title: Georg Solti

text: Solti's first recordings were as a piano accompanist, playing at sessions in Zurich for the violinist Georg Kulenkampff in 1947. Decca's senior producer, Victor Olof did not much admire Solti as a conductor (nor did Walter Legge, Olof's opposite number at EMI's Columbia Records), but Olof's younger colleague and successor, Culshaw, held Solti in high regard. As Culshaw, and later James Walker, produced his recordings, Solti's career as a recording artist flourished from the mid-1950s. Among the orchestras with whom Solti recorded were the Berlin Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony, London Philharmonic, London Symphony and Vienna Philharmonic orchestras. Soloists in his operatic recordings included Birgit Nilsson, Joan Sutherland, Régine Crespin, Plácido Domingo, Gottlob Frick, Carlo Bergonzi, Kiri Te Kanawa and José van Dam. In concerto recordings, Solti conducted for, among others, András Schiff, Julius Katchen, Clifford Curzon, Vladimir Ashkenazy and Kyung-wha Chung.


title: Georg Solti

text: Solti's most celebrated recording was Wagner's "Der Ring des Nibelungen" made in Vienna, produced by Culshaw, between 1958 and 1965. It has twice been voted the greatest recording ever made, the first poll being among readers of "Gramophone" magazine in 1999, and the second of professional music critics in 2011, for the BBC's "Music Magazine". It is this recording that is heard in the film Apocalypse Now during the helicopter attack scene.


title: Georg Solti

text: Honours awarded to Solti included the British CBE (honorary), 1968, and an honorary knighthood (KBE), 1971, which became a substantive knighthood when he took British citizenship in 1972, after which he was known as Sir Georg Solti. He was also awarded honorary citizenship from the coastal town of Castiglione della Pescaia, in Tuscany, a holiday destination particularly frequented by celebrities where he owned a holiday house and used to spend the summer holidays with his wife and daughters. In Castiglione, the Georg Solti Accademia and the main piazza within the town's historic hamlet are named after Solti. Furthermore, Solti received a number of honours from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and the US. He received honorary fellowships or degrees from the Royal College of Music and DePaul, Furman, Harvard, Leeds, London, Oxford, Surrey and Yale universities.


title: Georg Solti

text: In celebration of his 75th birthday in 1987, a bronze bust of Solti by Dame Elisabeth Frink was dedicated in Lincoln Park, Chicago, outside the Lincoln Park Conservatory. It was first displayed temporarily at the Royal Opera House in London. The sculpture was moved to Grant Park in 2006 in a new "Solti Garden", near Orchestra Hall in Symphony Center. In 1997, to commemorate the 85th anniversary of his birth, the City of Chicago renamed the block of East Adams Street adjacent to Symphony Center as "Sir Georg Solti Place" in his memory.


title: Georg Solti

text: Record industry awards to Solti included the Grand Prix Mondial du Disque (14 times) and 31 Grammy Awards (Besides a special Trustees' Grammy Award, shared with John Culshaw, for the recording of the "Ring" (1967) and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award (1996)). He won more Grammys than any other recording artist, whether classical or popular. In September 2007, as a tribute on the 10th anniversary of his death, Decca published a recording of his final concert.


title: Georg Solti

text: After Solti's death his widow and daughters set up the Solti Foundation to assist young musicians. Solti's memoirs, written with the assistance of Harvey Sachs, were published the month after his death. Solti's life was also documented in a 1997 film by Peter Maniura, "Sir Georg Solti: The Making of a Maestro."


title: Georg Solti

text: In 2012 a series of events under the banner of "Solti @ 100" was announced, to mark the centenary of Solti's birth. Among the events were concerts in New York City and Chicago, and commemorative exhibitions in London, Chicago, Vienna and New York. In the same year Solti was voted into the inaugural "Gramophone" "Hall of Fame".


title: Georg Solti

text: The Sir Georg Solti International Conductors' Competition, which occurs every two years in Frankfurt, is named in his honour.


title: Common Core

text: The Common Core State Standards Initiative, also known as simply Common Core, is an educational initiative from 2010 that details what K–12 students throughout the United States should know in English language arts and mathematics at the conclusion of each school grade. The initiative is sponsored by the National Governors Association and Council of Chief State School Officers.


title: Common Core

text: The initiative also seeks to establish consistent educational standards across the states as well as ensure that students graduating from high school are prepared to enter credit-bearing courses at two- or four-year college programs or to enter the workforce.


title: Common Core

text: In the 1990s, a movement began in the U.S. to establish national educational standards for students across the country.


title: Common Core

text: In late 2008, the NGA convened a group of people to work on developing the standards. This team included David Coleman, William McCallum of the University of Arizona, Phil Daro, and Student Achievement Partners founders Jason Zimba and Susan Pimentel to write standards in the areas of English language arts and mathematics. Announced on June 1, 2009, the initiative's stated purpose was to "provide a consistent, clear understanding of what students are expected to learn, so teachers and parents know what they need to do to help them". Additionally, "The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers", which should place American students in a position in which they can compete in a global economy.


title: Common Core

text: Work groups composed of representatives from higher education, K-12 education, teachers, and researchers drafted the Common Core State Standards. The work groups consulted educators, administrators, community and parent organizations, higher education representatives, the business community,researchers, civil rights groups, and states for feedback on each of the drafts.


title: Common Core

text: The standards are copyrighted by NGA Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) and the CCSSO, which controls use of and licenses the standards.<ref name="corestandards.org/terms-of-use">Common Core State Standards Initiative | Terms of Use. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved July 19, 2013.</ref> The NGA Center and CCSSO do this by offering a public license which is used by State Departments of Education.<ref name="corestandards.org/public-license">Common Core State Standards Initiative | Public License. Common Core State Standards Initiative. Retrieved July 19, 2013.</ref> The license states that use of the standards must be "in support" of the Common Core State Standards Initiative. It also requires attribution and a copyright notice, except when a state or territory has adopted the standards "in whole".


title: Common Core

text: When the CCSS was originally published, there was no intention to publish a common set of standards for English language proficiency development (ELPD). Instead, it was indicated that the ELPD standards would be left to individual states. However, the need for more guidance quickly became apparent, and led to the creation of several initiatives to provide resources to states and educators, including:


title: Common Core

text: The U.S. Department of Education has since funded two grants to develop the next generation of ELPD assessments, which must measure students’ proficiency against a set of common ELPD standards, which in turn correspond to the college/career-ready standards in English language arts and mathematics. The new assessment system must also:


title: Common Core

text: Since 2010, 41 states and the District of Columbia have been members of the Common Core State Standards Initiative; Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas, Virginia, Alaska, Nebraska, Indiana and South Carolina did not adopt it. Minnesota adopted the English Language Arts standards but not the Mathematics standards. Although starting as a fast trend, the curriculum lost momentum and found at least 12 states introducing legislation to prohibit implementation. Four states that initially adopted Common Core have since decided to repeal or replace it: Indiana, Arizona, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. In 2022 Florida also abandoned the standard.


title: Common Core

text: Standards were released for mathematics and English language arts on June 2, 2010, with a majority of states adopting the standards in the subsequent months. States were given an incentive to adopt the Common Core Standards through the possibility of competitive federal Race to the Top grants. U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the Race to the Top competitive grants on July 24, 2009, as a motivator for education reform. To be eligible, states had to adopt "internationally benchmarked standards and assessments that prepare students for success in college and the work place." Though states could adopt other college- and career-ready standards and still be eligible, they were awarded extra points in their Race to the Top applications if they adopted the Common Core standards by August 2, 2010. Forty-one states made the promise in their application. Virginia and Texas were two states that chose to write their own college and career-ready standards, and were subsequently eligible for Race to the Top. Development of the Common Core Standards was funded by the governors and state schools chiefs, with additional support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Pearson Publishing Company, the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, and others.


title: Common Core

text: Until the Every Student Succeeds Act was passed in December 2015, the US Department of Education had encouraged states to adopt the Common Core Standards by tying the grant of waivers from the No Child Left Behind Act to adoption of the Standards. However, the Every Student Succeeds Act not only replaced the No Child Left Behind Act, it also expressly prohibits the Department of Education from attempting to "influence, incentivize, or coerce State adoption of the Common Core State Standards ... or any other academic standards common to a significant number of States."


title: Common Core

text: Though the Common Core State Standards do not cover science and social studies content standards, the Next Generation Science Standards were released in April 2012 and have been adopted by many states. They are not directly related to the Common Core, but their content can be cross-connected to the mathematical and English Language Arts standards within the Common Core.


title: Common Core

text: The stated goal of the English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects standards is to ensure that students are college and career ready in literacy no later than the end of high school. There are five key components to the standards for English and Language Arts: Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, Language, and Media and Technology. The essential components and breakdown of each of these key points within the standards are as follows:


title: Common Core

text: The stated goal of the mathematics standards is to achieve greater focus and coherence in the curriculum. This is largely in response to the criticism that American mathematics curricula are "a mile wide and an inch deep".


title: Common Core

text: The mathematics standards include Standards for Mathematical Practice and Standards for Mathematical Content.


title: Common Core

text: The practices are adapted from the five process standards of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the five strands of proficiency in the U.S. National Research Council's "Adding It Up" report. These practices are to be taught in every grade from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Details of how these practices are to be connected to each grade level's mathematics content are left to local implementation of the Standards.


title: Common Core

text: The standards lay out the mathematics content that should be learned at each grade level from kindergarten to Grade 8 (age 13–14), as well as the mathematics to be learned in high school. The standards do not dictate any particular pedagogy or what order topics should be taught within a particular grade level. Mathematical content is organized in a number of "domains". At each grade level there are several "standards" for each domain, organized into "clusters" of related standards. (See examples below.)


