title: Background radiation

text: Cosmic rays also cause elemental transmutation in the atmosphere, in which secondary radiation generated by the cosmic rays combines with atomic nuclei in the atmosphere to generate different nuclides. Many so-called cosmogenic nuclides can be produced, but probably the most notable is carbon-14, which is produced by interactions with nitrogen atoms. These cosmogenic nuclides eventually reach the Earth's surface and can be incorporated into living organisms. The production of these nuclides varies slightly with short-term variations in solar cosmic ray flux, but is considered practically constant over long scales of thousands to millions of years. The constant production, incorporation into organisms and relatively short half-life of carbon-14 are the principles used in radiocarbon dating of ancient biological materials, such as wooden artifacts or human remains.


title: Background radiation

text: The cosmic radiation at sea level usually manifests as 511 keV gamma rays from annihilation of positrons created by nuclear reactions of high energy particles and gamma rays. At higher altitudes there is also the contribution of continuous bremsstrahlung spectrum.


title: Background radiation

text: Two of the essential elements that make up the human body, namely potassium and carbon, have radioactive isotopes that add significantly to our background radiation dose. An average human contains about 17 milligrams of potassium-40 (K) and about 24 nanograms (10 g) of carbon-14 (C), (half-life 5,730 years). Excluding internal contamination by external radioactive material, these two are the largest components of internal radiation exposure from biologically functional components of the human body. About 4,000 nuclei of K decay per second, and a similar number of C. The energy of beta particles produced by K is about 10 times that from the beta particles from C decay.


title: Background radiation

text: C is present in the human body at a level of about 3700 Bq (0.1 μCi) with a biological half-life of 40 days. This means there are about 3700 beta particles per second produced by the decay of C. However, a C atom is in the genetic information of about half the cells, while potassium is not a component of DNA. The decay of a C atom inside DNA in one person happens about 50 times per second, changing a carbon atom to one of nitrogen.


title: Background radiation

text: The global average internal dose from radionuclides other than radon and its decay products is 0.29 mSv/a, of which 0.17 mSv/a comes from K, 0.12 mSv/a comes from the uranium and thorium series, and 12 μSv/a comes from C.


title: Background radiation

text: Some areas have greater dosage than the country-wide averages. In the world in general, exceptionally high natural background locales include Ramsar in Iran, Guarapari in Brazil, Karunagappalli in India, Arkaroola in Australia and Yangjiang in China.


title: Background radiation

text: The highest level of purely natural radiation ever recorded on the Earth's surface was 90 µGy/h on a Brazilian black beach ("areia preta" in Portuguese) composed of monazite. This rate would convert to 0.8 Gy/a for year-round continuous exposure, but in fact the levels vary seasonally and are much lower in the nearest residences. The record measurement has not been duplicated and is omitted from UNSCEAR's latest reports. Nearby tourist beaches in Guarapari and Cumuruxatiba were later evaluated at 14 and 15 µGy/h. Note that the values quoted here are in Grays. To convert to Sieverts (Sv) a radiation weighting factor is required; these weighting factors vary from 1 (beta & gamma) to 20 (alpha particles).


title: Background radiation

text: The highest background radiation in an inhabited area is found in Ramsar, primarily due to the use of local naturally radioactive limestone as a building material. The 1000 most exposed residents receive an average external effective radiation dose of per year, six times the ICRP recommended limit for exposure to the public from artificial sources. They additionally receive a substantial internal dose from radon. Record radiation levels were found in a house where the effective dose due to ambient radiation fields was per year, and the internal committed dose from radon was per year. This unique case is over 80 times higher than the world average natural human exposure to radiation.


title: Background radiation

text: Epidemiological studies are underway to identify health effects associated with the high radiation levels in Ramsar. It is much too early to draw unambiguous statistically significant conclusions. While so far support for beneficial effects of chronic radiation (like longer lifespan) has been observed in few places only, a protective and adaptive effect is suggested by at least one study whose authors nonetheless caution that data from Ramsar are not yet sufficiently strong to relax existing regulatory dose limits. However, the recent statistical analyses discussed that there is no correlation between the risk of negative health effects and elevated level of natural background radiation.


title: Background radiation

text: Background radiation doses in the immediate vicinity of particles of high atomic number materials, within the human body, have a small enhancement due to the photoelectric effect.


title: Background radiation

text: Most of the natural neutron background is a product of cosmic rays interacting with the atmosphere. The neutron energy peaks at around 1 MeV and rapidly drops above. At sea level, the production of neutrons is about 20 neutrons per second per kilogram of material interacting with the cosmic rays (or, about 100–300 neutrons per square meter per second). The flux is dependent on geomagnetic latitude, with a maximum near the magnetic poles. At solar minimums, due to lower solar magnetic field shielding, the flux is about twice as high vs the solar maximum. It also dramatically increases during solar flares. In the vicinity of larger heavier objects, e.g. buildings or ships, the neutron flux measures higher; this is known as "cosmic ray induced neutron signature", or "ship effect" as it was first detected with ships at sea.


title: Background radiation

text: Frequent above-ground nuclear explosions between the 1940s and 1960s scattered a substantial amount of radioactive contamination. Some of this contamination is local, rendering the immediate surroundings highly radioactive, while some of it is carried longer distances as nuclear fallout; some of this material is dispersed worldwide. The increase in background radiation due to these tests peaked in 1963 at about 0.15 mSv per year worldwide, or about 7% of average background dose from all sources. The Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 prohibited above-ground tests, thus by the year 2000 the worldwide dose from these tests has decreased to only 0.005 mSv per year.


title: Background radiation

text: The International Commission on Radiological Protection recommends limiting occupational radiation exposure to 50 mSv (5 rem) per year, and 100 mSv (10 rem) in 5 years.


title: Background radiation

text: However, background radiation for occupational doses includes radiation that is not measured by radiation dose instruments in potential occupational exposure conditions. This includes both offsite "natural background radiation" and any medical radiation doses. This value is not typically measured or known from surveys, such that variations in the total dose to individual workers is not known. This can be a significant confounding factor in assessing radiation exposure effects in a population of workers who may have significantly different natural background and medical radiation doses. This is most significant when the occupational doses are very low.


title: Background radiation

text: At an IAEA conference in 2002, it was recommended that occupational doses below 1–2 mSv per year do not warrant regulatory scrutiny.


title: Background radiation

text: Under normal circumstances, nuclear reactors release small amounts of radioactive gases, which cause small radiation exposures to the public. Events classified on the International Nuclear Event Scale as incidents typically do not release any additional radioactive substances into the environment. Large releases of radioactivity from nuclear reactors are extremely rare. To the present day, there were two major "civilian" accidents – the Chernobyl accident and the Fukushima I nuclear accidents – which caused substantial contamination. The Chernobyl accident was the only one to cause immediate deaths.


title: Background radiation

text: Total doses from the Chernobyl accident ranged from 10 to 50 mSv over 20 years for the inhabitants of the affected areas, with most of the dose received in the first years after the disaster, and over 100 mSv for liquidators. There were 28 deaths from acute radiation syndrome.


title: Background radiation

text: Total doses from the Fukushima I accidents were between 1 and 15 mSv for the inhabitants of the affected areas. Thyroid doses for children were below 50 mSv. 167 cleanup workers received doses above 100 mSv, with 6 of them receiving more than 250 mSv (the Japanese exposure limit for emergency response workers).


title: Background radiation

text: Non-civilian: In addition to the civilian accidents described above, several accidents at early nuclear weapons facilities – such as the Windscale fire, the contamination of the Techa River by the nuclear waste from the Mayak compound, and the Kyshtym disaster at the same compound – released substantial radioactivity into the environment. The Windscale fire resulted in thyroid doses of 5–20 mSv for adults and 10–60 mSv for children. The doses from the accidents at Mayak are unknown.


title: Background radiation

text: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and other U.S. and international agencies, require that licensees limit radiation exposure to individual members of the public to 1 mSv (100 mrem) per year.


title: Background radiation

text: Per UNECE life-cycle assessment, nearly all sources of energy result in some level of occupational and public exposure to radionuclides as result of their manufacturing or operations. The following table uses man·Sievert/GW-annum:


title: Background radiation

text: Coal plants emit radiation in the form of radioactive fly ash which is inhaled and ingested by neighbours, and incorporated into crops. A 1978 paper from Oak Ridge National Laboratory estimated that coal-fired power plants of that time may contribute a whole-body committed dose of 19 µSv/a to their immediate neighbours in a radius of 500 m. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation's 1988 report estimated the committed dose 1 km away to be 20 µSv/a for older plants or 1 µSv/a for newer plants with improved fly ash capture, but was unable to confirm these numbers by test. When coal is burned, uranium, thorium and all the uranium daughters accumulated by disintegration – radium, radon, polonium – are released. Radioactive materials previously buried underground in coal deposits are released as fly ash or, if fly ash is captured, may be incorporated into concrete manufactured with fly ash.


title: Background radiation

text: The global average human exposure to artificial radiation is 0.6 mSv/a, primarily from medical imaging. This medical component can range much higher, with an average of 3 mSv per year across the USA population. Other human contributors include smoking, air travel, radioactive building materials, historical nuclear weapons testing, nuclear power accidents and nuclear industry operation.


title: Background radiation

text: A typical chest x-ray delivers 20 µSv (2 mrem) of effective dose. A dental x-ray delivers a dose of 5 to 10 µSv. A CT scan delivers an effective dose to the whole body ranging from 1 to 20 mSv (100 to 2000 mrem). The average American receives about 3 mSv of diagnostic medical dose per year; countries with the lowest levels of health care receive almost none. Radiation treatment for various diseases also accounts for some dose, both in individuals and in those around them.


title: Background radiation

text: Cigarettes contain polonium-210, originating from the decay products of radon, which stick to tobacco leaves. Heavy smoking results in a radiation dose of 160 mSv/year to localized spots at the bifurcations of segmental bronchi in the lungs from the decay of polonium-210. This dose is not readily comparable to the radiation protection limits, since the latter deal with whole body doses, while the dose from smoking is delivered to a very small portion of the body.


