text:
The last two days had been very strange for me. I killed a man on a psycho’s lawn, and the next day, the psycho came into my office and asked if I would like to eat lunch with him. He seemed to be acting perfectly normal. I noticed his speech pattern had changed as well. He wasn’t saying “ya” or swearing anymore. Something was off. Or maybe Noah had just realized how messed what we had done was.
I put it out of my mind, and started to enjoy myself. Noah was actually very intelligent and funny. He must have been intelligent from the start, I concluded, he is a lawyer after all. He was probably just drunk for the last week. I chuckled at the thought.
We finished up our lunch, and headed out to my car. Noah said he had left his phone at my office, so I offered to take him there before I took him home. He thanked me in an uncharacteristically gratuitous way. However, I didn’t sense anything was amiss, and we got in.
Big mistake. The minute I got in the car, Noah pulled out what looked like an ingot, and bashed me across the head with it.
I woke up in a small, cramped room that I recognized as the interior of Noah’s shed.
“Took you long enough,” said Noah in a cold voice. “What the fuck?” I demanded.
“I can’t have another murderer taking advantage of Noah, now can I,” he said in that cold voice, “No, I’m going to have to kill you I suppose.”
“What? No! Noah, you don’t have to do this. I’m not going to tell anybody, you can let me go.” I knew he wasn’t going to.
“Noah’s not here right now. If you’d like to leave a message, please don’t. I screen his calls.”
Noah had finally snapped. The bastard was crazy.
I tried to reason with him, “C’mon Noah. You know you don’t have to do this!”
“I TOLD YOU I’M NOT NOAH!”
“If you’re not Noah, who are you then?”
“BELLUA.”
No. It couldn’t be. Noah had talked about Bellua so much, but always acted as Bellua was a friend or something. I finally put the pieces together.
“Yes, I can see the truth has finally dawned on you,” Noah/Bellua drawled, “Frankly, I don’t see how an idiot like you became a neurosurgeon. Let me explain it to you. I’m the original Noah. The Noah you know is simply a second personality of mine. Noah was born after I was caught in an explosion. That’s why he is so fixated on fire. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember, but now that I have the Other Noah, it is so much easier for me to cleanse this disgusting society. The Other Noah agrees. He doesn’t have my capacity, so he uses fire as his tool. It’s crude but it works. Why, just recently he managed to rid society of a bartender who was a serial rapist. I’m much more dedicated however. I take out the real sickos. Like you. And Other Noah will dispose of your body. You pretend to kill only bad people, but what about the little girl who you kidnapped and did unspeakable things to? What about the man you decapitated for fun? ANSWER ME? Why’d did you do it? Did you have any reason? NO! I may be a monster, but I know that! People like you, who pretend to be infallible, make me sick!”
My cheeks were so cold. I couldn’t believe it. How did he know all this?
I knew I was going to die. I began to say an Our Father.
“YES. This reaction. I love it!” Noah/Bellua bellowed, “The ‘prayer,’ as if pretending to repent to an entity you’ve never believed in will make it all better. Using religion as a fair-weather friendship with God, I love it! But why bother praying to God now? I control your life now: I am your God. Pray to me!”
I said nothing. Noah/Bellua began to pace, muttering something under his breath.
“What?” I said.
“Squares!” He murmured a little louder,
I realized what he was doing: getting ready to kill me. Finally, I closed my eyes, went limp,  and gave up.
But he wouldn’t let me do that. He yanked up into a sitting position forcefully, and suddenly I felt metal being pressed down, then a sharp pain in the back of my neck. He wouldn’t stop. It felt like he was cutting something out. When he finished, he showed me what he had done. The square piece of my skin he had cut out was dripping with my blood.
“And now, I must bid you adieu,” Noah/Bellua whispered into my ear. And all was dark.

title: Bellua (Original Short Story by Me) p.3 Rust (Final Part)

question: Why does Bellua hate the narrator so much?

answer:
The narrator and Noah are a strange pair of friends - they both seem to enjoy killing people they deem bad for society. The narrator recently killed a man on Noah's lawn and his friend has been behaving oddly since then.

One day, Noah managed to kidnap the narrator, putting him in his shed. There he reveals he is not only Noah but a man called Bellua. The narrator has heard of Bellua from Noah before, thinking he was Noah's friend.

Bellua tells the narrator that he is going to die so that Noah won't be taking advantage of again. The narrator begs for his life but Bellua is not having any of it.


split: train

text:
Just before kickoff, when tasked by Rece Davis to predict a final score in tonight's BCS Championship game, ESPN's Tim Tebow predicted the Seminoles would win 35-31. He was only off by one point.

Advertisement

Is Tebow divine? Is he the Godhead himself? Or maybe the Lord sent him a text? Either way, it looks like this TV thing might work out for Tebow after all. After all, only a taunting penalty kept FSU from the two-point conversion that would have delivered him a perfect prediction.

question: How rare is it to predict a game's score to within one point?

answer: Must be very rare if they call Tebow divine, the Godhead, the recipient of God's texts.


text:
ORLANDO, Fla. – While his club ended their 2016 league calendar in October, Jason Kreis has hardly allowed himself a moment of respite this autumn, save from a brief holiday swing through his hometown outside New Orleans.

“I’ve not had a moment to stand still,” Orlando City's coach told MLSsoccer.com between travels to Brazil, Peru, Paraguay, Ecuador and Argentina over the past month and a trip across the Atlantic this week. “We’ve gone straight from the year-end meetings and discussions with the players to traveling, pretty much immediately, down to South America for 15 days, and then to Louisiana for Thanksgiving and getting back here on Sunday.

“And I’m leaving again on Thursday for Europe. I am 100 percent busier now in traveling terms than during the season.”

Kreis has perhaps more reason than most MLS head coaches to be scouting new talent, having released six players last month, including four on the defensive side, and knowing the Lions could well lose one more to Atlanta or Minnesota in the Expansion Draft on December 13.

Having taken over midway through the season, he is also looking to bring in more of his own players, in addition to midfielder Matias Perez Garcia, his lone summer acquisition.

“We’ve been working non-stop, starting this summer when we got here,” Kreis explained. “The transfer window was only open for another 10 days, so we hit the ground running, starting lists of potential new players, and we have continued to work on those lists. We’re working as hard as we can to find new players for 2017.”

[]

That explains the extensive trips to study players in the middle of their seasons ahead of the January transfer window.

“The first part of the trip was to spend some time at [new club technical partners] Atletico Paranaense [in Brazil],” Kreis said. “I wanted to get a feel for what that club looks like and take some ideas from that situation, as well as to talk about the match we will play against them next year here, and about the possibility of taking players on loan. Those discussions are ongoing.

“Then I went from there to Paraguay, from Paraguay to Peru, Peru to Ecuador and Ecuador to Argentina. All those trips were in and around meeting with potential players for next year and scouting potential new players as well.”

Kreis has two principal targets on his travels: to rebuild a defense that was statistically the worst in the league and to add experience and leadership to one of MLS' youngest rosters. While he still has plenty of promising young talent at his disposal, including center backs Jose Aja and Tommy Redding, he says it “wouldn’t be ideal” to start the season with them in tandem.

“On the defensive side, we feel there are good players here we can build around,” he added. “I think we actually have four very good young players, but I don’t think you want to enter a season where you are relying 100 percent on those players. So we’re looking for a mixture of experience, leadership and communication as well as players that are comfortable with the ball because, as we’ve said many times, we want to be a team that’s possession-oriented.

“It can be a difficult task to put all those things together. And we certainly have a process where we may wait for those qualities more than others, because you are never going to find the perfect players because we have to sync it all with the salary cap.”

While defense is the top priority, Kreis is also looking at other parts of the team.

[]

“We believe we need to strengthen in other areas as well,” he confirmed. “We are scouring the earth – MLS, NASL, the college ranks and obviously the rest of the world … It is about finding the absolute best players for the positions we need.”

Kreis has one other offseason target high on his agenda: working on Cyle Larin, the big striker who led the team with 14 goals in 2016, but only two in the final 11 games.

“We don’t we need to shy away from the opinion that the second half of the season wasn’t Cyle’s best, so we need to address that,” Kreis said. “There are several reasons for it and it’s not as simple as one might think. So we address that in the offseason through pinpointing what it is that we thought was the problem and looking to improve those things. It starts with the offseason workouts and how fit he comes into the preseason, because I think that’s a pretty good place to start, to raise your fitness level to an all-time high.

“From my point of view, it is not so much to do with technique, it is more to do with tactics and focus.”

question: What would have happened if Jason Kreis had allowed himself a moment of respite this autumn?

answer: If Jason Kreis had allowed himself a moment of respite this autumn, then he may not have had the best record and not been such a motivator for one of the youngest roster of teams.

question: What are the qualities Kreis believes are the most important?

answer: The qualities Kreis believes are the most important for a team are tactics and focus.


text:
WILLIAM SMITH (portrayed by Will Smith) is a fictionalized version of Smith and main character in the NBC television series _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_.

Concept and characteristics

The character of Will Smith is loosely based on the life of Warner Bros. Executive Benny Medina as well as the actor that plays him of the same name (although in the show 'Will' is short for William, while in real life it is short for Willard). Smith's charming and mischievous personality earned him the nickname “Prince,” which eventually became “Fresh Prince”. Smith had become a successful rapper, but lost most of his money because of poor budgeting. When NBC signed Smith up for the sitcom, he was almost bankrupt, and it immediately launched his acting career.[1]

Background

The premise of the character of Will, and of the show in general, is outlined in the opening theme. Will is a street-smart and laid-back West Philadelphia teenager. After Will gets into a fight his mother sends him to live with his wealthy aunt and uncle (Vivian and Phillip Banks) in Bel-Air.[2][3]

Storyline

Following Will's arrival in Bel-Air, he was a great distance from home and was considered an outsider by many people in his Bel-Air neighborhood. Early on, he had a picture of Malcolm X on his wall. He often disagrees with his cousin Carlton, whom he sees as not quite “black” enough because he doesn't talk like other young African Americans. While Smith sometimes perceives Phil as being overprotective of Ashley, he himself also can be; when Ashley asks him about sex, Will became shocked by Ashley's inquiry, which leads him and Carlton to go to a clinic to talk to a doctor about how to discuss sex with Ashley. His father, Lou, who had abandoned him at childhood, returns in the episode “Papa's Got A Brand New Excuse.” His dad promises to take him on the road with him, but later drops Will, and the resulting disappointment breaks Will’s heart. It is then that Smith tearfully realizes Philip is the closest thing he had to a father.

