title: Another Toothpick

text: Tony and Carmela have a joint session with Dr. Melfi. It ends in recriminations: Carmela feels the other two have joined against her. Driving home she is tearful; he drives recklessly and is pulled over for speeding by Officer Leon Wilmore, who is black. Tony's charm, his PBA card, and implicit bribery do not work, and Wilmore writes up a ticket. Tony contacts New Jersey Assemblyman Ronald Zellman to get it canceled.


title: Another Toothpick

text: Days later, visiting a lawn ornament store, Tony sees Wilmore working there. He tells Tony, who is smiling sarcastically, that he has been transferred to the property room and can no longer work overtime. This is more drastic than Tony wanted and he asks Zellman to have him reinstated. Tony then has another argument with Meadow about his racist attitudes, and next time he speaks to Zellman he says Wilmore can stay where he is. But he returns to the garden store, makes a purchase, and offers him some additional $100 bills. Wilmore does not deign to take the money.


title: Another Toothpick

text: Meadow takes the lamp from the basement at home to her dorm at Columbia University, and so unknowingly "neutralizes" the FBI's listening operation.


title: Another Toothpick

text: The last customers have left Nuovo Vesuvio and Artie is glad to be alone with Adriana to celebrate a profitable evening. She unexpectedly tells him that Christopher no longer wants her to work as a hostess and, hiding his chagrin, Artie allows her to leave without notice. When Tony and Chris are dining there, a drunken Artie needles Chris, who angrily makes a grab at him. Tony sends Chris out, then angrily grabs Artie himself. Artie says he is in love with Adriana and Tony's anger changes to amusement. He tells him never to utter those words again.


title: Another Toothpick

text: Tony wants to go into business with Artie selling Italian food products. Charmaine nixes the idea, believing Tony only wants another business as a front. During the ensuing argument, she tells Artie that their marriage is over. Artie then has an awkward dinner with Adriana; she withdraws her hand when he tries to take it.


title: Another Toothpick

text: Bryan Spatafore, Vito's brother, is innocently embroiled in a row between Mustang Sally and his girlfriend. Sally viciously assaults Bryan with a golf club, putting him into a coma. For this, Sally has to be killed. He goes into hiding, but is in touch with his godfather, Bobby Baccalieri's father, Bobby, Sr.; the relationship is "in name only", Bobby, Sr. says, and he is assigned the job. But he is dying of lung cancer and can hardly stop coughing. Bobby desperately wants to stop his father from doing it; so does Junior, who goes to see Tony, who refuses to change the plan. Bobby, Sr. himself wants to do it: "It will feel good being useful for a change."


title: Another Toothpick

text: The hit almost goes awry and ends with a struggle, but Bobby Sr. succeeds in killing Sally and his friend. After the killings, his face smeared with Sally's blood, he finds some cigarettes and starts smoking; still smoking while driving away, he has a coughing fit and slumps onto the wheel; the car crashes and he is killed.


title: Another Toothpick

text: Going into the third season, this episode marks the first time the show's leading ladies, Lorraine Bracco and Edie Falco as Dr. Melfi and Carmela Soprano, spoke to each other face-to-face. Their two previous conversations had taken place over the phone, while they had only caught a glimpse of each other in season 1, when Carmela drove Tony to meet Melfi for a session in her car.


title: James Bridges

text: James Bridges (February 3, 1936June 6, 1993) was an American screenwriter, film director, producer, and actor.


title: James Bridges

text: Bridges was born February 3, 1936, in Little Rock, Arkansas and grew up in Paris, Arkansas. His mother was Celestine Wiggins, his sister was Mary Ann Wiggins, and his life partner from 1958 until his death was actor, librettist, screenwriter, and producer Jack Larson. Bridges got his start as a writer for "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" after catching the attention of Norman Lloyd, a producer for the series. One of his episodes, "An Unlocked Window", earned him a 1966 Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Episode in a TV Series.


title: James Bridges

text: Bridges went on to write and direct a number of notable films, including "The Baby Maker"; "The Paper Chase"; "September 30, 1955"; "The China Syndrome"; "Urban Cowboy"; "Mike's Murder"; "Perfect"; and "Bright Lights, Big City". Bridges was a mentor to actress Debra Winger.


title: James Bridges

text: In 1990, Bridges was diagnosed with intestinal cancer. He died of kidney failure at the UCLA Medical Center on June 6, 1993, at 57 years old. He was buried at Oakwood Cemetery in his hometown of Paris, Arkansas.


title: James Bridges

text: The James Bridges Theater at University of California, Los Angeles was named in his honor in November 1999. Bridges was a faculty member there early in his career.


title: Yun Posun

text: Yun Po-sun (; or ; August 26, 1897 – July 18, 1990) was a South Korean politician and activist who served as the second president of South Korea from 1960 to 1962. He was the only president of the parliamentary Second Republic of Korea.


title: Yun Posun

text: Having entered politics after World War II, Yun served as Secretary to Korea's Chief of Staff in 1947; and was Mayor of Seoul in 1948. He served as Commerce Minister for the newly liberated Korea from 1949 to 1950. In 1955, Yun helped establish the South Korean Democratic Party. He was forced to resign the presidency by Park Chung-hee as a result of the May 16 coup in 1961.


title: Yun Posun

text: Yun Po-sun was born in Dunpo-myeon, Asan, South Chungcheong Province in 1897. He was a son of Yun Chi-so (윤치소, 尹致昭, 1871–1944) and Lady Yi Beom-suk (이범숙, 李範淑, 1876–1969). Yun Chiso is the second son of Yun Yeong-ryeol (윤영렬;尹英烈). Yun Yeong-ryeol is an 8th generation descendant of the prominent Joseon scholar-official Yun Doo-su (윤두수;尹斗壽). Yun studied in the United Kingdom, graduating with a Master of Arts from the University of Edinburgh in 1930. He returned to Korea in 1932.


title: Yun Posun

text: Yun entered politics in 1945 following Gwangbokjeol (Liberation Day). The first Doctor of Philosophy from Princeton University in Korea, as well as first President of South Korea, Dr. Syngman Rhee, was his mentor. By 1947, Yun was serving as Secretary to the Korean Chief of Staff. In 1948, Rhee appointed Yun to the position of mayor of Seoul. A year later, he was made Minister of Commerce and Industry. However, Yun soon began to disagree with Rhee's authoritarian policies.


title: Yun Posun

text: While serving as president of the Red Cross Society, he was elected to the National Assembly in 1954. A year later, he co-founded the opposition South Korean Democratic Party. In 1959, he became a representative to the Supreme Council of the Democratic Party.


title: Yun Posun

text: Rhee's government was ousted by a student-led, pro-democracy uprising in 1960; and Yun was elected president by the newly elected parliament on August 13, with Chang Myon as Prime Minister. In response to the authoritarian excesses of Rhee's regime, South Korea had switched to a parliamentary system; thus, Yun actually served merely as a figurehead.


title: Yun Posun

text: Following Park Chung Hee's coup in 1961, Yun stayed in his post in order to provide some legitimacy to the new regime, but resigned on March 22, 1962. In the following years, Yun received suspended sentences several times for anti-government activities. He opposed Park's authoritarian rule and ran for president twice, in 1963 and 1967, losing each time.


title: Yun Posun

text: Yun retired from active politics in 1980 and focused his life on cultural activities until his death on July 18, 1990.


title: Trivia

text: Trivia is information and data that are considered to be of little value. It can be contrasted with general knowledge and common sense.


title: Trivia

text: The ancient Romans used the word "triviae" to describe where one road split or forked into two roads. Triviae was formed from "tri" (three) and "viae" (roads) – literally meaning "three roads", and in transferred use "a public place" and hence the meaning "commonplace."


title: Trivia

text: The Latin adjective "triviālis" in Classical Latin besides its literal meaning could have the meaning "appropriate to the street corner, commonplace, vulgar." In late Latin, it could also simply mean "triple."


title: Trivia

text: The pertaining adjective "trivial" was adopted in Early Modern English, while the noun "trivium" only appears in learned usage from the 19th century, in reference to the "Artes Liberales" and the plural "trivia" in the sense of "trivialities, trifles" only in the 20th century.


title: Trivia

text: In medieval Latin, the "trivia" (singular "trivium") came to refer to the lower division of the "Artes Liberales", namely grammar, rhetoric, and logic.


title: Trivia

text: These were the topics of basic education, and were foundational to the "quadrivia" of higher education, namely arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy, which were more challenging.


title: Trivia

text: The adjective "trivial" introduced into English in the 15th to 16th century was influenced by all three meanings of the Latin adjective:


title: Trivia

text: "Trivia" was used as a title by Logan Pearsall Smith in 1902, followed by "More Trivia" and "All Trivia" in 1921 and 1933, respectively, collections of short "moral pieces" or aphorisms. Book II of the 1902 publication is headed with a quote from "Gay's "Trivia, or New Art of Walking Streets of London."",


title: Trivia

text: "Trivialities, bits of information of little consequence" was the title of a popular book by British aphorist Logan Pearsall Smith (1865–1946), first published in 1902 but popularized in 1918 (with "More Trivia" following in 1921 and a collected edition including both in 1933). It consisted of short essays often tied to observation of small things and commonplace moments. "Trivia" is the plural of "trivium", "a public place." The adjectival form of this, "trivialis", was hence translated by Smith as "commonplace."


title: Trivia

text: I KNOW too much; I have stuffed too many of the facts of History and Science into my intellectuals. My eyes have grown dim over books; believing in geological periods, cave dwellers, Chinese Dynasties, and the fixed stars has prematurely aged me.


title: Trivia

text: In the 1960s, nostalgic college students and others began to informally trade questions and answers about the popular culture of their youth. The first known documented labeling of this casual parlor game as "Trivia" was in a "Columbia Daily Spectator" column published on February 5, 1965. The author, Ed Goodgold, then started the first organized "trivia contests" with the help of Dan Carlinsky. Ed and Dan wrote the book "Trivia" (Dell, 1966), which achieved a ranking on the New York Times best-seller list; the book was an extension of the pair's Columbia contests and was followed by other Goodgold and Carlinsky trivia titles. In their second book, "More Trivial Trivia", the authors criticized practitioners who were "indiscriminate enough to confuse the flower of trivia with the weed of minutiae"; Trivia, they wrote, "is concerned with tugging at heartstrings," while minutiae deals with such unevocative questions as "Which state is the largest consumer of Jell-O?" But over the years the word has come to refer to obscure and arcane bits of dry knowledge as well as nostalgic remembrances of pop culture. The board game "Trivial Pursuit" was released in 1982 and was a craze in the U.S. for several years thereafter.