title: Background radiation

text: In a radiation metrology laboratory, background radiation refers to the measured value from any incidental sources that affect an instrument when a specific radiation source sample is being measured. This background contribution, which is established as a stable value by multiple measurements, usually before and after sample measurement, is subtracted from the rate measured when the sample is being measured.


title: Background radiation

text: This is in accordance with the International Atomic Energy Agency definition of background as being "Dose or dose rate (or an observed measure related to the dose or dose rate) attributable to all sources other than the one(s) specified.


title: Background radiation

text: The same issue occurs with radiation protection instruments, where a reading from an instrument may be affected by the background radiation. An example of this is a scintillation detector used for surface contamination monitoring. In an elevated gamma background the scintillator material will be affected by the background gamma, which will add to the reading obtained from any contamination which is being monitored. In extreme cases it will make the instrument unusable as the background swamps the lower level of radiation from the contamination. In such instruments the background can be continually monitored in the "Ready" state, and subtracted from any reading obtained when being used in "Measuring" mode.


title: Background radiation

text: Regular Radiation measurement is carried out at multiple levels. Government agencies compile radiation readings as part of environmental monitoring mandates, often making the readings available to the public and sometimes in near-real-time. Collaborative groups and private individuals may also make real-time readings available to the public. Instruments used for radiation measurement include the Geiger–Müller tube and the Scintillation detector. The former is usually more compact and affordable and reacts to several radiation types, while the latter is more complex and can detect specific radiation energies and types. Readings indicate radiation levels from all sources including background, and real-time readings are in general unvalidated, but correlation between independent detectors increases confidence in measured levels.


title: Background radiation

text: List of international near-real-time collaborative/private measurement sites, employing primarily Geiger-Muller detectors:


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: The Golden Age of Detective Fiction was an era of classic murder mystery novels of similar patterns and styles, predominantly in the 1920s and 1930s.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: The Golden Age proper is, in practice, usually taken to refer to a type of fiction which was predominant in the 1920s and 1930s but had been written since at least 1911 and is still being written today. In his history of the detective story, "Bloody Murder: From the Detective Story to the Crime Novel", the author Julian Symons heads two chapters devoted to the Golden Age as "the Twenties" and "the Thirties". Symons notes that Philip Van Doren Stern's article, "The Case of the Corpse in the Blind Alley" (1941) "could serve ... as an obituary for the Golden Age."


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: Most of the authors of the Golden Age were British: Margery Allingham (1904–1966), Anthony Berkeley (aka Francis Iles, 1893–1971), Nicholas Blake (1904–1972), Lynn Brock (1877–1943), G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936), Dame Agatha Christie (1890–1976), John Creasey (1908-1973), Edmund Crispin (1921–1978), Freeman Wills Crofts (1879–1957), R. Austin Freeman (1862–1943), Joseph Jefferson Farjeon (1883–1955), Cyril Hare (1900–1958), Georgette Heyer (1902–1974), Anne Hocking (1890–1966), Michael Innes (1906–1993), Msgr. Ronald Knox (1888–1957), E. C. R. Lorac (1894–1958), Philip MacDonald (1900–1980), Gladys Mitchell (1901–1983), John Rhode (1884–1964), Dorothy L. Sayers (1893–1957), Josephine Tey (1896–1952), Patricia Wentworth (1877-1961), Henry Wade (1887–1969), and many more. Dame Ngaio Marsh (1895–1982), was a New Zealander but was also British, as was her detective Roderick Alleyn. Georges Simenon was from Belgium and wrote in French; his detective, Jules Maigret, was a Frenchman. Some writers, such as Mary Roberts Rinehart, S. S. Van Dine, Earl Derr Biggers, John Dickson Carr, Ellery Queen, Erle Stanley Gardner, Rex Stout and Elizabeth Daly, were American but had similar styles. Others, such as Raymond Chandler (American but also British), Dashiell Hammett, and James M. Cain, had a more hard-boiled, American style.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: Certain conventions and clichés were established that limited any surprises on the part of the reader to the details of the plot and, primarily, to the identity of the murderer. The majority of novels of that era were "whodunits", and several authors excelled, after misleading their readers successfully, in revealing the least likely suspect convincingly as the villain. There was also a predilection for certain casts of characters and certain settings in a secluded English country house and its upper-class inhabitants (although they were generally landed gentry; not aristocracy with their country house as a second house).


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: The rules of the game – and Golden Age mysteries were considered games – were codified in 1929 by Ronald Knox. According to Knox, a detective story


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: A similar but more detailed list of prerequisites was prepared by S. S. Van Dine in an article entitled "Twenty Rules for Writing Detective Stories" which appeared in "The American Magazine" in September 1928. They are commonly referred to as Van Dine's Commandments.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: In 1930, a group of British Golden Age authors came together to form the Detection Club. In addition to meeting for dinners and helping each other with technical aspects of their work, the members agreed to adhere to Knox's Commandments. Anthony Berkeley was instrumental in setting up the club, and G. K. Chesterton was its first president. In 2015, Martin Edwards became the club's ninth president.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: The outbreak of the Second World War is often taken as a beginning of the end for the light-hearted, straightforward "whodunit" of the Golden Age. But as Ian Ousby writes, the Golden Age


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: Attacks on the genre were made by the influential writer and critic Julian Symons (who was dismissive of postwar detective fiction in "Bloody Murder"), Edmund Wilson ("Who Cares Who Killed Roger Ackroyd?"), and Raymond Chandler ("The Simple Art of Murder"). But in sheer number of sales — particularly those of Agatha Christie — modern detective fiction has never approached the popularity of Golden Age writing.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: Current writing influenced by the Golden Age style is often referred to as "cosy" mystery writing, as distinct from the "hardboiled" style popular in the United States. Recent writers working in this style include Sarah Caudwell, Ruth Dudley Edwards, Peter Lovesey and Simon Brett. Television series that emulate the style include "Murder, She Wrote" and "Midsomer Murders". Films and TV series based on the classic Golden Age novels continue to be produced.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: The Country house mystery was a popular genre of English detective fiction in the 1920s and 1930s; set in the residences of the gentry and often involving a murder in a country house temporarily isolated by a snowstorm or similar with the suspects all at a weekend house party.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: The board game "Cluedo" ("Clue" in North America) relies on the structure of the country house mystery.


title: Golden Age of Detective Fiction

text: From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, not a few mystery writers who were influenced by the Golden Age style made their debut one after another in Japan. They are referred to as or . Representative "new traditionalists" include writers such as Yukito Ayatsuji, Gosho Aoyama, Rintaro Norizuki and Taku Ashibe.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: Philippe Henri Xavier Antoine de Gaulle (born 28 December 1921) is a French retired admiral and senator. He is the eldest child and only son of General Charles de Gaulle, the first president of the French Fifth Republic, and his wife Yvonne. He is the only living child of De Gaulle.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: De Gaulle was born in Paris on 28 December 1921 and was baptised on 8 June of the following year in the Church of St. Francis Xavier in the 7th Arrondissement. He was educated at the Collège Stanislas de Paris, where his father had also studied, and subsequently joined the French Navy. According to Charles de Gaulle, Philippe was named after his family ancestor Jean-Baptiste de Gaulle, though it has been claimed that he was named after General Philippe Pétain, of whom his father was a great admirer.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: A student at the École Navale at the time of the invasion of France in 1940, he did not hear his father's appeal of 18 June, but escaped to the United Kingdom and declared his allegiance to Free France, joining the Free French Naval Forces. During the Second World War he fought in the Channel campaign and in the Battle of the Atlantic. Promoted to sub-lieutenant in 1943, de Gaulle participated in the Battle of France (1944–1945) as a platoon commander of the Régiment Blindé de Fusiliers-Marins, an armoured regiment of marines of the 2nd Armoured Division. On 25 August 1944, he participated in the liberation of Paris and was sent from the Montparnasse Station to carry the order to obtain the surrender of the Germans entrenched at the Palais Bourbon in the premises of the National Assembly. Risking being shot if things went wrong, he negotiated among them, alone and unarmed. He fought in the Vosges during the winter of 1944–1945.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: De Gaulle was promoted to lieutenant in 1948, and received in 1952 the command of the naval "flottille" 6F. He was promoted to corvette captain (lieutenant-commander) in 1956 and to frigate captain (commander) in 1961, commanding the fast frigate ("Escorteur Rapide") "Le Picard" (1960–1961). He pursued a military career as a French Naval Aviation pilot and was made naval aviation commander of the Paris Region (1964–1966). Promoted to "capitaine de vaisseau" rank in 1966, he commanded the missile-launching frigate "Suffren" from 1967 to 1968. In 1971 he was promoted to rear-admiral ("contre-amiral"), becoming commander of the naval group of test and measurement ("GROUPEM") (1973–1974) where he hoisted his flag on the Missile Range Instrumentation and Command and Control ship "Henri Poincaré". He was then commander of aviation maritime patrol (ALPATMAR) from 1974 to 1975 and was promoted to vice-admiral ("vice-amiral") in 1975. From 1976 to 1977 he was Commander of the Atlantic Fleet and was elevated to squadron vice-admiral ("vice-amiral d'escadre") in 1977.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: Promoted to admiral in 1980, he finished his military career as Inspector General of the Navy, retiring in 1982.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: From 1986 to 2004 (reelected in 1995), de Gaulle served as a senator from Paris in the RPR and UMP. Near the end of the 1960s, a "legitimist" Gaullist party led by Joseph Bozzi advocated de Gaulle as the only "legitimate heir" of Gaullism. De Gaulle's influence, however, remained very low.


