text:
Proudly Serving Customers Like YOU In Des Moines And Surrounding Areas!

Lead Generation Services – Boost Leads Fast (Here Is How)

We are a full-service lead generation company, and we use your company’s lead generation services to develop a comprehensive lead generation strategy that doesn’t deliver the results you need in just a few days, weeks, months, or even years. Seventy-four percent of people turn to you when they are considering a purchase, and with a strong presence on social media, you can show them that your business is the right choice for them. If you want to generate more valuable leads for your business, Agile Marketing Solutions can help with your b2c and b2b lead generation. [b2b-lead-generation]

When you work with us, you get a customized campaign tailored to your goals, and when we partner with you, you get tailored campaigns tailored to your goals. If you are looking for a sales company for Lead Generation, it is important to think carefully first about what services your company needs. You also need to think about how you want to generate leads when prospects conduct a site visit expressing interest, whether you want to contact them by email, direct mail, or phone, whether you have in-house employees who track leads, or want a service that can contact leads on your behalf.

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Providing Affordable Lead Generation Services for You

To meet your needs, you can customize your digital campaigns and voice services to turn segmented and qualified leads into sales perspectives. Lead Forensics revolutionizes the process of lead generation with its advanced analysis and lead tracking tools. With our outsourced Lead Generation Services, we guide you through the process of finding the best leads for your business by exploring the vastness of the digital sphere. [lead-generation-services]

The lead journey tracks the turnover conversion from the top of the sales funnel to the turnover conversion. Certain lead generation vendors have an in-depth program that leads from the top funnel through the purchase phase to the bottom.  Some agencies use this program as a means of developing leads to sell leads to them.

The details of lead nurture programs are less clear.  The client agency can do this internally or through a third-party lead nurture program.

If you find a provider to offer this service to your customers, you should check their product offerings, as well-maintained leads with detailed contact information are much more likely to be converted than those without.

Of course, we’re only scratching at the four offers, and narrowing down your search seems a tall order. With so many lead generation services to choose from, limiting them to one search can be a challenge.

Generation Services for Local and National Clients

We have already done extensive research to find the best Lead Generation Services for you.  This review will help you identify some of them for your business. We provide an in-depth review of each of these services.  Along with a list of our top recommendations for each service. [affordable-lead-generation-services]

You want to earn qualified, high-quality leads, and qualified Lead Generation Services do that for you. There are many different ways to do this, from direct mail to online marketing, social media, or direct email.

We help our partners form partnerships with companies that use all the channels we offer.  Helping them leverage the most valuable and high-quality leads.  Now they can generate more revenue and generate more revenue. We rank the top results in the search for your industry, your company, your products and services.  Turning prospective customers into customers who lead you.

LinkedIn has been an important platform for companies for years.  It is also great for lead generation if used correctly. You can search for your industry, business, products and services on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms.

LinkedIn in a way that works well for everyone.  Not only for your business, but also for other local and national businesses.  [lead-generation-companies-near-me]

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[]

question: When was the article written?

answer: That information can't be found

question: What is lead generation?

answer: It's unclear, but it seems to have something to do with getting customers

question: What is the name of the company?

answer: Agile Marketing Solutions

question: What kinds of contact information does the company give?

answer: A phone number

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Agile Marketing Solutions is advertising their lead generation service to other businesses.


split: train

text:
MICHIGAN FIREWORKS SAFETY ACT (EXCERPT)
ACT 256 OF 2011
28.457 LOCAL ORDINANCES.

Sec. 7.

(1) Except as provided in this act, a local unit of government shall not enact or enforce an ordinance, code, or regulation pertaining to or in any manner regulating the sale, display, storage, transportation, or distribution of fireworks regulated under this act.

(2) A local unit of government may enact an ordinance regulating the ignition, discharge, and use of consumer fireworks, including, but not limited to, an ordinance prescribing the hours of the day or night during which a person may ignite, discharge, or use consumer fireworks. If a local unit of government enacts an ordinance under this subsection, the ordinance shall not regulate the ignition, discharge, or use of consumer fireworks on the following days after 11 a.m.:

(a) December 31 until 1 a.m. on January 1.

(b) The Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding Memorial Day until 11:45 p.m. on each of those days.

(c) June 29 to July 4 until 11:45 p.m. on each of those days.

(d) July 5, if that date is a Friday or Saturday, until 11:45 p.m.

(e) The Saturday and Sunday immediately preceding Labor Day until 11:45 p.m. on each of those days.

(3) An ordinance under subsection (2) shall impose a civil fine of $1,000.00 for each violation of the ordinance and no other fine or sanction. The ordinance must provide for the remittance of $500.00 of the fine collected under the ordinance to the local law enforcement agency responsible for enforcing the ordinance.

(4) Beginning August 1, 2019, a local unit of government with a population of 100,000 or more or a local unit of government located in a county with a population of 750,000 or more may enact or enforce an ordinance that regulates the use of a temporary structure. An ordinance established under this subsection may include, but is not limited to, a restriction on the number of permits issued for a temporary structure, regulation of the distance required between 2 or more temporary structures, or a zoning ordinance that regulates the use of a temporary structure. An ordinance established under this subsection may not prohibit the temporary storage, transportation, or distribution of fireworks by a consumer fireworks certificate holder at a retail location that is a permanent building or structure. As used in this subsection, "temporary structure" means a movable structure that is used in the sale, display, storage, transportation, or distribution of fireworks, including, but not limited to, a tent or a stand.

HISTORY: 2011, Act 256, Eff. Jan. 1, 2012 ;-- Am. 2013, Act 65, Imd. Eff. June 19, 2013 ;-- Am. 2018, Act 635, Imd. Eff. Dec. 28, 2018

© 2020 Legislative Council, State of Michigan

question: Are local governments allowed to regulate fireworks during June 30th?

answer: No, local governments are prohibited from regulating fireworks from June 29 to July 4, amongst other dates.

question: What is the number of this act?

answer: This is Act 256 of 2011.

question: What is a temporary structure according to this?

answer: According to this, a temporary structure is a movable structure that is used in the sale, display, storage, transportation, or distribution of fireworks, including, but not limited to, a tent or a stand.

question: What is the earliest you can regulate fireworks on January 1?

answer: The earliest you can regulate fireworks on January 1 is 1 a.m.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This act details when local governments are allowed to regulate using fireworks. It also outlines the punishments for ordinances restricting fireworks use, and the use of temporary structures for distributing fireworks.


text:
Highly adjustable, lightweight, and built to stay put!

The Mapex H700 Hi-Hat Cymbal Stand is packed full of roadworthy features with a lightweight and durable design. The stand offers a wide variety of variations and adjustments to easily customize and fit it to your exact cymbal playing needs.

Adjustability

Mapex includes a Tru-Direct pull drive system, adjustable angle footboard, 10 Stop wide-range tension adjustment, and 360-degree rotating leg assembly that all add up to an extremely customizable hi-hat stand. Multi-Sustain cymbal felts enable you to assemble any combination of felt and plastic to customize the amount of sustain.

Non-slip durability

Mapex understands that drummers need a stand that stays put. The H700 hi-hat stand has double-braced legs with slip-proof rubber feet and retractable floor spikesit's not going anywhere. Mapex also understands the other adjustments that also can slip and move after you set them. That is why this stand's dual-tube construction is built with slip-proof nylon inner sleeves. The Mapex H700 Hi-Hat Cymbal Stand also offers improved clamp-style memory locks. Set them once and don't look back.
Features
Multi-sustain cymbal felts
Tru-Direct pull drive system
Adjustable angle footboard
10 Stop Wide-range tension adjustment
Retractable floor spikes
Dual tube construction with slip-proof nylon inner sleeve
Clamp-style memory locks
360-degree rotating leg assembly
Double-braced legs
Slip-proof rubber feet

There are currently no reviews for this product, be the first to write one!

question: What does the Hi-Hat Cymbal stand offer?

answer: A wide variety of adjustments to easily customize and fit your cymbal playing needs.

question: Which brand is the stand?

answer: Mapex H700

question: What does the cymbal stand feature?

answer: A lightweight and durable design.

question: What is the cymbal stand built for?

answer: To stay put.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Ad page for a Hi-Hat Cymbal stand.


text:
_OM TELOLET OM_ (also known as _#OMTELOLETOM_) is a social media meme that depicts Indonesian youths' excitement when a bus driver honks a modified horn in a rhythmic manner as they pass by. It literally means “Uncle, please honk, uncle”. The word “telolet” refers to the rhythm of the bus honk.[1][2] This phenomenon reached internet fame through social media.

Background

As the Indonesian netizen spammed the Twitter accounts of several DJs including DJ Snake, Marshmello, Firebeatz, Dillon Francis, Zedd and Cash Cash with the hashtag “OmTeloletOm”, the phrase began to gain popularity. By the end of December 2016 it had become a trending topic internationally.[3] The spam effort worked and international DJs started to create musical arrangements using modified bus honking, kids screaming “Om Telolet Om” and their laughter. The DJs also played these arrangements in their concerts including Life in Color, a paint and music concert in Miami which announced that their secret headliner would be “Om Tell et Om”.[4][5]

[1] BBC Indonesia: Om tell let pm: The first bus honk that set the worldwide trend

[2] Jakarta Post: Om Telolet Om Phenomenon Goes Viral

[3] BBC World: What is 'Om Tell et Om' and why are DJs sharing it?

