title: Modal jazz

text: Coltrane took the lead in extensively exploring the limits of modal improvisation and composition with his quartet, featuring Elvin Jones (drums), McCoy Tyner (piano), and Reggie Workman and Jimmy Garrison (bass). Several of Coltrane's albums from the period are recognized as examples of modal jazz: "Africa/Brass" (1961), "Live! at the Village Vanguard" (1962), "Crescent" (1964), "A Love Supreme" (1964), and "Meditations" (1965). Coltrane's compositions from this period such as "India", "Chasin' the Trane", "Crescent", and "Impressions" have entered the jazz repertoire, along with his interpretations of standards like Richard Rodgers's "My Favorite Things", and the traditional "Greensleeves".


title: Aspyr

text: Aspyr Media, Inc. (pronounced "aspire") is an American video game developer and publisher founded by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Originally founded to bring top gaming titles to macOS, the company, since 2005, has become a publisher and developer of entertainment for multiple gaming platforms.


title: Aspyr

text: In 1996, Aspyr Media, Inc., was established by Michael Rogers and Ted Staloch in Austin, Texas. Staloch, who had a background in sales and marketing and Rogers, who worked with TechWorks, noticed that there was a lack of gaming titles available to Mac owners and set out to change it. According to Rogers, when naming the company, they “wanted something meaning ‘to aspire and be great’” and also “memorable and unique.” Aspyr made its name specializing in porting video games from Microsoft Windows to macOS.


title: Aspyr

text: By 2003, they owned 60 percent of the Mac entertainment market. In 2005, Aspyr partnered with Alex Seropian of Wideload Games and released their first originally-published AAA game, "Stubbs The Zombie", to Mac OS, Windows and Xbox. In 2015, Aspyr Media expanded their platform catalog again by releasing an iOS port of "" and later, Bioware's classic-action RPG, "Jade Empire" - a title they extended to Android as well. In 2015, Aspyr updated "" (native widescreen resolutions up to 5K, Steam Workshop, support for controllers, 57 achievements, etc.) and also ported it to macOS and Linux. In 2015, Aspyr developed and published "", a remaster of a game developed by Quantic Dream, to a worldwide audience with enhanced game features, updated visuals and controls, as well as content that was censored in the original North American release.


title: Aspyr

text: According to Elizabeth Howard, vice president of publishing at Aspyr Media, the company's current focus is less on internal IP and more on company growth, establishing bigger undertakings with big brands. Aspyr has published over 190 games, and have added 90 plus members to their team since 1996.


title: Aspyr

text: In February 2021, Aspyr was acquired by Embracer Group. The company was added as a studio under the Saber Interactive label within Embracer. In September 2021, it was announced that Aspyr was developing a remake of "Knights of the Old Republic" for Microsoft Windows and PlayStation 5 as a timed exclusive. In August 2022, Embracer announced that Aspyr is no longer working on the game and development has been moved to another studio.


title: Aspyr

text: On April 12, 2022, Aspyr announced that it would publish "MythForce", the debut title from Canadian studio Beamdog. The following day, Embracer Group acquired Beamdog and placed it as a subsidiary of Aspyr.


title: Aspyr

text: Currently, Aspyr's catalog includes popular games such as "Sid Meier's Civilization VI", developed in 2018 on Mac, Linux, iOS and Nintendo Switch, "Torn", and the re-releases of LucasArts titles: "" and "".


title: Jean Passepartout

text: Jean Passepartout () is a fictional character in Jules Verne's novel "Around the World in Eighty Days", published in 1873. He is the French valet of the novel's English main character, Phileas Fogg. His surname translates literally to "goes everywhere", but “passepartout” is also an idiom meaning "skeleton key" in French. It can also be understood as a play on the English word "passport"—-or it’s French equivalent —-and on the French word (everywhere).


title: Jean Passepartout

text: At the beginning of the novel, Passepartout has just been hired by Phileas Fogg after Fogg's previous valet failed to meet his exacting standards on 2 October 1872 at twenty eight minutes past eight. Passepartout, who has lived an irregular and well-travelled life, is looking forward to a restful employment, as Fogg is known for his regular habits which never take him further afield than the Reform Club.


title: Jean Passepartout

text: Ironically, on Passepartout's first day at work, Fogg makes a bet with his friends at the Club that he can circumnavigate the world within 80 days and Passepartout is obliged to accompany him. In addition to the wager, the valet has an additional incentive to complete the journey quickly: he left a gaslight burning in his room and the resulting expense of wasted gas will be docked from his salary.


title: Jean Passepartout

text: In the journey, Passepartout plays a critical role in Fogg's adventures, such as rescuing a young woman named Aouda from a forced sati and becoming a friend of Fix, a police detective who suspects Fogg of robbing a bank. Passepartout learns of Fix's suspicions, but keeps them to himself as he believes Fogg already has enough to worry about concerning his wager, and comes to suspect Fogg may possibly have committed the crime considering the extraordinary spending his master does through the trip's more desperate moments. Due to his silence, however, Fogg and Fix never have a chance to discuss the case in neutral territory, and Fix arrests Fogg as soon as they return to England. This critically delays Fogg before he is exonerated and the company arrives in London, seemingly too late and leaving Passepartout in almost suicidal despair at his foolishness.


title: Jean Passepartout

text: The next day at home, Aouda proposes to Fogg to help him in his hard life ahead. While searching for a minister to marry the couple, Passepartout discovers that the date is one day earlier than he thought, due to the party having traveled east across the International Date Line. Once Fogg learns of the error, he dashes to the Reform Club and arrives just in time to win the bet.


title: Jean Passepartout

text: Fogg marries Aouda, with Passepartout giving away the bride, and divides the net proceeds from the journey between Passepartout and Fix - but not without deducting the cost of the gaslight use from Passepartout's share.


title: Jean Passepartout

text: The character of Passepartout serves several purposes in the narrative - as a point-of-view character for Verne's French readers and as comic relief, both in his reactions to the strange places and events he encounters, and in a tendency to get trapped, abducted, or, on at least one occasion, left behind.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Cross of Iron (German: "Steiner – Das Eiserne Kreuz", lit. "Steiner – The Iron Cross") is a 1977 war film directed by Sam Peckinpah, featuring James Coburn, Maximilian Schell, James Mason and David Warner. Set on the Eastern Front in World War II during the Soviets' Caucasus operations against the German Kuban bridgehead on the Taman Peninsula in late 1943, the film focuses on the class conflict between a newly arrived, aristocratic Prussian officer who covets winning the Iron Cross and a cynical, battle-hardened infantry NCO.


title: Cross of Iron

text: An international co-production between British and West German financiers, the film's exteriors were shot on location in Yugoslavia.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Corporal Rolf Steiner is a veteran soldier of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front of World War II. During a successful raid on an enemy mortar position, his reconnaissance platoon captures a Russian boy soldier. As the platoon returns to friendly lines, Captain Stransky arrives to take command of Steiner's battalion. The regiment's commander, Colonel Brandt, wonders why Stransky would ask to be transferred to the Kuban bridgehead from more comfortable duties in occupied France. Stransky proudly tells Brandt and the regimental adjutant, Captain Kiesel, that he applied for transfer to front-line duty in Russia so that he can win the Iron Cross.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Stransky meets Steiner as he returns from the patrol and orders the prisoner shot. Steiner refuses and Corporal Schnurrbart takes the boy off into hiding. Steiner reports to Stransky shortly after, where he is informed of his promotion to senior sergeant. Following the meeting Stransky discerns that his adjutant, Lieutenant Triebig, is a closet homosexual which is a death penalty offence in the German Army.


title: Cross of Iron

text: The platoon celebrates the birthday of their leader, Lieutenant Meyer. Steiner takes the young Russian to the forward positions to release him, where he is accidentally killed by advancing Soviet troops in a major attack. The Germans are forced to defend their positions. Stransky is overcome by fear in his bunker while Meyer is killed leading a successful counterattack. Steiner is wounded and sent to a military hospital.


title: Cross of Iron

text: After his hospital stay, characterized by flashbacks and a romantic liaison, Steiner is offered a home leave but decides instead to return to his men. There he learns Stransky has been nominated for an Iron Cross for the counterattack Meyer had led. Stransky's award requires two witnesses as confirmation. He blackmails Triebig and attempts to persuade Steiner to corroborate his claim with promises of preferential treatment after the war. Brandt questions Steiner in the hope that he will expose Stransky's lies, but Steiner only states that he hates all officers, even those as "enlightened" as Brandt and Kiesel, and requests a few days to ponder his answer.


title: Cross of Iron

text: When his battalion is ordered to retreat, Stransky does not notify Steiner's platoon. Making their way back through now-enemy territory, the men capture an all-female Russian detachment. While Steiner is busy, Zoll, a despised Nazi Party member, takes one of the women into the barn to rape her. She bites his genitals and he kills her. Meanwhile, young Dietz, left to guard the rest of the women alone, is distracted and killed as well. Disgusted, Steiner locks Zoll up with the vengeful Russian women, taking their uniforms to use as a disguise.


title: Cross of Iron

text: As the men near the German lines, they radio ahead to avoid friendly fire. Stransky suggests to Triebig that Steiner and his men be "mistaken" for Russians. Triebig orders his men to shoot the incoming Germans; only Steiner, Krüger and Anselm survive. Triebig denies responsibility, but Steiner kills him and makes Krüger the platoon leader, telling him to look after Anselm. Steiner then goes hunting for Stransky.


title: Cross of Iron

text: The Soviets launch a major assault. Brandt orders Kiesel to evacuate, telling him that men like him will be needed to rebuild Germany after the war. Brandt then rallies the fleeing troops for a counterattack.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Steiner locates Stransky. But instead of killing him, he hands him a weapon, and offers to show him "where the Iron Crosses grow". Stransky accepts Steiner's "challenge", and they head off together for the battle. The film closes with Stransky trying to figure out how to reload his MP40, while being shot at by an adolescent Russian soldier who resembles the boy soldier released by Steiner. When Stransky asks Steiner for help, Steiner begins to laugh. His laughter continues through the credits, which features "Hänschen klein" again and segues to black-and-white images of civilian victims from World War II and later conflicts.


