text:
WILLIAM JOHN LEONARD BEEL (born 23 August 1945), generally known as LEN BEEL, is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City.[1] He also appeared for Somerset County Cricket Club.

Beel was born in Leominster, Herefordshire. A goalkeeper, he joined Shrewsbury Town as an apprentice in 1961, and turned professional two years later.[2] He made three appearances for the club in the Third Division,[3] and moved on to Birmingham City in January 1965 as cover for Johnny Schofield. Beel played only once for Birmingham's first team. With relegation from the First Division already confirmed,[4] he turned out in the penultimate game of the 1964–65 season, at home to Blackburn Rovers, a game which finished as a 5–5 draw.[5] Released soon afterwards,[6] he spent two seasons as a regular with Southern League club Bath City before joining Shifnal Town.[7]

In June 1969, Beel made his only major appearance as a cricketer, making 1 not out and taking 0/18 from 2 overs for Somerset in a Sunday League match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.[8][9]

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[5] Matthews, p. 200.

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title: Len Beel

question: When was Beel born?

answer: August 23, 1945

question: What sport did Beel play?

answer: Football (soccer)

question: What position did Beel play?

answer: Goalkeeper

question: Where was Beel born?

answer: Leominster, Herefordshire

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: William John Leonard Beel, generally known as Len Beel, is an English former professional footballer. He was born in 1945 in Leominster, Herefordshire, and he played for Shrewsbury Town and Birmingham City.


split: train

text:
Jim Christopulous and his son Luke, 5, were geared up Saturday for the Universal Monster Classics film festival at the Portage Theater, a vintage movie house that has been regaling Chicago cinema buffs since it opened in 1920.

With Luke dressed in a T-shirt illustrating an epic battle between Godzilla and King Kong, the father and son planned to see "Abbott & Costello Meet Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" and "House of Frankenstein."

Instead, they were met by a doorman who told customers the Portage Park neighborhood theater has been shut down.

"All month we've been talking about this (show)," Christopulous said, later. "It's a terrible blow."

The 93-year-old Portage Theater won't be screening any films at all for the foreseeable future. The only drama at the movie house that sits on the historic Six Corners intersection – or is it a mystery? – will come from ownership and city officials.

Erineo "Eddie" Carranza, the theater's owner, claims that Ald. John Arena, (45th) has blocked his application for a business license and a liquor license after he purchased the Portage last September.

"Even before I invested in Portage Park, Six Corners already had a reputation of being a hard place to open up a business because of Arena trying to control and scrutinize anyone trying to open a business in Six Corners," Carranza wrote the Tribune in an e-mail. "All this bad press will only scare businesses more from investing into 6 corners."

Arena rejected Carranza's account. He noted that the application process hasn't even reached a point where he would be consulted by anyone about Carranza's licenses at the Portage Theater.

"This man, as far as I can tell, doesn't have any business sense and doesn't have any common sense," Arena said. "He spent $2.7 million on a theater that was up and running so he could close it down. Who does that?"

Further complicating matters is the fact that Carranza also owns the Congress Theater, at 2135 N. Milwaukee Ave., which has been cited for numerous code violations. On Friday, the city revoked Carranza's liquor license for the Congress after drug violations and fights inside that venue.

Given those problems, it's unlikely Carranza will be able to obtain a liquor license at the Portage Theater any time soon, Arena said.

"When somebody has an action against them for a liquor (violation), the liquor commissioner is not going to give him another license while he is under review for his current operations," the alderman said.

Carranza said he was forced to close the building until he can find someone to rent out the Portage Theater, which "could be many months or longer; I just don't know."

David Dziedzic, a former shareholder at the theater, said he'd be interested in purchasing the Portage. He believes Carranza sought to turn the Portage into a venue for other forms of entertainment, as he did with the Congress Theater, Dziedzic said.

"What Eddie valued was revenues of shows that may or may not have happened or could happen based on him getting a liquor license and packing 4,000 people in there and doing four shows a month," Dziedzic said.

Meanwhile, Jay Jankowski, the theater's doorman, turned away moviegoers who arrived giddily Saturday to watch some monster movie action. By the afternoon, Jankowski said, about 60 people had been given the bad news.

Christopulous said he'll miss the theater that has featured both independent films and "old-time monster movies that are fit for kids."

He said that on Friday he had heard that a new owner had taken over the theater and that it may be the same guy who owns the Congress Theater.

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Unsure if that news was a preview of bad things to come, Christopulous brought Luke anyway in what had become a tradition.

"We usually watch two movies," Christopulous said, as his son stood at his side.

The Northwest Chicago Film Society, which had showings scheduled at the Portage, has found alternate locations for its screenings next week.

The 1953 Douglas Sirk melodrama "All I Desire" will screen at 8 p.m. at the Patio Theater, and the Music Box will host the 7 p.m. Wednesday screening of the 1967 documentary "Portrait of Jason."

_Tribune reporter Nina Metz contributed._

-   Arts and Culture
-   Politics and Government
-   Frankenstein (movie, 1931)

question: Who is to blame for the closure of Portage Theater and why?

answer: According to the report, it looks like the new theater's owner, Erineo "Eddie" Carranza, is at fault. He had plans to turn the Portage Theater into something else because he applied for a liquor license and got rejected due to the pending case of Congress Theater, which he also owns. Congress Theater has been cited for numerous code violations and the city revoked Carranza's liquor license for Congress theater after drug violations and fights inside the venue.


text:
TAYLOR BRANCH is a stream in St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties in the U.S. state of Missouri.[1] It is a tributary of Wolf Creek.

A variant name was “Taylor Creek”.[2] Taylor Branch has the name of George Taylor, a pioneer settler.[3]

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title: Taylor Branch (Wolf Creek tributary)

question: What is Taylor Branch?

answer: a stream in St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties in the US state of Missouri.

question: What is Taylor Branch a tributary of?

answer: Wolf Creek

question: What other names are used for Taylor Branch?

answer: Taylor Creek

question: Who is Taylor Branch named for?

answer: George Taylor, a pioneer settler

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Taylor Branch is a stream in St. Francois and Ste. Genevieve Counties in the US state of Missouri.


text:
INGEBORG WEBER-KELLERMANN (26 June 1918 – 12 June 1993) was a German folklorist, anthropologist and ethnologist. She was an academic teacher, from 1946 at the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin in East Berlin and from 1961 at the University of Marburg.

Career

Born in Berlin, Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann studied ethnology, anthropology and prehistory, among others with .[1] She received a doctor's degree at the Humboldt University of Berlin in 1940, on the topic of the ethnography of the German village Josefsdorf (now Josipovac) in Slavonia. It was based on field trips to German settlements in Slavonia.[2] She also studied in Hungary, Banat, Transylvania, and Turkey, focusing on the relation between different ethnic groups.[3]

At the end of World War II, she was a Red Cross nurse in Prague, where she met Jews who had been liberated from the Theresienstadt concentration camp.[4] From 1946 to 1959 she was a scientific assistant and then from 1960 vice director at the _Institut für deutsche Volkskunde_ at the German Academy of Sciences at Berlin in East Berlin, while she lived in West Berlin.[5] When the Berlin Wall was built in 1961, she could no longer commute, and she accepted the offer of the University of Marburg to work at the _Institut für mitteleuropäische Volksforschung_, later to be called _Institut für Europäische Ethnologie/Kulturwissenschaft_.[6]

Works

Her 1982 _Buch der Weihnachtslieder_ (Book of Christmas carols) is a collection of 151 German Christmas carols presented in a “cultural-historical context”, including background information on lyricists and composers, of the history of each carol, and with period illustrations.[7][8] Her book _Landleben im 19. Jahrhundert_ (Rural life in the 19th century), published in 1987, renders the reality of the situation of dependent workers on farms and of the work of children, which was different from idyllic bias about life on the country versus life in industrial production.[9]

She died in Marburg on 12 June 1993.[10]

Selected publications

The German National Library holds 35 of her publications, including:[11]

-   _Josefsdorf: Lebensbild eines deutschen Dorfes in Slawonien_ (= _Deutsche Schriften zur Landes- und Volksforschung._ vol. 15). Hirzel, Leipzig 1942, Dissertation, Universität Berlin, 1941, 84 Seiten).
-   _Erntebrauch in der ländlichen Arbeitswelt des 19. Jahrhunderts. Auf Grund der Mannhardtbefragung in Deutschland von 1865_ (= _Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Mitteleuropäische Volksforschung an der Philipps-Universität Marburg-Lahn._ Reihe A, Bd. 2). Elwert, Marburg 1965 (Habilitation, Universität Marburg).
-   _Deutsche Volkskunde zwischen Germanistik und Sozialwissenschaften_ (= _Sammlung Metzler._ vol. 79). Metzler, Stuttgart 1969.
-   (with Walter Stolle) _Volksleben in Hessen 1970. Arbeit, Werktag und Fest in traditioneller und industrieller Gesellschaft._ Schwartz, Göttingen 1971, .
-   _Die deutsche Familie. Versuch einer Sozialgeschichte_ (= _Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch._ vol. 185). Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1974, .
-   _Die Familie. Geschichte, Geschichten und Bilder._ Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1976, .
-   _Das Weihnachtsfest. Eine Kultur- und Sozialgeschichte der Weihnachtszeit._ Bucher, Luzern / Frankfurt am Main 1978, .
-   _Die Kindheit. Kleidung und Wohnen, Arbeit und Spiel. Eine Kulturgeschichte._ Frankfurt am Main 1979, .
-   _Volksfeste in Deutschland_ (= _HB-Bildatlas spezial._ Bd. 3). HB, Hamburg 1981.
-   _Das Buch der Weihnachtslieder_. Mit Klavier- oder Orgelbegleitung. Musical arrangements by . Schott, Mainz 1982, . Pocket book (Serie Musik Atlantis-Schott, Band 8213). 12th ed. Atlantis, Mainz 2010, .
-   _Der Kinder neue Kleider. 200 Jahre deutscher Kindermoden in ihrer sozialen Zeichensetzung_ (= _Suhrkamp-Taschenbuch._ vol. 1128). Suhrkamp, Frankfurt am Main 1985, .
-   _Saure Wochen, frohe Feste. Fest und Alltag in der Sprache der Bräuche._ Bucher, München / Luzern 1985, .
-   _Landleben im 19. Jahrhundert._ Beck, München 1987, .[12]
-   _Vom Handwerkersohn zum Millionär. Eine Berliner Karriere des 19. Jahrhunderts._ Beck, München 1990, (Biography of ).
-   _Die Kinderstube_ (= _Insel-Bücherei._ Band 1126). Insel, Frankfurt am Main 1991, .
-   _Die helle und die dunkle Schwelle. Wie Kinder Geburt und Tod erleben_ (= _Beck'sche Reihe._ vol. 1035). Beck, München 1994, .
-   _Erinnern und vergessen: Autobiographisches und weitere Materialien._ ed. Siegfried Becker, Andreas Bimmer. Jonas, Marburg 1993, .
-   _Das Buch der Kinderlieder._ 235 alte und neue Lieder. Kulturgeschichte, Noten, Texte, Bilder. Klaviersätze von Hilger Schallehn and Manfred Schmitz. Schott, Mainz 1997, . Taschenbuch: Melodieausgabe mit Akkordbezifferung (Serie Musik Atlantis-Schott, Band 8370). 2. Auflage. Atlantis, Mainz 2010, .

