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3zwfc4w1uu7c2k1rvfwjctt90iwfrl | "It was all his own idea, " says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school . Bob had just drawn up a "motherhood contract" ----- a document stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple's four children, plus all household chores . Although he didn't even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.) After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. "I was beaten down, completely humbled, " admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press (also part of the bargain), stating, "Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being." Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto's Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids. Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. "I had been around children so much," she sighs , "I couldn't talk to a grown-up." She continued to run the household, however----- until Bob signed the contract, whereupon she decided to relax and enjoy it. Although Peters had consulted with his school's home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria , his meals were sometimes a disaster.
"I tried to slip the butter I'd forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, " he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot--sometimes having Macdonald's hamburgers for lunch and dinner. As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. "I found an easier way-----I shut the doors, " he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. "I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean."
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day. |
3gdtjdapvubcqpecituwg2id7re8m3 | I had to knock on the taxi to get his attention.Finally,the driver,a man about 60,looked up from behind the wheel and apologized,"I'm sorry,but I was reading a letter." He sounded as if he had a cold or a cough.
Since I was in no hurry,I told him to finish his letter.He shook his head,explaining that he had already read it several times and almost knew it by heart.Curious,I asked whether it was from a child or maybe a grandchild."This isn't family,"he replied."though he might just as well have been a regular member of the family.Old Ed and I grew up together."
They were always friends.But since he moved away from the neighborhood 30 years ago,it'd generally just been postcards at Christmas time between them.A couple of weeks ago,Ed died."I should have kept in touch." He repeated this,more to himself than to me.To comfort him,I said sometimes we just didn't seem to find the time."But we used to find the time," he said."Take a look." He handed the letter over to me.
The first sentence "I've been meaning to write for some time,but I've always delayed it." reminded me of myself.It went on to say that he often thought about the good times they had had together.When I read the part where it said "Your friendship really means a lot to me,more than I can say because I'm not good at saying things like that",I found myself nodding in agreement.
We had gone several kilometers and were almost at my hotel, so I read the last paragraph: "So I thought you'd like to know that I was thinking of you." And it was ended with "Your Old Friend, Tom."
"I thought your friend's name was Ed," I said.
"I'm Tom," he explained. "It's a letter I wrote to Ed before I knew he'd died. I never put it in the mailbox. I guess I should have written it sooner." His face was pale as he wiped his eyes with a handkerchief.
When I got to my hotel room I didn't unpack right away.I had to write a letter and post it. |
3v26sbztbder9sei68k31obqlarzzg | CHAPTER VII. THE SIEGE OF FAENZA
The second campaign of the Romagna had opened for Cesare as easily as had the first. So far his conquest had been achieved by little more than a processional display of his armed legions. Like another Joshua, he reduced cities by the mere blare of his trumpets. At last, however, he was to receive a check. Where grown men had fled cravenly at his approach, it remained for a child to resist him at Faenza, as a woman had resisted him at Forli.
His progress north from Pesaro was of necessity slow. He paused, as we have seen, at Rimini, and he paused again, and for a rather longer spell, at Forli, so that it was not until the second week of November that Astorre Manfredi--the boy of sixteen who was to hold Faenza--caught in the distance the flash of arms and the banners with the bull device borne by the host which the Duke of Valentinois led against him.
At first it had been Astorre's intent to follow the examples set him by Malatesta and Sforza, and he had already gone so far as to remove his valuables to Ravenna, whither he, too, meant to seek refuge. But he was in better case than any of the tyrants so far deposed inasmuch as his family, which had ruled Faenza for two hundred years, had not provoked the hatred of its subjects, and these were now ready and willing to stand loyally by their young lord. But loyalty alone can do little, unless backed by the might of arms, against such a force as Cesare was prepared to hurl upon Faenza. This Astorre realized, and for his own and his subjects' sake was preparing to depart, when, to his undoing, support reached him from an unexpected quarter. |
386csbg1ozmg7qtgh74fdx6rb0s6qf | (CNN) -- In the last week, Jeremy Lin has gone from an unknown professional basketball player struggling to get time on court to an overnight sporting and media sensation. CNN takes a closer look at the first U.S.-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese descent to play in the NBA, and how he's becoming more popular with every game.
Who is Jeremy Lin?
Born to parents Shirley and Gie-Ming on August 23, 1988, Lin is an Asian-American NBA player for the New York Knicks. He wears the jersey No. 17 and plays as point guard. As a professional basketballer he's not overly tall, measuring 6 feet, 3 inches (191 centimeters) and weighs 200 pounds (90.7 kilograms). He played for four years at Harvard, and has spent just one year as a professional player.
Career highlights:
Following his stint at Harvard (where he was twice named to the all-Ivy League), Lin failed to get drafted by an NBA franchise, and instead signed as a free agent with the Golden State Warriors in July, 2010. In December 2011, Lin signed with the New York Knicks after being cut by the Houston Rockets. His 109 points in his first four starts this past week have surpassed Allen Iverson's to become the most by any player since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.
'Linsanity': Why the hype?
Everyone loves a battle-against-the-odds story, and Lin fits the bill perfectly. The reasons for his meteoric rise to become a U.S. basketball sensation are numerous, but it all starts with talent. In just weeks he's gone from one-time bench-warmer to team savior, leading the Knicks to five straight victories and averaging more than 20 points per game, while his field goal percentage during this winning streak tops 50%. In Friday's game against Kobe Bryant's L.A. Lakers, he reeled off 38 points in that victory alone. |
3fprzhyepy79ff2fk40rchtfi5a3vd | Tonga ( or ; Tongan: "Puleʻanga Fakatuʻi ʻo Tonga"), officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is a Polynesian sovereign state and archipelago comprising 169 islands, of which 36 are inhabited. The total surface area is about scattered over of the southern Pacific Ocean. It has a population of 103,000 people, of whom 70% reside on the main island of Tongatapu.
Tonga stretches across approximately in a north-south line. It is surrounded by Fiji and Wallis and Futuna (France) to the northwest, Samoa to the northeast, Niue to the east, Kermadec (part of New Zealand) to the southwest, and New Caledonia (France) and Vanuatu to the farther west.
Tonga became known in the West as the Friendly Islands because of the congenial reception accorded to Captain James Cook on his first visit in 1773. He arrived at the time of the "ʻinasi" festival, the yearly donation of the First Fruits to the Tuʻi Tonga (the islands' paramount chief) and so received an invitation to the festivities. According to the writer William Mariner, the chiefs wanted to kill Cook during the gathering but could not agree on a plan.
From 1900 to 1970, Tonga had British protected state status, with the United Kingdom looking after its foreign affairs under a Treaty of Friendship. The country never relinquished its sovereignty to any foreign power. In 2010, Tonga took a decisive path towards becoming a constitutional monarchy rather than a traditional absolute kingdom, after legislative reforms passed a course for the first partial representative elections. |
3yj6na41jbg7v9781djfmwlmscbjpw | Kanji, or "kan'ji", are the adopted logographic Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana and katakana. The Japanese term "kanji" for the Chinese characters literally means "Han characters" and is written using the same characters as the Chinese word '.
Chinese characters first came to Japan on official seals, letters, swords, coins, mirrors, and other decorative items imported from China. The earliest known instance of such an import was the King of Na gold seal given by Emperor Guangwu of Han to a Yamato emissary in 57 AD. Chinese coins from the first century AD have been found in Yayoi-period archaeological sites. However, the Japanese of that era probably had no comprehension of the script, and would remain illiterate until the fifth century AD. According to the "Nihon Shoki" and "Kojiki", a semi-legendary scholar called Wani () was dispatched to Japan by the Kingdom of Baekje during the reign of Emperor Ōjin in the early fifth century, bringing with him knowledge of Confucianism and Chinese characters.
The earliest Japanese documents were probably written by bilingual Chinese or Korean officials employed at the Yamato court. For example, the diplomatic correspondence from King Bu of Wa to Emperor Shun of Liu Song in 478 has been praised for its skillful use of allusion. Later, groups of people called "fuhito" were organized under the monarch to read and write Classical Chinese. During the reign of Empress Suiko (593–628), the Yamato court began sending full-scale diplomatic missions to China, which resulted in a large increase in Chinese literacy at the Japanese court. |
3ymu66obin85rqjjauq7garfdj1hgh | CHAPTER XII.
SENTENCE OF DEATH.
After parting with their companion, de Lescure and Henri were not long in reaching Durbellière; and on the road thither they also learnt that Santerre, and upwards of a hundred blue horsemen, were prisoners in the château, or in the barns, out-houses, or stables belonging to it; and that the whole place was crowded with peasants, guarding their captives. As they entered the château gates, they met Chapeau, who was at the bottom of the steps, waiting for them; and Henri immediately asked after his father.
"Monseigneur is much fatigued," said Chapeau, "but apparently well; he is, however, still in bed."
"And my sister?" said Henri.
"Mademoiselle has of course been much fatigued, but she is well; she is with your father, M. Henri."
"And tell me, Chapeau, is it true, is it really true that M. Denot brought the blues here, and that since he has been here he has treated my sister in the manner they describe?"
"It is true as gospel, M. Henri. I knew that this would be the worst of the whole affair to you. I knew you would sooner the château should have been burnt than have heard this. We are only waiting for you and M. de Lescure, to hang him as a traitor from the big chestnut out on the road-side. You might have seen as you came in, that they have the ropes and everything ready."
Henri shuddered as he followed his cousin into the house. The steps were crowded with his own followers, who warmly welcomed him, and congratulated him on the safety of his father, his sister, and his property; but he said very little to them; he was thinking of the friend whom he had loved so well, who had so vilely disgraced himself, and whose life he now feared he should be unable to save. |
3jwh6j9i9sd1a5xjx6t6kjxekp8bn8 | (CNN) -- A New Zealand court denied bail Wednesday to the founder of the shuttered file-sharing site Megaupload, whose extradition is being sought by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Kim Dotcom, who is also known as Kim Schmitz, will remain in custody until at least February 22, when an extradition hearing is to be held, the court said.
U.S. authorities shut down Megaupload last week and announced indictments against Dotcom and six other people connected to the site, accusing them of operating an "international organized criminal enterprise responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of copyrighted works."
Four of those charged, including Dotcom, were arrested in New Zealand at the request of the U.S. government. The New Zealand police detained Dotcom, a German citizen, on Friday after a raid on his mansion in the North Shore area of Auckland, the country's largest city.
In a packed court on Monday, Dotcom's lawyer, Paul Davison, said that his client is innocent and should be granted bail.
"Mr. Dotcom emphatically denies any criminal misconduct or wrongdoing and denies the existence of any 'mega-conspiracy,'" Davison told the court.
But New Zealand government prosecutors, acting on behalf of U.S. authorities, argued that Dotcom's bail request should be denied because he presented an "extreme" flight risk. Dotcom is a resident of New Zealand and Hong Kong.
Users of Megaupload -- ranked by the traffic-tracking service Alexa as the world's 72nd-most-visited website before it was taken down -- could share and download files, many of which were copyrighted works made available for download without permission, according to U.S. authorities. |
34majl3qp4nal2j008z43rt25j643r | Charles I (19 November 1600 – 30 January 1649) was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649.
Charles was the second son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England, where he spent much of the rest of his life. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1612. An unsuccessful and unpopular attempt to marry him to the Spanish Habsburg princess Maria Anna culminated in an eight-month visit to Spain in 1623 that demonstrated the futility of the marriage negotiations. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead.
After his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the divine right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent, and perceived his actions as those of a tyrannical absolute monarch. His religious policies, coupled with his marriage to a Roman Catholic, generated the antipathy and mistrust of reformed groups such as the English Puritans and Scottish Covenanters, who thought his views too Catholic. He supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years' War. His attempts to force the Church of Scotland to adopt high Anglican practices led to the Bishops' Wars, strengthened the position of the English and Scottish parliaments and helped precipitate his own downfall. |
3z2r0dq0jhe3smkalexct301cxqe2s | (CNN) -- Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is known for bold disagreement, conservative arguments, pointed questions and the occasional crude hand gesture, and still, it's been an intense few months for one of the high court's most polarizing figures, with biting insults hurled in his direction.
Last month, Scalia dissented in the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 health care ruling, writing that the court undermined values of "caution, minimalism, and the understanding that the federal government is one of limited powers."
Three days earlier, when the high court mostly rejected Arizona's immigration law, Scalia's minority opinion showed he was "more than usually outraged," CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said. In a solo dissent read from the bench, the 76-year-old dressed down the Obama administration and suggested Arizona wouldn't have entered the union if it had known how the ruling would come down: "If securing its territory in this fashion is not within the power of Arizona, we should cease referring to it as a sovereign state."
While many call Scalia a brilliant legal mind, his dissent on the court's Arizona immigration decision was accused of being too political, "more like a right-wing blogger or Fox News pundit," according to Politico. The Daily Beast called it "his churlish and self-aggrandizing and probably unethical tirade."
An opinion in Salon called Scalia an "increasingly intolerant and intolerable blowhard: a pompous celebrant of his own virtue and rectitude" -- in short, the headline said, a "ranting old man." Liberal Washington Post opinion writer E.J. Dionne Jr. called for Scalia to resign. |
3njm2bjs4w6knv12rl2tzs8r2sipc4 | The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the U.S. government, responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice in the United States, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries. The department was formed in 1870 during the Ulysses S. Grant administration. In its early years, the DOJ vigorously prosecuted Ku Klux Klan members.
The Department of Justice administers several federal law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The department is responsible for investigating instances of financial fraud, representing the United States government in legal matters (such as in cases before the Supreme Court), and running the federal prison system. The department is also responsible for reviewing the conduct of local law enforcement as directed by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
The department is headed by the United States Attorney General, who is nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate and is a member of the Cabinet. The current Attorney General is Jeff Sessions.
The office of the Attorney General was established by the Judiciary Act of 1789 as a part-time job for one person, but grew with the bureaucracy. At one time, the Attorney General gave legal advice to the U.S. Congress as well as the President, but in 1819 the Attorney General began advising Congress alone to ensure a manageable workload. Until March 3, 1853, the salary of the Attorney General was set by statute at less than the amount paid to other Cabinet members. Early Attorneys General supplemented their salaries by running private law practices, often arguing cases before the courts as attorneys for paying litigants. |
333u7hk6i9fy6c4iw4skm24xeknjdf | North Carolina consists of three main geographic sections: the Atlantic Coastal Plain, which occupies the eastern 45% of the state; the Piedmont region, which contains the middle 35%; and the Appalachian Mountains and foothills. The extreme eastern section of the state contains the Outer Banks, a string of sandy, narrow barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and two inland waterways or "sounds": Albemarle Sound in the north and Pamlico Sound in the south. They are the two largest landlocked sounds in the United States.
The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, a line which marks the elevation at which waterfalls first appear on streams and rivers. The Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the state's most urbanized and densely populated section. It consists of gently rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. Small, isolated, and deeply eroded mountain ranges and peaks are located in the Piedmont, including the Sauratown Mountains, Pilot Mountain, the Uwharrie Mountains, Crowder's Mountain, King's Pinnacle, the Brushy Mountains, and the South Mountains. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 to 400 feet (91 to 122 m) in elevation in the east to over 1,000 feet (300 m) in the west. Because of the rapid population growth in the Piedmont, a significant part of the rural area in this region is being transformed into suburbs with shopping centers, housing, and corporate offices. Agriculture is steadily declining in importance. The major rivers of the Piedmont, such as the Yadkin and Catawba, tend to be fast-flowing, shallow, and narrow. |
3k4j6m3cxetqh3b54ogfzo4b0uxagx | Once there was a beautiful Queen. She liked dancing. She liked singing. She liked playing. But the thing she liked the most was eating ice cream. She liked many kinds of ice cream, but her favorite was strawberry. She liked it best because it was pink, and pink was her favorite color. Because she liked eating ice cream so much, she wanted a kingdom wide ice cream eating holiday. Everyone had to stop working and eat ice cream. All of the people were happy with the new holiday. It was summer, and everyone would rather eat ice cream than work. The queen wanted to see what the favorite flavor of ice cream was in her kingdom. Everyone got to say their favorite flavor. 159 people liked chocolate. 67 people liked vanilla. 382 people liked strawberry. The queen was very happy that everyone liked strawberry as much as she did. The king was not happy. He liked chocolate the best. He wanted to get rid of all of the strawberry ice cream so that chocolate could be the winner. When the queen found out she was very sad. Then she had an idea: chocolate strawberry ice cream. The king liked the idea. All the people liked the idea. A new ice cream flavor was made and everyone loved it. |
33fbrbdw6ozzh32l540id6d1dl7c82 | (CNN)An Egyptian court sentenced the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mohamed Badie, on Saturday to death by hanging, along with 13 members of his group.