title: Cross of Iron

text: "Cross of Iron" was a joint Anglo-German production between EMI Films and ITC Entertainment of London and Rapid Films GmbH from Munich. Although the West German producer, Wolf C. Hartwig had secured a budget of $4 million dollars, only a fraction of it was available as pre-production started. This created delays on location because local services and film crews demanded payment before commencing work.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Screenplay credits are given to Julius Epstein, James Hamilton and Walter Kelley. Their source material was the 1956 novel "The Willing Flesh" by Willi Heinrich, a fictional work that was loosely based on the true story of Johann Schwerdfeger (1914-2015). The real-life Wehrmacht NCO was a highly-decorated combat veteran who fought through both the Battle of the Caucasus and Kuban pocket.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Filming, which began on March 29, 1976, was shot on location at Trieste in Italy and Yugoslavia. Scenes were filmed around Obrov in Slovenia, and Zagreb and Savudrija in Croatia. Interiors were completed at Pinewood Studios in England.


title: Cross of Iron

text: The film is noted for featuring historically accurate weaponry and equipment such as Soviet T-34/85 tanks (which were obtained from the arsenal of the Yugoslav People's Army), Russian PPSh-41s and German MG 42s and MP40s. According to star James Coburn, the Yugoslav government had promised that all the military equipment would be ready for the start of filming, but Hartwig's lack of budget meant that considerable delays occurred when half the equipment was missing just as the production was about to begin.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Peckinpah's alcoholism was also affecting the filming schedule because every day he was consuming 180° proof Slivovitz ("Šljivovica"). However every two to three weeks Peckinpah would go on a binge resulting in lost shooting days while he was allowed to regain his cognitive abilities.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Due to the various productions delays, the film had cost overruns of £2 million. With no more money, Hartwig and his co-producer Alex Winitsky tried to halt the production on July 6, 1976 (the 89th day of shooting) before the final scene had been filmed. The original ending was expected to take three days to film in an abandoned rail yard and special effects teams had already spent several days wiring pyrotechnics for the shoot. However, with the costs now at $6 million there was no more money. Coburn was so annoyed at this, he had Hartwig and Winitsky thrown off the set before making Peckinpah film a quick improvised ending for the film.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Peckinpah spent five weeks going through the rushes to create a final cut. Working continuously four to five hours a day overseeing the editing, he started snorting cocaine along with his drinking. He relied heavily on his experience with his 1969 Western "The Wild Bunch" to create the film's pace (the slow motion during violent scenes) and its visual style.


title: Cross of Iron

text: At the time of its release, the film did poorly at the box office in the US and received mixed reviews, its bleak, anti-war tone unable to get noticed amidst the hype of the release of the mega-popular "Star Wars" in the same year. However, it performed very well in West Germany, earning the best box-office takings of any film released there since "The Sound of Music", and audiences and critics across Europe responded well to the film.


title: Cross of Iron

text: Vincent Canby of "The New York Times" called it "Mr. Peckinpah's least interesting, least personal film in years ... I can't believe that the director ever had his heart in this project, which, from the beginning, looks to have been prepared for the benefit of the people who set off explosives. However, the battle footage is so peculiarly cut into the narrative that you often don't know who is doing what to whom." "Variety" stated, "'Cross of Iron' is Sam Peckinpah's idea of an antiwar tract but which more than anything else affirms the director's prowess as an action filmmaker of graphic mayhem ... the Wolf C. Hartwig production is well but conventionally cast, technically impressive, but ultimately violence-fixated to its putative philosophic cost." Gene Siskel of the "Chicago Tribune" gave the film 0.5 stars out of 4 and wrote, "There are plenty of questions to be asked about 'Cross of Iron,' Sam Peckinpah's latest bloodbath picture. Questions such as, 'Why was this film made?'" Kevin Thomas of the "Los Angeles Times" wrote, "Everything Peckinpah and his writers have to say about war in 'Cross of Iron' has been better expressed by others and Peckinpah himself. Since 'Cross of Iron' is too familiar to engage us intellectually, it becomes a wearying, numbing spectacle of carnage that tends to inure us to the violence it so graphically depicts." Gary Arnold of "The Washington Post" called it "a peculiarly pointless, expendable new action film," adding, "If Peckinpah had something specific in mind when he began this project, an international co-production shot in Yugoslavia, he has lost the train of thought somewhere along the line." In the opinion of Filmcritic.com, "Peckinpah indulges in endless combat scenes (this was his only war movie), which try the patience of viewers who came for the real story."


title: Cross of Iron

text: Fans of the film include Quentin Tarantino, who used it as inspiration for "Inglourious Basterds". Orson Welles, when he saw the film, cabled Peckinpah, praising the latter's film as "the best war film he had seen about the ordinary enlisted man since "All Quiet on the Western Front"." Iain Johnstone, reviewing the film's release on Blu-ray in June 2011, praised the film, saying "Cross of Iron" bears all the hallmarks of a real classic, which ranks with Peckinpah's finest work. As a poignant reminder of the sheer brutal obscenity of war, it has rarely been equalled." Mike Mayo wrote in his book ""War Movies: Classic Conflict on Film" that "Cross of Iron", Sam Peckinpah's only war film, "is a forgotten masterpiece that has never really managed to overcome its troubled and expensive production." Jay Hyams wrote in "War Movies" that while Peckinpah had directed "many films about battles between groups of armed men...this was the first in which both sides wear uniforms." Coburn said the film was one of his favorites of those he had been in.


title: Cross of Iron

text: The film "Breakthrough", which was mostly financed by West German producers, was released in 1979. It was made by Anglo-American director Andrew McLaglen who, like Peckinpah, was known for Westerns. Several changes were made to the sequel. For instance, the action was moved from Russia to the Western Front and Richard Burton replaced Coburn as Sgt Steiner. "Breakthrough" was panned by critics, who criticised it for a confusing plot, poor dialogue, aged cast, and undistinguished acting. The film involved Steiner saving the life of an American officer (Robert Mitchum) and a conspiracy to assassinate Adolf Hitler.


title: Cross of Iron

text: To coincide with its release on Blu-ray, a new print of "Cross of Iron" was screened at selected cinemas in Britain in June 2011.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: Movement is the debut studio album by English rock band New Order, released on 13 November 1981 by Factory Records. Recorded in the wake of Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis' suicide the previous year, the album is a continuation of the dark post-punk sound of Joy Division's material, increasing the use of synthesizers while still being predominantly rooted in rock. At the time of its release, the album was not particularly well received by critics or audiences, only peaking at number thirty on the UK Albums Chart; the band would gradually shift to a more electronic sound over the course of the next year.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: In the decades since its release, retrospective critical reception has been very positive, with reviewers praising the album as a middle ground between the band's work as Joy Division and their subsequent alternative dance material. "Slant Magazine" placed the album at number 42 on its list of the "Best Albums of the 1980s", saying it "exists almost exactly in between Joy Division's post-punk sound and the synth-pop style that would come to define New Order and influence pop music for decades".


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: After the suicide of Joy Division's singer Ian Curtis in May 1980, and the subsequent shock for those surrounding him, remaining members Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, and Stephen Morris elected to carry on, albeit under a new name – New Order. With the exception of two songs, "Ceremony" (first played live at Joy Division's last gig, a little over two weeks before Curtis's death) and "In a Lonely Place" (unreleased, but demoed in the studio), all the material played would be new.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: A couple of songs on "Movement" stem from the initial songwriting session the band undertook in the summer of 1980. "Dreams Never End" and "Truth" were both played at the initial New Order concerts (still played as a trio) in the US that September. At this point it was still undecided as to who should be vocalist. The interim solution was that all three members took turns at singing before finally deciding that Bernard Sumner should take the main vocalist's role with Peter Hook as back-up (though he sang lead on "Dreams Never End" and "Doubts Even Here"). The introduction in October 1980 of Gillian Gilbert, Stephen Morris's girlfriend, lightened the burden on Sumner who had to play guitar and keyboards and sing (something he found impossible to do simultaneously) and enabled the band to pursue a more electronic approach. Subsequently, the remainder of the songs that appeared on "Movement" were written and then recorded over a seven-month period "in two big bits, and a whole lot of little bits", according to Sumner, as well as "Mesh", "Cries and Whispers" (both early live staples and used as B-sides), "Procession" and "Everything's Gone Green", the latter forming a non-album single released as FAC53 in September 1981.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: The producer of the album was once again Martin Hannett, who had worked with them as Joy Division; however, the rapport between producer and band had in the ensuing time eroded. Hannett was in a legal dispute with Factory Records and suffering from substance and alcohol abuse, and the band members—themselves still coming to terms with having to write and arrange songs without Curtis's ear and lyric-writing ability—found him uncooperative. It would be the last album that they worked on together, with Hannett walking out on the band during the production of "Everything's Gone Green".


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: Musically, "Movement" is a transitional album. References to Ian Curtis appear on the songs "ICB" (rumoured to be an acronym for 'Ian Curtis Buried', confirmed by Peter Hook in a 2013 interview) and "The Him". The expansion of the sonic palette heard on "Closer" is also present on this album with synths on all but the opening track and electronic percussion (especially on "Truth"). Hook's bass takes on a melodic role while Gilbert provides the low end on the songs "Chosen Time" and "Denial". However, despite this continuity, "Movement" also hints at New Order's distinct sound on its later albums. Tracks such as "Senses" flirt with funkier guitar motifs than Joy Division, and "Dreams Never End" is the only song on this album with the classic guitar-bass-drums line-up.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: In a questionnaire interview with the fanzine "Artificial Life" (No. 2, Nov. 1982), the band were asked if they were happy with the album to which they replied, "We were happy with the songs, not all happy with the production." Peter Hook later revealed, "We were confused musically ... Our songwriting wasn't coming together. I don't know how we pulled out of that one. I actually liked "Movement", but I know why nobody else likes it. It was good for the first two-and-a-half minutes, then it dipped."


