title: Tomsk

paragraphs: Tomsk ( "Томск") is a Russian city, the administrative center of Tomsk Oblast. One of the largest cities in Siberia. Population 575 352 (2019).

paragraphs: Established under a decree from Tsar Boris Godunov in 1604.

paragraphs: In 1804, the government selected Tomsk to become the center for a new governorate which would include the modern cities of Novosibirsk, Kemerovo, Altai, Krasnoyarsk and eastern Kazakhstan.

paragraphs: Tomsk State University is the first university in Siberia (founded in 1878, opened in 1888). The Tomsk State University Library book reserve is considered to be among the richest in Russia.

paragraphs: Tomsk Polytechnic University is the first (founded in 1896 and opened in 1900) technical university in Siberia.

paragraphs: Siberian Medical University is one of the oldest (founded in 1930) and highest rated medical schools in Russia.

paragraphs: Continental climate, transitional from subarctic to sharply continental climate.

paragraphs: The annual average temperature is 0.9 °C. Winters are severe and lengthy (from the end of October to the beginning of April), and the lowest recorded temperature was −55 °C in January 1931.


title: Intelligent design

paragraphs: Intelligent design is the theory that that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity. It believes that the universe is so complex that it must have been designed by a higher intelligent being. This theory is that life did not evolve by natural selection.

paragraphs: Intelligent design was developed by a group of American creationists to get around legal judgements like Edwards v. Aguillard, which said that creationism could not be taught in schools because of the First Amendment. The first use of the term in this form was in the creationist textbook "Of Pandas and People", published in 1989.

paragraphs: Intelligent design suggests that life is too complex to have evolved. Scientists have discovered that even a single cell is complex. The genes in a cell code have a huge amount of information. Therefore that information, like computer programming, has to come from an intelligent source and cannot be made randomly. This is thought to be because the properties of entropy say things cannot grow in complexity by randomness. Law professor Phillip E. Johnson was seen as the father of the intelligent design.

paragraphs: It is also argued that although an amino acid could be made randomly, a protein (a long, shaped string of amino acids) is such a precise sequence and structure that it would be impossible to make by chance. Also, a protein or DNA would not be alive by itself; so a whole life form would have to be made all at once. This argument can be seen as a way of saying that natural selection could not have created life. It is argued whether that is a valid point.

paragraphs: A common example of this is a bacterial flagellum, which is essentially a microscopic animal version of a very efficient electric motor. The flagellum has lots of separate parts. It is argued that for the flagellum to form by evolution, every single one of the parts would have to be formed together at just the right time. However, scientists say this is not correct. There is evidence that the flagellum developed through evolution.

paragraphs: A religious philosopher, William Paley, said that life is more complicated than a machine (like as a watch.) He said that just like a watch was made by a smart designer, so were animals. This is known as the watchmaker analogy.

paragraphs: Many parts of different animals are very similar. Intelligent design could show that a common creator used the same good design ideas for all of them. This could be evidence of evolution; but intelligent design suggests that every part of an animal is useful and there for a reason, showing how smart the designer was.

paragraphs: Evolution suggests that many parts of the same animal would not be useful or not good, because it happened by natural selection. In the past, it was believed that some parts of the human body have no biological function, but later it was proved that some actually do important things.

paragraphs: If animals and persons have similar parts because they came from a common ancestor, then the genes that code for these parts should be similar too. Sometimes this is true. But, other times similar structures are coded by entirely different genes, because of convergent evolution. These examples of this kind of different results in data can be used to claim that evolution is either wrong or right, causing arguments.


title: Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi

paragraphs: Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi (; born 25 November 1941) is a spiritual leader and founder of the spiritual movements "RAGS International" (now known as Messiah Foundation International) and "Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam".

paragraphs: He is the author of many Urdu books on spirituality. The most popular of his books is "Deen-e-Ilahi" "The Religion of God" (2000) which has recently been republished by Hay House and translated into English, Arabic, Thai, Persian, Hindi and other languages by Messiah Foundation International.

paragraphs: RAGS International was renamed to Messiah Foundation International in 2000. MFI claims that Shahi is the Mehdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar.

paragraphs: Shahi was born on 25 November 1941, in the village of Dhok Gohar Shah in the district of Rawalpindi in British India. He is a fifth generation descendant of the Sufi Baba Gohar Ali Shah.

paragraphs: At the age of twenty, when he was the owner of F.Q. Steel Industries, Shahi began to search for spirituality. Eventually he became disillusioned in this search and returned to work. Shahi then married and had three children.

paragraphs: In 1975, he went to Sehwan Sharif for self-mortification. He spent a period of three years in the mountains of Sehwan Sharif and the forest of Laal Bagh in self-purification.

paragraphs: Shahi became popular as a Sufi preacher in Pakistan during the later 1970s. He formed "RAGS International" and "Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam" in 1980. Of the two organisations, RAGS International is still active as Messiah Foundation International whereas Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam was reported to have been dissolved and banned in Pakistan in 2011.

paragraphs: The CEO of Messiah Foundation International is Younus AlGohar. Shahi claimed to have met with Jesus Christ in 1997.

paragraphs: He and many of his followers have been convicted under Islamic blasphemy by an antiterrorist court in Sindh. After he fled to England, Shahi was convicted "in absentia", receiving sentences that totaled approximately 59 years.

paragraphs: Shahi was reported to have disappeared in London in 2001; afterwards, sightings of him were reported around the world of people claiming to have met and received spiritual guidance from him.

paragraphs: In February 2002, prior to any decision on appeals filed with the Sindh High Court, Ardeshir Cowasjee claimed in an article he wrote for "Dawn" newspaper, the Pakistani newspaper, that unnamed people who identified themselves to him as office-bearers of the All-Faith Spiritual Movement told him that Gohar Shahi died abroad, but this report was unconfirmed.

paragraphs: After Shahi's disappearance, his followers largely split into two organisations: the Messiah Foundation International and the Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam. RAGS International was renamed to "Messiah Foundation International" shortly after Shahi's disappearance. Its current leader is Younus AlGohar.

paragraphs: Some sources report his death as of 2001, others as of 2003. According to the "Pakistani Press Foundation" Shahi died in 2001 An article from 2006 in the "Sunday Telegraph" reports that Shahi died in 2003, and a 2009 article in "Your Local Guardian" also says he was reported to have died in 2003. But none of these reports are confirmed as there is no physical proof of his body.

paragraphs: However, the Indian news agency PTI reported in 2008 that Shahi was based in the United Kingdom after being convicted of blasphemy by the Sindh High Court. This view is supported by the "Indian Express" which reported in 2008 that Shahi had fled to the United Kingdom and was presently based there. "Zee News" also supported this claim. The Hindustan Times has reported that he is "serving a life sentence".

paragraphs: The Messiah Foundation International claims that he merely disappeared.

paragraphs: Shahi's family, including his wife, five sons and a daughter, still resides in Kotri.

paragraphs: "Main page:" Messiah Foundation International

paragraphs: The teachings of Gohar Shahi have been a source of controversy. Some orthodox theological scholars say his teachings are blasphemous, while others, such as Hisham Kabbani and Sultan-al Awliya Shaykh Mawlana as-Sayyid Khwaja Muhammad Nazim Adil al-Haqqani al-Rabbani al-Qubrusi al-Firdausi an-Naqshbandi have praised him. Hisham Kabbani also sat at the feet of Gohar Shahi.

paragraphs: Classical singers such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Ghulam Farid Sabri have been presented the message of Shahi, which they have praised. Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan was quoted as saying "The message of Hazrat Riaz Gohar Shahi is the greatest message I have ever heard." In "Qawwali" events in Japan and Germany, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan personally distributed leaflets in favour of Shahi. Aziz Mian has also presented a "Qawwali" in praise of Shahi at a "Jashan-e-Shahi" event (which celebrates the day Shahi supposedly took the rank of Mehdi by Allah) event.

paragraphs: Shahi and his followers have made claims that are opposed by some mainstream Islamic theologians in Pakistan and abroad. Shahi was accused of claiming the status of a prophet but Shahi denied such accusations. His teachings have been condemned by Muslim religious leaders and the Pakistani government.

paragraphs: Shahi predicts that the world would end in the year 2026 due to a comet heading towards earth. He claims the comet will be the cause of "total destruction" though mentions that "in order to intimidate [mankind]...God plans destruction on a small scale".

paragraphs: Many attempts were made on the lives of Shahi and Younus AlGohar, including a petrol bomb thrown into AlGohar's residence in Manchester where Shahi stayed when he toured the United Kingdom. A man tried to attack him with a hand grenade during a discourse at his home in Kotri, Pakistan. A bounty was put on his head in Pakistan.

paragraphs: Shahi's books have been banned by the government of Pakistan, and his followers are not allowed to meet in public.

paragraphs: Gohar Shahi claimed to have met with Jesus in America. Shahi's supporters claim that his face became prominent on the moon, sun, nebula star and the Black Stone in Mecca, and that these appearances were signs from God that Gohar Shahi is the awaited Mehdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar.

paragraphs: The alleged images induced greater legal and religious opposition. Shahi has also supported this claim, saying that God had revealed the images of Shahi on the Moon and various locations, for which Shahi himself was not responsible, and if questions should be raised, they should be raised to God. Messiah Foundation International claims the alleged images to be signs from God, pointing to Shahi being the awaited Mehdi, and quote religious texts as well as sayings from the likes of Nostradamus, and Ja'far al-Sadiq to support it.

paragraphs: "Many believe that you are the Mehdi, and God has revealed signs unto them which say that you are the Mehdi, but you do not officially announce that you are the Mehdi. Why?" Shahi gestured towards himself and answered, "Does Imam Mehdi not know the law of Pakistan? He knows that the law of Pakistan declares that 'whosoever claims to be the Mehdi, put him in jail'. I have given the signs of his [Mehdi's] characteristics, which the Mehdi knows and none other. Now, it is up to people to recognize him and believe him".

paragraphs: On 18 November 1997, after appearing in court before Justice Rasheed A. Razvi of Sindh High Court Hyderabad Circuit, Shahi said, "The only justification to be Hazrat Imam Mehdi is the mark on [one's] back which can prove his existence."

