title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The role of the Urdu language played an important role in the development of Muslim self-consciousness in the early twentieth century. Uttar Pradesh Muslims set up Anjumans or associations for the protection and promotion of Urdu. These early Muslim associations formed the core of the All India Muslim League in Dhaka in 1905. Many of the leaders belonged to the Ashraf category. Uttar Pradesh Muslims created the movement for a separate Muslim state, later known as Pakistan. The eventual effect of this movement led to the partition of India, and creation of Pakistan. This led to an exodus of many Muslim professionals to Pakistan, and the division of the Uttar Pradesh Muslims, with the formation of the Muhajir ethnic group of Pakistan. The role of the Aligarh Muslim University was extremely important in the creation of Pakistan.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The net result of partition and independence in 1947 was the division of the Urdu speaking Uttar Pradesh Muslims. It led to major social, political, and cultural changes; for example, Urdu lost its status. The abolishment of the zamindari system also had a profound impact on culture as these large landowners provided patronage to local artisans; this was especially true in the Awadh region. Muslim artisan communities persevered with the growth of specialized industries such as lock manufacturing in Aligarh. The Muslim peasantry in western Uttar Pradesh benefited from the Green Revolution, while those in eastern Uttar Pradesh did poorly. The Muslim League eventually declined, with most Muslims initially supporting the Indian National Congress. The post partition period saw a reduction in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims. This was also a period where Muslims were led by Ashraf leaders such as Abdul Majeed Khwaja in Aligarh and Rafi Ahmed Kidwai in Barabanki. However, from the late 1960s onwards, there was an increase in the number of communal riots, culminating in the destruction of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in December 1992. This period has also seen the decline of Muslim support for the Congress Party.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: From the 1990s there have been two issues confronting the Muslim community: the Mandir and Mandal. Mandir refers to the construction of a Hindu temple supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the town of Ayodhya in eastern Uttar Pradesh, on the site of Babri Mosque. The project was poorly received and resulted in communal violence. The other issue is commonly referred to as Mandal, a reference to the Mandal Commission, which was set up to consider the question of seat reservations and quotas for people to address caste discrimination. Among the groups identified for reservation were a number of Ajlaf communities, which led to greater assertion of "Ajlaf" political power and a decline in the Ashraf leadership. A major controversy is a demand for the Muslim community to receive reservation as a whole, which is being opposed by many Ajlaf communities. There are also demands to extend the scheduled caste status, which the Indian Constitution restricts to Hindu castes and Muslim Ajlaf groups like the Halalkhor and Lal Begi.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Some South Asian Muslims stratify their society according to "quoms". "Quoms" are further divided into "biradaris", which claim descent from an actual or putative common male ancestor. For example, an individual will belong to the Shaikh "quom" and Behlim Rangrez or Fareedi "biradari". This system of stratification, unlike the Hindu caste system, lacks any concept of ritual purity or pollution.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: It is commonly believed that Muslims in Uttar Pradesh are divided into the Ashraf and Ajlaf categories which are distinguished by ethnic origin and descent. However, students making empirical studies of Muslim communities in different parts of India found that this distinction is not really meaningful in understanding the existing pattern among the diverse social groups in any locality. Technically, the Ashraf are descendants of groups with foreign ancestry, while the Ajlaf are those whose ancestors are said to have converted to Islam. The Ashraf are further divided into four groups: the Sayyid, the alleged descendants of Mohammed; the Shaikh and Siddiqui Manihar claiming descent from early Arab or Persian settlers; the Turks & the Mughal descent from the Mughal dynasty or Gurkani Turks; and the Pathan, who claim descents from Pashtun groups that have settled in India. Technically the first two groups intermarry with each other, while the latter two intermarry. Included sometimes in the Ashraf category are Muslim Rajput groups such as the Rangrez, manihar and Khanzada. A third category, "arzaal" are supposed to be converts from Hindu Dalit communities, though the term is never used in Uttar Pradesh. Groups that tend to fall in this category include the Halalkhor and Lal Begi. Uttar Pradesh Muslims often identify themselves in smaller units called biradaris, which are localized lineage groupings; for example, the Qidwai Shaikh.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Communities in the Ajlaf category were traditionally associated with the practice of a particular craft. For example, the Ansari were weavers, while the Saifi were blacksmiths. These artisan communities call themselves "biradaries" and each is characterised by strict endogamy. In the older parts of town and cities in Uttar Pradesh, they are also characterised by residential segregation. Among other traditional artisan biradaris in UP are the Mansoori, Bhatiara, Bhisti, Dhobi, Muslim Halwai, Teli and Raj, which were at one time associated with a particular craft or trade.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: In addition to occupational specialization, biradaris are also concentrated in a particular geographic area. For example, the Doab region is home some cultivation biradaris, such as the Baloch, Dogar, Garha, Gujjar, Jat, Turks, Kamboh, Rajput, and Muslim Tyagi. They often live in their own villages and follow distinct customs. Almost all these groups are Sunni and speak Kauravi.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The population is further divided by linguistic division. Muslims in Uttar Pradesh speak Urdu, as well as also local Hindi dialects, such as Bhojpuri, Awadhi, Kauravi, and Braj Bhasha.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Both Muslim men and women wore the shalwar kameez, while men also wore the sherwani. Indian Muslim women in urban areas historically also wore a white purdah, which hung around the figure around a small skull-cap.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The Mughal and Indo-Iranian heritage influenced their cuisine, having tastes vary from mild to spicy and is often associated with aroma. It tends to use stronger spices and flavors. Most of a "dastarkhawan" dining table includes chapatti, rice, dal, vegetable and meat (beef, lamb, chicken, fish) dishes. Special dishes include biryani, qorma, kofta, seekh kabab, Nihari and Haleem, Nargisi Koftay, Shashlik, Kata-Kat, Roghani Naan, Naan, Sheer khurma (sweet), qourma, chai (sweet, milky tea), paan, and other delicacies associated with North Indian Muslim culture.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Sufis (Islamic mystics) played an important role in the spread of Islam in India. They were successful in spreading Islam, as many aspects of Sufi belief systems and practices had their parallels in Indian philosophical literature, in particular nonviolence and monism. The Sufis' orthodox approach towards Islam made it easier for Hindus to practice. Hazrat Khawaja Muin-ud-din Chishti, Qutbuddin Bakhtiar Kaki, syed jalaluddin surkh posh bukhariNizam-ud-din Auliya, Shah Jalal, nasiruddin chirag Dehlvi , makhdoom jahaniya jahangasht, syed sadruddin raju qattalAmir Khusro, Sarkar Sabir Pak, Shekh Alla-ul-Haq Pandwi, Hazrat Qutabuddin Dehlvi, Hazrat Nasiruddin kaaly, Hazrat Jamal Shah Khurma Waly, Hazrat Shah Ahmad Shah Pir Ji Sarkar, Hazrat Syed Chishti Miyan (Muradabad), Hazrat Imam Shah Chishti, Ashraf Jahangir Semnani, Sarkar Waris Pak, and Ata Hussain Fani Chishti trained Sufis to propagate Islam in different parts of India. When the Islamic Empire was established in India, the Sufi movement attracted followers from the artisan and untouchable communities; they assisted in bridging the distance between Islam and the indigenous traditions. Ahmad Sirhindi, a prominent member of the Naqshbandi Sufi, advocated the peaceful conversion of Hindus to Islam. Ahmed Rida Khan contributed a lot by defending traditional and orthodox Islam in India through his work "Fatawa Razvia".


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The following table gives the proportion of Muslims in the population of every district in Uttar Pradesh according to the 2011 Census. Excluded are the districts of Hapur, Sambhal and Shamli which did not exist at the time of the census.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Urdu has much in common with the Hindustani language and is mutually intelligible with Standard Hindi. The grammatical description in this article concerns standard Urdu. During the Mughal Empire, the development of Urdu was further strengthened and started to emerge as a new language. The official language of the Ghurids, Delhi Sultanate, the Mughal Empire, and their successor states, as well as the cultured language of poetry and literature, was Persian, while the language of religion was Arabic. Gradually, the need to communicate with local inhabitants led to a composition of Sanskrit-derived languages, written in the Perso-Arabic script with literary conventions and specialized vocabulary being retained from Persian, Arabic, and Turkic; the new standard was eventually called "Urdu".


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: According to the Tashih Gharaib-ul-Lughat by Khan-i Arzu, the "zaban-e Urdu-e Shahi [the Imperial Urdu] had attained special importance in the time of Alamgir"(1658-1707). During this time period, Urdu was referred to as "Moors" by European writers, such as the English priest John Ovington in 1689 after his visit to India:


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The language of the Moors is different from that of the ancient original inhabitants of India, but is oblig'd to these Gentiles for its characters. For though the "Moors dialect" is peculiar to themselves, yet it is destitute of Letters to express it; and therefore in all their Writings in their Mother Tongue, they borrow their letters from the Heathens, or from the Persians, or other Nations.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Urdu is often contrasted with Hindi, another standardised form of Hindustani. The main differences between the two are that Standard Urdu is conventionally written in the Nastaliq calligraphy style of the Perso-Arabic script and draws vocabulary from Persian, Arabic, Turkish and local languages while Standard Hindi is conventionally written in Devanāgarī and draws vocabulary from Sanskrit more heavily. Most linguists consider Urdu and Hindi to be two standardized forms of the same language; others classify them separately, while some consider any differences to be sociolinguistic. Mutual intelligibility decreases in literary and specialized contexts. Due to religious nationalism since the partition of British India and consequent continued communal tensions, native speakers of both Hindi and Urdu increasingly assert them to be completely distinct languages.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Urdu's vocabulary remains heavily influenced by the Persian language. Since the 1800s, English started to replace Persian as the official language in India and it also contributed to influence the Urdu language. As of today, Urdu's vocabulary is strongly influenced by the English language.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Studies including the Sachar Report have claimed that the Muslim community in Uttar Pradesh lags behind in terms of economics, educational attainment and political representation. The general political consensus in India has been, for a number of historic reasons, that the Muslim community as whole should not be subject to any affirmative action policies, such as other socially deprived groupings like the Scheduled Castes. However, the state has conceded that certain baradaris within the larger Muslim community of Uttar Pradesh deserve reservations in jobs and quotas in educational institutions. This principle has been established by the Mandal Commission.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Many of these baradaris that have been traditionally associated with a particular craft have been granted Other Backward Class (OBC) status, which in theory makes them eligible for a number of affirmative action schemes. There has been some criticism as the selection of criteria, which many disadvantaged Muslim Baradaris excluded from the lists drawn up by the Government of India. For example, certain Baradaris whose Hindu counterparts were lists as Scheduled Castes were omitted from the first Uttar Pradeh list. This was part dealt with by including Muslim Nats, Muslim Mochis and Muslim Dhobis, whose Hindu counterparts have Scheduled Caste status as backward communities. However, a number of extremely marginalized Muslim communities such as the Muslim Dabgar. Muslim Bandhmatis. Muslim Dom and Muslim Bansphor remain excluded despite the fact that there Hindu counterparts are on the Scheduled Caste list. Other economically deprived groups such as the Kankali, Kanmailia and Kingharia have also been excluded, while groups like the Kayastha Muslims and Muslim Kamboh have been included. Approximately 44 communities have been included in the Uttar Pradesh OBC list.


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: The Government of India made an announcement to establish a sub-quota of 4.5% for minorities within the existing 27% reservation meant for the OBC. This decision was said to be made to address Muslim communities that have been granted OBC status are unable to compete with wealthier section of the Hindu OBC community. However, Justice Sachar who headed the Sachar Committee criticized the government decision saying, "Such promises will not help the backward section of minorities. It is like befooling them. These people are making tall claims just to win elections"


title: Islam in Uttar Pradesh

text: Notable Muslims from Uttar Pradesh include actress Shabana Azami, Vice President of India Mohammad Hamid Ansari, Vice President of Muslim Personal Law Board Dr. Kalbe Sadiq, actor and director Muzaffar Ali, journalist Saeed Naqvi, Persian scholar Dr. Naiyer Masud Rizvi, linguist Masud Husain Khan, Governor Syed Sibtey Razi, historian Irfan Habib, politician Salman Khursheed, and cricketer Mohammad Kaif.


Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU), before 2015 as the Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU), is a public collegiate university in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was established as the Uttar Pradesh Technical University through the Government of Uttar Pradesh on 8 May 2000. To reduce workload and to ensure proper management, the university was bifurcated into separate universities, Gautam Buddh Technical University (GBTU) and Mahamaya Technical University (MTU), with effect from 1 May 2010. In 2013, as a new government came into power, the university was formed again by combining the two on 5 January 2013.


title: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University

text: It is an affiliating university, with approximately 800 colleges affiliated to it. The university was earlier on the IET Lucknow campus. Now it is in its newly inaugurated campus in Jankipuram, Lucknow. Additionally, the university had a Centre and Regional Office in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.


text: Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow formerly Uttar Pradesh Technical University (UPTU), was established by the government of Uttar Pradesh on 8 May 2000 (Act No. 1248 (2)XVII-V-I-I-19-2000 Uttar Pradesh Adhiniyam Sankhya 23 of 2000). Under the University Act, 'Technical Education' includes programmes of education, research, and training in engineering, technology, architecture, town planning, pharmacy, applied arts and crafts, and such other programmes and areas that the central government may declare by notification in the Gazette in consultation with All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).


text: The university was bifurcated into the Mahamaya Technical University and Gautam Buddha Technical University as of 1 May 2010 for better management of education in the state. On 1 May 2013, the Uttar Pradesh government decided to merge GBTU and MTU to bring back the original form of UPTU. On 31 October 2013, GBTU and MTU merged back to UPTU, the university with the maximum number of colleges affiliated to it, in India. On 18 September 2015, the university was officially renamed as Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University.


text: Vinay Kumar Pathak was appointed VC in August 2015 and reappointed for an additional three years in 2018. When his tenure ended in August 2021, Vineet Kansal was appointed VC as an additional charge. Kansal was replaced by Pradeep Kumar Mishra in January 2022.


text: The university is affiliating in nature and its jurisdiction spanned the state of Uttar Pradesh. It is one of the largest technical universities in India and perhaps in Asia. Because of its size, the number of colleges affiliated with it, and geographic dispersion, it is sub-divided into five zones with 45–50 colleges in each zone for the ease of management and facilitating inter-zonal comparison and possible internal competition to enhance the quality of teaching-learning processes.


text: The university envisioned to facilitate and nurture quality technical education and research in its own premises as well as all affiliated institutions. There were 49 affiliated colleges in 2000, now in August 2019, 785 colleges and institutions. The task of the university included conducting the SEE-UPTU for admission to programs affiliated with it. The university conducted central examinations each semester for all the affiliated colleges and institutions. Results were declared using technology-enabled systems. At present, in August 2019 around 4,00,000 students are enrolled in its programmes. The medium of instruction and examination is English.


text: As per a dipstick study conducted by MeritTrac in association with "UPTU Watch" magazine (2011), the engineering talent pool of the university was found to be significantly better than the national average.


text: The university offers undergraduate courses in engineering, architecture, hotel management and catering technology, fashion and apparel design, and pharmacy. These lead to degrees of B.Tech, B.Arch, BHMCT, BFAD, and B.Pharma respectively. The university offers postgraduate courses in computer applications and business administration leading to degrees of MCA, MBA and MBA (Rural Development).


text: The university offers training and placement support to affiliated colleges and institutes through the University industry interface cell(UIIC). The top colleges affiliated to Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University have been providing excellent placement record over the years.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Blizzard Entertainment's 2016 video game "Overwatch" inspired a notable amount of fan-made pornography. The game's distinct and colorful character designs drew the attention of many online content creators, resulting in sexually explicit fanart. Character models were ripped from the beta versions of the game and subsequently spread, edited, and animated on the Internet.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Animated pornography shorts and sexualized imagery featuring official character models constitute the main content of "Overwatch" pornography. Original pornography fan artists (animators and illustrators) are most commonly based on social media platforms such as Twitter, Reddit, and Tumblr, while they upload their works to file hosting services like MEGA, Gfycat, Webmshare, and Google Drive. Pornographic content is created primarily through Valve's Source Filmmaker (SFM) and Blender.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: "Overwatch" pornography usually consists of short pieces of video featuring characters such as Tracer, D.Va, and Mei. Blizzard initially issued cease-and-desist orders to some prolific creators through an independent security firm, though the game's director described the situation as "an inevitable reality of the internet in 2016." Video game journalists have described the abundance of (pornographic) fan works as a positive indicator for the game's longevity. Pornographic works of the game remained a topic of discussion long after that game's release, with artists making content of the game's post-launch characters, and "Overwatch"-related search topics continuing to be popular on porn websites.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: "Overwatch" and its pornographic community has inspired various groups and companies to produce adult content related to the game. Brazzers produced a "porn parody" based on "Overwatch" in September 2016. The website Overpog.com started producing a "Playboy"-style magazine about the game in late 2016, until they were forced to stop in February the following year. "Overwatch" has inspired both sexualized cosplay and pornographic virtual reality works.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: "Overwatch" was a multiplayer online shooter game developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The game sports a cast of various characters, each with a unique design. Pornographic fan works of online multiplayer games like "Overwatch" has always been relatively common: according to Pornhub vice-president Cory Price, the most popular video-game related search queries on Pornhub were "Minecraft", "Halo", "Clash of Clans", and "Call of Duty". Aoife Wilson of "Eurogamer" asserted that a cursory search on websites like Pornhub reveals pornography inspired by many high-profile video game franchises.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: "Overwatch" entered a closed beta in late 2015, during which time various people ripped the character models of "Overwatch" from the game and spread them over the Internet. In early 2016, Blizzard also encountered some controversy with the design of a victory pose for the game's cover art character, Tracer, which was criticised by some fans as "[reducing her] to just another bland female sex symbol." When Blizzard made an open beta of "Overwatch" available on May 5, 2016, Pornhub registered a spike of 817% in searches for pornographic material related to the game. Searches for "Overwatch" pornography originated somewhat evenly worldwide, though South Korea and Belarus searched for such content the most. According to Jeff Grub of "VentureBeat", websites such as Tumblr were overflowing with sexualized fanart of the characters at the time.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Nathan Grayson of "Kotaku" stated that "Overwatch" makes for "good porn" because of its colorful cast of characters with distinct visual styles. Grayson pointed out that the game features a higher-than-average number of female characters, many of which wear skin-tight clothing. Grayson wrote that "Overwatch" pornography is relatively easy to make with Source Filmmaker, the community of which is built around the sharing of assets, including nude models. Many people who create and watch "Overwatch" pornography have not actually played the game. Blender, another "free, open-source 3D computer graphics creation tool" is also used by such animators, with one being cited by "Kotaku" as stating, ""Overwatch" models are, for the most part, readily available for Blender, and some of them are very beginner friendly." Some artists have achieved popularity within their online communities, being able to capitalize on their SFM or Blender art and use it as a source of income via Patreon donations.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: "Overwatch" director Jeff Kaplan stated in an interview that he and his team have purposefully kept the romantic relationships and sexual identities of their characters vague in order to not "pander" to the audience. Kaplan described the porn scene as "an inevitable reality of the internet in 2016." When Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox Software, tweeted about the existence of pornographic content based on "Overwatch"s competitor game "Battleborn", he was immediately mocked and trolled by fans of the more popular game. Pitchford was accused of "desperately trying to put the spotlight back on his game", and the Reddit website he linked to was flooded by "Overwatch" references.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: In January 2017, Pornhub announced that "Overwatch" was the 11th-most searched term on their website in the previous year, beating out searches for words such as "anal" and "threesome". Pornography featuring the game's characters has remained popular years after the game's launch. D.Va, Tracer, and Mercy, ranked as the top three video game characters by number of searches on Pornhub in 2017, and the game was the most searched on the platform in 2019. Post-launch additions of new characters to the game's playable roster, such as Brigitte and Ashe, propelled spikes in related searches. After Ashe debuted, searches for "Overwatch" in general more than doubled on Pornhub. In 2022, Chinese internet users circumvented the state's ban on pornography by using a wallpaper app, with "Overwatch"-related porn being among the most popular on the platform. Media outlets also continued discussing "Overwatch" porn in 2022, ahead of the release of the game's sequel.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Many of the "Overwatch"-related videos on Pornhub during the game's open beta featured the official models of the characters with some slight alterations to show more skin. Amateur animators then used the free Source Filmmaker tool by Valve to animate sexual activities. The character Tracer was by far the most commonly searched "Overwatch"-related subject during this time, followed by Widowmaker and Mercy. Futanari imagery was also popular among Pornhub users. After the release of "Overwatch"s competitive mode at the end of June, the query "Mei Overwatch Rule 34" became the most popular search target related to the game. Mo Mozuch of "iDigitalTimes" called the popularity of Mei significant, noting that she initially wouldn't seem as a likely target and that much pornography of her is fairly body positive, describing exaggerations of her form as "more Venus of Willendorf than Barbie." On September 12, pornography website YouPorn revealed that Tracer was the second-most searched female video game character on the site, behind only Lara Croft. In January 2017, Pornhub released a list of top "Overwatch" character searches over the previous year, revealing that Tracer, D.Va, Mercy, Widowmaker, and Sombra had been the top 5 most popular female characters on the website, and that Lúcio was the most popular male character on the website.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Most "Overwatch" pornography is only several seconds long and intended to loop indefinitely. Since the game's official release, various creators have experimented with longer and more elaborate story content. Though the characters each have a personal backstory, there is still a lot not known about them. According to "Kotaku"s Grayson, "by design, they can’t be fully fleshed out. There has to be room for player identity." The personalities of the game's characters have been noted to be taken into account in some pornographic animations. Most short character clips take known character traits to a sort of "logical conclusion", such as showing former pro gamer D.Va masturbating while streaming. The superpowers and symbols of agency of the female characters are usually not integral to these fanworks, though Emily Gaudette of "Inverse" noted that Tracer is an exception to this rule, stating that this character "has achieved something not many other female characters in porn have: a unique personality that only adds to her sex appeal." Gaudette further stated that the majority of "Overwatch" pornography is "vanilla", suggesting that it is intended for a straight male audience. Kate Gray, writing for "Kotaku", noted that the scenarios found in such pornographic animations "are pretty basic."


