title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Initially born without a ""quirk"" to call his own, Izuku nevertheless grew up with aspirations to become a superhero in his own right. Nicknamed "Deku" by childhood classmate and middle school bully - Katsuki Bakugo, Izuku would later save him from a villain, in turn winning over the interest of All Might, Izuku's childhood idol and #1 hero, who in turn passes down his sacred One For All quirk to him. After being accepted into U.A. High School, Izuku's classmate Ochaco Uraraka inspires him to embrace his nickname and use it as his hero name.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: In the anime adaptation of the manga, Izuku is voiced by Daiki Yamashita in Japanese and by Justin Briner in English. Izuku has received praise by critics for his character development and personality, and has also made consistent appearances in popularity polls related to the series.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku Midoriya was initially created as , an ill salaryman working for a superhero supply company. This prototype appears only in a 2008 one-shot comic written by Horikoshi called "My Hero". He was later changed to a high-school student for "My Hero Academia" (with the chronic illness repurposed for All Might's character), however, his character remains largely unchanged. This prototype for "My Hero Academia"'s main protagonist was , a black-haired Quirkless boy who would have utilized gadgets to become a hero. Horikoshi revised the design of Akatani's character, as he was especially dissatisfied with the hair and shortened it for Midoriya. Initially the protagonist was to remain Quirkless. Horikoshi changed the direction of Midoriya's character by adding his acquisition of One For All, due to suggestions from editors that argued that a powerless main protagonist would be overshadowed by other superpowered characters.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku is first seen in "My Hero Academia" as a 4-year-old boy about to be beaten up by three other classmates, one of them being Katsuki "Kacchan" Bakugo, who has the ability to create explosions. Izuku was born without any unique superpower, or "Quirk", to call his own unlike his parents and 80% of the world's population. Despite this setback, he grew up with aspirations to be a hero in his own right and began to idolize the superhero All Might. Izuku was raised primarily by his mother Inko, who has the ability to make small objects float towards herself. His father, Hisashi, whose quirk allows him to breathe fire, is not seen due to him working abroad in the United States. Throughout his childhood and into his teen years, Izuku would often be bullied by Katsuki, who would give him the nickname "Deku" (an alternate Kun'yomi reading of his given name's kanji that is homophonous with 木偶, meaning "useless person; good for nothing"; treated as a clipped compound of "Defenseless Izuku" in English translations) to mock his perceived worthlessness by superhero society.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Ten years later, Izuku has a chance encounter with Toshinori Yagi, otherwise known as All Might, and asks him if he too could be a hero, even though he possesses no Quirk. All Might, after he ends up revealing his true appearance, tells him in response to dream more realistically and to consider becoming a police officer. Later, when an unnamed villain with mud-like liquid abilities attacks Katsuki, Izuku without proper thought, runs up to try and save him, which in turn gives the worn-out All Might (who can only do hero work for a limited time a day due to a fight with All for One that destroyed half of his respiratory system) the proper motivation to finish off the villain.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Later, an impressed All Might meets up with Izuku and tells him that he wants him to inherit his quirk "One for All". Izuku accepts the offer and after ten months of training by All Might in order to prove his worth (in that time, Izuku turns 15), he is forced to eat a strand of hair from All Might in order to obtain One for All, just hours prior to the UA entrance exam. Izuku first uses One for All during the practical part of the exam to save fellow competitor Ochaco Uraraka from being squashed by falling rubble. In turn, she demands Izuku get some of her points for the practical, not knowing that by saving her, Izuku had passed the exam. In honor of his acceptance, his mother Inko fabricates him his very own super-suit, a teal-colored suit based on a sketch Izuku once drew. Izuku is placed in a class with Katsuki and Ochaco, the latter of whom inspires him to embrace "Deku" as his hero name due to sounding similar to "dekiru" (出来る), which roughly translates to "you can do it."


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Throughout the course of the series, Izuku becomes an encouraging influence to his classmates, such as allowing class prodigy Shoto Todoroki to let go of traumas that prevented him from using his powers to its fullest potential, helping Ochaco Uraraka win the hero vs villain exercise, teaching Fumikage Tokoyami how to use his Quirk for defense purposes and helping Kyoka Jiro organize her notes for the school festival. After nearly a year of school activities and internships, some of which are intercepted by villain attacks, Izuku learns that All for One's apprentice Tomura Shigaraki has become powerful enough to steal One for All. Due to this, Izuku decides to leave U.A. so he can combat Shigaraki and his army of villains without endangering his classmates, who he had informed about his leave. Prior to leaving, he informs his classmates and several of the top heroes about One for All, the latter of whom assist him in hunting down the villains. His classmates tracked him down and were able to bring him back to U.A. successfully, while reminding him about how helpful he was to his class and why they see him as a friend, as well as Katsuki apologizing for his bullying attitude to Midoriya.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku plays central roles in the movies "", "" and "". He also appears in the spinoff light novel series "My Hero Academia: School Briefs", as well as the comic parody "My Hero Academia: Smash!!", which depicts My Hero Academia's events in a more comedic manner.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku appears as a playable character in the video games "My Hero Academia: Battle for All", "My Hero One's Justice", and "My Hero One's Justice 2". He also appears as a playable character in the video game "Jump Force" along with All Might, Shoto Todoroki and Katsuki Bakugo. He'll also be appearing in a set event in Pixel Gun 3D, but is named "Quirky Boy", alongside two of his own weapons, the Double Quirk, and the Grenade Quirk.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku will also appear in "Fortnite Battle Royale" as one of the crossover characters along with Katsuki Bakugo, Ochaco Uraraka and All Might, for the launch of 'Chapter 4 Season 1'.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku's quirk, One For All, can stockpile one's power, increasing the user's physical capabilities and being transferred from one person to another. Since this quirk can be passed down from user to user, the different quirks of the previous One For All holders also become embedded into One For All as well. These powers are:


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: In a 2018 "My Hero Academia" character popularity poll by Crunchyroll, Izuku tallied up in first place with 11,429 votes. In the yearly Japanese "My Hero Academia" popularity polls, Izuku commonly ranks second place behind Katsuki Bakugou, although he has placed first in the first ever poll with 2,314 votes, and third in the fourth poll with 8,301 tallied votes. In Tumblr's top anime and manga characters of 2020, Izuku ranked first.


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: Izuku's character has received positive reviews from critics. Nick Creamer of Anime News Network called Izuku a "very likeable character" and noting that "he's joined by a rich cast of teachers and classmates who all add their own personality(...)." While discussing his frequent appearances on "My Hero Academia" popularity polls, Nerissa Rupnarine of CBR wrote that Midoriya stands out on his own despite following some common "shōnen" tropes, adding that Izuku's character development "(...) is truly admirable and captivating to watch." In his review for the "" movie, Teo Bugbee of "The New York Times" mentioned how Izuku's tenderness "[added] to the film's surprisingly emotional potency."


title: Izuku Midoriya

text: At the Crunchyroll Anime Awards, Izuku won the Hero of the Year award in 2017 and 2018. He also won the award for Best Boy in 2019, and Best Fight Scene with Overhaul in 2021.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Ferdinand de Saussure (; ; 26 November 1857 – 22 February 1913) was a Swiss linguist, semiotician and philosopher. His ideas laid a foundation for many significant developments in both linguistics and semiotics in the 20th century. He is widely considered one of the founders of 20th-century linguistics and one of two major founders (together with Charles Sanders Peirce) of semiotics, or "semiology", as Saussure called it.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: One of his translators, Roy Harris, summarized Saussure's contribution to linguistics and the study of "the whole range of human sciences. It is particularly marked in linguistics, philosophy, psychoanalysis, psychology, sociology and anthropology." Although they have undergone extension and critique over time, the dimensions of organization introduced by Saussure continue to inform contemporary approaches to the phenomenon of language. As Leonard Bloomfield stated after reviewing the "Cours": "he has given us the theoretical basis for a science of human speech".


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure was born in Geneva in 1857. His father, Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure, was a mineralogist, entomologist, and taxonomist. Saussure showed signs of considerable talent and intellectual ability as early as the age of fourteen. In the autumn of 1870, he began attending the Institution Martine (previously the Institution Lecoultre until 1969), in Geneva. There he lived with the family of a classmate, Elie David. Graduating at the top of class, Saussure expected to continue his studies at the Gymnase de Genève, but his father decided he was not mature enough at fourteen and a half, and sent him to the Collège de Genève instead. Saussure was not pleased, as he complained: "I entered the Collège de Genève, to waste a year there as completely as a year can be wasted."