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: The album's cover was designed by Peter Saville and is based on a poster by the Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: The shape created by the top three lines is an 'F' (lying on its back), which refers to Factory Records/Factory Communications Limited and the bottom two lines create an 'L' (lying on its front), the Roman numeral 50, the original catalogue was FACT 50. The blue colour of the lines was chosen by the band; the first copies in the US had the same design in brown on an ivory background.


title: Movement (New Order album)

text: Released in November 1981—just weeks after the Joy Division retrospective/live double album "Still"—"Movement" was met with a tepid reception, with critics disappointed by what was perceived to be a lack of forward momentum after the "Ceremony" single. It is rumoured that the band considered either re-mixing or even entirely re-recording the album, but time and financial constraints prevented this. Fortunately, a new song called "Temptation" would provide the band with the necessary impetus and a new direction.


title: Superior vena cava

text: The superior vena cava (SVC) is the superior of the two venae cavae, the great venous trunks that return deoxygenated blood from the systemic circulation to the right atrium of the heart. It is a large-diameter (24 mm) short length vein that receives venous return from the upper half of the body, above the diaphragm. Venous return from the lower half, below the diaphragm, flows through the inferior vena cava. The SVC is located in the anterior right superior mediastinum. It is the typical site of central venous access via a central venous catheter or a peripherally inserted central catheter. Mentions of "the cava" without further specification usually refer to the SVC.


title: Superior vena cava

text: The superior vena cava is formed by the left and right brachiocephalic veins, which receive blood from the upper limbs, head and neck, behind the lower border of the first right costal cartilage. It passes vertically downwards behind first intercostal space and receives azygos vein just before it pierces the fibrous pericardium opposite right second costal cartilage and its lower part is intrapericardial. And then, it ends in the upper and posterior part of the sinus venarum of the right atrium, at the upper right front portion of the heart. It is also known as the cranial vena cava in other animals. No valve divides the superior vena cava from the right atrium.


title: Superior vena cava

text: The superior vena cava is made up of three layers, starting with the innermost endothelial tunica intima. The middle layer is the tunica media, composed of smooth muscle tissue, and the outermost and thickest layer is the tunica adventitia, composed of collagen and elastic connective tissue that allow for flexibility. The tunica adventitia contains three zones, with the middle zone consisting of few smooth muscle fibers; this differs from the longitudinal bundles of smooth muscle found in the same zone of the inferior vena cava.


title: Superior vena cava

text: The most common anatomical variation is a persistent left superior vena cava. In persons with a persistent left superior vena cava, the right superior vena cava may be normal, small or absent, with or without an anterior communicating vein. This variation is present in less than 0.5% of the general population, but in up to 10% in patients with congenital heart disease.


title: Superior vena cava

text: Superior vena cava obstruction refers to a partial or complete obstruction of the superior vena cava, typically in the context of cancer such as a cancer of the lung, metastatic cancer, or lymphoma. Obstruction can lead to enlarged veins in the head and neck, and may also cause breathlessness, cough, chest pain, and difficulty swallowing. Pemberton's sign may be positive. Tumours causing obstruction may be treated with chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy to reduce their effects, and corticosteroids may also be given.


title: Superior vena cava

text: No valve divides the superior vena cava from the right atrium. As a result, the (right) atrial and (right) ventricular contractions are conducted up into the internal jugular vein and, through the sternocleidomastoid muscle, can be seen as the jugular venous pressure.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: There are no known official statistics of religions in North Korea. Officially, North Korea is an atheist state, although its constitution guarantees free exercise of religion, provided that religious practice does not introduce foreign forces, harm the state, or harm the existing social order. Based on estimates from the late 1990s and the 2000s, North Korea is mostly irreligious, with the main religions being Shamanism and Chondoism. There are small communities of Buddhists and Christians. Chondoism is represented in politics by the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way, and is regarded by the government as Korea's "national religion" because of its identity as a "minjung" (popular) and "revolutionary anti-imperialist" movement.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In ancient times, most Koreans believed in their indigenous religion socially guided by "mu" (shamans). Buddhism was introduced from the Chinese Former Qin state in 372 to the northern Korean state of Goguryeo, and developed into distinctive Korean forms. At that time, the Korean peninsula was divided into three kingdoms: the aforementioned Goguryeo in the north, Baekje in the southwest, and Silla in the southeast. Buddhism reached Silla only in the 5th century, but it was made the state religion only in that kingdom in the year 552. In Goguryeo the Korean indigenous religion remained dominant, while Buddhism became more widespread in Silla and Baekje (both areas comprehended in modern South Korea).


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In the following unified state of Goryeo (918–1392), that developed from Goguryeo incorporating the southern kingdoms, Buddhism flourished even becoming a political force. In the same period, the influence of Chinese Confucianism penetrated the country and led to the formation of Korean Confucianism that would have become the state ideology and religion of the following Joseon state.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: The Joseon kingdom (1392–1910), strictly Neo-Confucian, harshly suppressed Buddhism and Shamanism. Buddhist monasteries were destroyed and their number dropped from several hundreds to a mere thirty-six; Buddhism was eradicated from the life of towns as monks and nuns were prohibited from entering them and were marginalised to the mountains. These restrictions lasted until the 19th century.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In this environment, Christianity began to rapidly gain foothold since the late 18th century, due to an intense missionary activity that was aided by the endorsement at first by the "Silhak" and "Seohak" intellectual parties, and then at the end of the following century by the king of Korea himself and the intellectual elite of the crumbling Joseon state, who were looking for a new social factor to invigorate the Korean nation. In the late 19th century, the Joseon state was politically and culturally collapsing. The intelligentsia was looking for solutions to invigorate and transform the nation. It was in this critical period that they came into contact with Western Protestant missionaries who offered a solution to the plight of Koreans. Christian communities already existed in Joseon, however it was only by the 1880s that the government allowed a large number of Western missionaries to enter the country. Protestant missionaries set up schools, hospitals and publishing agencies. The king of Korea and his family tacitly supported Christianity. From the late nineteenth century, the northwest of Korea, and Pyongyang in particular, became a stronghold of Christianity. As a result, Pyongyang was called the "Jerusalem of the East".


