title: History of Carthage

text: During the emperor Maurice's reign, Carthage was made into an Exarchate, as was Ravenna in Italy. These two exarchates were the western bulwarks of Byzantium, all that remained of its power in the west. In the early 7th century, it was the Exarch of Carthage Heraclius, who overthrew Emperor Phocas.


title: History of Carthage

text: The Byzantine Exarchate was not, however, able to withstand the Arab conquerors of the 7th century. The first Arab assault on the Exarchate of Carthage was initiated from Egypt without much success in 647. A more protracted campaign lasted from 670 to 683. In 698, the Exarchate of Africa was finally overrun by Hassan Ibn al Numan and a force of 40,000 men. The population was displaced to the neighbouring town of Tunis which in turn vastly eclipsed Carthage as the major regional centre. Carthage's materials were used to supply the expansion of Tunis. The destruction of the Exarchate of Africa marked a permanent end to the Byzantine Empire's influence in the region.


title: History of Carthage

text: The modern Carthage is a suburb of Tunis, the capital city of Tunisia, situated at the site of the ancient capital of the Carthaginian empire. Carthage was little more than an agricultural village for nine hundred years until the middle of the 20th century; since then it has grown rapidly as an upscale coastal suburb. In 2004 it had a population of 15,922 according to the national census, and an estimated population of 21,276 in January 2013.


title: History of Carthage

text: In February 1985, Ugo Vetere, the mayor of Rome, and Chedly Klibi, the mayor of Carthage, signed a symbolic treaty "officially" ending the conflict between their cities, which had been supposedly extended by the lack of a peace treaty for more than 2,100 years. Carthage is a tourist attraction. The Carthage Palace (the Tunisian presidential palace), is located in the city.


title: History of Carthage

text: The modern Carthage, beyond its residential vocation, seems to be invested with an affirmed political role. The geographical configuration of Carthage as an old peninsula save Carthage from Tunis' inconveniences and embarrassments and increase its attractiveness as a place of residence for the elites. If Carthage is not the capital, it tends to be the political pole, a "place of emblematic power," according to Sophie Bessis, leaving to Tunis the economic and administrative roles.


title: History of Carthage

text: Some ancient translations of Punic texts into Greek and Latin as well as inscriptions on monuments and buildings discovered in Northwest Africa survive. However, the majority of available primary source material about Carthaginian civilization was written by Greek and Roman historians, such as Livy, Polybius, Appian, Cornelius Nepos, Silius Italicus, Plutarch, Dio Cassius and Herodotus. These authors came from cultures nearly always in competition and often in conflict, with Carthage. The Greeks contested with Carthage for Sicily, and the Romans fought the Punic Wars against Carthage. Inevitably, the accounts of Carthage written by outsiders include significant bias. Recent excavation of ancient Carthaginian sites has brought much more primary material to light. Some of the finds contradict or confirm aspects of the traditional picture of Carthage, but much of the material is still ambiguous.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: My Hero is a British television sitcom, created by Paul Mendelson, and produced for the BBC between 2000 and 2006. The series follows the exploits of an alien superhero known as "Thermoman" - a multi-powered superhero who originates from the planet Ultron - during his time between missions after falling in love with a British nurse he rescued. Although incredibly intelligent amongst his kind, Thermoman is unfamiliar with human life, which not only leads others to consider him dim-witted and idiotic, but also causes problems due to his many misunderstandings.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: The main role of Thermoman was portrayed by Ardal O'Hanlon up until 2005, before he was replaced by James Dreyfus for the final series. The cast itself remained largely unchanged throughout its broadcast history, and included Emily Joyce, Lill Roughley, Tim Wylton, Lou Hirsch, Hugh Dennis, Geraldine McNulty, and Philip Whitchurch. Unlike most British sitcoms, Mendelson co-wrote episode scripts with a large team of writers. Each series also featured a varying number of episodes, with the first and second series containing six episodes, series three through five containing 10 episodes each and series six containing 8 episodes, with a Christmas Special for 2000.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: Despite its viewing figures going into decline by the time of Dreyfus' appearance, the show remained a regular feature on British television, being regularly repeated on Gold in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the series was shown on PBS and, briefly, BBC America. In Australia, UKTV offered re-runs of the first three series, while BBC Entertainment provided repeats for Scandinavia. Three of the six series have been released on DVD; two on Region 1 DVD and one on Region 2. Fans have since petitioned the BBC to release the complete series on DVD.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: The series focuses on the life of George Sunday, a man who comes off as idiotic, but who in reality is a superhero from the planet Ultron known as "Thermoman", who serves to safeguard humanity and the Earth, and Janet Dawkins, a British nurse who works at a local surgery in the London town of Northolt, whom George falls in love with after saving her life. The series focuses on the couple's efforts to cope with numerous problems that occur to them during their relationship, including dealing with Janet's obnoxius parents and the self-centered doctor whom she works for, and George's many misunderstandings of human culture, societial values and traits.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: After the second series, the writers added in additional elements surrounding the couple being married and having children of Ultronian origin - capable of speech, intelligence and super powers for their infant age - and coping with issues surrounding their family lives. In the sixth series, George loses his old body, and replaces it with a new one that he gives the alias of George Monday, taking up work as a doctor alongside Piers at his surgery.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: In the United States, the series has been released on DVD via BBC Video; "Season One" was released on 16 January 2007, while "Season Two" was released on 7 August 2007. The sets are now currently out-of-print and no subsequent seasons have been made available on region 1.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: In the United Kingdom, Series Three was the only series to receive a home video release. The "Complete Series 3" was released on VHS on 7 October 2002 via IMC Vision, while two DVD sets, "Volume 1" (episodes 1–5 of Series 3), and "Volume 2" (episodes 6–10 of Series 3) were also released on 7 October 2002. A DVD set containing "Complete Series 3" was additionally made available from IMC Vision on 14 May 2012.


title: My Hero (British TV series)

text: As of 2021, it has not been announced if "My Hero" will receive any subsequent series releases, or a complete series box set.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dominic James Dwyer (born July 30, 1990) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United. Born in England, he represented the United States national team.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: While in England, Dwyer represented, among other teams, Norwich City as a youth. In 2009, he moved to the United States on a soccer scholarship and played for Tyler Junior College and the South Florida Bulls. He was drafted by Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer in 2012, and won the MLS Cup with them in 2013. In 2017, he joined Orlando City SC in the largest transfer between two MLS clubs.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dwyer became an American citizen in March 2017 and was called up to the U.S. national team later that year for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup, winning the tournament.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dwyer was born in Cuckfield, West Sussex. After the family moved to East Anglia he was spotted playing for King's Lynn Community Football by Jess Ibrom Football Development Officer and invited to the Kings Lynn FC Youth Team, and was then signed into the youth program of Norwich City. Dwyer studied at the College of West Anglia from 2006 to 2008.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: After playing for Staines Town for a year, in 2008, Dwyer joined King's Lynn F.C., where he broke his right foot three times. He was then told by doctors that he would never be physically capable of playing at a professional level. Dwyer was given an opportunity by scout Joe McLaughlin of Soccer Icon USA, to get a sports scholarship to study for a college degree in the U.S., Dwyer has said that he accepted the offer to get a free degree and that, at the time, he had given up on the dream of a soccer career.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dwyer moved from England to attend Tyler Junior College in Texas, where he won two national championships and was the national junior college player of the year after scoring 37 goals as a sophomore. After two years at Tyler, he made the move to the University of South Florida, where he played in 2011.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On January 12, 2012, Dwyer was selected No. 16 overall in the 2012 MLS SuperDraft by Sporting Kansas City. He was first included for a professional game on March 25, remaining an unused substitute in a 2–1 win over FC Dallas at Sporting Park. He made his debut on 29 May in a 3–2 win over Orlando City in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup third round, playing the first half before being replaced by C. J. Sapong; his team went on to win the tournament, although he played no further part in their run. Dwyer made his MLS debut against Toronto FC on September 2, replacing Sapong for the final four minutes of a 2–1 home win for his only appearance of the regular season; on November 4, he made another substitute appearance in the 2012 MLS Cup Playoffs against the Houston Dynamo, a 2–0 away defeat.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Following the 2012 Major League Soccer season, Dwyer went on trial with Scottish Premier League club St Mirren in hopes of securing a loan to gain playing time. However, on January 3, 2013, it was announced that the proposed loan for Dwyer had been called off by Sporting.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: A little over a month later, Dwyer, along with three other teammates, were loaned to USL Pro club Orlando City for the 2013 season as part of the alliance between the two clubs. He made an instant impact for the Lions by tallying two goals and one assist in the club's first three matches. On May 4, 2013, Dwyer scored his first career hat-trick in a 7–2 victory over the Antigua Barracuda. Three weeks later, he scored his 13th goal of the season against the Wilmington Hammerheads, tying the all-time season record in the USL Pro for goals with only 46% of the season played. On June 7, Dwyer scored his 14th goal of the season against Phoenix FC, surpassing Jhonny Arteaga's tally of 13 goals for FC New York in 2011. On June 22, 2013, Dwyer scored the opening goal of an international friendly against Fluminense of Brazil's Série A, an eventual 3–4 loss.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On June 27, 2013, Dwyer was recalled by Sporting the morning after Orlando's US Open Cup defeat to Chicago Fire SC. On August 3, he scored his first goal in MLS against the New York Red Bulls in the second minute of stoppage time, albeit in a 2–3 home loss. Five days later, Dwyer made his debut in the CONCACAF Champions League for Sporting. In the 75th minute, he scored to give Sporting a 2–0 lead against Nicaraguan outfit, Real Esteli. Coming back for one more game with Orlando City on September 7, Dwyer scored four goals, a club record for one game, against the Charlotte Eagles in the 2013 USL Pro Championship, leading the Lions to a 7–4 victory.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On November 23, 2013, Dwyer scored the winning goal for Sporting Kansas City in the Eastern Conference Final against Houston to lead them to the MLS Cup. He was substituted for Claudio Bieler after 72 minutes of the championship game on December 7, which his team won 7–6 in a penalty shootout.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On July 25, 2017, Dwyer was traded from Sporting Kansas City to Orlando City, the MLS successor to the USL team he had previously been loaned to, in exchange for in guaranteed allocation funds (split between general and targeted), as well as up to in future allocation funds based on his performance. This set the record for most expensive transfer in the league to date.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Four days after his transfer, Dwyer made his Orlando debut by starting in a 1–1 tie at Atlanta United. He scored his first two goals on September 16 against the same opponents, also assisting Cyle Larin as the game ended 3–3. On August 3, he played the second half of the 2017 MLS All-Star Game against Real Madrid at Soldier Field, in which he scored a late equalizer for a 1–1 tie but missed his attempt as his team lost on penalties.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dwyer signed a three-year contract extension with Orlando City on January 3, 2018. He led the team in goals in 2018 with 13 as Orlando finished last in the Eastern Conference and ahead of only San Jose in the overall standings.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dwyer began the 2020 season injured, missing the opening two matches before the season was temporarily suspended by the COVID-19 pandemic. He recovered by the time play resumed in June via the MLS is Back Tournament and started in the opening two group games, substituting off around the 60-minute mark in both in a bid to manage his workload. However, his injury reoccurred, forcing him to undergo arthroscopic knee surgery which ended his season. On December 2, the club announced he would be leaving upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the year.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On January 10, 2022, Toronto FC traded the forward, along with the No. 3 pick in the 2022 SuperDraft, to FC Dallas, in exchange for $50,000 in general allocation money, with Dallas immediately buying out Dwyer's contract.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: In 2022, Dwyer went on trial with MLS club Atlanta United. In February, it was announced that he would sign a two-year deal with the club.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On February 27, just about a week after inking his deal with Atlanta, Dwyer was subbed on for Luiz Araújo due to a hamstring injury in the 22nd minute, and scored his first MLS goal in 2 seasons against Sporting Kansas City, as he contributed to Atlanta's 3-1 win in the season opener.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Born in England, Dwyer moved to the United States in 2009 and gained U.S. citizenship after eight years of residence in March 2017. Following his naturalization, Dwyer was called up by the United States men's national team on June 3, 2017, as part of their 40-man preliminary roster for the 2017 Gold Cup.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: On June 25, 2017, Dwyer was named to the final 23-man Gold Cup roster for the United States men's national team. Dwyer scored in his first cap in a 2–1 friendly victory over Ghana on July 1, 2017. He scored again in his second cap on July 8, 2017, in the U.S.'s first match of the Gold Cup, a 1–1 tie with Panama, making him only the ninth player in USMNT history to score two goals in as many appearances. He was one of six players replaced in the roster after the conclusion of the group stage of the tournament on July 16.


