title: Jock Stein

text: The following season, Celtic won the League and League Cup for the third season in a row. In 1969 they won another domestic treble, their second in three years. In 1970, Stein led Celtic to a League and League Cup double; they also finished runners-up in the Scottish Cup. He also guided them to their second European Cup Final, knocking out Benfica and Leeds United en route, but they lost to Dutch side Feyenoord in Milan. Around this time, Manchester United made efforts to persuade Stein to join them as manager. Stein declined their advances, a decision he later told Alex Ferguson that he regretted.


title: Jock Stein

text: He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1970. Stein would have been knighted instead if not for an infamous Intercontinental Cup final match against Racing Club where four Celtic players were sent off.


title: Jock Stein

text: The 1970s brought continued success on the domestic front. During this time Stein's Celtic completed a record of nine consecutive Scottish league championships, equalling a world record held at the time by MTK Budapest and CSKA Sofia This sustained success became routine to the extent that attendance figures fell during the later part of the run, with the decline at Celtic being above the league average. This prompted the Scottish Football League to consider league reconstruction, which was enacted in 1975.


title: Jock Stein

text: Stein was badly injured in a car crash in 1975; he nearly died but eventually recovered. For most of season 1975–76, Sean Fallon assumed control as manager. Stein returned to his position at the start of the 1976–77 season. Davie McParland joined Celtic at this time, replacing Sean Fallon as assistant manager and working under Stein. McParland took charge of the 'tracksuit' aspects of coaching at Celtic while Stein watched from the touchline, still not fully recovered from the serious car smash he was involved in the year before. Stein signed Hibernian's long-serving captain, defender Pat Stanton. Later on in the season, Stein signed attacking midfielder Alfie Conn from Tottenham Hotspur. It was a transfer that surprised many, given Conn had played for Rangers in the early 70s, winning the European Cup Winners' Cup for them in 1972 and scoring in a 3–2 win over Celtic in the 1973 Scottish Cup Final. Conn became the first footballer post-World War II to play for both Rangers and Celtic. Celtic, helped considerably by Stanton's organisation of the defence, went on to win their tenth league and cup double; Celtic finished nine points ahead of Rangers in the league and beat them 1–0 in the cup final courtesy of an Andy Lynch penalty.


title: Jock Stein

text: Celtic struggled in the 1977–78 season and Stein was persuaded to stand down. He was allowed to nominate his successor, Billy McNeill, and Stein thought an agreement was in place for him to join the Celtic board of directors. Celtic instead offered a management position in their pools company, which Stein rejected as he believed he still had something to offer football. A testimonial match for Stein was played against Liverpool at Celtic Park on 14 August 1978. After the game, the Liverpool manager Bob Paisley encouraged Stein, who was three years younger than Paisley, to stay in football. There was also the example of Bill Shankly, who had experienced an unhappy retirement since leaving Liverpool in 1974.


title: Jock Stein

text: In August 1978, Stein was appointed manager of Leeds United. The players at Leeds received the news well, but were concerned that Stein had never shown any previous interest in managing in England. Early results were mixed, although the Leeds chairman Manny Cussins detected some improvement from the previous few seasons, when Leeds had slipped from their dominant position in English football. Attendances at Elland Road were low and Stein apparently missed the pressure of big games against foreign opposition.


title: Jock Stein

text: Ally MacLeod had just resigned as Scotland manager, having clung to office for only one match after their failure at the 1978 World Cup.


title: Jock Stein

text: The day after MacLeod's departure journalist Jim Reynolds had written in "The Glasgow Herald" in relation to Scotland's search for a new manager that "The ideal choice would, of course, have been Jock Stein, but the SFA are five weeks too late" adding that it was "most unlikely" that he could be tempted to take the Scotland job "until he has given it a real go and Elland Road." However the next day Reynolds wrote in the same newspaper that Stein was a front runner for the job and reported that former Scotland boss Willie Ormond considered him to be "the obvious choice" if he would be prepared to take the job. Stein was quoted as saying "There is little I can say about the situation. If Scotland want me they must approach the club first." However the report ended by quoting Manny Cussins as stating he was "certain Jock Stein is happy at Leeds and will not leave to take the Scottish job". He also indicated that if players could be "worth £400,000, Jock Stein must be worth four million pounds."


title: Jock Stein

text: Stein advised commentator Archie Macpherson to make it publicly known that he would be interested in taking the job. Cussins, who had sacked Brian Clough after just 44 days in charge of Leeds in 1974, refused permission for the Scottish Football Association to speak to Stein. Cussins could not convince Stein to stay, however, and he resigned to accept the position of Scotland manager. Stein had been manager of Leeds for just 44 days, like Clough, although his tenure and departure had no bitterness or rancour.


title: Jock Stein

text: Stein was first appointed manager of Scotland on a part-time basis in the spring of 1965, taking charge of their attempt to qualify for the 1966 World Cup. Scotland achieved good results in their first two qualifiers, a draw against Poland and a win against Finland. Stein was criticised by the Scottish press after the team conceded two late goals and lost 2–1 at home to Poland, but they managed to beat Italy 1–0 at Hampden Park through a last minute goal by John Greig to raise some hope of qualification. Scotland suffered from several players withdrawing from the return match against Italy due to injury. Stein, by instinct an attacking coach, set his team up defensively. A 3–0 defeat meant that they failed to qualify from UEFA Group 8. Stein relinquished the Scotland job after this defeat to concentrate on his full-time role with Celtic.


title: Jock Stein

text: After Willie Ormond resigned as manager of Scotland in May 1977, Stein was approached about replacing him, but confirmed that he intended to remain at Celtic. Amid overwhelming optimism incited by incumbent manager Ally MacLeod that Scotland would achieve great success at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, Stein was one of the few to caution against this: something he would be proven right in, as Scotland subsequently failed to qualify from the group stage.


title: Jock Stein

text: Stein was appointed Scotland manager on a full-time basis on 5 October 1978, which was his 56th birthday. 65,872 attended his first game in charge, a 3–2 win against Norway at Hampden, despite the bus services in Glasgow being on strike. Stein had picked a team with only players based in England, but he felt that he could bring through more home-based players. He also believed that Scotland had tended to play with too much emotion and naivety, which he wanted to replace with an emphasis on retaining possession of the football. Two defeats to Belgium meant that Scotland failed to qualify for the 1980 European Championship. This was followed by losses to Northern Ireland and England in the 1980 British Home Championship, which led to some criticism in the media.


title: Jock Stein

text: The Scots' form improved in their successful qualifying campaign for the 1982 FIFA World Cup, finishing top of their group and only losing once. Scotland travelled to Spain in the summer of 1982 in what would be the only occasion Stein would manage a side at the finals of major international tournament. Scotland swept into a 3–0 lead in their first group game against New Zealand, but then careless defending saw the Kiwis stage a comeback, scoring twice. Scotland added a further two goals near the end to restore their three-goal advantage, but concern was raised at the potential repercussions of the two New Zealand goals should goal difference become a factor. Brazil were the next opponents, and Stein make a number of changes to his side. Danny McGrain and Kenny Dalglish were surprise omissions, while David Narey, Willie Miller and Steve Archibald came into the side. Graeme Souness took over the captaincy in McGrain's absence. Narey gave Scotland a shock lead when he opened the scoring with a powerful right-foot strike. Zico equalised just before half-time from a free kick, and then Brazil took control in the second half, scoring three times to send Scotland crashing to a 4–1 defeat. The final group game paired Scotland against the Soviet Union. The teams were level on two points each, but the Soviets had a better goal difference and this meant Scotland had to win. Joe Jordan came into the team for his first appearance at the 1982 World Cup, and he gave Scotland the lead in the first half, but the Soviets rallied and scored twice in the second half. The second goal was particularly galling for the Scots, and came as a result of defenders Alan Hansen and Willie Miller colliding with one another, allowing Ramaz Shengelia a clear run in at goal to score. Souness netted a late equaliser for Scotland, but the game finished 2–2 and Scotland went out on goal difference. Stein commented after the final match: "I am very disappointed we have not qualified. If we had played the way we did in any other section we would have gone through", adding "We have proved we can compete at this level, if not win... Tonight I think we have done Scotland proud, both on and off the field."


title: Jock Stein

text: Under Stein, Scotland began their qualifying campaign for the 1986 World Cup with a 3–0 win over Iceland at Hampden Park in October 1984. Paul McStay scored twice in the first half, and came close to getting a hat-trick when he struck the crossbar in the second half. Charlie Nicholas scored Scotland's third goal. Stein observed that Scotland "won with style" and singled out winger Davie Cooper along with McStay for the flair they both displayed. The Scots turned in an even better showing in their next tie, a 3–1 home win over Spain. Two first half headed goals from Mo Johnston gave Scotland a 2–0 lead at half-time. Spain pulled a goal back in the second half, but with 18 minutes remaining Kenny Dalglish dribbled past three Spanish defenders before striking a powerful shot high into the net for Scotland's third. It was Dalglish's 30th international goal, equalling the national team record held by Denis Law, and it would also be Dalglish's last. Stein described the win over Spain as "the most satisfying since I became [Scotland] manager", adding that "we scored three goals against a quality team that came to defend". Spanish manager Miguel Muñoz praised the Scots' performance, describing them as "tremendous". Performances and results were more mixed in the later qualifying ties, losing the return match in Spain, going down to a 1–0 defeat against Wales in Glasgow and scraping a narrow 1–0 win over Iceland in Reykjavík. Scotland went into their last qualifying tie, away to Wales, needing at least a draw to secure a play-off spot.


