text:
"There is no such thing as a painless lesson."

[EDHACHI]

My last article about Hiromu Arakawa told you all about how she is an extremely successful artist with an impressive body of work. Since her series are highly regarded and popular, she is doubtless making an impact on the shonen (boy’s) manga industry. But what is it that makes her work compelling? What makes it special? What are the recurring themes and what kind of worldview does her work reflect? This article will dig into exactly that by looking at Arakawa’s two major works—_Fullmetal Alchemist _and _Silver Spoon._

[fmacalender]

The basic story of _Fullmetal Alchemist_ is that two brothers (Edward and Alphonse Elric) attempt to use a forbidden form of alchemy to bring their mother back to life. As a result, Alphonse loses his entire body and Edward loses two of his limbs. Having sealed his brother’s soul in a suit of armor, Ed has his childhood friend Winry outfit him with cybernetic limbs (“automail”) and becomes an alchemist in the employ of the military so he can find the secret to restoring what he and his brother have lost. But they end up uncovering way more than they bargained for…

[silverspoonpresents]

Arakawa’s later manga, _Silver Spoon,_ is a slice-of-life story. Yugo Hachiken applies to an agricultural boarding high school in order to escape his overbearing father and the pressures of academics. He quickly falls for a girl named Aki Mikage. Since she is a hardworking horsewoman, he is inspired by her to join the horseback riding club. He ends up finding that many aspects of farming and taking care of livestock are incredibly foreign to him. Things get even more difficult when his personal issues start to catch up with him.

Now that we’ve introduced the basics, it’s time to discuss the meat of the stories and the thematic elements in both of them.

RACIAL OPPRESSION

 Racial oppression is a common theme in Arakawa’s work for a very specific reason. She grew up in Hokkaido, Japan’s second largest island and an agricultural powerhouse. It has a long history, and not all of it is pleasant. Arakawa admitted in an interviewthat her interest in the subject of racial oppression comes from growing up in a place that historically oppressed the Ainu, or the aboriginal people of Hokkaido, who were displaced by the Japanese and had their land taken from them.

[ainu2]

_A picture of a group of Ainu people circa the 1860s, via Wikimedia Commons_

Arakawa notes that her own ancestors were the ones who displaced the Ainu, yet some of her relatives are part-Ainu now. It’s hard to tell whether this means she herself has Ainu blood, or if people of mixed race have married into her family, but it is clear that her family’s history with the Ainu prompted her to raise awareness about the issue.

[ishavalans]

A group of Ishvalans surrounding Edward Elric

You can see echoes of this history in _Fullmetal_ manga, where “Amestrian” racial majority oppresses the darker-skinned “Ishvalan” minority to the point of having nearly wiped them out. “I think the truly serious problems in this world are when people don’t make any effort to learn about these everyday situations, when they turn away from them or view them from only a single perspective,” Arakawa stated.

[ainu]

A panel from _Silver Spoon,_ featuring an Ainu character

She also included an Ainu character in a flashback chapter of _Silver Spoon_ that took place in historical Hokkaido. The racial oppression the character faced was discussed.

Arakawa’s handling of racial oppression has been both praised and criticized, but she certainly does seem sincere in her desire to raise awareness about the issue and to face it head on. She also doesn’t shy from depicting the brutality of genocide. In _Fullmetal Alchemist,_ she does not present the issue from a single perspective but rather from many different characters’ points of view.

[Scar--His-Bro]

 Scar, the most prominent _Fullmetal_ Ishvalan character, and his brother

_Fullmetal_ charts the character arc of the vengeful survivor Scar, shows the perspective of the mixed-race Miles, and features characters who are ignorant of their own role in perpetuating violence and oppression as well as those who come to acknowledge it. She acknowledges in her work that there are no easy answers.

THE VALUE OF ANGER

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Arakawa’s exploration of oppression is that she stresses the valueof anger and the legitimacy of not forgiving your oppressors. In _Fullmetal_, an Ishvalan character talks to his student about how he should deal with the oppression their people have faced, saying “I am not asking you to forgive. It is our duty to be angry at the injustices of the world. But you must endure.” Arakawa’s message seems to be that anger is unavoidable and necessary, but it must be used constructively in an attempt to change society, rather than lashing out for the sake of revenge or self-destruction.

[scarmaster]

Scar’s teacher from _Fullmetal Alchemist_

Again, this message in her work and whether it was executed properly within her narrative has been debated. The issue is incredibly complex. But it is at least nice that Arakawa understands the value of anger and acknowledges forgiveness isn’t always the answer. She even actively encourages her readers to value their anger, with her own words in the back of one of the _Fullmetal_ manga volumes:

  “We adults are angered by the senseless things that happen every day in this world… but at the same time we repress those feelings by telling ourselves ‘there was no other choice’ or ‘there must have been a reason for it.’ But it’s a natural human reaction to be outraged when senseless things happen. Some things can’t be justified or rationalised. I want boys and girls to grow up valuing those feelings.”

FAMILY

[winrypinako]

The Elric brothers with their surrogate family. From left to right: Alex Armstrong, Alphonse, Pinako, Winry, Edward.

The importance of family and people supporting each other is another common theme in Arakawa’s stories. She believes not only in exploring biological family but also in the power of a found family. In one interview she spoke about how _Fullmetal_‘s Winry and Pinako Rockbell essentially adopted the Elric brothers after they lost their parents. While Ed and Al say they have no place to return to, the reality is that there are people ready to welcome them back, and it is that support that gives them the will to go on.

[silver-spoon-3233747]

In _Silver Spoon,_ Hachiken leaves home because of difficulties with his biological family but finds a family of his own creation with the students and teachers of his agricultural high school, who support him during his time of need. With their help, he even makes strides in repairing his relationship with his blood family.

Arakawa’s work shows that family comes in all sorts of forms, and even those who have broken ties with or lost their biological family can still find a true family. Arakawa says that she believes the sort of support that these surrogate families give, regardless of biological bonds, is how society should work in the larger sense. She feels that people supporting and helping each other in times of need is the most powerful thing.

PEOPLE OF DIFFERENT BACKGROUNDS LEARNING FROM EACH OTHER

The _Fullmetal Alchemist_ manga is largely about people of many different backgrounds, cultures, and walks of life coming together to support each other and work together to achieve great things. A huge part of the brothers’ development is them coming to understand that they are not alone, that the world is much larger than them and their problems, and that there are many things out there to discover and many people they can network with.

[fma-xing]

Three of the Xingese characters. From left to right: Lan Fan, Ling Yao and Fu.

Later in the _Fullmetal_ manga, the Elric Brothers (who are from the European-like country of Amestris) meet up with characters who have traveled from the China-like country of Xing, and interacting with people who are products of another culture ends up broadening the brothers’ worldview. Xing has its own specific and valuable form of alchemy, and the brothers gain a lot of essential knowledge by opening themselves up to that.

[maychang]

May Chang, another Xingese character

The Xingese people in the story are in the country illegally, and there are some subtle allusions to prejudice from more villainous characters, but ultimately these Eastern “illegal immigrants” end up being essential to resisting and challenging the corruption of the Western country the Elrics reside in. Arakawa’s inclusion of these characters not only allows her to demonstrate that there is a wider world within her story , but it demonstrates the importance of understanding between different cultures.

[aki2]

Aki Mikage from _Silver Spoon_

_Silver Spoon_ similarly encourages the idea of interacting with people from different backgrounds and considering their experiences. But in Hachiken’s case, he is exposed to a different way of life through interacting with the farming community and coming to realize the class difference between him and his friends, learning that they face economic difficulties he can’t possibly imagine.

[fullstrength]

Hachiken and Aki

Hachiken comes to understand and appreciate a farmer’s way of life and becomes better for the experience. He also doesn’t turn away from the issue of class he is confronted with. He immerses himself in the community’s problems and does his best to support his friends. He admits he comes from a place of unfamiliarity (and privelige) but states “I may not ever get it, but I never want to stop trying to understand.” Arakawa challenges her readers to listen to people of different economic backgrounds and to give them understanding and support.

A DIVERSITY OF EXPERIENCES

Arakawa thoroughly researched her work, interviewing and interacting with people of many different backgrounds. For example, she worked with people with physical disabilities in order to better represent the many physically disabled characters in _Fullmetal_.

[edwheelchair]

Young Edward Elric in a wheelchair

Despite the fact that part of the story of _Fullmetal_ initially seemed to be about its characters trying to magically repair their disabilities, what plays out is actually far more complicated and interesting. A character even gives a speech about how lots of people live with difficulties and that their lives can be just as full, especially if there are people to provide them with love and support. Many of the characters in _Fullmetal_ end up living with permanent disabilities.

Arakawa also worked with refugees and interviewed former yakuza (the Japanese mafia), foreigners living in Japan, and many others.

[arakawaaa]

Arakawa draws herself (as a cartoon cow) interviewing a war veteran in volume 15 of _Fullmetal_

Arakawa also thoroughly researched corruption in the military and the horror of war. In volume 15 of her manga, she discussed talking with with veterans of World War II. She said her most sobering experience was when a veteran told her “I can’t watch war movies anymore.” A few characters in her manga show symptoms of PTSD after their wartime experiences.

