title: Mycotoxin

text: Aflatoxins are a type of mycotoxin produced by "Aspergillus" species of fungi, such as "A. flavus" and "A. parasiticus". The umbrella term aflatoxin refers to four different types of mycotoxins produced, which are B, B, G, and G. Aflatoxin B, the most toxic, is a potent carcinogen and has been directly correlated to adverse health effects, such as liver cancer, in many animal species. Aflatoxins are largely associated with commodities produced in the tropics and subtropics, such as cotton, peanuts, spices, pistachios, and maize.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Ochratoxin is a mycotoxin that comes in three secondary metabolite forms, A, B, and C. All are produced by "Penicillium" and "Aspergillus" species. The three forms differ in that Ochratoxin B (OTB) is a nonchlorinated form of Ochratoxin A (OTA) and that Ochratoxin C (OTC) is an ethyl ester form Ochratoxin A. "Aspergillus ochraceus" is found as a contaminant of a wide range of commodities including beverages such as beer and wine. "Aspergillus carbonarius" is the main species found on vine fruit, which releases its toxin during the juice making process. OTA has been labeled as a carcinogen and a nephrotoxin, and has been linked to tumors in the human urinary tract, although research in humans is limited by confounding factors.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Citrinin is a toxin that was first isolated from "Penicillium citrinum", but has been identified in over a dozen species of "Penicillium" and several species of "Aspergillus". Some of these species are used to produce human foodstuffs such as cheese ("Penicillium camemberti"), sake, miso, and soy sauce ("Aspergillus oryzae"). Citrinin is associated with yellowed rice disease in Japan and acts as a nephrotoxin in all animal species tested. Although it is associated with many human foods (wheat, rice, corn, barley, oats, rye, and food colored with Monascus pigment) its full significance for human health is unknown. Citrinin can also act synergistically with Ochratoxin A to depress RNA synthesis in murine kidneys.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Ergot alkaloids are compounds produced as a toxic mixture of alkaloids in the sclerotia of species of "Claviceps", which are common pathogens of various grass species. The ingestion of ergot sclerotia from infected cereals, commonly in the form of bread produced from contaminated flour, causes ergotism, the human disease historically known as St. Anthony's Fire. There are two forms of ergotism: gangrenous, affecting blood supply to extremities, and convulsive, affecting the central nervous system. Modern methods of grain cleaning have significantly reduced ergotism as a human disease; however, it is still an important veterinary problem. Ergot alkaloids have been used pharmaceutically.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Patulin is a toxin produced by the "P. expansum", "Aspergillus", "Penicillium", and "Paecilomyces" fungal species. "P. expansum" is especially associated with a range of moldy fruits and vegetables, in particular rotting apples and figs. It is destroyed by the fermentation process and so is not found in apple beverages, such as cider. Although patulin has not been shown to be carcinogenic, it has been reported to damage the immune system in animals. In 2004, the European Community set limits to the concentrations of patulin in food products. They currently stand at 50 μg/kg in all fruit juice concentrations, at 25 μg/kg in solid apple products used for direct consumption, and at 10 μg/kg for children's apple products, including apple juice.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Fusarium toxins are produced by over 50 species of "Fusarium" and have a history of infecting the grain of developing cereals such as wheat and maize. They include a range of mycotoxins, such as: the fumonisins, which affect the nervous systems of horses and may cause cancer in rodents; the trichothecenes, which are most strongly associated with chronic and fatal toxic effects in animals and humans; and zearalenone, which is not correlated to any fatal toxic effects in animals or humans. Some of the other major types of "Fusarium" toxins include: enniatins such as beauvericin), butenolide, equisetin, and fusarins.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Although various wild mushrooms contain an assortment of poisons that are definitely fungal metabolites causing noteworthy health problems for humans, they are rather arbitrarily excluded from discussions of mycotoxicology. In such cases the distinction is based on the size of the producing fungus and human intention. Mycotoxin exposure is almost always accidental whereas with mushrooms improper identification and ingestion causing mushroom poisoning is commonly the case. Ingestion of misidentified mushrooms containing mycotoxins may result in hallucinations. The cyclopeptide-producing "Amanita phalloides" is well known for its toxic potential and is responsible for approximately 90% of all mushroom fatalities. The other primary mycotoxin groups found in mushrooms include: orellanine, monomethylhydrazine, disulfiram-like, hallucinogenic indoles, muscarinic, isoxazole, and gastrointestinal (GI)-specific irritants. The bulk of this article is about mycotoxins that are found in microfungi other than poisons from mushrooms or macroscopic fungi.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Buildings are another source of mycotoxins and people living or working in areas with mold increase their chances of adverse health effects. Molds growing in buildings can be divided into three groups – primary, secondary, and tertiary colonizers. Each group is categorized by the ability to grow at a certain water activity requirement. It has become difficult to identify mycotoxin production by indoor molds for many variables, such as (i) they may be masked as derivatives, (ii) they are poorly documented, and (iii) the fact that they are likely to produce different metabolites on building materials. Some of the mycotoxins in the indoor environment are produced by "Alternaria", "Aspergillus" (multiple forms), "Penicillium", and "Stachybotrys". "Stachybotrys chartarum" contains a higher number of mycotoxins than other molds grown in the indoor environment and has been associated with allergies and respiratory inflammation. The infestation of "S. chartarum" in buildings containing gypsum board, as well as on ceiling tiles, is very common and has recently become a more recognized problem. When gypsum board has been repeatedly introduced to moisture, "S. chartarum" grows readily on its cellulose face. This stresses the importance of moisture controls and ventilation within residential homes and other buildings. The negative health effects of mycotoxins are a function of the concentration, the duration of exposure, and the subject's sensitivities. The concentrations experienced in a normal home, office, or school are often too low to trigger a health response in occupants.


title: Mycotoxin

text: In the 1990s, public concern over mycotoxins increased following multimillion-dollar toxic mold settlements. The lawsuits took place after a study by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) in Cleveland, Ohio, reported an association between mycotoxins from "Stachybotrys" spores and pulmonary hemorrhage in infants. However, in 2000, based on internal and external reviews of their data, the CDC concluded that because of flaws in their methods, the association was not proven. "Stachybotrys" spores in animal studies have been shown to cause lung hemorrhaging, but only at very high concentrations.


title: Mycotoxin

text: One study by the Center of Integrative Toxicology at Michigan State University investigated the causes of Damp Building Related Illness (DBRI). They found that "Stachybotrys" is possibly an important contributing factor to DBRI. So far animal models indicate that airway exposure to "S. chartarum " can evoke allergic sensitization, inflammation, and cytotoxicity in the upper and lower respiratory tracts. Trichothecene toxicity appears to be an underlying cause of many of these adverse effects. Recent findings indicate that lower doses (studies usually involve high doses) can cause these symptoms.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Some toxicologists have used the Concentration of No Toxicological Concern (CoNTC) measure to represent the airborne concentration of mycotoxins that are expected to cause no hazard to humans (exposed continuously throughout a 70–yr lifetime). The resulting data of several studies have thus far demonstrated that common exposures to airborne mycotoxins in the built indoor environment are below the CoNTC, however agricultural environments have potential to produce levels greater than the CoNTC.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Mycotoxins can appear in the food chain as a result of fungal infection of crops, either by being eaten directly by humans or by being used as livestock feed.


title: Mycotoxin

text: In 2004 in Kenya, 125 people died and nearly 200 others required medical treatment after eating aflatoxin-contaminated maize.


title: Mycotoxin

text: The deaths were mainly associated with homegrown maize that had not been treated with fungicides or properly dried before storage. Due to food shortages at the time, farmers may have been harvesting maize earlier than normal to prevent thefts from their fields, so that the grain had not fully matured and was more susceptible to infection.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Spices are susceptible substrate for growth of mycotoxigenic fungi and mycotoxin production. Red chilli, black pepper, and dry ginger were found to be the most contaminated spices.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Physical methods to prevent growth of mycotoxin‐producing fungi or remove toxins from contaminated food include temperature and humidity control, irradiation and photodynamic treatment. Mycotoxins can also be removed chemically and biologically using antifungal/anti‐mycotoxins agents and antifungal plant metabolites.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Dimorphic fungi, which include Blastomyces dermatitidis and Paracoccidioides brasiliensis, are known causative agents of endemic systemic mycoses.


title: Mycotoxin

text: There were outbreaks of dog food containing aflatoxin in North America in late 2005 and early 2006, and again in late 2011.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Mycotoxins in animal fodder, particularly silage, can decrease the performance of farm animals and potentially kill them. Several mycotoxins reduce milk yield when ingested by dairy cattle.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Contamination of medicinal plants with mycotoxins can contribute to adverse human health problems and therefore represents a special hazard. Numerous natural occurrences of mycotoxins in medicinal plants and herbal medicines have been reported from various countries including Spain, China, Germany, India, Turkey and from the Middle East. In a 2015 analysis of plant-based dietary supplements, the highest mycotoxin concentrations were found in milk thistle-based supplements, at up to 37 mg/kg.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Some of the health effects found in animals and humans include death, identifiable diseases or health problems, weakened immune systems without specificity to a toxin, and as allergens or irritants. Some mycotoxins are harmful to other micro-organisms such as other fungi or even bacteria; penicillin is one example. It has been suggested that mycotoxins in stored animal feed are the cause of rare phenotypical sex changes in hens that causes them to look and act male. Mycotoxins impact on health may be "very hard" and can be categorized in three forms "as mutagenic, carcinogenic, and genotoxic."


title: Mycotoxin

text: Mycotoxicosis is the term used for poisoning associated with exposures to mycotoxins. Mycotoxins have the potential for both acute and chronic health effects via ingestion, skin contact, inhalation, and entering the blood stream and lymphatic system. They inhibit protein synthesis, damage macrophage systems, inhibit particle clearance of the lung, and increase sensitivity to bacterial endotoxin. Testing for mycotoxicosis can be conducted using immunoaffinity columns.