title: Common Core

text: In addition to detailed standards (of which there are 21 to 28 for each grade from kindergarten to eighth grade), the standards present an overview of "critical areas" for each grade.


title: Common Core

text: Some topics in each category are indicated only for students intending to take more advanced, optional courses such as calculus, advanced statistics, or discrete mathematics. Even if the traditional sequence is adopted, functions and modeling are to be integrated across the curriculum, not taught as separate courses. Mathematical Modeling is a Standard for Mathematical Practice (see above), and is meant to be integrated across the entire curriculum beginning in kindergarten. The modeling category does not have its own standards; instead, high school standards in other categories which are intended to be considered part of the modeling category are indicated in the standards with a star symbol.


title: Common Core

text: Each of the six high school categories includes a number of domains. For example, the "number and quantity" category contains four domains: the real number system; quantities; the complex number system; and vector and matrix quantities. The "vector and matrix quantities" domain is reserved for advanced students, as are some of the standards in "the complex number system".


title: Common Core

text: In high school (Grades 9 to 12), the standards do not specify which content is to be taught at each grade level, nor does the Common Core prescribe how a particular standard should be taught. Up to Grade 8, the curriculum is integrated; students study four or five different mathematical domains every year. The standards do not dictate whether the curriculum should continue to be integrated in high school with study of several domains each year (as is done in other countries), or whether the curriculum should be separated out into separate year-long algebra and geometry courses (as has been the tradition in most U.S. states). An appendix to the standards describes four possible pathways for covering high school content (two traditional and two integrated), but states are free to organize the content any way they want.


title: Common Core

text: The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics shifted the way the United States teaches math in three core ways. They built on the pre-existing standards to emphasize the skills and knowledge students will not only need in college, but in their career and in life as well. The key shifts are:


title: Common Core

text: As an example, here is the description of one of the key shifts, a greater focus on fewer topics:The Common Core calls for greater focus in mathematics. Rather than racing to cover many topics in a mile-wide, inch deep curriculum, the standards ask math teachers to significantly narrow and deepen the way time and energy are spent in the classroom. This means focusing deeply on the major work of each grade as follows:


title: Common Core

text: This focus will help students gain strong foundations, including a solid understanding of concepts, a high degree of procedural skill and fluency, and the ability to apply the math they know to solve problems inside and outside the classroom.


title: Common Core

text: According to the Common Core State Standards Initiative website, formal assessment was expected to take place in the 2014–2015 school year, which coincided with the projected implementation year for most states. The assessment is being created by two consortia with different approaches. The final decision of which assessment to use was determined by individual state education agencies. Both of these leading consortiums proposed computer-based exams that include fewer selected and constructed response test items, unlike the Standardized Test.


title: Common Core

text: As of October 2015, SBAC membership was reduced to 20 members: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, U.S. Virgin Islands, The Bureau of Indian Education, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming.


title: Common Core

text: While some states are working together to create a common, universal assessment based on the Common Core State Standards, other states are choosing to work independently or through these two consortiums to develop the assessment. Florida Governor Rick Scott directed his state education board to withdraw from PARCC. Georgia withdrew from the consortium test in July 2013 in order to develop its own. Michigan decided not to participate in Smarter Balanced testing. Oklahoma tentatively withdrew from the consortium test in July 2013 due to the technical challenges of online assessment. Utah withdrew from the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium in August 2012.


title: Common Core

text: The Common Core State Standards have drawn both support and criticism from politicians, analysts, and commentators. Teams of academics and educators from around the United States led the development of the standards, and additional validation teams approved the final standards. The teams drew on public feedback that was solicited throughout the process and that feedback was incorporated into the standards. The Common Core initiative only specifies what students should know at each grade level and describes the skills that they must acquire in order to achieve college or career readiness. Individual school districts are responsible for choosing curricula based on the standards. Textbooks bearing a Common Core label are not verified by any agency and may or may not represent the intent of the Common Core Standards. Some critics believe most current textbooks are not actually aligned to the Common Core, while others disagree.


title: Common Core

text: The mathematicians Edward Frenkel and Hung-Hsi Wu wrote in 2013 that the mathematical education in the United States is in "deep crisis" caused by the way math is currently taught in schools. Both agree that math textbooks, which are widely adopted across the states, already create "mediocre de facto national standards". The texts, they say, "are often incomprehensible and irrelevant". The Common Core State Standards address these issues and "level the playing field" for students. They point out that adoption of the Common Core State Standards and how best to test students are two separate issues.


title: Common Core

text: In 2012, Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution called into question whether the standards will have any effect, and said that they "have done little to equalize academic achievement within states". In response to the standards, the libertarian Cato Institute claimed that "it is not the least bit paranoid to say the federal government wants a national curriculum." According to a study published by the Pioneer Institute, although the standards themselves are sound, their method of implementation has failed to deliver improvements in literacy, while numeracy has actually declined, due to the imposition of the mediocre curriculum sequences used in a number of mid-performing states, and the "progressive" teaching methods that are popular among Common Core developers. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said her state should not "relinquish control of education to the federal government, neither should we cede it to the consensus of other states."


title: Common Core

text: Educational analysts from the Thomas B. Fordham Institute determined that the Common Core standards "are clearly superior to those currently in use in 39 states in math and 37 states in English. For 33 states, the Common Core is superior in both math and reading." In a follow up study, researchers found that while some states were committed to updating their standards, more resources were still needed to ensure adequate implementation of those standards, including adequate course material, capacity to deliver assessments, and accountability systems.


title: Common Core

text: According to the National Education Association, the Common Core State Standards are supported by 76% of its teacher members. Research from the Fordham Institute confirmed that many teachers support Common Core, but also found that the use of multiple methods to teach a single subject negatively impacted students' and parents' perceptions of these standards.


title: Common Core

text: The Heritage Foundation argued in 2010 that the Common Core's focus on national standards would do little to fix deeply ingrained problems and incentive structures within the education system.


title: Common Core

text: Marion Brady, a teacher, and Patrick Murray, an elected member of the school governing board in Bradford, Maine, wrote that Common Core drains initiative from teachers and enforces a "one-size-fits-all" curriculum that ignores cultural differences among classrooms and students. Diane Ravitch, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education and education historian, wrote in her book "Reign of Error" that the Common Core standards have never been field-tested and that no one knows whether they will improve education. Nicholas Tampio, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Fordham University, said that the standards emphasize rote learning and uniformity over creativity, and fail to recognize differences in learning styles.


title: Common Core

text: The standards require certain critical content for all students, including: classic myths and stories from around the world, America's Founding Documents, foundational American literature, and Shakespeare. In May 2013, the National Catholic Educational Association noted that the standards are a "set of high-quality academic expectations that all students should master by the end of each grade level" and are "not a national curriculum".


title: Common Core

text: Advancing one Catholic perspective, over one hundred college-level scholars signed a public letter criticizing the Common Core for diminishing the humanities in the educational curriculum: The "Common Core adopts a bottom-line, pragmatic approach to education and the heart of its philosophy is, as far as we can see, that it is a waste of resources to 'over-educate' people," though the Common Core set only minimum—not maximum—standards. Mark Naison, Fordham University Professor, and co-founder of the Badass Teachers Association, raised a similar objection: "The liberal critique of Common Core is that this is a huge profit-making enterprise that costs school districts a tremendous amount of money, and pushes out the things kids love about school, like art and music".


title: Common Core

text: As Common Core is implemented in New York, the new tests have been criticized. Some parents have said that the new assessments are too difficult and are causing too much stress, leading to an "opt-out movement" in which parents refuse to let their children take the tests.


title: Common Core

text: Former governor Jeb Bush has said of opponents of the standards that while "criticisms and conspiracy theories are easy attention grabbers", he instead wanted to hear their solutions to the problems in American education. In 2014, Bobby Jindal wrote that "It has become fashionable in the news media to believe there is a right-wing conspiracy against Common Core."


title: Common Core

text: Writer Jonathan Kozol uses the metaphor "cognitive decapitation" to describe the unfulfilling educational experience students are going through due to the subjects that have been excluded in their curriculum as a result of the Common Core. He notes cognitive decapitation is often experienced in urban schools of color, while white children have the privilege to continue engaging in a creative curriculum that involves the arts.


title: Common Core

text: In 2016, ACT, Inc., administrators of the ACT college readiness assessment, reported that there is a disconnect between what is emphasized in the Common Core and what is deemed important for college readiness by some college instructors. ACT has been a proponent of the Common Core Standards, and Chief Executive Officer Martin Roorda stated that "ACT's findings should not be interpreted as a rebuke of the Common Core."


title: Common Core

text: Kentucky was the first to implement the Common Core State Standards, and local school districts began offering new math and English curricula based on the standard in August 2010. In 2013, "Time" magazine reported that the high school graduation rate had increased from 80 percent in 2010 to 86 percent in 2013, test scores went up 2 percentage points in the second year of using the Common Core test, and the percentage of students considered to be ready for college or a career, based on a battery of assessments, went up from 34 percent in 2010 to 54 percent in 2013. According to Sarah Butrymowicz from "The Atlantic",


title: Common Core

text: Kentucky's experience over the past three school years suggests it will be a slow and potentially frustrating road ahead for the other states that are using the Common Core. Test scores are still dismal, and state officials have expressed concern that the pace of improvement is not fast enough. Districts have also seen varying success in changing how teachers teach, something that was supposed to change under the new standards.


