text:
“Q-LESS” is the sixth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series _Star Trek: Deep Space Nine_ (_DS9_). Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures on Deep Space Nine, a space station located near a stable wormhole between the Alpha and Gamma quadrants of the Milky Way Galaxy, in orbit of the planet Bajor. In this episode, Vash (Jennifer Hetrick), a former love interest of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, arrives aboard the _Deep Space Nine_ station trying to elude her companion, Q (John de Lancie), and make a profit selling archaeological artefacts from the Gamma Quadrant, including a mysterious alien crystal. “Q-Less” saw the return of Vash and Q, two recurring characters from _Star Trek: The Next Generation_ (_TNG_). It was Jennifer Hetrick's final performance as Vash and John de Lancie's only appearance as Q on _Deep Space Nine_.

Two former writers from _TNG_, Hannah Louise Shearer and Robert Hewitt Wolfe, wrote the episode. While it would be Shearer's last _Star Trek_ credit, Wolfe's work on the script led to him joining the writing team on _DS9_. The producers wanted to introduce Q to the show in a seamless manner; when Shearer proposed a Vash-centric story, Q was added to the script. “Q-Less” highlights the differences between _DS9_ and _TNG_ by comparing the reactions of Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) and Captain Picard to Q. On its first broadcast, “Q-Less” received Nielsen ratings of 12.8 percent, placing it as the fifth most watched episode of the season. Reception was mixed, with reviewers criticizing the imbalance of time spent with Vash and Q in contrast to the rest of the cast, as well as the unnecessary technobabble in the story and the MacGuffin-like plot device represented by the alien crystal.

Plot

Lt. Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) returns from the Gamma Quadrant in her runabout with a woman that Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) recognizes as Vash (Jennifer Hetrick) from his time on board the _Enterprise_. Although the crew is unaware of his presence, Q (John de Lancie) — a nearly omnipotent prankster — has also stowed away on the runabout. Vash explains that she has spent the past two years in the Gamma Quadrant, but she describes her method of getting there as a “private matter”. During their trip back to _Deep Space Nine_, the vessel undergoes a series of unusual power drains.

Soon after Vash's arrival, the station begins to experience similar power failures. In the meantime, Q appears to Vash, apparently infatuated with her. Q was the one who transported Vash to the Gamma Quadrant two years earlier, but now she wants nothing to do with him, much to Q's annoyance. When Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) asks Vash out for dinner, a jealous Q uses his powers to send Bashir off to sleep. Meanwhile, Quark (Armin Shimerman) arranges to auction off various items Vash has found in the Gamma Quadrant, including an unusual crystal that might fetch a high price.

Remembering Q from the _Enterprise_, O'Brien spots Q on the station and warns Commander Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks), speculating that Q may be responsible for the power drains. When confronted, Q denies any wrongdoing, although he offers no alternative explanation. As the power drains become more severe, an unknown gravimetric field begins pulling the station toward the nearby wormhole. Q challenges Sisko to a boxing match on the Promenade, and suddenly, they are both wearing antique-style boxing costumes. A few punches are thrown, and Q is shocked when Sisko knocks him down (“You hit me! Picard never hit me!”).

Vash and Quark auction the artifacts and the crystal receives bids in excess of one thousand bars of gold-pressed latinum. Casually joining the bid process, Q ups the ante on Vash's crystal to 2501 bars before bidding one million. Soon after, however, the source of the gravimetric field and power losses is traced to the crystal itself. The crystal is quickly beamed into space before it can destroy the station. Once outside, it transforms into an alien life form and travels into the wormhole. After the incident, Bashir finally awakens from his slumber. Unaware of what has just transpired, he yawns and tells Dax that he feels like he has been asleep for days. A bemused Dax gives him a strange look to which Bashir replies “What--did I miss something?”

Production

Development

[“Q-Less” was the only _Deep Space Nine_ episode to feature John de Lancie _(pictured)_ as Q] The writers and producers of “Q-Less” developed the episode to show that _DS9_ was still connected to the _Star Trek_ universe. To facilitate this idea, two _TNG_ characters, Vash, played by Jennifer Hetrick, and Q, played by John de Lancie, returned to _DS9_. Vash made her first appearance on _TNG_ in the episode “Captain's Holiday”, and then returned in “Qpid”; Q had appeared in most seasons of _TNG_ since the first season. _TNG_ writer Hannah Louise Shearer, known for writing episodes such as “The Price” and “We'll Always Have Paris”, also crossed over to _DS9_.[1] “Q-Less” was the last _Star Trek_ writing credit for Shearer.[2]

Shearer's pitch featured Vash, who had last been seen at the end of “QPid” leaving with Q, but the pitch did not include Q himself.[3][4] Executive producer Michael Piller explained that they had already been looking for a way to introduce Q into _DS9_, and felt that bringing Vash onto the show would be a good way to seamlessly introduce Q. There were concerns about shoving Q into an episode but the idea of “Q-Less” alleviated them. “If you just have him come on and say 'Look, is this the new show?' it's silly, but this seemed to be a justifiable way”, Piller recalled.[5]

_TNG_ writer Robert Hewitt Wolfe, who had writing credits on a number of episodes, including both the previous Vash stories, converted Shearer's story into a script.[6] His work on the first draft led to a full-time position on the writing staff for _DS9_; Q was added to the story at this stage. Q's motivations were drawn from his previous appearances on _TNG_, but Wolfe found it difficult to create the interactions between Q and the other characters on _DS9_. At the time the script was under development, there was little footage of _DS9_ available. Wolfe could only characterize the motivations towards Q as annoyance rather than any real emotional engagement. However, he came upon the idea that he could demonstrate the difference between _DS9_ and _TNG_ by showing the reactions of the characters to Q instead.[7]

Characters

Wolfe believed that if he had written the episode later in the series he would have concentrated more on the established characters and less on Q and Vash. De Lancie felt that the episode never explained Q's motivation for wanting to stay with Vash. “I think Q is best used when he deals with large philosophical issues, and skirt chasing just isn't one of them”, he said.[8] Because certain aspects of Q's character are left unexplored, de Lancie found that “the style, the quips and the panache in which things are done become very important”.[9]

The boxing scene was intended to differentiate the relationship between Q and Sisko from that of Q and Picard. “Picard is an explorer, and in some ways, very much an intellectual. Sisko is a builder, a different kind of guy. He wears his heart a little more on his sleeve, and he acts on emotion, on instinct, more than Picard”, Wolfe explained.[10] John de Lancie offered a similar opinion: “Q's relationship with Picard has always been a battle of wits, but I come into Deep Space Nine, and Sisko just bopped me on the nose! From a character point of view, that's a very big difference.”[11]

Hetrick felt that the move away from _TNG_ gave Vash more independence, and she enjoyed the new relationship between Vash and Quark, calling them “kindred spirits”.[12] She was also pleased to be working with de Lancie again. “I love the way they write for John, and I loved the stuff we got to do together in 'Q-Less'”, she said.[13] Hetrick underwent ten hours of make-up for the sequence where Q shows Vash what could have happened if he did not save her life following an insect bite in the Gamma Quadrant. The experience left her with a newfound appreciation for not having to wear prosthetics like other members of the cast.[14]

Hetrick thought that if she returned to _DS9_ as Vash, then something could be built around the Vash-Quark relationship: “That would be a really nice pairing, because you have these two different backgrounds but they're both after the same thing.”[15] Towards the end of the second season, the producers inquired about Hetrick's availability. The actress was ready to appear on another _DS9_ episode, but the writers changed direction and there were no further plans for the Vash character.[16] “Q-Less” was the final _Star Trek_ appearance for Hetrick, and the only appearance in _DS9_ for John de Lancie.[17]

Filming

Director Paul Lynch compared the production on “Q-Less” to a typical _TNG_ episode. On _DS9_, the shots were more complex and generally featured more special effects. Lynch said that the scene which showed Q seamlessly teleporting himself from one chair to another, changing his costume as he went, was particularly difficult. The producers, particularly Rick Berman, were determined for _DS9_ to be the best that it could be, notes Lynch.[18] The comedic elements of the episode required precise timing, with Lynch comparing it to the television series _Moonlighting_.[19]

Reception and home media release

“Q-Less” was first shown on February 8, 1993, in broadcast syndication. It received a Nielsen rating of 12.8 percent,[20] placing fifth in its time slot. “Q-Less” was the fifth highest rated episode of the season, behind “Emissary”, “Past Prologue”, “A Man Alone” and “Captive Pursuit”.[21]

Zack Handlen reviewed the episode for _The A.V. Club_ in 2012, calling Q an “iconic figure”. Handlen said Q allowed the writers to compare the different reaction of the characters to his presence in _DS9_ and _TNG_.[22] However, Handlen felt that Q was not a good fit for _DS9_, as the character seemed like an afterthought. Also, the pairing of Vash and Q took up too much screen time compared to the main cast, Handlen noted, while the overall plot involving the “stealth alien” embryo “plays like an abandoned script from early in _TNG_{{'}}s run, and an example of a fascinating concept reduced to a perfunctory MacGuffin,” Handlen wrote.[23]

