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Georgia’s “religious liberty” bill appears dead for the year.

A key House committee tabled it Thursday. With only three days left in this year’s legislative session, the bill’s prospects look dim.

At a House Judiciary Committee meeting, supporters insisted the state needs to better protect religious expression from government overreach. They strongly denied critics’ assertions that it would provide a means to discriminate against gays and lesbians.

Rep. Mike Jacobs, R-Brookhaven, said if that was the case then he wanted language in the bill that explicitly prohibited discrimination.

“I take at face value the statements of proponents that they do not intend discrimination with this bill, but I also believe if that is the case we as the General Assembly should state that expressly in the bill itself,” Jacobs said. “This is what my constituents want me to do. This is what I want to do as their legislator. And this is what I think we should do as a General Assembly.”

Three similar amendments had failed just a day before in a special subcommittee. The Judiciary Committee’s vice chair, Barry Fleming, R-Harlem, was unequivocal.

“This is the amendment which will gut this bill … and if this amendment is attached to it I will not be able to support final passage,” he said.

To the surprise of many in attendance, Jacobs’ amendment passed 9-8. Three Republicans ─ Jacobs, Beth Beskin of Atlanta, and Jay Powell of Camilla ─ voted with six Democrats in support of it.

Fleming immediately motioned to table the bill and the committee unanimously agreed. The meeting then came to an abrupt halt.

“We’re very surprised but ultimately very pleased,” Jeff Graham of the advocacy group Georgia Equality said. ”It’s an important victory for the gay and transgender community here in Georgia and for the faith community that has stood with us in opposition.”

Lawmakers can still reconsider the bill, but with only three legislative days left, final passage would be procedurally difficult.

“We’re going to remain vigilant,” said Graham. “It’s a victory we have today, but may not have in the future.”

Georgia is one of about a dozen states that are considering religious liberty bills. More than 30 states have some version of the law already in effect.

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question: What is Georgia's "Religious Liberty" Bill?

answer: It's a proposal that would protect religious expression from government overreach.

question: Why are gay and lesbian groups opposing the bill?

answer: It would provide a means to discriminate against the gay and lesbian community.

question: What does Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven) want to do with regards to the Religious Liberty Bill?

answer: He wants to add amendments to the bill that would include language that explicitly prohibits discrimination.

question: How does the Judiciary Committee's vice chairman, Barry Fleming (R-Harlem) feel about Rep. Jacob's amendments to the bill?

answer: He is unequivocal and feels the amendments will gut the bill, refusing to support the final passage of the bill if the amendment was attached to it.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Georgia's controversial "Religious Liberty" bill has been tabled and with only three legislative days left, final passage would be procedurally difficult. Supporters of the bill say that it would protect religious expression from government overreach, but critics say the bill can be used to discriminate against the gay and lesbian community. Rep. Mike Jacobs (R-Brookhaven) added amendments to the bill and everyone was surprised when it passed 9-8, with three Republicans voting with six Democrats. However, the Judiciary Committee’s vice-chair, Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), opposed the amendments from the start and motioned to table the bill. The committee unanimously agreed.


split: train

text:
The 2009 KELLY CUP PLAYOFFS of the ECHL began on April 9, 2009. The 16 teams that qualified, eight from each conference, played a best-of-7 series for division semifinals, finals and conference finals. The conference champions played a best-of-7 series for the Kelly Cup.

Three league records were set during the first round of the playoffs. Game One of the North Division semifinals became the longest game in ECHL history, as the Elmira Jackals defeated the Trenton Devils 5 – 4 in a game that lasted 126:10. Elmira's Josh Aspenlind scored the game-winning goal at 6:10 of the fourth overtime.[1] Previously, the longest game was the Greenville Grrrowl's 3 – 2 four overtime victory against the Louisiana IceGators in Game Two of the 2000 Southern Conference Finals, which lasted 121:24. The game saw another league record fall, as Elmira and Trenton combined for 145 shots on goal (75 for Trenton, 70 for Elmira), besting the 139 combined shots on goal by Louisiana (82) and the Jackson Bandits (57) in Jackson's 5 – 4 triple overtime victory in Game Two of the 2002 Southwest Division Semifinals. Elmira's goaltender, Michael Teslak made the third most saves in a single game in ECHL history with 71.[2]

April 22 also went down in the ECHL history books as for the first time in the league's 21-year history, two Game 7s were played on the same day as the Stockton Thunder defeated the Ontario Reign 5 – 4 and the Las Vegas Wranglers defeated the Bakersfield Condors 5 – 1, both games were Pacific Division Semifinals matchups.[3]

The Division finals saw the defending Kelly Cup champion Cincinnati Cyclones and the Alaska Aces cruise to easy Conference finals berths, under completely different circumstances. Cincinnati swept Elmira after both teams went the full seven games in their opening series, while Alaska defeated the Victoria Salmon Kings four games to one with both teams having an extended rest, with Victoria sweeping their opening series and Alaska winning their series in five games. The South Carolina Stingrays required a little more effort to oust the Florida Everblades, who sat atop the league's regular season standings, defeating them in six games to advance to play the Cyclones in the conference finals.

Three (Alaska, Cincinnati and South Carolina) of the four teams in the Conference Finals were former Kelly Cup Champions. The American Conference finals was a rematch of the 2008 edition with Cincinnati taking on South Carolina and Las Vegas made their second consecutive trip to the National Conference finals, taking on their most heated rival the Alaska Aces.

The South Carolina Stingrays led the Alaska Aces, 3-1, headed to Game 5 before blowing the lead, and having to face a Game 7, where the Stingrays clinched their third Kelly Cup with a 4-2 win, winning the series, 4-3. The Stingrays tied the ECHL record for most ECHL championships, with three. South Carolina would get their revenge on Cincinnati for defeating the Stingrays in the 2008 American Conference finals by sweeping the Cyclones in four games. The National Conference finals had the same results with Alaska sweeping Las Vegas in four games.

Playoff seeds

After the 2008–09 ECHL regular season, 16 teams qualified for the playoffs. The top four teams from each division qualified for the playoffs. The Florida Everblades were the American Conference regular season champions as well as the Brabham Cup winners with the best overall regular season record. The Alaska Aces were the National Conference regular season champions. South Carolina goaltender James Reimer was named the Kelly Cup Finals MVP.

American Conference

North Division

1.  Cincinnati Cyclones - 87 points
2.  Trenton Devils - 87 points
3.  Elmira Jackals - 85 points
4.  Wheeling Nailers - 80 points

South Division

1.  Florida Everblades - American Conference regular season champions, Brabham Cup winners, 103 points
2.  South Carolina Stingrays - 90 points
3.  Charlotte Checkers - 76 points
4.  Gwinnett Gladiators - 68 points

National Conference

Pacific Division

1.  Ontario Reign - 82 points
2.  Las Vegas Wranglers - 76 points
3.  Bakersfield Condors - 74 points
4.  Stockton Thunder - 71 points

West Division

1.  Alaska Aces - National Conference regular season champions, 93 points
2.  Idaho Steelheads - 92 points
3.  Victoria Salmon Kings - 83 points
4.  Utah Grizzlies - 72 points

Bracket

Statistical leaders

Skaters

These are the top ten skaters based on points.[4]

  Player               Team                       GP   G    A    Pts   +/–   PIM
  -------------------- -------------------------- ---- ---- ---- ----- ----- -----
  Josh Soares          Alaska Aces                20   10   17   27    +12   19
  Colin Hemingway      Alaska Aces                20   9    15   24    +12   14
  Trent Campbell       South Carolina Stingrays   22   5    18   23    +2    13
  Travis Morin         South Carolina Stingrays   18   4    17   21    +11   12
  Cam Keith            Alaska Aces                19   3    17   20    +10   19
  Alexandre Imbeault   Alaska Aces                19   7    12   19    0     10
  Jeff Corey           South Carolina Stingrays   22   11   7    18    +3    12
  Nikita Kashirsky     South Carolina Stingrays   21   6    12   18    +13   18
  Maxime Lacroix       South Carolina Stingrays   22   12   5    17    +6    37
  Pierre-Luc O'Brien   South Carolina Stingrays   22   5    12   17    0     16

_GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/– = Plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; Yellow shade = team still in playoffs_

    All statistics as of: 08:00, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Goaltending

These are the top five goaltenders based on both goals against average and save percentage with at least one game played (Note: list is sorted by goals against average).[5]

  Player                    Team                       GP   W    L   SA    GA   GAA    SV%    SO   Min
  ------------------------- -------------------------- ---- ---- --- ----- ---- ------ ------ ---- ------
  Jean-Philippe Lamoureux   Alaska Aces                20   15   5   598   38   1.89   .936   4    1205
  Josh Johnson              Gwinnett Gladiators        3    0    2   124   7    2.10   .944   0    200
  James Reimer              South Carolina Stingrays   7    3    3   224   16   2.20   .929   1    437
  Jeff Frazee               Trenton Devils             4    2    2   116   10   2.22   .914   0    271
  Curtis Darling            Wheeling Nailers           7    3    4   274   16   2.23   .942   1    430

_GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; SA = Shots against; GA = Goals against; GAA = Goals against average; SV% = Save percentage; SO = Shutouts; TOI = Time on ice (in minutes); Yellow shade = team still in playoffs_

    All statistics as of: 08:00, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Division Semifinals

    Note 1: _All times are local._
    Note 2: _Game times in italics signify games to be played only if necessary._
    Note 3: _Home team is listed first._

American Conference

North Division

(N1) Cincinnati Cyclones vs. (N4) Wheeling Nailers

(N2) Trenton Devils vs. (N3) Elmira Jackals

South Division

(S1) Florida Everblades vs. (S4) Gwinnett Gladiators

(S2) South Carolina Stingrays vs. (S3) Charlotte Checkers

_NOTE: Neither team's home arena was available in the first week of the ECHL playoffs; Time Warner Cable Arena was unavailable for this round (final week of NBA games by the Charlotte Bobcats, and the North Charleston Coliseum had rehearsals for a concert tour. The ECHL arranged the playoff series in the following order: two games at the Extreme Ice Center, three games at the North Charleston Coliseum, and then one game at the Extreme Ice Center. Had a seventh game been necessary, it would have been played at the North Charleston Coliseum._

National Conference

Pacific Division

(P1) Ontario Reign vs. (P4) Stockton Thunder

(P2) Las Vegas Wranglers vs. (P3) Bakersfield Condors

West Division

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (W4) Utah Grizzlies

(W2) Idaho Steelheads vs. (W3) Victoria Salmon Kings

Division Finals

American Conference

North Division

(N1) Cincinnati Cyclones vs. (N3) Elmira Jackas

South Division

(S1) Florida Everblades vs. (S2) South Carolina Stingrays

National Conference

Pacific Division

(P2) Las Vegas Wranglers vs. (P4) Stockton Thunder

_NOTE: Arena conflicts led to the ECHL shifting the first games of the playoff series._