Though Will often teases his Uncle Phillip due to his obesity, he genuinely values Phillip as a father figure and fiercely defends him when his image or integrity is attacked by outsiders, especially in season 3's “Asses to Ashes.” In the episode, “Bullets Over Bel-Air,” Will is shot at a bank ATM while protecting Carlton from a robber. Carlton then feels that Will could have died saving him. During one of Will's visits back to his old neighborhood in Philly, he confronts the old park thug, Omar, to restore his damaged reputation. When Will challenges him, he is startled when a reformed Omar refuses to fight back. Omar shuns Will, and through him, Will gradually realizes that his reputation is not important.

Similar to his relationship with Uncle Phil is his relationship with his cousin Carlton. Though he often mocks Carlton mercilessly over his preppy nature, lack of “street cred”, and generally uncool nature, he is also fiercely protective of Carlton and will not hesitate to come to his cousin's defense. As stated previously, he even went so far as to take a bullet for Carlton. In another episode, Will quits a black fraternity when they refuse to let Carlton in for not being “black” enough. Will’s loyalty and love for Carlton are not lost on the latter, and in the final episode Carlton outright tells Will “Thank you for being the brother I always wanted.”.

At the conclusion of the show's run, the Banks family decides to settle in New York, while Will remains in Los Angeles to finish his last year of college. Will eventually becomes a close member of the Banks family and a better man by the series' end. Will delivers the last line of dialogue in the series: “I am definitely going to miss you, C.”

Reception

The character and Will Smith's portrayal received near unanimous praise from television critics & audiences alike. UGO editor Bryan Enk praised Will Smith's role as the character, stating “Rarely has there been a television series so perfectly tailor-made for its star than _The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air_ [...] _Fresh Prince_ fit Will Smith like a glove; it was obviously a showcase for him, but his co-stars were just as good, and Smith never hogged the spotlight (or the camera), allowing each cast member to shine in every episode.”[4]

[1]

[2] Season 1, episode 1 _The Fresh Prince Project_

[3]

[4]

title: Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)

question: Summarize Will's relationship with his family.

answer: He often has disagreements with his cousin Carlton but is fiercely protective of him at the same time. He can also be overprotective of Ashley at times. He was abandoned by his father as a child. Though Will teases his Uncle Phillip, he values Phillip as a father figure and doesn't hesitate to jump to his defense.

question: Summarize the inspiration for the character.

answer: The character is based on both Will Smith himself and on Benny Medina, an executive as Warner Bros. Even the name "Prince" comes from a nickname for Will Smith.

question: What does the article say about Will's relationship with his mother after moving to Bel-Air?

question: Summarize the negative events that happen to Will over the course of the show.

answer: Will gets into a fight with his mother. He is considered an outsider in Bel-Air. His father promises to take him on a road trip but later abandons him again. Will is shot by a bank robber.


text:
[]

Special Council Mueller (pictured) has subpoenaed over 12 people who were already willingly working with him.

Maybe if Special Counsel Robert Mueller interviews everyone in America, at that point, he will understand that President Donald Trump was guilty of no shenanigans with Russia. So far, a probe into the campaign’s Paul Manafort has revealed that he is/was potentially a very shady businessman. While he does need to be tried for his crimes, now that it seems that some may exist, isn’t it true that if virtually _any_ person was probed enough in their life that _something_ less than flattering would be found?

NOTHING pertaining to Russia in relation to Trump has been uncovered. This was supposed to be about Russia, not everything that someone who worked with the Commander in Chief ever did wrong. CNBC reports that Special Council Robert Mueller “_shocked_” the White House by “_issuing a subpoena to more than a dozen officials despite the campaign’s voluntary compliance with his probe_.”

In other words, even though those connected to America’s leader have already stated that they have nothing to hide and are talking willfully, they were issued subpoena’s as if the facts said otherwise. This paints a picture in the public eye that someone is being dishonest and blemishes Trump by proxy even though he and his people are cooperating.

[]

This whole probe is driven by hatred for Trump, not an honest quest for justice.

The Wall Street Journal confirms that issuing the subpoenas was the “_first official order_” for getting information from those involved. Not one of those subpoenaed “_compelled to testify before a grand jury._”

The Journal also said, “_Sending a subpoena to an entity that says it has been cooperating with document requests isn’t unusual in cases in which prosecutors have some concern that their demands aren’t being met promptly or aren’t being entirely fulfilled_.”

While that may be the case, can even a raging, pink-hat adorning Democrat name even _one_ Trump associate that hasn’t asked how high when told to jump? Most likely not because _there hasn’t been any!_

The water gets muddied because we have three facts at play which all gets tangled in people’s heads as they read about all of this. To start with, Russia _did_ spy and try to meddle in U.S. elections. Putin’s nation even used Facebook to plant pro-Hillary ads where they could be seen easily, as the Conservative Daily Post has shown.

[]

If Paul Manafort (pictured) is guilty of questionable business deals unrelated to Trump, how does that show collusion with Russia?

Second of all, because the DNC crafted a dossier full of untruths and rumors in order to slander Trump (and hired a former British spy named Christopher Steele to do it), many in the public think that the White House colluded with Russia to win the election. There is no basis anywhere in reality for this fairytale, and yet it exists thanks to Clinton. That is why her name is still on G.O.P. tongues a year after her defeat.

Lastly, the government is using this “_witch hunt_” to find dirt on everyone in a probe that is supposed to be about Russia, not about every sin that someone being probed may ever have committed.

Those who are being probed seem guilty of some crimes and perhaps they are, but these crimes have nothing more to do with the election than they do about how to fly to the moon.

Those are the cold, hard facts.

Source: CNBC – The Wall Street Journal– The Conservative Daily Post

[]

question: How many people have Special Counsel Mueller subpoenaed so far?

answer: Twelve people.

question: Why does the narrator thinks is driving the Mueller probe?

answer: Hatred for President Donald Trump.

question: What is the narrator's view about the subpoenas being issued to those working closely with President Trump?

answer: The narrator views the subpoenas as unnecessary, especially since those concerned have already promised their full cooperation.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator is sceptical of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's need to subpoena those working for President Trump, especially as they have already indicated their willingness to cooperate.

The narrator points to Manafort's conviction, saying that though he (Manafort) seems to be a shady businessman, it doesn't still prove anythg about Trump's collusion with Russia. The narrator believes the trial is a witchhunt, a ploy to bring down Trump because of Democrat's hatred of him.


text:
MICHL LANG (1899–1979) was a German stage and film actor.[1]

Selected filmography

-   _The Unsuspecting Angel_ (1936)
-   _Geheimakte W.B.1_ (1942)
-   _A Heart Beats for You_ (1949)
-   _King for One Night_ (1950)
-   _Fanfares of Love_ (1951)
-   _The Cloister of Martins_ (1951)
-   _That Can Happen to Anyone_ (1952)
-   _Illusion in a Minor Key_ (1952)
-   _Fireworks_ (1954)
-   _A Woman of Today_ (1954)
-   _San Salvatore_ (1956)
-   _Two Bavarians in St. Pauli_ (1956)
-   _Where the Ancient Forests Rustle_ (1956)
-   _Salzburg Stories_ (1957)
-   _Wir Wunderkinder_ (1958)
-   _I Was All His_ (1958)
-   _The Green Devils of Monte Cassino_ (1958)
-   _Paprika_ (1959)
-   _Storm in a Water Glass_ (1960)
-   _Isola Bella_ (1961)
-   _Aunt Frieda_ (1965)
-   _The Sinful Village_ (1966)
-   _Onkel Filser – Allerneueste Lausbubengeschichten_ (1966)

[1] Goble p.457

title: Michl Lang

question: Who was Michl Lang?

answer: A film and stage actor.

question: Where was he from?

answer: Germany.

question: What was his first work titled?

answer: The Unsuspecting Angel.

question: What year did he die?

answer: 1979.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Michl Lang was a German film and stage actor. He was born in 1899, appeared in at least 23 productions and films, and died in 1979.


text:
The only thing legible on the newspaper was January 12th, 2012, as it was ripped apart by the tires of a speeding car on West Avenue. West Avenue was the street Melanie Smith used on her way to and from school every day.

The clock struck three, and the school bell rang. All the children ran out of their classrooms full of liberation with the afternoon now their own. The students came bursting out of the front door of the school as if it were a competition to see who could leave first. After escaping the crowd, Melanie took her normal route home down West Avenue. She noticed a large white van, the type stereotypically used for kidnapping, had been following her since she left school. She wasn’t nervous though. Melanie was full of the adolescent spirit, and she held firmly to the idea that nothing bad could happen to her. The van sped up, and stopped about 30 yards in front of Melanie. As she walked by she was quickly taken into the van by a masked and an unmasked man. The scene was oddly anticlimactic. Real life isn’t much like the movies. There isn’t any considerable competition in terms of strength when it comes to a twelve year old girl and two fully grown men. Once back in the van, the masked man said, “Don’t worry young lady. We aren’t going to hurt you. We’re just trying to get your father’s attention.”
The unmasked driver remained silent.