title: Dom Dwyer

text: Dwyer received his U.S. green card in 2012. In January 2015, he married Sydney Leroux in a private ceremony, announcing it on February 14 on their social media. Their son, Cassius Cruz Dwyer, was born in September 2016. On March 17, 2017, Dwyer became an American citizen. Their daughter, Roux James Dwyer, was born on June 28, 2019. On August 6, 2021, Leroux announced on social media that she and Dwyer were divorcing.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The Oslo II Accord divided the Israeli-occupied West Bank into three administrative divisions: Areas A, B and C. The distinct areas were given different statuses, according to their governance pending a final status accord: Area A is exclusively administered by the Palestinian National Authority; Area B is administered by both the Palestinian Authority and Israel; and Area C, which contains the Israeli settlements, is administered by Israel. Areas A and B were chosen in such a way as to just contain Palestinians, by drawing lines around Palestinian population centers at the time the Agreement was signed; all areas surrounding Areas A and B were defined as Area C.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Area A comprises approximately 18% of the total territory of the West Bank and Area B about 22% of the territory, together home to some 2.8 million Palestinians. As of 2015, Area C is home to 150,000 Palestinians in 532 residential areas. It is also home to roughly 400,000 Israelis, in 135 settlements, as well as more than 100 outposts unrecognized by the Israeli government. Area C forms a contiguous territory, administered via the Judea and Samaria Area administration. In contrast, under the Oslo Accords Areas A and B were subdivided into 165 separate units of land that have no territorial contiguity.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The Oslo II Accord stipulated that "during the first phase of redeployment" the jurisdiction over Areas A and B would be transferred to the Palestinian Council. Article XI.2.a reads: "Land in populated areas (Areas A and B), including government and Al Waqf land, will come under the jurisdiction of the Council during the first phase of redeployment."


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The populated areas were defined by delineations on a map attached to the document. Area C comprised the areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Area A (full civil and security control by the Palestinian Authority): initially, circa 3% of the West Bank, exclusive East Jerusalem (first phase, 1995). As of 2013, Area A formally comprised about 18% of the West Bank. During the second intifada, the Israel Defense Forces abolished the prohibition against entering Area A during Operation Defensive Shield in 2002 and entered the area regularly, mostly at night, conducting raids to arrest suspected militants. Typically, such raids are coordinated with the Palestinian security forces. This area includes eight Palestinian cities and their surrounding areas (Nablus, Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jericho and 80 percent of Hebron), with no Israeli settlements. Entry into this area is forbidden to all Israeli citizens.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Area B (Palestinian civil control and joint Israeli-Palestinian security control): initially, circa 23–25% (first phase, 1995). As of 2013, Area B formally comprised about 22% of the West Bank. This area includes some 440 Palestinian villages and their surrounding lands, and no Israeli settlements. It was defined in the accord as "the populated areas delineated by a red line and shaded in yellow on attached map No. 1, and the built-up area of the hamlets listed in Appendix 6 to Annex I"; this list of hamlets is as follows:


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Area C (full Israeli civil and security control): initially, circa 72–74% (first phase, 1995). Under the 1998 Wye River Memorandum, Israel would further withdraw from some additional 13% from Area C to Area B, which officially reduced Area C to circa 61% of the West Bank. Israel, however, withdrew from only 2%, and during Operation Defensive Shield, it reoccupied all territory. As of 2013, Area C formally comprised about 63% of the West Bank, including settlements, outposts and declared "state land". Including or excluding annexed East Jerusalem, no-man's land and the Palestinian part of the Dead Sea also determines the percentage. John Kerry, U.S. Secretary of State under the Obama administration, stated that Area C "is effectively restricted for any Palestinian development, and that few building permits had been granted to Palestinian residents of the area.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: All Israeli settlements (except those in East Jerusalem, which was annexed to Israel) are located in Area C. Oslo II, Article XII, for example, states: "For the purpose of this Agreement, 'the Settlements' means, in the West Bank the settlements in Area C; and in the Gaza Strip [which were later evacuated during the disengagement] ..."


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: In 1972, there were 1,000 Israeli settlers living in what is now Area C. By 1993, their population had increased to 110,000. Over 400,000 Jewish settlers live in Area C in Israeli settlements and outposts. Approximately 300,000 Palestinians live there as well; who reside in more than 500 households areas located partially or fully in Area C.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: "Area C" means areas of the West Bank outside Areas A and B, which, except for the issues that will be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations, will be gradually transferred to Palestinian jurisdiction in accordance with this Agreement.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The issues that will be negotiated, according to Article XVII, are "″Jerusalem, settlements, specified military locations, Palestinian refugees, borders, foreign relations and Israelis; and … powers and responsibilities not transferred to the Council″". Parts of Area C are military area closed for Palestinians.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Part of Area C was intended to be handed to Palestinians by the end of 1999. Israel promised to redeploy its troops from Areas A and B before the elections. After the inauguration of an elected Palestinian parliament, the Israeli Civil Administration would be dissolved and the Israeli military government be withdrawn. The Council would get some powers and responsibilities.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Within 18 months from the date of inauguration, Israel would further redeploy military forces from Area C in three phases, however, without transfer of any sovereignty to the Palestinians:


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The Council will assume powers and responsibilities for civil affairs, as well as for public order and internal security, according to this Agreement.<br>


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: 1. Israel shall transfer powers and responsibilities as specified in this Agreement from the Israeli military government and its Civil Administration to the Council in accordance with this Agreement. Israel shall continue to exercise powers and responsibilities not so transferred.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: 5. After the inauguration of the Council, the Civil Administration in the West Bank will be dissolved, and the Israeli military government shall be withdrawn. The withdrawal of the military government shall not prevent it from exercising the powers and responsibilities not transferred to the Council.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The military forces would be redeployed in "specified military locations" in the West Bank, to be negotiated in the permanent status negotiations within 18 months. The Legislative Council was elected in January 1996.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Area C, 99% of which is excluded from Palestinian use, contains most of the West Bank’s natural resources and open spaces, access to which, according to the World Bank, would enable the Palestinians to halve their budget deficit and lead to an expansion of their economy by a third. According to Danny Rubinstein: "Much land in Area C is undeveloped. Israel, however, does not permit Palestinian construction for residential, commercial or industrial purposes."