title: Common Core

text: The Common Core State Standards are considered to be more rigorous than the standards they replaced in Kentucky. Kentucky's old standards received a "D" in an analysis by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. School officials in Kentucky believe it will take several more years to adjust to the new standards, which received an A− in math and a B+ in English from the Fordham Institute.


title: Common Core

text: A working paper found that Common Core had a small but significant negative effect in grade 4 reading and grade 8 mathematics based on National Assessment of Educational Progress scores.


title: Common Core

text: Implementation may be one of the major reasons why early results have been uneven. District administration and teachers have, in many cases, lacked the appropriate professional development, instructional materials, and Common Core-aligned assessments to support effective implementation of the new standards.


title: Common Core

text: The chart below contains the adoption status of the Common Core State Standards as of March 21, 2019. Among the territories of the United States (not listed in the chart below), the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the American Samoa Islands have adopted the standards while Puerto Rico has not adopted the standards.


title: Water tower

text: A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towers often operate in conjunction with underground or surface service reservoirs, which store treated water close to where it will be used. Other types of water towers may only store raw (non-potable) water for fire protection or industrial purposes, and may not necessarily be connected to a public water supply.


title: Water tower

text: Water towers are able to supply water even during power outages, because they rely on hydrostatic pressure produced by elevation of water (due to gravity) to push the water into domestic and industrial water distribution systems; however, they cannot supply the water for a long time without power, because a pump is typically required to refill the tower. A water tower also serves as a reservoir to help with water needs during peak usage times. The water level in the tower typically falls during the peak usage hours of the day, and then a pump fills it back up during the night. This process also keeps the water from freezing in cold weather, since the tower is constantly being drained and refilled.


title: Water tower

text: Although the use of elevated water storage tanks has existed since ancient times in various forms, the modern use of water towers for pressurized public water systems developed during the mid-19th century, as steam-pumping became more common, and better pipes that could handle higher pressures were developed. In the United Kingdom, standpipes consisted of tall, exposed, N-shaped pipes, used for pressure relief and to provide a fixed elevation for steam-driven pumping engines which tended to produce a pulsing flow, while the pressurized water distribution system required constant pressure. Standpipes also provided a convenient fixed location to measure flow rates. Designers typically enclosed the riser pipes in decorative masonry or wooden structures. By the late 19th century, standpipes grew to include storage tanks to meet the ever-increasing demands of growing cities.


title: Water tower

text: Many early water towers are now considered historically significant and have been included in various heritage listings around the world. Some are converted to apartments or exclusive penthouses. In certain areas, such as New York City in the United States, smaller water towers are constructed for individual buildings. In California and some other states, domestic water towers enclosed by siding (tankhouses) were once built (1850s–1930s) to supply individual homes; windmills pumped water from hand-dug wells up into the tank in New York.


title: Water tower

text: Water towers were used to supply water stops for steam locomotives on railroad lines. Early steam locomotives required water stops every .


title: Water tower

text: A variety of materials can be used to construct a typical water tower; steel and reinforced or prestressed concrete are most often used (with wood, fiberglass, or brick also in use), incorporating an interior coating to protect the water from any effects from the lining material. The reservoir in the tower may be spherical, cylindrical, or an ellipsoid, with a minimum height of approximately and a minimum of in diameter. A standard water tower typically has a height of approximately .


title: Water tower

text: Pressurization occurs through the hydrostatic pressure of the elevation of water; for every of elevation, it produces of pressure. of elevation produces roughly , which is enough pressure to operate and provide for most domestic water pressure and distribution system requirements.


title: Water tower

text: The height of the tower provides the pressure for the water supply system, and it may be supplemented with a pump. The volume of the reservoir and diameter of the piping provide and sustain flow rate. However, relying on a pump to provide pressure is expensive; to keep up with varying demand, the pump would have to be sized to meet peak demands. During periods of low demand, jockey pumps are used to meet these lower water flow requirements. The water tower reduces the need for electrical consumption of cycling pumps and thus the need for an expensive pump control system, as this system would have to be sized sufficiently to give the same pressure at high flow rates.


title: Water tower

text: Very high volumes and flow rates are needed when fighting fires. With a water tower present, pumps can be sized for average demand, not peak demand; the water tower can provide water pressure during the day and pumps will refill the water tower when demands are lower.


title: Water tower

text: Using wireless sensor networks to monitor water levels inside the tower allows municipalities to automatically monitor and control pumps without installing and maintaining expensive data cables.


title: Water tower

text: The adjacent image shows three architectural approaches to incorporating these tanks in the design of a building, one on East 57th Street in New York City. From left to right, a fully enclosed and ornately decorated brick structure, a simple unadorned roofless brick structure hiding most of the tank but revealing the top of the tank, and a simple utilitarian structure that makes no effort to hide the tanks or otherwise incorporate them into the design of the building.


title: Water tower

text: The technology dates to at least the 19th century, and for a long time New York City required that all buildings higher than six stories be equipped with a rooftop water tower. Two companies in New York build water towers, both of which are family businesses in operation since the 19th century.


title: Water tower

text: The original water tower builders were barrel makers who expanded their craft to meet a modern need as buildings in the city grew taller in height. Even today, no sealant is used to hold the water in. The wooden walls of the water tower are held together with steel cables or straps, but water leaks through the gaps when first filled. As the water saturates the wood, it swells, the gaps close and become impermeable. The rooftop water towers store of water until it is needed in the building below. The upper portion of water is skimmed off the top for everyday use while the water in the bottom of the tower is held in reserve to fight fire. When the water drops below a certain level, a pressure switch, level switch or float valve will activate a pump or open a public water line to refill the water tower.


title: Water tower

text: Architects and builders have taken varied approaches to incorporating water towers into the design of their buildings. On many large commercial buildings, water towers are completely hidden behind an extension of the facade of the building. For cosmetic reasons, apartment buildings often enclose their tanks in rooftop structures, either simple unadorned rooftop boxes, or ornately decorated structures intended to enhance the visual appeal of the building. Many buildings, however, leave their water towers in plain view atop utilitarian framework structures.


title: Water tower

text: If the pumps fail (such as during a power outage), then water pressure will be lost, causing potential public health concerns. Many U.S. states require a "boil-water advisory" to be issued if water pressure drops below . This advisory presumes that the lower pressure might allow pathogens to enter the system.


title: Water tower

text: Some have been converted to serve modern purposes, as for example, the Wieża Ciśnień (Wrocław water tower) in Wrocław, Poland which is today a restaurant complex. Others have been converted to residential use.


title: Water tower

text: Historically, railroads that used steam locomotives required a means of replenishing the locomotive's tenders. Water towers were common along the railroad. The tenders were usually replenished by water cranes, which were fed by a water tower.


title: Water tower

text: Some water towers are also used as observation towers, and some restaurants, such as the Goldbergturm in Sindelfingen, Germany, or the second of the three Kuwait Towers, in the State of Kuwait. It is also common to use water towers as the location of transmission mechanisms in the UHF range with small power, for instance for closed rural broadcasting service, amateur radio, or cellular telephone service.


title: Water tower

text: In hilly regions, local topography can be substituted for structures to elevate the tanks. These tanks are often nothing more than concrete cisterns terraced into the sides of local hills or mountains, but function identically to the traditional water tower. The tops of these tanks can be landscaped or used as park space, if desired.


title: Water tower

text: The Chicago Bridge and Iron Company has built many of the water spheres and spheroids found in the United States. The website "World's Tallest Water Sphere" describes the distinction between a water sphere and water spheroid thus:


title: Water tower

text: The Union Watersphere is a water tower topped with a sphere-shaped water tank in Union, New Jersey, and characterized as the "World's Tallest Water Sphere".


title: Water tower

text: A "Star Ledger" article suggested a water tower in Erwin, North Carolina completed in early 2012, tall and holding , had become the World's Tallest Water Sphere. However, photographs of the Erwin water tower revealed the new tower to be a water spheroid.


title: Water tower

text: The water tower in Braman, Oklahoma, built by the Kaw Nation and completed in 2010, is tall and can hold . Slightly taller than the Union Watersphere, it is also a spheroid.


title: Water tower

text: Another tower in Oklahoma, built in 1986 and billed as the "largest water tower in the country", is tall, can hold , and is located in Edmond.


title: Water tower

text: The "Earthoid", a perfectly spherical tank located in Germantown, Maryland is tall and holds of water. The name is taken from it being painted to resemble a globe of the world.


title: Water tower

text: The golf ball-shaped tank of the water tower at Gonzales, California is supported by three tubular legs and reaches about high.


title: Water tower

text: The Watertoren (or Water Towers) in Eindhoven, Netherlands contain three spherical tanks, each in diameter and capable of holding of water, on three spires were completed in 1970.


title: Water tower

text: Water towers can be surrounded by ornate coverings including fancy brickwork, a large ivy-covered trellis or they can be simply painted. Some city water towers have the name of the city painted in large letters on the roof, as a navigational aid to aviators and motorists. Sometimes the decoration can be humorous. An example of this are water towers built side by side, labeled "HOT" and "COLD". Cities in the United States possessing side-by-side water towers labeled HOT and COLD include Granger, Iowa; Canton, Kansas; Pratt, Kansas, and St. Clair, Missouri; Eveleth, Minnesota at one time had two such towers, but no longer does.


title: Water tower

text: Many small towns in the United States use their water towers to advertise local tourism, their local high school sports teams, or other locally notable facts. A "mushroom" water tower was built in Örebro, Sweden and holds almost two million gallons of water.