title: Trivia

text: The largest current trivia contest is held in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point's college radio station WWSP 89.9 FM. This is a student-run community station with 30,000 watts of power and about a radius, and the contest serves as a fund raiser for the station. The contest is open to anyone, and it is played in April of each year spanning 54 hours over a weekend with eight questions each hour. There are usually 400 teams ranging from 1 to 150 players. The top ten teams are awarded trophies. As of 2022, the contest is in its 52nd year. The dates for Trivia 52: The Stacked Deck, are April 8-10, 2022.


title: Trivia

text: The two longest continuous trivia contests in the world are the Great Midwest Trivia Contest at Lawrence University and the Williams Trivia Contest, which both debuted in the spring of 1966. Lawrence hosts its contest annually. Unusually, Williams has a separate contest for each semester, and thus its 84th game took place in May 2008.


title: Trivia

text: The University of Colorado Trivia Bowl was a mostly student contest featuring a single-elimination tournament based on the GE College Bowl. Many of the best trivia players in America trace participation through this tournament including many "Jeopardy!" and "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" contestants. In recent years, the event has been conducted in a round robin competition format and operated as a regional qualifier for T.R.A.S.H. (Testing Recall About Strange Happenings).


title: Trivia

text: Today, many bars and restaurants host weekly trivia nights in an effort to draw in more patrons, especially during weeknights.


title: Iain McGilchrist

text: Iain McGilchrist (born 1953) is a psychiatrist, writer, and former Oxford literary scholar. McGilchrist came to prominence after the publication of his book "The Master and His Emissary", subtitled "The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World".


title: Iain McGilchrist

text: McGilchrist read English at New College, Oxford, but having published "Against Criticism" in 1982, he later retrained in medicine and has been a neuroimaging researcher at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a Consultant Psychiatrist at the Maudsley Hospital in south London. McGilchrist is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and has three times been elected a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford.


title: Iain McGilchrist

text: According to his web site in 2009, at the time "The Master and His Emissary" was published, McGilchrist worked privately as a consultant psychiatrist in London. He still lives on the Isle of Skye, off the coast of Scotland and continues to write, and to deliver many lectures and interviews.


title: Iain McGilchrist

text: In 2019 it was reported that McGilchrist had been working on a new book of neuroscience, epistemology and metaphysics, "The Matter with Things", which was published on 9 November 2021 by Perspectiva Press, London.


title: Thames House

text: Thames House is an office building in Millbank, London, on the north bank of the River Thames adjacent to Lambeth Bridge. Originally used as offices by Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), it has served as the headquarters of the United Kingdom's internal Security Service (commonly known as MI5) since December 1994. It also served as the London headquarters of the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) until March 2013.


title: Thames House

text: The building was constructed in 1929–30 by John Mowlem & Co on riverside land cleared after the disastrous 1928 Thames flood severely damaged run-down residential properties. It was built to designs by Sir Frank Baines, of the Government's Office of Works. It is of design uniform with but not identical to Imperial Chemical House which is opposite it on the north side of Horseferry Road; while Imperial Chemical House remained exclusively for ICI until its exit, Thames House had additional tenants alongside ICI throughout history, including the London headquarters of International Nickel Ltd. Baines's design owes much to the 'Imperial Neoclassical' tradition of Sir Edwin Lutyens and deliberately ties in with the Imperial design of Lambeth Bridge when it was redesigned from 1929. High up on the frontage are statues of St George and Britannia sculpted by Charles Sargeant Jagger. It was owned by Thames House Estates until it was sold to the British Government in 1994. Thames House Estates was jointly owned by ICI and Prudential for many years and subsequently was wholly owned by ICI.


title: Thames House

text: The building has been listed Grade II on the National Heritage List for England since 16 January 1981.


title: Thames House

text: Thames House was first used by MI5 between 1934 and 1939: the service was located on the top floor of the South Block.


title: Thames House

text: The service relocated to Blenheim Palace for much of the Second World War and then moved to Leconfield House after the war before relocating to 140 Gower Street in 1976. The dispersed and dilapidated state of its previous buildings at 140 Gower Street (headquarters) and Curzon Street House (registry, administration and technical services) led MI5 to seek a new home in the late 1980s. The Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) were engaged in a simultaneous hunt for new headquarters and consideration was given to co-location of the two. However this proposal was abandoned, due to the lack of buildings of adequate size (existing or proposed) and the security considerations of becoming a single target for attacks. At the same time, Thames House, which was largely used as government offices by then, became vacant when the Department of Energy left the southern half in 1989 and it was decided to convert and refit much of it for MI5's use. The GMW Partnership undertook the design and Mowlem carried out the necessary reconstruction work from 1990, which included part-infilling of the building's distinctive archway. An automated miniature monorail within the building brings files up from the basement of Thames House to staff working within.


title: Thames House

text: The building was shared with the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) until that organisation moved to 1 Horse Guards Road alongside HM Treasury and the Cabinet Office in 2013.


title: Thames House

text: On 1 June 2007, the building (other than the steps that give access to it) was designated as a protected site for the purposes of Section 128 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. The effect of the act was to make it a specific criminal offence for a person to trespass into the building.


title: Thames House

text: Up until its seventh series, the BBC television series "Spooks" used the exterior and lobby of the Freemasons' Hall in Great Queen Street as a location for the show's portrayal of Thames House. Since then Thames House has been used, although Freemasons' Hall is still used to show the entrance to the building.


title: Thames House

text: The of the BBC television series "Torchwood" used Thames House as the setting for the arrival of an alien species on Earth.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: August Franz Anton Hans Fritzsche (21 April 1900 – 27 September 1953) was the "Ministerialdirektor" at the Propagandaministerium (Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda) of Nazi Germany. He was the preeminent German broadcaster of his time, as part of efforts to present a more popular and entertaining side of the Nazi regime, and his voice was recognised by the majority of Germans.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: Fritzsche was present in the Berlin "Führerbunker" during the last days of Adolf Hitler. After Hitler's death, he went over to the Soviet lines in Berlin to offer the surrender of the city to the Red Army on 1 May 1945. He was taken prisoner.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: Fritzsche was born in Bochum (a city in the Ruhr region) to a Prussian postal clerk. He volunteered in the German Army in 1917 as a private soldier, and served in Flanders. After the war, he studied at the universities of Greifswald and Berlin, but did not graduate. He became a journalist in 1923 for the Hugenberg Press, which promoted nationalistic opinions not very different from the Nazis. In September 1932, he began his broadcasting career as head of the "Drahtloser Dienst" (the Wireless News service, a government agency), and started his first broadcast, a daily program called "Hans Fritzsche speaks" ("Es spricht Hans Fritzsche").


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: In 1929 or May 1933 he joined the Nazi Party, and later the "Sturmabteilung" (SA). He was also a member of the Academy for German Law.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: On 1 May 1933 the Wireless News service was incorporated into Joseph Goebbels' Propaganda Ministry. In 1938, Fritzsche became head of the Press Division. In November 1942, he became head of the Radio Division. Fritzsche had no involvement in creating policy. During the war, Fritzsche was Germany's most prominent radio commentator.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: In April 1945, he was present in the Berlin "Führerbunker" during the last days of Adolf Hitler and Goebbels. After Hitler's suicide on 30 April 1945, Goebbels assumed Hitler's role as chancellor. On 1 May, Goebbels completed his sole official act as chancellor. He dictated a letter to Soviet Army General Vasily Chuikov, requesting a temporary ceasefire and ordered German General Hans Krebs to deliver it. Chuikov commanded the Soviet forces in central Berlin. After this was rejected, Goebbels decided that further efforts were futile. Goebbels then launched into a tirade berating the generals, reminding them Hitler forbade them to surrender. Fritzsche left the room to try and take matters into his own hands. He went to his nearby office on Wilhelmplatz and wrote a surrender letter addressed to Soviet Marshall Georgy Zhukov. An angry and drunk General Wilhelm Burgdorf followed Fritzsche to his office. There he asked Fritzsche if he intended to surrender Berlin. Fritzsche replied that he was going to do just that. Burgdorf shouted that Hitler had forbidden surrender and as a civilian he had no authority to do so. Burgdorf then pulled his pistol to shoot Fritzsche, but a radio technician knocked the gun and the bullet fired hit the ceiling. Several men then hustled Burgdorf out of the office and he returned to the bunker. Fritzsche then left his office and went over to the Soviet lines and offered to surrender the city.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: Fritzsche was taken prisoner by Soviet Red Army soldiers. At first he was held prisoner in a basement and then sent to Moscow for interrogation at Lubyanka Prison where, according to his own account, three gold teeth were yanked from his mouth upon arrival. He was confined to a "standing coffin", a cell where it was impossible to sleep, and placed on a bread and hot water diet. He eventually signed a confession. Later, he wrote his account of Soviet prison while on trial at Nuremberg, which was published in Switzerland.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: Fritzsche was sent to Nuremberg, and tried before the International Military Tribunal. He was charged with conspiracy to commit crimes against peace, war crimes and crimes against humanity. In his positions in the propaganda apparatus of the Nazi State, Fritzsche played a role to further the conspiracy to commit atrocities and to launch the war of aggression. According to journalist and author William L. Shirer, it was unclear to the attendees why he was charged. Shirer remarked that "no-one in the courtroom, including Fritzsche, seemed to know why he was there – he was too small a fry – unless it were as a ghost for Goebbels". According to the IMT prosecution, he "incited and encouraged the commission of War Crimes by deliberately falsifying news to arouse in the German People those passions which led them to the commission of atrocities". Fritzsche was acquitted because the court was "not prepared to hold that [his broadcasts] were intended to incite the German people to commit atrocities on conquered peoples". He was one of only three defendants to be acquitted at Nuremberg (along with Hjalmar Schacht and Franz von Papen).