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: 70 percent of the area is defined as within settler municipal boundaries, where permits for development are denied to Palestinians. The World Bank estimates that the effect has been to cause a potential loss of $14 billion of revenue for the Palestinian economy.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: According to a 2013 EU report, Israeli policies have undermined the Palestinian presence in Area C, with a deterioration in basic services such as water supplies, education and shelter. Nearly 70% of the Palestinian villages are not connected to the water network that serves settlers, which accounts for the fact that Palestinians in the zone use only a quarter to a third of the pro capita consumption of settlers.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Palestinians cannot build in Area C without an army permit; however, building applications are expensive and have a 5% approval rate. As a result, most Palestinians who build there do so illegally. Israel demolishes about 200 buildings per year in Area C.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Israel has made over 14,000 demolition orders against Palestinian-owned structures in Area C since 1988. As of January 2015, almost 20% of the demolition orders issued had been executed and more than 11,000 of these still outstanding, affecting an estimated 17,000 structures.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Israeli planning in Area C allocates 13 times more space to Israeli settlers than to Palestinians there, according to the United Nations. Israeli settlers have been allocated about 790 square meters per capita, whereas Palestinians have been allocated about 60 square meters per capita.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: During the period 1988–2014, the Israeli Civil Administration issued 6,948 demolition orders against structures in settlements located in Area C. As of January 2015, 12% of these were classified as executed, 2% were cancelled, another 2% "ready for execution" and 2% on hold due to legal proceedings. More than one-third of the orders were classified as "in process", while the current status of about 45% of the demolition orders against settlement structures was unknown.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: The relatively new phenomenon of building Palestinian settlements began in 2006, attempting to trace after the Israeli settlement experience beyond the 1967 Green Line, and in a media-driven counter-offensive. The most notable Palestinian settlement in the West Bank, defined by Israel as "illegal", was built in January 2013 on E1 Area East of Jerusalem. The settlement which was named "Bab al-Shams" consisted of about 20 tents, constructed by the Popular Struggle Co-ordination Committee. A few days after the evacuation, another "Palestinian settlement" was erected in the village of Beit Iksa near the planned Wall barrier, which they claim would confiscate Palestinian land. It was named "Bab al-Karama".


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Area B is defined as land under Palestinian civil control and Israeli military control. According to Dror Etkes, Israeli settlers have violated the accords by spreading into Area B and seizing private Palestinian land for cultivation and settlement. Examples he cites are the Amona settlement, overlooking Ofra, where he argues that land belonging to villagers of Deir Dibwan has been taken for redevelopment; the settlement of Itamar which he says has seized control of land and resources belonging to the Area B villages of Yanun, Awarta and Einabus; he states that settlers have seized Area B land near Esh Kodesh and Mitzpeh Ahiya east of Shilo; and he states that settlers of Ma'ale Rehav'am have built in a nature reserve established under the Wye River Memorandum.


title: West Bank Areas in the Oslo II Accord

text: Responsibility for religious sites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip was to be transferred to the Palestinian side, gradually in the case of Area C. The Palestinian side agreed to ensure free access to a specific list of Jewish religious sites but due to the uncertain security situation the Israel Defense Forces limits visits by Jews to rare occasions. In Area C, Nabi Musa was to be under the auspices of the Palestinian side and access to al-Maghtas on the Jordan River was promised for particular religious events.


title: Filk music

text: Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s.


title: Filk music

text: Filk has been defined as what is sung or performed by the network of people who originally gathered to sing at science fiction or fantasy conventions.


title: Filk music

text: Another definition focuses on filking as a community of those who are interested in filk music and who form part of the social network self-identified with filking. As described later in this article, the origins of filk in science fiction conventions and its current organization emphasizes the social-network aspect of filking. The social aspect of filk as contrasted with the "performer vs. audience" dichotomy of much of modern music was described in a speech by ethnomusicologist Sally Childs-Helton.


title: Filk music

text: The range of topics in filk songs stems from its cultural roots in fandom. Many songs honor specific works in science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction. Other songs are about science, fantasy, computers, technology in general, or values related to technological change.


title: Filk music

text: A significant number of filk songs are parodies, whether in the original sense of simply re-using a tune or in the modern sense of specifically humorous re-use.


title: Filk music

text: One subtype of filk songs is the "ose" song, one on themes of death and gloom. The term derives from the word "morose", as in "ose, morose, even-more-ose".


title: Filk music

text: In the early 1950s, the term "filk music" started as a misspelling of "folk music" in an essay by Lee Jacobs, "The Influence of Science Fiction on Modern American Filk Music". Wrai Ballard, then editor of the Spectator Amateur Press Society refused to publish it for fear that the article's bawdy content could get them into trouble with the Post Office under the Comstock Laws, but found the typo itself amusing, and mentioned it repeatedly; thus, Jacobs' typo became the self-identified term for the genre/subculture while it was still an informal, unrecognized activity at conventions. Its first documented deliberate use was by Karen Anderson in "Die Zeitschrift für vollständigen Unsinn" ("The Journal for Utter Nonsense") No. 774 (June 1953), for a song written by her husband Poul Anderson.


title: Filk music

text: At the 1974 World Science Fiction Convention author Bob Asprin announced publicly the creation of a group of volunteers he dubbed the Dorsai Irregulars, and a singing session ensued later that night. In the 1970s and 1980s, filking slowly became established as an acknowledged activity at science fiction conventions. Some convention organizers allotted hotel function space late at night for filkers, or filking occurred in hallways, bars or any other place that the filkers could find. Some convention organizers in the 1980s began inviting guests specifically for their filking. Some specialized conventions focused entirely on filk, beginning with FilkCon in Chicago in 1979, organized by Margaret Middleton and Curt Clemmer, later joined by BayFilk in Northern California; the Ohio Valley Filk Fest (OVFF) in Columbus, Ohio; ConChord in Los Angeles and in San Diego, California; GAFilk in Atlanta, Georgia; Musicon in Nashville, Tennessee; FilKONtario near Toronto, Ontario; a rotating British filkcon, and one (NEFilk) in the northeastern US; and the German FilkCONtinental.


title: Filk music

text: As the name implies, a rough circle of chairs is usually formed. Traditionally, filk circles are started in the evening and tend to continue very late into the night.


title: Filk music

text: A wide range of instruments can be found in a filk circle, although the most common is the acoustic guitar. Acoustic instruments are more common than electric instruments, although portable keyboards and even theremins are not unheard of.


title: Filk music

text: Filk circles are often given an organizational structure to make it easier for participants to know when it is time to perform or time to listen to other performers. There are many ways to accomplish this, but the most common types of filk circle are listed below.


title: Filk music

text: The advantage of the bardic circle is that it has a clear structure, which enforces politeness. It ensures everyone in the circle gets their turn so that even shy people can have a chance to request or perform. There are disadvantages, however. A bardic circle with large numbers of participants will take a long time to traverse the entire circle, making people wait too long for their turn. Such a circle was lamented in a filk by Suzette Haden Elgin: "I've been here with my song at the ready since day before yesterday night."


title: Filk music

text: In a chaos circle, there is no sequential organization. Any performer can simply begin playing a song after the prior song is finished, or any participant can shout out a request. Care must be taken to prevent two songs from starting at the same time. Frequently the word "follower!" is shouted in a chaos circle, meaning that a performer believes they have the perfect song to follow the prior song, and they want to play it now.


title: Filk music

text: The chaos circle's advantage is its spontaneity and energy. "Runs" of songs will frequently get started, with each new song intended to make some sort of connection to or commentary on the prior song's topic. The disadvantage is that it takes concentration and effort to be polite and respectful in a chaos circle: It is easy to accidentally interrupt another performer who's trying to start up a song of their own, especially in a very large circle where one might not be able to easily hear the other performer on the opposite side of the room. Chaos circles thus have a reputation of favoring bold, loud performers who can command attention. One countermeasure to such conflicts is for someone, generally not one of the current/starting-up performers, to shout "Filker up!", possibly pointing to the one being interrupted. This alerts the room, and specifically the (usually unintentional) interrupter, to be quiet and pay attention to the filker who has started performing.


title: Filk music

text: A token bardic circle, also known as a "poker-chip" bardic circle, attempts to combine the enforced politeness of the bardic circle with the freeform nature of the chaos circle. A container full of some type of token such as poker chips is supplied for the circle. Each person participating in the circle is given a fixed number of tokens when they enter the room (frequently two tokens) and can throw a token into the center of the circle at any time to claim a pick or play turn. When all the active tokens in the circle are used up, they are scooped up and redistributed for the next round.


title: Filk music

text: The etiquette of the filk circle begins with a respect for all music, including (and perhaps especially) amateur music and amateur performers. Everyone is encouraged to perform, regardless of their skill level. No one is criticized except to occasionally give tips or suggestions.


title: Filk music

text: At a deep level, the folk culture of filk validates creative arts in the midst of an explicitly technological culture. When accepting induction into the Filk Hall of Fame in 2003, ethnomusicologist Sally Childs-Helton said, "We have taken our right to be creative and to literally "play" in the best sense of that word." Filk combines folk roots, live music circles, and dominant acoustical instrumentation, on the one hand, with high-tech cultural maintenance, on the other hand—a dense network of filkers' web pages, recordings, sound reinforcement at filk conventions, e-mail lists, and so on. The eclectic content of filk frequently contains that assertion of human creativity, especially in connection with technology. (See for example Leslie Fish's Hope Eyrie.) While there are significant numbers of memorial songs, pessimistic songs blame carelessness, incompetence, and corruption, only rarely considering the frailties of a society built on technology or hopes for the future. Because these themes cross international boundaries in filk, they are not explainable as a purely American optimism vis-a-vis technology (in contrast to Nye, 1996).


title: Filk music

text: Occasional discussions over the boundaries of filk indicates the extent to which participants in filking are both aware of and keenly interested in the definition of filk as a community. Newsgroup debates over such topics as whether "Weird Al" Yankovic is a filker suggest the deep feelings involved. In practice, most formal recognition of filkers in various awards are to those who regularly attend self-identified filk events, not to professional artists whose work may be considered "found filk".


title: Filk music

text: The OVFF convention committee solicits nominations for finalists for the Pegasus Awards (the nominating ballot) during the late spring and summer. There is an opinion poll that runs during the year as well to help interested folk brainstorm ideas for the nominating ballot. The finalist ballot is distributed in the early fall and must be returned by the opening night of OVFF. Voting can be done online—either to nominate finalists or to vote for the finalists themselves. The final round of voting happens at OVFF itself, where handwritten ballots are collected after the annual Pegasus concert. The entire process is administered by the OVFF convention committee.