Literature

-   Siegfried Becker, Andreas C. Bimmer (Hrsg.): _Ländliche Kultur. Internationales Symposion am Institut für Europäische Ethnologie und Kulturforschung, Marburg, zu Ehren von Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann._ Göttingen 1990.
-   Annemie Schenk: _Interethnische Forschung._ In: (ed.): _Grundriss der Volkskunde: Einführung in die Forschungsfelder der europäischen Ethnologie._ 3rd ed. Reimer, Berlin 2001, p. 363–390.
-   _Von der Sprachinselforschung zur Interethnik._ In: Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann, Andreas C. Bimmer, Siegfried Becker: _Einführung in die Volkskunde/Europäische Ethnologie. Eine Wissenschaftsgeschichte._ 3rd ed. Metzler, Stuttgart 2003, p. 175–180.

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title: Ingeborg Weber-Kellermann

question: Where did Ingeborg teach?

answer: Ingeborg taught at the German Academy of Sciences and at the University of Marburg.

question: When did Ingeborg receive her doctorate?

answer: She received her doctorate in 1940.

question: What was her doctoral research on?

answer: She researched the ethnography of the German village Josefsdorf.

question: What is the Buch der Weihnachtslieder about?

answer: The book is a collection of 151 German Christmas carols presented in a "cultural-historical context".

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer:
Ingeborg was an academic teacher. She taught at the German Academy of Sciences and at the University of Marburg. She studied ethnology, anthropology, and prehistory.

Her doctoral research was on the topic of the ethnography of the German village Josefsdorf.

She was a Red Cross nurse in Prague after World War II.

Her book, Buch der Weihnachtslieder, is a collection of 151 German Christmas carols presented in a "cultural-historical context".


text:
thumb|upright=1.2|The beginning of Soi Charoen Krung 30

CAPTAIN BUSH LANE, now officially known as SOI CHAROEN KRUNG 30 (), is a side-street (_trok_ or _soi_) branching off Charoen Krung Road in Bang Rak District of Bangkok, Thailand. It was home to several members of Bangkok's early European expatriate community during the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, including Captain John Bush, an influential English sea captain after whom the street is named.

History

[The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank's headquarters was located in the area for 87 years.]

During the reign of King Mongkut (Rama IV), the Chao Phraya riverside area south of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem, just outside the boundaries of the city proper, was settled by European expatriates. Numerous consulates were established here, and Charoen Krung Road, completed in 1864, was built to serve the area.

The riverside area now served by Soi 30 used to be the area of a Buddhist temple called Wat Kaeo Fa (). During the 1880s, part of the temple grounds were used for the establishment of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank and the United Club (a Western social club). Streets (now Captain Bush Lane and the final stretch of Si Phraya Road) were built to serve the area, which also became home to several European expatriates, including consular officials and Captain Bush himself.[1]

In a letter dated 25 March 1898, Captain Bush and twelve other foreigners made a complaint to the foreign minister regarding the stench and hygienic hazards emanating from the temple's cremation grounds, which had already resulted in the death from cholera of a fellow European living in the area. A subsequent official investigation found that the area was the site of a public latrine, that some locals kept pigs, which contributed to the smell, and that the temple's old graveyard was being used as an open refuse dump. The investigation suggested that the temple be relocated and the area redeveloped. During the same time, the temple's abbot also complained to Prince Naris about the prohibition on cremation imposed on the temple, which adversely affected its finances, already constrained by being in the middle of a European community. The Prince subsequently recommended the relocation to King Chulalongkorn (Rama V), who reluctantly approved, although it took around a decade in total before the temple was re-established as Wat Kaeo Chaem Fa () at a new site on Si Phraya Road, donated by the Privy Purse in exchange for the former grounds.[2][3]

[The offices of Louis T. Leonowens, Ltd., on Privy Purse property formerly Wat Kaeo Fa's]

King Chulalongkorn bestowed the land to Princess Saisavali Bhiromya, one of his minor consorts, with the Privy Purse managing its proceeds. The northern plot of land was rented to Louis T. Leonowens' trading company, who built offices and warehouses, while the southern plot was rented to the French beverage company Societe Francaise des Distilleries de l'Indochine, which built a building to serve as its office, and later to the Department of Industrial Works, whose lease expired in 1994.[4] In a 1925 map, four buildings are shown to have been built on the former grounds of Wat Kaeo Fa, which was still extant in a map from 1907, indicating that the buildings were built sometime in between.[5] Ownership of the land was transferred to the Crown Property Bureau in 1958.[6]

Sites

Today, Captain Bush Lane is home to the Portuguese Embassy, the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel (on the former site of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank), as well as several arts and antique shops. House No. 1 (the former French Distillery Company office) and a warehouse of the Louis T. Leonowens Company, now opposite the hotel, are the two remaining historical structures. The Si Phraya Pier, which serves the Chao Phraya Express Boat, is also in the area. A bridge crossing Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem links the street to the adjacent neighbourhood of Talat Noi.

Portuguese Embassy

[The Portuguese embassy viewed from the river]

The Portuguese embassy was first established at this site in 1820 as a factory (trading post), on land granted by King Rama II. It is the oldest diplomatic residence in Thailand.[7] The current embassy and ambassador's residence date from 1860.

Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation

The Hongkong and Shanghai Bank was the first bank to operate in Siam, first opening in 1888 within the old Customs House building. In 1890, it relocated to a permanent office on the mouth of Khlong Phadung Krung Kasem. The building, built of masonry and three storeys high, was designed by Italian architect Joachim Grassi in the Palladian style. It served as the bank's headquarters for the next 87 years until it was demolished to make way for the Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel.[8]

United Club

[The United Club, c. 1908]

The United Club was founded in 1888 as an international social club for Western expatriates, and its members included British, German, French, and American nationals.[9] According to _Twentieth Century Impressions of Siam_, a reference book published in 1908, “The United Club ... may perhaps be considered the most popular resort for foreign residents in Bangkok.” The club was described as occupying large premises, including well laid-out grounds, on the corner of Charoen Krung and Si Phraya Roads (the latter having been built in front of the property in 1906). With a membership of 225 in 1908, the club's facilities included dining, reading, card and billiard rooms, as well as a bowling alley and several tennis courts.[10]

House No. 1

[House No. 1 in 2018]

House No. 1 is the former office of the Societe Francaise des Distilleries de l'Indochine. The building, built of masonry with load-bearing walls, is built in neoclassical style, with a central pediment at the front. It has two storeys; the lower floor is laid with tiles and the upper floor with teak. The hipped roof is covered with diamond-shaped tiles on a timber frame. Built sometime between 1907 and 1925, it had fallen into disrepair when it underwent extensive restoration in 2012–2016, commissioned by the Crown Property Bureau.[11] The building is listed as an unregistered ancient monument by the Department of Fine Arts.[12]

Louis T. Leonowens warehouse

A warehouse, next to House No. 1, is the only remaining structure of the Louis T. Leonowens Company. It was probably built between 1907 and 1913, with later additions. It is a one-storey elongated rectangular building with load-bearing walls supporting a high gabled roof of corrugated metal sheets on a large timber frame. Built in vernacular style, it was later modified to house cheap rental rooms. The building is badly deteriorated, though there have been proposals for its conservation.[13]

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title: Captain Bush Lane

question: What is Captain Bush Lane?

answer: Captain Bush Lane is a side street branching off Charoen Krung Road in Bang Rak District of Bangkok, Thailand. Now officially known as Soi Charoen Krung 30, the street was home to several of Bangkok's early European expatriate communities during the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, including namesake, Captain John Bush, an influential English sea captain.

question: Summarize everything relating to the Portuguese Embassy.

answer: The Portuguese Embassy is the oldest diplomatic residence in Thailand, having been established in 1820. The site was formerly a factory and trading post on land granted by King Rama II. The current embassy and ambassador's residence date from 1860.

question: What are the last remaining historical structures on Captain Bush Lane?

answer: House No. 1, (the former French Distillery Company office) and a warehouse of the Louis T. Leonowens Company

question: What did Captain Bush and other foreigners complain about to the foreign minister?

