title: Plácido Domingo

text: His official debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York occurred on 28 September 1968, when he substituted with little notice for Franco Corelli in Cilea's "Adriana Lecouvreur" with Renata Tebaldi. Two years before this "Adriana Lecouvreur", he had already performed with the Metropolitan Opera at Lewisohn Stadium in Mascagni's "Cavalleria rusticana" and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci". Since then, he has opened the season at the Metropolitan Opera 21 times, more than any other singer, surpassing the previous record of Enrico Caruso by four. He has appeared with the company every season since 1968–1969. He made his debut at the Vienna State Opera in 1967; at the Lyric Opera of Chicago in 1968; at both La Scala and San Francisco Opera in 1969; at Arena di Verona on July 16, 1969 as Calaf (his first) in Turandot with Birgit Nilsson; at the Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company in 1970; and at Covent Garden in 1971. In 1975, Domingo debuted at the prestigious Salzburg Festival, singing the title role in "Don Carlo" in an all-star cast with Nicolai Ghiaurov, Piero Cappuccilli, Mirella Freni and Christa Ludwig with Herbert von Karajan conducting. Thereafter Domingo frequently returned to Salzburg for a number of operas, as well as for several concert performances. He has now sung at practically every important opera house and festival worldwide.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo first sang Mario Cavaradossi in Puccini's "Tosca" in a 1961 performance in Mexico City. He sang Cavaradossi at the Met on February 15, 1969 with Nilsson (broadcast). 1971 he made his Covent Garden debut in the role. He continued to sing the part for many years, especially at the Met and in Vienna, eventually performing it more than any other of his roles. In September 1975, Domingo debuted in the title role of Verdi's "Otello" at the Hamburg State Opera. It soon became his signature role and one of operas he performed most frequently (over 200 times). He recorded the part three times in the studio and appeared in four officially released filmed versions of the opera. Oscar-winning Shakespearean actor, Laurence Olivier, declared after seeing the tenor in the role: "Domingo plays Othello as well as I do "and" he has that voice."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has also conducted operas and occasionally symphony orchestras as well. On 7 October 1973 he conducted his first opera performance, "La traviata" starring Patricia Brooks at the New York City Opera. The same year he released his debut album as a conductor, "Domingo Conducts Milnes/Milnes Conducts Domingo", with baritone Sherrill Milnes. Domingo increasingly began to appear as a conductor at major opera houses around the world. In late 1983, he led a performance of Johan Strauss's "Die Fledermaus" at Covent Garden, which was televised. Three years later, he made a studio recording of the operetta, in which he both conducted and sang the role of Alfred.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: The 1980s were a time of growing success and fame for Domingo. In 1981 he gained considerable recognition outside of the opera world when he recorded the song "Perhaps Love" as a duet with the American country/folk music singer John Denver. He followed this success with many more albums of popular and Latin music. Domingo expressed the hope that his popular albums would expand his fan base in a way that would eventually lead more people to discover opera. These forays outside of the opera world led to numerous television appearances for the tenor, who was no longer known only by classical music lovers. In 1987, he and Denver joined Julie Andrews for an Emmy Award-winning holiday television special, "The Sound of Christmas", filmed in Salzburg, Austria. He was interviewed on many talk shows and news programs, including "The Tonight Show" with Johnny Carson and "60 Minutes". Increasingly substantial numbers of his operatic performances were also shown on television during the 1980s.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: After gaining experience acting for the cameras in numerous televised operas, Domingo performed in his first cinematically released opera movie, "La Traviata", in 1982. He had worked with the film's director, former Academy Award nominee Franco Zeffirelli, previously in staged opera productions. Even as filming continued in Rome, he commuted back and forth to perform live in Vienna, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Madrid. In 1984, Domingo filmed the role of Don José in Francesco Rosi's movie version of "Carmen" in his native Spain. Zeffirelli reunited with the tenor two years later for another version of an opera, "Otello", that ran in movie theaters worldwide. Domingo considered "Carmen" the best of the three, although he disagreed with the director's "low conception" of his character. He found "La traviata" to be "impressive", but expressed displeasure over cuts to the music in Zeffirelli's "Otello".


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Even while diversifying his career, he continued to appear with great frequency in largely well-received operatic performances. By 1982 "Newsweek" declared Domingo "King Of The Opera" on its cover. The magazine's featured article, which recounted and analyzed his career, praised the singer for his "heroic voice, superb musicianship, fine acting skills and dashing Latin good looks". That same year, Domingo appeared at the Metropolitan Opera's opening night performance of Bellini's "Norma". It was the first time onstage that the tenor sang the part of Pollione, one of his rare excursions into the bel canto repertory. He was also set to open the Met's 1983-1984 centennial season debuting as Enée in a well publicized new production of Berlioz' "Les Troyens", but a couple months in advance expressed uncertainty whether he could successful sing the role's high tessitura without harming his voice. He asked to be released from his contract, but eventually decided to sing four of the six performances in the run with his friend James Levine conducting, including one performance that was telecast. He never sang the part again.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: During rehearsals for "Les Troyens", Domingo rescued the opening night of the San Francisco Opera's season. The tenor scheduled to sing Otello, Carlo Cossutta, cancelled on the day of the performance. The company asked Domingo to replace him at 4 p.m. He quickly flew from New York to San Francisco, rushed to the opera house, and appeared in the role at 10:30 in the evening. A writer for the "San Francisco Chronicle", among other journalists, reported extensively on the event. He observed the crowds gathering around the stage door for the tenor's arrival and remarked on how most of the waiting audience members "were breathless over the chance to see Placido Domingo, a star who draws the kind of rapt devotion that Mick Jagger inspires among rock fans."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: For the opening night of the following Met season, Domingo returned to the role of Wagner's "Lohengrin", which he had last sung in early 1968. He had originally dropped the role from his repertoire after he felt his voice had been temporarily damaged by learning the challenging opera. "The New York Times" noted that the now more mature artist "lacked the chrome-plated, penetrating quality that one associates with German tenors", but praised him for bringing "an unusual legato grace to a role that is seldom sung so beautifully". He also performed the role at the Vienna State Opera in 1985 and 1990. A performance during his last run of the opera was televised on 28 January 1990 and later released on VHS and DVD. He had just recovered from the flu at the time.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: On 19 September 1985 the biggest earthquake in Mexico's history devastated part of the Mexican capital. Domingo's aunt, uncle, nephew and his nephew's young son were killed in the collapse of the Nuevo León apartment block in the Tlatelolco housing complex. Cancelling several performances, Domingo himself labored to rescue survivors. During the next year, he performed benefit concerts for the victims and released an album of one of the events. Also in 1986 he appeared in a special gala concert for Queen Elizabeth II and in the world premiere of "Goya", an opera that Gian Carlo Menotti composed specifically for him. Domingo had encouraged Menotti to make the opera about the Spanish painter Francisco Goya, whose life fascinated the singer.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Since the 1990s Domingo has continued adding new roles to his growing repertoire, while dropping earlier parts. The 1990s were the start of rapid change in the types of roles the tenor performed. During this decade he sang his last Cavaradossi, Don Carlo, Don José, Gustavo/Riccardo, Hoffmann, and Alvaro, among others, and he began instead to expand the breadth of his roles more substantially beyond the standard Italian and French repertory. In particular, he increased his involvement in Wagnerian operas. Although he had already sung Lohengrin and recorded a few operas by the composer, he did not perform any of Wagner's works frequently onstage until he debuted as Parsifal in 1991 and Siegmund in 1992. He continued to sing these roles for almost two decades, including at the Bayreuth Festival.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: For the first time in over three decades, Domingo debuted in a Mozart opera, "Idomeneo", in 1994 at the Met. During the nineties, he also appeared in the early Verdi opera, "Stiffelio", the Brazilian "Il Guarany", and the French grand operas, "Hérodiade" and "Le prophète", all of which are rarely performed. Toward the end of the decade, he added his first Russian-language opera, Tchaikovsky's "The Queen of Spades" (although he had performed "Eugene Onegin" in translation while in Israel early in his career).


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In the 2000s, he sang his last performances of some of the most successful operas from early in his career: "Andrea Chénier", "Samson et Dalila", "Otello", "La fanciulla del West", "Fedora", "Pagliacci", and "Adriana Lecouvreur". In the twenty-first century, however, he has focused mostly on new roles. Early in the 2000s he sang the role of Arrigo in two concert performances of Verdi's rare "La battaglia di Legnano" and debuted in Wolf-Ferrari's "Sly", an opera that his Three Tenors colleague José Carreras had recently revived from obscurity. Domingo himself worked to popularize Franco Alfano's infrequently performed "Cyrano de Bergerac" a few years later. Shifting musical styles again, he appeared in the eighteenth-century operas "Iphigénie en Tauride" and "Tamerlano" late in the decade.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Additionally, Domingo created several new roles in modern operas, such as the title role in Tan Dun's 2006 opera "The First Emperor" at the Metropolitan Opera, which was broadcast worldwide into movie theaters as part of the Met Live in HD series. In September 2010, he created the role of the poet Pablo Neruda in the world première of Daniel Catán's opera "Il Postino" at the Los Angeles Opera. During the 2011–2012 season, Domingo sang Neptune in the Metropolitan Opera's world premiere performance of Jeremy Sams' "The Enchanted Island". A pastiche of Baroque opera with story and characters drawn from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream", a performance of the production was telecast on PBS' "Great Performances at the Met".