West Division

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (W3) Victoria Salmon Kings

Conference finals

American Conference

(S2) South Carolina Stingrays vs. (N1) Cincinnati Cyclones

National Conference

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (P2) Las Vegas Wranglers

Kelly Cup Finals

(W1) Alaska Aces vs. (S2) South Carolina Stingrays

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title: 2009 Kelly Cup playoffs

question: When did the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs begin?

answer: The 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs began on April 9th, 2009.

question: How many teams qualified for the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs?

answer: 16 teams qualified for the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

question: How many league records were set during the first round of the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs?

answer: Three league records were set during the first round of the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

question: How long was the game between the Elmira Jackals and the Trenton Devils?

answer: The game between the Elmira Jackals and the Trenton Devils lasted 126:10.

question: Which three teams in the Conference Finals were former Kelly Cup Champions?

answer: Alaska, Cincinnati and South Carolina were all former Kelly Cup Champions.

question: Who was the top skater in the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs based off of points?

answer: Josh Soares was the top skater in the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs based off of points.

question: Who was the top goaltender in the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs?

answer: Jean-Philippe Lamoureux was the top goaltender in the 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The 2009 Kelly Cup Playoffs started on April 9th, 2009. Three league records were broken during the first round of playoffs. Three of the four teams that made it to the Conference Finals were previous Kelly Cup winners. The South Carolina Stingrays ended up winning the series 4-3.


text:
James Garcia date of death October 13,2014 5:32 PM El Paso, Texas, USA

“Ugh my head is on fire.”

“Getting hit by a couple hundred pounds of metal moving 90 miles an hour will do that to you.”

James shielded his eyes attempting to obscure the bright light radiating from the white landscape surrounding him. A tall figure with a stout build and a familiar gait gradually began to approach him. As his eyes began to adjust James could see the creature. It was clad in a plaid button up and a dusty pair of wranglers. James pressed his lips together to speak but all he could muster up was a quick puff of stale air.

“How would you feel about being black this time? Caribbean? Hell
maybe even Haitian?”

“Dad?” James managed to stammer up.

The being sighed and shook his head.

“Hhhmmm or how about something Oriental? Wait is that the pc term? Oh well lovely group of people nonetheless smart, strong, and fertile as all get out. Jackie Chan is freaking awesome. Have you Rush Ho..”

“DAD?!?!” James spouted after finally catching his breath.

“Jeez kid loosen up a bit will ya’? I’m not your dad ok, although I do get that a lot.”

“If you’re not my dad then who the fuck are you?”

“Wow language. As for who I am. That’s a good question not sure of that myself. You guys have given me a lot of names over the years Yahweh, God, the Grim something or other.”

James shot the man a look consisting of disbelief and frustration.

“Look I’m not gonna sugar-coat it mate, you’re dead. You were on the way to that girl’s house. What’s her name? I remember it was something stupid? Britni? Brooke?

“Barbra.”

The man snapped his thick callused fingers.

“Oh yeah that’s it! Anyway you were on your way to Barbra’s and you got hit by a car; a Dodge Caravan no less. Death by Mini Van, how about that.” The man chuckled to himself. “If more of you guys would just look both ways before crossing the street my job would be immensely easier.”

James was becoming agitated

“Ok so if I’m dead where I am? Heaven? And why the hell do you look like my dad?!”

The man let out a long drawn out sigh

“Look I been at this long enough to know that I appear as the person you trust the most. Pretty cheesy I know but you’d be surprised how much easier it makes the transition. Heaven? Naw mate you’re a little far off from heaven.”

James face shifted from agitation to unease and he began to twiddle his thumbs.

“So Hell then…”

“Goodness no! Ok listen up mate can you say with absolute certainty that you were happy with your life. A 25 year old pizza delivery boy, with a bachelor’s degree in art history whatever that means, dating a women named Barbra. Do you even like her?”

“…No”

“See.” The bulky figure said with a large grin

“I believe in chances. I don’t like to let people move on until they are truly happy. Life’s a gift if you don’t get to fully enjoy it what’s the point?”

“So what? You just reset it?”

He nodded “More or less  new race, gender, intelligence, nationality the whole bada bing. So how ya feeling now? You up to it?”

“Do I honestly have a choice?”

“Well you can say no but that won’t really stop me. Not like you’re going to remember any of this anyway we’ve had this talk before”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve died.”

“This the first time *James* has died.”

“So how ma..”

“This will make about 678.”

“Christ that’s a lot.”

“Let’s just say you’re accident prone. So what do ya  say mate wanna give it another go?”

“Let’s do it not like I have anything to lose. Could I maybe be European or something? You know the whole blond with blue eyes thing kills the girls.”

The man smiled rolling up his sleeves and nodding

“Sure mate no problem.”

Eno Akpu-nku date of birth October 14,2014 2:33 AM Johannesburg, Gauteng, Africa

title: Again(697 words)

question: How has James arrived at this transition between lives?

answer: James was on his way to visit his girlfriend Britney when he was hit by a Dodge Caravan. He was killed instantly. He is now in a discussion with whoever is in charge of the afterlife to decide his transition into the next.

question: Why does James think that he is talking to his dad?

answer: James doesn't realize he is dead until the man tells him so. The man looks like his father but he goes on to explain that it is an illusion. He looks like the person most trusted by the newly dead. He says this makes the transition easier.

question: Why must James return as another person?

answer: James hasn't enjoyed life to the fullest. He is a 25-year-old delivery man with a degree and he dates a girl he doesn't even like. The man believes in second chances so James must come back and try to enjoy life properly and make the best of it.

question: Will James be happy with his reincarnation?

answer: The obvious answer is no because he has asked to come back as a European with blonde hair and blue eyes. Instead, he is sent back as an African. Since he won't remember the discussion where he made the request, he won't be any the wiser.


text:
I can’t keep living like this. And it’s not your fault—it’s mine. I’m living for you when I should be living for myself, for evenings with friends and holidays with family. Because there isn’t a we. I have to live my own life.

And it isn’t you. I’ve been living in a fantasy, that’s the problem, a fantasy of you and me. I keep thinking that one day you’ll wake up and see me waiting here for you and everything will be like it’s supposed to. You’ll say hi and I’ll say hi and you’ll run your hand through your hair and the spikes will flip back up and I’ll laugh cause it’s cute and you’ll tell me I have a nice smile cause you like the way I squint and my freckles squish around my eyes. We’ll go to the docks, like we always do, and I’ll say the sea smells nice and you’ll say it looks a bit green like its sick and I’ll say that’s the way it’s supposed to look cause this isn’t Hawaii and you’ll say well it doesn’t look good for swimming and I’ll tell you of course it’s good for swimming and we should go sometime and you’ll promise we will someday. Someday isn’t going to come though. You’ll never get to read the notes or see the orange roses with the peeling petals I bought you. I wrote them every day, you know, little haikus and couplets. I thought you’d like that. They’re all stacked on the nightstand under the roses with wilting petals.

I guess we’re just not meant to be. I was so sure we were, yet here we are. Here I am, spilling my guts. Honestly, I can’t stand that we aren’t meant to be. It’s like losing faith. But I guess I have to let go of that the way I have to let go of you. You know, every day I dream about you and me. And you and me don’t exist. At least, not like that. I have to shake that out of my head. So it’s me. It’s my problem.

I can’t forget that time we stayed on the phone till two in the morning, just talking, and the way you laughed at my crappy jokes. That was wonderful. I won’t forget that. I was the most in love with you in those moments. Those were the moments you could have asked me to do anything for you and I would have said yes without hesitation. I was too afraid to tell you this before, but you left me breathless. I should have told you sooner. I guess I’m telling you now, though, and that must count for something. But I can’t help but feel like it’s too late. It’s so hard to find that place between too soon and too late. I’m not sure it exists, really, if there’s a right time to say I love you. I haven’t found it anyway. I know this is terrible timing but I have to tell you that I love you.

But I have to stop thinking about it, because it won’t bring you to me. So I’m going to try to forget how it felt when you smiled at me and how it felt when we spoke in unison. I have to move on, even if it’s without you, even if it hurts. I have to move on.

I’m sorry I’m telling you all this, but I feel like I should explain myself. I need to tell you why I can’t see you anymore. We’ll meet again someday, I’m sure, but at least for now I need to let you go. I don’t know if I can forgive myself for letting you go, but I have to try to live my own life. I hope you can forgive me.

I love you, but it’s not enough. Sometimes love doesn’t conquer. Sometimes it dies. And I’m going to let it, because we can’t save it. I can’t save it. So I’m going to let them unplug you now. They said you’ll stop breathing and your heart will stop beating and it will be slow, but you won’t feel a thing. I’m glad. I wonder if you can even feel this right now. If you can feel me leaving you. Well, in case you can, here’s the ring. I can’t keep it. Not if I’m going to keep going. Not if I’m going to live.

I’ve stayed with you through everything—rich and poor, sickness and health—but I can’t watch you die. I’m not going to stay, so this is goodbye. See you later, love.

title: Halcyon [flash fiction]

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: An unnamed person

question: Who is the narrator addressing?

answer: Someone who they love

question: What happened to the person being addressed?

answer: They are on life support

question: How did the person end up hospitalized?

answer: It is unclear how they ended up hospitalized

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator writes to a person that they love. They wish they could've told these things to the person earlier. They recall some memories with the person and explain that their time together has brought the narrator a great deal of joy. The narrator explains that they will be pulling the plug on the person, and they say one last farewell.


text:
MAGGIE BROWN (born February 10, 1963) is an American singer, spoken word artist, actress, and music producer. A native of Chicago, Illinois, United States, Brown sings in many genres: jazz, blues, R&B, soul, and spoken word. Her singing style has been described by James Walker as “transcend[ing] limitations and genres, while still maintaining her unique unmistakable voice.”[1] She is a protege of Oscar Brown Jr. and Abbey Lincoln. She uses music to educate, what she calls “edutainment”, a word that she learned from her father. She gives talks and demonstrations on music and African American musical history. She performs with her sister, Africa Brown. They perform their work and their father's work.[2]

Early life

Born in Chicago, Illinois and raised in the Hyde Park neighborhood, Brown grew up in a musical household, experiencing rehearsals and jam sessions. Brown is the daughter of the Oscar Brown Jr. and Maxine Fleming. She studied music, theater and voice at Columbia College Chicago. Brown was 15 when she had her professional debut. Her professional debut was at the Body Politic Theatre in Chicago.

