text:
His last comrades died twenty years ago; before we became an independent country and long before Ivan’s grandson put mobile phone in his shaking hands, and said "Now you can call me wherever you are." They died years before that same pub banned smoking and the new owner hired girls from town who knew nothing about life.

Men began to sit on the stone stairs in front of the closed school, with sports magazines and a bottle of wine in their old hands. From that spot, they could see under the skirts better, but couldn’t watch football. That’s why they sometimes winked to the small ones, who ran to peek through the windows and reported the results.

After funeral, Ivan’s mistress, whom he regularly visited at evenings and who always waited him with chocolate pancakes and beer, invited children to her home. It was a little cosy house, full of plants, books and old photographs, filled with unfamiliar sweet smell.

“This is the last time I’m making pancakes,” she said, and to make this sure, she did an enormous lot of them. Boys’ eyes were fixed on the pan, girls rubbed hands against their thighs under the table, their mouths open.

It was a friendly August and they were wearing their parents’ clothes. Boys put on oversized shirts and shoes so big that they had troubles climbing up the stairs. Girls were examining each others’ long light linen dresses—it made them think about what their mothers where like when they were young; their skin soft and beautiful, their hands not yet affected by dishwashing and rheumatism.

Maria, who let her tears fall rhythmically into the pan, set the longest table and blushed shyly as she buttoned up her yellowish blouse, so the hungry looks of excited boys couldn’t watch drops of sweat sliding slowly towards her belly button.

She said “Ivan was the biggest tard I’ve ever met,” and tilted the bottle.

“The biggest tard,” children repeated together. They stared at her as she took off her shoes and started to sway gently on the terrace that was glowing in bronze color of her curls.

Meanwhile, humming under tone and somehow absent, the last of the few mourners returned home to their surprised wives:
"Sometimes it just doesn’t feel like having another one."

title: The Vagabond

question: Why were men sitting on the stone stairs in front of the closed school?

answer: From there they could see under the skirts better.

question: Explain why it was the last time Maria was making pancakes.

answer: Because she would make them for Ivan and the children but now Ivan had passed.

question: Explain why the girls were examining each others' long light linen dresses.

answer: It made them think about what their mothers were like when they were young.

question: Summarize Ivan and Maria's relationship.

answer: Maria was Ivan's mistress whom he regularly visited and always waited him with pancakes and beer.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Ivan was the last of his comrades to pass away. He regularly visited Maria, his mistress, in the evenings who always waited him with pancakes and beer. She would invite children to her home, but after the funeral was the last time she would make pancakes.


split: train

text:
ROKIŠKIS () is a city in northeastern Lithuania with a population of about 14,400.[1]

History

[Rokiškis Church of St. Matthias] The legend of the founding of Rokiškis tells about a hunter called Rokas who had been hunting for hares (Lit. “kiškis”). However, cities ending in “-kiškis” are quite popular in the region. The city was first mentioned in 1499. At first, it was Prince Kroszinski's residence, later count Tyzenhaus build a beautiful neogothic church of St. Matthias and Rokiškis Manor, which is well preserved today and houses the Rokiškis Regional Museum. The town was planned in a classicist manner.

Rokiškis was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania (Rzeczpospolita) until 1795 when Lithuania was annexed by the Russian Empire. Rokiškis was included in the Vilna Governorate, until 1843 when the Novo-Alexandrovsk district (uyezd) was transferred to the newly established Kovno Governorate.

The city started to grow in 1873 when a branch of the Libau–Romny Railway was built which connected Dünaburg/Daugavpils to the east with the ice-free Baltic port of Libau/Liepāja.

In the summer of 1915, the German army occupied the city. When the war ended, the area became part of the new Republic of Lithuania. Rokiškis was granted city rights in 1920. Because of strained relationships between Lithuania and the nearby newly created Republics of Poland and Latvia, Rokiškis was economically isolated during the inter-war period.

Coat of arms

[Freedom Monument in Rokiškis] The first arms for the city were designed in 1970 but were abolished the same year. The current coat of arms was approved in 1993. The shield is divided into 4 quarters. 3 of the quarters depict 3 families that ruled the city: the candelabrum represents the Kroszinski family; the bull is a symbol of the Tyzenhaus family, and three bars and a fleur-de-lis are taken from the arms of the Przezdziecki family. The fourth quarter shows the impressive organ that is housed in the St. Matthias church.

Industry

[Unveiling of the Monument of 10th anniversary of Independence in Rokiškis, in 1931. The monument was funded by the Rokiškis inhabitants and withstood the Soviet occupation.[2]] Situated on the Daugavpils-Liepaja railroad, during the 19th Century Rokiškis served as a commercial center for a large rural area and a point for the export of wood, grain, and flax. Rokiškis is well known for its cheese. “Rokiškio sūris” is one of the largest cheese manufacturing companies in Lithuania. It grew from a small local dairy established in 1925. In 1964 Soviets built a specialized factory. At present after reconstructions and foreign capital investments, its sales reach 400 million litas (about 155 million USD). 60% of the production is sold in foreign markets. The company is a very important employer in the region. It is also an important supporter of community initiatives.

Jewish history

There was a vibrant Jewish community in Rokiškis () for hundreds of years. The first Jewish settlement may have been prior to 1574 and was located at the present site of the old Jewish cemetery (about half a kilometer southwest from the market square) until the mid-1700s,[3] when the community moved to the area near the market square and Kamai Street (now Respublikos gatvė). In 1847 there were 593 Jews in the town and in 1897 2,067 (75% of the total population).

In May 1915, during World War I, Jews in central Lithuania were forcibly deported to the east by order of the Czarist government. Although Jews in the Rokiškis area were not the subject of the deportation order, as the Russian forces retreated Cossacks serving in a rearguard capacity terrorized the Jews in northeastern Lithuania and most of the Jews in the Rokiškis fled to the interior of Russia. The Germans occupied Rokiškis until 1918.

When World War I ended and the Republic of Lithuania was established, Lithuanian Jews were permitted to return home. The Jewish community of Rokiškis numbered 2,013 in 1923. Rokiškis developed rapidly after World War I but under different economic conditions. Before the war, for example, Rokiškis could trade with nearby Dvinsk/Daugavpils/Dunaburg, Latvia, to which it was connected by a rail line. During the 1920s, however, Lithuania's border with Latvia was closed. As a result, trade increased with towns to the west which were connected by rail lines, such as Panevėžys/Ponevizh, Šiauliai/Shavli, and Kaunas/Kovno. (There was also a small gauge rail line to Pandėlys/Ponidel.) Prior to World War I, only 3 stores had been Christian-owned. After the war, however, many Lithuanians from surrounding villages came to settle in Rokiškis and open stores. Further, Lithuanian cooperatives came into being, trade in flax and produce was nationalized, and other factors caused a severe economic decline for the Jews. Many Jewish businesses went bankrupt in 1925 and between 1926 and 1930 many Jewish families emigrated to South Africa, the United States of America, and Palestine. In 1939 there were 3,500 Jews in Rokiškis (40% of the total population). They were mostly Chabad Chasidim. During the period of Lithuanian independence (1918–1940) there were two Hebrew schools.

The Soviets annexed Lithuania in 1940 and all Jewish businesses were confiscated. When Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union on June 21–22, 1941, Lithuania was quickly overrun. The Germans soon brought in special assignment squads to arrest and murder Jews. The Jews of Rokiškis and its environs were murdered in nearby woods just north of Bajorai, 400 meters east of the intersection of the northeasterly road to Juodupė and the northerly road to Lukštai.[4][5][6][7] The official German army report (“the Jager Report”) states that on August 15–16, 1941, a total of 3,207 Jews were killed.[8] Other Jews were deported to the ghetto of Joniškis and killed there.

People of note

Rokiškis is the birthplace of the commander of the Soviet Air Force and Hero of the USSR, Yakov Smushkevich.

Twin towns — sister cities

Rokiškis is a member of the Douzelage, a town twinning association of towns across the European Union. As of 2019, its members are:[9]

-   Agros, Cyprus

-   Altea, Spain

-   Asikkala, Finland

-   Bad Kötzting, Germany

-   Bellagio, Italy

-   Bundoran, Ireland

-   Chojna, Poland

-   Granville, France

-   Holstebro, Denmark

-   Houffalize, Belgium

-   Judenburg, Austria

-   Kőszeg, Hungary

-   Marsaskala, Malta

-   Meerssen, Netherlands

-   Niederanven, Luxembourg

-   Oxelösund, Sweden

-   Preveza, Greece

-   Rovinj, Croatia

-   Sesimbra, Portugal

-   Sherborne, England, United Kingdom

-   Sigulda, Latvia

-   Siret, Romania

-   Škofja Loka, Slovenia

-   Sušice, Czech Republic

-   Tryavna, Bulgaria

-   Türi, Estonia

-   Zvolen, Slovakia

Other twin towns[10]

-   Borșa, Romania

-   Cēsis, Latvia

-   Daugavpils Municipality, Latvia

-   Estenfeld, Germany

-   Harbin, China

-   Jēkabpils, Latvia

-   Ludza, Latvia

-   Ozurgeti, Georgia

-   Pabianice, Poland

-   Pastavy, Belarus

-   Provadia, Bulgaria

-   Tamsalu, Estonia

-   Viesīte, Latvia

[1]

[2]

[3] http://www.jewishgen.org/yizkor/pinkas_lita/lit_00646.html

[4] http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/76/

[5] http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/75/

[6] http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/74/

[7] http://www.holocaustatlas.lt/EN/#a_atlas/search//page/1/item/205/

[8] the Jäger Report

[9]

[10]

title: Rokiškis

question: Summarize how Rokiškis becomes known for its cheese.

answer: Rokiškis has Rokiškio sūris, one of the largest cheese-manufacturing companies in Lithuania, established in 1925. At present, 60% of its production is exported.

question: What would have happened if the Germans did not occupy Rokiškis in 1915?

answer: The Jews in Rokiškis would not have been terrorized, and there would not have been a lot of senseless killings of Jews.

question: Why are there so many Jews in Rokiškis?

answer: There were already Jews in Rokiškis since the 1500s, so it's likely that they grew in number through the years.

question: What could have happened if the Germans did not start murdering the Jews in Rokiškis?

answer: Had the Germans not murder the Jews in Rokiškis, Rokiškis's history would have been kinder, as there would not have been thousands of Jewish deaths.


text:
J.P. WORLD SCHOOL (JPWS) is a K-12 co-educational school in Jammu, India.