paragraphs: Of the groups following Shahi, Messiah Foundation International claims that Shahi is the awaited Mehdi, Messiah, and Kalki Avatar while "Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam" did not. According to MFI's website, Shahi is the Awaited Messiah, but they deny the notion that Shahi is another form of Jesus and claim that Jesus has also returned to support the Mehdi.

paragraphs: Gohar Shahi has authored a number of books, including one based on Sufi poetry known as "Taryāq-e-Qalb", roughly translating to the "'Cure of Hearts'". One of his most prominent books is "Deen-e-Ilahi" ("The Religion of God"), which is banned in Pakistan.

paragraphs: On May 17th, 2012, Messiah Foundation International republished "The Religion of God" with Hay House. As of July 1st, 2012, it was #5 on the publisher's Best Seller's List.

paragraphs: Messiah Foundation International considers Shahi to be the author of the "Goharian Philosophy of Divine Love", a set of principles upon which the organisation is founded. Shahi has also authored a monthly magazine, "Hatif-e-Mehdi", which is banned in Pakistan for allegedly containing material offensive to the religious feelings of Muslims there.


paragraphs: International Spiritual Movement Anjuman Serfroshan-e-Islam (ASI) () is a Pakistan-based organisation. It was made in 1980 by Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi. Its headquarters are in Kotri, Hyderabad, Sindh and Pakistan.

paragraphs: The purpose of this movement is to invite all man without any discrimination of caste, creed, nation or religion towards the divine love of God.

paragraphs: To serve this purpose, Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi visited places of worship of different types, including Mosques, Imam Bargahs, churches, Hindu temples, Sikh temples etc.

paragraphs: International Spiritual Movement Anjuman Serfroshan-e-Islam is divided into two branches one for men only and other is for women only. The ladies wing is led by Mrs. Gulzar. However, the president of men wing is Mr. Wasi Muhammad Qureshi, who was nominated by Riaz Ahmed Gohar Shahi as President of International Spiritual Movement Anjuman Serfroshan-e-Islam. Gohar Shahi himself is the Patrorn-in-Chief of International Spiritual Movement Anjuman Serfroshan-e-Islam.

paragraphs: In 1980, when Shahi formed the movement it had only five members, who are called founding members. Following are the names of the founding members of International Spiritual Movement Anjuman Serfaroshan-e-Islam:


title: Roman Curia

paragraphs: The Roman Curia ( Curia Romanae) is usually called "The Curia". It is the cabinet of Vatican City and the Roman Catholic Church.

paragraphs: Parts of The Curia look after the independent country of the Vatican. For example, The Curia includes the Vatican's courts.

paragraphs: Other parts of The Curia do jobs that are important for the Catholic Church. For example, the "Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity" is in charge of meeting other churches.

paragraphs: All of the parts of The Curia that are listed on the Vatican's website are explained in this table.


title: In God We Trust

paragraphs: In God We Trust is one of the national mottos of the United States. The other is E Pluribus Unum. "In God We Trust" has been put on American money since 1864 when it was added to a two-cent coin. A law passed in 1956 made it a national motto. It is also the motto of Florida.


title: Apostolic Nunciature

paragraphs: An Apostolic Nunciature is the embassy of the Holy See in a foreign country. The nunciature protects the affairs of the Roman Catholic Church, not just the Vatican City, and also liases between the Holy See and the Roman Catholic Church in that country.

paragraphs: The head of nunciature is called a Nuncio. The nuncio is the equivalent of an Ambassador, or a High Commissioner in Commonwealth countries.

paragraphs: Some countries make the Nuncio "Dean of the Diplomatic Corps" (head of the group of ambassadors to its country). This is allowed by the international agreement about diplomats. Usually the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps is the longest serving ambassador in a country.

paragraphs: A pro-Nuncio was the name used for a Nuncio in countries which did not make a Nuncio Dean of the Diplomatic Corps automatically. The Vatican stopped using the title in 1991.

paragraphs: An Apostolic Delegate represented the Holy See to the church, but not the government, in another country.


title: Software development

paragraphs: Software development is the process of creating a computer software. It includes the software release life cycle of preparing a design, coding the program, and fixing the bugs. The final goal is software release of a product that serves the wishes of users.


title: Gag reflex

paragraphs: Gag reflex is a normal reflex in humans that prevents the passage of anything from the throat, except during normal swallowing. It is also named as "pharyngeal reflex".

paragraphs: Touching the soft palate results in a very strong gag reflex in most healthy people. The gag reflex can also be used to make someone vomit.


title: Flame

paragraphs: A flame is the visible part of a fire. It gives light and heat. It is the result of an exothermic reaction. The color and temperature of a flame depend on the type of fuel that is used to make the fire. A blue or white flame is often very hot, while a red, orange, or yellow flame is less hot.


title: Kaliningrad

paragraphs: Kaliningrad (; ; German: ; ; briefly Russified as "Kyonigsberg") is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea. Kaliningrad is the second-largest city in the Northwestern Federal District, after Saint Petersburg, the third-largest city in the Baltic region and the seventh-largest city on the Baltic Sea. It is the westernmost Oblast of Russia.

paragraphs: It is surrounded by NATO and European Union members Poland and Lithuania and is geographically separated from the main part of Russia itself. Borderless connection is only possible by sea or air.

paragraphs: In 2002, it had a population of 430,003 people. This was more than in 1989, when the last census was done. At that time, the city only had a population of 401,280. About 78% of the people there are Russians, 8% Belarusians, and 7.3% Ukrainians.

paragraphs: It was named Königsberg originally. It was the capital city of the German province of East Prussia, the earlier Duchy of Prussia, and before that of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Knights. The city had that name from 1254 to 1945. The people were mostly Germans but they were expelled and replaced during wars.

paragraphs: One of the famous people from Königsberg was the philosopher Immanuel Kant.


title: Roller derby

paragraphs: Roller derby is a sport played on roller skates. It used to be played by both men and women, but it was restarted by women. There are now a growing number of men's and mixed (or co-ed) teams around the world who are playing roller derby.

paragraphs: For a long time, many people did not believe roller derby was a real sport. They thought it was like professional wrestling, because it had fake fighting and other things for TV. But in 2002, a group of women in Austin, Texas started playing it as a real game, with nothing fake. A TV show called "Rollergirls" was made about some of these women. By 2006, women in every big city in the USA and Canada were starting their own roller derby clubs. There were even clubs starting up in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

paragraphs: Two teams of roller derby players skate around an oval track. The track can be flat or banked (raised around the outer edges).

paragraphs: The jammer is the only player that can score points. The jammer's team gets a point every time the jammer passes one of the other team's players. To score a point, the jammer has to play fair and stay on the track when they pass someone.

paragraphs: Jammers get a 2-minute time period, called a "jam", when they can score points.

paragraphs: Before a jam starts the blockers of both teams line up side-by-side, with both jammers farther back behind their own starting line. The jam starts when a whistle blows. Then, everyone, including the jammers get to leave their designated areas. The jammers and blockers alike are fighting to get their guy/girl through the pack.

paragraphs: The first jammer to get through the pack without leaving the track gets to be the "lead jammer". The lead jammer can put her hands on her hips when she wants to stop the jam early. Stopping the jam early keeps the other team from having time to score points.

paragraphs: Blockers and pivots try to help their own team's jammer get through the pack, and they try to slow down the other team's jammer. When the jammers are near the pack, everyone is allowed to bump into each other. If someone is trying to push someone from the other team out of the way, then they have to be careful how they do it. They can only push from the side, and they have to use their shoulders, the top part of their arms, their hips, or the top part of their legs—so tripping, shoving, punching, or pushing the other team's players from behind is not allowed. Or you will get a penalty

paragraphs: Players who break the rules are sent to the penalty box for thirty seconds, leaving their team stranded on the track without them.

paragraphs: Even with these rules and safety equipment, roller derby players can get knocked down and get badly hurt, so usually only adults play "full contact" roller derby. There are junior clubs for younger players. SOME play without trying to knock anyone down. Others, like the Quad City Orphan Brigade (located in the Quad Cities (Iowa, Illinois)) play FULL contact and TRY to knock others down.

paragraphs: A roller derby game is called a "match" or a "game". There are two halves played, which last 30 minutes each. The teams skate as many jams as they can until time runs out. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.


title: Sargon of Akkad

paragraphs: Sargon was one of the first people in recorded history to create an empire, or multi-ethnic state. His empire included the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and part of what is present-day Turkey.

paragraphs: His capital was called "" in the Akkadian language.

paragraphs: Sargon of Akkad may have been the same person as the first Sargon of Assyria (also known as Sharrukin or Sharru-kin). Sargon's empire would probably have included Assyria. He is listed in the Assyrian king list as the son of Ikunum and the founder of a dynasty. He became a prominent member of the royal court of Kish, ultimately overthrowing its king before embarking on the conquest of Mesopotamia.

paragraphs: Sargon's vast empire is known to have extended from Elam to the Mediterranean Sea, including Mesopotamia, parts of modern-day Iran and Syria, and possibly parts of Anatolia and the Arabian peninsula. He ruled from a new capital, Akkad, which the Sumerian king list claims he built on the left bank of the Euphrates. He is sometimes regarded as the first person in recorded history to create a multiethnic, centrally ruled empire, although the Sumerians Lugal-anne-mundu and Lugal-zage-si also have a claim. His dynasty controlled Mesopotamia for around a century and a half.

paragraphs: The Akkadian language was made the official language of international discourse. During Sargon's reign, Akkadian was standardized and adapted for use with the cuneiform script, which was previously used for the Sumerian language. A style of calligraphy developed in which text on clay tablets and cylinder seals was arranged amidst scenes of mythology and ritual.


title: Judea

paragraphs: Judea or Judaea (, "Yehudah") is the ancient name of the mountainous surrounding Jerusalem. Its location falls in present-day Israel and the Palestinian West Bank.

paragraphs: Judea was the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Judah. Judea lost its Nationhood to the Romans in the 1st century BC, by becoming first a tributary kingdom, then a province, of the Roman Empire.

paragraphs: The first interference of Rome in the region dates from 63 BC, following the end of the Third Mithridatic war.

paragraphs: After the defeat of Mithridates VI of Pontus, general Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) stayed behind to make the area secure for Rome. Judea at the time was not a peaceful place. Queen Alexandra had recently died, and her sons were troubling the country with a civil war for power. They were Hyrcanus and Aristobulus.