Career

In 1995, Brown established her own independent record label Mag Pie Records. Brown published her first album “From My Window” in 1995. It was nominated for a Chicago Music Award for Best Jazz CD in 1995. In 1996 she was nominated for another Chicago Music Award for Best Jazz Performer. In 1998, Brown performed at the Schomburg Center in 'Harlem', New York City with her father Oscar Brown Jr. In 1999, Brown does a vocal duet with Abby Lincoln on the album “Wholly Earth”, released on the Verve label. She has performed duets with Jonathan Butler, on Urban Knights album, Urban Knights II. Brown has a traveling one-woman show called 'Legacy'. Her one-woman show chronicles the history and evolution of African American music. The show encompasses a wide range of musical forms and genres. She has toured for over 19 years with her one-woman show, “Legacy: Our Wealth of Music”. She uses art to educate the young and the old about life, history, and music. She collaborated with Abbey Lincoln on a 1999 album called 'Wholly Earth'.[3][4] In 2015 the Brown family, and Maggie and Africa Brown performed at the naming of Harper Street, between 52nd and 53rd as Oscar Brown Jr. Way.[5]

In 2016, Brown and her sister Africa Brown worked together to revive the Blue Gargoyle; a Hyde Park community center. The community center closed in 2009. It provided job training, social services, family counseling, music and art training. The art center dates back to 1965. The Brown sisters have developed community-based shows.[6] Which is similar to the work that their father did giving exposure to young talent. In 1967 Oscar Brown Jr. collaborated with members of the Blackstone Rangers. The Blackstone Rangers a Gang in Chicago. They collaborated and created a musical called “Opportunity Please Knock”. The first weeks of the show about 8,000 people attended which was performed at Chicago's Presbyterian Church.[7]

Personal

Brown's aunt is actress Judy Pace. Brown is the sister of Oscar Brown III. He was a well known Jazz bassist who performed also with their father. He died in 1996 from a car accident. Oscar Brown III, Maggie and Africa performed with their father.[8] “The Snake” , a song that was written in 1963 by Oscar Brown Jr and released by Al Wilson in 1968. The song was used by Donald Trump at rallies during his bid for presidency. The Brown family asked him not to use their father's song, which is about a woman who takes in an ailing snake that turns on her.[9][10] Maggie Brown and Africa Brown stated that when Donald Trump read “The Snake” he was referring to the snakes as refugees and the caring woman as America. They disapproved of the analogy.[11]

Awards and nominations

-   Chicago Music Awards nominated - Her first CD 'From My Window' was nominated for the Chicago Music Award.[12]

Affiliations

Eleven Jazzy Divas Studio Recordings with

-   Kelan Phil Cohran
-   Ramsey Lewis
-   Stevie Wonder
-   Abbey Lincoln
-   Oscar Brown Jr (her father)

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title: Maggie Brown (singer)

question: When was Maggie Brown born?

answer: February 10th 1963.

question: What jobs does Maggie Brown have?

answer: She is a singer, spoken word artist, actress, and music producer.

question: Where did Maggie Brown grow up?

answer: Chicago, Illinois.

question: What genres does Brown work in?

answer: Jazz, blues, R&B, soul, and spoken word.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Maggie Brown, an American singer born in 1963 in Chicago.


text:
The AL–QALIS CHURCH, SANA'A was a Miaphysite church constructed sometime between 527 and the late 560s in the city of Sana'a. The church's lavish decorations made it an important place of pilgrimage, placing it in competition with Kaaba in Mecca.

Background

In the aftermath of the massacre of the Christian community of Najran by the ruler of the Himyarite Kingdom Dhu Nuwas. The Miaphysite King of Aksum, Kaleb sought to avenge the deaths of his brothers in faith by launching a punitive expedition (520) into the Yemeni kingdom. Dhu Nuwas was deposed and killed, prompting Kaleb to appoint a Christian Himyarite, Esimiphaios (Sumuafa Ashawa), as his viceroy. However, around 525 this viceroy was deposed by the Aksumite general Abreha with support of Ethiopians who had settled in Yemen and withheld tribute to Kaleb. When Kaleb sent another expedition against Abreha this force defected, killing their commander, and joining Abreha. Another expedition sent against them met the same fate, leaving Yemen under Abreha's rule.

Construction

Abreha sought to promote Christianity in the predominantly Jewish kingdom while also attempting to antagonize the Kaaba in Mecca, a major religious centre for the adherents of Arab polytheism. Abreha, therefore, ordered the construction of the Al–Qalis Church (also known as Al–Qulays and Al–Qullays, from the Greek _Ekklesia_) in Sana'a. Letters were sent to both Aksum and the Byzantine Empire, requesting marble, craftsmen and mosaics. The absence of mosaic making tradition in Pre-Islamic Arabia and Ethiopia at the time, along with the frequent use of mosaicists by the Byzantines to achieve diplomatic objectives corroborates that the Byzantines complied. Historian Procopius records that an envoy was dispatched to Abreha during the reign of emperor Justinian I, placing the construction of the church between 527 and the late 560's.

The church was constructed from green, yellow, white and black stone which was brought from an older castle located at Ma'rib. Leading to the church was a marble staircase, while the door was made of bronze or copper. The church combined three separate architectural elements known as bayt, iwan and qubbah. Iwan and qubbah, consisted of mosaic ornamentation of floral motives and gold star for the former, and polychrome mosaic crosses, silver and gold for the latter. Taking into consideration a Byzantine edict issued in 427 prohibiting the placement of crosses to locations where they can be stepped upon, it is probable that the crosses were positioned on the walls. The rest of the decoration consisted of carved precious woods and ivory, combined with gold panels inset with precious stones and crosses. Chroniclers make no reference to figurative representations, a style commonly encountered in the aniconic Syrian and Palestinian mosaic traditions.

The influence of the church as a place of pilgrimage may have been the reason behind the actions of Mecca's pagans who attempted to befoul the church. Between 552 and 555, Abreha organized a punitive expedition in response to this incident. In 685, the pretender to the throne of the Umayyad Caliphate Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr, removed three columns along with a number of mosaics from the church, with intention of using them in the redecoration of the Great Mosque of Mecca. This incident marks the first recorded use of mosaics in Islamic architecture. The church is said to have survived at least until the reign of the Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur (714–775) at which point it was looted once more.

title: Al–Qalis Church, Sanaa

question: What is Al-Qalis Church, Sana'a?

answer: a Miaphysite church constructed sometime between 527 and the late 560s in the city of Sana'a

question: When did the Byzantines prohibit the placement of crosses in locations where they can be stepped upon?

answer: 427

question: Who attempted to befoul Al-Qalis Church, Sana'a?

answer: Mecca's pagans

question: When was the first recorded use of mosaics in Islamic architecture?

answer: in 685, when the pretender to the throne of the Umayyad Caliphate Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr removed three columns from Al-Qalis Church, Sana'a and used them in the redecoration of the Great Mosque of Mecca

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The Al-Qalis Church, Sana'a was a Miaphysite church constructed sometime between 527 and the late 560s in the city of Sana'a. The church is said to have survived until at least the reign of Abbasid caliph Al-Mansur (714-755).


text:
He looks out the tinted window of His personal limo for one final glance of the brilliant city lights that ironically contrast the cimmerian gloom of the city’s dark urban structure.  It’s an eye full of mental stress for Him and He wonders what will become of those that still have hope, He has no clue why such nihilistic destruction is being brought upon them. To Him though, to Him it’s a gift. He will drink to that thought and He pours Himself a conservative amount of fine Sauvignon Blanc and His face twinges as He gulps it all down. He hates the taste of white wine but He has to get drunk and this is the only drink available that’s suitable for a person of His stature.  Feeling warm and cozy in His expensive suit that was tailored by a famous designer whose name He could not recollect nor could He care any less for.  Wondering how hard the tailor must have worked on this suit to sew every stitch to perfection so his work may eventually tread in the domain of art, but only to be bought and worn by a person like Him who could offer absolutely nothing to society. Such people were detestable to Him, they lacked the principals of honour and because of such reasons their work was destined to something so undeserving. He pours another glass and now everything seems a little bit blurry and watching the freezing furious flakes of snow free falling from the aura of the nightly black made His head spin. Tired and impatient He puts down His head and takes glances at His watch.

Appraising His thoughts and the time in His mind:
Ten – nine – eight (and millisecond after millisecond time ticks so slow) seven – six – five – four (and millisecond after millisecond time ticks so slow) three – two – one and now it is 1:00 am, we should reach our destination in about two more hours.  Damn we’re only 33 percent there and another hour until 66 percent. Damn it one more hour – that’s 60 minutes which is also 3600 seconds. Then another hour after that – that’s 120 minutes which is also 7200 seconds.

He sighs and sinks down in the leather seat and takes quick glimpses at His watch every 5 minutes to calculate their progress in a percentage.

He unintentionally slows down time as He obsessively counts down every minute but by doing so He frees Himself from the bounds of mental conformity and gives Himself one final chance to freely divulge His mental deformity.

Wanting human interaction before the end he rolls down the glass partition that covers Him from the driver.

It’s a damn cold night Tariq.

Yes sir, I know sir, should I turn up the heating sir?

First of all stop calling me sir, and no the heating’s fine. It’s just a cold night you know?  Not that physical type but that unforgivin’ type that sends chills down our spine and mercilessly weighs upon our soul.  Dammit Tariq, can’t you go any faster?

Yes sir. Okay sir.

He sighs.

Okay Tariq.

He looks at His glass of wine and awaits the welcomed malice of being drunk from a lake of bitter boundless. 30 minutes, 1800 seconds remain – duration 83% completed.

To Him it is an auspicious time and a brand new golden age so He avidly waits for humanity to start writing in its brand new blank page. His thoughts of extremity pass through the glassy streets of now urban dissonance and all the high structured buildings standing in their utter brilliance. Yonder through the newly constructed shelters for fallout do His thoughts pass about.  Evacuation escalation - such horrible times and His mind pounds with excitement as the prospect of death surrounds Him as numbing feral waves of coldness cling to the pits of His dumb limbs. He waits for His God given gift for opting out with none of the sin.
He sits back with eyes closed to put His mind at ease but death does not come so easily so His eyes shoot wide open and out of His mouth comes-

Please.

Sir?

I didn’t mean to fail. I didn’t mean to lose Faith in the end, but it was uncontrollable. All interest was lost Tariq, and the expectations were just too much. My calling is somewhere else. Heh. It’s most definitely not here anymore. So please let’s just finish this one final stop and leave.

So where will you go after this sir?