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: On 30 December 1947 de Gaulle married Henriette de Montalembert Cers (1 January 1929 – 22 June 2014), a descendant of the family of the Marquis de Montalembert. The marriage was blessed by Admiral Georges Thierry d'Argenlieu, one of the commanders of the Free French Naval Forces during the war. The couple had four sons:


title: Philippe de Gaulle

text: Charles never appointed his son a Companion of the Liberation, probably to avoid being open to possible accusations of nepotism. Yet, in the opinion of some Gaullists and companions, Philippe would not have been undeserving of this honour, given his immediate engagement in Free France and his service in the army for five years, often at the forefront. Nor did Philippe's father award his son the medal of the Resistance.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Piper Elizabeth Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling) is the protagonist of the Netflix series "Orange Is the New Black". The character is based on Piper Kerman, author of the non-fiction book "", upon which the series is based. Schilling was nominated for awards in both comedy and drama categories for this role.


title: Piper Chapman

text: A Boston-bred Smith College grad, Piper Kerman got involved in a relationship with an international drug smuggler, Catherine Cleary Wolters. Chapman's girlfriend in the series, Alex Vause, is based on Wolters, whom Kerman met circa 1991 in Northampton, Massachusetts. Eventually, 24-year-old Kerman flew a suitcase of money from the United States to Belgium for a West African drug lord and was named five years later as part of the drug ring. As part of her plea bargain, she declared that she made three overseas trips on behalf of the drug ring. After breaking up with Wolters, Kerman met Larry Smith and got engaged before being charged by the feds in 1998 and striking a deal. She spent 13 months in a Danbury, Connecticut women's prison, FCI Danbury. Kerman actually had a six-year delay between being sentenced to prison and entering prison in 2004. The show is based on Kerman's 2010 book "" about her year in a minimum security federal women's prison. Chapman's fiancé, Larry Bloom, is based on Smith, Kerman's real life boyfriend and eventual husband.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Series creator Jenji Kohan had initially considered casting Katie Holmes in the role, but decided against it as Holmes had too many commitments. Ultimately Kohan cast Taylor Schilling.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Chapman is a 31-year-old White Anglo-Saxon Protestant who is sentenced to 15 months in prison for carrying a bag of drug-money ($50,000) to Belgium for her girlfriend, Alex Vause. Prior to prison, Chapman owned an artisanal bath soap business in Brooklyn. She comes from a wealthy family, and was a debutante as a teenager. She is originally from Connecticut. Chapman is bisexual, and in college was in a relationship with Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), a drug smuggler. 10 years prior to the series' beginning, she carried drug money from Colombia to Belgium with Vause. Eventually, Chapman grew disenchanted with Vause's lifestyle and broke up with her. She then began dating Larry Bloom (Jason Biggs), to whom she got engaged.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Piper is one of very few emphatically atheist inmates on a television show that highlights the theme of issues around American religious freedom. For instance, in season 1 episode 12 she responds to a request that she be baptized by saying that she cannot pretend to believe in a god, saying that while it might make her happier if she believed in a religion, she "needs it to be true", and instead looks to science to explain the world. Earlier in that same episode, she had clarified that "Well, I've always thought agnostic was sort of a cop-out... If I had to label it I'd say that I'm a secular humanist which is not to say I'm not spiritual".


title: Piper Chapman

text: In 2018, Schilling stated that while Walter White of "Breaking Bad" was written with having a rationale for each action, "Piper's behavior oftentimes feels groundless" and "the audience can't quite grab onto Piper's behavior. It seems like it's coming out of nowhere."


title: Piper Chapman

text: Chapman is sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Prison, for criminal conspiracy and money laundering; Vause had been arrested and named Chapman as an accomplice in order to reduce her own sentence. On Chapman's first day, Chapman gets felt up by guard George "Pornstache" Mendez (Pablo Schreiber) and unintentionally offends prison matriarch Red (Kate Mulgrew), who runs the prison cafeteria. Red starves Chapman to make an example of her, and the other inmates are too intimidated to help except for Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba). Nonetheless, Chapman resists Crazy Eyes' subsequent advances and makes amends with Red by making her lotion to help her painful back. Chapman befriends Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne), who becomes her confidante and protector. Chapman also discovers Vause has also been sentenced to Litchfield.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Chapman is assigned to the prison's electrical workshop and accidentally pockets a screwdriver. Her cellmate, Miss Claudette (Michelle Hurst), helps her evade the guards' searches. In order to ingratiate herself with the other inmates, Chapman offers to review their appeal letters.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Although Bloom learns that Vause was the informant who gave Chapman up, he does not share this information with his fiancée. Chapman then rekindles her relationship with Vause. Meanwhile, Bloom, an aspiring writer, publishes a story about Chapman's incarceration that paints unflattering portraits of her fellow inmates and the prison staff. The article earns Chapman the ire of both the guards and the other prisoners, and severely strains on her already fading relationship with Bloom.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Chapman is elected to the prison council but finds that the only change she is able to make is to get the track reopened for Janae Watson (Vicky Jeudy), who was put in solitary confinement during the screwdriver incident. Chapman makes an enemy of Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett (Taryn Manning), who wanted her spot on the council. Doggett tells the inmate counselor Sam Healy (Michael J. Harney) about Chapman and Vause's relationship; Healy punishes Chapman by putting her in solitary confinement and telling Bloom about the affair. Bloom gets back at Chapman by doing an interview on NPR that casts Litchfield in a harsh light, which makes her even more unpopular. During an angry phone call, Bloom reveals that Vause informed on her.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Vause asks Chapman to choose between her and Bloom. Chapman chooses Bloom, but Vause breaks them up and spurns Chapman. When Doggett attacks Chapman with a shiv, Chapman finally snaps and beats her to a pulp.


title: Piper Chapman

text: After spending a month in solitary confinement, Chapman is flown to Chicago to serve as a witness against the drug kingpin who had been Vause's boss. There, she spends time in a maximum security prison with dangerous inmates who menace her


title: Piper Chapman

text: Chapman begins a business selling used panties to people outside of Litchfield, enlisting her brother Cal as her middleman. Chapman begins a romantic relationship with an Australian prisoner, Stella (Ruby Rose Langenheim). After Stella steals Chapman's money, she plants contraband in Stella's bunk and orchestrates her being sent to the maximum security unit in retaliation the day before Stella's release date.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Chapman continues her panty business but finds herself in competition with a group of Dominicans led by Maria Ruiz. When Chapman aligns herself with a gang of white supremacists and plants contraband in Maria's bunk, Maria retaliates by kidnapping her and having her branded with a swastika.


title: Piper Chapman

text: According to Emily VanDerWerff of Vox Media's Vox.com Chapman was a character with "tricky contradictions and likability issues". In reviewing season 1, Matthew Wolfson "Slant Magazine" describes Chapman as "a familiar vessel through which to comprehend prison's unfamiliar terrain". Over the course of the first season, the show becomes less focused on Chapman, according to James Poniewozik of "Time". "The Boston Globe" describes Chapman's assimilation into prison as a display of "Martha Stewart-like efforts to survive". At the time of the Golden Globe Award nomination, "Entertainment Weekly" described Chapman in prison as a woman who was "totally out of her element" and said that the role was dichotomous with demands to "vacillate between being sympathy-worthy and trying fans’ patience with Chapman's entitlement". Tom Meltzer of "The Guardian" wrote "Chapman's romantic and rebellious re-awakening drives the show, but it is the ensemble that kept us coming back for more".


title: Piper Chapman

text: By season 2, Piper remained a main character of an ensemble cast but not the central character according to IGN's Matt Fowler. Liz Raftery of "TV Guide" says "There's a lot going on in Season 2 of Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, and very little of it has to do with Piper Chapman". Rob Sheffield of "Rolling Stone" considered that the show's ensemble focus has turned Piper into "dead weight" and "nobody would argue that an early parole for her would hurt the show". As he reviewed season 2, "The Huffington Post" Canada entertainment editor Chris Jancelewicz, opined that "Schilling's deadpan expressions and snap comedic timing help us empathize and grow to love her" as her character became more understandable. Alicia Lutes of "MTV" wrote that as of Season 2 the show is about Piper understanding herself and her capabilities better "even if those abilities put her further in the muck" and not about her possible reformation.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Sarene Leeds of "The Wall Street Journal" stated that in Season 3 Piper changed from being "a gangsta wannabe into a dangerous villain that is not to be crossed" after planting contraband in girlfriend Stella's bed to get her sent to the maximum security unit in retaliation for Stella stealing from her; Leeds argued that the change "is a necessary plot device to keep things interesting" even though she did not like the new version of Piper. Drew Millard of "Vice" wrote that Season 3 Piper went "completely off the deep end" and changed "into the most unlikable version of herself", making her "deadweight on a show that was at first strictly about her." Kerman stated that even though she still found the series to be entertaining, she could no longer relate to Piper Chapman. Sadie Gennis of "TV Guide" also suggested removing Chapman from the show.


