title: Mark David Chapman

paragraphs: Mark David Chapman (born May 10, 1955 in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American prisoner. He is best known as the murderer of musician John Lennon.

paragraphs: Chapman grew up in Georgia, and was a fan of The Beatles when they first became famous. He learned to play guitar and wanted to become a musician. He later became a Fundamentalist Christian, and his values changed. He came to believe the Beatles were a bad influence on people, John Lennon in particular, because of Lennon's views on God and religion. When Lennon released his song "Imagine" in 1971, many Fundamentalists did not like it. Chapman parodied the song, singing it as "Imagine John Lennon dead."

paragraphs: As years went by, Chapman had little success and much trouble in his personal life. His hopes to become a missionary were dashed when a civil war started in the country where he went on a mission. He returned to the United States, and later moved to Hawaii. He married a Japanese woman, as Lennon had done, but the marriage was not happy. Chapman worked a low-paying job, as a security guard.

paragraphs: In 1980, after years of retirement, Lennon made a new album, "Double Fantasy", with his wife Yoko Ono. Chapman learned from a book where Lennon lived in New York City, and that it was not hard to find him around town. Chapman flew to New York a few times that fall, thinking about what he wanted to do. He thought about committing suicide, before deciding finally he wanted to kill Lennon. He felt that doing this would somehow lessen the problems in his own life.

paragraphs: On December 8, 1980, Chapman again visited New York, actually meeting Lennon and Ono as they left home to go to a recording session. Lennon signed a copy of "Double Fantasy" for Chapman, and a photographer took a picture of the two men together. Chapman waited around until they returned. As Lennon entered their apartment building, Chapman drew a pistol, called out to Lennon, then shot him several times. Lennon collapsed, and died later on the way to a hospital from blood loss.

paragraphs: Chapman did not try to get away, and was reading a book, "The Catcher in the Rye", when police came to the scene. They arrested Chapman, who later pled guilty to Lennon's murder, telling the court God had told him to do so. He was sentenced to twenty-five years to life in prison in 1981. He later wrote to Yoko Ono, trying to apologize to her and explain his actions, but she never answered. In 1985, an actor named Mark Lindsay Chapman lost the chance to portray Lennon in a movie about his life with Ono, because his name was similar to that of Lennon's killer.

paragraphs: When Chapman became eligible for parole, he applied but was turned down. Yoko Ono gave a statement to the court, telling them that Lennon's death still hurt her and their son Sean Lennon every day, and they still felt his loss. She reminded them of how Chapman's act was only one among many celebrity stalkings and murders, and that paroling Chapman might give others the idea that what he did was acceptable. The court heard her words, and Chapman continues to be refused parole.

paragraphs: Lennon's murder was echoed in December 1999 when a young man, Michael Abram, broke into the home of another former Beatle, George Harrison, carrying a knife. He wanted to kill Harrison for many of the same reasons Chapman killed Lennon. Harrison and his wife Olivia fought back, however, with Olivia striking Abram with a lamp, and the pair holding him down until police arrived. Harrison was stabbed by Abram, but he recovered. Abram was sent to a mental hospital.

paragraphs: It is believed that Chapman will never leave prison in his lifetime, because of the impact of his crime and the many death threats he has received over the years from other inmates and Beatles fans. His name has been used in arguments promoting gun control, claiming that he would not have killed Lennon if he could not get a gun. (It is counterargued, however, that his plan was not simply to "shoot" Lennon, but to "kill" him; if he could not have used a gun, he would likely have tried another way. Abrams's later attack on Harrison supports this argument.)

paragraphs: Many fans of Lennon have threatened to kill Chapman if he was ever released from prison. In 2000, Chapman claimed that Lennon would have wanted him to be free, saying "I think he would be liberal, I think he would care."


title: Diana, Princess of Wales

paragraphs: Diana, Princess of Wales (Diana Frances; née Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. She was one of the most famous women in the world.

paragraphs: Diana was born to royalty on 1 July 1961 as Diana Frances Spencer. She was born at Park House Hotel in Sandringham, Norfolk, England. Her father was the Earl Spencer. She left school when she was 16 and moved to London when she was 18.

paragraphs: In 1981, Diana married Prince Charles at St. Paul's Cathedral. They had two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

paragraphs: Charles and Diana separated in 1992, and divorced in 1996. Diana said Camilla Parker-Bowles was responsible for the problems with her marriage. Diana was the first Englishwoman to marry an heir to the British throne in 300 years. Charles' brothers married commoners: Andrew, Duke of York, married Sarah Ferguson in 1986, and his youngest brother, Edward, Earl of Wessex, married Sophie Rhys-Jones in 1999.

paragraphs: Diana's great-grandmother was an American heiress.

paragraphs: Throughout her life, Diana was something of a rebel. Her work with victims of AIDS could, in some ways, be seen in this regard. She was one of the first very high profile people to be pictured touching those afflicted with AIDS, and this had a significant impact in changing people's opinions and attitudes to the disease. It was certainly a charity not following the protocol and tradition of the Royal family. As Princess Diana said:

paragraphs: “HIV does not make people dangerous to know. You can shake their hands and give them hug heaven knows they need it”

paragraphs: Diana had a very personable touch. She was very at ease in meeting people from any background and even if they were ill or in hospices. The patients would react very favourably to her meetings, they warmed to her life energy and heartfelt sympathy. Part of her appeal was her sympathy and natural compassion. She could empathise with people’s suffering, having suffered much herself.

paragraphs: To the media, Diana often portrayed a very stoic and positive energy, but an aide suggested that at the same time these engagements often drained Diana emotionally at the end of some engagements she felt depleted.

paragraphs: As well as working on charities such as AIDS she lent her name to the campaign to ban landmines. Her personal support is said to have been a significant factor in encouraging Britain and then other countries to support the Ottawa Treaty which sought to introduce a ban on the use of anti-personnel landmines. When Robin Cook brought the second reading of the landmines bill to the house in 1998 he made a point of paying tribute to the contribution of Princess Diana.

paragraphs: Diana and her boyfriend, Dodi Al-Fayed, died in a car crash in Paris, France, in the early morning of 31 August 1997. She was 36-years-old when she died. Many people left flowers, candles, cards and personal messages for her in public places. She had a big funeral in London on the 6 September 1997.

paragraphs: Concerts for Diana took place shortly after her death. The concerts involved Elton John and numerous others. Elton John released a remake of his song, "Candle in the Wind" in memory of Diana.

paragraphs: Diana's full title, once married, was "Her Royal Highness The Princess of Wales and Countess of Chester, Duchess of Cornwall, Duchess of Rothesay, Countess of Carrick, Baroness of Renfrew, Lady of the Isles, Princess of Scotland". Legally, she was still entitled to use her previous royal courtesy titles after her divorce as long as she remained unmarried.


title: Hornswoggle

paragraphs: Dylan Mark Postl (born May 29, 1986) is an American midget professional wrestler. He is better known by his ring name Hornswoggle. Postl is currently working for the WWE. He was the last WWE Cruiserweight Champion ever. Postl originally wrestled under the name of "The World's Sexiest Midget" Shortstack.

paragraphs: Prior to working on "SmackDown!", Postl was best known for his work with NWA Wisconsin where he won its X Division Championship.

paragraphs: Postl signed with World Wrestling Entertainment in May 2007. He is the fourth wrestler from NWA Wisconsin to sign with WWE. The others were Daivari, Ken Kennedy and CM Punk.

paragraphs: Postl first showed up as the leprechaun partner of the Irish wrestler Finlay on "SmackDown!" during the May 26 episode. After Finlay’s victory over Paul Burchill, a little man (Postl) crawled out from under the ring and jumped on Burchill. Finlay pulled him off, only to slam him back down onto Burchill again. For the next few weeks the as-yet unnamed man continued to appear from under the ring after matches.

paragraphs: Eventually, "SmackDown!" commentator Michael Cole began calling him the Little Bastard. The name became popular and became his "official" name. Commentator JBL refused to call him "Little Bastard". JBL said, "he "might" have parents". He instead called him a leprechaun. This was confirmed in one edition of "SmackDown!" by Finlay.

paragraphs: Little Bastard soon became meaner. He started attacking during Finlay's matches even though it upset Finlay. Many times, Finlay either physically shoved Little Bastard back under the ring or was forced to tackle him before he could hit the person he was wrestling. At one point, Little Bastard attacked Finlay, biting Finlay when Finlay tried to stop him from attacking Gunner Scott.

paragraphs: Little Bastard was an important part of Finlay winning the United States Championship when he tossed him a shillelagh to knock out champion Lashley to win the match.

paragraphs: On February 23, his name was changed to Hornswoggle on WWE's website and all references to the name "Little Bastard" were removed. The name change became official on the March 2 episode of "SmackDown!". Postl attacked JBL and Michael Cole. Afterwards, Finlay told Cole that Little Bastard's name is Hornswoggle. Despite this, Cole continues to occasionally refer to Hornswoggle as "Little Bastard".

paragraphs: On July 22, 2007 at The Great American Bash Hornswoggle won the WWE Cruiserweight Championship. The other people in the match and commentators did not know that he was a participant in the match until the pin and he was given the belt. This made him the first person with dwarfism to win a Championship in WWE history. Hornswoggle is both the lightest and the shortest wrestler to win the Cruiserweight Championship in WWE history. He is also the smallest wrestler to win any title in WWE.

paragraphs: Postl was drafted to ECW on June 25, 2008 as part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft.