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: Nuremberg prosecutor Alexander Hardy later said that evidence not available to the prosecution at the time proved Fritzsche not only knew of the extermination of European Jews but also "played an important part in bringing [Nazi crimes] about," and would have resulted in his conviction. Fritzsche was later classified as Group I (Major Offenders) by a denazification court which gave him the maximum penalty, nine years of hard labor in a labor camp. He was pardoned in September 1950. He married his second wife, Hildegard Springer, in 1950. He died of cancer in 1953. His wife died the same year.


title: Hans Fritzsche

text: Fritzsche along with Speer and Schirach were eventually communed by Lutheran Pastor Henry F. Gerecke and were administered the Eucharist.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: Since March 2018, passive euthanasia is legal in India under strict guidelines. Patients must consent through a living will, and must be either terminally ill or in a vegetative state.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: On 9 March 2018 the Supreme Court of India legalised passive euthanasia by means of the withdrawal of life support to patients in a permanent vegetative state. The decision was made as part of the verdict in a case involving Aruna Shanbaug, who had been in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) until her death in 2015.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: On 9 March 2018, the Supreme Court of India, passed a historic judgement-law permitting Passive Euthanasia in the country. This judgment was passed in wake of Pinki Virani's plea to the Supreme Court in December 2009 under the Constitutional provision of “Next Friend”. It is a landmark law which places the power of choice in the hands of the individual, over government, medical or religious control which sees all suffering as “destiny”. The Supreme Court specified two irreversible conditions to permit Passive Euthanasia Law in its 2011 Law: (I) The brain-dead for whom the ventilator can be switched off (II) Those in a Persistent Vegetative State (PVS) for whom the feed can be tapered out and pain-managing palliatives be added, according to laid-down international specifications.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: The same judgement-law also asked for the scrapping of 309, the code which penalises those who survive suicide-attempts. In December 2014, government of India declared its intention to do so.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: However, on 25 February 2014, a three-judge bench of Supreme Court of India had termed the judgment in the "Aruna Shanbaug case to be 'inconsistent in itself' and has referred the issue of euthanasia to its five-judge Constitution bench.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: And on 23 December 2014, Government of India endorsed and re-validated the Passive Euthanasia judgement-law in a Press Release, after stating in the Rajya Sabha as follows: that The Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in its judgment dated 7.3.2011 [WP (Criminal) No. 115 of 2009], while dismissing the plea for mercy killing in a particular case, laid down comprehensive guidelines to process cases relating to passive euthanasia. Thereafter, the matter of mercy killing was examined in consultation with the Ministry of Law and Justice and it has been decided that since the Hon'ble Supreme Court has already laid down the guidelines, these should be followed and treated as law in such cases. At present, there is no proposal to enact legislation on this subject and the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court is binding on all. The Health Minister, J P Nadda stated this in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: The high court rejected active euthanasia by means of lethal injection. In the absence of a law regulating euthanasia in India, the court stated that its decision becomes the law of the land until the Indian parliament enacts a suitable law. Active euthanasia, including the administration of lethal compounds for the purpose of ending life, is still illegal in India, and in most countries.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: In 2018 the Supreme Court of India declared through a five-judge Constitution bench that, if strict guidelines are followed, the government would honor "living wills" allowing consenting patients to be passively euthanized if the patient suffers from a terminal illness or is in a vegetative state.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: Before euthanasia became practicable in India, there existed the possibility of signing a leaving against medical advice (LAMA) which transferred from the physician to the patient the full responsibility for the discontinuation of his living therapies.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: Aruna Shanbaug was a nurse working at the King Edward Memorial Hospital, Parel, Mumbai. On 27 November 1973 she was strangled and sodomized by Sohanlal Walmiki, a sweeper. During the attack she was strangled with a chain, and the deprivation of oxygen left her in a vegetative state. On behalf of Aruna, her friend Pinki Virani, a social activist, filed a petition in the Supreme Court arguing that the "continued existence of Aruna is in violation of her right to live in dignity". The Supreme Court made its decision on 7 March 2011. The court rejected the plea to discontinue Aruna's life support but issued a set of broad guidelines legalising passive euthanasia in India. The Supreme Court's decision to reject the discontinuation of Aruna's life support was based on the fact that the hospital staff who treat and take care of her did not support euthanizing her. Aruna died from pneumonia on 18 May 2015, after being in a coma for a period of 42 years.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: While rejecting Pinki Virani's plea for Aruna Shanbaug's euthanasia, the court laid out guidelines for passive euthanasia. According to these guidelines, passive euthanasia involves the withdrawing of treatment or food that would allow the patient to live. Forms of active euthanasia, including the administration of lethal compounds, legal in a number of nations and jurisdictions including Luxemburg, Belgium and the Netherlands, as well as the US states of Washington and Oregon, are still illegal in India.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: Elsewhere in the world active euthanasia is almost always illegal. The legal status of passive euthanasia, on the other hand, including the withdrawal of nutrition or water, varies across the nations of the world. As India had no law about euthanasia, the Supreme Court's guidelines are law until and unless Parliament passes legislation. India's Minister of Law and Justice, Veerappa Moily, called for serious political debate over the issue. The following guidelines were laid down:


title: Euthanasia in India

text: On 25 February 2014, while hearing a PIL filed by NGO Common Cause, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court of India observed that the judgment in "Aruna Shanbaug" case was based on a wrong interpretation of the constitution bench judgment in "Gian Kaur v. State of Punjab". Court observed that the judgment in inconsistent in itself as though it observes that euthanasia can be allowed only by legislature yet it goes on to lay down guidelines on the same. Therefore, court has referred the issue to a constitution bench which shall be heard by a strength of at least five judges. Court observed:"In view of the inconsistent opinions rendered in Aruna Shanbaug (supra) and also considering the important question of law involved which needs to be reflected in the light of social, legal, medical and constitutional perspective, it becomes extremely important to have a clear enunciation of law. Thus, in our cogent opinion, the question of law involved requires careful consideration by a Constitution Bench of this Court for the benefit of humanity as a whole."The Five-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court was tasked with deciding whether Article 21 of the Constitution includes in its ambit the right to die with dignity by means of executing a living wills/advance directives.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: After the court ruling "The Telegraph" consulted with Muslim, Hindu, Jain and Christian religious leaders. Though generally against legalising euthanasia, Christians and the Jains thought passive euthanasia was acceptable under some circumstances. Jains and Hindus have the traditional rituals "Santhara" and "Prayopavesa" respectively, wherein one fasts unto death. The Jain vow of "sallekhanā" or "santhara", is observed by the Jains only in special circumstances. These are mentioned in the Jain texts like "Ratnakaranda śrāvakācāra". Some members of India's medical establishment were skeptical about euthanasia due to the country's weak rule of law and the large gap between the rich and the poor, which might lead to the exploitation of the elderly by their families.


title: Euthanasia in India

text: Reporters for Reuters observed in 2018 that "The issue is not considered politically contentious in India."


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: Mistborn: Secret History is a fantasy novella by American author Brandon Sanderson, written as a companion story to the original trilogy of the Mistborn series.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: The novella follows the story of Kelsier from "" and concludes with the events of the last book in the original trilogy, .


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: Sanderson published the novella, which was 12 years in the making, as an effort to tide fans over until the third book in "The Stormlight Archive" was published. The story was supposed to be a secret until published, but Amazon accidentally leaked the last few pages of with the author's comments about the story in the novel's postscript. The author noted in a blog post that the novella contained huge spoilers for the original "Mistborn" trilogy as well as minor spoilers to "The Bands of Mourning", warning readers that knowledge of the story's existence was in itself, a spoiler.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: After being killed by the Lord Ruler, Kelsier meets Preservation as he is about to pass on to the spiritual realm. Kelsier refuses to do so and races to the Well of Ascension at the heart of the Lord Ruler's palace, touching its power and thus anchoring himself to the world. Whilst trapped at the Well, he discovers another entity trapped there: Ruin, the counterpart to Preservation, who intends to destroy the world.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: When Vin accidentally frees Ruin when she gives up the power at the Well, Kelsier is also released. With the world now under direct threat from Ruin, a dying Preservation tasks Kelsier to find help. Following Preservation's guidance, Kelsier meets two people from different worlds, Khriss and Nazh, who point him to a covert group known as the Ire ("Eyree") as his only chance for aid.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: Despite Ruin's dissuasion, Kelsier travels to the Ire's fortress. He discovers that they are planning to steal Preservation's powers once he dies by using a strange artifact. Kelsier dupes the group by posing as Ruin and steals the artifact for himself. When he returns to his world, Preservation tells him that he cannot pass on his powers to Vin because she has been spiked by Ruin. When Preservation finally dies, Kelsier takes up the power using the stolen artifact. Trying and failing to contact Vin because of Ruin's interference and his inexperience with Preservation's powers, Kelsier decides to instead travel to Urteau and succeeds in freeing Spook from Ruin's influence.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: Under Kelsier's command, Spook sends a message to Vin about her spike and Ruin's influence on her. However, Ruin intercepts and kills the messenger using Marsh, Kelsier's brother, who is now under Ruin's control. They then witness Vin's battle and subsequent defeat at the hands of Marsh and the other Steel Inquisitors. With Ruin's rage loosening his control, Marsh manages to use the intercepted message as Kelsier secretly intended and removes Vin's earring spike. Kelsier gives up Preservation's power to Vin, who uses it to kill the other Steel Inquisitors - but she ascends before she can finish Marsh.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: Kelsier realizes that Ruin's power is incomplete until he finds the Lord Ruler's hidden cache of "atium". He watches the battle at the Pits of Hathsin and Elend Venture's death at Marsh's hands. With her husband's death, Vin sacrifices herself to kill Ruin. Kelsier's long-time friend, Sazed takes up the powers of both Preservation and Ruin, ascending as "Harmony". Kelsier tearfully reunites with Vin and watches as she too chooses to pass on to the Afterlife with Elend. After Harmony remakes the world, Kelsier speaks to Spook and recruits his help in getting him a new "string" to the physical realm.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: "Mistborn: Secret History" was originally published 30 January 2016 by Dragonsteel Entertainment as an ebook. In November 2016, it was republished as part of "Arcanum Unbounded" by Tor Books.


title: Mistborn: Secret History

text: Tor noted that the novella was an unusual one for Sanderson since it contained "less action, and a lot more time-killing while waiting for action".