The sentences will be appealed.
The criminal court sentenced 36 other defendants to life in prison on charges of plotting terrorist attacks against state facilities.
They faced charges that include "funding the Rabaa al-Adawiya sit-in" -- a mass protest in Cairo in August 2013 that was forcibly dispersed by security personnel -- and spreading "false information" to destabilize Egypt. They were arrested in a sweeping crackdown on supporters of former President Mohamed Morsy, the country's first democratically elected president, who was overthrown in 2013 in a military coup that bitterly split Egyptians.
One of those sentenced to life in prison was Mohamad Soltan, a 27-year-old U.S.-Egyptian activist. He has been languishing in Cairo's notorious Tora Prison, where he has been on a hunger strike for more than 14 months.
The U.S. State Department released a statement condemning Soltan's sentence and calling for his release on humanitarian grounds.
The presiding judge for Badie, Soltan and the other defendants was Mohamed Nagy Shehata, who is known for his harsh verdicts. Shehata has sentenced more than 180 people to death and was the original judge in a high-profile case case involving Al Jazeera journalists.
Badie had been sentenced to death before on a conviction related to a deadly attack on a police station. He has also been sentenced to life in prison for inciting violence during 2013's unrest.
The Egyptian news outlet Al Ahram reported that Badie had been sentenced to death twice before, but an appeals court overturned one verdict, and Egypt's Grand Mufti disapproved of the other. |
3on104kxqkw7c0loasa68o4z36e4wz | Faced with a life-changing tragedy, it would be easy for Martha Clements to focus on the negative. But that's not her way. Five years after losing her vision, Clements is back doing what she loves. "It is long, Kathy," Clements says, running her hands down the length of her client's hair. Kathy Braga is letting it grow. It now hangs below her shoulders and down her back, and all she wants is a trim , so she asks Clements to show her how much an inch would be. Clements pulls a ruler from a drawer and holds it up to Braga's hair in front near her face. "Right here. An inch will be right here at your chin." Clements was in this career for about 10 years before losing her vision. Now, when she begins cutting, it's easy to forget that Clements is completely blind. She carefully compares the length of each strand of hair. Though confident of her sense of touch, she at times asks her client to be her eyes and check her work. After a careful inspection, Braga gives her approval. And after Clements blows her hair dry, she remarks, "You made me younger. I love it." Clements had been doing Braga's hair for years before she became blind. Braga is proud to say she was Clements' first customer after she lost her vision. "She sat me in the kitchen. It was dark, and she said ,' Are you ready?' I said, 'I'm ready.' And that is when she took this thing, and she said, ' Look and see if there is hair on the ground,' and I said ,' Yes, there is .' And she said, 'Okay, I have the right end of the thing." Clements was 42 years old when she suffered a pulmonary embolism that cost her sight. "I was dead for 20 minutes first and then half an hour, and the lack of oxygen killed my optical nerve." The last thing Clements remembered that day was the ambulance coming to get her. "I couldn't breathe. The next thing I remembered was waking up three days later, blind, in the hospital." Her ribs had been broken, when they treated her. Her shoulder was dislocated. She had to undergo nine months of physical treatment. "It was the hardest time in my life," she says. "Everything changed in my life: distance, smell, and sound. My kids didn't sound the same. My husband didn't sound the same too. I didn't know my home. It took me three months to find the coffee table." Once a month, a teacher from the Virginia Center for the Blind came to her home in Woodbridge, about 40 kilometers from Washington. But Clements was eager to learn more. So in 2008, she left her husband and sons, to go to the Virginia School for the Blind in Richmond for a nine-month program. "My plan was to be able to do for my family again, to do what I like to do, cook, clean, make phone calls." She learned basic skills like how to walk with a cane, how to listen and how to eat different foods. There were classes in Braille, computer skills and using different gadgets designed for the blind. Graduates of the program are expected to leave with not only life skills, but a marketable skill as well. "My teacher asked me why I wouldn't do hair. I said, ' Hello. Blind. No, no, no.' I was scared to think I could even do it." But gradually, Clements gained confidence and by the time she graduated, had styled 100 heads of hair at the school. "People from headquarters came, people from the library, students, secretaries, teachers, and friends came. Everybody came and let me do their hair," Clements says. Three days a week she leaves home to volunteer at the House of Mercy, a Catholic service organization that provides clothing, food and other support to the poor. Kellie Ross, executive director of the House of Mercy, remembered when Clements first showed up with her friend, Kathy Braga, to offer her help. At first, she had no idea Clements was blind. "As she started to walk I realized she couldn't see, " Ross recalls. "She could have taken that tragic experience of losing her sight and gone inward, but instead she used that experience to help other people who are suffering." Clements says she feels blessed to day, five years after her brush with death. "I thank the Lord every day for my blindness, because I'm alive," she says. "I could have been dead. I'm alive. I'm healthy, and that is what matters." |
38jbbyetqoadv0zxpsg0mixzw9be49 | CHAPTER XII. THE AWAKENING
La Boulaye awakened betimes next morning. It may be that the matter on his mind and the business that was toward aroused him; certainly it was none of the sounds that are common to an inn at early morn, for the place was as silent as a tomb.
Some seconds he remained on his back, staring at the whitewashed ceiling and listening to the patter of the rain against his window. Then, as his mind gathered up the threads of recollection, he leapt from his bed and made haste to assume a garment or two.
He stood a moment at his casement, looking out into the empty courtyard. From a leaden sky the rain was descending in sheets, and the gargoyle at the end of the eaves overhead was discharging a steady column of water into the yard. Caron shivered with the cold of that gloomy February morning, and turned away from the window. A few moments later he was in Tardivet's bedchamber, vigorously shaking the sleeping Captain.
"Up, Charlot! Awake!" he roared in the man's ear.
"What o'clock?" he asked with a yawn. Then a sudden groan escaped him, and he put his hand to his head. "Thousand devils!" he swore, "what a headache!"
But La Boulaye was not there on any mission of sympathy, nor did he waste words in conveying his news.
"The coach is gone," he announced emphatically.
"Coach? What coach?" asked the Captain, knitting his brows.
"What coach?" echoed La Boulaye testily. "How many coaches were there? Why, the Bellecour coach; the coach with the treasure." |
3gnczx450inwug447762txi32r4pad | Belarus (; , "Bielaruś" or "Biełaruś", ; ), officially the Republic of Belarus, formerly known by its Russian name Byelorussia or Belorussia (), is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital and most populous city is Minsk. Over 40% of its is forested. Its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing. Until the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including the Principality of Polotsk (11th to 14th centuries), the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Russian Empire.
In the aftermath of the 1917 Russian Revolution, Belarus declared independence as the Belarusian People's Republic, which was conquered by Soviet Russia. The Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922 and was renamed as the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (Byelorussian SSR). Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland after the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1921. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland, and were finalized after World War II. During WWII, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about a third of its population and more than half of its economic resources. The republic was redeveloped in the post-war years. In 1945 the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations, along with the Soviet Union and the Ukrainian SSR. |
37uqdcyh6xvrgy32mg3hpy5vn7hv7v | CHAPTER I
THE PERSISTENCY OF BORROWDEAN
"And what does Mannering think of it all, I wonder!" Lord Redford remarked, lighting a fresh cigarette. "This may be his opportunity, who can tell!"
"Will he have the nerve to grasp it?" Borrowdean asked. "Mannering has never been proved in a crisis."
"He may have the nerve. I should be more inclined to question the desire," Lord Redford said. "For a man in his position he has always seemed to me singularly unambitious. I don't think that the prospect of being Prime Minister would dazzle him in the least. It is part of the genius of the politician too, to know exactly when and how to seize an opportunity. I can imagine him watching it come, examining it through his eyeglass, and standing on one side with a shrug of the shoulders."
"You do not believe, then," Berenice said, "that he is sufficiently in earnest to grasp it?"
"Exactly," Lord Redford said. "I have that feeling about Mannering, I must admit, especially during the last two years. He seems to have drawn away from all of us, to live altogether too absorbed and self-contained a life for a man who has great ambitions to realize, or who is in downright earnest about his work."
"What you all forget when you discuss Lawrence Mannering is this," Berenice said. "He holds his position almost as a sacred charge. He is absolutely conscientious. He wants certain things for the sake of the people, and he will work steadily on until he gets them. I believe it is the truth that he has no personal ambition, but if the cause he has at heart is to be furthered at all it must be by his taking office. Therefore I think that when the time comes he will take it." |
30mvjzjnhmdm3mr1koni06l7n9v9jv | CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.
THE PIGS' CURE.
It was not long before our hero recovered from his delirium. Leading, as he had been doing, an abstemious and healthy life, ordinary disease could not long maintain its grasp of him. His superabundant life seemed to cast it off with the ease with which his physical frame was able to cast aside human foes. But he could not thus shake off the leprosy.
One of the first things he did on recovering consciousness was to uncover his arm. The fatal spot had increased considerably in size. With something of a shudder he looked round his little hut, endeavouring to remember where he was and to recall recent events. He was alone at the time, and he fancied the fight with the robbers and rescue of the boy must have been all a dream. The name Cormac, however, puzzled him not a little. Many a time before that had he dreamed of vivid scenes and thrilling incidents, but never in his recollection had he dreamt a name!
Being thoughtfully disposed, he lay meditating listlessly on this point in that tranquil frame of mind which often accompanies convalescence, and had almost fallen asleep when a slight noise outside awoke him. The curtain-door was lifted, and Cormac, entering, sat quietly down on a block of wood beside him.
Bladud became suddenly aware that he had not been dreaming, but he did not move. Through his slightly opened eyelids he watched the lad while he mixed some berries in a cup of water. As he lay thus silently observant, he was deeply impressed with the handsome countenance of his nurse and the graceful movements of his slight figure. |
3ob0cao74hp5dh4j40cdnayjjpehyn | Albany is the capital of the U.S. state of New York and the seat of Albany County. Roughly north of New York City, Albany developed on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. The population of the City of Albany was 97,856 according to the 2010 census. Albany constitutes the economic and cultural core of the Capital District of New York State, which comprises the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area, including the nearby cities and suburbs of Troy, Schenectady, and Saratoga Springs. With a 2013 Census-estimated population of 1.1 million the Capital District is the third-most populous metropolitan region in the state and 38th in the United States.
Fortune 500 companies with offices in Albany include American Express, J.P. Morgan and Chase, Merrill Lynch, General Electric, Verizon, Goldman Sachs, International Paper, and Key Bank. In the 21st century, the Capital District has emerged as a major anchor of Tech Valley, the moniker describing the technologically-focused region of eastern New York State.
This was the first European settlement in the state. It was settled by Dutch colonists who in 1614, built Fort Nassau for fur trading and Fort Orange in 1624. They formed successful relations with both the Mahican and the Mohawk peoples, two major Native American nations in the region. The fur trade attracted settlers who founded a village called Beverwijck near Fort Orange. In 1664 the English took over the Dutch settlements, renaming the city as Albany, in honor of the then Duke of Albany, the future James II of England and James VII of Scotland. The city was officially chartered in 1686 under English rule. It became the capital of New York State in 1797, following the United States gaining independence in the American Revolutionary War. Albany is one of the oldest surviving settlements of the original British thirteen colonies, and the longest continuously chartered city in the United States. Its charter is possibly the longest-running instrument of municipal government in the Western Hemisphere. |
3ranct1zvfhe5vhsu75syep8rd4bum | CHAPTER V
FUN AND AN EXPLOSION
Several days slipped by, and the boys waited anxiously for some news from the authorities. But none came, and they rightfully surmised that, for the time being, Dan Baxter had made good his escape.
On account of the disastrous ending to the kite-flying match, many had supposed that the feast in Dormitory No. 6 was not to come off, but Sam, Tom, Frank, and several others got their heads together and prepared for a "layout" for the following Wednesday, which would be Dick's birthday.
"We'll give him a surprise," said Sam, and so it was agreed. Passing around the hat netted exactly three dollars and a quarter, and Tom, Sam, and Fred Garrison were delegated to purchase the candies, cake, and ice cream which were to constitute the spread.
"We'll do the thing up brown," said Sam.
"We must strike higher than that feast we had, last year."
"Right you are!" came from Tom, "Oh dear, do you remember how we served Mumps that night!" and he set up a roar over the remembrance of the scene.
Hans Mueller had become one of the occupants of the dormitory, and he was as much, interested as anybody in the preparations for the spread. "Dot vill pe fine!" he said. "I like to have von feast twist a veek, ha I ha!
"He's a jolly dog," said Tom to Frank.
"But, say, I've been thinking of having some fun with him before this spread comes off."
"Let me in on the ground floor," pleaded Frank, who always wok a great interest in Tom's jokes. |
3p59jyt76lk5h527b9m7sp02f4bt2p | Tax Freedom Day is the first day of the year in which a nation as a whole has theoretically earned enough income to pay its taxes. Every dollar that is officially considered income by the government is counted, and every payment to the government that is officially considered a tax is counted. Taxes at all levels of government – local, state and federal – are included.
According to Neil Veldhuis, Director of Fiscal Studies, Fraser Institute, the purpose of Tax Freedom Day is to provide citizens of tax-paying countries with a metric with which to estimate their "total tax bill". The premise is that by comparing the benefits received by citizens to the amount they pay in taxes, the value of paying taxes can be assessed.
The concept of Tax Freedom Day was developed in 1948 by Florida businessman Dallas Hostetler, who trademarked the phrase "Tax Freedom Day" and calculated it each year for the next two decades. In 1971, Hostetler retired and transferred the trademark to the Tax Foundation. The Tax Foundation has calculated Tax Freedom Day for the United States ever since, using it as a tool for illustrating the proportion of national income diverted to fund the annual cost of government programs. In 1990, the Tax Foundation began calculating the specific Tax Freedom Day for each individual state. |
34s6n1k2zvjldixkllnnt2wnac6hlv | CHAPTER XVIII
When Jethro Bass walked out of the hotel that evening men looked at him, and made way for him, but none spoke to him. There was something in his face that forbade speech. He was a great man once more--a greater man than ever; and he had, if the persistent rumors were true, accomplished an almost incomprehensible feat, even for Jethro Bass. There was another reason, too, why they stared at him. In all those twelve weeks of that most trying of all sessions he had not once gone into the street, and he had been less than ever common in the eyes of men. Twice a day he had descended to the dining room for a simple meal--that was all; and fewer had gained entrance to Room Number 7 this session than ever before.
There is a river that flows by the capital, a wide and gentle river bordered by green meadows and fringed with willows; higher up, if you go far enough, a forest comes down to the water on the western side. Jethro walked through the hooded bridge, and up the eastern bank until he could see the forest like a black band between the orange sky and the orange river, and there he sat down upon a fallen log on the edge of the bank. But Jethro was thinking of another scene,--of a granite-ribbed pasture on Coniston Mountain that swings in limitless space, from either end of which a man may step off into eternity. William Wetherell, in one of his letters, had described that place as the Threshold of the Nameless Worlds, and so it had seemed to Jethro in the years of his desolation. He was thinking of it now, even as it had been in his mind that winter's evening when Cynthia had come to Coniston and had surprised him with that look of terrible loneliness on his face. |
3befod78w6tb7ora6q4jzq284xim4t | Just a Little Smile Mark was walking home from school one day when he saw the boy in front of turn fall over and drop all of the books he was carrying, along with two sweaters, a basketball and a walkman . Mark stopped and helped the boy pick up these things. Since they were going the same way, he helped to carry some of his things. As they walked, Mark knew that the boy's name was Bill, that he loved computer games, basketball and history, and that he was having lots of troubles with his other subjects and that he had just _ with his girlfriend. They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television. The afternoon passed happily with a few laughs and some small talk, then Mark went home. They often saw . each other at school, had lunch together once or twice, and then they both finished middle school. They ended up in the same high school where they sometimes saw and talked with each other over the years. At last just three weeks before they finished high school, Bill asked Mark if they could talk. Bill asked Mark if he still remembered the day years ago when they had first met. "Did you ever think why I was carrying so many things home that day?" asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave anything for anyone else. I had put away some of my mother's sleeping pills and I was going home to kill myself. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, ! began to understand that if I killed myself, I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow. So you see, Mark, when you picked up those books that day, you did a lot more. You saved my life. " |
3n1fsuefl5083ulxtx5gg0fevkxd4b | My friend Tom is a schoolboy. Everyone likes him very much because he is kind. He likes to help people. He is a smart boy and he can play many musical instruments . After school, when he is with his friends, he often plays musical instruments for them. On weekends, he is free and he always goes to the old people's home. He plays the violin and the guitar to make them happy. He thinks it's interesting and fun. Today is February 28th. It's Tom's birthday. He has a big and interesting party at home. Many friends come to his party. Tom's mother cooks a lot of food for them. Everyone gives a beautiful gift to him. Sally gives him an English dictionary because Tom also likes English. Bob gives Tom a guitar because he likes playing the guitar very much. At the party, Tom plays the guitar and he also plays the piano. We sing many songs and play some interesting games. We have a good time today. |
3z9wi9eozzoatcf20lbme2j8lbthki | CHAPTER IV
A MIDNIGHT SEARCH
That night was destined to be an eventful one on the Rover farm. Arriving home, Sam and Tom told of the fun they had had and Dick laughed heartily. Then all three of the boys went to bed.