Keith DeCandido, in a review of “Q-Less” for Tor.com, praised the relationship between Vash and Quark and thought that it should have been explored further. Like Handlen, DeCandido also felt that Q did not quite fit in _DS9_, but acknowledged that his performance in this episode was an improvement over his later appearances in _Star Trek: Voyager_. DeCandido described the boxing scene where Sisko punches Q as “wonderful” and “spectacular”.[24] However, he thought that aspects of the plot had too much technobabble; for example, the embryo plotline could have been resolved by a form of Customs procedure. “Ultimately”, DeCandido concludes, “none of this matters, because it comes down to one great moment of Sisko decking Q. Bliss.”[25]

In Atara Stein's _The Byronic Hero in Film, Fiction, and Television_ (2009), she compared the role of Q in both “Q-Less” and “True Q” as one where he reprises his “satanic role” and “in each case [tries] to lure a woman to join him”.[26] Stein also explains the Q/Vash relationship, saying “Q's demeanor toward Vash is clearly coded as that of a potential rapist. He pushes her onto a bed and shows no compunction about threatening and brutalizing her.”[27] She explained that despite this treatment and the feminist stance taken by Vash, Q is treated sympathetically by the writers of the episode. It is made clear that Q could have won Vash around if he chose to, and so the character seemed “sensitive and vulnerable, and Vash seems cold-hearted by comparison.”.[28]

“Q-Less” was first released for home media in the United States on VHS on November 19, 1996.[29] It was released in the United Kingdom on DVD as part of the season one box set on March 24, 2003, and in the United States on June 3.[30][31] The episode is also included in the _Star Trek: Q Fan Collective_ compilation DVD set, which was released in the United States on June 6, 2006,[32][33] and later that year in the UK on September 4.[34]

[1] Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 29

[2]

[3] Erdmann & Block (2000): p. 30

[4]

[5] Gross & Altman (1994): p. 62

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10] Gross & Altman (1996): p. 45

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20] 12.8 percent of all households within the United States viewed the episode.

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26] Stein (2009): p. 152

[27]

[28] Stein (2009): p. 156

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

title: Q-Less

question: Is Wolfe's train of thought about focusing more on other characters instead of Vash and Q a good train of thought?

answer: Wolfe's train of though about focusing more on other characters instead of Vash and Q is a good train of thought because it would have added more of a character dynamic to the show and would have answered all the questions the audience had about the characters.

question: What makes the show, Q-less, a science fiction television show?

answer: Q-less is considered a science fiction television show because it has a plot about a space station near a stable wormhole and a mysterious alien crystal is found.

question: What personality traits are attributed to Vash?

answer: Vash is a private person, very smart, and changes as a person throughout the show.


split: train

text:
Vehicle sales fell 21.7 percent for the fifth month in a row in June.

This was blamed mainly on the consumers’ reaction to a rising inflation and the tax reform program that made most vehicles more expensive.

Sales reached only 29,350 units in June, down from the 37,479 units in the same month last year, according to the joint data of the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (Campi) and Truck Manufacturers Association (TMA).

This brought the first semester sales down by 12.5 percent to 171,352 units from 195,772 units in the same period in 2017.

In a statement, Campi president Rommel Gutierrez blamed the decline in vehicles sales mainly on how consumers prioritize buying basic goods and services more, as opposed to buying motor vehicles, given the rising inflation.

The prices of basic goods have been on the rise for the past few months, but this was the first time that Campi had admitted that inflation played a large role in the decline of vehicle sales.

“However, we remain optimistic that our sales will recover in the coming months,” Gutierrez added.

In a previous interview, he said the industry expected to post flat growth at the end of the year, mainly due to the effects of the TRAIN law.

The tax reform law lowered personal income taxes but imposed higher consumption taxes on goods such as sugary drinks and automobiles.

Because of the TRAIN’s higher excise tax rates, prices of most vehicles rose. However, the law lowered the tax rates on cars in the luxury segment.

Both the commercial vehicles and passenger cars segments sold less units year-on-year and year-to-date.

The passenger car segment sold 7,766 units in June, a 42.6-percent drop from 13,525 units in the same month last year. In the first six months of the year, this segment registered a 16.5-percent sales decline to 55,746 units from 66,788 units a year ago.

Commercial vehicles, on the other hand, saw a 9.9-percent drop in sales for June alone. Sales reached 21,584 units, down from 23,954 units sold in the same month last year.

Year-to-date, this translates to a 10.4-percent decrease to 115,606 units from 128,984 units sold in the same first six months of 2017.

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. remained the market leader in the first semester with a market share of 42.68 percent despite a 14.7-percent drop in sales.

It was followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. whose sales dropped 3 percent, with a share of 19.5 percent.

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question: What is the news article about?

answer: The decline of vehicle sales in the Philippines.

question: How bad is the decline in Philippine vehicle sales?

answer: At the time of this article, vehicle sales fell 21.7 percent for the fifth month in a row in June.

question: What are the reasons behind the declining vehicle sales in the Philippines?

answer: Rising inflation, consumers prioritizing buying basic goods and services over vehicles, the effects of the TRAIN Law.

question: Explain the TRAIN Law.

answer: The TRAIN Law or the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion Law lowered personal income taxes but imposed higher consumption taxes on goods such as sugary drinks and automobiles. The law inexplicably lowered tax rates on cars in the luxury segment.

question: Write a ~4 sentence summary.

answer: Due to rising inflation, consumers prioritizing buying basic goods and services over vehicles, and the effects of the TRAIN Law, motor vehicle sales in the Philippines fell 21.7 percent for the fifth month in a row in June at the time of this writing. The TRAIN Law lowered personal income taxes but imposed higher consumption taxes on automobiles and certain goods. The law also lowered taxes on cars in the luxury segment. Despite the decline in car sales, Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. still leads with a market share of 42.68 percent, followed by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines Corp. with a share of 19.5 percent.


text:
ALFONS GOOP (15 October 1910 – 25 September 1993) was a Liechtensteiner politician during World War II. He was the leader of the German National Movement in Liechtenstein (VDBL), a Nazi political party that attempted a coup d'état in 1939 with the aim of making Liechtenstein part of Nazi Germany, a goal they fought for until the party's dissolution in 1945.[1] He was also a regular contributor to the VDBL party newspaper _Der Umbruch_.[2]

Until 1943, the party attempted to recruit Liechtensteiners into the Waffen SS and gain public sympathy for the Nazi cause. In 1943, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs tried to force the VDBL to unite with the Patriotic Union, which greatly annoyed Goop, who then resigned as party leader.[3]

According to court testimonials, he was a member of the Waffen SS until 1943. In 1946, Goop, along with other leadership figures of the VDBL were prosecuted for his collaboration. Goop was convicted of high treason and sentenced to thirty months in prison.

Goop died in 1993, in Schaan.{{-}}

[1]

[2]

[3]

title: Alfons Goop

question: Who was Alfons Goop?

answer: a Liechtensteiner politician during World War II and leader of the German National Movement of Liechtenstein, a Nazi political party

question: How is German National Movement in Liechtenstein initialized?

answer: VDBL

question: How long was Alfons Goop in prison for his Nazi war crimes?

answer: 30 months

question: When did Alfons Goop die?

answer: 1993

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Alfons Goop was a Liechtensteiner politician during World War II and leader of the German National Movement of Liechtenstein, a Nazi political party that attempted a coup in 1939. Goop lived until 1993.


text:
“Who am I?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As far as everything else was concerned…

Fuck, if she knew.

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

She *craved* it.

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

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

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

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

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

Rightly so, she wouldn’t feel anything.

She would feel nothing.