title: The Drums

text: Founding members Jonathan (Jonny) Pierce and Jacob Graham became friends as children, having met at Bible camp at age 11 or 12. Some years later, they formed a short-lived electro-pop group initially named Goat Explosion, eventually renamed Elkland. They released one album, "Golden", in 2005 and garnered interest with the single "Apart".


title: The Drums

text: In 2008, Pierce and Graham came up with the concept for The Drums, and Pierce moved to Kissimmee, Florida, where Graham resided at the time, so that they could more readily collaborate. They then moved to Brooklyn, in the spring of 2009, where drummer Connor Hanwick and former Elkland guitarist Adam Kessler joined the band to complete their live sound. The band had their first gig within a week of arriving in Brooklyn at Cake Shop NYC as part of the NYC Pop Fest. In October 2009, the band released their first EP, "Summertime!".


title: The Drums

text: In December 2009 the band was shortlisted as one of the 15 music acts for the BBC Sound of 2010. Subsequently, they placed at No. 5 in this list on 4 January 2010. In "NME"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s first issue of 2010 they were named number 1 in the magazine's top tips for the year as well as in "Clash Magazine"'s Tips for 2010. The Drums were also voted "Best Hope for 2010" in "Pitchfork"s 2009 Readers' Poll. They won the Hall Radar Award for 2010 and were the most Shazamed band of 2009.


title: The Drums

text: In February 2010, the band played venues around the UK on the 2010 NME Awards Tour alongside The Maccabees, Bombay Bicycle Club and The Big Pink, going on to play support band for Florence and the Machine's 2010 "Cosmic Love" tour. In June 2010 they played as one of the support bands for Kings of Leon in Hyde Park, London.


title: The Drums

text: On May 7, 2010, they appeared on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross", where they performed "Best Friend". Their debut album was officially released on June 7, 2010, on Moshi Moshi and Island Records. The album contained the singles "Let's Go Surfing", "Best Friend," "Me and the Moon" and "Forever and Ever, Amen" as well as "Down By The Water", which had previously been released as part of the band's "Summertime!" EP. On September 16, 2010, it was announced on the band's Facebook page and website that guitarist Adam Kessler had left the band.


title: The Drums

text: The Drums released the single "The New World" on April 11, 2011, with proceeds going to Japan disaster relief efforts.


title: The Drums

text: For their second LP, the band recorded quickly, again self-producing, often laying down tracks spontaneously in singer Jonny Pierce’s kitchen. They released "Portamento" on September 5, 2011. The album title has a deeper meaning for Pierce, as he describes, “Jacob and I meeting as young boys with a shared love for Kraftwerk and Anything Box and Wendy Carlos, and these were all synth pioneers, and a common feature on old analogue systems was ‘Portamento’. The band almost split at the end of June due to stylistic disagreements. Jacob explained, "I think our band is kind of fragile and probably on the verge of breaking up pretty constantly and I say that seriously and jokingly at the same time."


title: The Drums

text: In 2011, Jonny Pierce co-wrote "In The Middle (I Met You There)" with Brooklyn artist Matthew Dear for his EP "Headcage". His writing credits also include "You Gave Me Nothing" and "Lose It (In the End)" which are included on Mark Ronson's album "Record Collection".


title: The Drums

text: In November 2012, Jonny Pierce announced he would be releasing a solo album in 2013. The Drums continued on with members Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham.


title: The Drums

text: The Drums made their American television debut on "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" on February 15, 2012. MTV gave the band a "celebrity chart" special on MTV HD channel in May 2012, where Pierce and Graham introduced their favorite videos and bands as well as some of their own videos.


title: The Drums

text: On July 17, 2014, The Drums announced that their third studio album would be called "Encyclopedia" and would be released September 23, 2014. In an interview with "Billboard" Magazine, they stated that he and Graham were ready to come back together and give The Drums another try. They holed up in a lakeside cabin in upstate New York and "went crazy", says Graham. "That's when it occurred to me that we can have fun with this and make a record that's interesting and bizarre.' "The resulting cathartic collection of tracks departs from the Drums' signature "tonal palette," as Graham calls it. With taut, spindly guitar lines, liberal sprinklings of tambourine, and uptempo kick drums that belie the brooding, thoughtful content matter of songs like "Best Friend".


title: The Drums

text: On March 1, 2017, they released the debut single, "Blood Under My Belt," from their 2017 album "Abysmal Thoughts". It was announced via a Facebook post in which frontman Jonny Pierce took full credit for the writing and producing of the album. Longstanding member Jacob Graham later announced on Instagram that he had left The Drums. In his statement, he said, "It's actually been over a year now since I left the band but it's just now coming to light with today's press. There are no hard feelings whatsoever, I wish Jonny and the band the best of luck. I'd been with the band for almost ten years and I wanted to focus on my puppetry and my work with my new band Sound of Ceres." Their fourth album was released on June 16 on ANTI-.


title: The Drums

text: The band cite their major influences as The Wake, The Smiths, Joy Division/New Order, The Tough Alliance, The Legends, The Shangri-las, Starflyer 59, Joy Electric, The Embassy and Orange Juice.


title: The Drums

text: Graham also mentions that reverb in general has played a major role in their sound: "...If reverb didn't exist we wouldn't have bothered trying to start a band."


title: The Drums

text: Both members of The Drums have announced solo records in the works for release in 2013. Jonathan under the name Jonny Pierce, and Jacob as Cascading Slopes. In December, Pierce said in an interview with NME "I wanted to be as self-indulgent as possible with this album. This is pop done the way I think it should be done." The album was never completed however. Instead, Jonny Pierce announced that The Drums had entered the studio and wanted to release a Drums record instead. Cascading Slopes completed the album "Towards a Quaker View of Synthesizers" in 2013 and it was released in the fall through Plastiq Musiq. Graham described the musical approach on that album, saying "The concept is to write very simple, personal, folk songs but to do it with only old, analog synthesizers".


title: Sunny Edwards

text: Sunny Edwards (born 1 January 1996) is a British professional boxer who has held the IBF flyweight title since 2021. He is the younger brother of boxer Charlie Edwards.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: As of September 2021, he is ranked as the world's best active flyweight by BoxRec, second by TBRB, and third by "The Ring".


title: Sunny Edwards

text: As an amateur he fought out of Repton ABC and later Steel City ABC, winning multiple national championships; the ABA Juniors in 2013; ABA Youth in 2014; and the ABA Elite in 2015. He also won silver medals in the GB Junior, and ABA Elite Championships in 2012 and 2016 respectively.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: Edwards made his professional debut on 24 September 2016 at the Recinto Ferial in Estepona, Spain, scoring a four-round points decision (PTS) victory over Sergey Tasimov.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: After winning his first five fights, one by stoppage, he faced undefeated prospect Ross Murray (6–0, 1 KO) on 27 November 2017 at Grange St. Paul's Hotel in London, with the vacant WBO European super-flyweight title on the line. Edwards won the fight via fourth-round technical knockout (TKO). Following two more wins, he successfully defended his WBO European title on 26 October 2018 with a ten round unanimous decision (UD) victory over Ryan Farrag at the York Hall, London. Two judges scored the bout 100–90 while the third scored it 99–91.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: His next fight came on 15 December against Junior Granados at the Brentwood Centre, Essex, for the vacant WBO International super-flyweight title. Edwards overcame a second-round knockdown to add the WBO International to his WBO European title by UD, with the judges' scorecards reading 99–91, 98–91, 97–92. Following the win over Granados, he made a second defence of his WBO European title against Pedro Matos on 27 April 2019, at Wembley Arena, London. Edwards retained his title via eighth-round TKO. His next fight came on 13 July against Hiram Gallardo at The O2 Arena, London, with the vacant IBF International super-flyweight title in the line. Edwards won by UD, adding the IBF International to his WBO titles. All three judges scored the bout 99–90.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: Edwards dropped down to flyweight for his next fight, stating, "We dropped down to flyweight because it's looking like I'm more likely to get a world title shot, but it is what it is""." On 14 September 2019, he fought Rosendo Guarneros at the York Hall for the vacant IBF International and vacant WBO Inter-Continental flyweight titles. Edwards won by UD, with two judges scoring the bout 99–91 and the third scoring it 100–90.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: Edwards fought Marcel Braithwaite on 21 December 2019, for the vacant British super-flyweight title. He won the fight by UD with scores of 117–110, 118–109 and 118–109. Edwards suffered the only knockdown of the fight, as he was knocked down by Braithwaite in the seventh round. Edwards revealed significant swelling on the knuckles of his hands post-fight, which were the result of damaged ligaments. Edwards defended his IBF International on 29 August 2020, defeating Thomas Essomba via UD with scores of 117–112, 117–111, and 116–112.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: Edwards challenged reigning champion Moruti Mthalane for the IBF flyweight title on 30 April 2021. Mthalane came into the fight on a sixteen-fight winning streak, with 13 of those fights being world title bouts. Mthalane's last loss came at the hands of Nonito Donaire on 1 November 2008. Edwards was a slight betting underdog heading into the fight. Edwards won the fight by UD, with two of the judges giving him wide scorecards of 118–111 and 120–108, while the third judge scored it 115–113 for him.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: On 24 May 2021, Edwards was ordered to face the IBF mandatory challenger Jayson Mama. Mama was originally set to face Mthalane, before accepting step-aside money to allow Edwards to fight him. The bout was officially scheduled for 11 September 2021 at the Copper Box Arena in Hackney Wick, London. On September 8, Edwards withdrew from the fight with an ankle injury. Accordingly, the title bout was postponed. The fight was rescheduled for 11 December 2021 and took place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. After John Riel Casimero withdrew from his mandatory title defense against Paul Butler, Edwards' bout with Mama was elevated to main event status. Edwards won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 117-110. He scored the sole knockdown of the fight in the tenth round, dropping Mama with a left-right combination.