title: Religion in North Korea

text: At the dawn of the 20th century, almost the totality of the population of Korea believed in the indigenous shamanic religion and practiced Confucian rites and ancestral worship. Buddhism was nearly dead, reduced to a tiny and weak minority of monks, despite its long history and cultural influence, because of 500 years of suppression by the ruling Neo-Confucian Joseon kingdom, which also disregarded traditional cults.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: During the absorption of Korea into the Japanese Empire (1910–1945) the already formed link of Christianity with Korean nationalism was strengthened, as the Japanese tried to impose State Shinto and Christians refused to take part in Shinto rituals. At the same time, numerous religious movements that since the 19th century had been trying to reform the Korean indigenous religion, notably Chondoism, flourished. Christianity became widespread especially in the north of the peninsula, as did Chondoism which aimed to counter Christian influence.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: North Korean revolutionary leader Kim Il Sung's writings address religion in the context of the national liberation struggle against Japan. Kim argued stated that if a religion "prays for dealing out divine punishment to Japan and blessing the Korean nation" then it is a "patriotic religion" and its believers are patriots and that in the context of a struggle for national salvation against Japan, religionists who share the agenda of liberation must be welcomed into the ranks. Kim criticized the protestant Christian creed, stating that while "[t]here is no law preventing religious believers from making the revolution," the lack of action led to "non-resistance" and psalms alone could not block the Japanese guns when "decisive battles" were necessary.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: The Korean Peninsula was divided into two states in 1945, the communist north and the capitalist south. Most of the Korean Christians, that had been until then in the northern half of the peninsula, fled to South Korea. By contrast, most of Korean Chondoists remained in the newly formed North Korea. At the time of the partition they were 1.5 million, or 16% of North Korea's population. They participate to the politics of North Korea through the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: North Korean leader Kim Il Sung attributed the relative lack of religious practice the north in part as a result of the bombing campaigns of the United States in the Korean War, which destroyed places of worship, crucifixes, icons, and Bibles: "believers were killed and passed into the world beyond." Kim recounted that believers saw their places of worship destroyed by Christians, and that Koreans in the north found their faith "powerless in shaping the destiny of human beings." In his analysis, Kim stated that Koreans in the north focused on rebuilding the country rather than churches, and additionally that the younger generation simply did not believe paradise could be obtained through worship and simply chose not to embrace religion.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: After the war, Christians generally organized in house churches or small congregations. In the 1960, the government permitted two hundred informal congregations in former centers of Christianity.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: According to some estimates in 2005 in North Korea there are 3,846,000 (16% of the total population) believers of Shamanists, 3,245,000 (13.5%) Chondoists, 1,082,000 (4.5%) Buddhists, and 406,000 (1.7%) Christians.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In 1994 the Central Guidance Committee of the Korean Chondoist Association organised an impressive ceremony at the newly constructed Mausoleum of Dangun (mythical founder of the Korean nation) near Pyongyang.In 2007 there were approximately 800 Chondoist churches throughout the country and a large central building in Pyongyang, 60 Buddhist temples (maintained more as cultural relics than places of worship), and 5 Christian churches—three Protestant churches, one Catholic church, and one Russian Orthodox church, all of which located in Pyongyang.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In 2014, the Korea Conference of Religions for Peace held an inter-Korean meeting at Mount Kumgang, North Korea, and another is planned in 2017 in Pyongyang.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Although its constitution guarantees freedom of religion in Article 68, the principle is limited by the requirement that religion may not be used as a pretext to harm the state, introduce foreign forces, or harm the existing social order.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: It is very difficult for outside observers to know what has happened to North Korean religious bodies over the past 60 years due to the extreme isolation of the state. One interpretation has held that all open religious activity in North Korea was persecuted and eradicated after Kim Il-sung took power, only to be revived in the present as part of a political show. Another interpretation has held that religion survived and has genuinely been revived in the past few decades.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Kim Il-sung criticized religion in his writings, and North Korean propaganda in literature, movies and other media have presented religion in a negative light. Kim Il-sung's attack on religion was strongly based on the idea that religion had been used as a tool for imperialists in the Korean peninsula. He criticized Christians for collaborating with the United Nations' forces against him during the Korean War, although he praised Christians who supported him.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Accounts from the Korean War speak of harsh persecution of religion by Kim Il-sung in the areas he controlled. Prior to the war, the Christian population of the Korean peninsula was most heavily concentrated in the north; during the war, many of these Christians fled to the South. Some interpretations have considered that the Christian community was often of a higher socio-economic class than the rest of the population, which may have prompted its departure for fear of persecution. The large-scale destruction caused by the massive air raids and the suffering experienced by North Koreans during the Korean War helped foster hatred of Christianity as being the American religion. It was seen by many Koreans in the north as the religion of the imperialists.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Religion was attacked in the ensuing years as an obstacle to the construction of communism, and many people abandoned their former religions in order to conform to the new reality. On the basis of accounts from the Korean War as well as information from defectors, an interpretation has held that the North Korea was the Second state in the world state to have completely eradicated religion by the 1960s.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Other interpretations have thought that they do represent genuine faith communities that survived the persecutions. An interpretation has considered that these religious communities may have been believers who genuinely adhered to Marxism–Leninism and the leadership of Kim Il-sung, thus ensuring their survival. This interpretation has been supported by recent evidence gathered that has shown that the North Korean government may have tolerated the existence of up to 200 pro-communist Christian congregations during the 1960s, and by the fact that several high-ranking people in the government were Christians and they were buried with high honours (for instance Kang Yang Wook was a Presbyterian minister who served as vice president of North Korea from 1972 to 1982, and Kim Chang Jun was a Methodist minister who served as vice chairman of the Supreme People's Assembly). Differing interpretations often agree on the disappearance of religion under Kim Il-sung in the first few decades of his rule. The government never made an open public policy statement about religion, leading to unresolved speculation among scholars as to what exactly the government's position was at any point in time.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Chondoism (천도교 "Ch'ŏndogyo") or Cheondoism (South Korean spelling) is a religion with roots in Confucianised indigenous shamanism. It is the religious dimension of the "Donghak" ("Eastern Learning") movement that was founded by Choe Je-u (1824–1864), a member of an impoverished yangban (aristocratic) family, in 1860 as a counter-force to the rise of "foreign religions", which in his view included Buddhism and Christianity (part of "Seohak", the wave of Western influence that penetrated Korean life at the end of the 19th century). Choe Je-u founded Chondoism after having been allegedly healed from illness by an experience of "Sangje" or "Haneullim", the god of the universal Heaven in traditional shamanism.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: The Donghak movement became so influential among common people that in 1864 the Joseon government sentenced Choe Je-u to death. The movement grew and in 1894 the members gave rise to the Donghak Peasant Revolution against the royal government. With the division of Korea in 1945, most of the Chondoist community remained in the north, where the majority of them dwelled.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Chondoism is the sole religion to be favoured by the North Korean government. It has political representation as the Party of the Young Friends of the Heavenly Way, and is regarded by the government as Korea's "national religion" because of its identity as a "minjung" (popular) and "revolutionary anti-imperialist" movement.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Korean shamanism, also known as "Muism" (무교 "Mugyo", ""mu" [shaman] religion") or "Sinism" (신교 "Singyo", "religion of the "shin" () [gods]"), is the ethnic religion of Korea and the Koreans. Although used synonymously, the two terms are not identical: Jung Young Lee describes Muism as a form of Sinism – the shamanic tradition within the religion. Other names for the religion are "Sindo" (신도 "Way of the Gods") or "Sindoism" (신도교 "Sindogyo", "religion of the Way of the Gods").


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In contemporary Korean language the shaman-priest or "mu" () is known as a "mudang" ( ) if female or "baksu" if male, although other names and locutions are used. Korean "mu" "shaman" is synonymous with Chinese "wu", which defines priests both male and female. The role of the "mudang" is to act as intermediary between the spirits or gods, and the human plain, through "gut" (rituals), seeking to resolve problems in the patterns of development of human life.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Central to the faith is the belief in "Haneullim" or "Hwanin", meaning "source of all being", and of all gods of nature, the utmost god or the supreme mind. The "mu" are mythically described as descendants of the "Heavenly King", son of the "Holy Mother [of the Heavenly King]", with investiture often passed down through female princely lineage. However, other myths link the heritage of the traditional faith to Dangun, male son of the Heavenly King and initiator of the Korean nation.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Korean Muism has similarities with Chinese Wuism, Japanese Shinto, and with the Siberian, Mongolian, and Manchurian religious traditions. As highlighted by anthropological studies, the Korean ancestral god Dangun is related to the Ural-Altaic Tengri "Heaven", the shaman and the prince. The "mudang" is similar to the Japanese "miko" and the Ryukyuan "yuta". Muism has exerted an influence on some Korean new religions, such as Chondoism in North Korea. According to various sociological studies, many Christian churches in Korea make use of practices rooted in shamanism as the Korean shamanic theology has affinity to that of Christianity.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In the 1890s, the twilight years of the Joseon kingdom, Protestant missionaries gained significant influence, and led a demonisation of the traditional religion through the press, and even carried out campaigns of physical suppression of local cults. The Protestant discourse would have had an influence on all further attempts to uproot Muism.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: There is no knowledge about the survival of Korean shamanism in contemporary North Korea. Many northern shamans, displaced by war and politics, migrated to South Korea. Shamans in North Korea were (or are) of the same type of those of northern and central areas of South Korea ("kangshinmu").


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Buddhism (불교 "Pulgyo") entered Korea from China during the period of the three kingdoms (372, or the 4th century). Buddhism was the dominant religious and cultural influence in the Silla (668–935) and subsequent Goryeo (918–1392) states. Confucianism was also brought to Korea from China in early centuries, and was formulated as Korean Confucianism in Goryeo. However, it was only in the subsequent Joseon kingdom (1392–1910) that Korean Confucianism was established as the state ideology and religion, and Korean Buddhism underwent 500 years of suppression, from which it began to recover only in the 20th century.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Buddhists are a minority in North Korea, and their traditions have developed differently from those of South Korean Buddhists after the division of the country. Buddhism in North Korea is practiced under the auspices of the official Korea Buddhist Federation, an organ of the North Korean state apparatus. North Korean Buddhist monks are entirely dependent on state wages for their livelihood as well as state authorization to practice. As of 2009, the leader of the Korean Buddhist Federation is Yu Yong-sun.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: There are only 60 Buddhist temples in the country, and they are viewed as cultural relics from Korea's past rather than places of active worship. Also, there is a three-year college for training Buddhist clergy. A limited revival of Buddhism is apparently taking place. This includes the establishment of an academy for Buddhist studies and the publication of a twenty-five-volume translation of the Korean Tripitaka, or Buddhist scriptures, which had been carved on 80,000 wooden blocks and kept in the Buddhist temple, Pohyonsa which is located at Myohyangsan in central North Korea. Recently, South Korean Buddhist leaders have been allowed to travel to North Korea and participate in religious ceremonies or give aid to civilians.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Despite the North Korean government's official stance on religion, Buddhism along with Confucianism both still have an effect on cultural life in North Korea as they are traditional religions of traditional Korean culture.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Christianity () became very popular in northern Korea from the late 18th century to the 19th century. The first Catholic missionaries arrived in 1794, a decade after the return of Yi Sung-hun, a diplomat who was the first baptised Korean in Beijing. He established a grassroots lay Catholic movement in the peninsula. However, the writings of the Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci, who was resident at the imperial court in Beijing, had been already brought to Korea from China in the 17th century. Scholars of the "Silhak" ("Practical Learning"), were attracted to Catholic doctrines, and this was a key factor for the spread of the Catholic faith in the 1790s. The penetration of Western ideas and Christianity in Korea became known as "Seohak" ("Western Learning"). A study of 1801 found that more than half of the families that had converted to Catholicism were linked to the Silhak school. Largely because converts refused to perform Confucian ancestral rituals, the Joseon government prohibited the proselytisation of Christianity. Some Catholics were executed during the early 19th century, but the restrictive law was not strictly enforced.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Protestant missionaries entered Korea during the 1880s and, along with Catholic priests, converted a remarkable number of Koreans, this time with the tacit support of the royal government. Methodist and Presbyterian missionaries were especially successful. They established schools, universities, hospitals, and orphanages and played a significant role in the modernisation of the country. During the Japanese colonial occupation, Christians were in the front ranks of the struggle for independence. Factors contributing to the growth of Catholicism and Protestantism included the decayed state of Korean Buddhism, the support of the intellectual elite, and the encouragement of self-support and self-government among members of the Korean church, and finally the identification of Christianity with Korean nationalism.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: A large number of Christians lived in the northern half of the peninsula (it was part of the so-called "Manchurian revival") where Confucian influence was not as strong as in the south. Before 1948, Pyongyang was an important Christian center: The city was known as the "Jerusalem of the East".


