title: Code of Criminal Procedure (India)

text: Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 provides a 9-point checklist which must be used to decide the need for an arrest. In 2014, Arnesh Kumar Guidelines were formulated by the Supreme Court stating arrests should be an exception, in cases where the punishment is less than seven years of imprisonment.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Thomas Linton Metzger (April 9, 1938 – November 4, 2020) was an American white supremacist, neo-Nazi skinhead leader and Klansman. He founded White Aryan Resistance (WAR), a neo-nazi organization, in 1983. He was a Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Metzger voiced strong opposition to immigration to the United States, and was an advocate of the Third Position. He was incarcerated in Los Angeles County, California, and Toronto, Ontario, and was the subject of several lawsuits and government inquiries. He, his son, and WAR were fined $12 million as a result of the murder of Mulugeta Seraw, 28, an Ethiopian student, by skinheads in Portland, Oregon, affiliated with WAR.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger was born and raised in Indiana. He served in the U.S. Army from 1961 until 1964 when he moved to Southern California to work in the electronics industry. For a short time, he was a member of the right-wing group the John Birch Society, and attended anti-Communist luncheon meetings sponsored by the Douglas Aircraft Corporation. However, he eventually left the group when it rejected his antisemitic views.


title: Tom Metzger

text: By 1968, Metzger had moved to Fallbrook, California, and he supported independent George C. Wallace for President. Metzger stopped paying taxes in the 1970s, and by 1972 his tax protest over the Vietnam War had destroyed his thriving television business but introduced him to other tax protesters who, he said, were "atheist racists, Christian Identity racists, Nazis, all kinds of people."


title: Tom Metzger

text: During the 1970s, Metzger joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which was led by David Duke, and he eventually became the Grand Dragon of the State of California. In the summer of 1979, he organized a patrol, the Klan Border Watch, to capture illegal Mexican immigrants south of Fallbrook, California. Metzger's Klan organization also had a security force which was involved in confrontations with Communists and anti-Klan protesters.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger's branch of the Klan split with Duke's organization in 1980 to form the California Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Also in 1979, he took Greg Withrow of the White Student Union "under his wing", which later became the Aryan Youth Movement (AYM), for youth associated with White Aryan Resistance.


title: Tom Metzger

text: In 1985, Metzger attended a Nation of Islam rally in San Diego, led by Louis Farrakhan. During the rally, he compared America to a "rotting carcass" and praised Farrakhan for "understanding" that Jews are "living off the carcass" and called them "parasites."


title: Tom Metzger

text: According to Steven Atkins, author of "The Encyclopedia of Right-Wing Extremism in Modern American History", Metzger's ideology "differs from other white supremacists by rejecting the basic tenets of the Christian Identity movement because he considers himself to be the champion of the Third Position. The Third Position is a form of racism that is oriented towards attracting the white working class and it is also anti-capitalist in orientation. Metzger believed that the United States should be divided into designated areas for different racial groups except Asian Americans, who should be expelled from the United States." In 1988 Metzger recorded this message on his WAR Hotline:


title: Tom Metzger

text: "You have reached WAR Hotline. White Aryan Resistance. You ask: What is WAR? We are an openly white-racist movement—Skinheads, we welcome you into our ranks. The federal government is the number one enemy of our race. When was the last time you heard a politician speaking out in favor of white people? [...] You say the government is too big; we can’t organize. Well, by God, the SS did it in Germany, and if they did it in Germany in the thirties, we can do it right here in the streets of America. We need to cleanse this nation of all nonwhite mud-races for the survival of our own people and the generations of our children."


title: Tom Metzger

text: In 1982 Metzger left the Klan to found a new group, the White American Political Association, a group dedicated to promoting "prowhite" candidates for office. After losing the 1982 California Senate Democratic primary, Metzger abandoned the electoral route and reorganized WAPA as White American Resistance in 1983 and then reorganized it as White Aryan Resistance, to reflect a more "revolutionary" stance.


title: Tom Metzger

text: In 1985 Metzger attended a rally of the Nation of Islam. Despite Metzger's open racism towards blacks, he alleged the two groups had common ground based on their desire for racial separation and their hatred of Jewish people. Metzger and an NOI representative claim Metzger provided information on the alleged violent plans of the Jewish Defense League, a far-right extremist organization. Metzger donated $100 to the Nation of Islam, to which a Nation of Islam representative said, "I don`t think that when you give $100 you form an alliance.'


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger made numerous television appearances in addition to hosting his own cable TV public-access television show, "Race and Reason". In one of his first cable episodes, Metzger invited the gothic rock band Radio Werewolf onto the show, during which a confused Metzger was given an honorary membership in the band. In November 1988, his son John appeared on an episode of the "Geraldo" show in which a brawl broke out and Geraldo Rivera's nose was broken. Metzger also appeared on Wally George's "Hot Seat" show with Irv Rubin, the chairman of the Jewish Defense League, in what was a very contentious debate. The debate ended when Rubin threw water in the face of Metzger. Security intervened and the Anaheim police were called.


title: Tom Metzger

text: The group was eventually bankrupted as the result of a civil lawsuit centered on its involvement in the 1988 murder of Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian man who had moved to the United States to attend college. In 1988, white power skinheads affiliated with WAR were convicted of killing Seraw and sent to prison. Kenneth Mieske said he and the two others killed Seraw "because of his race." Metzger declared that they did a "civic duty" by killing Seraw. Morris Dees and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a civil suit against him, arguing that WAR influenced Seraw's killers by encouraging their group East Side White Pride to commit violence.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger's trial was held in October of 1990. His decision to represent himself became the source of considerable civic derision through the legal incompetence which he displayed—never more so than when he accepted an option for a new trial judge during the initial stages of the trial in place of the interim appointed judge who he thought was Jewish; only after he had made his decision did he discover that the new judge, Ancer L. Haggerty, was African American.


title: Tom Metzger

text: At the trial, WAR national vice president Dave Mazzella testified about how the Metzgers instructed WAR members to commit violence against minorities. Tom and his son John Metzger were found civilly liable under the doctrine of vicarious liability, in which one can be liable for a tort committed by a subordinate or another person who is taking instructions. The jury returned the largest civil verdict in Oregon history at the time—$12.5 million—against Metzger and WAR. The Metzgers' house was seized, and most of WAR's profits go to paying off the judgment.


title: Tom Metzger

text: After the trial, Metzger's home was transferred to Seraw's estate for $121,500, while Metzger was allowed to keep $45,000 under California's Homestead Act. The Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League came up with the $45,000 needed to pay Metzger for the home. Metzger was warned that any damages left in the house would result in a lawsuit, and while he left it in "a mess" with cracked windows, there was no serious damage. As a result of the sale of his home, he was forced to move into an apartment.


title: Tom Metzger

text: In May 1991, Metzger agreed to stop selling T-shirts of Bart Simpson in a Nazi uniform with the words "Pure Nazi Dude" and "Total Nazi Dude". In 1991 he was convicted of burning a cross in 1983, and sentenced to six months in prison and 300 hours of community service by working with minorities. He was released from prison 45 days into his sentence so he could be with his critically ill wife. In 1992, Metzger and his son John violated a court order not to leave the country and entered Canada to speak to the Heritage Front. Soon afterwards, he was arrested for violating Canadian immigration laws by entering the country to "promote racial hatred". With his son John, Metzger was jailed for five days for breaking Canadian immigration laws as he had done so "to promote race hatred".


title: Tom Metzger

text: From the early 1990s, Metzger advocated the "lone wolf" method of organization, of which there are many, for white nationalist groups, which states that a person should not outwardly display his/her racist ideology, but must act covertly.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger moved to Warsaw, Indiana at some point in the mid-2000s. In 2004, he was the subject in an online article from a San Diego-based periodical that outlined his love of karaoke, sparse white activist action, and bemused feelings over the state of his hoped-for white revolution. On June 2, 2009, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms raided Metzger's home. No arrests were made and no information was released on what was found inside his house. Metzger was allowed to leave the premises during the search and stated that address books, compact discs, tapes and computers were seized in the raid. This was connected with two arrested brothers accused of a mail bomb attack injuring a diversity director in Arizona.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger was mandated to make payments to Seraw's family for the remainder of his life. Metzger hosted an Internet radio talk show and by 2018 no longer resided in Indiana, having moved back to California.


title: Tom Metzger

text: Metzger changed political parties several times and sometimes created his own. In 1980, he won the Democratic Party nomination for the U.S. House of Representatives with over 40,000 votes in a San Diego-area district. This forced the Democratic Party to completely disavow his candidacy, and take the unusual step of endorsing his opponent, Republican Clair Burgener. Metzger lost by over 200,000 votes in November 1980 to Burgener in a heavily Republican district.


title: Tom Metzger

text: In 1982 he sought the Democratic Party's senatorial nomination again, running against then-Governor Jerry Brown and author Gore Vidal, winning only 76,000 votes (2.8% of the vote) in the primary.


title: Tom Metzger

text: In 2010, Metzger took out an advertisement in the "Warsaw Times-Union", in order to announce his intention to challenge, as an independent, U.S. Representative Mark Souder, a Republican from Indiana's 3rd congressional district. "I'd go to Washington and get into Congress, and have a fistfight every day," Metzger told a local news station. Metzger did not make it onto the ballot for the election, which was ultimately won by Republican Marlin Stutzman.


title: HMV

text: Sunrise Records and Entertainment, trading as HMV (for His Master's Voice), is a British music and entertainment retailer, currently operating exclusively in the United Kingdom.


title: HMV

text: The first HMV-branded store was opened by the Gramophone Company on London's Oxford Street in 1921, and the HMV name was also used for television and radio sets manufactured from the 1930s onwards. The retail side of the business began to expand in the 1960s, and in 1998 was divested from EMI, the successor to the Gramophone Company, to form what would become HMV Group. HMV stands for His Master's Voice, the title of a painting by Francis Barraud of Nipper listening to a Phonograph cylinder, bought by the Gramophone Company in 1899. For advertising purposes this was changed to a wind-up gramophone, and eventually used simply as a silhouette. HMV owned the Waterstones bookshop chain from 1998 until 2011, and has owned the music retailer Fopp since August 2007. It purchased a number of former Zavvi stores in February 2009, and also branched into live music venue management that year by purchasing MAMA Group. It sold the group in December 2012.


