text:
Argument

The chaotic civil war is giving the caliphate a foothold in North Africa, and its enemies can’t figure out whether to kill the jihadists or use them for their own purposes.

 [Opposition Battles Gaddafi's Forces In Eastern Libya]
BEN JAWAT, LIBYA - MARCH 05: Rebel militiamen ride atop pickups with mounted weapons known as "technicals" while moving towards the frontline March 25 2011 in Ben Jawat, Libya. Opposition forces pushed government troops further west as they took more territory towards the Gaddafi stronghold of Surt. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

Exactly four years after the protests that kicked off the Libyan revolution, the country has again found itself in the spotlight. On Feb. 15, a Libyan affiliate of the Islamic State released a sordid video showing the group’s militants marching a group of 21 prisoners whose only crime was being Christians, and foreigners. After a short speech from one of the jihadis, the Egyptian Coptic prisoners were simultaneously beheaded before the video panned to a scene of the blood-soaked Mediterranean Sea.

This slaughter was one of a recent spate of attacks the Islamic State has carried out in Libya this year. Its attacks include a Jan. 27 assault in Tripoli on the country’s largest hotel, which killed nine people, including an American, and a Feb. 20 suicide car-bombing attack in the eastern town of Qubbah, which killed 42 people.

What is the Islamic State trying to accomplish? Why has the jihadi group chosen Libya as a focus for its expansion? Do its attacks signal the emergence of a powerful new affiliate that will dominate the jihadi movement in North Africa?

THE ISLAMIC STATE COMES TO LIBYA

As it has become increasingly apparent that the Islamic State’s momentum has stalled in Iraq and Syria, the group has tried to show that it is still on the march by focusing on international expansion. The Islamic State dedicated considerable effort to luring Sinai-based jihadi groups into its orbit, ultimately coming away with one of the best prizes, Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. In this effort, the Islamic State’s social media and film production acumen is not a luxury, but a necessity: Its chilling videos have managed to convince a number of mainstream media outlets that it has gained more of a foothold in Libya than is the case, including convincing some outlets that it had overtaken the city of Derna.

In reality, the Islamic State’s expansion in Libya has been more modest. Its militants recently seized control of Nawfaliyah, a small town just outside the coastal city of Sirte, encountering little resistance from local forces. The group has also made recent inroads in Sirte, seizing a number of government buildings as well as a university. Outside those two areas, however, the Islamic State has struggled to capture and hold territory: Although its fighters briefly controlled areas of Derna, it was driven out by other jihadi forces, including a group connected to al Qaeda, and it now only controls a few neighborhoods there.

Although the Islamic State has struggled to hold territory in Libya, it continues to attract recruits there. In a recent interview with Foreign Policy, former CIA case officer Patrick Skinner estimated that the Islamic State had grown in Libya from about 550 fighters in the summer of 2014 to a current strength of 1,000 to 3,000 fighters. This includes a significant contingent that recently returned from Iraq and Syria.

In 2014, the Islamic State took a back seat to the larger conflict gripping Libya. On one side of the civil conflict is Operation Dignity, a coalition led by Khalifa Haftar, a former officer in Muammar al-Qaddafi’s military who defected during Libya’s ill-fated war in Chad in the 1980s and returned to the country in 2011 to join the anti-Qaddafi forces. On the other side is Libya Dawn, an umbrella military organization often referred to as an Islamist bloc, but which possesses a number of non-Islamist factions. Dawn captured the capital, Tripoli, in August.

Far from breaking only along Islamist versus nationalist lines, Libya’s conflict reflects several deeper divides, including ethnic, tribal, and regional tensions. Operation Dignity includes tribal militias, federalist militias, and armed brigades from the western mountain town of Zintan. Meanwhile, militias based in the western coastal city of Misurata — who think of themselves as revolutionaries, while considering their Zintani rivals to be counterrevolutionary — make up a prominent faction within Libya Dawn.

The conflict between Dignity and Dawn can be traced to several points, but the most important is May 2014, when Haftar launched a military offensive in Benghazi with the aim of eliminating its powerful Islamist militias. Two days after Haftar announced the Benghazi offensive, the conflict quickly escalated, as armed groups loyal to Operation Dignity stormed the General National Congress, a body dominated by Islamist parties and their revolutionary allies from Misurata, and demanded its dissolution.

The Dignity-Dawn conflict has devastated large parts of Libya and has created ungoverned spaces that have been exploited by criminal networks and jihadi groups. It is against this backdrop that the Islamic State managed to carve out a niche. Somewhat similar to its approach in Syria, the group often gained ground at the expense of its nominal allies that were preoccupied with fighting Haftar’s forces. For example, during the Islamic State’s brief period of rapid gains in Derna, its advances came at the expense of other groups that were on the front lines fighting against Operation Dignity.

WHAT THE ISLAMIC STATE WANTS

While the Islamic State’s current territorial holdings are limited, conflict-racked Libya undeniably offers the group many opportunities for expansion. The country suffers from a weak government, deep internal divisions, a significant presence of jihadi factions that could be receptive to cooperating with or perhaps even joining the Islamic State, and an abundance of weaponry. Libya’s geography also makes it a desirable target for the Islamic State, as the country stands at the crossroads between North Africa and the Sahel, thus providing the group with the opportunity to coordinate with, or to try to co-opt, other regional jihadi movements. Moreover, Libya’s proximity to Europe provides the Islamic State a potential staging ground for attacks on Western soil. Many of these points were raised in an essay released in January by a well-known Islamic State propagandist.

So how does the Islamic State plan to increase its influence and territorial reach in Libya? At this point, a key component of its approach is seemingly to exacerbate schisms within the Operation Dawn coalition in an attempt to peel away hard-line members.

The Islamic State’s recent string of military operations seems designed to hasten the fragmentation of Dawn. Its attack in Tripoli occurred on Dawn-controlled territory, placing the cell of Islamic State attackers in direct confrontation with Dawn security forces. Further, the group’s beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians seemed intended as a direct provocation to Cairo — and indeed, Egyptian warplanes responded by carrying out a bombing campaign that appeared to be somewhat indiscriminate, rather than focused narrowly on Islamic State targets.

Drawing in Egypt could backfire. Dawn members who have been bombed by Cairo — unless they believe the conspiratorial nonsense that it was Haftar who killed the Christians — understand that the Islamic State is responsible for bringing a powerful new enemy to their doorstep. The recent attacks illustrate the Islamic State’s unreliability as a partner: Factions that are more strategic may shy away from its brutality and habit of making new enemies.

But it’s also possible that the Islamic State’s gamble could pay off and that Egypt’s further involvement could provoke splits within Dawn between hard-liners and more pragmatic groups. This could happen if Egypt’s indiscriminate bombing magnifies Islamist hard-liners’ fixation on the threat posed by Haftar and Cairo, thus making them more amenable to the Islamic State’s argument that moderates within Dawn who are willing to negotiate with Operation Dignity are betraying their faith.

Paradoxically, one of the most helpful factors for the Islamic State in surviving the current round of retaliation may be the fact that the group isn’t as strong in Libya as it is often portrayed. The country’s two major warring factions may therefore decide that they simply have higher priorities than the Islamic State — namely, defeating each other.

Haftar’s Operation Dignity has a clear incentive to fight the Islamic State last, after the Dawn factions. The jihadi group’s over-the-top villainy serves as the perfect foil for Operation Dignity. As the Islamic State continues to grab headlines, Haftar has a more persuasive case for outside assistance, presenting Operation Dignity as the best bulwark against the group’s expansionism.

Of course, Operation Dignity will be hard-pressed to ignore the Islamic State if the group continues to launch bloody raids in areas it controls. The Islamic State’s recent suicide attack in Qubbah will no doubt provoke retaliation from Haftar’s men.

Thus, despite the presence of jihadis in its coalition, Dawn may be the best hope for dealing a significant military blow to the Islamic State in the near future. The group has been antagonizing Dawn and has provoked Egypt to carry out attacks against Dawn members, and going after the Islamic State gives Dawn the opportunity to present itself to the international community as genuine moderates and potential security partners.

However, there is cause for skepticism that Dawn will actually take the fight to the Islamic State. Dawn officials have repeatedly denied the Islamic State’s presence in Libya, instead blaming the Jan. 27 hotel attack in Tripoli on Qaddafi-era officials, while claiming that the Islamic State’s beheading of Egyptian Christians was in fact a “Hollywood film” produced by domestic opponents. In addition to Dawn’s unwillingness to acknowledge the Islamic State threat, it has jihadis within its owns ranks.

Nevertheless, Dawn could still recognize the strategic benefits of going after the Islamic State. Even the jihadis within its coalition may go along as an extension of the al Qaeda-Islamic State rivalry that is playing out on the global stage. It is also worth noting that Dawn officials recently announced that the coalition was sending a battalion to Sirte to secure the city following the Islamic State’s bid to capture it.

The Islamic State’s escalating operations in Libya and the propaganda efforts surrounding these attacks are a telling sign that the group sees Libya as a new front line. But the group’s future success in Libya depends on whether it can exploit splits within Dawn and whether it can bolster its military capabilities before it becomes a higher-priority military target for the Dignity or Dawn coalitions. The real antidote for the Islamic State, though, is a resolution to the country’s destructive internal political divide: As long as the Libyan civil war continues, violent nonstate actors such as the Islamic State will be able to find a foothold.

_The authors recently completed a monograph examining the Libyan civil war that was commissioned by the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism — The Hague._

John Moore/Getty Images

NATHANIEL BARR is a threat analyst at Valens Global, a D.C.-based consulting firm.