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Giving him greater international recognition outside of the world of opera, Domingo participated in The Three Tenors concert on the eve of the 1990 FIFA World Cup Final in Rome with José Carreras and Luciano Pavarotti. The event was originally conceived to raise money for the José Carreras International Leukemia Foundation and was later repeated a number of times, including at the three subsequent World Cup finals (1994 in Los Angeles, 1998 in Paris, and 2002 in Yokohama). The recording of their first appearance together, "Carreras Domingo Pavarotti in Concert", went multi-platinum with sales in excess of three million in the United States alone, eventually outselling every previous classical album worldwide. Domingo and his colleagues won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo for the album. Four years after their first successful concert, around 1.3 billion viewers worldwide watched their televised second World Cup performance at Dodger Stadium. The recording of that event, "The Three Tenors in Concert 1994", went platinum and multi-platinum in many countries, even reaching the number one spot on the UK Albums Chart. Without Pavarotti and Carreras, Domingo made an appearance at the final of the 2006 World Cup in Berlin, along with rising stars Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazón. Before the 2014 World Cup final, he performed in Rio de Janeiro with pianist Lang Lang and soprano Ana María Martínez, a winner of his Operalia competition and a frequent singing partner of his. In addition to these large-scale concerts, Domingo recorded the official song for the 1982 World Cup in Spain, "El Mundial".


title: Plácido Domingo

text: A lifelong football fan, Domingo has been a vocal supporter of Real Madrid C.F., his home-town team. In 2002, he performed the club's new commemorative anthem, "Himno del Centenario del Real Madrid". It was written by José María Cano, with whom he had previously collaborated on the opera, "Luna". Domingo presented the song live at the Bernabeu Stadium during celebrations of the football club's 100 year anniversary. On 13 May 2012, Domingo performed during Real Madrid's season-ending celebrations, when the team won their 32nd Spanish league title. In 2016 he sang the new version of Real Madrid's "Hala Madrid y nada más" with "...Y Nada Mas."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: On 24 August 2008, Domingo performed a duet with Song Zuying, singing "Ài de Huǒyàn (The Flame of Love)" at the 2008 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in Beijing. The Beijing Olympics was the second Olympics at which he performed; he also sang the Olympic Hymn at the closing ceremonies of the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In 2002, he made a guest appearance on the song "Novus", the closing track on Santana's album "Shaman". Domingo sang before Benedict XVI, during the pope's visit to Nationals Park and the Italian embassy in Washington D.C. on 16 and 17 April 2008. On 15 March 2009, the Metropolitan Opera paid tribute to Domingo's 40th and the company's 125th anniversaries with a gala performance and onstage dinner. On 29 August 2009, he sang "Panis angelicus" at the funeral mass of Senator Ted Kennedy in the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Boston, Massachusetts. In March 2011, Domingo cancelled an engagement in Buenos Aires at the Teatro Colón in support of the theatre's musicians, who were on strike.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo began an affiliation with the Washington National Opera in 1986, when he appeared in its world premiere production of Menotti's "Goya". This was followed by performances in a production of "Tosca" in the 1988/89 season. Beginning in the 1996/97 season, he took on the role of Artistic Director, bringing new life to the company's productions through his many connections to singers throughout the world and his own annual appearances in one role each season. One example of his ability to bring new singers to the stage were those by the then up-and-coming Anna Netrebko as Gilda in "Rigoletto" during the 1999/2000 season. In 2003 Domingo became General Director and his contract was extended through the 2010–2011 season.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Parallel to Domingo's management of the Washington company, he had been Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Opera since 2000. He assumed the position of General Director of the company in 2003. On 20 September 2010, he announced that he would renew his contract as General Director through 2013. A week later he announced that he would not renew his contract as General Director of the Washington National Opera beyond its June 2011 expiration date. Reaction to this included "The Washington Post"s comments on his accomplishments:


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo attempted to quash criticism in East Coast newspapers that he was taking on too much when the singer gave an interview in the "Los Angeles Times" in which he restated his long-time motto, "When I rest, I rust".


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In October 2019, Domingo resigned as general director of the Los Angeles Opera amid accusations of sexual harassment.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo announced in 2007 that two years later he would take on one of Verdi's most demanding baritone roles, singing the title role in "Simon Boccanegra". His debut performance in the part occurred at the Berlin State Opera on 24 October, followed by 29 other performances during the 2009–2010 season at major opera houses around the world, including the Met and the Royal Opera House in London.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: After the success of Boccanegra, Domingo has performed other baritone roles including the character of Rigoletto in Verdi's "Rigoletto" in August 2010 at Reignwood Theatre in Beijing. In March 2012, for the first time he sang the baritone role of the Cenobite monk Athanaël in Massenet's "Thaïs", his 139th role. Again, in 2011 he undertook the role of Rigoletto in a live television broadcast in Europe which was shot in real locations in Mantua.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: He appeared as Doge Francesco Foscari in Verdi's "I due Foscari" in a production directed by Thaddeus Strassberger for the Los Angeles Opera in September 2012, in Valencia in early 2013, and at Covent Garden in late 2014. In March 2013, at the Metropolitan Opera, he appeared for the first time as Giorgio Germont in Verdi's "La Traviata". The following year, he sang Giacomo in Verdi's "Giovanna d'Arco" in Salzburg. Later in 2014, he debuted as the Conte di Luna in "Il trovatore" in Berlin. The following season, he sang di Luna again at the Salzburg Festival with Anna Netrebko as Leonora, Marie-Nicole Lemieux as Azucena and Francesco Meli as Manrico. He first sang the title role of Verdi's "Nabucco" at Covent Garden in March–April 2013 and has since reprised it in Saint Petersburg, Beijing, Verona, and Vienna. In 2015, he made his debut in the title role of Verdi's "Macbeth" in Berlin, as well as Don Carlo in "Ernani" in New York and the title role of "Gianni Schicchi" in Los Angeles.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: On 13 June 2018, Plácido Domingo performed at the 2018 FIFA World Cup opening gala concert in Moscow held at the Red Square in Moscow, with Anna Netrebko, Juan Diego Florez and Aida Garifullina and the Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo was born to Plácido Francisco Domingo Ferrer (8 March 1907 – 22 November 1987) and Josefa "Pepita" Embil Echániz (28 February 1918 – 28 August 1994), two Spanish zarzuela stars who nurtured his early musical abilities. Domingo's father was half Aragonese and half Catalan, while his mother was a Basque from Gipuzkoa. His father began as a violinist performing for opera and zarzuela orchestras. He soon also took on baritone roles in zarzuelas. Even though he damaged his voice by performing while suffering from a cold, he continued singing into the 1970s. Domingo's mother was an established soprano who made her stage debut at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona. She met her husband at age 21 while performing in Federico Moreno Torroba's "Sor Navarra". Domingo later recalled that experts encouraged his father to sing Wagnerian heldentenor roles, while the Liceu offered his mother a contract to sing opera. In 1946 Moreno Torroba and Domingo's parents formed a zarzuela company and toured in Latin America. His parents later stayed permanently in Mexico and established their own zarzuela troupe, the Domingo-Embil Company. In addition to their son, they also had a daughter, Maria José "Mari Pepa" Domingo de Fernandez (1942–2015).