title: HMV

text: On 15 January 2013, HMV Group plc entered administration; HMV Ireland declared receivership and all Irish stores were closed. The sale of HMV's Hong Kong and Singapore business to private equity firm Aid Partners was completed on 28 February 2013. On 5 April 2013, HMV was bought out of administration by Hilco UK for an estimated £50 million. HMV Group plc, which had been listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index, was liquidated in July 2014. HMV Canada is a former subsidiary which was sold to Hilco by the HMV Group in 2011. HMV Canada went into receivership in 2017 after being sued by Huk 10 Ltd., a shell company owned by Hilco. On 28 December 2018, HMV announced that the company had once again fallen into administration.


title: HMV

text: On 5 February 2019, HMV was acquired by the Canadian company Sunrise Records, which had bought the leases for 70 former HMV Canada properties in an effort to continue operating them as record stores. Sunrise planned to emulate the growth strategies it had used in Canada, including leveraging the vinyl revival. On 12 October 2019, Sunrise Records opened The Vault in Birmingham, the largest HMV record store.


title: HMV

text: The antecedents of HMV began in the 1890s at the dawn of the disc gramophone. By 1902 it had become the beginnings of the Gramophone Company. In February 1907 it commenced the building of a new dedicated record factory at Hayes, Middlesex. Disc records were sold in music shops and independent retailers at this time. In 1921 the Gramophone Company opened the first dedicated HMV shop at 363 Oxford Street, London, in a former men's clothing shop; the composer Edward Elgar participated in the opening ceremonies. In March 1931 the Gramophone Company merged with Columbia Graphophone Company to form Electric and Musical Industries Ltd (EMI).


title: HMV

text: From the 1930s onwards, HMV manufactured radio and television sets and radiograms under the HMV and Marconiphone brand names in its factory in Hayes, Middlesex.


title: HMV

text: The original HMV shop was severely damaged by a fire in 1937, but was rebuilt and reopened two years later on 8 May 1939. Sir Thomas Beecham opened the new store.


title: HMV

text: In 1966, HMV began expanding its retail operations in London. Throughout the 1970s, the company continued to expand, doubling in size, and in six years became the country's leading specialist music retailer. It faced strong competition, however, from Virgin Megastores, established in 1976, and from Our Price, established in 1972, which had numerous high street retail stores around the UK. Subsequently, HMV overtook Our Price in popularity and threatened its existence, having established a chain of newer and larger stores.


title: HMV

text: The company opened its flagship store at a new location at 150-154 Oxford Street in 1986, announcing it was the largest record store in the world at the time, and the official opening was attended by Bob Geldof and Michael Hutchence. Growth continued for a third decade into the 1990s, with the company reaching over 320 stores including in 1990 its first store in the U.S. located at 86th and Lexington in New York City, which was the largest music shop in North America at the time. HMV celebrated its 75-year anniversary in 1996.


title: HMV

text: In February 1998, EMI entered into a joint venture with Advent International to form HMV Media Group led by Alan Giles, which acquired HMV's stores and Dillons, leaving EMI with a holding of around 45%. The new joint venture then bought the Waterstones chain of bookshops to merge with Dillons.


title: HMV

text: By 2002, EMI's holding in HMV Media was 43%, with Advent International owning 40% and management the remainder. The company floated on the London Stock Exchange later in the year as HMV Group plc, leaving EMI with only a token holding.


title: HMV

text: The group became susceptible to a takeover following a poor period of trading up to Christmas 2005. Private equity firm Permira made a £762 million conditional bid for the group (based on 190p a share) on 7 February 2006, which was rejected by HMV as an insufficient valuation of the company. Permira made a second offer which increased the value, although HMV declined it on 13 March 2006, subsequently issuing a statement that the offer undervalued the medium and long term prospects for the company, resulting in Permira withdrawing from bidding.


title: HMV

text: In 2006, the HMV Group purchased the Ottakar's book chain and merged it into Waterstones. The merger tied into HMV's strategy for growth, as many of the Ottakar's branches were in smaller towns. The Competition Commission provisionally cleared HMV Group, through Waterstones, for takeover of the Ottakar's group on 30 March 2006, stating that the takeover would "not result in a substantial lessening of competition". Waterstones then announced that it had successfully negotiated a takeover of Ottakar's on 31 May 2006. All 130 Ottakar's stores were rebranded as Waterstones prior to Christmas 2006. In March 2007, new group CEO Simon Fox announced a 10% reduction over three years in the enlarged Waterstones total store space, comprising mostly dual location shops created by the acquisition of Ottakar's.


title: HMV

text: On 29 June 2007, the entertainment retailer Fopp went into administration, with the closure of 81 stores and 800 staff made redundant. On 31 July HMV bought the brand and six stores that it said had traded profitably, saving around 70 jobs.


title: HMV

text: On 24 December 2008, HMV's rival Zavvi, also an entertainment retailer, entered administration. On 14 January 2009 a placing announcement by HMV revealed that it intended to acquire 14 of Zavvi's stores. On 18 February 2009 five additional Zavvi stores were purchased by HMV Group, to be rebranded as HMV outlets. An additional former Zavvi store in Exeter's Princesshay development was also added. The acquisitions were investigated and cleared by the Office of Fair Trading in April 2009.


title: HMV

text: In the 2008 MCV Industry Excellence Awards, HMV was given the title Entertainment Retailer of the Year.


title: HMV

text: In January 2009, HMV bought a 50% stake in MAMA Group, forming a joint venture with the group called the Mean Fiddler Group. The deal introduced the HMV brand to live music venues, including the Hammersmith Apollo. On 23 December 2009, it bought the whole of the MAMA Group in a live music takeover deal worth £46 million.


title: HMV

text: HMV bought 50% of 7digital for £7.7 million in September 2009, as part of a strategy to increase its digital content offering. 7digital provided HMV's music download service, and the company planned to introduce an e-books service for Waterstone's.


title: HMV

text: On 5 January 2011, HMV announced that profits would be at the lower end of analysts' forecasts due to falling sales, resulting in the share price falling by 20% and an announcement of the group's intention to close 40 HMV stores, as well as 20 Waterstone's stores, mainly in towns and cities where the company operated at multiple locations. The first of the store closures began at the end of January 2011.


title: HMV

text: The sale of Waterstone's to A&NN Capital Fund Management for £53 million was completed on 29 June 2011, and was approved by the vast majority of shareholders at an emergency general meeting.


title: HMV

text: HMV sold the Hammersmith Apollo to AEG Live and Eventim in May 2012 for £32 million. It sold the remainder of MAMA Group to Lloyds Development Capital in December 2012 for £7.3 million, which also included the company's 50% stake in Mean Fiddler Group.


title: HMV

text: On 15 January 2013, HMV Group appointed Deloitte as company administrators. and suspended shares, putting its 4,350 UK employees at the risk of redundancy. Store gift vouchers were initially declared void since holders are classified as unsecured creditors to whom the company owed the value, but were accepted again from 22 January 2013. HMV Ireland followed by declaring receivership on 16 January 2013, which required the company under Irish law to close all its stores immediately.


title: HMV

text: Restructuring firm Hilco UK bought HMV's debt from its creditors The Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group, as a step towards potentially taking control of the company. It was revealed that the total debt Hilco had bought amounted to around £110 million, and that HMV owed around £20 million in tax to HM Revenue and Customs at the time of its entry into administration.


title: HMV

text: On 31 January 2013, it was reported that 190 redundancies had been made at the head office and distribution centres.


title: HMV

text: On 7 February 2013, Deloitte confirmed that 66 stores had been identified for closure. No fixed date was given for the closures but they were expected to take place in the following two months. The next day, Deloitte confirmed that an additional 60 redundancies, including the chief executive Trevor Moore, had been made at the group's offices in London, Marlow and Solihull. Deloitte confirmed on 20 February 2013 that an additional 37 stores would close. On 26 February 2013, six stores were sold to supermarket chain Morrisons.


title: HMV

text: On 28 February 2013, eight stores in Hong Kong and Singapore were sold to AID Partners Capital Limited and the operation then became independent from HMV Group that was bought by Hilco UK. This transaction also enabled AID Partners Capital Limited to own the rights to use the HMV brand in Hong Kong, Macau, China, Taiwan and Singapore.


title: HMV

text: By 23 March 2013, Deloitte was seeking to complete a deal to sell 120 stores as a going concern. The decision to close several stores that had previously been identified for closure were reversed following talks with landlords.


title: HMV

text: By 21 March 2016, China 3D Digital Entertainment Limited acquired HMV Hong Kong operations from AID Partners Capital Limited, later renamed to HMV Digital China Group Limited.


title: HMV

text: On 5 April 2013, Hilco UK announced that it had acquired HMV, taking the company out of administration and saving 141 of its stores and around 2,500 jobs. The total included 25 stores that had previously been selected for closure by Deloitte during the administration process. All nine Fopp stores which HMV owned were also included in the purchase. Hilco also stated that it hoped to reopen an HMV store in Ireland following the closure of all stores in the country. The takeover deal was estimated at around £50 million.


title: HMV

text: On 9 June 2013, it was confirmed that Hilco Capital Ireland had purchased HMV Ireland, and would reopen five stores within six weeks.


title: HMV

text: The company moved its flagship Oxford Street store back to the original site at 363 Oxford Street on 23 October 2013. HMV's existing flagship store at 150-154 Oxford Street, formerly the largest music store in the world, closed on 14 January 2014.


title: HMV

text: By 2014, HMV had gained the second highest share of the UK entertainment market, behind Amazon. The company's filing to Companies House in September 2014 revealed it had made a profit of £17 million in the 11 months since it had entered administration. In January 2015, HMV overtook Amazon to become the largest retailer of physical music in the UK.