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: After a year of studying Latin, Ancient Greek and Sanskrit and taking a variety of courses at the University of Geneva, he commenced graduate work at the University of Leipzig in 1876.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Two years later, at 21, Saussure published a book entitled "Mémoire sur le système primitif des voyelles dans les langues indo-européennes" ("Dissertation on the Primitive Vowel System in Indo-European Languages"). After this he studied for a year at the University of Berlin under the "Privatdozent" Heinrich Zimmer, with whom he studied Celtic, and Hermann Oldenberg with whom he continued his studies of Sanskrit. He returned to Leipzig to defend his doctoral dissertation "De l'emploi du génitif absolu en Sanscrit", and was awarded his doctorate in February 1880. Soon, he relocated to the University of Paris, where he lectured on Sanskrit, Gothic and Old High German and occasionally other subjects.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Ferdinand de Saussure is one of the world’s most quoted linguists, which is remarkable as he himself hardly published anything during his lifetime. Even his few scientific articles are not unproblematic. Thus, for example, his publication on Lithuanian phonetics is mostly taken from studies by the Lithuanian researcher Friedrich Kurschat, with whom Saussure traveled through Lithuania in August 1880 for two weeks and whose (German) books Saussure had read. Saussure, who had studied some basic grammar of Lithuanian in Leipzig for one semester but was unable to speak the language, was thus dependent on Kurschat.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure taught at the École pratique des hautes études for eleven years during which he was named Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur (Knight of the Legion of Honor). When offered a professorship in Geneva in 1892, he returned to Switzerland. Saussure lectured on Sanskrit and Indo-European at the University of Geneva for the remainder of his life. It was not until 1907 that Saussure began teaching the Course of General Linguistics, which he would offer three times, ending in the summer of 1911. He died in 1913 in Vufflens-le-Château, Vaud, Switzerland. His brothers were the linguist and Esperantist René de Saussure, and scholar of ancient Chinese astronomy, Léopold de Saussure. His son Raymond de Saussure was a psychoanalyst.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure attempted, at various times in the 1880s and 1890s, to write a book on general linguistic matters. His lectures about important principles of language description in Geneva between 1907 and 1911 were collected and published by his pupils posthumously in the famous "Cours de linguistique générale" in 1916. Work published in his lifetime includes two monographs and a few dozen of papers and notes, all of them collected in a volume of some 600 pages published in 1922. Saussure did not publish anything of his work on ancient poetics even if he had filled more than of a hundred notebooks. Jean Starobinski edited and presented material from them in the '70s and more has been published since then. Some of his manuscripts, including an unfinished essay discovered in 1996, were published in "Writings in General Linguistics", but most of the material in it had already been published in Engler's critical edition of the "Course", in 1967 and 1974. Today it is clear that "Cours" owes much to its so-called editors Charles Bally and Albert Sèchehaye and various details are difficult to track to Saussure himself or his manuscripts.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure's theoretical reconstructions of the Proto-Indo-European language vocalic system and particularly his theory of laryngeals, otherwise unattested at the time, bore fruit and found confirmation after the decipherment of Hittite in the work of later generations of linguists such as Émile Benveniste and Walter Couvreur, who both drew direct inspiration from their reading of the 1878 "Mémoire".


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure had a major impact on the development of linguistic theory in the first half of the 20th century with his notions becoming incorporated in the central tenets of structural linguistics. His main contribution to structuralism was his theory of a two-tiered reality about language. The first is the "langue", the abstract and invisible layer, while the second, the "parole", refers to the actual speech that we hear in real life. This framework was later adopted by Claude Levi-Strauss, who used the two-tiered model to determine the reality of myths. His idea was that all myths have an underlying pattern, which form the structure that makes them myths. These established the structuralist framework to literary criticism.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: In Europe, the most important work after Saussure's death was done by the Prague school. Most notably, Nikolay Trubetzkoy and Roman Jakobson headed the efforts of the Prague School in setting the course of phonological theory in the decades from 1940. Jakobson's universalizing structural-functional theory of phonology, based on a markedness hierarchy of distinctive features, was the first successful solution of a plane of linguistic analysis according to the Saussurean hypotheses. Elsewhere, Louis Hjelmslev and the Copenhagen School proposed new interpretations of linguistics from structuralist theoretical frameworks.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: In America, where the term 'structuralism' became highly ambiguous, Saussure's ideas informed the distributionalism of Leonard Bloomfield, but his influence remained limited. Systemic functional linguistics is a theory considered to be based firmly on the Saussurean principles of the sign, albeit with some modifications. Ruqaiya Hasan describes systemic functional linguistics as a 'post-Saussurean' linguistic theory. Michael Halliday argues:


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure's most influential work, "Course in General Linguistics" ("Cours de linguistique générale"), was published posthumously in 1916 by former students Charles Bally and Albert Sechehaye, on the basis of notes taken from Saussure's lectures in Geneva. The "Course" became one of the seminal linguistics works of the 20th century not primarily for the content (many of the ideas had been anticipated in the works of other 20th century linguists) but for the innovative approach that Saussure applied in discussing linguistic phenomena.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Its central notion is that language may be analyzed as a formal system of differential elements, apart from the messy dialectics of real-time production and comprehension. Examples of these elements include his notion of the linguistic sign, which is composed of the signifier and the signified. Though the sign may also have a referent, Saussure took that to lie beyond the linguist's purview.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Throughout the book, he stated that a linguist can develop a diachronic analysis of a text or theory of language but must learn just as much or more about the language/text as it exists at any moment in time (i.e. "synchronically"): "Language is a system of signs that expresses ideas". A science that studies the life of signs within society and is a part of social and general psychology. Saussure believed that semiotics is concerned with everything that can be taken as a sign, and he called it semiology.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: While a student, Saussure published an important work about Proto-Indo-European, which explained unusual forms of word roots in terms of lost phonemes he called "sonant coefficients". The Scandinavian scholar Hermann Möller suggested that they might actually be laryngeal consonants, leading to what is now known as the laryngeal theory. After Hittite texts were discovered and deciphered, Polish linguist Jerzy Kuryłowicz recognized that a Hittite consonant stood in the positions where Saussure had theorized a lost phoneme some 48 years earlier, confirming the theory. It has been argued that Saussure's work on this problem, systematizing the irregular word forms by hypothesizing then-unknown phonemes, stimulated his development of structuralism.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The principles and methods employed by structuralism were later adapted in diverse fields by French intellectuals such as Roland Barthes, Jacques Lacan, Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault and Claude Lévi-Strauss. Such scholars took influence from Saussure's ideas in their own areas of study (literary studies/philosophy, psychoanalysis, anthropology, respectively).


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure approaches theory of language from two different perspectives. On the one hand, language is a system of signs. That is, a semiotic system; or a semiological system as he himself calls it. On the other hand, a language is also a social phenomenon: a product of the language community.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: One of Saussure's key contributions to semiotics lies in what he called "semiology", the concept of the bilateral (two-sided) sign which consists of 'the signifier' (a linguistic form, e.g. a word) and 'the signified' (the meaning of the form). Saussure supported the argument for the arbitrariness of the sign although he did not deny the fact that some words are onomatopoeic, or claim that picture-like symbols are fully arbitrary. Saussure also did not consider the linguistic sign as random, but as historically cemented. All in all, he did not invent the philosophy of arbitrariness, but made a very influential contribution to it.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The arbitrariness of words of different languages itself is a fundamental concept in Western thinking of language, dating back to Ancient Greek philosophers. The question whether words are natural or arbitrary (and artificially made by people) returned as a controversial topic during the Age of Enlightenment when the medieval scholastic dogma, that languages were created by God, became opposed by the advocates of humanistic philosophy. There were efforts to construct a 'universal language', based on the lost Adamic language, with various attempts to uncover universal words or characters which would be readily understood by all people regardless of their nationality. John Locke, on the other hand, was among those who believed that languages were a rational human innovation, and argued for the arbitrariness of words.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure took it for granted in his time that "No one disputes the principle of the arbitrary nature of the sign." He however disagreed with the common notion that each word corresponds "to the thing that it names" or what is called the referent in modern semiotics. For example, in Saussure's notion, the word 'tree' does not refer to a tree as a physical object, but to the psychological "concept" of a tree. The linguistic sign thus arises from the psychological "association" between the signifier (a 'sound-image') and the signified (a 'concept'). There can therefore be no linguistic expression without meaning, but also no meaning without linguistic expression. Saussure's structuralism, as it later became called, therefore includes an implication of linguistic relativity. However, Saussure's own view has been described instead as a form of semantic holism that acknowledged that the interconnection between terms in a language was not fully arbitrary and only methodologically bracketed the relationship between linguistic terms and the physical world.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The naming of spectral colours exemplifies how meaning and expression arise simultaneously from their interlinkage. Different colour frequencies are per se meaningless, or mere "substance" or meaning potential. Likewise, phonemic combinations which are not associated with any content are only meaningless expression potential, and therefore not considered as "signs". It is only when a region of the spectrum is outlined and given an arbitrary name, for example 'blue', that the sign emerges. The sign consists of the "signifier" ('blue') and of the "signified" (the colour region), and of the associative link which connects them. Arising from an arbitrary demarcation of meaning potential, the signified is not a property of the physical world. In Saussure's concept, language is ultimately not a function of reality, but a self-contained system. Thus, Saussure's semiology entails a bilateral (two-sided) perspective of semiotics.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The same idea is applied to any concept. For example, natural law does not dictate which plants are 'trees' and which are 'shrubs' or a different type of woody plant; or whether these should be divided into further groups. Like blue, all signs gain semantic "value" in opposition to other signs of the system (e.g. red, colourless). If more signs emerge (e.g. 'marine blue'), the semantic field of the original word may narrow down. Conversely, words may become antiquated, whereby competition for the semantic field lessens. Or, the meaning of a word may change altogether.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: After his death, structural and functional linguists applied Saussure's concept to the analysis of the linguistic form as motivated by meaning. The opposite direction of the linguistic expressions as giving rise to the conceptual system, on the other hand, became the foundation of the post-Second World War structuralists who adopted Saussure's concept of structural linguistics as the model for all human sciences as the study of how language shapes our concepts of the world. Thus, Saussure's model became important not only for linguistics, but for humanities and social sciences as a whole.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: A second key contribution comes from Saussure's notion of the organisation of language based on the principle of opposition. Saussure made a distinction between meaning (significance) and "value". On the semantic side, concepts gain value by being contrasted with related concepts, creating a conceptual system which could in modern terms be described as a semantic network. On the level of the sound-image, phonemes and morphemes gain value by being contrasted with related phonemes and morphemes; and on the level of the grammar, parts of speech gain value by being contrasted with each other. Each element within each system is eventually contrasted with all other elements in different types of relations so that no two elements have the exact same value:


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure defined his own theory in terms of binary oppositions: "sign—signified, meaning—value, language—speech, synchronic—diachronic, internal linguistics—external linguistics", and so on. The related term markedness denotes the assessment of value between binary oppositions. These were studied extensively by post-war structuralists such as Claude Lévi-Strauss to explain the organisation of social conceptualisation, and later by the post-structuralists to criticise it. Cognitive semantics also diverges from Saussure on this point, emphasizing the importance of similarity in defining categories in the mind as well as opposition.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Based on markedness theory, the Prague Linguistic Circle made great advances in the study of phonetics reforming it as the systemic study of phonology. Although the terms opposition and markedness are rightly associated with Saussure's concept of language as a semiological system, he did not invent the terms and concepts which had been discussed by various 19th century grammarians before him.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: In his treatment of language as a 'social fact', Saussure touches topics that were controversial in his time, and that would continue to split opinions in the post-war structuralist movement. Saussure's relationship with 19th century theories of language was somewhat ambivalent. These included social Darwinism and Völkerpsychologie or Volksgeist thinking which were regarded by many intellectuals as nationalist and racist pseudoscience.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure, however, considered the ideas useful if treated in a proper way. Instead of discarding August Schleicher's organicism or Heymann Steinthal's "spirit of the nation", he restricted their sphere in ways that were meant to preclude any chauvinistic interpretations.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure exploited the sociobiological concept of language as a living organism. He criticises August Schleicher and Max Müller's ideas of languages as organisms struggling for living space, but settles with promoting the idea of linguistics as a natural science as long as the study of the 'organism' of language excludes its adaptation to its territory. This concept would be modified in post-Saussurean linguistics by the Prague circle linguists Roman Jakobson and Nikolai Trubetzkoy, and eventually diminished.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Perhaps the most famous of Saussure's ideas is the distinction between language and speech (Fr. "langue et parole"), with 'speech' referring to the individual occurrences of language usage. These constitute two parts of three of Saussure's 'speech circuit' ("circuit de parole"). The third part is the brain, that is, the mind of the individual member of the language community. This idea is in principle borrowed from Steinthal, so Saussure concept of a language as a social fact corresponds to "Volksgeist", although he was careful to preclude any nationalistic interpretations. In Saussure's and Durkheim's thinking, social facts and norms do not elevate the individuals, but shackle them. Saussure's definition of language is statistical rather than idealised.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure argues that language is a 'social fact'; a conventionalised set of rules or norms relating to speech. When at least two people are engaged in conversation, there forms a communicative circuit between the minds of the individual speakers. Saussure explains that language, as a social system, is neither situated in "speech" nor in the mind. It only properly exists between the two within the loop. It is located in – and is the product of – the collective mind of the linguistic group. An individual has to learn the normative rules of language and can never control them.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The task of the linguist is to study language by analysing samples of speech. For practical reasons, this is ordinarily the analysis of written texts. The idea that language is studied through texts is by no means revolutionary as it had been the common practice since the beginning of linguistics. Saussure does not advise against introspection and takes up many linguistic examples without reference to a source in a text corpus. The idea that linguistics is not the study of the mind, however, contradicts Wilhelm Wundt's Völkerpsychologie in Saussure's contemporary context; and in a later context, generative grammar and cognitive linguistics.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure's influence was restricted in American linguistics which was dominated by the advocates of Wilhelm Wundt's psychological approach to language, especially Leonard Bloomfield (1887–1949). The Bloomfieldian school rejected Saussure's and other structuralists' sociological or even anti-psychological (e.g. Louis Hjelmslev, Lucien Tesnière) approaches to theory of language. Problematically, the post-Bloomfieldian school was nicknamed 'American structuralism', causing confusion. Although Bloomfield denounced Wundt's Völkerpsychologie and opted for behavioural psychology in his 1933 textbook "Language", he and other American linguists stuck to Wundt's practice of analysing the grammatical object as part of the verb phrase. Since this practice is not semantically motivated, they argued for the disconnectedness of syntax from semantics, thus fully rejecting structuralism.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The question remained why the object should be in the verb phrase, vexing American linguists for decades. The post-Bloomfieldian approach was eventually reformed as a sociobiological framework by Noam Chomsky who argued that linguistics is a cognitive science; and claimed that linguistic structures are the manifestation of a random mutation in the human genome. Advocates of the new school, generative grammar, claim that Saussure's structuralism has been reformed and replaced by Chomsky's modern approach to linguistics. Jan Koster asserts:


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: French historian and philosopher François Dosse however argues that there have been various misunderstandings. He points out that Chomsky's criticism of 'structuralism' is directed at the Bloomfieldian school and not the proper address of the term; and that structural linguistics is not to be reduced to mere sentence analysis. It is also argued that


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Saussure's "Course in General Linguistics" begins and ends with a criticism of 19th century linguistics where he is especially critical of Volkgeist thinking and the evolutionary linguistics of August Schleicher and his colleagues. Saussure's ideas replaced social Darwinism in Europe as it was banished from humanities at the end of World War II.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The publication of Richard Dawkins's memetics in 1976 brought the Darwinian idea of linguistic units as cultural replicators back to vogue. It became necessary for adherents of this movement to redefine linguistics in a way that would be simultaneously anti-Saussurean and anti-Chomskyan. This led to a redefinition of old humanistic terms such as structuralism, formalism, functionalism and constructionism along Darwinian lines through debates which were marked by an acrimonious tone. In a functionalism–formalism debate of the decades following "The Selfish Gene", the 'functionalism' camp attacking Saussure's legacy includes frameworks such as Cognitive Linguistics, Construction Grammar, Usage-based linguistics and Emergent Linguistics. Arguing for 'functional-typological theory', William Croft criticises Saussure's use or the organic analogy:


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Structural linguist Henning Andersen disagrees with Croft. He criticises memetics and other models of cultural evolution and points out that the concept of 'adaptation' is not to be taken in linguistics in the same meaning as in biology. Humanistic and structuralistic notions are likewise defended by Esa Itkonen and Jacques François; the Saussurean standpoint is explained and defended by Tomáš Hoskovec, representing the Prague Linguistic Circle.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: Conversely, other cognitive linguists claim to continue and expand Saussure's work on the bilateral sign. Dutch philologist Elise Elffers, however, argues that their view of the subject is incompatible with Saussure's own ideas.


title: Ferdinand de Saussure

text: The term 'structuralism' continues to be used in structural– functional linguistics which despite the contrary claims defines itself as a humanistic approach to language.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Punch and Judy is a traditional puppet show featuring Mr. Punch and his wife Judy. The performance consists of a sequence of short scenes, each depicting an interaction between two characters, most typically Mr. Punch and one other character who usually falls victim to Punch's slapstick. "The Daily Telegraph" called Punch and Judy "a staple of the British seaside scene". The various episodes of Punch comedy—often provoking shocked laughter—are dominated by the clowning of Mr. Punch.


title: Punch and Judy

text: The show is performed by a single puppeteer inside the booth, known since Victorian times as a "professor" or "punchman", and assisted sometimes by a "bottler" who corrals the audience outside the booth, introduces the performance, and collects the money ("the bottle"). The bottler might also play accompanying music or sound effects on a drum or guitar, and engage in back chat with the puppets, sometimes repeating lines that may have been difficult for the audience to understand. In Victorian times, the drum and pan pipes were the instruments of choice. Today, most professors work solo, since the need for a bottler became less important when street performing with the show gave way to paid engagements at private parties or public events. In modern shows the audience is encouraged to participate, calling out to the characters on the stage to warn them of danger or clue them in to what is going on behind their backs.


title: Punch and Judy

text: The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte. The figure of Punch is derived from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella, which was anglicized to "Punchinello". He is a variation on the same themes as the Lord of Misrule and the many Trickster figures found in mythologies across the world. Punch's wife was originally called "Joan."


title: Punch and Judy

text: The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England on 9 May 1662, which is traditionally reckoned as Punch's UK birthday. Punch and Judy began to emerge during the Restoration Period (beginning in 1660), a period during which art and theatre thrived. King Charles II took the throne in 1660 and replaced Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, and theatre culture began to change. Cromwell strictly adhered to the Puritan belief that theatre was immoral and should be banned, resulting in their closure in 1642. Charles II's ascension to the throne ended the interregnum and ushered in a more tolerant period of art and culture. The diarist Samuel Pepys observed a marionette show featuring an early version of the Punch character in Covent Garden in London. It was performed by Italian puppet showman Pietro Gimonde, a.k.a. "Signor Bologna." Pepys described the event in his diary as "an Italian puppet play, that is within the rails there, which is very pretty."


title: Punch and Judy

text: In the British Punch and Judy show, Punch speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, produced by a contrivance known as a "swazzle" or "swatchel" which the professor holds in his mouth, transmitting his gleeful cackle. This gives Punch a vocal quality as though he were speaking through a kazoo. Joan's name was changed to Judy because "Judy" was easier to enunciate with the swazzle than "Joan". So important is Punch's signature sound that it is a matter of some controversy within Punch and Judy circles as to whether a "non-" show can be considered a true Punch and Judy Show. Other characters do not use the swazzle, so the Punchman has to switch back and forth while still holding the device in his mouth.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Punch and Judy shows were traditionally marionette shows when they were brought over from Italy, but were later reinvented in the glove puppet style to accommodate the characters' violent movements without the obstruction of marionette strings. Glove puppets were often operated by placing the thumb in one arm, the middle, ring, and pinky fingers in the other arm, and the index finger in the head.