The school was established in 2006 after construction works for the school buildings. It has a sports complex and computer suites.

Education at the school puts specific emphasis on Indian ethos. The school is managed by the Choudhary Charitable Trust.

Category:Schools in Jammu (city) Category:Educational institutions established in 2006 Category:2006 establishments in India

title: J.P. World School

question: What facilities does the school have?

answer: A sports complex and computer suites.

question: What does the school find most important in its education?

answer: The school emphasizes the Indian ethos.

question: Where is the school located?

answer: Jammu, India.

question: Who is the manager of the school?

answer: The article doesn't mention a person. The school is managed by the Choudhary Charitable Trust.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: J.P. World School is a K-12 co-educational school in Jammu, India. It was established in 2005 and has a sports complex as well as computer suites. The school emphasizes the Indian ethos. It's managed by the Choudhary Charitable Trust.


text:
THE CHURCH OF SAINT LUCIA is a place of Catholic worship in Rome, seat of the parish belonging to the diocese of Rome and, since 1973 the cardinal's title of “Saint Lucia at the Yard.”

The building is located in the stretch of the ring road Clodia between Piazzale Clodius and Marshal Square Garden, in Della Vittoria district falling within the boundaries of the Municipality of Rome I.

List of Cardinal Protectors

-   Timothy Manning 5 March 1973 - 23 June 1989
-   Frédéric Etsou-Nzabi-Bamungwabi 28 June 1991 - 6 January 2007
-   Theodore Adrien Sarr 24 November 2007 - present

title: Santa Lucia a Piazza d'Armi

question: What is Santa Lucia a Piazza d'Armi?

answer: A church.

question: In what country is it located?

answer: Italy.

question: What is the denomination of this church?

answer: Catholic.

question: What is its other name?

answer: The Church of Saint Lucia.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The Church of Saint Lucia, also known as Santa Lucia a Piazza d'Armi since 1973, is a Catholic church located in Rome, Italy.


text:
FOREIGN criminal syndicates including major drug traffickers were able to launder millions of dollars through Australia after the Commonwealth Bank allegedly failed to comply with strict money laundering and counter terrorism financing laws and monitor almost 780,000 accounts.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) filed a motion in the Federal Court to prosecute the bank alleging 53,700 contraventions of the AML/CTF laws since 2012.

According to the lodged statement, part of the contravening of the laws stemmed from CommBank’s rollout of Intelligent Deposit Machines (IDMs), similar to ATMs but that accept cash and cheque deposits.

The machines have been so popular that by June last year $1 billion a month was being deposited this way.

But according to AUSTRAC, the machines were being targeted by money laundering syndicates and criminal gangs wanting to move proceeds of their drug manufacturing and trafficking sales offshore and domestically. It is understood these gangs include known criminal figures linked to Outlaw Motorcycle groups.

In one case, between November 2014 and August 2015 cash deposits totalling $27.2 million were made to one account and almost immediately transferred offshore.

“The deposits were the proceeds of a drug manufacture and importation syndicate,” the filed motion states. “Three individuals have been charged with dealing with proceeds of crime, with one of these individuals already having been convicted.”

In another case, CommBank had allegedly identified repeated suspected structured cash deposits to 16 of its accounts, 15 of them carrying fake names, moving cash to China.

“Notwithstanding this suspicion, between April and 1 July 1 2015, CommBank permitted approximately $9.1 million to be transferred from these accounts to Hong Kong.”

RELATED: COMMBANK BANK CHIEF TO FACE INQUIRY INTO BANKING SYSTEM

The Australian Federal Police later established the bank accounts were opened by foreign nationals on holiday visas for the sole purpose of making bulk cash deposits here to launder tens of millions of dollars back overseas.

The CommBank had identified suspicious transactions by a third criminal syndicate but again, according to AUSTRAC’s court statement, allowed them to continue trading until police arrested each person. Almost 100 other CommBank accounts were used for “cuckoo smurfing” where transfers of money can be made between associated in separate countries in a way that monies don’t need to cross borders. And in another case, the bank failed to report suspicions one of its customers was running an illegal money remittance service.

The blatant abuse of IDMs has continued as late as January this year with CommBank accepting $320,000 cash deposits over five days into the one account.

Peter Clark, the acting head of the financial intelligence and regulatory agency, said for a period of three years, CommBank did not comply with the requirements of its AML/CTF program relating to monitoring transactions on 778,370 accounts.

“AUSTRAC alleges that the bank failed to report suspicious matters either on time or at all involving transactions totalling over $77 million,” me said.

“Even after CBA became aware of suspected money laundering or structuring on CBA accounts, it did not monitor its customers to mitigate and manage ... risk.”

Mr Clark said that today’s action should send a clear message to all reporting entities about the importance of meeting their obligations.

In a statement, CommBank acknowledged civil proceedings had been brought by AUSTRAC.

“We have been in discussions with AUSTRAC for an extended period and have co-operated fully with their requests,” it said.

“We take our regulatory obligations extremely seriously and we are one of the largest reporters to AUSTRAC. On an annual basis we report over four million transactions to AUSTRAC in an effort to identify and combat any suspicious activity as quickly and efficiently as we can.”

question: Explain the allegations made by AUSTRAC.

answer: They accuse the Commonwealth Bank of failing to report a large number of suspicious transfers through their Intelligent Deposit Machines.

question: Why were the Commonwealth Bank machines used to transfer money overseas?

answer: While the article doesn't elaborate, it cites the rollout of Intelligent Deposit Machines as one possible cause.

question: Summarize everything about the drug trade case that already has a conviction.

answer: Between November 2014 and August 2015, cash deposits of $27.2 million in total were made to one account and almost immediately transferred offshore. Three individuals have been charged with dealing with proceeds of crime, with one of them convicted so far. The deposits were the product of a drug manufacture and importation syndicate.

question: What are some examples of suspicious money transfers?

answer: $27.2 million of cash deposits that were almost immediately transferred overseas. 15 accounts with fake names moving money to China. $320,000 of cash deposited to one account over just five days.

question: Explain the methods used by criminal organizations to launder and transfer money.

answer: Besides depositing through IDMs and transferring, they also use "cuckoo smurfing" where money transfers between countries can be made in separate countries without the money crossing borders.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) filed a motion in the Federal Court to prosecute the Australian Commonwealth Bank on allegations of 53,700 contraventions of AML/CTF laws. Their Intelligent Deposit Machines (IDMs), like ATMs that accept cheque deposits, have been used to transfer large sums of money overseas. AUSTRAC alleges that the suspicious transfers sum up to over $77 million. In a statement, CommBank acknowledged the civil proceedings and said they were in full communication and cooperation with AUSTRAC.


text:
He looked up as Dr. Sun walked into the office. He was nervous; his wife hadn’t been the same lately. He could see that something was wrong. At first he thought nothing of it, but once the quakes started happening he knew she needed to be taken in to see the doctor.

“I’m afraid I have negative news to report to you sir. She’s very ill. She appears to have some sort of parasites on her. They are incredibly destructive. At first her body didn’t recognize them, but now that it has, it’s trying too hard to fight them off.  You may have noticed this. I’m sorry Mr. Neptune, she has a very slim chance of living. She is still very contagious. Try to keep yourself and your family protected.”

 He began to weep, thinking about his family. Together they had six children and a dog, how would he cope without her. He walked into her room and looked at her. Her big beautiful green eyes looked dead, only her salty tears confirmed she was still alive.

title: Mother

question: What is the sickness of the wife?

answer: A dangerous parasitic infection that could be lethal and is said to be very contagious.

question: Who is the main character?

answer: The narrative is centered around Mr. Neptune

question: Describe Mr. Neptune's relationship with his wife.

answer: He loves her very much and has made a family with her (6 children). He is in despair thinking about how lost he would be without her.

question: How is Mrs. Npetune doing?

answer: She is still alive, but the sickness is bad enough to make her green eyes look dead.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Mr. Neptune hears terrible news about his wife's sickness. Dr. Sun has said that it is an infectious parasite and she could die soon. Mr. Neptune worries about how he and their six children will cope with the loss.


text:
_ART OF LOVE: MUSIC OF MACHAUT_ is an album by Robert Sadin, released in 2009.

Music and recording

Sadin “conceived, produced, and served as mixer for the album, arranged the music and texts of the songs by Guillaume de Machaut, as well as singing and playing clarinet and organ on some of the tracks.”[1] Each of the tracks is partly improvised.[2] Two tracks are by different composers: “Brad's Interlude” by Brad Mehldau and “Evocation” by Milton Nascimento.[3]

The album was released by Deutsche Grammophon on September 1, 2009.[4]

Reception

The AllMusic reviewer concluded that “Deutsche Grammophon's sound is immaculate with a warm intimacy. This beautifully executed CD should appeal to fans of jazz/classical crossover.”[5]

Track listing

1.  “Song of the Dawn” – 5:11
2.  “Douce Dame” – 3:22
3.  “Natalie's Song” – 3:36
4.  “Python” – 5:00
5.  “Amour me fait désirer” – 5:12
6.  “Tu, meu sonho vivo” – 5:39
7.  “Comment” – 5:32
8.  “Brad's Interlude” – 1:17
9.  “Dame, si vous m'êtes lointaine” – 5:04
10. “Force of Love” – 4:04
11. “Doux visage” – 3:29
12. “Hélas” – 3:35
13. “Evocation” – 1:11

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] “Art of Love”. Deutsche Grammophon. Retrieved December 22, 2016.