title: Sunny Edwards

text: On 25 January 2022, Edwards' promoters MTK Global announced that he would make the second defense of his title against the one-time IBF title challenger Muhammad Waseem, who was at the time the #3 ranked IBF flyweight contender. The fight was booked for 23 March 2022, and took place at the Aviation Club Tennis Centre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Two weeks later, on 9 February, Edwards signed a promotional deal with Probellum. Edwards won the fight by unanimous decision. Two of the judges scored the bout 115–111 in his favour, while the third judge awarded him a 116–110 scorecard. Waseem was deducted a point in both the sixth round for holding and a point in the seventh round for headbutting. Edwards called for a title unification bout with Julio Cesar Martinez in his post-fight interview, stating: "I want The Ring Magazine [title], I want the WBC [title]".


title: Sunny Edwards

text: On July 12, 2022, it was revealed that Edwards had entered into negotiations for a title unification bout with the WBC flyweight champion Julio Cesar Martinez. The IBF gave Edwards until September 7 to deliver signed contracts as proof of the unification bout taking place. As this failed to happen, on September 8, the IBF ordered Edwards to make a mandatory title defense against their former light flyweight champion Felix Alvarado. The title bout was booked to take place on November 11, in London, England. Edwards won the fight by unanimous decision. Two judges scored the bout 115–113 in his favor, while the third judge awarded him a 116–112 scorecard.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: Big Business is a 1988 American comedy film starring Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, each playing two roles, as sets of identical twins mismatched at birth. The nature versus nurture farce adapts "The Comedy of Errors", but with female siblings in contemporary society: one of each twin being reared in a wealthy urban setting, while the others grew up in a poor rural environment.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: Produced by Touchstone Pictures, the film co-stars Fred Ward, Edward Herrmann, Joe Grifasi, and Seth Green, as well as siblings Michael Gross and Mary Gross. Directed by Jim Abrahams, critical reaction to the film as a whole was generally lukewarm. Both Midler and Tomlin were nominated for the American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture for their performances with Midler winning.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: In 1948, wealthy businessman Hunt Shelton and his pregnant wife are lost in rural West Virginia when Mrs. Shelton goes into labor near the town of Jupiter Hollow. At the local hospital, they are turned away, because it is exclusively for employees of Hollowmade, the local furniture maker. Mr. Shelton purchases the company on the spot, and Mrs. Shelton is then admitted. The Ratliffs, an impoverished couple, arrive moments later with Mrs. Ratliff also in labor. Both women give birth to twin girls, and the elderly nurse attending the doctor confuses and mixes up the sets of twins. Mr. Ratliff overhears the Sheltons deciding to name their daughters Rose and Sadie, and suggests the same names to his wife.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: Forty years later, the Shelton sisters are now co-chairwomen of Moramax in New York City, a conglomerate that is the successor to their father's business interests. Sadie Shelton is focused on her career to the detriment of her family, while Rose Shelton wishes for a simpler life in the country. As part of her business plan, Sadie plans to sell Hollowmade, but must get stockholders' approval to proceed. In Jupiter Hollow, Rose Ratliff has risen to the position of forewoman at the Hollowmade Factory, and is also very career-driven. Meanwhile, Sadie Ratliff has always felt misplaced in rural life, and wishes for a more sophisticated life in a big city. Rose discovers Moramax's plans to sell Hollowmade, and makes plans to travel to New York City to stop the sale. Wanting to see the city, Sadie agrees to join her sister.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: While Sadie Shelton makes plans for the shareholders' meeting, she learns from her employee Graham Sherbourne that "R. Ratliff" plans to come to New York with his sister to stop the sale. Sadie orders Sherbourne to locate "R. Ratliff" to prevent them from appearing at the meeting. A series of mixups at JFK Airport leaves the Shelton sisters stranded while the prospective buyer of Hollowmade, Mr. Fabio Alberici, takes their limousine back to the Plaza Hotel with the Ratliff sisters. The Ratliffs are checked into the Sheltons' suite, and the Sheltons take the suite next door, leading to a series of near-misses between the four sisters, and the men who are pursuing them romantically. In the meantime, Graham and his assistant/boyfriend assume that a visitor from Jupiter Hollow, Rose Ratliff's beau Roone Dimmick, is actually "R. Ratliff".


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: All sisters discover their mixup in the lobby bathroom. After Sadie Shelton acts like she will call off the Hollowmade sale, Rose Ratliff calls her out on the strip mining plans. Rose Shelton then realizes that Sadie has been lying to her, and helps the Ratliffs trap her in the broom closet. Rose Ratliff sits outside the broom closet to keep Sadie Shelton trapped, while Rose Shelton and Sadie Ratliff attend the shareholders' meeting and stop the sale of Hollowmade. Both sets of twins later leave the Plaza hotel with their newfound loves.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: The movie was originally written for Barbra Streisand (Midler's role) and Goldie Hawn (Tomlin's role). The plot playfully combines three recognizable stories: Aesop's "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse", Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper", and Shakespeare's "The Comedy of Errors".


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: The production company could not get the rights to film at the actual Plaza Hotel in New York City, so it had the hotel replicated on a Walt Disney Studios sound stage. To recoup construction costs, Disney built a sitcom titled "The Nutt House" around it. Jim Abrahams said he staged one of the boardroom scenes based on an experience he had when a large agency used many employees to get him to sign with them.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: Critical reaction to the film as a whole was generally lukewarm. Rotten Tomatoes reports that 42% of critics gave the film a positive rating, based on 19 reviews, with an average score of 5/10. Sheila Benson from the "Los Angeles Times" called "Big Business" a "bright whirligig of a movie" and added: "As you watch its buoyant hilarity, the intricacies flow smoothly as honey off a spoon [...] Like a sensational party the night before, "Big Business" may not bear the closest scrutiny in the cold light of day, but it gives an irresistible glow at the time. And when it gets on a roll, it's a movie with more wit to its lines and a more pungent array of them than much of the mishmash that has passed as Bette Midler's "Greatest Movie Hits"." "Philadelphia Daily News" writer Ben Yagoda felt that the film was "big fun. Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler are a double dose of hilarity. Call out the National Guard — "Big Business" is a laugh riot".


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: In his review for "The New York Times", Vincent Canby remarked that "Big Business", "though it never quite delivers the boffo payoff, is a most cheerful, very breezy summer farce, played to the hilt by two splendidly comic performers...Sometimes [the film's writers] do have trouble in characterizing the two sets of twins, allowing them to blend in such a way that the comic edge finally becomes blurred. Yet the film moves at such a clip, and with such uncommon zest, that it's good fun even when the invention wears thin." Roger Ebert, writing for the "Chicago Sun-Times", gave the film two out of four stars. He declared the film "an endless and dreary series of scenes in which the various twins just barely miss running into each other in the Plaza Hotel," and found that it felt "unfinished" and missed a payoff. "Variety" called the film "a shrill, unattractive comedy." The staff felt that Midler's "loud brashness generally dominated [Tomlin's] sly skittishness".


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: In a 2020 vodcast for CollegeHumor's "Dimension 20", comedian Ally Beardsley recommended "Big Business" and argued that the film is underappreciated.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: In the United States, "Big Business" debuted within the top three on the box-office chart and became a modest success, eventually grossing $40.2 million during its domestic run.


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: The film was released to VHS, Betamax, and Laserdisc in 1989 by Touchstone Home Video, with a DVD release in 2002. In 2011, "Big Business" was among a selection of titles from Touchstone and Hollywood Pictures to be licensed to Mill Creek Entertainment on behalf of Disney, and a DVD and Blu-ray disc were released of the film. The DVD is available on its own, as a double-feature with "Straight Talk", and as a triple-feature with "Straight Talk" and "V.I. Warshawski".


title: Big Business (1988 film)

text: In December 2017, "Big Business" and "Scenes from a Mall" were re-released on DVD and Blu-ray by Kino Lorber under license from Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: The Roman–Parthian Wars (54 BC – 217 AD) were a series of conflicts between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. It was the first series of conflicts in what would be 682 years of Roman–Persian Wars.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Battles between the Parthian Empire and the Roman Republic began in 54 BC. This first incursion against Parthia was repulsed, notably at the Battle of Carrhae (53 BC). During the Roman Liberators' civil war of the 1st Century BC, the Parthians actively supported Brutus and Cassius, invading Syria, and gaining territories in the Levant. However, the conclusion of the second Roman civil war brought a revival of Roman strength in Western Asia.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: In 113 AD, the Roman Emperor Trajan made eastern conquests and the defeat of Parthia a strategic priority, and successfully overran the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, installing Parthamaspates of Parthia as a client ruler. However he was later repulsed from the region by rebellions. Hadrian, Trajan's successor, reversed his predecessor's policy, intending to re-establish the Euphrates as the limit of Roman control. However, in the 2nd century, war over Armenia broke out again in 161, when Vologases IV defeated the Romans there. A Roman counter-attack under Statius Priscus defeated the Parthians in Armenia and installed a favored candidate on the Armenian throne, and an invasion of Mesopotamia culminated in the sack of Ctesiphon in 165.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: In 195, another Roman invasion of Mesopotamia began under the Emperor Septimius Severus, who occupied Seleucia and Babylon, however he was unable to take Hatra. Parthia ultimately was taken by a Persian rebellion led by Ardashir I, who entered Ctesiphon in 226. Under Ardashir and his successors, Persian-Roman conflict continued between the Sassanid Empire and Rome.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: After triumphing in the Seleucid–Parthian Wars and annexing large amounts of the Seleucid Empire, the Parthians began to look west for more territory to expand into. Parthian enterprise in the West began in the time of Mithridates I; during his reign, the Arsacids succeeded in extending their rule into Armenia and Mesopotamia. This was the beginning of an "international role" for the Parthian empire, a phase that also entailed contacts with Rome. Mithridates II conducted unsuccessful negotiations with Sulla for a Roman–Parthian alliance (c. 105 BC).