answer: They complained about the stench and hygienic hazards emanating from the temple's cremation grounds. One European living in the area has already died.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: Captain Bush Lane is a side street branching off Charoen Krung Road in the Bang Rak District of Bangkok, Thailand. Now officially known as Soi Charoen Krung 30, the street was home to several of Bangkok's early European expatriate communities during the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, including namesake, Captain John Bush, an influential English sea captain. There were many notable sites on Captain Bush Lane, including the old headquarters of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation. the Portuguese Embassy, House No. 1, United Club, and the Louis T. Leonowens warehouse.


text:
DENTAL VIBRATION APPLIANCES, sold under the brand name ACCELEDENT, ORTHOACCEL, and TOOTH MASSEUSE, are devices that apply vibration called “micropulses” to dental braces and are claimed to thus speed tooth movement.[1] Evidence as of 2015 was unclear if the appliances were able to accomplish this.[2]

There have been few studies looking into the devices' safety and effectiveness.[3] It is therefore not possible to determine if they speed tooth movement.[4][5]

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[5]  Friday, 4 October 2019

title: Dental vibration appliance

question: What do Dental Vibration Appliances claim to do?

answer: Dental Vibration Appliances claim to speed up tooth movement while wearing dental braces.

question: What brand names are Dental Vibration Appliances sold under?

answer: Dental Vibration Appliances are sold under the brands Acceledent, Orthoaccel, and Tooth Masseuse.

question: Has there been evidence that Dental Vibration Appliances speed up tooth movement?

answer: No, there has not been substantial evidence that Dental Vibration Appliances speeds up tooth movement.

question: What do Dental Vibration Appliances apply to dental braces?

answer: Dental Vibration Appliances apply micropulses of vibration to try and move teeth faster.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Dental Vibration Appliances claim to speed up tooth movement by applying small vibrations to dental braces. There is not substantial evidence for or against these claims, so it is unknown if these devices are effective.


text:
It's still under work but please let me know what you think.

The first stone was cast from a tattooed hand in the crowd. The thrower was a fairly average person. He was average height, white complexion totally non-descript outside of the tattoos on his throwing arm. Like most of the crowd, his face was covered with a bandana while his hair was controlled beneath a baseball cap. His action proved catalytic in what would change the world. This average, masked man broke the floodgates of the world. The rest of the mob saw his action as one of leadership and followed suit. Before long stones, bottles and anything else within reach was flung. These objects battered their targets like a hailstorm. The already broken SWAT and police force crumbled under this barrage. The few men who had chosen to remain in uniform began to route in the presence of this violent and seemingly innumerable crowd.
 A few of D.C.’s finest attempted to hold their ground by any means necessary. At first they used pepper spray and tear gas; as the crowd continued to advance they used their riot shields and clubs; still the crowd advanced and the remaining forces opened fire with their weapons. However, for every person they gunned down ten more swept up into their place. The bullets may as well have been fired into a rushing tide. Those men and women who chose to stay were quickly overwhelmed. They would not be left alive. Any who challenged the crowd were killed by the enraged beast it had become. Before long people swarmed into the capitol. Seats, long evacuated by elected officials were torn apart. Offices desecrated. Flags burned.
A lone official remained in his office. Congressman Pace. He had been elected to his fourth term in the last election. He was a Representative from Georgia who had one of the highest approval ratings in the House. He sat in his chair, turned towards the growing dusk. His window was open a crack. It was a lovely evening for March. He closed his eyes, shut out the screams of pain and sounds of destruction.  His mind wandered to his ranch in Georgia. The ranch he would never again see. The grass he would never again feel. The sun he would never again bask in. He almost smiled as these happy thoughts flooded him. He was shut from the world and could only think about the dark that gleamed around him. The Congressman was awoken from his trance as he heard what must have been air force one fleeing the nation’s capitol. He closed his eyes once more and returned to his meditation.
A gunshot sounded from out the Congressman’s office and still he did not flinch. His door burst down suddenly as three rioters pushed a Secret Service agent through it. They beat him with pipes until his cries ceased. The rioters stopped for a moment in the office. All the former Congressman could think of was how they had been too late to see the view. Darkness had now descended.
“Tyrant!” one of the rioters screamed through his bandana. He leaped over a table seeking his prey. Congressman Pace lay as
His death was not quick. He did not die painlessly. This often is the case when a government falls. He died with his hand over his American flag lapel pin.

The riot did not solely occur at the capitol. All of D.C. was under attack. After the riot at the capitol turned into a warzone the other riots quickly broke out into violence. The White House was besieged as the President was flown out to an undisclosed location somewhere in the Midwest. The portrait of George Washington that had hung for centuries, was protected from fire and war, would not see it through the night. This painting of the stoic founding father who wanted nothing more than equality for citizens would burn, as would all of the other relics stored in the President’s residence. A mob cheered as they watched flames engulf the White House for a second time in the nation’s history.
The destruction of the National Archives was made into a spectacle. Documents including the Constitution and Declaration of Independence were read before the crowd. Each word, originally crafted to provide for natural rights, chosen so specifically so that people of this once proud nation would know that they were entitled to freedom, was now being twisted to reveal ironic and biting meanings. The reader sneered at the end of every sentence but did not add his own interjections. The crowed jeered and booed the words. The speaker did not make it through the first page before he gave up on turning its meaning and threw it into the crowd where these once revered words were torn apart near instantly.
Crowds formed all over the mall. People looted businesses, robbed others and destroyed the landscape and property. Just as Nero with Rome, the people cheered as their city burned.

title: Anarchy (800 Words)

question: What sparked the riot to begin with?

answer: It is unclear, but that seems to be the point.

question: How does the story effectively describe the fall of American society?

answer: The story implies a snowball effect, a stone cast leading to the removal of perceived authority (the police) all the way up to governmental authority (the Governor) to the foundations of society itself (the constitution).

question: Does the story have a bias?

answer: The story indicates that the people causing the chaos are happy to watch the world burn and implies, but does not explicitly say, that this is unhealthy.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The story of a riot in the Capitol. Anarchy reigns as the narrator describes the fall of democracy and the burning down of the American constitution by its own people.


text:
CENTENNIAL BEACH is a public aquatic park located at 500 W. Jackson Avenue in Naperville, Illinois. The Beach is within an abandoned, double quarry alongside the DuPage River. The facility covers almost 6 acres (24,000 m²) of land with a full two acres (8,000 m²) or 6.2 million gallons of open water from Lake Michigan, all tested, re-circulated and chlorinated on site.

Among its features is a sand beach next to the shallow end of the pool which offers a zero-depth entry. At the zero depth area of the pool, there are 2 large water play features which pour water from about up, and water spouts that shoot up water for children to play in and cool off. The shallow end of the pool goes from to , getting deeper as one walks further into the pool. In the area there are 3 lanes for lap swimmers, where Centennial Beach’s swim team, The Mudrats, practice each weekday morning before open swim hours.

The shallow end also has a slide that was added in 2008.[1] The shallow end also has an area called the “channel.” This area is right next to the deep end and the diving boards. In the channel there is a pool lift for people who cannot use the ladders to get into the pool, they can be let in on the lift. The deep end of the beach has 2 floating rafts in the middle for swimmers to swim out to. The deep end also has 4 piers on the sides of the deep end for swimmers to sit and relax on without sitting on the walkway.

The deep end has an NCAA and USS-approved diving complex, which houses two one-meter springboards and one three-meter board.

Centennial beach is open on all non-school days from Memorial Day to Labor Day. Centennial Beach’s open swim hours are 11:00am – 8:00pm Monday through Saturday and 11:00am – 6:00pm on Sunday. The Beach opens early on Saturdays and Sundays for “Adult Float” which is a time where adults can come in with any sort of floating devices (not allowed during regular open swim time) and swim with them. Adult float is every Saturday and Sunday from 9:00–10:55am. Every Saturday morning at 7:00am the Centennial Beach lifeguards train and do drills for 2 hours before the pool opens. In the event of inclement weather, poor conditions, low attendance, or insufficient staffing the manager may close the beach or certain sections of the beach. In mid-August the beach begins to close earlier than usual due to early darkness.

Centennial Beach receives about 2,500 visitors on an average warm summer day. Over the course of a year the beach receives about 155,000.[2] The beach plays host to various athletic events and is known for its nationally competitive lifeguard team.

Skatepark

CENTENNIAL BEACH has an adjacent skatepark to the west. The skatepark opens at 9:00am, and closes at dusk. This facility includes skating elements, such as half-pipes, quarter pipes, fun boxes, rails and more. This skate park is unsupervised, and free of charge for non-motorized skateboards, in-line skates, and scooters. The use of a bicycle can only be used during bike hours at some sport complexes. Any other wheeled or sliding devices will be prohibited from the park. Skate at your own risk.[3]

Ball Field

Centennial Beach also has a baseball field that is used by the Naperville Little League. Naperville Little League wouldn't be a program if boys and girls ages 7 years of age through 12 years of age weren't on teams. The league a child will play in corresponds with the distract the school they attend too. This complex was made possible by donations and other community groups and was completed in 2005. Recently, added in new bleachers, fencing around the fields, and a new entryway. There will be many parking spots for parents to park in even if they aren't going to Centennial Beach. Near two ball fields there is a park, with a kid area, and a place where older kids can go and wander around.[4]

Deep-Water Test

Centennial Beach has a strict swimming requirement for the deep end which is blocked off by a pool safety rope. Swimmers who are not passed the 8th grade must be able to past the deep water test every year once in order to be able to swim in the deep water. Those who pass the deep water test receive a wristband, in this case they wear it to ensure they are able to use the diving boards and swim in the fifteen foot deep end. A participant must swim 100 yards uninterrupted to be eligible.[5]

Adult Float

Every weekend there will be an adult float for participants to relax on inner tubes or swim around. The beach allows adults eighteen years and older on Saturday and Sunday from 9am – 10:55am to swim during adult swim. However, nobody under the age of eighteen may enter the beach until 11am. This allows for adults to freely swim in the deep end with no distractions; such as, screaming children, loud noises, in this case it will allow adults to relax.[6]

Lifeguards

[Centennial Beach viewed from the west]

Safety is a major priority at Centennial Beach. Centennial Beach’s licensed guards are trained in CPR, First Aid, and Ellis Lifeguarding. Many Beach guards also have a SCUBA certification. The lifeguards at Centennial Beach have received annual and national recognition for outstanding aquatics safety. The lifeguards are continually ranked among best of all Ellis insured facilities. New applicants to be lifeguards at Centennial Beach begin training in the chilly water in May. Training is extremely vigorous and time consuming. Veteran guards at the Beach are also required to attend pre-season training for the season which begins at the beginning of May. During pre-season training the head-guards and veteran guards teach the new guards CPR, lifeguarding skills, and first-aid. Training six days a week for the whole month of May and continues into June depending on individual applicant's readiness. If by the end of pre-season training the head-guards do not feel that a new applicant guard is ready they will not be given a job as a guard. Training to become a lifeguard at Centennial Beach is very difficult and usually more than 70% of lifeguard applicants do not make it through training.

