title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The peninsula is formed from the northern part of the Great Dividing Range, folded during the Carboniferous period some 300 million years ago, when Australia collided with what is now parts of South America and New Zealand. The range has experienced significant erosion since.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Around 40 million years ago, the Indo-Australian tectonic plate began to split apart from the ancient supercontinent Gondwana. As it collided with the Pacific Plate on its northward journey, the high mountain ranges of central New Guinea emerged around 5 million years ago. In the lee of this collision zone, the ancient rock formations of what is now Cape York Peninsula remained largely undisturbed.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Throughout the Pleistocene epoch Australia and New Guinea were alternately land-linked and separated by water. During periods of glaciation and resulting low sea levels, Cape York Peninsula provided a low-lying land link. Another link existed between Arnhem Land and New Guinea, at times enclosing an enormous freshwater lake (Lake Carpentaria) in the centre of what is now the Gulf of Carpentaria. Australia and New Guinea remained connected in this way until the shallow Torres Strait was last flooded around 8,000 years ago.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Today the peninsula has a population of only about 18,000, of which a large percentage (~60%) are Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The administrative and commercial centre for much of Cape York Peninsula is Cooktown, located in its far southeastern corner while the peninsula's largest settlement is the mining town Weipa on the Gulf of Carpentaria. The remainder is extremely sparsely populated, with about half the population living in very small settlements and cattle ranches. Along the peninsula developmental road, there are small service centres at Lakeland, Laura and Coen. About offshore north of the tip of Cape York, there is a sizeable service centre on nearby Thursday Island. Aboriginal communities are at Hopevale, Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama, Aurukun, Lockhart River, Napranum, Mapoon, Injinoo, New Mapoon and Umagico. Torres Strait Islander communities on the mainland are at Bamaga and Seisia. A completely sealed inland road links Cairns and the Atherton Tableland to Lakeland and Cooktown. The road north of Lakeland Downs to the tip of the peninsula is sometimes cut after heavy rains during the wet season (roughly December to May).


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The peninsula is a popular tourist destination in the dry season for camping, hiking, bird watching and fishing enthusiasts. Many people make the adventurous, but rewarding, drive to the tip of Cape York, the northernmost point of mainland Australia.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Some of the world's most extensive and ancient Aboriginal rock painting galleries surround the town of Laura, some of which are available for public viewing. There is also a new interpretive centre from which information on the rock art and local culture is available and tours can be arranged.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Over 30 Aboriginal languages are spoken on Cape York Peninsula, including Linngithigh, Umpila, Wik Mungkan, Wik-Me'nh, Wik-Ngathan, Kugu Nganhcara, Guugu Yalandji, Guugu Yimithirr, Kuuk Thaayorre and a multitude of Australian Aboriginal sign languages. Some of these languages are being acquired by children or are spoken by all generations in remote communities. Most Wik languages are being quickly absorbed by Wik-Mungkan, which seems to be the only aboriginal language on the peninsula that is developing very quickly, as it is the second language of the Wikalkan, Wik-Ngathana, and Wikngenchera.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Djagaraga (also known as Yadhaigana, Dyagaraga and Yagulleone) is an Australian Aboriginal language from the tip of Cape York. The language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council. Traditionally the language was spoken on Eastern Cape York particularly in the localities of Albany Island and Mount Adolphus Island.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Linngithigh (also known as Winda Winda and Linginiti) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Linngithigh people. The Linngithigh language region includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire Council: Western Cape York, Winda Winda Creek, Mission River, and Archer River.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Luthigh (also known as Lotiga, Tepiti and Uradhi, see also Uradhi related languages) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken by the Luthigh people. The traditional language area for Luthigh includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire: Eastern Cape York, Ducie River, Northern Peninsula, New Mapoon, Injinoo, and Cowal Creek.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Teppathiggi (also known Tepithiki and Teyepathiggi) is an Australian Aboriginal language of Western Cape York, Middle Dulcie River, Lower Batavia River, Ducie River, and Mapoon. The language region includes areas within the local government boundaries of Cook Shire Council.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Thaynakwith (also known as Awngthim, Tainikuit and Winduwinda) is an Australian Aboriginal language spoken on Western Cape York in the Weipa area taking in Albatross Bay and Mission River. The language region includes areas within the local government boundaries of Weipa Town Council and Cook Shire.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Uradhi (also known as Anggamudi, Ankamuti, Atampaya, Bawtjathi, and Lotiga) is an Australian Aboriginal language of the Western Cape York Peninsula. The traditional language region includes north of Mapoon and Duyfken Point and east of the coast strip to the north of Port Musgrave (Angkamuthi country) incorporating the mouth of the Ducie River, the lower reaches of the Dulhunty River and the upper reaches of the Skardon River in the north. Following the displacement of Indigenous people by British settlement, it was also spoken in the Northern Peninsula Area Region including the communities of New Mapoon, Injinoo and Cowal Creek.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Yir Yiront (also known as Yiront, Jirjoront, Yir-yiront, and Kokomindjan) is an Australian Aboriginal language. Its traditional language region is in Western Cape York within the local government areas of Aboriginal Shire of Kowanyama and Shire of Cook, in the catchments of the Coleman River and Mitchell River. Following the removal of Aboriginal people from their traditional lands, it is also spoken in Pormpuraaw and Kowanyama.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Kuuku Ya'u (also known as Gugu Yau, Yao, Ya'o, Koko Ya'o and Koka-yao) is an Australian Aboriginal language. The traditional language area of Kuuku Ya'u includes landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire: Eastern Cape York, Uu'ungun south to Claudie River and hinterland.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Kuuk Thaayorre (also known as Koko-Daiyuri, Kuku Yak, Thayorre, and used as a generic name for several related languages/dialects) is an Australian Aboriginal Language spoken on Western Cape York Peninsula, particularly in the area around Pormpuraaw (Edward River). The Thaayorre language region includes the landscape within Pormpuraaw Community Council and the Cook Shire Council.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Kugu Yi'anh is a language of Cape York. The traditional language area of Kugu Yi'anh includes areas within Cape York.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Kugu Nganhcara (also known as Wik, Wiknantjara, Wik Nganychara, Wik Ngencherr) is a traditional language of the area which includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Kugu Muminh (also known as Kuku-Muminh) is one of the traditional languages which includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of the Cook Shire.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Kunjen (also known as Koko Wanggara, Ngundjan and Olkola) is a language of Western Cape York. The Kunjen language region includes the landscape within the local government boundaries of Kowanyama Community Council and Cook Shire Council.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: On 25 November 2021, of land on the eastern side of the peninsula were handed back to the Kuuku Ya'u and Uutaalnganu peoples, in a native title claim that was lodged seven years prior. The landmark ruling was delivered by Justice Debra Mortimer of the Federal Court of Australia, sitting at the Supreme Court of Queensland in Cairns.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: In December 2022 the Federal Court recognised the native title claims for the Kaurareg, Kulkalgal, Kemer Kemer Meriam, Ankamuthi and Gudang Yadhaykenu Peoples.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Cape York Peninsula supports a complex mosaic of intact tropical rainforests, tropical and subtropical grasslands, savannahs, shrublands, heath lands, wetlands, wild rivers and mangrove swamps. The savannah woodlands consist typically of a tall dense grass layer and varying densities of trees, predominantly eucalypt of which the most common is Darwin stringybark ("Eucalyptus tetrodonta"). These various habitats are home to about 3300 species of flowering plants and almost the entire area of Cape York Peninsula (99.6%) still retains its native vegetation and is little fragmented. Although abundant and fully functioning on the peninsula, tropical savannahs are now rare and highly degraded in other parts of the world. Cape York Peninsula also contains one of the highest rates of endemism in Australia, with more than 260 endemic plant species found so far. Therefore, parts of the peninsula have been noted for their exceptionally high wilderness quality.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The flora of the peninsula includes original Gondwanan species, plants that have emerged since the breakup of Gondwana and species from Indomalaya and from across the Torres Strait in New Guinea with the most variety being found in the rainforest areas. Most of the Cape York Peninsula is drier than nearby New Guinea which limits the rainforest plants of that island from migrating across to Australia.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Tropical rainforests cover an area of , or 5.6 percent of the total land area of Cape York Peninsula. Rainforests depend on some level of rainfall throughout the long dry season, climatic conditions that are mostly found on the eastern slopes of the peninsula's coastal ranges. Being almost exclusively untouched, old-growth forests and supporting a disproportionately high biodiversity including flora of Gondwanan and New Guinean origin, the rainforests are of high conservation significance. The largest contiguous rainforest area on the peninsula occurs in the McIllwraith Range-Iron Range area. The Gondwanan flora of this area includes Araucariaceae and Podocarpaceae conifers and "Arthrochilus", "Corybas", and "Calochilus" orchids. In all, this rainforest contains at least 1000 different plants, including 100 rare or threatened species, and 16% of Australia's orchid species.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: On poor, dry soils tropical heathlands can be found. Northeast Cape York Peninsula supports Australia's largest areas of this highly diverse ecosystem.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The extensive wetlands on Cape York Peninsula are "among the largest, richest and most diverse in Australia". 19 wetlands of national significance have been identified, mostly on the large floodplains and in coastal areas. Important wetlands include the Apudthama Complex, Rinyirru systems and the estuaries of the great rivers of the western plains. Many of these wetlands come into existence only during the wet season and support rare or uncommon plant communities.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The peninsula's coastal areas and river estuaries are lined with mangrove forests of kwila and other trees. Australia's largest mangrove forest can be found at Newcastle Bay.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The peninsula harbours an extraordinary biodiversity, with more than 700 vertebrate land animal species of which 40 are endemic. As a result, from its geological history, "the flora and fauna of Cape York Peninsula are a complex mixture of Gondwanan relics, Australian isolationists and Asian or New Guinean invaders" (p. 41). Birds of the peninsula include buff-breasted buttonquail ("Turnix olivii"), golden-shouldered parrot ("Psephotus chrysopterygius"), lovely fairywren ("Malurus amabilis"), white-streaked honeyeater ("Trichodere cockerelli"), and yellow-spotted honeyeater ("Meliphaga notata") while some such as pied oystercatcher are found in other parts of Australia but have important populations on the peninsula. The peninsula is also home to the eastern brown snake, one of the world's most venomous snakes. Mammals include the rodent Cape York melomys, related to the extinct Bramble Cay melomys, which was found only on Bramble Cay in the Torres Strait and confirmed extinct in 2016.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The rainforests of the Kutini-Payamu National Park support species that are also found in New Guinea, including the eclectus parrot and southern common cuscus. Other rainforest fauna includes 200 species of butterfly including 11 endemic butterflies one of which is the huge green birdwing, the green tree python and the northern quoll, a forest marsupial that is now severely depleted from eating the introduced poisonous cane toads.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The riverbanks of the lowlands are home to specific wildlife of their own while the rivers including the Jardine, Jackson, Olive, Holroyd and the Wenlock are rich in fish. The wetlands and coastal mangroves are noted for their importance as a fish nursery and crocodile habitat, providing important drought refuge and finally the Great Barrier Reef lies off the east coast and is an important marine habitat.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Cattle station leases occupy about 57% of the total area, mostly located in central and eastern Cape York Peninsula. Indigenous land comprises about 20%, with the entire West coast being held under native title. The remainder is mostly declared as National Park and managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. Land uses include broad-acre pastoralism, bauxite and silica sand mining, nature reserves, tourism and fishing.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: There are extensive deposits of bauxite along the west or Gulf of Carpentaria coast. Weipa is the centre for mining. Much has been damaged by overgrazing, mining, poorly controlled fires and feral pigs, cane toads, weeds, and other introduced species but Cape York Peninsula remains fairly unspoilt with intact and healthy river systems and no recorded plant or animal extinction since European settlement.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: The "Cape York Peninsula Land Use Strategy" study was commissioned by the Australian government in 1990 to create plans to protect the wilderness and a nomination for World Natural Heritage is currently being considered by the Queensland and Australian Federal governments. Major national parks include the Apudthama National Park in the far north, Oyala Thumotang National Park near Aurukun, and Rinyirru National Park in the southeast of the bioregion.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: There are two roads passing north–south through Cape York Peninsula to Cape York: the Peninsula Developmental Road (PDR) and the Northern Peninsula Road (also called Bamaga Road and Telegraph Road).