title: Ink cartridge

paragraphs: An ink cartridge is a small container that contains ink. The manufacturers of Inkjet printers use special cartidges for their printers. There may be one cartridge per color. Sometimes, there is also just one cartridge for several colors. Cartridge package could be initial it is not rely upon pipeline it is far better than this


title: Tezpur

paragraphs: Tezpur is a town in Assam, India. It is on the northern bank of the river Brahmaputra. In a census taken in 2004, about 58,240 people lived there.

paragraphs: Moreover the Bharali River is an anglers delight as angling / water rafting are allowed during winter seasons. Chariduar also host a number of Tourist Lodge amidst of tea garden.

paragraphs: Tezpur has a central university (Tezpur University), apart from numerous colleges and schools.It has now received the tag "UNIVERSITY AT PAR EXELLENCE" from UGC (university grants commission). Tezpur also has many school, colleges of very high repute. Darrang college, Tezpur College are the leading colleges.

paragraphs: The Assam Valley School, situated at around 15 km from Tezpur is a very high standard residential school established by Williamson Magor Group. The school was ranked as the 7th best boarding-school in the country in a survey by an independent magazine. Further, it earned national laurel out of the board performance of its once Head Boy, Gaurav Agarwal, who topped the country in the ISC board in 2008-2009 with 98 percent. Gaurav had, in his class X board exams, secured the first rank in northeast India. In general too the school posts high standards in academics.

paragraphs: Other schools viz. Don Bosco High School,Sacred Heart High School, St. Joseph's Convent High School, Govt Boys Higher Secondary School, Govt Girls Higher Secondary School, Bengali Boys' H S School, Bengali Girls' High School, Guru Nanak Model School, Tezpur Academy, Children's Paradise School and Carmel Residential School are the leading institutes offering good education in the town of Tezpur.Situated by the side of the National Highway[NH-37] at Nikamul,Tezpur, Don Bosco High School has been doing exceptionally good in the educational sector producing exceptional results in the High School Leaving Certificate(H.S.L.C) conducted by the Board Of Secondary Education Assam(SEBA).


title: D.Gray-man

paragraphs: D.Gray-man (ディー・グレイマン "Dī Gureiman") is a manga series by Katsura Hoshino. It is a Gothic-fiction manga first serialized in 2004 in "Weekly Shōnen Jump". It is an ongoing series and is currently up to 126 chapters. There is also a novel series called "Reverse" that tells the characters' backgrounds. As of May 1, 2007, VIZ Media has released the first five volumes in the United States. An anime version began airing on October 3, 2006 in Japan, but has yet to be seen in North America.

paragraphs: Many characters and their designs were from some of Katsura Hoshino's previous works and drafts, such as "Zone", "Book-man", and "Continue", and her assistants. Earlier titles considered for the manga were "Dolls", "Chronoa", and "Zone".


title: Kyoto Station

paragraphs: Kyoto Station (京都駅, "Kyōto-eki") is the most important transportation center in Kyoto, Japan. It has Japan's second-largest train station building (after Nagoya Station). It is also one of the country's largest buildings, with a shopping mall, hotel, movie theater, Isetan department store, and several local government facilities under one 15-story roof. It also housed the Kyoto City Air Terminal until August 31, 2002.


title: Stefan Kießling

paragraphs: Stefan Kießling (born 25 January 1984) is a German football player. He plays for Bayer Leverkusen and Germany national team.


title: Bacteria bed

paragraphs: A bacteria bed is a layer of sand which is used to clean air or water from bacteria and other microorganisms. It is actually a type of filter. our beds are a hotbed for bacteria. The study, which had volunteers swab their unwashed sheets over a period of four weeks, found pillowcases contained 39 times more bacteria than pet food bowls at the end of the testing period. And pillowcases that went unwashed for only one week accumulated 17,442 times more bacteria than a toilet seat!

paragraphs: Researchers also took bacteria samples from mattresses that ranged in age from one to seven years. As expected, the number of bacteria on a mattress multiplies as it gets older, leaving the oldest mattresses with more than 16 million colony-forming units of bacteria per square inch. By the time your mattress reaches this milestone, it's time to consider buying a new one.


title: Filter

paragraphs: A filter is a device used to remove unwanted parts from something. For example, removing solid particles from a liquid. Filter can also mean the act of filtering: it can be used as a verb. The different branches of science and technology often mean a particular kind of device when "filter" is mentioned.

paragraphs: The simplest filter is the kind called filter paper. Liquids can pass through the paper. Solid particles are stopped.

paragraphs: More advanced filters are possible. Two that are often used to make water more pure are activated carbon and zeolites.

paragraphs: Filters are used to remove unwanted items and/or impurities in the substance you are filtering.

paragraphs: The most usual thing meant by filter in electrical science is a wave filter. One common kind lets through some frequencies and stops all others. This is a band pass filter. For instance, in a radio it can select the radio station the listener wants to hear. The frequency of that station is passed, but all others are rejected.

paragraphs: There are many other uses, including use in telephones and audio, see: audio crossover.

paragraphs: There are digital filters which can be used to filter things besides frequencies. A common use is to improve the quality of pictures. For instance, there are filters which can make the edges of objects look more clear.

paragraphs: Optical filters act on light. They change it certain ways. This can be used for photographic filters.

paragraphs: Filters can be made from mechanical components. They will do very similar things to electric filters. Most especially, mechanical filters can be wave filters. That is, they can block some frequencies and pass others. Because of this, electric filters are sometimes made by first making a mechanical filter. The electric wave is turned into a mechanical movement, then passed through the filter, then turned back in to an electric wave. This kind of filter is often made from quartz crystals.

paragraphs: A device which changes electrical signals into mechanical signals is called a transducer. A device which changes mechanical signals into electrical signals is also a transducer, but one of a different kind.

paragraphs: An internet filter removes certain kinds of information. For example, certain words can be blocked.


title: Guwahati

paragraphs: Guwahati is the largest city in the north eastern region of India.

paragraphs: It houses the capital complex of the Legislative Assembly of Assam. The first bridge across the Brahmaputra river is situated at the northwest perimeter of the city. Guwahati serves as the gateway to the rest of the Seven States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura.


title: Henry Clay

paragraphs: Henry Clay, Sr. (April 12, 1777 – June 29, 1852) was an American politician from Kentucky. He served in the House of Representatives (as Speaker), in the Senate, and was Secretary of State. He ran for President several times but never won. He wanted the United States to fight the British in the War of 1812. After years in the Democratic-Republican Party he started the Whig Party to oppose Andrew Jackson.

paragraphs: He helped pass the famous compromises over slavery leading up the Civil War, including the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850. He is considered to be one of the greatest Senators in United States history.

paragraphs: Henry Clay was born on April 12, 1777, at the Clay farmhouse in Hanover County, Virginia, in a story-and-a-half frame house. It was an above-average home for a common Virginia planter of that time. At the time of his death, Clay's father owned more than 22 slaves, making him part of the planter class in Virginia (those men who owned 20 or more slaves). He also ate copious amounts of cabbage to survive the cold winter months.

paragraphs: Henry was the seventh of nine children of the Reverend John Clay and Elizabeth Hudson Clay. His father, a Baptist minister nicknamed "Sir John," died four years after his birth in 1781. The father left Henry and his brothers two slaves each, and his wife 18 slaves and of land. Henry Clay was a second cousin of Cassius Marcellus Clay, who became an abolitionist in Kentucky.

paragraphs: The widow Elizabeth Clay married Capt. Henry Watkins, who was a loving stepfather. Henry Watkins then moved the family to Richmond, Virginia. Elizabeth had seven more children with Watkins, having sixteen.

paragraphs: His stepfather secured Clay employment in the office of the Virginia Court of Chancery, where he showed a skill for law. There he became friends with George Wythe. Wythe chose Clay as his secretary. After Clay was employed as Wythe's faculty for four years, the chancellor took an active interest in Clay's future; he arranged a position for him with the Virginia attorney general, Robert Brooke. Clay received no formal legal education but, as was customary at the time, "read the law" by working and studying with Wythe, Chancellor of the Commonwealth of Virginia (also a mentor to Thomas Jefferson and John Marshall, among others) and Brooke. Clay was admitted to practice law in 1797.

paragraphs: After starting his law career, on April 11, 1799, Clay married Lucretia Hart at the Hart home in Lexington, Kentucky. She was a sister to Captain Nathaniel G. S. Hart, who died in the Massacre of the River Raisin in the War of 1812.

paragraphs: Clay and his wife had eleven children (six daughters and five sons): Henrietta (1800–1801), Theodore (1802–1870), Thomas (1803–1871), Susan (1805–1825), Anne (1807–1835), Lucretia (1809–1823), Henry, Jr. (1811–1847), Eliza (1813–1825), Laura (1815–1817), James Brown, (1817–1864), and John (1821–1887).

paragraphs: Seven of Clay's children died before him and his wife. By 1835 all six daughters had died of many conditions, two when very young, two as children, the other two as young women: from whooping cough, yellow fever, and complications of childbirth. Henry Clay, Jr. was killed at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War.

paragraphs: Lucretia Hart Clay died in 1864 at the age of 83. She is buried with her husband in Lexington Cemetery. Henry and Lucretia Clay were great-grandparents of the suffragette Madeline McDowell Breckinridge, a family member of John C. Breckinridge, who was Vice President of the United States during James Buchanan's presidency.


title: Daniel Webster

paragraphs: Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an important American statesman. He first became famous because of his defense of New England shipping interests. In his life, he became more and more nationalistic, and convinced many people to become nationalists too. This made Webster one of the most famous orators and powerful Whig leaders of the Second Party System. Webster did not like slavery, but he thought it was more important for the Union (the United States) to stay together than anything else.