paragraphs: In 63 BC, Aristobulus was surrounded in Jerusalem by his brother's armies, and the situation was bad. He sent a messenger to Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, Pompey's representative in the area. Aristobulus offered a large bribe to be rescued, that Pompey quickly accepted, but later, he tried to accuse Scaurus of extortion. This caused his downfall, because Scaurus was Pompey's brother in law and was protected by him. The general did not like what Aristobulus had done, and put the prince and high priest Hyrcanus in charge of the kingdom. Judea and Galilee became tributary kingdoms of Rome, which meant that they had to pay tribute to the Roman Republic to buy their protection.

paragraphs: Around the same time Pompey was defeated by Julius Caesar, Hyrcanus was followed by a member of his court, Antipater. Caesar and Antipater were both killed in 44 BC, and Herod, Antipater's son, was appointed as governor ("tetrarch") by Rome in 41 BC. He became the king ("basileus") of Judea in 37 BC, and was known as King Herod the Great. During his reign, the great port of Caesarea Maritima was built. He died in 4 BC, and his kingdom was divided among his sons. One of these was Herod Archelaus, who ruled Judea so badly that he was made to quit in 6 AD by the Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar, after his own people complained about him.

paragraphs: The kingdom of Judea now became part of a larger Roman province of "Ivdaea". This was one of the few governed by a knight, not a former consul or "praetor" of senatorial rank, because its income to the Roman treasury was small, and the region was peaceful. Pontius Pilate was one of these procurators.

paragraphs: Between 41 and 44, Judea won a little more independence again, when Herod Agrippa was made king by emperor Claudius. After Agrippa's died, the province again went to direct Roman control for a short time. Judea was returned little by little to Agrippa's son, Marcus Julius Agrippa, in 48. However, there was still a Roman procurator in the area, responsible for keeping peace and raising taxes. When he died, around the year 100, the area returned once again to direct Roman control.

paragraphs: Judea was the stage of three major rebellions against the Romans. They were (see Judea rebellions for a full account):

paragraphs: After Bar Kokhba's revolt was stopped by the Roman forces, the emperor Hadrian changed the name of the province to "Syria Palaestina", and Jerusalem became "Aelia Capitolina" in order to embarrass the Jewish people by attempting to erase the nation's name from the region.

paragraphs: Major cities in this area are Hebron, Bethlehem, Efrat and Beitar Illit.


title: Incubation period

paragraphs: An incubation period is the time it takes between the day a person is infected with a pathogen (something that causes a disease, like a virus), and the day that the person starts having symptoms of the disease. For example, if a person is infected with the common cold, it usually takes about one to three days for the person to start having cold symptoms. This means that the common cold's incubation period is one to three days.

paragraphs: With some diseases, like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV, the virus that causes AIDS), a person can still give other people HIV during the incubation period. Even though the person with HIV has no symptoms, the virus is making copies of itself during the incubation period.

paragraphs: Many different things affect the incubation period for a disease. These things include:

paragraphs: Incubation periods are not exactly the same for everyone, because every person is different. Because of this, an incubation period is always written as a range (for example, "one to three days").

paragraphs: For many conditions, incubation periods are longer in adults than they are in children or infants.

paragraphs: Some diseases have very short incubation periods. Other diseases have incubation periods of many years. For example:


title: The New Yorker

paragraphs: The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes articles, essays, stories, and cartoons about many topics. Though much of the magazine is about New York City, many readers are outside of the city. The magazine is known for its articles about politics, careful fact-checking, its cartoons, and short stories by many notable authors. It was founded by Harold Ross and the first issue was released on February 17, 1925. Though it was formerly a weekly magazine, it now publishes a new issue 47 times a year, with five longer two-week issues. In 2004, it had about 996,000 subscribers (people who paid to receive it).

paragraphs: The magazine has included short stories by J. D. Salinger, Vladimir Nabokov, John Updike, E. B. White, John Hersey, whose essay "Hiroshima" filled an entire issue, and Shirley Jackson, whose story "The Lottery" drew more mail than any other story published in the magazine.


title: Cataplexy

paragraphs: Cataplexy is a medical condition where people become limp when they are exposed to spontaneous emotions such as laughter, fright, anger, or sadness. People who have cataplexy will sometimes see that some of their muscles suddenly fail them. Cataplexy often affects people who have narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder. People with narcolepsy tend to suddenly fall asleep. They cannot control when they fall asleep. Cataplexy is sometimes confused with epilepsy, where a series of flashes or other stimuli cause superficially similar seizures.

paragraphs: The term Cataplexy originates from the Greek "kata", meaning down, and "plexis", meaning a stroke or seizure.


title: Sustainability

paragraphs: Sustainability means that a process or state can be maintained at a certain level for as long as is wanted.

paragraphs: One definition of sustainability is the one created by the Brundtland Commission, led by the former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland. The Commission defined sustainable development as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

paragraphs: Sustainability relates to the connection of economic, social, institutional and environmental aspects of human society, as well as the non-human environment. Sustainability is one of the four Core Concepts behind the 2007 Universal Forum of Cultures.


title: Brundtland Commission

paragraphs: The Brundtland Commission was created by the United Nations in 1983 to reflect about ways to save the human environment and natural resources and prevent deterioration of economic and social development.

paragraphs: The UN General Assembly thought that environmental problems were global in nature and determined that it was in the common interest of all nations to establish policies for sustainable development.

paragraphs: The Report of the Brundtland Commission was published by Oxford University Press in 1987. The full text of the Brundtland Report can be downloaded as a copy of the UN General Assembly document A/42/427 - a 25 Mbyte [pdf] file. Also available from Wikisource Brundtland Report.

paragraphs: The report deals with sustainable development and the change of politics needed for achieving that. The definition of this term in the report is quite well known and often cited:


title: Mosleh Zamani

paragraphs: Mosleh Zamani (also referred as Moslah Zamani) was a young Kurdish man from Sanandaj, who was executed for "adultery" in December 2009 (under Iranian law, every sexual contact outside marriage, even if both people are unmarried, is adulterous).

paragraphs: Mosleh, who was arrested at age of 17 and spend four years in prison, was sentenced to death by hanging.

paragraphs: His case raised strong controversies, because of both nature of his crime and fact he was 17 year old (Iran, because of international obligations, is not permitted to sentence anyone to death for crime he or she had committed under age of 18).

paragraphs: The only person who could have commuted the death sentence is Ayatollah Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi, the head of the judiciary.


title: Climate change

paragraphs: Climate change means the difference in the Earth's global climate or in regional climates over time. Climate change is now a major concern especially in colder countries. Climate change can be warmer or colder. This includes global warming and global cooling.

paragraphs: It describes changes in the state of the atmosphere over time scales ranging from decades to millions of years. These changes can be caused by processes inside the Earth, forces from outside (e.g. variations in sunlight intensity) or, more recently, human activities. Ice ages are prominent examples.

paragraphs: Climate change is any significant long-term change in the weather of a region (or the whole Earth) over a significant period of time. Climate change is about abnormal variations to the climate, and the effects of these variations on other parts of the Mars. Examples include the melting of ice caps at the South Pole and North Pole. These changes may take tens, hundreds or perhaps millions of years.

paragraphs: In recent use, especially in environmental policy, climate change usually refers to changes in modern climate (see global warming).

paragraphs: Some people have suggested trying to keep Earth’s temperature increase below . On February 7, 2018, The Washington Post reported on a study by scientists in Germany. The study said that if the world built all of the coal plants that were currently planned, carbon dioxide levels would rise so much that the world would not be able to keep the temperature increase below this limit .


title: Gro Harlem Brundtland

paragraphs: Brundtland has a degree from the University of Oslo. She also has a master's degree from Harvard University.


title: Allentown, Pennsylvania

paragraphs: Allentown is a city that is in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, in the United States. After Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, it is Pennsylvania's third most populous city, with 106,632 residents as of the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Lehigh County.

paragraphs: The town is in east Pennsylvania about 45 minutes away from the Pocono Mountains.

paragraphs: The city of Allentown was first home to people in 1735. It was then named a Northampton town (Northampton-Towne) in 1762 by William Allen, a rich shipping merchant, Chief Justice of the Province of Pennsylvania and mayor, or leader, of Philadelphia in the past. The town was made on a 5,000-acre area Allen got for money in 1735 from the sons of William Penn. Allen hoped that Northampton-Towne would become a commercial center because of it being on the Lehigh River and how it was near Philadelphia. Allen gave the area to his son, James, who built a summer home, Trout Hall, there in 1770.

paragraphs: On March 18 1811, the town became a borough. On March 6 1812, Lehigh County was made from the west part of Northampton County, and Northampton was made the county seat. The name of the town became "Allentown" on April 16 1833 because it was liked by people. Allentown was made a city on March 12 1867.

paragraphs: The Liberty Bell was kept away from the British during the American Revolutionary War in Allentown. After George Washington lost the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, the revolutionary capital of Philadelphia did not have defense, and got ready for the British to attack. The Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania said that eleven bells, like the State House bell and the bells from Philadelphia's Christ Church and St. Peter's Church, should be taken down and taken away from the city to stop the British, who would melt the bells down to and make into cannons, from taking the bells. The bells were moved north to Northampton-Towne, and put in the basement of the Old Zion Reformed Church, in what is now center of Allentown. Today, a shrine in the church's basement marks the same spot where the Liberty Bell was.

paragraphs: Before the 1830s, Allentown was a small town with only local markets. When the Lehigh Canal was made the economy got bigger. The town changed with industrialization and became one of the United States' biggest areas for big industry and manufacturing. While Allentown was not as big as Bethlehem, the city right next to it, the iron industry in the area still gave many jobs to the city. Railroads, like the Lehigh Valley Railroad, were very important to move raw materials and made goods, and made many new jobs.

paragraphs: Allentown also had a strong tradition in the making of beer and was home to many breweries people knew, like the Horlacher Brewery (founded 1897, closed 1978).

paragraphs: Economic recovery in the early 20th century was caused by the silk and textile industry. The Adelaide Silk Mill, which was one of the biggest mills in the world, opened in Allentown in 1881. By 1928, there were more than 140 silk and textile mills in the Lehigh Valley which made silk the second biggest industry. By the 1930s, the silk industry was getting slow in all the world because synthetics were taking the place of silk. Catoir Silk Mill, the last silk mill in Allentown, closed in 1989. In 1905, Mack Trucks moved to Macungie, a small suburb of Allentown, which began Allentown's focus on big industrial manufacturing. Today, Allentown's economy is mostly service industries.