More from Foreign Policy

By Taboola

question: Who are the opposition forces?

answer: The government troops that are against Gaddafi.

question: What happened to Libya?

answer: The Islamic State has been attacking Libya and has even released a beheading video.

question: Who were beheaded?

answer: A group of 21 Egyptian Coptic prisoners of the militant group Islamic State.

question: Why has the Islamic State carried out attacks in Libya?

answer: They wanted to dominate North Africa and attract recruits.

question: What is Operation Dignity?

answer: It is a campaign led by Khalifa Haftar that aims to eliminate the Qaddafi forces in Libya.

question: What is Libya Dawn?

answer: It is a military organization that is in conflict with Operation Dignity.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Focusing on international expansion, the Islamic State has attacked Libya, taking advantage of the weak government and civil war happening there. One of the large civil conflicts is between Operation Dignity led by Khalifa Haftar and Libya Dawn, a military organization that is often referred to as an Islamist bloc.


split: train

text:
	The oxygen machine bubbled on as we allowed ourselves to be drowned in the silence of the hospital room. A tear rolled down my father’s cheek while my grandmother continued to gently sway her nails back and forth across his back like she did years before – like he’s done to me. Then my extraneous thoughts meandered their way back into my head like usual. It dawned on me that that would be among the last moments I spend with her. I realize how lucky I am to have been there.
	 My grandma has always said that she loves New York, having only gone but a handful of times in the entirety of her life. She has also loved seeing her son perform, listening to beautiful music, and other forms of art. Married at 18, and having a child soon thereafter, she never got to experience the things that could bring her as much joy as her family. I will always wonder if she lived without regret.
	I looked down at her hand – discolored, weakened and wrinkled. I could just hold it in my young and hearty hand with time to spend written all over it effortlessly. We could join as a crossroads of relatives and of diversity - her at the ending of her life, and me very much at the beginning of mine.  Because of my mother and father’s education, as well as my own, I stand here now with more opportunity than she received in all of her years combined. I will always wonder if she lived without regret.
	“But,” she says, “It’ll just take time for it to get better.”  Hope, even then. She let out one of her light laughs that just roll their way out into the space of your ears. It’s comforting to feel that from her. We all gave a slight chuckle, but we knew that it would not get better.  It had been said many times just that day that we’ll have to sacrifice her quality of life for it to be sustained.
	Going to visit her was one of the most powerful and important times in my life. I learned firsthand the circle of life. When you’re there and you know that the days your loved has left are vastly outnumbered by that he or she has lived, you accept it. You have always known that it would happen, no matter how fucking painful it is and how completely powerless you are over the situation.
It’s just life and that’s all it will ever be – from birth to death.  It’s all we, as humans here on this planet will ever really know in the concrete. Have faith, but be content. Look forward to a better time, but know that there is always a now.  There will be a time to say goodbye to everyone you’ve ever met. Take it, and be grateful.

title: Short story about my Grandmother and Life. First post to r/shortstories, hope you enjoy and I would love some feedback.

question: Why does the narrator feel lucky to have been at his grandmother's deathbed?

answer: He feels that he has witnessed the full circle of life and acknowledges that this has made him feel more aware of the need for gratitude each day.

question: Why does the narrator feel that he has far more opportunities than his grandmother ever did?

answer: Because he has been well educated.

question: Are they switching the oxygen off?

answer: I believe they are because the narrator says that they had several times that day that they would have to sacrifice the grandmother's quality of life to sustain her.

question: Why is the narrator so concerned about whether his grandmother lived without regret?

answer: Maybe this is natural when you spend time with someone who has a very short time to live

question: Write a ~9 sentence summary.

answer:
The oxygen bubbles in the background. His grandmother is dying and a tear runs down his father’s cheek. The narrator realizes that these are the last moments that he will spend with his grandmother.

Married at 18 and having a son soon after, grandmother did not have much time to enjoy her youth. The narrator wonders whether she has any regrets. The narrator thinks that with his education he has so much more opportunity than she ever had.

For the narrator visiting grandmother is a powerful experience as the full circle of life is there for all to see. The end comes so we must live life to the fullest. One life is all we have we must be grateful.


text:
  The bomb went off on the street. It went 'BANG!' very loud and then the bomb was dead.

  The moment was brief. It happened near the finish line. People were watching the runners run to the line. Fathers cheered their daughters and sisters cheered their brothers and sons were proud of their moms. Even strangers watched and they were proud of them all. There was sun and Coca-Cola and everyone was clapping because the day was important. The running was important. Old wives stood and cheered, 'Yay!' in ripe honeydew voices. Their husbands clapped strong hands and remembered a time.

 And then it happened. 'BANG!'

  At first there was disbelief and smoke and echo. So many stunned runners just stood and they did not run. Some runners had been knocked down by the force of the blast.  They used tired legs to get back up.

But the spectators were finding themselves disoriented, bleeding.

Slowly, people came to and noticed the way about things.

  A woman picked herself up from the concrete and looked to find her sunglasses. She found them, and they were not broken. Then, looking in the lenses, she saw that she was bleeding from her head.

 A man took his daughter's hand and started walking for the car. He kept hurrying and looking back to the cloud of light-grey smoke. He said, 'A bomb,' when the little girl asked him something and then she asked another question and he said, 'I don't know, baby.'

  A mother was sitting up on the sidewalk to see that she had no legs. The mother saw her no legs and looked for her kids. Then she knew the suffocating pain, but she was scared because she could not see the kids. And she screamed for the kids, which hurt. She wanted to vomit, and she almost did.  She could not hear. She could only feel the pain and the burning pepper in her nose and the cement on her back and the burning of her feet. But she yelled for the kids and then she saw a younger man moving swiftly through time. He emerged from a changing sea of empty changing colors. He moved at her and she noticed his face was round and plain with sweat glistening on his forehead and eyes that were blue and frozen calm. And then she saw nothing but she reached her arms out hoping to feel her kids. She felt his hands but she tried to fight him. Then she saw nothing and moved nothing.

The children saw their mother but the loud noise had been so loud that they could not hear and they could only watch their mother bleeding and yelling like an animal. The children watched as one, then two, then more surrounded their mom who was hurt.

  The people swarmed her, and all the kids saw were backs and the bottoms of shoes. The children saw the blood creeping past shards of glass and little pebbles. It snaked towards their shoes. They treated it like lava. The oldest child was crying and he was scared, but he grabbed the other two and let them cry. They stood there next to the wall and cried big gulping wails. A nice lady came then and asked, 'Is that your mom?'

 Sirens were pulsing out in odd rhythms and men were calling over this special music and people were rushing past people rushing past people rushing. The pepper smoke was faint in the air, but it was burned into every nose. There was a dog pulling his own leash through the street.

A man stumbled past a trash can and towards a cluster of people stopped, looking. He was empty and lost because he knew nothing about himself, but he knew he knew what had happened. He looked at the lookers and he said, flailing his arms, 'It just went, 'BANG!' You know?! Just like that. And, just look!' He pointed at the place where the bomb had been, where the lookers had been looking. And he said this over again at the people, 'It just went, 'BANG!' And he wondered if he believed it. 'Just, 'BANG!' Like that!'

One of the lookers came over to him and put her arms around him. She gave him her water. 'It was just like, 'BANG!' he said, and she said softly, 'I know.'

title: TRAGEDY

question: Who was injured at the bombing?

answer: Runners and spectators were injured

question: Where did the bombing take place?

answer: The bombing took place at a running event near the finish line.

question: What kind of event did the tragedy occur at?

answer: It seems to be a marathon event.

question: Did any spectators see the suspect?

answer: This information is undisclosed.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Spectators are cheering on their loved ones at a running event. The blast of a bomb goes off near the finish line and people are bleeding and in disbelief. Spectators and runners are disoriented frantically searching for the loved ones. Sounds of sirens are heard.


text:
A man who says his name is Edward Smith and that he lives in Yelm, Wash., told a British morning TV program on Tuesday that he has had sex with more than 700 cars.

That’s correct: Not in but with.

Monty Python couldn’t make this up.

Reports ITV’s “This Morning:”

  Since he was 14 years old, Edward Smith, 63, has slept with over 700 lovers! But only one has been a human being – all the others have been different makes and models of cars.

  Edward is a mechaphile, someone who is sexually attracted to machines, and has bedded Mustangs, luxury Jaguars and even a helicopter.

Now for the weird part. Mr. Smith has decided that his days of playing the field — parking lot? showroom? — and he has settled down with a single love: A VW Beetle he calls Vanilla.

Here he is:

Smith had made a splash in the UK before.

A year ago, The Mirror reported that he had had sex with more than 1,000 cars.

  He said: “Some guys look at boobs and bums on beautiful women. I look at the front and rear on beautiful cars.”

  Edward, who first became attracted to machines in his teens, went on to bonk hundreds of vehicles and at his peak was having sex with one a week.

Smith also appears in a 22008 documentary “My Car Is My Lover.”

Buzzfeed notes that Twitter has gone all atwitter over Smith’s TV interview Tuesday morning.

Our favorites: “I bet he was ‘gone in 60 seconds.’ ” And “Not tonight, dear, I’m tyred.”

[People in the UK have taken to Twitter over Edward Smith's revelations.]

People in the UK have taken to Twitter over Edward Smith’s revelations.

Happy motoring, commuters.

question: What is the man's name?

answer: Edward Smith.

question: Where does Smith say he lives?

answer: Yelm,Washington.

question: How many cars does he claim to have had sex with?

answer: Over 700.

question: Who is Smith's love?

answer: A VW Beetle he calls Vanilla

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A man in Yelm, Washington, who says his name is Edward Smith, claims he has sex with upwards of 700 cars-as in, motor vehicles. He's courted and hooked up with a variety of vehicles, including one priceless Jaguar, but he has one love: A VW Beetle he calls Vanilla.


text:
POGAR () is an Urban-type settlement in Bryansk Oblast, Russia. It is the administrative center of Pogarsky District. It had a population of 8,827 people in 2016.