I’ll be returning to base, and then I’ll be starting all over in a completely new place.

Okay sir.

Okay Tariq.

The limo stops near a rustled up coffee shop.  His perspective changes, the weather changes, and His personality paces through undetermined cold heartedness.

Duration 100%.

title: Him Is a Man Nicknamed He

question: Who is 'He'?

answer: The protagonist.

question: Is 'He' only identified with pronouns?

answer: Yes.

question: Who is Tariq?

answer: The man's limo driver.

question: Where is the protagonist going?

answer: To a final job or task of some kind.

question: What kind of transportation is being used?

answer: A limousine.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: An unnamed man, identified only by capitalized pronouns (He/Him), gets drunk on white wine in His personal limousine and counts down the duration of the trip until his driver, Tariq, arrives at a coffee shop. He tells Tariq that after this, He'll be starting over in a new place.


text:
GORRAKI is a village in Haripur district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Gorraki is the main hub for nearby Bandaa (small villages). Sub divisions include Jarral Awan and Kutab Shahi Awan.

Residents regularly face a water shortage.

Education

Gorraki has two primary schools - one for boys and one for girls.

Demographics

The majority of the villagers belong to the caste “Awan”.

Most of the residents have migrated to Haripur.

title: Gorraki

question: What issues does Gorraki face?

question: Why are the schools for boys and girls different?

question: What are the demographics of Gorraki?

question: What connections does Gorraki have to other places?

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Gorraki is a village in Haripur District in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. It acts as a hub to smaller villages, namely Jarral Awan and Kutab Shahi Awan. It has two schools, for boys and girls. The populace belongs to the "Awan" caste. Most residents migrated to Haripur.


text:
_One of the most spectacular fish kills of recent years occurred in the Colorado River below Austin, Texas, in 1961. Shortly after daylight on Sunday morning, January 15, dead fish appeared in the new Town Lake in Austin and in the river for a distance of about 5 miles below the lake. None had been seen the day before. On Monday there were reports of dead fish 50 miles downstream. ... By January 21, fish were being killed 100 miles downstream .... During the last week of January the locks on the Intracoastal Waterway were closed to exclude the toxic waters from Matagorda Bay and divert them into the Gulf of Mexico._

_
... investigators in Austin noticed an odor associated with the insecticides .... The manager of the (chemical) plant admitted that quantities of powdered insecticide had been washed into the storm sewer recently and, more significantly, he acknowledged that such disposal of insecticide spillage and residues had been common practice for the past 10 years._

_
.... For 140 miles downstream from the lake the kill of fish must have been almost complete, for when seines were used later in an effort to discover whether any fish had escaped they came up empty. Dead fish of 27 species were observed, totaling about 1000 pounds to a mile of riverbank._

_Rachel Carson, 1962, Silent Spring_

[Photograph of Town Lake.]

TOWN LAKE, the last in the chain of Highland Lakes on the Colorado River, runs through the center of Austin, Texas. On any given day, grebes and coots dot the water, rowers skim alongside, and the sparkle of the sun on the water can be admired from the adjacent hike and bike path and from the windows of nearby office buildings. During the summer months, crowds gather along the shores of Town Lake to watch as many as 1 million Mexican Free-Tail bats emerge from under the Congress Avenue bridge. But below the lazily moving azure water lies a bed of sediment about 1 meter (m) thick—sediment that has been deposited gradually since the reservoir was formed in 1959 and that has been recording changes in water quality since that time. What can this sediment tell us about the history of water quality in the Colorado River? And what does it say about the effects of the rapid urbanization of Austin and the future health of our environment?

What We See in Town Lake

TO ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the City of Austin, collected a sediment core in 1998 (collection methods explained in “How We Sample”). The core penetrated the entire 1 m of Town Lake sediment and contains evidence of the 1961 DDT spill described in “Silent Spring.” The graph below (fig. 1a) shows DDT and its breakdown products, DDD and DDE, measured in the core. The large peaks near the bottom of the core mark the 1961 spill. Concentrations jump sharply from the first sample at the bottom of the core to the next sample up, estimated to date from 1961, then go even higher in the sample dated as 1963. Since 1963, total DDT concentrations (DDT + DDD + DDE) in the lake sediment have decreased 90 percent, from 430 micrograms per kilogram (µg/kg) at the peak to 42 µg/kg in sediment deposited in 1998.

DDT use was ubiquitous in the United States in the 1950s and 1960s, and sediment cores from many lakes show a large DDT peak in the early 1960s (Van Metre and others, 1998). Is the peak in Town Lake any different? One way to find out is to compare the DDT trend in the Town Lake core with DDT trends in other urban lakes and reservoirs (fig. 1b). The peak concentration in Town Lake is about 10 times greater than the concentration in newer sediment at the top of the core. The average peak in the four other lakes compared on figure 1b is four times greater than concentrations in newer sediment. This comparison indicates that the spill in Town Lake left behind DDT concentrations that are two to three times the concentrations that might be expected on the basis of “normal” DDT use in the 1950s and 1960s.

[Graph showing DDT trends in sediment cores.]

Historical use of other hydrophobic (incapable of dissolving in water; literally, “water fearing”) contaminants are also recorded in the Town Lake sediments—in particular, lead and the organic compounds polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), chlordane, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) (fig. 2). Like DDT, use of lead and PCBs was widespread during the early years of Town Lake but subsequently was reduced or eliminated by regulatory action. Chlordane, although restricted by regulatory action, remains at relatively high concentrations in recent sediments. In contrast, PAHs, which originate from numerous urban sources, are not regulated.

LEAD concentrations in the Town Lake sediment core follow a trend pattern similar to that shown by other urban U.S. lakes. Lead in gasoline caused large increases in lead concentrations in urban lakes and streams in the 1960s and early 1970s. Lead concentrations peaked in urban reservoir and lake cores in the mid-1970s and then decreased with the introduction of unleaded gasoline (Callender and Van Metre, 1997). Concentrations in the Town Lake core have decreased by about 70 percent since 1970 (fig. 2a), a direct and encouraging response to the elimination of lead in gasoline.

PCBS had widespread industrial and commercial uses, primarily as insulation fluids for transformers and in appliances. PCB concentrations in sediment from most urban lakes peaked in the mid-to-late 1960s, at the height of their use, then decreased following restrictions imposed in 1971 (Van Metre and others, 1997, 1998). The pattern in Town Lake is similar, with a peak concentration of 96 µg/kg in the early 1960s decreasing by about 70 percent to 31 µg/kg in 1998 (fig. 2b). Thus, for these persistent contaminants (DDT, lead, PCBs), restricting their use has resulted in large decreases in Town Lake.

CHLORDANE is an organochlorine pesticide of the same general class as DDT. Use of most organochlorine pesticides was restricted or banned in the 1970s. Agricultural use of chlordane was restricted in 1974; however, urban use (primarily for termites and ants) was permitted until 1988. Even after 1988, use of existing stocks in the possession of home owners was allowed. On the basis of a nationwide survey of pesticide use in 1990, this continued use was substantial, rivaling the early-1970s agricultural use (Whitmore and others, 1992). Chlordane is of particular concern in Town Lake; high levels of chlordane in fish have resulted in a fish consumption advisory imposed by the Texas Department of Health (1996). Chlordane concentrations in Town Lake sediment were relatively high in the 1960s and early 1970s, then decreased in the 1980s (fig. 2c). A small peak in the early 1960s, coincident with the DDT spill, possibly could indicate some chlordane released by the spill. A second peak in the early 1970s was coincident with substantial agricultural use in the United States and with chlordane peaks in some other urban (Van Metre and others, 1998) and agricultural (Van Metre and others, 1997) reservoir and lake cores. More surprising is the increase at the top of the core, indicating continued input of chlordane to Town Lake in the 1990s. Recent input was confirmed by analysis of suspended-sediment samples collected by the USGS in Shoal Creek (tributary to Town Lake) in November 1997 and March 1999. Chlordane concentrations in 10 suspended-sediment samples ranged from 9 to 340 µg/kg (U.S. Geological Survey, Austin, Tex., unpub. data), compared to a concentration of 47 µg/kg at the top of the Town Lake sediment core.

[Graph showing trends in concentrations of four hydrophobic contaminants.]

PAHS, in contrast to trends in the regulated or banned contaminants, show dramatic increases during the past 20 years in the Town Lake core (fig. 2d). This pattern is repeated, to varying degrees, in lakes with urbanizing watersheds across the United States (Van Metre and Callender, 1999). PAHs are trace contaminants that occur naturally in crude oil, coal, and other hydrocarbons. They also are produced by combustion of hydrocarbons, resulting in many urban sources including: industrial and power plant emissions; car and truck exhaust; tires; and asphalt roads and roofs. Eliminating PAHs from urban runoff is difficult because of their varied sources. PAHs are an environmental concern because they are toxic to aquatic life and because several are suspected carcinogens (Björseth and Ramdahl, 1985; Long and Morgan, 1990).

Total PAH concentrations in recently deposited sediment in Town Lake are about 16 times the concentrations in 1960, increasing from about 700 µg/kg in 1960 to 11,400 µg/kg in 1998 (fig. 2d). The increase corresponds with increases in traffic in greater Austin (Schrank and Lomax, 1999; fig. 3). From 1982 to 1996, PAH concentrations in the sediment core and automobile use (expressed as total miles driven on Austin roads) both increased by about 2.5 times (fig. 3). The relation of PAH concentrations to Austin traffic is evidence of the importance of non-industrial sources of PAHs to streams and lakes and indicates that vehicle emissions, road and tire wear, and engine oil leaks could be major sources of PAHs.

[Graph compairing Town Lake PAHs and traffic trends.]

Overall Trends

The trends in the Town Lake sediment core tell us that, in some respects, water quality is improving in the Colorado River in Austin. These decreasing trends are obviously good news. The decreasing trends in DDT, lead, and PCBs coincide with regulatory restrictions, often combined with voluntary reductions in use resulting from public awareness and concern.

Unfortunately, not all the contaminant trends in the Town Lake core are decreasing, chlordane and PAHs being obvious examples. Sales of chlordane have been banned since 1988; however, it could take years for concentrations to drop substantially. It is taking an average of about 10 years for persistent contaminants like DDT and chlordane to decrease by one-half in U.S. reservoirs and lakes (Van Metre and others, 1998). The picture is more troubling for PAHs, which are unregulated. The correlation of PAH concentrations to traffic rates in the Town Lake watershed (fig. 3) implies that limiting water-quality degradation in urbanizing lakes and streams might not be achieved by controlling land-use practices if traffic volume continues to grow unchecked.