THE IMPORTANCE OF VALUING YOURSELF

Much of fiction encourages the idea of sacrificing your life as being inherently noble and also promotes the idea that if you’re in a bad situation, you need to always face that head-on. This is an especially common thing to see in action-oriented shonen.

[pickdeath]

Al yells at his brother for trying to sacrifice himself

Arakawa’s work challenges that idea and examines the consequences of self sacrifice. The characters in her work are confronted with the fact that their lives have value to the people they love. In _Fullmetal,_ the consequences of ending your life, even to protect another, are fully explored. It’s acknowledged that such an action will inevitably leave your loved ones in a lot of guilt and pain and sometimes rob them of their only family. It_ _stresses that it’s not just important to consider the safety of your loved ones, but to respect their feelings and wishes, which is why when Al and Winry urge Ed not to ever accept death and sacrifice himself for them, Ed takes them seriously.

[fmabright]

Winry, Ed, and Al, from the _Fullmetal Alchemist Art Book Vol. 2_

It’s also stressed that ending one’s life means destroying all the potential good you could have gone on to accomplish. It’s more important to live for the world than to die for it. Self-sacrifice should be a last resort, not a first one, because every life has value. With suicide such a pervasive tragedy worldwide—and a huge social issue particularly in Japan, which has a relatively high suicide rage—this is an important to stress to young people.

[live]

Gif from the _Silver Spoon_ anime by ochinchin-tan

In Silver Spoon, Arakawa tells young people that there is no shame in leaving a situation that negatively effects their emotional health. Hachiken is ashamed for running away from the pressure his family and school put on him rather than forcing himself to endure it, but an adult tells him “Don’t look down on yourself for running away. Make it meaningful by making something out of it. It’s okay to run away in order to live.”

It’s surprisingly rare to have fiction stress to its reader that they don’t have feel ashamed for not staying with situations that are making them feel pressured or unhappy—but that’s exactly what Arakawa does. She encourages her reader to put their emotional health first and lets them know they can find something fulfilling in leaving a bad situation to find a place they belong.

[middleschool]

Hachiken

It’s also important that she explicitly ties this message to a boy who was basically on the verge of breaking under academic pressure, which is a substantial contributing factor to the high youth suicide rate in Japan. I have myself often struggled with the value of my own life, so cultural context aside, my personal view is the philosophy Arakawa promotes in her work is one that anyone can benefit from hearing.

WORKING FOR A BETTER WORLD

[Silver_Spoon_characters]

The cast of _Silver Spoon_

Arakawa does not shy away from showing the brutality and horrors humanity is capable of, but every inch of her story shines with the hope for a better world and belief in the potential of humanity. She acknowledges there will always be pain but promotes the idea of learning from the pain of the past to try to make a better future.

Her work tends to encourage the idea of working for a better world and not wallowing in self-pity. She has characters in _Fullmetal_ who admit to having done things that they could never possibly atone for, yet they acknowledge the importance of using what’s left of their lives to work for an improved world where the atrocities they committed cannot be repeated.

[so cute]

The boys in _Silver Spoon_ gush over cute piglets

Arakawa also stresses that she doesn’t want to overwhelm her readers with tragedy. Her belief is that an entertaining manga should have fun with itself, and she wants people to ultimately feel joy when they read her work.

HUMOR

[bear2]

Arakawa speculates that if _Fullmetal_ were a romantic comedy, Elric’s mentor Izumi would be adorably late because she was busy fighting a bear.

Nobody has mastered the art of making a reader cry from laughter in one page and then ripping their heart out in the next more than Arakawa.

[nonstopsexytimes]

In one of the _Fullmetal_ extras, Al discovers the best reason to be a main character.

The gag comics she includes in the back of her manga, which often play around with common stereotypes and tropes, are worth the price of the whole book. For example, Alex Louis Armstrong often serves to parody the shirtless, muscle-bulging manly man aesthetic that is pervasive in action shonen.

[shirt]

  Alex Armstrong takes macho posturing to a whole new level.

And characters that would be amazingly cool all the time in other manga show themselves to be capable of massive dorkiness. Look at the suave ladies’ man/flame alchemist Roy Mustang, who is shown to be useless in the rain and not really much of a ladies’ man at all.

[rain omake]

Roy Mustang discovers his real romantic appeal in an extra.

A lot of the humor that surrounds the character Tamako in _Silver Spoon_ is not tired and offensive humor regarding her weight, but just about what a ridiculous badass she is.

[drama]

Tamako has better things to do than deal with teen angst

However, please be aware there are instances of stereotyped humor in Arakawa’s manga. The only canonically gay character in _Fullmetal_ is basically a “humorous” stereotype. The boys in _Silver Spoon_ _do_ initially make some bad comments about Tamako’s weight, even if they eventually stop. And there are a few jokes in _Silver Spoon_ about teenage boys being perverted about girls (though in some cases the female characters call them on it, and sexual harassment is never depicted).

[slapstick]

Poor Hachiken goes through a lot

Arakawa also employs a lot of the slapstick humor typical in shonen manga, including characters comically attacking each other, which isn’t for everyone.

CONCLUSION

[fmapiccc]

_Fullmetal Alchemist_

Through this overview of Arakawa’s work, we’ve seen that it contains a lot of interesting and complex themes. The overall worldview she seems to be trying to promote is one where social issues are considered, diversity of background is important, people supporting each other is paramount, anger is needed, and all human life has value. Arakawa tries to leave her readers with the feeling that they can work to make the world a better place. While obviously the issues she tackles are ones with a lot of complexity, and I would never say she’s flawless in how she deals with them, I find her work to be an overall positive experience.

However, as mentioned above, there has been debate over how she handled disability and racial oppression. And as you can tell from above, other issues to watch out for in Arakawa’s work include: depicition of genocide; child murder and abuse; and body horror, gore, suicide, and lots of character death in _Fullmetal_. There is also an instance of sexual harassment being treated somewhat lightly, though the character who commits it is morally ambiguous and the victim makes it clear she doesn’t find it funny later. _Silver Spoon_ depicts animal death quite a lot, along with emotional abuse.

[sspoon]

_Silver Spoon_

If you want to check out Arakawa’s work, the_ Fullmetal Alchemist_ manga is available from Viz Media and on Amazon (in box set, individual volumes, and 3-in-1 omnibuses). The_ Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood_ anime is available on Funimation’s websiteand YouTube Channel, plus on Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon. There is another anime adaptation of _Fullmetal  _that was_ _made in 2003, but it is very loosely based on the manga and diverges dramatically. Many of the characters, themes, and events discussed in this article are not present there. The _Silver Spoon _anime is available on Crunchyroll and Hulu and is available for purchase at Aniplex and on Amazon. The manga has yet to be licensed.

If you found this article interesting, please tune in tomorrow for the final piece in this series—a look at how _Fullmetal Alchemist_ and _Silver Spoon_ represent women!

_Caitlin Donovan is a longtime comic geek and internet blogger who is currently working on her MFA and her first novel. She formerly wrote for Big Shiny Robot and for a time helped run the blog When Fangirls Attack. These days, she mostly can be found blogging on her Tumblr, Lady Love and Justice._

_Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?_

_Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com_

question: Who is Hiromu Arakawa?

answer: Hiromu Arakawa is an artist who makes anime.

question: Why is racial oppression a common theme in Arakawa's work?

answer: Racial oppression is a common theme in Arakawa's work because she grew up in Hokkaido, the ancestral home of the Ainu, an ethnic minority, who were displaced by the Japanese. Her ancestors were the ones who displaced the Ainu, but due to assimilation, some of her relative are part-Ainu.

question: What is Fullmetal Alchemist about?

answer: Fullmetal Alchemist is about two brothers who attempt to use a forbidden form of alchemy to bring their mother back to life.

question: What is Silver Spoon about?

answer: Silver Spoon is a slice-of-life story about Yugo Hachicken, and his life at an agricultural boarding high school.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article focuses on Hiromu Arakawa, an artist, and her work.


split: train

text:
She was told he suffered injuries to his “left hip and upper-quad area,” and Truro paramedics treated him at the scene, she said. The victim was taken to the national park’s Marconi site in Wellfleet, where he was met by a medical helicopter, she said.

He was flown to Tufts Medical Center in Boston, she said. Reynolds did not know the man’s condition Wednesday evening.

A witness who was visiting Cape Cod for the first time said beachgoers rushed to help the man.

Michael Sheridan of Philadelphia had been at the beach with his wife and two children for only about 15 minutes when he saw people running. Some headed toward the victim in the water, he said, while others ran toward the parking lot, because they had no cellphone service and wanted to call 911. When the victim was helped out of the water, he left a trail of blood on the sand, Sheridan said.

The gash was deep, Sheridan said, and located right below the hip.

“You could almost see his bone,” Sheridan said by telephone Wednesday night.

Beachgoers got towels, and there was some thought about making a tourniquet, but the wound was too far up his leg for that to be effective, Sheridan said.

The man was bundled in a towel and a group carried him off the beach with several people holding the edges, Sheridan said. The man was conscious but wasn’t saying much, he said.

“I thought he was dying right there,” said Sheridan, who carried him about 100 yards before he tired. “I thought he was going to bleed out on this beach.”

National Park Service rangers are investigating the incident, which occurred within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Seashore, Truro police said late Wednesday.