paragraphs: Allentown's climate is called humid continental. Summers are hot and muggy, fall and spring are mild, and winter is cold. Precipitation is almost spread throughout the year at the same rate. Allentown's weather is affected by the Blue Mountain, a mountain ridge from 1,000 to 1,600 feet high about 12 miles north of the city, and South Mountain, a mountain ridge of 500 to 1,000 feet high that is south of the city.


title: Mia Rose

paragraphs: Mia Rose (aka Miaarose) is a YouTube artist who sings. She was born on January 26, 1988. She has signed a record deal with NextSelection. Her real name is Maria Antónia Teixeira Rosa. She says she is Portuguese. She is currently recording songs with groups. Rose also works with Prez Wszeborowski, a 17-year-old music composer that has written "You're Pitiful" for Weird Al Yankovic, and also made beats for celebrities like Sean Paul, Busta Rhymes, Silva Sisters, The Millionairs, and The Anarckists.


title: Hepatitis A

paragraphs: Hepatitis A is an infection of the liver caused by the hepatitis A virus. Unlike the other common forms of hepatitis (hepatitis B and C), it does not cause chronic (long-term) liver disease.

paragraphs: When a person has hepatitis A, the virus stays in their feces. Hepatitis A is usually spread by eating food or drinking water that has been contaminated with infected feces. For example, hepatitis A can be spread by:

paragraphs: Hepatitis A can also be spread by having sex with someone who has hepatitis A.

paragraphs: There is no medication that can cure hepatitis A. In most cases, the infection resolves on its own. In most cases, symptoms last less than 2 months, although some people are sick for as long as six months.

paragraphs: Unfortunately, a small number of patients develop Fulminant hepatic failure, which is very serious.

paragraphs: A vaccine is available to prevent hepatitis A, and anti-hepatitis A immunoglobulin is also used.


title: Hepatitis B

paragraphs: Hepatitis B is a disease of the liver. It is caused by a virus. The virus is not spread by food or casual contact. It can be spread by blood or body fluids from an infected person. A baby can get it from its mother during childbirth. It can also be spread by sexual contact, reuse of needles, and transfusions of blood with the virus in it.

paragraphs: Infection with hepatitis B can be prevented by vaccination, where an injection is given which makes the body immune to the virus. It is recommended that all people are given a series of three vaccines over a few months when they are babies to ensure good protection against this virus. However, vaccination only provides 90% protection, it does not completely remove the risk of infection.

paragraphs: Some people who are infected are able to beat the virus quickly. Many people are infected for life. Usually they have few or no symptoms. Sometimes the liver is damaged severely, causing liver failure. A common symptom of liver failure is jaundice, where the person's skin and eyes turn yellow due to a build-up of body products which would normally be filtered by the liver. Another problem with hepatitis B is that it can cause cancer of the liver.

paragraphs: Blood tests can find signs that the liver is being damaged. If people have those signs, treatment for hepatitis B can prevent the liver damage caused by the virus. Antiviral medications are given, which prevent the virus from making copies of itself. However, once the virus is in the liver, it is not possible to get rid of the virus completely.


title: Mir

paragraphs: Mir was a space station created by the Soviet Union and later owned and operated by Russia. It existed from 1984 to 23 March 2001. When it was retired, it moved towards the Earth and burned up in its atmosphere. Mir is now replaced with the International Space Station.


title: May Queen

paragraphs: The May Queen or Queen of May is a word which has two different but related meanings. It can refer to either a mythical figure or to a holiday personification.

paragraphs: The May Queen is also known as The Maiden, the goddess of spring, flower bride, queen of the faeries, and the lady of the flowers. The May Queen is a symbol of the stillness of nature around which everything revolves. She stands for purity, strength and the potential for growth, as the plants grow in May. She is one of many personifications of the energy of the earth.

paragraphs: She was once also known as Maid Marian in the medieval plays of Robin Hood and of the May Games - she is the young village girl, crowned with blossom, attended by children with garlands and white dresses. Some folklorists have drawn parallels between her and Maia, the Roman Goddess of Springtime, of Growth and Increase whose very name may be the root of "May".

paragraphs: The May Queen is a girl (usually a teenage girl from a specific school year) who is selected to ride or walk at the front of a parade for May Day celebrations. She wears a white gown to symbolise purity and usually a tiara or crown. Her duty is to begin the May Day celebrations. She is generally crowned by flowers and makes a speech before the dancing begins. Certain age groups dance round a May pole celebrating youth and the spring time.

paragraphs: According to popular British folklore, the tradition once had a sinister twist, in that the May Queen was put to death once the festivities were over. The veracity of this belief is difficult to establish, but while in truth it might just be an example of anti-pagan propaganda, frequent associations between May Day rituals, the occult and human sacrifice are still to be found in popular culture today. The Wicker Man, a cult horror film starring Christopher Lee, is a prominent example of this.

paragraphs: In 1557, a diarist called Henry Machyn wrote:

paragraphs: "The xxx day of May was a goly May-gam in Fanch-chyrchestrett with drumes and gunes and pykes, and ix wordes dyd ryd; and thay had speches evere man, and the morris dansse and the sauden, and a elevant with the castyll, and the sauden and yonge morens with targattes and darttes, and the lord and the lade of the Maye".

paragraphs: Translation: On the 30th May was a jolly May-game in Fenchurch Street (London) with drums and guns and pikes, The Nine Worthies did ride; and they all had speeches, and the morris dance and sultan and a elephant with a castle (saddle in the shape of a castle) and the sultan and young moors with shields and arrows, and the lord and lady of the May".

paragraphs: Many areas keep this tradition alive today, most notably the Brentham Garden Suburb, England which hosts it annually. This has the record of the oldest unbroken tradition although the May Queen of All London Festival at Hayes Common in Bromley is a close contender. A May queen is selected from a group of 13 upwards girls by the young dancers. She returns the next year to crown the new May Queen and stays in the procession.

paragraphs: A May Day celebration held annually in New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada has the distinction of being the longest running May Day celebration of its kind in the British Commonwealth. This May Day celebration began in 1870 and is approaching one hundred and forty years of age. Archival film footage of New Westminster's May Day celebrations from 1932-1962 can be seen online at Quest for the Queens.


title: Mutual fund

paragraphs: A mutual fund is a kind of investment that uses money from investors to invest in stocks, bonds or other types of investment. A fund manager (or "portfolio manager") decides how to invest the money, and for this he is paid a fee, which comes from the money in the fund.

paragraphs: Mutual funds are usually "open ended", meaning that new investors can join into the fund at any time. When this happens, new units, which are like shares, are given to the new investors.

paragraphs: There are thousands of different kinds of mutual funds, specializing in investing in different countries, different types of businesses, and different investment styles. There are even some funds that only invest in other funds.


title: Modular Audio Recognition Framework

paragraphs: Modular Audio Recognition Framework (MARF) is a computer program that tries to understand voice, sound, speech, text and human language in general. In MARF, scientists and programmers write algorithms using Java. MARF consists of Lego-like algorithm pieces that can be added or replaced easily. MARF itself can be piece in other computer programs or used for learning, education, and making MARF itself better. A few example programs are provided to show how to use MARF. There is also a lot of documentation of the project. MARF and its programs are published under a BSD-style license.


title: Fullmetal Alchemist

paragraphs: Fullmetal Alchemist (in "") is a popular manga and anime series created by Hiromu Arakawa and serialized in Enix's (now Square Enix) "Monthly Shonen Gangan". The manga has been made into two different anime shows, one in 2003 which follows its own story, and a 2009 show which follows the story of the manga. A film, "The Conqueror of Shamballa" was made for the 2003 show, and "The Sacred Star of Milos" was created for the 2012 show.

paragraphs: The plot focuses on a world where alchemy is a main form of science. Edward Elric and his brother Alphonse, fail to resurrect their mother. When Alphonse's body is destroyed, Edward sacrifices his arm and leg during the alchemy in order for Alphonse's soul to be transferred in a suit of armour. Their friend, Winry Rockbell, makes prosthetic parts for Edward's limbs. As the series progresses, the brothers solve the case about the Philosopher's Stone, a forbidden material breaking the law of Equivalent Exchange.

paragraphs: "Fullmetal Alchemist" became one of the most critically acclaimed Japanese franchise.

paragraphs: Edward Elric: The main protagonist of the series. He is brave and proud, the only thing getting him along is the promise he made to his younger brother, Alphonse, that he will get him his body back, and himself his limbs. He is shorter than the average teen and hates it when someone comments on his height, mostly getting frustrated or hurting them with his metal fist, even his brother gets the same punishment.

paragraphs: Alphonse Elric: Edward's younger brother, whose soul is attached to an empty suit of armour, after a failed attempt to resurrect their mother. The deal was his body for hers, though what happened once the transmutation had finished showed it didn't work. In order to bring back his brother, Edward did his own transmutation, giving away his arm for Alphonse. Alphonse was then placed into the armour and now their journey takes them to try to find the Philosopher's Stone, the only thing that can defy the rule of equivalent exchange, to give back Alphonse's body and Edward's limbs.


title: My Dying Bride

paragraphs: My Dying Bride is a English doom metal band. They are from West Yorkshire. The band formed in 1990.


title: Modular

paragraphs: Something is modular when it consists of two or more pieces that are easy to replace. These are usually simple objects. They can be connected together to form more complex objects. For example, Lego pieces are modular. Complex objects may by themselves be modular and used to create even more complex objects by piecing them together.


title: Framework

paragraphs: Framework is a term describing established practices in a society, science, software development, or hardware design that can be repeatedly applied to solving problems. The problems are solved uniformly (in the same or very similar way) in a framework.


title: Documentation

paragraphs: Documentation is something that people read for instructions or information on how to

paragraphs: do or use things. Documentation may consist of one or more documents on paper, a web page,


title: Bobby pin

paragraphs: A bobby pin (kirby grip) is a clip that goes in one's hair to hold individual strands of hair in place.


title: Pre-production

paragraphs: Pre-production is the time before making a movie, play, or other performance when all the things that will be needed to make it are prepared.

paragraphs: In the movie industry, pre-production usually only starts when the script is ready, the studio has agreed to make it and money has been made available. By this time, a project will almost always have a movie, a producer, cast members and a production team.