title: HMV

text: On 28 December 2018, HMV confirmed it had again been placed into administration. Hilco UK cited the "tsunami" of retail competition as the reason for the move. On 5 February 2019, Canadian record store chain Sunrise Records announced its acquisition of HMV Retail Ltd. from Hilco UK for an undisclosed amount. Sunrise had previously acquired the leases for over 70 HMV locations in Canada after HMV Canada entered receivership, which expanded the Ontario-based retailer into a national chain. Sunrise plans to maintain the HMV chain and five Fopp stores, but immediately closed 27 locations, including the flagship Oxford Street branch and other locations with high rent costs.


title: HMV

text: Company founder Doug Putman stated that he planned to increase the chain's emphasis on vinyl phonograph sales as part of the turnaround plan: Sunrise's leverage of the vinyl revival had helped bolster the Canadian locations' performance after the shops' transitions from HMV, having sold at least 500,000 vinyl LPs in 2017 alone. Putman argued that, despite the growth of digital music sales and streaming, "talk about the demise of the physical business is sometimes a bit exaggerated, especially in music specialists. Most of the decline is coming from nontraditional sellers like the grocery chains. We'll be here for quite some time."


title: HMV

text: On 25 February 2019, the "Financial Times" reported that the Sunrise acquisition was valued at £883,000. Following subsequent negotiations with its landlords, by late-February, HMV reopened 13 of its stores (including one Fopp store).


title: HMV

text: In October 2019, the new owners opened the HMV Vault on Dale End, Birmingham, billed as Europe's biggest entertainment store and stocking tens of thousands of CDs and vinyl records and other products.


title: HMV

text: From 22 March to 15 June, and then from 5 November to 2 December 2020 and from 4 January 2021 to 12 April 2021 (in England), all HMV stores were closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: HMV

text: Into the 2020s, HMV began opening new and relocated stores, including in locations which previously had HMV branches that had earlier shut, such as Solihull. In some cases these new outlets were opened in stores vacated by the demise of other retail chains, particularly Arcadia Group, with an HMV store opened in Dunfermline premises previously occupied by Burton Menswear and Dorothy Perkins, a return to Broadway Shopping Centre, Bexleyheath - again in former Burton/Perkins premises - nine years after the closure of their previous store in the town, and a relocation in Wigan from a smaller prior site to larger premises vacated by Topshop/Topman.


title: HMV

text: In July 2021, HMV celebrated its 100th birthday. In celebration, the firm released 37 limited edition vinyl albums. A 100 track CD compilation entitled "Now That's What I Call HMV" was also released. The album was only available to buy at HMV stores, and online on HMV's website, plus eBay.


title: HMV

text: Following the purchase by Hilco UK, it was reported that the company was seeking to reduce the number of store staff across the business, as part of an effort to save £7.8 million on the wages budget. Stores would lose security staff, cashiers and supervisors, with managers required to provide cover.


title: HMV

text: As of August 2016, all HMV stores in the Republic of Ireland had closed down and replaced with an online store. HMV Belfast in Northern Ireland, which re-opened up in March 2014 after a £1 million pound refurbishment, was threatened with closure in February 2019. However, a deal was reached with Frasers Group which allowed the store to continue trading.


title: HMV

text: HMV established a joint venture with Curzon Cinemas in October 2009 as part of chief executive Simon Fox's plan to bring cinemas to HMV and Waterstone's stores across England. The first trial cinema opened above the existing HMV store in Wimbledon, in a former storage room converted into three separate screens and a bar. It has its own entrance, allowing access outside store hours, and one within the store. The trial was deemed a success, and it had been planned to open additional cinemas in HMV's Cheltenham store, and Waterstone's in Piccadilly, London.


title: HMV

text: One store in Singapore and five in Hong Kong, owned by the private equity firm AID Partners, traded under the HMV brand independently of the UK operations. These have since closed, with the Singapore store closing in 2015 and the final Hong Kong branch closing in 2018.


title: HMV

text: HMV stores stock a range of products including audio, Blu-rays, CDs, vinyl records, DVDs, record players and headphones as well as an increasing range of film, television and music merchandise.


title: HMV

text: HMV launched a music download service in October 2013 (www.hmvdigital.com), provided by 7digital, which includes iOS and Android apps.


title: HMV

text: HMV relaunched its online store in June 2015, providing CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray Discs, and LP records for online order and home delivery with exclusive stock also available.


title: HMV

text: More recently, HMV has given extra focus to the rising trend of popular culture merchandise and launched a highly successful "Sweet Treats" range of Japanese and American sweets and drinks in 2020.


title: HMV

text: On 1 September 2008, HMV launched "Get Closer", a social networking site allowing users to import their own music library, rivalling other providers including online music stores Napster and the iTunes Store. The site was closed in September 2009.


title: HMV

text: HMV operated a loyalty scheme branded as "purehmv", first launched in August 2003, but subsequently closed and relaunched in 2008. The scheme awarded cardholders points for purchases, which could be collected and redeemed on a number of rewards including vouchers to spend in-store, memorabilia and signed merchandise. "purehmv" has since closed and will be replaced by a new loyalty scheme, the launch date of which is yet to be announced.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: Kayla Noelle Ewell (born August 27, 1985) is an American actress known for her roles on television as Caitlin Ramirez on CBS's long-running soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful", as Maureen Sampson on NBC's "Freaks and Geeks", and as Vicki Donovan on The CW's "The Vampire Diaries".


title: Kayla Ewell

text: Ewell was born in Long Beach, California, and raised in Seal Beach. She studied dance, singing, and acting at the Orange County Song & Dance Company in Westminster, California. Ewell was spotted by a talent agent while taking an acting class around 1999, and asked to go on an audition.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: Ewell first appeared on the television series "Freaks and Geeks" in 2000, playing Maureen Sampson in the episode "Carded and Discarded", directed by Judd Apatow. She starred on the soap opera "The Bold and the Beautiful" from 2004–2005, and has guest-starred on the TV series "The O.C.", "Boston Public", "Veronica Mars", "Close to Home" and "Entourage". She had a role in the film "Just My Luck", starring Lindsay Lohan, and in "Material Girls", starring Hilary and Haylie Duff, in 2006. She had a starring role in the film "Senior Skip Day".


title: Kayla Ewell

text: Ewell co-starred in The CW television series "The Vampire Diaries" for the first seven episodes in 2009. Ewell described her character, Vicki Donovan, to "Star" magazine as "a really slutty high school student", and "a troublemaker". Vicki was the first human on the series turned into a vampire. Ewell was killed off the show when her character was staked in the heart by Stefan (Paul Wesley) in order to save Elena (Nina Dobrev) in the Halloween-themed episode "Haunted". Ewell hinted in November 2009 that she was still under contract for the role and might return to the show, but series creator, Kevin Williamson, stated that there were no plans to bring her back. Her character did return however in the finale of the second season, and at the start of season 3.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: Ewell played a children's fashion designer in the 2011 Hallmark Channel TV movie, "Keeping Up With The Randalls", alongside Thad Luckinbill, Roma Downey, Marion Ross and McKenna Jones. She next appeared on the A&E television series, "The Glades", that year, as a waitress suspected of murder in the episode "Beached". In 2012, she guest starred alongside Gabrielle Dennis on the TNT drama, "Franklin & Bash", playing a Navy sailor facing a court-martial. Ewell starred opposite Austin Stowell and Danny Glover in the 2013 Hallmark Movie Channel film, "Shuffelton’s Barbershop", as Norma, a country music singer and songwriter. The film was named after a 1950s Norman Rockwell painting that featured bluegrass musicians playing in a barbershop.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: Ewell starred in the horror film "The Demented" (2013) alongside Sarah Butler and Michael Welch. She also starred in the 2014 Lifetime movie, "Deadly Daycare," with Christy Carlson Romano. In April 2016, Ewell began filming the feature, "2 Years and 8 Days", with Ryan Merriman in New Mexico. The film, retitled "2 Years of Love" was released on January 24, 2017. She is playing in full house.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: She portrayed Nora Truman (formerly named Mara) in The CW 2019 television series "Roswell, New Mexico". In 2020, Ewell guest starred on CW's "Batwoman" as the DC comics villain Nocturna.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: As of 2009, Ewell lives in Los Angeles, California. She stated to "Sophisticate" magazine in 2005 that she enjoys painting, rock climbing, and rappelling in her free time. She also includes dancing and whitewater rafting among her hobbies. She was on her high school's surfing team.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: In May 2015, she got engaged to actor and model Tanner Novlan. The couple married on September 12, 2015.


title: Kayla Ewell

text: In March 2019, Ewell announced that she and her husband were expecting their first child. On July 16, 2019, Ewell gave birth to their first child, a daughter. In February 2022, Ewell announced that she and her husband were expecting their second child. On June 6, 2022, Ewell gave birth to their second child, a son.


title: Cloudbusting

text: "Cloudbusting" is a song written, produced and performed by English singer Kate Bush. It was the second single released from her number-one album "Hounds of Love" (1985). "Cloudbusting" peaked at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart.


title: Cloudbusting

text: Taking inspiration from the 1973 Peter Reich memoir "A Book of Dreams", which Bush read and found deeply moving, the song is about the very close relationship between psychiatrist and philosopher Wilhelm Reich and his young son, Peter, told from the point of view of the mature Peter. It describes the boy's memories of his life with Reich on their family farm, called Orgonon, where the two spent time "cloudbusting", a rain-making process which involved using a machine designed and built by Reich – a machine called a cloudbuster – to point at the sky. The lyrics further describes the elder Reich's abrupt arrest and imprisonment, the pain of loss the young Peter felt, and his helplessness at being unable to protect his father.


title: Cloudbusting

text: In a retrospective review of the single, AllMusic journalist Amy Hanson praised the song for its "magnificence" and "hypnotic mantric effects". Hanson wrote: "Safety and danger are threaded through the song, via both a thoughtful lyric and a compulsive cello-driven melody. Even more startling, but hardly surprising, is the ease with which Bush was able to capture the moment when a child first realizes that adults are fallible."