The incident was one of five shark sightings reported on the Cape Wednesday, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

Two other sightings were reported off Nauset Beach in Orleans, and two were reported off Provincetown, one near Mission Bell Dune Shack and one off the coast by a whale watch boat, the the conservancy reported on its app, Sharktivity.

In a statement, the head of the nonprofit conservancy said details of the Truro attack were not fully known, but she called such incidents rare.

“Encounters with white sharks in which people suffer injuries are as terrifying as they are rare,” chief executive Cynthia Wigren said. “While we still don’t know all of the details of this particular bite, sharks are not known to target people specifically and when they do bite people it’s usually a case of mistaken identity.”

Sharks, she said, use their teeth to inspect, “much like we use our hands. It is how they determine if what they encounter is prey.”

Still, the attack was the latest and most serious after a series of shark sightings on Cape Cod this summer.

Earlier this week, guests on a sport fishing boat reported that great white sharks had snacked on stripers they were reeling in on Cape Cod Bay. The captain said two such incidents had occurred in two days.

Last week, two Cape Cod beaches were closed in an afternoon because at least one great white shark had been spotted lurking offshore, officials said.

In a video taken Aug. 2, researchers in Cape Cod waters spotted a shark eating a seal.

During a weeklong stretch in July, 10 great white sharks were spotted off the Cape, according to the Atlantic White Shark Conservancy.

In 2012, a Boston native survived an attack by a great white in Truro.

The state’s last fatal shark attack is thought to have been in 1936, when a 16-year-old was seized by a 6-foot shark in Mattapoisett.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Material from previous Globe stories was used in this report. Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com.

question: Explain the reason behind sharks sometimes biting people.

answer: They identify prey by biting. When they try to identify if a human is their food, the human gets bitten. While sharks don't eat humans, their identification method still leaves us severely injured.

question: How do sharks find their food?

answer: They use their teeth.

question: What happened to the man Sheridan rescued?

answer: Sheridan carried him off the beach, wrapped in towels to slow his bleeding. Other people helped when Sheridan got tired. The article implies the man got out alive.

question: How frequent is the appearance of great white sharks in Cape Cod?

answer: There were several sightings in the summer of the article.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: A victim of a shark attack was saved by beachgoers, including Michael Sheridan, who carried him on his back for 100 yards. Sheridan says he didn't expect the man to survive, but they managed to carry him to paramedics. Atlantic White Shark Conservancy explained that shark attacks on humans are as deadly as they are rare. The head of the conservancy explained that sharks identify prey by biting, which ends up severely injuring people. There were several cases of shark sightings recently.


text:
Removal firms can improve the cash flow of their business by bulk buying packing boxes at the beginning of each month. This is the cheapest way to buy our high-quality packing boxes and it means you get a whole month before payment is due.

I hope some of this information is obvious. Many removal firms still buy their packing boxes at the last minute though and that is not the way to get our best prices. Read on to find out how you can get discounted packing boxes on 30-day payment terms.

BUY NOW PAY LATER IMPROVES CASH FLOW

The amount of cash in your business is vital to its smooth running. The biggest pressure on your cash flow is when you have had to spend money to complete a job but are yet to receive payment from customers. This is your cash flow.

The trick is to make sure you have as much money as possible in your business at any one time. Paying your bills after you have received payment from customers is the number 1 way to manage this.

WHY LAST MINUTE ORDERS ARE BAD FOR CASH FLOW

When you buy your packing boxes at the last minute you are generally paying a higher price on shorter payment terms. This could mean you are making less money per job, or miss out on the job because your prices are not competitive.

Around 50% of the boxes BAR Services sell are urgent orders. We pride ourselves on being able to get customers the boxes they need but it is difficult to offer our best prices at the same time. This can be frustrating for us and clients alike.

It is difficult for us to offer 30-day payment terms when we do not get preferential payment terms ourselves. If it was one or two customers per month perhaps it would not matter but we have to manage our cash flow also. It is like a chain through the removal industry.

The best option is for us all to make the most of opportunities where we get the best prices and payment terms.

HOW BAR SERVICES OFFER PACKING BOX DISCOUNTS

BAR Services buy the best, quality assured packing boxes for removal firms. This, of course, does not always mean they are the cheapest. However, when we bulk buy 20 – 30,000 packing boxes at once our suppliers give us their best prices and best payment terms.

These benefits are simply passed on to you.

HOW TO BULK BUY PACKING BOXES

When bulk buying packing boxes from BAR you just need to get your order in before the last week of the end of the month. If you wish to be reminded, then you can join our “Bulk Buy Alert” where we send you a reminder each month.

By bulk buying packing boxes in this way you receive 30-day payment terms. Which means you get to do your months work before payment for your boxes is due.

HOW MANY PACKING BOXES DO I NEED TO ORDER EACH MONTH?

You can imagine this is the question we get asked most. A common order for an average size removal firm is 500 boxes. They do not all have to be the same size boxes.

When you mix your order you are buying by the pallet. 500 boxes would be 6 pallets.

You can speak to us about how many you need. And, you do not have to order every month. Just when you need more boxes.

HOW TO PLAN YOUR PACKING BOX NEEDS IN ADVANCE:

Many removal firms think that bulk buying packing boxes is not possible because they are waiting for customer moving dates or decisions. Meaning they do not know how many they will need.

They also worry they do not have storage space.

We know however from customers that are bulk buying packing boxes regularly that it has improved their business. You will find once you have started buying your packing boxes ahead of time it will benefit your stress levels as well as your cash flow!

It is pretty easy to work out how many packing boxes you need each month. Try these methods:

-   look at last years orders
-   take an average of your last 20 jobs
-   decide the type of work you want and target those customers
-   plan based on live quotes (and your quote success rate)

Bulk buying packing boxes from BAR Services

I hope this blog post was useful to you and that you now feel more confident about how bulk buying packing boxes ahead of time improves your cash flow.

Request a call back here and we will be glad to take your order for next month now.

question: What does the text say about bulk ordering boxes?

answer: Bulk buying packing boxes can improve the cash flow of removal firms. When bulk buying boxes from BAR, one needs to get their order in before the last week of the month, and they can even send you a reminder each month. When one bulk buys packing boxes in that way, one also gets 30-day payment terms, so they can do their month's work before the payment is due. A typical bulk order is around 500 boxes.


text:
In data mining, _K_-MEANS++[1][2] is an algorithm for choosing the initial values (or “seeds”) for the _k_-means clustering algorithm. It was proposed in 2007 by David Arthur and Sergei Vassilvitskii, as an approximation algorithm for the NP-hard _k_-means problem—a way of avoiding the sometimes poor clusterings found by the standard _k_-means algorithm. It is similar to the first of three seeding methods proposed, in independent work, in 2006[3] by Rafail Ostrovsky, Yuval Rabani, Leonard Schulman and Chaitanya Swamy. (The distribution of the first seed is different.)

Background

The _k_-means problem is to find cluster centers that minimize the intra-class variance, i.e. the sum of squared distances from each data point being clustered to its cluster center (the center that is closest to it). Although finding an exact solution to the _k_-means problem for arbitrary input is NP-hard,[4] the standard approach to finding an approximate solution (often called Lloyd's algorithm or the _k_-means algorithm) is used widely and frequently finds reasonable solutions quickly.

However, the _k_-means algorithm has at least two major theoretic shortcomings:

-   First, it has been shown that the worst case running time of the algorithm is super-polynomial in the input size.[5]
-   Second, the approximation found can be arbitrarily bad with respect to the objective function compared to the optimal clustering.

The _k_-means++ algorithm addresses the second of these obstacles by specifying a procedure to initialize the cluster centers before proceeding with the standard _k_-means optimization iterations. With the _k_-means++ initialization, the algorithm is guaranteed to find a solution that is O(log _k_) competitive to the optimal _k_-means solution.

Example of a sub-optimal clustering

To illustrate the potential of the _k_-means algorithm to perform arbitrarily poorly with respect to the objective function of minimizing the sum of squared distances of cluster points to the centroid of their assigned clusters, consider the example of four points in R² that form an axis-aligned rectangle whose width is greater than its height.

If _k_ = 2 and the two initial cluster centers lie at the midpoints of the top and bottom line segments of the rectangle formed by the four data points, the _k_-means algorithm converges immediately, without moving these cluster centers. Consequently, the two bottom data points are clustered together and the two data points forming the top of the rectangle are clustered together—a suboptimal clustering because the width of the rectangle is greater than its height.

Now, consider stretching the rectangle horizontally to an arbitrary width. The standard _k_-means algorithm will continue to cluster the points suboptimally, and by increasing the horizontal distance between the two data points in each cluster, we can make the algorithm perform arbitrarily poorly with respect to the _k_-means objective function.

Improved initialization algorithm

The intuition behind this approach is that spreading out the _k_ initial cluster centers is a good thing: the first cluster center is chosen uniformly at random from the data points that are being clustered, after which each subsequent cluster center is chosen from the _remaining_ data points with probability proportional to its squared distance from the point's closest existing cluster center.

The exact algorithm is as follows:

1.  Choose one center uniformly at random among the data points.
2.  For each data point not chosen yet, compute D(), the distance between and the nearest center that has already been chosen.
3.  Choose one new data point at random as a new center, using a weighted probability distribution where a point is chosen with probability proportional to D()².
4.  Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until centers have been chosen.
5.  Now that the initial centers have been chosen, proceed using standard _k_-means clustering.