title: Flax

paragraphs: Flax (also known as common flax or linseed) ("Linum usitatissimum") is a plant.

paragraphs: The fibres of flax are used to make linen. High-quality paper used in banknotes is also made from flax fibres.

paragraphs: An oil (linseed oil) can be made from the dried ripe flax seeds.

paragraphs: Flax has been used for a long time in such tasks as making bows and candles.

paragraphs: You can also consume flaxseed, but only if it is properly processed.


title: Finite set

paragraphs: In mathematics, a finite set is a set that is not infinite. A finite set has a certain number of elements. The elements of the set can be numbered like {1, 2, ..., "n"} and "n" must either be a natural number or zero. An infinite set is a set with an unlimited number of elements.

paragraphs: Another definition is to say a set is finite if its cardinality (the number of its elements) is a natural number. A set with "n" elements is called an "n"-set.

paragraphs: A definition that is harder to understand, but which is often used by mathematicians, is to say that a set is finite if there is no strict subset that can be put in 1-to-1 correspondence with the set itself. (A strict subset of a set is one that is not equal to the set itself). For example, the set of even numbers can be put in one-to-one correspondence with the set of natural numbers (2"n" corresponds to "n"), but the set of even numbers is also a strict subset of the natural numbers (there are many numbers which are not in the set of even numbers, but which are natural numbers, for example the number 1). This means that the set of natural numbers is infinite.


title: Vikram Samvat

paragraphs: The Vikram era, or Vikram samvat is a Indian (Hindustani) calendar starting in 57 BC. The Vikram Samvat calendar starts half a century before the Gregorian calendar and works on an Indian calendar cycle.

paragraphs: The calendar starts in the month of Vaisakha, which usually falls in the Gregorian month of April.

paragraphs: The date marks the day when the King Vikramāditya beat the Sakas, who had invaded Ujjain. A new calendar was started to honor this achievement.

paragraphs: The story of this event is told by a sadhu (Jain monk) called Mahesara Suri.

paragraphs: The powerful king of Ujjain, called Gardabhilla, kidnapped a sadhvi (Jain nun), who was the sister of the sadhu. The sadhu went to the Saka King to get help, and in the end, the Saka King beat Gardabhilla and captured him and made him a prisoner. But in the end, Gardabhilla was forgiven and run away to a forest, where he was killed by a tiger.

paragraphs: Later on Vikramaditya invaded Ujjain and drove away the Sakas. To commemorate this event he started a new era called the Vikrama era.


title: Cardinality

paragraphs: In mathematics, the cardinality of a set means the number of its elements. For example, the set "A" = {2, 4, 6} contains 3 elements, and therefore "A" has a cardinality of 3. The cardinality of a set A can also be represented as formula_1.

paragraphs: Two sets have the "same" (or "equal") cardinality if and only if they have the same number of elements, which is the another way of saying that there is a 1-to-1 correspondence between the two sets. The cardinality of the set "A" is "less than or equal to" the cardinality of set "B" if and only if there is an injective function from "A" to "B". The cardinality of the set "B" is "greater than or equal to" the cardinality of set "A" if and only if there is an injective function from "A" to "B".

paragraphs: The "cardinality" of a set is only one way of giving a number to the "size" of a set. The concept of measure is yet another way.

paragraphs: The cardinality of a finite set is a natural number. The smallest cardinality is 0. The empty set has cardinality 0. If the cardinality of the set "A" is "n", then there is a "next larger" set with cardinality "n"+1 (for example, the set "A" ∪ {"A"}). If ||"A"|| ≤ ||"B"|| ≤ ||"A" ∪ {"A"}||, then either ||"B"|| = ||"A"|| or ||"B"|| = ||"A" ∪ {"A"}||.) There is no largest finite cardinality.

paragraphs: If the cardinality of a set is not finite, then the cardinality is infinite.

paragraphs: An infinite set is considered countable if they can be listed without missing any (that is, if there is a one-to-one correspondence between it and the set of natural numbers formula_2). Examples include the rational numbers, integers, and natural numbers. Such sets have a cardinality that we call formula_3 (pronounced "aleph null", "aleph naught" or "aleph zero"). Sets such as the real numbers are not countable, since given any finite or infinite list of real numbers, it's always possible to find a number that's not on that list. The real numbers have a cardinality of formula_4—the cardinality of the continuum.


title: Mitre

paragraphs: A mitre is a tall hat worn by leaders in some Christian churches. In the Roman Catholic church, it is worn by bishops, archbishops or cardinals (higher order). The front and back are the shape of a triangle. It is only worn when the bishop is dressed in his special religious clothes, but is used on a coat of arms to show that the owner is a bishop.

paragraphs: Mitres are also worn by some clergy in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches.


title: Boňkov

paragraphs: Boňkov is a small village near Herálec in the Havlíčkův Brod District, Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. 58 people live in Boňkov. Its size is . It was first documented in 1305.


title: Utopia (book)

paragraphs: Utopia is the name of a book. Thomas More wrote it in 1516. He wrote it in Latin. Its original title is De Optimo Republicae Statu deque Nova Insula Utopia. This is usually translated to "On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia".

paragraphs: The book is about an island with an imagined society. In the book, a visitor to this island tells about his trip there. According to him, Utopia has a system of laws that is perfect. Society there is also perfect. The political system is so good that nothing better can be thought out. Today, the word is used to refer to a society that is unrealistic, and impossible to make.

paragraphs: There were several attempts to create such perfect societies (They did not work). The word utopia can also refer to a society of such an attempt.

paragraphs: The ideas Christians, Jews and Muslims have of the Garden of Eden, and of Heaven can be seen as such utopias.


title: Order of the British Empire

paragraphs: The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is one of the British orders of chivalry. It is the newest order, created on 4 June 1917, by King George V.

paragraphs: The order is cut into two parts, civil and military. Both parts have five classes or ranks. In order, from top to bottom, these are:

paragraphs: Only the two highest ranks are knighthoods, and allow the holder to call themselves 'Sir' (male) or 'Dame' (female). If the person is not a citizen of a country where the Queen is Head of State, the award is called honorary, and the holder cannot use the title before their name. For example Terry Wogan became a British citizen and was therefore called Sir Terry Wogan, but Bob Geldof is still Irish citizen, and is therefore not "Sir Bob". He can, however, style himself "Bob Geldof KBE".

paragraphs: The British Empire Medal (BEM) was restarted in 2012, but only in the civil group.

paragraphs: Although it is the newest British order of chivalry, it has more members than any other.

paragraphs: King George V wanted to be able to honour the thousands of people who helped to win the First World War, but were not soldiers.

paragraphs: This Order of Knighthood has a more democratic character than the exclusive orders of the Bath or Saint Michael and Saint George, and in its early days was not held in high esteem. This changed over the years.

paragraphs: The British monarch is Sovereign of the Order and appoints all other members of the Order but only on the advice of the Government. The next-most senior member is the Grand Master. There have been three:

paragraphs: The order's rules, called "statutes", say that the Order can only have 100 Knights and Dames Grand Cross, 845 Knights and Dames Commander, and 8960 Commanders, but there is no limit to the number of members of the Officers and Members but no more than 858 Officers and 1464 Members may be appointed per year. Appointments are made on the advice of the governments of the United Kingdom and some Commonwealth realms.

paragraphs: Some jobs are usually rewarded with the Order. Usually female judges of the High Court of England and Wales are created Dames Commander after appointment. Male judges are not, because they are usually made Knights Bachelor instead.

paragraphs: Like the orders of chivalry, this order has six officials:

paragraphs: Anyone who behaves in a way that might bring the order into disrepute, may have his or her award taken away.

paragraphs: John Lennon once criticised military membership in the order, saying:

paragraphs: "Lots of people who complained about us receiving the MBE received theirs for heroism in the war - for killing people. We received ours for entertaining other people. I'd say we deserve ours more."


title: Slavníč

paragraphs: Slavníč is a small village in the Havlíčkův Brod District, Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic by Highway D1. 40 people live in Slavníč. It covers 2,13 km². It was first documented in 1305.


title: Milan Nakonečný

paragraphs: Milan Nakonečný (* February 8, 1932, Horažďovice) is a Czech psychologist (professor of psychology) and historian. During the so-called normalization era in the Czechoslovakia, communists banned him from teaching and publishing books.


title: Skorkov

paragraphs: Skorkov is small village near in the Havlíčkův Brod District, Vysočina Region of the Czech Republic. It has a population of 77. It covers 6.2 km².


title: Antonín Klimek

paragraphs: Antonín Klimek (January 18, 1937 in Prague – January 9, 2005 in Prague) was a Czech historian. He wrote mainly about the Czechoslovakian First Republic.


title: Neon Genesis Evangelion

paragraphs: Neon Genesis Evangelion (Japanese: "新世紀エヴァンゲリオン" Hepburn: "Shin Seiki Evangelion") is a Japanese anime television show directed by Hideaki Anno, and produced by Gainax and Tatsunoko Production. It is set 15 years after a world-wide disaster. The main characters are teenagers that pilot giant robots called "Evangelions" to fight giant monsters called "angels". The imagery is inspired by Christianity and Judaism, depression, and philosophy. The show was liked by critics, but the ending made many fans angry. The film "End of Evangelion" was released in 1997, acts as a different version of the show's ending. Other related media, including several manga, soundtracks, and the "Rebuild of Evangelion" film series.


title: Edward VIII

paragraphs: Edward VIII (born Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David, 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972) was King of the United Kingdom, from 20 January 1936 until 11 December 1936. He was born at White Lodge, Richmond Park in London.

paragraphs: Edward abdicated (resigned) from the throne, because he wanted to marry the American Wallis Simpson. Simpson had been married twice before. As King, he was Head of the Church of England, and the Church did not support divorce. After abdicating as king, he was known as His Royal Highness the Duke of Windsor. His wife was not allowed to be called "Her Royal Highness".

paragraphs: Edward, commonly known as David, was born as the first son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, (later King George V and Queen Mary). As a young man he disliked his royal duties, although he possessed charisma and was popular with the British people. Edward was officially invested as Prince of Wales in a ceremony at Caernarvon Castle on 13 July 1911 and was even tutored by furture Prime Minister David Lloyd George to speak a few words of Welsh.