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: Bamaga Road now bypasses the overland telegraph line (OTL) track, which is often referred to as the tele track. The tele track was used for construction and maintenance of the OTL until it was superseded by first microwave relay towers and then by fibre optic cables, and is now used by four-wheel drive vehicle enthusiasts in the dry season. Many crossings, such as the bridge over the Wenlock near Moreton station, have been upgraded; however, many fords remain. The roads are unsealed and in places are difficult to traverse. They are considered suitable for four-wheel-drive vehicles only and also considered only suitable to be driven in the dry season.


title: Cape York Peninsula

text: In 1986, Cape York became the proposed site of a spaceport, which a consortium of companies, the Cape York Space Agency, promoted with support from the federal government. In 1992, investor support failed, and in 2017, legal ownership of of land required was returned to the Wuthathi, Kuku Yau and Northern Kaanju people. The development, which was heavily supported by Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen. would have included a new town, tourist resorts, an airport and a harbour.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Dean Stanley Geyer (born 20 March 1986) is a South African Australian singer-songwriter, actor and martial artist who finished third in the 2006 season of the talent show television series "Australian Idol", and has had a notable role in the Australian soap opera "Neighbours" as Ty Harper. He joined the cast of the US show "Glee" in the 4th season as NYADA Junior Brody Weston and appeared in "Terra Nova" as Mark Reynolds. In 2021, Geyer also starred in Christmas in the Pines, where he met his wife Jillian Murray.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Geyer was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, as the oldest of three children. He has two younger sisters, Jess Geyer (now Jess Burns) and Tatum Geyer (now Tatum Prins), who share his interest in martial arts. Geyer's interest in music started early in his childhood. He learned to play the guitar, and wrote his first song entitled "Change" which was based on his move from South Africa to Australia. During his schooling life in Melbourne, Australia, he attended Melbourne High School – a selective-entry, all boys' school in South Yarra, Victoria.


title: Dean Geyer

text: In 2004, Geyer formed a band called "Third Edge" and recorded his original music at Studio 52. Studio 52 then permitted Geyer and his band to perform at the Kool Skools awards night, but they only received a nomination.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Dean is a strong Christian and has been very open about this calling in his life especially during his "Australian Idol" days.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Geyer auditioned for the fourth series of Australian Idol in his Australian hometown of Melbourne. After singing Marc Cohn's "Walking In Memphis", Geyer played a self-composed piece called "Nice to Meet You". This song was praised by the three judges, who unanimously voted to send him through to the Top 100.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Geyer survived the culling rounds in Sydney, where the Top 100 are reduced to the Top 24. He sang "I Don't Wanna Be" by Gavin DeGraw for his elimination performance, and later performed the U2 smash hit "Beautiful Day" with Chris Murphy. They became close friends and impressed the judges with their voices and their camaraderie. Geyer was the first contestant who was accepted by Idol into the top 100. On 28 May, Geyer was the second contestant voted into the top 12.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Geyer's performance of Ryan Cabrera's "On the Way Down" on 15 October received a "touchdown" from judge Mark Holden. His Disco performance in the Final 8 of "Turn the Beat Around" included a front handspring by Geyer off the side of the stage and a backflip at the end of his performance. In the weeks leading up to the final of "Australian Idol 2006", Geyer was selected by both Mark Holden and former "Idol" judge Ian Dickson as their favourites for winning the competition.


title: Dean Geyer

text: On 12 November, Geyer received a second Touchdown from Mark Holden after his performance of Edwin McCain's "I'll Be". Although Geyer was one of the most popular characters in the behind-the-scenes interviews on Idol Backstage, he was eliminated from the show on 13 November after receiving the lowest number of votes from home viewers losing out to runner-up Jessica Mauboy and eventual winner, Damien Leith.


title: Dean Geyer

text: Within weeks of the "Australian Idol" fourth-season finale Geyer signed a multiple album recording-contract with SonyBMG Australia. Geyer worked with Grammy Award nominated Music Producer Greg Wells and co-wrote eight of the thirteen tracks on his debut album. In March 2007 Geyer performed at the Celebrity Grand Prix in Melbourne in which the singles was unreleased at the time. In April that same year Geyer released his debut single "If You Don't Mean It" which peaked on the ARIA Charts at No. 10. The album, recorded in early February, was released on 26 May 2007 On 26 May 2007 Geyer released his long-anticipated debut album "Rush" which debuted and peaked at No. 7 on the ARIA Charts and received mixed reviews from critics. Despite a successful first week the album quickly dropped out of the charts due to little promotion and no planned second single. Geyer was to support Young Divas on their nationwide Australian tour but dropped out to instead promote "Rush" in several in-store appearances and signings. Later that year Geyer supported ARIA Award-Winning Duo The Veronicas on their "Hook Me Up" Australian Tour. In March 2008 Geyer portrayed the role of then fiancée Lisa Origliasso in the duo's music video "This Love". That same year SonyBMG dropped Geyer due to the under-performance of "Rush".


title: Dean Geyer

text: In November 2007, Jonathon Moran from "The Daily Telegraph" reported Geyer had joined the cast of long-running soap opera "Neighbours". Geyer portrayed the role of Ty Harper an aspiring musician who had dropped out of law-school and moved to Erinsborough. Geyer worked with "Neighbours" drama coach Mike Bishop for four months to help prepare himself for the role and he took vocal lessons to work with his South African accent. On 27 March 2008, Geyer made his on-screen debut to mixed reviews from critics. Geyer notably performed a duet with co-star Caitlin Stasey titled "Unforgettable", which peaked at No. 40 on the ARIA Downloads Chart. In November 2008 after eight-months on "Neighbours" Geyer announced he was leaving the series to revamp his music career. The following month Geyer filmed his final scenes which aired in April 2009.


title: Dean Geyer

text: In October 2010, it was announced Geyer would make his film debut in "" the sequel to the 2008 film "Never Back Down". Geyer portrays the role of Mike Stokes a former high school wrestler who competes in MMA. Filming began in September 2010 in Louisiana on a budget of $3 million. The film was shot over the course of four weeks with the rehearsals commencing over two weeks. In April 2011, the film premiered the ActionFest film festival. The film was released Straight-to-DVD in September that same year to mixed reviews from critics. In July 2011, Geyer made his American television debut on the VH1 Drama television series "Single Ladies". In 2012, Geyer maintained a major-recurring role on the Fox Network Steven Spielberg produced science fiction drama television series "Terra Nova".


title: Dean Geyer

text: In July 2012, Geyer was announced to have been cast in a recurring role in the fourth season of the Fox musical comedy drama television series "Glee". Geyer portrayed the role of Brody Weston an upperclassman who becomes involved with the series protagonist Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) who both attend NYADA. Geyer made his first appearance on "Glee" in the series premiere episode "The New Rachel" which aired on 13 September 2012 to over 7.41 million viewers.