This seeding method yields considerable improvement in the final error of -means. Although the initial selection in the algorithm takes extra time, the -means part itself converges very quickly after this seeding and thus the algorithm actually lowers the computation time. The authors tested their method with real and synthetic datasets and obtained typically 2-fold improvements in speed, and for certain datasets, close to 1000-fold improvements in error. In these simulations the new method almost always performed at least as well as vanilla -means in both speed and error.

Additionally, the authors calculate an approximation ratio for their algorithm. The -means++ algorithm guarantees an approximation ratio O(log _k_) in expectation (over the randomness of the algorithm), where k is the number of clusters used. This is in contrast to vanilla -means, which can generate clusterings arbitrarily worse than the optimum.[6] A generalization of the performance of k-means++ with respect to any arbitrary distance is provided in .[7]

Applications

The _k_-means++ approach has been applied since its initial proposal. In a review by Shindler,[8] which includes many types of clustering algorithms, the method is said to successfully overcome some of the problems associated with other ways of defining initial cluster-centres for _k_-means clustering. Lee et al.[9] report an application of _k_-means++ to create geographical cluster of photographs based on the latitude and longitude information attached to the photos. An application to financial diversification is reported by Howard and Johansen.[10] Other support for the method and ongoing discussion is also available online.[11] Since the k-means++ initialization needs k passes over the data, it does not scale very well to large data sets. Bahman Bahmani et al. have proposed a scalable variant of k-means++ called k-means|| which provides the same theoretical guarantees and yet is highly scalable.[12]

Software

-   Apache Commons Math contains k-means
-   ELKI data-mining framework contains multiple k-means variations, including k-means++ for seeding.
-   MATLAB has a K-Means implementation that uses k-means++ as default for seeding.
-   OpenCV includes k-means for pixel values.
-   pyclustering provides K-Means++ implementation to initialize initial centers for K-Means, X-Means, EMA, etc.
-   R includes k-means, and the “flexclust” package can do k-means++
-   Scikit-learn has a K-Means implementation that uses k-means++ by default.
-   Weka contains k-means (with optional k-means++) and x-means clustering.

[1]

[2] http://theory.stanford.edu/~sergei/slides/BATS-Means.pdf Slides for presentation of method by Arthur, D. and Vassilvitskii, S.

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6] .

[7] .

[8] https://web.archive.org/web/20110927100642/http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~shindler/shindler-kMedian-survey.pdf Approximation Algorithms for the Metric _k_-Median Problem

[9] http://sir-lab.usc.edu/publications/2008-ICWSM2LEES.pdf Discovering Relationships among Tags and Geotags, 2007

[10] http://www.cse.ohio-state.edu/~johansek/clustering.pdf Clustering Techniques for Financial Diversification, March 2009

[11] http://lingpipe-blog.com/2009/03/23/arthur-vassilvitskii-2007-kmeans-the-advantages-of-careful-seeding/ Lingpipe Blog

[12] B. Bahmani, B. Moseley, A. Vattani, R. Kumar, S. Vassilvitskii “Scalable K-means++” 2012 Proceedings of the VLDB Endowment.

title: K-means++

question: What does K-means++ in dating mining?

answer: An algorithm for choosing the initial values (or “seeds”) for the k-means clustering algorithm.

question: Who proposed it?

answer: David Arthur and Sergei Vassilvitski.

question: What year did they propose this?

answer: 2007.

question: What's another term for Lloyd's algorithm?

answer: The K-means algorithm.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: In data mining, K-means++ is an algorithm for choosing the initial values (or “seeds”) for the k-means clustering algorithm. It was proposed in 2007 by David Arthur and Sergei Vassilvitskii, as an approximation algorithm for the NP-hard k-means problem—a way of avoiding the sometimes poor clusterings found by the standard k-means algorithm.


text:
     Richard was pulled from a strange dream (he was a used car salesman in Wisconsin) by a wet nose rubbing against his hand. He half opened his eyes, catching a wall of golden fur and long snout before shutting them tight again and smiling to himself. He rolled over to the other side of the bed and began to fake loud snoring sounds. This always drove Annabelle crazy. His world shook as she lept onto the bed with a playful growl and began furiously licking his face. "I'm up!" he shrieked with mock terror, "I'm up, girl! I'm up!" He pushed her away halfheartedly.

     One more lick and she jumped off the bed, sauntering across the room with a decidedly self-satisfied gait. Another playful growl as she looked back at him just before leaving the room. "I'm up," he told her again as he sat up and watched her leave. He chuckled softly, crawling from his bed and making his way to the closet. She would lay just outside his bedroom door, he knew, making sure he stayed awake and was getting ready. If he took too long, there would be consequences.

     Moments later, Richard emerged from the bedroom wearing blue running shorts and a time-worn Nematodes are People Too T-shirt. "Alright, Ms. Annabelle, lets do this." he said with enthusiasm, leading the way into the next room. He turned on the music, opened the blinds, and turned on both the treadmills that lay in the center of the room. He fiddled with the dials on one, the belt almost coming to a stop. "This fast enough for you?" he asked, smiling widely. She cocked her head slightly, looked directly at him with what could only be described as lost patience, then stepped onto the slowly moving belt. "Sorry, sorry, my mistake." He cranked the speed and incline up, then hopped onto the other other treadmill.

     He began running at a slow, but comfortable pace, playing with dials, nobs, and settings, and doing his best to ignore the judging glances thrown his way. A loud bark from Annabelle broke his false concentration. "Oh, come on." Another bark. "Fine." He turned the speed on his treadmill to match hers, and instantly began feeling the strain in his legs. "Bitch."

title: Richard and Anna

question: Who is Annabelle?

answer: The story implies Annabelle is Richard's pet dog.


text:
[shuhari-ice-cream-drink.jpg]
_The Matcha Sundae and Matcha Sparklers, our favorites at Shuhari Matcha Cafe (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

A Japanese green tea-obsessed cafe with roots across the Pacific just landed in Venice—and they're making a splash with their sparkling matcha sodas and sliders drizzled with tart _ume_-mayo.

At first glance, the minimalist Shuhari Matcha Cafe looks very modern, with its sleek, white-tiled walls and muted, wooden accents. But once you dive into the tiny cafe on Abbot Kinney, you'll come to realize that the team behind it is trying to meld the old school with the new.

Their drink menu is a doozy, with over 40 green tea beverages, some of which have modern twists like matcha lattes laced with nutty _kinako_ powder and _kuromitsu_—a molasses-like syrup. And then there are all the bubbly matcha sparklers (which could very well become the _it_ drink of the summer) that are refreshing and heightened with flavors like freshly squeezed lemon juice, yuzu, pineapple and mint. Just like getting a drink at a bar, these sparklers are mixed together in cocktail shakers behind the counter. Trust us, get one.

[matcha-sparkler.jpg]
_The Matcha Sparkler gets mixed in a cocktail shaker. (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

If you're a purist, you can order green tea brewed the right way—and get to watch the meticulous process in action behind the counter that's decorated with rows of Japanese tea pots. Marc Chapman, Shuhari's manager, told LAist, "Each different tea is made properly, from the temperature to the steeping time to the water and what not."

If you couldn't tell already, these guys are serious about their green teas. Their jade-tinged tea leaves are sourced straight from the tea fields in Japan and curated by an expert who works with the tea farmers. If you want to expand your knowledge of green teas, they have a wall lined with bags of different varieties that you can buy and take home.

[shuhari-tea-wall.jpg]
_Green tea bags that you can buy to take home. (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

We were invited to check out Shuhari's grand opening on Thursday, and found glass cases full of Japanese grab-and-go pastries—like red-bean buns and curry bread—that hail from Cream Pan, a Japanese bakery in Tustin. The rest of the food comes from the mind of chef Michael Bower Johnston, who lived in Japan for 20 years and previously ran Wolfgang Puck's restaurants in the Land of the Rising Sun. He's a big supporter of making texture the star in his small bites, and it's evident in the dishes.

Take, for instance, his sundaes. The signature matcha sundae is a tornado of matcha ice cream swirled with red bean and _kuromitsu_ syrup, and then gorgeously topped with crunchy cornflakes, lightly sour dehydrated raspberries and dusted with matcha and _kinako_ powders. It's a balanced dessert that isn't overly sweet and chock full of texture, just like Johnston intended.

[shuhari-onigiri.jpg]
_Spicy Californian onigiratsu. (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

Their grab-and-go _onigiratzu_ is an popular trend imported straight from Japan. This one is similar to the _onigiri_ rice balls, but instead of molding the rice balls by hand (which relates to the meaning of the word _onigiri_), the _onigiratzu_ is sandwiched between layers of seaweed and rice. The fillings for the _onigartzu_ are a "modern twist on the concept" and a "marriage of East-meets-West," Chapman said. Inside you'll find shredded chicken topped with a flavorful _umeboshi_-mayo, or a yuzu-pepper sauce. Other fillings consist of pork loin stewed in a ginger sauce, and a creamy, wasabi-tinged tuna salad paired with hearts of palm.