Overall trends in sediment quality in Town Lake are not immediately apparent because both increasing and decreasing trends occur. The different groups of contaminants were compared by normalizing (dividing) all contaminant concentrations by the Canadian Sediment Quality Guidelines for the Protection of Aquatic Life (Environment Canada, 1995). The lower level guidelines currently known as the interim sediment quality guidelines were used. Individual metals and organic compounds were normalized to yield a value called a toxicity index. These toxicity indexes were then summed for related groups of contaminants (metals, organochlorine compounds, and PAHs), then plotted (fig. 4). These guidelines use a broadly accepted approach for identifying levels of contaminants in sediment that are expected to adversely affect aquatic life. The guidelines are not related directly to human health. This normalization allows comparison of the relative toxicity of metals, organochlorine compounds, and PAHs.

The graph (fig. 4) shows trends for the three major groups of contaminants measured in the sediment core. The higher the toxicity index, the more toxic the sediment is expected to be—thus, a decrease over time means sediment quality is improving. This graph indicates that the worst overall sediment quality in the past 40 years is associated with the DDT spill in 1961. Overall sediment quality improved from 1961 until about the mid-1980s, mostly because of large decreases in DDT and PCBs, both organochlorine compounds. Since the mid-1980s, however, the sediment toxicity index has been increasing, in large part, because of the large increase in PAHs. This increase in toxicity indicates that improvements in sediment quality caused by reductions in the use of many organochlorine pesticides and PCBs are being offset by increases in PAHs, probably traffic related, as Austin grows.

[Graph showing trends in overall sediment quality in Town Lake.]

How We Sample

Three basic types of coring tools were used: piston corers, gravity corers, and box corers. The piston and gravity corers both collect relatively long (as much as 3.5 m), 6-centimeter (cm) diameter tubes of mud. The box corers collect a sample as much as 1-m long, 14-cm square and have jaws that close at the bottom to hold the sample in. The Town Lake cores were collected from a raft (see picture on left) and, on larger lakes, are collected from a pontoon boat (see picture at bottom). After collection, a core is subsampled by pushing the sediment up through the plastic liner and slicing thin layers of sediment off the top (see picture on right). The chemistry of the samples is measured using various analytical methods. Cesium-137 for age dating is measured by radioactive counting (Van Metre and others, 1998). Metals are measured by inductively-coupled plasma/atomic emission spectroscopy and graphite-furnace atomic adsorption (Fishman and Friedman, 1989). Organic compounds are measured by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Furlong and others, 1994; Foreman and others, 1995). Ages of sediment layers in the Town Lake core were assigned on the basis of the cesium-137 profile and core lithology similar to the approach used by Van Metre and others (1997).

[Photograph showing retrieval of gravity core from Town Lake.]

Retrieving a gravity core from the bottom of Town Lake.

[Photograph showing gravity core slice.]

Slicing a 5-centimeter long subsample from a core for laboratory analysis.

[Photograph showing sampling from a pontoon boat.]

Sampling on a lake in California from the pontoon boat.

The NAWQA Program

The Town Lake study was done by the USGS National Water-Quality Assessment (NAWQA) Program’s Reconstructed Trends study. More than 50 lakes have been sampled nationally for this study since 1992 (fig. 5). With the exception of the larger-than-normal DDT peak, trends in the Town Lake sediment core are similar to trends in sediment cores from many other U.S. urban lakes. In general, concentrations of regulated and banned contaminants such as DDT, PCBs, and lead have decreased greatly coincident with reductions in use. Chlordane trends in the United States vary regionally, with continued larger concentrations in urban lakes in the South and upper Midwest and decreasing trends in the Northeast (Van Metre and others, 1997, 1998). Trends in some “unregulated” metals and organic compounds are also variable and, in some cases, continue to increase with urban growth. Arsenic and zinc, for example, are increasing in many lake sediment cores concurrent with urbanization (Van Metre and Callender, 1999). PAH trends, on the other hand, are very consistent in lakes in areas of new urban growth—increasing in all urbanizing lakes where sediment cores have been collected for the NAWQA Program.

[Map showing sites sampled during 1992-99 for the USGS reconstructed trends study.]

References

Björseth, Alf, and Ramdahl, Thomas, 1985, eds., Handbook of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—v. 2, Emission sources and recent progress in analytical chemistry: New York, Marcel Dekker Inc.

Callender, Edward, and Van Metre, P.C., 1997, Reservoir sediment cores show U.S. lead declines: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 31, no. 9, p. 424A–428A.

Carson, Rachel, 1962, Silent spring: Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 386 p.

Environment Canada, 1995, Interim sediment quality guidelines: Ottowa, Ontario, Ecosystem Conservation Directorate, Evaluation and Interpretation Branch, 63 p.

Fishman, M.J., and Friedman, L.C., eds., 1989, Methods for determination of inorganic substances in water and fluvial sediments: U.S. Geological Survey Techniques of Water-Resources Investigations, book 5, chap. A1, 545 p.

Foreman, W.T., Connor, B.F., Furlong, E.T., Vaught, D.G., and Merten, L.M., 1995, Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory—Determination of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in bottom sediment by dual capillary-column gas chromatography with electron-capture detection: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 94–140, 78 p.

Furlong, E.T., Vaught, D.G., Merten, L.M., Foreman, W.T., Gates, P.M., and Koleis, J.C., 1994, Methods of analysis by the U.S. Geological Survey National Water Quality Laboratory—Determination of semivolatile organic compounds in bottom sediment by solvent extraction, gel permeation chromatographic fractionation, and capillary-column chromatography/mass spectrometry: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 95–719, 67 p.

Long, E.R., and Morgan, L.G., 1990, The potential for biological effects of sediment-sorbed contaminants tested in the National Status and Trends Program: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Technical Memorandum NOS OMA 52, 175 p.

Schrank, D.L., and Lomax, T.J., 1999, The 1999 annual mobility report—Information for urban America: College Station, Tex., Texas Transportation Institute, Texas A&M University, accessed December 28, 1999, at URL
http://mobility.tamu.edu/study/report.stm

Texas Department of Health, 1996, Fish advisories and bans: Texas Department of Health, Seafood Safety Division, 18 p.

Van Metre, P.C., and Callender, Edward, 1999, Trends in sediment quality in response to urbanization, in Morganwalp, D.W., and Buxton, H.T., eds., U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program—Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, S.C., March 8–12, 1999—v. 2—Contamination of hydrologic systems and related ecosystems: U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 99–4018B, p. 471–475.

Van Metre, P.C., Callender, Edward, and Fuller, C.C., 1997, Historical trends in organochlorine compounds in river basins identified using sediment cores from reservoirs: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 31, no. 8, p. 2,339–2,344.

Van Metre, P.C., Wilson, J.T., Callender, Edward, and Fuller, C.C., 1998, Similar rates of decrease of persistent, hydrophobic and particle-reactive contaminants in riverine systems: Environmental Science and Technology, v. 32, no. 21, p. 3,312–3,317.

Whitmore, R.W., Kelly, J.E., and Reading, P.L., 1992. National home and garden pesticide use survey, final report: Research Triangle Institute, RTI/5100/17–01F, 140 p.

_—P.C. Van Metre and B.J. Mahler_

Photographs by C.E. Ranzau

INFORMATION ON TECHNICAL REPORTS AND HYDROLOGIC DATA RELATED TO THIS STUDY CAN BE OBTAINED FROM:

District Chief
U.S. Geological Survey
8027 Exchange Dr.
Austin, TX 78754–4733

E-mail: dc_tx@usgs.gov
Phone: (512) 927–3500
FAX: (512) 927–3590
World Wide Web: http://tx.usgs.gov/

question: Where did dead fish appear?

answer: In the new Town Lake in Austin

question: How many species of dead fish were observed?

answer: 27 species of dead fish were observed

question: How long had the disposal of insecticide spillage and residues been happening?

answer: For the past 10 years

question: Chlorodane is a what?

answer: It is an organochlorine pesticide.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses one of the greatest fish kills that occurred in 1961. Due to contamination of water and insecticide spillage and residues from chemical plans, the Colorado River was becoming poisoned. The article discussed the breakdown of the residue in the city of Austin and shows the historical use of these contaminants.


text:
**Emeralds**

He slams the door behind him. He just needs to think but there is too much to think about. He can see the sun going down ahead of him as he walks towards his gate. The streets before him are usually full of life, but now sit barren and cold besides the occasional car passing through. He heads north. He doesn't know where, no one knows where his path will end. Passing buildings of brick and cement, he drags his fingers across the rough surface of the wall a little too long. It bothers him; the pleasure from touch and the sharp pang of rawness that he is left with after he pulls his hand away. He feels it isn’t fair, this contradiction of both the pleasure of touch and the pain it inflicts.  He learns from his mistake and decides against doing it another time. He sighs as he glances at the pink flesh of his fingers and quickly stuffs his hands into his jacket pocket. “How long have I been gone?” he wonders as he raises his watch to his eyes; not even an hour has passed. A little further up the street, a woman exits what appears to be a coffee shop. As he moves closer he can smell the bitterness of freshly ground coffee and the sweetness of perfume. The woman sees him and smiles. He doesn't know her or at least he can’t remember her face or name if he does. She walks towards him and says, “Hi”. He wants to say something, anything to break the still silence between them. He so badly wants to acknowledge her existence.  He wants to say something, anything, but he can’t bring himself to speak. He passes the woman without a word and walks past the windows of the coffee shop. He sees the empty red booths made of leather and the pattern of the alternating black and white tiles and the bright green wall paper. It’s almost overwhelming to his eyes. He notices the man behind the counter watching news on the television, but he continues down the street and crosses it at the next intersection. “The woman was only trying to be friendly”, he thought.  Detailed thoughts began to emerge in his mind, as he strains to recall every aspect of his brief encounter with the woman: her smooth, soft spoken hello, her bright blonde hair that rested on her shoulders and back, and her eyes. Her eyes were a deep green, the color of beautiful emeralds. “I wonder if she even gave me a second thought?” he thinks to himself.  There were fewer buildings now; most of them are houses much like his own. He thought about his house and how he forgot to close his gate as he left the yard. His thoughts drifted back to the green eyed woman. He thought about chasing down the woman to say hello but he started thinking. He thought possibilities in his head of what could happen if he did. He dismissed the thoughts and scenarios by making excuses to himself; “She wouldn't be worth it and it wouldn't last even if she was” was what he thought. Just outside of town he sits on the fallen trunk of a dead tree and he wonders what would happen if he just sat there through the seasons.  “How long would I sit in this spot before anyone noticed I was gone?” he thought, “Will I ever see her emerald green eyes again?”