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Many Korean Communists came from a Christian background; Kim Il-sung's mother, Kang Pan-sok, was a Presbyterian deaconess. He attended a mission school and played the organ in church. In his memoir "With the Century", he wrote: "I do not think the spirit of Christianity that preaches universal peace and harmony contradicts my idea advocating an independent life for man". In 1945, with the establishment of the communist regime in the north, however, most Christians fled to South Korea to escape persecution. Christianity came to be discouraged by the North Korean government because of its association with America.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In the 1980s, North Korea produced its own translation of the Bible, which has since been used by Southern missionaries attempting to evangelize the North. By the late 1980s, it became apparent that Christians were active in the governmental elite. In those years, three new churches, two Protestant and one Catholic, were opened in Pyongyang. The number of churchgoing North Korean Christians more than doubled between the 1980s and the early 2000s, with a total of thirty ministers and 300 church officials. Proselytizing is prohibited based on the theory that it opens North Korea to impermissible foreign influence and the increase in churchgoing Christians is attributable to an active search for North Koreans who previously practiced privately or in small home congregations.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: Other signs of the regime's changing attitude towards Christianity included holding the "International Seminar of Christians of the North and South for the Peace and Reunification of Korea" in Switzerland in 1988, allowing papal representatives to attend the opening of the Changchung Cathedral of Pyongyang in that same year, and sending two North Korean novice priests to study in Rome. A Protestant seminary in Pyongyang taught future leaders of the North Korean government. A new association of Roman Catholics was established in June 1988. A North Korean Protestant pastor reported at a 1989 meeting of the National Council of Churches in Washington that his country had 10,000 Protestants and 1,000 Catholics who worshiped in 500 home churches. Today, the total number of Christians in North Korea is liberally estimated to be no more than somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000. In 1992 and 1994, American evangelist Billy Graham visited North Korea. He met Kim Il-sung, giving him a Bible, and preached at Kim Il-sung University. In 2008, his son Franklin Graham visited the country. In 1991, North Korea invited the Pope to visit. In 2018, the government invited Pope Francis to visit. In late 2018, Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of the Russian Orthodox Church visited North Korea, meeting with officials and leading a service at the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: North Korean Christians are officially represented by the Korean Christian Federation, a state-controlled body responsible for contacts with churches and governments abroad. In Pyongyang there are five church buildings: the Catholic Changchung Cathedral, three Protestant churches inaugurated in 1988 in the presence of South Korean church officials, and a Russian Orthodox church consecrated in 2006.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: The internationally-supported Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, which opened in 2010, operates with a Christian ethos. Christian aid groups, including the American Friends Service Committee, the Mennonite Central Committee, the Eugene Bell Foundation, and World Vision, are able to operate in the country, but not allowed to proselytize.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: In 2016, Christmas was celebrated in North Korea, but with the religious overtones downplayed. In 2018, the North Korean Council of Religionists sent a Christmas message to South Korea that expressed the wish that believers on both sides "go hand in hand towards peace and unification, filled with blessings by Christ the Lord".


title: Religion in North Korea

text: North Korea is number two on Open Doors’ 2022 World Watch List, an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution.


title: Religion in North Korea

text: The Pew Research Center estimated that there were 3,000 Muslims in North Korea in 2010, an increase from the 1,000 Muslims in 1990. There is a mosque in the Iranian embassy in Pyongyang called Ar-Rahman Mosque, the only mosque in the country. The mosque was likely built for the embassy staff, but visits by other foreigners are deemed possible, too.


title: Mas Oyama

text: , more commonly known as Mas Oyama, was a karate master who founded Kyokushin Karate, considered the first and most influential style of full contact karate. A Zainichi Korean, he spent most of his life living in Japan and acquired Japanese citizenship in 1968.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Mas Oyama was born as Choi Yeong-Eui () in Kintei, Chōsen. At a young age he was sent to Manchukuo to live on his sister's farm. Oyama began studying Chinese martial arts at age 9 from a Chinese farmer who was working on the farm. His family name was Lee and Oyama said he was his very first teacher. The story of the young Oyama's life is written in his earlier books. His family was of the landed-gentry class, and his father, Choi Seung Hyun, writing under the pen name of "Hakheon," was a noted composer of classical Chinese poetry.


title: Mas Oyama

text: In March 1938, Oyama left for Japan following his brother who enrolled in the Imperial Japanese Army’s Yamanashi Aviation School. Sometime during his time in Japan, Choi Yeong-Eui chose his Japanese name, Oyama Masutatsu (), which is a transliteration of "Baedal" (). Baedal was an ancient Korean kingdom known in Japan during Oyama's time as "Ancient Joseon".


title: Mas Oyama

text: One story of Oyama's youth involves Lee giving young Oyama a seed which he was to plant; when it sprouted, he was to jump over it one hundred times every day. As the seed grew and became a plant, Oyama later said, "I was able to jump between walls back and forth easily." The writer, Ikki Kajiwara, and the publisher of the comics based the story on the life experience Oyama spoke to them about – thus the title became "Karate Baka Ichidai" (Karate Fanatic).


title: Mas Oyama

text: In 1963, Oyama wrote "What is Karate" which became a best seller in the US and sold million copies all over the world. It is considered by many to be the "Bible" of Karate to this day. It was translated into Hungarian, French, and English.


title: Mas Oyama

text: In 1945 after the war ended, Oyama left the aviation school. He finally found a place to live in Tokyo. This is where he met his future wife Oyama Chiyako (大山 置弥子) whose mother ran a dormitory for university students.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Wanting the best in instruction, he contacted the Shotokan dojo (Karate school) operated by Gigō Funakoshi, the third son of karate master and Shotokan founder Gichin Funakoshi. He became a student, and began his lifelong career in Karate. To stay focused he remained isolated and trained in solitude.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Oyama later attended Takushoku University in Tokyo and was accepted as a student at the dojo of Gichin Funakoshi where he trained for two years. Oyama then studied Gōjū-ryū karate for several years with Nei-Chu So ( / 曺（曹）寧柱, 1908–1996) who was a fellow Korean from Oyama's native province and a senior student of the system's founder, Chojun Miyagi.


title: Mas Oyama

text: At sometime between 1946 and 1950, Mas Oyama trained at Kanbukan, a dojo founded by high ranking students of Kanken Toyama known for its large degree of Zainichi Korean membership. Nei-Chu So was also an active trainee at Kanbukan and likely taught Goju-Ryu to Oyama there. In Kanbukan, Karate was practised with Bōgu/protective gear (Bogutsuki Karate), which allowed for delivering strikes with full force, and may have influenced Oyama's full contact fighting mentality. However, sources say that Oyama had little interest in Bogutsuki Karate as a sport.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Around the time he also went around Tokyo getting in fights with the U.S. Military Police. He later reminisced those times in a television interview, "Itsumitemo Haran Banjyo" (Nihon Television), "I lost many friends during the war- the very morning of their departure as Kamikaze pilots, we had breakfast together and in the evening their seats were empty. After the war ended, I was angry- so I fought as many U.S. military as I could, until my portrait was all over the police station." Oyama retreated to a lone mountain for solace to train his mind and body. He set out to spend three years on Mt. Minobu in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. Oyama built a shack on the side of the mountain. One of his students named Yashiro accompanied him, but after the rigors of this isolated training, with no modern conveniences, the student snuck away one night, and left Oyama alone. With only monthly visits from a friend in the town of Tateyama in Chiba Prefecture, the loneliness and harsh training became grueling. Oyama remained on the mountain for fourteen months, and returned to Tokyo a much stronger and fiercer karateka.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Oyama greatly credited his reading of "The Book of Five Rings" by Miyamoto Musashi (a famous Japanese swordsman) for changing his life completely. He recounts this book as being his only reading material during his mountain training years.


title: Mas Oyama

text: He was forced to leave his mountain retreat after his sponsor had stopped supporting him. Months later, after he had won the Karate Section of Japanese National Martial Arts Championships, he was distraught that he had not reached his original goal to train in the mountains for three years, so he went into solitude again, this time on Mt. Kiyosumi in Chiba Prefecture, Japan and he trained there for 18 months.


title: Mas Oyama

text: In 1953 Oyama opened his own karate dojo, named Oyama Dojo (form of Gōjū-ryū), in Tokyo but continued to travel around Japan and the world giving martial arts demonstrations, which included knocking live bulls unconscious with his bare hands (sometimes grabbing them by the horn, and snapping the horn off). His dojo was first located outside in an empty lot but eventually moved into a ballet school in 1956. The senior instructors under him were T. Nakamura, K. Mizushima, E. Yasuda, M. Ishibashi, and T. Minamimoto. Oyama's own curriculum soon developed a reputation as a tough, intense, hard-hitting but practical style which was finally named Kyokushinkai (Japan Karate-Do Kyokushinkai), which means 'the ultimate truth,' in a ceremony in 1957. He also developed a reputation for being 'rough' with his students, as the training sessions were grueling and students injuring themselves in practice fighting (kumite) was quite common. Along with practice fighting that distinguished Oyama's teaching style from other karate schools, emphasis on breaking objects such as boards, tiles, or bricks to measure one's offensive ability became Kyokushin's trademark. Oyama believed in the practical application of karate and declared that ignoring 'breaking practice is no more useful than a fruit tree that bears no fruit.' As the reputation of the dojo grew students were attracted to come to train there from inside and outside Japan and the number of students grew. Many of the eventual senior leaders of today's various Kyokushin based organisations began training in the style during this time. In 1964 Oyama moved the dojo into the building that would from then on serve as the Kyokushin home dojo and world headquarters. In connection with this he also formally founded the 'International Karate Organization Kyokushin kaikan' (commonly abbreviated to IKO or IKOK) to organise the many schools that were by then teaching the kyokushin style.