title: Mycotoxin

text: The symptoms of mycotoxicosis depend on the type of mycotoxin; the concentration and length of exposure; as well as age, health, and sex of the exposed individual. The synergistic effects associated with several other factors such as genetics, diet, and interactions with other toxins have been poorly studied. Therefore, it is possible that vitamin deficiency, caloric deprivation, excessive alcohol use, and infectious disease status can all have compounded effects with mycotoxins.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Mycotoxins greatly resist decomposition or being broken down in digestion, so they remain in the food chain in meat and dairy products. Even temperature treatments, such as cooking and freezing, do not destroy some mycotoxins.


title: Mycotoxin

text: In the feed and food industry it has become common practice to add mycotoxin binding agents such as montmorillonite or bentonite clay in order to effectively adsorb the mycotoxins. To reverse the adverse effects of mycotoxins, the following criteria are used to evaluate the functionality of any binding additive:


title: Mycotoxin

text: Since not all mycotoxins can be bound to such agents, the latest approach to mycotoxin control is mycotoxin deactivation. By means of enzymes (esterase, de-epoxidase), yeast ("Trichosporon mycotoxinvorans"), or bacterial strains (Eubacterium BBSH 797 developed by Biomin), mycotoxins can be reduced during pre-harvesting contamination. Other removal methods include physical separation, washing, milling, nixtamalization, heat-treatment, radiation, extraction with solvents, and the use of chemical or biological agents. Irradiation methods have proven to be effective treatment against mold growth and toxin production.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Many international agencies are trying to achieve universal standardization of regulatory limits for mycotoxins. Currently, over 100 countries have regulations regarding mycotoxins in the feed industry, in which 13 mycotoxins or groups of mycotoxins are of concern. The process of assessing a regulated mycotoxin involves a wide array of in-laboratory testing that includes extracting, clean-up columns and separation techniques. Most official regulations and control methods are based on high-performance liquid techniques (e.g., HPLC) through international bodies. It is implied that any regulations regarding these toxins will be in co-ordinance with any other countries with which a trade agreement exists. Many of the standards for the method performance analysis for mycotoxins is set by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). However, one must take note that scientific risk assessment is commonly influenced by culture and politics, which, in turn, will affect trade regulations of mycotoxins.


title: Mycotoxin

text: Food-based mycotoxins were studied extensively worldwide throughout the 20th century. In Europe, statutory levels of a range of mycotoxins permitted in food and animal feed are set by a range of European directives and EC regulations. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has regulated and enforced limits on concentrations of mycotoxins in foods and feed industries since 1985. It is through various compliance programs that the FDA monitors these industries to guarantee that mycotoxins are kept at a practical level. These compliance programs sample food products including peanuts and peanut products, tree nuts, corn and corn products, cottonseed, and milk. There is still a lack of sufficient surveillance data on some mycotoxins that occur in the U.S.


title: Arab slave trade

text: History of slavery in the Muslim world refers to various periods in which a slave trade has been carried out under the auspices of Arab peoples or Arab countries. Examples include:


title: Boomhauer

text: Jeffrey Dexter Boomhauer III (born April 7, 1953), most commonly referred to as Boomhauer () is a fictional character in the Fox animated series "King of the Hill", voiced by series creator Mike Judge, known for his fast-paced and nearly-incomprehensible speech.


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer is the high school friend and neighbor of the characters Hank Hill, Bill Dauterive, and Dale Gribble. His first name was only spoken in the TV series during the season 13 episode, "Uh-Oh, Canada", when the Canadian woman with whom he'd switched houses for the summer said, "Hello, Jeff. Oh my, it's the fifteenth already?" His driver's license as shown in the series finale reads "Boomhauer, Jeff" and reveals that he is 5'11".


title: Boomhauer

text: The location of Boomhauer's house is inconsistent during the series. In the series finale, his address is shown on his driver's license as 73 Rainey Street, which would place him on the same side of the alley as Hank, Dale, and Kahn Souphanousinphone. However, in "Uh-oh, Canada", the rear of Boomhauer's house is shown to be across the alley from Dale's house, diagonally across to the right from Hank's back yard, which would place the front door of his house (and its address) on another street.


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer's primary pursuits are fast cars and women. He currently drives a 1969 Dodge Coronet Super Bee; in high school, he drove a late-'60s Ford Mustang nicknamed "Ms. Sally," the name being a reference to the classic Wilson Pickett song "Mustang Sally", until the car was accidentally driven into the Arlen quarry by Dale, Hank, and Bill while playing a prank on him (Dale did not know how to drive a manual car and confused the clutch for the brake pedal).


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer spends most of his spare time drinking Alamo Beer with Hank, Dale, and Bill in the alley behind Hank's house. While he enjoys his friendship with Hank, he sometimes has limited patience with Dale (whom he sharply refers to as "Gribble") and considers Bill "boring" due to his inferiority complex. Boomhauer favors animal-print bikini briefs, which have been observed a few times in the show when he's appeared without his blue jeans; he tends to overuse cologne, bragging about his Calvin Klein CK1 attracting women "like catnip". Boomhauer is a strict non-smoker who carries a lighter implicitly for emergencies or for lending.


title: Boomhauer

text: In one episode where Hank, Bill, Dale, and Boomhauer are stuck in the water because they jumped off a boat, Boomhauer states that he dyes his hair ("Hank's on Board"). According to his Texas driver's license, which is seen in the series finale, Boomhauer is 6’0” (183 cm), and 185 lbs., and has hazel eyes. Boomhauer is missing his left pinky toe, due to an accident while he was in the Order of the Straight Arrow ("Straight as an Arrow").


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer is apparently highly astute and often gives advice to his friends. He is also a frequent voice of truth, owning up to the wrongdoings of the group despite not always acting appropriately himself. Although, since his speech pattern is not understood by most people, his confessions are usually ignored. In the episode "A Firefighting We Will Go", after Hank blames the deceased Chet Elderson for causing the fire station to burn down, Boomhauer points out that Dale was the one who plugged in the malfunctioning Alamo Beer sign. However, the fire chief does not seem to understand him and decides that the blame for the fire will be placed on electrical problems, in order to leave the integrity of Chet Elderson's name intact.


title: Boomhauer

text: In another episode, he mentions that his mother wanted him to become an electrical engineer. Given the opportunity, Boomhauer will demonstrate that he is, in fact, quite cultured. In "Ceci N'Est Pas Une King of the Hill", Hank makes remarks about art that deride its modern state, provoking Boomhauer to call him ignorant, going so far as to cite Dadaism and the famed Marcel Duchamp work "Fountain." He is the only character who initially understood the meaning behind Kahn's story at Buckley's funeral, and the symbolic meanings of the novel "Dinner of Onions" in "Full Metal Dust Jacket".


title: Boomhauer

text: Three of the main characters (Hank, Dale, and Boomhauer) graduated from high school together (Bill did not complete his senior year, having enlisted in the United States Army). Boomhauer was the starting quarterback for the football team, while Hank was a running back, and Bill was an offensive lineman and a fullback. Dale, not being as athletic as his friends, was the towel manager. Dale referred to basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain as Boomhauer's idol in the season 11 episode "serPUNt". According to Hank, Boomhauer is allergic to macadamia nuts. Boomhauer is the most modern of the four friends, and as such was first to own a cell phone.


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer's occupation is unclear throughout the series. Season 13 episode 20, "To Sirloin with Love," reveals that Boomhauer has a Texas Ranger badge in his wallet (though whether or not this is legitimate is never stated). In season 3 episode 7, "Nine Pretty Darn Angry Men", Boomhauer, when asked about his employment during a lawnmower focus group, claims he’s “done a lot of different things,” and mentions something about receiving a tax-free worker's compensation settlement. It’s possible that this was a cover, or that he was in a different line of work prior to becoming a Texas Ranger. In the season 5 episode, Luanne Virgin 2.0, Hank says he is going to borrow Boomhauer's limousine, but it is not explained if Boomhauer uses the limousine as a source of income or not.


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer's speech patterns are nearly incomprehensible to an unfamiliar audience and serve as a recurring theme. He mumbles, usually quite fast, and invariably uses the words "dang ol'" as an all-purpose adjective, sometimes several times in a single sentence. He also uses the phrases "I tell ya what" and "man" frequently. His heavy Southern accent and stuttering delivery sometimes leads to misunderstandings about his mental capacity; it has been made clear that he is an intelligent and sensitive person who expresses that in an inimitable way, such as a memorable occasion where the group's anger at Bill leads to Hank finding out he has the word "Bill" tattooed on his head, and Boomhauer chuckles as he says "life will throw you dang ol' curveball man, like dang ol' Sandy Koufax" (a reference to the legendary Hall of Fame pitcher who was known for the unhittable pitch Boomhauer described). In the fourth-season episode "Naked Ambition", he was admitted to a mental hospital in downtown Houston after he drifted in on the river in a tube and was found in his Speedo, sunburned, drunk, and dehydrated, while his speech pattern was misinterpreted by a police officer as incoherent babbling (in this same episode, he is seen painting a self-portrait in a highly accurate rendition of the style of Vincent van Gogh). All of the regular characters on the show understand most of what he says. In one such instance, when a furious Dale has become involved in a dangerous situation in the episode "Dog Dale Afternoon" and Boomhauer begs him via megaphone to surrender, Dale snaps "Boomhauer, if I ever heard anyone reading a script, that was it."


title: Boomhauer

text: There is a recurring joke in which Hank occasionally cannot understand Boomhauer due to extenuating circumstances such as the complexity of the vocabulary being used (i.e., "legalese mumbo jumbo"), a bad telephone connection, or an echo. In one "Rashomon"-style episode, "A Firefighting We Will Go", it is implied that Boomhauer's speech sounds perfectly ordinary for his region in his own memory contrary to how everyone else hears him this being cited as "evidence of bidialectism". Often, the closed caption texts of Boomhauer's mumblings are clearer than his spoken words. An example of a typical line of dialogue:


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer's speech is satirical of "rednecks" using phrases such as "dang ol'", "dad gum" and "yeah, man talkin' 'bout" and has the cadence and style of a Cajun accent. Nevertheless, he sings clearly, as evidenced by his rendition of "Blue Moon of Kentucky" in Episode 113 ("The Bluegrass Is Always Greener"); this same episode reveals that he also has a talent for the banjo and the accordion. The singing was done by country star Vince Gill. Mike Judge has stated that the inspiration for Boomhauer's voice came from a message left on his answering machine by an irate viewer of "Beavis and Butt-Head" (who assumed the show was called "Porky’s Butthole") as well as the voice patterns of an acquaintance in Dallas and an Oklahoma City resident reciting directions over the telephone.


title: Boomhauer

text: The season 1 episode "Hank's Got the Willies" shows Boomhauer and the famously incomprehensible Bob Dylan conversing with one another. In "A Fire Fighting We Will Go", when a story is presented from Boomhauer's point of view, he speaks clearly while the other characters have his usual speech pattern, indicating that Boomhauer sees his speech as normal and that of his associates as difficult to understand.


title: Boomhauer

text: Early promotional spots for the series featured clips of Boomhauer speaking, intercut with text that presented the term "Boombonics" in the style of a dictionary entry, as a reference to "Ebonics" (AAVE). The word was broken down into syllables, with proper pronunciation and the definition (see "gibberish").