paragraphs: Webster became the northern member of a group known as the "Great Triumvirate". They included his colleagues Henry Clay from the west and John C. Calhoun from the south. His "Reply to Hayne" in 1830 was generally seen as "the most eloquent (powerful, fluent, well-spoken) speech ever delivered in Congress."

paragraphs: Webster tried to keep the nation from civil war, and make them have a firm peace. His efforts did not succeed, but he was still respected for them. He was officially named by the U.S. Senate in 1957 as one of its five best members.

paragraphs: Daniel was born on January 18, 1782. His parents were Ebenezer and Abigail Webster (née Eastman) in Salisbury, New Hampshire, now part of the city of Franklin. He and his nine siblings grew up on his parents' farm. Daniel Webster's great-great-grandfather was Thomas Webster (1631–1715). Thomas Webster was born in Ormesby St. Margaret, Norfolk, England and settled in New Hampshire. As Daniel was a "sickly (unhealthy) child", his family often let him have whatever he wanted and he didn't have to work on the farm.

paragraphs: Daniel Webster became a lawyer and politician. He was elected to Congress as a Federalist. He supported free trade, opposed both Abolitionism and the expansion of slavery, and opposed the War of 1812 and other policies of the Democrats. When the Federalist Party declined, he joined with other former Federalists and National Democrats to form the Whig Party (United States). Always Webster supported the unity and harmony of the nation against various divisive schemes.


title: The Catcher in the Rye

paragraphs: The Catcher in the Rye is a novel by author J. D. Salinger. It was first published in 16 July 1951.

paragraphs: The book is about a young man, Holden Caulfield, who travels home after being expelled from an exclusive preparatory school. Instead of going directly home, Caulfield takes a wandering trip, thinking about what he wants to tell his family, and how best to deal with being kicked out of school. Caulfield narrates the story himself, to a psychoanalyst. (Hints are made as the story moves forward, that he is in a mental hospital. At the end of the book this is revealed.)

paragraphs: The book contains many profanities, and many people do not like the book for that reason. It was banned in many places. Other people see the profanity as Caulfield's way of showing his feelings of frustration and isolation with life. Many young people, boys in particular, relate to the story and its language, and feel that Caulfield would understand them if he knew them. For this reason, many schools require their students to read it.


title: Evan Lysacek

paragraphs: Evan Lysacek (born June 4, 1985) is an American figure skater. He grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Lysacek has trained all over the world, including in Switzerland and in Moscow. He now trains in El Segundo, California under his trainer Frank Carroll. Carroll at one time trained Michelle Kwan.

paragraphs: Lysacek won the United States Figure Skating Championships in 2007. He has won two bronze medals at the World Figure Skating Championships. He has also won the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships twice. Lysacek has won three silver medals at the World Junior Figure Skating Championships. That, followed immediately by his two bronze medals at the senior World Championships, meant that until 2007, he had won a medal at every World Championship he had ever entered.


title: Richard Childress Racing

paragraphs: Richard Childress Racing is a NASCAR racing team that is owned by Richard Childress. The team has operated for over 10 years and won over 100 races in the Sprint Cup Series. The team has also won 6 Sprint Cup series Championships. Notable drivers who have raced for Richard Childress Racing include Dale Earnhardt, and the current drivers are Austin Dillon and Ryan Newman.


title: Bobby Darin

paragraphs: Walden Robert Cassotto (May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973), better known as Bobby Darin, was an American pop singer, most famous during the 1950s. His hits included "Mack the Knife", "Dream Lover", "If I Were a Carpenter", "Splish Splash", and "Beyond the Sea". He also helped Wayne Newton begin his musical career.

paragraphs: Allen Klein, an accountant who became an artist manager, first came to public attention when he audited Darin's royalty payments, and discovered Darin had been underpaid. His record company paid up, and Darin split the money with Klein.

paragraphs: Darin was married to actress Sandra Dee from 1960 to 1967. They had a son, named Dodd. Darin died late in 1973 after heart surgery.

paragraphs: In 2004, a movie, "Beyond the Sea", was made about Darin's life and career. Actor Kevin Spacey, a longtime Darin fan, produced and starred in the movie, with Kate Bosworth as Sandra Dee.


title: Sasha Cohen

paragraphs: Alexandra Pauline "Sasha" Cohen (born October 26, 1984) is an American figure skater. She is the 2006 U.S. National Champion, 2003 Grand Prix Final Champion, and 2006 Olympic silver medalist.


title: Justification (theology)

paragraphs: In Christian theology, justification is God's act of pardoning someone's sins, because of their belief in Christ.

paragraphs: The idea of justification is found in several books of both the Old Testament, and New Testament. Protestants believe justification is the line that divided the Roman Catholics from the Protestants during the Reformation Martin Luther and other reformers taught that faith alone made a person right with God, apart from doing good works. However, they taught that after they were justified by faith, good works would follow. Catholics tended to stress that the good works were part of what made a Christian acceptable to God. In recent times these two positions have come closer together.


title: Jury nullification

paragraphs: Jury nullification means a knowing and deliberate ignoring of evidence or a refusal to apply the law as explained in the jury instructions. A jury may feel the application of the law is unfair, unjust or is immoral in some way. Or, they may want to "send a message" about some social issue. Jury nullification is not a legal function of a jury and is not usually considered to be consistent with a jury's duty to judge a case on the facts and the law.

paragraphs: It is clear that juries do have the power to nullify. But do they have the right to nullify is another question. Once the verdict of "Not Guilty" is returned, double jeopardy applies and the defendant cannot be tried again. If a judge learns that a juror intends to nullify the verdict, the judge has the right to remove that juror. Typically, jurors are not told by the court that they have the power to nullify. That has both good points and bad. Judges fear if they told jurors they would have jury anarchies on their hands with jurors doing whatever they please. However, jury nullification can provide valuable feedback and can sometimes do some good if used wisely.

paragraphs: Jury nullification goes back to the beginnings of the jury system in England as established by the Magna Carta in 1215. The practice came to the United States during the colonial period. The case thought to be the precedent for jury nullification in the US is that of John Peter Zenger in 1735. He was put on trial for seditious libel. Zenger had criticized the governor in his newspaper, "The Weekly Journal". Trying everything he could to insure a guilty verdict, the governor even had Zenger's lawyers disbarred to prevent him from having legal representation. But the jury refused to convict him, going against the judge's orders.

paragraphs: Along with a history of jury nullification in the US, there is also a history of discriminatory acquittals.

paragraphs: An example of discriminatory acquittal is when jury nullification is used to punish female rape victims by allowing their rapists to go free. The same is true of female victims of domestic violence. The "appropriateness" of a female victim's behavior in court can a great deal to do with how a jury will act, according to studies on the subject. Another example is the 1991 case of Rodney King. King was an African-American man who was beat up by police officers on videotape. The jury acquitted the police officers of beating him up even though they watched the video in court.

paragraphs: Jury nullification can be a way for a jury to express their own prejudice and bias. Examples include all-white juries enforcing Jim Crow laws on black defendants while letting white defendants who committed racial crimes against blacks go free. Also, it can seem unfair to allow one defendant to go free for committing the same crime while another defendant is convicted, just because one jury decided to nullify the law. This challenges the concept of equal protection under Fourteenth Amendment.

paragraphs: In the 1895 Supreme Court decision "Sparf v. United States" the Court ruled that judges did not have an obligation to tell jurors about jury nullification. The decision did not say judges could not tell jurors about nullification or that jurors did not have that power. They only said judges were not required to tell jurors. This led to the now common practice of judges in the U.S. penalizing defense attorneys who try in any way to present a nullification argument.

paragraphs: When a jury lets guilty people go free, it is called jury nullification. When a prosecutor decides not to charge a guilty person of a crime, it is called "prosecutorial discretion". Prosecutors are legal professionals while jury members are not. However prosecutors are also politicians and may make politically motivated decisions or may be corrupt. Judges will often instruct a jury to return a verdict based on the merits of the case and not the merits of the law. But one argument is that juries have a responsibility to decide if they think the law is wrong in a particular case.

paragraphs: A person who overreacts when seeing someone commit a crime may be guilty of a crime themselves. For example, if a child is killed by a drunk driver and the father then kills the drunk driver, according to law the father may be guilty of murder. The same is true if a man seeing someone sexually assaulting his wife or daughter and beats the attacker to death (in many jurisdictions). A jury is made up of people who live in a community. They can decide to let someone go free if they think is it safe to do so.


title: Tropical Storm Gamma

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Gamma was the twenty-fourth named storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. Gamma formed in the eastern Caribbean Sea but quickly died a few days later from wind shear. On November 18, it restrengthened and became a tropical storm for a few more days before dying off the coast of Honduras on November 20. Although Gamma never made any landfall, it caused minor damages in the Lesser Antilles and medium damages in Honduras.

paragraphs: The National Hurricane Center began monitoring a tropical wave that would later become Gamma around November 11, but the system did not develop into a tropical depression until after it had passed the Lesser Antilles on November 13. At that time, the storm was called Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven and was predicted to strengthen into a strong tropical storm or a weak hurricane as it moved across the Caribbean Sea. However, a second system developing in the southwestern edge of the Caribbean began pushing wind shear onto the depression on November 14, then weakening the depression into a tropical low; advisories were then temporarily stopped. On later reanalysis, it was found that the depression had probably become a tropical storm by November 15 at 0600 UTC for less than 6 hours, but was not named during the time.