About midnight came a loud shouting from the barn, followed by the report of a shotgun. This was followed by a shriek from Sarah, the cook, who was afraid that burglars had come to murder her.
"What's that?" questioned Dick, as he hopped out of bed.
"That's Jack Ness' gun," answered Tom. "Something must be wrong at the barn."
"Chicken thieves again--I'll bet a new hat," said Sam. By this time Randolph Rover and his wife were up and were lighting a lamp. Without waiting for them, the boys slipped on some clothing and their shoes and ran downstairs. Dick took with him a pistol and each of the others a baseball bat.
"Boys! boys! be careful!" shouted their uncle after them.
"All right," returned Dick, readily.
He was the first outside, but Sam and Tom were close upon his heels. He heard Jack Ness running to the edge of a cornfield, shouting lustily. Then came another report of the shotgun.
"What is it, Jack?" shouted Dick. "Who are you shooting at?"
"I'm after two men," was the hired man's reply. "They jest run into the cornfield."
"Chicken thieves?" queried Tom.
"I guess so--anyway they was prowlin' around the hen house an' the barn. I called an' asked 'em what they wanted and they ran for dear life--so I knew they was up to no good." |
3yt88d1n08yvz483l0mka8iy25pk3q | CHAPTER III
THE WAR BEGUN
There could be no question, after this cry from Amos Nelson, but that he and his Tory friends had in some way come to learn of what we lads would do toward aiding the Cause.
It was natural that I, suspecting Seth Jepson, should set down to his door the crime of having betrayed us to our enemies; but when I put that thought into words Archie would have none of it. He declared that however much Seth might be inclined toward Toryism, he was not such a knave as to join us with traitorous intentions in his heart.
We had made no reply to Amos Nelson, and it appeared much as if his only desire was to let us understand that he was in possession of our secret, for immediately after having taunted us he went off in the direction of Corn hill, taking his friend with him, therefore Archie and I had nothing to do except discuss the possibility of our having been betrayed, with not a little warmth but no result.
Silas was still engaged in the work of enrolling recruits, and failed to come to the rendezvous, most like believing he could be doing better service in seeking out those who would become Minute Boys, than by wagging his tongue at the city dock with us.
Because of knowing that that which we would keep private was a secret no longer, I grew disheartened, and instead of agreeing to Archie's proposition that the remainder of the day be spent in gaining yet more recruits, I turned my face homeward once more, agreeing crustily to meet those who had promised to become Minute Boys at the old ship-yard that evening. |
3bc8wzx3v3w95a60mawdti7s3dnrrm | CHAPTER XVI
ON A BUSINESS BASIS
Captain Horn found Edna at the entrance to the caves, busily employed in filling one of the Rackbirds' boxes with ship-biscuit.
"Miss Markham," said he, "I wish to have a little business talk with you before I leave. Where is Ralph?"
"He is down at the boat," she answered.
"Very good," said he. "Will you step this way?"
When they were seated together in the shade of some rocks, he stated to Edna what he had planned in case he should lose his life in his intended expedition, and showed her the will he had made, and also the directions for herself and Mrs. Cliff. Edna listened very attentively, occasionally asking for an explanation, but offering no opinion. When he had finished, she was about to say something, but he interrupted her.
"Of course, I want to know your opinion about all this," he said, "but not yet. I have more to say. There has been a business plan proposed by two members of our party which concerns me, and when anything is told concerning me, I want to know how it is told, or, if possible, tell it myself."
And then, as concisely as possible, he related to her Maka's anxiety in regard to the boss question, and his method of disposing of the difficulty, and afterwards Mrs. Cliff's anxiety about the property, in case of accident to himself, and her method of meeting the contingency.
During this recital Edna Markham said not one word. To portions of the narrative she listened with an eager interest; then her expression became hard, almost stern; and finally her cheeks grew red, but whether with anger or some other emotion the captain did not know. When he had finished, she looked steadily at him for a few moments, and then she said: |
34qn5it0tzrfnb75to7yi5b04ok08r | (Published March 30, 2011)Albert Einstein's Theory of Relativity might have a few mistakes--and Jake Barnett has set out to prove it. Between attending college classes at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) and tutoring his fellow students, Jake is also working on a new theory about the creation of the universe. He happens to be 12 years old.
From an early age, Jake showed an extraordinary interest in stars. When he was 3, his parents took him to a space observatory. He tried to learn as much as he could about astronomy. Jake's IQ measured remarkably high at 170.
As a baby, Jake was found out with Asperser's syndrome, a form of autism . Autism causes difficulties in communication and social abilities. People with autism may also have strong interests--like Jake's interest in the stars at a young age.
The symptoms of autism can range from mild to extremely severe. Asperser's is one of the milder forms of autism. Sometimes people with Asperser's, like Jake, develop extremely advanced skills in science, music or art.
When Jake was in elementary school, his parents worried that the effects of his Asperser's were worsening. He became quiet. _ So a doctor recommended that Jake's parents let him study more advanced subjects, like math and physics.
Jake's mother asked an astronomy professor to let Jake sit in on his class. Now, Jake studies advanced sciences like electromagnetic physics at IUPUI.
But Jake thinks it's important to have a normal life too. He likes to play Guitar Hero with his friends and watch science fiction movies. He also enjoys playing classical music on the piano.But for Jake, studying physics is the most important thing. Jake's professor, John Ross, is working on getting a large sum of money for him to do research at the university.
Doctors have said Jake's autism symptoms have lessened over time. Still, Jake proudly refers to himself as an "Aspy", or someone with Asperser's. In an interview with his university student newspaper, he said, "I think the autism is the reason I'm even at IUPUI." |
3vzlgyjeyla24xe35qwi43vfd9lzx9 | Rome, Italy (CNN) -- A Nigerian man who sang in a Vatican choir arranged gay liaisons for an Italian government official who served in the unpaid role of papal usher, according to transcripts of wiretaps collected by Italian authorities.
The wiretaps were gathered as part of an investigation into how public-works contracts were awarded.
The purported conversations were between Angelo Balducci, who oversaw the Italian government's awarding of construction contracts -- including work on the airport at Perugia -- and Thomas Chinedu Ehiem, a 39-year-old Nigerian singer. They were recorded between April 14, 2008, and January 20, 2010.
In addition to working for the government, Balducci served as a "gentleman of his holiness," also known as a papal usher or "Vatican gentleman." The main responsibility of the ceremonial position is to welcome heads of state to the Vatican and escort them to see the Pope.
Balducci is one of three public officials who, along with a businessman, have been jailed on charges related to corruption in the public works department. The public officials are alleged to have awarded contracts to businessmen who offered them favors, money, sex, and/or house remodeling in exchange. The suspects, who deny the charges, are in "cautionary custody" though they have not been charged or indicted.
The Italian news media have nicknamed the scandal "grande opere," which translates as "big works." The transcripts of the wiretaps were made public on Wednesday and widely disseminated in the media.
Balducci's lawyer, Franco Coppi, lambasted investigators' handling of his client. |
3ng53n1rlvjibsbpa9mox6c8c1j8p3 | A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th century and into the 21st, these have been published in newspapers and magazines, with horizontal strips printed in black-and-white in daily newspapers, while Sunday newspapers offered longer sequences in special color comics sections. With the development of the internet, they began to appear online as webcomics. There were more than 200 different comic strips and daily cartoon panels in American newspapers alone each day for most of the 20th century, for a total of at least 7,300,000 episodes.
Strips are written and drawn by a comics artist or cartoonist. As the name implies, comic strips can be humorous (for example, "gag-a-day" strips such as "Blondie", "Bringing Up Father", "Marmaduke", and "Pearls Before Swine").
Starting in the late 1920s, comic strips expanded from their mirthful origins to feature adventure stories, as seen in "Popeye", "Captain Easy", "Buck Rogers", "Tarzan", and "The Adventures of Tintin". Soap-opera continuity strips such as "Judge Parker" and "Mary Worth" gained popularity in the 1940s. All are called, generically, comic strips, though cartoonist Will Eisner has suggested that "sequential art" would be a better genre-neutral name. |
3kms4qqvk2qqfgow5vnmbh7v5pekf7 | Bruce Jun Fan Lee was born in the hour of the Dragon, between 6 and 8 a.m., in the "Year of the Dragon" on November 27, 1940 at the Jackson Street Hospital in San Francisco's Chinatown. Today, a plaque in the hospital's entry remembers the place of his birth. Bruce's birth, in the hour and the year of Dragon, is a powerful symbol in Chinese astrology . It would be a strong indication of the powerful life that was to be lived by Bruce Lee and the explosive influence his life would have on countless others. At the age of three months, Lee Hoi Chuen, his wife Grace and baby Bruce returned to Hong Kong where Bruce would be raised until the age of 18. Probably because of the long ocean voyage and the change in climates, Bruce was not a strong child in his very early years, a condition that would change when he took up the study of kung fu at the age of 13. At the age of 13, Bruce was introduced to Master Yip Man, a teacher of the Wing Chun style of kung fu. For five years Bruce studied diligently and became very proficient. Regarding Yip Man as a master teacher and wise man, Bruce respected him greatly and frequently visited with him in later years. When he first took up kung fu, he used his new skills to fight his "enemies", but it did not take long for Bruce to learn that the real value of martial arts training is that the skills of physical combat build up confidence to the point that one does not feel the constant need to defend one's honor through fighting. In high school, Bruce, now no longer a weak child, was beginning to improve his body through hard training. One of his accomplishments was winning an interschool Boxing Championship against an English student. Given the graceful movements, which would later be spectacularly displayed in his films, it is no surprise that Bruce was also an excellent dancer, and in 1958 he won the Hong Kong Cha Cha Championship. At the age of 18, Bruce was looking for new prospect in his life, as were his parents who were discouraged that Bruce had not made much progress academically. His family decided that it was time for him to return to the land of his birth and find his future there. In April of 1959, with $100 in his pocket, Bruce boarded a steamship and began his voyage to San Francisco. |
3dygaii7pl8ohwblw33ojxx853jqp1 | Joe was in his bedroom. He was reading a book that his teacher gave him. The book was titled, "Everything You'd Want to Know About Fish." He was reading the book because he was interested in learning more about fish. Joe thought reading the book was fun. He liked to imagine himself swimming with fish he read about in the book. Also, he liked looking at the pictures.
Joe's mother called him. Joe closed the book, and went downstairs. He asked his mother, "Do you need something?"
And his mother said, "Joe, it's time for dinner." |
3zak8w07i4edl8eiwr83extp07k0uy | One day at a park, a woman sat down next to a man on a bench near a playground. "That's my son over there," she said, pointing to a little boy in a red sweater. "He's a lovely boy," the man said. "That's my daughter on the bike in the white dress." Then, looking at his watch, he called to his daughter, "We have to leave for home now, Rosa." "Just five minutes, Dad," Rosa said, "Please, just five more minutes." The man agreed and Rosa went to ride his bike happily. Five minutes later, the father stood and called again to his daughter, "Time to go now?" "Five more minutes, Dad," Rosa said again, "Just five more minutes." The man smiled and said, "OK." "Oh, you are really a patient father," said the woman. The man smiled and then said, "Her elder brother Tommy died in a traffic accident last year when he was riding his bike near here," the man said, "I never spent much time with Tommy and now I'd like to give anything for just five more minutes with him. I vowed not to make the same mistake with Rosa. She thinks she has five more minutes to ride her bike. In fact, I get five more minutes to watch her play." |
32xvdsjfpzx14acn2clv6b5alye2m0 | CHAPTER VIII.
NEW QUARTERS.
Until nearly daylight the boys remained awake, laughing over Newcombe's credulity, or congratulating each other on the success of that night's work, and then Bob, who for half an hour had been studying some plan, said:
"It isn't best for us to spend all our time laughing at Newcombe, or we may find out that he's smarter than we give him credit of being. If we expect to shoot any more wells in this vicinity, we must change our quarters, for we can safely count on this being watched."
"What if it is?" cried Dick, their success having made him very bold. "Wasn't it watched to-night, and didn't we shoot the Hoxie well in spite of them all?"
"Yes, we fooled Newcombe well; but we might find it difficult to do so the second time. Then again, all our work would not be as convenient to the hut as this was, and if it had been necessary for us to get our horses out, you must admit that Newcombe had us very foul."
And Bob, while he felt thoroughly elated by their victory, did not want that his partners should come to believe that all difficulties could be surmounted as readily.
"But what do you mean about changing our quarters?" asked Jim, who looked upon their hut as something particularly convenient and well located.
"I mean that we have got to build another shanty somewhere, if we can't find one ready-made."
"Nonsense! there's no more use of our leaving this place than there is of our trying to fly!" said Dick. "I ain't afraid that Newcombe will come here again very soon." |
3p1l2b7ad1pv5zj7pyiddbtolkpol2 | Jerusalem (CNN) -- The Indian nanny who saved the life of an Israeli boy during the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 has been granted honorary citizenship and temporary residency in Israel.
At a ceremony Monday, the Israeli interior ministry in Jerusalem handed Sandra Samuel her identity card.
"I hope I will honor the citizenship and love Israel. I would give my heart and soul for Israel," she said.
Samuel has been caring for the boy, Moshe Holtzberg, since his parents died in the terror attacks on a Jewish cultural center, Chabad House, and several luxury hotels in India's financial capital.
They were among six people who were killed at Chabad House. Altogether, more than 160 people died in the attacks.
During the raids, 10 men also attacked buildings including the luxury Taj Mahal Palace and Tower and Oberoi-Trident hotels and the city's Chhatrapati Shivaji train station.
The only surviving gunman, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, was convicted of murder, conspiracy, and waging war.
Moshe's father, Rabbi Gavriel Noach Holtzberg, and his pregnant wife, Rivka, ran the Mumbai headquarters of the Chabad community -- a Hasidic Jewish movement.
Samuel, who worked as a cook and nanny at the Chabad House, found Moshe -- who turned 2 just after the attacks -- standing between the bodies of his slain parents.
She returned to Israel and has continued to care for the boy, helping his grandparents to raise him.
"Sandra Samuel stepped into the fire and abyss and did not think of herself," said Rabbi Shimon Rosenberg, Moshe's grandfather, at the ceremony. "She saved Moshe from the fire and we as Jews must thank and respect her." |
3dr23u6we5exclen4th8uq9rc7tet4 | JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli troops have completed their withdrawal from Gaza after a three-week military campaign against Hamas militants, the Israel Defense Forces said Wednesday.
Palestinians look at an damaged rocket launcher left behind by Israeli forces.
"The forces are now redeployed outside the Gaza Strip, and are prepared for any development," a military statement read.
During their withdrawal, Israeli troops warned Gaza residents to avoid unexploded bombs or shells left behind and report their location to Israeli authorities.
Israel said it had achieved its goal to halt Hamas' firing of rockets into southern Israel from Gaza. Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that has controlled the territory since 2007, also declared victory in the conflict during a rally in Gaza City on Tuesday.
Israeli troops began to withdraw Sunday following tentative, separate cease-fire declarations by Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Hamas.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who visited the territory Tuesday, criticized both sides and the international community for what he called their "collective political failure" in settling the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
"I have condemned from the outbreak of this conflict the excessive use of force by Israeli forces in Gaza. I view the rocket attacks into Israel as completely unacceptable. We need to restore basic respect for civilians," he said. Watch troops prepare to withdraw »
The conflict, which began December 27, has left more than 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis dead.
Confirmation of the Israeli withdrawal came within a day of the inauguration of Barack Obama as the new president of the United States, replacing George W. Bush, whose administration was among the most supportive of Israel in decades. Ban said he hoped Obama would consider settling the conflict "a matter of priority." |
34j10vatjfyw0aohj8d4a0wwkv1qif | CHAPTER XXXV
The Prince crossed the hall and entered the morning-room. Felix was there and Raoul de Brouillac. The Duchess sat at her writing-table, scribbling a note. Lady Carey, in a wonderful white serge costume, and a huge bunch of Neapolitan violets at her bosom, was lounging in an easy-chair, swinging her foot backwards and forwards. The Duke, in a very old tweed coat, but immaculate as to linen and the details of his toilet, stood a little apart, with a frown upon his forehead, and exactly that absorbed air which in the House of Lords usually indicated his intention to make a speech. The entrance of the Prince, who carefully closed the door behind him, was an event for which evidently they were all waiting.