[shuhari-sliders.jpg]
_Creamy ume chicken slider (left) and creamy wasabi tuna heart of palm slider (right). (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

These fillings also make up some of Shuhari's sliders, which come out stuffed in the pillow-like, toasted bread rolls, and are paired with a crunchy slaw mixture of cabbage, shiso leaves and pickled shallots. You'll find other gourmet options like miso walnut pumpkin salad, and yuzu miso avocado on the menu. And if you're looking for something sweet, they'll even fill those rolls with house-made matcha butter or a strawberry balsamic glaze.

This is just the start for Shuhari Matcha Cafe. The company is planning on expanding their shops "hopefully to the rest of America and the world," Chapman said. Maybe they could be the next Starbucks?

[shuhari-inside.jpg]
_Inside Shuhari Matcha Cafe (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

[shuhari-outside.jpg]
_The back patio at Shuhari Matcha Cafe. (Photo by Jean Trinh/LAist)_

_Shuhari Matcha Cafe is located at 1522 Abbot Kinney Blvd., Venice, (424) 238-8324. Starting on July 9, the cafe will be open daily from 11 a.m. - 4 p.m., and beginning on July 18, the hours will expand to 7 a.m. - 8 p.m. Drinks and food range from $3.50 - $8.50._

_Jean Trinh is a freelance food and entertainment writer, whose work has appeared in VICE, LA Weekly, LA Magazine and The Daily Beast. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter and on her website._

question: What does the text say about what kind of cafe Shuhari Matcha Cafe is?

answer: Shuhari Matcha Cafe, a Japanese cafe in the US, looks modern at first glance but soon you realize that it is a traditional cafe. They serve over 40 green tea beverages, some of which have modern twists. They offer green tea brewed the right way and you can watch the process behind the counter. Their jade-tinged tea leaves are brought from Japan.

question: What does the story say about the prices of tea beverages in the cafe?


text:
“Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley,” in which the former directs a film about the latter, premieres Monday on HBO. It is an homage and a celebration, with something of a high-class homemade feel.

The first black female comic to make it in the American pop-cultural mainstream — the first black female stand-up comic, possibly — Jackie “Moms” Mabley will be unknown to many today. She died in 1975, after a career that began before the First World War but was visible only to the white audience from the 1960s, when she began appearing on network variety and talk shows.

Clad in a floral housecoat, argyle socks and big shoes, with a cap pulled down on her head and her dentures left in the dressing room, speaking (by the time I saw her) in a trademark croak, Mabley was instantly memorable, a familiar strange bird: It was as if your grandmother had suddenly stepped out onto the stage of “The Ed Sullivan Show” to say things your — well, my — grandmother would never say. Much of her humor had a risqué edge, but she had a political streak as well.

PHOTOS: BEHIND THE SCENES OF MOVIES AND TV

“You think you’re gonna hear some jokes, don’t you?” we hear her say. “Well, Moms don’t know some jokes, but I can tell ya some facts.”

“She was like a real person, like someone in your family,” Eddie Murphy says here, admitting that, without realizing it, his portrayal of the grandmother in “The Nutty Professor” was unconsciously “just straight ripped off” from Mabley.

Finding the record scant (“When you look at Moms’ history, I guess it’s the history of black folks in America, ‘cause all of the information is not there”), Goldberg bolsters her film with tributes and testimony from famous faces Mabley impressed or influenced — “Her impact on me was profound,” she says, “and I really wanted to know if she impacted other people like that” — including Murphy, Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, Arsenio Hall, Joan Rivers, Kathy Griffin, Robert Klein, Quincy Jones, Dick Cavett, and Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara, who says of her, “She was a trailblazer, and she wasn’t trying to be a trailblazer — she was just trying to say her stuff.”

Nevertheless, the director has assembled (with rare clips and some fine photographs) the bones of the story of a woman who was a pioneer and model for possibility — as a woman, a comic and a lesbian (out to her friends, if not her public), who dressed in tailored suits.

“She was Moms onstage,” remembers dancer Norma Miller. “She walked offstage she was Mr. Moms.”

PHOTOS: LEADING LADIES OF THE FALL TV SEASON

She was “born in 1897, we think,” says Goldberg, in Brevard, N.C. (“That we know for sure.”) Twice raped and made pregnant, Mabley left home young and found her way into minstrel shows, vaudeville and the Harlem Renaissance. She collaborated with Zora Neale Hurston on the 1931 Broadway show “Fast and Furious: A Colored Revue in 37 Scenes” and appeared with Paul Robeson in the 1933 film of Eugene O’Neill’s “The Emperor Jones.”

She was the first black female comic to play the Apollo, where she made as much as $10,000 a week, and later the first to play Carnegie Hall. She appeared on bills with Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Miles Davis and gave yearly concerts at Sing Sing prison; she visited the White House; had a top 40 record in 1969 with her version of “Abraham, Martin and John.”

She was something of a national treasure by the time she died.

Goldberg, who has expressed a desire to take a “Moms” show to Broadway, has made an appealing quilt in the image of her heroine, homely and lovely, ragbag and dignified.

robert.lloyd@latimes.com

-------------------------------

‘Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley’

WHERE: HBO

WHEN: 9 p.m. Monday.

RATING: TV-14 (may be unsuitable for viewers younger than 14)

question: Who is Moms Mabley?

answer: Moms Mabley is the first black female comic.

question: Why did Whoopi Goldberg direct a film about Moms Mabley?

answer: Probably because of her impact on many famous people.

question: How did Moms Mabley start her carrier?

answer: Moms Mabley left home after she had been twice raped and made pregnant and found her way into minstrel shows, vaudeville, and the Harlem Renaissance.

question: Was Moms Mabley's carrier long?

answer: Yes, her carrier began before the First World War and she had a top 40 record in 1969.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Whoopi Goldberg directed a film about Moms Mabley, the first black female comic and stand-up comic to make it in the American pop-cultural mainstream. Her carrier began before the First World War. Moms participated in the 1931 Broadway show 'Fast and Furious: A Colored Revue in 37 Scenes'; appeared in the 1933 film of Eugene O’Neill’s 'Emperor Jones'; she was the first black comic to play Carnegie Hall. She worked with Duke Ellington, Count Basie, and Miles Davis and gave yearly concerts at Sing Sing prison; she visited the White House. She died in 1975. Goldberg hopes to take a 'Moms' show to Broadway.


text:
- Roman Reigns recently spoke with The Kingston Whig-Standard to promote WWE's WrestleMania 32. The full interview is at this link. Below are highlights:

COMING UP ON HIS SECOND WRESTLEMANIA MAIN EVENT ALREADY, WHAT HE'S ACCOMPLISHED:

"Sometimes it doesn't even feel real. I try not to look on the accolades or the things that I've done. I try to focus on, 'What can you control?' 'What's the next step?' 'What's going to help you out for tomorrow?' But it is really cool to be able to look back and think, 'Wow man.' ... (There have been) so many great opportunities, I've met so many cool people, built so many great relationships, I've been able to see damn near the whole world."

HIS LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH FANS:

"It's a tough one because there is no one answer. There is no one reason why someone would want to boo me. Maybe they don't like what I wear, how I sound, maybe I did something to offend them, but for me, it's hard because I'm under the microscope and I'm dealing with a lot of different things and there's a lot of things flying my way. For me, I can only continue to stay within myself and worry about the things I can control and the things I can control are, Am I healthy?; Am I showing up to where I need to be on time?; Am I here to perform and do my job? If I do that, then our fans, they can cheer me, they can boo me, as long as we all show up to the arena, everything will be fine. We'll be able to create that awesome experience, create that energy."

"As for the reasons why these things happen, I don't know. I do know I have a lot of supporters. These people have my back. There's nothing that anybody can say negatively to me that will make me believe you are correct. It's just your opinions," he said, adding that his football background comes in handy with crowd reactions and reception. "I'm an ex-football player, so I've been in a home environment, I've played in an away environment. As long as I know the supporters are still by me, even if they're not in the arena, I hear them on social media and I know they're out there. If you're riding with me, it's going to be a good ride. If you're going against me, we're sorry for what's going to happen next."

FACING WWE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION TRIPLE H:

"Nobody's molded and had a bigger impact on the business, I don't think, than Triple H in the past 10 to 15 years. He's pretty much done all of the hard work, the nitpicking, day in, day out. He's been in the ring, he's been travelling, being the face of the company essentially � always promoting, always working, always thinking about the business, always thinking about the future, building _NXT_ and on top of that, playing the whole suit role and the whole office role, but still getting in the gym, still looking great, still can go, still a great athlete, still a competitor."

_Check out the full interview with WWE's #1 contender at this link._

_Source: TheWhig.com_

question: Who is Roman Reigns?

answer: WWE's #1 contender.

question: Who is Roman Reigns facing in the upcoming WWE Wrestlemania 32?

answer: He is facing World Heavyweight champion, Triple H.

question: What kind of relationship does Roman Reigns have with fans?

answer: Love-Hate relationship.

question: Who is conducting the interview?

answer: The Kingston Whig-Standard

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
The Kingston Whig-Standard interviews WWE's Roman Reigns ahead of his second Wrestlemania Main Event.
He describes what he has accomplished until now. He also describes his love-hate relationship with fans.