title: Jock Stein

text: The Scottish International Committee made the surprise announcement of Stein in a dual role as Scotland under-23 team manager, also known as the "Colts", and assistant to the Scotland national team on February 17, 1975. Both roles were assigned on a temporary basis. His appointment was made to take the strain off manager Willie Ormond. Stein accompanied Ormond for the Wales under-23s match on February 25, but only to observe. Aberdeen manager Jimmy Bonthrone and Rangers assistant Willie Thornton were also in attendance. Stein didn't officially inherit the "Colts" job from Ormond until April. Stein started as "Colts" manager with wins over Sweden under-23s in a friendly, and Leeds United in a challenge match. He then took charge of his only competitive match in charge. It was a UEFA under-23 Championship qualifier away at the Romania under-23s. Goals from Willie Pettigrew and Willie Young meant the team opened the campaign with a 2–1 win. Despite a three match winning streak, Stein relinquished both roles not longer after, as he was hospitalized as the result of a car crash.


title: Jock Stein

text: As national team boss, Stein was also responsible for the Scottish League XI side. He took charge of three matches between 1978 and 1980, which included the last inter-league match involving the Scottish League XI. The result was a 4–2 defeat of the Irish League XI at Windsor Park.


title: Jock Stein

text: On 10 September 1985, Scotland played Wales at Ninian Park, Cardiff, in a 1986 World Cup qualification match. Wales had been leading 1–0 by a Mark Hughes goal, before Scotland were awarded a penalty with 9 minutes left. Davie Cooper scored to make the score 1–1; the resulting draw secured a qualification play-off against Australia. Stein, who had been in poor health and under intense pressure, suffered a fatal pulmonary edema (fluid build-up in the lungs) at the end of the game – he had stopped taking prescribed medication for heart disease so his match preparations would not be disrupted by the side effects – and died shortly afterwards in the stadium's medical room; he was 62 years old. Due to the circumstances, the cause of death has frequently been reported as a heart attack. Stein was cremated at Linn Crematorium in Glasgow, at a private ceremony at which many past and present football figures were in attendance.


title: Jock Stein

text: His death had a profound effect on his assistant, and Aberdeen manager, Alex Ferguson, who regarded Stein as a mentor and was horrified by his sudden death. Ferguson was appointed interim manager and led the Scotland team to the 1986 World Cup, but they failed to progress beyond the group stage and Andy Roxburgh was appointed as Stein's permanent successor.


title: Jock Stein

text: Jock Stein is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential managers in the history of British football. In contrast to his predecessors, he was actively involved in his players training – a "tracksuit manager". And whereas training had previously consisted of mainly running around the track, he introduced practising with the ball into training. He is considered a football visionary; in particular for his time at Celtic where he transformed a side lacking direction and having gone almost eight years without a trophy into the best team in Europe, all whilst playing entertaining adventurous football. Prior to that, he had led Dunfermline Athletic to their first ever Scottish Cup Final win. Furthermore, his man-management style and grasp of the psychological side of the game was years ahead of its time.


title: Jock Stein

text: Stein was hugely respected by his peers and a massive influence on the next generation of managers who would follow in his footsteps; such as those who played under him like Billy McNeill, Kenny Dalglish, Graeme Souness, Alex McLeish, Gordon Strachan; and those who worked under him as coaches like Jim McLean, Walter Smith, Craig Brown and in particular Alex Ferguson.


title: Jock Stein

text: Since his death, Stein has been inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame and the Scottish Football Hall of Fame. When Celtic Park was rebuilt in the 1990s, the traditional Celtic fans' end of the stadium was named the Jock Stein Stand.


title: Jock Stein

text: In 2002 Stein was voted the greatest ever Celtic manager by the club's fans, and he was voted the greatest Scottish football manager in a 2003 poll by the "Sunday Herald" newspaper. A bust of Stein was presented to Celtic by a supporters' group and now sits in the foyer of the stadium.


title: Jock Stein

text: On 5 March 2011 a greater than lifesize bronze statue of Stein, by the sculptor John McKenna, was unveiled outside Celtic Park. The statue depicts Stein holding the European Cup.


title: Jock Stein

text: He married Jeanie McAuley in 1946 and they were together until his death 39 years later. They had a son George and daughter Ray. Ray died of cancer on 9 September 2006 aged 59, and was outlived by her mother, who died on 2 August 2007 at the age of 80. George was living in Switzerland by the time of his father's death.


title: Grandson (musician)

text: Jordan Edward Benjamin (born October 25, 1993), known professionally as Grandson (stylized in all lowercase as grandson), is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, and musician currently signed to Fueled by Ramen. He released his major label debut EP, "A Modern Tragedy Vol. 1", on June 15, 2018, and released the follow-up "A Modern Tragedy Vol. 2" on February 22, 2019. The initial EP featured the single "Blood // Water", which appeared on several "Billboard" charts in the United States and Canada. Benjamin's music focuses on modern-day issues that are less recognized by the media and public. On December 4, 2020, he released his debut studio album, "Death of an Optimist."


title: Grandson (musician)

text: Benjamin was born to a Jewish family in New Jersey, United States, but when he was 3 years old his family moved to Toronto, Ontario, where his maternal relatives lived (he holds dual citizenship of both countries). He has two sisters. Benjamin grew up largely in the Eglinton West area of Toronto. He attended Northern Secondary School in Toronto and, after graduation, enrolled in McGill University in Montreal. There, he studied education with the initial goal of becoming a teacher. He also spent a great deal of time DJing and playing shows in Montreal while at McGill. After two years, he transferred to Concordia University, another Montreal institution. He studied communications there briefly before dropping out and moving to Los Angeles in 2014 to pursue a music career.


title: Grandson (musician)

text: Benjamin began releasing music under the pseudonym Grandson, stylized as grandson, in late 2015. In 2016, he released several singles that accrued millions of streams, including "Bills", "Things Change", and "Bury Me Face Down". In 2017, he was signed to RCA Records, and continued releasing singles, including "Best Friends" and "Kiss Bang". He also performed at North by Northeast that year (among other festivals).


title: Grandson (musician)

text: In April 2018, it was announced that grandson had signed to the Fueled By Ramen record label. He had also released two new singles, "Blood // Water" (a song about political corruption that would go on to appear on multiple "Billboard" charts) and "Thoughts & Prayers", which offered a critique of American gun laws in the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. He released his first EP on Fueled by Ramen, "A Modern Tragedy Vol. 1", in June 2018. That EP also featured the song "6:00" which discussed police brutality. Also in June 2018, grandson was featured on Mike Shinoda's song "Running from My Shadow", taken from his debut album "Post Traumatic"; the track was released also with an accompanying music video in May 2018.


title: Grandson (musician)

text: Throughout 2018, grandson toured with acts like Hobo Johnson, Joywave, Nothing But Thieves, Smashing Pumpkins, and Young the Giant. He also appeared on an episode of "Late Night with Seth Meyers" in August 2018, performing "Blood // Water".


title: Grandson (musician)

text: In February 2019, he released a new single, "Apologize", and announced his second EP, "A Modern Tragedy Vol. 2", which was released on February 22, 2019. In late May, grandson released a cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Maria", a song featured on the 1999 album "The Battle of Los Angeles".


title: Grandson (musician)

text: In June 2019, he won the SOCAN Songwriting Prize for his song "Blood // Water", while in September 2019 the singer released "A Modern Tragedy Vol. 3", the final installment of the Modern Tragedy trilogy EPs; the record features the lead single "Rock Bottom", which peaked at No. 38 on the Canadian Rock Chart.


title: Grandson (musician)

text: On September 23, 2020, grandson announced on his Facebook page that his debut full-length album "Death of an Optimist" would be released on December 4, 2020. "Death of an Optimist" is grandson's debut album, being his first record to have a heavier tone since the release of the last a modern tragedy EP, a modern tragedy vol. 3. The album gained a lot of publicity and recognition through his social media. He announced a new album in May 2022.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol cigarettes have been banned in several countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Turkey, Moldova, the European Union, the United Kingdom and the US state of Massachusetts, even though experts note that menthols are not harder to quit and are not more harmful than regular cigarettes. Some countries still allow menthol and capsule filter tips that are sold separately.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol cigarettes were first developed by Lloyd "Spud" Hughes of Mingo Junction, Ohio, in 1924, though the idea did not become popular until the Axton-Fisher Tobacco Co. acquired the patent in 1927, marketing them nationwide as "Spud Menthol Cooled Cigarettes". Spud brand menthol cigarettes went on to become the fifth most popular brand in the US by 1932, and it remained the only menthol cigarette on the market until the Brown & Williamson Tobacco Company created the Kool brand in 1933.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: For over two decades, Kool was the only significant menthol cigarette brand in the United States, with a market share that never got much above 2%. Their advertisements focused on "throat comfort" and the "medicinal" properties of menthol, and some ads even suggested occasional use: "In between the others, rest your throat with Kools".