Located on Sudost River, a tributary of the Desna River, 7 km from the Pogar railway station and 128 km south-west of Bryansk, the administrative center of the region.

History

Pogar is one of the oldest settlements of the Russian Federation. According to archeological data, the first Slavic settlement in this place appeared in the 8th-9th centuries. In 1155 locality was first mentioned as an urban settlement Radosch later Radogosch. In the late 1230s it was ravaged by the Mongols. [2]

In the second half of the 14th century, the town passed into the possession of Lithuania. In the years 1500-1618 was an under the rule of the Russian state. In the autumn of 1534 the governor of Kiev Andrey Nemirovich Radogosch burned, but he was unable to take Starodub and Chernigov. After the destruction of Radogoscha by the Lithuanians in 1563, the population fled; On the site of the former population remained only long mound.

The exact reappearance of the town is unknown but by that time the town already bore the name of Pogar.[1] In 1618 it was captured by Poland, 1654, after joining the left-bank Ukraine to Russia as part of the Russian state. Before elimination of Catherine II regimental device autonomous Hetman of Ukraine in 1783 was part of the Starodub Regiment, which was the center of Pogarskij hundreds.

From the middle of the 17th century called “Pogar” and the Magdeburg Law. The town was famous for its fairs. Since 1781 - the county town of Novgorod-Seversky governorship, after the dissolution of which in 1796 left for the staff. Until 1929 was part of the Starodub district, where it was the parish center.

In 1910, the cigar factory merchant Shepfera was transferred to the town of Pochep. in the years 1913-1915 there was one more tobacco company - cigar factory AG Rutenberg.

In 1918, during the Austro-German occupation Starodub, Pogar was given temporary county center status power.

On May 25, 1919 Pohar was transferred to the category of settlements of rural type (), and on July 10, 1938 it was granted an urban-type settlement status.

It is the only population center of the municipality Pogarsky urban settlement.

[1] Энциклопедический словарь Ф. А. Брокгауза и И. А. Ефрона

title: Pogar (urban-type settlement)

question: Where is Pogar?

answer: Bryansk Oblast, Russia.

question: What is the population of Pogar?

answer: 8,827 people in 2016.

question: What river is Pogar located on?

answer: The Sudost River, a tributary of Desna River.

question: When was Pogar founded?

answer: The first Slavic settlement in this place is in the 8th-9th centuries.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Pogar, a Russian town located in Bryansk Oblast. It gives the history of that town.


text:
My sleep is useless to me now, so I keep placing them in sandwich bags. It's comforting to me. It's familiar. But it doesn't help me any. I stop using sandwich baggies and start to use baby food jars instead. For some reason that I can't explain to myself, it's all that I've been eating: baby food. Maybe it's because it's easy on my stomach. Maybe it's because the jars are cute. Maybe it's because cute things remind me of her. Maybe it's because I keep thinking that she'd be the mother of my kids. Maybe it's because I was mourning our non-existent family. I don't really know.

It's been a three weeks since we had broken up and I started eating baby food so now I have several dozens of these jars lying around my apartment. When I had first put my sleep in them, I didn't bother washing them out. I figured that my sleep would benefit from having a little "mashed-peas" flavoring to them, or maybe a little hint of "mashed bananas and strawberries." Clearly, clarity of thought wasn't my strong suit at this point. Doesn't sleep with a hint of kiwi sound good? Six to Eight hours of restful sleep, now in tropical flavors.

We were supposed to go on a tropical vacation together. If not, maybe just up to Vancouver. I've never been there before, but she told me that it was a real clean city. "It'll be so much fun!" she said. I believed her too. Still do. But I can't do that now and I think I hate Vancouver. It doesn't matter anyway. I have my sleep to pack. So much sleep to pack. What's worse is that the dream penguins are starting to become permanent. Well, at least one anyway. I've named him Bear and he's been following me for the last two days. The weird thing is that he listens to me and can actually fetch me things.

"Can you bring me that bag over there, Bear?"I ask.

He looks around and somehow I know that he doesn't see any.

"We've ran out?"

Bear nods.

"Hmm.. " I say.

But I see Bear shuffle around and walk into my room. I hear some ruckus and then he's back bringing me a baby-food jar.

"For my sleep?"

Bear doesn't even need to nod. Our thoughts, they're one.

I notice that he's cleaned out the jar. I don't know how how's managed to do it, but I take it in my hand and hold it up to the light. It's very clean. I wonder if it smells so I bring it up to my nose and, to my surprise, find that it has a very pleasing scent. A sort of airy, sunny-day type scent.

"How'd you-" I start, but the look he gives me tells me to stop.

"Ok, that's fine."

I imagine that I've somehow deluded myself into believing that Bear really exists and that I actually cleaned the jar out by myself, but I'm so tired that I don't give it anymore thought than that and accept Bear is real. Bear is my only friend.

I have two boxes of sleep saved up. Because the baby food jars are smaller than the sandwich baggies, I only manage to fit in about 4 maybe for hours worth. I haven't really figured out how to measure my sleep yet, so I'm guessing at the amount. I'm assuming that because I'm managing only to fit half as much sleep into the jars that the amount of rest would be half. Half is an approximation as well because  sometimes I have extra left over and sometimes I'm unable to fill two jars with one night of sleep.

God, I'm tired.

Bear nudges me.

Right, Right.

I have to fill this jar.
I have to fill this jar.

title: Sleep in a Jar

question: Why does the narrator placing his sleep in sandwich bags?

answer: It is comforting him.

question: Why does the narrator eat the baby food?

answer: The narrator cannot explain why they eat the baby food.

question: How do the narrator and Bear communicate?

answer: They understand each other because their 'thoughts are one'.

question: Why the narrator can understand Bear without words?

answer: It is not stated but it might be because Bear comes out of the narrator's dream.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator starts eating baby food and packing his sleep in empty baby food jars. They cannot explain why they do that but packing their sleep is comforting them. One day, a penguin named Bear comes out of the narrator's dream and helps them pack the narrator's sleep.


text:
| screenplay = Subhash Dutta | starring = | music = Satya Saha | cinematography = | editing = | distributor = Anis Film Corporation | released = | runtime = | country = Bangladesh | language = Bengali | budget = | gross = }}

_BOSUNDHORA_ is a 1977 Bengali-language Bangladeshi film directed by Subhash Dutta. The film was based on the Alauddin Al Azad novel _Taish Number Tailochitro_.[1] The films produced by Bangladesh Liberation War Welfare Trust. The film began shooting on 6 March 1977.[2] The film stars Bobita, Ilias Kanchan, Nuton as leading role with Syed Hasan Imam, Sharmila Ahmed, Akram, Mondira, Sushoma, Timur with supporting role. In 1977, the film won Bangladesh National Film Award for the best films within another 6 category.[3]

Cast

-   Bobita - Chobi
-   Ilias Kanchan - Jahed
-   Nuton
-   Syed Hasan Imam
-   Sharmila Ahmed
-   Akram
-   Mondira
-   Sushoma
-   Timur

Music

The film song directed by renowned music composer and music director Satya Saha. Song composed by Syed Shamsul Haque।

Awards

NATIONAL FILM AWARDS

-   WON: Best Films - Subhash Dutta (Producer)
-   WON: Best Director - Subhash Dutta
-   WON: Best Actress - Bobita
-   WON: Best Supporting Actor - Syed Hasan Imam
-   WON: Best screenplay - Alauddin Al Azad
-   WON: Best Art Editor - Mohiuddin Farooq

International Film Festival

-   International Film Festival - 1978[4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

title: Bosundhora

question: When was the movie released?

answer: 1977

question: Who played Jahed?

answer: Ilias Kanchan

question: How many awards did the film win?

answer: 6 national film awards

question: Who directed the film?

answer: Subhash Dutta

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Bosundhora is a 1977 Bengali-language Bangladeshi film directed by Subhash Dutta. It won six Bangladesh National Film awards.


text:
The moon was still out in the blue-black sky when I woke up. A kerosene stove hissed gently nearby. Drops of last night’s rain had frozen on my sleeping bag and cracked softly as I withdrew.  My fingers thawed on a bowl of half-blackened soup that tasted like coal and burnt plastic. Then we left, and my headlamp blew out mercury bubbles of light against the ash and cobalt sky.

I was already scraping my feet against rock and climbing up towards the tree line by the time the orange ribbons cut the sky. I watched the day rise slowly up from behind the white-tipped mountains. It was giving me something I could look back on and say I had lived. The morning, with dawn and its sharp spikes of numbing cool, and my eyes, and the whole wide world: they were all so strong just then. The cold made me burn hotter and faster and better and it made my breath curl into  vanishing clouds. My feet were ready to etch the memory of me onto this mountain.

The last green thing was a calm lake at the foot of a white and rocky mountain. It was the last innocent thing before the peak. We left a few things and then continued on. The trail we had followed disappeared into scree and so we followed the stream up. We stopped where the incline leveled out into a rocky bowl and filled a bottle with cold stream water. We treated it with a few drops of yellow, finger-staining iodine. I saw the small and brave flowers, yellow and pink, that sprouted timidly on the rocky ground around the river.

We hiked up through snow to the sharp ridge of the bowl. All around was an algae that turned the snow crimson when stepped on. I looked back on my footprints and saw they were scarlet. I felt as if I were walking on a thin film that had been cast to disguise a sea of blood. The soles of my shoes soon became blood red and so did my pants. We all looked like murderers.