She would *be* nothing.

title: Nothing.

question: What is the central theme of the story?

answer: Removing the feelings that make us vulnerable, just to feel safe, reduces us to nothing.

question: Explain the narrator's reason for deciding to choose her words carefully when talking to her sister?

answer: Her sister betrayed her in some undisclosed fashion.

question: Why does the narrator decide against escaping?

answer: She feels a lot of anxiety mixed in with enough hope that she can't really let go except for denying her entire being, which would be the escape she's thinking about. However, this also invalidates her entire being, past, and future.

question: What is the subconscious message the author thinks about?

answer: She thinks how easy it would be to live without her emotions, completely walling herself off.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator questions who she is, cornered by the combination of uncertainty, uneasiness, and the dread of impending doom mixed with a dash of blind hope. She chastises herself for not realizing that her sister can't be trusted and decides to choose her words carefully in the future. Accepting loneliness is an escape she considers, but it would only invalidate her entire being.


text:
The air was cool and the night was calm. The moon glistened on the fresh snowfall.
I rapped the door several times, not using the doorbell as I usually do.
She greeted me with a radiant smile at the door adorn in a scarf and the bells of her snow hat jumped with excitement for what was in store for the evening.
Our hands met as I helped her down the slippery stairs and, with no destination planned, we walked off into the moonlight.
The streets were empty and the snow untouched. The night was ours.
We had conversations about nothing, and reminisced about our days in highschool. Its hard to believe that after all this time we would become re acquainted with one anotherand inevitably fall in love. We reached the end of the cauldesac and I twireled her with my finger tips.
She slipped on the ice.
I caught her mid fall and pulled her close into a passionate embrace.
Her eye lashes were kissed with snow flakes and her cheeks blushed from the cold. Time was standing still and neither of us were meant to be anywhere else at that precise moment.
Our lips met deeply, in the cold of the night.
"There has been somehting I need to let you know" I said with the taste of her lips still on my breath.
"Is that so?" She said cheekly, positively glowing.
"You may say its about us," I continued.
"Go on" she said, with a smile.
"Well, I got in one little fight and my mom got scared. She said, 'Your're moving in with your aunt and uncle in Bel Air'".

title: Just for fun

question: What is the expectation before the last line?

answer: The guy seems on the brink of either declaring his love, or something along those lines.

question: What does the ending imply?

answer: Their relationship is probably at an end.

question: What unlikely circumstance is the couple happy about?

answer: They got reacquainted with each other after high school and fell in love.

question: Where and when does the story take place?

answer: Those details aren't specified in the story.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: The narrator and the girl go out on a date on a snowy, romantic night. Just after they share a kiss, the narrator mentions he has to say something about them. Then, he says that he will have to move to Bel Air.


text:
A few years ago, a friend of mine had a bachelor party. I'd forgotten about it until about two weeks before it happened, so I'd entirely forgotten to save up. Luckily, I made enough money that I could afford to go on the trip, but I knew I'd have to be a bit frugal. Unfortunately, it was Vegas, and I have a generally addictive personality...
Well, lucky for me, we were staying in Reno, a little ways out of Vegas, so the hotel was pretty cheap. It at least allowed me to have a little fun gambling. We had a pretty good time the first few days. Hell, I actually ended up about $300 after the second day, of a five day trip. The third day was pretty relaxed... Mostly just relaxing by the pool, not much gambling... at that point I had about $400 to blow for the weekend, which was nice.

The fourth day, though... Fuck, the fourth day...
Started off like any other day in Vegas. We got up, hungover as hell, at about 8am (well, I got up, and woke the rest of the lazy amateurs up). Did a few lines of blow, pocketed the rest, and headed back out to Vegas. Well, they did. I decided I was gonna check out the Reno scene, if only to give my body a rest for a day. What a fucking mistake.

I started out in some little diner. Made smalltalk with the young waitress there. Part of me wanted to flirt with her, because, well, she was Reno-cute, but I still felt like death warmed-over. Hell, maybe I was flirting with her and didn't realize it, because she gave me her number, and after I told her I was just there for a few days, said she'd pick me up that night and we'd have a good time.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not an idiot...but I was out of town, and it seemed like a great idea in my booze/coke filled mind. So I barhopped the rest of the day, until about the time she was supposed to pick me up, when I went back to the hotel. I waited around the room, doing the last of the blow, drinking the last of the booze, until she finally called, said she was downstairs.

Hell, I was so jacked up I didn't give a damn what happened, but in that coked-up frenzy, I kinda wanted to get fucked. Went down, hopped in her beat up red Honda civic, and let her drive. Sober, I'd'a taken count of where we were going, but at this point all I could do was stare at the tits on that waitress, who's name I still didn't know. Couldn't tell you how long it was, but we ended up in some shitty neighborhood. Didn't strike me wrong at the time, because, well, I was distracted by a piece of ass, and a shitty neighborhood wasn't gonna get between me and getting my rocks off.

She pulls me out of the car, and leads me up to this little shotgun house. The porch light was busted, I remember that. I remember it, because it wasn't just burnt out, like every non-working light you've ever seen... It was actually busted. The lightbulb itself was broken. Don't know why that struck me, but for some reason it made me really uneasy. Still, I was drunk and coked up, and really wanted that waitress ass. I followed her in the place.

Now, I've been in some shitty places in my life, but this place was something different. Dirty shag carpet, barely illuminated by cheap red lightblubs clinking in their housing as the fan above them spun away, sweeping the rancid smoke of tobacco, and god knows what other substances being exhaled into the stale air of the small house. Still, I wanted to get some.

She pulled me back into a little bedroom, and threw me on the bed. Finally, after all this shit, I was gonna have this slut ride me for a few minutes until I got bored and pretended to cum, because, let's be honest, I was too coked up to blow. It was all an ego thing. Of course, my goddamn dreams didn't get too far, when a couple of shady motherfuckers jump out of the closet of the little damn room. Looking back at it, I can't believe I let that stupid little tramp play me like that, but, well, looking back at it, I'm sober.

Well, you wouldn't know it to look at me, but I come from a pretty shitty past, and this wasn't the first time I'd been jumped. It was pretty obvious these two wannabe gangster pricks played me for some out of town pussy, they took the time to try to make some big show of how they 'got me.' Well, I wasn't having any of that shit. Maybe it was the booze, maybe it was the blow, all I know is I blacked out.

A minute? An hour? At some point, I came to. Standing up, a pain in my chest, nose, my right hand. My blood was boiling, heart pounding out of my chest, dizzy as hell... Couldn't say how long I stood there, confused, before the world filled around me. It was the strangest experience. The shitty, lounge-lizard music waving through the place through some cheap, probably-stolen speakers, eased through the pulse in my ears. The crying. Fuck, the crying. That bitch that brought me here was crumpled up in a corner crying. Sensations perked back up in my limbs, mostly pain. I took in the situation.

The two guys. The two fucking guido pieces of shit that thought they'd have the best of me. They were on the floor. One of the bastards, I remember he was bald, had a fucking fedora on, he was closest to me. All I can really say about the guy was that he was bald. Don't really remember what he looked at before I blacked out, and... Well, he didn't have much of a face left when I came out of it. The faint smoke of a pistol, obviously shot faster than it was made to, escaped a barrel, next to his body. He was left, limp, on the ground, more blood than skin showing.

His friend was a little better off, if you can consider it as such. His left arm hung pretty limp next to him, as he crouched over the fedora fuck. His hand was on the bald prick's neck, he was screaming, "He's dead. He's fucking dead. You fucking killed him!" This big, strong guy was crying, and apparently it was my fault. I ditched.

I wasn't about to be charged with a damn crime I couldn't even remember. I ran the fuck out of there. I had no idea where I was, but I knew I needed to be out of there. My vest, my button-up, they went out to the side of the road. Looking back, I was still probably covered in blood. Especially considering my thumb was facing the wrong direction, my nose was pretty much flat, and I had a couple broken ribs. God knows how I ran with those ribs... Adrenaline's a helluva drug.

I'd say the adrenaline wore off after a while, because I ended up blacking out again. Woke up sometime the next morning, to the freaked-out screams of my delinquent friends... Must have looked worse than I remember. I told'em I didn't remember a thing, and decided to stay in the hotel 'til it was time for home.

I guess what I'm getting at is... I shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.

title: Not sure if this is the right place for a true story, but here's the tale of my trip to Vegas...

question: What does the story say about the event in Reno?

answer: The narrator visits Reno and meets a waitherress there who suggested meeting in the evening. She picks him up ad drives him to a house, and two men attack him. All he remembers is that he blacks out. When he wakes, he sees the girl crying, one of the men is dead, and the second one is crying and accusing the narrator of killing the man. The narrator can not remember the crime and runs away.

question: What does the story say about the narrator's career?


text:
(I never wrote anything before, just putting this out here)

With just two breathes of air, I was born. I swam up into the air flying upwards towards the crystal blue sky. I heard laughter as I soared upwards, followed by the smell of pollen in the air. I looked down to see a blond haired toddler giggling at me while she blew more of my brothers and sisters. The air outside felt cool, refreshing, while the air inside me was hot and expanding.
	What a dazzling view, I thought to myself. I see massive trees giving shade to those below. The bees running from vibrant flower towards their hives. Laugher, music, cars, and the wind. The wind is the most pleasant. I notice it takes me where it wishes me to go. The wind is my companion. I can go all over with the wind, the wind is my ride, the wind is my key to life, the wind is my road.
	"All roads come to an end", said a unsettling voice.
I was startled, who else was here with me? "Who's there?"
"Why, I am your companion. I am your road. I am the wind."
"The wind? What do you mean?"
"All roads come to an end, and so will I."
"But that means my life would be over. I would lose everything I have seen. I am free this way."
"You are free but everything comes to an end."
"Everything I would have seen would be worthless, making me worthless. Why?"
"Everything ends just like new things begin."
"I don't want to go, I haven't seen the world yet. Please. I am desperate"
"Don't you realize how great your life has been?"
"How so? Its going to end."
"Don't be mad at its ending. Smile because it happened."
And with that, I looked upon myself, everything I've seen. I've seen the laughter of children, the blinding yellow sun, the pristine blue sky. I've smelled the honey of bees and heard the beauty of music. It was a joyous time, although a short one. It was worth something and so was I.

title: The bubble and the wind.

question: What are the bubble's feelings towards death at the end of the story?

answer: They are accepting of death, happy to have lived.

question: What is the girl doing?

answer: Blowing bubbles

question: What is the message of the story?

answer: That we should enjoy our life and be happy it happened rather than be sad or worried that it is going to end.

question: What is the nature of the protagonist?

answer: The protagonist is a bubble


text:
The ocean was calm as the sun began to fall behind the horizon.