title: Dean Geyer

text: In 2015, Geyer played Daniel in the Georgian film, "Landmine Goes Click", opposite Sterling Knight and Spencer Locke. He will also star in the films, "Rehearsal", with Bruce Greenwood, "Don't Wake Mommy" and "The Sand", all of which were released in 2015. Geyer was also in production for the TV crime-drama, "Shades of Blue", starring Jennifer Lopez. He appeared in 3 episodes.


title: Dean Geyer

text: In 2007, Geyer began a relationship with Lisa Origliasso of Australian duo The Veronicas whom he met at the 2007 ARIA Awards. In April 2008, Origliasso publicly announced that she and Geyer were engaged. However, the engagement was later called off due to work commitments.


title: Dean Geyer

text: In 2010, he began dating American actress Jillian Murray. They announced their engagement on 18 December 2016. They were married on 14 September 2017.


title: Slacktivism

text: Slacktivism (a portmanteau of "slacker" and "activism") is the practice of supporting a political or social cause by means such as social media or online petitions, characterized as involving very little effort or commitment. Additional forms of slacktivism include engaging in online activities such as "liking," "sharing," or "tweeting" about a cause on social media, signing an Internet petition, copying and pasting a status or message in support of the cause, sharing specific hashtags associated with the cause, or altering one's profile photo or avatar on social network services to indicate solidarity.


title: Slacktivism

text: Critics of slacktivism suggest that it fails to make a meaningful contribution to an overall cause because a low-stakes show of support, whether online or offline, is superficial, ineffective, draws off energy that might be used more constructively, and serves as a substitute for more substantive forms of activism rather than supplementing them, and might, in fact, be counter-productive. As groups increasingly use social media to facilitate civic engagement and collective action, proponents of slacktivism have pointed out that it can lead to engagement and help generate support for lesser-known causes.


title: Slacktivism

text: The term was coined by Dwight Ozard and Fred Clark in 1995 at the Cornerstone Festival. The term was meant to shorten the phrase slacker activism, which refers to bottom-up activities by young people to affect society on a small, personal scale (such as planting a tree, as opposed to participating in a protest). The term originally had a positive connotation.


title: Slacktivism

text: Monty Phan, staff writer for "Newsday", was an early user of the term in his 2001 article titled, "On the Net, 'Slacktivism'/Do-Gooders Flood In-Boxes."


title: Slacktivism

text: An early example of using the term "slacktivism" appeared in Barnaby Feder's article in "The New York Times" called "They Weren't Careful What They Hoped For." Feder quoted anti-scam crusader Barbara Mikkelson of Snopes.com, who described activities such as those listed above. "It's all fed by slacktivism ... the desire people have to do something good without getting out of their chair."


title: Slacktivism

text: Another example of the term "Slacktivism" appeared in Evgeny Morozov's book, "" (2011). In it, Morozov relates slacktivism to the Colding-Jørgensen experiment. In 2009, a Danish psychologist named Anders Colding-Jørgensen created a fictitious Facebook group as part of his research. On the page, he posted an announcement suggesting that the Copenhagen city authorities would be demolishing the historical Stork Fountain. Within the first day, 125 Facebook members joined Colding-Jørgensen's. The number of fans began to grow at a staggering rate, eventually reaching 27,500. Morozov argues the Colding-Jørgensen experiment reveals a key component of slacktivism: "When communication costs are low, groups can easily spring into action." Clay Shirky also similarly characterized slacktivism as "ridiculously easy group forming".


title: Slacktivism

text: Various people and groups express doubts about the value and effectiveness of slacktivism. Particularly, some skeptics argue that it entails an underlying assumption that all problems can be seamlessly fixed using social media, and while this may be true for local issues, slacktivism could prove ineffective for solving global predicaments. A 2009 NPR piece by Morozov asked whether "the publicity gains gained through this greater reliance on new media [are] worth the organizational losses that traditional activist entities are likely to suffer, as ordinary people would begin to turn away from conventional (and proven) forms of activism."


title: Slacktivism

text: Criticism of slacktivism often involves the idea that internet activities are ineffective, and/or that they prevent or lessen political participation in real life. However, as many studies on slacktivism relate only to a specific case or campaign, it is difficult to find an exact percentage of slacktivist actions that reach a stated goal. Furthermore, many studies also focus on such activism in democratic or open contexts, whereas the act of publicly liking, RSVPing or adopting an avatar or slogan as one's profile picture can be a defiant act in authoritarian or repressive countries.


title: Slacktivism

text: Micah White has argued that although slacktivism is typically the easiest route to participation in movements and changes, the novelty of online activism wears off as people begin to realize that their participation created virtually no effect, leading people to lose hope in all forms of activism.


title: Slacktivism

text: Malcolm Gladwell, in his October 2010 "New Yorker" article, lambasted those who compare social media "revolutions" with actual activism that challenges the status quo ante. He argued that today's social media campaigns cannot compare with activism that takes place on the ground, using the Greensboro sit-ins as an example of what real, high-risk activism looks like.


title: Slacktivism

text: A 2011 study looking at college students found only a small positive correlation between those who engage online in politics on Facebook with those who engage off of it. Those who did engage only did so by posting comments and other low forms of political participation, helping to confirm the slacktivism theoretical model.


title: Slacktivism

text: The "New Statesman" has analyzed the outcomes of ten most-shared petitions and listed all of them as unsuccessful.


title: Slacktivism

text: Brian Dunning, in his 2014 podcast, "Slacktivism: Raising Awareness", argues that the internet activities that slacktivism is associated with are a waste of time at their best and at their worst are ways to "steal millions of dollars from armchair activists who are persuaded to donate actual money to what they're told is some useful cause." He says that most slacktivism campaigns are "based on bad information, bad science, and are hoaxes as often as not."


title: Slacktivism

text: He uses the Kony 2012 campaign as an example of how slacktivism can be used as a way to exploit others. The movie asked viewers to send money to the filmmakers rather than African law enforcement. Four months after the movie was released, Invisible Children, the charity who created the film, reported $31.9 million of gross receipts. The money in the end was not used to stop Kony, but rather to make another movie about stopping Kony. Dunning goes as far as to say that raising awareness of Kony was not even useful, as law enforcement groups had been after him for years.


title: Slacktivism

text: Dunning does state that today, however, slacktivism is generally more benign. He cites Change.org as an example. The site is full of hundreds of thousands of petitions. A person signing one of these online petitions may feel good about himself, but these petitions are generally not binding nor do they lead to any major change. Dunning suggests that before donating, or even "liking", a cause one should research the issue and the organization to ensure nothing is misattributed, exaggerated, or wrong.


title: Slacktivism

text: An example of a campaign against slacktivism is the advertisement series "Liking Isn't Helping" created by the international advertisement company Publicis Singapore for a relief organization, Crisis Relief Singapore (CRS). This campaign features images of people struggling or in need, surrounded by many people giving a thumbs up with the caption "Liking isn't helping". Though the campaign lacked critical components that would generate success, it made viewers stop and think about their activism habits and question the effect that slacktivism really has.


title: Slacktivism

text: In response to Gladwell's criticism of slacktivism in the "New Yorker" (see above), journalist Leo Mirani argues that he might be right if activism is defined only as sit-ins, taking direct action, and confrontations on the streets. However, if activism is about arousing awareness of people, changing people's minds, and influencing opinions across the world, then the revolution will indeed be ‘tweeted,' 'hashtagged,' and 'YouTubed.' In a March 2012 "Financial Times" article, referring to efforts to address the ongoing violence related to the Lord's Resistance Army, Matthew Green wrote that the slacktivists behind the Kony 2012 video had "achieved more with their 30-minute video than battalions of diplomats, NGO workers and journalists have since the conflict began 26 years ago."


title: Slacktivism

text: Although slacktivism has often been used pejoratively, some scholars point out that activism within the digital space is a reality. These scholars suggest that slacktivism may have its deficiencies, but it can be a positive contributor to activism, and it is inescapable in the current digital climate. A 2011 correlational study conducted by Georgetown University entitled "The Dynamics of Cause Engagement" determined that so-called slacktivists are indeed "more likely to take meaningful actions". Notably, "slacktivists participate in more than twice as many activities as people who don't engage in slacktivism, and their actions "have a higher potential to influence others." Cited benefits of slacktivism in achieving clear objectives include creating a secure, low-cost, effective means of organizing that is environmentally friendly. These "social champions" have the ability to directly link social media engagement with responsiveness, leveraging their transparent dialogue into economic, social or political action. Going along this mindset is Andrew Leonard, a staff writer at "Salon", who published an article on the ethics of smartphones and how we use them. Though the means of producing these products go against ethical human rights standards, Leonard encourages the use of smartphones on the basis that the technology they provide can be utilized as a means of changing the problematic situation of their manufacture. The ability to communicate quickly and on a global scale enables the spread of knowledge, such as the conditions that corporations provide to the workers they employ, and the result their widespread manufacturing has on globalization. Leonard argues that phones and tablets can be effective tools in bringing about change through slacktivism, because they allow us to spread knowledge, donate money, and more effectively speak our opinions on important matters.


title: Slacktivism

text: Others keep a slightly optimistic outlook on the possibilities of slacktivism while still acknowledging the pitfalls that come with this digital form of protest. Zeynep Tufekci, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina and a faculty associate at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, analyzed the capacity of slacktivism to influence collective group action in a variety of different social movements in a segment of the Berkman Luncheon Series. She acknowledges that digital activism is a great enabler of rising social and political movements, and it is an effective means of enabling differential capacity building for protest. A 2015 study describes how slacktivism can contribute to a quicker growth of social protests, by propagation of information through peripheral nodes in social networks. The authors note that although slacktivists are less active than committed minorities, their power lies in their numbers: "their aggregate contribution to the spread of protest messages is comparable in magnitude to that of core participants."