title: Cloudbusting

text: In 2014, the song was performed live for the first time and was also chosen as the closing encore track in Bush's comeback live shows titled Before the Dawn, following her 35-year hiatus from the stage.


title: Cloudbusting

text: The music video, directed by Julian Doyle, was conceived by Terry Gilliam and Kate Bush as a short film. The video features Canadian actor Donald Sutherland playing the role of Wilhelm Reich, and Bush in the role of his young son, Peter. The video shows the two on the top of a hill trying to make the cloudbuster work. Reich leaves Peter on the machine and returns to his lab. In flashback, he remembers several times he and Peter enjoyed together as Reich worked on various scientific projects, until he is interrupted by government officials who arrest him and ransack the lab. Peter senses his father's danger and tries to reach him, but is forced to watch helplessly as his father is driven away. Peter finally runs back to the cloudbuster and activates it successfully, to the delight of his father who sees it starting to rain.


title: Cloudbusting

text: Filming took place at the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. The hill on which the machine is positioned is Dragon Hill, immediately below the Uffington White Horse, a prehistoric hill carving which can be seen briefly in a couple of the shots. Bush found out in which hotel Sutherland was staying from actress Julie Christie's hairdresser and went to his room to personally ask him to participate in the project. In the UK, the music video was shown at some cinemas as an accompaniment to the main feature. Due to difficulties on obtaining a work visa for Sutherland at short notice, the actor offered to work on the video for free. Although the events depicted in the story took place in Maine, the newspaper clipping in the music video reads "The Oregon Times", likely a reference to Reich's home and laboratory "Orgonon".


title: Cloudbusting

text: The Cloudbusting machine in the video was designed and constructed by people who worked on the Alien creature and bears only a superficial resemblance to the real cloudbusters, which were smaller and with multiple narrow, straight tubes and pipes, and were operated while standing on the ground. In a reference to the source material of the song, Bush pulls a copy of Peter Reich's "A Book of Dreams" from Sutherland's coat.


title: Cloudbusting

text: The full-length video features a longer version of the song, which is different from the Organon Mix released on 12-inch vinyl. This version was commercially available on "The Red Shoes" single.


title: Cloudbusting

text: Around the time of the release Bush sent Peter Reich a VHS copy of the music video. Reich was immediately a fan. He later told "Dazed" magazine "Quite magically, this British musician had tapped precisely into a unique and magical fulfilment of father-son devotion, emotion and understanding. They had captured it all."


title: Cloudbusting

text: The B-side to the single was "Burning Bridge", in which a woman desperately pleads with her lover to step up his level of commitment to her. The 12" featured the additional track "My Lagan Love", a traditional Irish melody with lyrics by John Carder Bush, Kate Bush's brother. The 12" version of "Cloudbusting" was a special remix called "The Organon Re-Mix" in which the verses were downplayed and the main focus was the development of the song's chorus. In the US, this mix was issued as "The Meteorological Mix", a title used in the UK for 12" version of Bush's later single "The Big Sky".


title: Cloudbusting

text: In Australia, "Cloudbusting" narrowly missed the Kent Music Report top 100 singles chart in January 1986.


title: Cloudbusting

text: In 1992, Utah Saints sampled the song's line "I just know that something good is going to happen" for their song "Something Good" as well as scenes from Bush's video for their video. It reached No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 8 when re-mixed and re-released in 2008 (the latter of which used a different sample from another artist).


title: Cloudbusting

text: Cloudbusting was featured alongside Katy Perry's "California Gurls" in a mashup called "Orgonon Gurlz", on the 2014 mashup album Mouth Silence by Neil Cicierega.


title: Cloudbusting

text: The Staves released their take on Kate Bush's "Cloudbusting," on their five track EP for their Be Kind series of stripped down, alternative versions of songs from their 2021 album, Good Woman.


title: America First (policy)

text: America First refers to a policy stance in the United States that generally emphasizes nationalism and non-interventionism. The term was coined by president Woodrow Wilson in his 1916 campaign that pledged to keep America neutral in World War I. A more isolationist approach gained prominence in the interwar period (1918–1939) and was advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against U.S. entry into World War II.


title: America First (policy)

text: In the 1920s, the policy was used by the Ku Klux Klan and informed many of their members who ran for political office. In 2016, while running for a Louisiana Senate seat, David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, publicly claimed that he was "the first major candidate in modern times to promote the term and policy of America first."


title: America First (policy)

text: In Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaigns and presidency (2017–2021), Trump used the phrase as a slogan, emphasizing the United States' withdrawal from international treaties and organizations. "America First" was the official foreign policy doctrine of the Trump administration.


title: America First (policy)

text: The term was first used in association with Trump's foreign policy views in an op-ed published in "USA Today" in early March 2016 by Armand Cucciniello, a former U.S. diplomat. Later that month the phrase was adopted by "New York Times" reporters David E. Sanger and Maggie Haberman in an interview with Trump who, "agreed with a suggestion that his ideas might be summed up as 'America First'." Since that time the Trump campaign, and subsequently the Trump Administration, made 'America First' the cornerstone of Trump's foreign policy. The administration even branded its 2017 National Security Strategy of the United States of America as "an America First National Security Strategy". The introduction to that document reads "This National Security Strategy puts America first. An America First National Security Strategy is based on American principles, a clear-eyed assessment of U.S. interests, and a determination to tackle the challenges that we face. It is a strategy of principled realism that is guided by outcomes, not ideology."


title: America First (policy)

text: "America First" was a phrase used by the Ku Klux Klan at its peak in the 1920s, where racist, xenophobic sentiment was widespread. The Immigration Act of 1924 sponsored by Washington U.S. representative Albert Johnson proved to legislate xenophobia and white supremacy, excluding immigrants on the basis of ethnicity and national origin in an effort to preserve white racial demographics. Johnson's leading role in the immigration restriction bill elicited strong support from the Ku Klux Klan. Later in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the term became associated with fascism and bigotry against Jews, as mouthpieces for antisemitism including Elizabeth Dilling, Gerald L. K. Smith, and Charles Lindbergh became leaders for "America First" causes.


title: America First (policy)

text: "America First" has been used as a slogan by both Democratic and Republican politicians. At the outbreak of World War I, President Woodrow Wilson used the motto to define his version of neutrality as well as journalist William Randolph Hearst. The motto was also chosen by Republican Senator Warren G. Harding during the 1920 presidential election, which he won.


title: America First (policy)

text: America First is best known as the slogan and foreign policy advocated by the America First Committee, a non-interventionist pressure group against the American entry into World War II, which emphasized American nationalism and unilateralism in international relations. The America First Committee's membership peaked at 800,000 paying members in 450 chapters, and it popularized the slogan "America First." While the America First Committee had a variety of supporters in the United States, "the movement was marred by anti-Semitic and pro-fascist rhetoric."


title: America First (policy)

text: In later periods, the slogan was used by Pat Buchanan, who praised the non-interventionist WWII America First Committee and said "the achievements of that organization are monumental." Buchanan's "call for an America First foreign policy has been compared with the America First Committee."


title: America First (policy)

text: <nowiki> </nowiki>Donald Trump, who had run against Pat Buchanan in the 2000 Reform Party presidential primaries, first revived Buchanan's slogan in a November 2015 op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal". In its early going, the Trump campaign publicized an article by Jeff Kuhner on the "World Tribune" praising the candidate as a "nationalist who seeks to put America first"; campaign manager Corey Lewandowski (who later published a book with the title) promoted Trump with the phrase; and both Sarah Palin and Chris Christie featured it in their endorsements of Trump. Trump later incorporated the slogan into his daily repertoire following a suggestion and historical comparison by David E. Sanger during an interview with "The New York Times" in March 2016. In subsequent months, without referencing Pat Buchanan's prior usage or the America First Committee, candidate Trump promised that "'America First' would be the major and overriding theme" of his administration, and advocated nationalist, anti-interventionist positions.


title: America First (policy)

text: Following his election to the presidency, "America First" became the official foreign policy doctrine of the Trump administration. It was a theme of Trump's inaugural address, and a Politico/Morning Consult poll released on January 25, 2017, stated that 65% of Americans responded positively to President Trump's "America First" inaugural message, with 39% viewing the speech as poor. Trump embraced American unilateralism abroad and introduced policies aimed at undermining transnational organizations such as the European Union, and often critiquing them on economic terms. In 2017, the administration proposed a federal budget for 2018 with both Make America Great Again and America First in its title, with the latter referencing its increases to military, homeland security, and veteran spending, cuts to spending that goes towards foreign countries, and 10-year objective of achieving a balanced budget.


title: America First (policy)

text: Trump's use of the slogan was criticized by some for carrying comparisons to the America First Committee; however, Trump denied being an isolationist, and said, "I like the expression." A number of scholars (such as Deborah Dash Moore), commentators (such as Bill Kristol) and Jewish organizations (including the ADL and JCPA) criticized Trump's use of the slogan because of its historical association with nativism and antisemitism. Others have argued that Trump was never a non-interventionist. Columnist Daniel Larison from "The American Conservative" wrote that "Trump was quick to denounce previous wars as disasters, but his complaint about these wars was that the U.S. wasn't 'getting' anything tangible from them. He didn't see anything wrong in attacking other countries, but lamented that the U.S. didn't 'take' their resources" and that "he never called for an end to the wars that were still ongoing, but talked only about 'winning' them."


title: America First (policy)

text: Trump's "America First" policy has been described as a major factor in the perceived increase in the international isolation of the United States in the late 2010s, and critics have described the policy as "America Alone."


title: America First (policy)

text: President Joe Biden discontinued many of President Donald Trump's COVID-19 "America First" policies at the beginning of his presidency, however he initially kept the Trump administration's COVID-19 vaccine export ban in place. As of May 2021, the United States had started exporting vaccines out of its borders. The United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack described far-right political commentator Nick Fuentes and former Identity Evropa leader Patrick Casey as leaders of the "America First" movement in a subpoena issued in January 2022.