Everything was a blur since that night. Months had passed since he had seen the woman with the emerald eyes; he had looked around town, but to no avail. He couldn't think but there was nothing to think about anyways; nothing but the woman. He walks outside to breath in the humid summer air. He pushes the door closed and hears the soft click of the locking mechanism as he turns away and heads toward the sidewalk. Before stepping on to the street he pauses to admire the sun setting over the horizon. He starts walking towards the fallen tree outside of town and he passes the buildings made of bricks and cement. Pausing for only a second, he holds his fingertips to the wall, lightly dragging them over the rough surface. He pulls his hand away and is no longer accompanied by the stinging sensation that has stayed with him for so long. He can smell the bitter aroma of the freshly ground coffee beans as he approaches the coffee shop. He stops at the window and sees the same man watching television. The sight of the bright green wallpaper and the alternating of the black and with tiles bring back visions of the woman with emerald eyes. He opens the door and is greeted by the jingle of a bell suspended over the door by a piece of red ribbon. He grabs hold of a red leather booth and quickly lets go as he glances over the room and sees all the empty red booths. But there, in the corner, facing away from the door is a woman with beautiful blonde hair and the smell of perfume is almost intoxicating to him as he walks closer. Thoughts are racing throughout his mind. “Does she remember me?” “What should I say?” “Should I say anything at all?” Disregarding all thought and mustering up all the courage he has left, he walks over and sits down in the booth with the woman. She looks at him. He sits there, staring into her deep, beautiful emeralds for quite some time before uttering one simple word. “Hello.”

title: "Emeralds" written by Me, for an AP English class! Looking for tips!

question: Who is the woman with emerald eyes?

answer: She approaches the protagonist on the street and greets him randomly.

question: Why does the narrator not say anything back to the woman?

answer: It is not stated in the passage, but it seems as though he was overwhelmed by the encounter.


text:
Mindfulness? Pah. You don’t have time to sit around doing nothing. Or maybe you’ve read the research and you’re sold on the idea of mindfulness but you just can’t find the time. You’re not alone, this is something that we hear frequently at Positive Change Guru. So what can you do to make mindfulness part of your day? We’ve put together six painless but powerful practices to kick start your Mindfulness journey. We show you how to start where you are, adding mindfulness into your day with just a few minor tweaks.

Too Busy to practice mindfulness? We show you how to practice mindfulness for busy people (who don’t have time) in six easy steps

1.  START YOUR DAY WITH MINDFUL BREATHING

Yes, we know that you’re already breathing (truthfully, we’d be worried if you weren’t). This is a way of applying mindfulness to something that you already do, using the breath as an anchor. It’s a strategy for setting the tone of the rest of your day and can be a great way to embed mindfulness as a habit. Think about your morning routine, how do you typically start your day? Waking, getting out of bed, cleaning your teeth, having your first dose of caffeine? Is there space for one minute of mindfulness practice? A mindful minute perhaps? Or a quick body scan? If you’ve ever decided to run a marathon and followed a running plan you may be familiar with the strategy of run a minute, walk a minute on day 1, run two minutes, walk two minutes on day 2 as a starting point. Surprisingly, training your brain is no different to training your body. And that’s what you’re going to do. Think of it as neuro training.

Start with a minute of practice first thing in the morning on week one and build up to two minutes on week two. Start where you are and see how far you can build your morning practice. As you begin to see the benefits, you’ll be surprised at how easy it becomes to incorporate mindfulness into your morning routine.

2. STOP

One of the things that we like about the STOP exercise is its simplicity. Sometimes mindfulness sounds more complicated than it really is. STOP is deceptively simple and it’s something that we can all do, at any time during the day for 60 seconds. It will enable to interrupt habitual thinking or patterns of cognitive complacency by bringing you back to the present moment.

3. (S)TOP
     (T)AKE A BREATH. Notice the flow of your breath in and out of your body.
     (O)BSERVE your thoughts as you breath in and out, what is popping into your head, right here? Right now? How are you feeling you, your body? What sensations are here? Do you notice tension, aches, or are you relxed? How is it for you, right now in this moment?
     (P)ROCEED. Once you’ve practice STOP keep calm and carry on with your day.

4. The waiting practice.

You know what it’s like, you’re stuck in traffic, the lights are at red and you are willing them to change with every fibre of your body. Perhaps you’re in a queue and the conversation between the cashier and the person in front infuriates you as you glance at your watch. Can’t they see you’re on a schedule? Or perhaps your train is waiting at the station, delayed for some unknown reason. Don’t they know you have somewhere to go? Annoying isn’t it? The irritation as you wait is an opportunity in disguise and a prime moment to practice mindfulness. Try this three step waiting practice instead;

Bring your focus to your breath. Notice the cool stream of air above your upper lip as you inhale and a warmer sensation in the same area as you exhale.
Move your attention to your body.

How are you feeling? What sensations are you able to detect? How does your irritation manifest itself in the body? Clenched fists, increased heart rate? What do you notice as you scan your body?

Notice your thoughts; annoyance? Impatience? Irritation? Recognize them and then allow them to be, just as they are.
Stop multitasking

5. Stop Multitasking.

Multitasking is a myth. As much as we want to believe that it’s possible we know from a plethora of research in the field of neuroscience that the ability to focus on several tasks at the same time just isn’t possible. Studies by Gloria Mark, Professor of Informatics at the University of California found that when we’re continually distracted we may work faster but we produce less, increasing your error rate.

Dr JoAnn Deak author of ‘Your Fantastic Elastic Brain” states that “When you try to multitask, in the short term it doubles the amount of time it takes to do a task and it usually at least double the number of mistakes.” Worse still, researchers at Stanford University found that regular multitaskers are particularly bad at it, suggesting multitaskers are easily distracted.

STILL NOT CONVINCED? TRY THIS QUICK TEST FROM THE POTENTIAL PR

question: What does the text say about starting one's day?

answer: The author describes a typical person's morning routine as waking, getting out of bed, cleaning one's teeth, and having one's first dose of caffeine. They suggest incorporating a mindful minute into the process, and potentially building to longer stretches of time later; they argue that as one begins to see the benefits of that practice, it will become easier to do more.

question: What does the text say about multitasking?

answer: The author claims that multitasking is a myth. They cite research, particularly by Gloria Mark, a Professor of Informatics at the University of California, which found that when one is distracted, one may work faster, but produce less and with more errors. They also cite Dr. JoAnn Deak, who makes similar points.


text:
A nation's Intelligence Agency released a 140 page report detailing the lack of food and water for the planet's growing population, the inevitability of climate change to keep elevating dangerous weather conditions, and the destined collapse of the current monetary system.  The whole nation was already full of unhappy people, a generation that had been fed the lie that if they worked hard they would eventually be prosperous and happy, were unemployed or held dead-end jobs where they were constrained, bored, underpaid and unappreciated.  They were furious at being mislead.  A generation of baby-boomers before them had stolen all of the prosperity from the nation and left a dying planet behind as their inheritance.

The nation’s news-media grew increasingly cynical, morbid and depressing every day.  Networks were purely out to make money and the dying nation, which felt helpless to help itself, ate up these stories and wallowed in its unhappiness.  As a result those with mental disorders such as antisocial personality disorder, psychopathy and narcissistic personality disorder, began to believe that they were in fact part of the majority, as people had forgotten long ago that TV was not a true representation of reality.  Such individuals became so convinced of their normalcy that they never sought out the mental counseling they so desperately needed, and as their self-assurance grew so did their boldness.

A few started openly killing innocents, and once made famous by the greed of the media, more joined in.  Soon even innocent children were not safe from the crossfire.  With every disaster that befell the nation its people, scared and delusional, gave up one civil liberty after another until the freedom the nation once held proudly over the heads of the rest of the world was nothing more than a distant memory.  Its citizens grew divided between the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance as though each stage were in fact an ideology to live by.

Only a small percentage of the population had made it to the final stage and the deniers were so desperate to believe that everything would be OK that they turned their back completely on science and reason, the two things that human beings prided themselves on the most.  The desperate actively ignored the evidence that came to light more and more every day, and lashed out at those who sought to end their ignorance.  These people controlled vital aspects of the government, and so the nation was locked in a terrible stand still, completely unable to deal with the current problems and imminent dangers of the future.

Only one solution seemed to remain; revolution.  A total revision of government and civilization.  But revolution was never to happen, too much of the nation had become convinced that they were completely helpless to influence the world, and reverted to total depression, complete apathy or a mix of the two.  Each time an uprising started it was never able to gain enough momentum to stop the government from quelling it, through military and police action, and more powerfully through clever manipulation of the press and propaganda.  People came to fear conflict more than anything, especially amongst themselves and so they created societal restrictions on which words they could say and which situations they could show in movies and on TV. In this stifling environment people became unable to think for themselves, and creativity and originality were snuffed out.  Suicides, murders and sickness grew.

Some began openly hoping for the end of their world.  Nature began lashing out in its death throes as the misery of money continued to strangle it.  Floods, droughts, blizzards, and terrible storms wreaked havoc across the planet.  Wars over resources broke out around the globe, and finally the government took total control of the nation through military and police supervision.  Each and every citizen was now a ward of the state, but even with strict laws in place limiting the production of more children the population had already grown too large to sustain.  Soon governments around the world began to consider something once thought to be unthinkable-nuclear war.

All it took was one missile, and all pandemonium broke out. No one can remember who made the first move, but it hardly mattered once a nuclear winter, an event which scientists had been warning about for decades, consumed the planet.  The access to food and water, already scarce, became virtually non-existent and the starving population bottlenecked.  The humans, plants and animals that managed to survive were plagued with genetic mutations and disease.  Extinctions on a massive scale ravaged the land and sea.  Eventually only a small niche of organic life remained, breeding and evolving over many thousands of years to create a new era.  Although some mutated form of the human genome survived, the human race is never again at the top of the food chain.

All information that humans had gathered and analyzed over the centuries was lost forever, for you see, the human race had been so distracted by war and money that they had never mastered space travel.  When the sun eventually went supernova, any existence of life on the planet Earth and possibly in the entire known universe was completely eliminated.  Doomed to revert to the stardust which had originally allowed for its creation.

The end.