title: Plácido Domingo

text: On 29 August 1957 at age 16, Domingo married a fellow piano student, Ana María Guerra Cué (1938–2006). Their son, José Plácido Domingo Guerra (called "Pepe" as a boy and later "Joe"), now a photographer, was born on 16 June 1958. However, the marriage did not last long, with the couple separating shortly thereafter. On 1 August 1962, Domingo married Marta Ornelas (born 1935), a lyric soprano from Veracruz, Mexico, whom he met during his conservatory days. In the same year, Marta had been voted "Mexican Singer of the Year". After their marriage, the couple performed together frequently at the Israel National Opera. However, after she became pregnant with her first child, she gave up her promising career to devote time to her family. They have two sons, Plácido Francisco (known as Plácido Domingo Jr.), born 21 October 1965, and Alvaro Maurizio, born 11 October 1968.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: After a period of time living in Israel, Domingo and his growing family moved to Teaneck, New Jersey in the 1960s. He later acquired residences in Manhattan and Barcelona. Keeping his apartment in New York, he currently also has a house in his native Madrid. During breaks in his work schedule, he usually spends time with family at his vacation home in Acapulco, Mexico.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In March 2010 he underwent surgery for colon cancer. In July 2013, he was admitted to a hospital in Madrid after suffering a pulmonary embolism. He was released on July 14, and was "expected to make a full recovery". In October 2015, he was admitted to a hospital for a cholecystectomy and missed the first five performances of "Tosca" he was supposed to conduct at the Metropolitan Opera.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: On 22 March 2020, Domingo announced during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico that he had tested positive for COVID-19, which he reportedly contracted at a party in Tequila, Jalisco in honor of Juan Domingo Beckmann, who also tested positive. He was admitted to a hospital in Acapulco to treat complications of the disease but his condition was stable.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In August 2019, allegations of sexual harassment by multiple female colleagues came to light, dating back as far as 30 years. However, no official charges were ever filed, nor were there any court proceedings or convictions. Nonetheless, he subsequently resigned from his position as general manager of the LA Opera. Quote: he did so with a "heavy heart," but in light of the recent allegations against him, he said the move was in the best interest for the opera company.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In late February 2020, Domingo apologized to any colleagues who felt uncomfortable or in any way hurt by his comments or actions. He reiterated that it was never his intention to hurt or offend anyone, saying, "I have never behaved aggressively toward anyone, and I have never done anything to hinder or harm anyone's career in any way. On the contrary, I have spent much of my half-century in the opera world supporting the industry and furthering the careers of countless singers."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: The investigation launched by the Los Angeles Opera into the incidents at the house "deemed the allegations to be credible, in part because of the similarities in their accounts". The investigation "often found him to be sincere in his denials but found some of them to be less credible or lacking in awareness". The investigation criticized inadequate communication and lack of awareness about sexual harassment at the opera.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In his first interview since recovering from COVID-19, Domingo told the Italian newspaper "La Repubblica" that the charges were false. "When I knew that I had COVID, I promised myself that if I came out alive, I would fight to clear my name", Domingo said. "I never abused anyone. I will repeat that as long as I live."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has made over 200 recordings, most of which are full-length operas; he has recorded nearly all of opera's leading tenor roles, several of them more than once. As a teenager, he first appeared in very small parts on the Spanish-language original cast versions of the musicals "My Fair Lady" (1959) and "Redhead" (1960). In 1968, he released his first solo album, "Recital of Italian Operatic Arias" (also known as "Bel Canto Domingo"). The album, conducted by Nello Santi, received the Grand Prix du Disque. In 1969, Domingo's first recital album for RCA Red Seal was issued, and he recorded his first complete opera in the studio, "Il trovatore", with Leontyne Price and Sherrill Milnes also for RCA, which would be his primary record label throughout the entire 1970s; RCA recorded Domingo, Milnes and Price together several more times, both in complete operas and recital discs. Domingo followed "Il trovatore" with a steady stream of complete recorded operas from the 1970s through the early years of the next century. Starting with "Il tabarro" in 1970 and ending with "Edgar" in 2006, Domingo has recorded all of Puccini's operatic roles for tenor. Among his albums is a box set of every major tenor aria Verdi composed, including several obscure and rarely performed versions in languages different from the original operas, and written only for specific performances. He has also recorded the vocal parts in many symphonic works and has conducted on some of his albums.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In August 2005, EMI Classics released a highly anticipated and publicized studio recording of Richard Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde", in which Domingo and Operalia winner Nina Stemme sang the title roles. A review, headlined "Vocal perfections", in the 8 August 2005 issue of "The Economist" called the recording "monumental" and praised it for having "a musical lyricism and a sexual passion that make the cost and the effort entirely worthwhile". The review also characterized Domingo's July 2005 performance of Siegmund in Wagner's "Die Walküre" at Covent Garden as "unforgettable" and "luminous". More recently Domingo has appeared with Angela Gheorghiu on a recording of "Fedora", an opera in which he often appeared onstage, and as the baritone in a live version of "Giovanna d'Arco" with Anna Netrebko. In September 2011, aged 70, he signed an exclusive record contract with Sony Classics.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In addition to his classical recordings, Domingo has released numerous crossover albums. His output of non-operatic recordings accelerated after his pop album, "Perhaps Love" (1981), went gold and eventually platinum. His other recordings of popular music include "My Life for a Song" (1983), "Save Your Nights for Me" (1985), and the British gold record, "Be My Love" (1990). His English-language version of "Bésame Mucho" from "My Life for a Song" received a Grammy nomination for Best Latin Pop Performance in 1984. The following year he won a Grammy in the same category for his collection of Ernesto Lecuona songs, "Always in My Heart" ("Siempre en mi corazón"). (He won a second Grammy the same year for "Carmen" under the baton of Lorin Maazel.) In 2012, he recorded "Songs" with Josh Groban, Susan Boyle, and jazz singer Harry Connick, Jr., among others. In 2015, he released a holiday album, "My Christmas" including duets with Idina Menzel, Jackie Evancho, Plácido Domingo Jr., The Piano Guys and others.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Since the early 1980s, Domingo has released several Latin albums, including two featuring the music of Mexican songwriter, Agustín Lara. He devoted two more of his albums, "Adoro" (1982) and "100 años de Mariachi" (1999), solely to Mexican music. "100 años de Mariachi", a rancheras collection, went platinum in the United States and gold in Mexico. He later recalled that, as a fan of mariachi music since boyhood, the Grammy he won for "100 años de Mariachi" was the award that meant the most to him of all he has received.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has starred in several opera films. His three theatrical released opera movies from the 1980s received significant awards and recognitions, including Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations for Best Foreign Language Film. Zeffirelli's "La Traviata" and "Otello" both received Academy Award nominations, and the soundtracks of "La Traviata" and Rosi's "Carmen" won Grammy Awards for the Best Opera Recording of the year. Domingo has also made various opera films for television, including Jean-Pierre Ponnelle's "Madama Butterfly" with Mirella Freni, Gianfranco de Bosio's "Tosca" with Raina Kabaivanska, Giuseppe Patroni Griffi's "Tosca" with Catherine Malfitano (Emmy Award), Franco Zeffirelli's "Cavalleria rusticana" and "Pagliacci", and more recently, Marco Bellocchio's "".


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Over the course of decades, he has sung in numerous "Live from the Metropolitan Opera" telecasts and Met radio broadcasts. He has also appeared often in televised performances from other opera houses. In 1978, he starred in the La Scala production of Puccini's "Manon Lescaut" that marked the house debut of Hungarian soprano Sylvia Sass. In addition, many of his concerts and zarzuela evenings have been televised. Beyond his filmed opera and concert performances, he has frequently made guest appearances on television. Domingo appeared on "The Cosby Show" Season 5 as Alberto Santiago, a colleague of Dr. Cliff Huxtable. In 1989, the international television series "Return Journey" featured Domingo returning to his home city of Madrid reflecting on life there whilst recording an album of Zarzuela arias for EMI. On the 1993 Academy Awards telecast, he performed the song, "Beautiful Maria of My Soul," from the movie "The Mambo Kings", which had received a nomination for Best Original Song. The tenor was the first Spaniard to perform at an Academy Awards ceremony. He had previously presented the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film with Faye Dunaway at the 57th Academy Awards in 1985.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo was the executive producer of the critically acclaimed 1998 Mexican film "The Other Conquest", produced by his son Alvaro and directed by Salvador Carrasco, in which Domingo also sang the original aria "Mater Aeterna", composed by Samuel Zyman with lyrics by Carrasco. He was also heard performing the song "In Pace", during the closing credits of Kenneth Branagh's "Hamlet" (1996). In 2008, Domingo provided the voice of the long-haired Chihuahua named Montezuma in Disney's "Beverly Hills Chihuahua". He also appeared as Manolo's great-grandfather in the animated film "The Book of Life" in 2014.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In December 1992, Domingo collaborated with fellow operatic tenor and friend José Carreras and pop music legend Diana Ross in a televised Christmas-themed concert. Vienna was chosen to host the event due to its reputation as a capital of music and the particular charm of Austria during Christmas time. The Wiener Symphoniker under the direction of maestro Vjekoslav Šutej provided the orchestral music, and the Gumpoldskirchen Children's Choir provided choral vocals. On 23 December 1992, the first in what would turn out to be a series of "Christmas in Vienna" concerts was seen worldwide by several hundred million people. Plácido Domingo returned to Vienna for many more "Christmas in Vienna" concerts, performing with stars and friends of both pop and classical music, including Dionne Warwick, Charles Aznavour, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Michael Bolton, Sarah Brightman, Charlotte Church, Natalie Cole, Riccardo Cocciante, Patricia Kaas, Luciano Pavarotti, Tony Bennett and others.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: By the 1980s and 1990s, popular cultural forms, especially television programs, began to reference Domingo, often as a prototypical opera singer or as part of the influential Three Tenors. In 1987 "Sesame Street", a U.S. children's television show that has been on the air since 1969, introduced a puppet character named after Domingo. In the series, Placido Flamingo was a pink singing bird who appeared regularly on "Live from the Nest" (a play on "Live from the Met") telecasts from the Nestropolitan Opera. In the 1989 special "Sesame Street... 20 Years & Still Counting", Domingo appeared with his namesake puppet, singing "Look through the Window" together. The show never revived the character after the puppeteer, Richard Hunt, who provided the voice for Placido Flamingo, died in early 1992. Similarly, in the 2009 Australian-Canadian cartoon comedy "Pearlie", the father of a family of opera singing fleas is named Placido. Although not opera related, one of the Three Emperors (a take-off on the Three Tenors) in the original Japanese version of the anime series, "Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's" (2008-2011), is also named after the singer.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In 2007, Domingo had a cameo role on "The Simpsons", the longest running American scripted prime time television series and winner of over thirty Emmy Awards. He provided the voice for an animated version of himself in the episode "The Homer of Seville", which revolves around Homer Simpson becoming an opera singer. After an opera performance, Homer chats with Domingo, who tells him to call him "P. Dingo" (a play on "P. Diddy") and asks him for singing advice. Although not providing voice-overs, he was also an animated character in a 1995 episode ("Three Tenors and You're Out") of the Warner Brothers children's cartoon, "Animaniacs", and a 1999 episode ("Censoring Problems: The Three Stooges vs. The Three Tenors") of MTV's violent comedy, "Celebrity Deathmatch".


