Your task is to extract the thesis of an opinionated news article by selecting some of its text segments. The thesis is a summarization of what the author wants to persuade the reader of. Your answer should consist of segments of the given text. Note that you are not allowed to combine different sentences.

[EX Q]: Madonna's cultural appropriation confirms what a cliche she has become. There' s only thing duller than a Twitterstorm , and that's an Instagramstorm . Particularly when said storms feature figures who like to think of themselves as controversial and as deliberately baiting us : Rihanna posing in a clingy burqa at a mosque, Mario Balotelli posting a racist image , and now Madonna doctoring pictures of African and African-American leaders to promote her new album . Really, the only dignified thing to do is to not dignify it with a response, and move on . Who cares if Madonna straps black ropes on the images of dead black rights icons? As Peter Robinson wrote in the Guardian:"It's slightly heartbreaking that Madonna, an artist who made her name through an intuitive grasp of almost every major trend and zeitgeist fluctuation, is so crap at social media." But sometimes a solely jaded response betrays our own complacency, like resigning yourself to the fact that there will always be people who think of racist slurs as banter , or those who think it is just fine to appropriate the symbols of others to give their own tepid existence some edge , or people who still wear bootcut jeans . It's not OK, no matter how persistent and ever- present it is . Even though Madonna has always been controversial , it also seems that as the world around her has got sharper, she has got duller and more derivative . The appropriation that she and others have carried out is nothing new ; we're just noticing it more . That's because those who are piggybacking on others' journeys do not only have more channels to flaunt their cluelessness and sense of entitlement (Iggy Azalea, walk away from Twitter) but they are also being called out on it more . Whether it is usurping religion - crucifixes and nun habits are passe now; it's niqabs on naked bodies  - keep up - homosexuality or now minority rights , Madonna is a manifestation of how privilege feeds off the authenticity of "struggle" . This is a double plundering that leads to further marginalisation : the dominant narrative will oppress you, then co-opt you, and then weave you into your own tiny little section of the tapestry . Some would argue that slavery and segregation ended long ago (well, segregation in the US in the 60s and apartheid in South African in the 90s, so not that long ago) . But that doesn't mean white people can now happily vandalise the cultural and historical totems of a minority's struggle as part of some universal poster for the white western narrative of overcoming and learning from our mistakes . Imagine a pop artist using the recent CIA torture as part of their campaign - perhaps showing dead Arab personalities being waterboarded . No? Too soon? Well , when it comes to certain issues , it will always too soon . Of course ,  the charitable position is that Madonna, or to a different extent, Iggy Azalea, are not doing this with any high degree of self-awareness or design - they might see all contemporary culture as equal-access human heritage that they can dip into and sample as a vehicle for their talent . They would be right to some extent , but the sad fact is that these modern iterations of minority culture that they are sampling all arose from suffering and oppression rather than from a series of tortured geniuses in drawing rooms across Europe . Yes, there are spaces where our common mix of religious, sexual and racial legacies intermingle - gloriously, sometimes . But that is usually an uncurated, spontaneous thing, not a cynical shopping list . To put it simply , edginess comes from just that : being on the edge . Ironically, all Madonna and her ilk's desperate antics to appear so only confirm that they are, in fact, utterly comfortable and mainstream . Cultural appropriation is now the standard default of the unoriginal . It is a common and predictable template , where one becomes a cliche in trying to avoid being a cliche because you have nothing new to offer - something Madonna would surely be mortified by .
[EX A]: Who cares if Madonna straps black ropes on the images of dead black rights icons?