title: Water tower

text: Alternatives to water towers are simple pumps mounted on top of the water pipes to increase the water pressure. This new approach is more straightforward, but also more subject to potential public health risks; if the pumps fail, then loss of water pressure may result in entry of contaminants into the water system. Most large water utilities do not use this approach, given the potential risks.


title: Water tower

text: Kuwait Towers, which include two water reservoirs, and Kuwait Water Towers (Mushroom towers in Kuwait City.


title: Water tower

text: There were originally over 400 standpipe water towers in the United States, but very few remain today, including:


title: Effy Stonem

text: Elizabeth "Effy" Stonem is a fictional character in the television series "Skins", played by Kaya Scodelario. She appears in all of the first four series, as well as the seventh series, and appears in the most episodes (27). Kaya Scodelario was included in "Entertainment Weekly"s 2009 "Summer Must List", being named "Bad Girl" for her portrayal of Effy. She was included in AfterEllen.com's Top 50 Favorite Female TV Characters.


title: Effy Stonem

text: Effy was born on December 29, 1992 and is Tony Stonem's runaway sister and one of the few people he truly cares about. She usually goes to social events with her own group of friends, leaving Tony uninvolved in most of her social life, though he helped her on more than one occasion to deceive their parents as to her whereabouts. The official website refers to "Tony's little sister and her shadowy ways." Until the first season's eighth episode, "Effy", she does not speak at all, instead sitting silently in the background of the scenes in which she appears, usually with a cold stare or a wry smile (a trademark of hers). In her first speaking appearance, she describes how she feels toward others:


title: Effy Stonem

text: Tony sarcastically comments that she is participating in a sponsored silence, and when asked by Michelle why she never speaks, she simply doesn't answer. On her blog she reveals that her parents had her see a counselor for withholding speech, but that proved ineffective. Various psychologists who have studied Effy's character and personality have come to the conclusion she may have suffered from selective mutism, in Generation 1 and 2, something that affected her in the later seasons. From Effy's blog, she was likely influenced by silent film actress Clara Bow, who she profusely references as the "It" Girl from It, which was released in 1927. Her family dysfunctions the times we see them together are also thought to give Effy this trait.


title: Effy Stonem

text: It is after Tony's life-threatening accident in the finale of the first series, Effy begins speaking again. After expressing her feelings of misanthropy to Tony, however, her brother snidely remarks to her that she "doesn't fool [him]", suggesting that she is more vulnerable than her guarded and apparent aloofness may lead others to believe. She also proves to be perceptive and sly, as she almost single-handedly mends both Tony and Michelle's and Sid and Cassie's romantic relationships, a task that seemed essentially hopeless.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the third series Effy became a central character, developing into something of a femme fatale and the rebel of Roundview College. Despite her usual composure, she goes "off the rails" after her parents' separation and the love triangle between her and her classmates Freddie McClair and James Cook, once close friends before their rivalry over Effy pushed them apart. Of the two, she loves Freddie more, but she is afraid of dealing with real love, so she instead goes after Cook. Her mother, Anthea Stonem, justifies Effy's behavior to JJ Jones by saying that "showing her cards scares her to death". Effy's state is also exacerbated by Tony's absence, as he had proved to be a stabilizing force in her life, as also shown in a blog entry by Effy posted on the official Skins website. In her eponymous episode in season three, Effy is depicted at her most fragile: she appears completely withdrawn from the world, participates in mindless sex with Cook and takes uncharacteristically little care with her appearance, appearing tired and fatigued. These factors hint at the development of Effy's depression, which will descend into full-blown psychosis in the next series.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the fourth series, she returns to Bristol after being away in Venice for the summer. She and Freddie begin their relationship again deciding that she loves him, thus letting go of Cook for good. She begins to have psychotic episodes and delusional symptoms and Freddie realizes that Effy has developed psychotic depression. She attempts suicide but Freddie, foreseeing this, saves her and she is taken to hospital and later, institutionalized. Anthea tells Freddie that they both need to be there to rebuild Effy, but Freddie tells her that only she will be there for her, seemingly letting go of Effy. Though they reconcile, when she leaves treatment in her centric episode, it is shown she is being abused by her obsessive psychiatrist and his unconventional hypnotic methods for treating her; Dr. Foster attempts to make Effy "forget" her friends. At the site of Tony's accident, Effy suffers another breakdown and, in traffic, attempts suicide once again. When Freddie confronts Dr. Foster about Effy's treatment, the doctor kills him. In the finale of season four, Effy is once again out of treatment, and even following Freddie's mysterious disappearance is secure in that he loved her.


title: Effy Stonem

text: Effy is one of few characters in the series who have broken the fourth wall, looking straight at the camera and commenting or smirking in some episodes; another person to do this (and probably the most obvious) was Rich (Generation 3) in Series 6 episode 10 "Everyone (finale)", looking straight at the camera, saying the word "bye", signifying the end of "Skins" in its entirety, aside from Series 7 being a 6 episode redux.


title: Effy Stonem

text: On her official "Skins" page, Effy claims she is distantly related to the 18th-century French aristocrat Cecile DeLacroix, who was beheaded during the French Revolution. She also says her favorite smell is petrol, and describes a peculiar talent of being able to pick up objects with her toes. Her favorite film is "E.T.". Her best friend is odd girl Pandora Moon, who despite their differences, "gives the detached and cool Effy a heart".


title: Effy Stonem

text: In "Tony", Effy is seen one morning briefly walking home at the beginning of the episode, apparently from partying the night before. Her brother Tony distracts her father so that she can sneak back into the house, a routine they are both clearly familiar with.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In "Effy", Tony is forced to care about someone other than himself for once when Effy – one of the only people he cares about – disappears during a night of partying with a boy named Spencer (played by Tom Payne). After taking various drugs, Spencer leads Effy to a party, where Josh Stock injects her with stolen clean pharmaceuticals. When Effy overdoses, Josh tells Tony that he will only let him take her to the hospital if Tony has sex with his unconscious sister, which Josh demands in revenge for Tony scheming against his relationship with Michelle. After Tony begs for forgiveness, Josh lets them go, and Tony rushes to the hospital with Effy and Sid Jenkins, where Effy is told that she will be fine. During this episode Effy shows some tendencies similar to an arsonist, setting certain objects alight with her cigarette lighter.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the series finale, we learn that Effy's parents have moved her to the private school in the aftermath of her drug episode. More layers to her character appear as she derides Tony verbally as a wanker for his treatment of ex-girlfriend Michelle, who had come to her previously in an attempt to understand Tony. She witnesses as Tony is hit by a bus, and screams in horror, crying silently as the finale takes place.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the second series, we learn that Effy has now begun to speak openly, at least amongst her family and presumably among others as well. She also continues to party, as seen in the first episode of the second series, despite the events of "Effy" last series where both she and Tony were put through a traumatic experience.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the sixth episode "Tony", it becomes clear that she is looking after Tony since his accident, where she is seen comforting him from his nightmares by reading him Greek myths. She also speaks to Michelle and Sid, but is fairly unfriendly with both of them.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In this series' Effy-centric episode, it is revealed that Effy and Tony's father is on a business trip in France while their mother stays at home each day, depressed and taking Tony's medication. Effy on the other hand has taken on the role of a parental figure somewhat, where she is seen washing and drying her and Tony's clothes (albeit ineptly), and watching after her mother.


title: Effy Stonem

text: At school Effy's art teacher appoints Effy to the task of helping new girl Pandora, and explains that she must do well on her GCSE Art coursework or else she'll be expelled. Although Effy clearly objects to the former, she allows Pandora to follow her around, and even takes her home with her. Back at home Tony receives a parcel from Michelle, which is actually the watch he gave her for her birthday, prompting him to become further frustrated with Sid. Sid explains to Effy his problems, in which she agrees that in exchange for doing her GCSE Art coursework, she will sort out Sid's struggling social enterprises; specifically concerning his love for the estranged Cassie Ainsworth.


title: Effy Stonem

text: Effy, with Pandora in tow, picks up weed at Cassie's where she inquires about her relationship with Sid, but otherwise doesn't probe the subject. Effy is later seen taking the drugs to a club, where she sells them and is also seen by Tony selling Michelle's watch, prompting him to be angered with her. It is revealed later that Effy didn't sell it, but instead had it repaired and sent back to Michelle with the word "forever" engraved in it, softening Michelle enough to speak to Tony again. As for Sid, Effy sends an acquaintance of hers called Jake to Cassie's – knowing the chances that they would sleep together – and takes a series of photos through the window. She scatters the photos around Sid's sleeping form, prompting him to finally confront Cassie, where the two subsequently make up.