title: Mercedes-Benz GL-Class (X164)

text: The X164 GL-Class debuted at the 2006 North American International Auto Show, and deliveries commenced on September in Europe. Around US$600,000,000 was invested in the Mercedes Alabama plant in preparation for the production of vehicles including the X164 GL-Class.


title: Mercedes-Benz GL-Class (X164)

text: Unlike most three-row luxury SUVs at the time, the GL-Class is based on an elongated and widened version of the M-Class platform, instead of the body-on-frame construction found on vehicles such as the Lexus LX and Cadillac Escalade.


title: Mercedes-Benz GL-Class (X164)

text: All models feature leather electric seats, an automatic climate control system, 19-inch alloy wheels, 4MATIC all-wheel drive, air suspension (adjustable by up to 307 mm), and a 7-speed 7G-Tronic automatic transmission. GL-Class models are also optionally available with a tyre pressure monitoring system, DAB digital radio, reversing camera, and rear seat infotainment screens. Grand Edition models were also offered from 2011, and feature a redesigned front bumper, taller grille with three slats, 20-inch AMG alloy wheels, bi-xenon headlamps, and a two-tone interior.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: "Tam o' Shanter" is a narrative poem written by the Scottish poet Robert Burns in 1790, while living in Dumfries. First published in 1791, at 228 (or 224) lines it is one of Burns' longer poems, and employs a mixture of Scots and English.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The poem describes the habits of Tam, a farmer who often gets drunk with his friends in a public house in the Scottish town of Ayr, and his thoughtless ways, specifically towards his wife, who is waiting at home for him, angry. At the conclusion of one such late-night revel after a market day, Tam rides home on his horse Meg/Maggie while a storm is brewing. On the way he sees the local haunted church lit up, with witches and warlocks dancing and the Devil playing the bagpipes. He is still drunk, still upon his horse, just on the edge of the light, watching, amazed to see the place bedecked with many gruesome things such as gibbet irons and knives that had been used to commit murders and other macabre artifacts. The witches are dancing as the music intensifies and, upon seeing one particularly wanton witch in a short dress he loses his reason and shouts, 'Weel done, cutty-sark!' ("cutty-sark": short shirt). Immediately, the lights go out, the music and dancing stops and many of the creatures lunge after Tam, with the witches leading. Tam spurs Meg to turn and flee and drives the horse on towards the River Doon as the creatures dare not cross a running stream. The creatures give chase and the witches come so close to catching Tam and Meg that they pull Meg's tail off just as she reaches the Brig o' Doon.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: the reader is regaled with commentary by Tam's wife Kate on his drinking escapades, and with her dark forebodings:


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: One market night, Tam sits in a pub, close to its ingle, and drinks with his thirsty friend, a souter: "Souter Johnny, his ancient, trusty, drouthy crony". Tam even flirts with the landlady of the pub, while Johnny's tales are punctuated by the landlord's laughter. Eventually Tam mounts up and rides off on his grey mare Meg, for his long, dark, lonely ride home. Burns emphasises the spooky character of the Ayrshire countryside Tam has to ride through—but of course it is much easier as he is drunk:


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The sight he sees is Alloway Kirk, ablaze with light, where a weird hallucinatory dance involving witches and warlocks, open coffins, and even the Devil himself is in full swing. The scene is bedecked in morbidly enthusiastic gothic detail. Tam manages to watch silently until, the dancing old witches having cast off most of their clothes, he is beguiled by the energetic leaping of one comely female witch, Nannie, whose shirt or chemise (cutty-sark) is too short and scanty. He cannot help shouting out in passion:


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The Devil decides to chase Tam, but the evident pride in the ability of his horse is justified as she is able to help him to "win the key-stone o' the brig". (The Devil, witches and warlocks cannot cross running water.)


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: They only just make it though, as Nannie, first among the "hellish legion" chasing, grabs the horse's tail, which comes off.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The poem was written in 1790 for the second volume of Francis Grose's "Antiquities of Scotland". A month before this was published, it first appeared in the "Edinburgh Herald" and the "Edinburgh Magazine" in March 1791. Robert Riddell introduced Burns to Grose and, according to Gilbert Burns, the poet asked the antiquarian to include a drawing of Alloway Kirk when he came to Ayrshire; Grose agreed, as long as Burns gave him something to print alongside it.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: Burns wrote to Grose in June 1790, giving him three witch stories associated with Alloway Kirk, two of which he said were "authentic", the third, "though equally true, being not so well identified as the two former with regard to the scene". The second of the stories was Tam o' Shanter. This is Burns' prose sketch of it to Grose:


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The story that the poem was written in a day was perpetrated by John Gibson Lockhart, aided by Allan Cunningham. Its subtle nuances of tempo, pace and tone suggest that it had been given, as Burns told Mrs Dunlop on 11 April 1791, "a finishing polish that I despair of ever excelling".


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: Burns based the character of Tam O'Shanter on Douglas Graham (1739–1811), a friend who lived at Shanter Farm, about half a mile (0.8 km) inland from the fishing village of Maidens in South Ayrshire, near Kirkoswald.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The Kirkoswald souter (shoemaker) John Davidson gave Burns inspiration for the character of souter Johnnie. In 1785, Davidson had built his own cottage there, accommodating his family and business dealings, with his workshop at the back. He died in 1806. His family passed the cottage on to the National Trust for Scotland in 1932. It is preserved as a rare example of thatched roofed domestic architecture,and forms a museum and art gallery.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: An early version of the poem includes four lines that were deleted at the request of one of Burns' friends. The poem originally contained the lines:


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: A handwritten note on the manuscript written by Judge Alexander Fraser Tytler, reads "Burns left out these four lines at my desire, as being incongruous with the other circumstances of pure horror." Burns had the lines removed from later editions; it was not unknown for Burns to make changes at the request of friends.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: George Métivier published "Tam au Sabbat", a Guernésiais version of Burns' poem, in "La Gazette de Guernesey" in 1855. This version was included in his collection "Fantaisies guernesiaises" in 1866.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: In 1899, the town of Barre, Vermont erected a memorial to Burns in local granite, including a panel depicting a scene from the poem.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: In 1915, the American composer George Whitefield Chadwick completed a symphonic poem inspired by the poem.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: In 1955, British composer Malcolm Arnold's Overture Op. 51a was named "Tam o' Shanter" after Burns' poem.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: In the 1990s, Scottish figurative painter Alexander Goudie worked at a cycle of 54 large format paintings dedicated to Robert Burns' poem, currently displayed at Rozelle House Galleries, near Burns' home at Alloway, Ayrshire.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The Tam O' Shanter Urban Cottage on Bidston Hill, Wirral, Merseyside was named after the poem in 1837 after being built beyond a stream which was said to repel witches. It attracts both Robert Burns fans and local witches and Wicca historians.


title: Tam o' Shanter (poem)

text: The Tam O'Shanter Inn in Glendale, California was named after the Robert Burns poem and was established in 1922 by the Van de Kamp bakery family. As of 2017, it is Los Angeles' oldest restaurant operated by the same family in the same location. It was Walt Disney's favorite restaurant.


title: Two and a Half Men (season 1)

text: The first season of "Two and a Half Men", an American television sitcom created by Chuck Lorre and Lee Aronsohn, aired its pilot episode on September 22, 2003, at 9:30 p.m., ET/PT, on CBS, a U.S. broadcast television network. The pilot received great reviews and an Artios Award nomination for Best Casting for TV, Comedy Pilot (Nikki Valko, Ken Miller). In the week of October 1, 2003, the series was ranked 7th highest in the top ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research, with an average 12.1/18 rating. Thanks to this, the series was able to air another 23 episodes, and was renewed for a second season in 2004. The DVD set was released on Region 2 on September 12, 2005, and on Region 1 on September 11, 2007. Its bonus material included: a blooper, outtakes, a backstage tour with Angus T. Jones and a behind-the-scenes special, with the cast and crew of "Two and a Half Men".


title: Two and a Half Men (season 1)

text: The series is set in a large oceanfront home in Malibu, California, although most of the series is filmed in Burbank, California at the Warner Brothers Burbank Studios at 4000 Warner Boulevard. The show features Charlie Sheen as Charlie Harper, Jon Cryer as Alan Harper, Angus T. Jones as Jake Harper, Holland Taylor as Evelyn Harper, Melanie Lynskey as Rose and Marin Hinkle as Judith Harper. Conchata Ferrell as Berta had a recurring role in the first season, but became a main cast member in the following season. The song, "Manly Men", was written by the show's creator Chuck Lorre, and the signature opening intro features the theme being lip-synced by the show's three main actors, but they are not the original performers. One of the performers is Elizabeth Daily.


title: Two and a Half Men (season 1)

text: Originally, actress Blythe Danner was cast to portray Evelyn Harper, but when she started to suggest changes to scenes, she was dismissed by the producers; one of the bosses commented: "Blythe is a wonderful actress who was put in a part that was not a good fit for her."


title: Two and a Half Men (season 1)

text: "Most Chicks Won't Eat Veal", the original pilot, with Danner as Evelyn, remained unaired. According to the Internet Movie Database, Sheen was cast because the creators saw him on "Spin City", in which he also portrayed a charming bachelor afraid of commitment. The show was becoming a huge hit, and breathed much needed life into Sheen's fading career. Before their reunion on the series, Cryer and Sheen had both appeared in the comedy "Hot Shots!". Other connections between the actors are that Taylor, Sheen and Cryer have each appeared in a John Hughes film (Sheen in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", Cryer in "Pretty in Pink" and Taylor in "She's Having a Baby"), and that Jones, Ferrell, Taylor and Hinkle have all made guest appearances in "ER". Additionally, Sheen and Cryer each made guest appearances on the animated series "Family Guy".