[4] Billboard: Life in Color Miami Announces Secret Headliner: Om Tell et Om

[5] Dance Music World Confounded By Indonesian Meme 'Om Tell et Om'

title: Om telolet om

question: What is Om telolet om?

answer: It is a social media meme that depicts Indonesian youths' excitement when a bus driver rhythmically honks a modified horn as they pass by.

question: Name all the DJ Twitter accounts the Indonesian netizen spammed.

answer: DJ Snake, Marshmello, Firebeatz, Dillon Francis, Zedd and Cash Cash

question: What is the literal translation of "Om telolet om?"

answer: Uncle, please honk, uncle.

question: What does the word "telolet" mean?

answer: The rhythm of the bus honk.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: An Indonesian social media meme went viral when a netizen spammed the Twitter accounts of several DJs, including DJ Snake, Zedd, and Firebeatz with the hashtag "Omteloletom," which literally means "Uncle, please honk, Uncle." "Telolet" refers to the rhythm of the bus honk the Indonesian youths get excited about. The spam campaign worked and DJs started creating arrangements that featured bus honking and kids screaming "Om Telolet Om," playing it in their concerts, including Life in Color in Miami.


text:
I don't usually drink alone in bars, but the idea seemed great. Ever since she left, the urge was steadily building. Nothing else I did felt like a proper ending. She lingered. So one night I  went out, alone, to a bar, aiming at becoming the idea. I sat and ordered my drink. The experience was nothing like the idea. Quietly wasting away, the first twenty minutes or so were horrendous. Then he sat down- at least I think he did. I don't remember, maybe he was already there. I do remember the first thing he said: "How's your beer?" My beer was excellent- I had become an expert on my beer. Sit alone for twenty minutes (or more?) sipping your beer, and you will be quite primed to describe said beer. So I did. And he listened. It was not a very interesting description.

That's how we got to talking. We talked about where we were, the bar itself, and we talked about our beers. We joked about the news, and the weather, then exchanged tiny best-of's we'd gathered from our lives. Best jokes heard, best one-liners, best pranks. Best tricks, best stories. We shared and drank some more, and we never asked the other his name. We didn't talk about what we did, or who we were. We talked about what we thought. There is a difference. The night was long, and in a way it was tiring. It was also a release. Hours later, as the sun started to rise, I thought it prudent to finally get my friend's name. Which is when he suddenly plopped down his final glass, and as if reading my mind, said "No need for names." We'd gotten into sync with one another. Hours of intense conversation will do that. Then he stretched, got up, and put on his hat. He said something to me then, and I don't think I'll forget it. He said, "You know something? I'm not what a lot of people would consider successful, but I love Time. Time and death. I love time, because it means even someone like me is a traveler." He paused to throw on his scarf.

Then he continued, "You know, I had a physics teacher once, and he explained how space and time are cut from the same cloth- fact, they are the same cloth. You and me, we sat here, and we drank, and we talked, and the whole time we traveled. Time keeps you moving, even when it seems like you aren't." He put on his jacket.

I asked him, "And death?"

He stopped, his hands in his sleeves, and said "Death is always the end of the line. So it 's the journey that matters. Without death, we'd think the destination was the point." That was the last thing he said to me.

I said "goodbye" to him, and as was my habit, "good luck." too. Then I went home and slept, and maybe dreamed, perhaps about how far I'd come from who I'd been.

title: Like many others, I delude myself into thinking I'll one day be an author. Here is some flash fiction: "Drinking Alone"

question: Why did the companion refuse to share his name?

answer: To maintain the whimsical, mysterious nature of their meeting.


text:
Beaulieu}} [The historical building of the Palais de Beaulieu. It is, with Lausanne railway station, one of the two buildings displaying the sign “Lausanne capitale olympique” (“Lausanne Olympic Capital”).]

PALAIS DE BEAULIEU is the historical and emblematic building of the Lausanne convention and exhibition center, located in Lausanne, in the Vaud Canton, Switzerland. The Palais is a convention centre that welcomes mainly conventions and events.

The center includes the Théâtre de Beaulieu concert, dance and theatre hall. With 1,844 seats, the Théâtre de Beaulieu is the biggest theatre in Switzerland. The Prix de Lausanne, an international ballet competition, is also hosted at the Palais de Beaulieu. La Télé, a regional TV-channel, has its studio and its offices at Beaulieu, as well as the Béjart Ballet Lausanne company. Conference Halls 6 + 7 of the Palais hosted the 1989 Eurovision Song Contest

Located in the Beaulieu area in Lausanne, the Convention and Exhibition Center lies in more than 6 hectares of ground. It boasts of 11,000 sq.m. of floor and 12,000 sq.m. of public gardens.[1] The Convention Center uses around 20 modular rooms and halls. Beaulieu Lausanne, part of MCH Group, also hosts some of Switzerland's major fairs and exhibitions.

History

The first “Comptoir Vaudois d'échantillons”[2] was inaugurated in Lausanne in 1916, thanks to the Société industrielle et commerciale de Lausanne, the Chambre vaudoise du commerce et de l'industrie, with support from the Lausanne Municipality. This kind of event was a novelty in Switzerland but was to be generalized afterwards. The first Comptoir suisse took place in September, 1920. Since then, only one edition never happened : the one of 1939, because of the war.[3] Note that the first official event of the NASA in Europe took place during the 1962 Comptoir suisse.[4]

The great hall - later to be known as Beaulieu's main building - was built in 1921. It is called the Palais de Beaulieu since 1957. During the Second World War, it hosted prisoners of war.[5] Talks about creating a new theater began in 1949, and involved the Lausanne Municipality and the Société Coopérative du Comptoir Suisse.[6] In 1954, the Théâtre de Beaulieu was inaugurated.[7] Nowadays, the Theater is used, among others, by well-known local institutions such as the Béjart Ballet Lausanne, the Orchestre de la Suisse romande and the Paternelle.

On the western side of Beaulieu, buildings were added between 1920 and 1940. Then, between 1950 and 1954, development moved to the South and East of the site. The North Halls were built in 1960 and many renovations followed.[8] Thus, as well as the Comptoir suisse, Beaulieu gradually hosted conventions, artistic activities and economic events.

Since 2000, the buildings belong to a public law foundation named the Beaulieu Foundation, created by the Vaud Canton, the City of Lausanne and Vaud district councils (Lausanne Region and Association of Vaud municipalities). The Foundation is in charge of maintenance, renovations and logistics, as well as the strategic and economic development of the site. It manages the Convention Center and, along with Opus One SA, the Beaulieu Theater. As a tenant, MCH Beaulieu Lausanne SA, that took over from the Société Coopérative du Comptoir Suisse,[9] organizes fairs and exhibitions, mostly in the South Halls. Since 2006, Eldora Traiteur SA, a branch of the Eldora SA Group (previously DSR), is in charge of the catering.

The Beaulieu Foundation launched a renovation program named Beaulieu 2020, that encompasses years 2000 to 2020. Under the Beaulieu 2020 flag, the Palais de Beaulieu has undergone various renovations since 2001, and work is still going on. The old South Halls were destroyed and new South Halls were built in 2011.[10][11] In 2014, a vote of the population of Lausanne rejected by 52% the project of building a tower of 90 meters next to the Palais de Beaulieu.[12] As a result, MCH Beaulieu Lausanne decided to reduce the conference activities (except general assemblies) and to concentrate on trade fairs (such as the Comptoir suisse). This triggered a reorganization of the Beaulieu 2020 project and of its partners.[13] As from 2014, spaces in the Palais de Beaulieu are being reallocated.[14] The Haute Ecole de la Santé La Source (La Source Healthcare High School) has decided to take premises at Beaulieu. The Court of Arbitration for Sport of the International Olympic Committee is planning to move from the Château de Béthusy (already in Lausanne) to the south part of the Palais de Beaulieu.[15]

Events

Annual events

-   Habitat Jardin
-   Comptoir suisse
-   Baby & Kid Planet
-   Swiss Expo
-   Le Salon des métiers et de la formation
-   Le Prix de Lausanne
-   le Béjart Ballet Lausanne
-   L'OSR
-   La Paternelle
-   Numerus general assemblies and conventions

Past major events

-   First International Congress on World Evangelization (1974)
-   Eurovision Song Contest 1989
-   World Gymnaestrada (2012)
-   Holiday on Ice (1979)
-   Mamma Mia (2016)

Notes and references

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]  Olivier Grivat, “105’000 internés militaires, 10’000 Soviétiques: les oublis de Bergier”, lesobservateurs.ch, 24 March 2012 (page visited on 18 May 2016).

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] http://beaulieu2020.ch/realisations/reconstruction-des-halles-sud]

[11]

[12]  “Les Lausannois refusent le projet de tour Taoua à Beaulieu”, Radio télévision suisse, 13 April 2014 (page visited on 18 May 2016).

[13]  Aïna Skjellaug, “Privé de sa tour Taoua, Beaulieu présente son plan B”, _Le Temps_, Wednesday 18 May 2016 (page visited on 18 May 2016).

[14]

[15]

title: Palais de Beaulieu

question: What is the Palais de Beaulieu?

answer: A convention center in Lausanne.

question: Where is Lausanne?

answer: In the Vaud Canton in Switzerland.

question: How many seats are in the Théâtre de Beaulieu in the Palais de Beaulieu?

answer: 1844.

question: When was the first “Comptoir Vaudois d'échantillons” extablished in Lausanne?

answer: 1916.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about the Palais de Beaulieu, a convention center in Lausanne.


text: I’m a big man who thinks sharp, so my meals need to be sharp too.  Hearty portions at reasonable prices are what I demand, there’s no room for compromise. Rolling up to the drive thru, I naturally take a look at the dollar menu, but those small portions don’t work for a man of my caliber. “Give me a large vanilla shake, an ultimate bacon cheese burger with extra mayo, and a large order of fries with extra salt and ranch on the side. …And toots? Super size the shit out of it, will ya?” You see, my body is my vehicle, and this precious ride…it only takes premium. “That’ll be $6.97, Mr.” “Here’s $7.00 bucks, keep the change.”

title: Fast Food

question: Explain this reference: 'it only takes premium'.

answer: The narrator compares his body to a precious vehicle that uses only premium gasoline to run on. Premium gasoline is more expensive than regular gasoline because it has a higher octane rating. The narrator feels that he needs a higher octane rating (more energy) to function. This stands in contrast to the type of food that the narrator eats that does not provide premium energy.

question: Explain the narrator's approach to nutrition.

answer: The narrator chooses nutrition in large portions that comes at a low price. This means that the narrator gets his food from fast food restaurants. Food from these restaurants are usually not healthy. This means that the narrator prefers food that is big, but with low nutritional value.

question: Explain the narrator's treatment of women.

answer: The narrator refers to the person taking his order at the fast food drive through as 'toots'. This is a derogatory slang term used to refer to women. The use of this term implies that he does not treat women well.

question: What is the narrator's motivation?

answer: The narrator is a big man that is comfortable with his physical size. To maintain his physique he chooses meals that are large and have a reasonable price.


text:
RICHMOND, Va. – On Tuesday an art exhibit called “Go Bike!” was unveiled at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit is intended to showcase and commemorate the 2015 World Cycling Championship.