The idea was the masked and the unmasked man would kidnap Melanie Smith, and by using her Father’s love for her against him they could get leverage over his hefty bank account. At least that was the plan.
Finally the van stopped, and the unmasked driver let out a deep sigh. He turned the van off, unbuckled himself, and got out without saying a word. The ground crunched under his weight as he walked to the sliding side door of the van. His walking stopped and the sound of a gun being cocked pierced the silent air. A moment later a loud echoing shot blew through the van’s door. The masked man inside went limp and slouched over. A dark pool of blood began diffusing from his body. Melanie wasn’t quite sure how to respond. She managed to put up a bigger fight when the unmasked man grabbed her, but she was easily overpowered and carried into a house.
The man chuckled at Melanie’s fear. In a very calm and controlled voice he said, “I was just like you when I was a kid. I was so full of ignorance. Then one day, I came home from school, just like you were a little while ago, and found both of my parents dead. The man who had murdered them was sitting on our couch watching television and drinking beer.” The unmasked man smiled at Melanie and continued, “The man stood up from the couch and walked towards me. I was paralyzed with fear. He grabbed my head, and he said he wanted me to remember him for the rest of my life. So he did this.” The man pointed at his scar which resided from the edge of his lip all the way to his ear. He looked at Melanie with a blank gaze for a few moments, and then he turned and walked to the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. “You want one?” he asked.
Melanie remained silent.

“Yeah, I didn’t like the taste of beer when I was your age either, but it grows on you.” He laughed. “Anyway, let’s get down to business.” The unmasked man grabbed his cell phone and dialed a number. It rang until it went to voicemail.

“Hello, this is Richard Smith. I can’t get to the phone right now. Please leave your name and your number. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”

The unmasked man sighed and said, “I have your daughter. Call me back at 567-9845, or I’ll kill her.” The phone rang almost as soon as he hung up. The unmasked man was quick and to the point. He demanded that Richard come to the house. Richard Smith was a nice man. He provided for his family the best he could, and he encouraged Melanie in everything she found interest in. Richard even donated a significant amount of money to the local food bank every month, because he thought everyone deserved to be helped. He was the change he wanted to see in the world.

Filled with fear and anger Richard rushed to get all his money that he expected a kidnapper to want, and he went to the address the man had given him. He arrived at the house and ran to the front door. He was greeted with the sight of a man holding a gun to his daughter’s head.

The unmasked man said, “Come in Richard. Have a seat.”

Richard walked across the room and sat down.

“Very good Richard. Can I offer you a beer?”

Richard obviously growing angrier by the moment threw the bag of money to the middle of the room and asked, “Can I please take my daughter and leave? That’s all my money.”

The unmasked man laughed and said, “It’s not about money. Money was my partner’s desire.” He then commanded, “Go into the last room at the end of the hall or I’ll blow your daughter’s brain all over the fucking wall.”

As Richard arrived in the room he was struck in the back of the head with the butt of a gun which knocked him out.

“You back with us Richard?” The unmasked man laughed with glee. Richard came to, and he found himself ducked taped to a metal chair in the middle of a room. In front of him was his daughter.

“Do you know why the nice and peaceful life just doesn’t work Richard? It’s because a nice, relaxing picnic is too easily ended with a machinegun. That’s the reason you’re taped to a chair in some stranger’s house.” The unmasked man let out a sigh. “But don’t worry Richard. When it comes right down to it, I’m no better off than you.” The unmasked man began pacing behind Richard and said, “You see a guy like me, a real bad guy, has the same fate as a good guy like you and a naïve child like Melanie. What we do in life has no meaning in the scheme of it all Richard. It always ends the same.”

Richard began struggling trying to break the tape but his efforts were futile. He looked at his daughter and said, “Everything is going to be alright. I promise.”

The unmasked man stopped pacing and faced Melanie, “Oh no Melanie. Everything is not going to be alright. Things are not alright in the slightest.”

A loud click could be heard from below the floor, and the vents opened.

The unmasked man said, “You’ll be gazing down the yawning void in no time.”

The room gradually filled with poisonous fumes, and Richard, the unmasked man, and Melanie all expired.

title: The Good, Bad, and the Naïve

question: Who shot the masked kidnapper?

answer: The unmasked kidnapper shot the masked kidnapper.

question: What if Melanie chose a different route home the day she was kidnapped?

answer: The kidnappers won't be able to kidnap her.

question: Why did the unmasked man kidnap Melanie if he didn't want the ransom money in the first place?

answer: The unmasked man planned to kill them all, including himself, because he thinks he is no better off than Richard. The unmasked man says bad guys like him had the same fate as good guys like Richard and naive children like Melanie - life had no meaning in the grand scheme of things, and it ended the same for everyone.


text:
She knew it was coming. She saw it coming. For three months, she held onto that bright purple monkey that he had gotten her for her birthday and waited. Why had he gotten her a purple monkey anyway? She hated the color purple.

The really sad thing was, she felt almost relieved. And she was disgusted with herself for that.

They had met in a book club meeting, of all places. Freshman year of high school, she walked into the library, still painfully shy, and he was the first one who said hi to her. There were only ten people in the club, and she slowly relaxed around them. They argued over their favorite novels, had contests to see who could read the next assigned book the fastest and made up a secret handshake that, when they tried to perform it in the hallways between classes, always ended in loud laughter.

He had been in three of her classes, which she had never noticed before, and they started hanging out more. When he asked her out, she was so excited, and terrified. She had never had a boyfriend before. Was she supposed to act different around him now? Was she supposed to stop hanging out with him as much? How many texts a day were too many? She didn't worry for too long. He was just as nervous as she was. They spent almost every moment together, those first two years.

Then junior year rolled around and he became distant. He tried to make an effort to stay cheerful around her, but she had known him long enough to see that he was unhappy. She tried talking to him, but he would shake his head and turn away and she didn't push.

She had wondered if he was going to break up with her, and cried. One night, while they were watching a movie together, she turned and looked at him, her eyes filling with angry tears and demanded that he just do it already. She couldn't handle this anymore.

He hugged her, squeezed her as tight as he could, and said that he wasn't going to break up with her. He loved her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But the rest of his life was three months, maybe four.

They had cried together, and talked, and cried some more. They spent two days apart, because she didn't know how to handle it. But she decided that she would keep him happy for the next three months. He would never have to worry about her leaving him.

Those three months were the worst. He got weaker. He got more emotional. He would lash out for no apparent reason and once, when she told him to relax, he hit her in the face. She was more angry than hurt. "Just because you're dying doesn't mean you get to hit your fucking girlfriend!" She had left, and he called her that night, sobbing and apologizing. She went back to his house and spent the night lying next to him in bed, unable to sleep, listening to his mom cry in the living room.

The phone rang. She answered it on the third ring.

"He wants to see you."

She was silent for a few moments. "I can't. I can't do that."

"Stop being selfish. I don't care if it scars you for life, get your ass to the hospital. For some reason, my boy wants to see you before he dies and you'd better fucking do what he wants."

She hung up and got out of bed. She brushed her hair and put it up, remembering that he always said she looked cute with a ponytail. She put on the shirt he liked the most and a pair of jeans that he had doodled on one day in book club. She drove to the hospital slowly and carefully, parked in the farthest spot from the door. It was windy out, and smelled like it was about to rain. The woman at the front desk directed her to the right room and she went, trying to get lost along the way. It didn't work. The building was too small.

She opened the door marked 318 and everyone in the room turned to stare at her. His mother and father were there. His mother glared at her, but his father smiled. His older brother was there, sitting in the only chair, looking exhausted. And there he was, sitting up in bed, grinning at her.

His father ushered everyone else out of the room to give them privacy. As the door closed, she perched on the side of the hospital bed and took his hand.

"Hey."

He kissed her hand and she smiled. "Hi. I'm glad you came."

"Of course I came." She felt like crying, but refused to. He didn't need that. "This is a much better reason to put off studying for finals."

He laughed, but it sounded off. "You know, I was always amazed that you stuck around. After everything, you're still here. That means the world to me. I love you."

"I love you too." The lie tasted bitter, but she ignored it. They said nothing else to each other. His family returned and she stayed where she was, holding his hand, until he finally closed his eyes and went.

She felt suddenly as if someone had reached into her chest and pricked her heart, letting the blood drain out until it shriveled and died. She left the hospital. She attended the funeral. She finished high school and moved to another state. She went to college, tried to make new friends and have new relationships. She left college, found an okay job, and started dating her next door neighbor. He was an alcoholic, which she didn't mind. He hit her sometimes. She just covered it up with make-up and he never remembered the next morning. He proposed to her and she agreed. They had three children and she quit her job.

She wasn't happy. She hated the children. She hated her husband. She blamed it all on him, the first boy she had ever loved, who had promised her so much and then left her. She was heartless and unlovable because of him. She was depressed because of him. She wished she hadn't lied to him. He should have died knowing that she didn't love him anymore.

She sent the kids off to school, kissed her husband before he left for work, wrote a note and stuck it on her pillow, and decided to go for a walk. She kept walking, until she was so sore that she had to stop. She sat down on the side of a road she didn't recognize and smiled to herself, thinking that she had finally managed to get lost.

title: Lost

question: Who met in a book meeting?

answer: The young girl met her lover in the book meeting.

question: Do the two fall in love?

answer: Yes, the two of them fell in love but eventually, the girl loses interest in him.

question: Why was everyone in the room staring at her?

answer: It may be implied that everyone was staring at her due to the seriousness of the situation.

question: Do any of them die?

answer: Yes, the boy eventually dies.

question: Write a ~9 sentence summary.

answer:
The two met in a book club meeting in the Freshman year at high school. They fell in love and started dating. The boy eventually reveals that he doesn't have much time to live.

The phone rings, it's his mother, calling her to the hospital. He dies with her hand in his.

As time passed, she got married to an alcoholic. She hated her life and blamed it all on the boy. She wished he had died knowing she didn't love him anymore.

She finally manages to get lost.


text:
A topic in one of my past papers. 20 minutes, no planning. Let me know how I can fine tune it. Just so you know, English is not my native language and this is my first time in this place. Enjoy.

----------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a hazy night. Though the roads were clear, a lonely black sedan still roamed the streets. The driver, John, was not conscious of his actions at the moment. His mind was obnubilated with all the alcohol he had consumed. A light rain started to fall. The pitter-patter of the rain drops only mulled John's senses.