This is my first time writing anything other than a research paper really, so I'm curious as to how other people view the style, and what you all generally think.  (It's ok if you don't like it!)

title: "I'm afraid that this story takes place in the not-so-distant future."

question: What was the reason for nuclear war starting?

answer: The complete chaos of global society-- The government took total control of the nation through military intervention and every citizen became a ward of the state, but even with limits on childbirth, populations had become too large, and wars of resources broke out around the globe.

question: What was the relationship between the nation's media and the nation's people?

answer: The nation was already generally unhappy, as this generation had realized that the previous generation had lied to them, stolen the nations prosperity and left a dying planet behind. As a result, media became more cynical, depressing and morbid. And an already unhappy nation ate these stories up, and started to forget that these televised stories weren't actual representations of reality.

question: What are the major events of the story?

answer:
-A nation's intelligence agency releases a report about global lack of food and water, the destined collapse of the current monetary system, and climate change being inescapable
-Cynical news media alters people's perceptions of reality, and people with mental health issues become convinced of their normalcy
-People start killing innocents, more people start killing innocents, nations slip into chaos
-Resources start to run low, wars start, nuclear war breaks out, and the earth gets ravaged

question: What nations were most responsible for the eventual implosion of the planet?


text:
The door opens.
“What was that?”
“My husband must have gotten home early”
“Fuck, what do I do?”
“I would run if I was you, dumbass”
“Shit look at me, I can kill the motherfucker”
“Did I mention he is an ex marine?”
“That changes everything doesn’t it? So I should run now”
“Bye Randy”
The man quickly grabs his pants and puts them on without the underwear. Rush. Rush. Rush. The husband bursts through the door before the man can open the window.
“Who the fuck is this Sierra?” said the husband.
“Run Randy!”
The man then dashes out the door behind the angry husband and heads for the car. The car is an ran ragged 1994 Aston Martin Vantage with a sun roof, midnight black paint job with brown dust all over it. He slides over the hood of it with the angry husband hot on his trail. He jumps in the car. Starts it. And almost runs over the angry husband while getting away. The angry husband then takes off one of his shoes and busts the taillight of the car. The man the drives off into the sun, thinking about what had just happened.
“Was she calling me Randy?” the man said to himself.
“Who the hell is Randy?” he then added.
He then chuckled and kept driving to the run down shit apartment he has became accustomed to calling home.

This is my first time attempting to write anything, i need feedback. any at all would be appreciated. good or bad. i need it all. thanks in advance reddit.

title: The Man

question: What can the deduce from the passage as to what is happening between the three adults?

answer: There seems to be an extra-marital affair going on, with the husband of the woman involved just catching on.


text:
MARCANTONIO BRAGADIN (6 October 1906, Rome – 11 June 1986, Rome) was an Italian admiral of the Royal Italian Navy and the Italian Navy. He was also an essayist and the screenwriter of a number of war films. He was a direct descendant of the 16th-century Venetian commander Marco Antonio Bragadin.

Life

Besides dealing with specialist topics, in 1949 he wrote the educational work _Che ha fatto la Marina? 1940–45_ (_What did the Navy do? 1940–45_) to make the navy's actions during World War Two better known – they were then little known due to censorship.[1] He had planned it in 1942 whilst serving in the Supermarina.

He was also the advisor, screenwriter, production manager, consultant and assistant director on four 1950s Italian war films – three directed by Duilio Coletti (_I sette dell'Orsa maggiore_, _Divisione Folgore_ and _La grande speranza_) and one by Antonio Leonviola (_Siluri umani_, 1954)

Works

-   _La marina italiana nella seconda guerra mondiale (1940–43)_, 1950, Lega Navale S.d.
-   _La marina italiana 1940–1945 - Segreti bellici e scelte operative_, Bologna, Odoya, 2011, pagg. 435
-   _Storia delle repubbliche marinare_, Odoya, Bologna, pagg. 320,
    -   _Che ha fatto la Marina? 1940–45_, Milano, Garzanti, 1949, prima edizione, pp. 611, con illustrazioni, foto in b/n, cartine e schede
-   _Il dramma della marina italiana 1940–1945._ Milano: Oscar Mondadori, 1982
-   _SIM, SIS e SIA – Operazione Rigoletto – Da Roma a Mosca._ - “Storia Illustrata”, numero speciale – Lo spionaggio nella Seconda Guerra Mondiale – vol. XXIII, n. 144, Novembre 1969, pp. 28–38;

[1]

title: Marcantonio Bragadin (admiral)

question: Who was Marcantonio Bragadin?

answer: An Italian Admiral who was also a screenwriter and essayist.

question: What did Bragadin write about?

answer: He aimed to bring light what the Italian Navy did during the second World War. He also wrote 4 Italian War Films.

question: Why was his ancestor, Marco Antonio Bragadin (16th Century), important?

answer: The article does not specify.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A page about Admiral Marcantonio Bragadin, of the Italian Navy.


text:
[]

KAKEI: By the way… Mizumachi, what are you doing?
MIZUMACHI: Eh? What do you mean? When you're in a public bath, you either swim or peep, right?
EVERYONE: YOU DO NEITHER!

When people are seen going to and bathing in a public bath. Public baths have appeared in many cultures, from the ancient Romans to the Russians and Japanese. Usually gender segregated, everyone spends their time washing off and relaxing with their fellow sex.

Public baths frequently appear in media from countries such as Japan and Turkey, where they are still commonplace. They are usually used by lower class citizens who don't have a bathtub in their home (just a shower), or when the household's bathtub is not working. When going to and from one, expect everyone to be wearing a really plain towel, to be carrying a bath pan with shampoo and conditioner (which can be used as a weapon if needed), and to drink some nice, cold milk after they get out.

Different cultures have particular customs associated with the bathhouse, as well as localized names: in Turkey they are called _hamam_, in Korea _jjimjilbang_, and in Russia _banya_. A Japanese bath house (referred to as a _sento_) will always have a large wall painting of Mt Fuji in the background, as bathing in the shadow of Mt Fuji is good luck. In modern Finland, the use of steam bathhouses called _saunas_ is not only a popular communal activity, but an integral part of family life.

Scenes come in two types: washing up (with extremely high chance of Fanservice) and then relaxing in the bath talking. Depending on the media, chances of "skinship" or Ho Yay subtext are very high; guaranteed, in fact, if a female Lovable Sex Maniac is around. If a male Lovable Sex Maniac is present on the male side, expect him to try to sneak a peek at the girls' side, if the baths aren't already co-ed. On the other end of the spectrum, the bathhouse can be the ideal place to carry out a murder: potential victims will likely be unarmed and vulnerable, and in the event of a struggle, the abundance of hard surfaces alone are a magnet for lethal head trauma injuries.

Censor Steam is usually on, as well as conveniently placed soap bubblesnote . You may also see characters carrying a Modesty Towel into the actual bath, although in Real Life, towels are almost never allowed in.

This type of scene is so common in anime there is even a wiki that catalogues them.[]

Related to Hot Springs Episode and Furo Scene.

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Examples:

    open/close all folders

    Anime & Manga

-   The research group in Lyrias goes to a public bath to relax and celebrate after they succeed with their experiments in _Akagami no Shirayukihime_. Suzu invites along Obi and Kirito as well since Shidan and Lata don't go.
-   _A Bride's Story_ has an arc about two women who meet and become friends in their local bathhouse, including many lovingly drawn scenes of dozens of naked or nearly naked ladies. The men's bath is also shown, including a vigorous massage that looks like it popped all of Mr. Smith's limbs out of their sockets.
-   _Buso Renkin_
    -   The male characters go to a bathhouse, and, since they're bored, decide to compare the sizes of their "XXXXX". The protagonist's is about average, while the nearby captain of the kendo team is so beautiful that it appears as a cloud of sparkles and reduces them all to tears. Humourously, Papillion is there, and his is implied to be the biggest.
    -   While in the manga the girls go to a teahouse at this point, this is switched in the anime so that they go to a bathhouse too — with all the usual Fanservice, _Skinship_ and Les Yay that usually goes with it.
-   A public bath is the source of, or setting for, humourous antics (as well as Fanservice) in several espisodes of _Chobits_.
-   In _Code Geass_, one of the Picture Dramas features a group of Ashford girls (Milly, Shirley, Kallen and Nina) taking a bath together in the Ashford Academy's bath house.
-   _Cute High Earth Defense Club LOVE!_ has this as a common occurrence since Yumoto's older brother runs a hot spring bathhouse and said bathhouse is close to Binan High.
-   _Dog Days_: The Hero goes to the one in the castle and of course walks in on the princess.
-   Happens semi-regularly in _Elegant Yokai Apartment Life_. The cast (especially Yushi) is often seen relaxing there after their latest shenanigans. Later on, Hase joins them.
-   As quoted above, _Eyeshield 21_ has Monta, Sena, Mamori, and Suzuna meet their old enemies, the Poseidons, at a bath house. While Monta and Sena try to get intel on their next opponent, the Bando Spiders, the No Social Skills Mizumachi tries to peek on a not-quite-Skinship Grope between Mamori and Suzuna.
-   During the class trip in _Girl Friends_. A self-conscious Akko tries to see Mari without letting Mari see her. Unfortunately, Akko passes out in the bathwater, prompting Mari to carry her out of the bathhouse, dry her off, put on her underwear and pajamas, and tuck her into bed.

    AKKO: _Just kill me now._

-   Rushuna and Yajiro both visited a public bath in the 4th episode of _Grenadier_ even though both sides were empty and they were the only ones on both sides.
    -   Rushuna visits another public bath in the 10th episode.
-   An extended scene in _Hell Teacher Nube_, when all of Doumori was haunted by a bath-based Obake and no one could take baths or even shower for days. Fed up, Nube's entire class decided to go to a public bathhouse together, as did Nube, Ritsuko (who is a long-time client) and Yukime... and the Obake. This is because the _sento_ owner was about to close the baths down, so said Obake invaded the nearby homes to help her gather money. With some help of Nube, they punish some bad guys who were blackmailing the old lady, and the bath house recovered its popularity even after the house baths were back to normal.
-   _Hidamari Sketch_: season one and season 2 each have a trip there, Yuno being shy wraps a towel around her breasts.
-   In Volume 8 of _Honey and Clover_, Ayu and Miwako go to a health resort, which includes this before they get massages.
-   Chapter 8 of _Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Doujin Edition_ has the student council go to a bathhouse after they get caught in a flash rainstorm. Notably, none of the girls are ever shown during the actual bathing segments. It's also pointed out that only Shirogane had ever been to one before (the other four are all rich enough that they'd never had a need to go to one).

    SHIROGANE: Also, it's common sense, but don't take your towel into the bath, alright?