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: By the same time the Parthians started their rise, they established eponymous branches in the Caucasus, namely the Arsacid dynasty of Armenia, the Arsacid dynasty of Iberia, and the Arsacid Dynasty of Caucasian Albania.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: After 90 BC, the Parthian power was diminished by dynastic feuds, while at the same time, Roman power in Anatolia collapsed. Roman–Parthian contact was restored when Lucullus invaded Southern Armenia and defeated Tigranes in 69 BC, however, again no definite agreement was made.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: When Pompey took charge of the war in the East, he re-opened negotiations with Phraates III; they came to an agreement and Roman–Parthian troops invaded Armenia in 66/65 BC, but soon a dispute arose over Euphrates boundary between Rome and Parthia. Pompey refused to recognize the title of "King of Kings" for Phraates, and offered arbitration between Tigranes and the Parthian king over Corduene. Finally, Phraates asserted his control over Mesopotamia, except for the western district of Osroene, which became a Roman dependency.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: In 53 BC, Crassus led an invasion of Mesopotamia, with catastrophic results; at the Battle of Carrhae, Crassus and his son Publius were defeated and killed by a Parthian army under General Surena. The bulk of his force was either killed or captured; of 42,000 men, about half died, a quarter made it back to Syria, and the remainder became prisoners of war. Rome was humiliated by this defeat, and this was made even worse by the fact that the Parthians had captured several Legionary Eagles. It is also mentioned by Plutarch that the Parthians found the Roman prisoner of war that resembled Crassus the most, dressed him as a woman and paraded him through Parthia for all to see. This, however, could easily be Roman propaganda. Orodes II, with the rest of the Parthian Army, defeated the Armenians and captured their country. However, Surena's victory invoked the jealousy of the Parthian king, and he ordered Surena's execution. Following Surena's death, Orodes II himself took command of the Parthian army and led an unsuccessful military campaign into Syria. The Battle of Carrhae was one of the first major battles between the Romans and Parthians.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: The following year, the Parthians launched raids into Syria, and in 51 BC mounted a major invasion led by the crown prince Pacorus and the general Osaces; they besieged Cassius in Antioch, and caused considerable alarm in the Roman provinces in Asia. Cicero, who had been chosen governor of adjacent Cilicia for that year, marched with two legions to lift the siege. Pacorus fell back, but was ambushed in his retreat by Cassius near Antigonea and Osaces was killed.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: During Caesar's civil war the Parthians made no move, but maintained relations with Pompey. After his defeat and death, a force under Pacorus came to the aid of the Pompeian general Caecilius Bassus, who was besieged at Apamea Valley by the Caesarian forces. With the civil war over, Julius Caesar elaborated plans for a campaign against Parthia, but his assassination averted the war. During the ensuing Liberators' civil war, the Parthians actively supported Brutus and Cassius, sending a contingent which fought with them at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: After that defeat, the Parthians under Pacorus invaded Roman territory in 40 BC in conjunction with Quintus Labienus, a Roman erstwhile supporter of Brutus and Cassius. They swiftly overran Syria, and defeated Roman forces in the province; all the cities of the coast, with the exception of Tyre admitted the Parthians. Pacorus then advanced into Hasmonean Judea, overthrowing the Roman client Hyrcanus II and installing his nephew Antigonus (40–37 BC) in his place. For a moment, the whole of the Roman East was captured by the Parthians. The conclusion of the second Roman civil war was soon to bring about a revival of Roman strength in Western Asia.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Meanwhile, Mark Antony had already sent Ventidius to oppose Labienus who had invaded Anatolia. Soon Labienius was driven back to Syria by Roman forces, and, though his Parthian allies came to his support, he was defeated, taken prisoner and then put to death. After suffering a further defeat near the Syrian Gates, the Parthians withdrew from Syria. They returned in 38 BC, but were decisively defeated by Ventidius and Pacorus was killed. In Judea, Antigonus was ousted with Roman help by the Idumean Herod in 37 BC.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: With Roman control of Syria and Judaea restored, Mark Antony led a huge army into Caucasian Albania (just east of Armenia), but his siege train and its escort were isolated and wiped out, while his Armenian allies deserted. Failing to make progress against Parthian positions, the Romans withdrew with heavy casualties. In 33 BC Antony was again in Armenia, contracting an alliance with the Median king against both Octavian, and the Parthians, but other preoccupations obliged him to withdraw, and the whole region passed under Parthian control.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Under the threat of an impending war between the two powers, Gaius Caesar and Phraataces worked out a rough compromise between the two powers in 1 AD. According to the agreement, Parthia undertook to withdraw its forces from Armenia, and to recognize a "de facto" Roman protectorate over the country. Nonetheless, Roman-Parthian rivalry over control and influence in Armenia continued unabated for the next several decades.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: The decision of the Parthian king Artabanus II to place his son, Arsaces, on the vacant Armenian throne triggered a war with Rome in 36 AD. Artabanus III reached an understanding with the Roman general, Lucius Vitellius, renouncing Parthian claims to a sphere of influence in Armenia. A new crisis was triggered in 58, when the Romans invaded Armenia after the Parthian king Vologases I forcibly installed his brother Tiridates on the throne there. Roman forces under Corbulo overthrew Tiridates and replaced him with a Cappadocian prince. This prompted Parthian retaliation and an inconclusive series of campaigns in Armenia ensued. The war came to an end in 63, when the Romans agreed to allow Tiridates and his descendants to rule Armenia on condition that they received the kingship from the Roman emperor.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Armenia would henceforth be ruled by a Parthian dynasty, and despite its nominal allegiance to Rome, it would come under increasing Parthian influence. In the judgment of later generations, "Romans had lost Armenia", and although the Peace of Rhandeia ushered in a period of relatively peaceful relations that would last for 50 years, Armenia would continue to be a constant bone of contention between the Romans, the Parthians, and their Sassanid successors.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: As for Corbulo, he was honoured by Nero as the man who had brought this "triumph" to be, but his popularity and influence with the army made him a potential rival. Together with the involvement of his son-in-law Lucius Annius Vinicianus in a foiled plot against Nero in 66, Corbulo became suspect in the eyes of the emperor. In 67, while journeying in Greece, Nero ordered him to be executed; upon hearing of this, Corbulo committed suicide.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: A new series of wars began in the 2nd century, during which the Romans consistently held the upper hand over Parthia. In 113, the Roman Emperor Trajan decided that the moment was ripe to resolve the "eastern question" once and for all time by the decisive defeat of Parthia and the annexation of Armenia; his conquests marked a deliberate change of Roman policy towards Parthia, and a shift of emphasis in the "grand strategy" of the empire.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: In 114, Trajan invaded Armenia, annexed it as a Roman province, and killed Parthamasiris who was placed on the Armenian throne by his relative, the king of Parthia, Osroes I. In 115, the Roman emperor overran northern Mesopotamia and annexed it to Rome as well; its conquest was deemed necessary, since otherwise the Armenian salient could be cut off by the Parthians from the south. The Romans then captured the Parthian capital, Ctesiphon, before sailing downriver to the Persian Gulf. However, in that year revolts erupted in Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and northern Mesopotamia, while a major Jewish revolt broke out in Roman territory, severely stretching Roman military resources. Trajan failed to take Hatra, the capital of the Kingdom of Hatra, which avoided total Parthian defeat. Parthian forces attacked key Roman positions and Roman garrisons at Seleucia, Nisibis and Edessa were evicted by the local populaces. Trajan subdued the rebels in Mesopotamia, installed the Parthian prince Parthamaspates as a client ruler, and withdrew to Syria. Trajan died in 117, before he could renew the war. Trajan's Parthian campaign is considered, in different ways, the climax of "two centuries of political posturing and bitter rivalry." Trajan was the first emperor to carry out a successful invasion of Mesopotamia. His grand scheme for Armenia and Mesopotamia were ultimately "cut short by circumstances created by an incorrect understanding of the strategic realities of eastern conquest and an underestimation of what insurgency can do."


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Trajan's successor, Hadrian, promptly reversed his predecessor's policy. He decided that it was in Rome's interest to re-establish the Euphrates as the limit of its direct control, and willingly returned to the "status quo ante", surrendering the territories of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Adiabene back to their previous rulers and client-kings. Once again, at least for another half century, Rome was to avoid active intervention east of the Euphrates.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: War over Armenia broke out again in 161, when Vologases IV defeated the Romans there, captured Edessa and ravaged Syria. In 163, a Roman counter-attack under Statius Priscus defeated the Parthians in Armenia and installed a favored candidate on the Armenian throne. The following year Avidius Cassius began an invasion of Mesopotamia, winning battles at Dura-Europos and Seleucia and sacking Ctesiphon in 165. An epidemic, possibly of smallpox, which was sweeping Parthia at the time now spread to the Roman army, leading to their withdrawal.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: In 195, another Roman invasion of Mesopotamia began under the Emperor Septimius Severus, who occupied Seleucia and Babylon, and then sacked Ctesiphon yet again in 197. These wars led to the Roman acquisition of northern Mesopotamia, as far as the areas around Nisibis and Singara. A final war against the Parthians was launched by the emperor Caracalla, who sacked Arbela in 216, but after his assassination, his successor Macrinus lost a battle against the Parthians at Nisibis and was forced to pay tribute to Parthia, that was the last engagement of the Parthian Wars.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Parthia was finally destroyed by Ardashir I when he entered Ctesiphon in 226. The Sassanids were more centralized than the Parthian dynasties.


title: Roman–Parthian Wars

text: Until the Sassanids came to power, the Romans were mostly the aggressors. However, the Sassanids, being Persians, were determined to reconquer lands that the Achaemenid dynasty had once held and now lost. Their nationalistic zeal made them much more aggressive foes of the Romans than the Parthians ever were. For more information, see Byzantine-Sassanid Wars.


title: Layla Moran

text: Layla Michelle Moran (; born 12 September 1982) is a British Liberal Democrat politician serving as the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and International Development since 2020, and serving as the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon since 2017.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran came out as pansexual in 2020 and is believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to do so. She is the first MP of Palestinian descent.


title: Layla Moran

text: She attended private schools in Brussels, Kingston in Jamaica and Roedean School near Brighton. She studied Physics at Imperial College London and completed her PGCE at Brunel University London. She worked as a maths and physics teacher. Moran unsuccessfully campaigned as the Liberal Democrat candidate in Battersea at the 2010 general election and in the West Central constituency at the 2012 London Assembly election.


title: Layla Moran

text: She contested Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election, coming second. She was selected for the seat again at the 2017 general election and was elected to the House of Commons, defeating Conservative MP Nicola Blackwood, with 26,256 votes (43.7%) and a majority of 816.


title: Layla Moran

text: She served as the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for the Department for Education under three leaders from 2017 to 2020, and was spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 2019 to 2020. After Jo Swinson lost her seat at the 2019 general election, Moran stood to become Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the 2020 leadership election, which she lost to Acting Leader Sir Ed Davey. On 31 August 2020, Davey appointed Moran as the Liberal Democrats' Shadow Foreign Secretary and as International Development Spokesperson the following day.