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo, along with Luciano Pavarotti and José Carreras, loosely inspired the 2001 biting English-language film, "Off Key", by Spanish director Manuel Gómez Pereira. The movie's leading character, Ricardo Palacios (played by Joe Mantegna), is a Spanish tenor with vague ties to Mexico, who plays the piano, conducts, seeks celebrity outside of the opera world, and is proud of his Otello. Like Domingo, he discovers new operatic talents, sings duets with pop singers, and performs mariachi music and tangos. The farcical plot, however, has nothing in common with actual occurrences in the lives of Domingo or his colleagues. The movie was the most expensive production in Spain's cinematic history to that point.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: American author Elizabeth George references Domingo in one of her series of mystery novels about the fictional Inspector Lynley, "This Body of Death" (2010). In the book, Meredith's young daughter is an enthusiastic fan of Plácido Domingo and has the detective read to her from an unauthorized biography of the singer. The real-life Domingo was also mentioned as part of a running gag on the 1996 "Seinfeld" episode, "The Doll". "Seinfeld" was the second highest rated series on U.S. television at the time. He was also referenced several times throughout the sitcom series "Everybody Loves Raymond" as Raymond's mother, Marie's, favorite opera singer. In addition, the tenor has appeared on the cover of several opera-related books, as a key representative of the musical genre. Such mainstream allusions to Domingo illustrate his atypically widespread fame and cultural influence as an opera singer. His integration both as an actual performer and as an "image" into popular as well as high culture was so significant by 2011, Spanish author Rubén Amón wrote a book, "Plácido Domingo: Un coloso en el teatro del mundo", specifically analyzing the singer as a cultural and sociological phenomenon.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has sung 151 roles in Italian, French, German, English, Spanish and Russian. His main repertoire however is Italian ("Otello"; Cavaradossi in "Tosca"; "Don Carlo"; Des Grieux in "Manon Lescaut"; Dick Johnson in "La fanciulla del West"; Radames in "Aida"); French (Don José in "Carmen"; Samson in "Samson and Delilah"; Hoffmann in "Les Contes d'Hoffmann"); and German ("Lohengrin", "Parsifal", and Siegmund in "Die Walküre"). He has appeared in more operas by Giuseppe Verdi than any other composer. Domingo has created original roles in eight world premieres of operas, Vásquez's "El último sueño", Moreno Torroba's "El poeta", Menotti's "Goya", García Abril's "Divinas palabras", Cano's "Luna", Drattell's "Nicholas and Alexandra", Tan Dun's "The First Emperor", and Catán's "Il Postino", as well as one "pasticcio", "The Enchanted Island". He also performed in the U.S. premieres of "Don Rodrigo" and "Cyrano de Bergerac". He continues to add more roles to his repertoire, most recently performing as Schicchi in Puccini's one-act opera "Gianni Schicchi" in September 2015.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: After taking on baritone roles, he sang Conte Di Luna in "Il Trovatore", an opera in which he previously performed as Manrico, a tenor role. His last major role in a full-length opera was in the title role of "Nabucco" in the production by Thaddeus Strassberger in December 2019 in Valencia. During the curtain call many supporters of the singer showed support by dropping flyers in support of the singer.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Plácido Domingo has received many awards and honors for his achievement in the field of music and in recognition of his many benefit concerts and contributions to various charities. In 1978, when Domingo was only 37, the city of Madrid dedicated a commemorative plaque at his birthplace at 34 Calle Ibiza near the Buen Retiro Park.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: The singer won his first Grammy Award in 1971 and has gone on to win eight more, as well as five Latin Grammy awards including an award for Latin Recording Academy Person of the Year.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: A Kammersänger of the Vienna State Opera and the recipient of numerous honorary doctorates, he has received other major awards that include being made an honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2002.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: He has also received the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class (1992); Grand Decoration of Honour in Silver for Services to the Republic of Austria (2007); Commander of the French Légion d'honneur; Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle; Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for Arts (1991); the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom; and in 2011, a Medal of Honour from Sultan Qaboos bin Said of Oman. The first Birgit Nilsson Prize was awarded to him in 2009.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In April 2014, Domingo was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music degree by Berklee College of Music at its campus in Valencia, Spain. During his acceptance speech, Domingo said, "it is a great pleasure to have a connection between Boston and Valencia since both have been so important in my career." Domingo sang Handel's Messiah with the Boston Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of his career, and performed his first "Bohéme" at the Palau de les Arts.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In June 2018, Iberia Airlines honored Domingo by placing his name on their first Airbus A350 delivered to the Airline.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has been heavily involved in humanitarian efforts and volunteerism. He has given many benefit concerts for disaster relief, charities, and musical organizations, as well as served in various voluntary positions in the artistic and sports worlds. In 1986, Domingo performed at several benefit concerts to raise funds for the victims of the 1985 Mexico City earthquake. He also released an album of one of the events for charity. On 21 August 2007, in recognition of his support of the earthquake victims, as well as his artistic works, a statue in his honor was unveiled. It was made in Mexico City from keys donated by the people. The statue, the work of Alejandra Zúñiga, is two meters tall, weighs about 300 kg (660 lbs) and is part of the "Grandes valores" (Great values) program.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Since the earthquake, Domingo has continued to do charitable work in Mexico and other countries. After Hurricane Pauline ravaged the Pacific coast of Southern Mexico in 1997, he gave two charity concerts in Acapulco to raise money to build 150 new houses for those made homeless by the storm. In December 2003, he performed in Cancún to benefit the Ciudad de la Alegria Foundation, which provides assistance and lodging to people in need, including low-income individuals, orphans, expectant mothers, immigrants, rehabilitated legal offenders, and the terminally ill. Outside of Mexico, Domingo and Katherine Jenkins performed in a charity concert in Athens on 27 June 2007 to raise funds to aid victims of the conflict in Darfur. The concert was organized by Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders).


title: Plácido Domingo

text: On 4 March 2006, Domingo sang at the New Orleans Opera Association's Gala Benefit Concert, "A Night For New Orleans", to help rebuild the city after it was partially destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Before the gala, he made the encouraging statement: "MUSIC IS THE VOICE OF HOPE!". Operalia winner Elizabeth Futral and several other popular opera singers appeared with the tenor. The Gala collected $700,000 for the city recovery fund. On 23 March 2008, the New Orleans City Council named the city theatre's stage in the Mahalia Jackson Theatre in Louis Armstrong Park the "Plácido Domingo stage", in honour of his contribution at the Gala Benefits Concert. Early the following year, Domingo performed with the New Orleans Opera in a gala reopening the theatre. At the time he told the press, "The restoration of New Orleans' Mahalia Jackson Theater is a symbol of new life for the city following the devastation of 2005, but in these difficult economic times, it is also a symbol of hope and faith in the future on the part of a forward-looking artistic organization."


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In June 2010 Domingo became President of Europa Nostra, the Voice of Cultural Heritage in Europe, which helps to promote European high culture. The following year, FIFA president Sepp Blatter invited Domingo to join a council intended to clean up the football governing body, which had been accused of taking bribes from countries that wanted to stage the World Cup. Domingo has also supported environmental efforts. In 2007, he joined several other preeminent figures in entertainment, government, the environment and more, as one of the users of the BMW Hydrogen 7, designed to build support for hydrogen as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. Domingo also supports the Hear the World initiative as an ambassador to raise awareness for the topic of hearing and hearing loss.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Domingo has especially tried to aid the development of young opera singers' careers. In 1993 he founded Operalia, The World Opera Competition, an international opera competition for talented young singers. The winners get the opportunity to be employed in opera ensembles around the world.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Several leading opera singers of recent years have won prizes in the competition, including Joseph Calleja, Joyce DiDonato, Erwin Schrott, Giuseppe Filianoti, and José Cura. In particular, Domingo has performed frequently with Mexican tenor Rolando Villazón, who won three prizes at the 1999 Operalia competition.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: Beyond Operalia, Domingo has been instrumental in giving many young artists encouragement and special attention, as in 2001, when he invited the so-called "Singing Policeman", New York tenor Daniel Rodríguez, to attend the Vilar-Domingo Young Artists program to develop his operatic skills.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In addition to the Vilar-Domingo Young Artists Program in Washington, D.C., Domingo has also started programs to train young opera singers at the Los Angeles Opera and the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Spain.


title: Plácido Domingo

text: In September 2016, he performed at a Los Angeles benefit for the Esperanza Azteca Los Angeles Youth Orchestra supporting young musicians from the Los Angeles area.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The Chamber of Deputies () is the lower house of the bicameral Italian Parliament (the other being the Senate of the Republic). The two houses together form a perfect bicameral system, meaning they perform identical functions, but do so separately. The Chamber of Deputies has 400 seats, of which 392 will be elected from Italian constituencies, and 8 from Italian citizens living abroad. Deputies are styled "The Honourable" (Italian: "Onorevole") and meet at Palazzo Montecitorio.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The seat of the Chamber of Deputies is the "Palazzo Montecitorio", where it has met since 1871, shortly after the capital of the Kingdom of Italy was moved to Rome at the successful conclusion of the Italian unification "Risorgimento" movement.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: Previously, the seat of the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of Italy had been briefly at the "Palazzo Carignano" in Turin (1861–1865) and the "Palazzo Vecchio" in Florence (1865–1871). Under the Fascist regime of Benito Mussolini, the Chamber of Deputies was abolished and replaced by the figurehead Chamber of Fasces and Corporations from 1939 to 1943 (during World War II).


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The Chamber is composed of all members meeting in session at the Montecitorio. The assembly also has the right to attend meetings of the Government and its ministers. If required, the Government is obligated to attend the session. Conversely, the Government has the right to be heard every time it requires.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The term of office of the House (as well as the Senate) is five years, but can be extended in two cases:


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The electoral system is a mixed-member majoritarian with 37% of seats allocated using first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) and 63% using proportional representation, allocated with the largest remainder method, with one round of voting.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: For Italian residents, each house members are elected by single ballots, including the constituency candidate and his supporting party lists. In each single-member constituency the deputy/senator is elected on a plurality basis, while the seats in multi-member constituencies will be allocated nationally. In order to be calculated in single-member constituency results, parties need to obtain at least 1% of the national vote. In order to receive seats in multi-member constituencies, parties need to obtain at least 3% of the national vote. Elects from multi-member constituencies will come from closed lists.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The single voting paper, containing both first-past-the-post candidates and the party lists, shows the names of the candidates to single-member constituencies and, in close conjunction with them, the symbols of the linked lists for the proportional part, each one with a list of the relative candidates.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: Article 61 of the Italian Constitution maintains that elections for the Chamber of Deputies must take place within 70 days of the dissolution of the house, and that representatives must convene within 20 days of those elections.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The President of the Chamber of Deputies ("Presidente della Camera dei Deputati") performs the role of speaker of the house and is elected during the first session after the election. During this time the prerogatives of speaker are assumed by the vice president of Chamber of Deputies of the previous legislature who was elected first. If two were elected simultaneously, the oldest deputy serves as president of Chamber of Deputies.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: The President of Chamber of Deputies has also the role of President during the Parliament joint sessions, when the upper and lower houses have to vote together.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: In 2019, the Italian parliament passed a constitutional law that reduces the number of the deputies from 630 to 400. The law was approved on 21 and 22 September 2020 by a referendum.