title: Effy Stonem

text: At school, Effy doesn't use Sid's artwork he created for her (she lets Pandora use it), but explains to her teacher that her GCSE Art coursework is conceptual, in which she used an array of emotions – referring to her recent experiences helping others mend their relationships. At the end of the episode, Effy's father arrives home to a clean house, and his wife in an elegant state, all presumably done by Effy.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the finale of the second series, "Final Goodbyes", Effy is seen in the final shot before the credits, smirking at the camera and smiling while lying under Tony's duvet cover, foreshadowing her presence as the lead character in the third series.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the of the series, Effy catches the eye of best friends Freddie, Cook and JJ on her first day at Roundview College. When Freddie attempts to engage in conversation with Effy, flirtatiously suggesting possibly more than a friendship, she warns him that his best friends Cook and JJ want the same, which will likely complicate things. However, after his insistence, she then proposes a challenge by giving him a list of all the things they're not supposed to do in school — such as sniffing glue, smoking weed, arson, porn, and sex in school — and says whoever completes the list first will get an opportunity to "get to know" her. By the end of the day Cook is the only one to have completed Effy's challenge, with the exceptions of sex and drugs in school. Effy excuses herself from class, prompting Cook to follow, where they light up a spliff and the two have sex in the school nurse's office.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the following episode, "", Effy gets to know her new classmates better while celebrating Cook's birthday, and in the third episode "", her suspicion that her mother is having an affair is confirmed when she catches her post-coitus with her father's boss. In the following episode "Pandora", her father leaves her and her mother, so Effy copes by getting trashed at Pandora's girls-only pajama party, despite Pandora's earlier rules that drinking, drugs, and boys would not be tolerated. When Effy returns the next morning, presumably to apologise or comfort Pandora for her actions, she discovers that Pandora and Cook slept together. Though Effy immediately confronts her, Pandora uses the opportunity to stand up for herself and tells Effy she does not put enough effort into their friendship (she has, thus far, demonstrated herself to be somewhat selfish), for which Effy does not argue.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In "Freddie", Effy rebuffs Freddie's suggestion that they'd "be good together" by claiming that she would merely break his heart. Later, Freddie expresses his feelings to her in greater depth where the two share a passionate kiss, however Effy returns to Cook. In "Naomi", although there is apparent tension between Effy and Freddie, she and Pandora seem to be on better terms with one another. In "JJ", JJ, Freddie and Cook's mutual friend, who has been encouraged by Emily, angrily confronts Effy for her part in destroying the once-strong friendship he, Freddie and Cook shared. Effy, seeing the impact she had had, is apologetic and, although she cannot guarantee that she will stop, she expresses sentiment that she would like to become his friend after he admits that he loves her too, and is somewhat hurt when he refuses. Naomi later points out that Effy is in love with Freddie, although Effy feebly denies it.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In her central episode it is apparent that Effy has "gone off the rails" as stated by her in the previous episode. Though she is prepared to break up with Cook — which she does without informing him — and confront Freddie with her feelings, she is discouraged by Freddie's new relationship with Katie. When the group goes camping in an area of the woods known as Gobblers End, the uninvited Cook shows up and bitterly reveals secrets, including that he and Pandora have apparently been sleeping together behind Effy's back. Under the influence of shrooms, Effy flees from the clearing where they are camping and into the woods where she is attacked by a jealous and insecure Katie, who pins her down and spits on her before attempting to choke her, prompting Effy to pick up a rock and strike Katie in self-defense. Afterward, Effy is comforted when she and Freddie have sex for the first time, however the next morning when Katie is learned to be missing, Effy becomes extremely anxious. Eventually, Katie is found after a phone call Effy makes and is taken to the hospital, where Freddie and others learn what happened and turn against Effy for abandoning Katie in the woods and for causing her to need nine stitches in her head. Effy blacks out, only to awake in a car driven by Cook, who doesn't know where they are or where they are going, only that the two of them are going together. A full moon appears in Effy's central episodes, both in season 3 and 4; this is a connection to Effy's dark state of mind and her depressive disorder.


title: Effy Stonem

text: It is learned in the finale that Cook has been bringing Effy to "one small, shitty town after another" for weeks, and Effy is becoming gradually more dissatisfied with this seemingly aimless wandering. Cook, however, tells her that this is the town where his father lives. While Cook is content to end their journey here, Effy grows worried for Cook when she sees how his father manipulates him, prompting her to call Freddie for help — and telling him that she loves him shortly before hanging up. When Freddie and JJ arrive, they decide that the fate of the boys' relationships with Effy should be decided by the small town's race. JJ, who wins the race, takes charge and demands that they solve their problems once and for all, forcing both boys to admit that they each love Effy and telling her that she must choose between them. Although Effy doesn't say anything, her "look says it all" when her gaze lingers over Freddie, prompting Cook to leave in a fury. When Freddie and Effy are alone, they make up and have sex. The following morning Effy, Freddie, Cook, and JJ begin their journey home.


title: Effy Stonem

text: Over the summer, Effy goes with her mother to Italy, breaking up with Freddie due to the guilt she feels from the pain she caused Katie and Cook and does not contact anyone. In "Thomas", Effy does not come to the first day of school and the others assume she is still in Italy. It is revealed at the end of the first episode that she is actually back in England, and that she is with Pandora at her house comforting her after Thomas shows up, who tried to get back with her after having cheated on her.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In "Emily", Effy returns to college, sits next to Freddie and reveals that it's him she was thinking about all summer. She then hugs Cook while Freddie watches. Later at a party, Effy is dancing with Freddie and kisses him. Cook sees this and lashes out at fellow party-goer Shankey and headbutts JJ without realizing who he has hurt. Effy and Freddie see him fighting and leave.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the following episode "Cook", Effy and Freddie kiss again and are overseen by Cook, who has become expelled and eventually arrested when admitting to selling drugs that led to a suicide. Effy comes to see Cook in prison and tells him she loves Freddie. She admits that love is a "headfuck", but that she is enjoying it nevertheless, which Cook seems to understand.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In Freddie's episode, Effy's mother has gone on an extended vacation, leaving Effy all alone. Thus Freddie and Effy stay there, doing drugs, heavy partying and having sex. Eventually, Effy begins acting erratically, cutting out pictures of death and pasting them to her mother's bedroom wall while mentioning "creatures" coming for her. She decides to throw a "goodbye party", thus freaking much of the gang out. Freddie knocks on Effy's door three times and shakes the doorknob before she finally lets him in. When Freddie enters, he sees her hiding under the bed, visibly shaken. She tells him that he is the only one she can trust.


title: Effy Stonem

text: After Freddie clears the party out, Cook remains. However, when seeing him, Effy begins to freak out, yelling at him to leave and at Freddie to make him. Freddie starts to think that Effy is developing psychosis as well as manic episodes; something his mother also dealt with. He asks his grandfather for advice and attempts to help her. When he takes Effy to a calm field, she says that the creatures are coming for her and that she used to be stronger (thus able to fight them off) but being with Freddie had made her susceptible and "weak" to them. She sees a group of people walking toward them and freaks out, believing them to be the monsters she spoke to Freddie about. Freddie scares them off. At her insistence, Freddie drives Effy home where he sees her mother talking to a police officer. Not wanting to give up on Effy yet, Freddie turns around and begins to take Effy somewhere else.


title: Effy Stonem

text: On the way, they run into the Judgment Day parade. The number of people in demonic looking costumes begins to freak Effy out. She blames Freddie and runs away. Freddie tries to follow with the help of Cook, but loses sight of her. Katie, who is dancing on a float, sees a distraught Effy and rescues her, and calls Freddie over to take care of her. Freddie and Katie take her to visit his grandfather.


title: Effy Stonem

text: While Freddie talks to his grandfather, Katie and Effy wait in the hall. Shortly, Katie enters the room, anxious because Effy won't come out of the bathroom. Freddie, distraught once he realizes Effy's been left alone, runs the bathroom she went to. Kicking the door open, he sees Effy lying on the floor unconscious with her wrists slashed. She is taken to hospital to be treated. In the hospital, Effy tells Freddie to go away. Later, Freddie talks to Effy's mother Anthea. She says that Effy needs both of them now. Freddie replies that she is going to have to take care of Effy alone, and runs off. He then goes back to Effy's home, rips all of her "death" pictures off the wall, and burns them in a bonfire outside. Cook shows up and tells Freddie not to give up on Effy.


title: Effy Stonem

text: Since Effy's suicide attempt, she has been admitted to a psychiatric hospital, under the supervision and counselling of her psychiatrist John T. Foster. As she is permitted to leave, albeit with conditions from John, she decides to visit Freddie, in which she confirms she only has love for him, and "that is all". However, at a celebration party where all the other characters are celebrating their A levels, Effy suddenly states that she is finished and is saying goodbye to everyone - including Freddie.


title: Effy Stonem

text: Over the course of the episode Effy's condition deteriorates to the point where she completely forgets who she is, and who her friends are, transforming her into a whole new person. Cook notices this and after a brief chasing scene Effy demands to be taken back to Freddie. As Cook does so he notices a duffel bag; hinting towards Freddie's near escape, the two talk and Cook leaves implying he is finished with chasing Effy. Effy is once again institutionalised, although refusing to go back under the supervision of John as it is apparent he has been using hypnotic methods to cause her to forget everything about her past and life. After a brief scuffle with Freddie, John exits hastily, and Effy states that Freddie deserves better than her. Freddie dismisses her comment and she falls asleep holding Freddie's hand and telling him she loves him over and over.


title: Effy Stonem

text: The next morning John invites Freddie to his home where Freddie once again demands that John leave Effy alone. When Freddie tries to leave, the door is locked and John, brandishing a baseball bat, reveals that he wants Effy for himself, explaining "she really does love you, you know." Freddie is heard trying to reason with John, who begins to beat him mercilessly. After a few more yells and blood splatting onto the window the counsellor continues beating the now silent Freddie.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the finale episode of series 4 we see Effy in hospital and recovering well once more. She is concerned over Freddie's sudden departure and believes that her condition scared him off. After she's seen in hospital with Pandora and Katie, Cook finds her, now out of hospital, in Freddie's shed. She shares her concerns and her feeling of rejection with him. He gives her Freddie's notebook in which Freddie declares his love for her on every page. The episode ends with her being comforted in the knowledge of Freddie's feelings for her and celebrating his birthday with all the gang in his shed.