paragraphs: As the remnants of Twenty-Seven moved west, the system in the southwestern Caribbean moved onto land in Nicaragua and quickly weakened, reducing wind shear on the remnant low. Near Honduras, the two systems combined and rapidly gained the characteristics of a tropical cyclone on November 18, when it was upgraded directly to a tropical storm and given the name "Gamma". It is clearly unknown whether the remnant low of Gamma absorbed the low pressure system or happened the other way, but forecasters at the National Hurricane Center though that it was more likely that Gamma absorbed the other system. (If it were determined to be the other way around, the previously mentioned Tropical Storm Twenty-Seven would have been a separate and unnamed tropical storm.)

paragraphs: Gamma strengthened a little bit more to reach its maximum strength of 50 mph (85 km/h) winds during that day, but a trough moving into the Gulf of Mexico stopped any more strengthening. Gamma stayed just north of the coast of Honduras for about a day, then weakened to a tropical depression as it was beginning to be absorbed into the front as it entered the Caribbean. On November 20, wind shear had destroyed Gamma and advisories were stopped, although the low level circulation of Gamma survived for an extra 36–48 hours. Later, the last remnants of Gamma were absorbed into the approaching front. Gamma never made landfall as a tropical storm.

paragraphs: Because the storm was not predicted to make landfall (and it did not), few preparations were taken in Honduras for the storm. But non-stop rainfall for more than a day as Gamma wandered offshore created floods that forced more than 23,000 people to leave their homes.

paragraphs: As of January 24, 2006, a total of forty-one people were reported dead (while thirty-seven killed directly) as a result of Tropical Storm Gamma, mostly in Honduras, with 13 missing in Honduras.

paragraphs: Thirty-four people died in Honduras with at least thirteen other people missing. All deaths were because of flooding and mudslides rather than wind damage since tropical storm-force winds did not affect the mainland.

paragraphs: According to the COCEP (the Honduran civil emergency committee) dozens of bridges were washed away and about 2,000 homes were destroyed. According to the NHC, 10 bridges were destroyed from flooding, and 7 were damaged. And 5,200 acres worth of banana crops were also destroyed, causing $13-18 million (2005 USD) in damage. In addition, an unofficial report of 4.44 inches of rain was reported on Roatan Island.

paragraphs: Five fishermen who were at sea during Tropical Storm Gamma have been reported missing and, as of November 25, were thought to be dead after five unidentified bodies were found on the Honduran coast. Three people were killed in a plane crash from Gamma's outer rain bands; it was thought that the weather was a part of the reason. Other effects to Belize were minimal.

paragraphs: Two people were killed by a mudslide in St. Vincent and the Grenadines from Tropical Depression Twenty-Seven (which would eventually become Tropical Storm Gamma) when the system came close to the island. Seven homes were also destroyed by flood waters in the area and others were damaged.

paragraphs: Other effects across the rest of the Lesser Antilles were minimal and were no worse than that of a normal rain event. Also, two fishermen who were reported dead in Jamaica were thought to have been killed by Gamma.

paragraphs: After Gamma slowly moved away from land, Honduran government officials carried out helicopter rescues for people and families trapped by flood waters, as UN agencies began airlifting food and water to the impacted areas.

paragraphs: The government of Andalucía, in Spain, donated 40 million lempiras to aid in disaster efforts, and the United States sent helicopters to help in the delivery of food to the people affected by the storm.

paragraphs: Because damage was minimal, Gamma was not retired and will be used again whenever the regular list of names is all used up in the future.

paragraphs: After all of the twenty one assigned hurricane names for the 2005 season were used up after Hurricane Wilma, the Greek alphabet was used, starting with Tropical Storm Alpha. This storm was named "Gamma" once it was known to have reached tropical storm strength (after it restrengthened). This was the first time that the name Gamma had been used for a tropical cyclone.

paragraphs: Because Gamma was the only twenty-fourth tropical storm to form in any single Atlantic hurricane season, Gamma also holds the record for being the earliest twenty-fourth tropical storm, reaching tropical storm strength on November 18. Gamma also extended the 2005 season's record for tropical storms to twenty-four, which was also enlarged four more times and ended at twenty-eight storms after Tropical Storm Zeta and a post-season addition of an unnamed subtropical storm which went originally unnoticed in October. Also, Gamma tied the record set during the 1992 Pacific hurricane season for most storms in a single basin monitored by NOAA.


title: Jason Alexander

paragraphs: Jason Alexander (born Jay Scott Greenspan on September 23, 1959) is an American actor. He played George Costanza in the television series "Seinfeld". He is of Jewish descent.


title: Khandi Alexander

paragraphs: Khandi Alexander (born 4 September 1957) is an American dancer, choreographer, and movie and television actress.

paragraphs: She played the character "Catherine Duke" on "NewsRadio" and the character "Jackie Robbins" on "ER". She is best known for the character "Alexx Woods", a coroner on the CBS drama "". She is currently appearing in the HBO series "Treme".


title: Kirsten Dunst

paragraphs: Kirsten Caroline Dunst (born April 30, 1982) is a German-American actress, famous for her roles in "", "The Virgin Suicides", "Marie Antoinette", and "Bring It On", as well as Mary Jane-Watson in the "Spider-Man" movie series. She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for being the main heroine of many films. She is also known as "the hero."


title: Mary Tyler Moore

paragraphs: Mary Tyler Moore (December 29, 1936 – January 25, 2017) was an Academy Award-nominated American actress, activist and philanthropist.

paragraphs: She is famous for "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970–1977), where she played the role of "Mary Richards", a single woman who worked as a news producer at WJM-TV in Minneapolis, and for her role as "Laura Petrie", wife of television comedy writer "Rob Petrie" (played by Dick Van Dyke) on "The Dick Van Dyke Show" (1961–1966).

paragraphs: Moore was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes when she was 33. In 2011, she had brain surgery to remove a brain tumor. In 2014 friends reported that she had heart and kidney problems and was nearly blind. In October 2015, Moore's former co-star Dick Van Dyke said on an episode of "Larry King Now" that Moore was in poor health and unable to communicate.

paragraphs: In January 2017, she was hospitalized from a diabetic-related condition. Her condition worsened and was placed on a respirator the previous week. She died on January 25, 2017 in Greenwich, Connecticut from cardiopulmonary arrest caused by diabetic-related pneumonia, aged 80.


title: Pamela Anderson

paragraphs: Pamela Denise Anderson (born July 1, 1967 in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada) is a Canadian-American actress, sex symbol, glamour model, producer, television personality, and author.

paragraphs: Anderson started her career in Labatt Beer commercials. She was then offered to pose for Playboy and appeared in five issues. Anderson was the Playmate of the Month in February 1990. Anderson was a sex symbol in the 1990s. In 1993 she joined the cast of "Baywatch". Anderson has been a contestant in two series of "Dancing with the Stars" and in the 2013 series of "Dancing on Ice".

paragraphs: For a time, she was known as Pamela Anderson Lee during her marriage to the drummer for Mötley Crüe, Tommy Lee. The couple had two sons. She later married Kid Rock and Rick Salomon. She is a dual citizen: Canadian and American. In 2002, she stated that she has been diagnosed with hepatitis C.

paragraphs: Anderson is a vegan and an animal rights' activist.


title: Sandra Bullock

paragraphs: Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American-German movie actress. She became famous in the 1990s, after roles in successful movies, including "Speed" and "While You Were Sleeping". After that, she became a very respected actress, especially after 2004 movie "Crash". She is the 14th richest female celebrity with a fortune of around $85 million. She filed for divorce from her husband in April 2010 after reports of unfaithfulness by him.

paragraphs: Sandra Annette Bullock was born in Arlington, Virginia, which is a suburb of Washington, D.C. Her parents are called John Bullock and Helga Meyer, and she has a sister called Gesine. Sandra's mother was German, and Sandra spent lots of time in Germany when she was a child. She went to Washington-Lee High School and was a cheerleader. She went to East Carolina University. She then moved to New York City to try to become an actress.

paragraphs: Sandra Bullock first appeared in some TV movies, such as "Hangmen" and "Bionic Showdown". She also appeared in the movies "Love Potion No. 9" and "Demolition Man", which were quite successful movies. She then appeared in "Speed" and "While You Were Sleeping", which made her famous. She then starred more successful movies like "Miss Congeniality", "Two Weeks Notice", "Crash" and "The Lake House". Recently, she starred in the movies "The Proposal" and "The Blind Side". She received an Academy Award for her role in "The Blind Side".

paragraphs: Sandra Bullock has been in relationships with Tate Donovan, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Gosling. She then married Jesse James in 2005, but divorced him in 2010 after reports that he cheated on her.

paragraphs: Bullock has one son, a boy named Louis Bardo Bullock. She adopted him in 2010.


title: Miami Ink

paragraphs: Miami Ink is an American television show on TLC about a tattoo shop in Miami, Florida.


title: Edmontonia

paragraphs: Edmontonia was a armoured dinosaur, of the nodosaur family from the Upper Cretaceous of Canada.

paragraphs: It was heavy and tank-like at about 6.6 m (22 ft) long. It had bony plates on its back and head, many sharp spikes along its back and tail and four large spikes jutting out from its shoulders on each side. To protect itself from predators, it may have crouched down on the ground to protect its defenceless underbelly.


title: Adaminaby, New South Wales

paragraphs: Adaminaby () is a town in southeast New South Wales, Australia on the Snowy Mountains Highway. The first town of Adaminaby was in the way of a new dam built on the Eucumbene River as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme. In 1957 more than 100 buildings were relocated to a new site 10 kilometres away where they would not be flooded.

paragraphs: The name, Adaminaby is an Aboriginal word meaning a camp, or a resting place. The town first started during the gold rush to Kiandra, New South Wales|Kiandra in 1860. It was first called Seymour, but the name was changed to Adaminaby in 1886.


