Problem: Background: John Edward McGee Jr. (born October 19, 1969), known professionally as John Edward, is an American television personality, author and alleged psychic medium. Born in Glen Cove, New York, Edward says he was convinced at a young age that he could become a psychic. After writing his first book on the subject in 1998, Edward became a well-known and controversial figure in the United States through his shows broadcast on the Sci-Fi Channel beginning in July 2000 and We TV since May 2006. According to an opinion piece by Ed Stockley in the Los Angeles Times, Edward's alleged psychic abilities have never been verified using the scientific method.
Context: The only son of an Irish-American police officer and an Italian-American working mother, Edward was raised Roman Catholic. Although Edward later stopped practicing that faith, he has said he never stopped feeling connected to God and is still closely connected to his Catholic roots. Edward once said, "This is something that is driven by a belief in God. It's the energy from that force that I think allows us to create this energy."  According to Edward, when he was 15 and "a huge doubter" (in psychic abilities), he was "read" by a New Jersey woman who convinced him that he could become a medium.  "She told me things that there is no way she could have known. And the first part of the reading was that this was the path that I was supposed to be on and that I was supposed to be a teacher and help people and - I thought she was nuts." Speaking of the same encounter in a 2002 interview, Edward said, "She told me I would one day become internationally known for my psychic abilities through lectures, books, radio and TV. I thought she was full of it until she started to tell me things no one in my life knew about... The details were unbelievable."  Later, Edward worked as a phlebotomist while pursuing a degree in health care administration at Long Island University. He met his wife, Sandra McGee, when he was a student in a dance studio, and he became a ballroom dancing instructor before entering his current field of work. He and his wife had their first child, Justin, on September 25, 2002, and their second child, Olivia, on January 25, 2007.
Question: What did he do to try to become a medium?
Answer: She told me I would one day become internationally known for my psychic abilities through lectures, books, radio and TV.

Problem: Background: The Bee Gees were a pop music group formed in 1958. Their lineup consisted of brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were successful for most of their decades of recording music, but they had two distinct periods of exceptional success: as a popular music act in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and as prominent performers of the disco music era in the mid-to-late 1970s. The group sang recognisable three-part tight harmonies; Robin's clear vibrato lead vocals were a hallmark of their earlier hits, while Barry's R&B falsetto became their signature sound during the mid-to-late 1970s and 1980s.
Context: At one point in 1978, the Gibb brothers were responsible for writing and/or performing nine of the songs in the Billboard Hot 100. In all, the Gibbs placed 13 singles onto the Hot 100 in 1978, with 12 making the Top 40. The Gibb brothers are fellows of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.  Singer-songwriter Gavin DeGraw spoke to the Bee Gees' influence with their own music as well as their songwriting:  "Let's talk about the Bee Gees. That's an iconic group. Not just a great band, but a great group of songwriters. Even long after the Bee Gees' success on the pop charts, they were still writing songs for other people, huge hit songs. Their talent went far beyond their moment of normal pop success. It is a loss to the music industry and a loss of an iconic group. The beauty of this industry is that we do pay tribute and every artist coming up is a fan of a generation prior to it, so there's a real tradition element to it".  Among the artists who have covered their songs are Michael Bolton, Boyzone, Eric Clapton, Billy Corgan, Destiny's Child, Faith No More, the Flaming Lips, John Frusciante, Al Green, Engelbert Humperdinck, Elton John, Tom Jones, Janis Joplin, Demi Lovato, Lulu, N-Trance, the Pet Shop Boys, Elvis Presley, Nina Simone, Percy Sledge, Robert Smith, Status Quo, Steps and Take That.  In 2009, as part of the Q150 celebrations, the Bee Gees were announced as one of the Q150 Icons of Queensland for their role as "Influential Artists".
Question: What is interesting about their songwriting?
Answer: At least 2,500 artists have recorded their songs.

Problem: Background: Brown was born in Mineola, a small segregated town in east Texas marked by racial tensions, to Minnie Collins Boyd and Lewis Brown. Brown was the fourth of five children. During Brown's childhood, mob violence periodically erupted in Mineola, keeping African- Americans from voting. His first job was a shoeshine boy in a whites-only barber shop.
Context: One of Brown's central campaign promises was his "100-Day Plan for Muni," in which he boasted he would fix the city's municipal bus system in that many days. Brown supported the "Peer Pressure" Bus Patrol program, which paid former gang members and troubled youth to patrol Muni buses. Brown claimed the program helped reduce crime. He fired Muni chief Phil Adams and replaced him with his chief of staff Emilio Cruz. In 1998, Brown was Mayor during the summer of the Muni meltdown as Muni implemented the new ATC system and Brown promised riders there would be better times ahead. A voter approved initiative in the following year would help improve Muni services. Brown increased Muni's budget by tens of millions of dollars over his tenure. Brown later said he made a mistake in over promising with his 100-Day Plan.  Brown helped mediate a settlement to the 1997 BART strike.  During his first term as mayor, Brown quietly favored the demolition and abolition of the Transbay Terminal to accommodate the redevelopment of the site for market-rate housing. Centrally located at First and Mission Streets near the Financial District and South Beach, the terminal originally served as the San Francisco terminus for the electric commuter trains of the East Bay Electric Lines, the Key System of streetcars and the Sacramento Northern railroads which ran on the lower deck of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Following the termination of streetcar service in 1958, the terminal has seen continuous service as a major bus facility for East Bay commuters; AC Transit buses transport riders from the terminal directly into neighborhoods throughout the inner East Bay. The terminal also serves passengers traveling to San Mateo County and the North Bay aboard SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit buses respectively, and to tourists arriving by bus motorcoach. Today, the terminal is being planned for redevelopment as a region wide mass transit hub maintaining the current bus services, but with a new tunnel that would extend the Caltrain commuter rail line from its current terminus at Fourth and Townsend Streets to the site. Once completed, Caltrain riders would no longer need to transfer to Muni in order to reach the downtown financial district. Additionally, the heavy rail portion of the terminal would be designed to accommodate the planned High Speed Rail lines to Los Angeles.  In 1998, The Berkeley, California-based Bicycle Civil Liberties Union, produced a two-hour documentary film in the muckraker journalism tradition, July 25: The Secret is Out, which gives evidence of Brown's designs for the Transbay Terminal site.
Question: What was the biggest improvement he made?
Answer:
Brown helped mediate a settlement to the 1997 BART strike.