title: Effy Stonem

text: In the two-part episode, "Fire", set three years after the ending of Series 4, Effy, now 21, is living in London with Naomi, with whom she now has a close relationship, and working a dead-end job as a receptionist in a high-profile hedge fund. In the years since her last appearance, she has become more mature, principled and assertive. Effy eventually becomes a stock trader with some help of her friend, Dominic (Craig Roberts), who claims to be in love with her. After achieving success through illicit information provided to her by Dominic, she pursues a relationship with Jake (Kayvan Novak), her wealthy boss, and begins to live the high life. Unfortunately, this is short-lived when the Financial Services Authority receives a tip-off, and evidence, that her success was the result of insider trading, and Jake places the blame squarely with her (although he had actually encouraged her to do it). To make matters worse, her personal life is shattered when Naomi is diagnosed with terminal cancer, and Effy finds herself having to deal with both the possibility of going to prison and the pain of losing Naomi. Eventually, after managing to get Emily back to London to ensure that Naomi's last days will be spent with her beloved girlfriend at her side, she agrees, after some sympathy from Victoria, Jake's ex-girlfriend and the FSA agent investigating Effy, to sign a confession that will name Jake and reduce her own prison sentence. Effy's story ends with Effy being placed into a police car to be taken into custody, her trademark wry smile crossing her face.


title: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

text: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World is a 2021 Swedish documentary film about Björn Andrésen and the effects of fame thrust upon him when he appeared in Luchino Visconti's 1971 film "Death in Venice". Andrésen was just 16 when the film came out, and was unprepared for instantly becoming an international celebrity.


title: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

text: The title of the documentary derives from a remark that Visconti made about Andrésen at the premiere of "Death in Venice" in London.


title: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

text: "The Most Beautiful Boy in the World" premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival on January 29, 2021. It received a nomination for the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at the festival. The film was released in US theaters on September 24, 2021.


title: The Most Beautiful Boy in the World

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the documentary holds an approval rating of 79% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: Daniel Aaron Lissing (born 4 October 1981) is an Australian actor. He played Conrad De Groot in "Crownies" in 2011. The following year, he appeared in American military drama "Last Resort". From January 2014 to April 2018, Lissing starred as Jack Thornton in "When Calls the Heart".


title: Daniel Lissing

text: In 2006, he appeared as a guest in the successful Australian series "Home and Away" where he played the firefighter Dave Elder.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: In 2011, he joined the cast of the series "Crownies" where he played Conrad De Groot, the fiancé of the lawyer Tatum Novak (Indiana Evans), until the end of the series the same year. The same year he appeared in the movie "Entwined" where he played Aiden.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: In 2012, it was announced that he would join the cast of the American series "Last Resort" as James King, a petty officer of the U.S. Navy, and a Navy SEAL. In the series he appeared with Andre Braugher, Scott Speedman, Autumn Reeser and Daisy Betts.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: That same year he joined the cast of the movie "The Cure" where he played the role of Ryan Earl, a member of a research team that he feels he deserves greater recognition and fame.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: In September 2014, he joined the was cast of MTV's thriller series Eye Candy. He played the main role of Ben Miller, a detective, who worked with and falls in love with Lindy (Victoria Justice). The series is about a genius (Justice) who realizes that her online suitor is a dangerous cyber stalker. His character was killed off after two episodes.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: From 2014 to 2018, Lissing appeared in the Hallmark Channel series "When Calls the Heart" as Canadian Mountie Jack Thornton. He chose to leave the role at the end of Season 5 and his character was killed off.


title: Daniel Lissing

text: In 2016, Lissing appeared alongside Jessica Lowndes in Hallmark Channel's "A December Bride" as the character Seth. In 2018, he and Brooke D'Orsay starred in the channel's film "Christmas in Love".


title: Daniel Lissing

text: Lissing reprised his role as Jack Thornton for a cameo appearance in "When Hope Calls: A Country Christmas" in late 2021.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: Mucuna pruriens is a tropical legume native to Africa and tropical Asia and widely naturalized and cultivated. Its English common names include monkey tamarind, velvet bean, Bengal velvet bean, Florida velvet bean, Mauritius velvet bean, Yokohama velvet bean, cowage, cowitch, lacuna bean, and Lyon bean.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: The plant is notorious for the extreme itchiness it produces on contact, particularly with the young foliage and the seed pods. It also produces many medium-sized red swollen bumps along with the itching. It has agricultural and horticultural value and is used in herbalism.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: "Mucuna pruriens" is an annual climbing shrub with long vines that can reach over in length. When the plant is young, it is almost completely covered with fuzzy hairs, but when older, it is almost completely free of hairs. The leaves are tripinnate, ovate, reverse ovate, rhombus-shaped or widely ovate. The sides of the leaves are often heavily grooved and the tips are pointy. In young specimens, both sides of the leaves have hairs. The stems of the leaflets are long. Additional adjacent leaves are present and are about long.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: The flower heads take the form of axially arrayed panicles. They are long and have two or three, or many flowers, which can be white, lavender, or purple. The accompanying leaves are about long; the flower stand axes are from . The bell is long and silky. The sepals are longer or of the same length as the shuttles. The crown is purplish or white. The flag is long. The wings are long.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: In the fruit-ripening stage, a long, wide, unwinged, leguminous fruit develops. There is a ridge along its length and the husk is covered in loose, orange hairs that cause a severe itch if they contact skin. The pods carry up to seven seeds, which are shiny black or brown drift seeds. They are flattened uniform ellipsoids, long, wide and thick. The "hilum", the base of the "funiculus" (connection between placenta and plant seeds) is a surrounded by a significant "arillus" (fleshy seed shell). The dry weight of the seeds is /100 seeds.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: The seeds of the plant contain about 3.1–6.1% , with trace amounts of serotonin, nicotine, and bufotenine. "M. pruriens" var. "pruriens" has the highest content of . An average of 52.11% degradation of into damaging quinones and reactive oxygen species was found in seeds of "M. pruriens" varieties.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: The hairs lining the seed pods contain serotonin and the protein mucunain, which cause severe itching when the pods are touched. The calyx below the flowers is also a source of itchy spicules and the stinging hairs on the outside of the seed pods are used in some brands of itching powder. Scratching the exposed area can spread the itching to other areas touched, which can cause blindness if in the area of the eyes. Once this happens, the subject tends to scratch vigorously and uncontrollably and for this reason the local populace in northern Mozambique refer to the beans as "mad beans" ("feijões malucos"). The seed pods are known as "Devil Beans" in Nigeria.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: In many parts of the world, "M. pruriens" is used as an important forage, fallow and green manure crop. Since the plant is a legume, it fixes nitrogen and fertilizes soil. In Indonesia, particularly Java, the beans are eaten and widely known as 'Benguk'. The beans can also be fermented to form a food similar to tempeh and known as Benguk tempe or 'tempe Benguk'.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: "M. pruriens" is a widespread fodder plant in the tropics. To that end, the whole plant is fed to animals as silage, dried hay or dried seeds. "M. pruriens" silage contains 11–23% crude protein, 35–40% crude fiber, and the dried beans 20–35% crude protein. It also has use in the countries of Benin and Vietnam as a biological control for problematic "Imperata cylindrica" grass. "M. pruriens" is said to not be invasive outside its cultivated area. However, the plant is invasive within conservation areas of South Florida, where it frequently invades disturbed land and rockland hammock edge habitats. Cooked fresh shoots or beans can also be eaten. The plant contains relatively high (3–7% dry weight) levels of , which some people are sensitive to; it can cause nausea, vomiting, cramping, arrhythmias, and hypotension. Up to 88% of the can be extracted from "M. pruriens" by boiling and soaking for approximately 48 hours. The efficiency of the process can be slightly improved by using approximately 0.25–0.50% sodium bicarbonate.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: The plant and its extracts have long been used in tribal communities as an antidote for snakebite. More recently, its effects against bites by "Naja" (cobra), "Echis" (saw-scaled viper), "Calloselasma" (Malayan pit viper), and "Bungarus" (krait) species have been studied. It has been investigated as a treatment for Parkinson's disease due to its high content, while the seeds have been recognized for their ability to significantly alleviate neurotoxicity associated with the condition.


title: Mucuna pruriens

text: The seeds have also been used for treating mood disorders, as well as for sexual dysfunction in Tibb-e-Unani and Ayurvedic medicine.


title: Greg Graffin

text: Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and only constant member of punk rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He embarked on a solo career in 1997, when he released the album "American Lesion". His follow-up album, "Cold as the Clay", was released nine years later. His newest solo work is "Millport", released in 2017.


title: Greg Graffin

text: Graffin obtained his PhD in zoology at Cornell University and has lectured courses in natural sciences at both the University of California, Los Angeles and at Cornell University.


title: Greg Graffin

text: In 1980, at the age of 15, Graffin and a few high school classmates formed Bad Religion in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. After making a name for themselves in the Los Angeles punk scene, releasing two EPs and two full-length albums, they disbanded around 1985. However, Bad Religion reformed in 1986 with a new line-up, consisting of Graffin on vocals, Brett Gurewitz and Greg Hetson on guitars, Jay Bentley on bass, and Pete Finestone on drums. In 1988, they released "Suffer", which was a comeback for Bad Religion as well as a watershed for the Southern California punk sound popularized by guitarist Gurewitz's Epitaph Records. The reunion line-up made two more records before Finestone left the band in 1991.


title: Greg Graffin

text: Bad Religion has been known for its articulate and often politically charged lyrics as well as its fast-paced harmony, melody and counterpoint. Graffin and Gurewitz are the band's two main songwriters, though Graffin wrote the bulk of the material on his own for a three-album period in the late 1990s. Gurewitz had left the band in 1994 to concentrate on the future of Epitaph.