[5] Eddins, Stephen " Robert Sadin – Art of Love: Music of Machaut". AllMusic. Retrieved December 22, 2016.

title: Art of Love: Music of Machaut

question: What is Art of Love: Music of Machaut?

answer: Art of Love: Music of Machaut is an album by Robert Sadin.

question: What is an opening track to What is Art of Love: Music of Machaut?

answer: The opening track is Song of the Dawn.

question: Who was What is Art of Love: Music of Machaut released by?

answer: What is Art of Love: Music of Machaut was released by Deutsche Grammophon.

question: Who wrote songs for What is Art of Love: Music of Machaut?

answer: Guillaume de Machaut, Brad Mehldau, and Milton Nascimento wrote songs for What is Art of Love: Music of Machaut.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Art of Love: Music of Machaut is an album by singer Robert Sadin released by Deutsche Grammophon in 2009. The opening track is Song of the Dawn. Sadin is playing clarinet and organ on some of the tracks.


text:
Excerpts’ from “The Journal”

This is one of the journal entries from a book called “The Journal”.

Let me know what you think........

::

January 10th 7:55 am

It’s snowing. Still the first one here. I hate the snow. It took me 2 hours to drive to work and I smoked all my cigarettes. My head hurts. I have had the same head ache for 6 months. It seems to only go away when I am drunk or high. I remember a time in my life when I loved the snow. I was born in February, so snow was always reminded me of my birthday and that was exciting. I hate my birthday now too. I need more cigarettes.
I think it is the craziest shit in the world to go to work and pretend to be happy or excited to be there; when you are dying inside. If people acted the way they felt, everyone would fucking hate everybody. I hate the background noise of casual conversation. Who cares about your weekend, you’re probably telling me a lie about what you did anyway; so that you can think that I still respect you. If I told you the truth about what I did this weekend, you would think I’m fucking nuts. I can just imagine that conversation with these Midwest jerkoffs. “Oh, hey Bob, how was your weekend”? “Good, just relaxing, how ‘bout yours”? “Good, you know, the usual, got piss drunk wasted, blew coke in a bar’s bathroom until my nose was clogged and then spent Sunday masturbating in between throwing up”. Fuck these people. We have nothing in common. I am constantly acting. It’s hard not to curse.
I love coffee. I love coffee with cigarettes. I sometimes day dream about how awesome it was when you could smoke at your desk and basically anywhere you wanted. I have an old Playboy that shows add for TWA, where the hot stewardess is lighting the business man’s cigarette. That is awesome. But, I still think its ass backwards to smoke indoors. I hate the way you stink the next day after going to a bar that lets you smoke inside. It also seems to bring in the morons. I hate bar games. You can still smoke inside in my home town.  I hate my home town.
My dogs will probably shit inside my house today; they won’t go in the snow. They are good dogs though. We got them from the pound and they were abused as puppies. They have little scares on their feet from their cages at the puppy mills. What kind of soulless piece of trash do you have to be to abuse a fucking puppy? They were a gift to my fiancé.
We are getting married in September and moving to LA the first of the year. This is all I think about. I can’t wait to get out of here. I once planned to move there, but chickened out because I had to do it alone. Pussy. Now I have her and she wants to move there too, so it’s perfect. I don’t care if I have to be a bartender; at least it’s not here. At least there is some fucking culture and life and art and something to do besides, drink yourself to death every fucking weekend.  I am excited for every moment of our move; from the house hunting, to packing our shit, the drive, the hotels, the adventure. That is what life is about. Not this day-to-day Midwest bullshit, I suffer through. I am done playing this fucking corporate shit. I am successful, but fuck it, I hate it. People with any talent don't live here. I can’t stand anything about living here. The way people talk, the way people act, the fact that everyone is a grossly obese and no one seems to notice how fucking ridiculous that is. When the fuck did everyone become so fucking fat and stupid. I sometime wish I was stupid. That would be an easier road.
Someone just showed up. There goes my morning. fuck this.

title: The jounral of a someone

question: What is the story about?

answer: A man who hates where he lives.

question: Can you describe the narrative voice used in this story?

answer: The narrator is acerbic and perverse. He is self-deprecating, visceral and uses irony to critique his surroundings.

question: Where does the narrator want to live?

answer: Los Angeles.

question: Is there anyone the narrator seems to love?

answer: His fiancee and his dogs

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This story is about a man who lives in the Midwest, hates his lifestyle, and wishes he lives somewhere else. So he is moving to LA.


text:
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By TOM HENRY

as published in the November 19, 2016 edition of the Blytheville Courier News

  “Trolls are slow in the uptake, and mighty suspicious about anything new,” J.R.R. Tolkien

Perhaps some of you have spent a great deal of your life looking for gold at the end of your rainbow, leprechauns, unicorns and other mythical things. You probably haven’t actually found them, but good luck. However, I can say with certainty that there is one type of mythical creature that you will not only find terrorizing Tolkien’s Middle Earth, but also here in Blytheville. That creature is the dreaded troll.

When I speak of “trolls” I am not speaking of the fabled, cave-dwelling creatures of folklore, but I am speaking of a creature equally ugly. A “troll” is someone that preys on social media sites, looking for opportunities to strike with deliberately offensive or provocative statements designed to lure others into an angry response. For some deranged reason, trolls get immense enjoyment out of doing so.

Joel Stein, in the August 29, 2016 edition of Time, wrote an article called, “Why we’re losing the Internet to the culture of hate: how trolls are ruining the Internet.”

In his article, Stein writes, “They’re turning the web into a cesspool of aggression and violence. [And] what watching them is doing to the rest of us may be even worse.”

He also added that a Pew Research Center survey showed that 70-percent of 18-to-24-year olds that use the Internet have experienced harassment personally online.

A 2014 study in the psychology journal Personality and Individual Differences performed a study “looking for evidence that linked trolling with the ‘Dark Tetrad’ of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism.”

The September 18, 2014 online article entitled “Internet Trolls are Narcissists, Psychopaths and Sadists: Trolls will lie, exaggerate and offend to get a response” reported that the study showed that “Dark Tetrad” scores were highest for those that said trolling was their favorite Internet activity. Every other segment of the population scored much lower. But with self-identified trolls, all four scores were extremely high. In fact the direct relationship between trolling and those traits are extremely linked.

The authors of the study wrote, “…the associations between sadism and GAIT (Global Assessment of Internet Trolling) scores were so strong that it might be said that online trolls are prototypical everyday sadists…both trolls and sadists feel sadistic glee at the distress of others. Sadists just want to have fun…and the Internet is their playground.”

So, why have I written this column? I have written this column for three reasons. The first reason is to show how important it is for parents to take time to teach their children how to behave in the community known as the Internet (and believe me it is as real a community as anywhere else on the planet). The second reason is to give some practical advice on what to do when “bitten” by a troll. Lastly, I desire to show trolls that may read this that they need help. They are not the normal, mainstream, balanced, functioning people that they believe themselves to be and their behavior is not acceptable.

We teach our children how to behave at home, especially in temperament and language. We also teach them how to behave around their elders or at church. We teach them how to be quiet at the library or theater, how not to throw a tantrum at Wal-Mart and even how to behave at the grocery store.

So how much more should we teach them how to behave in the largest public forum community ever created – the Internet? It is infinitely more important. Not only because of the exponential likelihood of being misunderstood or offended by someone from another geographical or cultural location, but also because people tend to be more outspoken while at the same time more isolated while online. Cyberbullying is a very real thing that all too often has lasting and even deadly consequences.

Those trolls that precipitate a young teen’s suicide are just as guilty of murder, in my humble opinion, as they would be if they had shot them with a gun.

SO WHAT DO WE DO WHEN “BITTEN” BY A TROLL?

This may sound strange, but we have to ignore them using “child psychology” and the “sticks and stones” method. Trolls feed on, grow from, multiply to and most of all enjoy rejoice in angry responses. When we respond, we give them the fuel they need and crave. If they don’t get an angry response, they will eventually keep moving until they find one that will give them their desired reward.

Admittedly, it is very difficult to have thick skin, ALMOST impossible at times, but it is truly the only way. There are also online tools such as banning, blocking, silencing, de-friending, etcetera that can be employed to cut them off from contacting you. Lastly, if trolled by multiple people, perhaps you should stop visiting the website, forum, group or page.

Now clearly there are many other means of Cyberbullying, such as by mobile phones, text messages, Snapchat, Periscope…and the list goes on and on with no end. But that is beyond the scope of this column.

NOW, IF YOU ARE A TROLL. STOP BEING A JERK. Your behavior is not funny, amusing or a small deal. If you are a cyber bully you are probably not good at one-on-one personal relationships. That is too bad. I challenge you to follow the golden rule and “do unto others as you’d have them do unto you.” And step away from the keyboard long enough to develop some real, meaningful personal relationships. Add joy to your everyday life and you’ll see that the so-called joy of attacking others online is not joyful at all; it’s pathetic.

So, if you are experiencing Cyberbullying and don’t know what to do, visit www.stopbullying.gov/get-help-now/.

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[]

tom@tomhenry.org

I have been fortunate to hold a number of very interesting jobs over the years – jobs including newspaper reporter (twice), restaurant/retail store manager, restaurant multi-unit manager, a Christian bookstore manager, pastor, video store manager and as a funeral home employee. My last three jobs included being a news editor, a civil war book editor and a programs specialist/grant writer. I have three college degrees (from Arkansas State University and Arkansas Northeastern College) including a Master of Arts in history. I spend all of my non-work time with the sweetest woman I’ve ever met. Her name is Lillie Caroline. Together we have four children (all now adult). My wife is without a doubt the answer to my many years of fervent prayer. I have never been happier than I am now. In my free time, I enjoy writing, reading, traveling (especially to historic/civil war sites), learning, intellectual discussion and singing. We live an hour north of Memphis and we love “walking in Memphis, ten feet off of Beale” as often as we can.