title: Menthol cigarette

text: R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company launched the first menthol filter-tip cigarettes in 1956 under the Salem brand. Less heavily mentholated than Kool, Salem was positioned as an all-purpose cigarette, and captured 0.8% market share within their first year. Other tobacco producers, seeing the success of Salem, soon introduced their own mentholated filter cigarettes: Lorillard with Newport in 1957 and Spring in 1959; Philip Morris with Alpine in 1959; and Brown & Williamson with Belair in 1960.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol cigarettes are constructed similarly to non-mentholated cigarettes, with menthol added at any of several stages during the manufacturing process. Menthol may be derived from distilled corn mint oil, or produced synthetically. While trace amounts of menthol may be added to non-mentholated cigarettes for flavor or other reasons, a menthol cigarette typically has at least 0.3% menthol content by weight. Lower-tar menthol cigarettes may have menthol levels up to 2%, in order to keep menthol delivery constant despite the filtration and ventilation designs used to reduce tar.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: A recent innovation has been to include a small capsule in or near the filter which can be broken to release additional menthol or other flavoring solutions. During the smoking of a cigarette the menthol delivery depletes noticeably, but this technology allows the smoker to increase the menthol delivery at a chosen point to sustain or enhance the menthol 'feel'. The capsules can contain any flavorings, but are primarily menthol.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Compared to tobacco blends for non-mentholated cigarettes, a menthol cigarette will tend to have more flue-cured than burley tobacco, and less oriental tobacco.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol cigarette usage varies widely by country. They are most popular in the Philippines, where they account for over 60% of total cigarette sales.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: In the United States, menthols comprise about 30% of the total cigarette market. Menthol cigarettes are purchased disproportionately by African-American smokers, with 80% of African-American smokers consuming menthol cigarettes primarily. In fact, menthol tobacco marketing is specifically targeted to African Americans; it is a subject of research and it has been a subject of litigation on discrimination grounds. The proportion of smokers who use menthols rose from 31% in 2004 to 33.7% in 2010, according to a 2010 study by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Much of the increase comes from young people.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Racial marketing strategies changed among American tobacco companies during the 1950s. The civil rights movement led to the rise of African-American publications, such as "Ebony". This helped tobacco companies to target separate marketing messages by race. Tobacco companies supported civil rights organizations, and advertised their support heavily. Industry motives were, according to their public statements, to support civil rights causes; according to an independent review of internal tobacco industry documents, they were "to increase African American tobacco use, to use African Americans as a frontline force to defend industry policy positions, and to defuse tobacco control efforts". There had been internal resistance to tobacco sponsorship, and some organizations later began rejecting nicotine funding as a matter of policy.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Race-specific advertising exacerbated small (a few percent) racial differences in menthol cigarette preferences into large (tens of percent) ones. It has been proposed that menthol cigarettes, which are more addictive but no less harmful, should be banned, partially on grounds that race-specific marketing for a more addictive product is a social injustice.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Despite it being illegal at the time, tobacco marketers gave out free menthol cigarette samples to children in black neighborhoods in the U.S. Similar practices continue in Sub-Saharan Africa, where a 2016 study found over 12% of South African students had been given free cigarettes by tobacco company representatives.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: In addition to high use by African Americans, menthol cigarettes are used disproportionately by adolescents, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans. Americans identifying as LGBT are twice as likely to use menthol cigarettes, according to CDC research. Where these demographics overlap, menthol use is especially high: most female LGBT smokers use menthols, as do 80% of African American youth smokers and 70% of LGBT youth smokers. Tobacco companies have targeted the LGBT community with advertising for menthol cigarettes, most notably through Project SCUM.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: A Federal Trade Commission report released September 21, 2012, said menthol cigarettes sales had gone from 27% in 2008 to 22% in 2010.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Several countries have banned menthol cigarettes, including Brazil, Canada, Ethiopia, Turkey, Moldova, the European Union and the United Kingdom.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Canada imposed a nationwide ban on menthol cigarettes that took effect on 1 October 2017. But several provinces had already banned it before at the provincial level, for example Quebec, Alberta, Nova Scotia, Ontario and New Brunswick.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: In March 2012, Brazil became the first country to outlaw flavored cigarettes, including menthol cigarettes, but was unable to enact it due to the tobacco industry interference resulting in a lengthy court battle. Philip Morris Brasil (PMB) had challenged the ban through its membership of The National Industry Confederation, arguing that the ban was unconstitutional. According to Philip Morris International's 2018 annual report, "The tobacco union requested a stay of the enforcement of the ingredient ban while the appeal is pending". The Brazilian government finally won the court case in February 2018.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: On 21 June 2013, EU health ministers agreed on a directive to ban menthol cigarettes (technically "dual flavour cigarettes") In response, the former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt (1918–2015) was reported to have hoarded 200 cartons of his preferred menthol cigarette brand in his house.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: On 20 May 2020, menthol cigarettes were banned in all European Union countries. Despite having left the EU in January 2020, the United Kingdom also enacted the ban.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Although the use of menthol in ointments and cough drops is regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States of America, regulation of cigarettes was removed from their purview in 2000 by the Supreme Court in a 5–4 ruling, "FDA v. Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corp." The FDA, under the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act, banned characterizing flavors in cigarettes; however, mentholated tobacco products were exempt. Furthermore, the act gives the FDA the authority to regulate tobacco products and ban flavor additives, although the act contained an exception for menthol.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: On March 18, 2011, the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee (an advisory panel to the FDA) concluded that removing menthol cigarettes from the market would benefit public health in the United States, but stopped short of recommending that the Food and Drug Administration take any specific actions, like restricting or banning the additive. In response, the tobacco industry released a report to the FDA in an effort to change the focus of the subject by claiming menthol cigarettes are no riskier than regular cigarettes and should not be regulated differently.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: In November 2018 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced its intention to outlaw menthol cigarettes, later changing this position to advocate for restriction of flavored tobacco and e-cigarettes to a separate age-restricted room. The FDA stated that this change in position was due to their belief that they do not have the legal regulatory authority to unilaterally declare a ban, citing concerns that any such ban would result in litigation that the FDA would lose.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: In June 2020, two US NGOs (African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council and Action on Smoking and Health) filed a lawsuit against the FDA to try to force it to introduce a ban on menthol cigarettes in order to reduce health inequalities, noting that 85% of African American smokers smoke menthol cigarettes.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: In April 2021, the FDA announced that it planned to ban the sale, manufacturing, and importation of menthol cigarettes and mass-produced flavored cigars, citing menthol’s highly addictive qualities and the racial disparities among those most likely to smoke menthol cigarettes. Proposed regulations were published for public comment in April 2022.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Several black advocacy groups have voiced opposition to a proposed ban on menthol in cigarettes. The Congress of Racial Equality, the National Black Chamber of Commerce, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and the National Black Police Association have urged the FDA to reject a ban on mentholated cigarettes due to concerns that banning mentholated cigarettes could spur an illicit market for the outlawed products in minority communities.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Groups representing law enforcement officers also oppose the ban. The Law Enforcement Alliance of America and the National Troopers Coalition have urged the FDA to consider the impact a ban on menthol cigarettes would have on tobacco smuggling.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: The proposed menthol ban also saw opposition from organized labor. In December 2010, workers from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union protested outside a meeting between FDA officials and industry representatives in Raleigh, North Carolina, arguing that a menthol ban would cost many workers their jobs.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Additionally, the National Association of Convenience Stores opposes the ban based on menthol cigarettes accounting for 4% of their sales.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: A 2020 US Surgeon General Report, Smoking Cessation, concluded that there is not enough evidence to support banning menthol as a way to reduce smoking.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol cigarettes are not healthier than other cigarettes. The risk of lung cancer is no different for menthol cigarettes compared to regular cigarettes. Some studies have suggested that they are more addictive.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Young people who use menthol cigarettes are also thought to be 80% more likely to become life-long smokers than those who use regular cigarettes.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol decreases irritant sensations from nicotine by desensitizing receptors, making smoking less harsh.


title: Menthol cigarette

text: Menthol cigarettes have been shown to inhibit nicotine metabolization, leading to increased systemic nicotine exposure and increased nicotine addiction.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: Kadhal Desam () is a 1996 Indian Tamil-language action romance film written and directed by Kathir and produced by K. T. Kunjumon. The film starred Vineeth and debutant Abbas in the main leads, along with actress Tabu (in her Tamil debut) while S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vadivelu, Chinni Jayanth and Srividya are featured in other pivotal characters. K. V. Anand was the cinematographer for the project and A. R. Rahman composed the film's soundtrack and score. The film opened on 23 August 1996 to positive reviews from critics and became a box office success. It was also remade in Bangladesh as "Narir Mon", starring Riaz, Shakil Khan and Shabnur, respectively.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: In Chennai, a traditional rivalry has always existed between the students of Pachaiyappa's and Loyola colleges. Karthik (Vineeth) is a poor orphan who studies in Pachaiyappa's College, a hobo in a rented room, travels by the bus, hangs out with a number of friends, and is the captain of his football team. He is also a good poet and daydreams about his dream girl. Arun (Abbas), on the other hand, comes from a rich and wealthy family, studies in Loyola College, drives his own car, hangs out with numerous friends, and is also the captain of his football team. In a nasty intercollege riot, Arun saves Karthik's life. So in return, Karthik lets Arun win in a soccer game because he thinks Arun can't take losses easily. Arun realizes that the victory is because of Karthik's sacrifice.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: They become good friends, setting a good example of friendship to others in their college. Things go smooth until a new girl Divya (Tabu), joins the college. Both Arun and Karthik fall in love with her, but neither of them realizes that both are in love with the same girl. Following a sequence of events, when they realize that both are loving the same girl, their friendship is strained, and they fight with each other. At the end, Divya says that she likes them both but does not want to choose one, thereby losing the other and disrupting their friendship. Hence the film ends with Arun and Karthik regaining their friendship and remaining friends with Divya.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: Kathir, while writing the script, "wanted some drama rather than plain love and so wrote a story of warring colleges and two boys in them". He narrated a five-minute plot summary to Kunjumon, who was impressed with it and insisted Kathir to change the film's title to "Kadhal Desam" instead of its original title "Kalloori Saalai".