On the veranda of a home long since filled with happiness and love stood a man who looked as one that had been a prisoner by the harshness of time.

"I never realised until now how beautiful the dark blue of the ocean is" said the man in a voice that has known much agony. "It is beautiful don't you think.." he staggered, as if a painful memory invaded him at that moment. Slowly he turned, and glanced around to find the room still untouched and void of life.
Though the ocean air was cool, the room around him felt constraining and hot, as if every breath heeded more effort than the next.

"..the ocean is beautiful, it can at one moment be the embodiment of tranquility and then in the next be filled with uncompromising wrath, and injustice" he continued. "For she was the beauty that the ocean radiates, we were the peacefulness that love fulfills and you..you were the injustice that took it all away" said the man as anger began to arise.

He turned and walked inside the room. He made his way slowly towards the mantel piece that stood as a shrine of past memories. Outside the waves behind him began to stir, as the wind lifted and the signs of a storm were revealing itself. Next to the mantel, he reached and gripped a photograph, and lost himself in the image.

He began to speak as if directed to someone listening; "this is how I try to remember her, forever young, forever
beautiful." "In the rare nights that sleep finally found me, I would dream of her as she once was, then, in a cruel twist she fades into a shade that you felt she needed to become." "I was not her only companion on those nights, for the coldness of death that you bring was there too, and it toyed with her, bringing pain but never release" he said as the emotion of the past overwhelmed him.

As the waves crashed against the rocks, breaking the silence that was surrounding him, he turned to the ocean once more. "A storm is building, I once believed that the calmness before a storm was a peaceful thing, but after those long nights waiting, I now see that the calm is the storm itself." In deep thought her continued; "For to wait for what is to come is always far greater than what arrives." "How I yearn for the time that the darkness was far from you, now it shall never let you go" he said as his voice regained composure.

At this time he drew an object from his pocket, clenching it tightly in his first, then slowly releasing until it sat exposed on his open palm. There laid a crucifix, one that was once proudly worn, now a symbol of loss; "perhaps that is what it truly is... loss" he thought to himself. "I understand the cycle of life; that death finds us all, this was not what has filled me with scorn; not the time in which it was inflicted, nor that it was to us, but for a so called loving and caring God, what you let us endure alone, toying with us with cures then relapses was too much to bare: his voice began to rise with conviction. "Your servants in the old covenants could not find the wisdom to guide us other than that what has been recycled through generations of disconnected men" he raged.

"I blamed you, this idea of a God that now sits on my hand, for all that caused me pain and suffering, yet now I realise, you were never the conductor of this. He paused and thought for a moment, then continued; "there is neither good nor evil that you commit, for you do not exist". "Even after all that I went through, the idea that your existence was nothing more than I fairy tale was a leap that I could not take" he moved his gaze to the storming ocean and said to God, fate, circumstance or anything that would listen "The thought that my sweet was at least in a better place gave me comfort and allowed me to continue to grieve, but that was a false comfort, just as a child craves their blanket to keep them safe, I… we crave you". "This is why those men of faith could not comfort me, for I realised then that no truth could come from a lie, he said as he continued to reflect on what seemed as a time long ago.

The storm was now raging, and the rain poured down. He for a last time looked down on that crucifix, and whispered. "Peace can only be found, when the truth is accepted", then he cast it into the ocean.
He still grieved her loss, and those nightmares dwelled with him until the end of his days.

Yet he never again allowed that comfort to dictate his life; for you are never truly free, until you let everything go.

title: I wrote my first short story today. I thought, screw it let's post it on reddit.

question: Why does the man look to be suffering of a lot of pain?

answer: He is mourning the loss of his sweetheart.

question: How will the man always remember his sweetheart?

answer: As forever young and forever beautiful

question: Explain what happened to the man's faith in God.

answer: The man blames his pain and suffering on God and believes that God's existence was nothing more than a fairy tale.

question: Why does the man believe you are never truly free?

answer: You have to let everything go before you can be free.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: A man suffers as he stands on the veranda of his home overlooking the ocean. He is mourning the loss of his sweetheart and blames God for his pain and suffering. He explains that men of faith cannot comfort him as God's existence was nothing more than a fairy tale.


text:
_BISPIRA VOLUTACORNIS_, sometimes known by the common names TWIN FAN WORM or SPIRAL FAN WORM, is a type of tube worm.

Distribution

_Bispira volutacornis_ is found in the Eastern North Atlantic to the Mediterranean, in the English Channel and northern North Sea.

Description

_Bispira volutacornis_ has a tube of mud or silt and a mucoid outer layer, the body is less than 10 cm, and the diameter is 1 cm.

title: Bispira volutacornis

question: What biome is Bispira volutacornis most likely to be found in?

answer: Oceans

question: How large is Bispira volutacornis?

answer: The body is less than 10 cm, and the diameter is 1 cm

question: List the common names of Bispira volutacornis?

answer: Twin Fan Worm, Spiral Fan Worm

question: What hemispheres can one find Bispira volutacornis in?

answer: Northern Hemisphere, and Eastern Hemispheres

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: This article discusses a type of tube worm known as Bispira volutacornis. It discusses its habitats and morphology.


text:
Whitewater River}} [The Meeting of Waters where the pale brownish (whitewater) Amazon River mixes with the dark (blackwater) Rio Negro] A WHITEWATER RIVER is classified based on its chemistry, sediments and water colour. Whitewater rivers have high levels of suspended sediments, giving the water a pH that is near-neutral, a high electric conductivity and a pale muddy, coffee and cream-like colour.[1] Whitewater rivers are of great ecological importance and are important to local fisheries. The major seasonal Amazonian floodplains known as _várzea_ receive their water from them.[2][3]

The best-known whitewater rivers are Amazonian and have their source in the Andes, but there are also whitewater rivers elsewhere in South America and in other continents.[4][5][6][7]

Amazonian rivers fall into three main categories: whitewater, blackwater and clearwater. This classification system was first proposed by Alfred Russel Wallace in 1853 based on water colour, but the types were more clearly defined according to chemistry and physics by from the 1950s to the 1980s.[8][9][10] Although many Amazonian rivers fall clearly into one of these categories, others show a mix of characteristics and may vary depending on season and flood levels.[11][12]

Location

In South America

[Map of the Amazon basin. Rivers that originate in the Andes (far west and southwest in basin) are typically whitewater.] The best-known whitewater rivers are Amazonian and have their source in the Andes. The main whitewater rivers are Solimões–Amazon, Caquetá–Japurá, Putumayo, Marañón, Ucayali, Javary, Juruá, Acre, Purus, Madre de Dios, and Madeira.[13] Although the Branco River traditionally is considered whitewater,[14][15] it has a number of characteristics (some of them varying with season) that do not fit clearly into the classification and some refer to it as clearwater.[16]

Outside the Amazon, a small number of South American rivers are considered whitewater, most notably certain tributaries of the Orinoco such as the Guaviare, Meta and Apure Rivers, and of the Paraná—Paraguay such as the Bermejo and Salado Rivers, which have their source in the Andes.[17][18][19][20][21]

In other continents

Outside South America, this system of classification is not widely used, but there are several rivers with mainly whitewater characteristics. In Africa, these include the Niger main stem and its floodplain, Orashi,[22] Nile (notably the Blue Nile), the middle and lower Zambezi,[23] and the Cross, Mungo, Sanaga, and Wouri rivers.[24] In Asia, examples are the Mekong mainstream (especially in the rainy season),[25] and several upland streams in large river basins in the southern and southeastern part of the continent.[26] In Europe, sections of the Danube have whitewater characteristics.[27]