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Commenting upon the pornographic content available on the Internet, Aoife Wilson of "Eurogamer" said that some of the videos are of surprisingly high quality, though she criticized that female characters were commonly portrayed in a submissive manner unless they are depicted with a penis. Grayson stated that most of the "Overwatch" pornography is bad, featuring unsettlingly rigid movements and amateurish camera angles. However, he also described good content as "legitimately sexy." Grayson also noted that there exists a lot of comedy in the "Overwatch" porn scene, with people creating humorous videos or writing silly descriptions. In 2019, Gray also commented on how "Overwatch" pornographic animations focus on women, rather than men, but praised the quality of these animations, opining: "sure, the boobs might be overly jiggly, and some of the gasps of pleasure are a little too close to sobs, but the animation is "amazing" — subtle movements of flesh and hair, detailed fabric simulations, lifelike surfaces, realistic lighting." Gray, however, was also critical of the culture surrounding the creators of such content, writing that the genre has "a lot of the same issues as the porn industry as a whole." She elaborated that "It's clear that the people making these videos are into a very specific, predominantly white, and almost always skinny version of women," citing changes made to some characters (such as Pharah and Brigitte being portrayed as whiter and slimmer, respectively, than in-game), as well as an under-representation of others. Sashacakies, an animator in the "Overwatch" pornography scene, also criticized the lack of diversity in the such content, but was unsure if its artists or consumers are to blame.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Both "Inverse" and "Kotaku" suggested that the majority of "Overwatch"s Source Filmmaker pornography community consists of straight men. However, both websites noted that users on Tumblr and various fan-fiction websites produce large amounts of romantic erotica. These communities consist in large part of women and LGBT people more interested in emphasizing the existing bonds of the characters. James Grebey of "Inverse" called Tumblr "perhaps ground zero for extremely good fanart, heartwarming comics, and other steamy user-generated "Overwatch" content." Tumblr described "Overwatch" as "rife for shipping" due to its 20 unique characters. In May 2017, the website sifted through its data in order to determine which character pairings was the most popular on Tumblr, revealing that Cassidy (formerly called "McCree") and Hanzo (McHanzo) were shipped 35% of the time.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: "Overwatch" became subject of a "porn parody" created by Brazzers in September 2016. Titled "Oversnatch XXX Parody", the video features Danny D as Reaper and Aletta Ocean as Widowmaker. The parody presents a "grudge match" between the two characters in an abandoned strip club. "Oversnatch XXX Parody" was the first time Brazzers produced a parody of a video game, but they went on to do more afterwards.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: After producing several mock "Playboy" covers, staff of the website Overpog.com decided to create an "Overwatch"-themed, "Playboy"-style magazine under the title "Playwatch". This magazine does not include any nudity, some of the images being cropped or edited in order to remove nudity where it otherwise would be. The magazine also features fictitious articles and interviews with "Overwatch" characters, as well as real-life cosplay. Overpog completed the first issue of "Playwatch" in November and it drew a large audience from Reddit. Overpog told "PVP Live" that the sexual images in "Playwatch" "were intended to titillate and impress with artistic intent rather than overtly sexual," and that the magazine was first and foremost a parody of the famous magazine. In February 2017, "Playwatch" was shut down through a cease-and-desist order issued by a copyright firm hired by Blizzard Entertainment.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: In 2017, cosplay artist Stella Chuu started a group effort of sexualized "Overwatch" cosplay under the banner "Underwatch". Chuu drew up cosplay designs of each "Overwatch" hero and got to work with a group in order to present the work at Katsucon 2017. This cosplay meetup was highly successful, drawing a large crowd, and the group was asked to leave or cover up by Katsucon staff about an hour in, at which point they moved to a suite in the local MGM Grand for a photoshoot. Chuu told "Kotaku" that "many of the cosplayers approached [her] afterwards to express how confident [the event] made them feel."


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Cosplay pornography company BaDoinkVR planned to release multiple virtual reality pornography projects based on "Overwatch" in 2017. Producer Dinorah Hernandez stated that "in "Overwatch", people get attached to the characters as they play them and the way they're designed amplifies sexual attraction."


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: When asked about the pornographic fan content, lead designer Jeff Kaplan stated that as someone who is "creatively responsible" for the franchise, he is concerned and hopes people realize many children play the game despite the T-rating. Regardless, Kaplan stated, "Nobody’s trying to step on anybody’s freedom of speech or any of that, like totally love people’s creative expression."


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: As "Overwatch" pornography primarily makes use of official character models with appended genitalia, various takedown notices have been issued to creators of such content. These notices have been issued by security firm Irdeto, which, according to news outlets, may have been hired by Blizzard to clean up unwanted fan content. Blizzard itself has not yet commented upon the large "Overwatch" porn scene. After one creator posted a screenshot of one such takedown notice on a Reddit message board, other creators started to come together in order to pressure Blizzard to stop.


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Prolific video game porn developer Studio FOW stated that it would not create "Overwatch" pornography after the studio got a cease-and-desist order from Blizzard in 2015 for their "World of Warcraft"-related projects. Writing in a blog post, the studio stated that "it's not a process I'm happy to repeat because I have better things to do than argue semantics all day with jumped up, tiny, hypocrite attorneys ... there are more important things in life such as looking out for my team and feeding families."


title: Overwatch and pornography

text: Both Jim Sterling and "VentureBeat"s Jeff Grub described the abundance of fan works of "Overwatch", pornographic or otherwise, as a good sign for the game's longevity. The influx of "Pokémon"-related pornography shortly after the release of "Pokémon Go" was compared to that of "Overwatch".