title: Punch and Judy

text: In the early 18th century, the puppet theatre starring Punch was at its height, with showman Martin Powell attracting sizable crowds at both his "Punch's Theatre" at Covent Garden and earlier in provincial Bath, Somerset. Powell has been credited with being "largely responsible for the form taken by the drama of Punch and Judy". In 1721, a puppet theatre opened in Dublin that ran for decades. The cross-dressing actress Charlotte Charke ran the successful but short-lived Punch's Theatre in the Old Tennis Court at St. James's, Westminster, presenting adaptations of Shakespeare as well as plays by herself, her father Colley Cibber, and her friend Henry Fielding. Fielding eventually ran his own puppet theatre under the pseudonym Madame de la Nash to avoid the censorship concomitant with the Theatre Licensing Act of 1737.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Punch was extremely popular in Paris and, by the end of the 18th century, he was also playing in Britain's American colonies, where even George Washington bought tickets for a show. However, marionette productions were expensive and cumbersome to mount and transport, presented in empty halls, the back rooms of taverns, or within large tents at England's yearly agricultural events at Bartholomew Fair and Mayfair. In the latter half of the 18th century, marionette companies began to give way to glove-puppet shows, performed from within a narrow, lightweight booth by one puppeteer, usually with an assistant, or "bottler," to gather a crowd and collect money. These shows might travel through country towns or move from corner to corner along busy London streets, giving many performances in a single day. The character of Punch adapted to the new format, going from a stringed comedian who might say outrageous things to a more aggressive glove-puppet who could do outrageous—and often violent—things to the other characters.


title: Punch and Judy

text: The mobile puppet booth of the late 18th- and early 19th-century Punch and Judy glove-puppet show could be easily fitted-up and was originally covered in checked bed ticking or whatever inexpensive cloth might come to hand. Later Victorian booths were gaudier affairs, particularly those used for Christmas parties and other indoor performances. In the 20th century, however, red-and-white-striped puppet booths became iconic features on the beaches of many English seaside and summer holiday resorts. Such striped cloth is the most common covering today, wherever the show might be performed.


title: Punch and Judy

text: A more substantial change came over time to the show's target audience. The show was originally intended for adults, but it changed into primarily a children's entertainment in the late Victorian era. Ancient members of the show's cast ceased to be included, such as the Devil and Punch's mistress "Pretty Polly," when they came to be seen as inappropriate for young audiences.


title: Punch and Judy

text: The story changes, but some phrases remain the same for decades or even centuries. For example, Punch dispatches his foes each in turn and still squeaks his famous catchphrase: ""That's" the way to do it!" The term "pleased as Punch" is derived from Punch and Judy; specifically, Mr. Punch's characteristic sense of gleeful self-satisfaction.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Modern British performances of Punch and Judy are no longer exclusively the traditional seaside children's entertainments which they had become. They can now be seen at carnivals, festivals, birthday parties, and other celebratory occasions. The association of Punch with the seaside is still very strong however, as demonstrated by Wisbech Town council's annual Wis-BEACH day each summer, "all the seaside favourites are on show, including a donkey, deck chairs, Punch and Judy and fish and chips"


title: Punch and Judy

text: The characters in a Punch and Judy show are not fixed. They are similar to the cast of a soap opera or a folk tale such as Robin Hood: the principal characters must appear, but the lesser characters are included at the discretion of the performer. New cast may be added and older cast dropped as the tradition changes.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Along with Punch and Judy, the cast of characters usually includes their baby, a hungry crocodile, a clown, an officious policeman, and a prop string of sausages. The devil and the generic hangman Jack Ketch may still make their appearances but, if so, Punch will always get the better of them. The cast of a typical Punch and Judy show today will include:


title: Punch and Judy

text: Other characters included Boxers, Chinese Plate Spinners, topical figures, a trick puppet with an extending neck (the "Courtier"), and a monkey. A live Toby the Dog was once a regular featured novelty routine, sitting on the playboard and performing "with" the puppets.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Punch wears a brightly coloured (traditionally red) jester's motley and sugarloaf hat with a tassel. He is a hunchback whose hooked nose almost meets his curved, jutting chin. He carries a stick (called a slapstick) as large as himself, which he freely uses upon most of the other characters in the show. Judy wears an apron, a blue dress, and a bonnet and always tries to tell Punch off when he uses the slapstick


title: Punch and Judy

text: Glyn Edwards has likened the story of Punch and Judy to the story of Cinderella. He points out that there are parts of the Cinderella story which everyone knows, namely the cruel step sisters, the invitation to the ball, the handsome prince, the fairy godmother, Cinderella's dress turning to rags at midnight, the glass slipper left behind, the prince searching for its owner, and the happy ending. None of these elements can be omitted and the famous story still be told. The same principle applies to Punch and Judy. Everyone knows that Punch mishandles the baby, that Punch and Judy quarrel and fight, that a policeman comes for Punch and gets a taste of his stick, that Punch has a gleeful run-in with a variety of other figures and takes his stick to them all, that eventually he faces his final foe (which might be a hangman, the devil, a crocodile, or a ghost). Edwards contends that a proper Punch and Judy show requires these elements or the audience will feel let down.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Peter Fraser writes, "the drama developed as a succession of incidents which the audience could join or leave at any time, and much of the show was impromptu." This was elaborated by George Speaight, who explained that the plotline "is like a story compiled in a parlour game of Consequences ... the show should, indeed, not be regarded as a story at all but a succession of encounters." Robert Leach makes it clear that "the story is a conceptual entity, not a set text: the means of telling it, therefore, are always variable." Rosalind Crone asserts that the story needed to be episodic so that passersby on the street could easily join or leave the audience during a performance.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Much emphasis is often placed on the first printed script of Punch and Judy, in 1827. It was based on a show by travelling performer Giovanni Piccini, illustrated by George Cruikshank, and written by John Payne Collier. This is the only surviving script of a performance, and its accuracy is questioned. The performance was stopped frequently to allow Collier and Cruikshank to write and sketch and, in the words of Speaight, Collier is someone of whom "the full list of his forgeries has not yet been reckoned, and the myths he propagated are still being repeated. (His) 'Punch and Judy' is to be warmly welcomed as the first history of puppets in England, but it is also sadly to be examined as the first experiment of a literary criminal."


title: Punch and Judy

text: The tale of Punch and Judy varies from puppeteer to puppeteer, as previously with Punchinello and Joan, and it has changed over time. Nonetheless, the skeletal outline is often recognizable. It typically involves Punch behaving outrageously, struggling with his wife Judy and the baby, and then triumphing in a series of encounters with the forces of law and order (and often the supernatural), interspersed with jokes and songs.


title: Punch and Judy

text: A typical show as performed currently in the UK will start with the arrival of Mr. Punch, followed by the introduction of Judy. They may well kiss and dance before Judy requests Mr. Punch to look after the baby. Punch will fail to carry out this task appropriately. It is rare for Punch to hit his baby these days, but he may well sit on it in a failed attempt to "babysit", or drop it, or even let it go through a sausage machine. In any event, Judy will return, will be outraged, will fetch a stick, and the knockabout will commence. A policeman will arrive in response to the mayhem and will himself be felled by Punch's stick. All this is carried out at breakneck farcical speed with much involvement from a gleefully shouting audience. From here on anything goes.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Joey the Clown might appear and suggest, "It's dinner time." This will lead to the production of a string of sausages, which Mr. Punch must look after, although the audience will know that this really signals the arrival of a crocodile whom Mr. Punch might not see until the audience shouts out and lets him know. Punch's subsequent comic struggle with the crocodile might then leave him in need of a Doctor who will arrive and attempt to treat Punch by walloping him with a stick until Punch turns the tables on him. Punch may next pause to count his "victims" by laying puppets on the stage, only for Joey the Clown to move them about behind his back in order to frustrate him. A ghost might then appear and give Mr. Punch a fright before it too is chased off with a stick.


title: Punch and Judy

text: In more uncritical times, a hangman would arrive to punish Mr. Punch, only to himself be tricked into sticking his head in the noose. "Do you do the hanging?" is a question often asked of performers. Some will include it where circumstances warrant (such as for an adult audience) but most do not. Some will choose to include it whatever the circumstances and will face down any critics. Finally, the show will often end with the Devil arriving for Mr. Punch (and possibly threatening his audience as well). Punch—in his final gleefully triumphant moment—will win his fight with the Devil, bring the show to a rousing conclusion, and earn a round of applause.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Punch and Judy might follow no fixed storyline, as with the tales of Robin Hood, but there are episodes common to many recorded versions. It is these set piece encounters or "routines" which are used by performers to construct their own Punch and Judy shows. A visit to a Punch and Judy Festival at Punch's "birthplace" in London's Covent Garden will reveal a whole variety of changes that are wrung by puppeteers from this basic material. Scripts have been published at different times since the early 19th century, but none can be claimed as the definitive traditional script of Punch and Judy. Each printed script reflects the era in which it was performed and the circumstances under which it was printed.


title: Punch and Judy

text: The various episodes of the show are performed in the spirit of outrageous comedy—often provoking shocked laughter—and are dominated by the anarchic clowning of Mr. Punch. Just as the Victorian version of the show drew on the morality of its day, so also the Punch & Judy College of Professors considers that the 20th- and 21st-century versions of the tale is used as a vehicle for grotesque visual comedy and a sideways look at contemporary society.