Chemistry and sediments

[The Madeira showing the typical pale muddy colour of a whitewater river as it flows past Porto Velho, Brazil] In South America, most whitewater rivers originate in the Andes where they collect high levels of nutrient-rich sediments, notably illite and montmorillonite.[28] They have a near-neutral pH (typically 6.5–7), high levels of dissolved solids (especially alkali earth metals and carbonate), and high electric conductivity.[29][30] The water is turbid, with a low visibility that is usually between .[31] In the main stem of the Amazon River, about 82% of the total suspended solids and 90–95% of the suspended load of sediments originate from the Andes.[32] Along their course, whitewater rivers often become diluted due to the inflow of black- and clearwater tributaries. For example, the Rio Negro, the largest blackwater tributary, accounts for 14% of the total Amazon basin water and Tapajós, the largest clearwater tributary, accounts for 6%.[33] Consequently, although the Amazon River is whitewater throughout its course, the electric conductivity is 120–200 μS/cm in the Andes, but by the time it reaches Santarém (after the inflow of Rio Negro, Tapajós, and some smaller black- and clearwater tributaries), it has fallen to 40-70 μS/cm.[34] At high elevations in the Andes near the headwater, the pH of whitewater rivers can be above 8.[35]

In some parts of the Amazon where the rivers are not naturally whitewater, “pseudo-whitewater” exists because of soil erosion from human activities.[36]

                                  Juruá River (typical whitewater)   Tapajós River (typical clearwater)   Tefé River (typical blackwater)
  ------------------------------- ---------------------------------- ------------------------------------ ---------------------------------
  pH                              7.27                               6.56                                 5.03
  Electric conductivity (μS/cm)   191.14                             14.33                                7.36
  Total suspended solids (mg/L)   51.42                              10.56                                7.90
  Ca (mg/L)                       32.55                              0.52                                 0.71
  Mg (mg/L)                       4.42                               0.26                                 0.22
  Na (mg/L)                       10.19                              1.50                                 0.40
  K (mg/L)                        1.98                               0.93                                 1.41
  Total P (mg/L)                  0.080                              0.010                                0.033
   (mg/L)                         106.14                             8.80                                 6.86
   (mg/L)                         0.031                              0.040                                0.014
   (mg/L)                         0.062                              0.19                                 0.13
  Total N (mg/L)                  0.39                               0.35                                 0.24
   (mg/L)                         2.56                               0.30                                 4.20
  Colour (mg/Pt/L)                41.61                              4.02                                 54.90
  Si (mg/L)                       5.78                               5.25                                 0.33
  Cl (mg/L)                       4.75                               0.53                                 0.85

  : Average physico-chemical characteristics[37]

Ecology

[The tambaqui, an important species in Amazonian fisheries, relies on whitewater to breed[38]] The difference in chemistry and visibility between the various black, white and clearwater rivers result in distinct differences in flora and fauna.[39] Although there is considerable overlap in the fauna found in the different river types, there are also many species found only in one of them.[40][41][42] Many blackwater and clearwater species are restricted to relatively small parts of the Amazon, as different blackwater and clearwater systems are separated (and therefore isolated) by large whitewater sections.[43][44] These “barriers” are considered a main force in allopatric speciation in the Amazon basin.[45]

As in South America, distinct differences between species in black- and whitewater can be seen in Asia and Africa. For example, the fish fauna in African whitewater rivers tend to be dominated by cyprinids, catfish, and elephantfish, whereas blackwater rivers usually have more characiforms and cichlids.[46]

The high nutrient levels in whitewater rivers allow high levels of periphyton (in contrast to the nutrient-poor blackwater rivers), but the water turbidity restricts light, thereby limiting photosynthetic processes, which are necessary to algae and submerged macrophytes, to the uppermost part of the water column. The periphyton roughly equals the production level in temperate eutrophic lakes.[47] Bacterial abundance and production rates are roughly equal in whitewater and blackwater rivers, but both vary with water level and productions are higher during the high-water season.[48]

The major seasonal Amazonian floodplains known as _várzea_ receive their water from whitewater rivers and are home to many animals and plants.[49] In the Brazilian Amazon, _várzea_ covers roughly , equalling 4% of the entire area (twice the area covered by _igapó_).[50] In addition to forests and woodlands with trees and other plants that are seasonally covered by water, about one-third of this floodplain's area is covered by large floating meadows.[51] These floating meadows are home to the richest Amazonian community of aquatic invertebrates[52] and important to fish,[53] especially species that visit during the flood season for feeding or breeding (a lower number of fish species live in the habitat year-round).[54] The floodplains are also very important for fisheries. For example, in the Brazilian Amazon, 61% of the yields from subsistence and local market fisheries is from districts with _várzea_.[55] Several of the most important species in Amazonian fisheries rely on whitewater for breeding: The tambaqui (_Colossoma macropomum_), black prochilodus (_Prochilodus nigricans_) and _Semaprochilodus_ spp. move into whitewater rivers to spawn, and many large catfish species (especially pimelodids such as _Brachyplatystoma_) perform long migrations up whitewater rivers to spawn.[56][57][58] Most of the large cities in the Amazon region, such as Iquitos, Manaus, Santarém and Belém, are located on clear- or blackwater rivers (which have fewer insects), but at the junction of whitewater rivers (which have better fishing).[59] Due to the high level of prey fish, the largest group-size of _Inia_ river dolphins are in sections of the Amazon and Orinoco basins that are directly influenced by whitewater.[60]

  Animal groups present   Blackwater   Mixed water   Whitewater
  ----------------------- ------------ ------------- ------------
  Rotifera                284          23            0
  Cladocera               5            29            43
  Ostracoda               39           97            29
  Calanoida               11           51            66
  Cyclopoida              22           49            61
  Chironomidae            0            3             3
  Acari (mites)           0            0             2

  : Planktonic organisms collected in Amazonian rivers[61]

                          Blackwater   Mixed water   Whitewater
  ----------------------- ------------ ------------- ------------ -------- ------------ --------
  Animal groups present   Open water   Forest        Open water
  Volvocaceae             42                         38
  Rotifera                87           5             34
  Cladocera               6                          5
  Ostracoda               2            11            3
  Calanoida               23           3             10
  Cyclopoida              5            27            19
  Mysidacea                            1
  Diptera
  Acari (mites)                                      1
  Larval fish                                        1

  : Number of planktonic organisms collected in of waters in Amazonian rivers[62]

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title: Whitewater river (river type)

question: What are the key identifying traits of a whitewater river?

answer: They have a pH that is near neutral, a high electric conductivity, and a pale muddy, coffee and cream-like colour.

question: Name five whitewater rivers.

answer: Solimões–Amazon, Caquetá–Japurá, Marañón, Putumayo, and Javary.

question: What are some species live in whitewater rivers?

answer: Várzea are Amazonian plants that receive their water from Amazonian rivers. The tambaqui, a species of fish, also use whitewater rivers to breed.

question: Who was Alfred Russel Wallace?

answer: Alfred Russel Wallace was the one who proposed the classification system for Amazonian rivers based on colour in 1853.

question: What are blackwater rivers?

answer: Blackwater rivers are a type of Amazonian river.

question: Write a ~3 sentence summary.

answer: A whitewater river is a type of river defined by a pH that is near neutral, a high electric conductivity, and a pale muddy, coffee and cream-like colour. The best-known whitewater rivers are Amazonian. These rivers are important to local fisheries, as certain species of fish rely on these waters to breed.


text:
KATTOWITZ is the German name for the Polish city of Katowice.

KATTOWITZ may also refer to:

Places

-   Katowice (parliamentary constituency)
-   Kattowitz (region)
-   Katowice Forest Park
-   Katowice Voivodeship

Sports

-   1. FC Kattowitz, an ethnically German association football club playing in what was Kattowitz, Silesia Province in Germany (now Katowice, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland) and was active during the inter-war period and World War II when the two countries struggled over control of the region
-   Germania Kattowitz, an ethnically German association football club playing in what was Kattowitz, Upper Silesia in Germany (now Katowice, Poland) before the First World War and shortly afterwards
-   Diana Kattowitz, an ethnically German association football club playing in what was Kattowitz, Upper Silesia in Germany (now Katowice, Poland) during the inter-war period

Other

-   _Kattowitzer Volkswille_, a newspaper in Weimar Germany

title: Kattowitz (disambiguation)

question: What is the other name of Kattowitz?

answer: Kattowitz is another name for the Polish city of Katowice.

question: Who does FC Kattowitz belong to?

answer: FC Kattowitz is a German association football club.

question: What is Kattowitzer Volkswille?

answer: It is a newspaper in Weimar Germany.

question: Who/What is Diana Kattowitz?

answer: It is an ethnically German association football club playing in what was Kattowitz during the inter-war period.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: A Wikipedia page on Kattowitz.


text:
KARL MICHAEL KOMMA (24 December 1913, Asch, Austria-Hungary (now Aš, Czech Republic) – 23 September 2012, Memmingen, Germany) was a German composer and music-publicist.