title: Layla Moran

text: Layla Michelle Moran was born in Hammersmith, London on 12 September 1982, the elder daughter of diplomat James Moran and Randa Moran, a Christian Palestinian from Jerusalem. Her great-grandfather was the Palestinian writer Wasif Jawhariyyeh, who published extensive memoirs. Moran describes herself as a British Palestinian. On her upbringing, Moran said "My Palestinian background has made me interested at a global level. Politics was always at the dinner table; it primed me to engage." Moran was raised as a cultural Christian and now identifies as a humanist.


title: Layla Moran

text: Because her father was a diplomat for the European Union and its predecessors, Moran grew up in various countries, including Belgium, Greece, Ethiopia, Jamaica and Jordan. She attended private schools in Brussels, Kingston in Jamaica and Roedean School in Brighton. From 2000 to 2003, she studied physics at Imperial College London, and from 2005 to 2007 completed a PGCE at Brunel University London. From 2007 to 2008, she studied for a master's degree in comparative education at UCL's Institute of Education.


title: Layla Moran

text: From 2003 to 2012, Moran was a maths and physics teacher at the International School of Brussels, and at two schools in London: Queensmead School and Southbank International School. Between 2009 and 2013 she worked as a part-time course tutor for Oxford Study Courses, a company that helps International Baccalaureate teachers and students, and from 2013 she was full-time academic manager.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran was selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate for Battersea at the 2010 general election and came in third place. She also stood as a candidate for the West Central constituency in the 2012 London Assembly election, coming fourth.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran contested Oxford West and Abingdon at the 2015 general election, coming second. She was selected for the seat again at the 2017 general election and won the seat from Nicola Blackwood, a Conservative who was then a junior minister for health, with 26,256 votes (43.7%) and a majority of 816. Moran became the first UK Member of Parliament of Palestinian descent and the first female Liberal Democrat MP from an ethnic minority background.


title: Layla Moran

text: In June 2017, Moran was named Liberal Democrat spokesperson for education, science and young people in the House of Commons. That month she used her maiden speech to call for fairer funding for schools, and in July 2017 she spoke out against the closure of all the Sure Start children's centres in Oxfordshire earlier in the year. Also in July 2017, Moran was jeered at for accusing the Conservatives of underfunding a new scheme to provide 30 hours of free child care for the children of working parents. Later in 2017, she was appointed a member of the Public Accounts Committee, which is responsible for overseeing government expenditure.


title: Layla Moran

text: In May 2019, Moran announced that, being a relatively new MP, she would not be running in the 2019 Liberal Democrats leadership election. She had been considered a frontrunner to replace Vince Cable as leader, following his announcement in September 2018 that he intended to step down from the post. At the 2019 general election she stood for re-election, increasing her majority to 8,943. In March 2020, Moran announced that she would be running in the 2020 leadership election. Moran finished in second place with 35.6% of the vote, losing to Ed Davey, the acting co-leader.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran has also been a leading voice in the call for a full review of the GCSE history curriculum. She argues that to tackle institutional racism in society students must be taught of Britain's colonial past and the injustices that took place within it. In 2020 over 250,000 people signed a petition calling for 'Britain's colonial history to be made a compulsory part of the curriculum' which prompted Moran and 30 other cross-party MP's to apply greater pressure on the government to make significant changes to the history curriculum.


title: Layla Moran

text: In 2021, Moran was one of three MPs who successfully took legal action against the Department of Health and Social Care over contracts awarded during the COVID-19 pandemic.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran supports action on climate change, and was the only Oxfordshire MP to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran opposed Brexit and supported a second referendum on EU membership. Despite her opposition to Brexit, after the 2019 general election, she said that a Liberal Democrat policy to cancel the departure without a second referendum was a mistake.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran opposed the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She opposed cuts to foreign aid to Yemen. She is also critical of Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran believes that the United Kingdom should announce recognition of the State of Palestine. She called out the names of the children killed in the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis in Parliament.


title: Layla Moran

text: Moran supported an inquiry into the disappearances of Mohammed Bin Nayef and Prince Ahmed Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia. She is also critical of the arms-trade between Britain and Saudi Arabia, and is a critic of Russia. In February 2022, she used the cover of Parliamentary privilege to name the Navalny 35, Russian oligarchs who, as allies of Vladimir Putin, should have sanctions imposed on them.


title: Layla Moran

text: In an interview with "The Times", Moran stated that she suffered from depression when she was a student and attributed it to a negative self-image resulting from the social stigma of obesity. She underwent stomach-stapling surgery to assist her in losing weight.


title: Layla Moran

text: In 2013, Moran and her then boyfriend Richard Davis were briefly questioned by police, after she slapped him during an argument in their hotel room at the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference. No charge was brought, but the relationship subsequently ended.


title: Layla Moran

text: On 2 January 2020, Moran revealed in an interview with "PinkNews" that she is pansexual; she is believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual. Moran also disclosed that she was in a stable relationship with Rosy Cobb, formerly a Liberal Democrat press officer. Cobb was suspended by the party during the previous general election over an accusation that she had forged an email.


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz (9 July 1909 in Ploskovice, Bohemia – 7 September 2005 in Uccle, Belgium) was the daughter of Prince Otto Weriand of Windisch-Graetz (1873–1952) and Archduchess Elisabeth Marie of Austria (1883–1963), only child of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Princess Stéphanie of Belgium. She was the great-grandchild of Emperor Franz-Joseph and Empress Elisabeth ('Sissi') of Austria. She was also the great-grandchild of King Leopold II of Belgium.


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: Her full name was "Stéphanie Eleonore Maria Elisabeth Kamilla Philomena Veronika zu Windisch-Grätz" in German, and "Stéphanie Éléonore Marie Élisabeth Camille Philomène Véronique de Windisch-Grätz" in French. She may have been named after her maternal grandmother, Princess Stéphanie of Belgium. Her nickname in the family was Fée.


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: As a child she suffered greatly from her mother's frequent absences, and her parents' inharmonious marriage. The couple was separated in 1924 and divorced in 1948. Her mother came to live in Brussels with the four children and Princess Clementine of Belgium offered a friendly refuge to Stéphanie.


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: In 1921, Archduchess Elisabeth had begun a relationship with the Austrian socialist member of parliament Leopold Petznek, whom she eventually married in 1948. Stéphanie got along well with her stepfather, but her relationship with her mother was not very good, and worsened after her second marriage. Archduchess Elisabeth did not like Karl-Axel Björklund, and forbade him to be in her house. Stéphanie financially supported her father Otto Weriand in later life.


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: In 1933, Stéphanie married Count Pierre d'Alcantara de Querrieu (2 November 1907 – 14 October 1944). Count d'Alcantara was the son of Jean d'Alcantara de Querrieu and Baroness Marie-Lucie t'Kint de Roodenbeeke. Count d'Alcantara was a member of the household of King Leopold III. In 1942 he was arrested by the Gestapo and died two years later in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp. She had one child by her first husband:


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: In 1945, after the death of her husband, she married Karl-Axel Björklund (1906–1986). She had one child by her second husband:


title: Princess Stephanie of Windisch-Graetz

text: During her long life, Stéphanie traveled extensively, especially in Africa, where her brother François-Joseph lived in Kenya, and also in South America, particularly in Argentina.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: Kalavantin Durg is a high summit located in the Western Ghats, near the Prabalgad fort in the Raigad district of Maharashtra, India. It is also known as Kelve Teen, Kalavantinicha Sulka, or Kalavantin Pinnacle; alternative transliterations include Kalawantin, Kalavati, and Kalavanti. It is a popular trekking destination.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: There is a series of steps leading to the top of the pinnacle, but little is known about the history of structure. According to local guides, it was built for a queen called Kalavantin in the 15th century, around the same time as the neighbouring Prabalgad.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: In Marathi language the word "Durg" means fort. Although it is called as "Kalavantin Durg", there is no fort. Kalavantin is a pinnacle which was used by the ruler to have watch on surrounding area.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: The trek to the top of the Kalavantin Durg is considered one of the most challenging ones in the Western Ghats. The summit is accessible via a 3 km (2 mile) hike from the Thakurwadi village in Karjat taluka. After Prabalmachi village (2 km; 1¼ miles from Thakurvadi), the hike route diverges into two paths: the shorter one towards Kalavantin Durg, and the longer one towards Prabalgad fort. The route to the Kalavantin top is a roughly 60-degree incline, and involves climbing rock-cut steps that are as high as 2 feet.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: In December 2016, 27-year old Hyderabad-based trekker Rachita Gupta Kanodia died during a trek to Kalavantin Durg and Prabalgad. Her body was found around 10 days after her death. She had earlier climbed the Kalavantin Durg in September, and is suspected to have fallen off from the Prabalgad peak.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: In February 2018, 27-year old Pune-based trekker Chetan Dhande fell to death while 15 feet away from the top of the Kalavantin Durg. Several other climbers witnessed his fall, and his body was discovered nearly four hours later.


title: Kalavantin Durg

text: After Dhande's death, the local administration instituted new rules to ensure safety of the trekkers. According to the new rulers, each trekker had to register with the administration by paying an entry fee of 20, and providing their personal details. No entry was allowed in the area during dark hours of 5pm-6am. During other hours, the entry was allowed only when accompanied by a local guide, which would cost 50. The administration trained 50 local villagers as guides. The trekkers were also banned from using plastic bags or plastic bottles.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan ibn Muhammad ibn Marwan ibn al-Hakam (; – 6 August 750), commonly known as Marwan II, was the fourteenth and last caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate, ruling from 744 until his death. His reign was dominated by a civil war, and he was the last Umayyad ruler to rule the united Caliphate before the Abbasid Revolution toppled the Umayyad dynasty.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan ibn Muhammad was a member of the "Marwanid" household of the Umayyad Caliphate. His grandmother, named Zaynab. Marwan's father, Muhammad ibn Marwan, who was the son of the fourth Umayyad Caliph Marwan I (), and hence half-brother to fifth Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan ().