title: Slacktivism

text: However, Tufekci argues that the enhanced ability to rally protest is accompanied by a weakened ability to actually make an impact, as slacktivism can fail to reach the level of protest required in order to bring about change.


title: Slacktivism

text: The Black Lives Matter movement calls for the end of systemic racism. The movement has been inextricably linked with social media since 2014, in particular to Twitter with the hashtags #blacklivesmatter and #BLM. Much of the support and awareness of this movement has been made possible through social media. Studies show that the slacktivism commonly present within the movement has been linked with a positive effect on active participation in it. The fact that participants in this movement were able to contribute from their phones increased awareness and participation of the public, particularly in the United States.


title: Slacktivism

text: The Western-centric nature of the critique of slacktivism discounts the impact it can have in authoritarian or repressive contexts. Journalist Courtney C. Radsch argues that even such low level of engagement was an important form of activism for Arab youth before and during the Arab Spring because it was a form of free speech, and could successfully spark mainstream media coverage, such as when a hashtag becomes "a trending topic [it] helps generate media attention, even as it helps organize information...The power of social media to help shape the international news agenda is one of the ways in which they subvert state authority and power." In addition, studies suggest that "fears of Internet activities supplanting real-life activity are unsubstantiated," in that they do not cause a negative or positive effect on political participation.


title: Slacktivism

text: The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) on Marriage Equality offers another example of how slacktivism can be used to make a notable difference. The campaign urged Facebook users to change their profile pictures to a red image that had the following symbol in the middle: =. The logo symbolized equality and if Facebook users put the image as their profile photo, it meant they were in support of marriage equality. The campaign was credited for raising positive awareness and cultivating an environment of support for the marriage equality cause. This study concluded that, although the act of changing one's profile photo is small, ultimately social media campaigns such as this make a cumulative difference over time.


title: Slacktivism

text: The term "clicktivism" is used to describe forms of internet-based slacktivism such as signing online petitions or signing and sending form letter emails to politicians or corporate CEOs. For example, the British group UK Uncut use Twitter and other websites to organise protests and direct action against companies accused of tax avoidance. It allows organizations to quantify their success by keeping track of how many "clicked" on their petition or other call to action.


title: Slacktivism

text: The idea behind clicktivism is that social media allows for a quick and easy way to show support for an organization or cause. The main focus of digital organizations has become inflating participation rates by asking less and less of their members/viewers.


title: Slacktivism

text: Clicktivism can also be demonstrated by monitoring the success of a campaign by how many "likes" it receives. Clicktivism strives to quantify support, presence and outreach without putting emphasis on real participation. The act of "liking" a photo on Facebook or clicking a petition is in itself symbolic because it demonstrates that the individual is aware of the situation and it shows their peers the opinions and thoughts they have on certain subject matters.


title: Slacktivism

text: Critics of clicktivism state that this new phenomenon turns social movements to resemble advertising campaigns in which messages are tested, clickthrough rate is recorded, and A/B testing is often done. In order to improve these metrics, messages are reduced to make their "asks easier and actions simpler." This in turn reduces social action to having members that are a list of email addresses, rather than engaged people.


title: Slacktivism

text: Charity slacktivism is an action in support of a cause that takes little effort on the part of the individual. Examples of online charity slacktivism include posting a Facebook status to support a cause, "liking" a charity organization's cause on Facebook, tweeting or retweeting a charity organization's request for support on Twitter, signing Internet petitions, and posting and sharing YouTube videos about a cause. It can be argued that a person is not "liking" the photo in order to help the person in need, but to feel better about themselves, and to feel like they have done something positive for the person or scene depicted in front of them. This phenomenon has become increasingly popular with individuals whether they are going on trips to help less fortunate people, or by "liking" many posts on Facebook in order to "help" the person in the picture. Examples include the Kony 2012 campaign that exploded briefly in social media in March 2012.


title: Slacktivism

text: Examples of offline charity slacktivism include awareness wristbands and paraphernalia in support of causes, such as the Livestrong wristband, as well as bumper stickers and mobile donating. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Clap for Our Carers gained traction in several countries.


title: Slacktivism

text: The term slacktivism is often used to describe the world's reaction to the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The Red Cross managed to raise $5 million in 2 days via text message donations. Social media outlets were used to spread the word about the earthquake. The day after the earthquake, CNN reported that four of Twitter's top topics were related to the Haitian earthquake.


title: Slacktivism

text: This is the act of purchasing products that highlight support for a particular cause and advertise that a percentage of the cost of the good will go to the cause. In some instances the donated funds are spread across various entities within one foundation, which in theory helps several deserving areas of the cause. Criticism tends to highlight the thin spread of the donation. An example of this is the Product Red campaign, whereby consumers can buy Red-branded variants of commons products, with a proportion of proceeds going towards fighting AIDS.


title: Slacktivism

text: Slacktivists may also purchase a product from a company because it has a history of donating funds to charity, as a way to second-handedly support a cause. For example, a slacktivist may buy Ben and Jerry's ice cream because its founders invested in the nation's children, or promoted social and environmental concerns.


title: Slacktivism

text: Certain forms of slacktivism have political goals in mind, such as gaining support for a presidential campaign, or signing an internet petition that aims to influence governmental action.


title: Slacktivism

text: The online petition website Change.org claimed it was attacked by Chinese hackers and brought down in April 2011. Change.org claimed the fact that hackers "felt the need to bring down the website must be seen as a testament to Change.org's fast-growing success and a vindication of one particular petition: A Call for the Release of Ai Weiwei." Ai Weiwei, a noted human rights activist who had been arrested by Chinese authorities in April 2011, was released on June 22, 2011, from Beijing, which was deemed as a victory by Change.org of its online campaign and petition demanding Ai's release.


title: Slacktivism

text: Sympathy slacktivism can be observed on social media networks such as Facebook, where users can like pages to support a cause or show support to people in need. Also common in this type of slacktivism is for users to change their profile pictures to one that shows the user's peers that they care about the topic. This can be considered a virtual counterpart of wearing a pin to display one's sympathies; however, acquiring such a pin often requires some monetary donation to the cause while changing profile picture does not.


title: Slacktivism

text: In sympathy slacktivism, images of young children, animals and people seemingly in need are often used to give a sense of credibility to the viewers, making the campaign resonate longer in their memory. Using children in campaigns is often the most effective way of reaching a larger audience due to the fact that most adults, when exposed to the ad, would not be able to ignore a child in need.


title: Slacktivism

text: An example of sympathy slacktivism is the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet's campaign "Vi Gillar Olika" (literal translation: "We like different"). This campaign was launched against xenophobia and racism, something that was a hot topic in Sweden in 2010. The main icon of the campaign was an open hand with the text "Vi Gillar Olika," the icon that was adopted from the French organisation SOS Racisme's campaign Touche pas à mon Pote in 1985.


title: Slacktivism

text: Another example was when Facebook users added a Norwegian flag to their pictures after the 2011 Norway attacks in which 77 people were killed. This campaign received attention from the Swedish Moderate Party, who encouraged their supporters to update their profile pictures.


title: Slacktivism

text: Kony 2012 was a campaign created by Invisible Children in the form of a 28-minute video about the dangerous situation of many children in Africa at the hands of Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). The LRA is said to have abducted a total of nearly 60,000 children, brainwashing the boys to fight for them and turning the girls into sex slaves.


title: Slacktivism

text: The campaign was used as an experiment to see if an online video could reach such a large audience that it would make a war criminal, Joseph Kony, famous. It became the fastest-growing viral video of all time, reaching 100 million views in six days. The campaign grew an unprecedented amount of awareness, calling to international leaders as well as the general population.


title: Slacktivism

text: The reaction to and participation in this campaign demonstrates charity slacktivism due to the way in which many viewers responded. The success of the campaign has been attributed mostly by how many people viewed the video rather than the donations received. After watching the video, many viewers felt compelled to take action. This action, however, took the form of sharing the video and potentially pledging their support.


title: Slacktivism

text: The video seemed to embody the slacktivist ethos: viewers oblivious to a complex foreign conflict are made heroic by watching a video, buying a bracelet, hanging a poster. Advocates of Invisible Children's campaign protested that their desire to catch Kony was sincere, their emotional response to the film genuine—and that the sheer volume of supporters calling for the capture of Joseph Kony constituted a meaningful shift in human rights advocacy."


title: Slacktivism

text: In the weeks following the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolgirls by the organization Boko Haram, the hashtag #BringBackOurGirls began to trend globally on Twitter as the story continued to spread and by May 11 it had attracted 2.3 million tweets. One such tweet came from the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, holding a sign displaying the hashtag, posted to her official Twitter account, helping to spread the awareness of the kidnapping. Comparisons have been made between the #BringBackOurGirls campaign and the Kony 2012 campaign. The campaign was labeled slacktivism by some critics, particularly as the weeks and months passed with no progress being made in recovery of the kidnapped girls.


title: Slacktivism

text: There is a saying: "Actions speak louder than words." Leaders from around the world came out and said they would assist to bring the girls back, but now we hear nothing. The question I wish to raise is: why? If they knew they would not do anything, they wouldn't have even made that promise at all. By just coming out to tell the world, I see that as a political game, which it shouldn't be so far as the girls are concerned.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: "I Am Prepared to Die" is the name given to the three-hour speech given by Nelson Mandela on 20 April 1964 from the dock of the defendant at the Rivonia Trial. The speech is so titled because it ends with the words "it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die". The speech is considered one of the great speeches of the 20th century, and a key moment in the history of South African democracy.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: In July 1963, ten African National Congress (ANC) leaders were arrested in Rivonia, a suburb of Johannesburg. Along with Mandela, who had been arrested in August 1962 and was serving a five-year sentence, they were accused of counts of sabotage, furthering communism and aiding foreign powers. That included charges of recruiting persons to undertake guerrilla warfare against the South African state, conspiring to aid foreign military against the republic, and furthering acts of communism. The prosecutor Percy Yutar did not explicitly move for the death penalty, but it was generally believed that that was what the state wanted. All defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Before the trial, Mandela and the other defendants decided that instead of testifying as witnesses and submitting to cross-examination he would make a speech from the dock to put the state on trial, by pointing out the injustices of the South African society and its legal system. They also sought to show the political and moral programme of the ANC.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Mandela worked on the speech for weeks before the trial, receiving help in editing and polishing it from author Nadine Gordimer and journalist Anthony Sampson. In writing the speech, Mandela was inspired by Fidel Castro's famous "History Will Absolve Me" defence speech. He was particularly interested in making the speech appeal to an international audience, inspiring international support for the ANC cause.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Mandela's lawyers urged him to leave out the final statement, lest it provoke the judge sentencing him to death, but Mandela refused. He felt that he was likely to be sentenced to death regardless of his statement so that saying what he truly felt this would be the best option. Nonetheless, he did add the qualifier "if needs be".