title: Kadhal Desam

text: Mumbai model Abbas was in Bangalore on vacation and hanging out at a cybercafe near Brigade Road, when he bumped into director Kathir, who asked him to act in his Tamil film. Initially reluctant due to his limited knowledge of Tamil, he opted out and left for Mumbai. A year later, Abbas received a call from producer K. T. Kunjumon asking him to come over for a screen test as a result of Kathir's insistence. Vineeth was signed on to play another lead role in the film due to his association with Kunjumon, having previously worked in the 1993 Shankar-directed film, "Gentleman". Tabu was signed on to make her debut in Tamil films and worked on the film alongside Mani Ratnam's "Iruvar". Then struggling actor Vikram had dubbed his voice for Abbas, while dubbing artist Sekar dubbed the voice for Vineeth and actress Saritha for Tabu. A. Karunakaran, who became a successful director in Telugu cinema, started his career as a clap assistant with this film.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: Kathir mentioned that he dreamt of a "beautiful place full of young people" and was inspired by College Road in Chennai, with a setting by the beach which formed as "opening visual idea" for the film. Since it did not exist, he ordered it to be created for the film, costing Rs. one crore (ten million rupees). The film also managed to convince Pachaiyappa's College and Loyola College to give them rights to use their college names in the films, focussing on the rivalry between the institutions. Filming mainly took place in and around the cities of Chennai, Bangalore, Ooty, Mudumalai, Bandipur, Mumbai and Vishakhapatnam.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: The film went on to become a large commercial success. The climax of the film broke a taboo in the Tamil film industry, where a love triangle would be decided with a happy ending. Post-success, Abbas revealed that he felt that "Mustafa Mustafa" song catapulted him to stardom and enjoyed a strong female base after "Kadhal Desam". However, a critic from Indolink.com suggested that "Katheer's direction lacks the punch and innovation. The narration is slow, incoherent, and shaky", though mentioned there is "reasonably good acting by Vineeth, Abbas is OK for a newcomer and Tabu looks ravishing". A reviewer from "The Hindu" wrote "Grandiose trappings in the form of giant sets, never before erected on such a scale in an Indian movie, offer a fitting backdrop for a love story.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: The film won A. R. Rahman his fifth consecutive Filmfare Award for Best Music Director in Tamil. K. V. Anand also received the Screen Award South for Best Cinematography for his work in the film. The film was dubbed and released in Telugu as "Prema Desam" and became an equally big success. The Hindi dubbed version, "Duniya Dilwalon Ki", however, released to negative reviews and did not perform as well.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: The success of the film prompted Rahman to collaborate with Kathir again in "Kadhalar Dhinam" (1999) and "Kadhal Virus" (2002). As a result of respect for his first director, Abbas made a guest appearance in the latter film. The film triggered off a string of youth-based stories in films with "Minsara Kanavu" and "Ullaasam" featuring similar story lines.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: The soundtrack for the film was composed by A. R. Rahman, with lyrics by Vaali. The soundtrack was also released in Telugu as "Prema Desam" and in Hindi with the title "Duniya Dilwalon Ki", with lyrics written by P. K. Mishra and Mehboob Kotwal.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: Kathir revealed that the first song to be recorded was "Kalloori Saalai", he wanted it to be a fast number, but wanted it to start the song "with a melodious line". Rahman asked for a dummy lyric for it which started with "Inbathai karuvakkinal penn", which Vaali liked and retained it for the final cut as well.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: For the song "Musthafa Musthafa", Kathir wanted a song on the lines of an old song "Paravaigal Meethu", which was about friendship. Rahman gave him the tune during a flight journey which Kathir liked it.


title: Kadhal Desam

text: "Kalluri Saalai" and the instrumental theme of the song and flowers falling on the road was parodied in "Thamizh Padam 2" (2018).


title: Maman (sculpture)

text: Maman (1999) is a bronze, stainless steel, and marble sculpture by the artist Louise Bourgeois. The sculpture, which depicts a spider, is among the world's largest, measuring over 30 ft high and over 33 ft wide (927 x 891 x 1024 cm). It includes a sac containing 32 marble eggs and its abdomen and thorax are made of ribbed bronze.


title: Maman (sculpture)

text: The title is the familiar French word for "Mother" (akin to "Mummy"). The sculpture was created in 1999 by Bourgeois as a part of her inaugural commission of The Unilever Series (2000), in the Turbine Hall at London's Tate Modern. This original was created in steel, with an edition of six subsequent castings in bronze.


title: Maman (sculpture)

text: The sculpture picks up the theme of the arachnid that Bourgeois had first contemplated in a small ink and charcoal drawing in 1947, continuing with her 1996 sculpture "Spider". It alludes to the strength of Bourgeois' mother, with metaphors of spinning, weaving, nurture and protection. Her mother, Josephine, was a woman who repaired tapestries in her father's textile restoration workshop in Paris. When Bourgeois was twenty-one, she lost her mother to an unknown illness. A few days after her mother's passing, in front of her father (who did not seem to take his daughter's despair seriously), Louise threw herself into the Bièvre River; he swam to her rescue.


title: Designer baby

text: A designer baby is a baby whose genetic makeup has been selected or altered, often to not include a particular gene or to remove genes associated with disease. This process usually involves analysing a wide range of human embryos to identify genes associated with particular diseases and characteristics, and selecting embryos that have the desired genetic makeup; a process known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis. Screening for single genes is commonly practiced, and polygenic screening is offered by a few companies. Other potential methods by which a baby's genetic information can be altered involve directly editing the genome before birth, which is not routinely performed and only one instance of this is known to have occurred as of 2019, where Chinese twins Lulu and Nana were edited as embryos, causing widespread criticism.


title: Designer baby

text: Genetically altered embryos can be achieved by introducing the desired genetic material into the embryo itself, or into the sperm and/or egg cells of the parents; either by delivering the desired genes directly into the cell or using the gene-editing technology. This process is known as germline engineering and performing this on embryos that will be brought to term is not typically permitted by law. Editing embryos in this manner means that the genetic changes can be carried down to future generations, and since the technology concerns editing the genes of an unborn baby, it is considered controversial and is subject to ethical debate. While some scientists condone the use of this technology to treat disease, some have raised concerns that this could be translated into using the technology for cosmetic means and enhancement of human traits, with implications for the wider society.


title: Designer baby

text: Pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD or PIGD) is a procedure in which embryos are screened prior to implantation. The technique is used alongside "in vitro" fertilisation (IVF) to obtain embryos for evaluation of the genome – alternatively, ovocytes can be screened prior to fertilisation. The technique was first used in 1989.


title: Designer baby

text: PGD is used primarily to select embryos for implantation in the case of possible genetic defects, allowing identification of mutated or disease-related alleles and selection against them. It is especially useful in embryos from parents where one or both carry a heritable disease. PGD can also be used to select for embryos of a certain sex, most commonly when a disease is more strongly associated with one sex than the other (as is the case for X-linked disorders which are more common in males, such as haemophilia). Infants born with traits selected following PGD are sometimes considered to be designer babies.


title: Designer baby

text: One application of PGD is the selection of 'saviour siblings', children who are born to provide a transplant (of an organ or group of cells) to a sibling with a usually life-threatening disease. Saviour siblings are conceived through IVF and then screened using PGD to analyze genetic similarity to the child needing a transplant, to reduce the risk of rejection.


title: Designer baby

text: Embryos for PGD are obtained from IVF procedures in which the oocyte is artificially fertilised by sperm. Oocytes from the woman are harvested following controlled ovarian hyperstimulation (COH), which involves fertility treatments to induce production of multiple oocytes. After harvesting the oocytes, they are fertilised "in vitro", either during incubation with multiple sperm cells in culture, or "via" intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where sperm is directly injected into the oocyte. The resulting embryos are usually cultured for 3–6 days, allowing them to reach the blastomere or blastocyst stage.


title: Designer baby

text: Once embryos reach the desired stage of development, cells are biopsied and genetically screened. The screening procedure varies based on the nature of the disorder being investigated.


title: Designer baby

text: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a process in which DNA sequences are amplified to produce many more copies of the same segment, allowing screening of large samples and identification of specific genes. The process is often used when screening for monogenic disorders, such as cystic fibrosis.


title: Designer baby

text: Another screening technique, fluorescent "in situ" hybridisation (FISH) uses fluorescent probes which specifically bind to highly complementary sequences on chromosomes, which can then be identified using fluorescence microscopy. FISH is often used when screening for chromosomal abnormalities such as aneuploidy, making it a useful tool when screening for disorders such as Down syndrome.


title: Designer baby

text: Following the screening, embryos with the desired trait (or lacking an undesired trait such as a mutation) are transferred into the mother's uterus, then allowed to develop naturally.


title: Designer baby

text: PGD regulation is determined by individual countries' governments, with some prohibiting its use entirely, including in Austria, China, and Ireland.


title: Designer baby

text: In many countries, PGD is permitted under very stringent conditions for medical use only, as is the case in France, Switzerland, Italy and the United Kingdom. Whilst PGD in Italy and Switzerland is only permitted under certain circumstances, there is no clear set of specifications under which PGD can be carried out, and selection of embryos based on sex is not permitted. In France and the UK, regulations are much more detailed, with dedicated agencies setting out framework for PGD. Selection based on sex is permitted under certain circumstances, and genetic disorders for which PGD is permitted are detailed by the countries' respective agencies.


title: Designer baby

text: In contrast, the United States federal law does not regulate PGD, with no dedicated agencies specifying regulatory framework by which healthcare professionals must abide. Elective sex selection is permitted, accounting for around 9% of all PGD cases in the U.S., as is selection for desired conditions such as deafness or dwarfism.


title: Designer baby

text: Human germline engineering is a process in which the human genome is edited within a germ cell, such as a sperm cell or oocyte (causing heritable changes), or in the zygote or embryo following fertilization. Germline engineering results in changes in the genome being incorporated into every cell in the body of the offspring (or of the individual following embryonic germline engineering). This process differs from somatic cell engineering, which does not result in heritable changes. Most human germline editing is performed on individual cells and non-viable embryos, which are destroyed at a very early stage of development. In November 2018, however, a Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, announced that he had created the first human germline genetically edited babies.


title: Designer baby

text: Genetic engineering relies on a knowledge of human genetic information, made possible by research such as the Human Genome Project, which identified the position and function of all the genes in the human genome. As of 2019, high-throughput sequencing methods allow genome sequencing to be conducted very rapidly, making the technology widely available to researchers.