title: Marwan II

text: His mother was a woman who's mostly unnamed, however sometimes is called Rayya or Tarubah, and is likely of non-Arab origin (a Kurd according to some accounts). Some have referenced that his mother was already pregnant with Marwan before his legal father, Muhammad, bed her, thus making the child not his. A couple sources report that Muhammad had taken her captive during the suppression of Ibn al-Zubayr's revolt.


title: Marwan II

text: There is much doubt and dispute on his mother's name but she was most commonly known as Umm Marwan (meaning "Mother of Marwan").


title: Marwan II

text: In 732–733, Caliph Hisham appointed Marwan governor of Armenia. In 735–736, Marwan invaded Georgia, devastated it and then took three fortresses of the Alans and made peace with Tumanshah. In 739–740, he launched further raids and obtained tribute.


title: Marwan II

text: In 744–745, on hearing news of the plot to overthrow al-Walid II, Marwan wrote to his relatives from Armenia strongly discouraging this. He urged them to harmoniously preserve the stability and well-being of the Umayyad house, however, this was disregarded and many armed men moved into Damascus. Yazid slipped into Damascus and deposed al-Walid in a coup, following this up with a disbursement of funds from the treasury.


title: Marwan II

text: Reportedly, Marwan II, who for several years had supervised the campaigns against the Byzantines and the Khazars on the Caliphate's northwestern frontiers, had considered claiming the caliphate at the death of al-Walid II, but a Kalbi rebellion had forced him to wait. Instead, Yazid III appointed him governor to Upper Mesopotamia and he took up residence in the Qays-dominated city of Harran. Throughout Yazid III's Caliphate Marwan remained a governor and he didn't claim the throne for himself.


title: Marwan II

text: When Yazid III persisted in overthrowing al-Walid II, Marwan at first opposed him, then rendered allegiance to him. On Yazid's early death (Yazid named his brother Ibrahim as his successor. Yazid fell ill of a brain tumour), Marwan renewed his ambitions, ignored Yazid's named successor Ibrahim, and became caliph. Ibrahim initially hid, then requested Marwan give him assurances of personal safety. This Marwan granted and Ibrahim even accompanied the new caliph to Hisham's residence of Rusafah.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan named his two sons Ubaydallah and Abdullah heirs. He appointed governors and proceeded to assert his authority by force. However, the anti-Umayyad feeling was very prevalent, especially in Iran and Iraq. The Abbasids had gained much support. As such, Marwan's reign as caliph was almost entirely devoted to trying to keep the Umayyad empire together.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan took Emesa (Homs) after a bitter ten-month siege. Al-Dahhak ibn Qays al-Shaybani led a Kharijite rebellion. He defeated the Syrian forces and took Kufa. Sulayman ibn Hisham turned against Marwan, but suffered a severe defeat. The Kharijites advanced on Mosul and were defeated. Sulayman joined them. Al-Dahhak's successor al-Khaybari was initially successful in pushing back Marwan's center and even took the caliph's camp and sat on his carpet. However, he and those with him fell into fighting in the camp. Shayban succeeded him. Marwan pursued him and Sulayman to Mosul and besieged them there for six months. Then, reinforced, the caliph drove them out. Shayban fled to Bahrayn where he was killed; Sulayman sailed to India.


title: Marwan II

text: In Khurasan there was internal discord, with the Umayyad governor Nasr ibn Sayyar facing opposition from al-Harith and al-Kirmani. They also fought each other. In addition, Abbasid envoys arrived. There had long been religious fervor and a kind of messianic expectation of Abbasid ascendency. During Ramadan of 747 (16 May – 14 June), the Abbasids unfurled the standards of their revolt. Nasr sent his retainer Yazid against them. Yazid, however, was bested, taken, and held captive. He was impressed by the Abbasids and when released told Nasr he wanted to join them, but his obligations to Nasr brought him back.


title: Marwan II

text: Fighting continued throughout Khurasan with the Abbasids gaining increasing ascendency. Finally, Nasr fell sick and died at Rayy on 9 November 748 at the age of eighty-five.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan campaigned in Egypt in 749 to quell the Bashmuric Revolt and secure his rear, but his campaign was a failure. The Abbasids, meanwhile, achieved success in the Hijaz. Marwan suffered a decisive defeat by Abu al-Abbas al-Saffah on the banks of the Great Zab, called Battle of the Zab. At this battle alone, over 300 members of the Umayyad family died. Marwan fled, leaving Damascus, Jordan and Palestine and reaching Egypt, where he was caught and killed on 6 August 750. His heirs Ubaydallah and Abdallah escaped to modern Eritrea. Abdallah died in fighting there.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan's death signaled the end of Umayyad fortunes in the East and was followed by the mass killing of Umayyads by the Abbasids. Almost the entire Umayyad dynasty was killed, except for the prince Abd ar-Rahman who escaped to Spain and founded an Umayyad dynasty there. In Egypt, Marwan's tongue was fed to a cat.


title: Marwan II

text: Marwan was known to be of a fair complexion, with blue eyes, a big beard, big toes and of medium height. He did not dye his beard with Henna and left it white.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: A tantalum electrolytic capacitor is an electrolytic capacitor, a passive component of electronic circuits. It consists of a pellet of porous tantalum metal as an anode, covered by an insulating oxide layer that forms the dielectric, surrounded by liquid or solid electrolyte as a cathode. Because of its very thin and relatively high permittivity dielectric layer, the tantalum capacitor distinguishes itself from other conventional and electrolytic capacitors in having high capacitance per volume (high volumetric efficiency) and lower weight.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Tantalum is a conflict mineral. Tantalum electrolytic capacitors are considerably more expensive than comparable aluminum electrolytic capacitors.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Tantalum capacitors are inherently polarized components. Reverse voltage can destroy the capacitor. Non-polar or bipolar tantalum capacitors are made by effectively connecting two polarized capacitors in series, with the anodes oriented in opposite directions.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Electrolytic capacitors use a chemical feature of some special metals, historically called "valve metals", which can form an insulating oxide layer. Applying a positive voltage to the tantalum anode material in an electrolytic bath forms an oxide barrier layer with a thickness proportional to the applied voltage. This oxide layer serves as the dielectric in an electrolytic capacitor. The properties of this oxide layer compared with tantalum oxide layer are given in the following table:


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: After forming a dielectric oxide on the rough anode structures, a cathode is needed. An electrolyte acts as the cathode of electrolytic capacitors. There are many different electrolytes in use. Generally, the electrolytes will be distinguished into two species, "non-solid" and "solid" electrolytes. Non-solid electrolytes are a liquid medium whose conductivity is ionic.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Every electrolytic capacitor in principle forms a "plate capacitor" whose capacitance is greater the larger the electrode area, A, and the permittivity, ε, are and the thinner the thickness, d, of the dielectric is.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The dielectric thickness of electrolytic capacitors is very thin, in the range of nanometers per volt. Despite this, the dielectric strengths of these oxide layers are quite high. Thus, tantalum capacitors can achieve a high volumetric capacitance compared to other capacitor types.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: All etched or sintered anodes have a much larger total surface area compared to a smooth surface of the same overall dimensions. This surface area increase boosts the capacitance value by a factor of up to 200 (depending on the rated voltage) for solid tantalum electrolytic capacitors.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The volume of an electrolytic capacitor is defined by the product of capacitance and voltage, the so-called "CV-volume". However, in comparing the permittivities of different oxide materials, it is seen that tantalum pentoxide has an approximately 3 times higher permittivity than aluminum oxide. Tantalum electrolytic capacitors of a given CV value can therefore be smaller than aluminum electrolytic capacitors.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: A typical tantalum capacitor is a chip capacitor and consists of tantalum powder pressed and sintered into a pellet as the anode of the capacitor, with the oxide layer of tantalum pentoxide as a dielectric, and a solid manganese dioxide electrolyte as the cathode.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Tantalum capacitors are manufactured from a powder of relatively pure elemental tantalum metal. A common figure of merit for comparing volumetric efficiency of powders is expressed in capacitance (C, usually in μF) times volts (V) per gram (g). Since the mid-1980s, manufactured tantalum powders have exhibited around a ten-fold improvement in CV/g values (from approximately 20k to 200k). The typical particle size is between 2 and 10 μm. Figure 1 shows powders of successively finer grain, resulting in greater surface area per unit volume. Note the very great difference in particle size between the powders.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The powder is compressed around a tantalum wire (known as the riser wire) to form a "pellet". The riser wire ultimately becomes the anode connection to the capacitor. This pellet/wire combination is subsequently vacuum sintered at high temperature (typically 1200 to 1800 °C) which produces a mechanically strong pellet and drives off many impurities within the powder. During sintering, the powder takes on a sponge-like structure, with all the particles interconnected into a monolithic spatial lattice. This structure is of predictable mechanical strength and density, but is also highly porous, producing a large internal surface area (see Figure 2).


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: Larger surface areas produce higher capacitance; thus high "CV"/g powders, which have lower average particle sizes, are used for low voltage, high capacitance parts. By choosing the correct powder type and sintering temperature, a specific capacitance or voltage rating can be achieved. For example, a 220 μF 6 V capacitor will have a surface area close to 346 cm, or 80% of the size of a sheet of paper (US Letter, 8.5×11 inch paper has area ~413 cm), although the total volume of the pellet is only about 0.0016 cm.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The dielectric is then formed over all the tantalum particle surfaces by the electrochemical process of anodization. To achieve this, the "pellet" is submerged into a very weak solution of acid and DC voltage is applied. The total dielectric thickness is determined by the final voltage applied during the forming process. Initially the power supply is kept in a constant current mode until the correct voltage (i.e. dielectric thickness) has been reached; it then holds this voltage and the current decays to close to zero to provide a uniform thickness throughout the device and production lot.


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The oxide forms on the surface of the tantalum, but it also grows into the material. For each unit thickness of oxide growth, one third grows out and two thirds grows in. Due to the limits of oxide growth, there is a limit on the maximum voltage rating of tantalum oxide for each of the presently available tantalum powders (see Figure 3).


title: Tantalum capacitor

text: The dielectric layer thickness generated by the forming voltage is directly proportional to the voltage proof of electrolytic capacitors. Electrolytic capacitors are manufactured with a safety margin in oxide layer thickness, which is the ratio between voltage used for electrolytical creation of dielectric and rated voltage of the capacitor, to ensure reliable functionality.