title: Chamber of Deputies (Italy)

text: Legislature XIX of Italy was the first one in which the complexive number of Deputies was equal to 400.


title: Hash oil

text: Hash oil, also known as honey oil or cannabis oil, is an oleoresin obtained by the extraction of cannabis or hashish. It is a cannabis concentrate containing many of its resins and terpenes – in particular, tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids. Hash oil is usually consumed by smoking, vaporizing or eating. Preparations of hash oil may be solid or colloidal depending on both production method and temperature and are usually identified by their appearance or characteristics. Color most commonly ranges from transparent golden or light brown, to tan or black. There are various extraction methods, most involving a solvent, such as butane or ethanol.


title: Hash oil

text: Hash oil is an extracted cannabis product that may use any part of the plant, with minimal or no residual solvent. It is generally thought to be indistinct from traditional hashish, according to the 1961 UN Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (Schedule I and IV), as it is "the separated resin, whether crude or purified, obtained from the cannabis plant".


title: Hash oil

text: Hash oil may be sold in cartridges used with pen vaporizers. Cannabis retailers in California have reported about 40% of their sales are from cannabis oils.


title: Hash oil

text: The tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content of hash oil varies tremendously, since the manufacturers use a varying assortment of marijuana plants and preparation techniques. Dealers sometimes cut hash oils with other oils. The form of the extract varies depending on the extraction process used; it may be liquid, a clear amber solid (called “shatter"), a sticky semisolid substance (called "wax"), or a brittle honeycombed solid (called "honeycomb wax").


title: Hash oil

text: Hash oil seized in the 1970s had a THC content ranging from 10% to 30%. The oil available on the U.S. West Coast in 1974 averaged about 15% THC. Samples seized across the United States by the Drug Enforcement Administration over an 18-year period (1980–1997) showed that THC content in hashish and hashish oil averaging 12.9% and 17.4%, respectively, did not show an increase over time. The highest THC concentrations measured were 52.9% in hashish and 47.0% in hash oil. Hash oils in use in the 2010s had THC concentrations as high as 90% and other products achieving higher concentrations Following an outbreak of vaping related pulmonary illnesses and deaths in 2019 NBC News conducted tests on different black market THC vape cartridges and found cartridges containing up to 30% Vitamin E acetate and trace amounts of fungicides and pesticides that may be harmful.


title: Hash oil

text: The hash oils made in the nineteenth century were made from hand collected hashish called charas and kief. The term hash oil was hashish that had been dissolved or infused into a vegetable oil for use in preparing foods for oral administration. Efforts to isolate the active ingredient in cannabis were well documented in the nineteenth century, and cannabis extracts and tinctures of cannabis were included in the British Pharmacopoeia and the United States Pharmacopoeia. These solvent extracts were termed cannabin (1845), cannabindon, cannabinine, crude cannabinol and cannabinol.


title: Hash oil

text: So called "butane honey oil" was available briefly in the 1970s. This product was made in Kabul, Afghanistan, and smuggled into the United States by The Brotherhood of Eternal Love. Production is thought to have ceased when the facility was destroyed in an explosion.


title: Hash oil

text: Traditional ice-water separated hashish production utilizes water and filter bags to separate plant material from resin, though this method still leaves much residual plant matter and is therefore poorly suited for full vaporization. Gold described the use of alcohol and activated charcoal in honey oil production by 1989, and Michael Starks further detailed procedures and various solvents by 1990.


title: Hash oil

text: Large cannabis vaporizers gained popularity in the twentieth century for their ability to vaporize the cannabinoids in cannabis and extracts without burning plant material, using temperature controlled vaporization.


title: Hash oil

text: Smoking or vaporizing hash oil is known colloquially as "dabbing", from the English verb to daub (Dutch dabben, French dauber), "to smear with something adhesive". Dabbing devices include special kinds of water pipes ("oil rigs"), vaporizers and vape pens similar in design to electronic cigarettes. Oil rigs include a glass water pipe and a quartz bucket which is often covered with a glass bubble or directional cap to direct the airflow and disperse the oil amongst the hot areas of the quartz "nail" (A nail is also referred to as a banger). The pipe is often heated with a butane blowtorch rather than a cigarette lighter.


title: Hash oil

text: The oil can also be sold in prefilled atomizer cartridges. The cartridge is used by connecting it to a battery and inhaling the vaporized oil from the cartridge's mouthpiece.


title: Hash oil

text: Hash oil is produced by solvent extraction (maceration, infusion or percolation) of marijuana or hashish. After filtering and evaporating the solvent, a sticky resinous liquid with a strong herbal odor (remarkably different from the odor of hemp) remains.


title: Hash oil

text: Fresh, undried plant material is less suited for hash oil production, because much THC and CBD will be present in their carboxylic acid forms (THCA and CBDA), which may not be highly soluble in some solvents. The acids are decarboxylated during drying and heating (smoking).


title: Hash oil

text: A wide variety of solvents can be used for extraction, such as chloroform, dichloromethane, petroleum ether, naphtha, benzene, butane, methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, and olive oil. Currently, resinoids are often obtained by extraction with supercritical carbon dioxide. The alcohols extract undesirable water-soluble substances such as chlorophyll and sugars (which can be removed later by washing with water). Non-polar solvents such as benzene, chloroform and petroleum ether will not extract the water-soluble constituents of marijuana or hashish while still producing hash oil. In general, non-polar cannabis extracts taste much better than polar extracts. Alkali washing further improves the odor and taste.


title: Hash oil

text: The oil may be further refined by 1) alkali washing, or removing the heavy aromatic carboxylic acids with antibiotic properties, which may cause heartburn, gallbladder and pancreas irritation, and resistance to hemp antibiotics; 2) conversion of CBD to THC. Process 1) consists of dissolving the oil in a non-polar solvent such as petroleum ether, repeatedly washing (saponifying) with a base such as sodium carbonate solution until the yellow residue disappears from the watery phase, decanting, and washing with water to remove the base and the saponified components (and evaporating the solvents). This process reduces the oil yield, but the resulting oil is less acidic, more easily digestible and much more potent (almost pure THC). Process 2) consists of dissolving the oil in a suitable solvent such as absolute ethanol containing 0.05% hydrochloric acid, and boiling the mixture for 2 hours.


title: Hash oil

text: The majority of ready to consume extract products are produced via "Closed Loop Systems.". These systems typically entail: a vessel that holds the solvent, material columns to hold the plant material, a flow meter to measure the volume of solvent entering the plant material, a recovery vessel(where heat is applied via an external jacket) to convert the liquid solvent into a vapor and separate it from the THC, CBD, or other cannabinoids/byproducts, and some form of a heat exchanger to then convert the hydrocarbon vapors back into a liquid form prior to returning to the original vessel.


title: Hash oil

text: One pound of marijuana yields from 1/5 to 1/10 of a pound of hash oil. The oil may retain considerable residual solvent: oil extracted with longer-chain volatile hydrocarbons (such as naphtha) is less viscous (thinner) than oil extracted with short-chain hydrocarbons (such as butane).


title: Hash oil

text: Colored impurities from the oil can be removed by adding activated charcoal to about one third to one half the weight or volume of the solvent containing the dissolved oil, mixing well, filtering, and evaporating the solvent. When decolorizing fatty oils, oil retention can be up to 50 wt % on bleaching earths and nearly 100 wt % on activated charcoal. The many different textures/types of hydrocarbon extracts include:


title: Hash oil

text: Hash rosin has recently become a top quality, highly prized product in the cannabis market. For dabbing, it is considered to be the cleanest form of concentrating cannabis, as it requires only ice, water (instead of chemical solvents like butane), heat, pressure, and collection tools. Cannabis flower material is washed with ice water, and strained using filters in sequential micron size to isolate intact trichomes and their heads into ice water hash. The microns that are held in highest regards are the 73u and 90u, as this is where the resin heads reside. These are sometimes isolated and sold as one of the highest quality, most expensive cannabis products in the market today, known as "full melt" because it will dab fine without having to be pressed. "Full spectrum" hash rosin will normally come from 45u-159u, as smaller and larger particles are likely to be too unrefined or broken stalks of the trichomes.


title: Hash oil

text: This hash is then pressed at the appropriate temperature and pressure to squeeze the oils out of the hash, and is collected with metal tools and parchment paper. Just like hydrocarbon extraction, the quality of the final product depends greatly on the quality of the starting material. This is emphasized even more so with hash rosin due to its lower yield percentages compared to solvent-derived concentrates (.3-8% rosin vs 10-20% hydrocarbon). Hash rosin producers often touch on how growing cannabis for hash production is different than growing for flower production, as some strains will be deceptive with their looks regarding yields.


title: Hash oil

text: In Canada, hash oil – defined as a chemically concentrated extract having up to 90% THC potency – was approved for commerce in October 2018.


title: Hash oil

text: In the United States, regulations specifically for hash oil have not been issued as of 2019, but hemp seed oil – along with hulled hemp seeds and hemp seed protein – were approved as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) in December 2018, indicating that "these products can be legally marketed in human foods for these uses without food additive approval, provided they comply with all other requirements and do not make disease treatment claims".