 He could barely see where he was going much less see any one else. Through his blurry vision and scrambled consciousness, he swayed the car dangerously on every turn. He did not see the black form that appeared suddenly from the road-side. He could not have seen him or apprehended the gravity of the situation but when he felt a sudden bump in his car, he knew something was wrong. He slowed the car cautiously. He got out of the car dangerously, his mind weighed heavily with the influence of alcohol. The rain had started to fall heavy now. As John made his way behind the car, what he saw brought him back to reality in one clawing stroke. A twisted, black body lay crumpled on the road. As the police would later comfort the victim's family, he had not suffered much at all. It was all over in a few moments. Tear tracks ran down John's face as he realized what he had done. The saltiness of the tears crippled his newly surfaced soberness. His life was over in a instant. The body of the victim was contracted so horribly that it rippled horrible goose bumps across John's skin that not even the rain could flatten. The rain was pouring down in bullets now. A puddle of red surround the body. Its skin was scorched with bruises and gashes of blood and dirt. To John, each wound was like his own.

 As he stood staring at the body, the minutes felt like hours. Time seemed to be raging at him for the death of the victim. The clouds coughed and showered the last of their condensed vapours before leaving. Stars twinkled and shined as the moon came out. As though this seemed to finalize the episode of the accident, John slipped back into the cold seat of his car and reversed the car. He re-shifted the gears to the fifth, slammed his foot down on the accelerator, and waited for the impact.

title: The Victim

question: Is John a good person?

answer: That can't be judged through the information in this story. He did decide to drive drunk, so that shows his judgment is flawed.

question: How did John know something was wrong with his car?

answer: He felt a sudden bump on his car.

question: What is the main event of the story?

answer: John runs over a person while drunk driving.

question: How does the story end?

answer: It seems that John was attempting to kill himself after he accidentally ran over the person. He believed his life was over after the crime.

question: Write a ~5 sentence summary.

answer: John has chosen to drive drunk on a rainy night. He hits and kills a person on the road. He is horrified, and believes his life is now over. He gets back into the car and accelerates, waiting for impact. It's implied he is trying to kill himself due to guilt and fear.


text:
I once saw a seagull, suspended above the ocean, held up effortlessly by the sea breeze. The bird did not wrong me, in fact we have never met before, but at that very moment I had only hatred towards it. Every squeal was an insult to my existence, every squak made my jaw clench tighter. I tried to track down the source of this overwhelming animosity, with no avail. As I stood there, leaning on the railing looking out to the ocean, our gaze locked. A surge of fiery hatred shot through my veins, and within seconds floating on the vast blueness were puddles of scattered red. The bird was torn to shreds before my eyes, like invisible hands ripping through paper; effortless. I did not move an inch, still gazing into the distance, the anger quelled. As I collected myself and stared down at the feathery masses of flesh bobbling about on the water, I though of George.
George was a coward, though none would agree, but then again no one really knew George as well as I did. After all, he was my father. My first memory of George was two decades ago; I was about seven then. It was three in the morning when the screaming and wailing woke me. Still cloudy from sleep, I followed the horrid noises to the source. As I slowly descended the staircase, I listened, wondered what could possible be making such agonic sounds this late at night, a racoon trapped under the floorboard perhaps? Each wail was consistently followed by a loud thump or two. This continued as I inched closer. Eventually the wails became moans, then the moans became eerie gargling noises, then silence.
I placed my hand on the kitchen door and pushed it open. The scene in front of me was surprisingly still and easy to comprehend. George was towering over my mother, who was sprawled across the kitchen floor. She was in her silk nightgown, twitching, drenched in red, with obvious indentations from George's steel-tipped boots across her cracked skull, her brain half spilling out and her blood dyed most of the kitchen floor red.
George was breathing heavily, looking at the same thing as I was, then his attention suddenly shifted towards me, little seven-year-old me. There was no hate in his eyes, no anger, not even fear, just emptiness. He took a step towards me, then another, my heart sank. I looked down at my mother's now motionless corpse, then back to George, then to his steel-tipped boots. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks, I shut my eyes, then THUD. I stood there for a moment, waiting for the pain to kick in. Nothing. Then, yelling. It was George's voice. I pried open my eyes and peeked. The walls were now as red as the floor, and a disembodied leg was now spinning on the kitchen floor a few feet away from George, now flailing uncontrollably. At that moment, it was clear. There is no god, no guardian angels. I did it, I knocked George's leg clean off his knee. I am more powerful.

title: Something I'm half working on. Thoughts?

question: What emotions can you see the main characters feeling in this passage?

answer: The emotions the main character has felt in this passage are anger, loneliness, curiosity, shock and empowerment.

question: What did George do to the main character's mother?

answer: George killed the main character's mother.

question: How did the main character feel about ripping off George's leg?

answer: The main character felt quite powerful ripping off George's leg.

question: What is George's relationship to the main character?

answer: George is the main character's father.


text:
BADFLOWER is an American rock band founded in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of singer/guitarist Josh Katz, lead guitarist Joey Morrow, bass guitarist Alex Espiritu and drummer Anthony Sonetti. The band is signed to Big Machine John Varvatos Records and was named Artist of the Week by Apple Music after the release of their EP _Temper_ in 2016. Their debut studio album, titled _OK, I'm Sick_, was released on February 22, 2019.

History

Formation and indie label releases (2008–2014)

Badflower's earliest incarnation, The Cartunes, formed in 2008, when music school students, Northridge CA born Josh Katz, and Gilroy CA transplant, Joey Morrow, met at their Hollywood CA apartment building. The pair moved in together, and began writing songs for their 5 piece band. They released a self produced EP in 2011 but after losing their bass player and rhythm guitarist, reformed as rock band Badflower, recruiting Espiritu and Sonetti to round out their ranks. [1][2] They played several shows in Los Angeles including a weekly residency at The Key Club[3] and gained attention from satellite radio personality and former NSYNC member Lance Bass.[4] After a performance at The Troubadour, opening for Kongos,[5] the band signed with former independent record label Hundred Handed and began recording their first music release.

Major label signing and _Temper_ EP (2015–2016)

[Group photo of Badflower] Badflower released their debut single “Soap” via Hundred Handed records on March 4, 2015, and debuted its music video on Loudwire the same day.[6] Shortly after the release the band flew to the United Kingdom to support Australian pop duo The Veronicas and played to sold out venues including London's Heaven. Then, upon returning home to the US, the band headed straight back on tour to play several showcases in Austin, TX for SXSW and South by So What?! in Grand Prairie, Texas supporting Circa Survive.[7] A demo version of the band's song “Animal” was also used in record label executive John Varvatos's show during New York Fashion Week.[8] The band was then flown out to New York City to showcase for Varvatos and head executives at Republic Records with the prospect of making a deal. After the performance, the label immediately began negotiations which included a buy-out from their previous deal with Hundred Handed.

Impatient with the negotiations, the band took it upon themselves to begin recording an album in their garage. On March 10 the band signed with John Varvatos / Republic Records. When the conversation about making an album began, the band confessed they had already begun making it in their garage and submitted a nearly complete version of “Temper” to the label. To the band's surprise, the label loved the self-produced collection and began preparing to release the unanimous favorite, “Animal,” as the first single.[9] “Animal” was premiered on Guitar World website and released on September 1, 2016.[10] Following the release of the single, the band performed across the US in support of Billy Talent on the “Afraid of Heights” tour in September, 16. While on tour, the band gained attention from active rock radio stations and top programmers for iTunes and Apple Music.

The band's debut EP, _Temper_ dropped on November 4, 2016 and Badflower was named Apple Music's Artist of the week.[11] “Good, Old-Fashioned Rock n' Roll May Have Just Made a Modern Comeback,” declares Nylon Magazine[12] Active and Alternative rock radio began spinning “Animal” regularly and was added by stations such as SiriusXM Octane and was voted #1 on KROQ locals only for multiple weeks in a row.[13] iTunes named “Animal” among the best rock songs and _Temper_ among best rock albums of 2016.[14] A few songs from _Temper_ were also featured on Spotify's most streamed music playlists including New Music Friday[15] Following the buzz, Badflower was asked to headline KCRW's School night in West Hollywood, CA on December 19, 2016. The band recruited friend and _Big Bang Theory_ actor Johnny Galecki to join them on stage to close the show.[16] On December 31 “Animal” entered into the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and peaked at number 28.[17] In addition, by March 2017 their single “Animal” from Temper had cracked at 1 million Spotify streams and as of 2018 has garnered them over 2,000,000 streams. Soon after the release of _Temper_ EP on December 12, 2016, Badflower began touring to promote the release.[18]

Touring and debut studio album (2017–present)

Badflower as well as American rock band Red Sun Rising would be opening acts for Pop Evil on their “Rock 'N' Roll Now” Tour from January to February 2017.[19] After the tour, they would be the supporting bands with Bleeker and Beware of Darkness, as well as two additional shows with Red Sun Rising, playing at various music festivals like Buzzfest, Rock on Range and River City Rock Fest.[20] They would also put on a summer tour with the rock group Goodbye June from Nashville, Tennessee, and In addition, it was announced they were to do several more headlines at major festivals like Louder Than Life Festival in Kentucky[21] They have opened for Of Mice & Men, Greta Van Fleet, IDK, From Ashes to New, The Struts, Pop Evil, Bleeker, Beware of Darkness, The Wrecks, and Red Sun Rising[22]

During the tour, a previously unreleased track, “Move Me”, was released on the band's Facebook page. Katz explained he wrote the song while heartbroken at his Thousand Oaks, CA home in 2015.[23] However, four days after the release of “Move Me”, their tour van was broken into outside a venue in Los Angeles. Their backpacks, wallets, laptops, cameras, gear etc. were stolen and they were forced to cancel two shows in Santa Cruz and Berkeley, California.[24] The tour reconvened soon after, and their track “White Noise”, from their _Temper_ EP, reached 1 million plays on Spotify.[25]

On September 9, 2017 it was revealed on Facebook they were to start recording for their first full length album with their record label John Varvatos /Big Machine Label Group, being the first rock group to sign a deal with the label.[26] Badflower began preproduction for the new album in Fall 2017 and began recording at Ocean Studios in Burbank, CA alongside producer Noah Shain.[27] More than a year later, on December 6th 2018, the band re-released their official music video for the song “Heroin”, featuring the current version of the song, which had been added to the album.[28]