title: Two and a Half Men (season 1)

text: "Two and a Half Men" was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards but lost all three of them. The show won the People's Choice Awards for Best New Comedy Series and was nominated for two Young Artist Awards for Best Family Television Series (Comedy or Drama) and for Best Performance in a TV series (Comedy or Drama) and won one for Angus T. Jones for playing Jake Harper. It won the ASCAP award for Top TV Series and it also won BMI Film and TV Award for Best Music in TV. It was also nominated Casting Society of America for the casting of a series.


title: Voice vote

text: In parliamentary procedure, a voice vote (from the Latin "viva voce", meaning "live voice") or acclamation is a voting method in deliberative assemblies (such as legislatures) in which a group vote is taken on a topic or motion by responding vocally.


title: Voice vote

text: The voice vote is considered the simplest and quickest of voting methods used by deliberative assemblies. The presiding officer or chair of the assembly will put the question to the assembly, asking first for all those in favor of the motion to indicate so orally ("aye" or "yea"), and then ask second all those opposed to the motion to indicate so verbally ("no" or "nay"). The chair will then make an estimate of the count on each side and state what they believe the result to be.


title: Voice vote

text: Voice votes have inherent disadvantages and the method has major shortfalls in close contests. The volume of the voices are typically only estimated and not actually measured with sound level meters, giving a chair enough plausible deniability to falsify the result if they disagree with it; even if such a vote can be objectively quantified in terms of decibels, the method gives an unfair advantage to those who have louder voices. The need to make an audible signal also compromises any situation in which a secret ballot may be desired. The method is suitable in most cases where unanimity is required. If there is any doubt as to the outcome, any member of the assembly may request another vote by a method such as division of the assembly (a standing or rising vote), or a roll call vote. Voice votes are usually not recorded, but sometimes are.


title: Voice vote

text: Voice votes are also used in non-governmental settings, such as battles of the bands and spectator sports where a most valuable player, Man of the Match or Best in Show award is chosen by the audience.


title: Voice vote

text: Methods of voice voting were employed in ancient Greece as early as seventh century BC. The election of the members of the Gerousia, Sparta's Council of Elders, was conducted by shouting. From the assembly, few persons were selected and locked up in a room close to the election, so that they could only hear the noise of the audience, but not see the candidate put to vote. The candidates were then presented to the assembly one after another without speaking a word. The favor of the assembly towards one candidate was assessed by the selected persons who established a ranking of all candidates with respect to the loudness of the assembly. Those candidates who have received the most and loudest acclamations were eventually elected.


title: Voice vote

text: In Congress, "the vast majority of actions decided by a voice vote" are ones for which "a strong or even overwhelming majority favors one side," or even unanimous consent. Members can request a division of the assembly (a rising vote, where each sides rise in turn to be counted), and one-fifth of members can demand a recorded vote on any question, after the chair announces the result of a voice vote.


title: Voice vote

text: It is estimated that more than 95 percent of the resolutions passed by state legislatures are passed by a unanimous voice vote, many without discussion; this is because resolutions are often on routine, noncontroversial matters, such as commemorating important events or recognizing groups.


title: Voice vote

text: The Speaker of the House of Commons will then propose the question by saying, for example (second reading): "The Question is, that the Bill be now read a second time". The Speaker then invites supporters of the bill to say "aye" and then opponents say "no": "As many as are of that opinion say 'aye' [supporters say 'aye'], of the contrary 'no' [opponents say 'no']". In what is known as "collecting the voices" the Speaker makes a judgement as to the louder cry. A clear majority either way will prompt the response "I think the Ayes/Noes have it. The Ayes/Noes have it!" (this can be forced to a division by continued cries either way). If the result is at all in doubt a division will be called and the speaker will say "Division, Clear the Lobbies!"


title: Voice vote

text: In the House of Lords, the Lord Speaker will propose the question by saying, for example (second reading): "The Question is, that the Bill be now read a second time". The Lord Speaker then does similarly to the Commons Speaker, by saying, "As many as are of that opinion say 'Content' [supporters say 'Content'] and of the contrary 'Not Content' [opponents say 'Not Content]." The Lord Speaker then decides. In the result of a division, the Lord Speaker will say "Division. Clear the Bar".


title: Voice vote

text: Members vote by saying "yea" or "nay", and the Speaker judges the mood of the House. If five or more members demand a recorded vote, one must be held.


title: Voice vote

text: Members vote by saying "aye" or "no", and the Speaker of the House (or President of the Senate) judges the result. If two or more members demand a recorded vote, one must be held.


title: Voice vote

text: The initial decision on any question is by voice vote, members saying "aye" or "no", and the Speaker declaring which side has won. Members of the losing side (or abstainers), but not supporters of the side declared to have won, are entitled to demand a formal test of opinion.


title: Voice vote

text: The voice vote (ध्वनि मत) is used in the Lok Sabha, the Rajya Sabha and state assemblies to vote for certain resolutions. It is used when there is a wide agreement on issues and in some cases where the house is not in order. It was used during the formation of the Indian state of Telangana in 2014.


title: Voice vote

text: On 20 September 2020, the Rajya Sabha passed the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill and Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill by the voice vote, wherein the opposition parties alleged that the Deputy Speaker of the Rajya Sabha has abused the provision of the voice vote and declared both the bills to be passed despite the opposition parties asking for division of the votes.


title: Judy Farrell

text: Judy Farrell (née Hayden; May 11, 1938) is an American actress most noted for her role as Nurse Able on the television comedy series "M*A*S*H". She performed small roles in several other television series, then later wrote 13 episodes for the soap opera "Port Charles".


title: Judy Farrell

text: Farrell was born Judy Hayden and raised in Quapaw, Oklahoma. She graduated from Oklahoma State University with a fine arts degree in theater.


title: Judy Farrell

text: While studying for a master's degree at UCLA in 1961, she met actor Mike Farrell. She worked as a high school English and Drama teacher at Laguna Beach High School in Laguna Beach, California. In August 1963, she married Farrell with whom she subsequently had two children, Erin and Michael. In the 1960s, she and Farrell performed together at the Laguna Playhouse. They divorced in the early 1980s.


title: Judy Farrell

text: The Farrells' marriage was worked into the script of one episode of "M*A*S*H": In the episode "The Colonel's Horse," Mike's character B.J. Hunnicutt said his wife Peg (played by Catherine Bergstrom in two onscreen appearances and a few photographs) was from Judy's hometown of Quapaw, and that her father's name was Floyd Hayden.. His daughter in the show was also named Erin, as his real life daughter.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Chris Vrenna (born February 23, 1967 in Erie, Pennsylvania) is an American musician, producer, engineer, remixer, songwriter, programmer, and founder of the electronic band Tweaker. Vrenna played drums for the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1989 until 1997, and was the keyboardist and drummer of the American rock band Marilyn Manson from 2004 until late 2011.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Vrenna is a native of Erie, Pennsylvania. He graduated from McDowell High School in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1985 and marched in the Erie Thunderbirds Drum and Bugle Corps. Vrenna then moved to Chicago, quickly becoming a part of the Chicago industrial music scene and was briefly a member of Die Warzau and Stabbing Westward.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: He later reconnected with Trent Reznor, whom he met during high school in Pennsylvania, when they both were in local Cleveland, Ohio band the Exotic Birds. He also toured as a live drummer for KMFDM during the "Money" era tours, in 1992. He records under the name Tweaker, and has released four albums under that name: "The Attraction to All Things Uncertain" (2001), "2 a.m. Wakeup Call" (2004), "Call The Time Eternity" (2012), and "And Then There's Nothing" (2013). Tweaker toured select North American dates with Skinny Puppy in 2004.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: As producer, remixer, or engineer Vrenna has worked with The Smashing Pumpkins, U2, Nine Inch Nails, Skinny Puppy, Gary Numan, Scar the Martyr, David Sylvian, Mudvayne, Lords of Acid, God Lives Underwater, Megadeth, Rammstein, Metallica, The Rasmus, Weezer, P.O.D., David Bowie, Slipknot, Cold, underwater, Scarling., Hole, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, Green Day, Bush, Live, Adema, the Wallflowers, Dir en grey, Psyclon Nine, and others. He has also worked with the industrial group Pigface and produced songs and albums for underground girl groups TCR, Jack Off Jill, and Rasputina.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Vrenna has also worked on music for several video games, including "", "Doom 3" (as producer with Clint Walsh), "Quake 4", "American McGee's Alice", its sequel "", "Enter the Matrix", "Sonic The Hedgehog", "Area 51", and "". In 2004, he started soundtrack work on "Tabula Rasa", a massive multiplayer online game. He also helped compose the theme song to the animated series "Xiaolin Showdown".


title: Chris Vrenna

text: He can be seen performing in the music videos for the songs "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole", "Gave Up", "Wish", "The Perfect Drug" and "March of the Pigs" on the Nine Inch Nails video compilation "Closure".