title: Hash oil

text: On September 5, 2019, the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) announced that 10 out of 18, or 56% of the samples of vape liquids sent in by states, linked to recent vaping related lung disease outbreak in the United States, tested positive for vitamin E acetate which had been used as a thickening agent by illicit THC vape cartridge manufacturers. On November 8, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified vitamin E acetate as a very strong culprit of concern in the vaping-related illnesses, but has not ruled out other chemicals or toxicants as possible causes. The CDC's findings were based on fluid samples from the lungs of 29 patients with vaping-associated pulmonary injury, which provided direct evidence of vitamin E acetate at the primary site of injury in all the 29 lung fluid samples tested. Research suggests when vitamin E acetate is inhaled, it may interfere with normal lung functioning. "Vitamin E oil might be in 60-70% of street carts, insiders say."


title: Hash oil

text: Counterfeit THC oil has been detected to contain synthetic cannabinoids. Several school kids in Greater Manchester collapsed after vaping Spice mis-sold as 'natural cannabis'.


title: Hash oil

text: the health effects of using hash oil were poorly documented. Cannabis extracts have less plant matter and create less harmful smoke. However, trace amounts of impurities are not generally regarded as safe (GRAS). In 2019 following an outbreak of illnesses additives added to vape pen mixtures were found to be causing breathing problems, lung damage, and deaths.


title: Hash oil

text: Most of the solvents employed vaporize quickly and are flammable, making the extraction process dangerous. Several explosion and fire incidents related to hash oil manufacturing attempts in homes have been reported.


title: Hash oil

text: Solvents used to extract THC are flammable or combustible and have resulted in explosions, fires, severe injuries, and deaths.


title: Hash oil

text: The LD50 for THC (Delta 9 Tetrahydrocannabinol) is not precisely known, as there have been no recorded fatalities. Hash oil can contain up to 80% THC, though up to 99% is possible with other methods of extraction. While health issues of the lungs may be exacerbated by use of hash oil, it is not known to cause side effects not already found in other preparations of cannabis.


title: Hash oil

text: When exposed to air, warmth and light (especially without antioxidants), the oil loses its taste and psychoactivity due to aging. Cannabinoid carboxylic acids (THCA, CBDA, and maybe others) have an antibiotic effect on gram-positive bacteria such as (penicillin-resistant) Staphylococcus aureus, but gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli are unaffected.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon is a recurring character in the American animated television series "The Simpsons". He is an Indian immigrant proprietor who runs the Kwik-E-Mart, a popular convenience store in Springfield, and is known for his catchphrase, "Thank you, come again". He was formerly voiced by Hank Azaria and first appeared in the episode "The Telltale Head". He was named in honor of the title character of "The Apu Trilogy" by Satyajit Ray.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: A 2017 documentary, "The Problem with Apu", written by and starring comedian Hari Kondabolu, criticized the character as a South Asian stereotype. In January 2020, Azaria reacted to this by announcing that he and the production crew of the series agreed for him to step down as the voice of the character. "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening stated in August 2019 that Apu would remain on the show. The final time that Azaria voiced Apu was in the season 29 premiere "The Serfsons" in 2017; after that episode and as of 2022, the character has appeared in the background of many episodes but has yet to have any further speaking appearances.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In the episode "Homer and Apu", Apu says he is from Rahmatpur, West Bengal. Apu is a naturalized U.S. citizen, and he holds a Ph.D. in computer science. He graduated first in his class of seven million at 'Caltech' – Calcutta Technical Institute – going on to earn his doctorate at the Springfield Heights Institute of Technology (S.H.I.T.).


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu began working at the Kwik-E-Mart during graduate school to pay off his student loan; he stayed afterwards as he enjoyed his job and the friends he had made. He remained an illegal immigrant until Mayor Quimby proposed a municipal law to expel all undocumented aliens. Apu responded by purchasing a forged birth certificate from the Springfield Mafia that listed his parents as American citizens Herb and Judy Nahasapeemapetilon from Green Bay, Wisconsin. When, however, he realized he was forsaking his origins, he abandoned this plan and instead successfully managed to pass his citizenship test with help from Lisa and Homer Simpson. Thus, he refers to himself as a "semi-legal alien".


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In 1985, Apu was a member of the barbershop quartet The Be Sharps, along with Homer Simpson, Barney Gumble, and Principal Seymour Skinner. Upon the advice of the band manager, Nigel, Apu took the stage name "Apu de Beaumarchais" (a reference to Pierre Beaumarchais, author of "The Barber of Seville"). Apu is a vegetarian, as revealed in the season 7 episode "Lisa the Vegetarian".


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In the episode "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons", Apu enjoys a brief period as Springfield's leading ladies' man after being spontaneously drawn into a bachelor auction. He spends the days following the auction on a whirlwind of dates, which suddenly end when his mother announces his arranged marriage to a woman named Manjula, whom he had not seen since childhood. Apu tries to get out of the arrangement at first, with Marge Simpson pretending to be his wife, until Apu's mother finds her with Homer. However, he is won over when he meets Manjula at the wedding, and the two decide to give the marriage a try, with Manjula noting nonchalantly that they can always get a divorce. Later, the two actually fall in love.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In the episode "Eight Misbehavin', Manjula receives too many doses of fertility drugs, leading to her giving birth to octuplets: Anoop, Uma, Nabendu, Poonam, Priya, Sandeep, Sashi, and Gheet. This causes difficulties for the family but finally they decide to get on with their life. During the episode "Bart-Mangled Banner", when the town changes its name to Libertyville to be patriotic after it is claimed Springfield hates America, Apu temporarily changes his children's names to Lincoln, Freedom, Condoleezza, Coke, Pepsi, Manifest Destiny, Apple Pie, and Superman.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu and Manjula have a mostly happy marriage, despite understandable marital problems caused by Apu's workaholic nature and long hours, and the strain of caring for eight children. A further strain came up when Apu was unfaithful to Manjula, causing him to briefly move out and even making him contemplate suicide. He and his family are devout Hindus, and he particularly venerates Ganesha.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Sanjay (voiced by Harry Shearer), Apu's brother, helps run the Kwik-E-Mart. Sanjay has a daughter named Pahasatira, and a son named Jamshed, all of whom share the Nahasapeemapetilon surname. Apu has another younger brother, who is only mentioned in "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons", where Apu was shown on a chart as the oldest of three. Apu also has a cousin living in India named Kavi, also voiced by Azaria, who helped Homer while he was in India. Kavi works for several American companies taking service calls using General American, cowboy, and Jamaican accents.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu is a playable character in "" video game. His quest in the game is to redeem himself for unknowingly selling the tainted Buzz Cola that has made the residents of Springfield insane.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu first appeared in the season one episode "The Telltale Head". Al Jean and Mike Reiss claim that while creating the character, the writers decided they would not make him ethnic, as they felt it would be too offensive and stereotypical and did not want to offend viewers, but that the concept stayed because Hank Azaria's reading of the line "Hello, Mr. Homer" received a huge laugh from the writers. Azaria, however, has disputed this account, claiming instead that the writers asked him to create a stereotypical Indian accent for the character. Azaria has said that he based Apu's voice on Indian convenience store workers in Los Angeles with whom he had interacted when he first moved to the area. He also loosely based it on Peter Sellers' character Hrundi V. Bakshi from the film "The Party", who Azaria thinks has a similar personality to Apu.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu's first name is an homage to the main character in "The Apu Trilogy" directed by Satyajit Ray. His surname is Nahasapeemapetilon, and it was first used in the episode "A Streetcar Named Marge". It is a morphophonological blend of the name "Pahasadee Napetilon", the full name of a schoolmate of "Simpsons" writer Jeff Martin.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In the ninth season of the show, Apu marries Manjula in the episode "The Two Mrs. Nahasapeemapetilons". Rich Appel first constructed the idea for Apu's marriage. Andrea Martin provided the voice of Apu's mother in the episode, recording her part in New York. She wanted to get the voice perfect, so in between takes she listened to tapes of Azaria reading lines for Apu, to make sure her voice could realistically be Apu's mother's.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu is one of the most prominent South Asian characters on primetime television in the United States. Hank Azaria has won three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance, winning in 1998 for his performance as Apu, again in 2001 for "Worst Episode Ever", and a third time in 2003 for "Moe Baby Blues" for voicing several characters, including Apu.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu's image has been widely licensed, on items ranging from board games to auto air fresheners. In July 2007, convenience store chain 7-Eleven converted 11 of its stores in the United States and one in Canada into Kwik-E-Marts to celebrate the release of "The Simpsons Movie".


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Apu's portrayal has been accused by some of being a racist caricature of Indians and South Asians in general and was criticized of the bias along racial/ethnic lines, "Brownvoice", similar to "Blackface". During the 2007 7-Eleven promotion, some members of the Indian-American community voiced concerns that Apu is a caricature that plays on too many negative stereotypes. Despite this, 7-Eleven reported that many of its Indian employees reacted positively to the idea, but noted that it was "not a 100 percent endorsement".


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: According to Hari Kondabolu, in a "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell" web-exclusive segment, there is a negative reaction to Apu in the Indian-American community, as well as the greater Desi community. Pakistani-American comedian and actor Kumail Nanjiani has also criticized the character and has related that early in his career, he was asked to do the "Apu accent" as a stereotypical version of the "Indian accent". In a 2007 interview, Azaria acknowledged some of this criticism when he recalled a conversation with the writers of the show during the inception of the character: "Right away they were like 'Can you do an Indian accent and how offensive can you make it?' basically. I was like, 'It's not tremendously accurate. It's a little, uh, stereotype,' and they were like, 'Eh, that's all right. In a 2013 interview with "The Huffington Post", Azaria said it should not be expected that the character's accent would "suddenly change now" or that the character would be written out, saying, "I'd be surprised if [the show's writers] write him any less frequently because he's offensive."