At the end of 2017, Badflower had over 1,000,000 fans from 61 countries playing over 312,000 hours of their music from their Spotify alone, [29]

On November 1, Badflower announced their debut album _OK, I'm Sick_, would be released on February 22, 2019.[30]

Josh Katz said the following about the single 'Ghost': “I was depressed and thinking about self-harm. So I just wrote it. I played out the whole scenario and put it into a song because that's what writers do, I suppose. I didn't even know if it was gonna go on the album. I was sorta hesitant to even show it to the rest of my band, But everyone heard it and loved it”. [31]

The group released a single called “30” on July 17, 2020, coinciding with Katz's 30th birthday. It features lyrics centered around reaching the milestone age of 30 years old and being uncomfortable with it. [32]

Discography

Studio albums

+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| Title                 | Details               | Chart positions       |
+=======================+=======================+=======================+
| US                    | US Alt.               | US Dig.               |
| [33]                  | [34]                  | [35]                  |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+
| _OK, I'm Sick_        | -   Released date:    | 140                   |
|                       |     February 22, 2019 |                       |
|                       | -   Label: Big        |                       |
|                       |     Machine           |                       |
|                       | -   Formats: CD, LP,  |                       |
|                       |     digital download  |                       |
+-----------------------+-----------------------+-----------------------+

EPs

-   _About a Girl_ (2013)[40]
-   _Temper_ (2016)

Singles

+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| Title           | Year            | Chart positions | Album           |
+=================+=================+=================+=================+
| US              | US              | US              | CAN             |
| Alt.            | Main.           | Rock            | Rock            |
| [41]            | Rock            | [43]            | [44]            |
|                 | [42]            |                 |                 |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “Soap”          | 2015            | —               | —               |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “Animal”        | 2016            | —               | 28              |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “Ghost”         | 2018            | 22              | 2               |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “x ANA x”       | —               | —               | —               |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “Heroin”        | —               | 1               | 33              |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “Promise Me”    | 2019            | 32              | —               |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “The Jester”    | —               | 1               | 26              |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+
| “30”            | 2020            | —               | 2               |
+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+-----------------+

Music videos

  Title                      Year                               Director(s)
  -------------------------- ---------------------------------- ---------------------------------------
  “The Jester”               2013                               Madie Ramser[45]
  “Mother Mary”              2014                               Jordan Wolfbauer and Sam Moore[46]
  “Soap”                     2015                               Madie Ramser and Jordan Wolfbauer[47]
  “Animal”                   2017
  “Move Me”
  “Heroin”                   Jordan Wolfbauer[48][49][50][51]
  “Ghost”                    2018
  “x ANA x”
  “Promise Me”               2019
  “The Jester” (version 2)
  “30”                       2020                               Jordan Wolfbauer[52]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]  High Voltage Magazine|website=iamhighvoltage.com|access-date=2016-12-23}}

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17] https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks/2017-04-01

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46]

[47]

[48]

[49]

[50]

[51]

[52]

title: Badflower

question: Who is Badflower composed of?

answer: It's composed of singer/guitarist Josh Katz, lead guitarist Joey Morrow, bass guitarist Alex Espiritu and drummer Anthony Sonetti.

question: How many albums has Badflower released?

answer: They have only released one full album so far.

question: Describe Badflower's earliest incarnation.

answer: They were called the Cartunes and formed in 2008 after music school students Josh and Joey met. They were originally a five piece band.

question: What genre of music does Badflower play?

answer: Rock

question: What happened when the band was impatient with negotiations?

answer: The band took it upon themselves to begin recording an album in their garage.

question: What happened at the end of 2017?

answer: Badflower had over 1,000,000 fans from 61 countries playing over 312,000 hours of their music from their Spotify alone.

question: When was the band first signed to a record label?

answer: Some time after 2011 the band signed with former independent record label Hundred Handed.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This article details the history of American rock band Badflower, which officially formed in 2011. The band is composed of singer/guitarist Josh Katz, lead guitarist Joey Morrow, bass guitarist Alex Espiritu and drummer Anthony Sonetti. They released their debut studio album Ok, I'm Sick in 2019.


text:
The Oppo R5 currently holds the title of "world's thinnest smartphone" at 4.85mm but that may not last long since the announcement of the Vivo X5 Max is drawing near.

Also leaked images show the newcomer has a profile of only 3.75mm.

The company is teasing the device by revealing how its impressively slender body was constructed and how it's better than the R5.

In related news leaked photos show someone actually measuring the X5 Max with a caliper, confirming its 3.75mm claim to fame.

[] []
CONFIRMING THE 3.75MM CLAIM OF THE VIVO X5 MAX WITH A CALIPER

How did Vivo achieve this thickness? According to teaser promo materials, there are not many components beneath the screen. Vivo has moved 90% of the internals (some 786 components) along the sides of the screen, instead of having them sandwiched between the screen and the back. This will make for one interesting teardown (an not so moderate bezels, we'd guess).

[]

Anyway, the Oppo R5 had to drop the 3.5mm audio jack (which is almost as tall as the phone's thickness) and use a microUSB to 3.5mm converter like in the good old days. There's also no memory slot – two things Vivo says it will not compromise on with the X5 Max.

[] [] [] []
VIVO X5 MAX TEASER IMAGES

Interestingly, the upcoming phone will supposedly keep its 3.5mm audio jack, the memory slot and according to TENAA specs will have a 5.5" 1080p screen, 1.7GHz octa-core MediaTek chipset, run Android 4.4 KitKat with 2GB of RAM and pack a slightly bulging 13MP main camera plus a flush 5MP front-facing camera.

The Vivo X5 Max is expected to be announced next month and we may see the Vivo Xplay 5S come out of hiding along with it.

Source 1 (_in Chinese_) • Source 2 (_in Chinese_) | Via 1 | Via 2

question: How did Vivo manage to craft so thin a phone?

answer: They moved many components from under the screen to the sides of it.

question: What downsides do extremely thin phones can usually have?

answer: They often need to drop the audio jack or memory slots. They often have lower battery life than thicker phones which can house larger batteries.

question: What advantages does the Vivo X5 Max has against the then-current thinnest phone, the Oppo R5?

answer: X5 Max will have an audio jack and a memory slot.

question: What specific downside is expected for Vivo X5 Max?

answer: Because Vivo moved many components from beneath the screen to its sides, the bezel width may increase.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Vivo announces its upcoming phone, the X5 Max, which will be the thinnest phone at 3.75mm of thickness versus the current record holder Oppo R5's 4.85mm. Unlike the R5, however, the X5 will not drop either the memory slot or the audio jack. Vivo says they achieved this by moving components from under the screen to the sides. That may end up increasing the bezels.


text:
I am trying to be a writer, I would like opinions.  Feel free to be as harsh or as flattering as you want, in my eyes its all constructive.  It might be a bit hard to figure out, so I guess also comment on what you think its about.

	The lights were flickering on and off.  He came into view three or four times.  Large bursts of light erupting from a pitch black abyss.  In the room, there were no sounds, no breaths, no heart beats.  When the lights were on the black abyss turned into a room, and the room was all white with blisteringly powerful light spraying off everywhere.  When the lights turned on, maybe a half a second, maybe three quarters, I was able to make out a figure.  Large, dark and angry.  Eyes completely yellow, staring me down.  My eyes reflected in his, the reflection so bright, how could I possibly look away.  I shoved my hands against my temples and squeezed, the man falling in and out of my sight.  The light turned off, a wave of black falling over me, like a midnight black blanket being wrapped around my head on a bright day.  I fell over slightly and felt nauseous.  I tripped on my own feet and my head banged against the floor, or the wall, I’m not really sure which.  At times like these I always ran to the door, kicking and screaming to let me out, to let me breathe, but I always heard the same words every time I banged the door, “anesthesia.”  I would loose track of the door at that point.  First it was on the left, then it was on the right.  Rotating around me like the orbit of a moon sped up.
	They would always turn the lights on at the worst moment, right when I would close my eyes, right when I was going to get some rest finally.  I was a child waiting for a Christmas that never came.  Sometimes, during these fits of light, I would catch the faint glimmer of a shadow over me.  The shadow of a demon like being with the horns of a devil and the knife of a butcher.  Picking and pulling at my well being, the chords of thought being plucked right from under me.  I was never able to move at these moments, never able to reach out my hand and grasp the ephemeral hand over me.  The lights started to flicker again, in and out.  If I was a bucket of sand, they would be emptying me gradually, and each grain of sand that would fall out would just disappear as it left the bucket, with each flicker of the light this would continue to happen.  The bang and the light coming and going from those in front of me who were never actually in front of me.  A worthless fight.
	How long has it been?  A week?  A month?  I’d bang on the door when I could find it.  I’d yell my name just to yell it, just to gain something from a lost experience, right up until that was lost too.  And when I’d yell, I’d cry, because I was yelling my life, my upbringing, my experiences.  After each yell, it would go, after each cry I’d forget.  And on that final day, when there was nothing left to yell, I’d wake up.
	I would wake up lying down, people in white standing over me with light shining down and red tools lying next to me.  Everything is in front of me, but I cant grasp it.  Like a fisherman trying to grab the reflection of a fish going by with his bare hands.  Except now, I am all empty.

title: This is my story (read and criticize)

question: What does the story say about what the narrator is battling?

answer: The narrator is battling visions he is having of a large, dark and angry figure. The images come from large bursts of light that erupt from a pitch black abyss. The shadows of demons the narrator sees is while he is being operated on by doctors who keep having to use more anesthesia.


text:
Small waves lapped against the next contestant as she bobbed in the water. The game was called “Don’t shit a brick.” The goal was to see who could doggy paddle the longest while holding a brick. Juvenile, sure. Was it fun? You’re damn right it was.

Jennifer had cried out with glee when she first entered the water, then her face squished in like a sponge when she was handed the brick. She momentarily grimaced as the red, clay brick scraped against her inner thigh. But she managed to hold onto it surrounded by the vibrantly colored speedboats of her classmates.