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The 2021–22 Saudi Professional League was the 46th edition of the Saudi Professional League, the top Saudi professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1976. Fixtures for the 2021–22 season were announced on 18 July 2021.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: Al-Hilal were the two-time defending champions after winning their 17th title last season. Al-Fayha, Al-Hazem, and Al-Tai join as the three promoted clubs from the 2020–21 MS League. They replace Al-Ain, Al-Qadsiah, and Al-Wehda who were relegated to the 2021–22 MS League.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: On 27 June, Al-Hilal secured their eighteenth league title in the final matchday following a 2–1 home win against Al-Faisaly. It was also the club's third consecutive title and fifth in the last six seasons. Al-Hazem were the first team to be relegated following a 5–2 defeat away to Al-Ettifaq on 21 May. In the final matchday, both Al-Faisaly and Al-Ahli were relegated following a defeat to Al-Hilal and a draw with Al-Shabab respectively.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: On 8 August 2021, the Saudi Professional League announced that they had signed a sponsorship deal with real estate company Roshn. On 9 August 2021, the Saudi FF signed a sponsorship deal with Chinese tech company Lenovo to become the official technology partner of all Saudi football competitions.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: On 8 August 2021, Ministry of Sports announced that they had increased the capacity limit from 40% to 60% in all stadiums. It was also announced that children under 12 wouldn't be allowed to attend matches and that the attendance would be limited to those who are fully vaccinated.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: Sixteen teams will compete in the league – the top thirteen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the MS League.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The first club to be promoted was Al-Hazem, who were promoted following a 4–2 away win against Al-Sahel on 20 April 2021. Al-Hazem will play in the top flight of Saudi football after a season's absence. Al-Hazem were crowned champions following a 1–0 away win against Hajer on 21 May 2021.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The second club to be promoted was Al-Fayha, following a 0–0 home draw with Al-Tai on 20 May 2021. Al-Fayha will play in the top flight of Saudi football after a season's absence.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The third and final club to be promoted was Al-Tai who were promoted on the final matchday following a 2–0 away win over Arar. Al-Tai will play in the top flight of Saudi football for the first time since the 2007–08 season.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The first club to be relegated was Al-Ain, who were relegated after only a year in the top flight following a 2–0 defeat away to Al-Nassr on 14 May 2021.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: In the final matchday, both Al-Qadsiah and Al-Wehda were relegated following a draw with Abha and a loss against Al-Shabab respectively. Al-Qadsiah were relegated after only a year in the top flight while Al-Wehda were relegated after three years in the top flight.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The policy of foreign players remained unchanged. Clubs can register a total of seven foreign players over the course of the season.


title: 2021–22 Saudi Professional League

text: The following table lists the positions of teams after each week of matches. In order to preserve the chronological evolution, any postponed matches are not included to the round at which they were originally scheduled but added to the full round they were played immediately afterward. If a club from the Saudi Professional League wins the King Cup, they will qualify for the AFC Champions League, unless they have already qualified for it through their league position. In this case, an additional AFC Champions League group stage berth will be given to the 3rd placed team, and the AFC Champions League play-off round spot will be given to 4th.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Mitchell Donald "Mitch" Hurwitz (born May 29, 1963) is an American television writer, producer, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the television sitcom "Arrested Development" as well as the co-creator of "The Ellen Show". He is also a contributor to "The John Larroquette Show" and "The Golden Girls".


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz was born in 1963 to a Jewish family in Anaheim, California. In 1976, when Hurwitz was 12, he co-founded a chocolate-chip cookie business, called the Chipyard on Balboa Boulevard in Balboa Fun Zone in Newport Beach, California, in a former taco place, with his older brother, Michael, and his father, Mark. The Chipyard is still in operation in Boston. He graduated from Estancia High School in Costa Mesa, California, and from Georgetown University in 1985 with a double major in English and theology.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz worked on several sitcoms in the 1980s and 1990s, including "Nurses", "The Golden Girls", "The Golden Palace", "The John Larroquette Show", "The Ellen Show" and the Michael J. Fox-produced pilot "Hench at Home". He created "Everything's Relative", a midseason comedy starring Jeffrey Tambor and Jill Clayburgh for NBC in 1999.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz was chosen by Ron Howard to create a sitcom about a rich dysfunctional family, which eventually turned into "Arrested Development". Hurwitz wrote the pilot in 2002, which was filmed in March 2003. Fox added the show to its schedule in May. Despite laudatory reviews by television critics, "Arrested Development" received low ratings throughout its three-season run. In July 2004, the show was nominated for 7 Primetime Emmy Awards and won 5, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: In the second season, ratings decreased further and the show was cut down to 18 episodes instead of the planned 22 episodes. Nevertheless, the show was still critically acclaimed and was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards. In the show's third and final season on Fox, Hurwitz tried to keep "Arrested Development" on the air, but did not have the advertising funding to promote the series. The show was again cut down, from 18 episodes to 13. Fox announced the cancellation of the show before the production of the final five episodes.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: After seven years off the air, "Arrested Development" returned for a fifteen-episode fourth season on the online movie and television streaming service Netflix on May 26, 2013. After yet another multi-year hiatus in which there was uncertainty of future seasons being developed, Netflix and the show's producers announced the development of a fifth season. The release was heralded by a re-edited twenty-two-episode version of the fourth season titled "Season Four Remix: Fateful Consequences", released on Netflix on May 4, 2018. The fifth season consists of sixteen episodes, 8 of which were released simultaneously on May 29, 2018. The remaining 8 episodes were released simultaneously on March 15, 2019.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz created Fox's animated comedy "Sit Down, Shut Up", based on an Australian TV series of the same name, for the 2008 season.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz created "Running Wilde", which aired for one season from 2010 to 2011. It was a collaboration with "Arrested Development" star Will Arnett.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz signed a multiyear deal with Netflix in 2014. He executive produced "Flaked" starring Will Arnett and produced/co-created "Lady Dynamite" starring Maria Bamford for the network.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Among Hurwitz's projects have been the US television adaptations of the British comedy shows "The Thick of It" (which was not picked up in the running for ABC's 2007–2008 TV season, though other networks such as HBO, Showtime and NBC have expressed interest) and "Absolutely Fabulous".


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: "My World And Welcome To It" was a 2009 CBS television pilot, executive produced by Hurwitz, Jay Kogen, Kim Tannenbaum, and Barry Sonnenfeld. It was a comedy based on an earlier series "My World and Welcome to It" about being a dad in the 1960s which, in turn, drew material from James Thurber's collection of essays of the same name. "Happiness Isn't Everything" was also a 2009 CBS pilot, written by Hurwitz and Jim Vallely, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Jason Biggs, Ben Schwartz and Mary Steenburgen.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz co-starred as "Cool Eric" in an episode of "Workaholics" titled "Dry Guys". Hurwitz plays a human resources representative who is aiding them in their pursuit of sobriety.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz starred as "Koogler" in the "Community" episode "App Development and Condiments" (episode 5, season 5), which aired on March 6, 2014. He reprised the role in "Modern Espionage" (episode 11, season 6), which aired on May 19, 2015.


title: Mitchell Hurwitz

text: Hurwitz is married to actress Mary Jo Keenen. They have two daughters: May Asami, born in 2000, and Phoebe Hitomi born in 2002. The name of "Arrested Development" character "Maeby" was the result of combining the names of Hurwitz's daughters.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Shaka Dingani Smart (born April 8, 1977) is an American men's college basketball coach. He is the current head men's basketball coach at Marquette University.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart grew up in Oregon, Wisconsin. In high school, Smart was a three-year starter for Oregon High School in his hometown. He was a second-team All-Badger Conference pick as a senior and by the end of his career was the all-time assists leader at Oregon High for a career (458), season (201) and single game (20).


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart attended Division III Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, where he remains the school's career assists leader (542) twenty years after his playing career ended. In 1999, as a senior, he was an All-North Coast Athletic Conference (NCAC) selection, named the NCAC Scholar Athlete of the Year, and among 20 students in the country selected for the "USA Today" All-USA Academic team. On ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption", he credited his personal relationship with then head coach Bill Brown as the reason for his decision to attend the school.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart began his coaching career in 1999 as an assistant at California University of Pennsylvania, where he also earned a master's degree. Afterwards, he was hired as Director of Basketball Operations at the University of Dayton. He was then an assistant at the University of Akron for three years, Clemson University for two, and the University of Florida for one.


title: Shaka Smart

text: VCU hired Smart to be the head coach in the spring of 2009 after the program's previous coach, Anthony Grant, left to become the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide men's basketball team. Smart's hire made him the 10th-youngest head coach in Division I. In his first season, he led the Rams to a 27–10 season and a CBI Championship after VCU swept Saint Louis in the championship best-of-three series.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart's second season began with forward Larry Sanders declaring for the 2010 NBA draft after his junior season. Sanders' selection by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 15th pick made VCU the first school in the Commonwealth of Virginia to have a player selected in the first round of the NBA draft in consecutive years, as the Utah Jazz had selected guard Eric Maynor with the 20th pick in the 2009 NBA draft. The Rams under Smart went 23–11 in the 2010–2011 season. Smart led the Rams to their second consecutive Colonial Athletic Association Championship Game, where they lost to Old Dominion.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Despite not securing the automatic bid, VCU earned an at-large bid to the Southwest region of the 2011 NCAA tournament. The Rams were one of the last four teams invited, and were placed in the First Four against USC for a spot in the main 64-team tournament bracket. VCU defeated USC and then upset the 6th-seeded Georgetown Hoyas and 3rd-seeded Purdue Boilermakers to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history. VCU won 72–71 against Florida State University in overtime to earn the school's first spot in the Elite Eight and subsequently upset the top-seeded University of Kansas 71–61 for its first Final Four appearance. The Rams lost to Butler 70-62 in the semifinal game.


title: Shaka Smart

text: On April 4, 2011, Smart agreed to an 8-year contract extension with VCU, increasing his base pay from $350,000 to $1.2 million per year, prior to any performance bonuses.


title: Shaka Smart

text: On January 19, 2013, Smart became the second youngest active coach to win 100 games, with a 90-63 victory over Duquesne.


title: Shaka Smart

text: On April 2, 2015, Smart accepted an offer to become the new men's head basketball coach at Texas. In his first season at Texas, the Longhorns won 20 games and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament, which the "Houston Chronicle" described as having "surpassed all realistic expectations." That offseason, Smart received a contract extension which would keep him at Texas through the 2022–23 season.


title: Shaka Smart

text: In May 2017, Smart received a commitment from Mohamed Bamba, the second ranked overall player in the 2017 recruiting class, to play at Texas. The following recruiting class was ranked eighth in the country after Smart received commitment letters from several highly ranked high school recruits. Smart led Texas to an NIT championship in 2019 after losing in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament the previous season to Nevada.