It’s also part of an effort undertaken by the Greater Richmond Chamber “to position RVA as an artsy, progressive region that embraces an active lifestyle with the goal of attracting and retaining millennial talent.”

“Richmond will be on the world stage during Richmond 2015 and this is the perfect opportunity to seize the moment to showcase our creative talent to the world through the Go Bike! project,” said Chrystal Neal, GRC vice president.

The shape of the artworks, cast locally at OK Foundry with patterns created locally by Tektonics, was selected as the result of a local design contest held last fall in which the public was invited to enter designs, according to a distributed press release.

VCU graphic design student John Sampson’s wheel-like design with 75 evenly spaced marks pointing inward represents the 75 nations that will converge on the River City for the World Cycling Championships.

Following the exhibit, the artworks will be mounted atop thirty new bike racks to be installed throughout the city this summer.

The City of Richmond’s Center for Workforce Innovation welding school is making the bike racks locally, through an innovative program designed to teach valuable welding skills to students, who upon graduation can earn an above average living wage.

Three presenting sponsors, Altria, Dominion and Bon Secours, helped fund the 30 local artists to create original works of art, paying them a stipend for time and materials.

The thirty participating artists, curated by Ronald Johnson of the painting department at VCU, are:

Reinaldo G. Alvarez
Katie Baines
Amanda Baldwin
Andras Bality S
ukenya Best
Brad Thomas Birchett
Sally Bowring
Mickael Broth
Amy Chan
Genesis Chapman
Suzanna Fields
Peter & Keiran Fraser
Dr. Vaughn Whitney Garland
Hamilton Glass
Jason Hackett
Brooke Inman
Matt Lively
Anthony Meloro
Valerie Molnar & Matt Spahr
Lynn Murphy
Amie Oliver
Diego Sanchez
Matthew Pendleton Shelton
Mary A. Silcox
Tanja Softić
Jody Symula
Ed Trask
Matthew Warren
Johannah Willsey
Jane Winfield

Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Sign up for the Headlines Newsletter and receive up to date information.

question: Describe the Go Bike! exhibit.

answer: The exhibit features artwork intended to showcase and commemorate the 2015 World Cycling Championship. The artworks were cast locally at OK Foundry and feature patterns created locally by Tektonics.

question: Where was the exhibit located?

answer: The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia

question: How many artists participated in the exhibit?

answer: Thirty

question: Describe one of the pieces featured in the exhibit.

answer: John Sampson's piece features a wheel-like design with 75 evenly spaced marks pointing inward, representing the 75 nations participating in the River City for the World Cycling Championships.

question: How long was the exhibit scheduled to run for?

answer: That information can't be found.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The article highlights the Go Bike! exhibit at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibit features the work of thirty local artists celebrating the 2015 World Cycling Championships.


text:
_NIGHT TRAIN_ is a 2009 direct-to-video mystery thriller film produced by Rifkin-Eberts Productions and stars Danny Glover, Leelee Sobieski, Steve Zahn and Matthias Schweighöfer. It pays homage to a variety of classic suspense films such as _Strangers on a Train_ (1951), _The Lady Vanishes_ (1938), and _The Maltese Falcon_ (1941), though the plot bears only passing resemblance to any of them. The film did not appear in theaters and was released on DVD for US markets in July 2009.

Plot

A man runs through a forest carrying something. A nearly deserted train pulls into a station and two conductors get out, take a stretch, and kill time as no one seems to board. Just as the train is about to depart, the running man calls out, runs to the train and seems to want to board. He does not speak and, assuming that perhaps he does not know English, the conductors let him on with the intention of getting his money later. He joins two of the only five passengers who appear to be on the train at that point. One of the passengers, an inebriated salesman named Pete (Steve Zahn), offers the man a drink. Downing a mouthful of pills, the man washes them down with the vodka. Soon after, the man dies as a result of ingesting Seconal, combined with alcohol, which causes his heart and lungs to stop working.

Upon this discovery, Pete and another passenger, med student Chloe (Leelee Sobieski), locate the head conductor Miles (Danny Glover) and alert him to what has happened. Miles intends to call the authorities at the next stop, but Pete discovers a mysterious object in the box the dead man was carrying and, peering inside, is intrigued. Chloe also looks inside the object and both, immediately convinced that there is a liberating fortune inside, scheme for ways to keep it. They suggest the idea to Miles, who tells them they're crazy, and takes the object and the box it was in back to his office purportedly to keep it safe and call the authorities, but he too peers inside and his will is overcome.

With a crazed Chloe taking the lead, the three decide to dispose of the man's body and keep the treasure for themselves. Their only problems now are keeping anyone else from finding out, warding off the other suspicious passengers as well as the other conductor and keeping a close eye on one another, as paranoia takes hold and the box's influence continues to do its work.

Eventually, it is revealed that the box contains a supernatural force of some kind, and that whoever looks into it sees what would tempt them the most, dooming them to corruption and death before dawn. The last survivor, Miles, lives only long enough to attempt to destroy the device by placing it in the path of an oncoming train, but dies just after seeing it nudged off the tracks by a curious dog.

Ultimately, a random toddler-age child wandering alone, in the middle of nowhere, miles from any city, town or train station, picks up the box, looks inside, and smiles.

Cast

-   Danny Glover as Miles
-   Leelee Sobieski as Chloe
-   Steve Zahn as Pete
-   Matthias Schweighöfer as Frankie
-   Takatsuna Mukai as Hiro
-   Togo Igawa as Yamashita
-   Richard O'Brien as Mrs. Froy
-   Jo Marr as Mr. Cairo
-   Constantine Gregory as Mr. Gutman
-   Harry Anichkin as Walter
-   Geoff Bell as Detective

title: Night Train (2009 film)

question: Summarize the action leading to the death of the man on the train.

answer: A man who doesn't speak nor pay for his ticket boards a train travelling with five passengers, and two conductors on board. An inebriated passenger named Pete offers the man a slug of vodka. The man swallows a hand full of Seconal with the booze causing his heart and lungs to stop working.

question: Why is the death not reported to the police

answer: The conductor intended to tell the authorities but the two passengers who were with the man when he died have looked into the box that the man carried. what they see intrigues them and they want to keep the box for themselves. they tell the conductor that they would prefer to keep the box. The conductor takes the box and its contents and when he looks into it is convinced that they should keep the contents. The three decide to get rid of the body.

question: Why are the contents of the box so intriguing?

answer: The box contains a supernatural force that tempts whoever looks into it with content that they would find most enticing. At the same time, it dooms them to corruption and death before dawn. The conductor is the last to survive looking into the box and he tries to destroy it but a dog ultimately saves the box and its contents.

question: What was the ultimate cause of death of the man who brought the box onto the train

answer: The man had also clearly looked at the contents of the box. Since the box condemns anyone who has looked into it to death before dawn, the man was destined to die before sunrise. The vodka and Seconal killed him but if it hadn't something else would have.

question: What is the child doing walking around in the middle of nowhere?


text:
_WHITE BEAR_ is the second studio album by British rock band the Temperance Movement. The album was produced in 2015 and released on 15 January 2016.[1]

Track listing

All songs written by the Temperance Movement.[2]

Personnel

THE TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT

-   Phil Campbell — vocals
-   Luke Potashnick — guitars
-   Paul Sayer — guitars
-   Nick Fyffe — bass
-   Damon Wilson — drums

PRODUCTION

-   The Temperance Movement — production
-   Sam Miller — production, recording, mixing
-   John Davis — mastering

DESIGN

-   Steven Sebring — cover image and photography
-   Graham Erickson — art direction

[1]

[2] _White Bear_ CD liner notes.

title: White Bear (The Temperance Movement album)

question: List the instruments used in the album.

answer: Guitars, bass, and drums.

question: How was the album received?

answer: The article doesn't contain that information.

question: When was the album released?

answer: 15 January 2016.

question: Who was responsible for converting the raw recordings into album versions?

answer: Sam Miller and John Davis.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: White Bear is the second studio album by British rock band the Temperance Movement. The album was produced in 2015 and released on 15 January 2016.


text:
Another top-quality offering from Ethiopia! This Yirgacheffe demonstrates in the cup how enjoyable a washed, sun-dried Ethiopian coffee can be. The full pedigree is Yirgacheffe Banko Dhadhato Lot 2. The coffee in the cup is deep and round, producing a balanced brew accented by hints of floral and caramel notes.

_"Banko"_ means something akin to "_high place"_ in the local Gedeo language, the name is a reference to a high ridge which bisects the area. This delivery exemplifies all that we love in Yirgacheffe: juicy peach and lemon predominate along with verbena and bergamot.

One hundred seventy seven family owned farms are organized under the Banko Dhadhato Cooperative. Their small family-owned plots are located at high elevations between 5,700 and 7,500 feet. Cultivating indigenous heirloom trees using organic growing practices, their efforts have enabled the cooperative Fair Trade certifications. Fair Trade certification ensures medical and educational services to the members and sustainable growing methods for the environment.

question: What kind of post is this?

answer: This is an advertisement.

question: What is the advertisement for?

answer: A coffee from Ethiopia! The coffee is described as deep and round, producing a balanced brew accented by hints of floral and caramel notes.

question: What is the full pedigree of the coffee?

answer: Yirgacheffee Banko Dhadhato Lot 2.

question: What does the name mean?

answer:
Yirgacheffe: juicy peach and lemon predominate along with verbana and bergamot.
Banko: means "high place" in the local Gedeo language.
Dhadhato: is the small family-owned plot of the cooperative.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This is an advertisement for a coffee from Ethiopia! The coffee is described as deep and round, producing a balanced brew accented by hints of floral and caramel notes.


text:
KATIE HALL is an English actress and soprano.