 The next thing that lay between the peak and us was a narrow strip of snow that marked the end of the bowl and the beginning of the peak. On one side the snow sloped sharply down into the bowl. On the other was nothing except air and then distant trees and rock and ice-blue lakes far below. We stayed towards the bowl side because the side of the ridge facing the drop was likely hollowed out by the wind and melting snow. Even then, I felt as though the snow beneath me would collapse and I would be swept out into the air.

The peak was somewhere up a tower of jumbled-up rock. There was a path that led up and we followed it. The jumble narrowed in one spot and the path led to a ledge at the very edge of the rock jumble and there was a drop that would kill me if I fell. I had to cling to the rock with my feet in a six-inch-wide shelf and shuffle carefully along. I looked up as I was nearly to the end and there was a spider an inch from my hand. I do not know if it was deadly. It might have been. If I had been afraid of spiders, I would have let go in fright. The jagged rocks below me would have broken me apart.

The peak came quickly after that. There was not much room, but I could sit on a rock and open the metal ammunition canister with the register in it, and sign my name and the date, and write some bad poetry next to it. But I did write something true there. I wrote I am above, on a line by itself, and that rang true. I was strung up so that all the craftwork of the earth could be seen. Cold wind blew around me and I had left my warm clothes at the lake below, but it meant nothing more to me than any of the cold winds I remembered. It was as though I had already lived through it a long time ago.

The view had the clarity that comes after a rain, with the whites and greens and cold greys of the country before me both softened and sharpened at once, and the mountains and valleys fading to pale blue as they approached the pastel clouds over the horizon. I was sitting on the jagged throne of the universe, and all that was before me was mine now, mine and no one else's, because I was the only person alive, had only ever been the only person alive, and that feeling did not make me feel lonely or frightened, but instead young and filled with life that would never fade or dissipate but stay collected until the electric reservoir in my veins finally ran dry. But that day would be a long time coming.

title: "The mountain after the rain"

question: Where is the narrator?

answer: the narrator is climbing a mountain.

question: what does the narrator think about?

answer: the narrator thinks about all of the scenery on the way to the peak.

question: Is the narrator alone?

answer: The narrator is traveling with a group.

question: What is the weather like?

answer: The weather is cold and it rained the day before.

question: Is the narrator a human

answer: It is implied the narrator may not be human.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is climbing a mountain and reflecting on all of the scenery. The narrator makes their way to the peak and leaves a short poem on the register. They think of themselves as the only person alive, sitting on the "throne of the universe" as they look down from the peak.


text:
MAURICE STUCKEY (born 30 May 1990) is a German professional basketball player for Crailsheim Merlins of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL).

On 23 May 2018, he signed with Brose Bamberg.[1] Stuckey signed with Crailsheim Merlins on 5 December 2019.[2] He averaged 8.9 points per game in 16 games, shooting 41.6% from three-point range. On 10 July 2020, Stuckey re-signed with the team.[3]

International career

In 2016, Stuckey was selected for the German national basketball team.[4]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] Stuckey im Nationalkader, MainPost.de, 21 June 2016. Accessed 22 Dec 2016.

title: Maurice Stuckey

question: When was Maurice Stuckey born?

answer: Maurice Stuckey was born on May 30th, 1990.

question: When was Stuckey selected for the German national team?

answer: Stuckey was selected for the German national team in 2016.

question: What sport does Stuckey play professionally?

answer: Stuckey plays basketball professionally.

question: What BBL team is Stuckey playing for?

answer: Stuckey is playing for the Crailsheim Merlins.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Maurice Stuckey is a German basketball player currently playing for the Crailsheim Merlins. He was selected for the German national team in 2016.


text:
_UNCHAINED_ is an EP by Canadian heavy metal band Thor. The album's title is taken from the Italian-French epic fantasy feature film _Hercules Unchained_ (1959). Tracks “Rock the City” and “When Gods Collide” were later re-recorded for the album _Only the Strong_ (1985).

Track listing

-   All songs written by Jon Mikl Thor, except where noted.

1.  “Lightning Strikes Again” – 2:37
2.  “Anger” – 3:42
3.  “Rock the City” – 3:54
4.  “Lazer Eyes” – 3:25
5.  “When Gods Collide” – 4:32 (Thor, Keith Zazzi)
6.  “Death March” – 2:43 (Thor, Rusty Hamilton)

Personnel

-   Jon Mikl Thor – lead vocals
-   Karl Cochran – lead guitar
-   Keith Zazzi – bass
-   Mike Favata – drums
-   Pantera (aka Rusty Hamilton) – backing vocals

Guest musicians:

-   Jimmy Ambrose – guitar
-   Jimmy Whang – guitar
-   John Muller – keyboards

Technical personnel:

-   Produced & arranged by – Jon Mikl Thor
-   Engineers: Don Berman & Michael Morley
-   Mastered by Dom Romeo

[1] [2]

[1] https://www.discogs.com/Thor-Unchained/master/297424

[2] http://www.allmusic.com/album/unchained-mw0000961304/credits

title: Unchained (EP)

question: List all the songs on Thor's EP Unchained that is longer than 4 minutes.

answer: "When Gods Collide" is 4 minutes 32 seconds long.

question: Who wrote "Death March"?

answer: It was written by Jon Mikl Thor and Rusty Hamilton.

question: How did Thor's EP Unchained get its name?

answer: It was taken from the Italian-French epic fantasy feature film Hercules Unchained that was released in 1959.

question: When was the Thor's EP Unchained released?

answer: It was released after 1959 and before 1985.

question: Who assisted Karl Cochran on guitar for Thor's EP Unchained?

answer: Jimmy Ambrose and Jimmy Whang were both guest guitarists recorded for the album.

question: What role did Jon Mikl Thor play for Thor's EP Unchained?

answer: He wrote or co-wrote all of the songs on the EP. He is the lead vocalist. The EP was also produced and arranged by him.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Unchained is an EP by heavy metal band Thor.


text:
I'm sitting in a bar that’s way too far from home.  Smoking a cigarette  at the counter and looking down at the space between my hands, elbows resting on the table and I’m hunched over.  The bartender just walked by again.  Should I even ask for another drink?  It’s getting late anyways and this brandy can’t be that good for me.
	“Hit me again, Mickie.”

_

The band’s playing some jazz with a tenor sax.  I can hear them.  Can I see them?  I look over my left shoulder.  There’s so much smoke in the room you can barely tell if they are black or white.  I know it’s a tenor though.  I know that sweet sound.

_

So many bottles on a snazzy display in front of me.

“Hey Mick, what do you think makes people come to a place like this on a Thursday?”

“Well, I can’t say I haven’t thought about it.  I should know really, since half of the people sitting up here at the counter are looking for some conversational relief.  Venting, whatever the kids call it these days.  Hey, want another?”

“I don’t know what I’d do if I didn’t, Mick.” He filled up my glass.  How many drinks have I had?  What’s the bill at?  Don’t know, don’t really care I guess.  I don’t even know what I’m doing or how this helps.  It doesn’t, to tell you the truth.

_

It’s raining outside I think.  Though you wouldn’t know from inside this bar.  Brown walls, only a few windows, and through the smoke I can’t see if there is anything out there.  Real dim lighting in here, too.

A fella just tripped and spilt a little of whatever he was drinking onto my lower pant leg and black wingtip shoes.  I don’t know why I bother to even dress for going out anymore.  Who am I even trying to impress?  There’s no pretty women here.  Not alone anyways.  I look over my left shoulder again.  There actually is a fine lady in a red dress sitting alone in a booth by the band, tapping ashes into a tray.  Never mind, her company was just taking a leak in the bathroom.  He’s got the same jacket and pants I have on.

_

I look up at my hat on the counter.  I can’t go home yet.  Not now, anyways.  I light another cigarette and look back down at the counter.  Someone taps me on the right shoulder and takes  a seat to the left of me.  “Hey there” they say.

title: A Bar Too Far From Home

question: What is the bartender's name?

answer: The bartender's name is Mick.

question: What is one of the instruments in the band?

answer: There is a tenor sax in the band.

question: What is the narrator drinking?

answer: The narrator is drinking brandy.

question: What do the narrator and the woman's company have in common?

answer: They have the same jacket and pants.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator is drinking at a bar and makes small talk with the bartender. They look around the room, noticing the band and a woman, and someone sits next to the narrator.


text:
Floral Patterns

The young man handed a ten dollar bill across the counter, exchanging it for the freshly wrapped flowers the lady gave him.
A lovely bouquet, she said. He smiled, thanked her, and walked out of the market pavilion, exiting onto the downtown side street.

The late afternoon was bright and hot and the dewy flowers glistened optimistically. He headed down the street clutching the bouquet, passing market patrons and other sidewalkers, holding the flowers tightly to avoid them being jostled.

He passed through a crowd gathered at a bus stop, avoiding eye contact where possible. Two shirtless, rudely tattooed men sat reclined against a convenience store looking at him.

Faggot, one muttered, hoping his buddy thought he was overheard, hoping he was not overheard.

Probably.

The young man proceeded down the busy city thoroughfare, passing restaurant patios where glasses clinked and couples laughed. A group of ladies in large sunglasses and large necklaces drinking cocktails ogled him quietly as we walked by. He heard them titter and coo and knew their looks followed him. He would be the subject of their conversation for a few minutes.

He paused at a corner, putting the flowers into the crook of his arm to light a cigarette. A large, Greek-lettered man asked approaching him from across the street.

Yo man, could I bum a dart off you bro? he asked while groping his pocket for a lighter.

Sure.

Thanks bro. Cool flowers dude.

Thanks.

Take ‘er easy man, and he walked off back across the street, leaving the young man to light his own cigarette.