paragraphs: At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Edward, age twenty was keen to participate. He witnessed trench warfare at first-hand and attempted to visit the front line as often as possible, although he did not experience as much hardship and misery as ordinary British soldiers. Edward undertook a military flight in 1918 and gained a pilot's licence later. Throughout the 1920s Edward represented his father, King George V, at home and abroad on many occasions. His popularity was at its greatest peak within this decade and gained him much public and media attention.

paragraphs: However, his increasing womanising and reckless behaviour during the 1920s and 1930s worried Prime Minister Baldwin and his hard working, strict father King George V. Edward was also uninterested with royal duties and disliked the British establishment. George V was disappointed by Edward's failure to settle down in life and was furious with his many affairs with married women, and was reluctant to see him inherit the Crown. George V favoured his son Albert (later King George VI) who was a family man and loyal to his beloved wife.

paragraphs: Edward had a string of relationships with married women including Freda Dudley Ward, and Lady Furness, the American wife of a British peer, who later introduced him to Wallis Simpson. Wallis Simpson was an American who had been twice divorced. Edward later became Wallis Simpson's lover. This further weakened his poor relationship with his father who stated "After I am dead," George said, "the boy will ruin himself in 12 months". Indeed he was right. Less than a year later Edward would cause great damage over the royal family of the sort not seen previously for hundreds of years.

paragraphs: After months of ill health King George V died on 20 January 1936, and Edward ascended the throne as King Edward VIII. He watched the proclamation of his accession from a window of St James's Palace with Wallis Simpson. After only a few weeks Edward begun to cause unease in government circles with actions that were seen as biased interference in political matters. He did not work hard as King and neglected important state papers. Far from working, in August and September, Edward and his lover Wallis Simpson simply cruised the Mediterranean on a luxury steam yacht.

paragraphs: On 16 November 1936, Edward invited British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin to Buckingham Palace and expressed his plans to marry Wallis Simpson after her divorce. Baldwin was unhappy about this and informed him that his subjects would see it as morally unacceptable, because remarriage after divorce was opposed by the Church of England, and the people did not like Wallis. Edward knew that the government and Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin would resign if the marriage went ahead, which could have dragged him into a general election and would ruin his status as a politically neutral monarch. This would be disastrous for the Royal Family and damage the nation. As a result he chose to abdicate in December of that year and married Wallis later in 1937. His brother, Prince Albert, Duke of York, succeeded to the throne.

paragraphs: After his abdication, he was given the title Duke of Windsor. He married Simpson in France on 3 June 1937. His brother and mother did not attend the ceremony. Many people became alarmed with Edward's supposedly pro German stance with some even saying that he favoured German fascism. Hitler considered Edward to be friendly towards Nazi Germany with Edward even in the 1960s saying privately to a friend, Lord Kinross, "I never thought Hitler was such a bad chap". The Duke and Duchess visited Nazi Germany, against the advice of the British government, and met Adolf Hitler at his private retreat. During the visit the Duke gave full Nazi salutes, causing anger in Britain. At the outbreak of the Second World War the Nazis plotted to persuade the Duke to support the Nazi effort and planned to kidnap him. Lord Caldecote warned Winston Churchill that "[the Duke] is well-known to be pro-Nazi and he may become a centre of intrigue". More problems arose when Edward gave a "defeatist" interview, which angered Churchill even more.

paragraphs: After the war The Duke and Duchess became celebrities and hosted parties and lived between Paris and New York. In the 1960s, the Duke's health deteriorated and, as a heavy smoker from an early age, had throat cancer. On 28 May 1972, the Duke died at his home in Paris, less than a month before his 78th birthday. Wallis Simpson was frail, and suffering from dementia, died 14 years later. The coffin was buried in the Royal Burial Ground behind the Royal Mausoleum of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert at Frogmore.

paragraphs: His full style as king was "His Majesty, Edward the Eighth, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, Ireland, and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas, King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India".


title: Václav Benda

paragraphs: Václav Benda (August 8, 1946 in Prague – June 2, 1999 in Prague) was Czech right-wing and anticommunist politician. During the communist dictatorship in Czechoslovakia he signed Charter 77. He was in prison from 1979 to 1983. After the Velvet Revolution, Benda co-founded the Christian-Democratic Party which later became part of the Civic Democratic Party. His son Marek Benda is also a Czech politician and member of the Civic Democratic Party.


title: County borough

paragraphs: A county borough was a type of local government district in England until abolished in 1974.

paragraphs: Local government powers were divided between county councils and urban or rural districts.

paragraphs: For example: rural districts may not be able to maintain footpaths or street lighting because of their size. Urban districts were based in a town and were able handle these jobs. Schools were the responsibility of county councils because districts were too small to run all types of schools themselves.

paragraphs: A county borough was a town big enough to run all its own local government, so the local county council had no power inside the county borough.


title: Andie MacDowell

paragraphs: Andie MacDowell (born Rosalie Anderson MacDowell on April 21, 1958 in Gaffney, South Carolina) is an American movie actress.

paragraphs: From 1986 until 1999 Andie was married to Paul Qualley. They have three children, son Justin Qualley (born 1986) and two daughters Rainey Qualley (born 1989) and Sarah Margaret Qualley (born 1995).

paragraphs: From 2001 until 2004 she was married to Rhett DeCamp Hartzog.


title: Goths

paragraphs: The Goths (Gothic: , "Gutans") were an East Germanic tribe. They spoke the Gothic language. Jordanes was a scholar from the 6th century who wrote a summary of a twelve volume work by Cassiodorus about the Goths. Jordanes work is commonly called Getica. The original work by Cassiodorius was lost, Getica is the only surviving contemporary account about the Goths. According to this book they left Scandinavia via Gotland and settled close to the mouth of the Vistula river (in present day Poland). In the 3rd and 4th centuries they settled Scythia, Dacia and parts of Moesia and Asia Minor. In the 3rd and 4th centuries, they fought with the Roman Empire and later adopted Arianism (a form of Christianity).

paragraphs: In the 4th and 5th centuries, they split into the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. With this move, they established powerful successor-states of the Roman Empire in Italy and on the Iberian peninsula (now Spain & Portugal). Traces of Gothic blood can be found in many people .


title: Arianism

paragraphs: Arianism is a doctrine that came from Arius, a priest who taught in Alexandria. To many Christians, the teachings of Arianism are heretical and are not the correct Christian teachings. For this reason, Arianism has stopped being practiced today, but Arians were a powerful part of Christianity from the 4th to the 7th centuries AD.

paragraphs: Arianism simply teaches that Jesus was not God. For this reason, Arianism opposes the dogma of the Holy Trinity. In 325 AD, the Nicene Creed was made, which the early Christians used to defeat Arianism, with the statement: "We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the "Son of God"...begotten, not made, "consubstantial with" the Father."

paragraphs: The main difference between the beliefs of Arianism and other main Christian denominations is that the Arians did not believe in the Holy Trinity, which is a way that other Christian churches use to explain God. The information that we have today comes from the writing of people who were against Arianism and said the beliefs were wrong. These writings say that Arianism believed:

paragraphs: Between the First Council of Nicaea in 325, and the First Council of Constantinople in the year 381 there were no less than 18 different Creeds used by Arianists.

paragraphs: In the 16th century there was again a movement against the belief in Trinity. Fausto Sozzini (1539-1604) was well known for teaching this. Another one was Ferenc Dávid (1510s - 1579). These movements developed into what is called Unitarianism today. Unitarians believe that there is only one person in god, not the three-in-one dogma of trinity. Some of the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses are close to some of the things Arians believed. It is different only in that Arians believed the holy spirit is a person and Jehovah's Witnesses teach it is not a person, but a force God uses to do His will. It would however be false to call them Arians, as they reject many Arian teachings. Mormons and Oneness Pentecostalism also reject the Trinity but for different reasons other than Arianism.


title: Ripening

paragraphs: Ripening is when fruit becomes easier to eat. Some fruits, like the tomato or the mango, will continue to ripen after they have been picked. Other fruits, like the cherry or fig, stop ripening once they have been picked.


title: HTTP cookie

paragraphs: An HTTP cookie (usually just called a cookie) is a simple computer made of text. The information stored by cookies can be used to personalise the experience when using a website. A website can use (the information used by) cookies to find out if someone has visited a website before and record information (data) about what they did.

paragraphs: When someone is using a computer to browse a website, a personalised cookie file can be sent from the website’s server to the person’s computer. The cookie is stored in the web browser on the person’s computer. At some time in the future, the person may browse that website again. The website can send a message to the person’s browser, asking if a cookie from the website is already stored in the browser. If a cookie is found, then the data that was stored in the cookie before can be used by the website to tell the website about the person’s previous activity. Some examples where cookies are used include shopping carts, automatic login and remembering which advertisements have already been shown.

paragraphs: Cookies have been a problem for Internet privacy. This is because they can be used to track browsing behavior. Because of this, laws have been made in some countries to protect people's privacy. There are many other options than cookies, but each option has its own problems.

paragraphs: Cookies have often been mistaken for computer programs. But cookies cannot do much on their own. They are simply a piece of data. They are often called spyware or viruses, but they are not either of these.

paragraphs: Most web browsers allow users to choose whether to accept cookies. If the user does not allow cookies, some websites will become unusable. For example, shopping baskets which use cookies do not work if the user does not allow cookies.


title: Chinese calendar

paragraphs: The Chinese calendar, also known as the "agriculture calendar" (農曆/农历), is a lunisolar calendar ("yinyangli"). It was used until 1912 when the Gregorian calendar was adopted. This is a system of organizing days for social, religious, commercial, or administrative purposes. It was developed in part from a lunar calendar (陰曆 "yinli") and in part from a solar calendar (陽曆 "yangli").

paragraphs: The current version of the Chinese calendar was developed for the Chongzhen Emperor in the 17th century. It has

paragraphs: Today in China the Gregorian calendar is used for most activities. At the same time, the Chinese calendar is still used for traditional Chinese holidays like Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year.


title: Music for the Royal Fireworks

paragraphs: Music for the Royal Fireworks is a group of five pieces for orchestra composed by George Frideric Handel in 1749. He was asked by King George II to write the music because the king wanted some music and fireworks to celebrate the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. This was an agreement between a lot of European countries to end the war they had been fighting.