Life

Komma studied at the German Music Academy in Prague with George Szell, Fidelio F. Finke and before he went to Heidelberg in 1934 to study music with Heinrich Besseler. Komma graduated in 1936 with a dissertation on Jan Zach. During this time he also conducted composition studies with Wolfgang Fortner, who became a conductor for Komma (Donaueschingen, premiere of the “German Dances” for string orchestra, 1938).

From 1940 to 1945, Komma was the head of the music school in what is now Liberec, and was awarded for his achievements. He also appeared in 1935 with a cantata for a NSDStB-Kundgebung in appearance, composed by a jubilant chorus for the annexation of Czechoslovakia by Hitler in 1938 and came with a pamphlet against Gustav Mahler in 1939 ( in _Musik im NS-Staat_), 1982, and _Macht und Musik_, 1992). In 1952, he received the Nordgau Culture Prize of the city of Amberg in the category of music.

Komma, from 1954 to 1989, taught music history, music theory and composition at the Musikhochschule Stuttgart and worked as a music journalist and composer with extensive oeuvre and was still active even in old age. In 1981 he became a full member of the Sudeten German Academy of Sciences and Arts in the Arts and Sciences.

Works (selection)

-   Zwei Konzerte für Klavier und Orchester
-   Psalmkantate
-   Matthäus-Passion für Chor a cappella (1965)
-   _Lamento di Tristano_ für Orchester
-   Triptychon _Christ ist erstanden_
-   Lasso-Fantasie für Orgel
-   Te Deum für Orgel
-   Streichquartett
-   Lieder nach Hölderlin, Celan und Härtling
-   Hommage à Händel für Chor a cappella
-   _Die Hütte Gottes_, Oratorium für Soli, Chor und Orchester (1977 uraufgeführt durch den Oratorienchor Ulm unter der Leitung von Edgar Rabsch anlässlich der 600-Jahr-Feier der Grundsteinlegung des Ulmer Münsters)
-   Vier Stücke für Kammerorchester (1987, dem Reutlinger Jugendorchester (heute Junge Sinfonie Reutlingen) gewidmet)
-   Elegie und Scherzo für Englisch-Horn und Orchester (1999, Rainer M. Schmid gewidmet)
-   Drei Duos für Cello und Fagott (1986)
-   Sapphische Strophen für Fagott, Violoncello und Klavier (1981, Friedrich Edelmann und Rebecca Rust gewidmet)
-   Japanisch-deutsche Jahreszeiten 1995/96, Haikus für Fagott, Cello und Klavier
-   Tanz des Grossen Friedens, Concerto grosso für Cello, Fagott, Klavier und Streichorchester (1993, gewidmet Seiner Kaiserlichen Majestät dem Kaiser Akihito von Japan und Seiner Kaiserlichen Majestät der Kaiserin Michiko von Japan)
-   Choralsonate (3 Sätze) für Trompete oder Posaune und Orgel

Publications

-   _Johann Zach und die tschechischen Musiker im deutschen Umbruch des 18. Jahrhunderts_. Heidelberg, Phil. Diss., 1939. - Würzburg, 1938, 124 S. (Auch beim Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel, als: Heidelberger Studien zur Musikwissenschaft. Band 7)
-   _Das böhmische Musikantentum_ (1960)
-   _Musikgeschichte in Bildern_ (1961)
-   _Lieder und Gesänge nach Friedrich Hölderlin_ (1967)
-   Lebenserinnerungen _Lebenswege_ (1999)

Work (selections)

-   -   Würdigung auf der Web-Site der Württembergischen Philharmonie
-   Homepage mit Werkverzeichnis
-   Nachruf in der Südwest Presse

Category:1913 births Category:2012 deaths Category:Sacred music composers Category:20th-century classical composers Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Category:Sudeten German people Category:Musicians from Liberec

title: Karl Komma

question: Where was Karl Komma born?

answer: Austria-Hungary.

question: What is that area known as today?

answer: Czech Republic.

question: What year did he die?

answer: 2012.

question: Of what middle school was Komma head of from 1940 to 1945?

answer: Liberec.

question: Write a ~6 sentence summary.

answer: Karl Michael Komma was a German composer and music-publicist born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1913. He studied at the German Music Academy in Prague, and then in Heidelberg. He studied under many revered musicians and composers. From 1940-1945 he was head of a music school now known as Liberec. From 1954-1989, Komma taught music history, music theory, and composition at Musikhochschule Stuttgart and also worked as a music journalist and composer. Komma died in 2012.


text:
[]

Pope Francis. Photo: Casa Rosada via Wikimedia Commons.

It’s been a difficult couple of weeks for “progressive”? anti-Zionists.

First, Barack Obama, during his interview with Jeffrey Goldberg last week, clearly suggested that denying Israel’s right to exist is anti-Semitic.  More recently, it was reported that Pope Francis told Portuguese-Israeli journalist Henrique Cymerman that “anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel — and their right to exist — is guilty of anti-Semitism.”?

Of course, the comments by Obama and Pope Francis regarding the inherent racism of denying Israel’s right to exist are consistent with the EUMC Working Definition of Antisemitism and the U.S.State Department’s definition.

The U.K. media largely avoided reporting on Obama’s comments about anti-Semitism. So, it is likely that the same media outlets – who were so eager to selectively quote the pontiff’s highly disputed comments about Mahmoud Abbas being ‘an angel of peace’ – will similarly ignore Francis’s apparent agreement that you can’t simultaneously be an anti-racist and an anti-Zionist.

Related coverage

[]

November 30, 2020 1:41 pm

You may recall that, back in March, Marcia Freedman, in a J-Street panel discussion on Liberal Zionism,argued that the Jewish people should not have a state, and should instead live as a minority in an Arab Palestine. And Peter Beinart (who participated in the J Street panel with Freedman), in his latest column at _Haaretz,_ expressed his disagreement with __ Obama’s equating of anti-Zionism with anti-Zionism.

The comments by Obama and Francis seem to demonstrate the increasing acceptance of the idea that the level of hostility towards Israel expressed by the likes of J Street and Beinart – and their ideological fellow travelers in the media – is, at the very least, anti-Semitic in effect.

Further, given the exceedingly high popular support for Israel among diaspora Jews, the fact that the “debate”? on whether Israel should exist or not is still given a platform within mainstream ‘progressive’ publications shows how far elements of the ‘anti-racism’ movement have strayed from their original principles.

The fact is that you can’t align yourself squarely against the rights and moral aspirations of the overwhelming majority of actual Jews and claim to be shocked when you’re accused of anti-Semitism.

__Adam Levick is the managing editor of UK Media Watch, an affiliate of the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).__

question: What is anti Zionism?

answer: Anti Zionism is opposition to the State of Israel.

question: What is the relationship between anti racism and anti Zionism?

answer: According to the article, you cannot be simultaneously anti racist and anti Zionist. The article also states that the platform given to the debate surrounding Zionism shows how far elements of the anti racism movement have strayed from their original principles.

question: What is the relationship between anti Zionism and anti Semitism?

answer: Anti Semitism is prejudice against Jews. This article states that you cannot align yourself against the rights and moral aspirations of the overwhelming majority of actual Jews and claim to be shocked when you are accused of anti Semitism. According to this argument anti Zionism is a subset of anti Semitism.

question: What setbacks did anti Zionists recently encounter according to this article?

answer: Both Barack Obama and Pope Francis suggested that anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel is guilty of anti Semitism.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Both Barack Obama and Pope Francis suggested that anyone who does not recognize the Jewish people and the State of Israel is guilty of anti Semitism. This strikes a blow to anti Zionists.


text:
The NANCY L. SCHWARTZ MEMORIAL LECTURE is a series of public lectures held every year by the Kellogg Department of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences.[1][2][3]

Nancy Schwartz was the Morrison Professor of Decision Sciences. She was also the Kellogg School's first female faculty member appointed to an endowed chair. Schwartz became a part of Kellogg in 1970, chaired MEDS as well as served as director of the school's doctoral program until her death in 1981.[4] To date, sixteen out of the thirty-four speakers held or have gone on to win a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

Lectures

1983 - 1989

-   Reinhard Selten (Nobel Laureate 1994). _Evolution, Learning, and Economic Behavior_.
-   Truman F. Bewley. _Knightian Uncertainty_.
-   Robert E. Lucas, Jr.,(Nobel Laureate 1995). _On the Mechanics of Economic Development_.
-   Robert J. Aumann (Nobel Laureate 2005). _Cooperation, Rationality, and Bounded Reality_.
-   Menachem E. Yaari. _On the Role of 'Dutch Books' in the Theory of Choice Under Risk_.
-   Andreu Mas-Colell. _On the Theory of Perfect Competition_.
-   Hugo Sonnenschein. _The Economics of Incentives: An Introductory Account_.