title: America First (policy)

text: Following Trump's inauguration, the policy and its phrasing became a subject of international satire through the Every Second Counts video contest inspired by Dutch comedian Arjen Lubach and launched by German comedian Jan Böhmermann. News satire television programs initially throughout Europe, and later from around the world, comically appealed to Trump to acknowledge their own countries in light of Trump's nationalist slogan, with a narrator mimicking Trump's voice, speech patterns, and exaggerated speaking style. Lubach's initial version, for example, ended by noting that "We totally understand it's going to be America first, but can we just say: The Netherlands second?".


title: America First (policy)

text: In Spike Lee's film "BlacKkKlansman" (2018), David Duke and white supremacists are portrayed as repeatedly using the "America First" slogan.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE Connectivity is an American Swiss-domiciled technology company that designs and manufactures connectors and sensors for several industries, such as automotive, industrial equipment, data communication systems, aerospace, defense, medical, oil and gas, consumer electronics and energy.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE Connectivity has a global workforce of 89,000 employees, including more than 8,000 engineers. The company serves customers in approximately 140 countries.


title: TE Connectivity

text: In 1941, Aircraft and Marine Products (AMP) was founded with solderless electrical connections for quick and removable wire connection used for aircraft and ships. After the war time boom the company had to adapt to post war economy and in 1956 the name was changed to AMP Incorporated when it incorporated. In 1999, Tyco International acquired American electronics connector manufacturer AMP Incorporated.


title: TE Connectivity

text: In September 2002 the CEO (L. Dennis Kozlowski) and CFO (Mark H. Swartz) of Tyco International Ltd. were indicted on charges including fraud, racketeering, stock manipulation, and more, amounting to more than $600 million dollars of theft.


title: TE Connectivity

text: In July 2007, Tyco separated into three publicly independent companies, Covidien Ltd (formerly Tyco Healthcare), Tyco Electronics Ltd, and Tyco International Ltd (formerly Tyco Fire & Security and Tyco Engineered Products & Services (TFS/TEPS)).


title: TE Connectivity

text: On March 10, 2011, Tyco Electronics Ltd changed its name to TE Connectivity Ltd, which the company said felt more relevant to its position as a connectivity and sensor component manufacturer.


title: TE Connectivity

text: On August 28, 2015, TE Connectivity announced that it has completed the sale of its broadband-networks business to CommScope Holding Co. for about US$3 billion.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE Connectivity's product portfolio is focused on connectors and sensors that are made to withstand harsh environments. The company operates three primary segments:


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE Connectivity's communications segment supplies electronic components for home appliances, including products for washers, dryers, refrigerators, air conditioners, dishwashers, cooking appliances, water heaters, and microwaves.


title: TE Connectivity

text: The transportation segment includes four business units: automotive, industrial and commercial transportation, application tooling, and sensors.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE's products are used by the automotive industry for body and chassis systems, convenience applications, driver information, infotainment, miniaturization, motor and powertrain applications, and safety and security systems. Hybrid and electronic mobility include in-vehicle technologies, battery technologies, and charging. In addition, TE's products are used for on- and off-highway vehicles and recreational transportation, including construction, agriculture, buses, and other vehicles.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE offers sensors for industries including automotive, industrial equipment, commercial transportation, medical, aerospace and defense, and consumer applications.


title: TE Connectivity

text: Products are used in factory automation and process control systems such as industrial controls, robotics, human machine interface, industrial communication, and power distribution. TE's intelligent building products are used to connect lighting, HVAC, elevators/escalators, and security. Its rail products are used in high-speed trains, metros, light rail vehicles, locomotives, and signaling switching equipment. Also, its products are used by the solar and lighting industry.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE's products are used by the medical industry in imaging, diagnostic, therapeutic, surgical, tubing, and minimally invasive interventional applications.


title: TE Connectivity

text: TE Connectivity provides components for the commercial aerospace industry from the initial stages of aircraft design to aftermarket support. TE's defense products include ruggedized electronic interconnects serving military aviation, marine, and ground vehicles including electronic warfare and space systems. Its oil and gas products include cables and electronics used for subsea environments in the offshore oil and gas and civil marine industries and in shipboard, subsea, and sonar applications.


title: Miraculous Medal

text: The Miraculous Medal (), also known as the Medal of Our Lady of Graces, is a devotional medal, the design of which was originated by Catherine Labouré following her apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal of Paris, France. It was made by goldsmith Adrien Vachette.


title: Miraculous Medal

text: According to the teaching of the Catholic Church, the use of sacramentals such as this medal prepares people to receive grace and disposes them to cooperate with it.


title: Miraculous Medal

text: Catherine Labouré stated that on 18 July 1830, the eve of the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul, she woke up after hearing the voice of a child calling her to the chapel, where she heard the Virgin Mary say to her, "God wishes to charge you with a mission. You will be contradicted, but do not fear; you will have the grace to do what is necessary. Tell your spiritual director all that passes within you. Times are evil in France and in the world."


title: Miraculous Medal

text: On 27 November 1830, Catherine reported that the Blessed Mother returned during evening meditations. She displayed herself inside an oval frame, standing upon a globe. She wore many rings set with gems that shone rays of light over the globe. Around the margin of the frame appeared the words "Ô Marie, conçue sans péché, priez pour nous qui avons recours à vous" ("O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee").


title: Miraculous Medal

text: As Catherine watched, the frame seemed to rotate, showing a circle of twelve stars, a large letter "M" surmounted by a cross, and the stylized Sacred Heart of Jesus crowned with thorns and Immaculate Heart of Mary pierced with a sword. Asked why some of the gems did not shed light, Mary reportedly replied, "Those are the graces for which people forget to ask." Sister Catherine then heard the Virgin Mary ask her to take these images to her father confessor, telling him that they should be put on medallions, and saying "All who wear them will receive great graces."


title: Miraculous Medal

text: Sister Catherine did so, and after two years of investigation and observation of Catherine's ordinary daily behavior, the priest took the information to his archbishop without revealing Catherine's identity. The request was approved and medallions were designed and produced through goldsmith Adrien Vachette.


title: Miraculous Medal

text: The chapel in which Saint Catherine experienced her visions is located at the mother house of the Daughters of Charity in Rue du Bac, Paris. The incorrupt bodies of Saint Catherine Labouré and Saint Louise de Marillac, a co-founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul, are interred in the chapel, which continues to receive daily visits from Catholic pilgrims today.


title: Miraculous Medal

text: Pope John Paul II used a slight variation of the reverse image as his coat of arms, the Marian Cross, a plain cross with an "M" underneath the right-hand bar (which signified the Blessed Virgin at the foot of the Cross when Jesus was being crucified).


title: Miraculous Medal

text: The elements of the design encapsulate major Catholic dogmas concerning Mariology that have been declared official doctrine by the Catholic Church.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: The Nemesis, also called the Nemesis-T Type, the Pursuer or the , is a character in "Resident Evil" ("Biohazard" in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. Although smaller than other Tyrant models, the creature dwarfs a typical human, and possesses vastly superior intelligence and physical dexterity to its undead peers. It is featured in "" (1999) as a titular main villain before later emerging in other titles and cameo roles. It is also featured on various merchandise and was portrayed by Matthew G. Taylor in the 2004 film "". The character is voiced by Tony Rosato in the original game and Gregg Berger in "" (2012). In the 2020 remake of "Resident Evil 3", the character is voiced by David Cockman, while Neil Newbon provided the motion capture performance. Nemesis has also been featured in several other game franchises, including as a playable character in "Marvel vs. Capcom" and "Dead by Daylight".


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: Since the Nemesis' introduction, the character has received a positive reception and has come to be regarded as one of the series' most popular characters, but his design and role in the "Resident Evil 3" remake were criticized. Some publications have praised its role as an intimidating villain, while others have noted it as one of their favourite and most terrifying monsters in video games.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: Introduced in "", the Nemesis-T Type was designed under the concept of a "huge, overpowering monster that could use weapons and intelligently track you anywhere." During development, many different designs were considered. Although some elements remained constant among them, the early designs featured several different degrees of surface damage, as well as different options for clothing such as a protective vest instead of a coat or a nude design similar to the original Tyrant from "Resident Evil".


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: In the series' story, the Nemesis-T Type is the result of infecting a T-103 model Tyrant – a humanoid bio-weapon created to be the ultimate lifeform—with the Nemesis Alpha parasite (or "NE-α") designed to increase its intelligence. The parasite's origins are partially retconned in the 2020 remake to be a genetically engineered copy of the Las Plagas parasite, which was introduced in "Resident Evil 4". Upon infection, the parasite takes control of the Tyrant's nervous system, forming its own brain and enabling it to follow precise instructions and make decisions without a need for constant direction. Clothed in black trousers, an overcoat, boots, and gloves, the Nemesis is armed with a rocket launcher mounted on its left arm. To emphasize its design as a prototype, the game developers left exposed muscles on its body and added stitches to cover the right eye. Upon spotting its target, it says the target's name out loud and attacks.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: The secretions from the parasite give the Nemesis massively heightened regenerative abilities, which result in the creature being almost impervious to damage; although it can be put down with enough fire from small arms, eventually it "will" repair itself and resume the pursuit of its targets. However, this resulted in unexpected side effects, including damage to the skin and the emergence of additional tentacles, as well as unpredictable mutations caused by further attacks. In "Resident Evil 3", the creature's survival instincts eventually override Nemesis' programming, causing the host's body to reject the parasite and transform into a giant digestive organ. Featuring large central bone protrusions and elongated tentacles, it crawls looking for prey, yet continues trying to complete its mission despite its now diminished intelligence. This design proved to be the most difficult for the game's development team, as they worked to try to make it appear as unique as possible. In 2020 remake of "Resident Evil 3", according to producer Peter Fabiano, "During development, our director saw what the team did with Tyrant in last year's "RE2" and was determined to surpass that with Nemesis." He also goes on to say that the team intends to transform Nemesis into its own brand of terror, "a relentless pursuer with its own arsenal of weapons."