He took a few drags before starting down the street again. It was very warm, and sweat pooled on his back. He decided to cut down a shaded alley and get off the main street. His shoes sounded on the chipped asphalt as he stepped off the sidewalk over a torn garbage bag and into the cool, fetid air of the alley. Old brick rose on both sides and the flaked paint of some decayed mural remained visible beneath the city grime.

The alley exited onto a nearly vacant parking lot, and he crossed the hot pavement towards the street. He flipped his half-smoked cigarette back into the alley to join its numerous kin. The moisture had long since evaporated from the flowers he gripped, and their original lustre had faded.

The street was less busy than the one he had just left and he was thankful. The only person visible was a homeless man sitting on a spread of cardboard sipping from a worn paper cup. The young man considered crossing the street to avoid contact but decided it would be too obvious.

Spare some change?

Sorry, he answered looking away as he walked passed quickly.
I’ll take those flowers instead.

Ha, he stated and didn’t break his pace.

The street exited onto another main road and he took a right onto it, joining the herds of people swarming along the sidewalk and the traffic oozing between intersections. Buskers played on either side, and between the noise of engines and tires and voices, acoustic music was audible there, percussion there, and a wailing street person there.

His mouth was dry and his feet swam in his shoes. There was a Starbucks just ahead and he decided to stop for an ice water.
The line was long, almost to the door, but it was densely air conditioned inside and it cut through the sweaty grit that covered him. He stood as the line slowly progressed forward, the haggard baristas pouring ices and syrups into taxed blenders. He got to the front of the line and ordered his water. The cashier smiled with relief for the brief respite.

Those are beautiful flowers, who’s the lucky g—person? she asked, but he was already moving to the pickup table and her question was ground out in the sound of masticating ice.

He grabbed his water and moved through the crowded café towards the exit. A girl in a short sundress was coming through and he held the door for her with his elbow, hands clutching flowers and water.

Thanks, she said looking up at him, smiling.

You’re welcome, he said, returning her smile.

They paused for a moment, her looking at the flowers in his hand. Her smile dropped and she stepped passed him without another word. The young man exited out of the cool air into the city street.
The sidewalks were filling with nine to fivers finished the grind, inappropriately dressed for the sunny heat. They shoved passed him on both sides headed towards parking lots and bus stops, desperate to get home. He sipped his water and moved slowly upstream against the city.

Despite his best efforts the flowers were getting jostled. A small yellow carnation was crushed down and in, the cellophane folding over it. He stopped at a garbage and discarded his cup and ice, pausing to readjust the crumpled flower, unfolding the plastic from over it.

He crossed the street to cut across the park. Large trees shaded couples sprawled on benches, eating, laughing. He watched as they held hands and touched each other. Teenagers sitting too close, kissing too hard, listening to music too loud. They watched videos on their phones and they sat in each other’s laps. He walked across the grass watching them frankly. No one watched him.

The grass ended and concrete began. His destination was just up the street and he could see the squat grey building sprawled before him. He was a bit later than intended. He wanted another cigarette but didn’t want to smell like smoke.

He got to the parking lot and stopped. Cars were pulling out and he stopped to let them pass. The drivers looked at him. He climbed the steps to the front of the building and stopped. The large doors and a small garbage can with cigarette butts littered around it stood before him. He stood.

Fuck.

He took the decaying bouquet and shoved it into the ashy garbage.

Fuck.

Gripping the door handle he pulled hard and entered the building.

title: Floral Patterns

question: Describe the mood of the first paragraph.

answer: The first paragraph is friendly and anticipatory.

question: Based on the speech used by the "large, Greek-lettered man," list a range of years in which this story could likely be set.

answer: 1970-2021.

question: Based on the descriptions of the city given in the text, estimate the population size.

answer: Based on the many streets, alleys, buildings, parks, and the number of people mentioned, the city is likely to be over one million people.

question: Why did the protagonist throw away the flowers after so long instead of giving them to whoever they were for?

answer: No answer.


text:
It’s DNA, but not as we know it. In a world first, Australian researchers have identified a new DNA structure – called the i-motif – inside cells. A twisted ‘knot’ of DNA, the i-motif has never before been directly seen inside living cells. The new findings, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, are published today in the leading journal Nature Chemistry.

JOURNAL/CONFERENCE: Nature Chemistry

LINK TO RESEARCH (DOI): 10.1038/s41557-018-0046-3

ORGANISATION/S: Garvan Institute of Medical Research, The University of New South Wales, The University of Sydney

Media Release

FROM: Garvan Institute of Medical Research

It’s DNA, but not as we know it.

In a world first, Australian researchers have identified a new DNA structure – called the i-motif – inside cells. A twisted ‘knot’ of DNA, the i-motif has never before been directly seen inside living cells.

The new findings, from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, are published today in the leading journal _Nature Chemistry._

Deep inside the cells in our body lies our DNA. The information in the DNA code – all 6 billion A, C, G and T letters – provides precise instructions for how our bodies are built, and how they work.

The iconic ‘double helix’ shape of DNA has captured the public imagination since 1953, when James Watson and Francis Crick famously uncovered the structure of DNA. However, it’s now known that short stretches of DNA can exist in other shapes, in the laboratory at least – and scientists suspect that these different shapes might play an important role in how and when the DNA code is ‘read’.

The new shape looks entirely different to the double-stranded DNA double helix.

“When most of us think of DNA, we think of the double helix,” says Associate Professor Daniel Christ (Head, Antibody Therapeutics Lab, Garvan) who co-led the research. “This new research reminds us that totally different DNA structures exist – and could well be important for our cells.”

“The i-motif is a four-stranded ‘knot’ of DNA,” says Associate Professor Marcel Dinger (Head, Kinghorn Centre for Clinical Genomics, Garvan),.who co-led the research with A/Prof Christ.

“In the knot structure, C letters on the same strand of DNA bind to each other – so this is very different from a double helix, where ‘letters’ on opposite strands recognise each other, and where Cs bind to Gs [guanines].”

Although researchers have seen the i-motif before and have studied it in detail, it has only been witnessed _in vitro_ – that is, under artificial conditions in the laboratory, and not inside cells.

In fact, scientists in the field have debated whether i-motif ‘knots’ would exist at all inside living things – a question that is resolved by the new findings.

To detect the i-motifs inside cells, the researchers developed a precise new tool – a fragment of an antibody molecule – that could specifically recognise and attach to i-motifs with a very high affinity. Until now, the lack of an antibody that is specific for i-motifs has severely hampered the understanding of their role.

Crucially, the antibody fragment didn’t detect DNA in helical form, nor did it recognise ‘G-quadruplex structures’ (a structurally similar four-stranded DNA arrangement).

With the new tool, researchers uncovered the location of ‘i-motifs’ in a range of human cell lines. Using fluorescence techniques to pinpoint where the i-motifs were located, they identified numerous spots of green within the nucleus, which indicate the position of i-motifs.

“What excited us most is that we could see the green spots – the i-motifs – appearing and disappearing over time, so we know that they are forming, dissolving and forming again,” says Dr Mahdi Zeraati, whose research underpins the study’s findings.

The researchers showed that i-motifs mostly form at a particular point in the cell’s ‘life cycle’ – the late G1 phase, when DNA is being actively ‘read’. They also showed that i-motifs appear in some promoter regions (areas of DNA that control whether genes are switched on or off) and in telomeres, ‘end sections’ of chromosomes that are important in the aging process.

Dr Zeraati says, “We think the coming and going of the i-motifs is a clue to what they do. It seems likely that they are there to help switch genes on or off, and to affect whether a gene is actively read or not.”

“We also think the transient nature of the i-motifs explains why they have been so very difficult to track down in cells until now,” adds A/Prof Christ.

A/Prof Marcel Dinger says, “It’s exciting to uncover a whole new form of DNA in cells – and these findings will set the stage for a whole new push to understand what this new DNA shape is really for, and whether it will impact on health and disease.”

–––ENDS–––

FEATURED PAPER: Mahdi Zeraati, David B. Langley, Peter Schofield, Aaron L. Moye, Romain Rouet, William E. Hughes, Tracey M. Bryan, Marcel E. Dinger and Daniel Christ. I-MOTIF DNA STRUCTURES ARE FORMED IN THE NUCLEI OF HUMAN CELLS. _Nature Chemistry_ 2018 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-018-0046-3

SUPPORT: This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia) and the Australian Research Council.

ABOUT THE GARVAN INSTITUTE: The Garvan Institute of Medical Research is one of Australia's largest medical research institutions and is at the forefront of next-generation genomic DNA sequencing in Australia. Garvan’s main research areas are: cancer, diabetes and metabolism, genomics and epigenetics, immunology and inflammation, osteoporosis and bone biology, and neuroscience. Garvan’s mission is to make significant contributions to medical science that will change the directions of science and medicine and have major impacts on human health. www.garvan.org.au

question: What is the new DNA structure called?

answer: The i-motif.

question: Where was the new structure discovered?

answer: Australia.

question: What shape is the new DNA structure?

answer: A knot.

question: What tool did researchers use to detect the i-motifs?

answer: The fragment of an antibody molecule.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article discusses the discovery of a new form of DNA, the i-motif, and the lab in Australia that discovered it, along with their techniques.


text:
Muffled voices filled my ears as I slowly started to slip into consciousness. I felt my legs strapped tightly to what I could only assume to be a chair. My hands were bound behind my back, my movements completely restricted. "Are you sure we should keep him here? Don't you remember what he is capable of? Especially with what you've done to him," said an unknown voice accusingly.

My eyes snapped open as I heard a coarse and familiar voice but I could only see a faint light, something was covering my head. "Of course I am. There's no way he can take all of us on though." It was at this point that I grew aware of the rustling of a number of bodies around me. Where am I?