title: Tropical Storm Delta (2005)

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Delta was a late-forming tropical storm which affected the Canary Islands and Morocco as a strong extratropical storm. It was also the twenty-sixth tropical or subtropical storm of the active 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Delta formed out from an extratropical cyclone that slowly gained tropical characteristics. It was also a subtropical storm for a very short time before becoming "Tropical Storm Delta" on November 22. Delta then moved slowly and stubbornly to the Canary Islands. It became extratropical again on November 29, just before passing north of the islands.

paragraphs: On November 22, a non-tropical low pressure system in the central Atlantic Ocean began to gain some tropical characteristics. Late that afternoon the low became Subtropical Storm Delta, while located over 800 miles (1300 km) west-southwest of the Azores. Originally, the National Hurricane Center thought that the storm had already gained enough tropical characteristics to be classified as a regular tropical storm, but in post-storm analysis this was changed.

paragraphs: The storm's circulation became more organized and Delta became a tropical storm on November 24. It strengthened further to its maximum strength of 70 mph (110 km/h) winds later that day, just below hurricane strength. The official forecast at this time predicted that Delta would strengthen further and become a minimal hurricane, but this did not happen. Anyhow, Delta kept this strength for a few days as it moved slowly and zig-zaggedly in the central Atlantic. As wind shear increased over the storm, a Delta began weakening on November 25 and by the end of the next day Delta had weakened into a very weak tropical storm. Some of the computer models showed that the weakening tropical storm could be absorbed by a developing low to the west, which a few days later became Hurricane Epsilon. This did not happen, and Tropical Storm Delta began to move to the northeast.

paragraphs: As Delta sped up to the northeast heading to the Canary Islands, it strengthened again, reaching a second peak of just below hurricane strength on November 27. In post-storm analysis, the National Hurricane Center said that Delta had probably reached hurricane strength for a very short time during that day; but the data was not persuading enough to upgrade the storm to hurricane status. On November 28, as Delta moved closer to the Canary Islands, Tropical Storm Delta lost much of its tropical characteristics. The extratropical storm, which maintained winds of near-hurricane strength, came close to about 105 miles (165 km) while north of the islands that night. The storm later made landfall on Morocco early on November 29 and quickly weakened overland, dissipating later that day over northwestern Algeria.

paragraphs: A lot of damages was reported in the Canary Islands from the effects of Delta, where it was described as a "historic" event, as hurricanes are very rare there. The islands of Tenerife and La Palma were hardest hit, with many uprooted trees and landslides reported there. The strongest gust recorded at La Palma was 152 km/h (95 mph), and at Tenerife the maximum gust was 147 km/h (90 mph). One hospital had to be evacuated and several airports were closed across the islands. In all, more than 225,000 customers lost electricity and many lost telephone service.

paragraphs: Also, a famous natural tourist attraction, El Dedo de Dios (or God's finger), a geological feature which had been pointing towards the sky for more than a millennium and an important landmark for the Canary Islands, was destroyed by Delta's winds and wave movement along Gran Canaria's shore. Gran Canaria it was the island that suffered more damages in its Patrimony, since besides the storm destroyed centenary windows and crosses, the cover of the Cueva Pintada in Galdar, and stopped prisoners and without light several villages of the center of the island. Delta claimed seven lives; six of them were immigrants that were on a boat which sank off the Canary Islands and 12 were reported missing. The seventh was a result of winds throwing a man off a house while it was being repaired during the storm.

paragraphs: The total damage caused by Tropical Storm Delta throughout the islands was estimated to be over €312 million ($364 million 2005 US dollars). Delta was also blamed for a 10-15% reduction of the islands tuna catch, as it kept the fishermen in port for several more days. Delta was described as a "normal atmospheric disturbance" in Morocco and no damage was reported there. In fact, it was welcomed as farmers needed the rain there to finish the sowing of cereal crops.

paragraphs: When Subtropical Storm Delta formed on November 22, it was the first and earliest time that twenty-six tropical or subtropical storms had formed in the Atlantic during one hurricane season; it also extended the 2005 season's record for the number of storms in a single season.


title: High and Mighty Color

paragraphs: High and Mighty Color (ハイ・アンド・マイティ・カラー, "Hai ando Maiti Karā") is a Japanese rock band signed to Sony Music Entertainment Japan. Their single "Ichirinno Hana" was used as an OP song for the anime show, "Bleach".


title: Fall of Man

paragraphs: The Fall of Man (also called "The Story of the Fall" or "The Fall") is the story in the book of Genesis in the Torah (Old Testament) of when Adam and Eve, in God's eyes, lost their innocence. Genesis says that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge even after God told them it was not allowed. Adam and Eve lost their innocence and were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, where the Tree of Knowledge was. In Christian religion, all of man lost their innocence because Adam and Eve disobeyed God and had to be punished, so man can now tell good from bad and life from death.

paragraphs: The Fall, for many Christians, means humans can not make themselves holy enough to get into Heaven when they die. It is only possible to get into heaven because Jesus Christ sacrificed himself.

paragraphs: Judaism, Christianity and Islam believe the story of the Fall is the truth, but each explains it differently.

paragraphs: Islam says the Fall was just a historic event and did not change human nature at all. It says Adam and his wife were thrown out of the Garden of Eden and forced to work and suffer because Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge. But God still gave others who were still loyal to him the chance to get into Heaven.

paragraphs: According to Jewish tradition, Adam and Eve had the free will to rebel against God's first commandment. God's first commandment was not to eat from the fruits of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve ate from its fruits and had to pay a price. They were thrown out of the Garden of Eden, which is called Paradise, and they had to suffer and work to survive. Adam and Eve also became "like God" when they ate the fruit from the tree. They got the gifts of knowledge, wisdom, and self-awareness—things that seperate humans from animals. Judaism teaches that eating the fruit was disobedience, but not sin. Unlike Christianity, Judaism teaches that sin can not be inherited, and that people do not inherit "Original Sin". If a sin is committed, you may pray directly to God and ask for forgiveness, and if the sin has affected another person, you may also ask their forgiveness. Judaism says every person can get to heaven and be—once more—near to God. You do not have to be Jewish to get into heaven.

paragraphs: Judaism teaches these things about "The Fall":

paragraphs: Christians generally believe that everyone who is related to Adam is born with sin and would never make it into Heaven. Jesus, who was related to Adam only through Jesus' mother, had no sin, and died to remove the sins of those who believe in him. They believe that whoever believed in Jesus Christ was given a "second chance" to get back into Heaven, shown in John the Apostle's Gospel: "...God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life." (John 3:16, ERV) Different types of Christianity have slightly different ways of viewing the fall and salvation through Jesus. You can see the different views below.

paragraphs: Catholicism believes that people are born sinful, but have free will, and so they can clean themselves of their sin and can get into Heaven after the grace of God has changed them so that they want to do that; without this "first grace" the sinful people do not want to "go to Heaven".

paragraphs: Calvinists believe that God chooses the humans who were going to go to Heaven and those who were not. Humans do not get a choice in "spiritual matters".

paragraphs: Puritans took this one step farther. Puritans said that humans could do nothing to be able to get to Heaven. They said that no matter how good a person was, if he had not been chosen by God at birth, he would not go to Heaven. However, one could lose the right to go to Heaven by being bad.

paragraphs: Protestants believe that when Jesus sacrificed himself, he made man free from sin forever. Other people believe that when Jesus sacrificed himself, man was free from sin but he was not certain that he would still get into Heaven.

paragraphs: Some Christians say that the story of The Fall in Genesis 3 never happened but is just a myth or story that the Israelite people used to show that the relationship that man had with God is gone.

paragraphs: This view is quite neutral towards history. It says Bible stories that man failed in the Garden of Eden and needed to be saved are explanations of deeper spiritual truths. Some also say that Jesus Christ was God trying to start a new relationship with man.

paragraphs: Eastern Orthodoxy believes that a son is not guilty of the sins of his father (so sin is not passed down from Adam). They believe that men and women are forced to sin because of the world around them and thy have to try and resist if they want to go to Heaven. But they still believe that Adam caused all humanity to have to work for this. The emphasis on free will is great: even the sinful people can be saved through synergy with God's grace.

paragraphs: Pelagianism says that humans are capable of freely choosing good or bad decisions without God's help and that humans are not born with Adam's sin.

paragraphs: Mormonism believes that The Fall was part of a plan thought up by God so that His children could get into Heaven.

paragraphs: Mormons say that when Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge it was not wrong, but was just a "demotion", like going from one good job to another, less good job. A step down but progressing in a forward direction. Mormons refer to The Fall as a Transgression. For Mormons a sin is the act of doing something contrary to the known will of God and to do so willing with full knowledge. Transgression, on the other hand, is the violation of a law or rule. So for Mormons, all sins (willfully disobedience) are transgressions but not all transgressions (violations) are sins. Since Adam didn’t have knowledge of good and evil before partaking of the forbidden fruit, so his act was a transgression of the law, not a sin against the law.

paragraphs: Before eating the fruit, Adam could never die. Because he could never die, he could never go to heaven. Eating the fruit made it so that Adam could die, so that later he could go to heaven. It also made it so that Adam and Eve could have children, so that everyone would have a chance to live, die, and go to heaven. Mormons say that if one follows the Plan of Salvation, that person can go to heaven. Mormons believe that:

paragraphs: Unification Church believe that Adam and Eve had sexual relations before they were married, and so they got thrown out of the Garden of Eden. They believe that a Blessing Ceremony can "wash" this sin away.