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: The Nemesis, named after the Goddess of Vengeance from Greek mythology, first appears in the 1999 PlayStation game "" as the game's title character and primary antagonist. The product of years of research, the prototype is deployed by the Umbrella Corporation as a field test to hunt and kill the STARS police team before they can expose Umbrella's activity in the Arklay mountains. The game’s protagonist, Jill Valentine, first encounters the Nemesis outside Raccoon City’s police station where it kills Brad Vickers and then pursues her, uttering ""STARS..."" on sight. The Nemesis continues to stalk Valentine throughout the game, attacking with physical blows and grabs, and later, armed with a rocket launcher. After losing its overcoat as a result of heavy damage, the Nemesis mutates, and gains the ability to attack with long, extendable tentacles. Despite later being doused in acid, the Nemesis continues its pursuit, and mutates into a much larger, tentacled monster after absorbing a dead Tyrant, gaining the ability to spew poison. Jill finally defeats the Nemesis using a rail cannon, and then depending on the choice of the player, she either kills it once and for all by unloading her weapons into it, or leaves it to die in the nuclear explosion that destroys Raccoon City. A similar Nemesis later appears in "", chasing the player if they fail to complete a level before the time limit expires and killing them instantly if it hits them; it can also be fought as a secret boss armed with a rocket launcher if the player has met the proper conditions upon completing the game. The Nemesis returns for the "Resident Evil 3" chapter of "", in which it pursues Jill in the same manner as the original game and mutates into its secondary form as a boss. The Nemesis also appears in "". In the game, the Nemesis' programming is damaged and the USS is tasked with finding a NE-Alpha parasite to repair it. Once the parasite is found, the players must defeat the Nemesis and inject it with the parasite. The Nemesis in the game uses a gatling gun for the fight and is mainly based on his film counterpart; however once the mission is completed, the Nemesis awakes to find his rocket launcher and proceeds to hunt after the STARS police team. In the 2020 remake of "Resident Evil 3", Nemesis returns as the game's first boss fight, wielding a flamethrower. Nemesis also appeared in "" as a playable character.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: The character has been featured in other games outside of the "Resident Evil" franchise as well, such as in the Capcom title "Under the Skin" alongside Jill, and serves as a boss the player must steal coins from in a Raccoon City-inspired level. Character cards for the Nemesis additionally appear in "" and its Nintendo DS sequel. In an interview, "" producer Ryouta Niitsuma stated a desire to use the Nemesis in the title as a "monster-type" character from the "Resident Evil" series, but was dropped after considering it too "grotesque and disgusting" and in consideration of ESRB ratings. The character would instead appear briefly in the game's ending sequence for the Hulk. However, despite the initial concerns about his inclusion, the Nemesis appears as a playable character in "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3", an updated version of "Marvel vs. Capcom 3". The Nemesis returns as a playable character in "". In the game's story, following the Convergence, it is captured by A.I.M.brella leader M.O.D.O.K. and reprogrammed as his enforcer; it later battles and is defeated by Chris Redfield and Mike Haggar. In the tactical role-playing game "Project X Zone", Nemesis appears as a rival unit. Nemesis appeared in an online multiplayer battle royale game "Knives Out" as a costume at July 29 to August 12, 2021. Nemesis, along with Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine, appeared in "Dead by Daylight" as playable characters. His "Nemesis Blight Set" skin were also included.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: The Nemesis is featured in the 2004 film, "", portrayed by Matthew G. Taylor. The character's design was left relatively unchanged, brandishing a rocket launcher and similar attire, but with the addition of a forearm-mounted rail gun, modeled after a heavily modified minigun. Writer and producer Paul W. S. Anderson noted that the gun's addition was inspired by the idea of the Nemesis "walking around with a gigantic, powerful weapon in each hand and almost indecisive as to which one to use". The costume for Nemesis was created by Kropserkel Inc. and PJFX Studios, and stands roughly tall, weighing nearly . After production of "Apocalypse" was completed, the costume was restored and put on display at Kropserkel's offices.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: While The Nemesis' design remained similar, the character itself was expanded upon, now portrayed as a tragic villain. Formerly Matt Addison (portrayed by Eric Mabius), a survivor of the events of the first film, he was infected with the T-virus after being scratched by a Licker and later captured and experimented upon by the Umbrella Corporation. Transformed into the Nemesis, he is sent to kill the surviving members of STARS, but remembers his humanity after fighting Alice, and fights alongside the protagonists towards the film's conclusion. The Nemesis is eventually crushed beneath a crashing helicopter, and is later killed by the nuclear explosion that destroys Raccoon City.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: The Nemesis appears in a 1999 Hong Kong manhua adaptation of "Resident Evil 3" by Lee Chung Hing, "Biohazard 3: Last Escape", which is named after the game's Japanese title. The 27-issue series adds to the Nemesis' backstory, detailing its origin by showing the infection and transformation of the original Tyrant by the Nemesis parasite. Some elements are changed for its design, such as the Nemesis retaining both eyes initially, and then losing the right eye and gaining cranial staples only after an encounter with Jill. The comic also introduces characters from "Resident Evil 2" into the storyline, which results in a face-off between the Nemesis and the mutated William Birkin towards the end of the series.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: In 2000, Simon & Schuster published a novelization of "Resident Evil 3", written by S. D. Perry. Though left unchanged for the most part, the Nemesis is immediately recognized as a modified Tyrant in the novel, which Jill Valentine dubs the "Nemesis" after thinking about why it hunts her. Instead of mutating due to having taken damage, the Nemesis transforms voluntarily towards the conclusion of the story in its pursuit of Jill, with its second form from the game being its actual appearance beneath the coat.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: A novelization of "Apocalypse" was released in 2004, written by Keith R. A. DeCandido. In the book, Matt and the Nemesis act as separate personalities in the same body, both aware, but with the Nemesis dominant. Matt eventually regains control after his body is impaled on a metal shard while fighting Alice, by showing the Nemesis his memories of Umbrella's experimentation upon "them". The Nemesis is later mentioned in the 2007 novelization of "", in which antagonist Doctor Isaacs considers the Nemesis both his greatest success and his greatest failure, hating mention of it and blaming its defection and destruction upon Umbrella's desire to immediately field test it.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: Nemesis appears on the cover of every version of "Resident Evil 3", and is mentioned prominently on flyers for "Resident Evil: Survivor 2". Capcom has also released commercial products modeled on the character, such as an adult size Halloween mask, and later a silver ring modeled after Nemesis's head available for purchase through their Japanese online store. Palisades Toys used its likeness to create a posable action figure (packaged with a base and equipable rocket launcher) and a mini bust, which were released alongside several other "Resident Evil"-based merchandise. Moby Dick released its own line of "Resident Evil" action figures bundled in pairs of a playable character and enemy. Included in the series were Nemesis's first and second form, with the first form featuring an alternate head and equipable rocket launcher. Each set additionally includes a part of an action figure of Nemesis's third form, which measures 24 inches (60 cm) long when completed. In 2019, a minted icon 9-inch plush depicting Nemesis was also made. In 2022, Numskull made a collectible figurine of Nemesis.


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: Following the game's debut in 1999, the Nemesis became one of the most recognizable and popular characters in the "Resident Evil" series. G4's "Filter" named the Nemesis one of the top ten videogame villains of all time as selected by viewers, placing fifth on the list. "IGN" noted it as their favorite aspect of "Resident Evil 3", stating, "The point is, he's a bad-ass, and he's got plenty of surprises in store for you besides just fast feet and a big gun". In another article, "IGN" noted the Nemesis as one of their favorite video game monsters of all time, but felt disdain for its presentation in the film. They also named him one of the series' best bosses, calling it "what may be Umbrella's most fearsome creation ever" and comparing it to ""s T-1000, and later one of the top 100 video game villains of all time, placing 59th and described as horrific not for its appearance or attacks but its persistence. "1UP.com" named the battle against the Nemesis one of the "25 of the Most Badass Boss Fights of All Time", saying "There are plenty of bosses worth mentioning from the "Resident Evil" series... but the one that to this day most people point to as the biggest badass of the bunch is Nemesis". "GamePro" ranked the Nemesis 29th on their list of the "47 Most Diabolical Video Game Villains of All Time", noting the character "made "RE3" memorable even among the other, superior installments in the series". It ranked fourth on "Electronic Gaming Monthly's" "Top Ten Badass Undead" article, which described its role as a simple, yet effective villain. "GameSpot" featured Nemesis in a "Reader's Choice" edition of their "Top 10 Video Game Villains" article, placing eighth on the list and noting the character's high popularity among fans when compared to the Tyrant. He has also been voted by "GamesRadar"s readers as the 99th "most dastardly ne'er-do-wells" villain in video games in their "top 100". "GameDaily" listed it as one of their favorite Capcom characters of all time, stating "The "Resident Evil" series has a slew of memorable bad guys to choose from... but Nemesis is our favorite," and was also named one of their favorite undead characters in video games. The Nemesis additionally ranked fifth on their list of "Top 25 Scariest Video Game Monsters". Aaron Potter of "Den of Geek" named Nemesis as second of their "Best Resident Evil Bosses and Monsters", stating that "He becomes more deformed the longer Resident Evil 3’s campaign progresses, too, making each fight feel scarier than the last. Nemesis has only ever returned in spin-offs, but you never know when he’ll pop around the corner next." "IGN" also described Nemesis as one of their favorite video game monsters of all time, stating that "what made us love Nemesis made it through to his film incarnation. As it runs out, a man in a rubber suit isn't half as scary as a well-crafted collection of polygons." "IGN" staff also named Nemesis as one of the best "Resident Evil" bosses of all time. "Red Bull" called Nemesis one of the scariest video game villains of all time, because he "constantly stalks you through the game. You cannot kill him, you cannot stop him. At best you can run away and even that isn’t always effective. Oh, and he can use a rocket launcher too."


title: Nemesis (Resident Evil)

text: Nemesis's appearance in "Resident Evil 3 Remake" has received mixed reviews from critics. It has been criticized by fans, who are unhappy with his new look. Hirun Cryer of "Eurogamer" described Nemesis's "large fangs and smooshed nose" as "cartoonish." Ben Tyrer of "GamesRadar" downplayed Nemesis's appearance and stated that ""Resident Evil 3"s main villain has lost his fear factor," while Andy Kelly of "PC Gamer" described Nemesis as "giant and terrifying stalker in town." Kirk McKeand of "VG247" explained that Nemesis is only active in a small portion of the game, and that he is primarily featured in scripted sequences or boss fights. This led some critics to believe that he was underused and that a lot of his potential was wasted.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: The National Anthem of South Africa was adopted in 1997 and is a hybrid song combining extracts of the 19th century Xhosa hymn "" (, ) and the Afrikaans song which was used as the South African national anthem during the apartheid era, "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (), with new English lyrics.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: The anthem is often referred to by its incipit of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", but this has never been its official title, which is simply "National Anthem of South Africa".