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

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

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

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

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

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

“Thanks.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

question: Which train does Ned take?

answer: A train to Atlanta.

question: Where is Ned going?

answer: Atlanta.

question: Describe Ned.

answer: Ned is employed by a corporation and is excited that he gets to take a business trip from Virginia to Atlanta to deliver good news about the company's sales to the chief financial officer.

question: Who does Ned need to call?

answer: His manager, so the manager can schedule another (?) through their office.

question: Where is Ned leaving from?

answer: Virginia.

question: Whom does Ned meet on the train?

answer: A young soldier who has been drafted into the army after dropping out of high school, and a young girl who is moving to live with her aunt so she can attend an integrated (implied: racially) school.

question: What is unusual about the train?

answer: The train that Ned ends up on seems to exist in the past.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: In the modern world, Ned is excited that he gets to take a business trip from Virginia to Atlanta to deliver good news about the company's sales to the chief financial officer, but he arrives to the station late and finds out in the office that he's missed his train. Stepping onto the platform, he discovers a train going to Atlanta and gets on, relieved. He meets a young soldier who is unhappy about being drafted into the army and a young girl who is moving so she can attend a racially integrated school. Ned's and the train inspector's watches seem stuck.


text:
Difficult to say what anybody in Cobham thought of the man advancing towards the cemetary gates. A slight tremor to his his chest and an almost beaten cadence, a solitary procession where he bared the roles of the mournful. A keen observer, a much more practiced observer, might have recognized those steps, that striking appearance, that leathery coat worn smooth with age. Trodding forward treading his own shadow dreading that feeling of familiarity, nostalgia aged and fermented in oak barrels, no one took him for anything out of the ordinary. He was more or less ignored.

The site held some historic value. Until recently it had become somewhat decrepit, a derelict spot where teenagers would sneak off to and tempt the spirits of a bygone time. The village council recognized the importance of keeping up appearances and the head of that council claimed it as their collective heritage. A simple sign ‘here among others lie the founders of Cobham’ propped up with two wooden posts.

As the man drew past the gate he eyed a familiar plot belonging to a ‘Catsy Whitehouse, 1920-1947 beloved daughter’. He paused for a moment and sat on the cold grass still damp from the previous mornings rains. In his pocket he clutched a letter, his respects drawn out some sixty years late.

title: Catsy Ghosts

question: Who is the subject?

answer: The man

question: What is being observed?

answer: The man

question: What might a less practiced observer have recognized?

answer: Just a man walking to a cemetery

question: What makes a more practiced observer?

answer: One who can note certain characteristics of the man.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: An unknown man walks to a cemetery in Cobham. The site holds historic value as the founders of Cobham are buried there. The man walks to the plot belonging to Catsy Whitehouse, who died about sixty years earlier in 1947. HE sits on the nearby grass clutching a letter


text:
An election to the SHETLAND ISLANDS COUNCIL was held on 3 May 1990 as part of regional elections. Independents maintained control of the 25 seat council. The Shetland Movement gained one seat, bringing their total to six. Only 11 seats were contested, with 14 candidates elected unopposed.

Aggregate results

Ward Results

Notes

title: 1990 Shetland Islands Council election

question: When were the Shetland Islands Council elections held?

answer: May 3, 1990.

question: Who maintained control of the 25 seat council?

answer: The Independents

question: How many seats were contested?

answer: Only 11

question: Who gained one seat?

answer: The Shetland Movement, bringing their total to six.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The Shetland Islands Council elections were held on May 3, 1990, where Independents maintained control of the 25 seat council.


text:
[Fernando Torres with the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Boot award]

Fernando Torres is a retired Spanish international footballer who represented his country 110 times and scored 38 goals between his international debut in 2003 and his final match in 2014. As of 2019, he is the third top scorer in the history of the national team, with only David Villa (59) and Raúl (44) having scored more goals for the country. Spain never lost a match in which he scored.[1]

Having represented Spain at various youth levels, Torres made his senior debut on 6 September 2003 against Portugal and scored his first goal in a friendly match against Italy on 28 April 2004.[2][3] During qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Torres scored seven goals in 11 appearances to help Spain qualify for the tournament.[4] At the tournament proper he scored three goals, including a brace against Tunisia, as Spain were eliminated by France in the Round of 16.[5] Two years later, at UEFA Euro 2008, Torres scored the winning goal in the 33rd minute of the final against Germany, ending Spain's run of 44 years without a trophy.[6]

Spain's success at Euro 2008 saw the nation qualify as European champions for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the curtain-raiser for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa. Torres scored three goals at the tournament, a hat-trick in Spain's 5–0 win over New Zealand on 14 June.[7] His treble, which was scored within 11 minutes from kick-off, is the fastest hat-trick scored in the competition's history. He failed to score at the World Cup a year later but was part of the Spain squad which won the tournament, featuring as a late substitute in the final.[8]

In 2012, Torres was selected for Spain's UEFA Euro 2012 squad and won the Golden Boot award for his three goals scored at the tournament. He netted a brace against the Republic of Ireland before scoring the third goal in a 4–0 win over Italy in the final. Torres' goal against the Italians was his second in the final of a European Championship.[9] The following year, Torres scored five goals at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup. His tally, which included a four-goal haul against Tahiti, earned him another Golden Boot award.[10][11] He was then included in Spain's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and scored against Australia in a 3–0 group-stage victory. It was a dead rubber match for Spain, however, as their elimination from the competition had already been confirmed.[12]

Of Torres' 38 international goals scored, 10 were scored in friendlies, 8 at Confederations Cup Finals, 7 during World Cup Qualifiers, 5 at the European Championship Finals and 4 in both the European Championship Qualifiers and the World Cup Finals.[13]

List of international goals

    _As of match played 23 June 2014. Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Torres goal._[14]

  No.   scope=col data-sort-type=date|Date   Venue                                                 Cap   Opponent   Score   Result   Competition
  ----- ------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------- ----- ---------- ------- -------- ----------------------------------- ------
  1     28 April 2004                        Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, Italy                   5                1–0     1–1      Friendly                            [15]
  2     9 February 2005                      Estadio de los Juegos Mediterráneos, Almería, Spain   15               2–0     5–0      2006 FIFA World Cup qualification   [16]
  3     26 March 2005                        Helmántico Stadium, Salamanca, Spain                  16               1–0     3–0      Friendly                            [17]
  4     8 October 2005                       King Baudouin Stadium, Brussels, Belgium              23               1–0     2–0      2006 FIFA World Cup qualification   [18]
  5     2–0
  6     12 October 2005                      Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle, San Marino               24               2–0     6–0      2006 FIFA World Cup qualification   [19]
  7     5–0
  8     6–0
  9     12 November 2005                     Vicente Calderón Stadium, Madrid, Spain               25               3–1     5–1      2006 FIFA World Cup qualification   [20]
  10    7 June 2006                          Stade de Genève, Carouge, Switzerland                 30               2–1     2–1      Friendly                            [21]
  11    14 June 2006                         Zentralstadion, Leipzig, Germany                      31               4–0     4–0      2006 FIFA World Cup                 [22]
  12    19 June 2006                         Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, Stuttgart, Germany          32               2–1     3–1      2006 FIFA World Cup                 [23]
  13    3–1
  14    2 September 2006                     Estadio Nuevo Vivero, Badajoz, Spain                  36               1–0     4–0      UEFA Euro 2008 qualification        [24]
  15    12 September 2007                    Estadio Carlos Tartiere, Oviedo, Spain                45               2–0     2–0      UEFA Euro 2008 qualification        [25]
  16    14 June 2008                         Tivoli-Neu, Innsbruck, Austria                        51               1–0     2–1      UEFA Euro 2008                      [26]
  17    29 June 2008                         Ernst-Happel-Stadion, Vienna, Austria                 54               1–0     1–0      UEFA Euro 2008 Final                [27]
  18    19 November 2008                     El Madrigal, Villarreal, Spain                        58               2–0     3–0      Friendly                            [28]
  19    9 June 2009                          Tofiq Bahramov Stadium, Baku, Azerbaijan              62               6–0     6–0      Friendly                            [29]
  20    14 June 2009                         Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg, South Africa      63               1–0     5–0      2009 FIFA Confederations Cup        [30]
  21    2–0
  22    3–0
  23    12 August 2009                       Philip II Arena, Skopje, Macedonia                    68               1–2     3–2      Friendly                            [31]
  24    8 June 2010                          Estadio Nueva Condomina, Murcia, Spain                73               5–0     6–0      Friendly                            [32]
  25    3 September 2010                     Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein               81               1–0     4–0      UEFA Euro 2012 qualification        [33]
  26    3–0
  27    4 June 2011                          Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, United States           85               4–0     4–0      Friendly                            [34]
  28    30 May 2012                          Stade de Suisse, Bern, Switzerland                    92               1–0     4–1      Friendly                            [35]
  29    14 June 2012                         Arena Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland                          95               1–0     4–0      UEFA Euro 2012                      [36]
  30    3–0
  31    1 July 2012                          Olimpiyskiy National Sports Complex, Kiev, Ukraine    98               3–0     4–0      UEFA Euro 2012 Final                [37]
  32    20 June 2013                         Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil              103              1–0     10–0     2013 FIFA Confederations Cup        [38]
  33    3–0
  34    6–0
  35    9–0
  36    23 June 2013                         Castelão, Fortaleza, Brazil                           104              2–0     3–0      2013 FIFA Confederations Cup        [39]
  37    30 May 2014                          Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, Seville, Spain         107              1–0     2–0      Friendly                            [40]
  38    21 June 2014                         Estádio Joaquim Américo Guimarães, Curitiba, Brazil   110              2–0     3–0      2014 FIFA World Cup                 [41]

  : List of international goals scored by Fernando Torres

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question: Who is Fernando Torres?

answer: A retired Spanish international footballer

question: How many goals has Torres scored?

answer: 38

question: Who has scored more goals for Spain than Torres?

answer: David Villa and Raul

question: When did Torres retire?

answer: His last match was in 2014

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Fernando Torres is a retired Spanish international footballer. During his career, he scored more goals for Spain than any other player except from David Villa and Raul.


text:
LUDWIG SCHMITZ-KALLENBERG (10 June 1867, in Rheydt – 22 April 1937, in Münster) was a German archivist and historian of Westphalia.