title: Piper Chapman

text: Schilling has been nominated for awards in both comedy and drama categories: Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series at the 66th Primetime Emmy Awards and Best Actress – Television Series Drama at the 71st Golden Globe Awards and won Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy at the 18th Satellite Awards for her season 1 performance. Her season 2 performance earned a 72nd Golden Globe Awards nomination for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy, and a 19th Satellite Awards nomination for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy. Her season 3 performance won Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy at the 20th Satellite Awards.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: Giovanni Di Lorenzo (born 4 August 1993) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for club Napoli, which he captains, and the Italy national team.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: Di Lorenzo began his career with the Reggina youth system in 2009. On 29 May 2011, he made his professional debut for the senior side in a Serie B match at Sassuolo. He spent the 2012–13 season on loan with Lega Pro Prima Divisione side Cuneo, collecting 27 appearances and drawing attention due to his promising performances.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: Di Lorenzo was signed by Empoli in August 2017. After helping the side achieve promotion to Serie A, he made his debut in the Italian top flight on 19 August 2018 against Cagliari; in the return fixture against the same opponent, he scored his first Serie A goal.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: On 7 June 2019, Di Lorenzo joined Napoli for €8 million. During his first year at Napoli, Di Lorenzo became a first team starter, taking them to seventh in the Serie A and helping them secure a win against Juventus in the Coppa Italia Final. Napoli also reached the Round of 16, in the Champions League, with Di Lorenzo getting 2 assists and playing every game. In his second year at the club, he helped guide the team into the Round of 32, at the Europa League, however, they lost to Granada, 3-2 on aggregate. Napoli also finished fifth in the league. Di Lorenzo has scored 7 goals for Napoli, in the League and Domestic Cups.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: On 15 July 2020, the right-back was linked to a move with Manchester United, but instead opted to sign a 5 year deal with Napoli, seeing him remain at the club until 2026.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: On 14 July 2022, Di Lorenzo was named the new Napoli club captain following the departures of Lorenzo Insigne and Kalidou Koulibaly.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: On 14 August 2013, Di Lorenzo made his debut with the Italy U21 national team under the guidance of coach and former Italian International footballer Luigi Di Biagio in a friendly match against Slovakia which Italy went on to win 4–1.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: He made his senior international debut on 15 October 2019, playing as a starter in a 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: In June 2021, he was included in Italy's 26-man squad for UEFA Euro 2020 by manager Roberto Mancini. After beating Belgium on July 2, Di Lorenzo gained notoriety by celebrating his victory by taking off his shorts and running around in his briefs. On 11 July, Di Lorenzo won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2 penalty shoot-out victory over England at Wembley Stadium in the final, after a 1–1 draw in extra-time; during the final, Di Lorenzo played the entire match.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: On 8 September, Di Lorenzo scored his first goal for the Italy senior national team, the final goal of 5–0 home win over Lithuania in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier; he had also contributed to Giacomo Raspadori's first goal for Italy, the third of the match.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: Initially a forward in his youth, Di Lorenzo was nicknamed "Batigol" by his friends due to his goal-scoring ability, in honour of Argentine striker Gabriel Omar Batistuta. He later switched to playing in more defensive roles and was occasionally deployed as a holding midfielder, before being moved to his current position of right-back. A versatile player, he is also capable of playing as a centre-back, an attack-minded wing-back or a right winger due to his offensive qualities. Although he is not the quickest player, Di Lorenzo is tall, possesses good technique, can play with both feet and is known for his stamina, physical qualities and ability in the air.


title: Giovanni Di Lorenzo

text: Di Lorenzo was born in Castelnuovo di Garfagnana. On May 25, 2022 he married the Italian Clarissa Franchi in the church of Segromigno in Monte, in the province of Lucca.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: "The Children" is the tenth and final episode of the fourth season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series "Game of Thrones." The 40th episode of the series overall, "The Children" was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, and directed by Alex Graves. It first aired on HBO on June 15, 2014.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: In the episode, Stannis Baratheon attacks the wildling camp beyond the Wall, as Jon Snow tries to meet with Mance Rayder; Bran Stark meets the Three-Eyed Raven; Qyburn tries to revive Gregor Clegane; Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne encounter Arya Stark in the Vale; Daenerys Targaryen is forced to chain her dragons up in the dungeons in Meereen; and Jaime Lannister sets Tyrion Lannister free before Tyrion is to be executed. "The Children" was praised for the handling of the deaths of Shae and Tywin Lannister, Bran reaching the Heart Tree and the fight scene between Brienne and Sandor "The Hound" Clegane.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: This episode marks the final appearances of Sibel Kekilli (Shae), Rose Leslie (Ygritte) and Thomas Brodie-Sangster (Jojen Reed).


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: Jon meets Mance Rayder and tells him that he wants to parley, but Rayder quickly realizes that Jon intends to kill him. They are interrupted by a massive cavalry charge led by Stannis and Davos that overruns the wildling encampment. Mance surrenders and is taken captive on Jon's suggestion. A mass cremation is held for the slain brothers of the Night's Watch. At the captured Tormund's urging, Jon later privately cremates Ygritte north of the Wall.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: As Bran's group reaches the Heart Tree, they are attacked by skeleton warriors. Jojen is killed, but Hodor, Meera, and Bran are saved by a Child of the Forest. The Child leads them to meet an old man, the “Three Eyed Raven“, who tells Bran that, while he will never be able to walk again, he will "fly".


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: Daenerys receives a supplicant who wishes to be sold back into slavery because his life as a slave was safer than as a freedman. She allows him to have a temporary contract of service with his former master. The next supplicant is a grieving father carrying the charred bones of his three year-old daughter, who was killed by Drogon. Drogon has not returned but Daenerys, guilt-ridden, chains the other dragons in the catacombs as a precaution.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: Gregor lies dying from Oberyn's poisoned spear, but Qyburn says that he can save him and Cersei ousts Pycelle from his laboratory and gives his care over to Qyburn. Cersei rebuffs Tywin's insistence to marry Loras and confirms her incest with Jaime to him.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: In the dungeons, Tyrion awaits his execution, but Jaime helps him escape. Tyrion, before escaping, sneaks into the Tower of the Hand, where he finds Shae in Tywin's bed. Realizing that Tywin has turned Shae against him, Tyrion remorsefully strangles her to death. He then confronts Tywin as he sits on the privy, and kills him with a crossbow when he repeatedly dismisses his son's feelings. Tyrion then escapes on a ship bound for Essos with help from Varys, who boards with him after Tywin's death is discovered.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: Brienne and Podrick meet Sandor and Arya. Brienne recognizes Arya and explains her oath to Catelyn, but Arya rebuffs her and Sandor is unconvinced of her loyalties. Brienne and Sandor duel, eventually resulting in a brutal fistfight with Brienne knocking Sandor off a cliff and unsuccessfully searching for Arya. After they leave, the fatally wounded Sandor pleads with Arya to kill him, but instead she takes his silver and leaves him to die (similarly to how he had robbed and left a farmer who had given them food and shelter in the earlier episode Breaker of Chains). She then boards a ship to Braavos after showing the captain the coin Jaqen gave her.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: The episode was written by series co-creators David Benioff and D. B. Weiss, This episode contains content from two of George Martin's novels, "A Storm of Swords", chapters Jon X, part of Jon XI, Jaime IX, Tyrion XI, and Arya XIII,


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: "The Children" was directed by Alex Graves. The Thingvellir National Park in Iceland was used as the location for the fight between Brienne and The Hound. According Graves, the skeleton fight scene was an homage to Ray Harryhausen's famous stop motion sequence from Jason and the Argonauts.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: "The Children" was watched by 7.09 million Americans during its premiere hour, a 32% increase from the previous season finale. In the United Kingdom, the episode was viewed by 1.850 million viewers, making it the highest-rated broadcast that week. It also received 0.085 million timeshift viewers.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: The episode received universal acclaim. All 35 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes were positive, with an average score of 9.5 out of 10. The site's consensus reading, "Capping off the best season of "Game of Thrones" to date, "The Children" provides enough satisfying plot developments for a finale, while its twists and turns leave you wanting more."


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: "IGN" writer Matt Fowler called it a "strong seasonal send-off with tons of violent twists, and turns." Sean T. Collins of "Rolling Stone" wrote, "Sometimes "Game of Thrones" is a widescreen epic fantasy, other times it's a small-scale study of violent lives. At its best – and "The Children" is certainly this show at its wide and wild best – "Game of Thrones" is all of these things, simultaneously." "TVLine" named Rory McCann and Gwendoline Christie the "Performers of the Week" for their physical acting in their fight sequence, and wrote that it "was one of the finest examples of the form in recent TV history – absolutely too epic to ignore."


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: After the episode premiered, some fans of the novel series voiced their displeasure over the omission of Lady Stoneheart, a character from the end of "A Storm of Swords". This was in part fueled by a photo posted to Instagram two months earlier by actress Lena Headey that many fans assumed was a confirmation of the character's inclusion in the finale. A day later, director Alex Graves stated that the character was never planned to appear in the fourth season, and that he did not know whether she would appear in the fifth.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: In an interview with "Entertainment Weekly", actress Michelle Fairley stated that the character may not ever be included in the TV series, though she did not give a definite confirmation either way.


title: The Children (Game of Thrones)