[EX Q]: My brain tumour will be removed this week, and I can be thankful. On the morning of my diagnosis I rush to get ready for work . It's 6am and I make a cup of black tea . As I carry it across the room , even though I'm being careful, I spill most of the boiling liquid, burning my hand . What's wrong with me, I think . By 10.30am my GP will telephone me at work with the results of a brain scan I had a couple of days before: an acoustic neuroma, sitting behind my right ear, 42mm in size - a brain tumour . The GP says that, so as not to delay things, he's faxing the referral to neurosurgery right away for urgent attention . Faxing? "Any change," he says,"go to A&E  ;". "Change? What does that mean?" I ask , becoming more alarmed with every word he says . "Have you been sick?" he asks . "No." "That's good." I feel sick . Diagnosis is a long, arduous path that is difficult to navigate . People get sick of you being sick and stop listening . To the untrained eye I look fine . But look closer and you'll see that I can't close my right eye , so it doesn't blink . My face is sagging on the right side , I get sores on the right-hand corner of my mouth due to the drool that manages to escape because of facial weakness on that side . Less obvious are the hidden symptoms . Right-sided facial numbness; overwhelming fatigue; tinnitus and reduced hearing in my right ear; a lack of co-ordination leading to an overpowering unsteadiness . All because I have this 42mm tumour that is taking up space in my head, slowly strangling the nerves relating to hearing, balance and facial sensation . I feel stupid for not noticing and not pursuing some of the symptoms when I first experienced them years ago . I listened to others too much when they told me it was normal and didn't listen to myself when I knew it was not . There is a certain amount of relief when you finally get a diagnosis, especially one so definitive . At the end of November, the moment I found out, work sent me home and there I have been ever since . Later that week I get a call from my bank . "Sorry for not calling," I say,"I've had a pretty rough week." I nearly tell them I've just found out I've got a brain tumour , but I catch myself . I realise how powerful that news is . It can get you out of almost anything . I've felt the power every time I've said it , but I still don't believe it's happening to me . My sister had breast cancer three years ago and it's taken all this time to stop the illness dominating her life . She has stopped obsessively searching for lumps, and says:"It's history, old news, like it happened to someone else." Will I ever acknowledge the reality of what's happening to me? I'm a 41-year- old woman, married, with no kids by choice . Children would mess up the vice- like grip my husband and I like to have on our lives . My morning commute takes an hour and a half so I read prolifically . I manage a small IT team at a prominent university . Apart from reading I love to cook . That's who I am: work, reading and cooking . Sounds boring, but I loved it . I haven't finished a book since being sent home from work . And don't ask me what's for dinner . I'll become dithery and confused, and eventually settle on cheese and crackers . After the relief of diagnosis, fear sets in . I know the snail's pace at which the NHS usually moves , so watching it jump into action induces panic in me . Within a couple of days, the hotshot neurosurgeon calls . He tells me it is a slow-growing tumour that I have probably had for years and that a few more weeks while they plan my operation won't make any difference . He tells me that as acoustic neuromas go, this one's big , but the good news is it's benign, it's not cancer , though it must come out and soon . Then the bad news- I will lose all hearing in that ear and one side of my face may be permanently paralysed from the operation . The news that I didn't have cancer didn't register ; I was too busy counting my losses . A few days later I went to a support group for people with brain tumours , where I met people with brain cancer . Their lumps were in places like the memory, speech or personality part of their brains , and for some the prognosis wasn't good . The phone call they got from their doctors was much worse than mine . I came away feeling grateful, devastatingly so . It sounds vain , but facial paralysis bothers me more than deafness . People will be able to see there is something wrong . I worry that they'll stop seeing me and see only a problem with my face . Not satisfied with taking half my hearing, the surgeon may take away my smile, my frown and that weird raised eyebrow look I've inherited from my dad . Not being able to express myself in full feels like I'm losing a big part of who I am . Admittedly, that is a woman who has worked in London for more than 20 years, trained in the art of remaining expressionless and speaking to no one . Now I smile or speak to strangers, luxuriating in my facial movements . I find much more to smile about nowadays . The internet tells me these types of tumours grow at a rate of about 1mm a year . If they have a spurt they might make it to 2mm a year . Has the tumour been growing all of my life? I think back to key moments : did I miss out on promotions due to the fatigue of a growing tumour? I did a degree part-time a few years ago and got a 2:1 . I now think my certificate should say 2:1 (with a brain tumour) . The morning after my diagnosis I was woken up by The Voice . Wake up, it said, there' s lots to do . It has been telling me what to do ever since , and so far it has never been wrong . We all have that voice , but the busyness of our lives causes it to fade into the background . Never has mine been so loud . Do yoga , it will improve your balance . Call your brother who you haven't spoken to in two years . Write a thank-you letter to the doctor who diagnosed you . Tell them you're scared before you have that brain scan . Write a will . My operation, a craniotomy, is planned for this coming Thursday . I have two main worries . The first is the horror of surrendering myself to it . I have to turn up at the hospital at 7.30am . They are trusting me to have eaten or drunk nothing for at least six hours . Like an inmate at a prison, I will have my possessions checked in . They will give me a gown to wear that is not my own . Then I will say goodbye to my husband, not knowing when I will see him again . Depending on the hotshot neurosurgeon's schedule I may have to wait a number of hours, empty-bellied and frightened . Eventually I will have one side of my head shaved before they put me to sleep . Don't make me do this voluntarily . Treat me like a wild animal running through the woods, take me out with a sedative dart when I am cooking or doing my favourite yoga pose . Then let me wake up when it is all over . Don't tell me I am brave . The people who choose to get involved with me are the brave ones . My husband, for picking me up every time I fall over when I lose my balance physically - and metaphorically . My mother, for clearing her schedule for as long as it takes to get me better . People like my yoga teacher , who didn't run a mile when I approached her for help, but instead restored some of my balance and made me feel strong . My second worry is something I've never been good at in my life . Now I must face it head-on - the unknown . The doctors can't tell me how long my hospital stay will be . Will they need to open me up again because my brain is bleeding? Will I have to have a shunt fitted because fluid isn't draining from my head? Will the surgeon sneeze and nick my facial nerve? Most suffering is in the worry . It means I have to live in the lacuna of uncertainty, embracing not knowing and carrying on , a new skill I practise daily . I know that if you take my life as a whole this is an interruption . This will end . I refuse to make it who I am, my identity . Rather ,  it is an experience, one that leaves its imprint on my body . It has brought my life into sharp focus and revealed what I have to be thankful for: people, strangers and intimates for their kindness and well wishing; my tenacity and determination for carrying me through; and as much as I'm trying to shake it off, my plan for creating a freezer-full of food to be eaten post-op . I am ready .