Next Post__

-   Courier News Op-Ed Archives

The danger of the "fake news" label (though there are some)

__Fri Nov 25 , 2016

Share on Facebook Tweet it Share on Google Pin it Share it Email By TOM HENRY As published in the Friday, November 25, 2016 edition of the Blytheville Courier News On Thanksgiving I saw a Facebook meme that quoted President Abraham Lincoln as saying, “The problem with quotes found on […]

[]

question: What does the text say about the Dark Tetrad?

answer: The Dark Tetrad is a set of personality traits: narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism. A 2014 study in the psychology journal Personality and Individual Differences looked for a link between the Dark Tetrad and online trolling. An online article in 2014 reported that the study showed that Dark Tetrad scores were highest for those that said trolling was their favorite Internet activity. All four scores were extremely high for self-identified trolls, but the authors of the study noted that there seemed to be an exceptionally strong association between sadism and trolling.

question: What does the text say about how to respond to an internet troll?

answer: The author says the best way to deal with an internet troll is to ignore them. They feed on and enjoy angry responses, so if you deprive them of that response, they will move on until they find someone else who will give them that response. There are also tools like banning, blocking, silencing, and de-friending to cut them off from contacting you. If you're being trolled by multiple people, you can also just avoid certain websites, forums, etc. The author notes that some of those tips will not work for trolling via text messages, and certain apps.


text:
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL IRELAND (commonly known as AMNESTY and AI) is the Irish branch of the international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, Amnesty International. The Executive Director is Colm O'Gorman.

Campaigns

Amnesty operate a number of campaigns focusing on human rights issues.

Abortion rights

The _She is not a criminal_ campaign opposes the Republic of Ireland's abortion law,[1][2] as according to Amnesty, “Ireland’s Constitution and abortion legislation result in violations of the fundamental human rights of women and girls. Ireland has one of the world’s most restrictive abortion laws. Women and girls cannot legally have an abortion in Ireland unless there is a risk to their life. And even where that is the case, access is difficult.”[3]

The campaign was prompted in part due to criticism of Ireland's abortion laws by the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) and the Committee Against Torture. The CESCR has criticised what it described as Ireland’s “highly restrictive legislation on abortion and its strict interpretation thereof”, and its “criminalization of abortion, including in the cases of rape and incest and of risk to the health of a pregnant woman.” It recommended that Ireland take all necessary steps, including a referendum on abortion, to revise its legislation on abortion. It also raised concerns at the impact on women and girls of the law on access to and information about abortion, and how the constitutional protection afforded to the foetus also impacted on maternity care. Abortion is constitutionally permitted only when a woman’s or girl’s life is at 'real and substantial risk', and carries a possible 14-year prison sentence in all other circumstances.[4]

Controversy over foreign donations

In December 2017 newspapers reported that the Standards in Public Office Commission informed Amnesty Ireland that this breached Ireland’s campaign finance laws which prohibit foreign donors making donations to groups in Ireland who influence government policy. The George Soros _Open Society Foundation_ funding had previously been publicly reported on its website and 2016 annual report.[5] The Commission had frequently stated in its reports that this provision is overly wide and cannot have been the intention of the legislature, except where groups are involved in campaigning at elections or referendums. Amnesty Ireland stated that they were not going to obey the Commission's instruction to return the funding, as it considered it a violation of its - and other Irish NGOs' - rights to freedom of association and expression.[6][7]

Amnesty initiated a High Court challenge to SIPO's instruction. The case was heard in July 2018 and as part of the settlement agreement, the High Court heard that SIPO now accepts its decision that the donation was for political purposes and must be returned was “procedurally flawed”. Amnesty said it was pleased that the decision has been quashed and that it was vindicated in its decision to challenge the decision. Amnesty also said that it hopes the Government will reform the Electoral Act.[8]

Refugees

Amnesty's _I Welcome Refugees_ campaign supports refugees and asylum seekers.[9] The campaign promotes resettlement policies by Ireland and the international community and focuses on three main areas:

-   Family reunification – this means refugees can join close relatives already living abroad.
-   Academic scholarships and study visas, allowing refugees to start or carry on studying.
-   Medical visas, to help someone with a serious condition get life-saving treatment.

Other campaigns

-   Opposition to torture;[10]
-   Opposition to capital punishment;[11]
-   A campaign to free Ibrahim Halawa, an Irish citizen imprisoned for four years in Egypt, without proper trial.[12] He was ultimately acquitted of all charges in September 2017, and released in mid-October. He said on his return to Dublin that he would work for other people imprisoned overseas.[13]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Amnesty International ordered to return donation from billionaire George Soros Irish Times December 8, 2017

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

title: Amnesty International Ireland

question: What is Amnesty International Ireland a branch of?

answer: The international non-governmental organisation focused on human rights, Amnesty International.

question: Who is the director of Amnesty International Ireland?

answer: Colm O'Gorman.

question: What campaigns is Amnesty International Ireland running?

answer: Abortion rights, controversy over foreign donations, refugees, opposition to torture, opposition to capital punishment, and a campaign to free Ibrahim Halawa.

question: When was Amnesty International Ireland ordered to return a donation from George Soros?

answer: December 8, 2017.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about Amnesty International Ireland, a branch of Amnesty International. It discusses some of their campaigns.


text:
The announcement by the Sisters of Charity that they are ending their involvement with St Vincent’s Hospital at Elm Park, Dublin, after 183 years is a major turning point in the history of religious involvement in Irish healthcare.

It also represents a huge victory for “people power”, much of it expressed online after controversy erupted last month over the fact that the nuns would, through their ownership of St Vincent’s, also take control of the new national maternity hospital to be built on the same campus.

The “people” who made the running on the issue were unhappy at the extent of religious involvement in healthcare, and incensed at the notion that this involvement might be increased further though the “gifting” of ownership of the maternity hospital to the Sisters of Charity.

In Dr Peter Boylan, former master of the National Maternity Hospital (NMH), this viewpoint found an unlikely, yet articulate and determined, hero. Now in retirement, Dr Boylan spoke out against the interests of his alma mater, which had already signed up to the deal mediated last November that would give the nuns ultimate ownership of the site.

For his efforts, he was effectively forced to resign from the board of Holles Street. In the court of public opinion, however, he emerged as a clear victor in the debate. Repeatedly, he asked why the State was gifting a €300 million project to a religious order, a question that went went unanswered.

Guarantees

It is true, as the NMH tried to point out, that questions of ownership would have little sway on the vast majority of work carried out in the new facility. Last November’s agreement also contained guarantees of clinical independence for the maternity hospital, though a closer examination of the document unpicked these to some extent.

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The nub of the issue lay in the potential conflict between the Catholic ethos prevailing in St Vincent’s, and which could then also apply to the new maternity hospital, and procedures incompatible with that ethos.

Would it be possible to provide abortions in the new hospital as permitted by law, which seems likely to change in the coming years? This was the central question underlying the debate. As Dr Boylan pointed out, no Catholic hospital in the world permits such procedures to be carried out within its walls.

While the internet thinks in terms of seconds, the Catholic Church thinks in generations and even centuries. This faultline led to speculation, much of its exaggerated and unfair, about the nuns’ intentions.

The Sisters of Charity are no longer actively involved in providing healthcare and their numbers are dwindling. This was never about nuns patrolling hospital corridors.

As with other orders, they had begun to look at other ways to structure their affairs but little was known of their internal deliberations. What is clear is that the past month’s controversy has accelerated a process that may otherwise have taken years or even decades. It also seems to have taken things further, to the extent that a clean break is now planned by the order.

This is a sudden, even ignominious, end to decades of provision of care for the sick and the needy.

For the Catholic Church, it may not end there; it seems likely that other church institutions involved in health and education may beat a hasty retreat in the face of public antipathy to their continuing involvement in these sectors of society.

The sisters’ announcement has been welcomed across the spectrum, though concern has been expressed that the maternity hospital will remain outside public ownership. St Vincent’s, and the NMH, are both voluntary hospitals, and they will remain so under the new arrangements, even though they are largely State-funded.

Voluntary hospitals have diverse but distinct identities. They value their independence from the Health Service Executive, and argue they are the better for it. Most have boards filled with relevant experts from health, law and finance; most HSE hospitals have no boards, and are accountable to no one.

Unpicking these structures, so intricately bound in power structures, tradition and private medicine, may take a lot longer than persuading the Sisters of Charity to leave the healthcare stage.

Some in Holles Street may also be concerned that the maternity hospital may yet come under the thumb of the much larger adult hospital in St Vincent’s. Aside from the withdrawal of the Sisters of Charity, no changes to last November’s agreement are envisaged by St Vincent’s in terms of ownership and board structure. That means the NMH will become a subsidiary of St Vincent’s and its master will report to the clinical director there.

_Is it time to make
your next career move?_

question: Which group is ending their involvement with St Vincent's Hospital at Elm Park?

answer: The Sisters of Charity.

question: Who are "power people"?

answer: It seems this is an anecdotal and/or

question: What was the issue?

answer: The people in power who raised the issue have said they are uncomfortable with the hospital's continual affiliation with religious groups, and the acquirement of the maternity wing by the Sisters of Charity.

question: Are voluntary hospitals state-funded?

answer: In part, they are, though this is not expounded upon.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: The Sisters of Charity have announced they are ending their involvement with St Vincent's Hospital of Elm Park. They will continue to  hold onto the maternity ward, which is a voluntary hospital-only partially state-funded. The Catholic Church has come under fire in recent years with some in positions of power expression a need to separate the religious agenda of certain groups out from healthcare. No other changes to St Vincent's ownership and board structure are expected at this time. Many are confused as to how to extricate religious organizations from the medical realm; the Church has long-held tied with health facilities and institutions.


text:
In investing, a DEVELOPED MARKET is a country that is most developed in terms of its economy and capital markets. The country must be high income, but this also includes openness to foreign ownership, ease of capital movement, and efficiency of market institutions. This term is contrasted with developing market (Emerging markets and frontier markets are types of developing markets).