title: Designer baby

text: Germline modification is typically accomplished through techniques which incorporate a new gene into the genome of the embryo or germ cell in a specific location. This can be achieved by introducing the desired DNA directly to the cell for it to be incorporated, or by replacing a gene with one of interest. These techniques can also be used to remove or disrupt unwanted genes, such as ones containing mutated sequences.


title: Designer baby

text: Whilst germline engineering has mostly been performed in mammals and other animals, research on human cells "in vitro" is becoming more common. Most commonly used in human cells are germline gene therapy and the engineered nuclease system CRISPR/Cas9.


title: Designer baby

text: Gene therapy is the delivery of a nucleic acid (usually DNA or RNA) into a cell as a pharmaceutical agent to treat disease. Most commonly it is carried out using a vector, which transports the nucleic acid (usually DNA encoding a therapeutic gene) into the target cell. A vector can transduce a desired copy of a gene into a specific location to be expressed as required. Alternatively, a transgene can be inserted to deliberately disrupt an unwanted or mutated gene, preventing transcription and translation of the faulty gene products to avoid a disease phenotype.


title: Designer baby

text: Gene therapy in patients is typically carried out on somatic cells in order to treat conditions such as some leukaemias and vascular diseases.


title: Designer baby

text: Human germline gene therapy in contrast is restricted to "in vitro" experiments in some countries, whilst others prohibited it entirely, including Australia, Canada, Germany and Switzerland.


title: Designer baby

text: Whilst the National Institutes of Health in the US does not currently allow "in utero" germline gene transfer clinical trials, "in vitro" trials are permitted. The NIH guidelines state that further studies are required regarding the safety of gene transfer protocols before "in utero" research is considered, requiring current studies to provide demonstrable efficacy of the techniques in the laboratory. Research of this sort is currently using non-viable embryos to investigate the efficacy of germline gene therapy in treatment of disorders such as inherited mitochondrial diseases.


title: Designer baby

text: Gene transfer to cells is usually by vector delivery. Vectors are typically divided into two classes – viral and non-viral.


title: Designer baby

text: Viruses infect cells by transducing their genetic material into a host's cell, using the host's cellular machinery to generate viral proteins needed for replication and proliferation. By modifying viruses and loading them with the therapeutic DNA or RNA of interest, it is possible to use these as a vector to provide delivery of the desired gene into the cell.


title: Designer baby

text: Retroviruses are some of the most commonly used viral vectors, as they not only introduce their genetic material into the host cell, but also copy it into the host's genome. In the context of gene therapy, this allows permanent integration of the gene of interest into the patient's own DNA, providing longer lasting effects.


title: Designer baby

text: Viral vectors work efficiently and are mostly safe but present with some complications, contributing to the stringency of regulation on gene therapy. Despite partial inactivation of viral vectors in gene therapy research, they can still be immunogenic and elicit an immune response. This can impede viral delivery of the gene of interest, as well as cause complications for the patient themselves when used clinically, especially in those who already have a serious genetic illness. Another difficulty is the possibility that some viruses will randomly integrate their nucleic acids into the genome, which can interrupt gene function and generate new mutations.


title: Designer baby

text: This is a significant concern when considering germline gene therapy, due to the potential to generate new mutations in the embryo or offspring.


title: Designer baby

text: Non-viral methods of nucleic acid transfection involved injecting a naked DNA plasmid into cell for incorporation into the genome. This method used to be relatively ineffective with low frequency of integration, however, efficiency has since greatly improved, using methods to enhance the delivery of the gene of interest into cells. Furthermore, non-viral vectors are simple to produce on a large scale and are not highly immunogenic.


title: Designer baby

text: Zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) are enzymes generated by fusing a zinc finger DNA-binding domain to a DNA-cleavage domain. Zinc finger recognizes between 9 and 18 bases of sequence. Thus by mixing those modules, it becomes easier to target any sequence researchers wish to alter ideally within complex genomes. A ZFN is a macromolecular complex formed by monomers in which each subunit contains a zinc domain and a FokI endonuclease domain. The FokI domains must dimerize for activities, thus narrowing target area by ensuring that two close DNA-binding events occurs.


title: Designer baby

text: The resulting cleavage event enables most genome-editing technologies to work. After a break is created, the cell seeks to repair it.


title: Designer baby

text: The success of using ZFNs in gene therapy depends on the insertion of genes to the chromosomal target area without causing damage to the cell. Custom ZFNs offer an option in human cells for gene correction.


title: Designer baby

text: There is a method called TALENs that targets singular nucleotides. TALENs stand for transcription activator-like effector nucleases. TALENs are made by TAL effector DNA-binding domain to a DNA cleavage domain. All these methods work by as the TALENs are arranged. TALENs are "built from arrays of 33-35 amino acid modules…by assembling those arrays…researchers can target any sequence they like". This event is referred as Repeat Variable Diresidue (RVD). The relationship between the amino acids enables researchers to engineer a specific DNA domain. The TALEN enzymes are designed to remove specific parts of the DNA strands and replace the section; which enables edits to be made. TALENs can be used to edit genomes using non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology directed repair.


title: Designer baby

text: The CRISPR/Cas9 system (CRISPR – Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, Cas9 – CRISPR-associated protein 9) is a genome editing technology based on the bacterial antiviral CRISPR/Cas system. The bacterial system has evolved to recognize viral nucleic acid sequences and cut these sequences upon recognition, damaging infecting viruses. The gene editing technology uses a simplified version of this process, manipulating the components of the bacterial system to allow location-specific gene editing.


title: Designer baby

text: The CRISPR/Cas9 system broadly consists of two major components – the Cas9 nuclease and a guide RNA (gRNA). The gRNA contains a Cas-binding sequence and a ~20 nucleotide spacer sequence, which is specific and complementary to the target sequence on the DNA of interest. Editing specificity can therefore be changed by modifying this spacer sequence.


title: Designer baby

text: Upon system delivery to a cell, Cas9 and the gRNA bind, forming a ribonucleoprotein complex. This causes a conformational change in Cas9, allowing it to cleave DNA if the gRNA spacer sequence binds with sufficient homology to a particular sequence in the host genome. When the gRNA binds to the target sequence, Cas will cleave the locus, causing a double-strand break (DSB).


title: Designer baby

text: Since NHEJ is more efficient than HDR, most DSBs will be repaired "via" NHEJ, introducing gene knockouts. To increase frequency of HDR, inhibiting genes associated with NHEJ and performing the process in particular cell cycle phases (primarily S and G2) appear effective.


title: Designer baby

text: CRISPR/Cas9 is an effective way of manipulating the genome "in vivo" in animals as well as in human cells "in vitro", but some issues with the efficiency of delivery and editing mean that it is not considered safe for use in viable human embryos or the body's germ cells. As well as the higher efficiency of NHEJ making inadvertent knockouts likely, CRISPR can introduce DSBs to unintended parts of the genome, called off-target effects. These arise due to the spacer sequence of the gRNA conferring sufficient sequence homology to random loci in the genome, which can introduce random mutations throughout. If performed in germline cells, mutations could be introduced to all the cells of a developing embryo.


title: Designer baby

text: There are developments to prevent unintended consequences otherwise known as off-target effects due to gene editing. There is a race to develop new gene editing technologies that prevent off-target effects from occurring with some of the technologies being known as biased off-target detection, and Anti-CRISPR Proteins. For biased off-target effects detection, there are several tools to predict the locations where off-target effects may take place. Within the technology of biased off-target effects detection, there are two main models, Alignment Based Models that involve having the sequences of gRNA being aligned with sequences of genome, after which then the off-target locations are predicted. The second model is known as the Scoring-Based Model where each piece of gRNA is scored for their off-target effects in accordance with their positioning.


title: Designer baby

text: In 2015, the International Summit on Human Gene Editing was held in Washington D.C., hosted by scientists from China, the UK and the U.S.. The summit concluded that genome editing of somatic cells using CRISPR and other genome editing tools would be allowed to proceed under FDA regulations, but human germline engineering would not be pursued.


title: Designer baby

text: In February 2016, scientists at the Francis Crick Institute in London were given a license permitting them to edit human embryos using CRISPR to investigate early development. Regulations were imposed to prevent the researchers from implanting the embryos and to ensure experiments were stopped and embryos destroyed after seven days.


title: Designer baby

text: In November 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced that he had performed the first germline engineering on viable humans embryos, which have since been brought to term. The research claims received significant criticism, and Chinese authorities suspended He's research activity. Following the event, scientists and government bodies have called for more stringent regulations to be imposed on the use of CRISPR technology in embryos, with some calling for a global moratorium on germline genetic engineering. Chinese authorities have announced stricter controls will be imposed, with Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping and government premier Li Keqiang calling for new gene-editing legislations to be introduced.


title: Designer baby

text: As of January 2020, germline genetic alterations are prohibited in 24 countries by law and also in 9 other countries by their guidelines. The Council of Europe's Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine, also known as the Oviedo Convention, has stated in its article 13 "Interventions on the human genome" as follows: "An intervention seeking to modify the human genome may only be undertaken for preventive, diagnostic or therapeutic purposes and only if its aim is not to introduce any modification in the genome of any descendants". Nonetheless, wide public debate has emerged, targeting the fact that the Oviedo Convention Article 13 should be revisited and renewed, especially due to the fact that it was constructed in 1997 and may be out of date, given recent technological advancements in the field of genetic engineering.


title: Designer baby

text: The Lulu and Nana controversy refers to the two Chinese twin girls born in November 2018, who had been genetically modified as embryos by the Chinese scientist He Jiankui. The twins are believed to be the first genetically modified babies. The girls' parents had participated in a clinical project run by He, which involved IVF, PGD and genome editing procedures in an attempt to edit the gene CCR5. CCR5 encodes a protein used by HIV to enter host cells, so by introducing a specific mutation into the gene CCR5 Δ32 He claimed that the process would confer innate resistance to HIV.