Hall was born in Oakham, Rutland in the English East Midlands on 31 August 1990. She attended private school at Oakham[1] and went on to become a graduate of the National Youth Music Theatre.[2] She also attended Peterborough High School for part of her senior education.[3] Her parents, John Graham Hall and Helen Williams, were both professional opera singers.[4][5][6]

She played Cosette in the 2010 25th-anniversary version of _Les Misérables_ at The O2 Arena and Christine in _The Phantom of the Opera_ in the UK tour in 2012.[7] She also had a small cameo in the 2012 film production of _Les Misérables_.[8] In 2013, she was cast as Maria in the UK tour of _West Side Story_.[9][10] In 2015, she was chosen by the English National Opera to play Johanna Barker in Sweeney Todd.[11] In 2018, she began playing Fantine in the UK and Ireland Tour of _Les Misérables_.[12][13]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]  Team | website = West Side Story | via = westsidestorytheshow.co.uk | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131211102648/http://westsidestorytheshow.co.uk/team/katie-hall | archive-date = 11 December 2013 | url-status = dead}}

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

title: Katie Hall (actress)

question: How old was Katie Hall when she appeared in 25-th Anniversary of Les Miserables?

answer: She was 20 years old.

question: Did Katie Hall appear in the Les Miserables film?

answer: Yes, she had a small cameo.

question: Summarize all the information relating to Katie Hall's education.

answer: She attended private school at Oakham and went on to become a graduate of the National Youth Music Theatre. She also attended Peterborough High School for part of her senior education.

question: Where will the 2018 production of Les Miserables perform?

answer: It will do a tour of UK and Ireland.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Katie Hall is an English actress and soprano. Her early years and work to date is included in this post.


text:
The Luggage

From the beginning, I knew I had to sit on my father’s throne but life has played many tricks with me. If I could hop on a time machine, go back in time and wanted something that would have taken my life on a different path, it would have been to spend more time with my father. Fate has kept my father away from me my entire life. Those few months that I have spent with him are hardly registered in my memory anymore. Even if they were, it would have been harder to cope since my father is someone completely different ever since his brain stroke.
It’s unfathomable to imagine one carrying Mt. Everest on its back but if I had to compare, it would be carrying the luggage full of responsibilities of my six membered family that was bestowed upon me after my fathers’ impairment. I was never raised to be someone capable of lifting such a heavy object and I fumbled constantly until my family gave up on me.
If anyone still had hope on me, it was myself. I just knew it, it was written on the imaginary paper in my rich mind (fueled daily to drag my lazy body)  but it never came to fruition until I met her. Memories of her are hard to discern now a days; it’s like a printed paper that has already been printed once before and the letters are deceitful to eyes and mind. I remember meeting her through the tubes that connect the entire world. I reckon she fell in love with me within few minutes of our conversation and didn't hesitate to confess it to me that very same night. I remember talking to her for endless hours on daily basis as if I was born with the intuition like an infant wired to grasp onto its mother's bosom. It was a part of my life, intertwined. But then one day she was gone as fast as she came into my life. There were no traces of her. If there were any, it was my transformation. She helped me build the strength to lift the luggage and carry it many miles.
Many months have past. Now, my family has new found hope and respect for me. Afterall, I am a coolie carrying the luggage that was left by my father on his throne. I stayed awake many a night longing for the angel who helped me attain my strength. One enlightening night wasn’t any different. It was a starry night as I had my back to the red brick wall, sitting next to my dearest cousin, speaking of things only couple of men would do. As the night grew older, so did our conversations. And then for a while I remained silent. taking in the beauty that was rendered upon us. Stars and moons shining in harmony, giving life and light at the same time for us to continue to survive.
I break the silence, "you reckon that song?".
Pointing at the bright light that occupies our retinas from few blocks away.
It was a late night wedding and the music was as loud as an erupting volcano. Some people didn't have any good sense of time or place. At least both of us loved the song and we didn't waste a minute but started to sing along.
♪♪ Maddening wind hardens,
as my old friend returns.
It has been a long while...
To lose her again, frightens. ♪♪
And suddenly I halted, unable to hold back my tears anymore for the song was her favorite as well. My cousin being the dearest as he is, puts his hand upon my shoulder and asks, “what’s the matter, brother?”. I tell him the tale of her and watched his mouth remain open throughout as if he needed more air to aid his lungs to keep running. I wiped off the tears from my cheek, watch my cousin leave my company and continue to gaze on the stars and wondered whether they know where she is. After considerable amount of time and before the stars started to lose its feature my cousin reappears to show me documentation that hinders my cogitation. There were no one on the other end of the conversation with whom I spend countably infinite hours. My body remained inert, my mind wandered around, trapped inside a maze and I felt my luggage getting a few ton heavier.

title: My First Short Story. Feed, Please?!

question: What does the story say about luggage?

question: What does the story say about the narrator's family?

answer: The narrator is supposed to eventually follow in his father's footsteps. His only regret is that he never spent enough time with him. Eventually, he meets a woman he falls in love with who helps him ease this burden. She leaves his life as fast as she came and he has trouble forgetting her.

question: What does the story say about the narrator and the woman he loves?

answer: The narrator meets a woman he falls in love with who helps him ease his baggage. She leaves his life as fast as she came and he has trouble forgetting her. After she leaves, he learns to carry this baggage on his own and earns the respect of his family.

question: What does the story say about the narrator and his cousin?

answer: The narrator cries about the woman he loves. His cousin asks him what's wrong. He tells him what happened to them, and how she disappeared so suddenly. After comforting him for a while, his cousin shows him a piece of document that might be implying she was found dead. He feels his baggage get heavier.


text:
[“The Laique pride” rally in Beirut Central District, Lebanon]

LEBANESE LAÏQUE PRIDE, also LAÏQUE PRIDE, LAIC PRIDE,[1] or SECULAR PRIDE,[2] is a Lebanese secularist group. It broadly advocates for secularism, women's rights, and media freedom. The group advocates for “equality among all Lebanese citizens and the separation of religion and politics.”[3] The group is opposed to confessionalism.

Founded in either 2009[4] or 2010,[5] “Lebanese Laique Pride” was originally created as a Facebook discussion thread on sectarianism.[6] Within a matter of months, the group organized protests against sectarianism and in favor of “secular Lebanon” which roughly 7,000 attended.[7]

In April 2010, Laïque Pride calling for “an end to the country's deep-rooted sectarian system” and for a “secular Lebanon.”[8] In May 2012, Laïque Pride issued demands, four concerning women's rights and two concerning media freedom.[9][10] Laïque Pride also supports the enacting of a unified Civil Code for the Personal Status Law.[11] On August 29, 2016, more than 70,000 people gathered on Martyrs' Square in Beirut.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

title: Laïque Pride

question: What is secularism?

answer: Not answered.

question: Where is Lebanon?

answer: Not answered.

question: What is confessionalism?

answer: Not answered.

question: When and where did Lebanese Laique Pride start?

answer: The group was started as a Facebook discussion thread on sectarianism in either 2009 or 2010.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article briefly introduces Lebanese Laique Pride, a Lebanese secularist group that began in the early 2010s.


text:
Build A Coaching Business That Changes Everything!

Our Calling To Coaches Worldwide

At Coaches Business School we know that you want to earn a decent living from your coaching. In order to do that, you need to build your business and create a stable, reliable income.

The problem is you are being overloaded with information, you don’t know who to trust and often you’re being taught the wrong things which makes you doubt yourself and lose confidence in your ability to ever build a business that works.

WE WANT TO CHANGE THAT.

WE KNOW YOUR SUCCESS BEGINS WITH YOU.

Innovating at the intersection of awakened business, technology and coaching, we are a catalyst for awakening minds, healing the body/mind/spirit, inspiring change and shifting perceptions. We understand exactly what is working in business today, and it’s probably NOT what you think. Join us and help to change the destiny of your business.

We invite you to become a coach who awakens us all to a better tomorrow.

Coaches Business School is inspired by what makes coaches successful today; awakened humans, smart thinkers, inspiring thought leaders and sustainable change-makers.

WE TAKE A STAND FOR OUR BELIEFS:

-   We believe that coaches should be able to _EARN A GOOD LIVING_ from their coaching and do this in a _PURPOSE-DRIVEN AND CONSCIOUS WAY._
-   We _HONOR THE VALUE_ every individual coach brings to change a mind, a business direction or a life, so that every coach is able to bring forward _THEIR PERSONAL CONTRIBUTION_ to build a better world.
-   We want _EVERY COACH TO AWAKEN TO THEIR FULL POTENTIAL_ so that more people can benefit from their coaching.
-   We believe your _BUSINESS SKILLS_ are as important as your coaching skills and more than anything, we know that it is your “being” that drives your “doing”.
-   We take a stand for deeper transformations in life and business.
-   Ultimately, we know that coaches have a powerful calling as _FACILITATORS OF AWAKENING HUMAN POTENTIAL_ and as _EVOLUTIONARY GUIDES_ but they can’t do this effectively when their business is letting them down.

And WE STAND AGAINST POOR QUALITY TRAINING, FALSE PROMISES AND LACK OF INTEGRITY.

TODAY BUSINESS BUILDING, TOMORROW THE WORLD.

Coaches Business School is just getting started and we couldn’t be more excited to have so many coaches join our movement.

WE’D LOVE YOU TO JOIN US.

YOUR COACH TRAINING WON’T PAY FOR ITSELF.