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: The prosecutor Percy Yutar made a surprise objection when the defense announced that Mandela would start by giving a speech instead of facing a more conventional cross-examination: "My Lord, My Lord, I think you should warn the accused that what he said from the dock has far less weight than if he submitted himself to cross-examination." Judge de Wet over-ruled the objection saying, "I think Mr. Yutar, that counsel for the defence have sufficient experience to be able to advise their clients without your assistance." Bram Fischer the main defense lawyer added "Neither we, nor our clients are unaware of the provisions of the Criminal Code", thus subtly pointing out the fact that Mandela was himself a lawyer with experience in criminal trials. Since in South African law, a defendant may not address the court from the witness stand but only answer questions, Mandela gave the speech from the defendant's dock. He spoke for some three hours before he concluded with the often-quoted "I am prepared to die".


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: While delivering the last line of the speech Mandela looked the judge, Quartus de Wet, directly in the eye, the last eye contact between the two during the trial.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: The speech describes why the ANC had decided to go beyond its previous use of constitutional methods and Gandhian non-violent resistance and adopt sabotage against property (designed to minimize risks of injury and death) as a part of their activism against the South African government and its apartheid policies (while also training a military wing for possible future use).


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Mandela began by stating that he had been among the founders of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the armed wing of the ANC, and that he did not deny his involvement in planning sabotage: "I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness, nor because I have any love for violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation, and oppression of my people by the whites."


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Mandela argued that all nonviolent means had been tried and that they had resulted only in mounting restrictions and reduced freedom for the African people. Referring to the Sharpeville shootings and a number of other instances of government violence against protesters, he stated that "the government which uses force to support its rule teaches the oppressed to use force to oppose it" and that the decision to adopt selective use of violent means was "not because we desire such a course. Solely because the government left us no other choice."


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Mandela also devoted significant effort to refuting the prosecution's charges that he and the ANC had acted under the domination of the Communist Party of South Africa and foreign interests. He likened the alliance between the communists and the ANC to the alliance of the US, Britain and the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. He discussed in some detail the relationship between the ANC and the Communist Party and explained that while the two shared a commitment to action against the apartheid system, he was wedded to a model of constitutional democracy for South Africa (he singled out the British political model for particular praise) and also supported a market economy, rather than a communist economic model. He noted that while there were political differences between the Communists and the ANC, "theoretical differences among those fighting against oppression is (sic) a luxury that we cannot afford at this stage". He added that the communists had been the only political group in South Africa who had shown themselves willing to treat Africans as human beings.


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: Mandela's friends Anthony Sampson and Nadine Gordimer, who had both participated in reviewing the speech as written by Mandela, had contrasting reactions to its delivery. Sampson described it as the most effective speech of his career, whereas Gordimer thought the delivery to be "hesitant, parsonical" until "only at the end did the man come through and when he had spoken that last sentence the strangest and most moving sound I have ever heard from human throats, came from the 'black' side of the court audience" .


title: I Am Prepared to Die

text: At the end of the trial, Mandela was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. He served 27 years of the sentence before he was released and elected President of South Africa. Upon his release he quoted the last sentence of his speech to the awaiting press. Mandela believed that the reason Judge de Wet had not sentenced him to death was that in his speech, Mandela had "dared him to do so".


title: Selective fire

text: Selective fire is the capability of a weapon to be adjusted to fire in semi-automatic, fully automatic, and/or burst mode. The modes are chosen by means of a selector switch, which varies depending on the weapon's design. Some selective-fire weapons have burst fire mechanisms to limit the maximum number of shots fired automatically in this mode. The most common limits are two or three rounds per trigger pull. Fully automatic fire refers to the ability for a weapon to fire continuously until either the feeding mechanism is emptied or the trigger is released. Semi-automatic refers to the ability to fire one round per trigger pull.


title: Selective fire

text: The presence of selective fire modes on firearms permits more efficient use of rounds to be fired for specific needs, versus having a single mode of operation, such as fully automatic, thereby conserving ammunition while maximizing on-target accuracy and effectiveness. This capability is most commonly found on military weapons of the 20th and 21st centuries.


title: Selective fire

text: Early attempts at this technology were hindered by one or both of two obstacles: over-powerful ammunition and mechanical complexity. The latter led to excessive weight and unreliability in the firearm. One of the earliest designs dates to just before the end of the 19th century with the development of the Cei-Rigotti, an early automatic rifle created by Italian Army officer Amerigo Cei-Rigotti that had selective-fire capability (single shots or burst).


title: Selective fire

text: Another is the M1918 Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR) developed during the First World War. The BAR and its subsequent designs incorporated a variety of selective-fire functions. The first design (M1918) is a selective-fire, air-cooled automatic rifle that used a trigger mechanism with a fire selector lever that enabled operating in either semi-automatic or fully automatic firing modes. The selector lever is located on the left side of the receiver and is simultaneously the manual safety (selector lever in the "S" position – weapon is "safe", "F" – "Fire", "A" – "Automatic" fire). The next version (M1918A1) had a unique rate-of-fire reducer mechanism purchased from FN Herstal with two rates of automatic fire. This reducer mechanism was later changed to one designed by the Springfield Armory. The final version (M1918A2) provided two selectable rates of fully automatic fire only.


title: Selective fire

text: During World War II the Germans began development of the selective-fire function which resulted in the FG 42 battle rifle developed in 1942 at the request of the German Air Force ("Luftwaffe") in 1941. Another German design that used selective fire was the StG 44 that was the first of its kind to see major deployment and is considered by many historians to be the first modern assault rifle. "The principle of this weapon -- the reduction of muzzle impulse to get useful automatic fire within actual ranges of combat -- was probably the most important advance in small arms since the invention of smokeless powder."


title: Selective fire

text: The selective-fire function was later seen in the Russian AK-47 (designed in 1946), the Belgian FN FAL (designed 1947-53) the British EM-2 (designed in 1948), and the U.S. AR-10 (designed in 1957) and its AR derivatives.


title: Selective fire

text: Selective-fire weapons, by definition, have a semi-automatic mode, where the weapon automatically reloads the chamber after each fired round, but requires the trigger be released and pulled again before firing the next round. This allows for rapid and (in theory) aimed fire. In some weapons, the selection is between different rates of automatic fire and/or varying burst limiters. The selection is often by a small rotating switch often integrated with the safety catch or a switch separate from the safety, as in the British SA80 family. Another method is a weighted trigger, such as the Steyr AUG, which will fire a single shot when 4.0 - 7.1 kg (8.8 – 15.4 lbs.) of weight is exerted on the trigger, and then become fully automatic when over 7.1 kg (15.4 lbs.) of weight is applied. This is useful for emergency situations where a rapid volley of rounds is more effective for suppressing a close enemy rather than a single-round burst.


title: Selective fire

text: Some selective-fire weapons offer a burst mode as the second option, where each pull of the trigger automatically fires a predetermined number of rounds (generally two or three), but will not fire any more until the trigger is released and pulled again. The current U.S. standard assault rifle, the M16A4, and the M4 carbine variant of this rifle fire a maximum of three rounds with each pull of the trigger in burst mode. In this design, it retains the count of previously fired rounds and may fire fewer than three rounds. Other designs reset the count with each trigger pull, allowing a uniform three-round burst as long as rounds remain.