Her red and blue bikini top was fastened tight around her neck, but the grasping texture of the brick threatened to expose her sun shaded breasts to the boys leaning off the sides of their boats, cheering wildly like she was crossing the finish line with each minor stroke.

The coldness of Lake Holshire had sucked my breath away earlier in the afternoon, when the first round of tubing had begun.  The coldness could be seen on Jennifer’s face, in the way she gasped for air and kept her eyes focused on one spot in the sky.

Maybe if we had brought more than one brick, the contestant would have felt better about dropping it to the mossy bottom below. As it were, Jennifer struggled with the weight and the beers she had drank earlier.

She managed to keep herself afloat as someone yelled, “She looks like she’s shitting a brick!”

The three speedboats all had their engines killed and their anchor points tethered, leaving a triangular opening in the water. As Jennifer struggled with her clay weight, the boats sloshed and shimmied so that Jennifer was no longer in the center of the triangle, but closer to Davis’ boat, a shining red and black beast that could hit sixty miles an hour without blinking.

I yelled to Davis, “Get her out, man. She’s finished.”

He didn’t even look at me, but kept staring down at the top of her breasts that glistened just above the surface of the water.

In the afternoon sun, the water was a navy blue, like the oppressive folds of storm clouds about to spit rain.

Davis was now laying on the edge of his Mastiff, as he called the red and black racer, urging Jennifer to just give up and take her top off. She didn’t need to be weighed down by it. Her faux laugh filled her mouth with Lake water, which she spit out with squinting eyes.

“Shut up, Dave,” was all she managed to mouth before slipping under water.

Davis turned to Trev, “Did you hear what she said?” He didn’t see her submerge into the triangle of darkness, like a pole searching for the bottom of Lake Holshire.

The water rippled outwards where the crown of her head had gone under, breaking symmetry on the side of the Mastiff. One, two, three seconds pass. No sign of her. She’s not coming up. I search the black water to see if I can find her, but cannot.

I glance at the others. There’s more than a dozen people and not one of them seems concerned that Jennifer has just taken the plunge to death. She’s a caught bobber and no one wants to reel her in.

Alcohol does dumb shit to people.

I dive in, momentarily wondering if I should have jumped in feet first rather than swan dive into the water. But I don’t hit her. I open my eyes and am amazed at how bright it is underwater. The boats cast long shadows down a corridor of the lake, but there’s wide expanses receiving bright sunlight now. I can see Jennifer with her eyes closed about ten feet below.

She is drifting there like a person caught between a dream and waking. She’s let go of the brick but her hands still hold it near her chest. Something in the water brushes against my eyelids causing them to close momentarily. I fear she’ll be dead when I get her in my arms. Will she drift away when I’m back?

I reach her, grab her underneath her arms and start kicking for the surface. I can see the long angular shadows from the boats spread wider and wider, until I’m panting above the dark expanse of the black triangle.

title: Black Triangle

question: What are the rules of "Don't Shit a Brick"?

answer:
The swimmer, most likely a female, would need to swim a certain distance while a brick is tied to their bikini top. The swimmer will be accompanied and watched by other people on boats.

The challenge comes from being able to swim despite the additional weight and the risk that the brick would expose the player's breasts.

When the swimmer starts showing some difficulty, the people on the boat can call out that the swimmer looks like they are "shitting a brick", hence the name of the game.

The game likely ends when the swimmer gives up, reaches the end, or is unable to continue swimming.


text:
F1 ENGINES _ VALVE TECHNOLOGY
All F1 engines have used pneumatic valves for some time, first introduced by Renault on the late versions of the their V6 turbo engine.
WIRE SPRING VALVE
[]
Previously wire valve springs have been used, they use a coil spring (13) to return the valve (1) to a closed position after the cam has retarded. They required huge amounts of the detail development on their shape and material to reach the rev limits of around 15k RPM. The pressure to deliver power from 3.5l and later 3.0l engines required ever higher rev ceilings and metal springs could not longer be developed at the same rate as the rest of the engine.

PNEUMATIC VALVE SPRING
[]
Pneumatic systems use conventional cams operating the valve (4) via a shim\bucket or finger follower, the valve spring pocket is replaced with a chamber (28) pressurised with nitrogen (held within a cylinder in the sidepods) that runs at a constant pressure to return the valve when the cam timing retards. You often see the teams suffer a loss of pressure in the races through leaks in the system, the driver comes in and mechanics re-pressurises the pneumatic circuit, this rarely works for more than few laps. Also when Engines are changed the un-installed engine needs a remote gas cylinder connected in order for the valves not to drop and hit the pistons.

WIRE SPRING VS PNEUMATIC VALVE COMPARISION
[]

RENAULT ELECTRO-HYDRAULIC (CAMLESS) VALVE ACTUATION
[]
Renault have not planned an Electro-mechanical system, which was commonly believed to use actively controlled magnetic coils to open and close the valves. Clearly the electrical and RPM performance required from the this system were not ready or suitable for a F1 engine.
What Renault have is an Electro-hydraulic system, where two pressurised circuits operate the valve (16). Valve return is still handled by the pneumatic system (52, 20), but the opening of the valves discards cams for a hydraulic circuit (50) controlled by a electronic valve (58). As this system can use high pressure hydraulics already on the car to operate the valve at the required RPM ceiling, the system seems almost too simple..! Infinitely variable valve timing plus the loss of the reciprocating weight of the cams and drive gears makes this an enticing solution. This solution has yet to race or to my knowledge even be tested in a car, Renault have admitted that as a broader automotive organisation, that this systems has been tried.

question: What did Renault first introduce on the late versions of their V6 turbo?

answer: Pneumatic valves

question: What type of valves was previously used?

answer: Wire spring valves

question: How do pneumatic valve springs work?

answer: Pneumatic systems use conventional cams operating the valve (4) via a shim\bucket or finger follower, the valve spring pocket is replaced with a chamber (28) pressurized with nitrogen (held within a cylinder in the sidepods) that runs at a constant pressure to return the valve when the cam timing retards.

question: What is an Electro-hydraulic system?

answer: It's the system that Renault uses for their F1 engine.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The article is about the different types of valves used in Renault's F1 engines, from wire spring valves to pneumatic valves, and electro-hydraulic (camless) valve systems.


text:
CHALISE CATAYAS BAYSA[1] is a Filipino-American association footballer and coach who has played for the Seattle Sounders Women as well as the Philippines women's national football team.

Early life

Baysa was born on December 30, 1980[2] at the Kapiolani Hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii but she spent her childhood in Japan, and later in Washington.[3]

Collegiate career

She attended the University of Oregon where she played for the Ducks soccer team. By October 2001, Baysa was already Oregon's all-time highest scorer with 60 goals.[4]

Club career

By 2008, Baysa was on her fifth season with the Seattle Sounders Women.[5]

International career

Baysa made three caps and a goal for the Philippines women's national football team at the 2013 AFF Women's Championship.[6] She is part of the final line up of the Philippine national team that will participate at the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Jordan. She is the oldest registered player in the whole tournament at age 37.[7]

Coaching career

Baysa is a holder of a USSF National “A” License.[8]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

title: Chalise Baysa

question: Who is Chalise Catayas Baysa?

answer: She is a Filipino-American association footballer and coach.

question: Where has Chalise Catayas Baysa played for?

answer: She has played for the Seattle Sounders Women as well as the Philippines women's national football team.

question: What was Baysa's legacy at University of Oregon?

answer: She was Oregon's all-time highest scorer with 60 goals.

question: How can you describe Baysa's contribution in the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup in Jordan?

answer: She is the oldest registered player in the whole tournament at age 37.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: This article describes the club, international, and coaching career of Chalise Catayas Baysa, a Filipino-American association footballer and coach.


text:
[GettyImages-173181190]

Raymond Roig/AFP/Getty Images
A 52-year-old man was arrested Saturday after he was found with the dismembered carcass of an Asian black bear, as well as a dead civet and a long-barreled shotgun with ammunition.

Somjit Boonkong, 52, was arrested by Kui Buri National Park rangers in Hat Kham, Thailand after the forest rangers came across two men acting suspiciously, Ao Noi police Colonel Somcharn Pinkhanngern told _Bangkok Post_. One of the men managed to flee into the forest but Boonkong was arrested.

[GettyImages-173181190]

Raymond Roig/AFP/Getty Images
Rangers found a bear head, two bear paws, meat and a gutted dead civet in his backpack. A civet, a nocturnal mammal, is native to tropical Asia and Africa. According to authorities, Boonkong was also carrying a shotgun, ammunition, two hunting headlamps, a hammock and other items.

_Bangkok Post_ reported that photos of the dismembered bear and gutted civet made the rounds on social media, prompting demands that police take the case seriously.

Authorities suspect that the man who was with Boonkong and managed to flee may have the rest of the bear's carcass, as well as the carcasses of other animals. The man's identity is known to police, said Police Major General Pattana Phetsyanawin, chief of Prachuap Khiri Khan police.

Phetsyanawin said authorities would seek a court warrant for the man's arrest and vowed he would be arrested.

Boonkong was charged with illegal hunting of wildlife and having dead wildlife in his possession without permission or good cause, _Bangkok Post_ reported. If convicted for the illegal possession of a carcass of a wild animal, the suspect faces a maximum of four years in prison and/or a fine of 10,000 baht ($360).

Wildlife poaching has become a particularly sensitive topic after construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta was arrested in the Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary last month, Phetsyanawin said. The business mogul, who was allegedly caught poaching protected animals including a black panther, plans to build a road in a forest that is home to threatened wildlife, _The Independent_ reported.

question: Who arrested Somjit Boonkong?

answer: He was arrested by Kui Buri National Park rangers

question: What are the crimes of the people that are being listed?

answer: The crimes are all centered around hunting or poaching wildlife animals.

question: What was Boonkong charged with?

answer: He was charged with illegal hunting of wildlife and having dead wildlife in his possession without permission or good cause.

question: What are the possible consequences that Boonkong could face if he is convicted?

answer: He could face a maximum of four years in prison and/or a fine of 10,000 baht.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discussed people who have been charged with wildlife poaching and the consequences of their actions. Somjit Boonkong and his crimes are highlighted along with the consequences of what would happen to him if he was convicted of the crimes.


text:
Justin Timberlake is reclaiming his white masculinity. Sort of.