FTSE Group list

FTSE Group, a provider of economic and financial data, assigns the market status of countries as Developed, Advanced Emerging, Secondary Emerging or Frontier on the basis of their economic size, wealth, quality of markets, depth of markets, breadth of markets. From 26 September 2019, FTSE Group classifies 26 countries as developed markets:[1]

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                         -
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FTSE criteria

Developed countries all have met criteria under the following categories:[2][3]

1.  They are high income economies (as measured by the World Bank GNI per capita Rating, Market and Regulatory Environment)
    1.  Formal stock market regulatory authorities actively monitor market (e.g., SEC, FSA, SFC)
    2.  Fair and non-prejudicial treatment of minority shareholders
    3.  Non or selective incidence of foreign ownership restrictions
    4.  No objections or significant restrictions or penalties applied on the repatriation of capital
    5.  Free and well-developed equity market
    6.  Free and well-developed foreign exchange market
    7.  Non or simple registration process for foreign investors
2.  Custody and Settlement
    1.  Settlement – Rare incidence of failed trades
    2.  Custody-Sufficient competition to ensure high quality custodian services
    3.  Clearing & settlement – T +3 or shorter, T+7 or shorter for Frontier
    4.  Stock Lending is permitted
    5.  Settlement – Free delivery available
    6.  Custody – Omnibus account facilities available to international investors
3.  Dealing Landscape
    1.  Brokerage – Sufficient competition to ensure high quality broker services
    2.  Liquidity – Sufficient broad market liquidity to support sizeable global investment
    3.  Transaction costs – implicit and explicit costs to be reasonable and competitive
    4.  Short sales permitted
    5.  Off-exchange transactions permitted
    6.  Efficient trading mechanism
    7.  Transparency – market depth information / visibility and timely trade reporting process
4.  Derivatives
    1.  Developed derivatives markets
5.  Size of Market
    1.  Market Capitalisation
    2.  Total Number of Listed Companies (as at 31st Dec 2008)

MSCI list

As of June 2019, MSCI classified the following 25 countries as developed markets:[4][5]

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

According to _MSCI Global investable Market Indexes Methodology – November 2019_,[6] Cyprus and Luxembourg, “are part of the developed market universe”, but “given their modest size, these markets are not included in the MSCI World index”.

S&P list

As of 24 June 2019, Standard and Poor's classifies the following 25 countries as developed markets:[7]

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

STOXX list

As of 23 September 2019, STOXX classifies the following 25 countries as developed markets:[8]

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

Table

  Country   FTSE[9][10]   MSCI[11]   S&P[12]   STOXX[13]
  --------- ------------- ---------- --------- -----------

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

title: Developed market

question: Why are the FTSE criteria created?

answer: The FTSE criteria are created to ensure developed countries meet the market status that the FTSE Group has built.

question: Why should the countries be high income?

answer: The countries should be high income so that they can invest more money into the developing markets, making it open for more economical growth.


text:
_LABYRINTH_ is the fourth self-titled studio album by the Italian power metal band Labyrinth, released June 25, 2003 on Century Media Records.

Track listing

1.  “The Prophet” - 4:46
2.  “Livin' in a Maze” - 4:38
3.  “This World” - 4:55
4.  “Just Soldier (Stay Down)” - 5:27
5.  “Neverending Rest” - 4:54
6.  “Terzinato” - 5:50
7.  “Slave to the Night” - 6:06
8.  “Synthetic Paradise” - 5:48
9.  “Hand in Hand” - 4:27
10. “When I Will Fly Far” - 5:17
11. “The Prophet” (Demo Version) - 5:04 (Japanese Bonus Track)
12. “Synthetic Paradise” (Demo Version) - 5:59 (Japanese Bonus Track)

Personnel

Labyrinth

-   Roberto Tiranti - Lyrics, Vocals
-   Andrea Cantarelli - Guitars
-   Cristiano Bertocchi - Bass
-   Andrea De Paoli - Lyrics (Tracks 5 And 10), Keyboards, Programming
-   Mattia Stancioiu - Drums

Production

-   Giovanni Spinotti - Recording
-   William Novati - Studio Assistant
-   Jürgen Lusky - Mastering (House Of Audio Studio, Germany)

Artwork and design

-   Travis Smith - Artwork
-   Emmanuel Mathez - Photography

Category:2003 albums Category:Labyrinth (band) albums Category:Albums with cover art by Travis Smith (artist)

title: Labyrinth (Labyrinth album)

question: What genre of music does Labyrinth make?

answer: Power metal

question: What label released the album Labyrinth?

answer: Century Media Records

question: Who is the lead vocalist for Labyrinth?

answer: Roberto Tiranti

question: Describe Labyrinth's chart performance.

answer: That information can't be found.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Labyrinth is the self-titled fourth album by Italian power metal band Labyrinth, released in 2003.


text:
Scratches

She closed the book, and placed it on her kitchen table. Even with the heavy reading she struggled in order to keep her mind off them, the scratches continued to cut into her door, slowly whipping the soft flesh of the old wooden door. With each scratch the hair on the girls arm stiffened, leaving her frozen solid, without a waft of breath to leave her mouth.
	They were long, heavy scratches. Their owner must have been tall enough to reach the top of the door, where the scrapes sluggishly traveled down the outside of her door to the floor, where they finally stopped, only to resume a few seconds later. No other sounds could be heard on the other side of the door: no snarling; no hissing; no whimper. They were intensely simple, each gash ripping out sections of the membrane that kept the girls worst fears at bay.
	As she reached the window, she carefully opened up the blinds, as if they might turn to dust with too sudden a movement. Leaning to the window, she got a good look at the dark world she was trapped in. The stars were dimmer than usual tonight, making them a haunting background to the sinister gloom of the trees surrounding her house. Each one was taller than the girl could see, with dagger-like roots that stabbed the ground, only to reveal themselves a few inches later. They were like tendrils, slowly wrapping around the mind of the small girl, trapping her like a rat in a hole. The moon, with it’s deep pale glow, was like an eye, watching the girl convulse at the loud scratches at her door. The eye illuminated the smallest detail of the damp ground outside but with the new, somber grin of the world outside her window, the girl longed for the moon to return to it’s horizon.
	Stepping away from the window, the girl finally decided to open the door, and release the beast which hid behind it. As she got closer to the door, the scratches became louder, louder, louder. She gripped the doorknob, her hands dripping with frightened perspiration. They clawed at the deepest depths of her ears, pounding like the drums of war. Slowly turning the knob, she hesitated, afraid to follow through. As one scratch began, she swung open the door, and there was no more sound. There was no more scratching.
	The cold breeze of night caressed her arms, cradling her and keeping her safe. The scratches still echoed in her skull but she was pleased that they had finally stopped. Where had they come from? Why did they have such an effect on her door? Questions tunneled through her mind, and she had no answers.
Standing in her doorway, her heart started to beat quickly again. There was no scratches on her door, but she knew something was wrong. Perhaps it was the cold wind which left her, or the moon that almost seemed to turn from a glossy white to an infected tinge of yellow. Her legs started to shake, and a feeling of dreadful sickness fell over her, like the curtain at the end of a magnificent play. She felt delirious, as if she hadn’t eaten for days, and started to frantically run her hands around her waist  as if to make sure she hadn’t disappeared like a flicker of candlelight. She felt her hips, and moved her hands around her thighs, and then up to her stomach, where she felt something odd. Was she turning to liquid? There was a thick trail of fluid running down her stomach, like a deep river, and it was coming from her. She then lifted her shirt, and saw hundreds of scratches marked on her stomach and chest. They were deep, stained red with the broken soul of the girl. She collapsed in the doorway.

title: Scratches - A Short Story I wrote for English Class

question: Who or what was scratching at the door?

answer: Unknown; however, the narrator seems to think it is some kind of beast.

question: How long has the narrator been wounded before she noticed?

answer: Not very long - she only noticed something was wrong shortly after she stood up to open the door.


text:
[A Flint water bill.]
LANSING — Without debate, the Michigan House of Representatives unanimously approved providing $30 million to Flint to help pay water bills for residents and businesses in the city.

The bill would give a credit that would be applied to how much water people consume — roughly 65% of the water portion of a resident's bill. Businesses would be eligible for credit of 20% of the water portion of their bills. Residents and business owners would still be responsible for paying the sewer portion of their bills.

Residents have long complained about having to pay for water they could not drink. A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court this week seeks more than $150 million in refunds and compensation for damages for water that the plaintiffs allege was dangerous, undrinkable and unusable.

New Michael Moore documentary gets free Flint showings

Flint’s chief financial officer, Jody Lundquist, told House members Wednesday that without the financial support from the state, “the city’s water fund is projected to run out of cash by this summer. Even with the appropriation, if public confidence can

While Democrats offered amendments that would have doubled the amount from $30 million to $60 million to pay for entire water bills, along with $3.5 million in aid to help with nutritional needs of children and families and $55 million to kick-start the removal and replacement of lead pipes, all those proposals failed before the bills was unanimously approved by the House.

"$30 million will not solve the problem. It will not be a sufficient amount of money to recoup the users from April 2014 to April 2016," said state Rep. Sheldon Neeley, D-Flint. "This bill is going to be a start. We don't want to reject anything that's going to provide some level of relief from ratepayers."

The House did approve additional guidelines on how the money will be spent, including a provision that none of the money be used for administrative costs and that no water bills that were delinquent before April 2014 —  when the city switched from using water from the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department that was drawn from Lake Huron to water from the Flint River — would be eligible for credits.

"It’s a big step now the third time that we’ve acted to send needed dollars to the city of Flint," said Speaker of the House Kevin Cotter, R-Mt. Pleasant, referring to $9.3 million approved last year to help the city connect back to Detroit's water system and the $28 million approved in January for a variety of services in Flint. "We're trying to be helpful where we can ... but no matter where we came down, there were going to be some that aren't going to be happy one way or another. It’s unfortunate that each time we act, its considered not enough."

The bill — SB 136 — has to go back to the Senate, which unanimously approved it two weeks ago, for concurrence in the changes made by the House. It's expected to be taken up on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday announced $2 million in additional funding to help Flint address its water infrastructure needs, including replacement of lead service lines.

Snyder said in a news release the money will be available for the city to start removing priority lead service lines within the next 30 days.

Based on estimates Flint Mayor Karen Weaver has received from the Lansing Board of Water and Light, which is assisting with the replacement of lead service lines, that should cover several hundred homes, he said.