title: Mas Oyama

text: In 1961 at the All-Japan Student Open Karate Championship, one of Oyama's students, Tadashi Nakamura, at 19 years old (1961) made his first tournament appearance, where he was placed first. Nakamura later became Mas Oyama's Chief Instructor as referenced in Mas Oyama's book, "This is Karate." In 1969, Oyama staged the first All-Japan Full Contact Karate Open Championships which took Japan by storm and Terutomo Yamazaki became the first champion, which have been held every year since. In 1975, the first World Full Contact Karate Open Championships were held in Tokyo. World championships have been held at four-yearly intervals since. After formally establishing Kyokushin-kai, Oyama directed the organization through a period of expansion. Oyama and his staff of hand-picked instructors displayed great ability in marketing the style and gaining new members. Oyama would choose an instructor to open a dojo in another town or city in Japan, whereupon the instructor would move to that town, and, typically demonstrate his karate skills in public places, such as at the civic gymnasium, the local police gym (where many judo students would practice), a local park, or conduct martial arts demonstrations at local festivals or school events. In this way, the instructor would soon gain a few students for his new dojo. After that, word of mouth would spread through the local area until the dojo had a dedicated core of students. Oyama also sent instructors to other countries such as the United States, Netherlands, England, Australia and Brazil to spread Kyokushin in the same way. Oyama also promoted Kyokushin by holding "The All-Japan Full Contact Karate Open Championships" every year and "World Full Contact Karate Open Championships" once every four years in which anyone could enter from any style.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Oyama devised the 100-man kumite which he went on to complete three times in a row over the course of three days.


title: Mas Oyama

text: He was also known for fighting bulls bare-handed. He battled 52 bulls over the course of his lifetime, supposedly cutting off the horns of several and killing three instantly with one strike, earning him the nickname of "Godhand".


title: Mas Oyama

text: Oyama is said to have had many matches with professional wrestlers during his travels through the United States.


title: Mas Oyama

text: In 1946, Oyama married a Japanese woman, Oyako Chiyako (1926-2006) and had three children with her. In the late 1960s, Oyama and Chiyako were having marital problems and decided to separate, and Chiyako, who did not want her husband to start seeing other women, arranged for a Korean woman and family friend named Sun-ho Hong to become Oyama's companion for some time. With Hong, Oyama had three more children and he would remain romantically involved with both Hong and Chiyako until the end of his life.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Later in life, Oyama suffered from osteoarthritis. Despite his illness, he never gave up training. He held demonstrations of his karate, which included breaking objects.


title: Mas Oyama

text: Oyama built his Tokyo-based International Karate Organization, Kyokushinkaikan, into one of the world's foremost martial arts associations, with branches in more than 100 countries boasting over 12 million registered members. In Japan, books were written by and about him, feature-length films splashed his colourful life across the big screen, and comic books recounted his many adventures.


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: Marry Me is the soundtrack album to the 2022 film of the same name, performed by its stars Jennifer Lopez and Maluma. It was released on February 4, 2022, by Universal Studios and Sony Music Latin, marking Lopez's first full-length release since "A.K.A." (2014) and Maluma's first since "Papi Juancho" (2020).


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: The soundtrack album was nominated at the 13th Hollywood Music in Media Awards under the "Soundtrack Album" category. The "Marry Me Live Concert Special" was also nominated under the "LIVE CONCERT FOR VISUAL MEDIA" category.


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: While promoting her single "Medicine" in April 2019, Lopez told Ebro Darden of Beats 1 radio that the next album she releases will "probably be with a new movie". Later that same month, it was announced that she would be starring alongside Owen Wilson in the romantic comedy, "Marry Me" (2022). In July 2019, Colombian singer Maluma was cast to play Lopez's fiancé in the film. During their first week of shooting, on October 5, 2019, Lopez and Maluma performed her song "No Me Ames" during his show at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In February 2020, Lopez announced that she would be releasing a new album alongside "Marry Me" that would also serve as the film's soundtrack. She told Jimmy Fallon during an interview that the album would feature "six or eight" songs performed by herself and "two or three" songs performed by Maluma, as well as a duet between the two that is performed as both an uptempo and a ballad.


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: After receiving the script for "Marry Me", Lopez and her team started finding places in the film where they could place music. According to the singer, "you can't have a movie about two pop stars who are performing and not have a soundtrack". While on the It's My Party tour during the summer of 2019, she listened to 100 songs submitted by different writers and producers and narrowed it down to "seven or eight" songs to be featured in the film. The process of creating the soundtrack was "really difficult" for Lopez due to the fact that she wasn't making a "J.Lo album" and was instead "writing songs for the story", noting that she was on tour during the writing and recording process.


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: After signing onto the project, Maluma started writing songs with his long-time producer Edgar Barrera. The first song they wrote was "Segundo", which was met with positive reception from the studio and director. The "R&B-tinged pop" song features an "earworm finger-snapping beat", and lyrics where Maluma asks their lover for a second chance After being asked to do "another, more commercial reggaeton song", Maluma and Barrera wrote a second song called "Uno en un Millón". "Uno en un Millón" ("1 in a Million") fuses "raggeaton drums with pop beats." In similar vein, "Pa Ti (For You)" is another downtempo reggaeton song. Later on "Church" Lopez creates a "non-typical church song" which would "get the party started". "Billboard" staff called the song "gospel-infused pop". Other songs include "Love of My Life" which centres on finding love from oneself first and features some acapella vocals by Lopez, and the acoustic guitar-driven song "After Love (Part 1)". On the latter, Lopez sings about failed relationships but the inclusion of EDM beats makes you "dance your sorrows away" according to "Billboard" staff.


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: According to "Tomas Mier" of Rolling Stone, "Jennifer Lopez and Maluma Have Real Musical Chemistry on the ‘Marry Me’ Soundtrack". He also added "Though lyrically shallow, and unsurprisingly so, the LP aids Marry Me’s storyline with its themes of longing, love-building, and deception. Maluma doesn’t take many risks, but he still delivers when he sticks to his known reggaeton tricks. For her part, Lopez owns the album’s ballads and bops — flashing her musical prowess and versatility at every turn." "Holly Alvarado" of "Remezcla" said that "Throughout the 13 tracks, its entirety is about the rigid ideals of finding love. And even if we hate to admit it, everything in life is guiding us to it, being the film’s core theme." She also added that "Each song is a hit. Even though the record is only 37 minutes short, it’s loaded with tender melodies that make the film a uniquely produced rom-com for the year."


title: Marry Me (soundtrack)

text: On September 21, 2020, Lopez and Maluma posted a 15-second teaser on both of their respective social media accounts to announce that they would be releasing a "two-song" collaboration, called "Pa' Ti + Lonely", on September 24, 2020. While both songs were originally announced to be featured on the "Marry Me" soundtrack, "Lonely" did not end up making the final cut. "Pa' Ti" marked Lopez's highest chart debut in the United States since 2017, debuting at number nine on "Billboard"'s Hot Latin Songs for the chart dated October 10, 2020. It became Lopez's highest entry on the chart since her feature on "Adrenalina" (2014), as well as her seventh top-ten song and Maluma's 13th. "On My Way", the second single from the album, was released on November 18, 2021, alongside the trailer for the film. "Marry Me", the title track, was released as the third and final single. Two versions of the song were released - a ballad version and an uptempo version denoted as "Kat & Bastian Duet".


title: Chris Jones (defensive tackle, born 1994)

text: Christopher Deshun Jones (born July 3, 1994) is an American football defensive tackle for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Mississippi State, and was drafted by the Chiefs in the second round of the 2016 NFL Draft.


text: Jones attended Houston High School in Houston, Mississippi, where he played high school football for the Hilltoppers. Jones was considered a five-star recruit and was ranked among the top players in his class. He committed to Mississippi State University to play college football.


text: Jones appeared in all 13 games and made three starts as a true freshman at Mississippi State in 2013. He had 32 tackles and three sacks. As a sophomore, he appeared in all 13 games and had 26 tackles and three sacks. As a junior, he started all 13 games, recording 44 tackles and 2.5 sacks. Following the conclusion of his junior year, Jones made the decision to forgo his senior year and enter the 2016 NFL Draft.


text: Coming out of college, Jones was projected by analysts and scouts to be drafted in the second round. He was ranked the eighth-best defensive tackle and the 48th-best prospect by NFLDraftScout.com. Jones was invited to the NFL Combine and completed the entire workout and all the positional drills. While running the 40-yard dash, Jones had a wardrobe malfunction that exposed his genitalia before falling to the ground to fix the issue. This went viral on social media. He attended Mississippi State's Pro Day, but decided he was satisfied with his combine performance and only performed positional drills.


text: The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Jones in the second round with the 37th overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. Jones was the fifth defensive tackle drafted in 2016.


text: On May 8, 2016, the Chiefs signed Jones to a four-year, $6.23 million contract with $3.44 million guaranteed and a signing bonus of $2.73 million.


text: He entered training camp competing with Jaye Howard, Allen Bailey, Nick Williams, and Jimmy Staten to be the starting defensive end. Jones was named the backup left defensive end, behind Jaye Howard, to begin the regular season.


text: Jones made his professional regular season debut in the Kansas City Chiefs' season-opening 33–27 victory over the San Diego Chargers. The following week, he recorded his first tackle and finished with two solo tackles in a 19–12 loss to the Houston Texans. On October 18, 2016, he was named the starting right defensive end after Allen Bailey was placed on injured-reserve with a shoulder injury. On October 23, 2016, Jones earned his first career start and recorded two solo tackles in a 27–21 win against the New Orleans Saints. The next game, he made a solo tackle and his first career sack on Andrew Luck in a 30–14 victory over the Indianapolis Colts. In a Week 10 matchup with the Carolina Panthers, Jones made three solo tackles and sacked Cam Newton in a 20–17 win. On December 8, 2016, he recorded a season-high five combined tackles in a 21–13 win against the Oakland Raiders. On January 1, 2017, Jones recorded a season-high four solo tackles in a 37–27 win against the San Diego Chargers. He finished his rookie season with 28 combined tackles, two sacks, and four pass deflections in 16 games and 11 starts. He was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team.


text: On September 17, 2017, in Week 2, Jones recorded three sacks, two forced fumbles, and an interception in a 27–20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles, earning him AFC Defensive Player of the Week. Overall, he finished the 2017 season with 6.5 sacks, 32 total tackles, one interception, seven passes defensed, and four forced fumbles with five starts and 16 appearances.