He has a new album out, _Man of the Woods_, and he’s been promoting it with the kind of Western iconography that codes as rugged and white and manly: mountains, flannel, bonfires. “This album is really inspired by my son, my wife, my family,” he says in the teaser for the album, as the camera pans over snow-drifted meadows, “but more so than any other album, where I’m from.”

“The overarching message is incredibly simple,” wrote Anne Helen Petersen at BuzzFeed: “The West is a place of authenticity, or regeneration, of fatherhood, of returning to the basics, of freedom, of control — all of which is to say, of unfettered _manhood” —_ and, as she would add later in her article, specifically of unfettered _white_ manhood. In the teaser, Timberlake is embracing the fantasy of the cowboy and the pioneer frontiersman, ruggedly shaping the country to his will as he makes his way through the Wild West.

The new aesthetic Timberlake debuted in the trailer for the album was met with some surprise, because Timberlake has never particularly _insisted_ on his white masculinity before. Instead, he’s often borrowed from the conventions of black culture and kept his masculinity neutralized and unthreatening.

But Timberlake can make a major aesthetic shift like this if he’d like to, because his white masculinity isn’t actually new: It’s been at work in his career all along, invisibly. It’s what allows him to be both Justin Timberlake, R&B crooner of club bangers, and Justin Timberlake, man of the great outdoors and the Wild West, without penalty. And that kind of freedom and flexibility to transverse aesthetic boundaries and cultural codes is one that’s not afforded to his nonwhite, non-male peers.

With _Man of the Woods_, Timberlake’s image expands to include both a Michael Jackson-y funk and a rugged, outdoorsy whiteness

Timberlake built his early career on a sound and image heavily influenced by Michael Jackson and other black artists, so this turn to the iconography of whiteness reads as a major shift away from the style of his previous output. He’s not alone in making this kind of turn to the iconography of whiteness: Miley Cyrus, who like Timberlake used her performance of hip-hop to leverage her way out of post-Disney-child-star purgatory, spent much of 2017 repudiating her old persona and reimagining herself as a decidedly white country-pop star. “I can’t listen to that anymore,” she told Billboard of hip-hop.

Miley’s vigorous rejection of hip-hop was not well received by culture critics — and coming on its heels, Timberlake’s new vibe looked like more of the same, as though Timberlake were planning to trash and reject the culture from which he took his cool as he built his solo career.

But as Lauren Michele Jackson pointed out at Vulture, the first music released from _Man of the Woods_ was not wildly different from Timberlake’s normal sound: There was a little techno, a lot of funk, a lot of club music. Timberlake isn’t releasing a country album here — and if he were, as Jackson points out, he would still have been making music influenced by black America, because nearly all American music is deeply rooted in a black American tradition.

The mythic fantasy of the white male Wild West that the _Man of the Woods_ trailer seemed to invoke is just that: a fantasy, one that’s whitewashed away the Native Americans and the black people who were just as present in the West as white men were.

Instead, Timberlake is working with two extremes: the fantasy of the rugged white male West, and the fantasy of the unthreatening Michael-Jackson-light sex symbol he’s perfected over his 20 years of fame:

By putting those two ideas together, he has not so much reclaimed his white masculinity as made it inescapably visible. Justin Timberlake is the man who is entitled to sing R&B over a club song and who is entitled to lose himself in the woods, who can bring sexy back and who can spread out his arms to the sky in a snow-covered field. He’s a white man, with all the flexibility and freedom that implies.

Timberlake’s white maleness is obviously not _new_ — it is only newly visible. His career has always been shaped and molded by his white maleness and the privilege it affords him, in ways that become clearest when you compare it to the careers of the women and people of color he became famous around.

Two of those people are especially illustrative right now. Because when Justin Timberlake performs at the Super Bowl this weekend, he’ll be haunted by the ghosts of two women.

The wardrobe malfunction heard around the world

 [The AOL TopSpeed Super Bowl XXXVIII Halftime Show Produced by MTV - Show] KMazur/WireImage
In 2004, superstar Janet Jackson magnanimously invited young up-and-comer Justin Timberlake to make a surprise appearance at her Super Bowl halftime show. It wasn’t the first time she’d offered her support to Timberlake’s fledgling career: NSYNC had performed on her Velvet Rope tour in 1998, and Jackson sang on Timberlake’s first solo album, _Justified_. For Timberlake, who was leaning hard on the idea that he was the second coming of a younger, whiter Michael Jackson, the association with MJ’s less volatile sister — a superstar in her own right — was invaluable. (It didn’t hurt Jackson’s well-established reputation as an icon to be associated with a hot new rising star, either.)

Jackson sang and danced her way through her medley, and led the crowd in a vigorous chant against bigotry, hatred, and illiteracy. Then Timberlake made his way out of the crowd, singing his hit “Rock Your Body.”

“Bet I’ll have you naked by the end of this song,” Timberlake sang as the number wrapped up, and he reached out to Jackson’s chest. Reportedly, he was supposed to tear away a rubber bustier, leaving Jackson’s breast covered by a red bra. Instead, he appeared to tear away both bustier and bra, and Jackson’s breast was exposed, partially covered by a piece of nipple jewelry. (The official line here from Jackson’s camp is that “the garment collapsed,” but it’s unclear whether they’re referring to bustier or bra and how it could possibly be said to have collapsed.)

The cameras hastily cut away to fireworks, and the number ended. The entire thing lasted for 9/16ths of a second — but it would cripple Jackson’s career.

First, CBS forced Jackson to apologize to the nation, both on camera and in a written statement. “I am really sorry if I offended anyone. That was truly not my intention,” she said.

“I had said before I sat down to record the apology ... ‘Why am I apologizing?’” Jackson would later tell Oprah. “They wanted me to say that, so I did.”

Then she was disinvited from that year’s Grammys, where she was scheduled to present a tribute to Luther Vandross. She dropped out of the Lena Horne biopic she was scheduled to shoot, reportedly at Horne’s insistence. Disney World got rid of a Janet Jackson-inspired statue. And when her next album came out, Jackson was reportedly blacklisted from the major pop music radio and TV stations.

Timberlake, meanwhile, offered up a few laughing apologies here and there. He was not only invited to that year’s Grammys but in fact won two awards that night. “I know it’s been a rough week on everybody,” he said during his acceptance speech. “What occurred was unintentional, completely regrettable, and I apologize if you guys were offended.”

Today, Jackson is still a successful artist, albeit not at the pop-crossover-sensation level she was at circa 2004. She continues to record and release new music — the latest of which, 2015’s _Unbreakable,_ she released on her own independent label — and last year, she wrapped a well-received world tour. But she had to climb her way back up to those heights after plummeting in 2004, and it took years for her to come anywhere near that level of cultural capital again. “It is so nice to see people excited about Janet Jackson again,” remarked VH1 News in 2015.

Timberlake, meanwhile — the person who actually took off Jackson’s clothes, however unintentionally he may have done so — coasted through on a few halfhearted apologies. And he knows exactly why. “If you consider it 50-50, then I probably got 10 percent of the blame,” he told MTV in 2006. “I think America is harsher on women. I think America is unfairly harsh on ethnic people.”

America _is_ unfairly harsh on women and “ethnic people” in a way that it is typically not harsh on straight white men. America loves to police the bodies and the sexualities of women of color — so when Timberlake reminded us all that Janet Jackson, a black woman, not only had a body but also had secondary sex characteristics, the media pounced on her. But Timberlake’s uncontroversial white male hand, the hand that actively disrobed Jackson, went unremarked-on and unpunished.

Timberlake was about to play a similar role as another famous female pop star went through the media wringer. Britney Spears was about to flame out spectacularly in public — and Timberlake would quietly, passively make his way through the fallout unscathed.

Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake started out with their careers on parallel tracks. It didn’t last.

 [44th GRAMMY Awards - Clive Davis Pre-GRAMMY Party] L. Cohen/WireImage
Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears built their careers on parallel tracks: They were on Disney’s _Mickey Mouse Club_ together; they became young stars together. When they started dating in 1999, they quickly became one of the most well-known celebrity couples in Hollywood. In 2001, they rocked the Super Bowl halftime show together. “If the Disney Channel is the world’s largest high school, then consider these two to be high school sweethearts,” says E Online.

And immediately after their 2002 breakup, both were riding high. In 2003, Spears released _In the Zone_, one of the most celebrated albums of her career. Timberlake, meanwhile, parlayed their breakup into “Cry Me a River” — whose video features a Spears look-alike as the woman who cheats on him — and rode it all the way to the Grammys.

But in the years afterward, as both teen icons began to attempt the tricky transition to respectable adult artist, they found themselves on radically different paths.

“By 2004, Britney’s grip on her world was starting to slip — or maybe more accurately, Britney started to slip from the world,” writes Vox’s Caroline Framke. “Forces within both her own circle and the salivating music industry were pulling the sweetly dorky Louisiana girl in a thousand directions, and it was only a matter of time before she broke.”

Britney was treated as a passive agent in her own life, to be presented in whatever manner her management thought would be most profitable: as an avowed virgin in a tiny Catholic schoolgirl uniform, begging her listeners to hit her one more time; as a sexpot writhing around a snake. She was packaged as a sex object, emphasis on the _object_, and she reacted by spiraling out of control and becoming a figure of public mockery.

Timberlake, meanwhile, built his breakup with Spears into a salable image: She was the whore who claimed to be a virgin, he implied, while he was the steadfast and betrayed lover.

“Sure,” he said, laughing, when Barbara Walters asked him if Britney Spears was actually a virgin. (In 2002, it was apparently okay to publicly speculate about the virginity of pop stars.) Then he played his song “Horrible Woman” — which, for what it’s worth, he denied was about Spears — singing, “I thought our love was so strong / I guess I was dead wrong / But to look at it positively, hey, girl / At least you gave me another song about a horrible woman.”