The Grill

The Grill was added to Centennial Beach in 2011. From afar employees in the kitchen can be spotted with neon shirts. It houses a full kitchen, including grills and fryers. Their menu ranges from the classic beach food, burgers and chicken fingers, to healthy choices, including grilled chicken and wraps. Everyone can either pay with card or cash. If a membership card is used, a discount will be applied to the order. There are two main cash registers, but on a really hot day towards the right of the building they open up a third which is hidden and not many people notice it. In this case, having a third register open helps out the line when it becomes super long on busy days.[7]

Centennial Grill Hours:

— Monday-Saturday: 11am – 7pm

— Sunday: 11am – 6pm

They also have a secret menu, which only dedicated patrons will know (ask for the beach soda). One may have to be careful on busy days because the lines may become 50 to 60 people long. Every order is well prepared so it will be fresh to the sight.[8]

Bathhouse

The bathhouse was constructed in 1934 using stones from the old Main Street bridge. The bathhouse includes a front office where patrons can pay for memberships or one-time visits to the beach, a manager’s office, showers, lockers, washrooms, changing rooms, and a lower guard house. The old side office of the bathhouse, which was removed after 2011 renovations, used to be used as a concession stand. Anyone who lives in Naperville will receive a discount off their ticket, as for others who aren't in the area they will have to pay full price. Once anyone enters on either side of the entryway, there will be four family restrooms. The men's restroom as you enter will be on the far left, women's restroom will be slightly to the right. Once in the men or woman's restroom, you will notice two drinking fountains, stalls to change into, storage for belongings, washrooms, and showers. The bathhouse had an old side office within which was later removed after 2011 renovations, it was used as a concession stand. Below the bathhouse, down the stairs there will be the guard house, where lifeguards on/off duty will stay and relax before they go out on the beach to watch over families.

Mudrats

Centennial Beach has a swim team for children up to age 18. The mascot for the Beach’s swim team is the Mudrats. The swim team helps to enhance competitive strokes, conditioning, starts, turns, and more. The Mudrats have swim practice each weekday morning in the Centennial Beach lap lanes unless there is bad weather. The Mudrats have practice at Naperville Central High School on Fridays so that they can practice starts and turns since the beach is too shallow to dive into and has dark water so it is more difficult to do turns. Attendance for each swimmer is taken within 5 minutes of each practice. There are a total of 5 practices a week, every swimmer must attend 3 out of 5 in order to qualify to swim at all of the meets. Swim caps and goggles are mandatory for each practice. Swim meets cannot be placed without the dedication of parents. There are up to seventeen opportunities for parents to volunteer and help out the Mudrats swim team. All workers who decide on working a meet must arrive 45 minutes before the start time. A Mudrat could win or lose and the coaches and parents will always strive for them to do their best no matter what.[9]

History

Centennial Beach was purchased by the Permanent Memorial Committee in 1931. The Committee was appointed by Judge Win Knoch, General Chairman of the Naperville Centennial Celebration, and consisted of 33 residents who each paid $500, a total of $16,500, to purchase the of 1 large and 1 small limestone quarry (later merged to create 1 swimming pool) as well as other land in Downtown Naperville near the DuPage River from the Von Oven estate. The actual development of the pool began in 1932 as a memorial for Naperville’s 100th Anniversary. During the early years of the beach Naperville residents swam for free and non-residents had to pay 10 cents for children and 35 cents for adults to swim at the pool for the day. On Sundays and holidays the price went up to 50 cents per person. In the beach’s first year it made $6,000.

According to a booklet produced by the Naperville Park District in 2006 to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Beach, in the 1930s, income from the Beach was used to finance city projects.

The limestone bathhouses were completed in 1935. To commemorate the building of the bathhouse in 1935 the Beach held its first water show. More water shows took place at the Beach in the 1940s and 1950s, which served as a culmination of Red Cross summer swimming, water ballet, and diving classes.

Centennial Beach held its first Aquathon event in 1955. This Aquathon included community members doing water skiing demonstrations, high-dive exhibitions and synchronized swimming. Proceeds for this aquathon were donated to the then-new Edward Hospital.

In 1956 a similar event (to the aquathon) took place at the Beach. The fire department supplied an exciting fountain from the middle raft. The proceeds for this event went to the new fire station.

In 1969 the District assumed responsibility for Centennial Beach.

In 1970 the “Save the Beach Committee” was formed, composed 34 community members, to keep the pool from shutting down.[10]

In 1976 the diving area was re-done, along with a new circulation and chlorination system the next year.

In 1981, when the Beach celebrated its 50th anniversary the Aquathon was resurrected with similar activities and shows to celebrate the Beach’s earlier years. The aquathon was done again at Centennial Beach on July 8, 2006 for the Beach’s 75th anniversary. The 2006 aquathon included activities like sandcastle and sand burying contests, greased watermelon and innertube races, bozo buckets and tug-of war, kayak demonstrations, scavenger hunts, pier tag tournaments, live music entertainment, cartoonist, face painters, balloon artists, a skate challenge, a water polo tournament, and a variety of unique and entertaining water-based performances for all ages. The aquathon of 2006 was all day, from 11am – 8pm.

During a significant flood on July 18, 1996, 17 inches of rain caused water levels to rise to the top of the high dive (three meters), contaminating the chlorinated water with river water and storm water. After 2 weeks and 3 days the of waters receded, and the beach was emptied, cleaned and refilled.

From 2002–2004 more than 2 million dollars of renovations were put into the beach. Renovations included new concrete decks around the facility, a new circulation system, new lighting and sound systems, new staircases leading to the bathhouses and water play features.

On April 22, 2006 Centennial Beach held its first “Bottom-Feeder Ball.” The bottom-feeder ball was a birthday party for the Beach’s 75th anniversary. The bottom-feeder ball was a dinner held at the bottom of the empty quarry. The funds from this event were used to purchase the beach’s slide for the shallow end. The bottom-feeder ball began at 3:30 and had a variety of different types of entertainment that did not end until dark. The bottom-feeder ball had numerous posters for guests to look at, T-shirts to embellish, and the Waubonsie Valley High School Jazz Combo and the Naperville North High School Symphonic Orchestra performed. Guests received a 3-course dinner at the ball and the opportunity to see the bottom of the Beach while it was empty.[11]

[1] “Centennial Beach .” Centennial Beach. Naperville Park District. Web. 20 Mar. 2010.

[2] “Centennial Beach .” Centennial Beach. Naperville Park District. Web. 20 Mar. 2010.

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] The Centennial Beach story pamphlet

[11] Centennial Beach Bottom Feeder Ball pamphlet

title: Centennial Beach

question: How do the organizers arrange the baseball league teams?

answer: They arrange the children in teams according to the district of the school that they attend.

question: Why are there strict entry requirements for the deepwater swimming pool?

answer: The restrictions are in place to avoid drownings.

question: Why are children not allowed at the beach until after 11 am on a Saturday?

answer: This time has been reserved for the adult float and the organizers want the water free from the distractions of anyone under the age of 18.


text:
We shuffled the deck 3 times ...

__  Click the deck to begin and choose 6 cards

Reading description

LT's World Famous Universal 6 Card Spread

6 cards from the Major Arcana

This is a good reading to simply _'get a snapshot'_ of how things are with you generally, at this moment in time.

It can also be used to answer specific questions, and has been consulted over _50 million_ times since Lotus Tarot was launched in 2002.

THE CARD POSITIONS REPRESENT:

1.  How you feel about yourself now
2.  What you most want at this moment
3.  Your fears
4.  What is going for you
5.  What is going against you
6.  The outcome according to your current situation or the question you asked

Don't be fooled by the brevity and simplicity of the responses or by the fact it is a Major Arcana only reading, this reading has stood the test of time and proven itself again and again to millions of users.

Tips to improve your readings

Tips to improve your readings

Before you pick the cards, take a few deep breaths.

Try to relax your body and quiet your mind.

Allow your thoughts to come and go for a while without holding on to them.

Focus for a moment or two on the question you would like to ask, or the issue you would like some information about, BEFORE you select the cards.

The more effectively you can bring a relaxed focus to the issue at hand and clear other thoughts from your mind, the more insightful and helpful the reading will be.

Absent mindedly clicking through the selection process will not bring good results.

Focused attention helps to access the synchronicity necessary to gain maximum value from an automated reading.

Make sure you take enough time to relax and compose yourself before you begin to select the cards. You will be amazed at the difference it makes.

The more specific and focused your question, the more appropriate and valuable your answer will be. Again, it's a function of synchronicity.

If your question is vague or unformed, how can the cards give you clear answers or responses? If you approach the cards wanting an answer to a certain question, yet when you select the cards you are thinking of 50 other unrelated things, the answer you get will often not make sense.

Clarity and a ferocious focus will be reflected back to you by mind-blowingly insightful readings.