-   _Lyrical Nanoha_:
    -   The first Sound Stage of _Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's_ had the main protagonists and their Muggle friends visiting the newly opened public house at the same time as Hayate and the Wolkenritter, with a chance meeting being avoided due to Nanoha and Fate spending their time there washing each other's backs instead of wandering around.
    -   The first Sound Stage of _Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS_ had the cast going to the same bath house when they visited earth for a mission, with Erio and Caro having some Bathtub Bonding when the latter went over to the male side of the bath house after she learned that children could go wherever they want.
-   A common occurrence in _Osomatsu-san_, where the brothers and other male characters go to a bathhouse (pictured above).
-   _Patlabor The New Files_ has the officers of SV2 visit a public bath after their improvised bathtub blows up. There, they wind up having to search for a bomber who has three moles in the right armpit. Naturally, the search turns into an enormous naked brawl. The bomber turns out to be a woman, so the men had no chance to find her.
-   _Ranma ½_:
    -   Several times, either because the Tendō home's bath breaks, or the scene involves Ryōga, who tends to visit public bathhouses during his travels. More often than not, a fight breaks out. Usually on the male side.
    -   The major example is when Ranma fight Happōsai (that naturally want peep the girls, Akane included) in a sort of Escalating War with the two uses items from around the bathhouse, like towels and pails, as weapons. At the end, with all the cute girls gone (and it revealed that Akane and Nabiki wear swimsuits as precaution), Happōsai is tricked by Ranma's female form.
-   A cause for hilarity in _Shoukoku no Altair_ when Mahmut, Ahmet and Kurt are relaxing in the hamam, then suddenly a butt-naked Zeki Pasha appears and immediately starts scolding them.
-   Chapter 22 of _Shuukan Shounen Hachi_ is dedicated to this, when Inohara invites Hachi and Handa to a public bath-house (soon followed by the boys of the class). It turns out Ran is very Genre Savvy and deliberately talks aloud to trick the boys into thinking there's a gender-mixed bath outside (there's none.) The author further nails the contrast between the boys and the girls by having two panels side by side of one character asking another to pass the soap. One one side, Inohara playfully goes for more groping, while on the other Hachi meekly passes the soap with a gloomy expression, with the girls' voices in the background.
-   _Tenchi Muyo!_ had two episodes set in a hotel with a public bathhouse. The first episode (episode 4) had Ryoko and Ayeka having their first major fight, leading to Mihoshi being stranded on Earth when she attempts to find the criminal Kagato and wrecking the place. The second episode (episode 9) had the gang invited back... to _fix_ this mess, leading to the gang learning the secret connection between Sasami and Tsunami.
-   _Run with the Wind_ has the main cast going to the public bathhouse to bond or strategise semi-frequently while their their dorm bath is out of commission thanks to their dorm's boiler mysteriously malfunctioning (or so the one at fault Haiji proclaims). One episode has Haiji and Kakeru competing to see who can last the longest in the super hot bath—both end up passing ouy before a winner can be decided.
-   In the two-part story of _To Love-Ru_ "War At The Public Bathhouse", Yami, along with Lala, Haruna and Mikan, is attacked in a public bath by two bounty hunters who use Rito (controlled by a device) because they know that Yami will never kill him. Thanks to Lala, who hack the device, their plan fail and are defeat.
-   _Urusei Yatsura_:
    -   A Chapter/episode has Ataru finds the perfect part-time job — a washing attendant at a bathhouse — which he excitedly anticipates as being an opportunity to ogle and grope naked women. However, it doesn't turn out the way he expected.
    -   in a Anime-original episode has Ataru and friends try to peep the girls in an old bathhouse. Turn out at the end that all the girls wear swimsuits.
-   In the _Haikyuu!!_ manga Karasuno visits a bathhouse in a few chapters. One time, Hinata was so exhausted after a volleyball game that he almost drowned. Yamaguchi still remembers it in a different chapter where Hinata is a bit too energetic this time and ends up annoying Tsukishima with his hyperactive behaviour (like jumping out of the water).
-   _Yume No Shizuku Kin No Torikago_ has many scenes taking place in the Hamam[] of the old palace, where the women in the harem go to bathe and socialize.
-   Subverted with the Kidneys in _Cells at Work! CODE BLACK._ They're depicted as a factory-like public shower staffed by overworked slave girls who aren't even allowed to talk so they can do their jobs as quickly and efficiently as possible, due to the kidneys status as a "silent organ" (ie, an organ that won't send out any pain until it's in really bad trouble).

    Arts

-   Roman bathhouses are subject of more than one of Lawrence Alma-Tadema's paintings; _A Favourite Custom_ is probably the most famous, but _The Baths of Carcalla_, _Strigils and Sponges_, and _An Antique Custom_ also feature baths.

    Comic Books

-   In _Drowntown_, Gina and Izzy meet Solly, who has a job for them, at a public mud spa. They're not all that pleased about getting into a mud bath with him, although as he points out, he's not even the right species to have any inappropriate ulterior motive for wanting to meet there.
-   _Asterix_: In _Asterix the Gladiator_, Asterix and Obelix visit the public baths in Rome. It is here they meet Caius Fatuous, who wants the two to become gladiators for him.

    Fan Works

-   In _Chrysalis Visits The Hague_, the lawyer Estermann and the judge Mullan and Lyra Heartstrings share a (modern, western, pseudo-Roman) one at one point. It's decidedly awkward, though not necessarily for all the _expected_ reasons.
-   In _The Other Prefects_, Simon invites Liam to join him in the bath and Liam does so.

    Films — Live-Action

-   A lengthy scene in The Movie of _Up Pompeii_, inevitably used for both Fanservice and Fan Disservice.
-   _Spa Night_, a 2016 film directed by Andrew Ahn, is one big Public Bath Scene, as most of the film takes place in a Korean-style sauna/public bath in Los Angeles.
-   _The Blacksheep Affair_ had a sauna scene where the Big Bad gets confronted by several mobsters who tries to kill him. He retaliates by kicking one of them in the crotch (_all_ of them are in the nude, by the way, just to make it extra painful) before beating down all the mobsters expertly.
-   _The Accidental Spy_: One scene takes place in a Turkish bath where Jackie Chan gets attacked by mobsters looking for him. It culminates into a Chase Scene where Chan runs through Istanbul's Grand Bazaar _in the nude_.
-   _Forty Guns_: The first thing the Bonnell brothers do when they arrive in Tombstone is to visit Barney's Bathhouse to get cleaned up. A later scene shows them, along with the bride's father, bathing as they prepare for Wes's wedding.
-   _The Hour of the Pig_: Courtois has a conversation with the priest while they're in the town bathhouse at one point. As a result, the priest is briefly distracted by the sight of a nude nun going past them.
-   One of the _Zatoichi_ movies had Zatoichi and a group of Yakuza confronting each other in a bathhouse. The Yakuza tries getting the drop on Ichi, but Ichi as usual packed his cane-sword and kills off a whole bunch of naked enemies whilst being naked himself!

    Literature

-   Chapter 11 of _Dodger_ has a scene in which Solomon takes Dodger to the Turkish baths in Commercial Road.
-   _Happy Birthday to You!_: The Mustard-Off Pools.
-   Maria Nova from _Orbital Lily_ has all the girls under her care take a shower together every morning while she watches. Then she inspects each of them before she watches them all dress in unison.
-   In _Rangers At Roadsend_ Chip and Katryn visit a public bath. Chip tries not to ogle Katryn, with limited success.
-   The final scene of the third _The Queen's Thief_ book, _The King of Attolia_. After the king defeats the whole of Attolia's private guard in sparring, thereby showing himself to be a true king worthy of the throne and not the weak and lazy interloper he'd been playing as the whole novel, guard captain Teleus invites him to the guards' private bathhouse.

    Live-Action TV

-   _Ressha Sentai Toqger_ has an episode devoted to a bathhouse, including several scenes of Toqgers bathing.
-   Tiberius and Drusus have a conversation in a bath in _I, Claudius_.
-   Orange Is the New Black : Larry and his dad have a conversation about Piper. In a gay bathhouse, which slowly dawns on Larry. Includes a Funny Background Event of a couple of lovers, and of course, counts as a Fan Disservice-y Shirtless Scene.
-   _The Borgias_ had one where Micheletto tries to attack Cardinal Della Rovere in the baths. It doesn't work.
-   In _The Hollow Crown_, Prince Hal and Ned have a long conversation in a public bathhouse.
-   _The Alienist_ features scenes in a public bathhouse, including a murder.
-   Subverted in _Queer As Folk US_ when Brian buys a defunct bathhouse and converts it into office space.

    Pro Wrestling

-   On August 21, 1995, the hardcore wrestling promotion IWA Japan held a Bath House Death Match. The rules seemed to involve the baths being equivalent to the tag ropes, and, as time passes, logs are added to the fire. Leaving the pool draws a warning ("yellow card") and can lead to a wrestler being disqualified. The first match was the IWA Japan World Tag Team Champions[] the Head Hunters (A&B) vs. Shin-FMW (Tarzan Goto and Mr. Gannosuke)note . They actually wrestled around while naked women tried to stay out of the way. Shin-FMW won when Head Hunter B couldn't stand the heat and rolled out of the bath. The second match was Goto and Gannosuke vs. Shoji Nakamaki & Keisuke Yamada. Goto/Gannosuke won via Goto dunking Yamada's head under water for a 5 count.

    Video Games

-   In _Persona 5_, a bath house allows Joker to increase his Charm stat if he goes there at night. There are some nights that are said to be particularly relaxing, which increase the boost he gets from the bath. A player only is required to visit the bath house once with Joker, Ryuji, and Yusuke, who proceed to have a conversation about the girls in their party... but Ryuij eventually can't stand the bath, since an old guy keeps adding hot water.
-   In _Shantae_, public bath houses serve as the game's Trauma Inn in the first game.
-   In _Fire Emblem Fates_, the "My Castle" feature allows the player to build a bath house in their own base. This includes scenes where: he and Silas take baths and get teased by Subaki, Ryoma shows up and offers to wash his (the Avatar)'s back, and finally the Avatar ends up as an Accidental Pervert and is hilariously chased around by a very angry Hana as a result.
-   _Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines_ has a public bath underneath a gang-owned massage parlor in Chinatown, where the player has to extract a kidnapping victim. The person in the bath is the only non-hostile in the building — perhaps it's relaxing enough to make him ignore the armed vampire running through.

    Webcomics

-   _Stand Still, Stay Silent_ has a single panel of the sauna variant.

    Web Videos

-   In _Critical Role_, The Mighty Nein visit a public bathhouse at Mollymauk's suggestion. Their antics quickly result in the other patrons getting creeped out and leaving.

    Western Animation

-   The Ancient Rome episode of _Il était une fois... l'homme_ has a scene where Pierre and Jumbo accompany a wealthy man into the bathhouse, where they swim around in a pool, wrestle with other men, walk through a steam room, and give the wealthy man a nice massage.

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

question: Why aren't bath houses common place in the US?

answer: Possibly because of Puritan ideals regarding nudity, a tradition that would preclude being naked in public.