Snyder said the money will come in the form of a Financially Distressed Cities, Villages and Townships Grant intended to reimburse the city for its $2-million share of the cost of reconnecting to the Detroit water system in October.

“This funding continues Michigan’s substantial and coordinated response to the Flint water crisis,” Snyder said. “We continue to ensure every possible resource is being utilized so that Flint families have safe and reliable drinking water in their homes and schools.”

Flint's drinking water became contaminated with lead in April 2014 while the city was under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager and began drawing drinking water from the Flint River as a temporary cost-cutting measure.

Activists deliver petitions urging Snyder to resign

Flint crisis attracts celebrity cash � and scammers

_Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal_

question: Is there any reason why the Michigan legislators approved $30 million to Flint without debate?

answer: Because they recognized the gravity of the water situation in Flint.

question: What are the reasons why some people find the government reaction to Flint water crisis inadequate?

answer: Some find the $30 million a small to compensate families that suffered during the crisis. Others find the money allocated for water infrastructure upgrades inadequate.

question: What forced the Michigan State government to respond to the Flint water problem?

answer: The residents brought a lawsuit, complaining about having to pay for water they are not using. Also, there was a documentary made about the problem, which gave the state government a lot of negative publicity.

question: What are the guidelines set up by the state government around the funding providing for the Flint water crisis?

answer: The government has included a provision that none of the money provided will be used for administrative costs. Also, some part of the money is to be used to fix water infrastructure.


text:
The 14TH ARMY was a field army of the Soviet Army, formed twice.

The army was first formed during the Winter War, in which two of its divisions fought in the Battle of Petsamo. After Operation Barbarossa, the army fought against German and Finnish attacks in Operation Silver Fox. In the middle of July 1941 the army was able to hold its positions. In October 1944 it fought in the Petsamo–Kirkenes Offensive and seized Pechenga. The army defended and guarded the newly captured territory until the end of the war. Its headquarters became the Belomorsky Military District at the end of July 1945. The army reformed in June 1948 from the 126th Light Mountain Rifle Corps as the 14th Army (Assault). Stationed on the Chukchi Peninsula, the army's mission was to invade Alaska in event of a war. It was disbanded in May 1953 after Stalin's death.

History

The first 14th Army was formed in October 1939 in the Leningrad Military District. It participated in the Soviet-Finnish war, during which its 52nd and 104th Rifle Divisions fought in the Battle of Petsamo.

From 24 June 1941 the army included the following units.[1]

    42nd Rifle Corps (Ist Formation 22 June 1941, disbanded 14 October 1941; was used to reinforce the Kandalksha operational group)[2]

        293rd Separate signals battalion
        279th separate sapper battalion
        104th Rifle Division
        122nd Rifle Division

    14th Rifle Division
    52nd Rifle Division
    1st Tank Division
    23rd Murmansk Fortified Region
    1st Mixed Air Division (HQ Murmansk, Colonel M.M. Golovnya, disbanded February 1942)[3]

        137th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Afrikanda) (SB)
        145th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Shangui) (38 I-153)
        147th Fighter Aviation Regiment (Murmashi) (36 I-153) Leonid Ivanov won the Hero of the Soviet Union posthumously while flying with this regiment up to his death on 27 June 1941.

    258th Fighter Aviation Division was formed from the Air Forces of the 14th Army in 1942
    a number of artillery and other units

The army was initially subordinated to the Northern Front and conducted defensive operations on the Murmansk, Kandalaksha and Ukhta directions against the German-Finnish Operation Silver Fox (29 June 1941 – 19 September 1941) and in coordination with the 7th Separate Army, in the Defensive Operations on the Petrozavodsk, Ukhtinsk, Rugozersk, and Olonetsk directions (1 July 1941 – 10 October 1941). In November 1941 three deer transportation units were formed in the 14th Army, each of them included 1,000 deer and 140–150 herdsmen and soldiers.[4] From the middle of Army was able to stop Finnish enemy forces advance, and subsequently until October 1944 (from 23 August 1941 as part of the Karelian Front) it solidly retained its sector positions, and conducted active offensive combat for the purpose of improvement in the position it occupied.

On 18 October 1944, the 14th Army after rearrangement was involved in the second stage of the Petsamo-Kirkenes Operation. From south to north in the battle were introduced 127th Light Rifle Corps, the reserve of the 31st Rifle Corps, 99th Rifle Corps, 126th Light Rifle Corps, 131st Rifle Corps. At that time, battles were mainly in the pursuit of the retreating enemy. 127th Light Rifle Corps and 31st Rifle Corps advanced on the Nickel, the 99th Rifle Corps and the 126th Light Rifle Corps on Ahmalahti, 131st Rifle Corps on Tarnet.

By 20 October 1944 127th Light Rifle Corps and 31st Rifle Corps semicircle covered Nickel from the north, south and south-west, 21 October 1944 126th Light Rifle Corps reached the lake Klistervati, 99th Rifle Corps 22 October 1944 released the road Ahmalahti – Kirkenes. 131st Rifle Corps has released 10/17/1944 to the state border and entered 18 October 1944 on Norwegian soil. Nickel was taken 22 October 1944.

Forcing Yar Fjord on 24–25 October 1944 Army troops fanned out in Norway. 31st Rifle Corps, without forcing the bay, and ran down the deep south, and reached Nausta 27 October 1944, coming on the Norwegian-Finnish border. The 127th Light Rifle Corps carried out an offensive attack in the same direction, but on the western shore of the Fjord. The 126th Light Rifle Corps undertook deep inroads in the west and reached the city 27 October 1944 Neiden 99th Rifle Corps and the 131st Rifle Corps rushed to Kirkenes, which was released on 25 October 1944, the then 99th Rifle Corps also sent the city Neiden.

By 29 October 1944, the Petsamo-Kirkenes operation was over, and with it the 14th Army's combat role. While the German forces evacuated and burned the far north of Norway, using scorched earth tactics, the Soviet advance was halted at the Tana River. Norwegian forces arrived to occupy the area between Soviet and German forces and support those civilians who had refused to evacuate. The 14th Army had taken the city of Petsamo (today Pechenga). Subsequently, until the end of the war the army defended the newly occupied territory and the state borders of the USSR with Finland and Norway.

Commanding officers

-   Lieutenant General V. A. Frolov (October 1939 – August 1941)
-   Major General Roman Ivanovich Panin (August 1941 – March 1942)
-   Major General Vladimir I. Shcherbakov (March 1942 – May 1945), from the end of April 1943 lieutenant general.

On 31 July 1945 the army headquarters was disbanded and the personnel were used to fill out Headquarters Belomorsky Military District.

14th Assault Army (1948-1953)

The army was reformed in June 1948 from the 126th Light Mountain Rifle Corps as the 14th Army (Assault). According to some data, there were plans for its use in Chukchi Peninsula and, in the case of war, landing in Alaska.[5] The army included the 116th, 117th and 121st Rifle Divisions, all former mountain rifle brigades. These divisions were not equipped like standard rifle divisions and lacked tank and antitank artillery battalions. The army included the 1221st and 1222nd Separate Cannon Artillery Regiments, the 280th Separate Engineer-Sapper Battalion and the 187th and 493rd Separate Communications Battalions as well as the 687th and 1252nd Separate Communications Companies.
It was commanded by Lieutenant General Nikolay Oleshev.[6]
In 1949, the 95th Mixed Aviation Division (converted to fighters in 1952) at Anadyr became part of the army.
On 4 May 1951, Major General Georgy Latyshev took command of the army. Lieutenant General Ivan Rubanyuk became the army commander on 14 April 1952.
The army was disbanded in May 1953 after Stalin's death.[7]

[1] p.138, Lenskii

[2] p.23, Perechen No.4 Headquarters of Corps, Soviet General Staff, Moscow, 1956

[3] Niehorster, http://niehorster.org/012_ussr/41_oob/leningrad/air.html, disbandment date from Russian Wikipedia article. Title of divisional also translates as 'Composite'.

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7] Feskov et al 2013, pp. 581–582

title: 14th Army (Soviet Union)

question: Summarize the history of the army.

answer: It was formed during the Winter War. It was disbanded after Stalin's death. In between it fought off the Germans and the Finns. In October 1944 it fought the Petsamo-Kirkenes Offensive and seized Pechenga. It was reformed in 1948. It was disbanded in 1953.

question: Who were the commanding officers and when?

answer: Lieutenant General V. A. Frolov was an officer from October 1939 - August 1941. Major General Roman Ivanovich Panin was commander from August 1941- March 1942. Major General Vladimir I. Scherbakov was officer from March 1942 - May 1945. When it was reformed in 1948 it was commanded by Lieutenant General Nikolay Oleshev. In May 1951, Major General Georgy Latyshev took command of the army. Lieutenant General Ivan Rubanyuk took command on 14 April 1952.


text:
“Who am I?”

She pondered the question over silently to herself, not allowing the words to be tainted by her voice. These were not words to be taken lightly. These were not words that could be spoken and breathed into life, not yet. She massaged her temples and let out a long, frustrated sigh.

“Not the woman I’d hoped to be, that’s for sure.”

She hated this feeling - this conglomeration of uncertainty, uneasiness, and the dread of impending doom mixed with a dash of blind hope for good measure. All of it was rolled up into one delightfully infuriating package deep within her chest.

“This can’t end well,” she mused to herself.

She almost laughed out loud (bitterly, of course) at the ridiculousness of it all.

Oh, what she would give for access to an empty football field and unchecked use of her lungs and vocal chords.

She was certain that, given the opportunity, she wouldn’t let that empty football field go to waste. No, she surely would not.

Another thing she was certain of was that her sister could no longer be trusted. She should have realized this sooner. For this, she mentally berated herself. In the future she would have to remind herself to choose her words with utmost care when dealing with her dear sister.

As far as everything else was concerned…

Fuck, if she knew.

The temptation to escape within the far recesses of her mind was a touch more appealing than she felt comfortable admitting, even to herself.

She *craved* it.