OURS WILL.

question: Who is the post's target audience?

answer: The target audience for this post is coaches who want to build or create a stable business.

question: What is the site called?

answer: Coaches Business School.

question: What inspires Coaches Business School?

answer: They are inspired by what makes coaches successful today: awakened humans, smart thinkers, inspiring thought leaders, and sustainable change-makers.

question: What does Coaches Business School stand against?

answer: They stand against poor quality training, false promises, and lack of integrity.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This post is an advertisement for Coaches Business School. It is for coaches who want to build or create a stable business.


text:
ZIYĀD AL-AʿD̲J̲AM was an Arabic poet of the Umayyad period. Of Persian[1] origin, he was a mawla of the Amir b. al-Harith, a branch of the Abd al-Kays. Ziyād owed his nickname, “al-Aʿd̲j̲am,” to his strong Persian accent. According to anecdotes told in the _Aghani_, his grammar and pronunciation of spoken Arabic was not ideal.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: Ziyād al-Aʿd̲j̲am

question: Who was Ziyad Al A'djam?

answer: He was an Arabic poet from the Umayyad period.

question: Why was Ziyad named "al-Adjam"?

answer: He owed this nickname to his strong Persian accent.

question: How was Ziyad's spoken Arabic?

answer: Ziyad's spoken Arabic wasn't ideal.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Ziyad Al A'djam was a Persian poet from the Umayyad period. He had a strong Persian accent but his pronunciation and grammar in Arabic weren't ideal.


text:
 [Leroy Sane ]
Leroy Sane apologised after his goal cost one punter a massive win  Credit: Getty Images

For most people, Tuesday night's epic eight-goal thriller at the Etihad was one of the best Champions League games in recent memory.

But for one unfortunate punter, Manchester City's dramatic 5-3 win over Monaco meant nothing but agonising heartbreak.

After John Stones had put Manchester City 4-3 to complete City's unlikely comeback, German fan Mustafa Celik was minutes away from winning a huge €34,000 bet.

Leroy Sane scores his second goal and Man City's fifth  Credit: REX

Celik had placed a correct score double on the two Champions League matches and with Atletico Madrid winning 4-2 away to Bayer Leverkusen he only needed Man City to hang on for a 4-3 win to pull off an unlikely win.

However with less than 10 minutes left to play Sergio Aguero teed the ball up for Leroy Sane to get his second goal of the game and put pay to Celik's bet.

The German punter tweeted Sane, writing: "You owe me €34,000," along with a picture of his losing betting slip.

After reading about Celik's bet in the Wednesday morning newspapers the 19-year-old apologised for costing the punter a £28,000 win.

"I read about it in the newspapers. Sorry for that poor guy! #Insane."

Pep Guardiola lavished praise on his young players after securing an "amazing" comeback.

"Many things happened, but in some moments we were unlucky and lucky," Guardiola said after the match.

"It's not easy to play against them, the old guys played amazing, as did the young guys.

"This experience will help us. Monaco have more experience in Europe than us and we need this experience to improve. It's the first step. We have to score goals in Monaco but it was a good result."

question: Who scored the last goal in Manchester City's 5-3 win over Monaco?

answer: Manchester City's Leroy Sane.

question: Where was the venue of the match?

answer: It was at Etihad, Manchester City's home ground.

question: How much did the punter, Mustafa Celik, lose?

answer: €34,000

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The match at the Etihad between Manchester City and Monaco ended 5-3 in favour of the home team. Manchester City's Leroy Sane put the final nail in the coffin of the opponents by scoring the fifth goal. Unfortunately, for Mustafa Celik, a German fan, that goal also put paid to the punt that was supposed to net him €34,000 for guessing the right scoreline. Celik tweeted at Sane, writing, "You owe me €34,000."


text:
TOUCH was an American rock band from New York City formed in 1978. Mark Mangold (songwriter and keyboards), Glen Kithcart (drums), and Craig Brooks (guitars) had all previously been in the band American Tears (releasing three albums on Columbia Records). The lineup was completed by bassist Doug Howard.[1]

Career

Their single, “Don't You Know What Love Is” only reached #69 on the _Billboard_ Hot 100. However, the song was played heavily on AOR radio stations in the USA at the end of the 1970s, and did well on a specialist _Melody Maker_ chart in Great Britain. The band released one eponymous album in 1980, and a second unreleased album was recorded in 1982.[2]

Touch was the first band to play at the inaugural Monsters of Rock festival at Castle Donington racetrack in 1980.[3] A live version of “Don't You Know What Love Is” appeared on the compilation LP _Monsters of Rock_, documenting performances at the festival.[4]

Post break-up

Mark Mangold has continued to write and record with and for other artists, with one of his earliest collaborators being a then-relatively unknown musician named Michael Bolton.[5] This working relationship began when Mangold co-wrote and performed on Bolton's first solo hit, “Fool's Game,” which was featured on the latter artist's self-titled 1983 solo album. The song “I Found Someone,” another collaboration with Bolton, was initially recorded by Laura Branigan, though it ultimately became a top 10 hit for Cher.

Craig Brooks joined Mangold in the studio for Michael Bolton's solo album. In addition to being a fellow co-writer on “Fool's Game,” Brooks performed guitar and backing vocals on the album. The following year, he sang on Roger Glover's solo album, _Mask_.

Doug Howard has also continued to perform, record and write with acts and artists such as Todd Rundgren, Edgar Winter, Stun Leer, and Roy Buchanan as well as a member of Rundgren's Utopia (Howard is co-writer of the Utopia hit “Feet Don't Fail Me Now” and managing partner of Lodestar Entertainment.

Reformation

In 2014, Mangold resurrected the Touch name, assembling a lineup featuring Swedish singer Göran Edman on lead vocals along with other Swedish musicians. This lineup performed live at Firefest in Nottingham, UK in October 2014.[6]

In 2020 Mangold announced that all four original members had reunited and were once again working on a new Touch album for release in late 2020. In October 2020 Mangold posted a new Touch song on his Youtube account.

Discography

_Touch_ (1980)

Track listing

1.  “Don't You Know What Love Is” - 3:50
2.  “When the Spirit Moves You” - 3:56
3.  “Love, Don't Fail Me” - 4:24
4.  “Black Star” - 3:32
5.  “There's a Light” - 3:56
6.  “Take It Back” - (Only available on CD reissue) 4:03
7.  “So High” - 5:18
8.  “Last Chance for Love” - 3:51
9.  “Yes (You Need to Rock & Roll)” - 4:22
10. “Listen (Can You Feel It)” - 5:02
11. “Feels Like Love” (Only available on CD reissue) - 4:12

_Touch II_ (1982)

Track listing

1.  Just One Step - 4:15
2.  Far Enough - 4:39
3.  Too Much in Love - 4:06
4.  Beg Me - 4:34
5.  Let Me Love You - 5:13
6.  Frozen on a Wire - 4:44
7.  Never in Love - 4:14
8.  Between the Lines - 3:56
9.  You're Not a Child Anymore - 4:20
10. Is It Really Me? - 4:41

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6] Touch: My Life Depends On You - live at Firefest 2014 @YouTube.com Retrieved 12-19-2015.

title: Touch (band)

question: What is Mark Mangold known for?

answer: Mangold formed the rock band "Touch" in 1978 and they released a single, “Don't You Know What Love Is” that did well in the US and UK charts. He also collaborated with Micahel Bolton.

question: What is the common theme in Touch music?

answer: Love. Several songs from Touch's two albums are about love.


text:
PORTLAND, Ore. (TheStreet) -- Four years ago, I told the story of 23-year-old Marine Lance Corporal Jeffrey Michael Lucey of Belchertown, Mass. -- an Iraq veteran who committed suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder -- as a means of explaining what was then a recent spike in military suicides.

Next year will be the 10th anniversary of Lance Corporal Lucey's death. In that decade, the number of suicides among active members of the military and veterans hasn't abated. In fact the 349 military suicides in 2012 exceeded the 295 U.S. military members who died in combat in Afghanistan last year. Most suicides occurred among personnel between 18 and 24 years old. Meanwhile, roughly

6,500 former military personnel

killed themselves last year, which equates to one suicide every 80 minutes.

The June 2012

Monthly Medical Surveillance Report

published by the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center directly addresses military suicide and notes that annual incident diagnoses of mental disorders among active service members have increased by roughly 65% percent in the last 12 years. That doesn't just go away when service members are discharged, either. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that roughly

13% of the overall U.S. homeless population are veterans

, with 50% experiencing severe mental illness and 75% struggling with substance abuse.

Younger vets from recent wars make up approximately 10% of that veteran homeless population and 31% of all veteran suicides. As we mentioned three years ago while telling the story of

21-year-old Army Specialist Adam Kuligowski

-- who took his rifle into a bathroom stall at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan and shot himself on on April 6, 2009 -- often the very drugs soldiers are using to combat depression, insomnia and post-traumatic stress disorder are the ones interacting with other drugs and pushing military personnel toward suicide.

This is what those who've fought our nation's most recent wars have had to deal with. This is the collective price they pay, and it hasn't diminished in recent years. On this Veterans Day and every other within the last decade or so, an increasing number of veterans are finding themselves pushed to the brink as the infrastructure of VA facilities, clinics, doctors, shelters, safe house and other facilities do what they can to keep them stable or, at the very least, alive.

Within the last decade, the budget for Veterans Affairs has increased from $59.7 billion to $125.3 billion. VA used $40 million in extra Congressional funding earmarked for military suicide prevention to establish

a new crisis line (1-800-273-8255) and Web site

that gives vets non-phone options including text and online chat to reach out if they're contemplating suicide. President Obama signed an executive order in August authorizing the VA to hire additional staff and double the capacity of the crisis line to increase its accessibility.

Congress, meanwhile, has finally realized that doctors can't medicate away a veteran's problems and passed legislation a year ago authorizing more money for peer counseling that would pair returning service personnel with veterans who have made the transition to civilian life. In each story of both military and veteran suicides, a common theme and complaint is that military personnel are either afraid to seek help with PTSD or other ailments because of the stigma attached to such pleas -- the fear that they'll be considered soft or cowardly -- and that veterans often feel isolated when there's nobody around that they feel can relate to their experiences. Having a friendly, empathetic face who's been in similar situations has proven far more effective than popping pills and going straight back to civilian life.