"My good people," he said blandly, "I wish you all a very good-morning."
There was a little murmur of greetings, and before they had all subsided the Duke spoke.
"Saxe Leinitzer," he said, "I have a few questions to ask you."
The Prince looked across the room at him.
"By all means, Duke," he said. "But is the present an opportune time?"
"Opportune or no, it is the time which I have selected," the Duke answered stiffly. "I do not altogether understand what is going on in this house. I am beginning to wonder whether I have been misled."
The Prince, as he twirled his fair moustache, glanced carelessly enough across at the Duchess. She was looking the other way.
"I became a--er--general member of this Society," the Duke continued, "sympathising heartily with its objects as explained to me by you, Prince, and believing, although to confess it is somewhat of a humiliation, that a certain amount of--er--combination amongst the aristocracy has become necessary to resist the terrible increase of Socialism which we must all so much deplore." |
36u2a8vag1zwf75ralfa02ebbytkyp | One of its earliest massive implementations was brought about by Egyptians against the British occupation in the 1919 Revolution. Civil disobedience is one of the many ways people have rebelled against what they deem to be unfair laws. It has been used in many nonviolent resistance movements in India (Gandhi's campaigns for independence from the British Empire), in Czechoslovakia's Velvet Revolution and in East Germany to oust their communist governments, In South Africa in the fight against apartheid, in the American Civil Rights Movement, in the Singing Revolution to bring independence to the Baltic countries from the Soviet Union, recently with the 2003 Rose Revolution in Georgia and the 2004 Orange Revolution in Ukraine, among other various movements worldwide.
One of the oldest depictions of civil disobedience is in Sophocles' play Antigone, in which Antigone, one of the daughters of former King of Thebes, Oedipus, defies Creon, the current King of Thebes, who is trying to stop her from giving her brother Polynices a proper burial. She gives a stirring speech in which she tells him that she must obey her conscience rather than human law. She is not at all afraid of the death he threatens her with (and eventually carries out), but she is afraid of how her conscience will smite her if she does not do this. |
308xblvesi4mp3pbqdant32oke2brk | CHAPTER VIII. 'LE BROUILON'
But never more the same two sister pearls Ran down the silken thread to kiss each other. --Tennyson
Berenger was obliged to crave permission from the King to spend some hours in riding with Osbert to the first hostel on their way, to make arrangements for the relay of horses that was to meet them there, and for the reception of Veronique, Eustacie's maid, who was to be sent off very early in the morning on a pillion behind Osbert, taking with her the articles of dress that would be wanted to change her mistress from the huntress maid of honour to the English dame.
It was not long after he had been gone that a sound of wheels and trampling horses was heard in one of the forest drives. Charles, who was amusing himself with shooting at a mark together with Sidney and Teligny, handed his weapon to an attendant, and came up with looks of restless anxiety to his Queen, who was placed in her chair under the tree, with the Admiral and her ladies round her, as judges of the prize.
'Here is _le brouillon_,' he muttered. 'I thought we had been left in peace too long.'
Elisabeth, who Brantome says was water, while her husband was fire, tried to murmur some hopeful suggestion; and poor little Eustacie, clasping her hands, could scarcely refrain from uttering the cry, 'Oh, it is my uncle! Do not let him take me!'
The next minute there appeared four horses greatly heated and jaded, drawing one of the court coaches; and as it stopped at the castle gate, two ladies became visible within it--the portly form of Queen Catherine, and on the back seat the graceful figure of Diane de Ribaumont. |
3zgvpd4g6thvng5j0gvlf0a907atzl | Prison Breakis a huge hit thanks to its handsome star, Wentworth Miller. His character, Michael Scofield, is the engine that drives the show.
Having committed a crime to get into prison and break out with his innocent brother, Michael Scofield is one of the most interesting personalities on TV today. But what about the man behind the character?
Miller,35, is a hard guy to figure out. He does not come from a normal background and has never lived his life in a typical way.
Miller didn't take direct path to fame and fortune. He graduated from Princeton University in 1995, not with a degree in theatre of film, but in English. He didn't even act when he was in college. His only performance experience was in his university's singing group. Yet , at graduation Miller still decided to make the move to Hollywood.
Miller has always been different. Although he is American, he was in Britain when his father was studying there. His family background is also a special mix of cultures. "My father is black and my mother is white. That means I have always been caught in the middle. I could be either one, which can make you feel out of place," Miller says.
Following his unusual path, Miller did not start trying out for films and TV shows when he
first went to Hollywood. Instead, he worked as a lowly production assistant. Not what you would expect from a Princeton graduate. However, _
In 2002, Miller played a role in the drama Dinotopia(<<>> ). He starred as a thoughtful and shy man. Producers remembered his performance when they were castingPrison Breaktwo years later. With a golden globe nomination and another season ofPrison Breakon his resume, Miller seems ready to take over all of Hollywood. |
34qn5it0tzrfnb75to7yi5b03i108v | Washington (CNN) -- A trio of congressional Republicans passionately appealed to the Pentagon on Thursday to drop charges against three Navy SEALs accused of assaulting an Iraqi suspected of orchestrating the 2004 killing and mutilation of four U.S. contractors.
Flanked by about a dozen retired Navy SEALs at a news conference near the Capitol, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-California; Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana; and Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, insisted that the U.S. is sending the wrong message to its troops.
"These Navy SEALs were apprehending a terrorist murderer, and they are being accused of roughing him up? Give me a break! These men should be given medals, not prosecuted. These men are heroes," Rohrabacher said.
Burton agreed, saying, "These people are laying their lives on the line every day, and they can't go into a combat situation with kid gloves on."
The congressmen said they plan to present to Pentagon officials petitions signed by thousands of people supporting the SEALs.
The Iraqi suspect, Ahmed Hashim Abed, complained to investigators he was punched during his detention.
One of the three SEALs, Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew McCabe, 24, accused of assault, stood next to his attorney at the event Thursday. McCabe did not speak.
Gohmert said those who bring harm to Americans should not get the same judicial treatment as U.S. citizens.
"They get all their constitutional rights. Well, we've got heroes around who deserve the constitutional rights of an even better caliber. And yes, there are different levels of constitutional rights," he said. |
38bquhla9w0fbh1spajsdo8dm2vmo9 | Chapter 12: Harry Carried Off.
Early in September, Stanley was sent to purchase cattle from some of the villages near the foot of the hills and, at the same time, to make inquiries as to the movements of a large band of marauders who had been making raids in that neighbourhood. He had with him four troopers of the bodyguard. Harry Brooke accompanied him. Although from the healthier situation of Prome, the amount of illness during the wet season did not approach that which had been suffered at Rangoon, a great many men were in hospital, and there were many deaths. Harry had had a sharp attack of fever and, as he had now recovered, to a certain extent, the medical officer of his regiment strongly recommended that he should have a change; and he therefore, without difficulty, obtained his colonel's leave to accompany Stanley, as the ground would be much higher than that on the river, and the mere fact of getting away from a camp where so many deaths took place every day would, in itself, be of great value.
Stanley's daily journeys were not likely to be long ones, as he had instructions to stop at all villages; and to see how things were going on, and whether the people had any complaints to make of oppression and exaction by their local authorities.
"It is a tremendous pull, your being able to speak the language, Stanley," Harry said. "If it hadn't been for that, you would have been stuck at Prome, like the rest of us. Instead of that, you are always about; and you look as fresh and healthy as if you were at a hill station, in India." |
3fe7txl1linsppafu5scnkpfuk2q27 | It takes a lot of skills and hard work to set a world record in pumpkin-carving . Steve Clarke, a sixth-grade teacher from Pennsylvania, is a famous carver . Clarke has set many world records for carving pumpkins quickly. When he competes, he must cut our two eyes, two eyebrows, a nose, a mouth, and two ears as fast as possible. But Clarke knows something else about pumpkin-carving. It's easier to get a record than to keep it. He took the t _ in 2000 when he carved a pumpkin face in 74.8 seconds. That time was 19 seconds faster than what Jerry had set. From then on, Clarke broke his own records five times. In 2006, he set his best time in Florida. His winning time was 24.03 seconds! The only problem is that someone finally beat that mark. On October 7, 2010, David set the new record with 20.1 seconds. Clarke was not able to break that record this year, but he has planned to break the record. After Halloween, he will go to local pumpkin farms to practise designs and new skills. Clarke is popular because of his super pumpkin-carving skills. In 1999, he carved more than 30 pumpkins at the Halloween party for then vice-president Al Gore. |
3vnl7uk1xfjpizejz41ec8uro3ztfi | A teddy bear from Cumbria is launching into space to raise cash for charity .
Terence, an experienced traveller who has been to Iraq, will be the guest of honour on aviation legend Burt Rutan's Spaceship One when it flies above Earth. The mission takes off from California on September 29, and on his return the cuddly toy will be auctioned off in aid of the North Air Ambulance Appeal .
Spaceship One is the world's first private spacecraft, and is competing for a prestigious space travel prize. Chief executive of the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS), Graham Pickering, said "flying officer" Terence had been handed over to the RAF six months ago and staff had been receiving postcards from him ever since.
He said, "Terence was a fundraising idea that really took off. We have received pictures of him in a U2 craft, trying parachuting and even looking drunk and disorderly. When the RAF finally discharge him he will be a very rare bear indeed--we just hope he does not burn up on re-entry to Earth."
GNAAS, which needs charitable donations of more than PS2m a year, has three air ambulances .
Peter Bond, spokesman for the Royal Astronomical Society, said Terence's safety was not guaranteed. He said, "This is a new and experimental craft and this will only be the second time it has flown. During its first voyage it developed technical problems but hopefully they have now been resolved."
Since May, Terence has spent time with members of 100 Squadron based at RAF Leeming in Basra, Iraq, and at air shows with performing fighter planes.
Spaceship One will fly 100km (62 miles) above the Earth's surface, just breaking through the planet's atmosphere.
If it repeats the feat inside two weeks, it will claim the $10m Ansari X-Prize set up to encourage the private space flight business. |
39dd6s19jpbtyxnmal6qgea8x3rezw | CHAPTER XVIII. IN THE MOAT
Fortunio and the Marquise reached the window side by side, and they were in time to hear a dull splash in the waters fifty feet below them. There was a cloud over the little sickle of moon, and to their eyes, fresh from the blaze of candle-light, the darkness was impenetrable.
"He is in the moat," cried the Marquise excitedly, and Valerie, who sat on the floor whither she had slipped when Fortunio shook her off, rocked herself in an agony of fear.
To the horrors about her--the huddled bodies lying so still upon the floor, the bloody footprints everywhere, the shattered furniture, and the groans of the man with the wounded thigh--to all this she was insensible. Garnache was dead, she told herself; he was surely dead; and it seemed as if the very thought of it were killing, too, a part of her own self.
Unconsciously she sobbed her fears aloud. "He is dead," she moaned; "he is dead."
The Marquise overheard that piteous cry, and turned to survey the girl, her brows lifting, her lips parting in an astonishment that for a second effaced the horrors of that night. Suspicion spread like an oil stain in her evil mind. She stepped forward and caught the girl by one of her limp arms. Marius, paler than his stunning had left him, leaned more heavily against the door-post, and looked on with bloodshot eyes. If ever maiden avowed the secret of her heart, it seemed to him that Valerie avowed it then. |
3p4rdnwnd56fenk4oitvdzka6zdjij | CHAPTER LXIX.
HOW THE MOORS MADE VARIOUS ENTERPRISES AGAINST THE CHRISTIANS.
"While the pious king Ferdinand," observes Fray Antonio Agapida, "was humbling himself before the cross and devoutly praying for the destruction of his enemies, that fierce pagan, El Zagal, depending merely on arm of flesh and sword of steel, pursued his diabolical outrages upon the Christians." No sooner was the invading army disbanded than he sallied forth from his stronghold, and carried fire and sword into all those parts which had submitted to the Spanish yoke. The castle of Nixar, being carelessly guarded, was taken by surprise and its garrison put to the sword. The old warrior raged with sanguinary fury about the whole frontier, attacking convoys, slaying, wounding, and making prisoners, and coming by surprise upon the Christians wherever they were off their guard.
Carlos de Biedma, alcayde of the fortress of Culla, confiding in the strength of its walls and towers and in its difficult situation, being built on the summit of a lofty hill and surrounded by precipices, ventured to absent himself from his post. He was engaged to be married to a fair and noble lady of Baeza, and repaired to that city to celebrate his nuptials, escorted by a brilliant array of the best horsemen of his garrison. Apprised of his absence, the vigilant El Zagal suddenly appeared before Culla with a powerful force, stormed the town sword in hand, fought the Christians from street to street, and drove them with great slaughter to the citadel. Here a veteran captain, by the name of Juan de Avalos, a gray-headed warrior scarred in many a battle, assumed the command and made an obstinate defence. Neither the multitude of the enemy nor the vehemence of their attacks, though led on by the terrible El Zagal himself, had power to shake the fortitude of this doughty old soldier. |
32utubmz7gweia6szxfxu0rr6xovbx | The Axis powers (, "Sūjikukoku", ), also known as the Axis and the Rome–Berlin–Tokyo Axis, were the nations that fought in World War II against the Allied forces. The Axis powers agreed on their opposition to the Allies, but did not completely coordinate their activity.
The Axis grew out of the diplomatic efforts of Germany, Italy, and Japan to secure their own specific expansionist interests in the mid-1930s. The first step was the treaty signed by Germany and Italy in October 1936. Benito Mussolini declared on 1 November that all other European countries would from then on rotate on the Rome–Berlin axis, thus creating the term "Axis". The almost simultaneous second step was the signing in November 1936 of the Anti-Comintern Pact, an anti-communist treaty between Germany and Japan. Italy joined the Pact in 1937. The "Rome–Berlin Axis" became a military alliance in 1939 under the so-called "Pact of Steel", with the Tripartite Pact of 1940 leading to the integration of the military aims of Germany, Italy and Japan.
At its zenith during World War II, the Axis presided over territories that occupied large parts of Europe, North Africa, and East Asia. There were no three-way summit meetings and cooperation and coordination was minimal, with a bit more between Germany and Italy. The war ended in 1945 with the defeat of the Axis powers and the dissolution of their alliance. As in the case of the Allies, membership of the Axis was fluid, with some nations switching sides or changing their degree of military involvement over the course of the war. The term "axis" was first applied to the Italo-German relationship by the Italian prime minister Benito Mussolini in September 1923, when he wrote in the preface to Roberto Suster's "Germania Repubblica" that "there is no doubt that in this moment the axis of European history passes through Berlin" ("non v'ha dubbio che in questo momento l'asse della storia europea passa per Berlino"). At the time he was seeking an alliance with the Weimar Republic against Yugoslavia and France in the dispute over the Free State of Fiume. |
3gdtjdapvubcqpecituwg2id7z68mb | Buenos Aires ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the South American continent's southeastern coast. "Buenos aires" can be translated as "fair winds" or "good airs", but the first one was the meaning intended by the founders in the 16th century, by the use of the original name "Real de Nuestra Señora Santa María del Buen Ayre". The Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas, with a population of around 17 million.
The city of Buenos Aires is neither part of Buenos Aires Province nor the Province's capital; rather, it is an autonomous district. In 1880, after decades of political infighting, Buenos Aires was federalized and removed from Buenos Aires Province. The city limits were enlarged to include the towns of Belgrano and Flores; both are now neighborhoods of the city. The 1994 constitutional amendment granted the city autonomy, hence its formal name: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires (Autonomous City of Buenos Aires). Its citizens first elected a chief of government (i.e. mayor) in 1996; previously, the mayor was directly appointed by the President of the Republic. |
3kjyx6qcm9bk0t44npsesoa4do3vjv | One day an American called Simon went to London to visit his friend, Rick. Rick told him that his flat was on the first floor. When he arrived, Simon went straight to the first floor of the building. But he was told that there was no Rick on that floor. Do you know why? In fact, the British call the first floor of a building the ground floor. The floor above the ground floor is the first floor, while Americans would call it the second floor. The story shows that there are a few culture differences between Britain and America, though the British and Americans both speak English. The British usually hide their feelings. They seldom start a conversation with strangers. For example, on the train the British often spend their time reading newspapers or books. But Americans are quite different. They're more active and easier to talk with. The British and Americans may use different _ for many things. The British usually use "football", "eraser" and "mail" while Americans prefer to use "soccer", "rubber" and "post". |
3vsolarpkb9bi8pch3vvkz4irfb39l | CHAPTER TWENTY ONE.