The item covering my head was removed, and as my eyes adjusted to the light, I counted 18 bodies. They must think I'm pretty dangerous, I thought to myself as a smirk took form across my face.

"Well, well, well. It has been a while since we've seen each other, hasn't it Mr. Toigo," said the familiar voice with a smile. Why do I know that voice? I must have had a puzzled look to my face because he continued saying, “You don’t remember me, do you Mr. Toigo?” I shook my head, as I stared quizzically into his eyes. His grey eyes glared back at me with a look of resentment, yet his unshaven face held a devilish smile.

“Then maybe you’ll remember my brother…” A picture was thrown onto my lap from one of the burly men to my right. A tall lamp stood directly behind him, and as I looked around the room I noticed it’s symmetrical design. Another lamp stood in the exact same spot to my left, just in its mirrored location. Four white walls surrounded the 18 burly bodies around the room. Two mahogany tables lie to either side approximately six feet away, and directly in front of me was the man with the familiar voice, sitting in a steel chair identical to my own. A single unmarked door stood behind him. I looked down at the picture to see a man I remembered instantly, and this recognition transported me to the past.

My wife, with her beautiful brown hair and stunning figure, sat in the chair across from me as we waited for our names to be called, so that we could collect our beverages from the barista. “I’ve got an order for To-ee-go,” the barista exclaimed. I stood and picked up the hot tea and coffee my wife and I ordered. “It’s toy-go, but thank you,” I laughed as I left him a tip.

“Why do they always get it wrong hun?” my wife asked with a giggle. I held the door for her as we exited the coffee shop. The city was busy, pedestrians walking every which way, and we stopped for a second before entering the onslaught of people. As we walked we consumed our drinks and slowly made our way back to my parents house to return to the family reunion they were holding.

My eye caught those of a man in a grey hoodie and dark blue jeans before he entered into the alley just ahead of us. I moved my wife to the opposite side, away from the alley. As we passed by, there seemed to be a sudden lull in the people surrounding us. The hooded man appeared and pulled out a gun. I felt my wife’s hand suddenly jolt away from mine as another man grabbed her and held a knife to her neck. We were being jumped.

The first man directed the gun towards my head. “Don’t make this more difficult then it has to be, Mr. Toigo,” he stated with the same coarse voice as his brother. How did he know my name? “Release my wife, and I’ll do what you wish,” I said calmly. “Oh! So this is Mrs. Toigo?” he stated as he nonchalantly walked towards her, still aiming the pistol at me. “Let her go, now,” I said, my voice growing more tense.

“Is that attitude in your voice?” Our fellow pedestrians engorged us in a circle about 40 feet in diameter, too afraid to move closer. He pointed the gun at my wife, and she gave a slight exhale of exasperation. My body stiffened with anger at the thought of somebody threatening my wife, my fists clenching in rage. “Let her go now you son of a bitch,” my voice stern and forceful.

“I don’t think I wi-“ was all he managed to get out before I grabbed his shirt and threw him into the alleyway. The gun clanged against the ground as it fell out of his hands. The man holding my wife just stood in shock as I threw my fist into his jaw, breaking it instantly. As he lie writhing in pain on the cement, I stomped my boot into his throat. “Run!” I barked to my wife. She obliged and made a mad dash into the crowd.

The man I threw into the alley had regained his footing, and charged at me as he drew a knife from inside his jacket. As he slashed diagonally at me, I brought my forearm to his, abruptly stopping its progress. In one quick movement, I threw my entire body up under his arm, flipping his body over mine and directly onto the ground. I jumped on top of him and began punching furiously, blood splattering with each point of contact. He lifted his pelvis into the air, knocking me off balance as he simultaneously drove the knife into my thigh.

I grunted as it entered my leg, but I still managed to regain my balance, and tear the knife from my thigh before throwing it across the sidewalk. I raised to my feet and grabbed the breast of his hoodie, seizing him into the air, leaving his feet dangling inches from the ground. I back-peddled into the alley, before quickly spinning and launching the man into the nearby dumpster.

I backed into a parking meter as I watched the man attempt to regain his footing, before stumbling back onto the ground. I looked at his companion who was still unconscious. I heard a gasp from the crowd and my eyes darted back to my attacker as he aimed and fired his pistol. I felt the bullet enter my abdomen, but instead of toppling over in pain, I merely yelled as I felt an extreme amount of adrenaline course through my body. My body seemed to react on its own, turning towards the parking meter. With super-human strength I ripped it from the ground and threw it like a javelin directly at the man’s chest. I heard bones crack and saw blood spew from his mouth, but I wasn’t finished with him yet. He attempted to crawl away, but to no avail, as I walked towards him, my veins pulsing with adrenaline. My hands grasped the parking meter as I brought it down upon his back. Both his spine and the parking meter shattered and I could all but see him struggling just to stay alive, but he threatened my wife. I wasn’t done with him yet.

I threw away my weapon, and flipped my attacker over so that his anterior faced me. My hand grabbed his face, and I lifted him into the air easily with my newfound strength. His face expressed that he was clearly struggling just to breath, but I just said with a forceful tone, “I warned you, you son of a bitch.” With all of my strength I smashed his head into the wall, and upon impact I felt his skull crush in my hands. He was gone.

“Yes I remember your brother,” I said to the man after the flashback ended.

title: Adrenaline

question: Why did the main character kill the antagonist's brother?

answer: He threatened his wife.

question: How does the waiter pronounce Toigo's name?

answer: To-ee-go instead of Toygo.

question: What does the narrator endure as he fights the man?

answer: A shot in the abdomen.

question: How many men are in the room when the narrator wakes up?

answer: 18.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The story is about a man who is kidnapped and held in a room and threatened. A picture is thrown in front of him of a man he killed. Then he flashes back to when he killed the man, because the man threatened his wife.


text:
Two weeks ago, the Trump administration announced new tariffs on U.S. aluminum and steel imports. As we described in a recent blog post, these tariffs not only have the potential to increase the price of aluminum and steel, commodities on which many firms, industries, and local economies rely, but also to expose additional industries and states should trade partners retaliate with their own tariffs on particular U.S. export products.

On Friday, the European Commission did just this, releasing a list of products imported from the United States to be targeted by retaliatory tariffs if the European Union (EU) does not receive an exemption from Trump’s steel and aluminum tariffs.

That exemption remains an uncertainty. EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmström and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross will meet this week in Washington, D.C., as part of a 30-day negotiation window to avoid a trade war. But Malmström warned on March 14 “that if the EU is not to be excluded from the measures then there would have to be a firm and resolute, but proportionate, response.”

The EU’s product list includes aluminum and steel, but also encompasses consumer goods from a wider range of U.S. industries, including whiskies, denim trousers, cranberries, and motorcycles. In a first phase, custom duties could be applied immediately on some products if no agreement is found in the 30-day window. In line with the timing of World Trade Organization (WTO) regulation, the EU plans a second phase of custom duties if the Trump tariffs are ruled to be illegal by the WTO or if three years pass.

 [20180319_STEELSTARIFFS_PARILLA BOUCHET (1)]

In sum, the products on the EU list accounted for $8.2 billion worth of U.S. exports to the EU in 2017, or 3 percent of the total ($283 billion). As we have documented before, U.S. states vary in their exposure to trade policy shifts based on their core export industries and top destination markets. New York, for instance, exports $1.5 billion worth of goods under the Commission’s scrutiny, including $1 billion of jewelry and other precious metals. The states of leading congressional Republicans would also face these custom duties. California, the home of House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, is the third most exposed state in volume, exporting $700 million worth of goods included in the list to the EU. The tariffs would also affect exports of electrical machinery from Texas, the state of Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, as it exported to the EU for $143 million.

Beyond volume, some states’ exports to the EU covered on this list account for a relatively high share of overall EU-bound exports. The figure below ranks states based on this metric.

[20180319_steelstariffs_parilla bouchet (2)]

The share of targeted products in the total exports of Hawaii, Michigan, Missouri, and Maine is more than three times the U.S. average. Michigan is particularly exposed, with the second largest share of its exports in the scope of the EU commission, as well as the second highest volume of goods, including $674 million worth of rear-view mirrors for vehicles. House Speaker Paul Ryan’s state of Wisconsin is the seventh most exposed in share and the ninth in volume because of its exports of odoriferous substances and cranberries.

Whiskey’s inclusion implicates EU-bound exports from Tennessee ($466 million) and Kentucky ($180 million) in that product category. Pennsylvania accounts for 40 percent of U.S. exports of large motorcycles to the EU. These new tariffs could weaken the recent consolidation of Harley Davidson production from Kansas City, Mo. to York, Pa., as 450 new positions have just been announced at the York facility.

The application of the EU retaliatory tariffs depends on the ongoing negotiations to exempt the EU. And besides the EU, other key trade partners have announced their intention to retaliate, including China and Brazil. In total, the threat of these potential costs for U.S. local economies reveals how shortsighted and counterproductive the Trump tariffs are.