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: The committee responsible for this new composition included Anna Bender, Elize Botha, Richard Cock, Dolf Havemann (Secretary), Mzilikazi Khumalo (Chairman), Masizi Kunene, John Lenake, Fatima Meer, Khabi Mngoma, Wally Serote, Johan de Villiers, and Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: The lyrics employ the five most widely spoken of South Africa's eleven official languages – Xhosa (first stanza, first two lines), Zulu (first stanza, last two lines), Sesotho (second stanza), Afrikaans (third stanza), and English (final stanza). The lyrics are sung in these languages regardless of the native language of the singer. The first half was arranged by Mzilikazi Khumalo and the latter half of the song was arranged by Jeanne Zaidel-Rudolph, who also wrote the final verse. The fact that it shifts (modulates) and ends in a different key (from G major to D major), a feature it shares with the Italian and the Philippine national anthems, makes it compositionally unusual.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: From the late 1940s to the early 1990s, South Africa was governed by a system known as apartheid, a widely condemned system of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination that was based on white supremacy and the repression of the black majority for the benefit of the politically and economically dominant Afrikaner minority and other whites. During this period, South Africa's national anthem was "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika", also known as "Die Stem", an Afrikaans language song that chronicled the Voortrekkers and their "Great Trek". "Die Stem" is a poem written by C. J. Langenhoven in 1918 and was set to music by Marthinus Lourens de Villiers in 1921. "Die Stem" () was the co-national anthem with "God Save the King" between 1938 and 1957, when it became the sole national anthem until 1994. "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" () was composed of eight stanzas (The original four in Afrikaans and four in English - a translation of the Afrikaans with a few modifications). It was seldom sung in its entirety; usually, the first stanza was the most widely known and sung sometimes followed by the last stanza.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: When apartheid came to an end in the early 1990s, the future of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was called into question. It was ultimately retained as the national anthem, though "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", a Xhosa language song that was used by the anti-apartheid movement, was also introduced and adopted as a second national anthem of equal standing. "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" was composed by a Methodist school teacher named Enoch Sontonga in 1897. It was first sung as a church hymn but later became an act of political defiance against the apartheid regime.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: The South African government adopted both songs as dual national anthems in 1994, when they were performed at Nelson Mandela's inauguration.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: For the 1995 Rugby World Cup, Morné du Plessis suggested that the Springboks learn all the words of "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika", and "they did so with great feeling", according to their instructor Anne Munnik.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: The practice of having two national anthems proved to be a cumbersome arrangement as performing both of them took as much as five minutes. This was rectified when South Africa's dual national anthems were merged in abridged forms in early 1997 to form the current national anthem. The new national anthem was performed at an opening of the South African parliament in February 1997, and was published in the South African "Government Gazette" on 10 October 1997. During the drafting of the new national anthem, it was requested by South African president Nelson Mandela that it be no more than 1 minute and 48 seconds in length (which was the average length of other countries anthems being used for reference). The new English lyrics were adapted from the last four lines of the first stanza of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" (), with the changes made to reflect hope in post-apartheid South African society.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: Lines borrowed from the two previous national anthems were modified to be more inclusive, omitting overt reference to specific groups of the country's population groups. Thus, lines from the apartheid-era national anthem's first stanza referencing the Voortrekkers' "Great Trek" were omitted, as "this was the experience of only one section of" South African society. Likewise, the words "Woza Moya", used in "Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika" were also omitted, as the phrase is a specifically Christian reference, rather than a generically religious one, and thus not acceptable to South Africans of other religions, particularly Muslim South Africans. A new verse found in neither song was also added. The English version of "Die Stem van Suid-Afrika" was less prominent than the Afrikaans version and thus could be changed with little objection or controversy. As such, the English portion of the new South African national anthem was the one which had its lyrics changed from the previous version.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: In recent years, the South African national anthem has come under criticism for its Afrikaans verse as it was originally part of the national anthem of South Africa that was used during the apartheid era, with some such as the Economic Freedom Fighters calling for the verse to be removed, supposedly because of this connection. Others defend the inclusion of the verse, pointing out that it is included in large part due to the wishes of the first post-apartheid South African president, Nelson Mandela, who intended its inclusion as a reconciliatory measure for the post-apartheid future of South Africa.


title: National anthem of South Africa

text: Besides English, the anthem has also been fully translated into the other official languages of South Africa.


title: Miffy

text: Miffy (, pronounced ) is a fictional rabbit appearing in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. The original Dutch name, "Nijntje", is a shortening of the diminutive "konijntje", "little rabbit".


title: Miffy

text: The first Miffy book was produced in 1955 and almost thirty others have followed. In total they have sold over 100 million copies. In addition, two separate television series as well as items such as clothes and toys featuring the character followed. On 30 January 2013, a feature-length film, "Miffy the Movie", was released in theaters and stars Eva Poppink in the title role.


title: Miffy

text: Four television series based on the character have been produced: "Dick Bruna's Miffy Storybook Classics" from 1984; "Miffy: Colors, Numbers, and Shapes" from 1996; "Miffy and Friends" from 2003; and "Miffy's Adventures Big and Small" from 2015.


title: Miffy

text: Miffy was created in 1955 after Bruna had been telling his one-year-old son, Sierk, stories about a little rabbit they had seen earlier in the dunes, while on holiday at Egmond aan Zee. Miffy became a female after Bruna decided that he wanted to draw a dress and not trousers on his rabbit. Depending on the story, Miffy can range in age from being a baby to being four years old.


title: Miffy

text: At first Miffy looked like a toy animal with floppy ears, but by 1963, her design was changed to her current incarnation, a stylized form of a rabbit. Miffy is drawn in a graphic style, with minimalist black graphic lines. Bruna chose to only use black, white, the primary colours (red, yellow, and blue), green, orange, brown, and grey. It is his use of primarily primary colors that makes Miffy instantly recognisable, and also popular with preschoolers, because of her bright and intense simplistic colours.


title: Miffy

text: Almost 32 Miffy titles have been published and many more for the other characters. Bruna has produced a total of 124 picture books for children. The Miffy books each contain twelve pages of story. Each page has one illustration and four lines of verse, the last word of the second line rhymes with the last of the fourth. They are written about things that children can understand, and situations they will face such as going to the hospital and going to school, and they always have a happy ending. Some books have no text at all, such as "Miffy's Dream".


title: Miffy

text: The books are printed in small format. Bruna considers it important that his audience feels that his books are there for them, not for their parents. Most Miffy books have an advisory reading level of age four to eight years.


title: Miffy

text: Bruna's books have been translated into more than 50 different languages, and over 85 million copies have been sold all over the world. It is also translated in dialects, including in Zeelandic by Engel Reinhoudt. Dick Bruna has won many awards for his books, such as the Golden Brush in 1990, for "Boris Bear" and the Silver Brush for "Miffy In The Tent" in 1996. In 1997, he was awarded the Silver Slate for "Dear Grandma Bunny", a book where Miffy's grandmother was sick and died.


title: Miffy

text: The other characters that appear in the books are her family: Miffy's parents, her Grandma and Grandpa, her Auntie Alice, and 'Uncle Bob,' a family friend, who appears in "Miffy Goes Flying". A new brother or sister for Miffy is introduced in "Miffy And The New Baby". She also has many friends, Boris and Barbara Bear, who first appeared in 1989 and are boyfriend and girlfriend, Poppy Pig, who appeared in 1977, and her niece Grunty, Snuffy, who appeared in 1969, and other bunnies such as Aggie and Melanie.


title: Miffy

text: In the early 1990s, an image of Miffy holding an adjustable spanner coyly behind her back appeared on flyers produced by people taking direct action against the UK government's road building program. This unauthorised use of the character spread and Miffy became a mascot for groups involved in radical ecological direct action.


title: Miffy

text: Miffy appeared in her first TV show in 1984, called "Dick Bruna's Miffy Storybook Classics: The Original Series". Directed by veteran animator Gene Deitch, each episode was traditionally animated and ran for approximately five minutes. The show aired in the Netherlands on KRO, in the United Kingdom on ITV, in Canada on TVOntario in Australia on ABC, and in the USA on Cartoon Network's Small World block with VHS releases from Geneon USA, episodes of the show were later included as Bonus Features on Miffy and Friends DVDs.


title: Miffy

text: From 2003 to 2007, "Miffy and Friends" aired on children's television channels such as Treehouse in Canada, and Noggin in the USA. The show added several new characters, such as Melanie's African family and the family of Boris' and Barbara's common cousin, Umik. The series was produced by Pedri Animation BV, a Dutch stop-motion animation company. It was voiced simply by a feminine storytelling narrator.


title: Miffy

text: Miffy is sometimes assumed to be a Japanese character, because Sanrio's Hello Kitty, introduced in 1974, is rendered using a similar line style. The Miffy brand is popular in Japan, with strong sales of Japanese-made Miffy merchandise. In an interview for "The Daily Telegraph", Bruna expressed his dislike for Hello Kitty. "'That,' he says darkly, 'is a copy [of Miffy], I think. I don't like that at all. I always think, "No, don't do that. Try to make something that you think of yourself". In 1999, Miffy was the ninth top-selling character in Japan, where licensed merchandise sold ().