THE LAST MAN.
One morning John Adams, instead of going to work in his garden, as was his wont, took down his musket from its accustomed pegs above the door, and sallied forth into the woods behind the village. He had not gone far when he heard a rustling of the leaves, and looking back, beheld the graceful form of Sally bounding towards him.
"Are you going to shoot, father?" she said, on coming up.
The young people of the village had by this time got into the habit of calling Adams "father," and regarded him as the head of the community; not because of his age, for at this time he was only between thirty and forty years, but because of his sedate, quiet character, and a certain air of elderly wisdom which distinguished him. Even Edward Young, who was about the same age, but more juvenile both in feeling and appearance, felt the influence of his solid, unpretending temperament, and laughingly acknowledged him King of Pitcairn.
"No, dear, I'm not goin' to shoot," said Adams, in reply, "I'm only going up to Christian's outlook to try if I can find somethin' there, an' I always like to have the old blunderbuss with me. It feels sort of company, you know, an' minds me of old times; but you'll not understand what I mean, Sall."
"No, because I've no old times to mind about," said Sally, with a peculiar smile. "May I go with you, father?"
"Of course you may. Come along, lass." |
34s6n1k2zvjldixkllnnt2wna4vlh8 | Homosexual couples in New York are being married for the first time after Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law permitting same-sex marriage in the state last month. But such marriages, though now legal in New York, remain controversial . So many couples wanted to be married on Sunday, the first day of legal homosexual marriage in New York City, that local officials announced a lottery to determine qualification. New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, herself openly gay, witnessed the first two ceremonies of same-sex marriage. She says the same-sex marriage law supports equality. "A law that says every family is as good as every other family; that every family is based on love, and is exactly the way God wants it to be," she said. Margie Phelps announced same-sex marriage as a crime against God. She and other Christians from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas came halfway across the country to say marriage is defined by Holy Bible. "The pattern is one man and one woman for life to have children who you raise in the nurture and admonition of the Lord," she said. David Schwartz, a traditional Jew, believes every human being has free choice and the power to rule over their desires. He considers homosexual desire to be wrong. "There's one God in heaven and earth, and he has ordered for all mankind that they should limit their affections to relationships between a man and a woman in the context of marriage," he said. Douglas Robinson and his partner of 25 years, Michael Elsasser, were in the first group to be married in Manhattan. Robinson says the United States allows religious views to coexist with(...) what he believes is a civil right of same-sex marriage. "You can have different opinions. This is a tent, some people call it a mixture of various different cultures and opinions and the like, so God bless America, and we are proud to be Americans," he said. Margie Phelps believes God will punish New York City for permitting what she believes to be moral decay. Meanwhile, Nevin Cohen and Daniel Hernandez showed off their marriage certificate. But they said they will not be going on a honeymoon. They say they need to be at work in New York on Monday. |
3ias3u3i0fg5lj8qbnvmsvug9r5b2z | Genzeb Tibeb is very bright. At only 11 years old, her future is looking promising. She is ranked 2nd Out of 56 students at her govemment school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia where she has been seleeted for a special program because of her talent. She knows she is special and proudly shows off her certificate and book signifying her accomplishments in this special program.
But her future hasn't always looked so bright. While her mother, Bekelech, sacrificed immensely for Genzeb, she would not have been able to continue sending her to school. When her husband died, Bekelech was the sole provider for their five children. In order for them to survive, she began the daily routine of walking approximately 8-10 miles a day collecting sticks to sell near her 8' x 10' home in Kichene. It wouldn't have been long before Genzeb would have been, forced to quit school in order to help her mom. But Bright Future changed all that.
Genzeb has been at Bright Future for 3 years. Since Ethiopian schools let out early, Genzeb walks to the facility right after lunch. Because of her high ability, she even helps teach the younger children there, building confidence and locking in important foundational academic skills. There's also other meaningful opportunities Genzeb experiences which allow her eyes to be opened to the different opportunities that are available to her if she completes her studies. Field trips are one of her most favorite activities of all. She especially loved the one to Addis Ababa University.
She knows it goes beyond fun trips, though. "I am happy because I get extra help for school from Bright Future," Genzeb shares. At so many levels, her involvement with Bright Future allows her to receive a better education, which she values. For one day she wants to help people in need by becoming a doctor. And now she knows, that with a lot of hard work, that dream might just become a reality. |
3ywrv122cszv3xjlrvli7cz7j6f8ue | (CNN) -- World number one Novak Djokovic began his bid to win a second Wimbledon title with a straight sets victory as he focused hard on avoiding a shock Rafael Nadal-style defeat.
A day after the Spaniard bowed out against Belgian world No. 135 Steve Darcis, the Serb was in unforgiving mood as he defeated Germany's Florian Mayer 6-3 7-5 6-4.
Djokovic was playing his first match since losing a thrilling five-set semifinal at the French Open against Nadal, who went on to win the tournament for a record eighth time.
"I watched the bigger part of (the Nadal-Darcis) match and I thought that his opponent played great," Djokovic said.
"Darcis came up with some incredible shots, incredible points in important moments and he deserved to win.
"I know people expect all the top players to get to at least the final stages of a grand slam or whatever tournament they play. It was a surprise in the end him losing to Darcis, but his opponent played great."
Having been seeded in the opposite section of the draw, Djokovic would have been unable to meet Nadal until the final itself but now his main rivals would appear to be either Wimbledon maestro Roger Federer, the defending champion, or local favorite Andy Murray.
Yet Djokovic is refusing to look so far ahead as he says the early rounds of grand slams can be very testing for the world's leading players.
"You cannot take anything or anybody for granted. You have to be grateful for being in this position and work even harder to stay there," said the 2011 Wimbledon champion. |
3vzlgyjeyla24xe35qwi43vfc5zzxe | A cat was watching a bird in a tree. The blue bird watched the cat as it tried to use its claws and climb up the tree. The cat reached the right branch and slowly walked towards the bird. The bird flew away and the cat was left stuck on the branch. The cat jumped down from the tall branch and didn't get hurt. He then chased after a chipmunk along the ground. The chipmunk was not faster than the cat, but the chipmunk ran up a tree. The cat tried to run up the tree, but fell back down. Not wanting to go back up a tree, the cat watched the chipmunk from the ground. It went into a hole in the tree and the cat gave up. The cat went under a house's deck to keep cool. It watched for more birds or chipmunks that it could chase after. He saw one chipmunk in the distance, then two three and four. He was ready to chase them. |
3s96kq6i9m4skf0n8y6oo8r6cs7dtj | (CNN) -- Michelle Asci dreamed of capturing life through her camera lens. Asci had her sights set on being a photographer as she graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree from Georgia State University in December.
But the 23-year-old is not working as a photographer. She's at a concession stand, selling popcorn or ushering people into their respective theaters before the midnight screening. Asci's been working part-time at the same Atlanta movie theater since 2005.
"It's going on to be eight years of this," she said. But working part-time at a movie theater was not what she saw herself doing with her degree, and she is not alone.
Last month's surprising drop in U.S. unemployment rates from 8.2% to 7.8% gave many hopes that the economy is improving, and the lower rates even beat the expectations of some economists. But a breakdown of the latest jobs report shows that more than half of the jobs added this month are part-time.
This leaves people like Asci wondering: Is the new American job part-time?
From law dreams to data-entry
Every day, Dolores Casillas holds her breath as she walks into the Chicago bank where she works part-time doing data entry. It's a temporary position, and she's heard her boss say time and time again that there might not be a job for her one of these days.
"There was someone at my job who was working for only three weeks, and she came in one day and didn't have a job. It's nerve-wracking," she said. |
354p56de9k3bo6myslycebloo4ds7f | DirecTV (stylized as DIRECTV or simply DTV) is an American direct broadcast satellite service provider based in El Segundo, California and is a subsidiary of AT&T. Its satellite service, launched on June 17, 1994, transmits digital satellite television and audio to households in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. Its primary competitors are Dish Network and cable television providers. On July 24, 2015, after receiving approval from the United States Federal Communications Commission and United States Department of Justice, AT&T acquired DirecTV in a transaction valued at $48.5 billion.
DirecTV provides television and audio services to subscribers through satellite transmissions. Services include the equivalent of many local television stations, broadcast television networks, subscription television services, satellite radio services, and private video services. Subscribers have access to hundreds of channels, so its competitors are cable television service and other satellite-based services.
Most subscribers use reception antennas which are much smaller than the first generation antennas, which were typically a few yards (meters) across. Advances in antenna technology, including fractal antennas, have allowed a general reduction in antenna size across all industries and applications. Receiving equipment includes a satellite dish, an integrated receiver/decoder and a DirecTV access card, which is necessary to operate the receiver/decoder. |
3z3zlgnnsiuha76yy56h6uu7060q3w | It was Saturday, and every Saturday all the children on the block would have a bicycle race. Juan rode his new red bicycle to the dead end street where the race was held. He knew he would win. His new bicycle would be faster than anyone's. Anita was there on her white bicycle. Todd was riding a blue bicycle, and Jasper soon arrived on a yellow bicycle. The race began, and Juan was in the lead. He heard Anita crying behind him. He turned to see her chain was broken, and she had fallen from her bike into the green grass. Juan stopped and turned around to help Anita. Jasper and Todd rode past them, and it was soon clear that Todd would win the race. Juan walked Anita home, and she thanked him for being a good friend. |
3tmsxrd2x60qk1o5nar4aqxwrsi1w9 | Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is an unincorporated part of and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu on the island of Oahu. The city is the main gateway to Hawaii and a major portal into the United States. The city is also a major hub for international business, military defense, as well as famously being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific culture, cuisine, and traditions.
Honolulu is the most remote city of its size in the world and is the westernmost major U.S. city. For statistical purposes, the U.S. Census Bureau recognizes the approximate area commonly referred to as "City of Honolulu" (not to be confused with the "City and County") as a census county division (CCD). Honolulu is a major financial center of the islands and of the Pacific Ocean. The population of the city of Honolulu was 337,256 as of the 2010 census, while the Honolulu CCD was 390,738 and the population of the consolidated city and county was 953,207.
"Honolulu" means "sheltered harbor" or "calm port". The old name is said to be Kou, a district roughly encompassing the area from Nuuanu Avenue to Alakea Street and from Hotel Street to Queen Street which is the heart of the present downtown district. The city has been the capital of the Hawaiian Islands since 1845 and gained historical recognition following the attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan near the city on December 7, 1941. |
3wokgm4l71gi83ul05wufr10j2l0o9 | Simon hardly listened to his teachers or worked hard in class. For him, talking was so much better. He never stopped talking. He wanted to be heard. "If you listen carefully, you'll learn something." Mrs. Jacobs told him many times, but it didn't work. Last Sunday, Simon had a sore throat and he lost his voice the next morning. "Can I stay home?" he tried to ask, but words didn't come out. His mother thought he could go to school. He felt upset. When he got to school, he didn't say anything to his friends or teachers. Everyone started talking at once. They were excited, worried and surprised. Mrs. Jacobs seemed happy. Simon was bored because he couldn't talk. But it wasn't so bad. He could do his homework. The next day, even though his voice was coming back, he stayed quiet again. He listened and put up his hand to speak. What a great difference! ,. |
354gidr5zb6x5m22ykujpq5ilsz00z | (CNN) -- David Ferrer will aim to become the first Spaniard to win the Miami Masters after beating Germany's Tommy Haas in an absorbing semifinal on Friday.
The trophy has proved beyond the reach of three of his compatriots in the past, with Rafael Nadal having failed on three occasions (2005, 2008, 2011) to add to previous failures by Carlos Moya (2003) and Sergi Bruguera (1997).
The third seed, who celebrates his 31st birthday on Tuesday, will play either Andy Murray or Richard Gasquet in Sunday's final after recovering from a break down in the third set to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.
The world No. 5 finally ended a fine championships for Haas who, at 34, was bidding to become the oldest man to reach the final since Jimmy Connors in 1988.
The German, who slayed world No. 1 and defending champion Novak Djovokic in the quarterfinals, took his fine form into the clash as he powered his way to the first set in Key Biscayne.
Losing the opener only served to focus Ferrer's concentration however and he broke Haas in the sixth game of the second before repeating the feat to take the set 6-2.
When Haas broke in the first and third games of the third set, the German seemed to have regained the initiative only for Ferrer to find his way back into the match through his trademark resilience.
2013 has started in superb fashion for the Spaniard, who can win his third title of the year on Sunday -- with the Australian Open semifinalist having already triumphed in Auckland and Buenos Aires. |
3jv9lgbjwtefj756e7lx0jogp42gop | (CNN) -- A former campaign staffer for San Diego Mayor Bob Filner became the second woman to publicly accuse him of sexual harassment, saying Tuesday that the then-congressman patted her "posterior" while at a fundraising event.
Laura Fink, who now runs a political consulting firm, told KPBS-TV that it happened in 2005 when she was working as Filner's deputy campaign manager.
Fink said she didn't go public with the incident at the time because she was trying to build her political career. But she said she now feels emboldened to tell her story after Filner's former spokeswoman, Irene McCormack Jackson, sued him for sexual harassment Monday.
Jackson said Filner subjected her and other women to "crude and disgusting" comments and inappropriate touching. She said she resigned as Filner's communications director in June after deciding the mayor would not change his behavior.
"I had to work and do my job in an atmosphere where women were viewed by Mayor Filner as sexual objects or stupid idiots," Jackson said. She said Filner asked her to work without underwear and made repeated sexual advances toward her.
"He is not fit to be mayor of our great city. He is not fit to hold any public office. A man who lacks character makes a mockery of his ideas," she said.
Fink told KPBS on Tuesday that the incident happened as she was escorting Filner from table to table at a fundraising dinner. At one point, she said, someone at the event told Filner that Fink had "worked her ass off" for him. |
3ffj6vril1o8chji2ajpvu5e7r4i0a | CHAPTER XXI
"To-day," Hamel declared, as he stood at the sideboard the following morning at breakfast-time and helped himself to bacon and eggs, "I am positively going to begin reading. I have a case full of books down at the Tower which I haven't unpacked yet."
Esther made a little grimace.
"Look at the sunshine," she said. "There isn't a breath of wind, either. I think to-day that I could play from the men's tees."
Hamel sighed as he returned to his place.
"My good intentions are already half dissipated," he admitted.
She laughed.
"How can we attack the other half?" she asked.
Gerald, who was also on his way to the sideboard, suddenly stopped.
"Hullo!" he exclaimed, looking out of the window. "Who's going away this morning, I wonder? There's the Rolls-Royce at the door."
Hamel, too, rose once more to his feet. The two exchanged swift glances. Moved by a common thought, they both started for the door, only to find it suddenly opened before them. Mr. Fentolin glided into the room.
"Uncle!" Gerald exclaimed.
Mr. Fentolin glanced keenly around the room.
"Good morning, everybody," he said. "My appearance at this hour of the morning naturally surprises you. As a matter of fact, I have been up for quite a long time. Esther dear, give me some coffee, will you, and be sure that it is hot. If any of you want to say good-by to Mr. John P. Dunster, you'd better hurry out."
"You mean that he is going?" Hamel asked incredulously. |
3zv9h2yqqd7mu42kae5nyjcto10w3d | CHAPTER XIV
There were times during their rapid journey when Seaman, studying his companion, became thoughtful. Dominey seemed, indeed, to have passed beyond the boundaries of any ordinary reserve, to have become like a man immeshed in the toils of a past so absorbing that he moved as though in a dream, speaking only when necessary and comporting himself generally like one to whom all externals have lost significance. As they embarked upon the final stage of their travels, Seaman leaned forward in his seat in the sombrely upholstered, overheated compartment.
"Your home-coming seems to depress you, Von Ragastein," he said.
"It was not my intention," Dominey replied, "to set foot in Germany again for many years."
"The past still bites?"
"Always."
The train sped on through long chains of vineyard-covered hills, out into a stretch of flat country, into forests of pines, in the midst of which were great cleared spaces, where, notwithstanding the closely drawn windows, the resinous odour from the fallen trunks seemed to permeate the compartment. Presently they slackened speed. Seaman glanced at his watch and rose.
"Prepare yourself, my friend," he said. "We descend in a few minutes."
Dominey glanced out of the window.
"But where are we?" he enquired.
"Within five minutes of our destination."
"But there is not a house in sight," Dominey remarked wonderingly.