The pre-written text will give you the _feeling_ that each card conveys when it is selected in a certain position in the spread.

If the literal text does not exactly fit your question or circumstance, it is usually fairly obvious how you can 'read between the lines a little' and translate the message to suit your personal situation.

With an automated system like this, it's very tempting to immediately repeat a reading if the answer you got was either not what you wanted to hear, apparently inaccurate or a bit confusing.

Don't! As long as you have followed the previous tips regarding clarity and focus, the first reading will always be the most appropriate.

If you would like clarification on something, use a different reading spread.

Consulting the cards many times a day, day after day, is completely self defeating, as repeating a reading too soon for the same question will usually create more confusion, not more clarity.

A good rule of thumb:- until the circumstances surrounding your question have changed, don't ask again!

The obvious exceptions would be readings specifically designed for regular consultations, like our _Daily Outlook_

There are no absolutes in Tarot.

Use our readings as a kind of mirror - a way for you to examine a reflection of your life, thoughts and emotions at any given moment in time.

Making critical life decisions based _entirely_ on an automated online tarot reading would probably not be a good idea!

Some of the cards in the tarot deck are quite challenging to receive in a reading, however, don't fear them, they are simply a reflection of current influences and often have a positive side to them.

Seek understanding, even when the outlook seems bleak. This is where the true value of tarot lies - _Nosce te Ipsum_

1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7.  8.  9.

Previous Next

question: How often should a person consult the tarot cards?

answer: It might be implied that it should not often be because it is self-defeating.

question: Does a person have to be a professional in reading tarot cards?

answer: That information is not known.

question: How accurate are the answers given by the cards?

answer: They may be quite accurate provided the question asked is clear and well-formed.

question: Is it possible for the tarot cards not to have answers to your questions?

answer: It may not if your question is unclear.

question: Should a person repeat card readings after the first time?

answer: It is not advisable.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: To improve your reading in Major Arcana's tarot reading, you should ask clear and well-formed questions, clear your mind, relax your body, and focus. Asking unclear questions can generate unclear readings. If the literal message given by the reading doesn't suit you, you can read meanings into it to best suit your circumstance. It is advisable to refrain from repeating a card reading after the first time, and consulting cards regularly a day or day after day is self-harming. Also, when you consult cards repeatedly with the same questions, it can cause more confusions than clarity.


text:
The _INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ZOOLOGY_ is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all areas of zoology. It was established in 2009.

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in AGRICOLA, CAB Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts Service, ProQuest databases, Scopus,[1] and The Zoological Record.[2]

[1]

[2]

title: International Journal of Zoology

question: How is the integrity of the International Journal of Zoology maintained?

answer: It is peer-reviewed.

question: Does the International Journal of Zoology create awareness?

answer: It is an open access journal, meaning that it is much easier to access than other journals. This makes the knowledge readily available to all persons.

question: Is mammalogy included in the International Journal on Zoology?

answer: Yes, all areas of zoology are included.

question: Why was the International Journal of Zoology established?

answer: To make peer-reviewed scientific research available to the zoological community.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The International Journal of Zoology is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all areas of zoology.


text:
**I'm posting this on behalf of my friend, she wrote this not me.**

**The Death of Annie Sin Claire**
Annie had been left alone for the night. They said there was gonna be a storm, so they ran away while she was sleeping. That is what must've happened. Because they were all gone. And when she woke up, she found that the entire house was empty, as if nobody had ever been there in the first place. Everyone and everything had just fucking disappeared like it was nothing more than a bad dream. Annie had never been alone before. It felt secretive and empowering.
But something didn't... feel right. There was a deep rooted sense of some sort of violation, like being watched or filmed. Maybe, she thought wistfully, maybe this is like one of those times when I had thought I'd woken up, but it was nothing more than a dream. Maybe I'm still sleeping.
Annie walked quietly down stairs, met with the same sinister silence and feeling of being violated. Every single clock face had frozen at 3:07 am. Maybe, I overslept. Maybe I'm late. But the view outside the window suggested deep, dark night.
The sky was starless and suffocating, as if she was looking up at an over turned bowl of tinted glass. Everything about this moment spelled disaster. She closed the windows as carefully and quietly as possible, as if afraid to wake a sleeping toddler, and headed obliviously up to bed.
The feeling of being stalked followed her relentlessly up the staircase, as if it had taken over from her shadow, and slinked into her room like an invisible fog. She sensed it settling on all possible surfaces, as if familiarising itself. Marking it's territory. Then, it materialised into something a little more substantial on the armchair near her bed.
Annie watched as the fog became black. As black as the night sky outside, maybe even darker. It spilled out and filled up the chair, growing taller and taller. The outline slowly became familiar, then, the process ended abruptly as a scythe materialised in its robed claws.
Annie watched calmly as Death made himself comfortable in her bedroom.
"Would you like something to drink?" she asked, as if talking to nobody of particular importance.
"Sure, if you can manage to bring me an ice cold cup of souls this time of night." said Death.
"I'll see what I can do."
She padded off quietly towards the direction of the kitchen.

title: The Death of Annie Sin Claire

question: Why does Death appear in Annie Sin Claire's armchair?

answer: She was about to die.

question: Explain Annie Sin Claire's actions when she found the house empty.

answer: Annie had never been alone before, she had a sense of being watched. Annie thought she might still be asleep. She walked downstairs and the feeling of being watched followed her. She wondered if she overslept, or if she was late for something. But it was deep dark outside and every clock had frozen at 3:07am. She looked at the sky and then closed the windows carefully and quietly and headed to bed. The feeling of being watched followed her up the stairs and materialized in her armchair.

question: Did Death really appear in Annie Sin Clair's armchair?

answer: Death is not a real person, it could not have materialized from nowhere and sit in her chair.

question: Why did the clock freeze at 3:07am?

answer: It is not clear from the text. It can be the moment Annie Sin Claire passed away.

question: Did Annie Sin Claire really wake up or was she having a dream?

answer: Yes, she woke up from her sleep.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Annie Sin Claire wakes up during a storm to find her house empty. She closes the windows, but Death follows her back to her bed. Annie asks Death if she can give it something to drink and heads to the kitchen for a cup of souls.


text:
This is a TIMELINE OF VOTING RIGHTS IN THE UNITED STATES.

Timeline

-   '''1789: ''' The Constitution of the United States grants the states the power to set voting requirements. Generally, states limited this right to property-owning or tax-paying white males (about 6% of the population).[1]
-   1790: The Naturalization Act of 1790 allows free white persons born outside of the United States to become citizens. However, due to the Constitution granting the states the power to set voting requirements, this Act (and its successor Naturalization Act of 1795) did not automatically grant the right to vote.[2]
-   1792–1838: Free black males lose the right to vote in Pennsylvania and in New Jersey.
-   1792–1856: Abolition of property qualifications for white men, from 1792 (Kentucky) to 1856 (North Carolina) during the periods of Jeffersonian and Jacksonian democracy.[3]
    -   In the 1820 election, there were 108,359 ballots cast. Most older states with property restrictions dropped them by the mid-1820s, except for Rhode Island, Virginia and North Carolina. No new states had property qualifications although three had adopted tax-paying qualifications – Ohio, Louisiana, and Mississippi, of which only in Louisiana were these significant and long lasting.[4]
    -   The 1828 presidential election was the first in which non-property-holding white males could vote in the vast majority of states. By the end of the 1820s, attitudes and state laws had shifted in favor of universal white male suffrage.[5]
    -   Voter turnout soared during the 1830s, reaching about 80% of adult white male population in the 1840 presidential election.[6] 2,412,694 ballots were cast, an increase that far outstripped natural population growth, making poor voters a huge part of the electorate. The process was peaceful and widely supported, except in the state of Rhode Island where the Dorr Rebellion of the 1840s demonstrated that the demand for equal suffrage was broad and strong, although the subsequent reform included a significant property requirement for anyone resident but born outside of the United States.
    -   The last state to abolish property qualification was North Carolina in 1856 resulting in a close approximation to universal white male suffrage. However, tax-paying qualifications remained in five states in 1860 – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Delaware and North Carolina. They survived in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island until the 20th century.[7] In addition, many poor whites were later disenfranchised.
-   1868: Citizenship is guaranteed to all male persons born or naturalized in the United States by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, setting the stage for future expansions to voting rights.
-   1870: The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents states from denying the right to vote on grounds of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude”.
    -   Disfranchisement after Reconstruction era began soon after. Former Confederate states passed Jim Crow laws and amendments to effectively disfranchise African-American and poor white voters through poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses and other restrictions, applied in a discriminatory manner. During this period, the Supreme Court generally upheld state efforts to discriminate against racial minorities; only later in the 20th century were these laws ruled unconstitutional. Black males in the Northern states could vote, but the majority of African Americans lived in the South.
-   1887: Citizenship is granted to Native Americans who are willing to disassociate themselves from their tribe by the Dawes Act, making those males technically eligible to vote.
-   1913: Direct election of Senators, established by the Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, gave voters rather than state legislatures the right to elect senators.[8]
-   1920: Women are guaranteed the right to vote by the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. In practice, the same restrictions that hindered the ability of non-white men to vote now also applied to non-white women.
-   1924: All Native Americans are granted citizenship and the right to vote through the Indian Citizenship Act, regardless of tribal affiliation. By this point, approximately two thirds of Native Americans were already citizens.[9][10] Notwithstanding, some western states continued to bar Native Americans from voting until 1948.[11]
-   1943: Chinese immigrants given the right to citizenship and the right to vote by the Magnuson Act.
-   1948: Arizona and New Mexico became the last states to extend full voting rights to Native Americans, which had been opposed by some western states in contravention of the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.[12][13]
-   1961: Residents of Washington, D.C. are granted the right to vote in U.S. Presidential Elections by the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution.
-   1962-1964: A historic turning point arrived after the U.S. Supreme Court under Chief Justice Earl Warren made a series of landmark decisions which helped establish the nationwide “one man, one vote” electoral system in the United States.
    -   In March 1962, the Warren Court ruled in _Baker v. Carr (1962)_ that redistricting qualifies as a justiciable question, thus enabling federal courts to hear redistricting cases.[14]
    -   In February 1964, the Warren Court ruled in _Wesberry v. Sanders (1964)_ that districts in the United States House of Representatives must be approximately equal in population.[15]
    -   In June 1964, the Warren Court ruled in _Reynolds v. Sims_ (1964) that each chamber of a bicameral state legislature must have electoral districts roughly equal in population.[16][17][18]
-   1964: Poll Tax payment prohibited from being used as a condition for voting in federal elections by the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
-   1965: Protection of voter registration and voting for racial minorities, later applied to language minorities, is established by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. This has also been applied to correcting discriminatory election systems and districting.
-   1966: Tax payment and wealth requirements for voting in state elections are prohibited by the Supreme Court in _Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections_.
-   1971: Adults aged 18 through 21 are granted the right to vote by the Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This was enacted in response to Vietnam War protests, which argued that soldiers who were old enough to fight for their country should be granted the right to vote.[19][20]
-   1972: Requirement that a person reside in a jurisdiction for an extended period is prohibited by the Supreme Court in _Dunn v. Blumstein_, (1972).[21][22]
-   1973: Washington, D.C. local elections, such as Mayor and Councilmen, restored after a 100-year gap in Georgetown, and a 190-year gap in the wider city, ending Congress's policy of local election disfranchisement started in 1801 in this former portion of Maryland—see: D.C. Home rule.
-   1986: United States Military and Uniformed Services, Merchant Marine, other citizens overseas, living on bases in the United States, abroad, or aboard ship are granted the right to vote by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act.[23]
-   1996–2008: Twenty-eight US states changed their laws on felon voting rights, mostly to restore rights or to simplify the process of restoration.[24]
-   2006: The Voting Rights Act of 1965 was extended for the fourth time by President George W. Bush, being the second extension of 25 years.[25]
-   2008: State laws on felony disenfranchisement have since continued to shift, both curtailing and restoring voter rights, sometimes over short periods of time within the same US state.[26]
-   2013: Supreme Court ruled in the 5–4 _Shelby County v. Holder_ decision that Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional. Section 4(b) stated that if states or local governments wants to change their voting laws, they must appeal to the Attorney General.[27]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4] Engerman, p. 8–9