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer has had four relatives that have appeared on the show: his "Meemaw" (a Southern term for grandmother); his father, Dr. Boomhauer; his mother, Mrs. Boomhauer; and his sleazy, womanizer brother, Patch, voiced by Brad Pitt in his only speaking appearance (he appeared again for a split second at Luanne and Lucky's wedding). They live in Florida. Mrs. Boomhauer, Patch, and Meemaw all have the same speaking pattern as Boomhauer. Dr. Boomhauer has not been shown speaking, only through other characters paraphrasing what he may have said. He is the uncle of Patch's son, Patrick Boomhauer.


title: Boomhauer

text: Boomhauer's typical romantic life included one-night stands with several young women. Peggy Hill once mentions (likely in jest) his longest relationship was a three-day weekend. Occasionally, he had girlfriends that he dated for more than sex. When a woman breaks up with him, he is notably devastated. In the episode "Uh-Oh, Canada", Boomhauer moves to Guelph, Ontario, and has a 3-month relationship with a French-Canadian woman.


title: Boomhauer

text: When demonstrating his abilities with women to Bobby, he was shown to lurk in a discount shoe store and hit on every woman he sees, suggesting he is either not as good with women as his friends think or that he is some variety of pick-up artist.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: Al-Tanf (), also known as the Al-Tanf garrison (ATG), is a United States military base within territory controlled by the Syrian opposition in Homs Governorate, Syria. It is located 24 km (15 mi) west of the al-Tanf border crossing in the Syrian Desert. The surrounding deconfliction zone is located along the Iraq and Jordan–Syria border. The garrison is located along a critical road known as the M2 Baghdad–Damascus Highway.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: A significant United States Armed Forces presence at the outpost began in early 2016 during the American-led intervention in the Syrian Civil War in order to train anti-Islamic State fighters of the New Syrian Army rebel group, which was dissolved and reemerged as the Revolutionary Commando Army (Maghawir al-Thawra) in December 2016. As of , the al-Tanf base continues to serve as the headquarters for the Revolutionary Commando Army and a contingent of at least 200 U.S. soldiers operating on behalf of the CJTF-OIR Coalition.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: The government of Syria deems the U.S. military presence in al-Tanf illegal and "considers the presence of Turkish and US troops on its territory as an aggression and demands immediate and unconditional withdrawal of foreign forces from its territory."


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: The Iranian and Russian governments have publicly supported the Syrian government's position and have regularly criticized the American presence in southeastern Syria whereas the United States government states that its presence at al-Tanf is legal.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: The U.S. has called the al-Tanf base a counter to the Russia–Syria–Iran coalition's residual influence in the area.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In May 2015, Islamic State militants captured the border checkpoint at Al-Tanf, thus obtaining control over the full length of the Iraq–Syria border. The U.S.-backed New Syrian Army rebel faction captured the al-Tanf post on the Syrian side of the border in early March 2016, and in early August, the al-Waleed checkpoint on the Iraqi side of the border was recaptured by pro-government Iraqi tribal militias backed by U.S.-led forces. In August 2016, the BBC published photographs taken in June that year which it said showed British special forces soldiers apparently guarding the perimeter of the al-Tanf base. In March 2017, the Revolutionary Commando Army (the successor of the New Syrian Army) re-opened the border crossing, resuming cross-border civilian traffic; a group referred to as the Army of Iraqi Tribes was said to control the Iraqi side of the crossing.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 8 April 2017, ISIL fighters launched a complex and coordinated attack against the U.S. special forces outpost at al-Tanf. ISIL started the attack by striking the base with a car bomb and then attacking with ~50 infantry. The attack was repelled first by gunfire from the rebels and Norwegian and U.S. special forces, then by multiple airstrikes from the anti-ISIL coalition which killed most of the ISIL force and destroyed their vehicles. Rebels stated that four of their fighters and eight ISIL fighters were killed.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 18 May 2017, U.S. fighter jets struck a convoy of pro-Syrian government forces advancing towards the base. Shortly thereafter, Syrian government forces were reported to continue their advance in a direction the government forces appeared to use advanced Russian-made weapons and were supported by Russian helicopters, according to a report acknowledged on May 26 by the Russian Defence Ministry′s media outlet.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 17 June 2017, the Iraqi Armed Forces announced that the Iraqi Army and Sunni tribal fighters, supported by U.S.-led Coalition aircraft, had dislodged ISIL from the Iraqi side of al-Waleed border crossing.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: At the end of December 2017, the chief of the Russian General Staff Valery Gerasimov said that the U.S. garrison at al-Tanf was fully isolated by Syrian government forces following the desert offensive in the area.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: Around 16 February 2020, an Iranian-backed proxy group reportedly breached the deconfliction zone at Al-Tanf, and were then repelled by Maghawir al-Thawra.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 20 October 2021, the base was attacked by drones, causing no injuries. On 14 December 2021, a RAF Typhoon FGR4 shot down a small hostile drone with an ASRAAM near the base.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In June 2022, Russia carried out airstrikes at the al-Tanf garrison U.S. military base, after first notifying the United States of their intentions. U.S. officials said that Russia claimed the Maghawir al-Thawra group had carried out a roadside bomb attack on Russian forces, though the United States does not believe this, and instead believes Russia was just looking for a reason to carry out the airstrikes in the location.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: The United States reported a drone attack in the vicinity of the al-Tanf base on the night of 15 August 2022. All but one of the drones were repelled and despite a single drone detonating in a compound used by Maghaweir al-Thowra, the attack did not result in any casualties or damage. Shortly thereafter, the Syrian Foreign Ministry released a statement demanding that "the American side must immediately and unconditionally withdraw its military forces that are present on the territory of Syria illegally".


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 24 August 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden ordered airstrikes against claimed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps after a number of rockets struck near the U.S. military base in al-Tanf on 15 August and an airstrike by the Russian military in an area held by the Syrian opposition. The U.S. strikes targeted eleven bunkers in Deir ez-Zor used to store weapons, according to the United States Central Command. A spokesperson for the Iranian foreign ministry denies that Iran has any link to targets hit by U.S. in Syria and condemns the strike as "a violation of Syria's sovereignty and territorial integrity".


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: By late 2017, Arab media began calling the "deconfliction area" around the Tanf base "the 55 km area" as it composed of a half-circle area with a radius of 55 km with the base at its center. By 2018, the al-Tanf area hosted five rebel factions including the Lions of the East Army, the Forces of Martyr Ahmad al-Abdo, the Army of Free Tribes, the Revolutionary Commando Army (also known as Maghawir al-Thawra (MaT)), and Al-Qaryatayn Martyrs Brigade.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 7 September 2018, United States Central Command announced an Operation Inherent Resolve live fire exercise around the al-Tanf garrison, named Operation Apex Teufelhunden. The announcement described it as a "defeat-ISIS exercise". The Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria commented that "during the existence of the base, we don't know of a single US operation against IS [Islamic State, formerly ISIS] in the area."


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 23 October 2019, Maghawir al-Thawra reportedly seized $3.5 million worth of illicit drugs from a smuggler within the DCZ. According to CJTF-OIR, the smuggler hid the drugs under the normal guise of supplies being transported to the Rukban refugee camp. MaT searched the smuggler's truck and found nearly 850,000 Captagon pills. "This is one of the biggest drug busts we have ever had," said Col. Muhanned Tallah, the MaT commander. The coalition linked weapons and drug smuggling within the DCZ to ISIL underground networks.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 16 April 2020, a number of Syrian rebels at al-Tanf base defected to the Syrian government in a convoy.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 30 May 2020, the U.S. military published images of special operations forces personnel at al-Tanf training with an advanced Israeli-made Smart Shooter SMASH 2000 "smart" optical sighting system attached to their M4A1 rifles. It remained unclear if special operations units in the region had actually adopted the computerized optic or if the training was part of field trials or another type of demonstration.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: The U.S. refers to the Revolutionary Commando Army as part of the "Vetted Syrian Opposition". According to the U.S., these fighters are permitted only to launch offensives against ISIL and not against the Syrian Armed Forces, though clashes with pro-Syrian government elements have occurred. By 2019, the CJTF-OIR coalition referred to the area simply as the Deconfliction Zone (DCZ) with the Al-Tanf Garrison (ATG) at the center.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In September 2017, Russian government-owned media outlet RIA Novosti reported, with a reference to unnamed military and diplomatic sources, that the U.S. had voiced readiness to leave al-Tanf but did not say when.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 8 February 2018, following "an unprovoked attack" by the pro-Syrian government forces in eastern Syria, the Syrian Democratic Forces and U.S.-led Coalition inflicted multiple casualties among Russian private military contractors of the Wagner Group, the Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Maria Zakharova said: "The unlawful US armed presence in Syria presents a serious challenge to the peace process and to the country's territorial integrity and unity. A 55-kilometer zone unilaterally created by Americans around their military base near al-Tanf is being used by the scattered units of ISIS militants" for evading pursuit by government forces and re-grouping. In mid-February 2018, Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, in an exclusive interview with Euronews, said that U.S. military presence in Syria generally and in the area of al-Tanf specifically "was illegal and unacceptable."