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In 2016, Kondabolu announced his intention to produce a documentary about "how this controversial caricature was created, burrowed its way into the hearts and minds of Americans and continues to exist – intact – twenty-six years later". In 2017, Kondabolu released the hour-long documentary "The Problem with Apu"; in the film, Kondabolu interviews other actors and comics of South Asian heritage about the impact that the character of Apu has had on their lives and the perception of South Asians in American culture.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In April 2018, "The Simpsons" reacted to the controversy surrounding Apu in the episode "No Good Read Goes Unpunished". Marge introduces Lisa to her favorite childhood book, but is shocked by its racist stereotypes and attempts to rewrite it to suit modern sensitivities. Lisa is bored by this revised version, and Marge asks what she should do; Lisa replies "It's hard to say. Something that started decades ago and was applauded and inoffensive is now politically incorrect. What can you do?" She then looks at a picture of Apu with "Don't have a cow, man" written on it, and the two characters say that the issue will be dealt with later, if at all. Kondabolu said that he was saddened by the show's dismissive take on the controversy. Mike Reiss, "The Simpsons"' longtime writer and producer, acknowledged the problem, and pointed out that Apu had not had a line in the show for the last three years.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: During an appearance that same month on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert", Azaria said that he would be "perfectly willing to step aside" from the role of voicing Apu, saying that he was increasingly worried about the character causing harm by reinforcing stereotypes and that "the most important thing is to listen to Indian people and their experience with it ... I really want to see Indian, South Asian writers in the writers' room, genuinely informing whichever direction this character takes." Kondabolu had a positive reaction to Azaria's comments.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In an interview with "USA Today", creator Matt Groening dismissed the criticism of the Apu character, saying, "I think it's a time in our culture where people love to pretend they're offended". Dana Walden, the CEO of 20th Century Fox Television, said in an August 2018 interview in regard to the Apu controversy that the network trusts the showrunners "to handle it in the way that's best for the show". In October 2018, in the "South Park" episode "The Problem with a Poo", Mr. Hankey is expelled and sent to a land where "people don't care about bigotry and hate" – Springfield. The episode ended with a title card, #cancelthesimpsons, similar to the promo for "South Park" that called for the cancellation of itself. However, on the DVD commentary South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone stated that the people on "The Simpsons" are their friends and that joke was not a jab at "The Simpsons" but at the documentary and that they found it amusing how many misinterpreted the joke as an attack on "The Simpsons". Al Jean also tweeted about the episode "It's actually in favor of us saying people are too critical."


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In the UK, Hugo Rifkind criticized in "The Times" what he characterized as the prevalent attitude concerning potentially offensive material: that the possibility that somebody "might be" offended is enough for material to be considered offensive. He also stated that Apu is portrayed very positively, smarter than every other character except for Lisa, and that the show was much ruder about other characters like Ned Flanders, Krusty and Groundskeeper Willie.


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: On October 26, Adi Shankar stated in an interview with "IndieWire" that Apu would be leaving "The Simpsons". On October 29, 2018, executive producer Al Jean responded to the speculation and stated that "Adi Shankar is not a producer on the Simpsons. I wish him the best but he does not speak for our show". On August 27, 2019, several sources reported that Groening had confirmed Apu's continued position on the show during the "Simpsons" panel at Disney's D23 Expo, telling a fan who asked whether or not Apu would remain, "Yes. We love Apu. We're proud of Apu."


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: Azaria announced on January 17, 2020, that he and the production team agreed to allow him to step away from voicing Apu, "unless there's some way to transition it or something". Azaria had followed the debate over the previous years since Kondabolu's essay and documentary, read up on and attended seminars on racism and social consciousness, and spoken to Indian-American colleagues including fellow actor Utkarsh Ambudkar (who had performed as Apu's nephew in "Much Apu About Something") about the situation. He came to understand the issues around the character of Apu compared to the other stereotypical characters on "The Simpsons" was the idea of permissible use, which led to his decision to quit voicing Apu. Azaria said, "There hasn't been an outcry over these characters because people feel they're represented. They don't take it so personally, nor do they feel oppressed or insulted by it."


title: Apu Nahasapeemapetilon

text: In the April 12, 2021 episode of Dax Shepard's podcast "Armchair Expert", Azaria apologized for "racism, my participation in racism, or at least in a racist practice or in structural racism, as it relates to showbusiness or...all the above." One reaction to Azaria's apology came from actress/writer Mellini Kantayya, who, in a "Washington Post" opinion piece, wrote that hearing Azaria's concession "and for him to say so not in a carefully crafted PR statement, but in a conversation long after the news cycle had moved on, caught me off guard. Azaria reached his conclusions after years of learning and reflection. He recognized how his work had hurt Indian Americans and wanted to start making amends. That's why I cried. His apology was cold comfort, given my past, but the validation and acknowledgment still mattered."


title: Beverley Cross

text: Alan Beverley Cross (13 April 1931 – 20 March 1998) was an English playwright, librettist, and screenwriter.


title: Beverley Cross

text: Born in London into a theatrical family, and educated at the Nautical College Pangbourne, Cross started off by writing children's plays in the 1950s. He achieved instant success with his first play, "One More River", which dealt with a mutiny in which a crew puts its first officer on trial for manslaughter. The play premiered in 1958 at the New Shakespeare Theatre Liverpool, starring Robert Shaw, directed by Sam Wanamaker, and in 1959, still with Robert Shaw, directed by Guy Hamilton at the Duke of York's Theatre in London.


title: Beverley Cross

text: Cross' second play, "Strip the Willow", was to make a star out of his future wife, Maggie Smith, though the play never received a London production. In 1962, he translated Marc Camoletti's French farce "Boeing Boeing", which had a lengthy run in the West End. In 1964, he directed the play in Sydney. Another success was "Half a Sixpence", a musical comedy based on the H.G. Wells novel "Kipps" for which he wrote the book. This opened in 1963, and like his first play, ran in London for more than a year.


title: Beverley Cross

text: He also wrote opera librettos for Richard Rodney Bennett ("The Mines of Sulphur", "All the King's Men", and "Victory") and Nicholas Maw ("The Rising of the Moon").


title: Beverley Cross

text: Cross later became well known for his screenplays, including "Jason and the Argonauts" (1963), "The Long Ships" (1964), "Genghis Khan" (1965), and "Clash of the Titans" (1981). He also adapted "Half a Sixpence" for the 1967 film version. He also worked uncredited on the script for "Lawrence of Arabia" (1962), although whether any of his material made it to the final edit is unknown.


title: Beverley Cross

text: He was the stepfather of Maggie Smith's children from her earlier marriage, actors Chris Larkin and Toby Stephens. He died in London in 1998 aged 66.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: The phrase "correlation does not imply causation" refers to the inability to legitimately deduce a cause-and-effect relationship between two events or variables solely on the basis of an observed association or correlation between them. The idea that "correlation implies causation" is an example of a questionable-cause logical fallacy, in which two events occurring together are taken to have established a cause-and-effect relationship. This fallacy is also known by the Latin phrase cum hoc ergo propter hoc ('with this, therefore because of this'). This differs from the fallacy known as "post hoc ergo propter hoc" ("after this, therefore because of this"), in which an event following another is seen as a necessary consequence of the former event, and from conflation, the errant merging of two events, ideas, databases, etc., into one.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: As with any logical fallacy, identifying that the reasoning behind an argument is flawed does not necessarily imply that the resulting conclusion is false. Statistical methods have been proposed that use correlation as the basis for hypothesis tests for causality, including the Granger causality test and convergent cross mapping.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: In casual use, the word "implies" loosely means "suggests", rather than "requires". However, in logic, the technical use of the word "implies" means "is a "sufficient condition" for." That is the meaning intended by statisticians when they say causation is not certain. Indeed, "p implies q" has the technical meaning of the material conditional: "if p then q" symbolized as "p → q". That is, "if circumstance "p" is true, then "q" follows." In that sense, it is always correct to say "Correlation does not "imply" causation."


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: The word "cause" (or "causation") has multiple meanings in English. In philosophical terminology. "cause" can refer to necessary, sufficient, or contributing causes. In examining correlation, "cause" is most often used to mean "one contributing cause" (but not necessarily the only contributing cause).


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: If there is causation, there is correlation but also a sequence in time from cause to effect, a plausible mechanism, and sometimes common and intermediate causes. Correlation is often used to infer causation because it is a necessary condition: that is, if A causes B, then A and B must necessarily be correlated. However it is not a sufficient condition.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Causal analysis is the field of experimental design and statistics pertaining to establishing cause and effect. For any two correlated events, A and B, the are four possible relationships:


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: These relationships are not mutually exclusive; they may exist in any combination. For example, it is possible that both A can cause effect B "and" B can cause effect A (bidirectional or cyclic causation).


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: No conclusion can thus be made regarding the "existence" or the "direction" of a cause-and-effect relationship only from the fact that A and B are correlated. Determining whether there is an actual cause-and-effect relationship, and if so which direction the causality is, requires further investigation. If the relationship between "A" and "B" is statistically significant, the final relationship in the list above ("coincidence") may be statistically ruled out, but the correlation itself will not clarify whether A caused B, B caused A, or A and B were both caused by some other effect, C.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: The nature of causality is systematically investigated in several academic disciplines, including philosophy and physics.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: In academia, there are a significant number of theories on causality; "The Oxford Handbook of Causation" encompasses 770 pages. Among the more influential theories within philosophy are Aristotle's Four causes and Al-Ghazali's occasionalism. David Hume argued that beliefs about causality are based on experience, and experience similarly based on the assumption that the future models the past, which in turn can be based only on experience, which leads to circular logic. In conclusion, he asserted that causality is not based on actual reasoning: only correlation can actually be perceived. Immanuel Kant, according to , held that "a causal principle according to which every event has a cause, or follows according to a causal law, cannot be established through induction as a purely empirical claim, since it would then lack strict universality, or necessity".