text: During Week 5 against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Jones returned an interception 20 yards for a touchdown in the 30–14 victory. Later in the same game, he was ejected for punching Andrew Norwell in his right thigh after an extra point attempt. Jones has recorded a sack in all games from Week 5 to Week 16, setting an NFL record of 11 consecutive games with a sack. Jones broke the NFL record held previously by Simon Fletcher who recorded a sack from Week 11 of 1992 to Week 3 of the 1993 season. Jones was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for November. He finished the season third in the league with 15.5 sacks, which led the Chiefs, along with 40 combined tackles, five passes defensed, two forced fumbles, and an interception. He was named second-team All-Pro for his performance in 2018. He was ranked 36th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2019.


text: In Week 10 against the Tennessee Titans, Jones recorded two sacks on Ryan Tannehill, one of which was a strip sack recovered by teammate Tanoh Kpassagnon, in the 35–32 loss. Jones was named to his first Pro Bowl. Overall, Jones finished the 2019 season with 36 total tackles, nine sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, and four passes defensed. Jones helped the Chiefs reach Super Bowl LIV. Jones recorded only one tackle, but forced the game’s first turnover and broke up two passes from Jimmy Garoppolo. The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers 31–20. He was ranked 52nd by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2020.


text: On March 16, 2020, the Chiefs placed the franchise tag on Jones. On July 15, Jones signed a four-year contract worth $80 million, with $60 million guaranteed. He was placed on the COVID-19 reserve list on November 5, after coming in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. He was removed the following day. In Week 14, against the Miami Dolphins, he recorded his first career safety on a sack on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. Jones finished the 2020 season with 36 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, four passes defensed, and two forced fumbles. He was named to his second Pro Bowl. The Chiefs went on to reach Super Bowl LV, but failed to defend their championship after losing to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31–9. He was ranked 34th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2021.


text: In Week 11, Jones had five tackles, 3.5 sacks, a pass deflection, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery in a 19-9 win over the Cowboys, earning AFC Defensive Player of the Week. He was named to his third consecutive Pro Bowl. He was ranked 39th by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2022.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until 1958, they were awarded by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors. From 1958 onwards, after the Guild had merged with the British Film Academy, the organisation was known as the Society of Film and Television Arts. In 1976, this became the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: From 1968 until 1997, the BAFTA Film and Television awards were presented in one joint ceremony known simply as the BAFTA Awards, but in order to streamline the ceremonies from 1998 onwards they were split in two. The Television Awards are usually presented in April, with a separate ceremony for the Television Craft Awards on a different date. The Craft Awards are presented for more technical areas of the industry, such as special effects, production design, or costumes.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: The Awards are only open to British programmes—with the exception of the audience-voted Audience Award and the International Award (this is for a single programme or series acquired from the international marketplace, covering all genres)—but any cable, satellite, terrestrial or digital television stations broadcasting in the UK are eligible to submit entries, as are independent production companies who have produced programming for the channels. Individual performances, such as from actors, can either be entered by the performers themselves or by the broadcasters. The programmes being entered must have been broadcast on or between January and December of the preceding year to be eligible for the year's awards. Entry is free, and entry forms are made available between November and January each year.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: After all the entries have been received, they are voted for online by all eligible members of the Academy. The programmes and performances attracting the most votes, usually four in each category, are shortlisted as the nominees for each award. The winner is chosen from the four nominees by a special jury of nine academy members for each award, the members of each jury selected by the Academy's Television Committee. Each jury is designed to have a balance in areas such as sex, age and experience, and have experience related to the categories concerned but no direct connections to the short-listed programmes or performers.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: There are also a number of non-competitive honorary Awards—the Dennis Potter Award for Outstanding Writing for Television; the Alan Clarke Award for Outstanding Creative Contribution to Television; the Richard Dimbleby Award for Outstanding Presenter in the Factual Arena; the Fellowship for individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to television across their careers, and various Special Awards given on an ad hoc basis. These Awards are suggested by the Television Committee and awarded by the Academy's Council. They are not necessarily always given every year, but as and when appropriate.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: The Awards ceremony is broadcast on British television, usually the day after it has taken place. Between 1998 and 2006, it was alternated between ITV and BBC One. But since 2007, it has been broadcast by BBC One.


title: British Academy Television Awards

text: In 1991, a controversial selection was made in the Best Drama Serial category, when "Prime Suspect" beat "G.B.H." to win the award. Following the ceremony, four of the seven voting members of the jury signed a public statement declaring that they had voted for "G.B.H." to win. Jury chairperson Irene Shubik, who did not cast a vote, refused to comment publicly on the affair, but BAFTA Chairman Richard Price stated that the ballot papers passed on to him by Shubik had shown four votes for "Prime Suspect" and three for "G.B.H." Price claimed that the ballot papers could not be recounted as they had subsequently been destroyed. No blame was ever attached to Shubik by the four judges, and it was to her that they had initially turned to raise the apparent discrepancy with BAFTA.


title: Organization of the United States Marine Corps

text: The United States Marine Corps is organized within the Department of the Navy, which is led by the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). The most senior Marine commissioned officer is the Commandant of the Marine Corps, responsible for organizing, recruiting, training, and equipping the Marine Corps so that it is ready for operation under the command of the unified combatant commanders. The Marine Corps is organized into four principal subdivisions: Headquarters Marine Corps, the Operating Forces, the Supporting Establishment, and the Marine Forces Reserve.


text: The Operating Forces are further subdivided into three categories: Marine forces assigned to Unified Combatant Commands, Marine Corps Security Forces guarding naval installations, and Marine Security Guard detachments at American embassies. Under the "Forces for Unified Commands" memo, Marine forces are assigned to each of the regional unified combatant commands at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense and with the approval of the President. Since 1991, the Marine Corps has maintained component headquarters at each of the regional unified combatant commands.


text: Marine Corps Forces are further divided into Marine Forces Command (consisting of II Marine Expeditionary Force) and Marine Forces Pacific (I Marine Expeditionary Force and III Marine Expeditionary Force). The commander of the former also serves as commanding general for Fleet Marine Force, Atlantic, Marine Corps Forces, Europe, Marine Corps Forces, South, Marine Corps Forces, Strategic, and Marine Corps Installations East; while the latter serves as commander of Fleet Marine Force, Pacific, Marine Forces Central Command, and Marine Corps Installations West.


text: The Supporting Establishment includes Combat Development Command, Recruit Depots, Marine Corps Logistics Command, Marine Bases & Air Stations, Marine Corps Recruiting Command, and the United States Marine Band.


text: Since the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Army both believe that their combat capabilities overlap each other, they have both historically viewed the other branch as encroaching on their capabilities and have competed for money, missions, and fame. Most significantly, in the aftermath of World War II, Army efforts to restructure the American defense establishment involved the dissolution of the Marine Corps and the folding of its capabilities into the other services. Leading this movement were such prominent Army officers as General Dwight Eisenhower, who later became the President of the United States, and Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall.


text: The Marine Corps is a branch of the Department of the Navy along with the U.S. Navy. Both the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) and Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC), heads of their respective services, report directly to the Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV). As a result, the Navy and Marine Corps have a close relationship, more so than with other branches of the United States Armed Forces. Recent whitepapers and promotional literature have commonly used the phrase "Navy-Marine Corps Team".


text: The Marine Corps cooperates with the Navy on many institutional support services. The corps receives a significant portion of its officers from the United States Naval Academy and Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC), which are partially staffed by Marines. Marine Corps drill instructors contribute to training naval officers in Officer Candidate School. Marine aviators are trained in the Naval Aviation training pipeline, and utilize naval-weapons and test-pilot schools. Currently, Navy aircraft carriers deploy with a Marine Hornet squadron alongside Navy squadrons. The Navy's Blue Angels flight team includes at least one Marine pilot and is supported by a Marine C-130 Hercules aircraft and crew.


text: Since the Marines do not train chaplains or medical personnel, officers and enlisted sailors from the Navy fill these roles. Some of these sailors, particularly Hospital Corpsmen, generally wear Marine uniforms emblazoned with the Marine insignia but US Navy name tags in order to be distinct to compatriots but indistinguishable to enemies. The Marines also operate a network security team in conjunction with the Navy. Marines and sailors share the vast majority of branch-specific awards, with Marines earning the Navy Cross, the highest honor awarded short of the Medal of Honor (which Marines also are awarded, in the Navy version of the Medal of Honor), and other like medals; while an example of the few Marine-only awards is the Good Conduct Medal.


text: Today, the basic framework for deployable Marine units is the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF), a flexible structure that can vary in size. A MAGTF is composed of four elements: the command element (CE), the ground combat element (GCE), the aviation combat element (ACE) and the logistics combat element (LCE). A MAGTF can operate independently or as part of a larger coalition. It is a temporary organization formed for a specific mission and dissolved after completion of that mission.


text: The MAGTF structure reflects a strong tradition in the Corps towards self-sufficiency and a commitment to combined arms, both essential assets to an expeditionary force often called upon to act independently in discrete, time-sensitive situations. The history of the Marine Corps as well has led to a wariness towards relying too much on its sister services, and towards joint operations in general.


text: A MAGTF varies in size from the smallest, a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), based around a reinforced infantry battalion and a composite squadron, up to the largest, a Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), which ties together a Division, an Air Wing, and a Logistics Group under a MEF Headquarters Group.


text: Each of the seven MEUs are assigned to their respective Navy fleet as components of the Fleet Marine Force: three to the Atlantic Fleet (based at Camp Lejeune), and four to the Pacific Fleet (three based at Camp Pendleton and one in Okinawa). Each is commanded by a colonel with a combat arms background thus, infantry or aviator. The MEU components consist of a command element, ground combat element, aviation combat element, and a logistics combat element each commanded by a lieutenant colonel. MEU rotations are staggered so that while one MEU is on deployment, another is training to deploy, and one is standing down to refit and exchange units. Each MEU is trained during its workup evolution to perform special operations tasks and is then designated as a MEU(SOC) (Special Operations Capable). Each MEU can tailor its equipment to the expected tasking.