title: Shaka Smart

text: In six seasons of coaching Texas, Smart did not win an NCAA Tournament game with the Longhorns. Smart was considered on the "hot seat" at Texas according to the "San Antonio Express-News", with public speculation about how much longer he could remain; in 2021 he had just two years remaining on his contract with a relatively low buyout clause. He did, however, win the 2021 Big 12 tournament and led Texas to a 3-seed in the NCAA tournament, but a shocking first-round loss to 14th-seeded Abilene Christian fired up speculation about his job status once again.


title: Shaka Smart

text: On March 26, 2021, Marquette University hired Smart to replace Steve Wojciechowski as the Golden Eagles' head coach. Just three games into his tenure on November 15, 2021, Smart and the Golden Eagles upset No. 10 Illinois. Smart and Marquette lost in the championship game of the Shriners Children's Charleston Classic to No. 16 St. Bonaventure University. On January 4, 2022, Smart led Marquette to their biggest margin of victory against a ranked opponent, beating the No. 16 Providence Friars 88-56 a 32 point margin of victory. On January 19, 2022, Smart led the Golden Eagles to a 57-54 victory over Villanova. This upset ended the Wildcats' 29-game winning streak at Finneran Pavilion, having last lost there against Furman on November 27, 2018. Smart went on to lead Marquette to a berth in the 2022 NCAA tournament as a 9-seed, where, in its opening game, the team lost to the University of North Carolina.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart's teams at VCU played an upbeat style of basketball known as "havoc." Smart described his "havoc" defensive philosophy during his introductory press conference as, "We are going to wreak havoc on our opponent's psyche and their plan of attack." On the court, the "havoc" defensive mindset is visible through the heavy use of the full court press and pressing after made baskets to disrupt opponents' timing of offensive sets. The Rams consistently maintained one of the most efficient and disruptive defenses in the nation, ranking 1st nationally in both turnovers and steals forced per possession from 2011-2014.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart's given name was bestowed in honor of the famous Zulu monarch and military strategist. He graduated magna cum laude from Kenyon College with a degree in history, researching and writing on issues related to race and the Great Migration. Smart received an NCAA postgraduate scholarship and earned a master's degree in social science at California University of Pennsylvania. He developed a love for quotations at Kenyon. Smart began writing down quotes into a digital document that is now over 110 pages long. He also likes nature documentaries featuring big cats.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart has been married since May 20, 2006, to Maya Smart, a professional writer and alumna of Harvard University and Northwestern University. Their daughter was born in 2011.


title: Shaka Smart

text: Smart has four half-siblings from his estranged father Winston Smart: Sekou Lumumba Smart, Ifoma Oginga Smart, Anika Aduesa Smart, and Nkosi Mandela Smart. Smart's half-brother, J.M. Tyree, is a writer and professor.


title: David Bryan

text: David Bryan Rashbaum (born February 7, 1962) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the keyboard player for the rock band Bon Jovi, with which he also co-wrote songs and performed backing vocals. In 2018, Bryan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Bon Jovi. He is also known for writing the music and co-writing the lyrics with Joe DiPietro for the musical Memphis, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Original Score.


title: David Bryan

text: David Bryan Rashbaum was born on February 7, 1962, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and raised in Edison, New Jersey. His father, Eddie Rashbaum, played the trumpet. Bryan was raised Jewish. He attended elementary school at Clara Barton, where he played many instruments including violin, viola, trumpet and clarinet. He also attended Herbert Hoover Middle School, then J. P. Stevens High School, from which he graduated. Bryan began to learn piano at age seven and played keyboards for a band called "Transition" with bass player Steve Sileo and lead singer Mike Ziegel. He studied with Emery Hack, a professor at Juilliard, for thirteen years. Bryan briefly attended Rutgers University, but dropped out to attend Juilliard.


title: David Bryan

text: Bryan was the first Bon Jovi member to receive a call when Jon Bon Jovi learned that he had received a recording contract, and agreed to join the band. He chose his stage name when he grew tired of continually having to spell out his entire name. At the time, Bryan was attending Rutgers University and was studying Pre-Med with a 4.0 GPA. Bryan has played keyboards and sung on all of Bon Jovi's albums, as well as some of the solo albums of Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora. Bryan has co-written the songs "Love Lies" and "Breakout" on Bon Jovi's self-titled first album; "Only Lonely," "The Hardest Part Is the Night," and "To the Fire" on 7800° Fahrenheit; the hit "In These Arms" on Keep the Faith; and "Last Cigarette" on Have a Nice Day (including the international bonus track "Unbreakable") .


title: David Bryan

text: Bryan and Joe DiPietro wrote the music for the musical "Memphis", for which the duo won the Tony Award for Best Original Score The musical had its off-Broadway debut in 2002. In 2008, "Memphis" was performed at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego. The show was also performed in January 2009 in Seattle, Washington, at the 5th Avenue Theatre, prior to moving to Broadway later in 2009. Memphis, which ran on Broadway from October 18, 2009 to August 5, 2012, was nominated for 8 Tony awards for the 2010 season and won 4 including Best Musical and Best Original Score.


title: David Bryan

text: Bryan also co-wrote the musical "The Toxic Avenger", again collaborating with Joe DiPietro. The musical made its off-Broadway premiere at New World Stages on April 6, 2009.


title: David Bryan

text: He has worked on a musical with DiPietro titled "Chasing the Song", which chronicles American songwriters from 1962 to 1964 who worked in the Brill Building. Bryan describes it as "It's a fictional story about factual America." Director Christopher Ashley and choreographer Sergio Trujillo are also involved. According to "Playbill", "A fall or early winter workshop of the musical is currently being planned. Broadway is the goal."


title: David Bryan

text: Their musical "Diana", about Princess Diana, began previews on Broadway on March 2, 2020 with an anticipated opening date of March 31, following a tryout production at the La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego, CA the previous year. The Broadway opening was delayed until December 16, 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic closing of all Broadway theaters. The musical was then filmed that summer with no audience at the Longacre Theater, with the film being released on Netflix on October 1, 2021.


title: David Bryan

text: Bryan married his high school sweetheart April McLean on August 25, 1990, but they divorced in 2004. They have three children. Bryan married Lexi Quaas on August 7, 2010, in Colts Neck, New Jersey.


title: David Bryan

text: In the late 1990s, prior to Bon Jovi coming together to record "Crush", Bryan nearly severed his finger in a home accident involving a circular saw. After a year of rehabilitation, Bryan regained use of his finger and returned to playing the keyboard. In 1991, before he helped Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora in his solo album Stranger in This Town and record a soundtrack in the horror movie "Netherworld", Bryan was suffering from a South American parasite, caught during a tour with the band. Bryan was hospitalized. He described his condition: "It ate out my stomach lining, my intestines, and attacked my nerve endings. It was in my bloodstream; I was poisoned. I was 145 pounds, and I was really ill in the hospital for two weeks... then bedridden at home, for a month".


title: David Bryan

text: On March 21, 2020, Bryan announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 19, 2020, a month after the diagnosis, Bryan announced that he recovered from COVID-19.


title: David Bryan

text: Bryan is very active in VH-1's "Save the Music" program, as well as Only Make Believe. He also wrote the anthem for Only Make Believe, "Rockin' All Over the World", with Dena Hammerstein. He is an honorary Board member for Only Make Believe, a non-profit organization that brings interactive theatre to chronically ill and disabled children in hospitals and care facilities. He is also a board member of Damon Marks' Traveling Guitar Foundation.


title: David Bryan

text: The band has built several homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina. The video for the hit song "Who Says You Can't Go Home" is a documentary of the making of these homes. The band also gave Oprah Winfrey's Angel Network one million dollars. With this, she created Bon Jovi Boulevard in Louisiana. Bon Jovi was welcomed back, one year later, to see Bon Jovi Boulevard, and to unveil it to its future residents.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido, officially the Municipality of El Nido (, ), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 50,494 people.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: It is about south-west of Manila, and about north-east of Puerto Princesa, capital of Palawan. A managed resource protected area, it is known for its white-sand beaches, coral reefs, and limestone cliffs, as well as for being the gateway to the Bacuit archipelago.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido has been inhabited by humans since early 2680 BC, or even up to 22,000 years ago. This was confirmed by the fossils and burial sites, dating back to the Late Neolithic Age, that can be found in many caves and excavation sites surrounding the municipality, particularly in Dewil Valley's Ille Cave in New Ibajay. Chinese traders had been regularly visiting the area of Palawan for its edible birds' nests during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The island was mentioned in Chinese records of 1225. Chau Ju-Kua, a trade commissioner of the port of Chuan wrote about the island, "Pa-Lao-Yu" or "Land of Beautiful Harbors" in his book "Chu Fan Chi."