title: Designer baby

text: The project run by He recruited couples wanting children where the man was HIV-positive and the woman uninfected. During the project, He performed IVF with sperm and eggs from the couples and then introduced the CCR5 Δ32 mutation into the genomes of the embryos using CRISPR/Cas9. He then used PGD on the edited embryos during which he sequenced biopsied cells to identify whether the mutation had been successfully introduced. He reported some mosaicism in the embryos, whereby the mutation had integrated into some cells but not all, suggesting the offspring would not be entirely protected against HIV. He claimed that during the PGD and throughout the pregnancy, foetal DNA was sequenced to check for off-target errors introduced by the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, however the NIH released a statement in which they announced "the possibility of damaging off-target effects has not been satisfactorily explored". The girls were born in early November 2018, and were reported by He to be healthy.


title: Designer baby

text: His research was conducted in secret until November 2018, when documents were posted on the Chinese clinical trials registry and "MIT Technology Review" published a story about the project. Following this, He was interviewed by the "Associated Press" and presented his work on 27 November and the Second International Human Genome Editing Summit which was held in Hong Kong.


title: Designer baby

text: Although the information available about this experiment is relatively limited, it is deemed that the scientist erred against many ethical, social and moral rules but also China's guidelines and regulations, which prohibited germ-line genetic modifications in human embryos, while conducting this trial. From a technological point of view, the CRISPR/Cas9 technique is one of the most precise and least expensive methods of gene modification to this day, whereas there are still a number of limitations that keep the technique from being labelled as safe and efficient. During the First International Summit on Human Gene Editing in 2015 the participants agreed that a halt must be set on germline genetic alterations in clinical settings unless and until: "(1) the relevant safety and efficacy issues have been resolved, based on appropriate understanding and balancing of risks, potential benefits, and alternatives, and (2) there is broad societal consensus about the appropriateness of the proposed application". However, during the second International Summit in 2018 the topic was once again brought up by stating: "Progress over the last three years and the discussions at the current summit, however, suggest that it is time to define a rigorous, responsible translational pathway toward such trials". Inciting that the ethical and legal aspects should indeed be revisited G. Daley, representative of the summit's management and Dean of Harvard Medical School depicted Dr. He's experiment as "a wrong turn on the right path".


title: Designer baby

text: The experiment was met with widespread criticism and was very controversial, globally as well as in China. Several bioethicists, researchers and medical professionals have released statements condemning the research, including Nobel laureate David Baltimore who deemed the work "irresponsible" and one pioneer of the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, biochemist Jennifer Doudna at University of California, Berkeley. The director of the NIH, Francis S. Collins stated that the "medical necessity for inactivation of CCR5 in these infants is utterly unconvincing" and condemned He Jiankui and his research team for 'irresponsible work'. Other scientists, including geneticist George Church of Harvard University suggested gene editing for disease resistance was "justifiable" but expressed reservations regarding the conduct of He's work.


title: Designer baby

text: The Safe Genes program by DARPA has the goal to protect soldiers against gene editing war tactics. They receive information from ethical experts to better predict and understand future and current potential gene editing issues.


title: Designer baby

text: The World Health Organization has launched a global registry to track research on human genome editing, after a call to halt all work on genome editing.


title: Designer baby

text: The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences responded to the controversy in the journal "Lancet", condemning He for violating ethical guidelines documented by the government and emphasising that germline engineering should not be performed for reproductive purposes. The academy ensured they would "issue further operational, technical and ethical guidelines as soon as possible" to impose tighter regulation on human embryo editing.


title: Designer baby

text: Editing embryos, germ cells and the generation of designer babies is the subject of ethical debate, as a result of the implications in modifying genomic information in a heritable manner. This includes arguments over unbalanced gender selection and gamete selection.


title: Designer baby

text: Despite regulations set by individual countries' governing bodies, the absence of a standardized regulatory framework leads to frequent discourse in discussion of germline engineering among scientists, ethicists and the general public. Arthur Caplan, the head of the Division of Bioethics at New York University suggests that establishing an international group to set guidelines for the topic would greatly benefit global discussion and proposes instating "religious and ethics and legal leaders" to impose well-informed regulations.


title: Designer baby

text: In many countries, editing embryos and germline modification for reproductive use is illegal. As of 2017, the U.S. restricts the use of germline modification and the procedure is under heavy regulation by the FDA and NIH. The American National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Medicine indicated they would provide qualified support for human germline editing "for serious conditions under stringent oversight", should safety and efficiency issues be addressed. In 2019, World Health Organization called human germline genome editing as "irresponsible".


title: Designer baby

text: Since genetic modification poses risk to any organism, researchers and medical professionals must give the prospect of germline engineering careful consideration. The main ethical concern is that these types of treatments will produce a change that can be passed down to future generations and therefore any error, known or unknown, will also be passed down and will affect the offspring. Some bioethicists, including Ronald Green of Dartmouth College, raise concern that this could result in the accidental introduction of new diseases in future.


title: Designer baby

text: When considering support for research into germline engineering, ethicists have often suggested that it can be considered unethical not to consider a technology that could improve the lives of children who would be born with congenital disorders. Geneticist George Church claims that he does not expect germline engineering to increase societal disadvantage, and recommends lowering costs and improving education surrounding the topic to dispel these views. He emphasizes that allowing germline engineering in children who would otherwise be born with congenital defects could save around 5% of babies from living with potentially avoidable diseases. Jackie Leach Scully, professor of social and bioethics at Newcastle University, acknowledges that the prospect of designer babies could leave those living with diseases and unable to afford the technology feeling marginalized and without medical support. However, Professor Leach Scully also suggests that germline editing provides the option for parents "to try and secure what they think is the best start in life" and does not believe it should be ruled out. Similarly, Nick Bostrom, an Oxford philosopher known for his work on the risks of artificial intelligence, proposed that "super-enhanced" individuals could "change the world through their creativity and discoveries, and through innovations that everyone else would use", highlighting not only a personal but societal benefit.


title: Designer baby

text: Many bioethicists emphasize that germline engineering is usually considered in the best interest of a child, therefore associated should be supported. Dr James Hughes, a bioethicist at Trinity College, Connecticut, suggests that the decision may not differ greatly from others made by parents which are well accepted – choosing with whom to have a child and using contraception to denote when a child is conceived. Julian Savulescu, a bioethicist and philosopher at Oxford University believes parents "should allow selection for non‐disease genes even if this maintains or increases social inequality", coining the term "procreative beneficence" to describe the idea that the children "expected to have the best life" should be selected. The Nuffield Council on Bioethics said in 2017 that there was "no reason to rule out" changing the DNA of a human embryo if performed in the child's interest, but stressed that this was only provided that it did not contribute to societal inequality. Furthermore, Nuffield Council in 2018 detailed applications, which would preserve equality and benefit humanity, such as elimination of hereditary disorders and adjusting to warmer climate. Philosopher and Director of Bioethics at non-profit Invincible Wellbeing David Pearce argues that "the question [of designer babies] comes down to an analysis of risk-reward ratios - and our basic ethical values, themselves shaped by our evolutionary past." According to Pearce,"it's worth recalling that each act of old-fashioned sexual reproduction is itself an untested genetic experiment", often compromising a child's wellbeing and pro-social capacities even if the child grows in a healthy environment. Pearce thinks that as technology matures, more people may find it unacceptable to rely on "genetic roulette of natural selection".


title: Designer baby

text: Conversely, several concerns have been raised regarding the possibility of generating designer babies, especially concerning the inefficiencies currently presented by the technologies. Bioethicist Ronald Green stated that although the technology was "unavoidably in our future", he foresaw "serious errors and health problems as unknown genetic side effects in 'edited' children" arise. Furthermore, Green warned against the possibility that "the well-to-do" could more easily access the technologies "..that make them even better off". This concern regarding germline editing exacerbating a societal and financial divide is shared amongst other researches, with the chair of the Nuffield Bioethics Council Professor Karen Yeung stressing that if funding of the procedures "were to exacerbate social injustice, in our view that would not be an ethical approach".


title: Designer baby

text: Social and religious worries also arise over the possibility of editing human embryos. In a survey conducted by the Pew Research Centre, it was found that only a third of the Americans surveyed who identified as strongly Christian approved of germline editing. Catholic leaders are in the middle ground. This stance is because, according to Catholicism, a baby is a gift from God, and Catholics believe that people are created to be perfect in God's eyes. Thus, altering the genetic makeup of an infant is unnatural. In 1984, Pope John Paul II addressed that genetic manipulation in aiming to heal diseases is acceptable in the Church. He stated that it "will be considered in principle as desirable provided that it tends to the real promotion of the personal well-being of man, without harming his integrity or worsening his life conditions". However, it is unacceptable if designer babies are used to create a super/superior race including cloning humans. The Catholic Church rejects human cloning even if its purpose is to produce organs for therapeutic usage. The Vatican has stated that "The fundamental values connected with the techniques of artificial human procreation are two: the life of the human being called into existence and the special nature of the transmission of human life in marriage". According to them, it violates the dignity of the individual and is morally illicit.


title: Designer baby

text: A survey conducted by the Mayo Clinic in the Midwestern United States in 2017 saw that most of the participants agreed against the creation of designer babies with some noting its eugenic undertones. The participants also felt that gene editing may have unintended consequences that it may be manifested later in life for those that undergo gene editing. Some that took the survey worried that gene editing may lead to a decrease in the genetic diversity of the population in societies. The survey also noted how the participants were worried about the potential socioeconomic effects designer babies may exacerbate. The authors of the survey noted that the results of the survey showed that there is a greater need for interaction between the public and the scientific community concerning the possible implications and the recommended regulation of gene editing as it was unclear to them how much those that participated knew about gene editing and its effects prior to taking the survey.