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In August 2018, U.S. State Department representative William V. Roebuck traveled to the cities of Manbij and Kobanî, both situated in Aleppo Governorate, as well as the town of al-Shaddadah in Hasakah Governorate. He was later due to visit Deir ez-Zor Governorate, half of which is held by the Kurdish-led Democratic Federation of Northern Syria. "We are prepared to stay here, as the president Donald Trump has made clear," he said after meeting with Kurdish officials.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In October 2018, General Joseph Votel, commander of United States Central Command, stated that U.S. forces in al-Tanf did not "have a counter Iranian mission here. We have a defeat ISIS mission," but nevertheless acknowledged that American presence in the area had "an indirect effect on some malign activities that Iran and their various proxies and surrogates would like to pursue down here."


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: After the announced withdrawal of U.S. troops from Syria, U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said in early 2019 that U.S. operations in the al-Tanf area would continue as a part of the U.S. effort to counter "Iranian influence" in Syria. On 28 January 2019, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi ruled out the prospect of Jordanian forces seizing control of al-Tanf after American ground troops leave Syria. "Al-Tanf is on the other side of the Jordanian border. As I said, Jordan will not cross its border. We will take every measure we have to protect our security...but arrangements on the other side of the border after withdrawal will have to be agreed by all parties, and they have to ensure the safety and security in the area," Safadi said.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: The Trump administration announced on 22 February 2019 that around 400 U.S. troops would remain in Syria post-withdrawal, with about half garrisoned in the Democratic Federation of Northern Syria and half at the al-Tanf garrison. The 200 at al-Tanf were to remain indefinitely.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 27 February, Syria and Russia released a joint statement again demanding all U.S. forces leave Syria, while also demanding U.S. forces allow Russian and Syrian authorities to evacuate the Rukban refugee camp along the Jordanian border to "relocate people in the Rubkan area and guarantee them safe passage to their places of permanent residence". Russia argued that the U.S. was holding the refugee camp "hostage" and potentially as human shields within the territory. According to a 24 March report by the U.S. government-funded "Voice of America", the U.S.-backed Revolutionary Commando Army rebel group, which maintains aid access and provides security for the Rukban camp, said both refugees and U.S.-backed rebels in the zone depended on U.S. protection against attacks by pro-Syrian government militias and Islamic State-affiliated jihadists. A Rukban camp spokesman asserted that it was the Syrians and Russians that were "embargoing" the camp to force the refugees into reconciliation and to pressure U.S. troops to leave the strategically important al-Tanf military base.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: On 4 June 2019, representatives of more than 30 countries participated in a meeting with the command of Operation Inherent Resolve in Kuwait where the issue of stepping up efforts to fight terrorism in Iraq and Syria was discussed. Amid a period of heightened regional tensions with Iran, the Pentagon announced on 18 June that another 1,000 troops will be deployed to the Middle East, presumably including the U.S. base in Syrian al-Tanf.


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In October 2019, in the context of the pullout of American troops from northern Syria, "The New York Times" reported that the Pentagon was planning to "leave 150 Special Operations forces at a base called al-Tanf".


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In 2021 it was reported that, according to "Israeli defense sources", al-Tanf continued to host around 350 military personnel and civilians, "including some British and French forces that were described as 'intelligence experts'".


title: Al-Tanf (U.S. military base)

text: In August 2022, CNN reported that there are approximately 900 US troops in Syria, with most of them split between the al-Tanf base and Syria's eastern oil fields.


title: Operating Thetan

text: In Scientology, Operating Thetan (OT) is a notional spiritual status above Clear. It is defined as "knowing and willing cause over life, thought, matter, energy, space and time (MEST)." According to religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, "It’s basically a variation of the Gnostic myth about souls falling into matter and the encumbrances that come with that" with the exception in that instead of Divine intervention, there is Alien intervention. The Church teaches Operating Thetan doctrine in eight separate stages, or Levels; however, the Church claims there are actually fifteen Levels, and critics argue the Church uses the missing Levels to incentivize believers into giving more money to the Church in order to be able to experience them once they are finally released. Sometimes the Church requires believers to retake, and therefore pay again for, previous courses in the meantime as they await the missing Levels. Each course costs a considerable amount of money, often thousands of US dollars.


title: Operating Thetan

text: On March 24, 2008, WikiLeaks obtained and placed the complete set of Operating Thetan Levels the church currently uses on their site. The Church of Scientology tacitly verified the authenticity of these documents when they threatened legal action for copyright infringement if the documents were not removed, but WikiLeaks refused and the courts ruled that it was legal to download, use, read, and practice these teachings outside the Church thus making all 612 pages of the OT materials available for free.


title: Operating Thetan

text: OT Levels are part of "The Bridge", which is the set of ranks within Scientology. After having removed one's own "reactive mind" and thus attaining the state of "Clear", Scientologists may then go on to the OT levels. Scientology doctrine defines OT as the "highest state there is".


title: Operating Thetan

text: Operating Thetan is described within Scientology as a state of godliness, and Scientologists are taught they will have godlike control over "matter, energy, space and time" (known in Scientology jargon as MEST). Hubbard claimed that thetans were tricked into following religions, which prevented them from using their own power to create and destroy universes. The Church claims that the OT is not dependent on the universe and Scientologists who are at the Operating Thetan level claim that they have control over their lives and can "go exterior" from their bodies.


title: Operating Thetan

text: While there are fifteen levels listed in Scientology teaching, the Church only offers eight. According to former Scientologist and critic of the Church Mike Rinder, the promise of new levels has been used for decades to motivate church members to donate or repeat courses they have already taken in preparation. Rinder has said he doesn't believe these courses exist.


title: Operating Thetan

text: The state of Operating Thetan is represented by a symbol consisting of the letters OT with the T inside the O and each of the points of the T ending at the O's circumference, which displays the level's initials, and is also intended to evoke the medieval O-T map representing the known world and, metaphorically, the entirety of the observable universe, over which a fully developed OT is believed to have immediate control.


title: Operating Thetan

text: "This Solo-audited level is the first step a Clear takes toward full OT abilities, and that first step is a fresh causative OT viewpoint of the MEST universe and other beings." The cost to move to level OT I was $2,750 as of 2013.


title: Operating Thetan

text: "By confronting hidden areas of one's existence on the whole track [that is, by confronting past incarnations], vast amounts of energy and attention are released. Those on this Solo-audited level experience a resurgence of self-determinism and native ability. OT II unlocks the aberrative factors on the whole track that have allowed the thetan to lose his innate freedom and ability and one achieves the ability to confront the whole track." The cost to move from OT I to OT II was $5,225 as of 2013.


title: Operating Thetan

text: Hubbard announced discovering an important breakthrough within less than a month of founding the Sea Org, the religious order of the church that consists of its most dedicated members. He described it as a "means of erasing those mental factors that stand in the way of peace and toleration of mankind." The new material made up the new Operating Thetan III.


title: Operating Thetan

text: "This Solo-audited level goes through what is called the 'Wall of Fire' that surrounds a previously impenetrable whole track mystery. What prevents a being from being himself? This level answers that question. Once complete, a being is free of the whole track overwhelm that has trapped him. Here he confronts and eradicates the fourth dynamic engram that has plagued this universe for millennia." The cost to move from OT II to OT III was $8,910 as of 2013.


title: Operating Thetan

text: Church dogma regards OT III as a dangerous process which can lead to pneumonia, to lack of sleep or even to death if not run correctly. In "Church of Scientology of California v. Kaufman", it was noted that the defendant had been required to sign a waiver to the effect that "the Scientology Organization, its branches and members, and L. Ron Hubbard are not responsible for anything that might happen to my body or mind on OT III".


title: Operating Thetan

text: Within OT III is the secret doctrine of the church. Members must be invited to "do it", and they sign a contract of secrecy.


title: Operating Thetan

text: "This level handles the hidden problems and stops in a being's universe caused by the effects of drugs and poisons on the whole track. This is the final polish that rids one of any last vestige of the effects of drugs on the spirit. Ministered at Advanced Organizations or Flag. Approximately 12½ to 25 hours."


title: Operating Thetan

text: "The Second Wall of Fire consists of 26 separate rundowns and has been described as dealing with 'living lightning, the very stuff of life itself.' This level addresses the last aspects of one's case that can prevent him from achieving total freedom on all dynamics. An audited level ministered at Advanced Organizations or Flag. Approximately 50 hours."


title: Operating Thetan

text: "The training one receives before starting to solo audit on New OT VII is so powerful that it actually constitutes an entire OT level. On Solo NOTs one is dealing with complexities intended to crush one's true power and abilities as a thetan. Solo NOTs auditors acquire a wide range of auditing skills to handle the vast phenomena that can occur on OT VIII. Approximately 3–4 weeks with the new Solo Auditor Course done."


title: Operating Thetan

text: "On New OT VII one solo audits at home daily. This is a lengthy level, requiring a considerable amount of time to complete. It is the final pre-OT level, and culminates in attainment of the state of CAUSE OVER LIFE."


title: Operating Thetan

text: OT VIII, the highest level in Scientology, is only offered aboard the "Freewinds" ship. The original version of OT VIII was released in 1988 and was authored by Hubbard himself, while a second "revised" version was released in 1991 by an unnamed editor. Both versions were released after L. Ron Hubbard's death. The original contains a Doomsday Prophecy that the Galactic Confederacy will return soon and telepathically enslave the universe but Hubbard wrote that he will return after his death and in a Messiah like role "halt a series of events designed to make happy slaves of us all." Early participants in this version balked at it and the church subsequently revised it into its current form. The church initially stated the original version found in the Fishman Affidavit is a forgery but later admitted it was copyrighted by the church thus establishing authenticity. The revised version they currently use also has an editor's note that states "it is not the original".