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The town traces its roots from a small Tagbanwa village called "Talindak." Some time in the 16th century, waves of migrants from Cuyo Islands came here to settle. In the 1800s, the Spaniards arrived, and they moved to the part where the present-day Población and Mabini are located. The first Spanish families were the Canovas, Vázquez, Ríos, and Rey. In 1890, the Spaniards renamed it "Bacuit". At the time, the center of the town was Cabigsing, then known as Inventario. Chinese families moved into the area about the same period, first settling in Langeblangeban. The first Chinese settlers were named Lim, Chin, Liao, Edsan, Ambao, Que-Ke, Lim Piao, Yu His, Pe Phan, and Pe Khen.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: During the Spanish colonization of the Philippines, the town was under the jurisdiction of the Municipality of Taytay, which was the capital of the former "Province of Calamianes" from 1818, and the "Province of Castilla", the area of what is now known as northern Palawan, from 1858. It remained part of Taytay until 1916 when it formally became an independent municipality. The new municipality was then known as Bacuit.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: On June 17, 1954, Republic Act No. 1140 was approved changing the name of the town from Bacuit to its present name El Nido after the edible nests of swiftlets ("collocalia fuciphaga"), found in the crevices of its limestone cliffs. These nests, "nido" in Spanish, the main ingredient for the gourmet nido soup, are being sold at approximately US$ 3,000 per kilogram.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido is situated in Bacuit Bay and covers a land area of . It is in the northernmost tip of mainland Palawan and is bordered by the Linapacan Strait in the north, the Sulu Sea in the east, and the South China Sea in the west. El Nido includes 45 islands and islets, each with its own unique geological formations. The highest peak is at Cadlao Island, towering up to above sea level.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: Together with Sulu Archipelago, Sabah, and South China Sea, El Nido, being part of Palawan, is located in the tectonically active and seismically active Sunda Plate, a plate that is entirely separate from the Philippine Mobile Belt to which the rest of the Philippines belongs. The Permian to Paleogene rocks and limestone cliffs of El Nido are similar to those that can be found in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, Guilin in China, as well as Krabi in Thailand, all of which are part of the Sunda Plate.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido is politically subdivided into eighteen barangays. Four of which are situated in the "Población" (town proper), and are also known by their respective zones.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The climate in El Nido is distinguished by two seasons: generally dry, from December to May, and wet, from June to November. April and May are typically the driest months, while the heaviest rainfall occurs around August. The Northeast wind blows from December to March, occasionally interchanging with the North wind from December to February. The Southwest wind is felt from June to October while the East wind, the mildest of all winds, blows during April and May.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The average temperature ranges from a low of to a high of . The coolest temperatures are usually experienced during the month of January, while the hottest temperatures are felt in April and May.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The first town census of 1918 showed El Nido having a population of 1,789. In the period between 1980 and 1990, the population grew up to 18,832. Based on the 2000 census, the annual growth rate is 3.58%. This is higher than the average annual population growth rate for the whole country for the periods 1990 to 2000 and 2000 to 2007, which was only 2.34% and 2.04%.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: According to the 2007 census, El Nido has a population of 30,249 people in 6,311 households in its eighteen barangays. Eighty-five percent of the population are living in the rural barangays, while only fifteen percent of them are in the Población area.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The original settlers of El Nido were the Tagbanwas and Cuyunons. Throughout the centuries, there has been a constant migration of Tagalogs, Hiligaynon, Bicolanos, Ilocanos, Chinese and Spaniards. There are also a small number of Japanese and Koreans. Intermarriage between ethnic and linguistic groups are not uncommon in El Nido.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The main language is Filipino, which is largely based on Tagalog. In addition, many people are very proficient in English, Hiligaynon, other Visayan languages, and Bicolano. A small but significant percentage of the population speaks or comprehends Cuyonon, the native language of the Cuyo Islands and most parts of Palawan.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The main industries of El Nido are fishing, agriculture and tourism, being a popular diving location. Edible nest-gathering is also economic activity, although it is seasonal. Coconut, palay, cashew, banana, and mango are its major products.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: As a tourist destination, El Nido has been included in "Condé Nast Traveler"s list of ""20 Most Beautiful Beaches in the World"," CNNgo has called it the Best Beach and Island destination in the Philippines for its "extraordinary natural splendor and ecosystem."


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido is governed by a Mayor and a Vice Mayor, who are elected to three-year terms. The Mayor is the executive head and leads the municipality's departments in executing the municipal ordinances and improving public services. The Vice Mayor heads the legislative council consisting of eight councilors, or more commonly known as Sangguniang Bayan members. The Municipal Council is in charge of creating the municipality's policies in the form of Ordinances and Resolutions.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The municipality seal shows a silhouette of the territory of El Nido inside an armor-shaped picture. The famous marble and limestone cliffs represent the nestling ground of the swiftlets. Behind it is the oil rig, representing the areas within its administrative boundaries that are found to be rich in oil and natural gas such as the Malampaya Sound, which is 50 kilometers within its borders, and the Cadlao Oilfield in Bacuit Bay area. At the bottom of the picture is the rice field, with the carabao head superimposed at the center, and on the other side, the sea, with the fish and the squid in situated the middle, representing farming and fishing, the two main industries of its people.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: In 1984, the then Ministry of Natural Resources issued Administrative Order No. 518, establishing a maritime area in El Nido as a turtle sanctuary. In 1991, the rest of Bacuit Bay, including its island and islets, was proclaimed by the Philippine government as a marine reserve. A year later, by Administrative Order No. 14 Series of 1992 of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, this area was expanded even more. In 1998, its status was elevated to that of a protected area, and it included even the terrestrial ecosystem of El Nido and portions of Taytay.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The so-called El Nido-Taytay Managed Resource Protected Area is the largest marine sanctuary in the entire Philippines. The Protected Area status accords the areas of El Nido and portions of its neighboring town of Taytay a place among the eight priority sites in the country in need of conservation. The Protected Area covers a total of 903.21 square kilometers, of which 40% are terrestrial and 60% marine.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The provincial government has mobilized its citizenry to actively participate in various environmental conservation and protection programs, such as the "Bantay Gubat" for forest protection, and the "Bantay Dagat" for marine life preservation. Patrolling within the Protected areas, especially in the marine zones is regularly conducted with the help of the World Wildlife Fund - Philippines that allocates funds to support the said activity. Another logistic support is by the concerned municipal governments. The Palawan Council for Sustainable Management (PCSD) provides legal assistance during the litigation of cases filed by the Protected Area Office (PAO).


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: As a protected area, the Philippine government needs approximately US$ 180,000 annually to protect and manage its natural resources. Tourists are encouraged to pay US$ 0.50 per day as a conservation fee for the duration of their visit to the Municipal Tourism Office or the Office of the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), which are housed in the Municipal Building in Calle Real. This was embodied in the PAMB Resolution No. 08 series 2000 from the National Integrated Protected Area Program (NIPAP) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido, being one of the most diverse ecosystems in the country, is protected for its unique flora and fauna, and pristine geologic formations. These include:


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido Airport also known as Lio Airport is the primary and sole airport serving the town of El Nido.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The main roads of El Nido are organized around a set of radial and circumferential roads that radiate and circle in and around the town proper and its rural barangays. Its interconnected roads are connected to the major highway that leads to Puerto Princesa, Palawan's capital. Daily Buses and jeepneys depart at San Jose Terminal in Puerto Princesa for El Nido. Tricycles are used for short-distance trips around the town proper.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The 60 km national road between Taytay and El Nido was rehabilitated, and this has helped boost tourism and business activity in the area.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The main port in El Nido, which is under the jurisdiction of the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), is located in Buena Suerte (Zone II), although a number of small and accessible wharfs, such as the San Fernando pier, are being used in other rural barangays. A number of ferry and other sea vessels owned by Atienza Shipping Lines and San Nicholas Shipping Lines have regular trips from Manila to El Nido.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: The Población area is part of the service areas of electric utility, Palawan Electric Cooperative (PALECO), a division of the National Power Corporation operating with .423 megawatts of electricity. Other barangays use solar panels and electric generators. The island resorts generate their own electricity. Water services are accessible in protected water tables and facilities. Ten percent (10%) of the population can avail of the 'Level II Water System', or communal faucet, by the municipal government, while majority of them are still dependent on deep wells and natural springs. Internet services is available in few establishments with wireless broadband access.


title: El Nido, Palawan

text: El Nido has more than ten public elementary and secondary schools located in most of its barangays. El Nido Central School and El Nido National High School, which are both located at the Poblacion, have the largest facilities and number of students, among these schools. Recently, the Palawan State University opened its El Nido campus in New Ibajay, offering extramural programs and studies. Some of the lower grade school located in Calitang. Calitang Elementary School, Pasadeña Elementary School, Barutoan Elementary School, Bucana Elementary School and Lamoro Elementary School.


title: Chinotto (drink)

text: Chinotto () is a type of carbonated soft drink produced from the juice of the fruit of the myrtle-leaved orange tree ("Citrus myrtifolia"). The beverage is dark in color. Its appearance is similar to that of cola, but not as sweet, having a bittersweet taste.


title: Chinotto (drink)

text: The drink was known in antiquity as a dark-hued, bitter-tasting variant of orange juice, and was considered as refreshment. Industrial production of Chinotto soda dates to the 1950s. (1920) It is produced in Italy by several companies, and is mostly consumed in Italy and Malta. San Pellegrino, the mineral water company, exports it under the brand name "Chinò" and "Chinotto." Coca-Cola produces it under the brand name "Fanta Chinotto" in Italy and "Fanta Amara" in Malta.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Blowing from a gun is a method of execution in which the victim is typically tied to the mouth of a cannon which is then fired, resulting in death. George Carter Stent described the process as follows:


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Blowing from a gun was a reported means of execution as long ago as the 16th century and was used until the 20th century. The method was used by Portuguese colonialists in the 16th and 17th centuries, from as early as 1509 across their empire from Ceylon (modern day Sri Lanka) to Mozambique to Brazil. The Mughals used the method throughout the 17th century and into the 18th, particularly against rebels.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: This method of execution is most closely associated with the British colonial rule in India. Following the Indian Rebellion of 1857, "blowing from a gun" was a method the British used to execute rebels as well as for Indian sepoys who were found guilty of desertion. Using the methods previously practised by the Mughals, the British began implementing blowing from guns in the latter half of the 18th century.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Destruction of the body and scattering of the remains over a wide area had a religious function as a means of execution in the Indian subcontinent as it prevented the necessary funeral rites of Hindus and Muslims. Accordingly, for believers the punishment was extended beyond death. This was well understood by foreign occupiers and the practice was not generally employed by them as concurrent foreign occupiers of Africa, Australasia or the Americas. Most recently there was an exceptional use of the practice in Afghanistan in 1930, against 11 Panjshiri rebels.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: A commonly reported method of blowing a person from a gun is to tie them in front of the muzzle of the gun and then have them shot. Loading the cannon with an actual cannonball is on occasion reported; but, more commonly, the use of blank cartridge or grapeshot is attested. The following description of the manner of tying up the convicted is from Afghanistan, 7 July 1839, ordered by Shuja Shah, during the campaign against Dost Mohammad Khan:


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Although immobilizing a victim in front of a gun before firing the cannon is by far the most reported method, a case from Istanbul in 1596 alleges that the victim was actually put into the gun and executed in that manner. Reports exist that attest that, on occasion, people were fastened to rockets and blown into the air. This is said to have been the punishment for a Brahmin during Hyder Ali's reign (1761–1782), and also, in an 1800 treason case, in the Maratha Empire.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Things did not always work out according to plan at such executions. At a mass execution at Firozpur in 1857, there was an order that blank cartridge should be used, but some guns were loaded with grapeshot instead. Several of the spectators facing the cannons were hit by the grapeshot and some had to have limbs amputated as a result. In addition, some of the soldiers had not been withdrawn properly and sustained injuries from being hit by pieces of flesh and bone. In another case, a soldier who was to be shot managed to fall down just as the shot went off, with the following result:


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Others reported how birds of prey circled above the execution place and swooped down to catch pieces of human flesh in the air, while others were nauseated by the dogs loitering about the place of execution and rushing to the scene to devour some of the body pieces spread around as a result of the execution.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Blowing from a gun as a method of execution has a long and varied history on the Indian sub-continent, and many reports from the mid-18th century and onwards testify to its varied use. The execution method was used during rebellions and as punishment for a variety of crimes. Here, a focus is chosen upon the Mughal tradition of blowing from guns as a local tradition preceding, for example, the British tradition on the same sub-continent.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Several historians note that blowing people from the guns as a method of execution was an "old Mughal punishment" on the Indian sub-continent. Just prior to the institution of the reign of the first Mughal emperor, Babur, his son Humayun is said to have blown from guns 100 Afghan prisoners on 6 March 1526, in one incident of his father's many struggles against the Lodi dynasty. During the latter half of the 17th century, members of the Jat people in Northern India rebelled and raided against the Mughal Empire, and the emperor Aurangzeb is said in one account to have ordered one of their leaders blown from a gun. Purbeel Singh, said to have been the last Hindu chief of Umga, close to Aurangabad in today's Bihar state, was reportedly taken by an unnamed Mughal emperor to Aurungabad, and blown from a gun. The Sikh rebel Banda Singh Bahadur was finally vanquished in 1716 by the emperor Farrukhsiyar, and after his execution, Banda's son was ordered to be "blown to bits by a cannon".


title: Blowing from a gun

text: While the preceding cases are examples of rebels or military adversaries being blown from guns, the Mughal era also contained a few examples of using this form of execution for other types of perceived crime. For example, in a rather anecdotal story from the times of Jahangir (r. 1605 – 1627), the emperor had six mullahs blown from guns, for having consented to, and given approval of, the forcible abduction and marriage of a Hindu girl to a Muslim officer. In 1714, thieves were a severe annoyance to a marching army; a trap was made, and two thieves caught by the concealed guards were later blown from guns. During a siege in 1719, the problem of deserters was eventually solved for the commander of the Mughal army by blowing four deserters caught in the act from guns, in the presence of his troops.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Portuguese colonialists are, in several accounts, charged with having used blowing from a gun as a form of capital punishment in many of their colonies. A short review follows:


title: Blowing from a gun

text: The Portuguese explorer Francisco de Almeida is reported to have blown many individuals from guns at Ceylon, around 1509. During the Dutch siege of Colombo in 1656, the city population endured extreme famine. One nursing mother became so starved that her production of milk stopped, and her infant was dying. She chose to kill it, and eat it. Once the Portuguese general became aware of her act of cannibalism, he ordered her blown from a gun, but in this particular instance, the clergy and the principal citizens dissuaded him from carrying out the act.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: During explorer Francisco Barreto's 1569–73 campaign in Monomotapa, he at one time imprisoned some 50 Muslim individuals, and had them "impaled, blown from mortars, torn apart on tree-trunks, axed or shot". In mid-18th-century Tete, in north-western Portuguese Mozambique, the capital punishment for slaves is said to have been to be blown from guns, and, in the first decade of the 19th century, it is reported that an inveterate raider chief was caught by the Portuguese and blown from a gun.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In 1618 Brazil, indigenous resistance against the Portuguese was unshaken, although a leader of them, Amaro, was taken prisoner and blown from a gun.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: The British had a long tradition prior to the Indian Rebellion of executing "sepoys" found guilty of mutiny or desertion in this manner. According to one historian, the British tradition began in 1760, when the British East India Company examined the modes of capital punishment in use. In the district of the 24 Perganas, it was found that the common military mode of capital punishment was flogging to death. Regarding blowing from a gun as an old Mughal punishment, the East India Company opted for this technique, as being, relative to death by flogging, more deterrent, more public and more humane. Already in 1761, orders were given in Lakhipur "to fire off at the mouth of a cannon the leader of the thieves who was made prisoner, that others may be deterred". Technically, in cases of court-martial, it seems that until 1857 the courts were composed of Indian rather than British officers, but it is added: "although they are presided over, and "generally led and ruled", by the superintending officer, whose duty, however, is merely to transcribe the evidence, and assist the native officers with advice and counsel".


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In March 1764, a "subedar" (native officer) secretly planned to persuade the men under his command to defect to an enemy force; his plan was discovered, and he was court-martialed and blown from a gun in front of his troops. In September the same year, major Hector Munro executed 24 or 25 "ring leaders" who caused a battalion to desert (the desertion being on account of "lack of rewards", "scarcity of provisions" and problems with climate and disease). Approving of the execution, one commenter said: "no disposition to mutiny was thenceforth manifested". In 1775, Muctoom Sahib, the Commandant of the 9th Native Battalion in the Madras Army, refused orders to embark on a transport ship for Bombay. Sahib also persuaded the men under his command to refuse to embark; he was subsequently arrested and charged with exciting the men under his command to mutiny. In February 1775, Sahib was court-martialled and found guilty; the court sentenced him to be blown from a gun in the presence of the battalion. Afterwards, the men previously under his command quietly embarked for Bombay while the rank of "Commandant" was abolished in the Madras Army. In 1782, mutinies broke out in Bardhaman and Barrackpore. Three mutineers were sentenced to death by the court in Bardhaman, two of them to be blown from a gun, the last to be hanged. In the Barrackpore trials, four of the five on trial were sentenced to be blown from a gun, while the last was to receive a thousand lashes and "to be drummed out of the cantonments with a rope around his neck". During the Third Anglo-Mysore War (1789–1792), six regiments mutinied over arrears of pay and placed their officers under confinement. When order was restored, two of the most active mutineers were blown from guns. Not only mutineers were blown from guns, but also soldiers found guilty of desertion, as is shown from a few cases in 1781 and 1783.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Not only "sepoys" were executed by being blown from a gun. In 1798, mutiny broke out among the British soldiers in the 1st Battalion of the Madras Foot Artillery. One British soldier was condemned to be blown from a gun. This, however, seems to have been exceptional, and one historian says that the soldier Forster is the only European on record to have been blown from a gun by the British.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In 1804, during a military engagement, the troops under lieutenant Birch's command refused to quit the ground of their encampment. Colonel Burn deemed harsh measures were necessary, convened a court-martial, and two of the officers involved were blown from guns and nine others "severely flogged". With full approval of the action, the writer observes: "a measure which, there is every reason to believe, had the best effect, as the corps behaved during the subsequent siege with the greatest steadiness and propriety".


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In the 1806 Vellore Mutiny, beginning with a nighttime massacre of British officers and soldiers, many "sepoys" were killed during the suppression, while six mutineers were sentenced to be blown from the guns. In 1812, a plot was discovered at Travancore to kill the European officers; two ring leaders were blown from the guns, and several others were hanged. In 1819, six deserters who had joined the ousted rajah of the annexed Kingdom of Nagpur were apprehended by the British and were blown from the guns on 7 February. In 1832 Bangalore, a conspiracy allegedly designed to exterminate all Europeans was discovered. Out of some 100 implicated, four were sentenced to be blown from the guns, two others to be shot.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Sometimes, although a person was condemned to death, he might hope for a pardon or a commuting of the punishment. In 1784, a regiment mutinied over lack of pay. Lieutenant General Laing suppressed the rebels and ordered twelve to be blown from guns. The last of the twelve was very lucky, however: Bound to the cannon's mouth, he had to endure three times that the fuse burnt out. He then asked Lieutenant General Laing whether he was really destined to die in this manner, and Laing chose to pardon him. In 1795 Midnapore, five "sepoys" were condemned in court-martial to be blown from guns on account of mutiny, three others to be hanged. Their cases were appealed, however, and their sentences were commuted to be dismissed from service instead. In Barrackpore Mutiny of 1824, occasioned by the resentment of "sepoys" to being shipped to the front in the First Anglo-Burmese War, four days after the bloody suppression of the mutiny, one of the leaders, Bindee Tiwarree of the 47th regiment was found hiding, disguised as a "faqir". In the ensuing court-martial, he was condemned to be blown from a gun, but instead he was hung in chains, and after his death his body was placed in a gibbet for a few months. In 1836, a "sepoy" was found guilty of having fled before the enemy and abandoned his European officers. Rungish was condemned to be blown from a gun, but the sentence was commuted into "transportation beyond the sea".