text: The episode set a BitTorrent record with about 1.5 million downloads within 12 hours and set a record for 250,000 users sharing the file at the same time.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: The Albuquerque Isotopes are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League and the Triple-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. They play home games at Rio Grande Credit Union Field at Isotopes Park in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at an elevation of above sea level.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: In 2003, the Calgary Cannons moved from Alberta to Albuquerque and became the Isotopes playing in the Pacific Coast League. The team was affiliated with the Florida Marlins until 2008 and the Dodgers from 2009 to 2014. In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Isotopes were organized into the Triple-A West, which was renamed the Pacific Coast League in 2022. The team won division titles in 2003, 2009, and 2012; it has never won a league championship.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: The Isotopes' mascot is Orbit, a yellow, orange, and red alien. In 2016, "Forbes" listed the team as the 14th-most valuable Minor League Baseball team with a value of $34 million.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: The team's name recalls the fictional 'Springfield Isotopes' from the long-running TV series "The Simpsons", first appearing in the Season 2 episode "Dancin' Homer" (aired in 1990) in which the main character Homer Simpson temporarily becomes his local baseball team's mascot. In the episode "Hungry, Hungry Homer", which first aired on March 4, 2001, Homer attempts to thwart the team's plan to move to Albuquerque by going on a hunger strike. Subsequently, when the "Albuquerque Tribune" asked its online readers to help choose a new name for the Cannons, "Isotopes" received 67 percent of the 120,000 votes cast. "Dancin' Homer" writer Ken Levine said he was surprised when many Albuquerque journalists started calling him regarding the team name, as Isotopes had been chosen as "the funniest, goofiest name we could come up with" and he never thought it had potential for a real team, while adding that he had always liked the city's previous minor league team, the Albuquerque Dukes, as it was the farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers he supported.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: Though team president Ken Young admitted that the name came from the series, he said at the name's unveiling, "We picked it because over the past year it has become a popular name, and it does have something to do with Albuquerque." The "Isotopes" name was deemed appropriate, since New Mexico has a number of well-known scientific and military facilities dealing with nuclear technology, such as Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP), as well as the site of the Trinity test. In addition, uranium mining was a significant industry in the state during the Cold War.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: In the three months after the team's name was announced in September 2002, before the team ever took the field, the team sold more merchandise than the previous Albuquerque Dukes had sold in any single season, and led minor league baseball in merchandising revenue in 2003. The team said they were able to tell when episodes featuring the Springfield Isotopes would air in different markets based on clusters of orders from different viewing areas. The team has no working agreements with the rightsholders of "The Simpsons". However, statues of Homer, Bart, Lisa, and Marge Simpson (originally created as a promotional item for the 2007 film) are located at RGCU Field at Isotopes Park.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: The Isotopes were preceded in minor league baseball play by the Albuquerque Dukes of the 1915 Rio Grande Association, followed by the Albuquerque Dons and Albuquerque Cardinals, who played as members of the Arizona-Texas League from 1932 to 1941. In 1946, the Albuquerque Dukes began a long era of play as members of the West Texas-New Mexico League.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: Albuquerque's previous minor-league team was the Los Angeles Dodgers-affiliated Albuquerque Dukes, which won several PCL championships in the 1970s and 1980s. The team was sold to Marshall Glickman and Mike Higgins, who moved it to Oregon in March 2000 and renamed it the Portland Beavers.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: In January 2001, a group of businessmen led by Ken Young and Mike Koldyke agreed to buy the Calgary Cannons with the intention of bringing the team to Albuquerque for the 2003 season. But Young and Koldyke told the city of Albuquerque that they would only buy the team if the city would fund a new stadium or renovate the existing Albuquerque Sports Stadium. In May 2001, the city approved a vote to spend $25 million on a renovation. Ken Young and Mike Koldyke then bought the Cannons, moved to the team to Albuquerque, and renamed it the Isotopes.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: The planned renovation eventually turned into the construction of a new baseball facility, Isotopes Park, around the old playing field.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: The Isotopes played their first official game in Albuquerque on April 11, 2003, three years after the Dukes left for Portland. At Isotopes Park, the baseball team was greeted by over 12,000 fans in their opening day game. In the Isotopes' opening season, the baseball team saw over 575,000 fans enter their stadium to watch their newly acquired team perform. During the 2003 season, Albuquerque saw immediate success as their new team won the 2003 Central Division Title and in addition to that, entered the 2003 Pacific Coast League Playoffs.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: In 2008, the Albuquerque Isotopes achieved a new feat when they reached a new franchise record in attendance with over 590,000 fans.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: In July 2009, Albuquerque received an unusual amount of nationwide attention following the arrival of Manny Ramirez. The outfielder at the time was under intense scrutiny for a suspension he received after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, more commonly known as PEDs, and was slated to play a total of three games with the Albuquerque Isotopes before returning to the major league. The Albuquerque Isotopes ran multiple promotions for the arrival of Manny Ramirez including advertisements, wigs bearing an extreme similarity to the hair of Manny Ramirez, etc. which ultimately led to a then-attendance record with over 15,000 fans attending the outfielder's opening game with the Isotopes. In addition to this, there was a large amount of harsh criticism towards the team from numerous sports media outlets including ESPN and sports commentators such as Bob Costas.


title: Albuquerque Isotopes

text: In conjunction with Major League Baseball's restructuring of Minor League Baseball in 2021, the Isotopes were organized into the Triple-A West. Albuquerque ended the season in fourth place in the Eastern Division with a 52–68 record. No playoffs were held to determine a league champion; instead, the team with the best regular-season record was declared the winner. However, 10 games that had been postponed from the start of the season were reinserted into the schedule as a postseason tournament called the Triple-A Final Stretch in which all 30 Triple-A clubs competed for the highest winning percentage. Albuquerque finished the tournament tied for seventh place with a 6–4 record. In 2022, the Triple-A West became known as the Pacific Coast League, the name historically used by the regional circuit prior to the 2021 reorganization.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is The Honest Men, from a line in the Robert Burns poem "Tam o' Shanter". They play at Somerset Park.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The club is currently managed by Lee Bullen. The club have spent 34 seasons in Scotland's top division, the last being 1977–78, and have been the champions of the second tier of Scottish football on six occasions, and of the third tier on three occasions. The club's most successful manager, Ally MacLeod, went on to manage the Scottish national football team. In 2018, Ayr United secured promotion to the Scottish Championship as champions of League One.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Ayr United were founded in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C. Although Inverness Caledonian Thistle are also the product of a merger between two clubs, Ayr United are the only Scottish Football League club to have been formed from a merger of two existing league clubs.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The club's honours include winning six Second Division titles (as the second tier championship) and a further three titles (as the third tier championship), most recently in 2017–18. They have not won any national cup competitions, although they were runners-up in the 2001–02 Scottish League Cup, and in the Scottish Challenge Cup in the first two seasons in which the competition was held: 1990–91 and 1991–92. They have won the local competition the Ayrshire Cup on 26 occasions, most commonly facing fierce local rivals Kilmarnock in the final. The Ayrshire Cup was last played for in season 1996–97, since when the competition has been suspended.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The club's record scorer in a single season is Jimmy Smith, who scored 66 goals for Ayr in only 38 league matches in 1927–28 and currently holds the British goalscoring record for the most league goals scored in a single season. The club's overall record scorer is Peter Price, who scored 213 times in competitive matches for the club between 1955 and 1962.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Former Scottish national team manager Ally MacLeod is regarded as the club's most famous and most successful manager. He led the club on three separate occasions spanning 15 years, during which his teams recorded a record 214 wins, and won two league titles. In 1973 MacLeod was voted Ayr's Citizen of the Year. More recent managers have also included the recent Scottish national team manager, George Burley, and former Scottish League Cup winner with Raith Rovers, Gordon Dalziel. Gordon Dalziel is the only manager to take Ayr to a National Cup Final on 17 March 2002 when they lost to Rangers 4–0. Their current manager is Lee Bullen.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Although the club has spent 34 seasons in Scotland's top division, they have played in the second and third tiers of Scottish senior football since the 1977–78 season. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the club established a record of defeating teams which played in higher leagues in cup competitions, including Hibernian, Dundee, Dundee United, Motherwell, Dunfermline Athletic and four consecutive wins in cup competitions against their fiercest rivals Kilmarnock.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: In 1988, Ayr United fan and businessman Sir David Murray offered to buy the club but the club's shareholders rejected the bid by a vote of 60 to 56. The manager at that time, Ally MacLeod, had threatened to leave if Murray's bid had succeeded: Murray went on to become chairman of Rangers, which coincided with a period of financial growth and league success for that club. During much of the 1990s and 2000s, a period of relative success both in league and cup competitions, the Ayr United chairman was local construction magnate Bill Barr. After Barr stood down, there were occasional boardroom struggles: the club suffered significant cashflow problems in 2004 although it survived with a combination of efforts. Prestwick-based Roy Kennedy failed to take over the club in 2005, and his company Kennedy Construction went bankrupt in 2006.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: On 24 May 2009, Ayr won the Scottish First Division Play-off against Airdrie United 3–2 on aggregate to win promotion to the First Division. The following season, to celebrate the club's centenary, Ayr United played in black and white hoops, the club's original black and white kit. The away kit was crimson and gold with blue shorts to reflect the original club colours. But it was not a successful season. Ayr were relegated on the last day of the season after losing 2–1 to Morton.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The club bounced back the following season, winning promotion after defeating Forfar Athletic and Brechin City in the play-offs. That same season, they knocked out Hibernian in the Scottish Cup, winning 1–0 at Somerset Park in a replay.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: In the 2011–12 season, Ayr enjoyed success in the 2011–12 Scottish League Cup, beating SPL sides Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Heart of Midlothian and St Mirren on their way to the semi-finals. Ayr United played Ayrshire derby rivals Kilmarnock in the semi-finals, the first time the two clubs had met at this stage. Kilmarnock won one-nil. But the league campaign was less successful, as United were relegated to the Second Division following a play-off defeat to Airdrie United.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Following relegation, United announced that Brian Reid's contract would not be renewed. The club appointed Mark Roberts, top scorer in the previous three seasons, manager, with head of youth development, Davie White, as his assistant.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: In January 2015, Ian McCall was appointed Ayr's new manager, taking over from Roberts. After saving the club from relegation on the final day of the 2014–15 season, McCall led Ayr back to the Championship with a penalty shoot-out victory over Stranraer in the play-offs. Following their relegation in 2017, Ayr competed in League One but finished the season as Champions, regaining their Championship status at the first time of asking and winning their first league title in over twenty years in the process.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Ayr United enjoyed a good start to the Championship during the 2018–19 season, and found themselves leading the division for part of the season. However, injuries to key players resulted in a dip of form during the second half of the season. This poor form included a shock Scottish Cup defeat to Junior Champions Auchinleck Talbot. Ayr United eventually finish in fourth place, ensuring a place in the playoffs for promotion to the Scottish Premiership. However, they were beaten on aggregate by Inverness Caledonian Thistle.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Key players Lawrence Shankland, Robbie Crawford and Liam Smith departed at the end of 2018–19 and signed for other clubs. Despite these losses, Ayr started the 2019–20 season well and found themselves in 2nd place in September. However, manager Ian McCall departed the club to return to Partick Thistle, ending his 4-and-a-half year tenure. After a recruitment process lasting four weeks, midfielder Mark Kerr was appointed as manager on an 18-month contract.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The 2019–20 season was curtailed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. United were fourth place again at the time of curtailment and this stood as their final league standing. However, the playoffs were not contested due to the pandemic.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The 2020–2021 season was played behind closed doors due to the ongoing pandemic. Ayr United became embroiled in a relegation battle, and manager Mark Kerr was sacked in February 2021. He was replaced by ex-Scotland international and former Greenock Morton, Bradford City and Livingston manager David Hopkin.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Ayr United avoided relegation on the final day of the season after a draw with Inverness Caledonian Thistle.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: After a poor start to the 2021–22 season, David Hopkin resigned as manager. Following a spell as caretaker manager, Jim Duffy was appointed as manager on a contract until the end of the season. However, after a poor run of only one win in twelve league games, Duffy was sacked in December 2021.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: On 7 January 2022, former Sheffield Wednesday and Dunfermline player Lee Bullen was appointed as Head Coach. Under Bullen's leadership, Ayr United avoided the relegation play-offs and remained in the Championship.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: From 1948 to 2016, Ayr United used a crest which is a shield containing a Scottish saltire, with a scroll beneath stating the club's name. In 2015, the club became subject to a legal action which claimed that the crest was an unregistered coat of arms. After it had emerged that the club's badge was in jeopardy, a petition was started by fans and gained 700 signatures in 24 hours. The campaign gained support and many political, footballing figures and fans alike lent support to keep the Ayr badge intact. Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party leader Ruth Davidson stated "If archaic rules are forcing the team to change the badge, then I think we need to look at those rules again. When John Scott brought this issue to my attention, I was happy to take it all the way to the UK Government." Another prominent name to join the campaign was former Ayr United and Bayern Munich striker and now a Sky Sports pundit on Soccer Saturday, Alan McInally, who said "Badges are so important to football supporters and are treasured by everyone. They are worn with pride by grandfathers, dads and sons as they represent the club that they support. New stadiums get built and re-named but the club badge always stays the same”.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: In 2016, after a fan competition to design a new club badge, a design incorporating most of the old features of the old badge was introduced.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: The club's original jerseys were red and gold, inherited from Ayr, with navy blue shorts and socks. In 1914, Ayr adopted black and white hoops, which were worn, with several modifications, up to 1930, when The "Honest Men" switched to a plain white jersey, with navy blue shorts and socks, worn until the outbreak of World War II. After the war, the club retained the white jersey, and switched back to the black shorts that had originally complemented the hooped shirts, kits similar to these were worn up to 1958, when Ayr had changed the black and white look for a white with a blue trim, used until 1963, when they once again reverted to the black and white hoops, that were kept until 1968 and not used again until the 2009–10 centenary season. From then until 1994, Ayr maintained white jerseys trimmed with black with either black or white shorts and socks, then switching to a striped shirt for a single season. The following season, Ayr wore an all-black jersey for the first and only time. Ayr went back to keeping an all-white jersey with either white or black shorts and socks until the centenary season. For the 2011–12 season, a half-black-half-white shirt was worn for the first time, however, Ayr FC had previously wore a similar jersey between 1899 and 1903. The 2013–14 season saw Ayr return to the white jersey, black shorts and socks for the first time since 1973.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: Ayr play their football at Somerset Park in Ayr's New Town. One of the few surviving traditional stadium designs, it consists of one stand, two covered terraces, and one open terrace. It has a capacity of . The first match to take place at Somerset Park was between the former Ayr and Aston Villa in a 3–0 victory for Ayr.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: During the 1990s the club's chairman Bill Barr, who owned and managed a company which built modern-style stadiums and stands for several other clubs around the UK sought — and obtained — planning permission from South Ayrshire Council for a new 10,200 all-seated stadium at Heathfield in Ayr with an associated retail development. The Scottish Executive then "called in" the application and reversed the decision in respect of the retail development. Since the club considered this aspect of the proposal necessary to fund the construction, the development did not proceed.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: In November 2006, United signed a contract with Barratt Homes for the sale of Somerset Park, having secured a site in the Heathfield area of Ayr. The site would house a new £18 million stadium seating 7,650 as part of a "sports and business campus". The project ultimately did not proceed.