paragraphs: The king wanted the celebrations to take place in Green Park in London. He wanted the orchestra to have lots of military instruments such as trumpets and drums and “hoped there would be no violins”! He wanted the orchestra to have a rehearsal in Vauxhall Gardens to which the public would be able to go. Handel was not very happy with these arrangements, but in the end he agreed.

paragraphs: The rehearsal in Vauxhall Gardens took place on 21 April. This was just for the music, there were no fireworks. There were 12,000 people in the audience. The huge crowds caused a three hour traffic jam on London Bridge. The tickets for entrance cost 2s 6d (two shillings and six pence, worth 12 ½p in modern money).

paragraphs: Six days later the real performance took place in Green Park. The orchestra played in a building which had been specially made. The music was played while the fireworks went off. Unfortunately there was a disaster. The building caught fire when a huge bas relief of the king fell down. However, no one was hurt.

paragraphs: The music has five movements: an overture, a Bourrée, a movement called La paix (The Peace), La réjouissance (The Rejoicing), and two minuets.

paragraphs: Handel wrote the music for a large orchestra with 24 oboes, 12 bassoons (including a contrabassoon), nine trumpets, nine horns, three pairs of kettledrums, and a number of side drums. On 27 May Handel conducted the music again at a special concert for the Foundling Hospital. This time he used a normal orchestra with string instruments and wind instruments. This is the way it is usually played today.


title: Thora Birch

paragraphs: Thora Birch (born March 11, 1982) is an American actress. She was one of the most popular child actors of the 1990s in movies, such as "Hocus Pocus" (1993), "Now and Then" (1995) and "Alaska" (1996). Since the 1990's she has had more serious roles, with good acting in movies, such as "American Beauty" (1999) and "Ghost World" (2001).


title: Sophia Loren

paragraphs: Sophia Loren (born 20 September 1934) is an Italian actress, one of the best known and most popular of Italian actresses.

paragraphs: Born Sofia Scicolone in Rome, Italy, out of wedlock. She grew up in Puzzuoli, near Naples, raised by her single mother in poverty.

paragraphs: In 1950, she entered a beauty contest and was noticed by film producer Carlo Ponti (1912-2007) who took her under his wing. With his help and guidance, she began appearing in bit parts in film, and got her first major role in director Vittorio De Sica's "The Gold of Naples" in 1954.

paragraphs: Ponti made her learn English and took her to Hollywood. Her first film there was "The Pride and the Passion" in 1957, opposite Cary Grant and Frank Sinatra. This was followed by "Desire under the Elms" (1958) with Anthony Perkins, "Houseboat" (1958) with Cary Grant, "Black Orchid" (1958) with Anthony Quinn, "It Happened in Naples" (1960) with Clark Gable, "Heller in Pink Tights" (1960) with Anthony Quinn, "A Breath of Scandal" (1960) with John Gavin.

paragraphs: Back in Italy, she was reunited with Vittorio De Sica in "La Ciocara" ("Two Women") in 1961, which won her the Academy Award and the BAFTA for best actress.

paragraphs: Thereafter, she pursued her career both in Italy and the United States, appearing in films such as "El Cid" (1962), "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (1964), "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" (1964), "Marriage Italian Style" (1964), "Arabesque" (1966), "The Countess from Hong Kong" (1967), "The Man from La Mancha" (1972), "The Cassandra Crossing" (1976), etc.

paragraphs: Sophia Loren and Carlo Ponti were first married on 17 September 1957, but Ponti being Catholic his divorce from his first wife was not recognized in Italy and the marriage was declared invalid. Ponti took French citizenship and after being legally divorced, he and Loren were remarried on 9 April 1966, and had two sons; Carlo (b. 1968) and Eduardo (b. 1973).


title: Helen Hunt

paragraphs: Helen Elizabeth Hunt (born June 15, 1963) is an American actress. She has won the Emmy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards. She is best known for her role in the television sitcom "Mad About You".

paragraphs: Hunt has been given many awards in her career. In 1998 she became one of only two actresses (the other is Helen Mirren) to win a Golden Globe Award, an Academy Award and an Emmy Award in the same year. She is the only actress to win four consecutive Emmys and to win four Blockbuster Entertainment Awards.


title: Jane Seymour (actress)

paragraphs: Jane Seymour OBE (born Joyce Penelope Wilhelmina Frankenberg on 15 February 1951) is an English actress. Her father was a Jew from England whose family was from Poland. Her mother was a Dutch Protestant. Seymour is known as the co-star of the James Bond movie "Live and Let Die" and star of the TV series and movie "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman".


title: Goldie Hawn

paragraphs: Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, director and producer. Her mother was an American Jew of Hungarian immigrant parents. One of her early roles was as a cast member of "Laugh-In", a comedy series on NBC television. She won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe Award in 1969 for her work in "Cactus Flower". She then left "Laugh-In" to continue her movie career.

paragraphs: Hawn is famous for her acting in many movie comedies during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Her son, Oliver Hudson, is a television and movie actor. Her daughter is Kate Hudson, who is an actress and has been nominated for an Oscar. Hawn has another son, Wyatt Russell, whose father is actor Kurt Russell, Hawn's longtime partner.


title: Meg Ryan

paragraphs: Meg Ryan (born November 19, 1961) is an American actress. She has starred in several romantic comedies, but has also worked in other movie genres, including drama and mystery.


title: Dennis Quaid

paragraphs: Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954 in Houston, Texas) is an American actor.


paragraphs: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) is a British organisation that gives awards at a special show every year, for movies, television, children's movies and television, and media. The award for movies is called the British Academy Film Awards.

paragraphs: BAFTA was created in 1947 as The British Film Academy. In 1958, the Academy joined with The Guild of Television Producers and Directors and together they formed The Society of Film and Television. This later became The British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1976.

paragraphs: BAFTA's main office is on Piccadilly in London, but it also has smaller offices in Northern England, Scotland, Wales, New York City and Los Angeles.

paragraphs: The Academy's awards are in the form of a theatrical mask designed by American sculptor Mitzi Cunliffe, which was ordered by the Guild of Television Producers in 1955.


title: Essay

paragraphs: An essay is a written text. It is usually about the personal point of view of the author who wrote it. The definition of an essay is vague. Articles and short stories can be quite similar. Almost all modern essays are written in prose, but works in verse have been called essays (e.g. Alexander Pope's "An Essay on Criticism" and "An Essay on Man"). People that write essays are called essayists.

paragraphs: Most essays are short. This does not have to be the case. John Locke's "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" and Thomas Malthus's "An Essay on the Principle of Population" are long essays.

paragraphs: Essays can have all sorts of purposes. For example, an essay can be very argumentative, it can talk about points for and against the essay question to give a balanced argument or opinion. Essay must be essential and give some new points about topics. Its must be useful to readers.

paragraphs: The argumentative essay is a genre of writing that requires the student to investigate a topic; collect, generate, and evaluate evidence; and establish a position on the topic in a concise manner. The structure of the argumentative essay is held together by coherence, logical arguments, evidential support, and a conclusion. Some examples of argument essay topics are 'Is polygamy evil or not?', 'Are US elections always fair?'

paragraphs: This is a genre of essay where a stance is presented in an essay using a thesis statement. A thesis statement is one or more sentence that expresses the main idea of a research paper or essay, such as an expository essay or argumentative essay. It makes a claim, directly answering a question. The thesis statement serves as a guide for the readers throughout the whole entire essay.


title: Black Beauty

paragraphs: Black Beauty is the name given to a children's book by Anna Sewell.

paragraphs: A horse named Black Beauty is the main character in the book. In this book, the horse tells a story about his own life and experiences.

paragraphs: The story begins with Black Beauty being a comfortable and free young horse living with his mother. When he is old enough, he is sold from farm to farm and is owned by different people. Through his adventures, Black Beauty meets many people, the kind and the cruel. He also makes new friends and experiences many difficulties. The book was published in 1877.

paragraphs: It was banned in South Africa during the Apartheid era because of the title, even though it was about a horse.


title: Matilda (novel)

paragraphs: Matilda is a novel by Roald Dahl. Matilda is a very small girl, only four years old. At the end of the novel Matilda is five years old. Matilda’s parents are not kind to her. Many times, Matilda’s parents ignore her. When Matilda goes to school, she becomes very close to her teacher Miss Honey. Miss Honey is very surprised to discover that Matilda is very smart. Miss Honey tries to move Matilda into a higher class, but the school principal Miss Trunchbull says no. The school principal Miss Trunchbull is a very mean person who scares the school students. Because Matilda is so smart, she can use her brain to move things. One day, Miss Honey tells Matilda that Miss Trunchbull is Miss Honey’s aunt. When Matilda is at home, she focuses on increasing her special brain powers. Matilda wants to help Miss Honey. Matilda uses her special brain powers to scare Miss Trunchbull so that Miss Trunchbull runs away forever. Matilda’s parents run away from the police, so Matilda moves into Miss Honey’s house and lives with her. Matilda and Miss Honey have a happy ending.They both live happily in the Red house,Miss Honey's house, wich until quite recently was occupied by Agatha Trunchbull.Mysteriously ,Miss Trunchbull was never found, not even a hair was seen after Matilda had tricked her.

paragraphs: Miss Honey adopted Matilda and the Red house soon became a house that two people could call home sweet home.

paragraphs: The book was first published in 1988. It was also changed and made into a movie.


title: Matilda

paragraphs: Matilda (or Mathilda) is a female name. It may refer to:


title: Leonard Nimoy

paragraphs: Leonard Simon Nimoy (March 26, 1931February 27, 2015) was an American actor, movie director, poet, musician and photographer. He was famous for playing the character of "Spock" on "Star Trek," an American television series that was made for three years in the late 1960s.

paragraphs: Nimoy was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were immigrants from Ukraine. They were Dora Spinner and Max Nimoy. He took acting classes at Boston College and the Pasadena Playhouse.

paragraphs: Nimoy began his career in his early twenties, teaching acting classes in Hollywood and making minor movie and television appearances through the 1950s, as well as playing the title role in "Kid Monk Baroni".

paragraphs: In 1965, he made his first appearance in the rejected "Star Trek" pilot "", and went on to play the character of Spock until 1969. He followed his role of Spock by eight feature movie and guest slots in the various spin-off series. The character has had a significant cultural impact and earned Nimoy three Emmy Award nominations; "TV Guide" named Spock one of the 50 greatest TV characters. After the original "Star Trek" series, Nimoy starred in "" for two seasons, hosted the documentary series "In Search of...", narrated "Civilization IV", and made several well-received stage appearances. He also had a recurring role in the science fiction series "Fringe".