title: Greg Graffin

text: After a stint with major label Atlantic Records ended in the early 2000s, Bad Religion re-signed with Epitaph and Gurewitz rejoined. They have since continued to co-write songs and recorded six records: "The Process of Belief" (2002), "The Empire Strikes First" (2004), "New Maps of Hell" (2007), "The Dissent of Man" (2010), "True North" (2013), and their latest, "Age of Unreason" (2019)


title: Greg Graffin

text: Graffin recorded a solo album in 1997, called "American Lesion", which consisted of softer, more pop-oriented folk songs. Most of this album was written during the breakup of his marriage, and the songs reflect this in lyrics and style.


title: Greg Graffin

text: In 2005, Graffin recorded his second solo album, "Cold as the Clay." The album is an amalgamation of new songs by Graffin and 18th- and 19th-century American folk songs. It was produced by Brett Gurewitz and released via ANTI- on July 10, 2006.


title: Greg Graffin

text: In a September 2015 interview, Graffin revealed that he had been working on his third solo album, on which he planned to continue the folk style of "Cold as the Clay". That record, "Millport", was released on March 10, 2017. It was co-written and produced by Gurewitz and features members of Social Distortion as backing musicians.


title: Greg Graffin

text: Graffin attended El Camino Real High School, then obtained both his BA Biology, BS Geology and master's in Geology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He went on to earn his PhD in Zoology from Cornell University. The PhD dissertation was supervised by William B. Provine. After years of being out-of-print, the title of his dissertation changed to "Evolution and Religion: Questioning the Beliefs of the World's Eminent Evolutionists".


title: Greg Graffin

text: Graffin returned to UCLA where he taught natural science courses. In a June 2008 interview with Bad Religion bassist Jay Bentley, he mentioned that Graffin would be teaching there from January to March 2009. In April 2011, Graffin revealed that he would return to Cornell University that fall to co-teach for 14 weeks.


title: Greg Graffin

text: In 2011 the new type species "Qiliania graffini" of an extinct bird from the lower Cretaceous was named after Graffin "for his contributions to evolutionary biology, his public out-reach through music, and his inspiration to young scientists around the world".


title: Greg Graffin

text: Graffin received the Rushdie Award for Cultural Humanism from the Harvard Humanist Chaplaincy in 2008.


title: Greg Graffin

text: Throughout 2003, Graffin was engaged in an ongoing email discussion with Preston Jones, a historian at the Christian John Brown University in Arkansas and fan of Bad Religion. The informal philosophical debate that resulted was published as a book titled "Is Belief in God Good, Bad or Irrelevant? A Professor and Punk Rocker Discuss Science, Religion, Naturalism & Christianity" in 2006.


title: Greg Graffin

text: In 2009, Graffin announced that he had co-written a book with American author Steve Olson titled "Anarchy Evolution", released on September 28, 2010 (the same day his band Bad Religion released their 15th album "The Dissent of Man"). In his book, Graffin writes that he is an atheist: "I've never believed in God, which technically makes me an atheist". Although Graffin is not religious, he prefers to identify as a naturalist rather than as an atheist. "Naturalism is a belief system. A lot of scientists bristle at that. We all have to believe we can find the truth. Evidence is my guide. I rely on observation, experimentation and verification." He also filmed and co-produced a television pilot called "Punk Professor".


title: Greg Graffin

text: In 2010, he commented on the project, "It's sitting on someone's shelf waiting to be developed. I'm not actually pursuing it. I said, yeah, I'll shoot the pilot, then it's out of my hands."


title: Greg Graffin

text: On March 24, 2012, Bad Religion headlined the Reason Rally in Washington, D.C., where Graffin performed the U.S. national anthem.


title: Greg Graffin

text: Another book entitled "Population Wars" was released in September 2015. It had been in the works since at least April 2011 and Graffin spoke about it to be "a bit more in depth about the process of evolution". In a November 2015 interview with "PopMatters" journalist J.C. Maçek III for Graffin's book "Population Wars", Graffin stated "I've made a lot of mistakes, but you can't dwell on mistakes because life is about an adventure. It's about discovery. And you learn from your mistakes so unless you're completely shut down to improving your life, I believe you can continue learning until you're very, very old. You have to look at those past missteps as learning experiences."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Green Zone is a 2010 action thriller film directed by Paul Greengrass. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Brian Helgeland, based on a 2006 non-fiction book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" by journalist Rajiv Chandrasekaran. The book documented life within the Green Zone in Baghdad during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: The key players in the film are General Mohammed Al-Rawi (Yigal Naor), who is hiding in Baghdad during the invasion of Iraq, and US Army Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller (Matt Damon), a Mobile Exploitation Team (MET) leader who is searching for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Miller finds that the majority of the intel given to him is inaccurate. His efforts to find the true story about the weapons are blocked by US Department of Defense official Clark Poundstone (Greg Kinnear). The cast also features Brendan Gleeson, Amy Ryan, Khalid Abdalla and Jason Isaacs.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: The film was produced by Working Title Films, with financial backing from Universal Pictures, StudioCanal, Relativity Media, Antena 3 Films and Dentsu. Principal photography for the film project began during January 2008 in Spain, later moving to Morocco and the United Kingdom.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: "Green Zone" premiered at the Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in Japan on February 26, 2010, and was released in Australia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Singapore on March 11, 2010, followed by a further 10 countries the next day, among them the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. The film generally received mixed critical reviews and was a box office flop, as it cost $100 million to produce plus $40 million in marketing, while the global theatrical runs produced only $94,882,549 in gross revenue.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: On March 19, 2003, Iraqi Army General Mohammed Al-Rawi flees his residence amid the bombardment of Baghdad. Before leaving the compound he passes a notebook to his aide Seyyed, instructing him to warn his officers to get to their safehouses and wait for his signal.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Four weeks later, US Army CBRN Chief Warrant Officer Roy Miller and his platoon check a warehouse for Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. To Miller's surprise, the warehouse has not been secured, with looters making their way in and out, as soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division are too limited in strength to do much. After a firefight with a sniper Miller finds that the warehouse is empty, the third consecutive time an official mission has led to a dead end. Later, at a debriefing, Miller makes the point that the majority of the intel given to him is inaccurate and anonymous. High-ranking officials quickly dismiss his concerns. Afterwards CIA Agent Martin Brown tells him that the next place he is to search was inspected by a United Nations team two months prior and that it too has been confirmed empty.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Meanwhile, US Department of Defense official Clark Poundstone welcomes returning Iraqi exile politician Ahmed Zubaidi at the airport. There Poundstone is questioned by "Wall Street Journal" reporter Lawrie Dayne. She says she needs to speak directly to "Magellan" (based on real-life informant "Curveball"), but Poundstone brushes her off.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Meanwhile, while checking another unpromising site, Miller is approached by an Iraqi who calls himself "Freddy", who tells him that he saw some Ba'ath Party VIPs meeting in a nearby house. They include Al-Rawi and his officers and aides in Baghdad, who are discussing the current situation. Al-Rawi decides to wait for the Americans to offer him a deal, and attack if they don't. As the meeting ends, Miller and his men burst into the house. Al-Rawi narrowly escapes, but Seyyed is captured. Before Miller can extract much information, Seyyed is taken away by Special Forces operators and gets in a fight with Miller’s team—however, Miller keeps Al-Rawi's notebook. Dayne complains to Poundstone again, but he states that the stakes are much larger than her role in selling newspapers.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Miller goes to Brown's hotel in the Green Zone, where he tells him what happened and gives him the notebook. Brown arranges for Miller to get into the prison where Seyyed is being interrogated. Miller is then approached by Dayne, who questions him about the false reports of WMDs. Miller bluffs his way in to see Seyyed. Near death after being tortured, he tells Miller that they "did everything you asked us to in the meeting." When Miller asks what meeting he is talking about, he says one word: "Jordan." Miller then confronts Dayne about the bogus intel she published, but she refuses to identify Magellan, her source. After Miller tells her he suspects that Al-Rawi is Magellan, Dayne reluctantly confirms that Magellan met with a high-ranking official in February in Jordan.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Miller realises that Poundstone's men are hunting Al-Rawi, and can think of only one reason: Al-Rawi confirms there was no Iraqi WMD program, and is now a major liability. Poundstone confiscates the notebook from Martin; it contains the locations of Al-Rawi's safe houses. When Miller tries to arrange a meeting with Al-Rawi, he is abducted by Al-Rawi's men following Poundstone's announcement of the decision to disband the entire Iraqi Army. Al-Rawi tells Miller that he informed Poundstone that the WMD program had been dismantled after the First Persian Gulf War; Poundstone, however, reported that Al-Rawi had confirmed there were WMDs so the US government would have an excuse to invade. Poundstone's men attack the locations listed in the notebook. When they get to the general's hiding place he flees, ordering one man to kill Miller. Miller manages to kill his captor and races after Al-Rawi, finally capturing him, but Freddy suddenly appears and shoots the general, telling Miller that "the fate of Iraq is not yours to decide". With his only witness against Poundstone now dead, Miller tells Freddy to flee.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Later, Miller writes a scathing report. He confronts Poundstone in a meeting and gives him the report, but Poundstone dismisses it, telling Miller that WMDs do not matter. Poundstone then rejoins the meeting, only to see Iraqi factional leaders reject Zubaidi, the US's choice as leader of Iraq, as an American puppet and storm out. Afterwards, Dayne receives Miller's report by email. The recipient list includes reporters for major news agencies around the world.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States appears in a cameo via television archive footage.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: In January 2007, after completing "The Bourne Ultimatum", director Paul Greengrass announced his intent to adapt a film of the 2006 non-fiction book "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" by Rajiv Chandrasekaran, a journalist for "The Washington Post". Greengrass wrote a script based on the book, working with researchers Kate Solomon and Michael Bronner, who helped the director research for the 2006 film "United 93". The script was reported to be developed more in advance than the script for "The Bourne Ultimatum", which had undergone changes during production. Screenwriter Tom Stoppard was originally requested to write the script for Greengrass, but because Stoppard was too busy, screenwriter Brian Helgeland instead collaborated with the director to shape the film's premise. Greengrass expressed interest in casting in the lead actor Matt Damon, with whom he had worked on "The Bourne Supremacy" and "The Bourne Ultimatum", and the actor joined the project in June 2007. Actors Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Antoni Corone were later cast in January 2008. Greengrass said of the project's contemporary relevance, "Film shouldn't be disenfranchised from the national conversation. It is never too soon for cinema to engage with events that shape our lives."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Director Paul Greengrass has said that he first thought about making a movie about the subject of the war in Iraq rather than telling a particular story. Although he initially supported Tony Blair's justifications of the war, he became disillusioned over time. Greengrass carried out extensive research into the background to the conflict, reading journalists such as Bob Woodward, Seymour Hersh, James Risen, Thomas Ricks, and Ron Suskind, in addition to Rajiv Chandrasekaran, whose book he optioned. He has even compiled a document, "How Did We Get It So Wrong?", detailing what he learned. Although Greengrass initially wanted to make a smaller film, he eventually decided a bigger budget production would expose more people to the ideas in the film.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Addressing some of the contentions in the film, Greengrass has said that the arguments about disbanding the Iraqi army portrayed in the film represent debates that actually took place by US policy makers. The issue of the culpability of the Fourth Estate, i.e. the mainstream (news) media, or MSM, in taking intelligence at face value, although embodied by a single character, represents a broad based failing in both the US and UK, but for Greengrass the fault ultimately lay with those trying to manipulate them.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Greengrass has said that both the "Bourne" films and "Green Zone" reflect a widespread popular mistrust of authority that was engendered by governments that have deliberately lied and have let their citizens down over the Iraq war. The confusion surrounding the absence of WMD in Iraq also provided an ideal scenario for a thriller, in which the protagonist battles for the truth.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Production of "Green Zone" was originally slated to begin in late 2007. Instead, it began at the Los Alcázares Air Base in Spain on January 10, 2008, moved to Morocco, and finished filming in the UK in December 2008.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: The original motion picture soundtrack was composed by musician John Powell. Jorge Adrados mixed the sound elements for the chorus, while Jon Olive edited the film's music. The soundtrack for the film was released on March 9, 2010, by the Varèse Sarabande music label.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: "Green Zone" opened in Australia and Russia on March 11, 2010. It was released in the United States and some other countries on March 12, 2010.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray in United States on June 22, 2010. The initial Blu-ray Disc includes audio commentary with director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon, deleted scenes with a video commentary by Damon, Greengrass and his son Kit, several featurettes, BD-Live, My Scenes and Digital Copy on disc.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: The film opened at No. 2 in the United States with $14.3 million in 3,003 theaters, averaging $4,765 per theater. In the UK the film was the third most popular film of its opening weekend, selling £1.55 million worth of tickets (£2.07 million including previews). Comparing the relative opening weekend results of "Green Zone" and "Shutter Island" between the US and UK, "Green Zone" did twice as well in the UK as on the other side of the Atlantic.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Given its budget of roughly $100 million, in addition to its $40 million in marketing, "Green Zone" has been referred to as a flop for its production company Universal Studios. "The Guardian" stated that the film would be unlikely to recoup its production costs through box-office receipts alone. "Green Zone" has grossed $94.9 million in total worldwide ($35.1 million in the United States and Canada plus $59.8 million elsewhere).