title: Ayr United F.C.

text: 0–9 vs Rangers, 16 November 1929 0–9 vs Heart of Midlothian, 28 February 1931 0–9 vs Third Lanark, 4 December 1931


title: Trinkets (TV series)

text: Trinkets is an American teen drama streaming television series, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Kirsten Smith. The series was created by Smith, Amy Andelson, and Emily Meyer. It was released on Netflix on June 14, 2019. In July 2019, the series was renewed for a second and final season which was released on August 25, 2020.


title: Trinkets (TV series)

text: Elodie Davis (Brianna Hildebrand), Moe Truax (Kiana Madeira), and Tabitha Foster (Quintessa Swindell) become friends after finding each other at a Shoplifters Anonymous meeting. The characters have different personalities and personas in school, keeping their friendship a secret: Elodie is an introvert; Moe favors punk style; while Tabitha comes from a wealthy family. They form a deep bond after finding out that they all have a shoplifting habit. Each also finds in the others strength as they navigate their own problems such as family and school issues.


title: Trinkets (TV series)

text: On October 15, 2018, Netflix announced that it had given the production a series order. It also announced that Linda Gase would serve as showrunner, writers would include Amy Andelson, Emily Meyer, and Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and that Sara St. Onge would direct the first two episodes of the series. On July 29, 2019, the series was renewed for a second and final season.


title: Trinkets (TV series)

text: Alongside the initial series order announcement, it was announced that Brianna Hildebrand, Kiana Madeira, Quintessa Swindell, Larry Sullivan, Brandon Butler, Odiseas Georgiadis, Henry Zaga, October Moore, and Larisa Oleynik would star in the series. On October 22, 2019, it was reported that Austin Crute, Nik Dodani, Andrew Jacobs, Chloë Levine were cast in recurring roles for the second season.


title: Trinkets (TV series)

text: On May 30, 2019, the official trailer was released. The first season was released on Netflix on June 14, 2019. On August 13, 2020, the trailer for the second season was released. The second season was released on August 25, 2020.


title: Trinkets (TV series)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has an approval rating of 56% with an average rating of 8/10, based on 9 reviews.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise is an action role-playing video game developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega for the PlayStation 4. It is based on the manga franchise "Fist of the North Star" by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara, and features the gameplay and mechanics of Sega's "Yakuza" game series. It was released in Japan on March 8, 2018 and worldwide on October 2, 2018.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: "Lost Paradise" is an action role-playing game played from a third-person perspective. It features experience points, abilities; and similar action-adventure gameplay mechanics and systems to Sega's own "Yakuza" series. Players explore the city of Eden, fighting through enemy encounters in a beat 'em up gameplay style, punctuated by quick time events.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: The action is centered on the "Hidden Channeling Points" system, one of the key elements of Hokuto Shinken, the main martial arts style of the series. There are also various mini-games, such as bartending, baseball, racing, and retro games such as "Hokuto no Ken" for the Sega Mark III, "Space Harrier", "Out Run" and "Super Hang-On," that can be played after being salvaged from the wastelands.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic alternate timeline Earth. Due to a worldwide nuclear war, the earth's surface became devoid of vegetation, the seas evaporated and civilization was thrown into chaos, turning everyday life into a battle for supplies of uncontaminated food and water, where the strong survive by preying on the weak. Yet, in a corner of that world, there is a place called “The City of Miracles,” a city named “Eden”. Eden receives energy and water from a giant dome-shaped relic of the old world named “Sphere City". Citizens of Eden live a comfortable life that others in this era cannot even imagine.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: Kenshiro, successor of the martial art Hokuto Shinken, was defeated by Shin, who proceeded to kidnap his fiancée, Yuria. Kenshiro thus travels through the wastelands to find his beloved. He eventually hears rumors that a woman called Yuria could be found in the city of Eden so he makes his way to Eden to find Yuria.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: Kenshiro, fourth brother and successor of Hokuto Shinken, ascends the tower of his rival, Shin, to find Yuria. At the top, he challenges him to duel, which ends in Shin's defeat. A dying Shin laments that Yuria is dead. Rumors surface that Yuria is alive in a city called Eden, a settlement maintained by a structure called Sphere City generating water and electricity. Finding the city locked off to outsiders, Kenshiro allows himself to be captured as a criminal. Kenshiro learns that he can earn his freedom through a tournament. After defeating the final contender, Devil Rebirth, Kenshiro is given citizenship by the ruler, Xsana. Kenshiro later faces the Army of Ruin, led by Kyo-Oh and his second-in-command Targa. Jagre, Eden's watch captain, is afflicted with an ailment. Kenshiro journeys to the legendary prison, Cassandra, to find Toki, second brother of Hokuto Shinken, who can potentially heal him. After defeating the guards and killing warden Uighur, Kenshiro frees Toki, who cures Jagre. Toki refuses to leave Cassandra, as Raoh, first successor to Hokuto Shinken, would launch a full-scale assault, but agrees to train Kenshiro. Meanwhile, Kenshiro comes to befriend Jagre, as well as Lyra, who manages Eden's nightclub.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: Kenshiro is summoned to the arena by Rei, who accuses him of killing his parents and kidnapping his sister. Kenshiro defeats him in battle, and Rei's sister Airi is revealed to him. After Kenshiro cures Airi's blindness, Rei asks Kenshiro for help in tracking down the culprit. Xsana reveals that Yuria is housed within Sphere City, in a room called the Chamber of Miracles. Her father, Nadai, entered the chamber at some point with his wife, who died inside. Thinking Nadai killed her mother, Xsana stabbed him in rage. Kenshiro and Jagre reach a village where they encounter zombified villagers, revealed to be the result of Meito Kieiken, which was used by Kyo-Oh on Jagre. At the summit, Kenshiro meets a man who challenges him to a duel, revealing himself to be Nadai upon defeat. The two then notice that Eden is under siege by the Holy Imperial Army, led by Thouzer. Fighting his way through, Kenshiro finds that Hokuto Shinken is ineffective against Thouzer, but defeats him after deducing that his immunity was due to situs inversus. With Eden's gate destroyed, Xsana decides to open up the city's walls. Rei deduces that his sister's kidnapper is in Eden, managing to track him down with Kenshiro. The kidnapper is revealed to be Jagi, the third brother of Hokuto Shinken. Kenshiro challenges Jagi to a duel at the arena, and gains the upper hand thanks to Nadai, allowing Rei to execute Jagi. Rei thanks Kenshiro and bids him farewell. Meanwhile, Targa is sent back to the Army of Ruin.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: Sphere City is activated, and Xsana reveals it is a military facility housing the last nuclear missiles, their launch tied to Yuria's awakening in the Chamber of Miracles. Raoh appears, revealing that he and Nadai were working to preserve the secret of Sphere City. Nadai used the Chamber of Miracles to heal his wife, who refused, and they were trying to keep Yuria alive to use her to power beyond Hokuto Shinken. With Nadai presumed dead, Raoh decides kill Yuria. Kenshiro reveals that Nadai is alive, and challenges Raoh to a duel that ends in a draw. Raoh, respecting Kenshiro's dedication to Yuria, decides to put their fight on hold. Concluding that Kyo-Oh and Nadai are the same, Kenshiro infiltrates the Army of Ruin's camp, attempting to convince him to help. Kyo-Oh reveals he's Targa in disguise, buying time for Nadai to enter Sphere City and kill Yuria. Kenshiro runs back to Eden and finds Nadai, but are ambushed by Targa, Jagre and Lyra. The three have collaborated to exact revenge on Nadai for killing Jagre's father and driving other two's insane. Jagre is unable to bring himself to harm Xsana. Tagra shoots Jagre and Lyra, revealing his intentions to use Sphere City's missiles, wiping out Earth's population to become a god, and use Yuria to conceive a child who would carry his legacy. After killing Tagra, Kenshiro closes Sphere City's dome and opens the Chamber of Miracles to free Yuria, but Nadai pushes them into the Chamber of Miracles, sacrificing himself. Xsana and a surviving Jagre continue to help with ruling and protecting Eden, while Kenshiro and Yuria decide to forge their own path.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: "Lost Paradise" was announced on August 26, 2017 for PlayStation 4. Studio head Toshihiro Nagoshi elaborated that the title would not make use of their new Dragon Engine, developed for "Yakuza 6", as the development team was composed of largely new staff, who were not used to the more demanding tools of the Dragon Engine.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: The Japanese voice cast features many of the actors from the "Yakuza" series portraying characters analogous to those they played in previous "Yakuza" titles, such as Kazuma Kiryu voice actor Takaya Kuroda playing Kenshiro. The worldwide release of the game includes an English dub, making it the studio's third game since the original "Yakuza" and "Binary Domain" to feature one. It is also the first "Fist of the North Star" game since the first "" to have an English dub, as "" did not have one due to budget constraints. The worldwide release also includes an option to increase the amount of in-game gore that is exhibited on screen.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: Sega launched a marketing campaign in Japan, starring actor Takayuki Yamada. In the ad campaign, the actor goes to the gym, performing famous moves and gestures from the manga series. During E3 2018, Sega announced the western release of "Lost Paradise" with a trailer and a large presence at Sega's booth. An additional piece of downloadable content allows players to control "Yakuza" protagonist Kazuma Kiryu in place of Kenshiro, and was briefly available for free for the first two weeks after launch.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: "Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise" was a massive success in Japan where it sold 123,116 copies in its first week of release. It became the first game of 2018 to topple Capcom's "" which remained at the top of the charts for seven consecutive weeks.