title: Punch and Judy

text: An awareness of the prevalence of domestic abuse, and how Punch and Judy could be seen to make light of this, threatened Punch and Judy performances in the UK and other English-speaking countries for a time, but the show is having one of its cyclical recurrences and can now be seen in England, Wales, and Ireland—and also in Canada, the United States, the Caribbean and Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 2001, the characters were honoured in the UK with a set of British commemorative postage stamps issued by the Royal Mail. In a 2006 UK poll, the public voted Punch and Judy onto the list of icons of England.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Despite Punch's unapologetic murders throughout the performances, it is still a comedy. The humour is aided by a few things. Rosalind Crone (2006, p. 1065) suggests that, since the puppets are carved from wood, their facial expressions cannot change, but are stuck in the same exaggerated pose, which helps to deter any sense of realism and to distance the audience. The use of the swazzle also helps to create humour, and that the sound of Punch's voice takes the cruelty out of Punch. According to Crone, a third aspect that helped make the violence humorous was that Punch's violence toward his wife was prompted by her own violence toward him. In this aspect, he retains some of his previous hen-pecked persona. This would suggest that, since Punch was merely acting violently out of self-defence, it was okay. This is a possible explanation for the humour of his violence toward his wife, and even towards others who may have somehow "had it coming." This suggestion better explains the humour of the violence toward the baby. Other characters that had to incur the wrath of Punch varied depending on the punchman, but the most common were the foreigner, the blind man, the publican, the constable, and the devil.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Punch is primarily an oral tradition, adapted by a succession of exponents from live performances rather than authentic scripts, and in constant evolution. There exist, however, some early published scripts of varying authenticity.


title: Punch and Judy

text: In 1828, the critic John Payne Collier published a Punch and Judy script under the title "The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy". The script was illustrated by the well-known caricaturist George Cruikshank. Collier said his script was based on the version performed by the "professor" Giovanni Piccini in the early 19th century, and Piccini himself had begun performing in the streets of London in the late 18th century. The Collier/Cruickshank "Punch" has been republished in facsimile several times. Collier's later career as a literary forger has cast some doubt on the authenticity of the script, which is rather literary in style and may well have been tidied up from the rough-and-tumble street-theatre original.


title: Punch and Judy

text: A transcript of a typical Punch and Judy show in London of the 1840s can be found in Henry Mayhew's "London Labour and the London Poor".


title: Punch and Judy

text: In 2013, a musical inspired by the Punch and Judy characters premiered in Sweden at Arbisteatern in Norrköping, "Carnival Tale ()" written by Johan Christher Schütz and Johan Pettersson. With a storyline loosely inspired by Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a travelling carnival arrives in a small town and the foreign carnival's star jester Punch falls in love with the Mayor's daughter Judy. The original Swedish cast recording is freely available online and features Disney Channel Scandinavia presenter Linnéa Källström as Judy. The story and songs originate from a pop band called "Punch and Judy Show", started by Schütz and Pettersson in the late 1990s.


title: Punch and Judy

text: Judy and Punch is a 2019 Australian film written and directed by Mirrah Foulkes which retells the plot of the puppet show as a black comedy-drama. It stars Damon Herriman as "Punch" and Mia Wasikowska as "Judy". The film first premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. The plot reimagines the classic puppet show as a revenge tale, in which Judy and Punch are married puppeteers in the fictional town of Seaside, with a popular show about themselves. Following the traditional element of the show, Punch's carelessness leads to the death of their baby, prompting a fight between him and Judy. However, having been thought dead after Punch's beating, Judy survives with the help of village outcasts and decides to enact her revenge on her husband, who has scapegoated their servants. The film took Best Original Music Score and Best Actor (Herriman) at the 9th AACTA Awards, and had seven other nominations.


title: Punch and Judy

text: The tradition is celebrated in the song "Punch and Judy Man" by British folk singer John Conolly. The British prog rock group Marillion also included an allegorical song called "Punch and Judy" on their 1984 album, Fugazi.


title: Punch and Judy

text: A video game called "Punchy" was released for the Commodore 64 home computer in the 1980s. In the game, Punch holds Judy hostage in the booth, and the player takes the role of Bobby the policeman who has to rescue her, overcoming custard pies, tomatoes and pits, as well as tackling Mr Punch himself.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: Konstantinos Tsimikas (; born 12 May 1996) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Liverpool and the Greece national team.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: Tsimikas was born in Thessaloniki, and hails from the village of Lefkonas, Serres. He started his career from his village's local team and he transferred to AS Neapoli Thessaloniki when he was 14 years old. In 2013, he moved to Panserraikos and he scored 5 goals during 2013–14 season in Gamma Ethniki.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: Tsimikas made his Olympiacos debut in the Super League in a match against AEL Kalloni on 19 December 2015.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: On 28 December 2016, Tsimikas signed for Danish club Esbjerg on a loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. On 17 February 2017, in his debut with the club, he scored a goal in a 3–0 home win game against SønderjyskE Fodbold. He left the club after 13 games, and returned to Olympiacos.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: On 30 June 2017, Tsimikas made another loan move, this time to Dutch club Willem II on a season-long contract. He was a regular in the 2017–18 Eredivisie, starting 32 of the 34 matches, and also scored 5 goals. In the quarter-finals of the KNVB Cup, his deflected free kick took the tie into extra time, and Willem II went on to beat Roda on penalties. Tsimikas' spectacular bicycle kick in a 3–2 win against FC Utrecht was voted "Voetbal International" Goal of the Month and contributed to his being named Eredivisie Rookie of the Month for March 2018.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: Coach Pedro Martins kept Tsimikas at Olympiacos for the 2018–19 season. In November 2018, he crossed for Kostas Fortounis' first goal in a 5–1 defeat of F91 Dudelange in the Europa League group stage; both players were named in the UEFA Europa League Team of the Week. In late 2018 he did not start many games but was still offered a new deal, keeping Tsimikas at the club until the summer of 2023.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: On 11 August 2020, Tsimikas signed for Liverpool on a deal for reported fee of £11.75 million. He became just the second Greek footballer to become a Liverpool player after Sotirios Kyrgiakos who joined the club from AEK Athens in 2009. He made his debut for Liverpool in the EFL Cup on 24 September 2020, against Lincoln City in a 7–2 win. He made his Premier League debut as a substitute for Andrew Robertson against Manchester City in a 4–1 loss.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: On 14 August 2021, he made his first league start in the 3–0 away win against Norwich City on the opening weekend of the season. He followed this up with a man-of-the-match performance on 21 August, providing the assist for Diogo Jota's goal in a 2–0 win over Burnley.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: On 13 April 2022, at the quarter-finals of the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League against Benfica, Tsimikas provided two assists in a 3–3 draw, helping Liverpool to secure their place in the semi-finals. He was named Player of the Match.


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: On 14 May 2022, Liverpool faced Chelsea in the FA Cup final at Wembley. With the game having finished 0–0 after 90 minutes, Tsimikas came off the bench in the 111th minute to replace the injured Robertson. Liverpool then won penalty shoot-out 6–5, with Tsimikas scoring the deciding penalty. He said afterwards, "The boss asked me which number (penalty) I want, and I said number seven. He asked 'why so far?'. I said 'I just want number seven' and it gave me the opportunity to win the game. I chose the right side and scored."


title: Kostas Tsimikas

text: Tsimikas received his first call-up to the Greece senior team for the 2018–19 UEFA Nations League matches against Hungary and Finland in October 2018. He made his international debut in the starting eleven for the match at home to Hungary on 12 October, and crossed for Kostas Mitroglou to score the only goal of the game.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: Infinite is the debut studio album by American rapper Eminem. It was released on November 12, 1996, through Web Entertainment. Recording sessions took place at the Bass Brothers' studio, with production handled by Mr. Porter and Eminem himself. The album features guest vocals from fellow rappers Proof, Mr. Porter, Eye-Kyu, Three, and Thyme, as well as singer Angela Workman.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: Physical copies of "Infinite" were released on cassette and vinyl, and Eminem sold the copies from the trunk of his car in Detroit. It is not officially available on any online music stores and only the title track "Infinite" has been made available on Spotify. On November 17, 2016, five days after the 20th anniversary of the album, Eminem posted a remix of the title track that was remastered, made by the Bass Brothers, to his Vevo channel, releasing it digitally for the first time. Retrospectively, the album received mixed reviews from music critics—it was a commercial failure, selling around 70 copies. They are highly valued since the album was made before Eminem was signed to Interscope and Aftermath.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: In 1992, Eminem signed with FBT Productions, which had been run by Jeff and Mark Bass; they are known as the Bass Brothers. Eminem also held a minimum-wage job that involved cooking and washing dishes at Gilbert's Lodge restaurant in St. Clair Shores for some time. Inspired by Tupac Shakur's "Me Against the World" and Nas's "Illmatic", Eminem began writing "Infinite". After the birth of his daughter Hailie, 23-year old Eminem headed to the Bass Brothers basement to record the album. The album was completed by the summer of 1996 and was released on Web Entertainment in the fall.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: Eminem was encouraged by others for the album, noted to sound like Nas and AZ. Mr. Porter produced the majority of the album, while Proof programmed the drums.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: Eminem purposely made "Infinite"s songs "radio-friendly" in hopes of getting played on Detroit radio stations; only around a thousand copies of the album were made. Subjects covered on "Infinite" included Eminem, him and his grandma's struggle with raising Hailie Jade Mathers, Eminem's newborn daughter, while on limited funds and his strong desire to become rich. After the release of "Infinite", Eminem's personal struggles and his abuse of drugs and alcohol resulted in a suicide attempt. Eminem recalled: "Obviously, I was young and influenced by other artists, and I got a lot of feedback saying that I sounded like AZ. "Infinite" was me trying to figure out how I wanted my rap style to be, how I wanted to sound on the mic and present myself. It was a growing stage. I felt like "Infinite" was like the demo that just got pressed up."