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Outside the field of philosophy, theories of causation can be identified in classical mechanics, statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, spacetime theories, biology, social sciences, and law. To establish a correlation as causal within physics, it is normally understood that the cause and the effect must connect through a local mechanism (cf. for instance the concept of impact) or a nonlocal mechanism (cf. the concept of field), in accordance with known laws of nature.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: From the point of view of thermodynamics, universal properties of causes as compared to effects have been identified through the Second Law of Thermodynamics, confirming the ancient, medieval and Cartesian view that "the cause is greater than the effect" for the particular case of thermodynamic free energy. That in turn is challenged by popular interpretations of the concepts of nonlinear systems and the butterfly effect in which small events cause large effects because of, respectively, unpredictability and an unlikely triggering of large amounts of potential energy.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Intuitively, causation seems to require not just a correlation, but a counterfactual dependence. Suppose that a student performed poorly on a test and guesses that the cause was his not studying. To prove this, one thinks of the counterfactual – the same student writing the same test under the same circumstances but having studied the night before. If one could rewind history, and change only one small thing (making the student study for the exam), then causation could be observed (by comparing version 1 to version 2). Because one cannot rewind history and replay events after making small controlled changes, causation can only be inferred, never exactly known. That is referred to as the Fundamental Problem of Causal Inference – it is impossible to directly observe causal effects.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: A major goal of scientific experiments and statistical methods is to approximate as best possible the counterfactual state of the world. For example, one could run an experiment on identical twins who were known to consistently get the same grades on their tests. One twin is sent to study for six hours while the other is sent to the amusement park. If their test scores suddenly diverged by a large degree, that would be strong evidence that studying (or going to the amusement park) had a causal effect on test scores. In that case, correlation between studying and test scores would almost certainly imply causation.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Well-designed experimental studies replace equality of individuals as in the previous example by equality of groups. The objective is to construct two groups that are similar except for the treatment that the groups receive. That is achieved by selecting subjects from a single population and randomly assigning them to two or more groups. The likelihood of the groups behaving similarly to one another (on average) rises with the number of subjects in each group. If the groups are essentially equivalent except for the treatment they receive, and a difference in the outcome for the groups is observed, then this constitutes evidence that the treatment is responsible for the outcome, or in other words the treatment causes the observed effect. However, an observed effect could also be caused "by chance", for example as a result of random perturbations in the population. Statistical tests exist to quantify the likelihood of erroneously concluding that an observed difference exists when in fact it does not exist (for example, see P-value).


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: When experimental studies are impossible, and only pre-existing data are available, as is usually the case for example in economics, regression analysis can be used. Factors other than the potential causative variable of interest are controlled for by including them as regressors in addition to the regressor representing the variable of interest. False inferences of causation due to reverse causation (or wrong estimates of the magnitude of causation because of the presence of bidirectional causation) can be avoided by using explanators (regressors) that are necessarily exogenous, such as physical explanators like rainfall amount (as a determinant of, say, futures prices), lagged variables whose values were determined before the dependent variable's value was determined, instrumental variables for the explanators (chosen based on their known exogeneity), etc. See causality in statistics and economics. Spurious correlation from mutual influence from a third, common, causative variable, is harder to avoid: the model must be specified such that there is a theoretical reason to believe that no such underlying causative variable has been omitted from its analysis.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Reverse causation or reverse causality or wrong direction is an informal fallacy of questionable cause where cause and effect are reversed. The cause is said to be the effect and vice versa.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: In this example, the correlation (simultaneity) between windmill activity and wind velocity does not imply that wind is caused by windmills. It is rather the other way around, as suggested by the fact that wind does not need windmills to exist, while windmills need wind to rotate. Wind can be observed in places where there are no windmills or non-rotating windmills—and there are good reasons to believe that wind existed before the invention of windmills.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: It is the other way around since the disease, such as cancer, causes a low cholesterol because of a myriad of factors, such as weight loss, and an increase in mortality.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: This is also seen with ex-smokers. Ex-smokers are more likely to die of lung cancer than current smokers. When lifelong smokers are told they have lung cancer, many quit smoking. This change can make it seem as if ex-smokers are more likely to die of lung cancer than current smokers. This can also be seen in alcoholics. As alcoholics become diagnosed with cirrhosis of the liver, many quit drinking. However, they also experience an increased risk of mortality. In these instances, it is the diseases that cause an increased risk of mortality, but the increased mortality is attributed to the beneficial effects that follow the diagnosis, making healthy changes look unhealthy.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: This could easily be the other way round; that is, violent children like watching more TV than less violent ones.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: A correlation between recreational drug use and psychiatric disorders might be either way around: perhaps the drugs cause the disorders, or perhaps people use drugs to self medicate for preexisting conditions. Gateway drug theory may argue that marijuana usage leads to usage of harder drugs, but hard drug usage may lead to marijuana usage (see also "confusion of the inverse"). Indeed, in the social sciences where controlled experiments often cannot be used to discern the direction of causation, this fallacy can fuel long-standing scientific arguments. One such example can be found in education economics, between the screening/signaling and human capital models: it could either be that having innate ability enables one to complete an education, or that completing an education builds one's ability.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: A historical example of this is that Europeans in the Middle Ages believed that lice were beneficial to health since there would rarely be any lice on sick people. The reasoning was that the people got sick because the lice left. The real reason however is that lice are extremely sensitive to body temperature. A small increase of body temperature, such as in a fever, makes the lice look for another host. The medical thermometer had not yet been invented and so that increase in temperature was rarely noticed. Noticeable symptoms came later, which gave the impression that the lice had left before the person became sick.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: In other cases, two phenomena can each be a partial cause of the other; consider poverty and lack of education, or procrastination and poor self-esteem. One making an argument based on these two phenomena must however be careful to avoid the fallacy of circular cause and consequence. Poverty is "a" cause of lack of education, but it is not the "sole" cause, and vice versa.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: The third-cause fallacy (also known as "ignoring a common cause" or "questionable cause") is a logical fallacy in which a spurious relationship is confused for causation. It asserts that X causes Y when in reality, both X and Y are caused by Z. It is a variation on the "post hoc ergo propter hoc" fallacy and a member of the questionable cause group of fallacies.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: All of those examples deal with a lurking variable, which is simply a hidden third variable that affects both causes of the correlation. A difficulty often also arises where the third factor, though fundamentally different from A and B, is so closely related to A and/or B as to be confused with them or very difficult to scientifically disentangle from them (see Example 4).


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: The above example commits the correlation-implies-causation fallacy, as it prematurely concludes that sleeping with one's shoes on causes headache. A more plausible explanation is that both are caused by a third factor, in this case going to bed drunk, which thereby gives rise to a correlation. So the conclusion is false.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: This is a scientific example that resulted from a study at the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Published in the May 13, 1999, issue of "Nature", the study received much coverage at the time in the popular press. However, a later study at Ohio State University did not find that infants sleeping with the light on caused the development of myopia. It did find a strong link between parental myopia and the development of child myopia, also noting that myopic parents were more likely to leave a light on in their children's bedroom. In this case, the cause of both conditions is parental myopia, and the above-stated conclusion is false.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: This example fails to recognize the importance of time of year and temperature to ice cream sales. Ice cream is sold during the hot summer months at a much greater rate than during colder times, and it is during these hot summer months that people are more likely to engage in activities involving water, such as swimming. The increased drowning deaths are simply caused by more exposure to water-based activities, not ice cream. The stated conclusion is false.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: However, as encountered in many psychological studies, another variable, a "self-consciousness score", is discovered that has a sharper correlation (+.73) with shyness. This suggests a possible "third variable" problem, however, when three such closely related measures are found, it further suggests that each may have bidirectional tendencies (see "bidirectional variable", above), being a cluster of correlated values each influencing one another to some extent. Therefore, the simple conclusion above may be false.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Further research has called this conclusion into question. Instead, it may be that other underlying factors, like genes, diet and exercise, affect both HDL levels and the likelihood of having a heart attack; it is possible that medicines may affect the directly measurable factor, HDL levels, without affecting the chance of heart attack.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: in a predator-prey relationship, predator numbers affect prey numbers, but prey numbers, i.e. food supply, also affect predator numbers. Another well-known example is that cyclists have a lower Body Mass Index than people who do not cycle. This is often explained by assuming that cycling increases physical activity levels and therefore decreases BMI. Because results from prospective studies on people who increase their bicycle use show a smaller effect on BMI than cross-sectional studies, there may be some reverse causality as well (i.e. people with a lower BMI are more likely to cycle).


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: The two variables are not related at all, but correlate by chance. The more things are examined, the more likely it is that two unrelated variables will appear to be related. For example:


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: Much of scientific evidence is based upon a correlation of variables that are observed to occur together. Scientists are careful to point out that correlation does not necessarily mean causation. The assumption that A causes B simply because A correlates with B is often not accepted as a legitimate form of argument.


title: Correlation does not imply causation

text: However, sometimes people commit the opposite fallacy of dismissing correlation entirely. That would dismiss a large swath of important scientific evidence. Since it may be difficult or ethically impossible to run controlled double-blind studies, correlational evidence from several different angles may be useful for "prediction" despite failing to provide evidence for "causation". For example, social workers might be interested in knowing how child abuse relates to academic performance. Although it would be unethical to perform an experiment in which children are randomly assigned to receive or not receive abuse, researchers can look at existing groups using a non-experimental correlational design. If in fact a negative correlation exists between abuse and academic performance, researchers could potentially use this knowledge of a statistical correlation to make predictions about children outside the study who experience abuse even though the study failed to provide causal evidence that abuse decreases academic performance. The combination of limited available methodologies with the dismissing correlation fallacy has on occasion been used to counter a scientific finding. For example, the tobacco industry has historically relied on a dismissal of correlational evidence to reject a link between tobacco and lung cancer, as did biologist and statistician Ronald Fisher, frequently in its behalf.