title: Fist of the North Star: Lost Paradise

text: The game won the award for "Writing in a Comedy" at the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards, whereas its other nomination was for "Game, Franchise Action".


title: Dwight Powell

text: Dwight Harlan Powell (born July 20, 1991) is a Canadian professional basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal and is a member of the Canadian national team.


title: Dwight Powell

text: Powell attended Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto, Ontario for his freshman year. He then moved to the U.S and attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. As a senior, he averaged 23.2 points, 11.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.3 blocks per game.


title: Dwight Powell

text: Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Powell was listed as the No. 8 power forward and the No. 25 player in the nation in 2010.


title: Dwight Powell

text: As a freshman at Stanford University in 2010–11, Powell earned Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors. He started in 26 of 31 games, averaging 8.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.


title: Dwight Powell

text: As a sophomore in 2011–12, the Cardinal won the NIT championship, and Powell earned Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention selection. He started in 11 of 35 games, logging an average of 5.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game.


title: Dwight Powell

text: As a junior in 2012–13, Powell earned second-team NABC All-District, first-team All-Pac-12, and Pac-12 All-Academic second-team honors. He was also named the Pac-12 Most Improved Player of the Year. Powell started in all 34 games, averaging 14.9 points to go with 8.4 rebounds per game.


title: Dwight Powell

text: As a senior in 2013–14, Powell earned first-team All-Pac-12 honors for the second straight year and was named to the NCAA All-South Regional Team. He was also named the Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year and a Pac-12 All-Academic Honorable Mention selection. Powell started in all 36 games, putting up an average of 14.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On June 26, 2014, Powell was selected with the 45th overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft by the Charlotte Hornets. On July 12, Powell's rights were traded, along with Brendan Haywood, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Scotty Hopson and cash considerations. He then joined the Cavaliers for the NBA Summer League and signed with them on August 23. On September 25, he was traded, along with John Lucas III, Erik Murphy, Malcolm Thomas and the Cavaliers' 2016 and 2017 second-round picks, to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Keith Bogans and two future second-round picks. During his time with the Celtics, he was assigned multiple times to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Development League.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On December 18, 2014, Powell was traded, along with Rajon Rondo, to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright, a 2015 first-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick. On January 14, 2015, he scored a season-high 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting in a loss to the Denver Nuggets. He was assigned multiple times to the Texas Legends during his rookie season.


title: Dwight Powell

text: In July 2015, Powell joined the Mavericks for the 2015 NBA Summer League. On November 3, 2015, he recorded his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds in a loss to the Toronto Raptors. Four days later, he recorded a then career-high 15 points and 7 rebounds in a 107–98 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. He tied his career high of 15 points on January 17, 2016, in a loss to the San Antonio Spurs. On March 28, 2016, Powell made his first NBA start and scored a career-high 16 points in a 97–88 win over the Denver Nuggets.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On July 8, 2016, Powell re-signed with the Mavericks. On December 3, 2016, he set a new career high with 17 points in a 107–82 win over the Chicago Bulls. On April 9, 2017, he scored 21 points against the Phoenix Suns.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On January 3, 2018, Powell tied his career high with 21 points in a 125–122 loss to the Golden State Warriors. On February 28, 2018, he again tied his career high with 21 points in a 111–110 overtime loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On March 6, 2019, Powell set a career high with 26 points in a 132–123 loss to the Washington Wizards. On April 3, 2019, he scored 25 points in a 110–108 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.


title: Dwight Powell

text: After exercising his option for the 2019–20 season, he signed a contract extension with the Mavericks on July 6, 2019.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On December 4, 2019, Powell set a season-high 24 points while recording five rebounds, four assists, one steal and two blocks in a 121–114 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He had a perfect shooting night, going 9 of 9 from the field and 2 of 2 from the three-point line. Once the fourth quarter started, Powell experienced a left arm injury and got ruled out of the game.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On January 21, 2020, in a game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Powell suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury while attempting to drive to the basket.


title: Dwight Powell

text: Powell was one of only 4 other players in the NBA to play all 82 games in a season in the 2021–22 NBA season, as well as breaking the Mavericks franchise record for most consecutive field goals made with 18 in a stretch of 4 games.


title: Dwight Powell

text: On May 24, 2022, Powell agreed to a three-year commitment to play with the Canadian senior men's national team.


title: Smiley's People

text: Smiley's People is a spy novel by British writer John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and "The Honourable Schoolboy". George Smiley is called out of retirement to investigate the death of one of his old agents: a former Soviet general, the head of an Estonian émigré organisation based in London. Smiley learns the general had discovered information that will lead to a final confrontation with Smiley's nemesis, the Soviet spymaster Karla.


title: Smiley's People

text: Maria Ostrakova, a Soviet émigrée in Paris, is told by a Soviet agent calling himself "Kursky" that her daughter Alexandra, whom she was forced to leave behind, may be permitted to join her. Maria applies for an exit permit for her daughter; then, hearing nothing more, writes to General Vladimir, a former Soviet general and British agent, for help. Vladimir realises that Maria was used to provide a false identity for an unknown young woman, a ploy associated with KGB spymaster Karla, and that this is probably an unofficial operation.


title: Smiley's People

text: Vladimir contacts Toby Esterhase, his old handler in the Circus, but Esterhase, now retired, refuses help. Next Vladimir sends a confidant, Otto Leipzig, to Paris to interview Maria, who identifies "Kursky" in a photograph. Vladimir contacts the Circus again and insists on speaking to his former case officer, George Smiley, who is also retired. The Circus personnel are sceptical and uncooperative. Meanwhile, Vladimir is betrayed to Karla and assassinated on Hampstead Heath while on his way to meet a junior Circus contact.


title: Smiley's People

text: Circus head Saul Enderby and Civil Service undersecretary Oliver Lacon, wanting to bury the matter quickly to protect the Circus from scandal, recall Smiley from retirement. Smiley takes Vladimir's claims seriously and investigates. He recovers a second letter from Maria, who fears for her life. Near the site where Vladimir was killed, he discovers the negative of a compromising photograph of Leipzig and another man with prostitutes. Smiley consults dying former Circus researcher Connie Sachs, who identifies the second man as Oleg Kirov, also known by the cover name "Kursky". She also recounts rumours that Karla had a daughter by a mistress whom he had later sent to the Gulag. The daughter, Tatiana, was unstable and was confined to a mental institution.


title: Smiley's People

text: Smiley flies to Hamburg and tracks down Claus Kretzschmar, an old associate of Leipzig and owner of the night club where the photograph was taken. He finds that Leipzig has been murdered by Karla's agents but manages to locate a recognition sign, in return for which Kretzschmar gives Smiley tape recordings of Leipzig and Kirov. Smiley hastens to Paris where, with help from his old colleague Peter Guillam, he gets Maria to safety before Soviet agents murder her too. He also learns that Kirov has been summoned to Moscow and probably killed for his indiscretions.