title: Operating Thetan

text: The revised version is completely redacted from the original and states "This Solo-audited level addresses the primary cause of amnesia on the whole track and lets one see the truth of his own existence. This is the first actual OT level and brings about a resurgence of power and native abilities for the being himself. This may be done at the Flag Ship Service Organization."


title: Operating Thetan

text: Beyond the attainment of the state of Operating Thetan is that of Cleared Theta Clear, which Hubbard describes as such:


title: Operating Thetan

text: A growing number of former Scientologists have made public allegations that the church encourages its members to complete very expensive courses and expect wonderful results; when the improvements fail to happen, further courses are then promoted to facilitate the anticipated changes. Criticism stems from a pattern of cycles wherein members continue to pay increasing amounts for these courses, while some even put their families into debt chasing the elusive life-changing results under the stewardship of the church.


title: Operating Thetan

text: In March 2008, WikiLeaks leaked the Church of Scientology's "Operating Thetan" documents. The Church of Scientology portrayed hosting the documentation as a copyright violation implying that the collection is Church doctrine. A court found that it was legal to download, use, read, and practice these teachings outside the Church.


title: Operating Thetan

text: In 1997, Zenon Panoussis, a resident of Sweden, sent copies of NOT (New OT) documents to various government authorities, thereby making the documents public according to the Swedish principle of public access to official records. The Church of Scientology responded by ordering members to continuously borrow the available copies in order to prevent non-members from reading them. The Church of Scientology also sued Panoussis for copyright infringement, since he had made the documents available online without authorization.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: Nier Reincarnation is a 2021 role-playing video game developed by Applibot and published by Square Enix for Android and iOS. Set in a realm called The Cage, the player takes on the role of a girl guided by a ghost-like being.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: "Nier Reincarnation" is a role-playing video game set in a realm called The Cage. The player navigates different areas of the Cage in the company of ghost-like companions, entering statues called Scarecrows and reliving memories which play out as storybook-like narratives. The gameplay is split into three types. The first is the current protagonist exploring different areas of the Cage with their companion. During this exploration, they come across Scarecrows which grant and upgrade weapons used to fight enemies within unlocked memories.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: In these memories, dubbed Weapon Stories, players experience the memories of those related to a weapon from a side-scrolling painting-like perspective, entering battles to correct errors in the memories. Battles play out in real-time inside the memories with a party of three characters against enemies, with special attacks utilized by tapping icons on-screen when they have charged. Battles can be performed manually or completed through an auto-battle function. While the storyline characters are present in-game from the outset, other character variations and weapons are obtained through a gacha mechanic. Storyline quests, when completed, unlock optional harder versions of their battles.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: "Nier Reincarnation" is set in the same universe as "Nier" and its sequel "", taking place at an unspecified time within an infinite area of towers dubbed the Cage. Initially, players take on the role of an amnesiac and voiceless young girl guided through the Cage by the ghost-like Mama, encountering a beast called the Dark Monster at various points, where it appears both hostile and playful. During her final journey, the girl experiences the Dark Monster's story, growing progressively weaker. The Dark Monster is one of a race within the Cage that feeds on human dreams and yearns to become human. The Dark Monster consumed a girl's dreams and ends up switching forms with her; the Dark Monster encountered until now was the young girl. Confronted with the truth, the Dark Monster wishes to Mama for the girl to become human again.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: The story jumps back four months, revealing the Dark Monster, named Levania, meeting the crying young girl, Fio. Accompanied by a being similar to Mama called the Carrier, Levania purifies memories within the Cage and at the end of each mission consumes some of Fio's dreams, which she actively encourages. Despite his initial coldness, Levania grows to care for Fio. During their final mission together, Levania is tricked by the Carrier into absorbing Fio's dreams, observing her tragic life and lonely death, causing their bodies to switch. The Carrier is then defeated by Levania who is then found by Mama. With his memories restored, Levania finds Fio, and despite Fio not wanting to return to her human form he succeeds in reversing the transformation.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: "Nier Reincarnation" is being developed by Applibot and publisher Square Enix. Series creator Yoko Taro acted as creative director, with Square Enix's Yosuke Saito acting as co-producer. Applibot's Daichi Matsukawa acted as co-producer and co-director. The main characters were designed by Akihiko Yoshida, while background and concept artwork was designed by "Automata" artist Kazuma Koda. The team's aim was to make an ambitious title with 3D graphics comparable to a cross-platform title. During production, it used the code name "Dark". Its gameplay was designed to have the appearance of watching the gameplay of "Automata" playing out automatically. Due to Matsukawa finding smartphone controls difficult to use, the interface was simplified by making battles turn-based. The shooting sections, directly inspired by the hacking mechanic of "Automata", were included at Matsukawa's insistence. The muted color pallette was chosen as it fitted the overall aesthetic of "Nier".


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: While the game is within the same universe as the other "Nier" titles, Yoko wanted to separate the game from the others so it could be enjoyed by newcomers. In contrast to the other "Nier" titles, Yoko did not take a principal role in creating the story. Instead a team of around four other writers, with Yoko's role being to take their ideas and create a coherent plot out of them. The team was led by Takashi Ohara, who also acted as lead writer under Yoko's direction. The side story sections, which used a side-scrolling storybook style, were based on "kamishibai". Mama's companion role in the story was compared by Yoko to the Grimoires in "Nier" and the Pods in "Automata". The multiple protagonists and story structure were based on the progression of "Puzzle & Dragons". He also stated that the game would have a definitive ending, though its gameplay could be repeated and extended.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: The music was handled by Keiichi Okabe, lead composer for the other "Nier" titles. Okabe's contribution was around twenty songs, all original and not incorporating music from earlier "Nier" titles. On Yoko's request, each song covered a variety of styles while maintaining the established atmosphere of the "Nier" universe. The musical style was influenced by the game's "nostalgic" atmosphere, gaining an atmosphere compared to fairy tales. Rather than having strong melodies, the music was designed to be "smooth". A soundtrack album was released on April 21, 2021 and contains 18 tracks, 13 of which were composed by Okabe and 5 by fellow MONACA composer Shotaro Seo.


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: The game was first announced in March 2020 alongside a remaster of the original "Nier". A closed beta test ran from July to August of that year. Pre-registration opened in September. While originally planned for a 2020 release, Square Enix delayed its Japanese debut into the first half of 2021. Following the beta period, full voice acting for the story sections was still an unknown, but fan feedback persuaded the team to include full voice acting despite the technical difficulties. The game released in Japan on February 21, 2021. The release was celebrated with a limited time collaboration with "Automata". Later collaborations appeared with the "Nier Replicant" remaster and "Drakengard 3".


title: Nier Reincarnation

text: A Western release was announced alongside its pre-registration date. Localization was ongoing in February 2021, with the aim being to both translate and voice the game in English, and fix bugs in the Japanese version so it could be released in its best condition. The localization was finished in early May, going through final adjustments. A beta test for the English version ran from May 26 to June 1. It was released in English on July 28. When pre-registration opened, it exceeded 300,000 applications.


The 1812 United States presidential election was the seventh quadrennial presidential election. It was held from Friday, October 30, 1812 to Wednesday, December 2, 1812. Taking place in the shadow of the War of 1812, incumbent Democratic-Republican President James Madison defeated DeWitt Clinton, who drew support from dissident Democratic-Republicans in the North as well as Federalists. It was the first presidential election to be held during a major war involving the United States.


title: 1812 United States presidential election

text: Northern Democratic-Republicans had long been dissatisfied by the Southern dominance of their party, and DeWitt Clinton's uncle, Vice President George Clinton, had unsuccessfully challenged Madison for the party's 1808 presidential nomination. While the May 1812 Democratic-Republican congressional nominating caucus re-nominated Madison, the party's New York caucus, also held in May, nominated Clinton for president. After the United States declared war on the United Kingdom in June 1812, Clinton sought to create a coalition of anti-war Democratic-Republicans and Federalists. With Clinton in the race, the Federalist Party declined to formally put forth a nominee, hoping its members would vote for Clinton, but they did not formally endorse him, fearing that an explicit endorsement of Clinton would hurt the party's fortunes in other races. Federalist Jared Ingersoll of Pennsylvania became Clinton's de facto running mate. A dissident faction of the Federalist Party attempted to nominate former Vice-Presidential candidate Rufus King over Clinton, but only succeeded in doing so in Virginia.


text: Despite Clinton's success at attracting Federalist support, Madison was re-elected with 50.4 percent of the popular vote to his opponent's 47.6%, making the 1812 election the closest election up to that point in the popular vote. Clinton won the Federalist bastion of New England as well as three Mid-Atlantic states, but Madison dominated the South and took Pennsylvania. This was the narrowest popular vote margin for a victorious re-elected president until 2004.


text: Residual military conflict resulting from the Napoleonic Wars in Europe had been steadily worsening throughout James Madison's first term, with the British Empire and the French Empire both ignoring the neutrality rights of the United States at sea by seizing American ships and looking for supposed British deserters in a practice known as impressment. The British provided additional provocations by impressing American seamen, maintaining forts within United States territory in the Northwest, and supporting American Indians at war with the United States in both the Northwest and Southwest.


text: Meanwhile, expansionists in the south and west of the United States coveted British Canada and Spanish Florida and wanted to use British provocations as a pretext to seize both areas. The pressure steadily built, with the result that the United States declared war on the United Kingdom on June 12, 1812. This occurred after Madison had been nominated by the Democratic-Republicans, but before the Federalists had made their nomination. He won the nomination with 128 votes.