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Vrenna won a Grammy award as a member of Nine Inch Nails for "Best Metal Performance" for "Happiness in Slavery" in 1995 for the live performance of the song on Woodstock '94.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Vrenna was Billy Corgan's programmer for four months in 1997. While he was on tour with the Smashing Pumpkins, Vrenna got a call from Axl Rose, who invited Vrenna to spend time with Guns N' Roses to work on what would become "Chinese Democracy". "I did for a couple weeks, but then decided I didn't want to join the band", said Vrenna. Vrenna stated in a later interview that he was in the band for several months before dropping out due to the required time commitment.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Vrenna was chosen to take over the drumming responsibilities for Marilyn Manson after Ginger Fish was injured in 2004 during the "" tour. He then replaced Madonna Wayne Gacy as the permanent keyboardist for Marilyn Manson. Vrenna co-produced the albums "The High End of Low" (2009) and "Born Villain" (2012). In April 2011, following the departure of Marilyn Manson's drummer Ginger Fish, Chris Vrenna was announced to be his official replacement. However, in November 2011, it was announced that Vrenna had parted ways with the band in order to focus on scoring movies and video games.


title: Chris Vrenna

text: In 2015, Vrenna composed the music on a series of downloadable content packs called Exo Zombies for "".


title: Chris Vrenna

text: In 2017, it was announced by Vrenna's Facebook page that he would be composing music for the upcoming video game, "Quake Champions", which marks his second collaboration with id Software since "Doom 3".


title: Chris Vrenna

text: Vrenna earned his master's degree in music technology in 2020. He's been a college instructor of music technology since 2013.


title: Wikiracing

text: Wikiracing is a game which the players race towards the goal of traversing from one Wikipedia page to another using only internal links. It has many different variations, described further down in the article, and names, including The Wikipedia Game, Wikipedia Maze, Wikispeedia, Wikiwars, Wikipedia Ball, Litner Ball, Wikipedia Racing, and Wikipedia Speedrunning. External websites have been created to facilitate the game.


title: Wikiracing

text: "The Seattle Times" has recommended it as a good educational pastime for children and the "Larchmont Gazette" has said, "While I don't know any teenagers who would curl up with an encyclopedia for a good read, I hear that a lot are reading it in the process of playing the Wikipedia Game".


title: Wikiracing

text: The average number of links separating any English-language Wikipedia page from the United Kingdom page is 3.67. Thus, it has been occasionally banned in the game. Other common rules such as not using the United States page increase the game's difficulty.


title: Wikiracing

text: As of 2005, a website and game known as "The Wiki Game" has been created, allowing players to Wikirace against each other in a server, for more points and recognition on the server. The game achieved more recognition as Internet stars such as Game Grumps played it on their channels. There is a version on the App Store as well, in which players can do a variety of Wikirace styles from their phone.


title: Wikiracing

text: "Speed Wiki", in which participants compete to reach the finish page (previously concurred upon), within a limited time. The first to reach the final page within the time limit is thereby crowned the winner.


title: Wikiracing

text: "Click Wiki", in which participants race to reach the final page with the fewest clicks or within a certain number of clicks.


title: Wikiracing

text: "The Wikipedia Game," detailed on Wikipedia’s Twitter page and Protocol.com, is a game where Internet users can challenge themselves to find one path from one Wikipedia article to another.


title: The 100 Scariest Movie Moments

text: The 100 Scariest Movie Moments is an American television documentary miniseries that aired in late October 2004 on Bravo. Aired in five 60-minute segments, the miniseries counts down what producer Anthony Timpone, writer Patrick Moses, and director Kevin Kaufman have determined as the 100 most frightening and disturbing moments in the history of movies. Each segment includes interviews from horror genre experts and other celebrities who experienced the listed films, as well as film clips and movie stills from the films covered. This 2004 offering was followed up in 2006 by the two-part sequel, "30 Even Scarier Movie Moments", as well as another countdown, "13 Scarier Movie Moments".


title: The 100 Scariest Movie Moments

text: In 2016, the "New York Post" "Decider" site called the series "the single best primer on horror cinema that has ever aired on TV."


title: The 100 Scariest Movie Moments

text: The countdown included 100 films, mainly from the 1970s to 2000s, although films from the 1960s and earlier are also featured. While the list mainly comprises horror and thriller films, science fiction films such as "The Terminator" and "Jurassic Park" are included. Even children's films such as "The Wizard of Oz" and "Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" made their way onto the countdown.


title: The 100 Scariest Movie Moments

text: In 2003 Channel 4 polled the British public for their "Greatest Scary Moments" as part of their 100 Greatest (TV series). On October 25 and 26 2003, the results were broadcast and presented by comedian Jimmy Carr. The list included entries from not just films, but TV programs, advertising and music videos as well.


title: The 100 Scariest Movie Moments

text: Produced by Sharp Entertainment, 30 Even Scarier Movie Moments, a two-part sequel to this title, aired on Bravo and Chiller in October 2006, with "Hostel" topping the list.


title: GSh-18

text: The GSh-18 (Cyrillic: ГШ-18) is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol developed by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau in Tula during the 1990s. The pistol's name is derived from its designers—Gryazev and Shipunov—and its magazine capacity of 18 rounds.


title: GSh-18

text: The GSh-18 is a rotating-barrel, short recoil, locked-breech pistol with 10 locking lugs spaced equally around the barrel, the large locking surface area resulting in a strong lockup, making it suitable for high-velocity ammunition loads. The GSh-18 may be employed using standard 9×19mm Parabellum rounds, but was designed for the high velocity, Russian armour-piercing 9×19mm 7N31 round. The pistol incorporates a pre-set striker. The slide and working parts are steel, and the weapon has a polymer frame.


title: GSh-18

text: Two different designs of grip have been observed. The magazine capacity is 18 rounds, and an additional round may be carried in the chamber. The magazine release is reversible for left-handed shooters and the ejector doubles as a loaded chamber indicator. The magazines are a double stack, double feed design common to Russian military handguns.


title: GSh-18

text: The GSh-18 is designed to fire standard 9×19mm Parabellum as well as the Russian 9×19mm 7N21 (Cyrillic: 7Н21) and 7N31 (Cyrillic: 7Н31) +P+ armor-piercing rounds. The 7N31, has demonstrated penetration of 8 mm of steel (15–20 meters of distance).


title: Verstehen

text: Verstehen (, ), in the context of German philosophy and social sciences in general, has been used since the late 19th century – in English as in German – with the particular sense of the "interpretive or participatory" examination of social phenomena. The term is closely associated with the work of the German sociologist Max Weber, whose antipositivism established an alternative to prior sociological positivism and economic determinism, rooted in the analysis of social action. In anthropology, "Verstehen" has come to mean a systematic interpretive process in which an outside observer of a culture attempts to relate to it and understand others.


title: Verstehen

text: "Verstehen" is now seen as a concept and a method central to a rejection of positivist social science (although Weber appeared to think that the two could be united). "Verstehen" refers to understanding the meaning of action from the actor's point of view. It is entering into the shoes of the other, and adopting this research stance requires treating the actor as a subject, rather than an object of your observations. It also implies that unlike objects in the natural world human actors are not simply the product of the pulls and pushes of external forces. Individuals are seen to create the world by organizing their own understanding of it and giving it meaning. To do research on actors without taking into account the meanings they attribute to their actions or environment is to treat them like objects.


title: Verstehen

text: Interpretive sociology () is the study of society that concentrates on the meanings people associate to their social world. Interpretive sociology strives to show that reality is constructed by people themselves in their daily lives.


title: Verstehen

text: "Verstehen" roughly translates to "meaningful understanding" or "putting yourself in the shoes of others to see things from their perspective." Interpretive sociology differs from positivist sociology in three ways:


title: Verstehen

text: "Verstehen" was introduced into philosophy and the human sciences (') by the German historist philosopher Johann Gustav Droysen. Droysen first made a distinction between nature and history in terms of the categories of space and time. The method of the natural sciences (') is explanation ('), while that of history is understanding (').


title: Verstehen

text: The concept of "Verstehen" was later used by the German philosopher Wilhelm Dilthey to describe the first-person participatory perspective that agents have on their individual experience as well as their culture, history, and society. In this sense, it is developed in the context of the theory and practice of "interpretation" (as understood in the context of hermeneutics) and contrasted with the external objectivating third-person perspective of "explanation" ("") in which human agency, subjectivity, and its products are analyzed as effects of impersonal natural forces in the natural sciences and social structures in sociology.


title: Verstehen

text: Twentieth-century philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Hans-Georg Gadamer have been critical of what they considered to be the romantic and subjective character of "Verstehen" in Dilthey, although both Dilthey and the early Heidegger were interested in the "facticity" and "life-context" of understanding, and sought to universalize it as the way humans exist through language on the basis of ontology. "Verstehen" also played a role in Edmund Husserl and Alfred Schutz's analysis of the "lifeworld." Jürgen Habermas and Karl-Otto Apel further transformed the concept of "Verstehen", reformulating it on the basis of a transcendental-pragmatic philosophy of language and the theory of communicative action.


title: Verstehen

text: Max Weber and Georg Simmel introduced interpretive understanding (') into sociology, where it has come to mean a systematic interpretive process in which an outside observer of a culture (such as an anthropologist or sociologist) relates to an indigenous people or sub-cultural group on their own terms and from their own point of view, rather than interpreting them in terms of the observer's own culture. "Verstehen" can mean either a kind of empathic or participatory understanding of social phenomena. In anthropological terms this is sometimes described as cultural relativism, especially by those that have a tendency to argue toward universal ideals. In sociology it is an aspect of the comparative-historical approach, where the context of a society like twelfth century "France" can be potentially better understood (') by the sociologist than it could have been by people living in a village in Burgundy. It relates to how people in life give meaning to the social world around them and how the social scientist accesses and evaluates this "first-person perspective." This concept has been both expanded and criticized by later social scientists. Proponents laud this concept as the only means by which researchers from one culture can examine and explain behaviors in another. While the exercise of "Verstehen" has been more popular among social scientists in Europe, such as Habermas, "Verstehen" was introduced into the practice of sociology in the United States by Talcott Parsons, an American sociologist influenced by Max Weber. Parsons used his structural functionalism to incorporate this concept into his 1937 work, "The Structure of Social Action".


title: Verstehen

text: Weber had more specific beliefs than Marx where he put value to understanding and meaning of key elements—not just with intuition or sympathy with the individual but also the product of "systematic and rigorous research". The goal is to identify human actions and interpreting them as observable events leading us to believe that it not only provides for a good explanation for individual actions but also for group interactions. The meaning attached needs to include constraints and limitations and analyze the motivation for action. Weber believed that this gives the sociologist an advantage over a natural scientist because "We can accomplish something which is never attainable in the natural sciences, namely the subjective understanding of the action of the component individuals."