title: Selective fire

text: A common version of the Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine gun (which is widely used by SWAT teams and military special operations personnel) fires single shots, three-round-bursts, and automatically. A special variant uses a two-round-burst to minimize the chances of missing with a third round. Some automatic cannons have larger burst limiters to coincide with higher rates of fire.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: According to various polls, the majority of Kazakhstan's citizens, primarily ethnic Kazakhs, identify as Sunni Muslims, Less than 1% are part of Shi'a. There are a total of 2,900 mosques, all of them affiliated with the "Spiritual Association of Muslims of Kazakhstan", headed by a supreme mufti. The Eid al-Adha is recognized as a national holiday.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Less than 25% of the population of Kazakhstan is Russian Orthodox, traditionally including ethnic Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Other Christian groups include Catholics and Protestants (Baptists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Methodists, Mennonites and Seventh-day Adventists), including restorationist Christian faiths such as Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons. There are a total of 175 registered Orthodox churches, 53 Catholic churches, and 343 Protestant churches and prayer houses. Christmas, rendered in the Russian Orthodox manner according to the Julian calendar, is recognized as a national holiday in Kazakhstan.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Other religious registered groups include Judaism, the Baháʼí Faith, Hinduism, Buddhism, the Church of Scientology, Christian Science, and the Unification Church.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Since independence, the number of mosques and churches has increased greatly. However, the population is sometimes wary of minority religious groups and groups that proselytize. There were several reports of citizens filing complaints with authorities after their family members became involved with such groups. Leaders of the four religious groups the government considers "traditional" – Islam, Russian Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Judaism – reported general acceptance and tolerance that other religious groups did not always enjoy.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: According to the estimate by the Pew Research Center, 72% of the population practices the religion of Islam. It also estimated that 23.1% practices Christianity, 4% are unaffiliated, and 0.9% of the population practices other religions, mainly Buddhism and Folk Religion.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: The country has historically hosted a wide variety of ethnic groups with varying religions. Intolerance to other societies has become an issue of the Kazakh culture. The foundation of an independent republic, following the disintegration of the USSR, has launched a great deal of changes in every aspect of people's lives. Religiosity of the population, as an essential part of any cultural identity, has undergone dynamic transformations as well.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Baptist Churches are often raided. This is due to the church members gathering without registering themselves, a requirement of the country. Anyone who does not register risk being raided by the police. However not only those that violate the law are treated harshly.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: On May 2, 2017, a court in the capital of Astana, Kazakhstan, sentenced a 61-year-old husband and father of three sons to a five-year prison sentence for performing peaceful Bible education work. Teymur Akhmedov, is a member of Jehovah's Witnesses. The court called his preaching and teaching efforts “inciting religious discord” and “advocating [religious] superiority.” In addition, the judge also imposed a three-year ban on Mr. Akhmedov’s participation in Bible education activities. Mr Akhmedov's medical issues were not considered, as he requires treatment for a bleeding tumor and has been denied the medical attention that he requires.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: After decades of suppressed culture, the people were feeling a great need to exhibit their ethnic identity – in part through religion. Quantitative research shows that for the first years after the establishment of the new laws, waiving any restrictions on religious beliefs and proclaiming full freedom of confessions, the country experienced a huge spike in religious activity of its citizens. Hundreds of mosques, synagogues, churches, and other religious structures were built in a matter of years. All represented religions benefited from increased number of members and facilities. Many confessions that were absent before independence made their way into the country, appealing to hundreds of people. The government supported this activity, and has done its best to provide equality among all religious organizations and their followers. In the late 1990s, however, a slight decline in religiosity occurred. The draft religion law being considered in June 2008 has raised international concern over whether there is an intention to meet general standards of freedom of religion and human rights.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Islam is the most commonly practiced religion in Kazakhstan; it was introduced to the region during the 8th century by the Arabs. Traditionally ethnic Kazakhs are Sunni Muslims who mainly follow the Hanafi school. Kazakhs including other ethnic groups of Muslim background make up over 90 per cent of all Muslims. The southern region of the country has the highest concentration of self-identified practicing Muslims.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Christianity in Kazakhstan is the second most practiced religion after Islam. Most Christian citizens are Russians, and to a lesser extent Ukrainians and Belarusians, who belong to the Russian Orthodox Church. According to a 2009 national census, approximately 26% of the population of Kazakhstan identifies as Christian. 1.5 percent of the population is German, most of whom follow Catholicism or Lutheranism. There are also many Presbyterians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists, and Pentecostals. Methodists, Mennonites, and Mormons have also registered churches with the government. According to the 2009 census, there were 4,214,232 Christians in Kazakhstan. "Kazakhstan is the strange core of traditionalist Catholicism," Catholic writer Ross Douthat stated in 2018.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: The Baháʼí Faith in Kazakhstan began during the policy of oppression of religion in the former Soviet Union. Before that time, Kazakhstan, as part of the Russian Empire, would have had indirect contact with the Baháʼí Faith as far back as 1847. Following the entrance of Baháʼí pioneers the community grew to be the largest religious community after Islam and Christianity, though only a few percent of the nation. By 1994 the National Spiritual Assembly of Kazakhstan was elected and the community has begun to multiply its efforts across various interests. The Association of Religion Data Archives (relying on World Christian Encyclopedia) estimated some 7,000 Baháʼís in 2010.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Kazakh Jews have a long history. There are approximately 12,000 to 30,000 Jews in Kazakhstan, less than 1% of the population. Most Kazakh Jews are Ashkenazi and speak Russian.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Buddhism has existed in Kazakhstan since the 17th century, which is evidenced by the ancient pagodas and temples discovered by scientists during excavations. At present, there are only two officially registered Buddhism organisations in Kazakhstan, one belongs to Won Buddhism that originated from Korea and the other organization belongs to Tibetan Buddhism.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Tengrism is a Central Asian religion characterized by shamanism, animism, totemism, poly- and monotheism and ancestor worship. It was the prevailing religion of the Turks, Mongols, Hungarians, Xiongnu and Huns, and the religion of the five ancient Turkic states: Göktürk Khaganate, Western Turkic Khaganate, Great Bulgaria, Bulgarian Empire and Eastern Tourkia (Khazaria). In "Irk Bitig", Tengri is mentioned as "Türük Tängrisi" (God of Turks).


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Tengrists view their existence as sustained by the eternal blue sky (Tengri), the fertile mother-earth spirit (Umay) and a ruler regarded as the holy spirit of the sky. Heaven, earth, spirits of nature and ancestors provide for every need and protect all humans. By living an upright, respectful life, a human will keep his world in balance and perfect his personal Wind Horse, or spirit. The Huns of the northern Caucasus reportedly believed in two gods: Tangri Han (or Tengri Khan), considered identical to the Persian Aspandiat and for whom horses were sacrificed, and Kuar (whose victims are struck by lightning). Tengrism is practised in Sakha, Buryatia, Tuva and Mongolia in parallel with Tibetan Buddhism and Burkhanism.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Kazakhstan has a very diverse and stable religious background. However, some reported occurrences of persecution against Hare Krishnas and Jehovah's Witnesses for proselytizing have raised concern in the international community.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: Article 22 of the Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan states that "everyone has the right to a freedom of conscience.” On May 18, 2011, the President of Kazakhstan adopted a decree establishing the Agency for Religious Affairs. The mission of the Agency is to coordinate interaction between the government, religious groups and civil society in order to ensure religious freedom in Kazakhstan.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: In 2003 Kazakhstan established Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions that aims to facilitate religious dialogue ensuring inter-religious tolerance and freedom in Kazakhstan.


title: Religion in Kazakhstan

text: The 2009 census yielded the following results of Kazakhstan's population by religion and ethnic group.


title: Boi (slang)

text: Boi (plural: bois) is slang within gay male and butch and femme communities for several sexual or gender identities. In some lesbian communities, there is an increasing acceptance of variant gender expression, as well as allowing people to identify as a "boi".


title: Boi (slang)

text: The term has also been used, independently of any meaning related to sexuality, as an alternate spelling for "boy".


title: Boi (slang)

text: The term "boi" may be used to denote a number of other sexual orientations and possibilities that are not mutually exclusive:


title: Boi (slang)

text: "Boi" may also refer to someone assigned female at birth, who generally does not identify as, or only partially identifies as feminine, female, a girl, or a woman. Some bois are trans or intersex people.


title: Boi (slang)

text: They may be gay or queer. Many trans bois are also genderqueer/nonbinary (in itself a trans/transgender group), or might identify as cis persons or trans men, and yet practice genderfuck in which they do not fit in either masculine or feminine binary gender presentation. Bois may prefer a range of pronouns, including "he", "she", or nonbinary and gender-neutral pronouns such as "they".


title: Boi (slang)

text: in the Suffolk dialect, the term "boi" is often used as a familiar term (similar to British "mate") for male (and more rarely female) friends. It can be used for anyone, with a Suffolk son just as likely to call their father "boi" as a Suffolk father calling their son. In practice, the pronunciation is not an enunciated "boi" but more like "buh" or "bor."


title: Boi (slang)

text: One of the earliest usages of the term "boi" was with the rapper Big Boi. In the early 2000s the term came into usage within skateboarding culture. The term came into popular culture again with the song "Sk8er Boi" by Avril Lavigne. The term came into meme culture with the Dat Boi meme: an animation of a frog on a unicycle usually accompanied by the caption "Here come dat boi. (O shit waddup!)"


title: William Heseltine

text: Sir William Frederick Payne Heseltine, (born 17 July 1930) is a former Private Secretary to Queen Elizabeth II. He was in office from 1986 to 1990.


title: William Heseltine

text: Heseltine was born at Wyalkatchem, Western Australia, in 1930. He was educated at Richmond Primary School, Christ Church Grammar School, Claremont, Western Australia, and the University of Western Australia, where he received a 1st class BA (Hons) in history. Heseltine joined the Prime Minister's Department (Australia) in 1951, where he remained until 1962. He was Private Secretary to Sir Robert Menzies, Prime Minister (1955–1959), and Acting Official Secretary to The 1st Viscount De L'Isle, Governor-General, May to August 1962. In 1960–1961, he was temporary Assistant Press Secretary to the Queen.


title: William Heseltine

text: From 1962–1964 he was Assistant Federal Director of the Liberal Party of Australia, and in 1964 was attached to "The Age" (Melbourne). In the same year, he was attached to Princess Marina for her tour of Australia. Heseltine joined the Press Office of The Royal Household as Assistant Press Secretary to the Queen in 1965–1967. He was Press Secretary 1968–1972.


title: William Heseltine

text: In 1972, Heseltine was moved to the Private Secretary's Office proper, becoming Assistant Private Secretary. In 1977, he was promoted to Deputy Private Secretary and, in April 1986, to Private Secretary to the Sovereign, and Keeper of the Queen's Archives. He retired in October 1990.