What doesn't help are short-sighted comparisons to the overall national suicide rate that doesn't account for the much younger average age of military personnel and recent veterans. Similarly unhelpful is a military culture in which seeking mental health or substance abuse treatment is viewed as a career risk and confidentiality for records of said treatment isn't an option. When your commanding officer can peek in on whatever aspect of your medical records he or she pleases, your private concerns tend to become an embarrassing public matter and a handful of pills become preferable.

This is what active-duty military and veterans are still up against. This is the collective price they continue to pay for their service and for our nation's last decade at war. They should see a whole lot more return on it than what they're getting.

Recent strides are helpful, but the last four years have made plain that there are still a lot of folks like Lucey and Kuligowski out there. They're people who could really use an ear willing to listen, a face that understands and a home that makes sense to them. Some of them are your neighbors on line at the supermarket, some of them are waiting in line for a bed at the local mission or shelter. The price paid for helping them is high, but the price they pay when that help doesn't come is even higher.

_-- Written by Jason Notte in Portland, Ore._

>To contact the writer of this article, click here:

Jason Notte

.

>To follow the writer on Twitter, go to

http://twitter.com/notteham

.

>To submit a news tip, send an email to:

tips@thestreet.com

.

RELATED STORIES:

>>TOXIC COCKTAIL: ARMY STRUGGLES WITH MENTAL HEALTH CARE

>>VETERANS MAKE IDEAL INTERNS

>>VETERANS TO GET MORE SMALL BUSINESS LOANS

Jason Notte is a reporter for TheStreet. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Huffington Post, Esquire.com, Time Out New York, the Boston Herald, the Boston Phoenix, the Metro newspaper and the Colorado Springs Independent. He previously served as the political and global affairs editor for Metro U.S., layout editor for Boston Now, assistant news editor for the Herald News of West Paterson, N.J., editor of Go Out! Magazine in Hoboken, N.J., and copy editor and lifestyle editor at the Jersey Journal in Jersey City, N.J.

question: Approximately when was the article written?

answer: Probably sometime in 2013

question: Who is the author?

answer: Jason Notte

question: What is the main subject of the article?

answer: The high suicide rate among veterans

question: What percentage of the U.S. homeless population are veterans?

answer: 13%

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The author discusses the high suicide rate among U.S. veterans and points out some factors which prevent them from seeking the care they need.


text:
Photo via Associated Press

READ MORE FROM 'PRIMARY SOURCES,' THE VICE NEWS FOIA BLOG.

On May 16, 2009, a Charlotte, North Carolina police officer stopped Samir Khan's 2004 silver Honda Civic for running a stop sign. Khan told the officer, who gave him a traffic ticket, that he was headed to the grocery store. In his report, the officer noted that Khan "was nervous."

Khan's anxiety was understandable. He had been under FBI surveillance for several years for penning blog posts from his parents' home celebrating the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, proclaiming his loyalty to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, and sharing his dreams of jihad.

Ten days earlier, the bureau linked him to Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical preacher living in Yemen who US intelligence agencies claimed was the spiritual leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Like Khan, Awlaki was also a US citizen.

RELATED: An Exclusive Look Inside the FBI's Files on the US Citizen Who Edited Al Qaeda's Official Magazine

The FBI had planned a top-secret "case coordination meeting" for June 23, 2009 at the National Counterterrorism Center in MacLean, Virginia, where dozens of agents from FBI field offices from around the country who were working on the Khan and Awlaki cases would talk about how they planned to take down both men.

Intelligence the FBI collected from confidential informants and Khan's communications with "nefarious individuals" led the bureau to believe that he was preparing to travel overseas to engage in terrorism and kill Americans. On April 2, 2009, nearly a dozen FBI counterterrorism officials met to talk about "our strategy for the end-game" related to Khan.

"Let me know if this end-game plan is ok. It is a constant shifting of priorities," wrote the FBI official who was based out of the bureau's Charlotte field office.

Details of their "end-game" strategy are redacted.

Two years later, Khan and Awlaki were killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen. The Obama administration had publicly said that Khan wasn't the intended target.

The new details about the FBI's investigation into Khan is described in heavily redacted documents obtained by VICE News under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The 190 pages of records are the fifth installment in VICE News's ongoing series of reports about Khan, based on FBI documents, and the controversy surrounding the government's targeted killing of US citizens suspected of being members of al Qaeda. The bureau withheld more than 600 pages of documents from the latest cache, citing national security, privacy, law enforcement techniques and procedures and several other FOIA exemptions.

Although the documents make clear that the FBI was closing in on Khan in June 2009 — and that the bureau appeared to be ready to arrest and charge him with terrorism-related offenses — it is still unknown how the 24-year-old was able to slip out of the US and travel to Yemen without incident to join Awlaki four months later. The documents say the FBI maintained a surveillance log on Khan and noted that he frequented a local mosque in Charlotte and a restaurant in the city, Halal Grill & Sweets. The bureau also sent out weekly updates to top officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice on its investigation into Khan.

In Yemen, Khan became the editor of al Qaeda's slick English language magazine, _Inspire_, which included articles like "Make a Bomb in the Kitchen of Your Mom" that would later serve as inspiration to the Boston Marathon bombers.

[ooyalacontent_id="s4dWFvdDot5v2KwX5gACmcBWuerd2Hpz"player_id="YjMwNmI4YjU2MGM5ZWRjMzRmMjljMjc5" auto_play="1" skip_ads="0"]

The VICE News documentary 'Yemen: A Failed State'

The FBI documents highlight Khan's editorial skills and show that he had been working on an _Inspire_-like magazine prior to landing in Yemen. On April 7, 2009, the FBI sent an "urgent email" to its counterterrorism agents along with a report addressed to the director of the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC), the FBI's "global watch and communications center," about a matter that would likely generate a "significant amount of media attention."

The report said that the FBI received an email from the office of Representative Sue Myrick, a Republican congresswoman from North Carolina, about a 70-page magazine (referred to as the "Khan magazine" in the FBI documents) that had come to the attention of her office.

"The magazine is entitled 'Jihad Recollections.' The 70-page magazine is a compilation of articles that are pro-jihad in nature, including, 'Four Practical Steps to Expand the Global Jihad' written by Usama bin Ladin, 'Have We Forgotten Who Is America' by [current al Qaeda leader] Ayman al Zawahiri and Nasir al-Fahd, and 'Principles of Guerilla Warfare' by Abu Stratigiyyah," a contributor to Khan's blog, the FBI report said.

It's unknown whether the FBI obtained additional evidence about Khan to support the bureau's belief that he would become operational. The hundreds of pages of documents VICE News obtained over the past year suggest that the FBI's main concern regarding Khan was his "increased religiosity," inflammatory blog posts and interviews he gave to publications such as the _New York Times_ about embracing jihad.

Michael German, a former FBI agent whose work at the bureau included infiltrating white supremacist groups, previously told VICE News that the files on Khan "suggests it was more than just [Khan's] blog posts" that concerned the bureau, but it's "still not enough to get a clear picture of why the FBI was interested" in Khan.

RELATED: The FBI Considered Recruiting an American Blogger Later Killed in a Drone Strike

Still, the new documents show that the FBI devoted enormous resources to the Khan case and had alerted the White House National Security Council and its legal attaches at US embassies — their locations are redacted — about the Khan investigation and the possibility that he may travel overseas to wage jihad.

Even Khan's parents, who have never been implicated in terrorist activity, were under scrutiny. The FBI documents say the bureau obtained financial information and "potential forfeiture values of assets about the Khan family…. Notable is the fact that the [$340,000] Khan residence was paid for in cash." Despite repeated attempts, VICE News has been unable to obtain a comment from the family.

_Follow Jason Leopold on Twitter:_ _@JasonLeopold_

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question: Who is the main character of this article?

answer: Samir Khan

question: Who did the FBI link Samir Khan to?

answer: They linked him with Anwar al-Awlaki, a radical preacher living in Yemen who US intelligence agencies claimed was the spiritual leader of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

question: Why has Khan been under surveillance by the FBI?

answer: Khan has been penning blog posts from his parents' home celebrating the deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan, proclaiming his loyalty to Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, and sharing his dreams of jihad.

question: How and when were Khan and Awlaki killed?

answer: Khan and Awlaki were killed in a CIA drone strike in Yemen two years later.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The FBI case about Samir Khan and actions are described in this article. Khan was an American citizen who advocated for the al Qaeda edited their official magazine.  The information about this case is heavily redacted.


text:
Social media users have come down heavily on the former CEO of Target after it turned out he reportedly received a walk-away package worth about the same as what was offered to all 17,600 employees of the chain, which is closing its stores in Canada.

Gregg Steinhafel took a total of $61 million from Target, including stock options, his pension, and a total severance of nearly $16 million, when he left the company last May, according to Fortune's calculations. Target’s "employee trust" package for its Canadian workers meanwhile amounts to $56 million, as CBC reports, designed to provide each worker with 16 weeks of pay.

Steinhafel, who spent 35 years with the company, officially stepped down because of the massive credit data breach, in which hackers stole the personal information of up to 110 million customers, including names, mailing addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses in 2013. In the board's statement, the company noted that Steinhafel _"held himself personally accountable"_ for the incident, which cost the mega US retailer a significant drop in profit.

  PEOPLE OF EARTH: TARGET CEO JUST GOT 70 MILLION DOLLARS FOR COMPLETELY FAILING. WE ARE DOING EVERYTHING WRONG.

  — Leo McKay (@LeoMcKayJr) January 23, 2015

  My next gig is to become a CEO of a company, fail miserably and collect millions. #failingsuccessfully#TargetCanada

  — Tim Parent (@timparent) January 22, 2015

Earlier this month Target said it is pulling out of Canada after losing over $2 billion. Target Canada was plagued by empty shelves and poor customer service, according to Business Insider, opening stores in _"less-than-ideal"_ locations._
_

_"Target busied itself making excuses and creating ad campaigns to convince Canadians that things were getting 'better each day,' when in fact they really weren't improving nearly fast enough,"_ Doug Stephens, author of "The Retail Revival: Re-Imagining Business for the New Age of Consumerism" told the business and technology news website.