title: Verstehen

text: Critics of the social scientific concept of "Verstehen" such as Mikhail Bakhtin and Dean MacCannell counter that it is simply impossible for a person born of one culture to ever completely understand another culture, and that it is arrogant and conceited to attempt to interpret the significance of one culture's symbols through the terms of another (supposedly superior) culture. Just as in physical science all knowledge is asymptotic to the full explanation, a high degree of cross-cultural understanding is very valuable. The opposite of "Verstehen" would seem to be ignorance of all but that which is immediately observable, meaning that we would not be able to understand any time and place but our own. A certain level of interpretive understanding is necessary for our own cultural setting, however, and it can easily be argued that even the full participant in a culture does not fully understand it in every regard.


title: Verstehen

text: Critics also believe that it is the sociologist's job to not just observe people and what people do but also share in their world of meaning and come to appreciate why they act as they do. Subjective thoughts and feelings regarded as bias in the sciences is an important aspect to be controlled for while doing sociological research.


title: Ames test

text: The Ames test is a widely employed method that uses bacteria to test whether a given chemical can cause mutations in the DNA of the test organism. More formally, it is a biological assay to assess the mutagenic potential of chemical compounds. A positive test indicates that the chemical is mutagenic and therefore may act as a carcinogen, because cancer is often linked to mutation. The test serves as a quick and convenient assay to estimate the carcinogenic potential of a compound because standard carcinogen assays on mice and rats are time-consuming (taking two to three years to complete) and expensive. However, false-positives and false-negatives are known.


title: Ames test

text: The procedure was described in a series of papers in the early 1970s by Bruce Ames and his group at the University of California, Berkeley.


title: Ames test

text: The Ames test uses several strains of the bacterium "Salmonella typhimurium" that carry mutations in genes involved in histidine synthesis. These strains are auxotrophic mutants, i.e. they require histidine for growth, but cannot produce it. The method tests the capability of the tested substance in creating mutations that result in a return to a "prototrophic" state, so that the cells can grow on a histidine-free medium.


title: Ames test

text: The tester strains are specially constructed to detect either frameshift (e.g. strains TA-1537 and TA-1538) or point (e.g. strain TA-1531) mutations in the genes required to synthesize histidine, so that mutagens acting via different mechanisms may be identified. Some compounds are quite specific, causing reversions in just one or two strains. The tester strains also carry mutations in the genes responsible for lipopolysaccharide synthesis, making the cell wall of the bacteria more permeable, and in the excision repair system to make the test more sensitive.


title: Ames test

text: Larger organisms like mammals have metabolic processes that could potentially turn a chemical considered not mutagenic into one that is or one that is considered mutagenic into one that is not. Therefore, to more effectively test a chemical compound's mutagenicity in relation to larger organisms, rat liver enzymes can be added in an attempt to replicate the metabolic processes' effect on the compound being tested in the Ames Test. Rat liver extract is optionally added to simulate the effect of metabolism, as some compounds, like benzo["a"]pyrene, are not mutagenic themselves but their metabolic products are.


title: Ames test

text: The bacteria are spread on an agar plate with small amount of histidine. This small amount of histidine in the growth medium allows the bacteria to grow for an initial time and have the opportunity to mutate.


title: Ames test

text: When the histidine is depleted only bacteria that have mutated to gain the ability to produce its own histidine will survive. The plate is incubated for 48 hours. The mutagenicity of a substance is proportional to the number of colonies observed.


title: Ames test

text: Mutagens identified via Ames test are also possible carcinogens, and early studies by Ames showed that 90% of known carcinogens may be identified via this test. Later studies however showed identification of 50–70% of known carcinogens. The test was used to identify a number of compounds previously used in commercial products as potential carcinogens. Examples include tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate, which was used as a flame retardant in plastic and textiles such as children's sleepwear, and furylfuramide which was used as an antibacterial additive in food in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s. Furylfuramide in fact had previously passed animal tests, but more vigorous tests after its identification in the Ames test showed it to be carcinogenic. Their positive tests resulted in those chemicals being withdrawn from use in consumer products.


title: Ames test

text: One interesting result from the Ames test is that the dose response curve using varying concentrations of the chemical is almost always linear, indicating that there is no threshold concentration for mutagenesis. It therefore suggests that, as with radiation, there may be no safe threshold for chemical mutagens or carcinogens. However, some have proposed that organisms could tolerate low levels of mutagens due to protective mechanisms such as DNA repair, and thus a threshold may exist for certain chemical mutagens. Bruce Ames himself argued against linear dose-response extrapolation from the high dose used in carcinogenesis tests in animal systems to the lower dose of chemicals normally encountered in human exposure, as the results may be false positives due to mitogenic response caused by the artificially high dose of chemicals used in such tests. He also cautioned against the "hysteria over tiny traces of chemicals that may or may not cause cancer", that "completely drives out the major risks you should be aware of".


title: Ames test

text: The Ames test is often used as one of the initial screens for potential drugs to weed out possible carcinogens, and it is one of the eight tests required under the Pesticide Act (USA) and one of the six tests required under the Toxic Substances Control Act (USA).


title: Ames test

text: "Salmonella typhimurium" is a prokaryote, therefore it is not a perfect model for humans. Rat liver S9 fraction is used to mimic the mammalian metabolic conditions so that the mutagenic potential of metabolites formed by a parent molecule in the hepatic system can be assessed; however, there are differences in metabolism between humans and rats that can affect the mutagenicity of the chemicals being tested. The test may therefore be improved by the use of human liver S9 fraction; its use was previously limited by its availability, but it is now available commercially and therefore may be more feasible. An adapted "in vitro" model has been made for eukaryotic cells, for example yeast.


title: Ames test

text: Mutagens identified in the Ames test need not necessarily be carcinogenic, and further tests are required for any potential carcinogen identified in the test. Drugs that contain the nitrate moiety sometimes come back positive for Ames when they are indeed safe. The nitrate compounds may generate nitric oxide, an important signal molecule that can give a false positive. Nitroglycerin is an example that gives a positive Ames yet is still used in treatment today. Nitrates in food however may be reduced by bacterial action to nitrites which are known to generate carcinogens by reacting with amines and amides. Long toxicology and outcome studies are needed with such compounds to disprove a positive Ames test.


title: Ames test

text: The Ames test was initially developed using agar plates (the plate incorporation technique), as described above. Since that time, an alternative to performing the Ames test has been developed, which is known as the "fluctuation method". This technique is the same in concept as the agar-based method, with bacteria being added to a reaction mixture with a small amount of histidine, which allows the bacteria to grow and mutate, returning to synthesize their own histidine. By including a pH indicator, the frequency of mutation is counted in microplates as the number of wells which have changed color (caused by a drop in pH due to metabolic processes of reproducing bacteria). As with the traditional Ames test, the sample is compared to the natural background rate of reverse mutation in order to establish the genotoxicity of a substance. The fluctuation method is performed entirely in liquid culture and is scored by counting the number of wells that turn yellow from purple in 96-well or 384-well microplates.


title: Ames test

text: In the 96-well plate method the frequency of mutation is counted as the number of wells out of 96 which have changed color. The plates are incubated for up to five days, with mutated (yellow) colonies being counted each day and compared to the background rate of reverse mutation using established tables of significance to determine the significant differences between the background rate of mutation and that for the tested samples.


title: Ames test

text: In the more scaled-down 384-well plate microfluctuation method the frequency of mutation is counted as the number of wells out of 48 which have changed color after 2 days of incubation. A test sample is assayed across 6 dose levels with concurrent zero-dose (background) and positive controls which all fit into one 384-well plate. The assay is performed in triplicates to provide statistical robustness. It uses the recommended OECD Guideline 471 tester strains (histidine auxotrophs and tryptophan auxotrophs).


title: Ames test

text: The fluctuation method is comparable to the traditional pour plate method in terms of sensitivity and accuracy, however, it does have a number of advantages: it needs less test sample, it has a simple colorimetric endpoint, counting the number of positive wells out of possible 96 or 48 wells is much less time-consuming than counting individual colonies on an agar plate. Several commercial kits are available. Most kits have consumable components in a ready-to-use state, including lyophilized bacteria, and tests can be performed using multichannel pipettes. The fluctuation method also allows for testing higher volumes of aqueous samples (up to 75% v/v), increasing the sensitivity and extending its application to low-level environmental mutagens.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: The Onion Field is a 1979 American neo-noir crime drama film directed by Harold Becker and written by Joseph Wambaugh, based on his 1973 true crime book of the same name. The film stars John Savage, James Woods and Franklyn Seales, as well as Ted Danson in his film debut.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: Woods' performance as Greg Powell was the film's most widely praised element, earning him a Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award and his first Golden Globe nomination.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: In 1963, LAPD detectives Karl Hettinger and Ian Campbell are kidnapped by criminals Greg Powell and Jimmy "Youngblood" Smith. They are driven to an onion field near Bakersfield, where Campbell is shot and killed before Hettinger narrowly escapes as a cloud passes in front of the moon, plunging the onion field into darkness.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: Hettinger's eyewitness account leads to the arrest of the two men, who are tried and convicted of first-degree murder. While they languish on death row, Powell and Smith learn how to exploit the legal system, and after a series of appeals, their sentences are reduced to life imprisonment following a court decision abolishing executions in California.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: Meanwhile, Hettinger's physical condition and emotional state slowly deteriorate as his failure to act more aggressively on the night of the incident is questioned by those in authority and his fellow officers. Wracked with guilt and remorse, he experiences nightmares, impotence, weight loss, kleptomania and thoughts of suicide.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: The film was shot on location in Valencia, Los Angeles, Maricopa and Taft in California. A courtroom of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County was used for the trial scenes. The jury panel was taken to an onion field in Valencia to inspect it as a replica of the scene of the crime.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: Wambaugh helped to produce the film and chose the cast and crew, including actor Ted Danson, who made his film debut. Wambaugh reportedly was determined to make a film superior to the 1977 adaptation of his novel "The Choirboys", the script of which written by another writer. Wambaugh sued the makers of "The Choirboys" and his name was removed from the credits.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: "The Onion Field" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7, 1979 before opening in New York City on September 19. It grossed $196,716 in its first 5 days from 10 theatres in New York and then expanded to open in Los Angeles and Chicago.