He studied history at the University of Freiburg, Münster Academy and Leipzig University, receiving his doctorate in 1891. In 1893 he took a study trip to Rome via a scholarship from the Görres Society, and from 1896 worked as an archivist for the Historical Commission for Westphalia. In 1899 he became a lecturer at Münster, where in 1918 he was named an honorary full professor. From 1921 to 1932 he served as director of the state archives in Münster.[1]

He was an editor of journals _Westfalen_ (1909–25) and _Westfälische Zeitschrift_ (1923–25), and from 1915 to 1926 edited the _Geschichtliche Darstellungen und Quellen_ (“Historical Representations and Sources”).[2]

Selected works

-   _Geschichte der Herrschaft Rheydt_, 1897 – History of the dominion of Rheydt.
-   _Inventare der nichtstaatlichen Archive des Kreises Ahaus_, 1899 – Inventories of the non-state archives of Ahaus.
-   _Urkunden des fürstlich Salm-Salm'schen Archives in Anholt, des fürstlich Salm-Horstmar'schen Archives in Coesfeld und der herzoglich Croy'schen Domänenadministration in Dülmen_ (1902–04) – Documents of the princely Salm-Salm archives in Anholt, the princely Salm-Horstmar archives in Coesfeld and the ducal Croy domain administration in Dülmen.
-   _Die Lehre von den Papsturkunden_, 1906 – The doctrine of papal documents.
-   _Urkundenlehre_ (3 volumes, 1907–11, with Wilhelm Erben and Oswald Redlich).
-   _Monasticon Westfaliae. Verzeichnis der im Gebiet der Provinz Westfalen bis zum Jahre 1815 gegründeten Stifter, Klöster und sonstigen Ordensniederlassungen_, 1909 – Monasticon Westfalia. List of donors, monasteries and other religious settlements founded in the province of Westphalia up to 1815.
-   _Historiographie und Quellen der deutschen Geschichte bis 1500_ (with Max Jansen, 1914) – Historiography and sources of German history up until 1500.
-   _Inventare der nichtstaatlichen Archive des Kreises Büren_, 1915 – Inventories of the non-state archives of the district of Büren.
-   _Monumenta Budicensia: Quellen zur Geschichte des Augustiner-Chorherrenstiftes Bödeken in Westfalen_, 1815 – Monumenta Budicensia: Sources of the history of the Augustinian monastery Bödeken in Westphalia.[3][4]

[1] Schmidt - Theyer / edited by Walther Killy _Dictionary of German Biography_

[2]

[3] Ludwig Schmitz-Kallenberg de.Wikisource (bibliography)

[4] Schmitz-Kallenberg, Ludwig Alfons Hubert (1867-1937) IdRef (bibliography)

title: Ludwig Schmitz-Kallenberg

question: Where did Schmitz-Kallenberg study?

answer: He studied history at the University of Freiburg, Munster Academy, and Leipzig University.

question: What type of history did Schmitz-Kallenberg specialize in?

answer: Westphalia

question: Name two of Schmitz-Kallenberg's works.

answer:
1)Geschichte der Herrschaft Rheydt_, 1897 – History of the dominion of Rheydt.
2)Die Lehre von den Papsturkunden_, 1906 – The doctrine of papal document

question: What journals was Schmitz-Kallenberg and editor of?

answer: He was an editor of West falen (1909-25), Westfälische Zeitschrift (1923-25), and Geschichtliche Darstellungen und Quellen (1915-26).

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses Ludwig Schmitz-Kallenberg, a German archivist and historian of Westphalia. He lived from 1867 to 1937.


text:
As the Gate closed behind her, Oromis scream out, “No, Not Again, don’t leave me, please not again.” He slowly turned as he heard the sadistic chuckle of the Devour. “oh hero, it looks as if your done, broken, you have nothing left.” Oromis closed his eyes and through clecnhed teeth said, “ you’re a monster, you take everything, and gourge yourself on the pain and suffering that follows. You took everything from me. My Friends, MY FAMILY, EVEN MY HOME. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT A DISEASED FILTH! And now you took the only thing from me that I lived for, I am going to kill you.” Then maniacally the Devour said, “you can try human.” Oromis lunged at the Devour and transformed in the air, slamming into his chest and knocking the Devour backwards. “You foolish boy,” screamed the Devour, “ You will die for this!” The Devour knocked Oromis over with ease and picked up his blackened sword.  “I will kill you boy.” Angered Oromis stood up and summoned Archfane still fresh with the blood of Lighthunter. Oromis struck fast, but the Devour parried every move Oromis made. Finally Devour struck Oromis in his side, and Oromis’ vision blurred. With the last once of effort he had oromis stabbed Archfane through The Devours heart. Stumbling backwards oromis watched as The Devour pulled Archfane from his chest and through it onto the ground. Laughing the Devour said, “You stupid, foolish boy, you can not kill me and now I am goi….” His sentence was struck short as the black shining ebony blade of Lighthunter cut through the Devour. “I learned something father. I do not have to serve you, I am my own person,” as the words escaped Lighthunters mouth you could see the draining of the Devour’s life. “Why my boy, why did you do this.”
“Because eyou are a monster, who murders and kills for fun.”
“You betrayed me son,” and with that the Devour dropped dead. Oromis crawled over to were Lighthunter layed dieing. “Thank you Oromis,” said Lighthunter as he layed dieing, “you showed me a better way… Thank you.”
“Thank you, Lighthunter, for your sacrifice,” and Lighthunter passed.

With Shaking steps Oromis approached the Gate. “Let me through, please let me see her, be with her… Let me please stay with her.”
“You do not know what your asking for, or the price in which that would cost.”
“Then I give you everything, my heritage, my abilities, my powers, make me human if you need to, just please let me be with her.
“You would give up all this? Everything you worked for? You culd be a hero in this universe.”
“I do not wish to be a hero, I only want her, just let me through.”
“Then I accept your price, you will live a happy, normal life, no powers, nothing, except a normal life with her.”
And with a flash Truth was gone.

title: This is part of the ending of a story I am working on.

question: Why is Devour trying to kill Oromis?

answer: It's because he's a monster who kills for fun.

question: Explain why Lighthunter decided to kill his father.

answer: Lighthunter kills his father to save Oromis because he realizes that his father is the bad guy and Lighthunter doesn't want to follow him anymore.

question: Explain why Oromis is willing to give up everything just to pass through the Gate.

answer: The woman he loves is behind the Gate and nothing is more important to Oromis than to be with her.

question: Why can't Oromis defeat the Devour by himself?

answer: The Devour is way much stronger and powerful.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Oromis is losing the battle against the Devour, but Lighthunter, the Devour's son, intervenes and kills his evil father. Oromis then goes to the Gate to make a bargain. He gives up his power and everything he has just to be with the woman he loves.


text:
Calgary Transit responded to some disturbing graffiti at the Tuscany LRT Station Thursday night. WARNING: Offensive images and language.

[]

Racist and threatening words were spray painted on property and cars at the Tuscany LRT station Thursday. (CBC)

Calgary Transit responded to some disturbing graffiti at the Tuscany LRT Station Thursday night.

-   MORE CALGARY NEWS | 'THE C-TRAIN WAS THE WORST': CALGARIANS TRY NAVIGATING CITY IN WHEELCHAIRS
-   MORE CALGARY NEWS | CALGARY SCHOOL BOARD PREPARES FOR INFLUX OF SYRIAN REFUGEE CHILDREN

Bhaveek Makan posted three images to Twitter Thursday evening showing spray painted comments disparaging to Syrian refugees and Muslims.

[]

Cars and property were spray painted with racist statements Thursday at the Tuscany LRT station. (CBC)

He says a friend took the photos but he drove to the LRT station to see them first-hand.

"Just a lot of ignorance and bad spelling," Makan said. "It's a really heartbreaking thing to see.... It's just sad."

'Very disappointed'

Several motorists had their cars spray painted, including Tuscany resident Brian Durocher.

[]

Brian Durocher's car was hit with racist graffiti Thursday at the Tuscany LRT station. (CBC)

"I have lived in Canada all of my life and we are a very tolerant society at least I think we are. To see things like that written on the side of my car, I am just very disappointed," Durocher said.

[]

Tuscany LRT station hit with racist graffiti Thursday. Police and transit are investigating. (CBC)

"This doesn't help, this just creates fear and I don't get it."

Calgary Transit spokesman Ron Collins says peace officers are dealing with it.

[]

Calgary transit says the graffiti will be removed ASAP. (CBC)

"We're moving very quickly. We will eradicate that graffiti ASAP," Collins said. "This is obviously unacceptable and we will be fully investigating when and why this happened."