paragraphs: The Unity church believes that "The Fall of Man" has an important meaning but that it is not a true historic event.

paragraphs: Unitarian Universalists believe that people are inherently good, and that it is their most precious gift, free will, that allows people to sometimes act wrongly, rather than predestination or external temptation. The Fall is story, metaphor, allegory, not a history.

paragraphs: Philip Pullman wrote a series called "His Dark Materials" and he says in the book that The Fall was a good thing. It was when humans became free to learn. Pullman believes that it is not worth being innocent if the price is not knowing the truth.

paragraphs: C.S. Lewis wrote a book called "Perelandra" where Adam and Eve were on the planet Venus rather than the classic Garden of Eden.

paragraphs: Albert Camus wrote a book called "The Fall" where a man tells another man in a bar in Amsterdam called "Mexico City" why he did not want to rescue a man who was trying to kill himself by jumping off a bridge into a canal.

paragraphs: In the manga (or comic-book) "Neon Genesis Evangelion", The Fall is often talked about, and at the end, an attempt to clean Adam's sin is performed and a new genesis is started.


title: Colorado River

paragraphs: The Colorado River is a river in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico. It is approximately 1,450 miles (2,330 km) long. It drains a part of the dry regions on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains.

paragraphs: The natural course of the river flows into the Gulf of California. The heavy use of the river as an irrigation source for the Imperial Valley has desiccated the lower course of the river in Mexico. Now it no longer always reaches the sea.

paragraphs: On its way the Colorado River runs through Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, California and Mexico. The Colorado River drains 242,900 sq mi (629,100 km²). Total flows of the river range from 4000 cubic feet per second (570 m³/s) in droughts to 1,000,000 ft³/s (28,000 m³/s) in severe floods. With the construction of massive power dams on the lower course of the river, floods of over 70,000 ft³/s (2000 m³/s) are rare. The mean flow of the total river before diversion is 22,000 ft³/s.

paragraphs: Historically, the flow was much higher before water usage began in the basin.


title: Cola

paragraphs: Cola is a type of carbonated drink that was made from the kola nut in the past, although other foods are often used now. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are types of cola. 120 years ago, only 9 glasses of cola were sold each day, but now, around 14 million cola drinks are drank in the world every day.


title: Slash (musician)

paragraphs: Saul Hudson (born 23 July 1965), better known by his stage name Slash, is a British musician. Originally from Stoke-on-Trent, his family moved to Los Angeles, California when Hudson was a child. Slash is best known for being lead guitarist of hard rock band Guns N' Roses from 1985 to 1996. After leaving the band Slash first formed Slash's Snakepit and then later co-founded Velvet Revolver with his former Guns N' Roses bandmates Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum.

paragraphs: In August 2009, Time Magazine named him #2 on its list of the 10 Best Electric Guitar Players of All-Time.


title: Hurricane Beta

paragraphs: Hurricane Beta was the twenty-third named storm, fourteenth hurricane, and seventh major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed in the southwestern part of the Caribbean Sea on October 26 and made landfall on the eastern coast of Nicaragua on October 30 as a strong Category 2 hurricane. Although Beta did create a lot of damage, it was somehow less than originally expected.

paragraphs: Late on October 26, a broad area of low pressure in the southwestern part of the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Costa Rica developed and became Tropical Depression Twenty-Six. At the second full advisory six hours later, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Beta. Beta strengthened into a hurricane at 2 am EDT October 29, after spending a few hours on the border between tropical storm and hurricane strength. Beta reached maximum windspeeds of 115 mph (185 km/h) making it a Category 3 hurricane by 4 am EST October 30. The Colombian island of Providencia, about 140 miles off the coast of Nicaragua, was in danger to hurricane force winds for several hours as the center of the storm moved slowly very close to the island. Original reports stated major damages to homes and a temporary loss of communications with the islanders.

paragraphs: Beta made landfall in the morning of October 30 near the town of Sandy Bay Sirpi, 310 kilometres northeast of the Nicaraguan capital, Managua, as a strong Category 2 hurricane, destroying many buildings and knocking down trees. It weakened as it moved onto land and dissipated into a remnant low pressure system. If the system continued to move westward, the remnant low could have probably re-strengthened after it entered the Pacific Ocean. If the storm had regenerated, a new number and name would have been given.

paragraphs: The remnants of Hurricane Beta poured heavy rain over parts of the Central America on Monday, making forecasters to warn of deadly landslides and flooding as the storm began to dissipate. There were numerous reports of damage but fortunately no deaths were reported, although there were several reports of injuries and people missing. The storm finally dissipated late in the evening of October 30. Although Beta had moved out to sea, several rain bands from the remnant continued to fall on Nicaragua and Honduras on October 31.

paragraphs: Nicaraguan government officials said that if the hurricane had hit larger coastal cities such as Puerto Cabezas or Bluefields as was first predicted, it would have been a disaster. Hurricane Beta was the first hurricane to be named after a letter in the Greek alphabet, because the first tropical system to be named with a Greek letter, Tropical Storm Alpha, did not reach hurricane strength.

paragraphs: In Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, local officials announced a curfew to help stop looting and worked to cut off electricity throughout the city to stop possible injuries. 60,000 people were moved into shelters. Thousands of residents striggled through heavy rain to reach shelters. Many experts, including national meteorology director Milagros Castro, warned of the threat of mudslides, especially since Beta was a slow-moving storm.

paragraphs: In Honduras, the government also kept a red alert for the storm and an emergency committee was working on moving 150,000 people from areas of the capital, Tegucigalpa, that would be in danger to flooding and mudslides. Evacuations were being readied in five of the country's eighteen departments. Civil defense officials have declared an alert in neighboring El Salvador, fearing the threat of mudslides after Hurricane Stan destroyed much of the area. The preparations eventually turned out to be very serious, since there was no deaths reported in spie of the large damages.

paragraphs: On the island of Providencia, roofs were ripped off from dozens of wooden homes, the island's main communications tower was knocked over and a tourist footbridge was destroyed. But most of the 5,000 islanders stayed safe by climbing Providencia's many hills to ride out the storm in brick shelters. At least thirty people are reported to have been injured during Hurricane Beta's destruction upon the island.

paragraphs: Beta wiped out most of the town of Sandy Bay as it made landfall. Local reports said the town's population of 3,000 had mostly evacuated in advance. Wooden huts made most of the housing in Sandy Bay, and about eighty percent of it was thought to be uninhabitable. Trees were knocked down and roofs were ripped off from houses during Hurricane Beta's attack on the country. At least one pier was damaged. Many herds of cattle were killed by the storm. 700 people were trapped in Tasbapauni, a town separated from the mainland by a lagoon. Eighty percent of homes in Tasbapauni are thought to be damaged very badly. Some 200 homes in Laguna de Perlas' seventeen lake-front villages are reported to have been damaged a lot.

paragraphs: Though the storm's remnants were expected to drop an additional four to eight inches on the already water logged ground, President Enrique Bolaños said his country had escaped a major disaster. He promised to quickly get aid to separated towns cut off by flooding and landslides. Nicaraguan Civil Defence Chief Col. Mario Perez Cassar said eighty per cent of the buildings on the central coast where the hurricane hit were heavily damaged or destroyed.

paragraphs: One person was reported to be injured and four people were reported missing in Nicaragua. The four missing men were later found alive on a boat that had been swept out into the Caribbean. A passing Panamanian-registered tanker ship found the four, all Miskito Indians, adrift about forty eight kilometres off the Nicaraguan coast after their gasoline ran out.

paragraphs: In Honduras, Beta left fifty communities separated and broke bridges in the northeastern provinces of Gracias a Dios, Atlantida and Colon on the coast. Strong winds knocked down signs, fences, trees and electricity and telephone poles, cutting off power and communication in hundreds of communities and at least two highways were blocked.

paragraphs: Authorities evacuated more than 7,800 people from north of the Nicaraguan border after four rivers overflowed from rain caused by Beta. The national soccer league stopped all of its games. The airports at La Ceiba and Roatan on the coast were operating intermittenly because of poor visibility, strong winds and flooding. Flooding damaged rice, corn and bean fields. High waters also sent snakes out of the jungle into urban areas, although there were no reports of snakebites.


title: Billie Joe Armstrong

paragraphs: Billie Joe Armstrong (born 17 February 1972 in Oakland, California) is an American musician and the lead singer and guitarist for the punk band Green Day. He also has numerous side projects as a vocalist, lyricist and guitarist in Foxboro Hot Tubs, Pinhead Gunpowder and The Network.

paragraphs: He was born in Oakland, California. He is of Cherokee, English, German, Irish, Italian, Mexican, Native American, Scottish, Spanish and Welsh descent.

paragraphs: Armstrong was given his first guitar "Blue", a Fernandes Stratocaster, at the age of 11 by his father, Andy, who died soon after. He and childhood friend Mike Dirnt started Sweet Children, their first band which eventually developed into Green Day in 1987. They added drummer John Kiffenmeyer (Al Sobrante). Sobrante left the band to go to college as they were making waves and gaining popularity. Frank Edwin Wright III (famously known as Tre Cool) replaced him as the permanent drummer making the official line up of Green Day in 1989.

paragraphs: The band gained a following in the punk scene in California, particularly in the Gilman Street Scene. They released three EPs ("1000 hours", "39/Smooth" and "Slappy") before releasing two LPs, one being a compilation of the EPs ("1039 Smoothed Out Slappy Hour") in 1991 and "Kerplunk" later in the same year.

paragraphs: With the release of their first major label album "Dookie" the band gained worldwide attention. Their intentions were not to sell out but just to make music. Unfortunately the popularity did not do well with the Gilman scene and they were exiled. However, despite those rough years the band became increasingly popular.