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: The movie opened to positive praise as a true story of justice mishandled. Janet Maslin of "The New York Times" observed: "This is a strong, affecting story but it's also a straggly one, populated by tangential figures and parallel plotlines. The criminals' histories are every bit as convoluted and fascinating as those of the policemen they abducted. Even the courtroom drama is unusually complicated, introducing a new legal team with each new trial... The film is generally crisp and at times exciting, but it's also full of incidents that are only sketchily explained, and minus the all-important narrative thread that might have provided a clear point of view."


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: "Variety" called the film "a highly detailed dramatization" and wrote that James Woods "is chillingly effective, creating a flakiness in the character that exudes the danger of a live wire near a puddle."


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: "Time Out London" thought the film was "expertly performed" and added: "It's the usual heavy Wambaugh brew: police procedure closely observed without a trace of romanticism, suggesting simply that life in the force is psychological hell. So far, so good. But that very insistence on authenticity is followed by the film to the detriment of the narrative's dramatic structure; half way through, the whole thing begins to ramble badly. Engrossingly sordid, nevertheless."


title: The Onion Field (film)

text: MGM Home Entertainment released the film as a Region 1 DVD on September 17, 2002. The film is in anamorphic widescreen format with subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Bonus features include commentary by director Harold Becker and a featurette about the making of the film.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Paula Maria Bonaparte Leclerc Borghese (French: "Pauline Marie Bonaparte"; 20 October 1780 – 9 June 1825), better known as Pauline Bonaparte, was an imperial French princess, the first sovereign Duchess of Guastalla, and the princess consort of Sulmona and Rossano. She was the sixth child of Letizia Ramolino and Carlo Buonaparte, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France. Her elder brother, Napoleon, was the first emperor of the French. She married Charles Leclerc, a French general, a union ended by his death in 1802. Later, she married Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona. Her only child, Dermide Leclerc, born from her first marriage, died in childhood. She was the only Bonaparte sibling to visit Napoleon in exile on his principality, Elba.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Maria Paola Buonaparte, the sixth child of Letizia Ramolino and Carlo Maria Buonaparte, Corsica's representative to the court of King Louis XVI of France, was born on 20 October 1780 in Ajaccio, Corsica. She was popularly known as "Paoletta", and her family soon took a French spelling of their surname, Bonaparte. She is said to be Napoleon's favorite sister. Little is known about her childhood, except that she received no formal education. Following Carlo's death in 1785, the family was plunged into poverty.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Her brother Lucien Bonaparte made seditious comments at the local Jacobin chapter in the summer of 1793, forcing the family to flee to the mainland. It was there on the mainland that she became known as "Paulette". The income the Bonapartes earned from their vineyards and other holdings on Corsica was interrupted by the British capture of the island in 1794. Their economic situation became so dire that the Bonaparte women reportedly resorted to washing clothes for payment. Regardless, they received, like others French refugees from Corsica, a stipend from the French government. From their landing place, Toulon, they moved to Marseille, where General Napoleon Bonaparte, her elder brother, introduced her to Louis-Marie Stanislas Fréron, the proconsul of Marseille. He intended them to marry, but Letizia objected. Napoleon, despite the fact that Pauline loved Stanislas, married her to General Charles Leclerc in French-occupied Milan on 14 June 1797. Napoleon returned to Paris and delegated the office of commander-in-chief of the French army in Italy to his brother-in-law. Pauline gave birth to a boy, Dermide Louis Napoleon, on 20 April 1798. In celebration, General Leclerc acquired a property outside Novellara worth 160,000 French francs. Ill-health forced Leclerc to resign from his military post in October of the same year; he was transferred to Paris. Leclerc was again relocated upon arrival, this time to Brittany. Pauline stayed in Paris with Dermide. Laure de Permond—the future Duchesse d'Abrantès—and her mother welcomed Pauline into their salon at the rue Saint-Croix. Napoleon seized power in Coup of Brumaire in November 1799: deposing the Directory, he pronounced himself First Consul.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Saint-Domingue in the West Indies (modern-day Haiti) had been a French colony since 1697, but had been in rebellion against France since 1791. Napoleon wished to restore French authority there, and so organized an expedition. He put General Leclerc at its head, appointing him Governor-General of the island. Leclerc, Dermide, and Pauline embarked for the colony from Brest on 14 December 1801. Leclerc's fleet totaled 74 ships. The gubernatorial family occupied the flagship, "l'Océan". After a 45-day journey, the fleet arrived in Le Cap harbour. The Governor-General ordered General Christophe, who commanded a force of 5,000 soldiers, to resign Le Cap to French authority. After all attempts at conciliation failed, Leclerc attacked the town under cover of darkness. Christophe responded by razing Le Cap to the ground. Pauline, meanwhile, was left aboard the flagship with their son. According to Leclerc, in a letter dated 5 March to Napoleon, "The disastrous events in the midst of which she [Pauline] found herself wore her down to the point of making her ill." Leclerc succeeded in requisitioning the capitulation of the rebel leader, Toussaint L'ouverture, in May.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: However, celebrations were dampened by the advent of yellow fever season: 25 generals and 25,000 soldiers died from the fever. Leclerc had initially guaranteed that slavery, abolished by the Jacobin republic in 1794, would stay proscribed; however, the inhabitants caught wind of its re-establishment in another French colony, neighbouring Guadeloupe, in July. The French government had eliminated slavery in May. As a result, the indigenous residents of Saint-Domingue planned an insurrection for September 16. Black troops in Leclerc's army defected to their old commanders, and the Governor-General had a mere 2,000 men against the rebels' 10,000. Leclerc, fearing for Pauline's safety, gave express orders to Jacques de Norvin, a sergeant, to remove Pauline from Saint-Domingue at a moment's notice, but these precautions proved unnecessary when Leclerc defeated the insurgents.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: The climate was taking its toll on Pauline's health. She could no longer walk and was compelled to a "reclining position" for several hours a day. Both she and Dermide suffered from spells of yellow fever. She did, however, find time to take numerous lovers, including several of her husband's soldiers, and developed a reputation for "Bacchanalian promiscuity."


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Leclerc attempted to convince Pauline to return to Paris in August. She consented on the condition that "he [Leclerc]...give me 100,000 francs." When the Governor-General refused, she elected to stay in Saint-Domingue; observing that unlike in Paris, "Here, I reign like Josephine [Napoleon's wife]; I hold first place."


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: To occupy herself, she compiled a collection of local flora and established a menagerie, inhabited by native animals.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: On 22 October 1802, Leclerc fell ill. A doctor from the military hospital in Le Cap diagnosed him with a fever "caused by the bodily and mental hardships that the general [Leclerc] had suffered." Biographer Flora Fraser believes that his symptoms were consistent with those of yellow fever. He died on 1 November. Seven days later, Pauline, Dermide, and Leclerc's remains were hastily ferried back to mainland France.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Pauline reached the Bay of Toulon on 1 January 1803. That same day she wrote to Napoleon: "I have brought with me the remains of my poor Leclerc. Pity poor Pauline, who is truly unhappy."


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: On 11 February, she arrived in the capital, where Napoleon made arrangements for her to lodge with their brother Joseph. Parisian rumour had it that she extracted gold and jewels from the indigenous peoples in Saint-Domingue and brought the treasure back in Leclerc's sarcophagus, but this was not the case. She inherited 700,000 francs in liquid capital and assets from Leclerc.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Tiring of life with Joseph, Pauline went about acquiring Hôtel Charost from the duchess to whom it belonged. She confided in a friend that she "was bored" with the code of mourning outlined in the First Consul's civil code, compelling her to withdraw from Parisian society, which, before her time in Saint-Domingue, had had her at its center. Napoleon did not wish her to remain unmarried for long; he tried—but failed—to betroth her to the Duke of Lodi and Vice-President of the Napoleonic Republic of Italy, Francesco Melzi d'Eril. Pope Pius VII's envoy, Giovanni Battista Caprara, suggested Camillo Borghese, 6th Prince of Sulmona, a Roman noble. The First Consul believed the union would consolidate ties with French-occupied Italy, where animosity toward the aggressor was rife. That, combined with pressure from her brothers Joseph and Lucien, induced her to marry him. The marriage contract brought Camillo a dowry of 500,000 francs; to Pauline, it brought 300,000 francs worth of jewelry and the use of the Borghese family diamonds. On 28 August 1803, they were married by Caprara, but without the knowledge of Napoleon, who had wanted a November wedding for mourning protocol's sake. Upon discovering Pauline's deceit, he refused to acknowledge her new title: "Please understand, Madame, that there is no princess where I am." A civil ceremony was held in November to confirm the marriage. However, Pauline continued her extramarital affairs, including an affair with the violinist Niccolò Paganini.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: Camillo, Pauline, and Dermide arrived in Rome on 14 November. Pauline, anxious to learn how to behave in Roman society, received tutorship in deportment and dancing. Biographer William Carlton suggests that Pauline— a minor noble from Corsica—would never have made such an advantageous match if it weren't for Napoleon's political eminence. Pauline's initial amity toward Camillo soon morphed into dislike. Her son Dermide, always a delicate child, died on 14 August 1804 in the Aldobrandini villa in Frascati, after a violent fever and convulsions. Three years later, in 1807, his remains were moved next to those of his father in the park grounds of the Château de Montgobert.


title: Pauline Bonaparte

text: In 1806, Napoleon made his sister sovereign Princess and Duchess of Guastalla; however, she soon sold the duchy to Parma for six million francs, keeping only the title of Princess of Guastalla. Pauline fell into temporary disfavor with her brother because of her hostility to his second wife, Empress Marie Louise, but when Napoleon's fortune failed, Pauline showed herself more loyal than any of his other sisters and brothers.