She found a peculiar comfort in the loneliness. It was like an old friend beckoning to her with the promise of safety in the darkness.

Loneliness, she knew. It was familiar. It was her safety net. It drew her in, hypnotized her, and softly uttered just the right words into her ear. It would convince her to rip out the most vulnerable parts of her – the most vulnerable parts of her heart.

“I’m only looking out for you,” it would coo. “How can they hurt what’s not there?”

It would fashion blocks of steel for her to seal off the open wounds and it would continue on, carefully replacing softly beating muscle with solid metal. Soon, all that would be left of her once vibrantly beating life force is a heavy block of steel, hard and impenetrable.

“It’s better this way, now you won’t feel a thing.”

Rightly so, she wouldn’t feel anything.

She would feel nothing.

She would *be* nothing.

title: Nothing.

question: Who is the main character?

answer: More information is needed to answer the question.

question: Where is the main character?

answer: More information is needed to answer the question.

question: Why can't the main character's sister be trusted?

answer: More information is needed to answer the question.

question: How does the main character feel?

answer: Lonely and anxious

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: A woman is alone in an unknown location. She thinks to herself about her situation, her sister, and her loneliness.


text:
   My footsteps echoed across the bare room. The white walls were lined with dirt and grime, leaving me to wonder how a room that lacked walls and windows, could become the dirty, eery looking room that stands before me. I turned my head to the right, and notice a single mirror leaning against the wall at such an angle that I could see my being staring back at me. My red hair was slightly frayed, with the area surrounding the brim of my forehead pointing towards the ceiling as it always does. My face, freckled but strong handsome, had a layer of dust on it as if I had been abandoned in an abandoned room for days. My blue and black flannel shirt drew itself across my torso, and was rolled up at the sleeves. The white undershirt lie matted against my skin, wet with sweat. My blue jeans looked as though I had been rolled around in the dirt for hours, as did my boots. I have always been physically fit, with naturally dense muscle, but I was always too lazy to work-out so I never had the body of Zeus, but still I was well-built.

   As I turned to look away from the mirror, it seemed as though my reflection continued to stare at me, un-phased and unchanged. My gaze returned to my reflection, which was following my every move once again. I must have been imagining it, I thought to myself as I turned to walk around the room.

   I approached the wall on my left and noticed something that I hadn't seen before. Dirty handprints lie sprawled against the wall, from the ceiling to the wood floors. Grimy footprints faced the wall, and as I crouched down to examine them, another footprint appeared, facing the opposite direction. Surprised, I fell back onto my rear as another print appeared about a stride's length from the other. I stood quickly and followed the footsteps as they traversed to the center of the room, then turned to face the mirror, momentarily resting before finishing its trek towards the reflective glass. When the footprints reached the mirror, I glanced up at my reflection, to try and determine exactly what had just happened.

   My eye caught a movement at the bottom of the mirror, the footprint had made another move. The heel of the print was stamped into the ground just before the mirror, but the other half... the other half continued into the mirror, as if it never existed. It travelled across the floor being reflected by the mirror. I almost wanted to attempt to go test to see if it was stable myself...

  "It's as real as you are." My voice entered my ears, but they did not exit through my lips, where could it be coming from... I looked up to see my reflection staring at me. His lips moved freely as he used my voice. "This world is filled with wonders. Even some you can't explain. Sometimes, you just need to take a leap of faith, and see what comes of it. After all, the brave don't live forever, but the cautious don't live at all."

   My hand reached out to touch the glass, but as my fingers touched the reflective surface, my hand passed through it, the reflection rippling as if it were a liquid. I took a step through into this mirrored world. I took a step into this new world, and walked across the identical room. I turned towards my reflection, but he wasn't there, not even in the world I came from. I felt the world begin to shake, and a deafening sound of laughter filled my ears. The violent quake caused me to topple over, and my body hit the ground...

My eyes bolted open to see three of my friends standing above me with a can of shaving creme in on of their hands. I felt the creme slide off my face. "Really guys?" was all I could say after that dream. "Ah come on, you know we love you," my bestfriend Michael said with a smirk. "Yea you better love me," I retorted as I wiped the shaving creme off of my face and threw it at him.

title: Opening to a story i thought up the other day. Open to criticism.

question: What did the narrator realize when they reached out to touch the glass?

answer: That it wasn't a glass and it gave them the ability to step through it into a new world.


text:
[]

OPEN 6 DAYS (CLOSED TUES)
Lunch: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Dinner: 5:30pm – 10:00pm

Vegie Hut was first established in 1997 and has endeavoured in continuing to creating new and innovative vegetarian dishes to tantalize your taste buds.

Our accomplished vegetarian chef has been cooking vegetarian Western & Chinese cuisine for over 20 years. Utilizing natural ingredients such as gluten, soya bean, mushroom, taro, konnyaku yam and with the help of various herbs and spices he has mastered the infusion of flavours to create perfect meat replacements in our delicious dishes.

For over 20 years our chef has experimented and mastered vegetarian cuisine by utilizing natural ingredients to craft and create delicious dishes that perfectly replaces the texture and flavours of meat protein.

ADDRESS:
984 Whitehorse Rd
Box Hill, VIC 3128

OPENING HOURS:
OPEN 6 DAYS (CLOSED TUES)
Lunch: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Dinner: 5:30pm – 10:00pm
Fri and Sat until 10:30pm

CONTACT DETAILS:
vegiehut@gmail.com
03 9898 2287

question: When was Vegie Hut established?

answer: 1997.

question: What cuisines does the chef cook?

answer: Western & Chinese.

question: How long has the chef been cooking these cuisines?

answer: More than 20 years.

question: What kind of food does the restaurant make?

answer: Vegetarian cuisine as a replacement for meat.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article discusses Vegie Hut, a Vegetarian restaurant that combines Western and Chinese cuisine to make vegetarian replacements for meat, that has existed for the last twenty years.


text:
Imagine the rainiest, greyest, most miserable day you have ever witnessed. Now can you imagine if it was like that all of the day every day? Well that’s the way it was in Anthony’s home town. A small town on the east coast of Ireland called, and I shit you not; Ballyfliuch. Nobody was really sure what county Ballyfliuch was in but everybody was certain it wasn’t in Dublin. A town of 10,000 people it had four schools, three churches, a shopping centre and several new roundabouts. All centered by a just recently finished ‘millennium hanging basket area’. But by far the most notable thing about Ballyfliuch was the rain. It rained hard and heavy every second of every day. It was relentless and inescapable. You may think living every day with this rain that the people of Ballyfliuch would grow indifferent to it, you’d be wrong. The people of Ballyfliuch including Anthony hated the rain and constantly complained and cursed it. Every morning every single member of the Ballyfliuch community whilst opening their curtains would hope that today would be the day that the rain stopped, but it never did.  It was with this disappointment the daily routine of life began in Ballyfliuch.

Anthony Grimes was 14 years of age. He liked movies, fast cars and black haired girls that wore boys’ clothes. Although he had only really ever seen one girl fitting such a description he had decided there and then that that was his type. Anthony described himself to himself as relatively happy but troubled. He was a good kid and both young and old were fond of him. But Anthony had a secret, a secret that troubled him. Anthony felt a deep resentment and anger towards every single person he knew or had ever met including his own family. What scared him the most is that he didn’t know why. There was bitterness in him and he knew it was the people that surrounded him had put it there. He had felt like this for as long as he could remember.

One day in a rare moment of clarity Anthony realized something had to be done about these feelings and he knew where to start. So armed with a pen, a pencil, three pads of post-its, fizzy chewits and a ridiculous amount of Pepsi-Max he cleared the walls in his room, locked the door and swore not to leave until he had made some progress in understanding and eradicating this bitterness and contempt he carried. “It’s not normal” he said. “And it can’t go on”. Anthony started to picture himself in situations where he knew these feeling were strong. He imagined meeting Jim DeGib on the street and talking about the weather as often occurred. He imagined the images he would see in his head and what he would feel. He saw the rain thrashing into puddles then blood red dots expanding and he could see it “there is the anger” he said. As he focused on it he began to understand it. He was angry at Jim’s complete acceptance of the rain. Here he was an aged business man standing in the rain getting “fucking drenched” as he put it himself. Standing in the rain getting “fucking drenched” as he has done his whole life and will until the day they lay his “fucking drenched” coffin six feet under the soggy soil. He also felt that Jim as an adult should be showing better example to Anthony than contemptuous acceptance. Anthony was making progress, he could feel it. He wrote down these few bits of information and began to apply the same tactics to every encounter he could remember himself being in and even a few he imagined would happen someday. This was long and tedious work. As the post-its gathered and his thoughts frayed the only thing that kept Anthony going was his ever nearing goal of killing those ill feelings. That and copious amounts of Pepsi-Max of course. By the end the words and pictures that stuck to Anthony’s wall would look like some sort of lunatics collage to you or me but they were Anthony’s specific thoughts and having gone through them one by one over and over from every angle to the point of obsession he had figured out what was causing the problem and he had an idea how to fix it.

You see the rain bothered Anthony and the fact that it was never going to stop made him sad. His self proclaimed “relative happiness” was relative to the people he was surrounded by who he now realized were all hopelessly unhappy. The same hopelessness he felt now at 14 they had carried their whole life and it was this that caused their lack of ambition or imagination to rid Ballyfliuch of the rain. Everybody was waiting for god to stop the rain all the while believing it to be part of god’s plan. But on this day Anthony now knew that if there is a god he doesn’t have a plan for us. The amount of happiness in our lives depends on how much of it we make or take. How had no one told him this before? Garnered with and elated by his new wisdom Anthony was not long in realizing how to make the rain stop. He took his thoughts off the wall packed a few important belongings and wrote a short note to his family which read;

Family,
I love you but I don’t like you very much. I have a plan on how to change this and I’m confident it will work. Don’t worry about me; I’ll be in touch soon.
Anthony

Then Anthony walked and walked for 25 miles feeling more and more vindicated in his decision with each step until eventually he walked into Bettystown, Co.Meath.  Anthony was under no illusions that Bettystown was the happiest or best place in the world but it was better, and on this day it wasn’t raining. Best of all if ever it wasn’t good enough Anthony knew exactly what to do. The bitterness was gone, the hopelessness was gone. As he sat in the sun on a statue of some fallen hero he exhaled and grinned.