"You will be received on board His Majesty's private train," Seaman announced. "The Kaiser, with his staff, is making one of his military tours. We are honoured by being permitted to travel back with him as far as the Belgian frontier." |
3lkc68yz3a3bgtv6tcpfmma4jtnowt | CHAPTER XIX
DEFEAT OF THE ENGLISH
The explosion of the musket had been so unexpected that for the moment Dave and Henry hardly knew what had happened. Dave felt something hit him on the bottom of his left cheek and putting up his hand withdrew it covered with blood. Henry, too, was hit by a flying fragment of the gun barrel which clipped off a lock of his hair. Poor Barringford lay like one dead.
Before Dave could recover the Indians were on them, whooping as if their very lives depended upon it. One threw a tomahawk at Dave, but the aim was poor and the weapon buried itself in the log which had sheltered our friends.
But just at this moment, when all seemed lost, the battleground shifted and instantly thirty or forty English red-coats burst from the woods directly behind the Indians. A volley rang out and four of the redmen pitched forward, shot through the back. Other bullets hit the log behind which our friends lay, but Dave, Henry, and Barringford were not touched.
Attacked so unexpectedly from a new quarter, the Indians appeared dazed. They attempted to turn upon the English soldiers, but when two more were laid low, they fled to one side, where there was a dense growth of walnuts. The soldiers at once made after them, and another skirmish took place in the forest.
"Are you hurt much, Sam?" asked Henry, when he had recovered sufficiently to speak.
"I--I reckon not," was the gasped-out answer, after a long silence. Barringford opened his eyes and gazed ruefully at the gun stock which lay at his feet. "Busted! Well, by gum! Didn't think Old Trusty would do it nohow. Ain't ye ashamed?" And he shook his head dolefully. He had carried the firearm for many years, as our old readers know, and to have it "go back on him" like this hurt him more than had the explosion. |
3pptzcwalqkiv0drjc1qavzmg65zqj | WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The first man on the moon marked the 40th anniversary of his historic achievement with characteristic understatement Monday, calling the program that put him on the lunar surface "a good thing to do."
President Obama welcomes, from left, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Neil Armstrong.
Apollo 11 commander Neil Armstrong joined crewmates Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin at the National Air and Space Museum, capping a day of commemorations that included a stop at the White House. During brief remarks at the museum, he said the mission was the climax of a "staggeringly complex" endeavor that "required the very best in creativity, determination and perseverance that could be assembled in the American workplace."
"Those successes were very impressive 40 years ago, but they were not miraculous," Armstrong said. "They were the result of the imagination and inventive minds of the people in the Apollo project since its inception eight years earlier."
The July 20, 1969, moon landing followed four test missions and came just two years after a fire that killed the first Apollo crew. Six lunar landings followed. A seventh flight, Apollo 13, was forced to abort its landing after an oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft; the crew used its lunar lander as a "lifeboat" for much of their harrowing return to Earth.
Armstrong called the Apollo program "a superb national enterprise" that "left a lasting imprint on society and history."
"Our knowledge of the moon increased a thousandfold and more," he said. "Technologies were developed for interplanetary navigation and travel. Our home planet has been seen from afar, and that perspective has caused us to think about its and our significance. Children inspired by the excitement of space flight have come to appreciate the wonder of science, the beauty of mathematics and the precision of engineering." |
3ias3u3i0fg5lj8qbnvmsvug8ns2b4 | Chapter XXXV
The Hidden Dread
IT was a busy time for Adam--the time between the beginning of November and the beginning of February, and he could see little of Hetty, except on Sundays. But a happy time, nevertheless, for it was taking him nearer and nearer to March, when they were to be married, and all the little preparations for their new housekeeping marked the progress towards the longed-for day. Two new rooms had been "run up" to the old house, for his mother and Seth were to live with them after all. Lisbeth had cried so piteously at the thought of leaving Adam that he had gone to Hetty and asked her if, for the love of him, she would put up with his mother's ways and consent to live with her. To his great delight, Hetty said, "Yes; I'd as soon she lived with us as not." Hetty's mind was oppressed at that moment with a worse difficulty than poor Lisbeth's ways; she could not care about them. So Adam was consoled for the disappointment he had felt when Seth had come back from his visit to Snowfield and said "it was no use--Dinah's heart wasna turned towards marrying." For when he told his mother that Hetty was willing they should all live together and there was no more need of them to think of parting, she said, in a more contented tone than he had heard her speak in since it had been settled that he was to be married, "Eh, my lad, I'll be as still as th' ould tabby, an' ne'er want to do aught but th' offal work, as she wonna like t' do. An' then we needna part the platters an' things, as ha' stood on the shelf together sin' afore thee wast born." |
3lya37p8iqn02zcg0t1qsrgapkhkb5 | Fifty-three years ago Barbie Millicent Roberts first appeared in the world of toys. Since then, Barbie doll, as everyone called her, has become the most successful toy doll in history. Her parent, the Mattel Company, said that 90% of all American girls between 3 and 10 have at least one Barbie at home. However, Barbie is facing some trouble at present . There are many similar dolls on the market in competition with her. Another doll named Bratz, for example, came to life thirteen years ago. She looks more like today's pop stars with heavy makeup and miniskirts. And her company offers more kinds of clothes too. It seems that Barbie has lost her magic among older girls. 'For younger girls, playing with a Barbie is much fun. But when you get older, you want something smarter and more modern,' says Vera Shepherd, a shop assistant in a New York toy store. It is good news that on the international market, Barbie is still No. 1. Although Mattel is selling fewer barbie in the United States these years, sales in other countries are still going up. In January 2009, Mattel opened its first Barbie store in Shanghai, where girls can shop, eat, drink or even become _ for their own Barbies. Mattel is planning big celebrations for Barbie's 53rd birthday. She has called Fashion designers from all over the world to make new dresses for Barbie. How long will Barbie stay popular in the world of toy dolls? It is hard to say, but 53 is surely not the age to retire . |
3n2bf7y2vqu5j0f5lxo2tfbcaf6mh8 | Chapter 4: Among The Islands.
"Now, let us go through our calculations again," the captain said when they entered his cabin.
"How long will you be, Captain?" the first mate asked.
"Half an hour, Standing."
"Then I will come again or, if you want me before that, send for me," and the first mate went out on deck again, for though well skilled to handle a ship in all weathers, and as brave and hardy a seaman as sailed out of Plymouth, James Standing could neither read nor write; and though in a rough sort of way he could reckon the course a ship should lie, and make allowance for leeway and currents and baffling winds, and could bring a ship into any port in England or the Low Countries, he was of no use in a matter of this kind.
Pengarvan was a good scholar, and Reuben had taught him what he knew of navigation, and always made him keep a log from the time when he first became a mate; at first comparing their calculations every day, and then but once a week; arguing over the allowances each had made for tide and leeway; and sometimes finding to his surprise, on arriving in port, that Pengarvan's calculations were even nearer to the truth than his own.
This was a great satisfaction to him, for he felt that, if aught should happen to himself when on a voyage, Pengarvan could be trusted to bring the Swan home, as safely and surely as he could himself. Roger had, for the last two years, been going through the same schooling; but as yet he was very far from attaining accuracy, being unwilling to make sufficient allowance for the great leeway that a vessel, in those days, made with the wind abeam. |
3kibxj1wd5uklt1p4y6cybg9xx4oka | CHAPTER II
One evening Fru Astrida sat in her tall chair in the chimney corner, her distaff, with its load of flax in her hand, while she twisted and drew out the thread, and her spindle danced on the floor. Opposite to her sat, sleeping in his chair, Sir Eric de Centeville; Osmond was on a low bench within the chimney corner, trimming and shaping with his knife some feathers of the wild goose, which were to fly in a different fashion from their former one, and serve, not to wing the flight of a harmless goose, but of a sharp arrow.
The men of the household sat ranged on benches on one side of the hall, the women on the other; a great red fire, together with an immense flickering lamp which hung from the ceiling, supplied the light; the windows were closed with wooden shutters, and the whole apartment had a cheerful appearance. Two or three large hounds were reposing in front of the hearth, and among them sat little Richard of Normandy, now smoothing down their broad silken ears; now tickling the large cushions of their feet with the end of one of Osmond's feathers; now fairly pulling open the eyes of one of the good-natured sleepy creatures, which only stretched its legs, and remonstrated with a sort of low groan, rather than a growl. The boy's eyes were, all the time, intently fixed on Dame Astrida, as if he would not lose one word of the story she was telling him; how Earl Rollo, his grandfather, had sailed into the mouth of the Seine, and how Archbishop Franco, of Rouen, had come to meet him and brought him the keys of the town, and how not one Neustrian of Rouen had met with harm from the brave Northmen. Then she told him of his grandfather's baptism, and how during the seven days that he wore his white baptismal robes, he had made large gifts to all the chief churches in his dukedom of Normandy. |
3nlzy2d53ppyqbwn4bah2goo1z1lqu | CHAPTER XXII
Not altogether unwillingly, in the darkness of night, despite that he disliked the man, did Michael go with Harry Del Mar. Like a burglar the man came, with infinite caution of silence, to the outhouse in Doctor Emory's back yard where Michael was a prisoner. Del Mar knew the theatre too well to venture any hackneyed melodramatic effect such as an electric torch. He felt his way in the darkness to the door of the outhouse, unlatched it, and entered softly, feeling with his hands for the wire- haired coat.
And Michael, a man-dog and a lion-dog in all the stuff of him, bristled at the instant of intrusion, but made no outcry. Instead, he smelled out the intruder and recognised him. Disliking the man, nevertheless he permitted the tying of the rope around his neck and silently followed him out to the sidewalk, down to the corner, and into the waiting taxi.
His reasoning--unless reason be denied him--was simple. This man he had met, more than once, in the company of Steward. Amity had existed between him and Steward, for they had sat at table, and drunk together. Steward was lost. Michael knew not where to find him, and was himself a prisoner in the back yard of a strange place. What had once happened, could again happen. It had happened that Steward, Del Mar, and Michael had sat at table together on divers occasions. It was probable that such a combination would happen again, was going to happen now, and, once more, in the bright-lighted cabaret, he would sit on a chair, Del Mar on one side, and on the other side beloved Steward with a glass of beer before him--all of which might be called "leaping to a conclusion"; for conclusion there was, and upon the conclusion Michael acted. |
32utubmz7gweia6szxfxu0rr6vqbvb | (CNN) -- Authorities believe two Arizona prison escapees and their alleged accomplice may be in the Yellowstone National Park area of Montana and Wyoming, based on recent information, the U.S. Marshals Service said Sunday.
John Charles McCluskey, 45, and Tracy Province, 42, are described as armed and dangerous. They have been at large since fleeing an Arizona prison on July 30. A third escaped inmate, Daniel Renwick, 35, was arrested the day after the escape in Rifle, Colorado, where he got in a shootout with police.
David Gonzales, the U.S. marshal for Arizona, told CNN that the remaining fugitives are now suspected in the killings of a couple whose bodies were found Wednesday in New Mexico.
"There was evidence that ties them, our suspects, who escaped from prison, directly to their murders," Gonzales told CNN.
Gonzales said the fugitives have frequented truck stops and campgrounds. He said McCluskey and Province have "white supremacist leanings" and could be looking for "people who are sympathetic to their cause."
Yellowstone sits at the northwest corner of Wyoming and extends a short distance into Montana and Idaho, both states where white supremacist groups have attempted to take root. Thomas Henman, a spokesman for the Marshals Service, said Arizona prison officials have said the convicts belong to the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang, but there was no concrete information to tie them to white supremacist groups outside prison.
A team of marshals from Arizona has been working in the Yellowstone area since Sunday morning, along with marshals from Montana and Wyoming and officers from the National Parks Service. He wouldn't divulge the source of the information that has led authorities to Yellowstone, but said it is believed to be very credible. |
3d8you6s9ek8zj0xygokny3gdj16ui | Ellie and her grandfather went to the beach late in the afternoon.
"Why are we going to the beach, Grandpa?" Ellie asked.
He smiled a big old smile. "We're looking for treasure," he said. He carried two small plastic shovels and a basket.
"What's in the basket?" she asked.
"Some pie and soda to celebrate when we find our treasure." He gave his granddaughter a happy laugh.
They picked a spot and started digging. They found only sand.
They picked another spot by some rocks and found all sorts of small and interesting little stones. Ellie grinned at their odd shapes and colors.
They dug further away from the water and found an old bottle. Ellie threw it away into the trash can.
They dug closer to the water and found many sea shells. Ellie clapped happily at how smooth and nice they felt.
They had much fun digging, but it started to get late. Her grandpa seemed sad. "We did not find any treasure after all," he said.
"How about that, grandpa?" she said, pointing toward the pretty sunset that made the water appear yellow and bright.
He grandfather laughed. "That is a great treasure after all."
Ellie and her grandfather laughed and hugged. They ate pie happily and watched the sun set. |
3pptzcwalqkiv0drjc1qavzmg6qqzv | The Kingdom of Yugoslavia (, , "Kingdom of South Slavia") was a state in Southeast Europe and Central Europe, that existed during the interwar period (1918–1939) and first half of World War II (1939–1943).
It was formed in 1918 by the merger of the provisional State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (itself formed from territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire) with the formerly independent Kingdom of Serbia. The Kingdom of Montenegro had united with Serbia five days previously, while the regions of Kosovo, Vojvodina and Vardar Macedonia were parts of Serbia prior to the unification.
For its first eleven years of existence, the Kingdom was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" was its colloquial name from its origins. The official name of the state was changed to "Kingdom of Yugoslavia" by King Alexander I on 3 October 1929.
The state was ruled by the Serbian dynasty of Karađorđević, which previously ruled the Kingdom of Serbia under Peter I from 1903 (after the May Overthrow) onwards. Peter I became the first king of Yugoslavia until his death in 1921. He was succeeded by his son Alexander I, who had been regent for his father. He was known as "Alexander the Unifier" and he renamed the kingdom "Yugoslavia" in 1929. He was assassinated in Marseille by Vlado Chernozemski, a member of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization (IMRO), during his visit to France in 1934. The crown passed to his then-still under-aged son Peter. His cousin Paul ruled as Prince regent until 1941, when Peter II would come of age. The royal family flew to London the same year, prior to the country being invaded by the Axis powers. |
3lpw2n6lkt2cgf0jtxefvspgimzu5w | Connie Lau hates smoking. "It smells awful, and it's so bad for you. It breaks my heart to see my friends smoking. I try to get them to give up smoking." She says.
So why does Connie walk into convenience stores and try to buy cigarettes? She is testing to see if stores will sell cigarettes to a kid who is younger than 18. "You have to be 18 to purchase cigarettes, and I'm 16, so if they sell to me, they're breaking the law," Connie says.
Connie isn't a vigilante ; She works with local police in her town of Castro Valley, California. Officers drive her to stores, and she goes in alone to try to buy cigarettes. If the person behind the counter sells her a pack, an officer comes in and writes the business a ticket for breaking the law.
Most stores obey the law and don't sell her cigarettes. The law requires that customers show ID if store employees ask them to. "When they ask your age, you can't lie," Connie says. "Most stores don't sell to me. In a year, we've visited almost 150 stores and had only 15 sales."
Working undercover can be scary, even with police nearby. Connie said one cashier refused to sell her cigarettes and then got angry when he found out her age. He threatened to call the authorities. "To calm him down, the police went in to explain that I was undercover," she says.
Most teens wouldn't think of going undercover for the police. What's Connie's motivation ? For starters, she can't stand smoking. But she also believes it's important for young people like her to try to make a real impact in their communities. In her view, teens can do more than get good grades in school, do chores at home, and do well in out-of-class activities.
Every time she stops the sale of cigarettes to children, she's helping to uphold the law. "A single teenager can make a big difference," Connie says. "For the most part, when stores get caught, they learn their lesson and don't do it again." |
36u2a8vag1zwf75ralfa02ebbadykb | CHAPTER XV
POLE TO POLE
The waiting in London for July to come was daily more unbearable to Shelton, and if it had not been for Ferrand, who still came to breakfast, he would have deserted the Metropolis. On June first the latter presented himself rather later than was his custom, and announced that, through a friend, he had heard of a position as interpreter to an hotel at Folkestone.
"If I had money to face the first necessities," he said, swiftly turning over a collection of smeared papers with his yellow fingers, as if searching for his own identity, "I 'd leave today. This London blackens my spirit."
"Are you certain to get this place," asked Shelton.
"I think so," the young foreigner replied; "I 've got some good enough recommendations."
Shelton could not help a dubious glance at the papers in his hand. A hurt look passed on to Ferrand's curly lips beneath his nascent red moustache.