text: Many Democratic-Republicans in the northern states were unhappy over the perceived dominance of the presidency by the state of Virginia (three of the last four presidents had been Virginians), and they wished instead to nominate one of their own rather than re-nominate President Madison. Initially, these hopes were pinned upon Vice President George Clinton, but his poor health and advanced age (72) eliminated his chances. Even before Clinton's death on April 20, 1812, his nephew New York Lieutenant Governor DeWitt Clinton was considered the preferred candidate to move against Madison by the northern Democratic-Republicans.


text: Hoping to forestall a serious movement against President James Madison and a division of the Democratic-Republican Party, some proposed making DeWitt Clinton the nominee for the vice presidency, taking over the same office his uncle now held. DeWitt Clinton was not opposed to the offer, but preferred to wait until after the conclusion of the New York caucus, which would not be held until after the Congressional Caucus had met, to finalize his decision. Early caucuses were held in the states of Virginia and Pennsylvania, both of which pledged their support to Madison.


text: Eighty-three of the one hundred thirty-eight of the Democratic-Republican members of the United States Congress attended the nominating caucus in May 1812. The delegations from New York and New England had less representation due to the New York members supporting DeWitt Clinton's attempt to gain the support of the Federalists and the New England members opposing Madison's foreign policy. Eighty-two of the delegates voted to give the presidential nomination to Madison while John Langdon won the vice-presidential nomination against Elbridge Gerry by a vote of sixty-four to sixteen. However, Langdon declined the nomination citing his age and it was instead given to Gerry after another vote was held with seventy-four delegates voting for him.


text: When the New York caucus did meet on May 29, it was dominated by anti-war Democratic-Republicans, and nominated DeWitt Clinton for the presidency almost unanimously. Clinton's now open candidacy was opposed by many who, while not friends of James Madison, feared that Clinton was now apt to tear the Democratic-Republican party asunder. The matter of how to conduct his campaign also became a major problem for Clinton, especially with regards to the war with the British after June 12. Many of Clinton's supporters were war-hawks who advocated extreme measures to force the British into negotiations favorable to the United States, while Clinton knew he would have to appeal to Federalists to win, and they were almost wholly opposed to the war.


text: Before Clinton entered the race as an alternative to President Madison, Chief Justice John Marshall was a favorite for the Federalist presidential nomination, a relatively popular figure who could carry much of the Northeast while potentially taking Virginia and North Carolina as well. But with Clinton in the race, the Federalists would no longer be able to count on the electoral votes of New York, possibly throwing the election into the House of Representatives, dominated by Democratic-Republicans, where Madison would almost certainly be elected.


text: In the face of these facts, the Federalist party considered endorsing Clinton's candidacy for a time, but at their caucus in September it was decided that the party simply would not field a presidential candidate that year and did not endorse Clinton. Though there was much support among the Federalists for Clinton, it was felt that openly endorsing him as the party's choice for president would damage his chances in states where the Federalists remained unpopular and drive away Democratic-Republicans who would normally be supportive of his candidacy. A Federalist caucus in Pennsylvania chose to nominate Jared Ingersoll, the Attorney General of the state, as Clinton's vice presidential running-mate, a move Clinton decided to support considering the importance of Pennsylvania's electors.


text: While many Federalists were supportive of DeWitt Clinton's candidacy, others were not so keen, skeptical of Clinton's positions regarding the war and other matters. Rufus King, a former diplomat and Representative, had led an effort at the September Caucus to nominate a Federalist ticket for the election that year, though he was ultimately unsuccessful. Still, some wished to enter King's name into the race under the Federalist label, and while very little came of it, it caused problems for the Clinton campaign in two states.


text: In the case of Virginia, Clinton was rejected entirely by the state Federalist Party, which instead chose to nominate Rufus King for president and William Richardson Davie for vice president. The ticket would acquire about 27% of the vote in the state. In New York, with the Federalists having gained control of the state legislature that summer, it was planned that the Federalists would nominate a slate pledged to Rufus King now that they had the majority. However, a coalition of Democratic-Republicans and Federalists would defeat the motion and succeed in nominating a slate pledged to Clinton.


text: The war heavily overshadowed the campaign. Clinton continued his regional campaigning, adopting an anti-war stance in the Northeast (which was most harmed by the war), and a pro-war stance in the South and West. The election ultimately hinged on New York and Pennsylvania, and while Clinton took his home state, he failed to take Pennsylvania and thus lost the election. Though Clinton lost, the election was the best showing for the Federalists since that of Adams, as the party made gains in Congress and kept the presidential election reasonably close. Clintonite Democratic-Republicans in many states refused to work with their Federalist counterparts (notably in Pennsylvania) and Clinton was generally regarded by most as the Federalist candidate, though he was not formally nominated by them.


text: Madison was the first of just four presidents in United States history to win re-election with a lower percentage of the electoral vote than in their prior elections, as Madison won 69.3% of the electoral vote in 1808, but only won 58.7% of the electoral vote in 1812. The other three were Woodrow Wilson in 1916, Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944 and Barack Obama in 2012. Additionally, Madison was the first of only five presidents to win re-election with a smaller percentage of the popular vote than in prior elections, although in 1812, only 6 of the 18 states chose electors by popular vote. The other four are Andrew Jackson in 1832, Grover Cleveland in 1892, Franklin Roosevelt in 1940 and 1944 and Obama in 2012.


text: Source (Popular Vote): "United States Presidential Elections, 1788-1860: The Official Results" by Michael J. Dubin<br>


text: The popular vote totals used are the elector from each party with the highest total of votes. The vote totals of Kentucky appear to be incomplete, and those of Tennessee appear to be lost.


text: In New Jersey, Federalists had just taken over the state legislature and decided to change the method of choosing electors from a general election to appointment by state legislature. Some towns, possibly too far away to get the news, or in open defiance of the switch, held elections anyway. These were not counted nor reported by the newspapers. In the unofficial elections, Madison received 1,672 votes while Clinton only received 2, suggesting these were protest votes (New Jersey was far more competitive than this at the time).


title: Seth Avett

text: Timothy Seth Avett (born July 30, 1980) is one of the lead singers and founding members of the American folk-rock band The Avett Brothers. Avett sings and plays guitar, drums, and piano for the band based out of Concord, North Carolina. In 2008, their album, "The Second Gleam", reached the number ten spot on Billboard.com's Top Independent Albums chart, and stayed there for three weeks.


title: Seth Avett

text: Seth Avett is the son of Susie and Jim Avett of Concord, North Carolina. He is the youngest of three children. Bonnie, his older sister, was born in 1973, and Scott, his older brother, was born in 1976. Seth was born in Charlotte on July 30, 1980. His father owned a welding business in Concord, and his mother was a school teacher.


title: Seth Avett

text: Seth and Scott were heavily involved with their respective bands during their college years. During this time, Scott was playing with Nemo in Greenville and Seth was involved with the Charlotte-based band Margo, which was started by high school friends. Seth Avett was lead singer and played lead guitar, Noah Warner was drummer/guitarist/singer/writer, Kenny Graham was back-up guitarist, and Ben Sawyer was bass guitarist. Seth and Noah grew up best friends from about the 5th grade, they played soccer together and started playing music together. While in high school they started their first band, "Nothing". They eventually changed to the Margo moniker putting on shows at the local Lions Club and then started playing bars in Charlotte with parents in tow, even winning the local high school Battle of the Bands talent show. Margo had the song "Dumbfight" published on a compilation album with the California production company Rodelle Records. (Scott has been quoted classifying Margo's music as "melodic rock".) The Brothers, along with guitarist/founding member John Twomey, decided to merge the bands while maintaining the name "Nemo" in 1998.[10] The Avett Brothers were formed during the Nemo days with fellow Nemo guitarist/founding member, John Twomey. During that time, the name was changed to The Avett Brothers while Nemo and The Avett Brothers continued touring as separate bands. Bob Crawford later joined that band in 2001 as Twomey quit both bands and Nemo dissolved. Eventually, Nemo disbanded and, with the addition of acoustic instruments and bassist Bob Crawford of Charlotte, The Avett Brothers were formed. In 2003, The Avett Brothers were introduced to Dolph Ramseur, the owner of Ramseur Records, an independent record label in Concord. Since the year 2000, The Avett Brothers have released eleven albums (seven with Ramseur) and have enjoyed ever-growing popularity and success. In late 2007, The Avett Brothers added cellist Joe Kwon, a graduate of the University of North Carolina and then-member of "Big Pretty and the Red Rockets", to their roster. This success has included a 2007 appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien", a 2008 signing to the Columbia record label, and having the number one album ("Emotionalism") on Billboard's Heatseekers chart. The Avett Brothers have toured with Portland band Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside. The year brings their first release with Columbia on September 29 and performances as the opening act for both the Dave Matthews Band and Widespread Panic. As of February 2009, The Avett Brothers have sold over 150,000 albums.


title: Seth Avett

text: Seth Avett has released four albums under the moniker of "Timothy Seth Avett as Darling." The first, "To Make the World Quiet", was recorded in the winter of 2001 and self-released shortly thereafter. In 2002, he self-released another album, "Killing the Headlamps".


title: Seth Avett

text: His third solo release, "The Mourning, the Silver, The Bell", is his most successful to date. Released by Ramseur Records in 2006, the record is now out of print, along with its two companions. The last copies of "The Mourning, The Silver, The Bell" available were sold in December 2008 during a 3-night residency at Asheville's The Orange Peel.


title: Seth Avett

text: On December 30, 2009, the first three "Timothy Seth Avett as Darling" albums were re-released through Ramseur Records. The first two albums, "To Make The World Quiet" and "Killing the Headlamps," were re-mixed by Doug Williams at Electromagnetic Radiation studios and mastered for the first time by Brent Lambert at The Kitchen Mastering.


title: Seth Avett

text: On March 17, 2015, Seth teamed up with Jessica Lea Mayfield to record a set of Elliott Smith songs. The two released an album entitled: "Seth Avett & Jessica Lea Mayfield Sing Elliott Smith".