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: On November 12, 1996, "Infinite" was released by Web Entertainment. It's not known exactly how many copies "Infinite" sold. Eminem stated in his autobiography "The Way I Am" (2008) that it sold "maybe 70 copies". However, other sources stated that the album sold a few hundred copies or even a thousand copies. Eminem's overall disappointment with "Infinite"s lack of success inspired him to develop his famous Slim Shady alter ego, which became present in his later works.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: On May 14, 2009, "thisis50.com" re-released it for free download on their website to build anticipation for Eminem's sixth studio album "Relapse" (2009); this was his comeback album. On November 17, 2016, a remix of the album's title track "Infinite" was released in commemoration of the album's 20th anniversary five days after the event. The remix was followed by a documentary about the making of "Infinite", also released the same day.


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: Retrospective reviews of "Infinite" from music critics were mixed. AllMusic gave it an "Editor Score" of 2.5 out of 5 stars, without a review. Rob Kenner of "Complex" gave the album a mixed review, saying Eminem "has yet to develop his own distinctive style", and that it was a "competent but unremarkable effort". Mosi Reeves from "Rolling Stone" stated, that "Probably the most surprising thing on "Infinite" is hearing [Eminem] rap, 'In the midst of this insanity, I found my Christianity through God' on 'It's O.K.'", noting that spiritual elements had not played a large role in his later works' lyrics. According to Christian hip-hop media outlet Rapzilla, Eminem would pray before shows in the early 2000s. On a 2022 remix of Kanye West's "Use This Gospel", Eminem raps faith-based lines such as "I put all of my trust and faith in You, Father," and "my Savior I call on to rescue me ... He is my shepherd. I'm armed with Jesus, my weapon is prayer."


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: In a more positive review, Tedd Maider of "Consequence of Sound" describes "Infinite" as "a more genuine glimpse of the rapper that is Eminem", and commented that it is "quick-witted and unique rhyming", "lyrical chops, raw style beats, and mentality" could only be matched by his third studio album "The Marshall Mathers LP" (2000).


title: Infinite (Eminem album)

text: Track listing and credits taken from album booklet. All songs produced by Mr. Porter, except where noted.


title: Presa Canario

text: The Presa Canario is a Spanish breed of large dog of mastiff or catch dog type. It originates in the autonomous region of the Canary Islands, and is found mostly in the islands of Gran Canaria and Tenerife. It was formerly known as the Dogo Canario. It was traditionally used as a guard dog, as a herding dog for both sheep and cattle, and for dog-fighting, which was legal in Spain until 1936 and may have continued clandestinely thereafter.


title: Presa Canario

text: The Presa Canario derives from the Bardino Majorero, which was formerly distributed throughout the Canary Islands. Dogs of this type were cross-bred with various dogs of molossoid type introduced to the islands at different times during the colonial period. The Presa Canario was particularly influenced by dogs brought from the British Isles with the large influx of British residents in the late nineteenth century.


title: Presa Canario

text: By the 1960s it was close to extinction. A breed society, the Club Español del Presa Canario, was formed in 1982, and drew up a provisional breed standard, which was published by the government of the islands. The standard was approved by the Real Sociedad Canina de España in 1989. In 1991 the dog was included in an official list of national symbols of the Canary Islands as a symbol of the island of Gran Canaria. It was officially recognised by the Spanish national government in 2001.


title: Presa Canario

text: The breed was provisionally accepted by the Federation Cynologique Internationale in 2001 under the name Dogo Canario; it was fully accepted in 2011. In December 2018, at the request of the Real Sociedad Canina de España, the name was changed to Presa Canario.


title: Presa Canario

text: The head is broad, massive, square, and powerful brachycephalic shape. Proper head and good expression are part of the breed standard, and are manifest in the best breed specimens. The ears are normally cropped, both to create a more formidable expression and to prevent damage while working with cattle. If cropped, the ears stand erect. In countries where ear-cropping is banned, the ears are close fitting to the head; they hang down and should be pendant or "rose"-shaped. The upper lip is pendulous, although not excessively. Seen from the front, the upper and lower lips come together to form an inverted V. The flews are slightly divergent. The inside of the lips is a dark colour.


title: Presa Canario

text: The breed is also characterized by a sloping topline (with the rear being slightly higher than the shoulders). Another characteristic of the breed is the shape of the paws (cat foot) and the catlike movement of the animal. The body is mesomorphic, that is, slightly longer than the dog is tall, contributing to the feline movement.