_"They simply didn't bring the Target experience to Canada,"_ he added. _"Canadian shoppers voted with their wallets."_

  Utterly obscene. The President of Target should have been fired for cause, not compensated for his abject failure. http://t.co/qMneNgIa5R

  — Steve Gilchrist (@enviro_steve) January 23, 2015

According to the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO), CEOs in America typically earn 354 times as much as the average worker at the company. On average, American CEOs earn just over $12 million per year while the average worker gets $34,645.

  #TargetCanada ex-CEO Gregg Steinhafel given a walk away package of $61 million after a shameful performance. #dreamjob

  — Nemy Banthia (@nbanthia) January 23, 2015

question: Approximately when was the article written?

answer: January 2015

question: Where are Target stores closing?

answer: All stores in Canada are closing

question: Who is the former CEO of Target?

answer: Gregg Steinhafel

question: Why did Target Canada shut down?

answer: According to the article, their stores in Canada were plagued by empty shelves and poor customer service

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Target is closing all of their stores in Canada, but their former CEO, Gregg Steinhafel, is receiving more compensation money after leaving than all of their Canada employees combined.


text:
--Prologue--

	I never wanted this... I thought by leaving Earth I could escape the shitty lot in life I had, but boy was I wrong. I’ve been hopping from colony to colony to for about a year now. First I tried to find some work on several lunar colonies, to no avail. Then I hitched a ride out to Mars on the little credit I had left. I was able to scrape enough money to get to Ceres, where I found work for one of the science research teams there. I really enjoyed Ceres, I could have stayed there for quite a while, but just like everything else that’s ever gone right for me, it was crushed. An experiment involving a miniscule amount of anti-matter while I was off-duty completely destroyed our lab, putting me out of work, thankfully I had made enough off of my research to finally get me to Jupiter. That’s where I’m headed now, to a Jovian Platform, one devoted to science and discovery, one where I will strive.

--The Seventh Column--

	“The Seventh Column will be departing in 10 standard minutes.” announced the robotic voice of the loudspeaker, though I could hardly hear it. It’s loud here on Mars, far different than Ceres, where it was quiet and peaceful. I had to return to Mars to find a ship that could take me to Jupiter, big ships like that never stop at Ceres. The Seventh Column was the cheapest ride I could find, well within my tight budget of 6 billion credits. I already had a job waiting for me on the Jovian Platform Scipio, a well paying job researching anti-matter physics, just like on Ceres. The only difference is that Scipio has real funding, with much better equipment than I could’ve dreamed of on Ceres.

	“The Seventh Column will be departing in 5 standard minutes.”came from the loudspeaker as I checked and made sure I had everything, when I heard footsteps. I was on a fairly empty flight, with plenty of room for everyone to stay away from each other. There was no reason for anyone to be near me, and judging by the number of footsteps, this was a group of people. I looked up, and three men were standing in front of me. Rugged, worn by space travel, they had probably never seen the light of Earth.

	“Are you Isav Re’e?” asked the man on my right, who stood slightly behind the man in the center, who was clearly the leader.

	“Yes, that I am.” I said. “Why?” This wasn’t looking good, they were using one of my old aliases.

	“We’ve been looking for you... You were stupid to come back here.” said the man on my left, who I began to recognize. The tattoo on the right side of his neck gave him away, it was the symbol of the male, with a dot in the center. He was from the Maln Clan, who I worked for briefly before I left Mars the first time. I left on not so pleasant terms, too.

	“Shuttup, Ronin.” said the center man. “Look, Young, we don’t want a mess here. Come with us peacefully and we’ll make sure you aren’t hurt. If you don’t comply then... I can’t guarantee your safety.” I was in a bind, I had less than five minutes so if I left I’d miss the flight, and lose my job on Jupiter, but if I tried to stay, these guys would drag me out by force. I needed to act quickly.

	“Alright, just let me get my things, I’ve got a bag in the back.” I lied. I got up and started walking to the cargo bay, where no-one was stationed.

	“Alright, just hurry up, we don’t got all day.” said Ronin, as they began to follow me back. They had taken the bait, now I just had to reel them in. I did some quick mental predictions and chose the one with the best chances. I reached up and grabbed a large bag, and as I pulled it down I slammed it into Ronin’s face, knocking him out instantly. I dove behind a shelf and grabbed another bag, this one a little smaller, perfect to use with one hand. I waited for the other two to round the corner until I threw the bag at the other cronnie while I tripped the leader. As soon as his head hit the ground I slammed my fist upwards into his nose, killing him. I did the same to Ronin and the other one, and stuffed their bodies in a small nook of an access corridor.

	I got back to my seat as two crew members were coming towards me. They were asking all the passengers about something, tickets I guess. I was still trying to process what had just happened, when they approached me.

	“Excuse me sir, have you seen these three men on the ship?” the crewman, whose I.D. badge read Aman, showed me a Holopane with the image of the three men who attacked me. My face went hot, my head started spinning, but I was able to compose myself.

	“No, why?” I replied.

	“They requested to come see someone on the ship, but we didn’t see them come out.” said the second man, whose I.D. badge read Czevk.

	“Can’t you check the surveillance to see if they did come out?”

	“Afraid not, cameras broken. That’s why we’re asking the passengers. Everyone else said they saw them, but you didn’t, correct?” said Czevk.

	“That’s right, sir.” I replied, I was starting to sweat.

	“Alright, well, I guess they didn’t come this far back. They’re probably hiding somewhere up front.” said Aman.

	“Maybe they slipped by you and you didn’t notice. You guys were preparing to set off right?”

	“Yeah, that’s true...” said Aman looking over at Czevk. “Ah, fuck it, let’s go. I’m ready to get out of here.” He looked back at me, “Thanks for co-operating, Mr.?”

	“Young. Dr. Isais Carson Young.” I replied.

	“Thank you, Dr. Young.” said Aman, who then walked off with Czevk.

	“We apologize for the wait, The Seventh Column will now be departing from Docking Bay 823.B heading for Jupiter’s Orbital Station.” announced the loudspeaker as the ship began to hum. I had grown accustomed to the feeling over the past two years, but it never ceased to please me. It calmed me down so much it was amusing. Nothing like soaring through the vacuum of space at the speed of light to soothe the nerves.

title: The Seventh Column

question: Who are the main characters of the story?

answer: Isav Re’e, Ronin

question: Where does the story take place?

answer: The Seventh Column (a ship), a research lab on Ceres

question: Where is Isav Re’e headed?

answer: He's going to Jovian Platform Scipio on Jupiter but went to Mars first (from Ceres) to ride the Seventh Column

question: What did Ronin and the two thugs from the Maln Clan want with Isav Re’e?

answer: They were taking him back to Mars because he worked with the Maln Clan before and left on unpleasant terms.

question: Write a ~8 sentence summary.

answer: After leaving his shitty life on Earth, Isav Re’e tries his luck on several lunar colonies looking for stable work, to no avail. He tries Mars and works with the Maln Clan, before leaving on unpleasant terms. Isav ends up on Ceres, where he finally finds work at a science research facility, a job he likes. An unfortunate accident destroys the lab, and Isav is out of work again. He lands a jo at the Jovian Platform Scipio on Jupiter but needs to go to Mars to ride the ship, The Seventh Column. Three thugs from the Maln Clan board the ship to take Isav by force, but he manages to kill them all and hide the bodies. Two of the ship's crewmen approach Isav to ask if he's seen the men, and he says he hasn't. The ship departs on schedule.


text:
Now, a story of two friends, best friends to be exact, and how what may have once had the potential to be something beautiful, was thrown out the window via greed. We will call them number 1, and number 2. Number 1 could melt the face off any music lover and guitar enthusiest. Shredding up and down the neck more than a paper shredder, and tearing it up more than a rodatiller. Number 2 had the words, the rhymes and the brains to combine number 1's guitar skills with his lyricism. The music they made was phenomenal, a perfect mix of lyrics and great licks. However, this story isn't even about the music they made. It was about the money they tried to make in order to support the music addiction. As you can guess, when most people want to make quick, easy money. they sell drugs. And drugs is a broad term, not coke, meth, but weed. Really great, sticky dank weed, and that's where the story begins.
Money and weed were always around, and as any musician would know, that is a hell of a mixture. But as always, someones head gets too big for their body, and that's when shit goes downhill. Number 1 decided it would be a great idea to take the weed and the money and run. Out of nowhere, completely cut ties with number 2, and basically said fuck off. Number 2 is not the kind of person for confrontation and took it as a personal attack. He had never felt a rage, a betrayal so harsh, so close to home, because with the departure of number 1, came the departure of all the music that number 2 had written, and number 1 was claiming as his own. As any of you writers out there know, your words are sacred, they are your Mona Lisa, your Sistine Chapel, and when someone toys with your words, they toy with your emotions, and that type of thing does not sit well. With number 2 robbed of everything he ever put his heart into, he plotted revenge, something like this cannot and will not go unsettled. Needless to say, number 2's head was flooded with mobster movies and zero tolerence for roaches and scummy people. Knowing number 1's schedule, number 2 tracked him down, with night stick in his back pocket. Eyes meet, blood boils, and fear ignites as the quick whoosh from the night stick makes it extend, and in the same motion, comes into contact with the back of number 1's knees, taking him right to the ground. At this point number 1 wanted to kill, to avenge his lost children he calls his words. Rears back the night stick with a few more disabling blows. One shot to the head would end it all, and justice would be served, but will it really? Number 2 thought for moment, and decided a murder wasn't the answer, and a jail cell is not where he would like to spend his time. So number 2 come up with the brilliant plan to take the thing from him that he loves most, much like how he stole the genius right from under number 2's pencil. Deciding against a quick, hard blow to the head, number 2 takes his foot, and steps firmly on number 1's wrist, and jams the nightstick relentlessly into number 1's palm, and fingers, breaking every bone in his now unnoticable left hand. The feeling of pleasure number 2 got from this was sick, and uncanny, but also completely worth it. His words have been avenged, the hand that stole his songs will never again play another chord or note, stolen or original. He departed from number 1 knowing that never again wil he melt a face, and shred it like cheese. Moral of the story: When you fuck with someones passion, you will never win, because that is what flows in their veins, what makes them get out of bed everyday and face this cruel world. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, and sure as shit dont bite the hand that feeds your genius.

