studied the bones and determined they weren't from the species they were previously thought to be.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: A British paleontologist "discovered" a new dinosaur species in a Canadian museum. It's called Pentaceratops aquilonius, a smaller cousin of the Triceratops. Nick Longrich, the paleontologist, came across the fossilized bones that had been stored for more than 75 years. He studied the bones and determined they weren't from the species they were previously thought to be.


text:
41% of applicants who have terrible candidate experiences (rating them one out of five stars) say they’ll take their loyalty and money elsewhere. But for candidates with five-star experiences, 64% say they’ll definitely increase their relationship with the employer—even if they didn’t end up getting the job.

As illuminating as that statistic is, it’s just one of hundreds of intriguing and often surprising facts available in the 2016 North American Candidate Experience Research Report compiled by the Talent Board. A nonprofit research organization, the Talent Board gives out the CandE Awards (short for candidate experience, of course) and has conducted similar research for six straight years, unlocking major insights into the ways both candidates and employers view the hiring process.

For the report, they interviewed 240 companies and over 183,000 candidates to learn how candidate experiences are evolving from both sides of the table—here are five key takeaways and suggestions that stood out from reviewing their findings.

1. CANDIDATES WANT A “PROGRESS BAR,” BUT MANY AREN’T GIVEN ACCESS TO REGULAR STATUS UPDATES

[]

Ever used Domino’s pizza tracker? It’s a marvel of modern marketing and technology that tells you exactly where your pizza is in the cooking and delivery process—and customers eat it up. Consumers love detailed tracking and status updates, whether it’s for an incoming pizza or the arrival of a friend in an Uber—and today’s candidates are no different.

According to the Talent Board’s research, job seekers want (and increasingly expect) insight into two areas: how far along they are with the application as they’re completing it, and status updates as they go through the hiring process. In a sense, this all relates back to receiving regular feedback, which statistics reveal as one of the most important aspects of the candidate experience.

“Candidates want to understand their progress,” says the Talent Board’s report. “When customers shop online, they have insight into how many steps are left before they complete their purchase. Candidates deserve a similar experience.”

Yet many employers still fall short: Though 52% of candidates with five-star experiences were given an application progress indicator, only 4% of overall candidates say they were given a link to check their status after applying.

Clearly, providing regular updates improves the candidate experience, and recruiters should let candidates know where they stand frequently, whether through tracking technology or simply by increasing touch points.

2. CANDIDATES AREN’T USING THEIR PHONES TO APPLY TO JOBS, BUT THEY ARE SEARCHING FOR OPPORTUNITIES ON MOBILE

According to the Talent Board’s data, mobile continues to be one of the biggest areas for new TA investment. 79% of surveyed employers allow candidates to apply to jobs via mobile, according to the 2016 report—an increase of 18% in just a year—and many more have plans to enable mobile applications imminently.

However, the data also reveals that most candidates aren’t actually using their phones or tablets to apply for jobs. Though that number has gone up a tiny bit in recent years, just 12% of candidates applied on mobile devices in 2016.

That said, many candidates perform their initial research on their phones, then move to laptops or desktops to complete the actual application. For example, of the one billion job searches performed each month, 60% are done on mobile. When candidates have their resumes pre-saved on sites like LinkedIn, they can then take advantage of streamlined (even one-button) application processes as soon as they find an open position.

Simply put, recruiters should make sure their job listings are mobile-friendly and invest in building up an application process which doesn’t require access to a desktop computer.

3. POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE CANDIDATE EXPERIENCES GET AMPLIFIED QUICKLY ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Recruiters already know that a bad candidate experience can quickly turn into a triple whammy: a lost candidate, a lost customer, and a missed opportunity for referrals.

But there’s another problem: As Virgin Media learned, the hit you take from a single negative candidate experience could become millions of dollars when you factor in the friends and family that they share their experience with.

First, the bad news: The data shows that social media sharing might mean the hit is even worse than that. Candidates share their negative experiences 34% of the time on social media, broadcasting the gory details to a gigantic audience.

These upset candidates often use social media the same way disgruntled consumers do:

_“How many of you have used social media to garner customer service action instead of growing old waiting on the customer service phone trees? [...] The same is true for job seekers… Those negative experiences not only potentially impact the employment brand and direct revenue... but also diminish [recruiters’] ability to attract sought-after talent and the referral networks that come with them.”_

Fortunately, there’s also good news: According to the report, candidates are even more likely to share their positive experiences. They share them with “inner circles” more than 81% of the time, and go online to tell positive candidate stories about 51% of the time via social media.

In other words, bad experiences can cost your company on a large scale through social media proliferation—but you can also turn that perception around quickly by taking immediate steps to rectify the situation.

4. RESPECTING THE CANDIDATE’S TIME IS REALLY, REALLY (REALLY) IMPORTANT

When it comes to candidates voluntarily withdrawing from the application process, it’s all about time—wasting it, that is. The longer you drag the process out, the more likely the candidate is to become frustrated and lose interest in the position.

In the report, “respect for candidate time” and “length of overall time” were the two most commonly cited reasons for candidate withdrawal. And among candidates with one-star overall experiences, 19% felt their time was not respected during interviews and other appointments.

Most meaningfully of all, 99% of candidates with five-star experiences said they did not have problems with recruiters disrespecting their personal time.

In short, though recruiters already know respecting candidates’ time is important, the data shows it could actually be the single biggest difference between a positive and negative experience.

5. YOU PROBABLY AREN’T PROVIDING ENOUGH EMPLOYEE TESTIMONIALS

Here’s one area that most recruiters and TA teams can easily improve on: providing actual employee testimonials in your career sites and posts.

You probably know that employee-based content is incredibly valuable to candidates—and that employee referrals are now the number one source of quality hires. In fact, the report reveals that candidates now value the words and opinions of existing employees more than they did even just a year or two ago.

Career sites are still the most valuable source for job information, says the data, but modern, Internet-savvy candidates are increasingly wary of taking employer-based information at face value.

“Candidates no longer want to go directly to the source to discover information about the company and the job,” says the report. “They want to hear from existing employees and peers.”

But employers can also improve their own career sites, job descriptions, and employer branding by incorporating authentic employee content. For the report, candidates were asked what types of job and marketing content they considered most valuable. Employee testimonials landed right near the top at 36%, a 3% increase since 2014; meanwhile, 35% called out salary and compensation, 5% less than two years ago.

Taken together, these five takeaways paint a clear picture: By keeping candidates updated on their progress, respecting their time, and giving your existing employees an authentic spotlight, you can make huge, impactful improvements to your candidate experience.

* image by clement127

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question: What does the article say about what devices candidates use to search and apply for jobs?

answer: Research results reveal that most candidates are not using their phones or tablets to apply for jobs. Just 12% of candidates applied on mobile devices in 2016. However, many candidates perform their initial research on their phones, then apply on laptops or desktops. 60% of the one billion job searches performed each month are done on mobile. Therefore, recruiters should enable applying on laptops and desktops.

question: What does the story say about social media sharing of positive and negative experiences?

answer: The results reveal that job candidates share their experiences on social media. Candidates share their negative experiences 34% of the time on social media. Candidates share their positive experiences 51% of the time on social media.

question: What does the article say about the importance of respecting the candidate's time?

answer: Respecting the candidate's time is very important because candidates that feel that their time is wasted could become frustrated and lose interest in the position. 19% of candidates with negative experiences feel their time was not respected during interviews and other appointments. 99% of candidates with positive experiences say they did not have problems with recruiters disrespecting their personal time.

question: What does the article say about the unemployment rate in the USA?