title: Presa Canario

text: The Presa Canario was traditionally used as a guard dog, as a herding dog for both sheep and cattle, and for dog-fighting, which was legal in Spain until 1936 and may have continued clandestinely thereafter. Until the 1950s it remained a common practice in all of the islands.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar bin Ibrahim (, IPA: ; born 10 August 1947) is a Malaysian politician who has served as the 10th Prime Minister of Malaysia since November 2022. He served as the 12th and 16th Leader of the Opposition from August 2008 to March 2015 and again from May 2020 to November 2022. He has also served as Minister of Finance from March 1991 to September 1998 and again since December 2022 and 2nd Chairman of the Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition since May 2020, 2nd President of the People's Justice Party (PKR) since November 2018 and the Member of Parliament (MP) for Tambun since November 2022. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister and in many other Cabinet positions in the Barisan Nasional (BN) administration under former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad from 1982 until his removal in 1998.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: A graduate from University of Malaya, Anwar started his political career as one of the founders of youth organisation Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM). After joining the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the major party in the long-time ruling BN coalition, Anwar held several cabinet positions in successive governments in the 1980s and 1990s. He was Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister during the 1990s and was prominent in Malaysia's response to the 1997 Asian financial crisis. In 1998, he was removed from all posts by Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and went on to spearhead the Reformasi movement against the government. Anwar was jailed in April 1999 after a trial for sodomy and corruption that was criticised by human rights groups and several foreign governments, until his release in 2004 after his conviction was overturned. He made a comeback as Leader of the Opposition from 2008 to 2015 and coalesced opposition parties into the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition, which unsuccessfully contested in the 2008 and 2013 general elections. He disputed the results of the 2013 elections and led a protest in response.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In 2014, Anwar's attempt to become Selangor head of government in the 2014 Kajang Move led to a nine-month political crisis, which ended when he was sentenced to another five years imprisonment after a second sodomy conviction in 2015. While still in prison, Anwar re-joined Mahathir Mohamad in the new Pakatan Harapan (PH) coalition "in absentia", which went on to win the 2018 general election. Mahathir outlined a plan for Anwar to take over from himself as Prime Minister after an unspecified interim period. Anwar received a royal pardon from Yang di-Pertuan Agong Muhammad V and was released from prison in May 2018. He returned to parliament in the 2018 Port Dickson by-election while his wife Wan Azizah Wan Ismail served as the Deputy Prime Minister in the PH administration. The collapse of the coalition during 2020–22 Malaysian political crisis led to the new Perikatan Nasional (PN) coalition under Muhyiddin Yassin being sworn in and Anwar becoming Leader of the Opposition for the second time in May 2020.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: After leading Pakatan Harapan to win a plurality of seats at the 2022 Malaysian general election, Anwar was sworn-in as the tenth Prime Minister of Malaysia on 24 November 2022. On 2 December 2022, Anwar appointed various members of Parliament from Pakatan Harapan, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS), and UMNO to serve as ministers in the cabinet of the newly-formed unity government. Anwar named himself as the Finance Minister. Anwar has long been an advocate for Islamic democracy and for reforms to Malaysia's political system. Outside of politics, Anwar has held positions at various academic institutions.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar bin Ibrahim was born in Cherok Tok Kun, Bukit Mertajam, Penang, Malaya. His father, Ibrahim bin Abdul Rahman, started his career as a hospital porter, later to join politics as the UMNO Member of Parliament for Seberang Perai Central between 1959 and 1969 and also as the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health from 1964 to 1969 until his defeat in the 1969 General Election by a candidate from Gerakan. His mother, Che Yan binti Hussein, was a housewife active in UMNO grassroots politics in Penang.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: He undertook his secondary education at the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. He was educated at the University of Malaya, where he got a bachelor's degree in Malay Studies, and worked on his Masters in Literature through the National University of Malaysia while in prison from 1974 to 1975.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: From 1968 to 1971, as a student, Anwar was the president of the National Union of Malaysian Muslim Students. Around the same time, he was also the president of the University of Malaya Malay Language Society ( (PBMUM)). In 1971, he was a member of the pro tem committee of Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM) or Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia, which he co-founded. At the same time, he was elected as the 2nd President of the Malaysian Youth Council or Majlis Belia Malaysia (MBM). In 1974, Anwar was arrested during student protests against rural poverty and hunger. This came as a report surfaced stating that a family died from starvation in a village in Baling, in the state of Kedah, which was later demonstrated to be false. However, the rubber tappers in Baling were experiencing severe hardship as the price of rubber dropped in 1974. He was imprisoned under the Internal Security Act (ISA), which allows for detention without trial, and spent 20 months in the Kamunting Detention Centre. From 1975 until 1982, he served as a representative for Asia Pacific of World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY). Anwar Ibrahim is also the co-founder of the International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT) in the USA (founded 1981). Anwar has been one of 4 acting directors, a board member of IIIT and a trustee. He was also a chancellor of International Islamic University Kuala Lumpur between 1983 and 1988.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In 1982, Anwar, who was the founding leader and second president of an Islamic youth organisation called Angkatan Belia Islam Malaysia (ABIM), by joining the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), led by Mahathir Mohamad, who had become prime minister in 1981.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar rapidly rose to high-ranking positions; his first ministerial office was that of Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports in 1983; after that, he headed the Agriculture Ministry in 1984 before becoming Minister of Education in 1986.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: During his tenure as Education Minister, Anwar introduced numerous policies in the national school curriculum. One of his major changes was to rename the national language from "Bahasa Malaysia" to "Bahasa Melayu". Non-Malays criticised this move as it would cause the younger generation to be detached from the national language since they would attribute it to being something that belongs to the Malays and not to Malaysians.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: As the minister of education, Anwar was elected as the 25th President of UNESCO's General Conference. In 1988, Anwar Ibrahim became the second President of International Islamic University of Malaysia. According to former Law Minister Zaid Ibrahim, Anwar is an Islamist who "helped Islamicise the whole government system" and played a major role in the Islamicisation of the education system when he was Education Minister in the 1980s.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In 1991, Anwar was appointed as Minister of Finance. During his tenure as Finance Minister, his impact was immediate; Malaysia enjoyed unprecedented prosperity and economic growth. Shortly after becoming Finance Minister, Euromoney named him as a top-four finance minister and in 1996 Asiamoney named him "Finance Minister of the Year". In the midst of the 1997 Asian financial crisis, Anwar, as a deputy prime minister and finance minister, was hailed for guiding Malaysia through the period of instability. Anwar backed free-market principles and highlighted the proximity of business and politics in Malaysia. He advocated greater accountability, refused to offer government bail-outs and instituted widespread spending cuts. In March 1998, Anwar was selected as the Chairman of the Development Committee of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) from March 1998 until September 1998.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In 1993, he became Mahathir's Deputy Prime Minister after winning the Deputy Presidency of UMNO against Ghafar Baba, he was seen and expected to succeed Mahathir as prime minister as he frequently alluded in public to his "son-father" relationship with Mahathir. By then, speculation was rife about Anwar's ascent to the Deputy Prime Minister's position.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In May 1997, Mahathir had appointed Anwar to be acting Prime Minister while he took a two-month holiday. In Mahathir's absence, Anwar had independently taken radical steps, which directly conflicted with Mahathir's policies, to change the country's governing mechanisms. Issues such as how Malaysia would respond to a financial crisis were often at the forefront of this conflict. Towards the end of the 1990s, however, the relationship with Mahathir had begun to deteriorate, triggered by their conflicting views on governance.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar's frontal attack against what he described as the widespread culture of nepotism and cronyism within UMNO (and the ruling coalition as a whole) angered Mahathir, as did his attempts to dismantle the protectionist policies that Mahathir had set up. "Cronyism" was identified by Anwar as a major cause of corruption and misappropriation of funds in the country.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: During the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, Anwar supported the IMF plan as a finance minister. He also instituted an austerity package that cut government spending by 18%, cut ministerial salaries and deferred major projects. "Mega projects", despite being a cornerstone of Mahathir's development strategy, were greatly curtailed.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Although many Malaysian companies faced bankruptcy, Anwar declared: "There is no question of any bailout. The banks will be allowed to protect themselves and the government will not interfere." Anwar advocated a free-market approach to the crisis, including foreign investment and trade liberalisation. Mahathir blamed currency speculators like George Soros for the crisis and supported currency controls and tighter regulation of foreign investment.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In 1998 "Newsweek" magazine named Anwar the "Asian of the Year". However, in that year, matters between Anwar and Mahathir came to a head around the quadrennial UMNO General Assembly. The Youth wing of UMNO, headed by Anwar's associate Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, gave notice that it would initiate a debate on "cronyism and nepotism". At the General Assembly, a book by Khalid Jafri, ""50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM"" ("50 Reasons Why Anwar Cannot Become Prime Minister") was circulated containing graphic allegations of homosexuality, as well as accusations of corruption against Anwar. Khalid Jafri was an ex-editor of the government-controlled newspaper "Utusan Malaysia" and former editor-in-chief of a failed magazine, "Harian National". Anwar obtained a court injunction to prevent further distribution of the book and filed a lawsuit against the author for defamation. Police charged the author of the book with malicious publishing of false news. The police were instructed to investigate the veracity of the claims.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 2 September 1998, Anwar was fired from the Cabinet, and many reports state that he was under investigation for sodomy, an act that is illegal in Malaysia. The following day, he was expelled from UMNO. In what the "Sydney Morning Herald" termed a "blatantly political fix-up", Anwar was arrested on 20 September 1998 and detained without trial under the country's controversial Internal Security Act (ISA). The Home Minister at the time was also the Prime Minister, Mahathir. Weeks later, Anwar was charged with corruption for allegedly interfering with the police investigation of him. While he was in police custody in 1998, Anwar was beaten by the then Inspector General of Police, Rahim Noor. The public and the media only witnessed his black eye after being brought to Court for the first time. Mahathir remarked that it could have been a self-inflicted injury to garner public sympathy. Rahim was subsequently found guilty of assault and jailed for two months in 2000. He made a public apology to Anwar and paid undisclosed damages.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: During the trial, a mattress supposedly stained with Anwar's semen was presented to the court as DNA evidence of Anwar's sexual acts. Anwar denied having anything to do with the mattress, although the DNA tests came out positive. Lim Kong Boon, a DNA chemist, testified during the trial that DNA taken from 10 of 13 semen stains on the mattress matched Anwar's DNA. The defence team implied that DNA samples may have been taken from Anwar, while unconscious, after his beating in police custody, to create false forensics evidence to frame Anwar; however, High Court Judge Augustine Paul accepted that DNA evidence.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: The High Court eventually handed down its decision in April 1999, sentencing Anwar to six years' imprisonment for corruption and sodomy. Two months later, he was sentenced to nine years' imprisonment for sodomy, which he was ordered to serve after completing his six-year sentence for corruption. His trial and conviction were widely discredited by the international community. Amnesty International stated that the trial proceedings "exposed a pattern of political manipulation of key state institutions including the police, public prosecutor's office and the judiciary" and declared Anwar a prisoner of conscience, stating that he had been arrested in order to silence him as a political opponent.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: The Federal Court overturned his conviction and Anwar was finally released from solitary confinement on 2 September 2004.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Shortly after Anwar was dismissed as deputy prime minister by the then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, Anwar and his supporters initiated the Reformasi movement. It consisted of several mass demonstrations and rallies against the long-standing Barisan Nasional coalition government. At the 1998 APEC Summit in Kuala Lumpur, the vice-president of the United States, Al Gore, gave a speech supporting Anwar and the Reformasi movement in front of the Prime Minister of Malaysia and other Asia-Pacific premiers.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Reformasi led to the formation of a new multiracial-based party named "Parti Keadilan Nasional" or National Justice Party (KEADILAN). In 1999, a general election was held. The new KEADILAN, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), and Democratic Action Party (DAP) formed a "Barisan Alternatif" or Alternative Front (BA), in a combined initiative to replace the standing Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition government. In August 2003, KEADILAN merged with "Parti Rakyat Malaysia" or Malaysian's People Party (PRM) to form "Parti Keadilan Rakyat" or People's Justice Party (PKR) headed by Wan Azizah as president. PKR made huge gains in the 2008 general election, winning 31 seats and becoming the parliament's largest opposition party. In April 2008, PKR, PAS and DAP formed a new alliance named Pakatan Rakyat (PR).


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In 1999, Anwar brought suit against Prime Minister Mahathir for defamation for allegedly uttering accusations of immoral acts and calling Anwar a homosexual at a news conference in Malaysia.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: The sodomy verdict was partially overturned in 2004, resulting in Anwar's release from prison as he had already served his sentence for the corruption offence. Anwar successfully sued Khalid Jafri for his ""50 Dalil Kenapa Anwar Tidak Boleh Jadi PM"" book, but Khalid died in 2005 of complications from diabetes before the High Court found that he had committed libel and awarded Anwar millions of ringgit in compensation. The Federal Court on 8 March 2010 ruled that the 1998 dismissal of Anwar from his Cabinet posts by Mahathir was constitutional and valid, meaning Anwar had failed in his bid to challenge his sacking.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: An appeal on the corruption charges was heard on 6 September 2004. Under Malaysian law, a person is banned from political activities for five years after the end of his sentence. Success in this appeal would have allowed him to return to politics immediately. On 7 September, the court agreed to hear Anwar's appeal. However, on 15 September, the Court of Appeal ruled unanimously that its previous decision to uphold a High Court ruling that found Anwar guilty was in order, relegating Anwar to the sidelines of Malaysian politics until 14 April 2008. The only way for Anwar to have been freed from this structure would have been for him to receive a pardon from the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, informally known as the King of Malaysia.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: After his release from prison, Anwar held teaching positions at St Antony's College, Oxford, where he was a visiting fellow and senior associate member, at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC as a Distinguished Senior Visiting Fellow, and in 2005–2006 as a visiting professor at the Prince Alwaleed Center for Muslim–Christian Understanding in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. In March 2006 he was appointed as Honorary President of the London-based organisation AccountAbility (Institute of Social and Ethical AccountAbility).


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In July 2006, Anwar was elected Chair of the Washington-based Foundation For the Future. In this capacity, he signed 1 October 2006 letter to Robin Cleveland of the World Bank, requesting the transfer of Shaha Riza from the US Department of State to the Foundation for the Future. This transaction led to Paul Wolfowitz's resignation as president of the organisation. He was one of the signatories of "A Common Word Between Us and You" in 2007, an open letter by Islamic scholars to Christian leaders, calling for peace and understanding.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In November 2006, Anwar announced he planned to run for Parliament in 2008 after his disqualification expired. Anwar was critical of government policies after his release from prison, most notably the New Economic Policy (NEP), which provided affirmative action for the Bumiputras. The policy set a number of quotas, such as for units of housing and initial public offerings, that must be met.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Before he became re-entitled to run for Parliament in 2008, he acted as an "advisor" of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, the party of which his wife Dr Wan Azizah was president. He was at the forefront in organising a November 2007 mass rally, called the 2007 Bersih Rally, which took place at Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur, to demand clean and fair elections. The gathering was organised by Bersih, a coalition comprising political parties and civil society groups, and drew supporters from all over the country.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: The 2008 general election date was set for 8 March 2008, before Anwar's disqualification from politics expired, sparking criticisms that Barisan Nasional called for early elections in a bid to deny Anwar's plans for a return to Parliament. In response, Anwar's wife, Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, declared that she would step down should she retain her Permatang Pauh parliamentary seat to force a by-election in which Anwar himself would contest.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: When asked about the possibility of Anwar becoming the next Prime Minister, former leader Tun Dr Mahathir reacted by saying, "He would make a good Prime Minister of Israel".