[5] Engerman, p. 14. “Property- or tax-based qualifications were most strongly entrenched in the original thirteen states, and dramatic political battles took place at a series of prominent state constitutional conventions held during the late 1810s and 1820s.”

[6] William G. Shade, “The Second Party System”. in Paul Kleppner, et al. _Evolution of American Electoral Systems_ (1983) pp 77-111

[7] Engerman, p. 16 and 35. Table 1

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-american-political-development/article/challenging-american-boundaries-indigenous-people-and-the-gift-of-us-citizenship/BA37F7B9505AACABCBFBC04A020C2F36

[12] https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/studies-in-american-political-development/article/challenging-american-boundaries-indigenous-people-and-the-gift-of-us-citizenship/BA37F7B9505AACABCBFBC04A020C2F36

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]  The Constitution Project|website=www.theconstitutionproject.com|access-date=2019-09-24}}

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]  NAACP LDF|website=www.naacpldf.org|access-date=2016-12-07}}

[26]

[27]

title: Timeline of voting rights in the United States

question: Which was the last state to abolish property qualification?

answer: North Carolina.

question: What did the Fifteenth Amendment prevent?

answer: It prevented states from denying the right to vote on ground of "race, color, or previous condition of servitude".

question: When did women gain the right to vote?

answer: In 1920.

question: Which groups generally face difficulty went it comes to voting rights?

answer: Non-white Americans (both men and women), especially African-Americans and Native Americans. Felons also face some difficulty.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The text is a timeline of voting rights in the United States.


text:
It’s the kind of thing that you daydream about.  It’s the kind of power to end all others.  It’s what you’d use for bad, because how would you be caught?  It’s what nobody deserves to have, and it’s what nobody should have, yet I have been bestowed with such a so-called “blessing”.  Why would it be me?  I am not worthy of superiority, for I am just a corrupt, feeble human with faults like any other person.  However, because of my capability, I make sure to do only the best of things I can do.  Why should I not use my advantage to bless other people, even if such a slim margin compared to what I have?  I don’t deserve this, and so I want to give back to the people around me.  I want to make their lives better in ways that they will never notice: “random” luck, close calls, and other minute details others would call insignificant.  It’s these little ways that I influence the people around me for the better, and while there is a limit to what I can do, I do the best I can.  Some might consider me a god were they to know, but I would laugh in their face and deny such a misguided praise, for I am not a god.  Nobody knows, and as such I am treated like a normal human being.  I will forevermore keep it that way.  That’s the way I like it and it’s better that way.  Besides, even though there are ways that I could prove it, I doubt people would take my insane words as little more than crazy.

I control time.  Believe this outlandish claim that I spew forth, or not, I affect the flowing of time.  Time is not absolute to me, the one-of-a-kind freak that I am.  I like to pretend that I’ve been entrusted with such a glorious, mind-bending power due to my fantastic heart and my good-will towards others, but I say otherwise.  My power made me the benevolent person that I am today, and it’s through my ability that I attribute my behavior.  Yet even still, it takes care to not stray from the straight and narrow.  The temptation is overwhelming, and it takes every ounce of effort to not use this gift for something less than righteous.

One must, at times, take a step back and have themselves a break from the fast life that they live.  Stress overtakes if they don’t combat it through relaxing and a carefree vacation from hectic schedules, even if unoften.  This is fact, known by many, but practiced by far too few.  Thankfully, it’s easy for me.  I have all the time in the world to take a hike, clear my mind, and enjoy a stunning view of the drudgery, all while preparing myself for everybody else’s next day.  I am an overseer, an overwatcher, a sentinel of those who I find in my circle of friends and family.  It’s hard work, and it’s difficult coping with it, but I can take my time.  I try and monitor as many people as I can, and often take the time to visit those thousands of miles away.  It matters not to me, for as time is at a standstill, my body ages not, and I feel no hunger or thirst for whatever I may do.  These treks give me plenty of time to think, and thinking has become my favorite pass-time.  Thinking has become my escape from the world, because time and time again the world fails me and disrespects what responsibility I try to take as well as I can.  Thinking gives me a cool temper and a level head, and I am constantly striving to perfect it.  At least I have plenty of time to try and focus my thoughts on a better mind, something that I take for granted for often than I fear to admit to myself.

Spending such a long time in so many moments of frozen eternities has given me quite the opportunity to analyze and study the very nature of what power binds my life.  I do not age, hunger, thirst, or feel other symptoms that one might suffer from the sailing of time down a river, towards the eventual waterfall of death.  Unfortunately, I do feel pain, tiredness in the mind and muscles, and injuries do not heal in these episodes, so I must take the greatest of cares to not inflict damage to my body.  As a side effect from all the journeys I embark on, I find that I do strengthen as one would, were they to do the things I do in the trap of time.  This is a blessing as it allows me to prevent any more wounds to my body, though hiding it is the real difficulty.  How does one explain an ability to run for miles, all while seeming to never get out and do much?  It’s a part of me that I want to use, but I fear for the questioning of my habits and daily life.  I cannot form lies in the face of others, and delivering them with sincerity is even more difficult, so I try to live as honestly as possible by avoiding conflict wherever viable.

I question my ability to maintain deep relationships with others.  Is indulging in personal pleasures allowed when I am bestowed with a benevolent ability?  Despite the great lengths I go to conceal it, when within a deeper relation with another what of the possibility of what I possess getting found out?  Lying is not possible for me, and so it’s a risk that I must weigh meticulously.  I believe that as a side effect of my gift, I am bound to a limited degree of intimacy with any given person.  Even so, while some might call a life of loneliness miserable and insufferable, they don’t have the responsibilities that I have nor have they had ages to reflect upon their duty like I have.  Such is the life that I have received, yet I will live it to the end, that much I have decided and accepted.

Anyone who sees me passing by in the crowd would never pick me out as special, and it is that way which I prefer.  I don’t wish to be recognized as someone different, superior, or even inferior.  Though I am far from the same, living with my façade grants me a limited degree of experiencing life as a normal person would.  So many take their ability to *be* for granted, and of that potential to be just like any other person without hidden weight is a potential that I long for.  I long for a pardon from my life of servitude towards others, though I do understand that that is one wish that will never be sanctioned to me.

What I live with will not change and that is a fact I have learned to submit to and to the end I will live to my fullest capacity, lest I fall into decay.   I know my purpose, yet for as long as I exist, always lurking and waiting for the opportune moment is the depravity that longs for me.  This I know is the hardest part of my reality: defying decadence.

title: [MF] Ageless

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


text:
The alarm goes off. Slowly, he opens his eyes to see the white-washed ceiling of his bedroom. He reaches for his glasses on the night stand; after groping around for a few seconds he slowly remembers knocking them to the floor the night before. He bends over to pick them up and shambles to the bathroom to take a piss; he displays all the accuracy of someone living alone. After vaguely rinsing his hands and wiping them on a towel he goes back for his phone. Walking into the bedroom he notices an odd shadow halfway up the curtains on the opposite wall moments before they come crashing down and an angry cat goes sprinting past his ankles. Walking to the edge of the bed he sits down and picks his phone up off the night stand to check the time: 6:37 am. He sighs and checks his messages: no calls, texts, or emails. Today, Tuesday, is his birthday. He wonders how long it's been since anyone cared. He proceeds through his usual morning routine: a forceful bowel movement; comfortably warm shower; and indulgent smoke break, all under the watchful glare of his two cats. He checks the kitty litter, fills water bowl, and gives the cats a can of food. Upon completion of this morning ritual he grabs his keys and heads off to work. Three and a half hours later he returns home for lunch, a depressing mix of fast food and cigarettes. He pets his cats and returns to work. Just trying to get through the day, he sits in his cubicle with his headphones on in an attempt to dissuade his coworkers from approaching him, a tactic that rarely works. On this day he is not disturbed. Upon completing another glorious day of data entry he drives back to the home he rents and the cats he shares his life with. More fast food and more cigarettes see him through the evening. Nothing exciting happened on this day or any of the ones that came before it. He went to sleep believing that nothing exciting would happen on the days following either.