_Details on volume and share of U.S. states exports targeted by EU’s potential retaliatory tariffs are available in this appendix._

Methodological note: _The EU list details products at the Harmonized System 8-digit level (totaling 348 products), whereas the available data from the U.S Census Bureau details exports at the Harmonized System 6-digit level (which shortens the list to 147 broader product categories)._

question: What is Trump's administration imposing tariffs on?

answer: On US aluminum and steel imports

question: What was the EU's response to the tariffs?

answer: The European Commission released a list of products imported from the US to be hit by tariffs.

question: How will both sides avoid a trade war?

answer: Both sides will meet as part of a 30-day negotiation window to try and come to an agreement.

question: What other key trade partners plan to retaliate?

answer: China and Brazil have also announced their intention to retaliate.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer:
The EU prepares to retaliate against the US after the Trump administration announced new tariffs on certain imports.
In response to the announcement, the European Commission released a list of products imported from the US that would be targeted by tariffs if the EU does not receive an exemption from Trump's tariffs.
A negotiation window is now underway to avoid a trade war.
Other key trade partners such as China and Brazil have also announced their intention to retaliate.


text:
In a land far away there was a man named James. He thought to himself on a fourth Thursday on November that he was thankful for a lot of things. It was just one of those random thoughts. But he kept thinking and thinking. First he thought of the normal, general things that people are thankful for, like family and friends and so on. But then he got down to smaller things. He was thankful for tables, chairs, lamps etc. And the very last thing James was thankful for was turkey. He had an urge for a turkey. He needed a turkey right away.
James put on his jacket and shoes. He did not tie the shoe laces because he had no time. He had a last look at the clock before he left. And then the horror struck, it was already past 9PM. All of the stores were already closed. As minutes went by his need for turkey kept on growing. The urge was so big that he almost felt angry, he felt like he wanted to punch a hole through the wall. After half an hour dealing with this horrible feeling he knew that he had to do something. James decided to go and hunt himself a turkey.
James didn’t own a firearm. He needed to improvise. He took a kitchen knife, a broom and some duct tape. James was in the middle of crafting a spear when it struck him, he had never even used a spear before, he would have not been able to hit a car with that thing. James had to come up with another plan. After thinking for a couple of minutes, he said to himself “Fuck that, I’ll throw rocks at that damned turkey.” He went outside and took 3 cinder blocks. He put them in a backpack and went for a turkey hunt.
After a couple of hours he had walked miles with a heavy load on his back and he was already losing hope. Devastated, he sat down. And when he looked up, he saw the most amazing site that he had ever seen. A huge and 5 turkeys right in the middle of it. Out of those 5 there was one that stood out the most. The most amazing looking turkey ever. A queen turkey as they called them, where James lived. It was a legend but now it is reality. James figured that rest of the turkey must have been the bodyguards. They wore nice suits and headpieces. All of them had a pair of shades on.
James had to come up with an attack plan. He was thinking for awhile and then he had it. He found some breadcrumbs from his pocket. James’ plan was as follows: first he would distract two of the bodyguard who were patrolling with breadcrumbs. Then he would go in for a sneak attack on the third guard and take queen turkey hostage and escape the crime scene.
It was show time. He moved in quietly and placed breadcrumbs on the ground. The distraction worked. “Yes!” thought James to himself and he moved to the next phase, the sneak attack. He moved in slowly behind the turkey and WHAPOW cinder block to the head knocked the turkey out cold. His confidence grew with each step he was taking when he moved to the final step. James snuck behind the queen, he grabbed her by the neck and yelled to the guards: “Drop your weapons or she is dead!” the last body guard dropped his pistol and as James instructed he handcuffed himself to a tree.
James had never been so happy in his life. Now he just had to walk away from there and get home. But unfortunately there was another guard turkey hiding in the bushes. James never saw him. It was a ninja turkey. James was forced to step into hand to wing combat with the ninja turkey. James punched the bird one in the jaw and he dropped to the ground. James was speechless. He had knocked out a ninja in one punch. But then he remembered something: “Oh damn the queen turkey!” He chased the queen down and tackled her. Then James woke up to the smell of a fried turkey. It was all just a dream. Or was it?

we had to write a short story that had to have some elemnts of thanksgiving in it, for my English class( my native language is not English so we study that as a foreign language). And this is the story I came up with.

title: Thanksgiving

question: Why did he suddenly feel he needed a turkey?

answer: It seems it just occurred to him for no reason.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: On Thanksgiving James is thinking about things he is is grateful for when he suddenly gets an overwhelming need to get a turkey. Since it's late and the stores are closed he decides to hunt for one. When he finally finds one it is the queen turkey which is being protected by other turkeys. He tries to fight them but is unsuccessful in getting any. Suddenly James wakes up to the smell of fried turkey and wonders if it was all a dream.


text:
The 2017 CITY OF ONKAPARINGA ATP CHALLENGER was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the third edition of the tournament and part of the 2017 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Happy Valley, Australia from 2 to 8 January 2017.

Main draw entrants

Seeds

  Country   Player             Rank¹   Seed
  --------- ------------------ ------- ------
            Donald Young       88      1
            João Souza         123     2
            Denis Kudla        131     3
            Peter Polansky     135     4
            Norbert Gombos     142     5
            Darian King        152     6
            Grega Žemlja       155     7
            Márton Fucsovics   158     8

-   ¹ Rankings are as of December 26, 2016.

Other Entrants

The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:

-   Omar Jasika

-   Blake Mott

-   Marc Polmans

-   Max Purcell

The following player received entry into the singles main draw with a protected ranking:

-   Matthias Bachinger

The following players received entry from the qualifying draw:

-   Alex Bolt

-   Alexander Bublik

-   Luke Saville

-   Yasutaka Uchiyama

Champions

Singles

-   PETER GOJOWCZYK def. Omar Jasika 6–3, 6–1.

Doubles

-   HANS PODLIPNIK / MAX SCHNUR def. Steven de Waard / Marc Polmans 7–6(7–5), 4–6, [10–6].

title: 2017 City of Onkaparinga ATP Challenger

question: What was the 2017 City of Onkaparinga ATP Challenger?

answer: A tennis tournament.

question: On what kind of courts was it played?

answer: Hard courts.

question: Where did it take place?

answer: Happy Valley, Australia.

question: What were the dates of the tournament?

answer: January 2-8 2017.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The 2017 City of Onkaparinga ATP Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts in Happy Valley, Australia, from January 2-8 in 2017.


text:
Overview

SKU:
    228239

Mfr Part #:
    UM.CC0AA.001

UPC:
    888863926336

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Introducing the Acer CZ series display with a 34-inch curved IPS panel and 21:9 UtraWide QHD resolution making your games, work and movies look as epic as possible. Special features like 100% sRGB, 6-axis color adjustment and DTS Sound give you the perfect picture and entertaining experience while Picture-in-picture and daisy chaining multiple monitors together take your productivity to a new level.

question: Who is this product targeted towards?

answer: Individuals with some experience / knowledge in computers and technology.


text:
We hadn't spoken for miles. I couldn't tell if you were sad, or angry, or both. The whole way the Chevy Nova had to fill in the silence for us. There you were, staring out the window, and there I was, driving us deeper into nowhere. Behind us, the hills cradled the sun, and we drove farther into the night. Of course, the trusty steed managed to blow a tire and neither of us had remembered to bring a spare.
We had sat on the side of the road for hours, and yet, the sun refused to fall. The golden hours stayed put. It was then we noticed our watches had stopped. And oh, insult to injury, I couldn't help myself and longer, I had to say it, "I'm hungry!" We were stuck between these hills, in this grassy valley, and time had managed to stop. And I was hungry.
Mercifully, peach orchards dotted the landscape. With nothing better to do, we walked into the orchard. After another hour or so, the sun still hanging in the sky, you opened up. You spoke, I understood, I apologized.
At that moment, we noticed our walking had led us into a loop. You reached for my hand. It was probably three in the morning and still sunny.
We forgot about the car, the sun, and our hunger, and settled on walking among the orchards in our moment frozen in time.

title: Something I wrote a while ago, first post here!

question: Why hadn't the narrator and the other person ("you") spoken?

answer: The text does not say.

question: What was the reason for the drive?

answer: The text doesn't say.

question: What is their objective?

answer: It seems that there wasn't one.

question: What happens during their walk in the orchard?

answer: They make up.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator and someone known as "you" go for an aimless drive. They come across a peach orchard and take a walk. During their walk, they talk and the narrator apologizes. They have made up.


text:
There i was, it was an early day for me, unusually early considering my sleep problems, yet there i was at the internet cafe , again. I had logged on already when an older, much older lady walked in to use their phones for a long distance call, she was asking the attendant something about rates, but the attendant didnt speak good engish, so i helped her out.

The old lady attempted to make a phone call and then came out of the booth, and glanced over the titles of my emails while standing behind me, she saw something astrology had sent me, and she immediately asked me if i was into that, and i said , well im not sure what i said, but then she asked me my name, date of birth, sign etc, all the usual details.

Then she looked up in the air above me and to my side, pointing with her finger for what seemed to be like for her use, cause i sure as hell didnt see anything nor did i know what she was doing.She started telling me about her life, and describing it before and after she had left and arrived in this country, and then she said it, those words that i had only heard one other person say in my entire life, she told me before she use to come here she use to stand/sit in her country looking in the direction of america, and say to herself, "thats where im going". She was Russian

I was a bit taken aback by that, i wasnt sure wether to divulge that information to her or not, im not sure wether i eventually did or not, because after, i asked her about her drawing in the air, and she started mentioning planets, and transits and that sort of thing...and then she told me i was going to live a long time, not to worry that i would live a long time, she even had an approximate age, she said that i would live to be anywhere between 103 years old and 105 years old, i honestly didnt care.

Fast forward a couple of weeks , and there i was talking to one of my favorite people in the neighborhood, irish jimmy, by the corner store, poor jimmy was older and had problems with drinking and drugs and other types, but he wasnt a trouble maker, and he never judged me, nor did he ever know what was going on with me , unlike everyone else in the neighborhood, those nosey gossiping fake fucks.

it was a nice day, the sun was out, i was sitting on a milk crate with my back to the store/wall, and jimmy was making me laugh, not a bad day at all, a little while had passed by and jimmy was still going on with jokes and how he used to live it up in the old days, when he was much younger, i could tell he was catching a nice buzz from the beer i bought him, not his first beer of the day, i dont like drunks, as the matter of fact i hate them, but i didnt mind jimmy.