"You mean that to have false papers is as bad as theft. No, no; I shall never be a thief--I 've had too many opportunities," said he, with pride and bitterness. "That's not in my character. I never do harm to anyone. This"--he touched the papers--"is not delicate, but it does harm to no one. If you have no money you must have papers; they stand between you and starvation. Society, has an excellent eye for the helpless--it never treads on people unless they 're really down." He looked at Shelton.
"You 've made me what I am, amongst you," he seemed to say; "now put up with me!" |
3p529iw9kyl1zm6eqvznqhkatk3lfk | CHAPTER XI
Thus William Wetherell became established in Coniston, and was started at last--poor man--upon a life that was fairly tranquil. Lem Hallowell had once covered him with blushes by unfolding a newspaper in the store and reading an editorial beginning: "We publish today a new and attractive feature of the Guardian, a weekly contribution from a correspondent whose modesty is to be compared only with his genius as a writer. We are confident that the readers of our Raper will appreciate the letter in another column signed 'W. W.'" And from that day William was accorded much of the deference due to a litterateur which the fates had hitherto denied him. Indeed, during the six years which we are about to skip over so lightly, he became a marked man in Coniston, and it was voted in towns meeting that he be intrusted with that most important of literary labors, the Town History of Coniston.
During this period, too, there sprang up the strangest of intimacies between him and Jethro Bass. Surely no more dissimilar men than these have ever been friends, and that the friendship was sometimes misjudged was one of the clouds on William Wetherell's horizon. As the years went on he was still unable to pay off the mortgage; and sometimes, indeed, he could not even meet the interest, in spite of the princely sum he received from Mr. Willard of the Guardian. This was one of the clouds on Jethro's horizon, too, if men had but known it, and he took such moneys as Wetherell insisted upon giving him grudgingly enough. It is needless to say that he refrained from making use of Mr. Wetherell politically, although no poorer vessel for political purposes was ever constructed. It is quite as needless to say, perhaps, that Chester Perkins never got to be Chairman of the Board of Selectmen. |
33sa9f9trxup42ihzymjhagqgycewp | (CNN) -- As Mitt Romney prepares to make the case for a first term, give a thought to what we can expect from a Barack Obama second term.
It's probably going to look a lot like the second terms of George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, and Richard Nixon -- driven not by his own agenda, but by events beyond his control. Bush's second term was defined by the after-effects of the Iraq decision he made in his first term; Clinton's by impeachment and the Internet boom; Reagan's by deficits and Gorbachev; Nixon's by Watergate.
And what will define Obama's?
1) Republicans will hold at least one House of Congress, maybe two.
2) The U.S. economy will continue to mend, as the financial crisis recedes into the past.
3) Unless forcibly prevented, Iran will enrich enough uranium for multiple nuclear weapons sometime before 2017.
4) Natural gas production will continue to surge.
Prediction 1 implies that there will be no bold Obama legislative agenda in a second term. The votes just won't be there. The second-term Obama agenda will have to be executed through agency action and executive order. And he'll have lots of opportunities via the big laws passed in his first term: the Affordable Care Act, Dodd-Frank, and so on.
Critics often talk about how long these laws are. Yet however long the enactment, the text of a complex modern statute is only the very roughest guide to its future operation. The crucial operating decisions are made by presidential appointees, supervised by the courts. Congress drafts, but the administrators fill in the details - and the details, as the saying goes, are where the devil lurks. |
3qrymnz7fyh16rr0xskrkd30pv0ntz | Ally was at home, sitting in her chair. She was drinking orange juice. Orange juice was her favorite drink, because she loved its sweet taste.
Ally's sister was sitting on the carpet. She was drawing a pair of pink socks. Ally's sister loved the color pink, because she thought it was cute.
Ally's brother was also sitting on the carpet. He was drinking coffee with lots of sugar in it. He loved sugar because it made him feel energetic.
All of the sudden, there was a knock at the door. Ally's sister answered it. When she opened the door, she saw an alligator wearing a suit and tie! Ally's sister screamed, and closed the door.
"Please," the alligator said, "Don't be afraid. I want to draw with you."
Ally's sister opened the door, and the alligator came inside. He sat on the carpet, and started drawing his own pair of pink socks. Ally's sister sat down, and joined him. |
32z9zlut1lktj30hyd3flj0h45aoht | CHAPTER I
ANDY AND HIS UNCLE
"What be you a-goin' to do today, Andy?"
"I'm going to try my luck over to the Storburgh camp, Uncle Si. I hardly think Mr. Storburgh will have an opening for me, but it won't hurt to ask him."
"Did you try Sam Hickley, as I told you to?" continued Josiah Graham, as he settled himself more comfortably before the open fireplace of the cabin.
"Yes, but he said he had all the men he wanted." Andy Graham gave something of a sigh. "Seems to me there are more lumbermen in this part of Maine than there is lumber."
"Humph! I guess you ain't tried very hard to git work," grumbled the old man, drawing up his bootless feet on the rungs of his chair, and spreading out his hands to the generous blaze before him. "Did you see them Plover brothers?"
"No, but Chet Greene did, day before yesterday, and they told him they were laying men off instead of taking 'em on."
"Humph! I guess thet Chet Greene don't want to work. He'd rather fool his time away in the woods, huntin' and fishin'."
"Chet is willing enough to work if he can get anything to do. And hunting pays, sometimes. Last week he got a fine deer and one of the rich hunters from Boston paid him a good price for it."
"Humph! Thet ain't as good as a stiddy, payin' job. I don't want you to be a-lazin' your time away in the woods,--I want you to grow up stiddy an' useful. Besides, we got to have money, if we want to live." |
3pw9opu9pqk48lqy9q2xmjh7m8521j | Feeding a crowd of hundreds doesn't make Kenny Seals-Nutt nervous. In fact, he _ in the kitchen. He's in his perfect place when dicing tomatoes, making salads and baking cakes. By the time Kenny, 16, reached his third year of high school at Hickory Grove, North Carolina, US, he had become vice president of his school's cooking club. He also opened his own food company, called Modern Fusion. Kenny said he developed his love of cooking by watching his mother, and his grandmother, who owned a catering business herself. Kenny helped them both in order to remember their tips: how long to cook chicken so it stays wet, and the right amount of tomatoes to add to a spaghetti dish. At the age of 5, he cooked his first dish of shrimp and broccoli. Taking it for his school lunch, he warmed it up in the school's microwave, while the other kids ate their sandwiches. "I love to eat, and it started to become more fun to cook than to use a microwave," he said. Cooking came easy to Kenny, and he enjoyed adding new ingredients into common dishes. "It started with a passion and I wanted to know more," he said. He began to watch the Food Network and read chef blogs. Last summer, Kenny put his skills to the test by working with his grandmother to cater his uncle's wedding. While she cooked traditional dishes, Kenny wanted to add new to the expected flavors . Now Kenny spends his weekends catering his own events: weddings, birthday parties, baby showers. Kenny's dishes are always a hit. Chef Frederick Mookie Hicks, owner of a catering business, said Kenny's success comes from his ability to multitask in the kitchen. Hicks said he has asked Kenny to cook with him on jobs three times now, and he presents Kenny as a positive example of a passionate chef to the students in his cooking classes. "He's so vigorous about cooking that he doesn't let anything stop him," Hicks said. "I knew in the first five minutes of working with the kid that he is something special." |
3z9wi9eozzoatcf20lbme2j8kzskhv | (CNN) -- He may have knocked out eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao during their recent bout in Las Vegas but if Juan Manuel Marquez wants a fifth fight against the legendary Filipino he'll need to get permission from his wife.
The Mexican stunned the world of boxing by knocking out Pacquiao in the sixth round of their welterweight contest earlier in December.
It was the first time the 39-year-old has claimed victory in four fights against Pacquiao, who many pundits regard to be the finest pound-for-pound fighter the sport has ever seen.
But with fans clamoring for a fifth bout, Marquez says the only way it will become a reality is if his wife allows him to renege on his promise to retire whatever the outcome of the fourth.
"I made a promise and I know that promises are debts," Márquez said in an interview with CNN en Español.
"I don't see a case to fight again but logically he wants a chance," he added of talk that he and Pacquiao could square off for a fifth time.
Marquez's emphatic victory offered the Mexican some redemption after he failed to win any of the first three fights against Pacquiao.
Their first encounter in May 2004 ended in a draw, while the Filipino took a points victory at the conclusion of their rematch four years later.
But their third clash in November 2011 ended in controversy when Pacquiao was awarded victory in a marginal points decision.
The crowd booed as the judges' verdict was read out and Marquez claimed he should have been declared the victor. |
3mh9dq757wcawcp3atx6zpg585tuge | Everyone dreams of changing the world. But can teenagers really make a difference? And how can they go about it? Michael Norton's book 365 Ways to Change the World is a good starting point. The book gives an idea or task for every single day of the year. The tasks include offering to work at a local homeless shelter and planting a tree. The book says that one simple act, no matter how small, can help someone in need. It may even influence other teens to do something. Nathan Anthony, a student at Maple High School in Modesto, California, US, agrees. "It is impossible to get anything in life without giving something to someone or working hard at school or workplace," Anthony said. Another Maple student, Ariane Mota, has the same idea." Giving is our way of repaying those who help us," she said." Whether it is a helping hand or a donation, we should help others to make their day or life better." But how often do teens see peers helping a stranger or doing something nice for someone? According to Anthony, not a lot. He and Mota both believe this needs to be changed. "I help my friends by telling them that their lives are better than those poorer people," Anthony said." Humor is also a great tool." So whether you're helping to find a cure for bad illness or simply smiling at a stranger, do something every day to help change the world for the better. |
3hwrjooet52wxl18ftcikld5ao6sek | Justinian I ( 482 14 November 565), traditionally known as Justinian the Great and also Saint Justinian the Great in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was the Byzantine (East Roman) emperor from 527 to 565. During his reign, Justinian sought to revive the empire's greatness and reconquer the lost western half of the historical Roman Empire. Justinian's rule constitutes a distinct epoch in the history of the Later Roman empire, and his reign is marked by the ambitious but only partly realized "renovatio imperii", or "restoration of the Empire".
Because of his restoration activities, Justinian has sometimes been called the "last Roman" in modern historiography. This ambition was expressed by the partial recovery of the territories of the defunct western Roman Empire. His general, Belisarius, swiftly conquered the Vandal kingdom in North Africa. Subsequently, Belisarius, Narses, and other generals conquered the Ostrogothic kingdom, restoring Dalmatia, Sicily, Italy, and Rome to the empire after more than half a century of rule by the Ostrogoths. The prefect Liberius reclaimed the south of the Iberian peninsula, establishing the province of Spania. These campaigns re-established Roman control over the western Mediterranean, increasing the Empire's annual revenue by over a million solidi. During his reign Justinian also subdued the "Tzani", a people on the east coast of the Black Sea that had never been under Roman rule before. |
3ob0cao74hp5dh4j40cdnayjjoiyh6 | Library Journal is an American trade publication for librarians. It was founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey (familiar as the inventor of the Dewey decimal system). It reports news about the library world, emphasizing public libraries, and offers feature articles about aspects of professional practice. It also reviews library-related materials and equipment.
Its "Library Journal Book Review" does pre-publication reviews of several hundred popular and academic books each month.
"Library Journal" has the highest circulation of any librarianship journal, according to Ulrich's — approximately 100,000.
"Library Journal's" original publisher was Frederick Leypoldt, whose company became R. R. Bowker. Reed International (now Reed Business Information) purchased Bowker in 1985; they published "Library Journal" until 2010, when it was sold to Media Source, owner of the Junior Library Guild and "The Horn Book Magazine".
Founded in 1876 by Melvil Dewey, "Library Journal" originally declared itself to be the "official organ of the library associations of America and of the United Kingdom." Indeed, the journal's original title was "American Library Journal", though "American" was removed from the title after the first year. Its early issues focused on the growth and development of libraries, with feature articles by such prominent authors as R. R. Bowker, Charles Cutter, and Melvil Dewey, and focusing on cataloging, indexing, and lending schemes. In its early issues, Bowker discussed cataloging principles; Cutter, creator of the Cutter Expansive Classification system, developed his ideas; and managing editor Dewey made recommendations for early library circulation systems. Initially, "Library Journal" did not review books unless they related to librarians' professional interests, but then, like now, the journal ran articles on collection development and ads from publishers recommending their forthcoming books for libraries to purchase. |
3olf68ytn91k33fat4axh34z0jjfay | (EW.com) -- "The Closer" closed out Kyra Sedgwick's involvement in the series on Monday night, installing Mary McDonnell in her place, in a "new" series, "Major Crimes."
While I have no inside information about how McDonnell was originally cast in "The Closer," I'm led to think, based on the premiere episode that aired after the "Closer" finale, that she was never intended to be the new star of the show. Because the new show is, I believe, an inevitable disappointment for hardcore "Closer" fans. As for those of us who are Mary McDonnell fans? Ambivalence reigns!
First of all, the exit of Sedgwick's Brenda Leigh Johnson. (This is your SPOILER ALERT.)
"The Closer" series finale brought closure to Deputy Chief Johnson's career, as she faced off with her long-running arch-nemesis, the serial rapist Philip Stroh (Billy Burke). Then Johnson abruptly accepted a new job (something like chief of bureau of investigations L.A. liason officer in the D.A.'s office -- it sounded like the longest-titled cushy job possible) and lit out, munching a signature bit of junk food.
Over the years, "The Closer" had become a light-comedy crime show with heavy-handed humor performed not just by Sedgwick but also the supporting cast that has migrated over to "Major Crimes," especially G.W. Bailey, whose slow burns have become endless fuming, and, only by contrast to a lesser extent, Tony Denison, Michael Paul Chan, Raymond Cruz, and Phillip P. Keene. (I've always found it interesting that Denison and Chan are veterans of two, need I say superior, Michael Mann TV shows, Crime Story and Robbery Homicide Division -- indeed, many of Chan's gestures and body language when he enters a crime scene strongly echo his moves in RHD, and I'd bet that's where he picked up those good habits, from Mann's heavily-researched series.) |
3a0ex8zrn8ovm41x482h1zvlo4nbyz | Unlike the Spanish milled dollar the U.S. dollar is based upon a decimal system of values. In addition to the dollar the coinage act officially established monetary units of mill or one-thousandth of a dollar (symbol ₥), cent or one-hundredth of a dollar (symbol ¢), dime or one-tenth of a dollar, and eagle or ten dollars, with prescribed weights and composition of gold, silver, or copper for each. It was proposed in the mid-1800s that one hundred dollars be known as a union, but no union coins were ever struck and only patterns for the $50 half union exist. However, only cents are in everyday use as divisions of the dollar; "dime" is used solely as the name of the coin with the value of 10¢, while "eagle" and "mill" are largely unknown to the general public, though mills are sometimes used in matters of tax levies, and gasoline prices are usually in the form of $X.XX9 per gallon, e.g., $3.599, sometimes written as $3.599⁄10. When currently issued in circulating form, denominations equal to or less than a dollar are emitted as U.S. coins while denominations equal to or greater than a dollar are emitted as Federal Reserve notes (with the exception of gold, silver and platinum coins valued up to $100 as legal tender, but worth far more as bullion). Both one-dollar coins and notes are produced today, although the note form is significantly more common. In the past, "paper money" was occasionally issued in denominations less than a dollar (fractional currency) and gold coins were issued for circulation up to the value of $20 (known as the "double eagle", discontinued in the 1930s). The term eagle was used in the Coinage Act of 1792 for the denomination of ten dollars, and subsequently was used in naming gold coins. Paper currency less than one dollar in denomination, known as "fractional currency", was also sometimes pejoratively referred to as "shinplasters". In 1854, James Guthrie, then Secretary of the Treasury, proposed creating $100, $50 and $25 gold coins, which were referred to as a "Union", "Half Union", and "Quarter Union", thus implying a denomination of 1 Union = $100. |
3ngi5arftt500sr4bod9iwp0xixp1t | On the bus, on the subway, every head is lowered to a cell phone, iPad, or other digital device. But does this mean more and more people are getting into reading the digital way? According to the National Reading Survey, before the 17thWorld Reading Day on April 23, only 1.2 percent of Chinese people said they read a lot. But 38.6 percent said they read on digital devices like cell phone and e-books. This is a 17.7 percent increase from 2010. Many experts are talking about a trend toward fragmented reading --reading many short messages or items on a digital device like a cell phone instead of one long text in a book. Zhao jianmin, a professor at Shanghai University, said fragmented reading was part of modern life. "The fast _ of life leaves many people no time to sit and read a whole book," he said. "So making use of fragmented time to read is sure to be a trend" Fragmented reading has its advantages. People can enjoy large amounts of information, knowledge and entertainment in a short time. Digital reading is faster than traditional deep reading. However, some experts fear the trend of digital reading will lead people to read in a simple way. Xu Guosheng, at a Chinese Academy of Press and Publication, says fragmented reading makes it harder for people to think more about what they read. He also warned fragmented reading could make people lazy about remembering facts because they know they can always just search for answers online. "Fragmented reading is sometimes good, but don't let it take all your time," suggested Tian Zhilng, an editor. He said it was important to read quality books in a deeper way, and we should read for knowledge, for practical use and for pleasure. He suggested people choose easy books first, then move onto more difficult ones. |
374tnbha8bviqa3mnqz7woqk9ztyqs | Saturday was going to be a special day for Sara. It was her birthday. No one had mentioned her birthday so far, and it was already Wednesday. " _ ", Sara thought to herself. Sara went to school and told her friend, Jenny, that Saturday was her birthday. "I know," said Jenny. "Lynn told all the girls about your birthday." "Wow, I didn't realize everyone knew," said Sara. Saturday finally came and Sara got up early. "Good morning, Sara," said Mum. "Hi," said Sara. She looked around, but didn't see anyone _ her birthday. "What are you doing today?" asked Mum. "Just stay at home," said Sara, feeling a bit sad. She didn't want to tell Mum it was her birthday. "Why don't you come with me to the Recreation Centre?" asked Mum. "What will I do there?" asked Sara. Mum said they needed help with a community project. That afternoon Sara and her mum went to the Recreation Centre. When they opened the door, people shouted, "SURPRISE!" Sara couldn't believe it. There were friends from school and her family. She saw Uncle Rick, Aunt Claire, and many cousins along with Grandma Joan. The walls were decorated with colourful balloons. There was a big cake sitting on the table along with many presents. A small band played the songs Sara and her friends liked to dance to. Sara was called to cut the first piece of her birthday cake. She felt so special. "This is the best birthday I've ever had!" said Sara. "Thank you to everyone." |
3zak8w07i4edl8eiwr83extp1n50ug | Abidjan, Ivory Coast (CNN) -- The European Union announced a recovery package of 180 million euros for the Ivory Coast on Tuesday as residents of the African nation attempted to adjust to life with a clear leader and relative stability after months of bloodshed.