paragraphs: Armstrong is openly bisexual. He is married and lives in Berkeley, California with his wife Adrienne Armstrong and two sons Jakob and Joseph!


title: The Importance of Being Earnest

paragraphs: The Importance of being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. It was first performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London. In the play, the protagonists make up people who are not real to try to make their lives easier. The play's most important themes are the light humourous way it treats serious things like marriages and the satire of Victorian ways. At the time the play came out, reviews all praised the play's humour. However, some people wanted better social messages, while others thought that it was the best play Wilde had ever written. It is Wilde's most popular play.

paragraphs: The plot is about two men who try to woo their respective lovers by convincing each that their name is Ernest. The play includes many puns and plays on words. Even the title is a pun, because "Ernest" is a man's name and "earnest" is a word that means "serious, honest, and sincere." The play is about morality, style, and hypocrisy, among others, but it is noted for being humorous and lighthearted.

paragraphs: The successful opening night marked the climax of Wilde's career but also heralded his downfall. The Marquess of Queensberry, father of Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde's lover, planned to present Wilde a bouquet of spoiling vegetables and disrupt the show. Wilde was tipped off, and Queensberry was refused admission. Soon afterwards the feud came to a climax in court, and Wilde's new notoriety caused the play, despite its success, to be closed after just 86 performances. After imprisonment, he wrote no further comic or dramatic work. "The Importance of Being Earnest" has been revived many times since its premiere and adapted for the cinema on three occasions, in 1952, 1992 and 2002.

paragraphs: Unlike many other plays at this time, "The Importance of Being Earnest"'s light story was not about serious social or political issues. This was something that reviewers at that time were not sure what to think about. Though they were not sure of how serious Wilde was, they agreed that the play was clever, funny, and popular. George Bernard Shaw, for example, reviewed the play in the "Saturday Review". He said that comedy plays should not only be funny but touching, saying, "I go to the theatre to be "moved" to laughter". Later in a letter he said that the play was "extremely funny" but "really heartless".

paragraphs: In 1963, Erik Chisholm made an opera from the play.

paragraphs: BBC Radio 4 made a radio adaptation on 13 February 1995. It was directed by Glyn Dearman. Dame Judi Dench was "Lady Bracknell", Sir Michael Hordern was "Lane", Michael Sheen was "Jack Worthing", Martin Clunes was "Algernon Moncrieff", John Moffatt was "Rev. Canon Chasuble", Miriam Margolyes was "Miss Prism", Samantha Bond was "Gwendolen" and Amanda Root was "Cecily". The production came out on audio cassette by Hodder Headline Audiobooks with BBC Enterprises ().

paragraphs: On 13 December 2000, BBC Radio 3 broadcast a new radio adaptation directed by Howard Davies. In this radio adaption, Geraldine McEwan was "Lady Bracknell", Simon Russell Beale was "Jack Worthing", Julian Wadham was "Algernon Moncrieff", Geoffrey Palmer was "Rev. Canon Chasuble", Celia Imrie was "Miss Prism", Victoria Hamilton was "Gwendolen" and Emma Fielding was "Cecily". The music was written by Dominic Muldowney. The production was released on audio cassette by the BBC Radio Collection ().


title: Puerto Cabezas

paragraphs: Puerto Cabezas is a city in Nicaragua. It is the capital of the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN).


title: Tegucigalpa

paragraphs: Tegucigalpa is the biggest and capital city of Honduras. As of 2006, the city has a total population of 1,200,000 residents.


title: Zappanale

paragraphs: The Zappanale is a music festival held every year in honour of the musician and composer Frank Zappa. It happens in the beginning of August at the town of Bad Doberan, Germany.


title: Burlington Airpark

paragraphs: Burlington Airpark is an airport in Burlington, Ontario, Canada. It has two runways. The airport is privately owned by Vince Rossi.

paragraphs: The airport was created by Victor and Gwen Kovachik in 1962. It is a very popular airport for Toronto-area pilots.

paragraphs: The airport's first runway is and is made of asphalt and turf. The second runway is and is made of turf.


title: Pratibha Patil

paragraphs: Pratibha Patil (born 19 December 1934) is an Indian politician. She was the first woman to become the President of India serving from 2007 through 2012. Before becoming President, she was the Governor of Rajasthan and served as that from 2004 to 2007. One of her many achievements is Order of Aztec Eagle which she received in 2019. It is Mexico's highest civilian award.


title: Lily

paragraphs: The lily is a genus of flowering plant. There are many species of lilies, like trumpet lilies and tiger lilies. They are usually quite tall, and are perennials.

paragraphs: Most lilies grow from a bulb, which in some species develops into a rhizome, which carries small bulbs.

paragraphs: Lilies grow in Europe, North America, and Asia. There are more than 100 species, and many cultivated varieties. They also come in various colours. It tends to grow wild in the forest and a grassy plain of a mountainous area, but several kinds grow wild on wet ground. A lily's petals come in multiples of three. The fleur de lys is a stylized depiction of the lily.

paragraphs: Some "Lilium" species are toxic to cats, especially "Lilium longiflorum".The mechanism is not exactly known but it involves damage to the kidneys, which can cause acute renal failure. Veterinary help should be sought, as a matter of urgency, for any cat that is suspected of eating any part of a lily – including licking pollen that may have brushed onto its coat.<section end="lilium-toxicity" />


title: Tropical Storm Zeta

paragraphs: Hurricane Zeta was the twenty-eighth and last storm of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. It formed very late during the year on December 30, after the official end of the season, and was a very rare tropical cyclone to live during two calendar years.

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Zeta formed on December 30 in the central Atlantic Ocean, where it stayed far away from land during its whole lifetime. While every forecast given to the storm predicted it to dissipate quickly, Zeta, like Hurricane Epsilon, denied those advisories. Zeta reached to its maximum strength on January 2 until finally dissipating on January 8, also bringing the close to the end of the 2005 season.

paragraphs: Late on December 29, 2005, a tropical depression developed in the east-central Atlantic Ocean from a frontal trough and strengthened into a tropical storm early the next day. As this was more than four weeks after the official end of the season, the National Hurricane Center did not actually classify the system until after it had already become a tropical storm. The new bound storm originally moved to the northwest but stopped for a few hous late on December 31 before moving west. As Tropical Storm Zeta slowly gained strength, it had many characteristics similar to Hurricane Epsilon, like when the National Hurricane Center constantly forecasted that Zeta would weaken because of the high wind shear; but Zeta still held onto its strength, like Epsilon had done.

paragraphs: Tropical Storm Zeta weakened a little bit on January 2, before strengthening again to its maximum strength with 65 mph (100 km/h) winds on the same day. One of the models suggested that Zeta could strengthen further and become a hurricane but this did not happen. Tropical Storm Zeta continued to reject forecasts of weakening and on January 4, so much frustration made NHC forecaster, Dr. Lixion Avila to say that he had "run out of things to say".

paragraphs: The effects huge amount of wind shear finally began to affect the storm itself on January 4, as Zeta's strength began to weaken. This made Tropical Storm Zeta to weaken into a very weak tropical storm. The NHC still continued to overestimate how fast Zeta would dissipate and early on January 5 they actually downgraded Zeta to a depression, which was later confirmed to have been wrong. Zeta continued to move west-northwestward, barely holding on to tropical storm status before becoming disorganized again. Zeta weakened into a tropical depression on January 6 and dissipated into a remnant later that day, finally bringing an end to the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. But the remnant low still its identity for one more day before it dissipated 660 miles (1060 km) southeast of Bermuda.

paragraphs: Several of the people that were taking part in the 2005 Atlantic Rowing Race were affected with heavy seas and strong, unpleasant winds from Tropical Storm Zeta. The ship "Liberty Star" made several reports of strong winds from Tropical Storm Zeta, including one of 40 mph (65 km/h) winds early on December 31, when the ship was about 45 miles (75 km) north from the center of the storm. Because Tropical Storm Zeta never came close to land, no coastal watches or warnings were given out. There were no reports of damages or deaths from Zeta.

paragraphs: When Tropical Storm Zeta formed at 0600 UTC on December 31, it became the second latest-forming tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean, forming about six hours earlier than Hurricane Alice did in 1954. Zeta is only the second Atlantic tropical cyclone on record to have lived through two calendar years (after Alice). Tropical Storm Zeta also extended the record number of storms to form in the 2005 season to twenty-eight, seven more than the previous record held by a hurricane season from 1933. It was also the only Atlantic storm to have a name beginning with the letter "Z", since the list of names for Atlantic storms do not have a "Z" name.


title: Dan Fogelberg

paragraphs: Daniel Grayling "Dan" Fogelberg (August 13, 1951 – December 16, 2007) was an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, whose music was inspired by sources as diverse as folk, pop, classical, jazz, and bluegrass music. He was most popular in the late 1970s and early 1980s.


title: Lettuce

paragraphs: Lettuce is a vegetable. Both the stems and the leaves can be eaten.

paragraphs: Lettuce can be grown in many parts of the world, including Europe, Asia, and North America, in temperate climates. It will turn more bitter tasting in hot weather. You can grow lettuce during winter in a greenhouse.

paragraphs: In some countries, it is often eaten cold and raw, in salads, hamburgers, tacos, sandwichs, and many other dishes. In some places, including China, lettuce is eaten cooked. Lettuce contains very little energy or nutrients.

paragraphs: Most lettuce leaves are green, but some are red. Most lettuce leaves taste bitter. Some kinds of lettuce grow in a head shape like cabbage, while the leaves of some kinds grow more loosely.