Jimmy and i spoke of longevity at this point in our ramblings..living, dying , old age and the such...almost exactly at the same time that Jimmy was about to start a sentence i noticed the minivan of the russians or croatians or whatever pulling up to the light, when jimmy said: "you know how i know i'm going to live a long time? because i'm meant to suffer", and then the light turned green and those russians made the turn, as they turned by us, i noticed an old lady in the back seat , older than usual, i dont think i had seen her before,.

A  few thoughts ran thru my head...the old russian lady at the internet cafe , whom i happen to mention to jimmy during our old age and death ramblings , which is why he replied what he replied, the fact that the old russian lady that had nothing to do with these russians and the old lady in the back seat i had never seen before, the fact that jimmy didnt know any of these people, the timing of it all, and lastly what my therapist and plenty of people had told me before about a "drunk man's words" or something of the sort which i cant remember because i dont deal with drunks as i have previously written.

I never saw the old lady from the back of the minivan again, nor did i ever see the old lady at the internet cafe ever again, just saw them that one time each, and i spent alot of time at the internet cafe both before and after...

and then there was jimmy from around the corner, him i saw all the time, but not after that time, not after what he told me that time, I never saw him again.

title: I never saw him again

question: What are some of the themes of this story?

answer: Synchronicities and death.

question: What might have happened if the author did not meet the Russian lady in the internet café?

answer: They would not have had the conversation with Jimmy about life and death.

question: What kind of mood is the author trying to evoke?

answer: A mysterious one.

question: What are some of the events that occurred that the author found interesting?

answer: Their conversation with the Russian lady at the café, the specific phrase that she said, their conversation with Jimmy, the van of Russians that passed by, and the disappearance of Jimmy.


text:
Rhoux stood on the elevator with Phae as it rose to the surface. The ride took about an hour depending on what layer you lived on. The two of them were good friends since they met at the boot camp, both the only girls in the entire class. Both predetermined as failures by the general who led the camp, they bonded and prevailed, graduating top of their class. With this, they were both granted the opportunity to join the Moderators in the fifth layer, the deepest and the most secure. But they both declined, insisting that they wanted to be Elites, the most renowned and respected warriors in the entire realm. Phae's dad was an Elite, so she had a goal in mind and a reason to reach for it. Rhoux was just drifting along after the death of her mother, searching for her purpose.

The elevator reached the surface. Rhoux got the chills she was sure anyone got when they felt vulnerable. On the surface, they're were six walls forming a perfect hexagon, each 50 feet high and 10 feet thick. The elevator immediately opened up to the  armory. The soldiers loaded up, equipping their armor, hazard suit, and gas mask to prevent inhalation of the toxic radiation that inhabited the surface since World War III. From there they rode to the Northern wall in a Traxorible, a machine that revolutionized transportation by being able to float a maximum of five feet of ground, avoiding friction and Surface rubble, as well as being aerodynamic and reaching speeds up to a hundred miles per hour, reaching the wall in as little as 30 minutes.

When they arrived at the wall, they rode yet another elevator to the top, each taking a post approximately 10 feet apart. The wall itself was almost 60 feet across. The previous troop, left back to the Underground , while Rhoux's regime took their places. It was night thankfully, which is the only reason why Rookies would be on watch in the first place. They would stay until dawn, when the Mutations would most likely rise. At that time, Moderators and Elites would patrol the Surface. To pass the time, Rhoux went over to Phae's post. Phae smiled at her arrival, but Rhoux knew she was preoccupied with the thoughts of her boyfriend, Eli, who had gone missing three days ago on a Scout mission. The reason a rescue squad hasn't been sent out is because the Captain on the mission hadn't sent out an S.O.S. and the grace period for an absent troops were 7 days.

They just stood their silent. Hours passed in the uneasy silence, in which Phae had started to weep. Rhoux pretended not to notice because she wasn't sure how to respond and she didn't want to see Phae in this state of fragileness. Mostly because it was Phae's confidence that kept Rhoux sane and secure in this mad, mad world. Finally, as the end of their shift approached and dawns light breached the horizon painted the dawn a bloody red, the duo stretched and corralled their fellow soldiers, two of which had fallen asleep. Inside the wall, they saw the Elites and Moderators heading their way to relieve them when suddenly Phae gasped. Her eyes locked on something an the east, the direction the wall faced. In the distance, long shadows were illuminated, forming the disfigured silhouette of a running person, and two other morphed figures of...

Rhoux gasped along with her friend, her mouth forming a comical "O". But nothing about the situation was funny. Chasing the man, steadily gaining ground were not one, but *two* Kryogon. Phae and Rhoux froze in place. The Kryomorph was a Alpha Class Mutation that's origins were unknown. It was estimated 10 feet long and had a toxic spike on its flexible tail, similar to a scorpion. Covered in armored scales, its weak spot was unknown. It's front legs were heavily muscled and its claw were the strongest material known to man. It had rows of razor sharp teeth and no eyes that were visible, so it was believed to rely on scent. Even with all this information known, they're has been no one whose slayed this beast, for its Achilles heel was unknown.

As the figure approached, there was no hope for the stranger. The best the Elites could do when they arrived was draw it away, but even that was horribly risky. Rhoux caught the mysterious expression on Phae's face. No, she couldn't think that the person was Eli! It couldn't be, the stranger had a generic silhouette. His height was the only thing similar, using the Kryogons for scale. Phae looked at Rhoux speaking for the first time the entire night.

(*Critism is welcome. Part 2 is coming out soon. If you guys like this, let me now and I'll continue the series. Thanks for reading!*^_^)

title: [SF] The Awakening-Chapter 1: Dawn's Shadows (Pt. 1)

question: What convinced Phae that the running man might be her boyfriend?

answer:
Rhoux and Phae have been friends since boot camp. Their bond became stronger when both were deemed failures by the general who led the camp. Both ladies, however, overcame all odds, graduating at the top of their class. After graduation, they joined the Elites, the most respected warriors in the entire realm.

Phae lost Eli, her boyfriend, to one of the recent raids and has been depressed since the incident. One day, Phae saw the silhouette of a man in the distance trying to outrun two Kryogon, an alien classified as almost unkillable. Phae was convinced the man is Eli but Rhoux was skeptical because aside from the height, which is the same as Eli, there is no way to know if it was Phae's boyfriend or not.

It seems Phae is going by the man's height and her intuition. Or it is possible grief has blinded her to all logic, willing to take on a dangerous beast on hope alone.


text:
HENRY BEINS HOUSE (also known as the FREDERICK WILLIAM AND ANNA BEINS HOUSE) is a historic house located at 620 Locust Street in Washington, Franklin County, Missouri.

Description and history

It was built about 1868, and is a 1 1/2-story, three bay, hall-and-parlor plan brick dwelling on a brick foundation. It has a side-gable roof and segmental arched door and window openings. It has an open frame porch which has simple Victorian style ornamentation.[1]

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on September 14, 2000.[2]

[1]  (includes 8 photographs from 1999)

[2]

title: Henry Beins House

question: When was the Henry Beins House built?

answer: Sometime around 1868.

question: Who was Henry Beins?

answer: That information can't be found.

question: What is the purpose of the Henry Beins House?

answer: That information can't be found.

question: Where is the Henry Beins House located?

answer: 620 Locust Street in Washington, Franklin County, Missouri.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Henry Beins House is a historic house in Franklin County, Missouri. It was built around 1868 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


text:
The tower had no name. It had always been like that, disappearing and reappearing at its own will throughout the Planes, with anyone who entered it never being seen again. It was a feared thing, only ever being touched by brave or foolhardy adventurers. Varglan was like the tower. He was avoided, reserved, and quiet. If one could ever get him to open up and talk for a few minutes, he might tell them of his experiences in the Carpace War and his time as a soldier. He could tell about his interest in the ancient ruins that littered the lands of Serpin. He could tell about his lost family. But Varglan hadn't had a conversation lasting more than three minutes in over four years. People, if they could see past his careworn cloak, might observe his stony features, with dark, hooded brown eyes, a wide chin, a nose that had been broken several times over, and a blocklike skull. Varglan's obsession with the tower had made him this way. He searched for it to find the treasure rumored to be hidden inside- or so his village thought. Nobody really knew his true motives. Frankly, nobody cared. To outsiders, Varglan was just another crazy treasure hunter, one to be eventually lost to the wilds surrounding he small, ragged town. Tonight, though, was his night. Varglan had been planning for half a year now, relying on insight from witnesses of the tower's reappearances and vanishings. His thoughts worked like a blazing forge, productively going over plans and counter-plans. He trudged through the mucky forest path, dodging the branches of low-hanging trees brought low by the winds. He could think much more easily if it weren't for this accursed rai-

CRACK.

An incandescent bolt of red lightning struck the ground beside Varglan, throwing him off of his feet and boiling the mud where the bolt hit. The somewhat irritating rain had evolved into a full-on magestorm now, and shelter was of the utmost importance, unless Varglan wanted to be roasted alive. Fortunately enough, a tall, angular shape slowly appeared out of the pelting droplets, too large to be a tree. Varglan smiled grimly. He had reached the tower at last.

title: The Tower- C&C Appreciated!

question: What's this tower called?

answer: It has no name (specifically, according to the author).

question: Who is Varglan?

answer: A former soldier in the Carpace War and a historian.

question: What does Varglan do now?

answer: He is a treasure hunter.

question: What is Varglan's obsession?

answer: The tower.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Varglan, a military veteran of the Carpace War and now a treasure hunter, is on a quest to find the nameless tower. As he nears where he thinks it will be, a bolt of red lightning strikes the ground next to him. Varglan's instinct is to immediately take cover, but then he sees a tall angular shape before him-the tower. Varglan smiles, feeling successful.