title: Seth Avett

text: On March 31, 2017, Seth released his fourth solo album under the moniker of "Timothy Seth Avett as Darling." The album is simply entitled "IV".


title: Seth Avett

text: On September 23, 2022, Seth announced a new 10-track Greg Brown tribute album titled "Seth Avett Sings Greg Brown", set for release on November 4, 2022. As part of the announcement, he released the album's first single, "Good Morning Coffee". The second and final single from the album, titled "Laughing River", was released on October 15, 2022.


title: Seth Avett

text: In 2015, Avett and actress Jennifer Carpenter became engaged while expecting their first child, a son born later that year. Carpenter and Avett married in May 2016.


title: Buer (demon)

text: Buer is a spirit that appears in the 16th-century grimoire "Pseudomonarchia Daemonum" and its derivatives, where he is described as a Great President of Hell, having fifty legions of demons under his command. He appears when the Sun is in Sagittarius. Like Chiron, the chief centaur of Greek mythology, he teaches natural and moral philosophy, logic, and the qualities and uses of all herbs and plants, and is also capable of healing all infirmities (especially of humans) and bestows good familiars.


title: Buer (demon)

text: He has been described as being in the shape of Sagittarius, which is as a centaur with a bow and arrows. Additionally, Louis Le Breton created an illustration of Buer, later engraved by M. Jarrault, depicting the demon as having the head of a lion and five goat legs surrounding his body to walk in every direction.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: The General Electric GEnx ("General Electric Next-generation") is an advanced dual rotor, axial flow, high-bypass turbofan jet engine in production by GE Aviation for the Boeing 787 and 747-8. The GEnx is intended to succeed the CF6 in GE's product line.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: The GEnx and the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 were selected by Boeing following a run-off between the three big engine manufacturers. The GEnx uses some technology from the GE90 turbofan, including swept composite fan blades and the 10-stage HPC featured in earlier variants of the engine. The engine carries composite technology into the fan case.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: The engine market for the 787 is estimated at US$40 billion over the next 25 years. A first is the elimination of bleed air systems using high temperature/high pressure air from the propulsion engines to power aircraft systems such as the starting, air-conditioning and anti-ice systems. Both engines enable the move towards the "More Electric Aircraft", that is, the concept of replacing previously hydraulic and pneumatic systems with electrical ones to reduce weight, increase efficiency, and reduce maintenance requirements.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: The GEnx was expected to produce thrust from with first tests commencing in 2006 and service entry by 2008 (delayed by 787 deliveries). Boeing predicts reduced fuel consumption of up to 20% and significantly quieter engines than current turbofans. A thrust version (GEnx-2B67) will be used on the 747-8. Unlike the initial version for the 787, this version has a traditional bleed air system to power internal pneumatic and ventilation systems. It will also have a smaller overall diameter than the initial model to accommodate installation on the 747.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: General Electric began initial test runs of the bleedless GEnx variant on 19 March 2006. The first flight with one of these engines took place on 22 February 2007, using a Boeing 747-100, fitted with one GEnx engine in the number 2 (inboard left hand side) position.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: By Fall 2019, General Electric was offering the GEnx-2B, developed for the 747-8, for the revised 767-XF variant based on the 767-400ER, but needed enough volume to cover the new product certification.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: Introduced in late 2011 on a 747-8 freighter, Cargolux surpassed one million flight hours in early 2017.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: On July 28, 2012, the NTSB initiated an investigation of an engine failure that occurred on a Boeing 787 during a pre-delivery taxi test in Charleston, South Carolina.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: on August 31, 2012, a GEnx-1B engine installed on a Boeing 787 that had not yet flown was found to have an indication of a similar crack on the fan midshaft. The fan midshaft was removed from the engine for further inspection and examination. As a result of investigative work the NTSB has determined that the fan midshafts on the GEnx engines fractured or cracked at the forward end of the shaft where the retaining nut is installed.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: On September 11, 2012, an AirBridgeCargo 747-8F experienced a major engine malfunction that spread a significant amount of metallic debris on the runway when the low-pressure turbine shaft separated and shifted backwards, damaging the low pressure turbine blades and vanes. The NTSB issued urgent safety recommendations to the FAA to require ultrasonic scans for midshaft fractures before use of GEnx engines and require repetitive on-wing inspections of the engine to detect cracks.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: During the spring and summer of 2013, GE learned of four 747-8F freighters that suffered icing in their engines at altitudes of and above. The most serious incident involved an AirBridgeCargo freighter; on July 31, while at an altitude of over China, the flight crew noted two engines surging while a third lost substantial power. The pilots were able to land the plane safely but the engines were found to have sustained damage. Among the possible factors cited was "'unique convective weather systems' such as unusually large thunderstorms reaching high altitudes." Boeing is working with GE on software solutions to the problem. Altitude was restricted until GE changed the software to detect the high-altitude ice crystals and open bleed air valve doors to eject them before they enter the core.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: In March 2014, a GEnx-powered Boeing 787 had its first in-flight shut down in operation when a JAL flight had to divert to Honolulu after an oil pressure alert, bringing its in-flight shut down rate to 1 per 1/0.0036round0,000 hours.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: In January 2016 a Japan Airlines 787 had an inflight shutdown after flying through icing conditions, caused by ice formed on fan blades and ingested: the blades moved forward slightly and rubbed on the abradable seal in the casing. In March 2016, the US FAA ordered emergency fixes on the GEnx-1B PIP2. The airworthiness directive affects 43 Boeing 787 Dreamliners in the US. Abradable material in the casing in front of the fan blades was ground to keep them from rubbing when ingesting ice or debris on 330 GEnx PIP-2.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: In early 2018, of 1277 orders for the B787, 681 selected the GEnx (681/1277*100round1%), 420 the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 (420/1277*100round1%) and 176 were undecided (176/1277*100round1%).


title: General Electric GEnx

text: The 2,000th GEnx was delivered by November 2019, 15 years after the engine launch, as it logged 4.5 million flight cycles and 26 million hours among 60 operators.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: To reduce weight, it features 18 composite fan blades, a composite fan case and titanium aluminide stage 6 and 7 low-pressure turbine blades.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: Fuel efficiency is improved by 15% compared to the CF6, the bypass ratio reaches up to 9.0:1 and the overall pressure ratio up to 58.1:1.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: It has a 10 stage high-pressure compressor and is quieter, helped by larger, more efficient fan blades.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: It stays on wing 20% longer, uses 30% fewer parts to lower maintenance costs and has a contra-rotating architecture.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: To reduce fuel burn, the 23:1 pressure ratio high-pressure compressor is based on the GE90-94B, shrouded guide vanes reduce secondary flows and counter-rotating spools for the reaction turbines reduce load on guide vanes.


title: General Electric GEnx

text: To reduce maintenance cost and increase engine life, spools with lower parts count are achieved by using blisks in some stages, low blade counts in other stages and by using fewer stages; internal engine temperatures are reduced due to more efficient cooling techniques and debris extraction within the low-pressure compressor protects the high-pressure compressor.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: For Your Pleasure is the second album by English rock band Roxy Music, released by Island Records in 1973. It was their last to feature synthesiser and sound specialist Brian Eno and their only album with bassist John Porter.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: The group was able to spend more studio time on this album than on their debut, combining strong song material by Bryan Ferry with more elaborate production treatments. For example, the song "In Every Dream Home a Heartache" (Ferry's sinister ode to a blow-up doll) fades out in its closing section, only to fade in again with all the instruments subjected to a pronounced phasing treatment. The title track fades out in an elaborate blend of tape loop effects. Brian Eno remarked that the eerie "The Bogus Man", with lyrics about a sexual stalker, displayed similarities with contemporary material by the krautrock group Can.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: Of the more upbeat numbers on the album, "Do the Strand" and "Editions of You" were both based around insistent rhythms in the tradition of the band's first single "Virginia Plain". "Do the Strand" has been called the archetypal Roxy Music anthem, whilst "Editions of You" was notable for a series of ear-catching solos by Andy Mackay (saxophone), Eno (VCS3), and Phil Manzanera (guitar).


title: For Your Pleasure

text: Eno is very present in the final song from the album "For Your Pleasure", making it unlike any other song on the album. The song ends with the voice of Judi Dench saying ""You don't ask. You don't ask why"" amid tapes of the opening vocals ('Well, how are you?') from "Chance Meeting" from the first Roxy Music album. A live recording of the song has been used in 1975 as a B-side to "Both Ends Burning".


title: For Your Pleasure

text: The original UK LP cover credits "Produced by Chris Thomas and Roxy Music" for the entire album, but only the side one label repeats that; the side two label credits "Produced by John Anthony and Roxy Music". Various foreign editions and reissues have confused the matter with random variations.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: "For Your Pleasure" was originally released by Island Records in the United Kingdom and Warner Bros. Records in the United States. It has been subsequently reissued by Polydor Records in the UK and Atco Records and Reprise Records in the US.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: As with the debut Roxy Music album, no UK singles were lifted from "For Your Pleasure" upon its initial release. The non-album single "Pyjamarama", backed with "The Pride and the Pain", was issued in advance of the album in Britain, peaking at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart. "Do the Strand", backed with "Editions of You", was released as a single in the US and Europe; it was finally issued as a UK single in 1978 to promote Roxy Music's "Greatest Hits" album, released in December the previous year.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: The cover photo, taken by Karl Stoecker, featured Bryan Ferry's girlfriend at the time, singer and model Amanda Lear, who was also the confidante, protégée and closest friend of the surrealist artist Salvador Dalí. Lear was depicted posing in a skintight leather dress leading a black panther on a leash. The image has been described as "as famous as the album itself". Original pressings of the album featured a gatefold sleeve picturing all five band members posing with guitars.


title: For Your Pleasure

text: "For Your Pleasure" made No. 4 in UK charts in 1973. In 1973, Paul Gambaccini of "Rolling Stone" gave it a mixed review, and wrote that "the bulk of "For Your Pleasure" is either above us, beneath us, or on another plane altogether."