The next day begins much the same as the first; his alarm goes off at 6:35 and he wakes up. He rolls to his side to grab his phone and checks it: nothing. He sighs. For some reason, he just can't seem to get out of bed. Around 9 he decides to call in sick but instead chooses not to bother. And so he decides to draw a bath. He walks into the bathroom with determination, plugging the drain and turning the hot water to max. At this point the cats take interest in his actions; one seats itself on the side of the tub and the other, more cautious, upon the tank of the toilet. He disrobes. The tub reaches half full; he steps into it and lowers himself down. The water is quite hot and very comfortable; it makes him smile. He enjoys a cigarette. He grabs the hilt of the knife and checks the blade against the tip of his finger; again he smiles. Taking a firm grip on the knife he slides the blade down the length of his left forearm. He takes a moment to enjoy the pleasure in the pain before dropping the knife onto the bathroom floor. He settles back against the tub. The cats push the knife around the floor and lick up a couple drops of blood before meowing expectantly and walking towards the kitchen.

title: Something I wrote on one of my darker days.

question: What is the man's daily routine?

answer: He wakes up, goes to work, comes home for lunch (fast-food and cigarettes), oes back to work, comes home and eats dinner (fast-food and cigarettes)

question: What changes on the day the man decides to commit suicide?

answer: He doesn't go to work and decides not to call in sick. He draws himself a hot, yet comfortable bath.

question: How does the man kill himself?

answer: He cuts his wrist with a knife while in the bath.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The mundane routine of depressed cat owner leads to a decision to commit suicide.


text:
The University of Chattanooga, located in the American city of Chattanooga, Tennessee and today known as the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, fielded a gridiron football team during the 1912 season. This team, the fifth in the university's history, was independent of any football conference and finished its 8-game schedule with a record of 4 wins and 4 losses.[1]

  Date          Opponent               Site                Result
  ------------- ---------------------- ------------------- ---------
  October 5     Georgia                Athens, Ga          L 0–33
  October 12    Alabama Presbyterian   Chamberlain Field   W 32–12
  October 19    Sewanee                Sewanee, TN         L 0–27
  October 26    Central University     Danville, Ky        L 6–7
  November 1    Maryville              Chamberlain Field   W 34–6
  November 9    11th Cavalry           Chamberlain Field   L 7–14
  November 16   Transylvania           Chamberlain Field   W 52–2
  November 28   11th Cavalry           Chamberlain Field   W 13–9

[1]

title: 1912 Chattanooga Moccasins football team

question: What was special about this football team?

answer: Nothing of note. It was the fifth team in the history of the University of Chattanooga.

question: Did they win a lot?

answer: They had a 50:50 win-to-lose ratio in 1912.

question: Why did they have such a mixed bag of scores?

answer: Unclear, but a score of 0-27 in October and 52-2 in November show diverse range in how well they played.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A page for the 1912 Chattanooga Moccasins football team.


text:
I entered the roomy SUV and shook off the cool evening air. It's amazing how detoxifying a walk on the trail can be. We both have a calm demeanor, a more content outlook. Maryam recalls the squirrel with a missing eye. I suggest we make an eye patch for him. Maybe put a skull on it. "A Pirate squirrel, who'd mess with that?" She starts fiddling with the radio while I look through pictures from the trip. I show her one with both of us overlooking a small artificial waterfall, at the top of strawberry hill. Half the picture is beautiful green forestry, the other half is a grey mass of concrete for seemingly infinite rows. It was like being in the eye of a hurricane, facing the looming storm front. We start our drive back to suburbia with a light acoustic song keeping us company.
	"Did you want help finishing up your packing?" she asked.  "No, I'll handle it after you leave." I wanted to spend our last night together doing something a little more cheerful.
We'd spent all of yesterday mad. Not mad at each other or at any particular thing. Just mad.
	There was something profoundly simple about me and Maryam’s relationship. When we met each other we both knew right away. I looked at her hazel eyes once and saw her soul flow out and shake hands with mine. From then on out we were chasing the horizon. Even back then we knew there was no chance we'd make it.
	We get off the highway and pass the In N' Out on our left. The sun begins languidly setting over the Altman, racing me home. As our old high school emerges into vision, I'm hit with a concoction of melancholic nostalgia. I slow down, park the car, and look at Maryam. She lets out a loose shaky breath and jewels form under her honey drop eyes. A breath becomes a pant and I see her face give out. I've seen her cry all too many times, but there's something especially unsettling about the hysteria in her voice right now. I held her as she painted her face onto my shirt with clear salty tears. Overwhelmed, I held her hands and kissed her on the forehead. I could feel guilt rise in me like smoke off the end of her Turkish Royal.
	I lifted her chin up and looked at her mascara-smeared face and said, “I’ll come back for you. Just stay strong. I’ll get a job. I’ll save up money. I’ll be back and everything will be the same. I just need you to be okay and I need to know everything isn’t broken”. I don’t even know which one of us I’m talking to anymore.
	When we arrived to my home the night air sounded empty without the sound of sobs. We hadn’t really reached any kind of solution. I think we both understood the futility of trying to make it work. It was like climbing a wobbly ladder as high as possible, just for everything to collapse at the end.
	“I have something for you” I say as we walk into my home. I lead her into my room. “Close your eyes” I say pulling her present out of my closet. I lay it on her lap. I see the lime green binding of the scrapbook in her eyes. According to Maryam, lime green was the color of my soul. We look through the book together. Most of it is composed of places we’d gone together, food we’d eaten; hardly any pictures of the two of us, just the way I like it. At the end of the book there was a sealed letter. “Don’t open it until you’re missing me most”.
	The next morning I woke early and groggy to finish up packing. Maryam had left late last night. After packing up the clothes I decided to fiddle on the keyboard one last time before packing it away. For a cheaper more simplistic keyboard it sure did have a nice touch. The keys feel like butter as I let myself slip into a musical daydream for a few minutes. I hear a buzz come from my right pocket and investigate, “Come outside, I have something for you” – Maryam. I make my way to the door and the weight of everything comes back in full swing. She’s making her way up the path clutching something in her right hand, a barrage of seemed flowers falling down her summer dress. The bags under her eyes tell me she didn’t sleep one bit when she got home. “Are you scared?” she asked me. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t”. A new town, a fresh breakup, it felt like I was being slashed and thrown into a pool of sharks. “This time, you close your eyes” she tells me. I hear her walk behind me and I feel a patch cover up my left eye followed by the sound of two lace ropes being tied. I open my solitary eye just in time to see a pair of lips press against my own. “Now you’re a pirate squirrel, no one can mess with you”.

title: On Strawberry Hill

question: Why is the couple melancholic?

answer: It's their last day together.

question: Why doesn't the narrator want to pack with Maryam's help?

answer: He doesn't want to spend their last day with such a sad activity.

question: Summarize the meaning behind Maryam's gift to the narrator.

answer: She's likely to be aware that the narrator feels scared of going to a new town all alone. She wants to give him the mental fortitude to bear his circumstances with a little joke.

question: Summarize the meaning behind the narrator's gift to Maryam.

answer: He collected photos from the places they went as a couple so that she can have a memoir. There's also a surprise for when she misses him the most, probably something that can help her cope.

question: Write a ~9 sentence summary.

answer: The couple, Maryam and the narrator feel relaxed after a walk on the trail. They talk about a squirrel who lost an eye, thinking they could get him an eye patch; no one would mess with a pirate squirrel. It's their last night together. They knew their relationship wouldn't last just as surely they knew that they were soulmates. The narrator has to go away, but he promises her that he'll do his best to try to come back. He gives Maryam a scrapbook, of the places they went together and a few pictures of them together. The next morning, Maryam comes with bags under her eyes and tells him to close his eyes. He feels something over his left eye, and when he opens his eyes Maryam kisses him. Now that he's a pirate squirrel, no one can mess with him she says.


text: One day, on a barren dusty rock hurtling through space, circling a big ball of fire, there was an ant. This ant was the last of his colony, maybe even the last of his kind. The ant had seen many things in its short life. It had seen fire spitting giants attack one another, until each giant remained still. He had seen big metallic birds that dropped mushroom seeds into the distance. He had seen smaller giants, half charred, running screaming from flames. The screams were too loud. He had witnessed the entirety of the battle. The battle lasted only twenty moons, but it made all of the green disappear. The ant was hungry. It had already eaten all of its dead brothers. He was thirsty; it didn’t rain anymore, and all the water had been sucked up by giant black tubes. The land around him was barren. But the ant wasn’t concerned. He went back down into his colony’s home, and resumed building his tunnel.

title: A story I wrote. I thought it was awesome, and I want your opinion. Criticism and advice would be welcomed.

question: Why is the ant on the dusty rock hurtling through space?

answer: The ant's colony is on the barren, dusty rock. It was not always barren and dusty. A battle destroyed all the green and all the water was removed.

question: Why is the rock hurtling through space?

answer: Probably a planet (Earth) circling a big ball of fire (Sun).

question: Where is the rest of the ants?

answer: The surviving ants ate its dead brothers. The rest might have died or hunger or thirst or during the battle.

question: What fire spitting giants are referred to?

answer: It is possible that the giants are humans. A battle is described that destroys all green.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: An ant is hurtling through space on a rock. The ant already ate his dead brothers, but he is thirsty. The green was destroyed during a battle between giants, and all the water is taken.  The ant isn't concerned. He heads down into his colony's home and resumes building his tunnel.


text:
The Apple Park's open, collaborative design is broken up into pods, separated by glass panes from floor to ceiling — and distracted employees are walking straight into them.

