QUES: Surely, you have noticed the tall poles along the roadside. Do you know what is on top of those poles? Thats right, wires that carry electric current. These wires carry electric current to your home. But what is electric current? Electric current is actually the flow of electrons. You may recall, an electron is the outer-most particle in an atom. They have a negative charge. Electricity is the continuous flow of these particles. Electrons are able to move through wires. Their speed can even be measured. The SI unit for electric current (or speed) is the ampere (A). Ampere is often shortened to amp. Electric current may flow in just one direction, or it may keep reversing direction. Direct current (DC) flows in only one direction. Direct current is what is used in devices like flashlights. Alternating current (AC) flows in two directions. This is the type of current that flows into your home through wires.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Do electrons have a positive or negative charge?

QUES: The White Rajahs of Borneo: In the 19th century, Borneo remained relatively undeveloped. Balanini pirates, fervent Muslims, disputed the coast of northeastern Borneo (modern Sabah) with the sultanate of Brunei. Sarawak's coast and jungle interior were controlled by the IbanSea Dayak pirates and Land Dayak slash-and-burn farmers. (The Dayaks practiced head-hunting, a ritual that was believed to bring spiritual energy to their communities. ) The region was unproductive and without great resources, except for the Sarawak river valley, where the Chinese mined for gold and antimony. Brunei chiefs traded the metals through Americans in Singapore. In 1839, the governor of Singapore sent James Brooke (18031868) to promote trade links with the Sultan of Brunei. He had been an audacious cavalry officer in the Anglo-Burmese wars and now exploited the situation for his own benefit. In exchange for helping the regent end a revolt of uppity Malay chiefs, Brooke was made Rajah of Sarawak in 1841, with his capital in Kuching (founded by the Malays just 11 years earlier). He tried to halt the Dayaks' piracy and head-hunting while defending their more "morally acceptable" customs. His attempts to limit the opium trade met with resistance by the Chinese in Bau, who revolted. His counter-attack with Dayak warriors drove the Chinese out of Bau and across the Sarawak border. Thereafter, Chinese settlement was discouraged and did not achieve the commercial dominance it enjoyed on the peninsula. In 1863, Brooke retired to Britain, handing Sarawak over to his nephew Charles. More reserved and remote but a better administrator and financier than his uncle, Charles Brooke imposed on his men his own austere, efficient style of life. He brought Dayak leaders onto his ruling council but favored the time-honored colonial practice of divide-and-rule by pitting one tribe against another to keep the peace. Northeast Borneo (Sabah) was "rented" from the Sultan of Brunei by British businessman Alfred Dent. Dent was operating a royal charter for the British North Borneo Companya charter similar to that of the EIC.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: Which groups fought for control of Borneo in the 19th Century?

QUES: Captured Moments by Will Shetterly I remember Papa's stopbox, a teal blue Tiempo Capturado that Mama brought home for his birthday. It was huge and inefficient, and she should never have spent so many pesos on a toy, but Papa would not let her return it. He used it to preserve baby tomatoes, cucumbers, and strawberries in translucent cubes that he stored in the pantry for spring-time meals in the middle of winter. Mama kept her mink jacket, a family hand-me-down, safe from time in a stopbox, and lent the capturador to my uncle for his stamp collection. Sometimes they would let us little ones to seal a treasured toy or a last piece of birthday cake until we begged them for its release, usually a few hours after enclosing it. When my father died, a year after my mother, my sisters and I cleaned out their apartment. We found our baby shoes protected in stopboxes. I took mine home, where they sat above my computer while I worked on my first play. One night when I did not believe love had ever existed for anyone, I used my own capturador, a sleek titanium Sanyo Tardar Ahora, to undo the stopbox. Bringing my face close to the shoes, I breathed deeply of air that my parents had trapped while closing up that symbol of their love for me. The instant would have been improved had my baby shoes been cleaned before they were encased. But as soon as I coughed, I laughed, and I did not try to kill myself that night.
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION: What did papa preserve?

QUES: Animated history of the US. Of course the cartoon is highly oversimplified, and most critics consider it one of the weakest parts of the film. But it makes a valid claim which you ignore entirely: That the strategy to promote "gun rights" for white people and to outlaw gun possession by black people was a way to uphold racism without letting an openly terrorist organization like the KKK flourish. Did the 19th century NRA in the southern states promote gun rights for black people? I highly doubt it. But if they didn't, one of their functions was to continue the racism of the KKK. This is the key message of this part of the animation, which is again being ignored by its critics. Buell shooting in Flint. You write: "Fact: The little boy was the class thug, already suspended from school for stabbing another kid with a pencil, and had fought with Kayla the day before". This characterization of a six-year-old as a pencil-stabbing thug is exactly the kind of hysteria that Moore's film warns against. It is the typical right-wing reaction which looks for simple answers that do not contradict the Republican mindset. The kid was a little bastard, and the parents were involved in drugs -- case closed. But why do people deal with drugs? Because it's so much fun to do so? It is by now well documented that the CIA tolerated crack sales in US cities to fund the operation of South American "contras" It is equally well known that the so-called "war on drugs" begun under the Nixon administration is a failure which has cost hundreds of billions and made America the world leader in prison population (both in relative and absolute numbers).
Do you have any questions?
MY QUESTION:
Does the author know whether the 19th century NRA in southern states promoted gun rights for black people?