title: Smiley's People

text: The transcribed tape of Kirov's confession to Leipzig shows that Karla is secretly diverting funds to a Swiss bank account using a commercial attaché named Grigoriev, of the Soviet Embassy in Bern. The money is used for the care of Karla's daughter, who has been committed to a Swiss psychiatric sanatorium under the faked citizenship papers of Maria's daughter. Smiley explains to Enderby that they may be able to blackmail Karla and force him to defect. Enderby authorises Smiley to mount an operation to secure the evidence from Grigoriev.


title: Smiley's People

text: Smiley and Esterhase set up a covert team in Bern to keep Grigoriev under observation. They soon obtain evidence of his unofficial handling of funds for Karla and of an affair with an Embassy secretary. Smiley presents Grigoriev with the choice of cooperating or being reported to the Swiss authorities and, later, Karla. Grigoriev quickly confesses all he knows of the arrangements regarding Alexandra's care and of the weekly visits he makes to her. Among her "symptoms" is her insistence that she is actually called Tatiana and is the daughter of a powerful man who can make people disappear. Smiley writes a letter to Karla, which Grigoriev passes on instead of his usual report on Alexandra's treatment. The letter details Karla's illegal activities and offers him defection to the West and protection for Tatiana, or elimination by his rivals in Moscow Centre.


title: Smiley's People

text: In a final scene, Karla, posing as a labourer, defects using one of the bridge crossings between East and West Berlin. Before giving himself up to the waiting Western agents, Karla stops and lights a cigarette. As he passes near Smiley he drops a gold cigarette lighter, a gift to George from his wife Ann, that Karla purloined from Smiley twenty years earlier in a Delhi prison. Smiley is sickened at having to use Karla's methods against him and does not pick up the lighter.


title: Smiley's People

text: David Cornwell (a.k.a. John le Carré) writes out of his experience as an intelligence officer for both MI5 and the SIS (MI6). Here the character General Vladimir was partly modelled on Colonel Alfons Rebane, an Estonian émigré who led the Estonian portion of SIS's Operation Jungle in the 1950s.


title: Smiley's People

text: One review speaks of the book's "purposefully quiet, slow, downright claustrophobic austerity", through which emerges "perhaps the greatest variety, texture, and integrity ever bestowed upon a series character". Though short sections deal with the experience of a few other characters, the main focus of the novel is upon Smiley himself, using different sorts of narrative to do so.


title: Smiley's People

text: Though Le Carré portrays all those involved in espionage, on whichever side, as flawed people, it is their human weaknesses which interest him and keep the narrative moving. As one critic notes of this novel, "Ultimately Smiley's people are all those who choose humanity over ideology and individuals over institutions".


title: Smiley's People

text: "Smiley's People" was dramatized as a six-part serial for television for the BBC in 1982 as a sequel to "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" (1979), again starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley. The screenplay was written by John le Carré and John Hopkins and was directed by Simon Langton. Two versions of this series exist: 1) the six-part UK version, which expands upon several important aspects of Smiley's objectives and Enderby's endorsement of these, and 2) the six-part PBS version in which much of the "back story" had been excised, for time.


title: Smiley's People

text: In 2009–2011, BBC Radio 4 also broadcast new dramatisations, by Shaun McKenna, of the eight George Smiley novels by John le Carré, featuring Simon Russell Beale as Smiley. "Smiley's People" was broadcast as three, one-hour episodes, from Thursday 20 October to Sunday 24 October 2011.


title: Smiley's People

text: Following the success of the 2011 "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy", Gary Oldman, who plays George Smiley in the film, said "I think they're whispering now that they might do "Smiley's People"." Though nothing has yet come of the idea, it was still being refloated a decade later.


title: Mark Boal

text: Mark Boal (born January 23, 1973) is an American journalist, screenwriter, and film producer. Before he became a prominent figure of cinema, Boal worked as a journalist for such publications as "Rolling Stone", "The Village Voice", "Salon", and "Playboy". Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor" was adapted for the film "In the Valley of Elah", which Boal also co-wrote.


title: Mark Boal

text: In 2009, he wrote and produced "The Hurt Locker", for which he won both the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2012 he wrote and produced "Zero Dark Thirty", teaming again with director Kathryn Bigelow, about the tracking and killing of Osama bin Laden. The film earned him Academy Award nominations for Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture and a Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay. The pair collaborated a third time for 2017's "Detroit".


title: Mark Boal

text: Boal has won two Academy Awards (with another two nominations), a BAFTA Award, two Writers Guild of America Awards, and a Producers Guild of America Award, and also has four Golden Globe Award nominations.


title: Mark Boal

text: Mark Boal was born on January 23, 1973, in New York City, the son of Lillian Firestone and William Stetson Boal, Jr., a producer of educational films. His half-brother is Christopher Stetson Boal, a playwright and screenwriter. His mother was born to a Jewish family and his father converted to Judaism. Boal attended Bronx High School of Science and was on the high school's Speech and Debate Team. He earned his undergraduate degree in Philosophy from Oberlin College in 1995.


title: Mark Boal

text: Boal has worked as a freelance journalist and screenwriter. He has contributed articles to such magazines as "The Village Voice", "Salon", "Rolling Stone" and "Playboy".


title: Mark Boal

text: Boal's 2004 article "Death and Dishonor", about the 2003 murder of veteran Richard T. Davis after his return to the United States, was published in "Playboy" magazine. It inspired writer/director Paul Haggis, who adapted it for his fictional screenplay as the film "In the Valley of Elah", which he also directed. Boal and Haggis have writing credit for the story.


title: Mark Boal

text: As a journalist, Boal was embedded with troops and bomb squads in 2004 during the Iraq War. He wrote an article about one of the bomb experts, Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver, in an article entitled, "The Man in the Bomb Suit", published in September 2005 in "Playboy" magazine.


title: Mark Boal

text: Boal went on to write an original screenplay, titled "The Hurt Locker," about a fictional set of characters and events based on his interviews and observations in Iraq. He was also a producer for the 2009 film adaptation set in Iraq, about a U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) bomb squad. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow, his business partner and co-producer.


title: Mark Boal

text: In March 2010 (five days before the Academy Awards ceremony), Master Sergeant Jeffrey S. Sarver announced he was suing the producers of "The Hurt Locker" because Boal allegedly based the main character and "virtually all of the situations" in the film on events involving him. Sarver also claimed to have coined the phrase "the hurt locker".


title: Mark Boal

text: The producers' spokesperson has reiterated that the screenplay is fictional. Citations for the phrase, "the hurt locker", date back to 1966 during the years of the Vietnam War. The phrase has been used among military members for decades. In the December 8, 2011 issue of "The Hollywood Reporter", it was reported that Sarver's lawsuit was thrown out by the court, and a federal judge ordered him to pay more than $180,000 in attorney fees.


title: Mark Boal

text: In March 2011, Boal published an article in "Rolling Stone" about the Maywand District murders titled: "The Kill Team: How U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan Murdered Innocent Civilians".


title: Mark Boal

text: Boal wrote the film "Zero Dark Thirty", which was released in December 2012. The film opened to much critical acclaim. Some commentators criticized its implication that torture revealed evidence that strongly contributed to the capture of bin Laden. Others, who deemed the production design inaccurate and oversimplified, criticized the film for its depiction of Pakistan, and found the Arabic-speaking locals in the film (Pakistan's national language is Urdu) to be problematic.


title: Mark Boal

text: Boal was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. He lost to Quentin Tarantino who was nominated for "Django Unchained". Boal was nominated for Writing in a Drama by the National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers for his work on "".


title: Mark Boal

text: In 2021, it was announced that Boal was in negotiations with Netflix to write a film based on the GameStop short squeeze of January 2021.


title: Iqbal (film)

text: Iqbal is a 2005 Indian Hindi-language coming-of-age sports drama film written and directed by Nagesh Kukunoor. Produced by Subhash Ghai, under "Mukta Searchlight Films", the story follows a cricket-obsessed deaf and mute boy from a remote Indian village as he aims to overcomes difficulties to become a cricketer and fulfill his dream of playing for the Indian national cricket team. The film received the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues.


title: Iqbal (film)

text: The film was screened retrospective on 18 August 2016 at the "Independence Day Film Festival" jointly presented by the Indian Directorate of Film Festivals and Ministry of Defense, commemorating 70th Indian Independence Day.


title: Iqbal (film)

text: Iqbal (Shreyas Talpade) is a deaf and mute boy, who dreams of playing cricket for India. However, he is discouraged by his father who thinks that Iqbal's daydreams are a waste of time. Instead, he wants Iqbal to help him tend to the crops and become a farmer like him, which would be a stable profession.


title: Iqbal (film)

text: Iqbal's sister, Khadija (Shweta Prasad), however, helps him try out for a nearby academy run by Guruji (Girish Karnad), an influential former India captain, who accepts him for his talent. However, when Iqbal competes with a rich boy, Kamal, who is also the star of the academy, he is thrown out by Guruji out of fear of Kamal's father, who bankrolls the academy. Iqbal seeks help from the local drunkard, Mohit (Naseeruddin Shah), who was once a great cricketer and persuades him to be his coach. They are able to train in a nearby field, using Iqbal's buffaloes (named after actual members of the Indian cricket team) as fielders.


title: Iqbal (film)

text: Mohit trains Iqbal and gets him a place on the Andhra Pradesh Ranji Trophy team, despite Iqbal not having any previous cricketing experience. Iqbal plays marvelously for the team, which was a weak team before he joined, and is soon noticed by the press and cricket selectors alike. However, when the final match of the season pits Iqbal against his rival, Kamal, Guruji tries to bribe Iqbal to bowl badly so that the national team scouts at the game would select Kamal for the national cricket team.