1990 - 1999

-   Joseph E. Stiglitz. (Nobel Laureate 2001). _The Theory of Bankruptcy in Modern Capitalism_.
-   Ariel Rubinstein. _Topics in Language and Economics_.
-   David M. Kreps. _Anticipated Utility and Dynamic Choice_.
-   Nancy L. Stokey. _Shirtsleeves to Shirtsleeves: The Economics of Social Mobility_.
-   Roy Radner. _Economic Survival_.
-   Robert B. Wilson. _Negotiation With Private Information: Litigation and Strikes_.
-   Peter A. Diamond (Nobel Laureate 2010). _Issues in Social Insurance_.
-   Kenneth J. Arrow (Nobel Laureate 1972). _Information and Returns to Scale_.
-   Gary S. Becker (Nobel Laureate 1992). _On Habits, Addictions, and Traditions_.
-   Vernon L. Smith (Nobel Laureate 2002). _Experimental Economics: Behavioral Lessons for Theory and Microeconomic Policy_.

2000 - 2009

-   Drew Fudenberg. _Learning in Games_.
-   Roger B. Myerson (Nobel Laureate 2007). _On the Foundations of Social Institutions_.
-   Matthew Jackson. _Social Structure, Segregation, and Economic Behavior_.
-   Robert C. Merton. (Nobel Laureate 1997). _How to Pursue Both Comparative Advantage and Efficient Diversification of Risk: An Application of Derivative Securities_.
-   John O. Ledyard. _Information Markets_.
-   Daniel Kahneman (Nobel Laureate 2002). _Psychology and Behavioral Economics_.
-   Bengt R. Holmstrom (Nobel Laureate 2016). _Corporate Governance_.
-   Eric R. Maskin (Nobel Laureate 2007). ''How to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions: An Application of Auction Theory.
-   David Baron. _Private Politics._
-   Oliver Hart (Nobel Laureate 2016). _Financial Contracting_.

2010 - present

-   Vincent P. Crawford. _Puffery, Trickery, Rendezvous, and Reassurance: Nonequilibrium Models of Strategic Communication_.
-   Paul Milgrom. _Prices and Auctions in Markets with Complex Constraints_.
-   Ehud Kalai. _Chaos, Learning and Stability in Big Games_.
-   Colin Camerer. _When Game Theory Predicts Surprisingly Well, and Why_.
-   Hal Varian. _Predicting the Present with Search Engine Data_.
-   Jean Tirole (Nobel Laureate 2014). _Laws and Norms_.
-   K. Daron Acemoglu. _Why Nations Fail_.
-   Al Roth (Nobel Laureate 2012). _Market Design_.
-   Susan Athey. _Marketplaces, Intermediaries, and Product Quality_.[5]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

title: Nancy L. Schwartz Memorial Lecture

question: Who is Nancy L. Schwartz?

answer: The Morrison Professor of Decision Sciences and the Kellogg School's first female faculty member appointed to an endowed chair; she chaired the Department of Managerial Economics and Decision Sciences, and was director of the doctoral program. She died in 1981.

question: What is the Nancy L. Schwartz memorial lecture?

answer: A public lecture that has taken place annually since 1983.

question: How many Nobel Laureates have given the memorial lecture?

answer: Sixteen.

question: Who were Nobel Laureates in 2016?

answer: Bengt R. Holmstrom, Oliver Hart.

question: How many people gave a lecture in the same year they were named Nobel Laureates?

answer: One: Eric R. Maskin.

question: How many people have given the lecture?

answer: Thirty-four.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The Nancy L. Schwartz memorial lecture is an annual public lecture that has been held from 1983 to the present.


text:
_Automotive News'_ recent report on digital manufacturing ("WHY THE INDUSTRY IS ALL ABUZZ ABOUT '4.0' " Aug. 6) captured many examples of early success in the automotive industry. Most of the companies we speak to have been exploring Industry 4.0 in one way or another. The concept can deliver value across three pillars.

One is connectivity, getting the right data to the right people in real time. A lot of manufacturing plants operate with incomplete data, challenges in aggregating and delays in getting people to make timely decisions. How do we move from a world where we are relying on humans to make decisions based on aged data and opinion to where we can be more fact-based and prescriptive?

A second is intelligence or advanced analytics. We now have so much data, it's awfully hard for humans to make the best decisions — Industry 4.0 can help improve the quality of decision-making. We can leverage Big Data, artificial intelligence and machine learning to develop predictive analytics. Similarly, we can leverage advanced analytics to better understand the root causes of quality issues such as in paint shops.

The third pillar, flexible automation, is where the automotive industry shines. OEMs generally have been pushing the forefront of automation for quite a while. They are continuing to explore the next horizon of automation, and they are looking at how they can adopt use cases from the other two areas.

Automotive companies are very comfortable with automation, and they have been exploring collaborative robots along with having extensive experience in automated guided vehicles. Companies now are implementing predictive analytics use cases. The story's example of Renault's Dacia plant in Pitesti, Romania, demonstrates the detection of micro-level deviation and using it as a predictor of reliability.

Industry 4.0 has similarities to lean manufacturing in the 1990s. The application of digital connectivity and collaboration offers that next level of performance potential. In lean manufacturing terms, you're still looking to eliminate waste, shrink time, improve productivity and boost the effectiveness of assets.

Industry 4.0 provides an opportunity to make radical changes around things such as time to market and areas of opportunities that span organizational boundaries. If you have a more transparent, analytically driven view of market demand, then not only can OEMs benefit, but suppliers also have greater visibility and can better control inventories. The whole value chain can better respond and better optimize its performance.

This becomes more important as the industry faces a wave of retirements and the loss of tribal knowledge developed over decades. What digital can do is codify the knowledge and provide remote support to technicians in the field. You don't need to rely just on what's in someone's head.

Moving from pilots and proofs of concept to full-scale rollout of Industry 4.0 depends on the organization knowing where the business case makes sense. A lot of companies will try new technologies to understand them. As my colleague Dominik Wee said in the _Automotive News_ story, "The key is not to go from the technology forward but from the use case backwards." The question always needs to be: What is the business problem we are trying to solve?

On a proof of concept, you can hack the solution and see if it works. When you move to scale, there are some big questions, and a lot of automotive players don't have a homogenous architecture across plants, so there's complexity to manage. If I'm a global automotive company and I've grown by merger and acquisition, I'm going to have systems from different providers. If I want to standardize a rollout, I have to think about how to navigate that.

On average, I put the automotive industry roughly in the middle of Industry 4.0 adoption across sectors. As I said, automotive is well ahead in automation. In other dimensions, such as digital connectivity and analytics, some industries are further down the path in implementing solutions at scale.

This is a journey in the same way other industrial revolutions have evolved. There really isn't a truly mature best practice for capturing the value from digital manufacturing right now. Technologies are constantly evolving. The shift we've seen in the past three years resulted from questioning whether this was hype or actual value. We've demonstrated some of that value at a small scale. Now, how do we scale that up and get it across our whole system?

We have a long path ahead of us.

question: What does the text say about Industry 4.0?

answer: Industry 4.0 is built on 3 pillars. The first is getting the right data to the right people in real time, the second is intelligence or advanced analytics, and the third pillar is flexible automation. It has similarities to lean manufacturing in the 1990's especially as it relates to eliminating waste and shrinking time. Moving from pilots and proofs of concept to full-scale rollout depends on the complexity to manage in an organization as well as identifying the place where the use case makes sense.

question: What does the text say about automation in the automotive industry?

answer: The automotive manufacturing industry is well ahead in automation, and have been exploring collaborative robots along with having extensive experience in automated guided vehicles. Specifically, a use case at Renault's Dacia plant demonstrates the detection of micro-level deviation and using it as a predictor of reliability. OEM's have generally been pushing the forefront of automation for quite a while. But other industries are further down the path with digital connectivity and analysis solutions at scale.

question: Summarize the challenges facing the automotive industry.

answer: The automotive manufacturing industry is facing a wave of retirements and the loss of tribal knowledge developed over decades. To move forward it is critical to codify this knowledge. A lot of automotive manufacturers do not have homogenous architecture across plants, especially when a company has grown by merger and acquisition. There is a certain complexity to manage to standardize rollout. Although manufacturing plants have accepted automation, they still operate with incomplete data, challenges in aggregating and delays in getting people to make timely decisions.

question: Summarize the automotive manufacturers targeting digital manufacturing.


text:
Just a short story i wrote, any feedback/comments would be awesome!