title: Designer baby

text: In Islam, the positive attitude towards genetic engineering is based on the general principle that Islam aims at facilitating human life. However, the negative view comes from the process used to create a Designer baby. Oftentimes, it involves the destruction of some embryos. Muslims believe that "embryos already has a soul" at conception. Thus, the destruction of embryos is against the teaching of the Qur'an, Hadith, and Shari'ah law, that teaches our responsibility to protect human life. To clarify, the procedure would be viewed as "acting like God/Allah". With the idea, that parents could choose the gender of their child, Islam believes that humans have no decision to choose the gender, and that "gender selection is only up to God".


title: Designer baby

text: In 2020, There has been discussion about American studies that used embryos without embryonic implantation with the CRISPR/Cas9 technique that had been modified with HDR (homology-directed repair) and the conclusions from the results were that gene editing technologies are not mature enough currently for real world use and that there is a need for more studies that generate safe results over a longer period of time.


title: Designer baby

text: An article in the journal, "Bioscience Reports," discussed how health in terms of genetics is not straightforward and thus there should be extensive deliberation for operations involving gene editing when the technology gets mature enough for real world use where all of the potential effects are known on a case-by-case basis to prevent undesired effects on the subject or patient being operated on.


title: Designer baby

text: Social aspects also raise concern, as highlighted by Josephine Quintavelle, director of "Comment on Reproductive Ethics" at Queen Mary University of London, who states that selecting children's traits is "turning parenthood into an unhealthy model of self-gratification rather than a relationship".


title: Designer baby

text: One major worry among scientists, including Marcy Darnovsky at the Center for Genetics and Society in California, is that permitting germline engineering for correction of disease phenotypes is likely to lead to its use for cosmetic purposes and enhancement. Meanwhile, Henry Greely, a bioethicist at Stanford University in California, states that "almost everything you can accomplish by gene editing, you can accomplish by embryo selection", suggesting the risks undertaken by germline engineering may not be necessary. Alongside this, Greely emphasizes that the beliefs that genetic engineering will lead to enhancement are unfounded, and that claims that we will enhance intelligence and personality are far off – "we just don't know enough and are unlikely to for a long time – or maybe for ever".


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Konrad Ernst Otto Zuse (; 22 June 1910 – 18 December 1995) was a German civil engineer, pioneering computer scientist, inventor and businessman. His greatest achievement was the world's first programmable computer; the functional program-controlled Turing-complete Z3 became operational in May 1941. Thanks to this machine and its predecessors, Zuse has often been regarded as the inventor of the modern computer.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Zuse was noted for the S2 computing machine, considered the first process control computer. In 1941, he founded one of the earliest computer businesses, producing the Z4, which became the world's first commercial computer. From 1943 to 1945 he designed Plankalkül, the first high-level programming language. In 1969, Zuse suggested the concept of a computation-based universe in his book ("Calculating Space").


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Much of his early work was financed by his family and commerce, but after 1939 he was given resources by the government of Nazi Germany. Due to World War II, Zuse's work went largely unnoticed in the United Kingdom and the United States. Possibly his first documented influence on a US company was IBM's option on his patents in 1946.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Konrad Zuse was born in Berlin on 22 June 1910. In 1912, his family moved to East Prussian Braunsberg (now Braniewo in Poland), where his father was a postal clerk. Zuse attended the Collegium Hosianum in Braunsberg, and in 1923, the family moved to Hoyerswerda, where he passed his Abitur in 1928, qualifying him to enter university.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: He enrolled in the Technical University of Berlin and explored both engineering and architecture, but found them boring. Zuse then pursued civil engineering, graduating in 1935.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: After graduation, Zuse worked for the Ford Motor Company, using his artistic skills in the design of advertisements. He started work as a design engineer at the Henschel aircraft factory in Schönefeld near Berlin. This required the performance of many routine calculations by hand, leading him to theorize and plan a way of doing them by machine.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Beginning in 1935, he experimented in the construction of computers in his parents' flat on 38, moving with them into their new flat on 10, the street leading up the Kreuzberg, Berlin. Working in his parents' apartment in 1936, he produced his first attempt, the Z1, a floating-point binary mechanical calculator with limited programmability, reading instructions from a perforated 35 mm film.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1937, Zuse submitted two patents that anticipated a von Neumann architecture. In 1938, he finished the Z1 which contained some 30,000 metal parts and never worked well due to insufficient mechanical precision. On 30 January 1944, the Z1 and its original blueprints were destroyed with his parents' flat and many neighbouring buildings by a British air raid in World War II.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Zuse completed his work entirely independently of other leading computer scientists and mathematicians of his day. Between 1936 and 1945, he was in near-total intellectual isolation.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1939, Zuse was called to military service, where he was given the resources to ultimately build the Z2. In September 1940 Zuse presented the Z2, covering several rooms in the parental flat, to experts of the (DVL; German Research Institute for Aviation). The Z2 was a revised version of the Z1 using telephone relays.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1940, the German government began funding him and his company through the (AVA, Aerodynamic Research Institute, forerunner of the DLR), which used his work for the production of glide bombs. Zuse built the S1 and S2 computing machines, which were special purpose devices which computed aerodynamic corrections to the wings of radio-controlled flying bombs. The S2 featured an integrated analog-to-digital converter under program control, making it the first process-controlled computer.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1941 Zuse started a company, (Zuse Apparatus Construction), to manufacture his machines, renting a workshop on the opposite side in 7 and stretching through the block to 29 (renamed and renumbered as Mehringdamm 84 in 1947).


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1941, he improved on the basic Z2 machine, and built the Z3. On 12 May 1941 Zuse presented the Z3, built in his workshop, to the public. The Z3 was a binary 22-bit floating-point calculator featuring programmability with loops but without conditional jumps, with memory and a calculation unit based on telephone relays. The telephone relays used in his machines were largely collected from discarded stock. Despite the absence of conditional jumps, the Z3 was a Turing complete computer. However, Turing-completeness was never considered by Zuse (who was unaware of Turing's work and had practical applications in mind) and only demonstrated in 1998 (see History of computing hardware).


title: Konrad Zuse

text: The Z3, the first fully operational electromechanical computer, was partially financed by German government-supported DVL, which wanted their extensive calculations automated. A request by his co-worker Helmut Schreyer—who had helped Zuse build the Z3 prototype in 1938—for government funding for an electronic successor to the Z3 was denied as "strategically unimportant".


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1937, Schreyer had advised Zuse to use vacuum tubes as switching elements; Zuse at this time considered it a crazy idea ( in his own words). Zuse's workshop on 7 (with the Z3) was destroyed in an Allied Air raid in late 1943 and the parental flat with Z1 and Z2 on 30 January the following year, whereas the successor Z4, which Zuse had begun constructing in 1942 in new premises in the on 6, remained intact.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: On 3 February 1945, aerial bombing caused devastating destruction in the Luisenstadt, the area around , including neighbouring houses. This event effectively brought Zuse's research and development to a complete halt. The partially finished, telephone relay-based Z4 computer was then packed and moved from Berlin on 14 February, arriving in Göttingen approximately two weeks later.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: These machines contributed to the Henschel Werke Hs 293 and Hs 294 guided missiles developed by the German military between 1941 and 1945, which were the precursors to the modern cruise missile. The circuit design of the S1 was the predecessor of Zuse's Z11. Zuse believed that these machines had been captured by occupying Soviet troops in 1945.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: While working on his Z4 computer, Zuse realised that programming in machine code was too complicated. He started working on a PhD thesis, containing groundbreaking research years ahead of its time, mainly the first high-level programming language, ("Plan Calculus") and, as an elaborate example program, the first real computer chess engine.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: After the 1945 Luisenstadt bombing, he fled from Berlin to the rural Allgäu. In the extreme deprivation of post-war Germany Zuse was unable to build computers.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Zuse founded one of the earliest computer companies: the . Capital was raised in 1946 through ETH Zurich and an IBM option on Zuse's patents.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1947, according to the memoirs of the German computer pioneer Heinz Billing from the Max Planck Institute for Physics, there was a meeting between Alan Turing and Konrad Zuse in Göttingen. The encounter had the form of a colloquium. Participants were Womersley, Turing, Porter from England and a few German researchers like Zuse, Walther, and Billing. (For more details see Herbert Bruderer, ).


title: Konrad Zuse

text: It was not until 1949 that Zuse was able to resume work on the Z4. He would show the computer to the mathematician Eduard Stiefel of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich () who then ordered one in 1950. In November 1949, Zuse KG was founded and that Z4 was delivered to ETH Zurich in July 1950, and proved very reliable.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1949, Zuse founded another company, Zuse KG, in Haunetal-Neukirchen; in 1957 the company's head office moved to Bad Hersfeld. The Z4 was finished and delivered to the ETH Zurich, Switzerland in September 1950. At that time, it was the only working computer in continental Europe, and the second computer in the world to be sold, beaten only by the BINAC, which never worked properly after it was delivered. Other computers, all numbered with a leading Z, up to Z43, were built by Zuse and his company. Notable are the Z11, which was sold to the optics industry and to universities, and the Z22, the first computer with a memory based on magnetic storage.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Unable to do any hardware development, he continued working on , eventually publishing some brief excerpts of his thesis in 1948 and 1959; the work in its entirety, however, remained unpublished until 1972. The PhD thesis was submitted at University of Augsburg, but rejected for formal reasons, because Zuse forgot to pay the 400 mark university enrollment fee. The rejection did not bother him.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1956, Zuse began to work on a high precision, large format plotter. It was demonstrated at the 1961 Hanover Fair, and became well known also outside of the technical world thanks to Frieder Nake's pioneering computer art work. Other plotters designed by Zuse include the ZUSE Z90 and ZUSE Z9004.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: In 1967, Zuse suggested that the universe itself is running on a cellular automaton or similar computational structure (digital physics); in 1969, he published the book (translated into English as "Calculating Space").