paragraphs: Nimoy's fame as Spock was such that both of his autobiographies, "I Am Not Spock" (1975) and "I Am Spock" (1995), were written from the viewpoint of sharing his existence with the character. Nimoy has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 2011, Nimoy voiced the main villain, Sentinel Prime, in "". In 2009 and in 2013, Nimoy played Spock Prime in the J. J. Abrams Star Trek movies: "Star Trek" and "Star Trek Into Darkness".

paragraphs: Nimoy was married twice. In 1954, he married actress Sandra Zober (1927–2011), whom he divorced in 1987. On New Year's Day of 1989, he married actress Susan Bay, cousin of director Michael Bay. Nimoy had a daughter and son by his first wife.

paragraphs: Shortly after he was photographed in a wheelchair and using an oxygen mask, Nimoy said in February 2014 that he had been diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Little over a year later, Nimoy died from the disease on February 27, 2015 at the age of 83 in his Bel Air home.

paragraphs: Nimoy was laid to rest in a private service in Los Angeles on March 1, 2015 at the Hillside Memorial Park Cemetery in Culver City, California. He was buried on a Sunday since Jewish tradition does not allow such services on a Saturday.


title: Hayden Christensen

paragraphs: Hayden Christensen (born April 19, 1981) is a Canadian actor. He was in Canadian television programs when he was young, then he went to act into American television in the late 1990s. He did minor acting roles before being praised for his role of Sam in "Life as a House". He became very famous worldwide by playing the young adult Anakin Skywalker in the "Star Wars" movies.

paragraphs: Christensen was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and raised in Thornhill, Ontario. In 2007, he began dating actress Rachel Bilson. They met while making "Jumper". They became engaged on December 25, 2008. In mid-2010, the couple split up, but were dating again a few months later.

paragraphs: Christensen performed a public service announcement for Do Something's Teens for Jeans Campaign in 2008. He was a model in Louis Vuitton's advertising. He is in RED’s new "Lazarus Effect Campaign", which is to increase awareness for its efforts to fight AIDS in Africa.


title: Stand-up comedy

paragraphs: Stand-up comedy is a style of comedy where the comedian speaks directly to the audience. A person who performs stand-up comedy is known as a stand-up comic, stand-up comedian, or simply stand-up. It is usually done by a single comedian, and with the help of a microphone. The comedian normally speaks quickly many funny stories and short jokes (called "bits"). This is called a "monologue, routine" or "act". Some stand-up comedians use music or magic tricks in their acts. Stand-up comedy is usually done in comedy clubs, bars, colleges, and theaters. However, there is no restriction on where it can be done. Many smaller clubs, bars, and restaurants do "open microphone" events where amateur comedians can perform comedy before a live audience, offering a way for the performers to become better and possibly become professional comedians.


title: Car wash

paragraphs: A car wash is a facility used to clean the outside, and sometimes the inside, of automobiles.

paragraphs: There are many different types of car washes. Most belong to one of the three main groups:

paragraphs: In a modern car wash facility soaps and other chemicals used are based on milder acids and alkalies than at the beginning of car washing machines, when hydrofluoric acid, a hazardous chemical, was the most common cleaning agent used in the industry. Today, there is a strong move in the industry to use safer products and rely more on friction to clean a vehicles finish. Many car wash facilities are now required by law to treat and reuse their water, while driveway wash water simply ends up in the storm drain and eventually into rivers and lakes.

paragraphs: There are two types of foam: polish and wax. Polish is cheaper and may be harder to rinse, sometimes becoming solid in its holding tank. Wax is more expensive, but rinses well and covers the vehicle with a lighter and puffier foam.


title: 2007 Universal Forum of Cultures

paragraphs: The Universal Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007 is an international civil-society event that will take place in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. It begins in September and ends in December.

paragraphs: The Forum, as it is called often, is a global event which takes place every 3 years, in a different city each time. Its purpose is to unite citizens from a varied range of cultures, languages, religions for inter-cultural dialogue. This massive event will gather an approximate 1.5 million visitors to Monterrey, and is mostly free of charge.

paragraphs: The Universal Forum of Cultures project was born in the year of 1996 in the city of Barcelona, Spain.

paragraphs: In 1999, UNESCO signed a cooperation agreement with the Forum Foundation, that established the Organization as the chief partner and main sponsor of the event.

paragraphs: In 2004, Barcelona there was the first Universal Forum of Cultures: Barcelona 2004, which lasted 141 days and established the event as the major global gathering for arts, culture and dialogues.

paragraphs: In 2005, during UNESCO’s 33rd General Conference it was decided that UNESCO would again be the main partner of the Forum providing technical assistance and promotion of the Forum with international governmental and non-governmental organizations (NGO).

paragraphs: The main objectives of the Universal Forum of the Cultures Monterrey 2007, are the following:

paragraphs: The Universal Forum of Cultures Monterrey 2007 has 4 Core Concepts. These 4 topics sum up the vast majority of issues and problems faced by global civil society and will remain, according to experts, the most urgent and relevant working areas for the global community. The 4 Core Concepts of the 2007 Forum are:

paragraphs: The existence of cultural diversity in the world is an undeniable fact. People often coexist with others who share different beliefs, traditions and customs. Forum seeks to provide knowledge of the circumstances in which others live, new ways to see the world, respect our planet, and seek social advancement.

paragraphs: Sustainability is an issue of major importance in the world of today. It needs to find new options for economic, social, and cultural development and a better use of natural resources for the benefit of the planet and its inhabitants.

paragraphs: The challenge is learning how to make the best use of it so we can achieve an effective improvement in our quality of life. This topic was proposed by the 2007 Monterrey Forum, as it was not debated in Barcelona 2004.

paragraphs: Paving a way for peace does not only mean preventing armed warfare. In the Universal Forum of Cultures, new dialogues on peace will be instituted on all levels. Peace with ourselves and the people around us, peace with our ecosystem, and peace amongst peoples and nations.

paragraphs: The 4 Core Concepts of the Monterrey 2007 Forum will be carried out in 4 separate activities programmes. These are:

paragraphs: The 8 Themed Weeks of Forum Dialogues are:

paragraphs: The Schedule of Events for the 2007 Universal Forum of Cultures will be announced soon via the Forum Website.


title: Midbrain

paragraphs: The mesencephalon or midbrain is a part of the brain stem. It is associated with vision, hearing, motor control, sleep/wake, arousal (alertness), and temperature regulation.

paragraphs: In the anatomy of developing animals, the brain forms from the neural tube, which turns into three vesicles. The mesencephalon (midbrain) is the middle vesicle, and becomes part of the brain stem.

paragraphs: The mesencephalon is ancient in origin, meaning its general architecture is shared with the most ancient of vertebrates. Dopamine produced in the "substantia nigra" plays a role in motivation and habituation of species from humans to insects.


title: Dakota Fanning

paragraphs: Hannah Dakota Fanning (born February 23, 1994) is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in the movies "Dreamer", "Hounddog", and "Fragments" (also known as Winged Creatures).

paragraphs: Fanning was born in Conyers, Georgia. Her mother, Heather Joy (née Arrington), played tennis professionally and her father, Steven J. Fanning, played minor league baseball and now works as an electronics salesman in Los Angeles, California. Her maternal grandfather is former American football player Rick Arrington, and her aunt is former ESPN reporter Jill Arrington. Dakota is the elder sister of Elle Fanning, also an actress.

paragraphs: Fanning is of English, French, Irish and German ancestry. She and her family are Southern Baptist.

paragraphs: Dakota was famous for her performance at age seven in the 2001 film "I Am Sam". This earned her a nomination for a Screen Actors Guild Award at age eight in 2002, as the youngest nominee in history.

paragraphs: Later, she appeared in high-profile films such as "Man on Fire" (2004), "War of the Worlds" (2005) and "Charlotte's Web" (2006). Fanning then began the transition to more adult roles with "Hounddog" (2007) and "The Secret Life of Bees" (2008). Her recent film roles have included the named character in "Coraline" (2009), Cherie Currie in "The Runaways" (2010), Annie James in "The Motel Life" (2013), and Jane in "The Twilight Saga" (2009–12).


title: Hindbrain

paragraphs: The rhombencephalon (or hindbrain) is a name for parts of the central nervous system in vertebrates.


title: Spanish broom

paragraphs: Spanish broom ("Spartium junceum", syn. "Genista juncea"), also known as weaver's broom, is a perennial, leguminous shrub that grows in the Mediterranean region in southern Europe, southwest Asia and northwest Africa, where it is found in sunny sites, usually on dry, sandy soils. It is the sole species in the genus Spartium, but is closely related to the other brooms in the genera "Cytisus" and "Genista".

paragraphs: Spanish broom typically grows to 2-4 m tall, rarely 5 m, with main stems up to 5 cm thick, rarely 10 cm.


title: Salvia

paragraphs: Salvia is a genus in the mint family, Lamiaceae. It is one of three genera commonly referred to as Sage. Sage generally means common sage ("Salvia officinalis"). This genus includes shrubs, herbaceous perennials, and annuals. Different species of sage are grown as herbs and as ornamental plants. The ornamental species are commonly referred to by their scientific name "Salvia".


title: Common sage

paragraphs: Common sage ("Salvia officinalis") is a small evergreen subshrub, with woody stems, grayish leaves, and blue to purplish flowers that grows in southern Europe and the Mediterranean region.

paragraphs: It is much cultivated as a kitchen and medicinal herb, and is also called Garden sage, Kitchen sage, and Dalmatian sage. In southern Europe similar species are sometimes cultivated for the same purpose, and may be confused with the common sage.

paragraphs: It likes warm, quite dry soil with some shade but it will grow in almost any garden soil. It can live through winter but after three to five years the plant is past its best and should be replaced.


title: Subshrub

paragraphs: A subshrub (Latin "suffrutex") is a woody perennial plant. Gardeners use the word to distinguish plants from a shrub that have lower height, typically less than 10–20 cm tall, or that are only weakly woody and/or persist only for a few years. Small, low shrubs such as lavender, periwinkle, and thyme, and many members of the family Ericaceae, such as cranberries, are often classed as subshrubs.