[EX A]: Diagnosis is a long, arduous path that is difficult to navigate

[EX Q]: Putin and Erdogan: Partnership of convenience? The fate of the multibillion dollar project had been up in the air for a few months . Breaching EU competition rules, the pipeline project could have gone through if it had allowed access to suppliers other than Gazprom . The crisis in Ukraine and the mounting tensions gave EU policymakers an additional reason not to accommodate Russia's demands for special treatment . As a result, Putin declared that resources will be directed towards upgrading gas pipeline infrastructure linking Russia to Turkey - or even building an altogether new pipeline, in an attempt to save face and offset the losses incurred over South Stream . This decision underscores the pragmatism in the way Moscow and Ankara deal with each other . Meetings and official phone conversations between Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, more than 35 over the past few years, usually follow a very similar script . The two leaders agree to disagree on the ongoing human tragedy in Syria, where they sit on opposing sides, and proceed with bilateral business . This time around, they made the usual pledge to triple the volume of trade between the two countries from the current figure of $33bn to $100bn by the end of this decade . That might be an ambitious target but one should not forget that Russia is already Turkey's second largest trading partner after Germany . It is, furthermore, the second biggest market for Russian gas exports outside the former Soviet Union, with Germany again the frontrunner . Turkish construction firms have carved out a niche in the Russian market , benefiting handsomely from large public-funded project such as the Sochi Winter Olympics . This explains why Erdogan was deaf to calls for Turks of Circassian origin to boycott the games , which were set in the part of the Caucasus they were uprooted from back in the 1860s . Currently, there is a problem with gas deliveries over the Trans-Balkan pipeline to western Turkey via Ukraine, Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria , because of disruptions due to the constant wrangling between Gazprom and Ukraine's Naftohaz . If the winter is harsh , heating in Istanbul and other large cities in the Marmara region will suffer . That is not a welcome prospect for the Turkish government , which is heading for general elections in the first half of 2015 and is therefore determined to avoid such unpleasant shocks and also keep gas prices low . High-ranking Russian representatives, including Gazprom's CEO Alexei Miller, who was in Ankara last week, promise to step up volumes through the Blue Stream, the pipeline connecting the Russian grid to central Anatolia via the Black Sea, and reach a total of 30 billion cubic metres in 2014, from 25.6 billion cubic metres the previous year . In this context, it makes perfect sense that investment should be redirected from the botched South Stream project to the upgrade of Blue Stream . In the long run, Ankara would also like to move away from dependence on Russia and tap into new gas flowing from Azerbaijan - via the Trans Anatolian Natural Gas Pipeline (TANAP) coming onstream in 2019 - Northern Iraq, Iran and, should a solution be reached on the Cyprus Issue, the Eastern Mediterranean . The AKP government has helped decrease imports from Russia to 57 percent of the overall volume , but in absolute terms, consumption in an expanding economy like Turkey's is only going higher . Luckily, the plummeting prices of oil have come as a huge bonus to the government , reducing Turkey's bill and improving the balance of payments vis-a-vis Russia . What Turkey is offering in exchange is neutrality in Putin's confrontation with the West . Ankara has a lot of reasons to be unhappy about the annexation of Crimea, home to a large Tatar community which views Turkey as a kin state, and about the frozen conflict in Eastern Ukraine . Yet ,  unlike all other members of NATO, it has declined to join the sanctions imposed on Russia (imports of Turkish poultry and seafood have rocketed since) . The strategic value of Turkey's neutrality has only gone up after Putin found himself shouldered aside by most emerging powers at the recent G20 summit in Brisbane, Australia . Russia has long encouraged Turkey's pursuit of an autonomous foreign policy and emancipation from NATO and the US . As the Turkish city of Antalya hosts the next G20 summit , there will be a renewed emphasis on Turkey's transformation into a global leader rather than a pliant western periphery . But geopolitical gains may not give Russia sufficient incentive to accommodate Turkish demands . Putin came with a delegation of 10 government ministers and a shopping list too . He would like to see progress on Rosatom's $20bn project to build Turkey's first nuclear power station at Akkuyu near Mersin . Construction work is expected to start in May , but reportedly Putin has insisted on a preferential treatment for the Russian state company by the Turkish tax authorities . It seems, however , that Erdogan has held his ground this time around and Rosatom has not obtained what it wanted . Though Putin's visit will be remembered for the South Stream announcement , what is most remarkable about it is the continued development of Russian- Turkish relations, amid mounting tensions between Putin and the West .
[EX A]:
The crisis in Ukraine and the mounting tensions gave EU policymakers an additional reason not to accommodate Russia's demands for special treatment