As Spears’s public image imploded, Timberlake’s only became more sympathetic. He was positioned as a victim of Spears’s volatile persona, a legitimate artist who had to overcome the association with her manufactured pop.

He experimented with acting. He collaborated with major artists and released well-received albums. There were few think pieces about what his love life/wardrobe/sexy new sound meant to America’s youth, and whether he was sending a bad message to our vulnerable teens.

In 2007, Britney Spears shaved her head, beat a car with an umbrella, and made a widely panned, vacant-eyed appearance at the VMAs.

In 2007, Justin Timberlake was riding the wave of goodwill from his iconic _SNL_ “Dick in a Box” sketch. He’d just begun touring his album _FutureSex/LoveSounds_, which would eventually be added to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He collaborated with Madonna.

The next year, Timberlake would induct Madonna into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with a jab at Spears. “The world has always been full of Madonna wannabes,” he said. “I might have even dated a couple.”

Today, Spears has found stability in her Las Vegas residency. But many people tend to think of her as a legacy act, a pop icon whose primary cultural value is nostalgic, rather than as a vital contemporary figure who is still turning out new hits.

The music industry chewed Spears up and spat her out when it was done extracting all the profit it could from her — but it allowed Timberlake to thrive, flourish, and ultimately live on to mock his ex.

It’s not Justin Timberlake’s fault that the entertainment industry is racist and sexist, but he does benefit from that fact

It’s not Timberlake’s fault that the music industry is sexist ~~~~ and he was allowed to thrive while Spears, whose early career tracked his own with eerie precision, was dismissed as a sad case of a fallen star who couldn’t hack the spotlight. It’s not his fault that the industry is racist and that Janet Jackson, an established superstar, was punished for something he did. It _is_ his fault that he cooperated in hanging Jackson out to dry in the aftermath of the Super Bowl, and that he capitalized heavily on disdain for Spears as he developed his own solo career. But there’s no way of knowing whether Timberlake’s intervention would have made any difference to either Jackson or Spears in the long run.

What we know for sure is that Justin Timberlake is a major and well-respected superstar right now, and that Janet Jackson and Britney Spears — women who used to be considered his peers and superiors — are not at the level he is. He’s gone from a supporting player in _their_ Super Bowl performances to headlining the show solo, and Jackson and Spears won’t be there. And that’s because Timberlake’s inoffensive male whiteness has allowed him to walk away from situations that punish women and people of color.

Justin Timberlake is a walking monument to what you can achieve in the music industry if you are _not_ held back by a culture of systemic misogyny and racism — and Britney and Janet are monuments to what happens if you are. Their careers are indelibly marked by their gender and race, and so is Timberlake’s.

So Justin Timberlake hasn’t suddenly reclaimed his white masculinity for the first time with _Man of the Woods_. It’s been with him all along. It’s just that now it’s become impossible to ignore.

question: How is Justin Timberlake "reclaiming his white masculinity"?

answer: The document claims that in creating a major aesthetic shift from R&B crooner to a man of the great outdoors that he is reclaiming his white masculinity.

question: What is the new aesthetic Timberlake debuted in the trailer for his album?

answer: The new aesthetic is described as promoting Western iconography. Timberlake is embracing the fantasy of the cowboy and pioneer frontiersman.

question: Summarize everything relating to the relationship between Janet Jackson and Justin.

answer: Janet Jackson invited Justin Timberlake to her 2004 Superbowl performance. His association with her was invaluable, and her association with an upcoming star didn't hurt her either. However, at the performance Justin accidentally ripped a part of her bra off, exposing her breast to millions. Over the years, Janet's career was tarnished due to this and Timberlake's was not.

question: Describe Miley's rejection of hip-hop.

answer: Miley had originally embraced hip-hop when she was shedding her Disney child star image, but years later she rejected it in favor of being a decidedly white country-pop star. She claimed she couldn't listen to hip-hop anymore.

question: Who are some celebrities that are mentioned in this document?

answer: Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, and Miley Cyrus

question: What is the wardrobe malfunction heard around the world?

answer: In 2004, Janet Jackson invited Justin Timberlake to make an appearance during her Super Bowl halftime show. In a song and dance number, he was supposed to tear away her bustier, leaving Janet's bra. However, he accidentally ripped off the bra and exposed her breast on stage.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: This document discusses when Justin Timberlake released his album Man of the Woods. The author criticizes what they believe to be Timberlake reclaiming his white masculinity through a new Western, outdoorsman aesthetic. They then provide examples of how Timberlake's white masculinity was nothing new for him in 2018.


text:
_ISOCTENUS_ is a genus of South American wandering spiders first described by Philipp Bertkau in 1880.[1]

Species

it contains fifteen species found in Brazil and Argentina:[2]

-   _Isoctenus areia_ Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus charada_ Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus corymbus_ Polotow, Brescovit & Pellegatti-Franco, 2005 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus coxalis_ (F. O. Pickard-Cambridge, 1902) – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus eupalaestrus_ Mello-Leitão, 1936 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus foliifer_ Bertkau, 1880 (type) – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus griseolus_ (Mello-Leitão, 1936) – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus herteli_ (Mello-Leitão, 1947) – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus janeirus_ (Walckenaer, 1837) – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus malabaris_ Polotow, Brescovit & Ott, 2007 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus minusculus_ (Keyserling, 1891) – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus ordinario_ Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 – Brazil, Argentina
-   _Isoctenus segredo_ Polotow & Brescovit, 2009 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus strandi_ Mello-Leitão, 1936 – Brazil
-   _Isoctenus taperae_ (Mello-Leitão, 1936) – Brazil

[1]

[2]

title: Isoctenus

question: How many species does the genus contain?

answer: 15

question: Where are these spiders found?

answer: In Brazil and Argentina.

question: Who first described them?

answer: Philipp Bertkau.

question: When was the genus described?

answer: In 1880.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: Isoctenus is a genus of South American wandering spiders. The genus has 15 species. They were first described in 1880 by Philipp Bertkau.


text:
They say a wolf in a sheep's skin is still a wolf. It will kill you the first chance it gets. But I am no wolf. I kill you gently and slowly.

I was given as a gift. To a world full of sickness and hatred and despair. I was supposed to make everything better. To soothe the wounds caused by the punishment. Little did anyone know I was the ultimate punishment myself. I have slowly taken more lives and caused much more suffering than all those who came before me combined.

They also say that you don't make the same mistake twice. But the one who put me at the bottom was very cunning. She never had a choice.

Poor, poor Pandora.

title: Gift

question: Who is the narrator?

answer: This information cannot be found.

question: Who is Pandora?

answer: This information cannot be found.

question: Whose life has the narrator taken?

answer: This information cannot be found.

question: Is the narrator referring to himself/herself as a disease?

answer: This information cannot be found.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator describes himself as a gift to the world, to make the world a better place. But instead, he slowly did more bad than good causing much more suffering.


text:
MAKGUM HAVOKA, also known as MAKUMIVOOKA, is a populated place situated on the San Xavier Indian Reservation in Pima County, Arizona.[1] It has an estimated elevation of above sea level. _Makum_ is an O'odham word for black-striped caterpillar, which the O'odham boiled and ate, while _havoka_ is the O'odham word for pond, so the name translates as “caterpillar pond”.[2] In 1939 the Bureau of Indian Affairs petitioned the USGS to officially decide between Makumivooka and Makgum Havoka. On April 10, 1941, the Board on Geographic Names issued their decision, officially naming the village Makgum Havoka.

[1]

[2]

title: Makgum Havoka, Arizona

question: Where is Makgum Havoka situated?

answer: It is situated on the San Xavier Indian Reservation in Pima County, Arizona.

question: What does the Makum mean in the language of O'odham?

answer: Makum means black-striped caterpillar in the language of O'odham.

question: Who petitioned USGS to officially decide between the names of Makumivooka and Makgum Havoka?

answer: Thw=e Bureau of Indian Affairs petitioned USGS to decide between these two names.

question: When did the village Makgum Havoka receive its name officially?

answer: The village received its name officially on April 10, 1941.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: Th article describes the significance of the name of the village of Makgum Havoka in Arizona.


text:
M: Hey Steve, how’s it going
S: Going well Mark. Going well.
M: Well that's good, haven't seen you in  a while.
S: Heh yeah. Hey you know Lucy? She wants you to go pluck her feathers. Haha I think she's into you bro (gives Herb a wing bump)
M: (sighs) ahhh Lucy, she's not into me, it's her damn human. Went and got herself a macaw and is rarely home, and when she is all she does is look at that damn little screen of hers.  Now Lucy's gone all senile.
S: What a shame... Well, you should still go and pluck her up man, ever since the tip of her beak broke off she can barely make use of it.
M: Whatever, if she can talk to you, then she can pluck her own crazy self.
S: Yeah, I guess.
silence
M: So Steve, tell me how are things really going for you in the life of a pet.
S: ehhh I don’t know man. My owner keeps on asking me who’s a good boy. At first I had no idea who she was talking about, now she’s commanding me to say that I am, and well, I don't know if I really am a good boy.
M: What do you mean?
S: It's like what about me appeals to my owner as good? All she sees of me is when I'm hanging around the cage or when she's teaching me new stuff. She doesn’t know the real me or what goes on in my head.
M: Hmm. Go on.
S: And its like I listen to all of her commands so I guess that would make me obedient, but if I go and say I’m a good boy, well am I really obeying her? I'm giving her the answer SHE wants, but not necessarily the truthful one.
M:So your doing what she says while at the same time you think your lying because you don’t really know if you’re all good.
S: Yeah, I’m sitting there giving my owner what she wants, but in the end I don’t think it’s the right thing.
M: Oh Steve, I see what you’re saying and all, but come on don’t overthink it. Just do what she says and get your damn cracker.

S: Yeah, whatever. I guess you’re right.

title: Themes for this story?

question: Who seems to be into Mark?

answer: Lucy seems to be into Mark.

question: Who actually are the characters in this story?

answer: The characters in this story are animals/household pets.

question: What areas is Seth questioning in this story?

answer: Seth is questioning if he is being obedient to his master's commands or not.