title: William Heseltine

text: He was appointed an Extra Equerry while Deputy Private Secretary to the Queen. He has been a company director from 1991, including chairman of NZI Insurance Australia Ltd 1992 (deputy 1991–1992); director of NZI Insurance New Zealand 1996; P&O Australia Ltd 1990–; and West Coast Telecasters Ltd 1991–1996.


title: William Heseltine

text: On leaving Royal service, Sir William retired to the historic town of York in his native Western Australia.


title: Sell your cloak and buy a sword

text: Sell your cloak and buy a sword is an instruction by Jesus to his disciples during the Last Supper which has been interpreted in several ways.


title: Sell your cloak and buy a sword

text: Christian anarchist Jacques Ellul and Christian pacifist John Howard Yoder do not believe Luke 22:36 overturns the many times Jesus urged his followers to turn the other cheek and when confronted by violence during his Sermon on the Mount and years of ministry. They show when the passage is taken in context (Luke 22:36-38), Jesus is also aware of fulfilling prophecy and makes a surprising statement that two swords are "enough."


title: Sell your cloak and buy a sword

text: Ellul, Yoder and Archie Penner claim that two swords could not possibly have been "enough" to defend Jesus from his pending arrest, trial and execution, so their sole purpose must have been Jesus' wish to fulfill a prophecy (Isaiah 53:9-12). As Ellul explains:


title: Sell your cloak and buy a sword

text: This theory is further substantiated by Peter when Peter draws one of the swords a few hours later at Jesus' arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, slashing the ear of Malchus, one of the priests' servants, and Jesus rebukes him saying: "Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."(Matthew 26:52)


title: Sell your cloak and buy a sword

text: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, in their 1871 biblical commentary, indicate "...And He said to them, It is enough - not 'Two swords will suffice,' but 'Enough of this for the present'. The warning had been given, and preparation for coming dangers hinted at; but as His meaning had not been apprehended in the comprehensive sense in which it was meant, He wished to leave the subject".


title: Sell your cloak and buy a sword

text: Pope Boniface VIII referred to the two swords in the medieval papal bull "Unam sanctam", to represent the temporal and spiritual authority of the church. He wrote: "We are informed by the texts of the gospels that in this Church and in its power are two swords; namely, the spiritual and the temporal. For when the Apostles say: "Behold, here are two swords" [Lk 22:38] that is to say, in the Church, since the Apostles were speaking, the Lord did not reply that there were too many, but sufficient."


title: Alternative splicing

text: Alternative splicing, or alternative RNA splicing, or differential splicing, is an alternative splicing process during gene expression that allows a single gene to code for multiple proteins. In this process, particular exons of a gene may be included within or excluded from the final, processed messenger RNA (mRNA) produced from that gene. This means the exons are joined in different combinations, leading to different (alternative) mRNA strands. Consequently, the proteins translated from alternatively spliced mRNAs will contain differences in their amino acid sequence and, often, in their biological functions (see Figure).


title: Alternative splicing

text: Biologically relevant alternative splicing occurs as a normal phenomenon in eukaryotes, where it increases the number of proteins that can be encoded by the genome. In humans, it is widely believed that ~95% of multi-exonic genes are alternatively spliced to produce functional alternative products from the same gene but many scientists believe that most of the observed splice variants are due to splicing errors and the actual number of biologically relevant alternatively spliced genes is much lower.


title: Alternative splicing

text: There are numerous modes of alternative splicing observed, of which the most common is exon skipping. In this mode, a particular exon may be included in mRNAs under some conditions or in particular tissues, and omitted from the mRNA in others.


title: Alternative splicing

text: The production of alternatively spliced mRNAs is regulated by a system of trans-acting proteins that bind to cis-acting sites on the primary transcript itself. Such proteins include splicing activators that promote the usage of a particular splice site, and splicing repressors that reduce the usage of a particular site. Mechanisms of alternative splicing are highly variable, and new examples are constantly being found, particularly through the use of high-throughput techniques. Researchers hope to fully elucidate the regulatory systems involved in splicing, so that alternative splicing products from a given gene under particular conditions ("splicing variants") could be predicted by a "splicing code".


title: Alternative splicing

text: Abnormal variations in splicing are also implicated in disease; a large proportion of human genetic disorders result from splicing variants. Abnormal splicing variants are also thought to contribute to the development of cancer, and splicing factor genes are frequently mutated in different types of cancer.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Alternative splicing was first observed in 1977. The Adenovirus produces five primary transcripts early in its infectious cycle, prior to viral DNA replication, and an additional one later, after DNA replication begins. The early primary transcripts continue to be produced after DNA replication begins. The additional primary transcript produced late in infection is large and comes from 5/6 of the 32kb adenovirus genome. This is much larger than any of the individual adenovirus mRNAs present in infected cells. Researchers found that the primary RNA transcript produced by adenovirus type 2 in the late phase was spliced in many different ways, resulting in mRNAs encoding different viral proteins. In addition, the primary transcript contained multiple polyadenylation sites, giving different 3’ ends for the processed mRNAs.


title: Alternative splicing

text: In 1981, the first example of alternative splicing in a transcript from a normal, endogenous gene was characterized. The gene encoding the thyroid hormone calcitonin was found to be alternatively spliced in mammalian cells. The primary transcript from this gene contains 6 exons; the calcitonin mRNA contains exons 1–4, and terminates after a polyadenylation site in exon 4. Another mRNA is produced from this pre-mRNA by skipping exon 4, and includes exons 1–3, 5, and 6. It encodes a protein known as CGRP (calcitonin gene related peptide). Examples of alternative splicing in immunoglobin gene transcripts in mammals were also observed in the early 1980s.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Since then, many other examples of biologically relevant alternative splicing have been found in eukaryotes. The "record-holder" for alternative splicing is a "D. melanogaster" gene called Dscam, which could potentially have 38,016 splice variants.


title: Alternative splicing

text: In 2021, it was discovered that the genome of adenovirus type 2, the adenovirus in which alternative splicing was first identified, was able to produce a much greater variety of mRNA than previously thought. By using next generation sequencing technology, researchers were able to update the human adenovirus type 2 transcriptome, and present a mind-boggling 904 unique mRNA, produced by the virus through a complex pattern of alternative splicing. Very few of these splice variants have been shown to be functional, a point that the authors raise in their paper.


title: Alternative splicing

text: In addition to these primary modes of alternative splicing, there are two other main mechanisms by which different mRNAs may be generated from the same gene; multiple promoters and multiple polyadenylation sites. Use of multiple promoters is properly described as a transcriptional regulation mechanism rather than alternative splicing; by starting transcription at different points, transcripts with different 5'-most exons can be generated. At the other end, multiple polyadenylation sites provide different 3' end points for the transcript. Both of these mechanisms are found in combination with alternative splicing and provide additional variety in mRNAs derived from a gene.


title: Alternative splicing

text: <br>These modes describe basic splicing mechanisms, but may be inadequate to describe complex splicing events. For instance, the figure to the right shows 3 spliceforms from the mouse hyaluronidase 3 gene. Comparing the exonic structure shown in the first line (green) with the one in the second line (yellow) shows intron retention, whereas the comparison between the second and the third spliceform (yellow vs. blue) exhibits exon skipping. A model nomenclature to uniquely designate all possible splicing patterns has recently been proposed.


title: Alternative splicing

text: When the pre-mRNA has been transcribed from the DNA, it includes several introns and exons. (In nematodes, the mean is 4–5 exons and introns; in the fruit fly "Drosophila" there can be more than 100 introns and exons in one transcribed pre-mRNA.) The exons to be retained in the mRNA are determined during the splicing process. The regulation and selection of splice sites are done by trans-acting splicing activator and splicing repressor proteins as well as cis-acting elements within the pre-mRNA itself such as exonic splicing enhancers and exonic splicing silencers.


title: Alternative splicing

text: The typical eukaryotic nuclear intron has consensus sequences defining important regions. Each intron has the sequence GU at its 5' end. Near the 3' end there is a branch site. The nucleotide at the branchpoint is always an A; the consensus around this sequence varies somewhat. In humans the branch site consensus sequence is yUnAy. The branch site is followed by a series of pyrimidines – the polypyrimidine tract – then by AG at the 3' end.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Splicing of mRNA is performed by an RNA and protein complex known as the spliceosome, containing snRNPs designated U1, U2, U4, U5, and U6 (U3 is not involved in mRNA splicing). U1 binds to the 5' GU and U2, with the assistance of the U2AF protein factors, binds to the branchpoint A within the branch site. The complex at this stage is known as the spliceosome A complex. Formation of the A complex is usually the key step in determining the ends of the intron to be spliced out, and defining the ends of the exon to be retained. (The U nomenclature derives from their high uridine content).


title: Alternative splicing

text: The U4,U5,U6 complex binds, and U6 replaces the U1 position. U1 and U4 leave. The remaining complex then performs two transesterification reactions. In the first transesterification, 5' end of the intron is cleaved from the upstream exon and joined to the branch site A by a 2',5'-phosphodiester linkage. In the second transesterification, the 3' end of the intron is cleaved from the downstream exon, and the two exons are joined by a phosphodiester bond. The intron is then released in lariat form and degraded.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Splicing is regulated by trans-acting proteins (repressors and activators) and corresponding cis-acting regulatory sites (silencers and enhancers) on the pre-mRNA. However, as part of the complexity of alternative splicing, it is noted that the effects of a splicing factor are frequently position-dependent. That is, a splicing factor that serves as a splicing activator when bound to an intronic enhancer element may serve as a repressor when bound to its splicing element in the context of an exon, and vice versa. The secondary structure of the pre-mRNA transcript also plays a role in regulating splicing, such as by bringing together splicing elements or by masking a sequence that would otherwise serve as a binding element for a splicing factor. Together, these elements form a "splicing code" that governs how splicing will occur under different cellular conditions.