I lie suspended here, in my world, alone with my thoughts. I hear muffled noises coming out of the Nothing. They are the Voices, quiet, murmuring, constant.  I know not what they are, nor what their purpose is. This sometimes frustrates me, not knowing, but it is a mere inconvenience, as they have no effect upon me. The Melody however, does. Here it comes now. It makes me tremble; it makes me quiver with anticipation at the thought of what is to come. The worst thing I can ever recall, the only thing I have ever been able to recall. It is like something takes all of my nerves, every last one, and stabs them individually with a red-hot spike. Yet even this description only comes close to what it is actually like. I call it the Paroxysm. An agonizingly violent eruption of pain, that makes my ears feel like they are bleeding, and my eyeballs want to explode out of my body. Then, as quickly as it starts, the Melody fades to silence and I return to my motionless state, slowly losing consciousness, and my sanity.
When I awake, I feel something different. This is not like all the other times the Paroxysm has come. I am unable to determine what has changed, and my imagination runs wild, pouncing at possibilities, roaring at potentials, snarling at probabilities. I curl into a ball, the Change making me want to hide from the Nothing. In a blinding flash of understanding, it dawns on me. The Voices, the constant, indeterminable murmuring which had been present throughout every occurrence of the Paroxysm, are no longer reaching my ears from across the infinite expanse of the Nothing. I feel like a part of me has been removed, a part that was irreplaceable has now been replaced with silence. As I now comprehend the Change, I begin to uncurl from my foetal ball. To my relief, nothing of my surroundings appears to have changed. The absence of the Voices appears to not have had any effect apart from shaking my world to its core, and thereby disproving all my theories, as I am still suspended in the inky-black of the Nothing.
I am startled by a sudden noise, coming out of the Nothing, but terrifyingly close. My addled mind cannot make sense of it at first, but it slowly begins to form recognizable words.
“mmheo….mehllo….Hello? Hello? Hey! Welcome back. We thought we’d lost you there. I’m afraid you’ve been in a very serious accident. Can you flex your fingers for me please?”
I flex my fingers. I somehow sense the new Voice is not pleased with the result of this flexing.
“Ah.” I hear the Voice murmur something which I couldn’t quite catch. It seemed to disappear off into the Nothing.
Now I hear rattling, whirring, beeping, clicking, squeaking. Then silence. Except this silence is different from the silence in the Nothing, there the silence is so deep it screams, while here it is punctuated by a steady drum. Babum-babum.
Here is the Voice again, “I’m terribly sorry sir.”
Somehow, these words bring a flood of images. They pour at me out of the darkness. An old man and woman. A young woman in a white dress. Three small children. A party. A fire. A car. A crash. A burn. Then I collapse once again into the safety of the Nothing. The gentle sound of the Melody washes over me once more, yet somehow I know that the Paroxysm will not come again.

title: The Melody (600-ish words)

question: Does the narrator suffer from an illness?

answer: No, he had an accident.

question: Who is the narrator speaking to?

answer: This information can't be found.

question: Does the narrator find out whose voices they are?

answer: No.

question: What is the Paroxysm?

answer: It is when the narrator is able to hear voices in his/her head, painful voices.

question: Write a ~7 sentence summary.

answer:
The narrator hears voices and cannot discover where they are coming from. It makes him tremble and gets on his nerves. He calls it the Paroxysm.

Soon the sound fades away and the narrator wakes up. The absence of the voices does not have much effect on him until he hears a sound very close to him. The voice tells him he had an accident, it pours random images in the narrator's imagination.
Soon after he collapses and is quite sure the Paroxysm wouldn't come again.


text:
ALPHONSO COLBY SMITH (March 4, 1894 – June 2, 1945) was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick as member of the Progressive Conservative party from 1939 to 1945.[1]

[1]

title: Alphonso C. Smith

question: When was Alphonso Colby Smith born?

answer: March 4, 1894.

question: When did Smith die?

answer: June 2, 1945.

question: What was his job?

answer: He was politician.

question: What country did he serve in?

answer: Canada.

question: Write a ~2 sentence summary.

answer: Alphonso Colby Smith (March 4, 1894 – June 2, 1945) was a Canadian politician. He served in the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick as member of the Progressive Conservative party from 1939 to 1945.


text:
[best sugar cookie icing]

Do you want an easy icing for sugar cookies that leaves everybody wanting more?  Yesterday I shared a wonderful Easy Sugar Cookies recipe.  Today I want to share how to make a quick and easy glaze/icing that goes perfect with the sugar cookie recipe.

And the best part — it’s two ingredients!  You know I like to keep it Cleverly Simple!

Let’s start with the ingredients.  (Make sure you have your cookies ready.  You can find the BEST SUGAR COOKIE RECIPE HERE.)

_WANT MORE SUGAR COOKIE INSPIRATION?_

To find the Best Sugar Cookie Recipe,head overhere.

To find the Best way to Simplify the Sugar Cookie Recipe process, head over here.

Print

Ingredients

Scale

-   1 Cup Powdered Sugar
-   4 tsp Milk

Instructions

1.

    Mix ingredients with fork.
2.

    Add food coloring to icing (optional) to create unique colors.
3.

    Add icing to your favorite cookie recipe.

Notes

You can customize this recipe by adding powdered sugar to make it thicker. Add more milk to make it a glaze.

_KEYWORDS: sugar cookie icing, sugar cookie frosting, cookie icing_

You start with the simple ingredients of powdered sugar and milk.  And of course, make sure you have your sugar cookies baked and cooled.

[how to mix sugar cookie icing that hardens in bowl]

1.  MIX the powdered sugar and milk with a fork until smooth.  The powdered sugar will dissolve.  There’s no need to dirty more dishes than that!  I like the consistency of this recipe but you can make it thinner or thicker by adding more milk or more powdered sugar.

[sugar cookie frosting in bags for decorating]

2.  ADD the icing to a ziploc sandwich bag.  (If you’re fancy, you can use an icing bag.)  Add food coloring to color.  (Optional)  MIX.

*This is a great step for kids!

3.  CUT a small hole in the corner of the bag.

[how to icing sugar cookie]

4.  Pipe the icing onto the cookie and use a knife to spread the icing.

If you like to add a bit of color, just follow the first steps and use a different color of icing.  The glaze does start to dry immediately.   Therefore, add sprinkles right away.

Let the cookies sit until the icing/glaze has time to harden.  You can then stack the cookies.  They freeze really well this way so you can bake weeks ahead of Christmas!

More Best Cookies Recipes

-   Gluten Free Sugar Cookies
-   The Microwave Easy Way to Make Chocolate Covered Pretzels
-   Grandma’s Brickle Cookies
-   The Best Gingerbread Cookies Recipe

[Lynette]
Lynette is the home cook, recipe tester and photographer for Cleverly Simple which she created in 2010.  Most of her recipes come from the treasured recipe box passed down from her great-grandma, grandmother, and mother.

Lynette’s recipes and projects have been featured in Country Living, Good Housekeeping, House Beautiful and others.

Reader Interactions

question: Why would icing be added to a ziploc bag?

answer: It seems it's added to the ziploc bag as a makeshift way to pipe the icing onto the cookie.

question: What is the point of adding food coloring to icing?

answer: It's to make the icing colorful and more aesthetically pleasing.

question: What is the most critical step to this recipe?

answer: Having the ingredients

question: Why can these cookies be baked weeks ahead of Christmas?

answer: They freeze easily.


text:
_THE SUMMER IS GONE_ is a 2016 Chinese drama film written and directed by Zhang Dalei. At the 2016 Golden Horse Awards the film won 3 awards for Best Feature Film, Best New Performer and the FIPRESCI Prize.[1] It is scheduled for release in China on 24 March 2017.[2] The film won the Grand Prix award at the 24th Beijing College Student Film Festival.

Plot

The film follows the story of a 12-year-old boy (Kong Weiyi) living in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.[3]

Cast

-   Kong Weiyi as Zhang Xiaolei
-   Zhang Chen as Dad
-   Guo Yanyuan as Mom

Awards and nominations

  Award ceremony                               Category               Recipients             Result
  -------------------------------------------- ---------------------- ---------------------- --------
  17th Chinese Film Media Awards[4]            Best Director          Zhang Dalei
  Best New Director
  24th Beijing College Student Film Festival   Best Film              _The Summer Is Gone_
  Jury Award                                   Zhang Dalei
  Best Director
  Best Newcomer                                Kong Weiyi
  Artistic Exploration Award                   _The Summer Is Gone_

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

title: The Summer Is Gone

question: What is The Summer Is Gone?

answer: a 2016 Chinese drama film written and directed by Zhang Dalei

question: What is the plot of The Summer Is Gone?

answer: The Summer Is Gone follows the story of a 12-year-old boy living in China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

question: Who stars in The Summer Is Gone?

answer: Kong Weiyi

question: When was The Summer Is Gone released?

answer: The Summer Is Gone is scheduled for release in China on 24 March 2017.

question: Write a ~1 sentence summary.

answer: The Summer Is Gone is an award-winning 2016 Chinese drama film written and directed by Zhang Dalei.