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Between 1989 and 1995, Zuse conceptualized and created a purely mechanical, extensible, modular tower automaton he named "helix tower" (). The structure is based on a gear drive that employs rotary motion (e.g. provided by a crank) to assemble modular components from a storage space, elevating a tube-shaped tower; the process is reversible, and inverting the input direction will deconstruct the tower and store the components. In 2009, the restored Zuse's original 1:30 functional model that can be extended to a height of 2.7 m. Zuse intended the full construction to reach a height of 120 m, and envisioned it for use with wind power generators and radio transmission installations.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Between 1987 and 1989, Zuse recreated the Z1, suffering a heart attack midway through the project. It cost 800,000 DM (approximately $500,000) and required four individuals (including Zuse) to assemble it. Funding for this retrocomputing project was provided by Siemens and a consortium of five companies.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: Konrad Zuse married Gisela Brandes in January 1945, employing a carriage, himself dressed in tailcoat and top hat and with Gisela in a wedding veil, for Zuse attached importance to a "noble ceremony". Their son Horst, the first of five children, was born in November 1945.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: While Zuse never became a member of the Nazi Party, he is not known to have expressed any doubts or qualms about working for the Nazi war effort. Much later, he suggested that in modern times, the best scientists and engineers usually have to choose between either doing their work for more or less questionable business and military interests in a Faustian bargain, or not pursuing their line of work at all.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: After Zuse retired, he focused on his hobby of painting. He signed his paintings as "Kuno [von und zu] See".


title: Konrad Zuse

text: The Konrad Zuse Medal of the Gesellschaft für Informatik, and the Konrad Zuse Medal of the Zentralverband des Deutschen Baugewerbes (Central Association of German Construction), are both named after Zuse.


title: Konrad Zuse

text: A replica of the Z3, as well as the original Z4, is in the Deutsches Museum in Munich. The Deutsches Technikmuseum in Berlin has an exhibition devoted to Zuse, displaying twelve of his machines, including a replica of the Z1 and several of Zuse's paintings.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Eddie Nash (April 3, 1929 – August 9, 2014) was an American nightclub owner and restaurateur in Los Angeles, as well as a convicted money launderer and drug dealer. Nash was allegedly the mastermind of the Wonderland Murders, but was never convicted, despite multiple arrests and trials.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Nash was born Adel Gharib Nasrallah in Mandatory Palestine. His family were Orthodox Christian Palestinians from the city of Ramallah, just outside Jerusalem. Before the creation of Israel in 1948, Nash's family owned 48 hotels. In the early 1950s, Nash immigrated to the United States with only $7.


title: Eddie Nash

text: He briefly found work as an actor and stuntman, and was an expert horseman. In 1952, he appeared in a small role as a character named "Nash" in an episode of the Western series "The Cisco Kid".


title: Eddie Nash

text: In the 1960s, Nash opened a hot dog stand called Beef's Chuck on Hollywood Boulevard. By the 1970s, Nash owned several nightclubs and restaurants in Los Angeles, such as the P.J.'s club (shortly afterward renamed Starwood) in West Hollywood, the Soul'd Out club in Hollywood, the Odyssey disco, the Paradise Ballroom, the Seven Seas, Ali Baba's, and The Kit Kat strip club. Nash's clubs attracted diverse groups, as he operated clubs marketed towards gays, heterosexuals, teenagers, African Americans, and other target audiences.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Nash was allegedly involved in the quadruple Wonderland Murders in 1981; the suspected motive was as a retaliation for the robbery of Nash's home perpetrated two days earlier by three to five men. A key player in the incident, adult film performer John C. Holmes, was later acquitted of the murders.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Nash and Holmes were well acquainted with each other; Nash enjoyed introducing his countless houseguests to Holmes, who was infamous for playing the X-rated movie character "Johnny Wadd."


title: Eddie Nash

text: However, by 1981, Holmes had become desperately addicted to freebasing cocaine, and as a result, his career had declined due to chronic impotence. In order to settle a substantial debt to drug kingpin Ron Launius, leader of the widely feared Wonderland Gang which dominated the Los Angeles cocaine trade, Holmes helped the group plan the invasion. Holmes went to Nash's home on the morning of the attack to leave a sliding door unlocked so the Gang could enter the home. On June 29, 1981, the Wonderland Gang entered into Nash's home via the unlocked sliding door, held Nash and his bodyguard at gunpoint, and stole Nash's drugs, jewelry and money. At one point, one of the Wonderland Gang's member's guns went off, grazing Nash's bodyguard's face. Nash was then made to beg for life on his knees, an act that he found humiliating. Nash quickly suspected John Holmes was involved in the robbery as he had been at Nash's home the morning of the robbery. The following day, a friend of Nash's confirmed his suspicions after telling him he had seen Holmes wearing some of his stolen jewelry.


title: Eddie Nash

text: On July 1, two days after Nash was robbed, Ron Launius, Billy Deverell, Joy Audrey Gold Miller, and Barbara Richardson were found bludgeoned to death at their home at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon, Los Angeles. Susan Launius, Ron's wife, was critically injured but survived.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Officials from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) remarked that the Wonderland Murders were particularly brutal, noting that the crime scene was bloodier than the Tate-LaBianca murders.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Nash was believed to have planned the murders that were committed by three of his henchmen. Nash planned to kill John Holmes but later decided to spare Holmes' life and use the Wonderland murders to "teach Holmes a lesson". Holmes later told his first wife, Sharon, he was forced to accompany three gunmen to the Wonderland Avenue home. He claimed he was then held at gunpoint and forced to watch the quadruple murders. While police believe Holmes likely took part in the murders, Holmes would maintain that he never killed anyone.


title: Eddie Nash

text: A police search of Nash's home days after the murders revealed a large amount of cocaine. Nash was sentenced to eight years in prison, but a judge released him after just two, purportedly due to Nash's poor health. An associate of Nash later admitted that they had bribed the judge with about $100,000.


title: Eddie Nash

text: In 1990, Nash was tried in state court for having planned the murders; the trial resulted in an 11–1 hung jury. Nash would later admit that he had bribed the lone holdout, a young woman, with $50,000. The retrial ended in an acquittal.


title: Eddie Nash

text: According to John Holmes' second wife Laurie (known as Misty Dawn), in a "Playboy" magazine interview, "He [Eddie Nash] was an awful man... John told me he used to leave the bathrooms without toilet paper, then offer the young women cocaine if they'd lick his ass clean."


title: Eddie Nash

text: Throughout the 1990s, law enforcement figures continued to hound Nash, who had been referred to in various print media as "the one who got away". In 1995, in a broad series of raids targeting alleged organized crime figures, federal agents armed with search warrants raided Nash's house and confiscated what was thought to be a cache of methamphetamine. To the chagrin of law enforcement, the "meth" turned out to be a cache of mothballs, and no charges were filed against Nash.


title: Eddie Nash

text: In 2000, after a four-year joint investigation involving local and federal authorities, Nash was arrested and indicted on federal charges under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) for running a drug trafficking and money laundering operation, conspiring to carry out the Wonderland Murders, and bribing one of the jurors of his first trial. Nash, by this point in his seventies, and suffering from emphysema and several other ailments, agreed to a plea bargain agreement in September 2001, pleading guilty to RICO charges and to money laundering. He also admitted to jury tampering (for which the statute of limitations had run out) and to having ordered his associates to retrieve stolen property from the Wonderland house, which might have resulted in violence including murder, but he denied having planned the murders that occurred. He also agreed to cooperate with law enforcement authorities. In exchange, he received a four-and-a-half year prison sentence (including time already served) and a $250,000 fine.


title: Eddie Nash

text: On September 6 or 7, 1984, Nash's former lover Maureen Bautista and her son Telesforo were stabbed to death by Hells Angels biker Robert Frederick Garceau.


title: Eddie Nash

text: Garceau was turned in to the police after he murdered Greg Rambo, who had helped him dispose of the Bautistas' bodies. Rambo's wife, Susan, knew of the Bautista murders and talked to the police under an agreement of immunity.


title: Eddie Nash

text: During the trial, Susan Rambo testified that Harlyn Codd had told her Nash was Telesforo's father, and that Nash once had paid Garceau to fulfill a contract but that Garceau had failed to perform and, as a result, Nash was "looking for" Garceau. At trial, evidence was presented that Garceau murdered Bautista because she threatened to expose Garceau's drug operations to Nash, and Garceau killed her son because Telesforo had witnessed Bautista's murder. Garceau was convicted of all three murders and sentenced to death.


title: Eddie Nash

text: A lengthy court appeal of Garceau's death sentence was begun, but in 1993 the California Supreme Court upheld the legality of what became known as "The Nash testimony." Garceau died from cancer on San Quentin's death row on December 29, 2004.


title: Eddie Nash

text: On August 9, 2014, Nash died at the age of 85. He is interred at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City in Culver City.


title: Turnstiles (album)

text: Turnstiles is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel, released on May 19, 1976.


title: Turnstiles (album)

text: Joel recorded "Turnstiles" in part as a celebration of his return to his native New York City. Three of the album's tracks reference New York: "Summer, Highland Falls", "New York State of Mind" and "Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway)". It begins with "Say Goodbye to Hollywood" (inspired by The Ronettes song "Be My Baby") and also includes "I've Loved These Days", a tongue-in-cheek expression of regret at leaving behind Hollywood decadence. In an interview, Joel stated that the lyrics to the song "James" referred to various different people he knew in real life, with the title character being a "composite" of those people. In the song "Prelude/Angry Young Man", Joel opens and closes the song rapidly hammering the piano, which was meant to simulate the drum part in the song "Wipe Out" by The Surfaris.