title: Alternative splicing

text: There are two major types of cis-acting RNA sequence elements present in pre-mRNAs and they have corresponding trans-acting RNA-binding proteins. Splicing "silencers" are sites to which splicing repressor proteins bind, reducing the probability that a nearby site will be used as a splice junction. These can be located in the intron itself (intronic splicing silencers, ISS) or in a neighboring exon (exonic splicing silencers, ESS). They vary in sequence, as well as in the types of proteins that bind to them. The majority of splicing repressors are heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoproteins (hnRNPs) such as hnRNPA1 and polypyrimidine tract binding protein (PTB). Splicing "enhancers" are sites to which splicing activator proteins bind, increasing the probability that a nearby site will be used as a splice junction. These also may occur in the intron (intronic splicing enhancers, ISE) or exon (exonic splicing enhancers, ESE). Most of the activator proteins that bind to ISEs and ESEs are members of the SR protein family. Such proteins contain RNA recognition motifs and arginine and serine-rich (RS) domains.


title: Alternative splicing

text: In general, the determinants of splicing work in an inter-dependent manner that depends on context, so that the rules governing how splicing is regulated form a splicing code. The presence of a particular cis-acting RNA sequence element may increase the probability that a nearby site will be spliced in some cases, but decrease the probability in other cases, depending on context. The context within which regulatory elements act includes cis-acting context that is established by the presence of other RNA sequence features, and trans-acting context that is established by cellular conditions. For example, some cis-acting RNA sequence elements influence splicing only if multiple elements are present in the same region so as to establish context. As another example, a cis-acting element can have opposite effects on splicing, depending on which proteins are expressed in the cell (e.g., neuronal versus non-neuronal PTB). The adaptive significance of splicing silencers and enhancers is attested by studies showing that there is strong selection in human genes against mutations that produce new silencers or disrupt existing enhancers.


title: Alternative splicing

text: CpG DNA methylation has showed a role to regulate the alternative splicing in social insects. In honey bees ("Apis mellifera"), CpG DNA methylation seems to regulate the exon skipping based on the first few genomic studies after honey bee genome was available. CpG DNA methylation regulated alternative splicing more extensively, not only affect exon skipping, but also intron retention, and other splicing events.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Pre-mRNAs from the "D. melanogaster" gene "dsx" contain 6 exons. In males, exons 1,2,3,5,and 6 are joined to form the mRNA, which encodes a transcriptional regulatory protein required for male development. In females, exons 1,2,3, and 4 are joined, and a polyadenylation signal in exon 4 causes cleavage of the mRNA at that point. The resulting mRNA is a transcriptional regulatory protein required for female development.


title: Alternative splicing

text: This is an example of exon skipping. The intron upstream from exon 4 has a polypyrimidine tract that doesn't match the consensus sequence well, so that U2AF proteins bind poorly to it without assistance from splicing activators. This 3' splice acceptor site is therefore not used in males. Females, however, produce the splicing activator Transformer (Tra) (see below). The SR protein Tra2 is produced in both sexes and binds to an ESE in exon 4; if Tra is present, it binds to Tra2 and, along with another SR protein, forms a complex that assists U2AF proteins in binding to the weak polypyrimidine tract. U2 is recruited to the associated branchpoint, and this leads to inclusion of exon 4 in the mRNA.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Pre-mRNAs of the "Transformer" (Tra) gene of "Drosophila melanogaster" undergo alternative splicing via the alternative acceptor site mode. The gene Tra encodes a protein that is expressed only in females. The primary transcript of this gene contains an intron with two possible acceptor sites. In males, the upstream acceptor site is used. This causes a longer version of exon 2 to be included in the processed transcript, including an early stop codon. The resulting mRNA encodes a truncated protein product that is inactive. Females produce the master sex determination protein Sex lethal (Sxl). The Sxl protein is a splicing repressor that binds to an ISS in the RNA of the Tra transcript near the upstream acceptor site, preventing U2AF protein from binding to the polypyrimidine tract. This prevents the use of this junction, shifting the spliceosome binding to the downstream acceptor site. Splicing at this point bypasses the stop codon, which is excised as part of the intron. The resulting mRNA encodes an active Tra protein, which itself is a regulator of alternative splicing of other sex-related genes (see "dsx" above).


title: Alternative splicing

text: Multiple isoforms of the Fas receptor protein are produced by alternative splicing. Two normally occurring isoforms in humans are produced by an exon-skipping mechanism. An mRNA including exon 6 encodes the membrane-bound form of the Fas receptor, which promotes apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Increased expression of Fas receptor in skin cells chronically exposed to the sun, and absence of expression in skin cancer cells, suggests that this mechanism may be important in elimination of pre-cancerous cells in humans. If exon 6 is skipped, the resulting mRNA encodes a soluble Fas protein that does not promote apoptosis. The inclusion or skipping of the exon depends on two antagonistic proteins, TIA-1 and polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB).


title: Alternative splicing

text: This mechanism is an example of exon definition in splicing. A spliceosome assembles on an intron, and the snRNP subunits fold the RNA so that the 5' and 3' ends of the intron are joined. However, recently studied examples such as this one show that there are also interactions between the ends of the exon. In this particular case, these exon definition interactions are necessary to allow the binding of core splicing factors prior to assembly of the spliceosomes on the two flanking introns.


title: Alternative splicing

text: HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS in humans, produces a single primary RNA transcript, which is alternatively spliced in multiple ways to produce over 40 different mRNAs. Equilibrium among differentially spliced transcripts provides multiple mRNAs encoding different products that are required for viral multiplication. One of the differentially spliced transcripts contains the "tat" gene, in which exon 2 is a cassette exon that may be skipped or included. The inclusion of tat exon 2 in the RNA is regulated by competition between the splicing repressor hnRNP A1 and the SR protein SC35. Within exon 2 an exonic splicing silencer sequence (ESS) and an exonic splicing enhancer sequence (ESE) overlap. If A1 repressor protein binds to the ESS, it initiates cooperative binding of multiple A1 molecules, extending into the 5’ donor site upstream of exon 2 and preventing the binding of the core splicing factor U2AF35 to the polypyrimidine tract. If SC35 binds to the ESE, it prevents A1 binding and maintains the 5’ donor site in an accessible state for assembly of the spliceosome. Competition between the activator and repressor ensures that both mRNA types (with and without exon 2) are produced.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Genuine alternative splicing occurs in both protein-coding genes and non-coding genes to produce multiple products (proteins or non-coding RNAs). External information is needed in order to decide which product is made, given a DNA sequence and the initial transcript. Since the methods of regulation are inherited, this provides novel ways for mutations to affect gene expression.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Alternative splicing may provide evolutionary flexibility. A single point mutation may cause a given exon to be occasionally excluded or included from a transcript during splicing, allowing production of a new protein isoform without loss of the original protein. Studies have identified intrinsically disordered regions (see Intrinsically unstructured proteins) as enriched in the non-constitutive exons suggesting that protein isoforms may display functional diversity due to the alteration of functional modules within these regions. Such functional diversity achieved by isoforms is reflected by their expression patterns and can be predicted by machine learning approaches. Comparative studies indicate that alternative splicing preceded multicellularity in evolution, and suggest that this mechanism might have been co-opted to assist in the development of multicellular organisms.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Research based on the Human Genome Project and other genome sequencing has shown that humans have only about 30% more genes than the roundworm "Caenorhabditis elegans", and only about twice as many as the fly "Drosophila melanogaster". This finding led to speculation that the perceived greater complexity of humans, or vertebrates generally, might be due to higher rates of alternative splicing in humans than are found in invertebrates.


title: Alternative splicing

text: However, a study on samples of 100,000 ESTs each from human, mouse, rat, cow, fly ("D. melanogaster"), worm ("C. elegans"), and the plant "Arabidopsis thaliana" found no large differences in frequency of alternatively spliced genes among humans and any of the other animals tested. Another study, however, proposed that these results were an artifact of the different numbers of ESTs available for the various organisms. When they compared alternative splicing frequencies in random subsets of genes from each organism, the authors concluded that vertebrates do have higher rates of alternative splicing than invertebrates.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Changes in the RNA processing machinery may lead to mis-splicing of multiple transcripts, while single-nucleotide alterations in splice sites or cis-acting splicing regulatory sites may lead to differences in splicing of a single gene, and thus in the mRNA produced from a mutant gene's transcripts. A study in 2005 involving probabilistic analyses indicated that greater than 60% of human disease-causing mutations affect splicing rather than directly affecting coding sequences. A more recent study indicates that one-third of all hereditary diseases are likely to have a splicing component. Regardless of exact percentage, a number of splicing-related diseases do exist. As described below, a prominent example of splicing-related diseases is cancer.


title: Alternative splicing

text: Abnormally spliced mRNAs are also found in a high proportion of cancerous cells. Combined RNA-Seq and proteomics analyses have revealed striking differential expression


title: Alternative splicing

text: of splice isoforms of key proteins in important cancer pathways. It is not always clear whether such aberrant patterns of splicing contribute to the cancerous growth, or are merely consequence of cellular abnormalities associated with cancer. For certain types of cancer, like in colorectal and prostate, the number of splicing errors per cancer has been shown to vary greatly between individual cancers, a phenomenon referred to as transcriptome instability. Transcriptome instability has further been shown to correlate grealty with reduced expression level of splicing factor genes. Mutation of "DNMT3A" has been demonstrated to contribute to hematologic malignancies, and that "DNMT3A"-mutated cell lines exhibit transcriptome instability as compared to their isogenic wildtype counterparts.