title: Blowing from a gun

text: This method of execution is strongly associated with its use by the British during the suppression of the Indian Rebellion of 1857. A sense of the scale and frequency of the executions made by the British during the 1857 insurrection is demonstrated in the reports of incidents given in the journal "Allen's Indian Mail", for the year 1857:


title: Blowing from a gun

text: As an example of official statistics, rather than a collection of newspaper reports, in an 1859 paper to the British House of Commons on the rebellion in the Peshawar Valley in the Punjab, for the period May–September 1857, 523 were recorded executed, of them 459 shot by musketry, 20 hanged (13 for desertion) and the last 44 blown from a gun. Of those 44, four were executed on charges of desertion, rather than mutiny. Official July–November statistics for the area about Agra says that of 78 who were given capital sentences, two had their sentence commuted into imprisonment, whereas 4 were blown from guns. Other official statistics, this time from Indore, state that, of 393 sepoys officially punished, 32 were executed, 21 of them by being blown from guns. Several Britons also maintained that Indian insurgents had blown British civilians from guns during the rebellion. A specific case, mentioned by several sources, concerns that of Mr. and Mrs. Birch, Mrs. Eckford and Mrs. Defontaine, all of whom were said to have been blown from guns at Fatehgarh.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: The skull of an Indian sepoy, Alum Bheg, who was blown from a gun was found in a British pub and is the subject of the book, "The Skull of Alum Bheg: The Life and Death of a Rebel of 1857".


title: Blowing from a gun

text: The Rebellion of 1857 was not the last time that British colonial government used blowing from a cannon as an execution method. In 1871, for example, 65 members of the Sikh sect Kukas or Namdhari were executed by the British, by being blown from guns.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: Within Afghanistan, a tradition of using blowing from a gun as capital punishment is attested from the early nineteenth century up to 1930. Some examples follow.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In 1802, the forces of Mahmud Shah Durrani inflicted a crushing defeat on the Ghilzai tribes, and to discourage further aggression, he ordered one leader and his two sons blown from guns, as well as building a minaret out of Ghilzai skulls. In 1803, when Shah Shujah Durrani ousted his half-brother Mahmud from power, he revenged himself on an ally of Mahmud, Ashik, by blowing him from a gun for having captured by means of treachery Shujah's and Mahmud's half-brother Zaman Shah Durrani, who had been king of the Durrani Empire prior to having been ousted by Mahmud in 1800.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In 1880, Abdur Rahman Khan became emir of Afghanistan, and he swiftly gained the nickname "the iron emir" for his perceived brutality and strong rule. For example, one source estimates that, during his 20 years on the throne, an average of 5,000 executions a year took place, several by blowing from guns. For example, in December 1889 alone, 24 are recorded as having been blown from guns, and many others executed in other ways.


title: Blowing from a gun

text: In January 1929, a new cycle of extreme violence broke out in Afghanistan when the Tajik Habibullāh Kalakāni became emir. The British official Humphreys wrote: "None was safe, houses were pillaged indiscriminately, women were ravished and a reign of terror was established unprecedented in the annals of bloody Afghan history". Political opponents were often blown from guns or executed in other ways. Habibullah's regime was toppled in October 1929, and then the Kuhestani Tajiks were persecuted. An article in "The New York Times" from 6 April 1930 was headlined with: "Eleven Afghans Blown from Guns at Kabul".


title: Manor Solomon

text: Manor Solomon (; born ) is an Israeli professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or as a winger for English club Fulham, on loan from Ukrainian Premier League club Shakhtar Donetsk, and the Israel national team.


title: Manor Solomon

text: Solomon was born and raised in Kfar Saba, Israel, to a family of Ashkenazi Jewish (Hungarian-Jewish) and both Sephardi Jewish and Mizrahi Jewish (Iraqi-Jewish) descent. His parents Ayala and Yossi Solomon are physical education teachers. His mother and father met while studying together at the Ohalo College, both majored in physical education and minored in maritime. As a young married couple, their shared maritime training gave them the idea to choose the unique Hebrew first name "Manor" for their son, which means "a boom" in sailing. Solomon was enlisted for mandatory military service in December 2017, and has served in the Israel Defense Forces.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 26 November 2016, at the age of 17, Solomon made his senior debut for the Israeli Premier League club Maccabi Petah Tikva, coming on as a 54th minute substitute against Hapoel Haifa that ended in a 1–2 away loss. On 28 January 2017, Solomon scored his first Israeli Premier League goal a 2–0 home victory against Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 11 January 2019, Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk signed 19-year-old Solomon from Israeli side Maccabi Petah Tikva in a transfer worth an initial €6 million, then the fifth-highest transfer fee for an Israeli footballer.


title: Manor Solomon

text: After moving to Shakhtar Donetsk, Solomon scored his first UEFA Champions League goal on 1 October 2019, in the 95th minute of an away match against Italian side Atalanta that ended in a 2–1 victory. This made him the youngest Israeli footballer ever to score in the Champions League, at the age of 20. On 26 November, he scored the equalising goal in a 1–1 Champions League draw away at Manchester City.


title: Manor Solomon

text: Solomon continued his good Champions League form in the following season, scoring Shakhtar's third goal on 21 October 2020 in a 3–2 away victory over side Real Madrid. On 1 December, he scored the second goal in the return fixture against Real Madrid, helping his team to a 2–0 home victory.


title: Manor Solomon

text: He celebrated both his first and second braces in back-to-back Ukrainian Premier League matches, the first on 14 March 2021 in a 4–0 home victory over Desna Chernihiv and the second on 21 March in a 2–3 defeat away to Lviv.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 25 July 2022, English Premier League club Fulham announced the signing of Solomon on a one-year loan, following a FIFA ruling concerning the Russian-Ukrainian War which allows foreign players affected by the war to suspend their contracts with Ukrainian clubs until 30 June 2023. Solomon started training with Fulham on 10 July, and became a registered player for the club on 1 August. Upon his signing, he became the top-paid Israeli footballer, earning £1.7 million per season, with performance bonuses that can increase his salary to £2.5 million.


title: Manor Solomon

text: He made his 2022–23 Premier League debut on 6 August, coming on as a substitute in the second half of a 2–2 home draw against Liverpool.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 21 May 2017, at 17 years of age, Solomon was called up to the Israeli senior side, although he did not appear for the team at the time. On 7 September 2018, Solomon made his senior debut for the Israeli squad at age 19, coming on as a 71st minute substitute in a 2018–19 UEFA Nations League away match against Albania that ended in a 0–1 away loss.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 18 November 2020, Solomon scored a first half goal for Israel in the 2020–21 UEFA Nations League in a 1–0 home victory over Scotland.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 4 September 2021, he scored again in a 5–2 home victory over Austria in 2022 World Cup qualifying.


title: Manor Solomon

text: On 10 June 2022, during a 2022–23 UEFA Nations League away match against Albania, Solomon scored a brace, bringing Israel back from a 0–1 deficit to a 2–1 win in just 16 minutes.


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: Men in Black is a semi-comic science fiction media franchise that originated with the Malibu/Marvel comic book of the same name created by American author Lowell Cunningham. The franchise focuses on the fictional and namesake non-governmental organization which monitors and regulates paranormal and alien activity on Earth while preventing civilians from finding out about it. The most notable agents within the organization are Jay, Kay, and Zed. The franchise has been adapted into other media including a series of four films, an , video games, and a .


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: The Men in Black as shown in the movies is a secret organization devoted to policing and monitoring extraterrestrial activity on Earth. The Men in Black, founded in the U.S. in the mid-1950s, began as a small and poorly funded government organization devoted to making contact with extraterrestrial life known as the Baltians. They were initially seen as a joke, but did make contact on March 2, 1961, outside New York City.


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: It was decided to make Earth an apolitical zone for aliens without a planet, and the organization broke its government ties to become the Men in Black, which became the force to conceal and police the aliens that came to Earth, no longer answerable to the government and therefore not obligated to answer any questions or respond to outside demands. The founding members were the seven agents present at the landing, plus an amateur astronomer and a teenager who got lost going to see his girlfriend. This last became Agent K, who later came to be regarded as the agency's best agent, and one of the agents became his partner D. The MIB has continued since then, with Zed as its chief, to protect the normal citizens of Earth from alien threats and police extraterrestrial immigrants. Other notable members include Agents B, J, and L.


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: MIB agents sever all ties with their former lives and have all traces of their previous identities erased. They dress in black suits specifically chosen to avoid creating any lasting impression on civilians who see them. Their fingerprints and any other unique identifying features are erased, and they are issued neuralyzers to use in erasing the memories of civilian witnesses and Ray-Ban sunglasses to protect themselves against the device's effects. They have access to a wide array of alien weaponry and other technologies for use during missions. Retiring agents are neuralyzed to wipe their memories of working for MIB and may have their previous identities restored. The agency possesses a "deneuralyzer" that can restore retired agents' memories in emergency situations.


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: No longer receiving federal funding from the government, the MIB are supported by the patents they hold on various confiscated alien innovations, including liposuction, the microwave oven, and velcro. Their standard operating day is based on Centaurian time, which lasts 37 hours, 16 of which an agent must spend on duty. Their main base is located at 504 Battery Drive in New York City.


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: The Men in Black have bases in other locations, including one in the western United States (Zone 16), one mobile undersea base, and a Los Angeles division (dubbed "The Agency"). The three other founding members became Agent T, H and Q. In the animated series, an agent known as Alpha was said to be the first chief of the MIB; after he went rogue, Zed became the chief. With the release of the films "Men in Black II" and "Men in Black 3", most if not all elements of the "Men in Black" animated series have been verified as non-canon.


title: Men in Black (franchise)

text: The original "The Men in Black" comic books were published in 1990 and 1991. The Men in Black are a secret organization that monitors and suppresses paranormal activity on Earth (including aliens, demons, monsters, zombies and mutants), while keeping the populace ignorant of its happenings.