title: For Your Pleasure

text: In 2000, "Q" placed "For Your Pleasure" at number 33 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever". It placed at number 87 on "Pitchfork"'s 2004 list of the top 100 albums of the 1970s. The citation notes that Morrissey told the British press that "he could 'only think of one truly great British album'... "For Your Pleasure"." In 2003, "For Your Pleasure" was ranked number 394 on "Rolling Stone"s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time, with the album's ranking dropping to number 396 in the 2012 update of the list, and climbing to number 351 in the 2020 update. "NME" ranked "For Your Pleasure" at number 88 on its 2013 list of 500 greatest albums of all time and called it "the pinnacle of English art rock." "Classic Rock" named it as one of 10 "essential" glam rock albums. "Happy Mag" included the album in its list of "10 records to introduce you to the world of art-rock" and called it "an art-pop, glam-rock masterpiece."


title: Politburo

text: A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states.


title: Politburo

text: The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian "Politbyuro" (), itself a contraction of "Politicheskoye byuro" (, "Political Bureau"). The Spanish term "Politburó" is directly loaned from Russian, as is the German "Politbüro". Chinese uses a calque (), from which the Vietnamese (), and Korean ( "Jeongchiguk") terms derive.


title: Politburo

text: The first politburo was created in Russia by the Bolshevik Party in 1917 during the Russian Revolution that occurred during that year. The first Politburo had seven members: Lenin, Zinoviev, Kamenev, Trotsky, Stalin, Sokolnikov, and Bubnov.


title: Politburo

text: During the 20th century, politburos were established in most Communist states. They included the politburos of the USSR, East Germany, Afghanistan, and Czechoslovakia. Several countries still have a politburo system in operation: China, North Korea, Laos, Vietnam, and Cuba.


title: Politburo

text: In Marxist–Leninist states, the communist party claims to be the vanguard of the people, therefore the legitimate body to lead the state. The party selects officials to serve in its politburo, which decides party policy. As a one-party state, party policy invariably becomes national policy.


title: Politburo

text: Each Party Congress elects a Central Committee which, in turn, elects the members of the politburo and a General Secretary. This process is termed democratic centralism. In theory, the politburo is answerable to the Central Committee, however in practice all the authority lies with the politburo.


title: Politburo

text: In Trotskyist parties, the Politburo is a bureau of the Central Committee tasked with making day-to-day political decisions, which must later be ratified by the Central Committee. It is appointed by the Central Committee from among its members. The post of General Secretary carries far less weight in this model. See, for example, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: Deadly Illusions is a 2021 American erotic thriller film written and directed by Anna Elizabeth James and starring Kristin Davis, Dermot Mulroney, Greer Grammer, and Shanola Hampton.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: Mary Morrison, a successful author of thriller novels, is happily married to Tom with two young children. Her publisher, asking her to write another book, offers a two million dollar advance; she initially declines but has to accept after Tom says he lost half of their estate on a risky investment. Mary's friend Elaine suggests hiring a nanny to help with the kids as she writes and, after a few interviews, she employs Grace.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: Mary has writer's block and uses her blossoming friendship with Grace to inspire her. Mary then starts having what appears to be sexual fantasies about Grace. She also seems to dream about Grace and Tom engaging in sexual activity in the kitchen, but cannot tell if it is real or her vivid imagination. Confronting them both at the dinner table in a tearful rage, she upsets the children and causes a divide between her and Grace.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: The following morning, Mary apologizes to Grace, saying her outburst was the result of working too hard. She then calls the nanny agency to ask why they haven't cashed her check yet, and they tell her it's because she hasn't gotten back to them about her choice of a nanny. Mary asks if they have a nanny called Grace in their service and they say no.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: Mary goes to see Elaine and finds her dead with a pair of scissors in her neck. Contacting the police, to her surprise and horror, she learns she is the main suspect. The police reveal there is a great deal of incriminating evidence, including a video of what appears to be Mary arriving at Elaine's house, although her face is obscured with a headscarf and sunglasses, and her latest book has a murder with scissors.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: Mary then travels to Grace's hometown, visiting her aunt, who reveals Grace had been abused by her parents as a child, and herself also exhibiting odd behavior. Mary calls Tom to warn him about Grace but he does not answer. At home, he is in the shower when Grace walks in dressed in lingerie and brandishing a large knife. She continuously switches from her usual sweet, soft-toned self to a violent seducer with a deep voice. As she attacks Tom, Mary arrives home. Grace claims to not know what happened, repeatedly saying, "I couldn't stop her." Grace suffers from dissociative identity disorder, and her other identity "Margaret" is who attacked Tom. Mary eventually knocks Grace unconscious.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: One year later, Mary and her family are together. Mary takes the finished manuscript of her new book to Elaine's grave and leaves it there, as it was Elaine who encouraged her to start writing again. She then goes to visit Grace in a mental hospital. The film ends with "Mary" leaving the hospital, her face obscured by a headscarf and sunglasses, as in the police video of Elaine's killer.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: The film was released on March 18, 2021, by Netflix. It was the most-watched film on the platform in its first weekend.


title: Deadly Illusions

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 21% based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. Rachel Willis of "UK Film Review" wrote, "This movie wants to keep us guessing, but it's never enticing enough to make much of an impact."


title: Network layer

text: In the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking, the network layer is layer 3. The network layer is responsible for packet forwarding including routing through intermediate routers.


title: Network layer

text: The network layer provides the means of transferring variable-length network packets from a source to a destination host via one or more networks. Within the service layering semantics of the OSI network architecture, the network layer responds to service requests from the transport layer and issues service requests to the data link layer.


title: Network layer

text: The TCP/IP model describes the protocols used by the Internet. The TCP/IP model has a layer called the Internet layer, located above the link layer. In many textbooks and other secondary references, the TCP/IP Internet layer is equated with the OSI network layer. However, this comparison is misleading, as the allowed characteristics of protocols (e.g., whether they are connection-oriented or connection-less) placed into these layers are different in the two models. The TCP/IP Internet layer is in fact only a subset of functionality of the network layer. It describes only one type of network architecture, the Internet.


title: I Can See Your Voice (South Korean TV series)

text: The original version of I Can See Your Voice (abbreviated ICSYV and also stylized as I Can See Your Voice — Mystery music game show) () is a South Korean television mystery music game show that broadcasts originally on Mnet and is simulcasted on tvN. The program's producer Lee Seon-young said she originally envisioned a program that will allow anyone to be the main character regardless of their appearances, and was inspired Kim Bum-soo who struggled to gain recognition because of his look.


text: On December 20, 2021 announced its return with season 9 and it premiered on January 29, 2022 at 22.40 KST


text: Presented with a group of six "mystery singers" identified only by their occupation, a guest artist must attempt to eliminate bad singers from the group without ever hearing them sing, assisted by clues and a celebrity panel over the course of three rounds. At the end of the game, the last remaining mystery singer is revealed as either good or bad by means of a duet between them and one of the guest artists.


text: Each episode presents the guest artist with six people whose identities and singing voices are kept concealed until they are eliminated to perform on the "stage of truth" or remain in the end to perform the final duet.


text: In mystery singers forming group if one person of the group is the bad singer, entire group is bad singer regardless other people's singing ability.


title: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

text: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan ( "") was a condominium of the United Kingdom and Egypt in the Sudans region of northern Africa between 1899 and 1956, corresponding mostly to the territory of present-day South Sudan and the Sudan. Legally, sovereignty and administration were shared between both Egypt and the United Kingdom, but in practice the structure of the condominium ensured effective British control over Sudan, with Egypt having limited, local power influence in reality. In the mean time, Egypt itself fell under increasing British influence. Following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, Egypt pushed for an end to the condominium, and the independence of Sudan. By agreement between Egypt and the United Kingdom in 1953, Sudan was granted independence as the Republic of the Sudan on 1 January 1956. In 2011, the south of Sudan itself became independent as the Republic of South Sudan.


title: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

text: In the 19th century, whilst nominally a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire, Egypt had acted as a virtually independent state since Muhammad Ali's seizure of power in 1805. Seeking to supplant and ultimately replace the Ottoman Empire as the dominant regional power, Muhammad Ali declared himself Khedive, and expanded Egypt's borders both southwards into Sudan, and eastwards into the Levant and Arabia, the latter at the expense of the Ottoman Empire. Territory in Sudan was annexed by Egypt, and governed as an integral part of the country, with Sudanese granted Egyptian citizenship. Ultimately, the intervention of the Great Powers in support of the Ottoman Empire forced Egypt to return all Levantine and Arabian territory to the Ottomans upon Muhammad Ali's death, however, there was no such impediment to Egypt's southward expansion.


title: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

text: During the reign of Muhammad Ali's grandson, Isma'il Pasha, Egypt consolidated and expanded its control of the Sudan as far south as the Great Lakes region, whilst simultaneously acquiring territory in modern-day Chad, Eritrea, Djibouti, and Somalia. Additionally, the hitherto unsanctioned use of the title Khedive was formally approved by the Ottoman Sultan. Egypt was at the height of its power, with Isma'il seeking the establishment of a contiguous African empire that could be a bulwark against European expansion in Africa.


title: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

text: Isma'il's grand ambitions were, however, cut short by Egypt's ruinous defeat in the Ethiopian-Egyptian War, which exacerbated pre-existing financial problems in the country caused by his cripplingly expensive programmes of rapid modernisation. This led ultimately to the Great Powers deposing Isma'il in 1879 in favour of his son, Tewfik Pasha. Egypt thereafter withdrew from all territories outside of Sudan, and Egypt proper.


title: Anglo-Egyptian Sudan

text: Discontent with the rule of Tewfik sparked two revolts in 1881, the Mahdist Revolt in Sudan, and the Orabi Revolt in Egypt proper. Whilst the military intervention of the United Kingdom in 1882 crushed the Orabi Revolt, and restored Tewfik's nominal authority in Egypt proper, the Mahdist Revolt continued to expand, leaving Sudan under the effective rule of the Mahdist rebels.