title: Miffy

text: In addition, on 26 August 2010, Mercis BV, representing Bruna, brought suit against Sanrio with the claim that one of Hello Kitty's companion characters, a rabbit named Cathy, infringes on the copyright and trademark of Miffy. On 2 November 2010, a Dutch court ruled against Sanrio and ordered the company to stop marketing Cathy products in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands. On 7 June 2011, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanrio and Mercis reached an out-of-court settlement requiring Sanrio to halt production of merchandise that features Cathy. Instead of continuing the court battle, the two companies announced that they would donate the legal fees to help the earthquake victims.


title: Miffy

text: In Bruna's hometown, Utrecht, there is a square named after nijntje, the Nijntjepleintje (lit: Little Nijntje Square, to retain the rhyme) and in 2006, the Centraal Museum opened a permanent exhibition, the "dick bruna huis" (Dick Bruna house).


title: Miffy

text: Miffy celebrated her fiftieth birthday in 2005. This was marked in cities across the globe, for example, at the Manchester Art Gallery in England. She also serves a "celebrity character spokesperson" for Unicef.


title: Miffy

text: Miffy's namesakes include a new species of booklouse from Peru. The insect was given the scientific name "Trichadenotecnum miffy" in 2008, because its epiproct, an appendage on its abdomen, resembles a small rabbit.


title: Miffy

text: "Miffy's Adventures Big and Small" premiered 2 October 2015. It currently has a total of six seasons. It airs on the Nick Jr. Channel in the USA.


title: Miffy

text: From "Dick Bruna", Linders J, Sierman K, de Wijs I and Vrooland-Löb T. Wanders Publishers, Zwolle, 2006. (English) (Dutch)


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: Ceiba pentandra is a tropical tree of the order Malvales and the family Malvaceae (previously emplaced in the family Bombacaceae), native to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, northern South America, and (as the variety "C. pentandra" var "guineensis") West Africa. A somewhat smaller variety was introduced to South and Southeast Asia, where it is cultivated.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The tree and the cotton-like fluff obtained from its seed pods are commonly known in English as kapok, a Malay-derived name which originally applied to "Bombax ceiba", a native of tropical Asia. In Spanish-speaking countries the tree is commonly known as "ceiba" and in French-speaking countries as fromager. The tree is cultivated for its cottonlike seed fibre, particularly in south-east Asia, and is also known as the Java cotton, Java kapok, silk-cotton or samauma.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The tree grows to as confirmed by climbing and tape drop with reports of Kapoks up to . These very large trees are in the Neotropics or tropical Africa. The Southeast Asian form of C. pentandra only reaches ninety feet (27 meters). Trunks can often be up to in diameter above the extensive buttress roots. The very largest individuals, however, can be thick or more above the buttresses.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The buttress roots can be clearly seen in photographs extending up the trunk of some specimens and extending out from the trunk as much as and then continuing below ground to a total length of


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The trunk and many of the larger branches are often crowded with large simple thorns. These major branches, usually 4 to 6 in number, can be up to thick and form a crown of foliage as much as in width. The palmate leaves are composed of 5 to 9 leaflets, each up to long.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The trees produce several hundred pods containing seeds surrounded by a fluffy, yellowish fibre that is a mix of lignin and cellulose.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The commercial tree is most heavily cultivated in the rainforests of Asia, notably in Java (hence one of its common names), the Philippines, Malaysia, and Hainan Island in China, as well as in South America.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: Native tribes along the Amazon River harvest the fibre to wrap around their blowgun darts. The fibres create a seal that allows the pressure to force the dart through the tube.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The fiber is light, very buoyant, resilient, resistant to water, but very flammable. The process of harvesting and separating the fiber is labor-intensive and menial. It is difficult to spin, but is used as an alternative to down as filling in mattresses, pillows, upholstery, zafus, and stuffed toys such as teddy bears, and for insulation. It was previously much used in life jackets and similar devices until synthetic materials largely replaced the fiber. The seeds produce an oil that is used locally in soap and can be used as fertilizer.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: "Ceiba pentandra" bark decoction has been used as a diuretic, as an aphrodisiac, and to treat headache, as well as type II diabetes. It is used as an additive in some versions of the psychedelic drink Ayahuasca.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: A vegetable oil can be pressed from the seeds. The oil has a yellow colour and a pleasant, mild odour and taste, resembling cottonseed oil. It becomes rancid quickly when exposed to air. Kapok oil is produced in India, Indonesia and Malaysia. It has an iodine value of 85–100; this makes it a nondrying oil, which means that it does not dry out significantly when exposed to air. The oil has some potential as a biofuel and in paint preparation.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: According to the folklore of Trinidad and Tobago, the Castle of the Devil is a huge "C. pentandra" growing deep in the forest in which Bazil the demon of death was imprisoned by a carpenter. The carpenter tricked the devil into entering the tree in which he carved seven rooms, one above the other, into the trunk. Folklore claims that Bazil still resides in that tree.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: Most masks coming from Burkina Faso, especially those of Bobo and Mossi people, are carved from "C. pentandra" timber.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: "Ceiba pentandra" is the national emblem of Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Equatorial Guinea. It appears on the coat of arms and flag of Equatorial Guinea.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: The Cotton Tree is a landmark in downtown Freetown, Sierra Leone, and is considered a symbol of freedom for the slaves that immigrated there.


title: Ceiba pentandra

text: Saigon, one of a number of older names for Ho Chi Minh City, may be derived from "Sài" (Sino-Vietnamese "palisade" etc.) and the Vietnamese name for the Kapok tree "(bông) gòn", although, in this instance, the tree intended may well be, not the New World "Ceiba pentandra", but the Old World "Bombax ceiba".


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: Temple Grandin is a 2010 American biographical drama television film directed by Mick Jackson and starring Claire Danes as Temple Grandin, a woman with autism whose innovations revolutionized practices for the humane handling of livestock on cattle ranches and slaughterhouses. It is based on Grandin's memoirs "Emergence" and "Thinking in Pictures". The film premiered on HBO on February 6, 2010, and won several awards including five Primetime Emmy Awards, and Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild prizes for Danes.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: Temple Grandin is an uncommunicative child who is prone to tantrums and is diagnosed with autism. The medical consensus at that time was that autism was a form of schizophrenia resulting from insufficient maternal affection. Despite recommendations to place her in an institution, Grandin's mother hires therapists and works to help her daughter adapt to social interaction.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: As a teenager, Temple travels to her aunt and uncle's ranch to work. She observes cows being placed into a squeeze chute to calm them, and, during an anxiety attack, she uses the chute to calm herself. Inspired by her teacher, Dr. Carlock, to pursue science, she is admitted to Franklin Pierce College where she develops an early version of the squeeze machine to calm herself during stressful times. Her college misinterprets the use of the machine as a sexual act and forces her to remove it. In response, she develops a scientific protocol to test subjects' reactions to the machine, proving it to be a purely therapeutic device. Grandin graduates with a degree in psychology and pursues a master's degree in animal science.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: Temple faces sexism while attempting to integrate into the world of cattle ranching but ultimately designs a new dip structure designed to allow cattle to voluntarily move through rather than being forced. Initially, the device works as intended, and garners favorable coverage in local press, but the ranch hands are dismissive of her design and alter it, resulting in the drowning of several cows. Angered, Grandin visits Carlock, and leaves the meeting encouraged to continue her efforts to improve the industry.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: Temple and her mother attend the 1981 National Autistic Convention. The speaker is unable to answer many of the questions from the audience, but Temple speaks out from the crowd explaining how she has adapted, and tells of her mother's contributions to her success. The audience calls her to the podium, marking Temple's transition into autism advocacy.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: The idea for a biopic of Grandin originated with its executive producer Emily Gerson Saines, a successful talent agent and a co-founder of the nonprofit Autism Coalition for Research and Education (now part of Autism Speaks). In the mid-1990s, Gerson Saines was a vice-president at the William Morris Agency when her 2-year-old son was diagnosed with autism. She learned about Grandin soon afterward, when her mother told her about seeing Grandin's book "Thinking in Pictures" in a bookstore and, around the same time, her grandmother independently sent her an article about Grandin by Oliver Sacks.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: Reading about Grandin renewed Gerson Saines' "energy, motivation and spirit" in coping with her son's condition. "Temple's story brought me hope and (her mother)'s story gave me direction and purpose," Gerson Saines said in a later interview. "Parents of a child with autism everywhere need to hear it, functionally and spiritually. I knew this story had to be told and given my access as a talent representative in the entertainment industry, I felt it was my responsibility to make that happen." Through Grandin's agent, Gerson Saines asked to meet Grandin for lunch. "She came in wearing her cowgirl shirt—in her very Temple way, in her very Temple walk. I realized that there were people staring at her, and in a different lifetime I might have been one of them, but all I could think of was, 'I can't believe how lucky I am to be here. This woman's my hero.


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: Grandin was familiar with Gerson Saines' work with the Autism Coalition and granted her permission to make the film, but the endeavor—first launched in the late 1990s—would take more than ten years to come to fruition. "Variety" reported in 2002 that David O. Russell was attached to direct the film from a screenplay by W. Merritt Johnson (adapting from Grandin's memoirs "Emergence" and "Thinking in Pictures"). Russell later dropped out and was replaced by Moisés Kaufman, who also left the project. By 2008, Mick Jackson had signed on to direct, and Claire Danes was in negotiations to star as Grandin. Johnson's script had been replaced by one from Christopher Monger (both Johnson and Monger are credited as writers of the finished film).


title: Temple Grandin (film)

text: One element Gerson Saines was sure about from the beginning was that she wanted to work with HBO, in part because of her longstanding relationship with the network through her work as an agent. "But I also knew that by going that route, more people will see it," she said. "When you're trying to make a movie like this, it's very rare that it reaches a wide audience." HBO was equally intrigued by the story, and Gerson Saines credits past and present HBO executives with keeping the project alive until it could be properly realized. "I made a commitment to Temple that I was going to make it and make it right...I never pushed to get it made until now, because now we got it right."