text: Typically, a MEU falls under the operational control of but no longer deploys as part of an Expeditionary Strike Group (which replaced the Amphibious Ready Group), composed of Navy amphibious ("L-class") ships (a LHD or LHA to serve as the flagship of the Amphibious Squadron, LSD(s), and LPD(s) that embark the MEU), escort ships (such as the , , and an ), and the requisite landing vehicles to transport the MEU ashore, such as the LCAC, LCU surface craft, Amphibious Assault Vehicle (though the MEU can utilize its helicopter lift assets embarked aboard the LHD or LHA). The theater component commander can use the ESG in its entirety or detach units as needed, though the MEU usually remains aboard the ships of the ESG to use it as their principal base of operations. This ability to remain at sea and "over the horizon" until called is a unique capability of the ESG/MEU.


text: The basic organization of Marine Corps infantry units follows the "rule of threes", which places three subordinates under a commander, not counting support elements. The organization and weapons are from the Marine Corps Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE) standard. Note that these are principles, but according to manpower and mission needs units can deviate from the TOE (e.g. with four subordinate units instead of three, or a commander who is a rank above or below the rank specified). Supporting units will have their own organization and equipment, but generally also follow the "rule of threes".


text: The unit designation brigade is only used in the Marine Corps in the form of a Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB), an intermediate sized Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF). The MEB is usually commanded by a brigadier general as CG, who is assisted by a colonel as the chief of staff (CoS) of the MEB's general staff and who is "dual-hatted" as the MEB's second-in-command. The MEB consists of three regimental equivalent combat elements (ground, air, and logistics) and a battalion-sized headquarters element. The ground combat element (GCE) consists of a Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which is a heavily reinforced infantry regiment (including field artillery, infantry reconnaissance, amphibious assault vehicle, tank, light armored reconnaissance, and combat engineer units), itself roughly equivalent to a US Army Infantry Brigade Combat Team. The air, or aviation, combat element (ACE) consists of a composite Marine Aircraft Group containing several helicopter, tilt rotor, tactical fixed wing, and UAV squadrons and/or detachments, as well as aviation ground support, command and control, and air defense units. The MAG is roughly equivalent in terms of numbers of aircraft and personnel to a US Army Combat Aviation Brigade. The logistics combat element (LCE) consists of a combat logistics regiment (CLR) consisting of combat logistics battalions (CLB), and specialized logistical companies and detachments to support the MAGTF. The headquarters, or command, element (CE) consists of specialized companies and detachments that perform various command, control, communications, surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence, law enforcement, and liaison functions.


text: Two unique unit designations to the Marine Corps are Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) and Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) MAGTFs. The MEU is the smallest MAGTF and consists of approximately 2,200 personnel. Commanded by a colonel with a lieutenant colonel as XO, it consists of a battalion landing team (BLT), a reinforced infantry battalion, as its GCE and a Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM), reinforced with detachments of helicopters, tactical fixed wing, and UAV aircraft, as well as aviation ground support, command and control, and air defense detachments, as its ACE. The MEU's LCE consists of a CLB, and its CE is a company-sized version of the MEB's battalion-sized headquarters group. The MEF is the Marine Corps's equivalent tactical command level to an army corps. The MEF has a lieutenant general as CG with a major general as deputy CG. The MEF consists of a Marine Division as its GCE, a Marine Aircraft Wing as its ACE, a Marine Logistics Group as its LCE, and a regimental-sized MEF Headquarters Group (MEF HQG) as its CE.


text: Battalions, and larger units commanded by a field grade officer, have an executive officer as the second-in-command and an executive staff consisting of: Manpower / Administration & Personnel (S-1), Intelligence (S-2), Operations, Plans & Training (S-3), Logistics (S-4), Civil Affairs (wartime only) (S-5), and Communications (S-6) sections. Units commanded by a general officer have a chief of staff and a general staff in which the staff sections are designated as G-1, G-2, etc. Battalions and larger units replace the company (and battery) first sergeant with a sergeant major, as the senior enlisted advisor to the unit commander.


text: In World War II, two more Marine Divisions were formed: the 5th and 6th, which fought in the Pacific War. These divisions were disbanded after the end of the war. The 5th Marine Division was reactivated for service in Vietnam but was disbanded again in the early 1970s.


text: The mission of Marine Corps aviation is to provide the MAGTF commander with an aviation combat element (ACE) capable of conducting air operations in support of the seizure and defense of advanced naval bases, and conducting such land operations as may be directed by the Joint Force commander.


text: The ACE supports the MAGTF by providing the six functions of Marine aviation: assault support, anti-air warfare, offensive air support, electronic warfare, control of aircraft and missiles, and aerial reconnaissance.


text: Beyond logistics (i.e., motor transport, supply, and maintenance), the LCE provides engineer support (i.e., heavy equipment, bulk fuel and water, utilities, bridging, explosive ordnance disposal, and reinforcement to combat engineer units), medical and dental personnel, and other specialized units (e.g., aerial delivery and landing support).


text: Although the notion of a Marine special warfare contribution to the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) was considered as early as the founding of USSOCOM in the 1980s, it was resisted by the Marine Corps. Then Commandant Paul X. Kelley expressed the popular belief that Marines should support Marines, and that the Corps should not fund a special warfare capability that would not support Marine operations.


text: However, resistance from within the Marine Corps dissipated when Marine leaders watched the Corps' "crown jewels"—the 15th and 26th MEU (Special Operations Capable) {MEU(SOC)s}—sit on the sidelines during the early stages of Operation Enduring Freedom while other special warfare units led the way. After a three-year development period, the Marine Corps agreed in 2006 to supply a 2,700-strong unit, Marine Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC), which would answer directly to USSOCOM.


text: The Marine Special Operations Command is the Marine Corps's special operations component that reports to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM). Currently, MARSOC trains, organizes, equips and, when directed by the Commander, USSOCOM, deploys task organized, scalable, and responsive U.S. Marine Corps special operations forces worldwide in support of combatant commanders and other agencies.


text: The MSOAG, formerly the FMTU, has been operating since 2005, before MARSOC formally existed. MARSOC was formally activated during a February 24 ceremony at Camp Lejeune, N.C., where MARSOC is now headquartered. Fox Company, 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, was the first of the Marine Special Operations Battalions' companies to activate in the Spring of 2006. Drawing its manpower from the core of 2nd Force Reconnaissance Co., Fox Company's creation came at the expense of 2nd Force Reconnaissance Co., which stood down upon the transfer of its platoons to both MARSOC's 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion, and a new company (Delta) of 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion.


text: MARSOC also contains a Marine Special Operations Support Group (SOSG) that trains, equips, structures, and provides specially qualified Marine forces, including operational logistics, intelligence, multipurpose canines, Firepower Control Teams and communications support in order to sustain worldwide special operations missions as directed by Commander, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (COMMARFORSOC).


title: Day 'n' Nite

text: "Day 'n' Nite" is a song by American rapper Kid Cudi. The song was written and produced by Cudi alongside his longtime collaborator and friend, Brooklyn-based producer Dot da Genius. It was issued as Cudi's commercial debut single on February 5, 2008, but had initially been released on Cudi's MySpace page and later featured on several music blogs in November 2007.


title: Day 'n' Nite

text: The single, which was included on his breakout mixtape "A Kid Named Cudi" (2008), also serves as the lead single from his debut studio album "" (2009). The song has since sold over 2,000,000 digital downloads in the United States. The song peaked at number three on the US "Billboard" Hot 100. The song was ranked at number 15 on the "Best 25 Songs of 2009" list by "Rolling Stone" and also ranked at number seven on "Complex"s "100 Best Songs of The Complex Decade".


title: Day 'n' Nite

text: As a young man, Cudi moved from his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio, to New York City, to pursue a music career. Upon his arrival, he stayed with his uncle, accomplished drummer Kalil Madi. His uncle later kicked him out, which subsequently led to Cudi writing "Day 'n' Nite": "My uncle that I lived with passed in 2006. We were actually beefing because he forced me out the house when I didn’t have another situation set up, so I was bitter. I never apologized for it, and that kills me. That’s why I wrote "Day 'n' Nite." If he wasn’t there to let me stay with him those first few months, there would be no Kid Cudi. It fucked me up watching him go, but it was like, "I have to fulfill this destiny now for sure." Things were moving but they weren’t solidified yet. I had "Day ’n’ Nite," we were just getting started, and I was like, "This shit has got to pop off." I wasn’t taking no for an answer."


title: Day 'n' Nite

text: On Cudi's debut album "Man on the Moon: The End of Day", the song is listed as "Day 'n' Nite (Nightmare)", following the album's dream sequence. In 2012, in an interview with "Complex", Kid Cudi revealed that the 1991 single "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" by the Geto Boys also inspired him to write and record "Day 'n' Nite", saying: "My Mind Playing Tricks On Me is my favorite song in the world. I love it so much I wanted to make my own version of it. And then 'Day 'N' Nite' came out of it."


title: Day 'n' Nite

text: In January 2014, Cudi announced he had recorded a remix of the song the day after he made the original in 2007. He revealed a snippet of the remix was briefly previewed on the intro of his 2008 breakout mixtape "A Kid Named Cudi". The remix was slated to appear on 2014's "", however it failed to make the cut and was ultimately unreleased.


title: Day 'n' Nite

text: The single was released February 5, 2008, as a digital download. It was released prior to Kid Cudi's signing to the GOOD Music label. The song initially appeared on Cudi's first official project, a mixtape titled "A Kid Named Cudi", released in July 2008, in collaboration with New York street-wear brand 10.Deep as a free download. The mixtape caught the attention of Kanye West, whose then-manager Plain Pat, had introduced Cudi's music to him, subsequently leading West to sign Cudi to his GOOD Music imprint later that year.