'Disgusting,' says mayor

Mayor Naheed Nenshi tweeted about the incident shortly after the pictures surfaced, calling it "disgusting."

  @buzzbishop @TehBhav @calgarytransit the spelling or the sentiment? Both are disgusting.

  —@nenshi

It comes as Calgary prepares for the arrival of about 500 Syrian refugees by the end of the year as part of the federal government's resettlement plan.

  @CBCCalgary This is a threat of violence and should be taken seriously. We expect the @CalgaryPolice to investigate as possible hate crime.

  —@Amnamaq

Calgary police say they are investigating the incidents and have obtained video surveillance images from Calgary transit of possible suspects.

"At this time we believe this is an isolated incident," acting Sgt. Ray Kelly said.

[]

Calgary police acting Sgt. Ray Kelly says they now have video surveillance images of the vandalism suspects. (CBC)

But for Makan, who is agnostic, the graffiti doesn't change how he feels about Calgary.

"The city as a whole is amazing when it comes to accepting the refugees," Makan said.

"We are a welcoming city, this is what I think, and little things like this shouldn't paint a bad image on the city."

question: What is the story about?

answer: Disturbing graffiti was found at the Tuscany LRT Station in Calgary. The graffiti was racist and threatening to Syrian refugees and Muslims.

question: Who posted pictures to Twitter?

answer: Bhaveek Makan

question: On what was the graffiti painted?

answer: Cars and property

question: Who is quoted as saying, "This doesn't help, this just creates fear and I don't get it."

answer: A Calgary Transit spokesman, Ron Collins.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Disturbing graffiti was found at the Tuscany LRT Station in Calgary. The graffiti was racist and threatening to Syrian refugees and Muslims. The graffiti was found on cars and property.


text:
[Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, front, recites the pledge of allegiance with Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, right, the first transgender Delegate, Del. Debra Rodman, D-Henrico, second from left, and Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, left, during opening ceremonies of the 2018 session of the Virginia House of Delegates at the Capitol in Richmond on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018.]

Del. Lee Carter, D-Manassas, front, recites the pledge of allegiance with Del. Danica Roem, D-Prince William, right, the first transgender Delegate, Del. Debra Rodman, D-Henrico, second from left, and Del. Kelly Convirs-Fowler, D-Virginia Beach, left, during opening ceremonies of the 2018 session of the Virginia House of Delegates at the Capitol in Richmond on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018. (Steve Helber)

Lee Carter knew that speaking on the floor on his third day was an unusual thing for a freshman delegate to do.

But the Marine veteran, who provided relief after the Haitian earthquake in 2010, couldn't keep quiet about the comments President Donald Trump made in an Oval Office meeting.

"Why are we having all these people from s---hole countries come here?" Trump said, referring to immigrants from Haiti and Africa. Trump later tweeted that he never said anything derogatory about Haitians, "other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."

Friday marked the eighth anniversary of the earthquake that killed at least 200,000.

“I personally saw what the lives of those folks are like; I saw the hardships they face,” Carter said. “So I understand just how important it is for people who want to come here from Haiti and other nations like Haiti to come here and have a better life for themselves and their children.”(Watch Carter’s comments at 1:09:24)

Carter said one moment will stick with him forever. A teen came up to him and asked him in slow, deliberate broken English what life was like in the United States.

Latest Virginia Government & Politics

"I didn't know how to answer," Carter said. "I didn't know anything else. I had no basis for comparison. He then asked me how a Haitian citizen can join the U.S. Marine Corps.

"And that is something I will carry for the rest of my life."

Democrats applauded the short speech while Republicans remained quietly seated.

Jordan Pascale, 757-446-2276, jordan.pascale@pilotonline.com Find him at Facebook.com/jwpascale and Twitter.com/jwpascale

-   General Assembly
-   Virginia State Government
-   Del. Lee Carter
-   President Donald Trump
-   Haiti
-   Earthquake

Latest Virginia Government & Politics

question: What comments did President Trump make at the Oval Office meeting?

answer: Trump asked why people were coming over from other countries to the U.S.?

question: What did Trump say about Haiti?

answer: Trump said that Haiti is a very poor and troubled country.

question: What did the teen ask Carter?

answer: The teen asked Carter what life in America was like.

question: What had happened in Haiti?

answer: Haiti was hit by an earthquake in 2010, it killed at least 200,000.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
President Trump passes a derogatory comment on Haitians coming to the U.S. He later tweets saying that he did not say anything offensive about Haitians, "other than Haiti is, obviously, a very poor and troubled country."

Marine veteran, Lee Carter, cannot take this comment. He responds that he had personally seen the lives of those people, so he understands why it is important for them to come and have a better life. Lee also narrates an incident of a teen coming up to him and asking how a Haitian citizen could join the U.S. Marine Corps.

The Democrats applaud Carter's short speech while the Republicans were quiet.


text:
Protect Yourself From Tech Support Scams Learn More

[Answer]

Answer

[Inactive profile]

Problem: a thing called TDR checker monitors the computers hardware, particularly the GPU, is say the GPU stops responding with the computer for 2 seconds TDR checker restarts the driver. The TDR checker was good on paper but did not work in the real world. as a gpu can stop responding when it is working hard.

Issue since the time of vista, thats why this problem virually never happened on XP

Here is the solution
Exit all Windows based programs.
Click Start, type regedit in the Search box, and then double-click regedit.exe from the results above. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Browse to and then click the following registry subkey:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002 (sometimes called ControlSet001) \Control\GraphicsDrivers

On the Edit menu, click New, and then select the following registry value from the drop-down menu specific to your version of Windows (32 bit, or 64 bit):

For 32 bit Windows
Select DWORD (32-bit) value.
Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and click OK.

For 64 bit Windows

Select QWORD (64-bit) value.
Type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter.
Double-click TdrDelay and add 8 for the Value data and clickOK.

Close the registry editor and then restart your computer for the changes to take affect.

This puts a delay on the tdr checker of 8 seconds thus the gpu can stop responding for 10 seconds, usually this fixes the problem, if you are still suffering from this issue (after updates or a reinstall of drivers, you know all that annoying driver stuff)
Then do this, do the same thing but instead of "TdrDelay" type "TdrLevel" enter the data value as 0 (it is set to that natively, but double check) then delete the TdrDelay,

Restart

That completely turns off Tdr checker, so now windows 7/vista/8 now works more like windows XP

Share the info XD

AJS the company to be Credited

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question: What kind of content is the text?

answer: It's a forum post.

question: What is the gist of the solution for the problem?

answer: The checker program is either told to delay its response or cancel it.


text:
I was lying on something soft, my body sunk into it. When I opened my eyes everything was so white, so clean.
“Where am I?” I thought. “Am I dead?”

I sat up and looked around. I felt strangely light headed but not in an uncomfortable way. It felt like I was flying.
When my eyes adjusted to the brightness I saw a figure approaching me. I felt no fear but more of rejoice, like seeing an old friend after a long time.

I stood up, but fell backwards; only to find a stool behind me, in which I sat. When the figure got closer I saw it was a man. His skin was somewhat of a mixture of white, brown and black, I couldn't figure out the colour.
As he came closer he started to speak. I had never heard the language but I somehow recognized it. To my amazement I could understand it. He was speaking towards me, but not to me. What he said was beautiful. He said “Come here my child, for you have nothing to fear with Me. Walk along side Me and you will never feel the need of anything ever again.”

When the man was close enough I stood up. At that moment he was within five meters of me. I asked him “Where are we?” And he answered “We are where you want us to be. We can be anywhere.” I looked around for the second time and my heart nearly skipped a beat; we were in my childhood home, in the living room.
The man sat down and so did I.

After a short while I asked him “Are you God?”

“Yes.” He answered.

“But if you are God then I must be dead.”

“Must you?” He asked. “For you to be dead you had to be living at some point.”

“Are you saying I don’t exist?”

“No. On the contrary; you are the only one that exists.”

“What are you saying?”

“I am saying that you are the only human being in the world.”

I did not quite understand what he was talking about and he must have realized that because he said. “You are the only man in the world and every other human is your imagination. What I am telling you now I have told you countless of times.”

I started to get very confused and felt a headache coming. “Just to get this straight; I am not dead because I was never alive, I am the only man and everything else is my imagination and you have told me this before? How come I can’t remember it then?”

God signed and pointed to the door. “When you walk through that door you will be born again. You will know everything from all your past ‘lives’ but not remember anything from them.”

“What is the point in this?”

“The point is very simple; when you have lived through everything you will know everything and then you will become God.”

“So I will replace you?”

“Correct.”

“And the only thing I have to do is walk through that door?” I pointed at the door and felt a small shiver lead up my spine.

“Also correct.”

I stood up in haste and was going to walk to the door when God interrupted me. “But I must warn you; you are automatically walking to your doom.”

“I know, but since I don’t really live I don’t really die either, do I?” I said, with a grin, and walked through the door.

“Smart kid” mumbled God “I wonder how long it will take him this time to figure out that he is my son.”

Edit: Formatting

title: The world as we know it

question: What does the text say about the narrator?

answer: God tells the narrator that he is the only real human being in the world, and that everyone else is just in his imagination. He has apparently been told this countless times, but he can't remember it. God says that the goal of this process is for the narrator to replace him. Finally, God reveals that the narrator is also his son.