title: Friends.

question: Summarise the theme of greed and revenge and its effects in this story.

answer: Number 1 and 2 were very close friends who made music together. Number 1 was the guitarist, while number 2 was the lyricist. However, the music the two friends made was not enough for them, so they decided to dabble in something outside their expertise; they wanted to make quick money, so they chose to deal drugs. Unfortunately, number 1's greed got the better of him and led him to steal the weed they sold. As if that wasn't enough, he stole number 2's lyrics, claiming them as his and left him in a vulnerable position. Out of anger, number 2 tracked him down and took revenge for what he did to him by smashing his fingers so he'd never be able to make music again. Greed led number 1 to double-cross his friend, while revenge didn't let him get away with it after number 2 was able to locate him.

question: What does the story say about if number 2's revenge against number 1 was justified?

answer: Number 2 seemed to value his relationship with number 1 in the early years of their friendship. However, after number 1 tried to part with the drugs they sold together and his lyrics- a part of him he was the most passionate about, he realized their relationship was not worth keeping. He decided to retaliate by smashing his fingers. However, number 2's revenge against number 1 was not justified because it was not of the same gravity. His friend may never be able to play the guitar and make music again, while he'd still be able to write more music.


text:
The night is wrought with tension, the wind is whispering through the trees, telling stories of bloodshed from long ago. One can almost hear the words within the moaning of the wind,

	  Children laughing. Children laughing long ago.
	  Until They came to take and claim,
	  Until the night was painted red,
	  That’s when the laughing stopped.

The full moon shines upon the moor, illuminating a black castle standing tall upon a rock. The empty halls are quiet; all is still except for wind outside that warns of coming storms. The dungeons groan with haunted memories, walls stained an old red-brown.
A little girl wanders in, the castle’s weary doors creak open. She’s lost, the little one, looking for “Big Brother.” The shadows on the walls are whispering, whispering about a little girl whose come from far to visit these forsaken halls. Candles doust and shadows fall, forming claws and hands and the bodies of laughing children in the dark. Faces gleaming, teeth and tongue and eyes and all until a horrid shriek resounds and all is still once more.

The little girl is stood stock still, until she’s sure she sees no more and calls for “Brother Dear.” She walks through ghastly halls of crumbling walls and does not think or care to know of memories so far and dear to places such as here. Broken windows bring in mist that speaks of feasts from long ago and celebrations and cakes and laughter all around, with children in the midst of it. Two children, boy and girl, were once kept here with laughter ringing true to ears and futures were to be admired and hoped for, blissfully unaware about this tired world.

The wretched wind of mourning follows this wandering soul and cries in every corner,

	  Children laughing. Children laughing long ago.
	  Until They came to take and claim,
	  That’s when the laughing stopped,
	  And the traitors were to blame.

Shrieking, howling, wretched wind that whispers when it comes to ruined pictures on the walls and images from long ago… and slips away in silence when the dungeons come to play, where shadows whisper of a boy and girl that turn to scarlet butterflies of beauty, but scar and mark and burn as though hell’s blood is flowing through those wings of molten scarlet thread.
The silence rings and “Brother Dear” is called again, with anxious voice and eyes that speak of reckless choice when this little girl takes one step, two, and ends within the dungeons deep where shadows pounce and butterflies that should bring joy surround and never fail to deploy the plans to take and claim until the laughter sounds again.

The girl stares wide and open-mouthed at butterflies of fiery hue that seem to whisper with their bloodied wings silent words of RUN and FLEE, a repetition of a broken record playing among the dungeon’s dew and shadows full of glee.
Until a beat, another one or two, the cloud of bloodied scarlet wings holds back no more and attacks a little girl whose lost her way within the night, searching for “Big Brother Dear” and wondering at his plight.

When cries of anguish now resound, an older boy steps through and shouts and fights with hardened fists until the cloud of red dissipates and his sister is on the ground, scrambling for stronger hands and arms until she’s safe and sound.

title: Whispers of the Past (short story in creepy/mystery genre but not full-on horror)

question: Which phase of the moon is it?

answer: Full moon

question: Who is the little girl looking for?

answer: Big Brother

question: Where does this take place?

answer: The black castle.

question: What does the girl stumble upon?

answer: Fiery butterflies.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: A little girl wanders through a black castle late at night in search of someone called Big Brother. The wind of mourning follows her, and the cries of children resonate in every corner. The girls comes upon a mass of fiery butterflies with fiery wings. They attack her. An older boy steps through and fights to get to her. He sees his sister on the ground, scrambling for arms to reach for her.


text:
Ciem was the youngest of 18 brothers, and of them all he alone was afflicted with a curiosity. His kin would while away the hours telling stories of biscuits and leathers and how no rain fell on Tuesdays and how the warm earth bore the sweetest millet.   But this was not enough for young Ciem so when he was done burnishing the family pelican on the 12th day of Fluon he gathered his hard earned coins from his little hiding place by bricks beneath the spring and he headed east toward The Far Lands.

"There would be naught but apples there" yelled Coyo,his bretheren, who called out from a sap loft nearby. And an old eyeless man who sat bent upon a well worn stone said the same, he who had once traversed the Mountain of Tarann and beheld the nameless horrors that lived beneath the cruat of the earth on that nightmarish plateau. But Ciem trudged onward.   And by a fork in the road on the tenth day the last of the ash forest gave way to desert and scrub. And polished stone was traded for red lime, and squirrels of the trees became squirrels of the ground and burrow. And the remnent of The West Wind yielded to the sand.

No man wandered the desert road save Ciem, and he cast his coins into the barren lands for no use were they, and all hope faded of The Far Lands. And by a lone acacia Ciem sat, and all of the millet bread had been pilfered by mice who had raised litters of young in his sweaty knapsack. And hunger set in.   The feast of Mice did sustain Cien for a further 2 cycles and a long night trek took him to the Garden of The Tower and Gnab, and by a watering hole Cien fell to his knees spent of vitality. And by The Garden of The Tower of Gnab lay The Tower of Gnab.   And within the Tower of Gnab squatted an old Fakir who gazed on young Cien as he drank from the Well of The Garden of The Tower of Gnab. And the Fakir did quiz the adventurer on his intended destination. And when the Fakir learned of his path he too warned that naught but apples would await in The Far Lands.

So it soon became apparant that The Far Lands were indeed far away,and yet the bold brave nitwit meandered through crag and dune, never yielding, and despite the firey sun that burned and bleached all that dwelt there Cien finally reached The Mountain of Tarann. And there a thousand caves stood like tombs, each filled with a lost soul, a faint wail could one hear when the new wind of the north came down the mountainside,and it did carry the sound out to the very ocean where snapping cockles awoke from endless dreams? And the quahogs burrowed deeper into the mire of a civilisation lost and decayed in salty oblivion.

On the day of The Feast of Gnub weary husbands and forlorn wives feom the stone city of Hueryaran would guide their intoxicated spouses from the festival of Gnub to the tombs of Tarann and there they would brick in and seal away their significant others behind walls of stone, and there they would stay and fade away as an offering of the mountain. And Cien was taken aback by the wailing that echoed in the vally below and seemed to shake those withered trees that clung to the bare rock.

It should be said that in the lea of the Mountain of Tarann no man or beast had need of seeing eyes, for the land was dark, so tall were the peaks that blocked the lazy red sun and outcast moons. And thoae creatures that roamed the steppeland were skulling things, toothed and with strange fleshy organs upon their faces where the seeing eye would be.

And by a shrine on a winding mountain path Cien, a wispy beard now clinging to a withered sand blown heat scorched face, fumbled and clung to the mountain like a babe clings to the nursemaid.  And while all that could be smelt on the whirling winds was apple he continued his journey as determined as the day he set foot on the gravel path to The Far Lands so many seasons ago.

End of part 1 -To be continued

title: Naught but Apples

question: What does the story say about Ciem's family?

answer: Ciem is the youngest of 18 brothers. These brothers lacks curiosity. His family would often spend hours telling stories. When Ciem decides he wants to travel,  his brother Coyo discourages him.

question: What does the story say about The Far Lands?

answer: Ciem's ultimate goal is to head east towards The Far Lands. It's rumored that there is nothing but apples there, and nameless horrors in the course of the journey. On his journey to The Far Lands, Ciem must cross the desert road and the Mountain of Tarann. After a long time, he begins to give up hope of reaching The Far Lands due to how far they are. However, on the Mountain of Tarann he smells apples in the wind, and his hope of reaching The Far Lands is restored.

question: Summarize Ciem's main goal.

answer: Ciem's ultimate goal is to fulfill his curiosity and reach the Far Lands in the east. He sets out on a long journey, and even loses hope as it takes him so long to even reach the Mountain of Tarann. Despite this and the many seasons it's taken him, he continues his determination to reach The Far Lands.

question: What does the text say about Ciem's romantic interest?


text:
MARK O'DONOGHUE (born 10 July 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL).

O'Donoghue spent the 1988 VFL season at North Melbourne and kicked two goals on debut against Geelong, a debut he shared with Mick Martyn. He represented New South Wales at the 1988 Adelaide Bicentennial Carnival. The rest of his career was played in the Ovens & Murray Football League with Corowa-Rutherglen.

title: Mark O'Donoghue

question: When was Mark O'Donoghue born?

answer: July 10, 1967.

question: Where is he from?

answer: Australia.

question: What was his former profession?

answer: He was a footballer.

question: For which team did he play?

answer: North Melbourne.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Mark O'Donoghue is a former Australian rules football player who played for North Melbourne in the Victorian Football League.