END

title: Rain in the East (my first ever short story)

question: What is Anthony's hometown called?

answer: Ballyfliuch, in Ireland.

question: What is Anthony's deep secret?

answer: Anthony holds a deep resentment and anger towards everyone he had ever known, including his own family.

question: What does Anthony decide to do about his resentment?

answer: He locks himself in his room and decides to write about his feelings, picturing himself in situations where he knew he felt the strongest.

question: What does Anthony eventually realize?

answer: He realizes that the amount of happiness in someone's life depends on how much they are willing to make or take. His main source of sadness was the endless rain, but he realized it is his choice how he responds to it.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Anthony lives in Ballyfliuch, Ireland, where the great hope of the townspeople is that the endless rainfall would stop, but it never does. Anthony has a dark secret, that he resents deeply everyone he knows and has ever known, including his family. To address this problem, he locks himself in his room and searches his feelings, determined to find the source of his misery and write it out. He will not leave his room until he does so. He eventually realizes the fact of the rain, while sad, is irrelevant, and what matters is the happiness he chooses to make or take from his situation.


text:
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Theresa May was rocked by the resignation of yet another senior staffer today as her top spin doctor dramatically quit Downing Street.

Well-respected Number 10 press secretary Lizzie Louden quit the Tory Government and told pals she will “move on to other things”.

Ms Louden had previously worked on the controversial - but highly successful - Vote Leave campaign.

She was Mrs May's most senior political spinner left in Downing Street following the sudden resignation of communications director Katie Perrior earlier this week.

[Lizzie Loudon]

Press Secretary Lizzie Loudon is 'moving on to other things' (Image: Twitter)
[]

The resignation of communications director Katie Perrior came as a shock
It comes amid reports of a grim atmosphere inside Number 10 under the leadership of Mrs May and her all-powerful chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill since they came to power last July.

One source told the Financial Times that the mood has turned “from day to night” under the new regime.

“Number 10 is in crisis as all their top spin doctors jump ship," Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said today.

“Even they can’t defend Theresa May’s divisive hard Brexit plans.”

In a message to friends today Ms Louden said: “I have taken the decision to leave Government.

“It has been the most amazing and historic nine months. It was thrilling to be part of it.”

A Number 10 spokesman said: "We thank Lizzie for her dedication and hard work.

"She will be missed by her colleagues, who want to wish her every success in the future."

It comes three days after her boss Ms Perrior quit within hours of the election being announced, saying she “never intended” to fight a general election with Mrs May.

[]

Theresa May with her closest aide Fiona Hill
The resignation of the PM's two main political spin doctors in the same week is a bitter blow to the Tories as they try to ramp up their PR for the election campaign.

And it comes hot on the heels of a succession of high-profile resignations after Mrs May came to power last year.

Her official spokeswoman Helen Bower – Whitehall's most respected comms chief – quit in December following reports of angry bust-ups with Mrs May's top aides.

She has now joined Boris Johnson's team as director of communications at the Foreign Office.

Ms Bower's deputy, Greg Swift, then quit to become a spinner for Brexit Secretary David Davis.

Britain's EU Ambassador Sir Ivan Rogers quit in January with a devastating attack on Mrs May's “muddled thinking” over Brexit .

The PM's national security adviser Mark Lyall-Grant quit in February after reportedly falling out with Mrs May.

And they all followed Northern Powerhouse guru Jim O'Neill, who quit as a Treasury Minister within weeks of the PM coming to power over her lack of support for his infrastructure projects.

Even Bank of England governor Mark Carney announced he was quitting two years early following the arrival of Mrs May in Downing Street.

[Ivan Rogers]

Britain's Ambassador to the European Union Ivan Rogers quit in January (Image: Reuters)

question: Who is Theresa May?

answer: Theresa May was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2016 to 2019.

question: Who is LIzzie Loudon?

answer: former press secretary for Theresa May

question: who is Katie Perrior

answer: former communications direct for Theresa May

question: What does Number 10 mean in the context of British politics?

answer: Number 10 Downing Street is the residence and office of the British Prime Minister.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article highlights the departure of Tory press secretary Lizzie Louden and communications director Katie Perrior from Theresa May's administration.


text:
[]

Already an issue in America and beyond, organizations like the ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Dept. of Justice have reported that incidents of discrimination against Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim have dramatically increased over the past year as a vile orange pall has enveloped the White House. To help combat the rising tide of hate, Floating House Recordings and Unity Productions Foundation have announced _Philia: Artists Rise Against Islamophobia, _a compilation album and string of shows across the US organized to raise awareness about the growing problem of Islamophobia.

_The compilation, which _is named _Philia_ after the Greek word for brotherhood, is due out on vinyl August 18th. It features tracks from the likes of Mac DeMarco, Fruit Bats, John Vanderslice (covering Radiohead’s “Karma Police”), Hamilton Leithauser, and more. As a first listen, Heems’ contribution “Blades” has been shared as the lead single. Take a listen:

_PHILIA: ARTISTS RISE AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA_ TRACKLIST:
01. Mac DeMarco – “Don Juan”
02. Drop Electric – “Aisha And The Knife”
03. Heems – “Blades”
04. Hamilton Leithauser – “Song With No Name” (Shane MacGowan And The Popes Cover)
05. Khruangbin – “Ma Be Ham Nemiresim” (Googoosh Cover)
06. Fruit Bats – “Salamander”
07. Small Leaks Sink Ships – “Sympathetic Resonance”
08. Emel Mathlouthi – “Insanity”
09. The Dodos – “Mirror Fake”
10. Vetiver – “Lumiere”
11. John Vanderslice – “Karma Police” (Radiohead Cover)

In addition to the album, the folks behind _Philia_ are putting together a run of coast-to-coast shows with the artists featured on the compilation. The proceeds from both the album and shows will benefit the Unity Productions Foundation, a nationally recognized nonprofit educational organization that specializes in combating Islamophobia. There are more dates to be announced, but find the current _Philia_ schedule below.

_PHILIA: ARTISTS RISE AGAINST ISLAMOPHOBIA_ TOUR DATES:
08/16 – Portland, OR @ The Doug Fir Lounge (Fruit Bats and solo)
08/18 – San Francisco, CA @ Swedish American Music Hall (Veviter & more TBA)
08/23 – Philadelphia, PA @ TBA (Grubby Little Hands, Drop Electric, Small Leaks Sink Ships)
08/24 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar (Heems, Drop Electric, Small Leaks Sink Ships, Slow Machete)
08/27 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat (Drop Electric, Small Leaks Sink Ships)

question: What does Philia mean?

answer: Philia is a Greek word for brotherhood.

question: Which song does Heems play?

answer: Blades.

question: What is Philia doing besides making an album?

answer: They are putting together a run of coast-to-coast shows with the artists.

question: When does Philia's tour start?

answer: The Philia tour starts from Portland on 08/16.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer:
In order to raise awareness about the growing problems of Islamophobia, Floating House Recordings and Unity Productions Foundation have announced a compilation album. The album is titled "Philia: Artists rise against Islamophobia."

In addition to the album, they will also be putting together a run of coast-to-coast shows. They will be touring five cities starting from 08/16.


text:
The Second Prophet of Amun (hm netjer sen-nu en Amun), also called the Second Priest of Amun, was a high ranking priestly official in the cult of the ancient Egyptian god Amun. The Second Prophet of Amun office was created in the New Kingdom, at the beginning of the Eighteenth Dynasty.
 History
 New Kingdom
Second Prophet of Amun Anen. Brother of Queen Tiye.
The office of second prophet of Amun was created in the beginning of the 18th Dynasty during the reign of Ahmose I. A donation stela from Karnak records how king Ahmose purchased the office of Second Prophet of Amun and endowed the position with land, goods and administrators. The position of Second Prophet of Amun was put under the authority of the God's Wife of Amun at its creation.
The endowment was given to Ahmose-Nefertari and her descendants. The record was signed and later confirmed by an oracle. Records from a later era indicate that in this position she would have been responsible for all temple properties, administration of estates, workshops, treasuries and all the associated administration staff.
During the reign of Hatshepsut and Tuthmosis III, the Second Prophet was involved in royal constructions at Karnak. The Second Prophet Puimre oversaw the erection of an ebony shrine dedicated to Hatshepsut, the construction of two obelisks for Tuthmosis II and the construction of doors made of Tura limestone. In Puimre's tomb it is shown that he additionally was in charge of receiving goods from oases and tribute from  Nubia, including captives.
 Third Intermediate Period
Under the High Priests of Amun Piankh and Pinedjem I in the Twenty-first Dynasty of Egypt the position of Second Prophet was taken up by relatives of the High Priests. From the time of Menkheperre on the positions of 2nd, 3rd and 4th Prophet of Amun were not taken up by the family of the High Priest of Amun. The positions were given to local Theban nobles, who would often marry into the family of the High Priest.
During the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt the Nubian rulers broke the hold of the local families on these priestly positions. Shabaqo appointed Kelbasken as 4th prophet and later his son Haremakhet as High Priest of Amun. Taharqa appointed his son Nesishutefnut as Second Prophet of Amun.
 Notable Second Prophets of Amun

title: Second Prophet of Amun

question: What is the Egyptian transliteration of the office of "Second Prophet of Amun"?

answer: "hm netjer sen-nu en Amun".

question: When was the office of Second Prophet of Amun created?

answer: In the New Kingdom, at the beginning of the 18th Dynasty.

question: Under which King was the office of Second Prophet of Amun created?

answer: Ahmose I.

question: Under which dynasty was the Theban monopoly on control of the office broken?

answer: The 25th, or Nubian, dynasty.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article is about the history of an office in the Priesthood of Amun created during the 18th dynasty of Egyptian history. It traces the history of the office and its relationship with the kingship, up until the 25th dynasty, when Nubian rulers broke the monopoly of Theban rule over the office.