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported an approval rating of 53% based on 186 reviews, with an average rating of 6/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass return to the propulsive action and visceral editing of the "Bourne" films – but a clichéd script and stock characters keep those methods from being as effective this time around." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 63 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Roger Ebert of "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded the film 4 stars and wrote that "Green Zone" is "one hell of a thriller." James Berardinelli of "ReelView" gave the film 3.5 stars, stating that the "most rewarding aspect of "Green Zone" is the manner in which it interweaves fact and fiction into an engaging whole."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: A.O. Scott, writing for "The New York Times", praised Greengrass's direction, writing in his review that "There is plenty of fighting in "Green Zone", most of it executed with the hurtling hand-held camerawork and staccato editing that are hallmarks of Mr. Greengrass's style. From "Bloody Sunday" through the second and third "Bourne" movies... this director has honed his skill at balancing chaos with clarity."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Empire Magazine's Mark Dinning awarded the film 4/5 stars, concluding that "There is a murky morality in the whole sorry saga of Iraq. Some of the motivation is money, some of it is a genuine — if confused — desire for good. Reel can’t quite match real in portraying this aspect, but "Green Zone" will nevertheless provoke thoughts as well as thrills — it’s an honest, compelling, smart blockbuster that dares to deliver on several levels. And in that, at the very least, star and director are bang on target."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Ilana Ozernoy in "Newsweek" criticized the film's "popcorn-crunching conventions" and simplification of the source material, writing "if "Green Zone" were an exercise in bubble-gum pop, I would have chewed happily. But it is Greengrass's insistence on making the thing look and feel authentic that made it all the more unbelievable."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Writing for "The Boston Globe", Wesley Morris was critical of the film's mixture of style and tone. "If tremulous 100-yard-dash camerawork is Greengrass’s voice, this sort of movie might not be the song for him. Helgeland’s script doesn’t just suspect conspiracy. It’s certain there is corruption. And righteousness doesn’t suit the illusory objectivity of the director’s docu-realism."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: In the UK, Tim Robey in "The Daily Telegraph" conceded that "with all we retrospectively know about the wool-pulling to make the case for war, it's a kick to follow a main character on the ground who smells a rat"; he nevertheless criticized the film for lacking credibility in its portrayal of a rogue hero who never faces a reprimand and never suffers paranoia.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: More enthusiastically, Andrew O'Hagan in "The Evening Standard" called "Green Zone" "one of the best war films ever made" because "it does what countless newspaper articles, memoirs, government statements and public inquiries have failed to do when it comes to the war in Iraq: expose the terrible lies that stood behind the decision of the US and Britain to prosecute the war, and it does so in a way that is dramatically brilliant, morally complex and relentlessly thrilling."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: The film was nominated for a Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture but lost to another Matt Damon film, Hereafter.


title: Green Zone (film)

text: "Green Zone" is seen as a political film, portraying the CIA in Iraq as the good guys while the Pentagon, more generally, the White House, as the bad guys. Film critic A. O. Scott wrote in "The New York Times" that "the inevitable huffing and puffing about this movie's supposedly left-wing or 'anti-American' agenda has already begun". US military veteran Kyle Smith labeled the film "slander" and "egregiously anti-American", as he wrote on New York Post. An article on Fox News.com states, "Given this set-up, audiences are encouraged to root for Miller's rogue activities and against the government, represented in the film by a corrupt Pentagon chief played by Greg Kinnear."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Richard "Monty" Gonzales, the person on whom the character of Roy Miller was loosely based, commented that both sides of the political spectrum have reacted disproportionately and any political controversy is unwarranted. Gonzales worked as one of the film's military advisors over two years on the condition that the film would be faithful to the experience of American soldiers in Iraq. Gonzales wrote that, on the one hand, the film captures the critical intelligence blunders prior to the war and de-Baathification program that ensured that the conflict was costly and complicated. He nevertheless maintains that a reading of the film that reflects a genuine conspiracy by sections of the Federal government of the United States is incorrect. He sees the film as an exciting "Bourne-in-Baghdad thriller". Matt Damon cites Gonzales' motives for working on the film as being "because we need to regain our moral authority."


title: Green Zone (film)

text: James Denselow, writing for "The Guardian", praises the film's portrayal of the conflict, saying "ultimately what gives the film its credibility is that it avoids any simplistic idea that Iraq could have simply been 'got right'. Indeed Miller's vision of exposing the WMD conspiracy and the CIA's plan to keep the Iraqi army is undermined by the film's wildcard – a nationalist Shia war veteran who turns the plot on its head before delivering the killer line to the Americans when he tells them: 'It is not for you to decide what happens here [in this country].'"


title: Green Zone (film)

text: Greengrass defended his film in an interview with Charlie Rose, saying, "The problem, I think, for me is that something about that event strained all the bonds and sinews that connect us all together. For me it's to do with the fact that they said they had the intelligence, and then it emerged later that they did not." Matt Damon also defended the film, telling MTV News, "I don't think that's a particularly incendiary thing to say. I think that's a journey that we all went on and a fundamental question we all asked and it's not partisan." Filmmaker Michael Moore commented: "I can't believe this film got made. It's been stupidly marketed as an action film. It is the most HONEST film about the Iraq War made by Hollywood."


title: Stellar nucleosynthesis

text: Stellar nucleosynthesis is the creation (nucleosynthesis) of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. Stellar nucleosynthesis has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang. As a predictive theory, it yields accurate estimates of the observed abundances of the elements. It explains why the observed abundances of elements change over time and why some elements and their isotopes are much more abundant than others. The theory was initially proposed by Fred Hoyle in 1946, who later refined it in 1954. Further advances were made, especially to nucleosynthesis by neutron capture of the elements heavier than iron, by Margaret and Geoffrey Burbidge, William Alfred Fowler and Hoyle in their famous 1957 BFH paper, which became one of the most heavily cited papers in astrophysics history.