An account by _Bloomberg_ published on Friday discusses the issue. Employees have come up with a solution for it, by putting sticky notes on the doors, but they keep getting removed because they detract from the design of the facility, said sources familiar with the matter.

Bloomberg reports that "there are other markings" to identify the glass, but didn't make clear if they were improvisational by the employees, or permanent by the developers. If the latter, they don't appear to be working.

So far, official Apple channels have not responded to requests for comment. _AppleInsider_ wasn't able to verify the claims of injuries with OSHA, nor its own sources.

However, one of _AppleInsider_'s sources within the company not authorized to speak for Apple was amused by the reports, and said that she "saw [the impacts] coming, a mile away."

On Feb. 22, 2017, Apple officially named the "spaceship" campus. The entire facility is now called "Apple Park," with the 20-foot tall and 165 foot in diameter glass auditorium honoring one of the founders of the company and named the "Steve Jobs Theater."

Apple held its first official event in Steve Jobs Theater on Sept. 12 with the unveiling of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X.

question: What is the problem with the design of Apple Park?

answer: It is made from floor to ceiling glass and employees keep walking into the glass because they can't see it?

question: How have employees tried to avoid the problem?

answer: They have stuck sticky notes on the panes to make them more visible.

question: Has their solution worked?

answer: The solution hasn't worked because management keeps taking down the sticky notes as they distract from the decor.

question: Have there been any injuries at Apple caused by the mishaps>

answer: Apple would not verify whether there had been any injuries or claims.

question: After whom is the new auditorium named?

answer: It is named after the founder, Steve Jobs.


text:
_ICC NOTE: Three young Coptic Christian students currently face charges of insulting Islam after a short video was revealed last April showing one student praying in an Islamic manner reciting Quranic verses  while others were laughing behind him. The students will stand trial Thursday  after their teacher was sentenced to three years in prison for similar charges in a separate trial. The charges and trial of three Christian high school students is an example of Egypt’s continued struggle in combating religious persecution towards Christians. Christians make up ten percent of the nations population and face discrimination of various forms from church closures, kidnappings, violent attacks, and blasphemy charges.  _

2/2/2016 Egypt (ABC News) – Three Coptic Christian students face charges of insulting Islam and will stand trial this week after appearing in a video mocking Muslim prayers, one of a series of court cases that reflect lingering religious intolerance and Muslim-Christian tensions in Egypt.

The students, all in high school, will stand trial on Thursday after their teacher was sentenced to three years in prison after a separate trial over the same charges of insulting Islam, according to lawyer Maher Naguib.

The 30-second video, filmed by the teacher, showed the students pretending to pray with one kneeling on the floor while reciting Quranic verses and two others standing behind him and laughing. One waved his hand under a second’s neck in a sign of beheading.

Naguib said the video came to light in April 2015, shortly after Islamic State militants in Libya beheaded dozens of Egyptian Christians. The video prompted calls by angry Muslims to evict the students and the teacher from their village. They were detained and the teacher and his family were ordered to leave the village after a meeting of the village elders.

“The students couldn’t attend school and remained indoors to avoid insults, beating and harassment,” said Naguib, the lawyer. “This is all because of random and spontaneous action by some youngsters inside a bedroom and for only few seconds.”

Christians make up approximately 10 percent of Egypt’s population. They have long complained of discrimination by the Muslim majority. Christians were among main supporters of the army chief-turned-president Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi when he led the military ouster of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi amid mass protests against Morsi’s rule.

The case comes at a time Egypt has witnessed a surge in blasphemy charges in recent months whereas el-Sissi has vowed to purge extremism and modernize Egypt’s religious discourse.

(Full Article)

ICC is on a mission to help persecuted Christians. Will you join us?

question: Why are Coptic Christian students facing charges of insulting Islam?

answer: A video surfaced showing one student's laughing behind other students, the latter of whom was praying in an Islamic manner.

question: Where did this occur?

answer: Egypt.

question: What percentage of the Egyptian population do Christians make up?

answer: 10%

question: What had happened in Libya shortly before this incident?

answer: State militants beheaded dozens of Egyptian Christians.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Students at Coptic Christian, a school in Egypt, are facing blasphemy charges after a video was released in which they laugh behind students who are reciting prayers in an Islamic style. The video happened after the beheading of dozens of Egyptian Christians by state militants in Libya. The 30-second video was filmed by their teacher, also shoed a student waving his hand in a "beheading" motion at a girl who is praying. Local Muslims are demanding that the teacher and students be expelled. The teacher and his family have been forced to leave their home by village elders. Christians, who make up 10% of Egypt's population, have long faced discrimination.


text:
During life people are called many things, some good, some bad. Within a short eight years I’ve been called; a student, worker, son, good listener, hero, savior, and many more. Since I was ten I’ve been talking people out of suicide online. During my eight years of helping people, I’ve helped many people, created an online organization, and learned many new things. This has forever and will constantly change my life.

Many people ask me, how did this happen? How does a ten year old get mixed up with people’s lives? It was three days after my tenth birthday, the smell of my moms homemade cake was still tangible in the air. I logged onto the computer and found a chat room. I came across a man inside the room. He was talking about ending his life because his wife was cheating on him and getting his kids. My heart was in my ears beating hard, my palms were clammy and wet like a river. I talked with him till late in the night past any ten year olds bed time. This man was set and ready to die, a mere child stopped him. Me.

A few months after helping the man, I met a girl my age who was rather interested in the “work” I did. She wanted to be part of the action. Lillie and I decided to work together helping people we would find in chat rooms. This continued for about a year. Lillie started to struggle with herself, the constant pressure of someone’s life in your hands at that young of an age takes a heavy toll upon the beholder. Lillie messaged me one night, “Dominic I have a problem” I asked her what it was and she stated, she wanted to die. She couldn’t take helping people anymore. I remember crying, panicking, wanting her to see it my way and not do what she was planning. It all ended so fast only three words remained “Lillie Signed Off.”

Three years have passed since Lillie’s death, I created an online organization, filled with teens helping people out of dark thoughts. I created this organization in memory of Lillie. DarkShadows. DarkShadows, was constructed of teens from around the world, looking for people with suicidal thoughts that wanted to help prevent suicide. One hundred and ninety-seven teens joined DarkShadows. Each night we would have meetings and we would talk with one another to see if everyone was ok. I learned that this “job” is to hard for one child to take on alone day in and day out, there needs to be an escape route. DarkShadows showed some amazing results, the teens in DarkShadows were able to talk to five hundred plus people out of suicide. With every construction there is a destruction.

I had a hard time destroying DarkShadows for I was proud of it. I closed down DarkShadows because the stress was enormous, two people were talking people into suicide, three people committed suicide from the pressure, and people started to not care. DarkShadows lasted three years and I was shocked that I could uphold it for so long, but I knew it had to go. I will never forget what I’ve learned from these past experiences.

I’ve learned, many things over the past few years. I’ve learned that even though the world seems to burn like a raging fireball, there are many people out there still that care for others. I’ve learned that it doesn’t take a hero to save someone, you don’t need a utility belt, powers, cape, gadgets, or a “cool” name to save someone. All you need is a heart, and the will power, and the determination. Everyone is a hero in a way, you’re a hero to your kid, give someone some change for the bus, do something that is not expected from you. You are a hero.

My life has changed drastically due to this “job”. I have become a better listener, I became mature, I met new people. I think back from when I was ten, I would have never imagined that helping that one guy would take me this far. I feel that due to this, I have a good understanding of people. I can “read” them easier. At times I have thought is it worth it? Is it worth spending hours upon hours helping someone that I don’t even know? When you help someone the end result of them being alive thanks to you is by far the best feeling you can think of. My life will never be the same due to this and for that I am grateful.

During my short life span I’ve been a lot of things and experienced even more things. Do these names and experiences define me? Or simply give a better understanding of me? By helping one man live through the loss of his wife and kids. I met a great friend that I hold dear in my heart. I became a leader, making tough decisions for a lot of people. I learned, people still care for one another in this world. This has ultimately affected, and effected my life forever and I will never forget it. To be a Hero, you don’t need a cape or a utility belt, just a heart.

title: To Be A Hero You Need A Heart

question: What does the text say about how to get help for depression?

question: What does the text say about being a hero?

answer: It doesn't take a hero to save someone because anyone can do it as long as they have a heart. People don't need special powers or a cool name - they just need heart, willpower, and determination. Everyone is and can be a hero as long as they do something that is not expected of them. Giving a stranger change for the bus, helping a blind person cross the street, or carrying groceries for an elderly neighbor are all heroic acts.

question: What does the text say about DarkShadows?

answer: DarkShadows was an online organization created by the narrator, Dominic, in memory of his friend, Lillie. He started DarkShadows three years after Lillie, the girl who was helping him talk people out of committing suicide, succumbed to the stress of helping others and committed suicide herself. The organization was run by Dominic and 197 teens from around the world who wanted to prevent suicide. While DarkShadows was able to help more than five hundred people out of suicide, Dominic had to shut it down because the stress was too much. Members were talking other members into committing suicide and three teens actually did it, so people started not to care.

question: What does the text say about Dominic and Lillie?

answer: Dominic met Lillie a few months after he helped a man out of committing suicide. Lillie was Dominic's age and was interested in the "work" he did. They started working together by looking for people who needed help in chat rooms. After a year, Lillie started to struggle with the constant pressure of having someone else's life in her hands at such a young age. One night, Lillie couldn't take it anymore and killed herself.