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 14 April 2008, Anwar celebrated his official return to the political stage, as his ban from public office expired a decade after he was fired as Deputy Prime Minister. The opposition seized a third of parliamentary seats and five states in the worst-ever showing for the Barisan Nasional coalition that has ruled for half a century, with Anwar at the helm. A gathering of more than 40,000 supporters greeted Anwar in a rally welcoming his return to politics. Police interrupted Anwar after he had addressed the rally for nearly two hours and called for him to stop the gathering since there was no legal permission for the rally.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 29 April 2008, after 10 years of absence, he returned to the Parliament, albeit upon invitation as a spouse guest of Wan Azizah Wan Ismail, People's Justice Party and the first female opposition leader in Malaysian Parliament's history.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar Ibrahim was victorious in the Permatang Pauh by-election held on 26 August 2008. Muhammad Muhammad Taib, information chief of the UMNO, stated: "Yes, of course we have lost ... we were the underdogs going into this race." Final results announced by the Election Commission revealed that Anwar Ibrahim won 31,195 of the estimated 47,000 votes cast in the district, while Arif Shah Omar Shah received 15,524 votes and a third candidate had 92 votes.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 28 August 2008, Anwar, dressed in a dark blue traditional Malay outfit and black songkok hat, took the oath at the main chamber of Parliament house in Kuala Lumpur, as MP for Permatang Pauh at 10.03 am before Speaker Tan Sri Pandikar Amin Mulia. He formally declared Anwar the leader of the 3-party opposition alliance. With his daughter Nurul Izzah Anwar, also a parliamentarian, Anwar announced: "I'm glad to be back after a decade. The prime minister has lost the mandate of the country and the nation." At that time Anwar needed 30 government lawmakers to defect to the Opposition to form the next government.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 26 August 2008, Anwar won re-election in the Permatang Pauh by-election and returned to Parliament as Leader of the Opposition. He has stated the need for liberalisation, including an independent judiciary and free media, to combat the endemic corruption that he considers pushes Malaysia close to failed state status.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar continued to attack Najib on his first day as prime minister, stating he found inconsistencies in the latter's decision to release 13 Internal Security Act (ISA) detainees. He said as long as the ISA existed, Barisan Nasional could still detain citizens at will. In September 2011 Prime Minister Najib Razak acted to abolish the ISA and three other laws. Some members of the opposition did not view this in a positive way.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar has made numerous remarks about a supposed conspiracy among the Malaysian government, APCO (a public relations firm retained by the Malaysian government), Israel, and the United States. Anwar condemned the Malaysian government for seeking advice from APCO. He claims that the firm is linked to the "murder of Muslims in Palestine." He further claims to have given proof to a disciplinary committee of the Malaysian parliament, investigating his comments, that APCO is a front for the Israeli government. On another occasion, Anwar, speaking from the parliament, claimed that the firm was controlled by Jews and working on behalf of the American government to influence Malaysian foreign policy. He further implied that changes in Malaysian foreign policy could only be explained if Jews were manipulating Malaysia for the United States.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 22 April 2010 Anwar was censured by Malaysia's parliament for remarks he made during a press conference in parliament on 30 March 2010. During the press conference, Anwar claimed to have documents linking 1Malaysia with One Israel and the public relations firm APCO but refused to allow access to the documents when challenged. The Malaysian government and APCO have both strongly denied Anwar's allegations. The censure motion passed by the House of Representatives referred Anwar's case to the Rights and Privileges Committee which will recommend a punishment for approval by the full chamber. Such punishment could include being banned from parliament. However Anwar retaliated against the Malaysian government attacks by producing two documents to support his claims of links between APCO and 1Malaysia.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar has missed several deadlines he personally set for the transfer of power. Anwar said he would need more time, and the recalibration of his message has not gone unnoticed: Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak chose that day to initiate a broadband internet program Anwar opposes, saying that he had not doubted that the government would still be in office on 16 September. Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi too pointed out that Anwar had missed his own deadline, and dismissed his claim to have secured the defection of 30 MPs.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: By 25 September, Anwar had still not amassed enough votes, creating doubts for Malaysians about whether he was really ready to take power, particularly in light of his failure to meet his own 16 September deadline for the transition of power. In the interim, UMNO had its own party meeting to broker Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's step down from power in June 2009, a year earlier than previously promised


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 24 October 2008, Anwar admitted problems with his stalled bid to topple the UMNO's majority, saying that Pakatan Rakyat is running out of options to create a majority. His "credibility among ordinary Malaysians has been somewhat dented after Sept 16 and the new promise of forming the Government has not generated the sort of anticipation or excitement as before." Media within the country have taken an increasingly hostile view towards Anwar's protestations and failed threats to assemble a majority government.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: In the 2013 general election (GE13), Anwar Ibrahim, as the Leader of the Opposition, led his Pakatan Rakyat coalition (comprising the three parties DAP, PAS, and PKR) to contest in the election. On 25 February 2013, Pakatan Rakyat launched their manifesto titled "The People's Manifesto: Pakatan the hope of the people", pledging to reduce their financial burden, among other promises. Anwar, who has taught at Oxford and Georgetown University, said he would return to academic life if he lost the next election to incumbent prime minister Najib Razak.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Pakatan Rakyat did not achieve the regime change target in the election despite obtaining 50.9% of the popular vote compared to the 47.4% gained by Barisan Nasional. This was attributed to the heavy malapportionment of the electoral districts. Pakatan Rakyat also gained 7 more parliamentary seats compared to the 12th general election.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: Anwar did not concede defeat, alleging widespread electoral fraud. "Al Jazeera" reported that Anwar Ibrahim came close to winning the election on 5 May 2013 but refused to admit defeat, and therefore also did not step down. In an interview for "ABC News", interviewer Jim Middleton suggested that Anwar Ibrahim was going to be the Lee Kuan Yew of the Malaysian opposition. Anwar answered that he was not at that stage yet.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 7 May 2013, Anwar Ibrahim vowed to lead a "fierce movement" to reform the country's electoral system and challenge the results of an election he lost. On 8 May 2013, about 120,000 people wearing black gathered at Petaling Jaya Stadium, Kelana Jaya, Selangor, to attend a rally organised by Anwar to protest against the election results and demand a free and fair election. The #Black505 movement continued for another 2 months with touring all over the country. A successful fundraising #Black505 dinner was held in Thean Hou Temple hall on 22 June 2013, hosted by Wangsa Maju MP Datuk Dr Tan Kee Kwong on behalf of PKR. Anwar Ibrahim immediately launched electoral petitions for over 30 disputed parliamentary seats in July 2013. However, the cases were thrown off election court for technical reasons. Anwar described the decision as a bad decision and disgraced the name of the country's judicial institution.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 27 January 2014, the member of the Selangor State Legislative Assembly for Kajang, Lee Chin Cheh, resigned. This triggered a by-election. A day later, Anwar Ibrahim was announced as Pakatan Rakyat candidate for the by-election. Anwar's candidacy was originally to propel him to become Selangor's Menteri Besar. Later, this move was known as the "Kajang Move".


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: This move, however, did not materialize as he was sentenced to five years' prison after Malaysia's Court of Appeal overturned his sodomy acquittal, causing Anwar to lose his qualification to be the state assembly candidate. On 9 March 2014, PKR announced party president Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as its new candidate for the Kajang by-election. Anwar's Datuk Seri title was stripped by the Sultan of Selangor for "repeated questioning of the integrity" of the state's ruler during the subsequent crisis that saw the Sultan refuse to appoint Wan Azizah as Menteri Besar. Anwar was able to continue using the "Datuk Seri" title because it had also been conferred on him by several other Malaysian states.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 29 June 2008, online news portal Malaysiakini reported that a male aide of Anwar, Saiful Bukhari Azlan, had lodged a police report claiming that he had been sodomised by Anwar. Anwar said that the possibility of a prison sentence as a result of the allegations could be seen as an attempt to remove him from the leadership of the opposition following his growing support and by-election victories. He also reaffirmed his innocence and cited evidence in the form of medical reports. In July 2008, he was arrested over allegations of sodomy again, but was acquitted of the charge in January 2012 by The High Court. The presiding judge ruled that DNA evidence used in the case had been compromised and was unreliable. The prosecution filed an appeal against the acquittal.


title: Anwar Ibrahim

text: On 7 March 2014, the Court of Appeal overturned the acquittal by unanimously deciding that the High Court failed to "critically evaluate" the evidence submitted by government chemist Dr Seah Lay Hong. The Court of Appeal rushed through an unanimous decision, signed by all three judges, and sentenced Anwar to five years imprisonment, disqualifying him from nomination in the Kajang by-election scheduled on 11 March. The conviction was viewed by some as a politically motivated attempt to prevent Anwar from contesting in the 2014 Kajang by-election, which he was expected to win and becoming Selangor's chief minister. Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists have accused the Malaysian government of meddling in this particular judicial matter and said the verdict was politically motivated. On 10 February 2015, the Federal Court of Malaysia upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal and affirmed the five-year prison sentence. He was sent immediately to Sungai Buloh Prison, Selangor, to serve the sentence.