Forces arrested former President Laurent Gbagbo after storming his residence on Monday. Gbagbo defied calls to step down after an electoral commission declared he lost a presidential election in November to Alassane Ouattara. Ouattara has been recognized internationally as the legitimate winner.
A violent power struggle followed the standoff, with supporters loyal to both sides taking to the streets in protests since December. Hundreds have been killed, according to the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Andris Piebalgs, EU commissioner for development, announced the recovery package on Tuesday.
"We will stand by Ivory Coast and its people by immediately starting to work with the government of President Ouattara to support him in getting the country on the right track towards reconciliation, democracy, economic recovery and sustainable development," he said.
The funding will provide support to ensure basic needs for citizens such as health, water, sanitation and to support the agricultural sector, Piebalgs said in a statement. It also will clear the Ivory Coast's debt accumulated through the European Investment Bank.
Top military brass pledged their support to Ouattara in a ceremony Tuesday at a hotel in Abdijan. Gen. Phillipe Mangou, Gbagbo's former army chief of staff, said on state television that the generals were received by Ouattara and given orders to take measures to restore order in the country. |
34q075jo1xdxcbnku3yj3vosqii10c | Henry Ford grew up on an un-electrified farm, and as a young man he followed Edison's career as the inventor became a national role model.Ford took a job at the Edison Illuminating Company working his way up to chief engineer.
In 1896 Ford was thirty-three and, though still working for Edison Co.,he had created his first experimental automobile the Ford Quadricycle2 during his off-time. At an Edison company party in New York, Ford had his first chance to meet his hero Edison and was able to explain his new automobile to the great inventor. _ Young man, that's the thing! You have it! Your car is self-contained and carries its own power plant." Edison himself had been working on the idea, but had only been considering electricity as the power source, so the idea of a gas engine was a somewhat new one.
The words comforted Ford greatly, who immediately set out building a second car which was to become the Model-T.6.The two men became f'ast friends and would go on camping trips together.When Edison later became limited to a wheelchair, Ford brought an extra one to his house so they could race.At the 50th anniversary of the invention of light-bulb, Ford honored Edison.When Edison spoke, he ended his speech directed at Ford:" As to Henry Ford, words fail to express my feelings.I can only say that he is my friend." Therefore it is no surprise that Ford wanted something to remember Edison by after he passed away in 1931.
Once, Ford asked Thomas Edison's son Charles to sit by the dying inventor's bedside and hold a test tube next to his father's mouth to catch his final breath. Ford was a man with many strange behaviors( as was Edison)including some interest in reanimation and spiritualism and some say that he was attempting to catch Edison's soul as it escaped his body in hopes of later bringing the inventor back to life.
The test tube itself didn't turn up until 1950 when it was listed in the Ford possessions after Clara Ford's passing away, and then lost again until 1978 when it was discovered in an exhibit Entitled "Henry Ford-A Personal History" in the Henry Ford Museum.It would then be discovered that the tube was labeled "Edison's Last Breath".
There is a further mystery of this "last breath" test tube. It would seem as if Edison had quite a last breath indeed, as the Edison Estate holds a collection of 42 test tubes all supposedly containing Edison's last breath.
Regardless of the excitement over the last breath, the test tube is quite touching in its meaning.Although both men were known for all sorts of poor behavior towards .their loved ones and mistreatment of employees, between them at least, there was clearly a deep respect and admiration. |
3137onmdkg5t7gshkti1v7u2maoegs | They know Russian tanks would make short work of their ramshackle defenses and shallow trenches. But with U.S. and Europe shrinking from the fight, this rag-tag band of civilian volunteers know they could be the first, last and only line of defense if Moscow rolls into this corner of northeast Ukraine.
"We can't expect help from anybody else. Our own government is too passive. But hopefully we can rely on support from ordinary Ukrainians," Vladimir Fedorok told CNN on a blustery morning close to the Ukrainian border village of Senkivka.
In more peaceful times, Fedorok runs a farm supplies company. Now, with Russia estimated to be massing up to 88,000 troops just across the border from Ukraine's eastern frontier, he finds himself marshaling a newly formed self-defense committee. They're setting up an outpost along the highway that cuts from the Ukrainian-Russian border to the Ukraine's interior.
Klitschko pulls out of presidential race
He and his closest aides, Younis and Olec, are clad in British Army-issue uniforms from the Iraq "Desert Storm" campaign. They still bear the Union Jack insignia on the left sleeve.
"We picked them up at the bazaar. I've no idea how they got there. Including my boots, I paid around 100 euros," Fedorok said. Other members of his self-defense unit are sporting surplus combat jackets and pants from other European militaries.
All of the volunteers say they have some army training from time spent doing military service. Fedorok said they've also been getting refresher courses from friendly Ukrainian army officers in recent days. Two members of the group claim -- like an unspecified number of other Ukrainian nationalists -- to have fought alongside Muslim insurgents against the Russians in Chechnya. |
32xvdsjfpzx14acn2clv6b5alwlm2n | CHAPTER V.
TARDY REPENTANCE.
Seth was as happy and proud as a boy well could be.
Never before had he dared to remain very long near any particular engine lest some of the firemen should take it upon themselves to send him outside the lines, consequently all his "points" had been gathered as he moved from place to place.
Now, however, he was in a certain sense attached to Ninety-four, and each member of the company had some kindly word with which to greet him, for it had become known to all that if the amateur did not actually save 'Lish Davis's life, he had assisted in preventing that gentleman from receiving severe injury.
Dan was enjoying the advantages thus arising from his partner's popularity, which was quite sufficient for him, since, not aspiring to become a fireman, he thought only of the present moment, and the privilege of remaining by the engine as if he were really a member of the Department was some thing of which he could boast in the future among his comrades.
It is true there was little of interest to be seen after the fire was apparently extinguished, when the men had nothing more to do than remain on the lookout for any smoldering embers which might be fanned into a blaze; but Seth's interest was almost as great as when the flames were fiercest.
Shortly after sunset hot coffee and sandwiches were served to the weary firemen, and Master Bartlett believed he had taken a long stride toward the goal he had set himself, when the captain shouted: |
3fq5jj512lo2381d3j6zjmg46ahnkl | (CNN) -- Double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius has moved a step closer to realizing his dream of participating in the Olympics after running the 'B' standard qualifying time for next year's Games in London.
The 24-year-old, who was born without fibulae in both legs, clocked 45.61 seconds to win the 400m race at the Provincial Championships in his home town of Pretoria in South Africa on Wednesday.
Dubbed the 'Blade Runner' because of his carbon fiber prosthetic limbs, Pistorius must now run 0.6 seconds faster to be granted automatic qualification. But his time could still be good enough to earn him a place in the South African team depending on the performance of other athletes.
After narrowly missing out on the time required for the Beijing Olympics, the Johannesburg-born athlete expressed his delight at the achievement on his Twitter page.
"One of the best nights of my life. Ran a 45.61sec 400m Olympic qualifying time and fastest time in South Africa," Pistorius, whose legs were amputated when he was just 11 months old, wrote.
"Thanks to everyone who has supported and believed in me in my Quest to 2012 London Olympics. One step closer. I'm hungry for it."
After finishing sixth at his National Championships in 2007, Pistorius was blocked from competing alongside his able-bodied counterparts as his blades were considered to give him an unfair advantage.
But in 2008 the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled in favor of the four-time Paralympic champion after a lengthy legal battle with the IAAF. |
3tmfv4nep8e8v18qmv0jp0k44uww8n | Little Tony was riding his bicycle all around the party. After all grandma gave him it right now. What fun would it be for Tony if he couldn't show off his new bike? He rode it up and down the hills and through the people at the party. It was his party. Everyone knew that it was his party. He was turning 8, 8 candles on the cake and the number 8 frosted on, the number 8 on his birthday hat. The big 8. It was much better than his last birthday. He didn't like being 7. He loved riding his bike closer and closer to people and things. Until he ran right into the big table with his birthday cake. All 8 candles flew all over the ground of the lawn. Tony was upset, and so was daddy at the big huge mess he made. He could have been more careful daddy said, and looked where he was going. He was right, Tony was being too crazy. But it was his party, so he kept riding, with more care this time. He rode his bike up and down. Faster and faster. Until Tony's birthday finally was over, long after it began. |
3wz36bjev3gz5i23u2fiti3691bbte | Appointments to the Order of the British Empire were at first made on the nomination of the self-governing Dominions of the Empire, the Viceroy of India, and the colonial governors, as well as on nominations from within the United Kingdom. As the Empire evolved into the Commonwealth, nominations continued to come from the Commonwealth realms, in which the monarch remained head of state. These overseas nominations have been discontinued in realms that have established their own Orders—such as the Order of Australia, the Order of Canada, and the New Zealand Order of Merit—but members of the Order are still appointed in the British Overseas Territories.
Any individual made a member of the Order for gallantry could wear an emblem of two crossed silver oak leaves on the same riband, ribbon or bow as the badge. It could not be awarded posthumously and was effectively replaced in 1974 with the Queen's Gallantry Medal. If recipients of the Order of the British Empire for Gallantry received promotion within the Order, whether for gallantry or otherwise, they continued to wear also the insignia of the lower grade with the oak leaves. However, they only used the post-nominal letters of the higher grade. |
3hrmw88u16qu8099nphhnncvo0tm0z | CHAPTER XIV
LOUIS EXPLAINS
Louis returned of his own accord before long.
"Monsieur has been well served?" he asked genially.
"Excellently, Louis," I answered, "so far as the mere question of food goes. You have not, however, managed to satisfy my curiosity."
"Monsieur?" he asked interrogatively.
"Concerning the Deloras," I answered.
Louis shrugged his shoulders.
"But what should I know?" he asked. "Mr. Delora, he has come here last year and the year before. He has stayed for a month or so. He understands what he eats. That is all. Mademoiselle comes for the first time. I know her not at all."
"What do you think of his disappearance, Louis?" I asked.
"What should I think of it, monsieur? I know nothing."
"Mr. Delora, I am told," I continued, "is a coffee planter in South America."
"I, too," Louis admitted, "have heard so much."
"How came he to have the _entree_ to the Cafe des Deux Epingles?" I asked.
Louis smiled.
"I myself," he remarked, "am but a rare visitor there. How should I tell?"
"Louis," said I, "why not be honest with me? I am certainly not a person to be afraid of. I am very largely in your hands over the Tapilow affair, and, as you know, I have seen too much of the world to consider trifles. I do not believe that Mr. Delora came to London to sell his crop of coffee. I do not believe that you are ignorant of his affairs. I do not believe that his disappearance is so much a mystery to you as it is to the rest of us--say to me and to mademoiselle his niece." |
3ix2egzr7bjs7mnne5n4rrl1torrjc | William James, the great psychologist , said that most men are "old fogies at twenty-five". He was right. Most men at twenty-five are satisfied with their jobs. They have closed their minds to all new ideas; they have stopped to grow. The minute a man stops to grow -no matter what his years -that minute he begins to be old. On the other hand, the really great man never grows old. Goethe passed away at eighty-three, and finished his only a few years earlier; Gladstone took up a new language when he was seventy. Laplace, the astronomer, was still at work when death caught up with him at seventy-eight. He died crying, "What we know is nothing; what we do not know is immense (extremely large)." And there you have the real answer to the question, "When is a man old?" Laplace at seventy-eight died young. He was still unsatisfied, still sure that he had a lot to learn. As long as a man can keep himself in that attitude of mind, as long as he can look back on every year and say, "I grew", he is still young. The minute he ceases (stops) to grow, the minute he says to himself, "I know all that I need to know," -that day youth stops. He may be twenty-five or seventy-five; it makes no difference. On that day he begins to be old. |
33fbrbdw6ozzh32l540id6d1dj0c8r | CHAPTER IV
On the following morning, being Sunday morning, Linda positively refused to get up at the usual hour, and declared her intention of not going to church. She was, she said, so ill that she could not go to church. Late on the preceding evening Madame Staubach, after she had left Peter Steinmarc, had spoken to Linda of what she had heard, and it was not surprising that Linda should have a headache on the following morning. "Linda," Madame Staubach said, "Peter has told me that Ludovic Valcarm has been--making love to you. Linda, is this true?" Linda had been unable to say that it was not true. Her aunt put the matter to her in a more cunning way than Steinmarc had done, and Linda felt herself unable to deny the charge. "Then let me tell you, that of all the young women of whom I ever heard, you are the most deceitful," continued Madame Staubach.
"Do not say that, aunt Charlotte; pray, do not say that."
"But I do say it. Oh, that it should have come to this between you and me!"
"I have not deceived you. Indeed I have not. I don't want to see Ludovic again; never, if you do not wish it. I haven't said a word to him. Oh, aunt, pray believe me. I have never spoken a word to him;--in the way of what you mean."
"Will you consent to marry Peter Steinmarc?" Linda hesitated a moment before she answered. "Tell me, Miss; will you promise to take Peter Steinmarc as your husband?" |
34fnn24dcm9txoko3yb4ydvtd6vy5a | Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (or the Gates Foundation, abbreviated as BMGF) is the largest private foundation in the world, founded by Bill and Melinda Gates. It was launched in 2000 and is said to be the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world. The primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology. The foundation, based in Seattle, Washington, is controlled by its three trustees: Bill Gates, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Other principal officers include Co-Chair William H. Gates, Sr. and Chief Executive Officer Susan Desmond-Hellmann.
On June 25, 2006, Warren Buffett (then the world's richest person, estimated worth of US$62 billion as of April 16, 2008) pledged to give the foundation approximately 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares spread over multiple years through annual contributions, with the first year's donation of 500,000 shares being worth approximately US$1.5 billion. Buffett set conditions so that these contributions do not simply increase the foundation's endowment, but effectively work as a matching contribution, doubling the Foundation's annual giving: "Buffett's gift came with three conditions for the Gates foundation: Bill or Melinda Gates must be alive and active in its administration; it must continue to qualify as a charity; and each year it must give away an amount equal to the previous year's Berkshire gift, plus an additional amount equal to 5 percent of net assets. Buffett gave the foundation two years to abide by the third requirement." The Gates Foundation received 5% (500,000) of the shares in July 2006 and will receive 5% of the remaining earmarked shares in the July of each following year (475,000 in 2007, 451,250 in 2008). In July 2013, Buffet announced another donation of his company's Class B, this time in the amount worth $2 billion, is going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. |
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