paragraphs: The five main cultivars are: green leaf, red leaf, cos, crisphead, and stem lettuce.

paragraphs: Common varieties are Romaine, iceberg, and butter lettuce.

paragraphs: The name of the plant in English, "lettuce," and in Latin, "lactuca," come from "lactis", the Latin word for milk, because the juice of the plant looks like milk.

paragraphs: Wild lettuce plants were eaten by the Romans and Egyptians. The ancient Greeks were among the first people to grow lettuce as a crop. It was one of the first plants brought to the New World by Christopher Columbus.


title: Hadrosaurus

paragraphs: Hadrosaurus ("Hadrosaurus foulkii") was a genus of hadrosaurid dinosaur from the Upper Cretaceous period. Is the only species in its genus and is the official state dinosaur of New Jersey.

paragraphs: The name is dubious because no skull has been found to distinguish it from near relatives.


title: William Shatner

paragraphs: William Alan Shatner (born on March 22, 1931) is a Canadian Actor who gained fame for playing James Tiberius Kirk of the "USS Enterprise" in the television show "" from 1966 to 1969 and in seven more movies. Shatner has written a series of books telling his experiences playing James T. Kirk and being a part of "Star Trek". He also played the role as veteran police sergeant "T.J. Hooker", from 1982 to 1986. He has since worked as a musician, bestselling author, producer, director, and celebrity pitchman, most notably for Priceline.com. He currently co-stars as attorney "Denny Crane" on the television drama "Boston Legal", for which he has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe Award.

paragraphs: He trained as a Shakespearean actor and appeared in many plays. Before Star Trek, Shatner appeared in other TV shows such The Outlaws, 1960's "The Outer Limits", The Twilight Zone, and movies. His first movie was in 1951. He starred in the movie "Incubus" that was filmed only in Esperanto.


title: Yeardley Smith

paragraphs: Martha Maria Yeardley Smith (born July 3, 1964) is an Emmy Award-winning American actress, comedian and writer. She is known for being the voice of Lisa Simpson on the animated television series "The Simpsons".


title: Denise Richards

paragraphs: Denise Lee Richards (born February 17, 1971) is an American actress and former fashion model. She came to fame in the late 1990s, after many movies that showed her beauty, including "Starship Troopers", "Wild Things" and "The World Is Not Enough".


title: Ashley Judd

paragraphs: Ashley Judd (born Ashley Tyler Ciminella on April 19, 1968) is an American actress. She is famous for her roles in a series of late 1990s and early 2000s thriller movies, including "Kiss the Girls", "Double Jeopardy" and "High Crimes".


title: Barbara Stanwyck

paragraphs: Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress of movie, stage, and television.

paragraphs: In 1999, the American Film Institute named her among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time, ranking at No. 11.

paragraphs: She was awarded the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award.


title: Brooke Shields

paragraphs: Brooke Christa Camille Shields (born May 31, 1965) is an American actress and supermodel. She has been named one of People's most beautiful people in the world three times. Shields started being a model when she was 11 months old. Ford Models started their children's division for Shields.

paragraphs: She first acted in "Alice, Sweet Alice", a 1976 slasher film. Her next film was "Pretty Baby". In it she played a child prostitute called Violet. She was 12 when it was released and was naked in the film. Some people said this was child pornography and Shields got a lot of attention from this. In February 1980 she was the youngest model ever to be on the cover of Vogue (magazine). She was 14. Later that year she was in adverts for Calvin Klein jeans. In 1981, she starred in The Blue Lagoon.

paragraphs: In 1985 a book Shields wrote about her life, "On Your Own" was published.

paragraphs: In 1987 Shields got a degree from Princeton University in French literature.

paragraphs: From 1996 to 2000, Shields was the main character in the sitcom "Suddenly Susan".

paragraphs: On April 19, 1997, Shields married Andre Agassi. She later married Chris Henchy with whom she has two daughters.

paragraphs: On July 7, 2009 Shields gave a speech at Michael Jackson's memorial service. Jackson and Shields met when she was 13. They became friends instantly. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Shields said, “There were times when he would ask me to marry him, and I would say, ‘You have me for the rest of your life, you don’t need to marry me, I’m going to go on and do my own life and have my own marriage and my own kids, and you’ll always have me’.”

paragraphs: In his 1993 interview with Oprah, Jackson said that he was dating Shields. However, in the 2009 Rolling Stone interview Shields said the last time she saw Jackson was 1990.


title: Fujita scale

paragraphs: The Fujita scale is a scale used for rating tornado strength, based on the damage tornadoes cause on human-built buildings and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determined by meteorologists (and engineers) after a ground and/or aerial damage inspection; also including analysis of available sources such as eyewitness accounts and damage images and/or videos. It was replaced with the Enhanced Fujita scale in the United States in February 2007.


title: Ticino

paragraphs: Canton Ticino or Ticino ([]; French and German: "Tessin" [] and []) is the southernmost canton of Switzerland. The written language is Italian in almost the entire canton (except the Walser municipality of Bosco Gurin, where it is German). It surrounds the Italian exclave of Campione d'Italia. Together with areas of the canton of Graubünden it makes up the so-called "Svizzera Italiana" (Italian Switzerland). Lombard dialects (Ticinese) are still spoken, especially in the valleys, but they have no official status. It is named after the Ticino river.

paragraphs: The canton of Ticino is located in the south of Switzerland. It is almost entirely surrounded by Italy which lies to its east, west and south. To the north lie the cantons of Valais and Uri, to the northeast the canton of Graubünden.

paragraphs: Its area is 2,812 km², of which about three quarters are considered productive. Forests cover about a third of the area, but also the lakes Maggiore and Lugano make up a considerable part of the total area. These lakes are known with the above listed names, but are officially named Lake Verbano and Lake Ceresio.

paragraphs: The canton is split geographically in two parts by the Monte Ceneri pass. The northern, more mountainous part, called "Sopraceneri", is formed by the two major Swiss valleys around the lake Maggiore: Ticino Valley and Maggia Valley. The southern part, called "Sottoceneri", is the region around the Lake Lugano.

paragraphs: The River Ticino is the largest river in the canton. It drains most of the canton, flowing from the northwest through the Bedretto Valley and the Leventina valley to enter Lake Maggiore near Locarno. Its main tributaries are the Brenno in the Blenio Valley and the Moesa in the Mesolcina Valley in Graubünden. The lands of the canton are shaped by the river, which in its mid portion forms a wide valley, commonly known as the "Riviera".

paragraphs: The western lands of the canton, however, are drained by the Maggia River. The Verzasca Valley is located between the Ticino river and the Maggia river. There is also a smaller area that drains directly into the Lake Lugano. Most of the land is considered within the Alps, but a small area is part of the plain of the River Po which drains the north of Italy.

paragraphs: In ancient times the area of what is today Ticino was settled by the Lepontii, a Celtic tribe. Later, probably around the rule of Augustus, it became part of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Empire, was ruled by the Ostrogoths, the Lombards and the Franks. Around 1100 CE it was the centre of struggle between the free communes of Milan and Como: in the 14th century it was definitively acquired by the Visconti, Dukes of Milan. In the 15th century the Swiss Confederates conquered the valleys south of the Alps in three separate conquests.

paragraphs: The Canton of Uri conquered the Leventina Valley in 1440. Between 1403 and 1422 some of these lands were already annexed by forces from Uri, but subsequently lost. In a second conquest Uri, Schwyz and Nidwalden gained the town of Bellinzona and the Riviera in 1500. Some of the land and the town Bellinzona itself were previously annexed by Uri in 1419 but lost again in 1422. The third conquest was fought by troops from the entire Confederation (at that time constituted by 12 cantons). In 1512 Locarno, the Maggia Valley, Lugano and Mendrisio were annexed. Subsequently, the upper valley of the Ticino River, from the St. Gotthard to the town of Biasca (Leventina Valley) was part of Canton Uri. The remaining territory ("Baliaggi Ultramontani", "Ennetbergische Vogteien", the Bailiwicks Beyond the Mountains) was administered by the Twelve Cantons.

paragraphs: The lands of the canton of Ticino are the last lands to be conquered by the Swiss Confederation. (After the battle of Marignano in 1515 the king of France Francis I defeated the Confederates, and they gave up any further conquests.) In February 1798 an attempt of annexation by the Cisalpine Republic was repelled by a volunteer militia in Lugano. Between 1798 and 1803, during the Helvetic Republic, the districts of Bellinzona and Lugano were separate cantons, but in 1803 the two were unified to form the canton of Ticino that joined the Swiss Confederation as a full member in the same year. During the Napoleonic Wars, many Ticinese (as was the case for other Swiss) served in Swiss military units allied with the French.

paragraphs: Until 1878 the three largest cities, Bellinzona, Lugano and Locarno, alternated as capital of the canton. In 1878, however, Bellinzona became the only and permanent capital.

paragraphs: The current constitution dates from 1997. The previous constitution, heavily modified, dates from 1830, nearly 20 years before the constitution of actual Swiss Confederation.

paragraphs: The cantonal parliament is the "Grand Council" (Italian: "Gran Consiglio"), with 90 members and the government ("Consiglio di Stato") has 5 members ("Consiglieri di Stato"). In the both councils the members are elected with the proportional electoral system. The canton sends two deputies to the Swiss Council of States (upper house), and eight deputies to the National Council (lower house). It's regional capitol is Bellinzona.

paragraphs: The main agricultural production is wine, mostly merlot, a type of red wine. It is followed by horticulture, milk and cheese production.

paragraphs: The hilly slopes of the canton are used extensively for the production of hydroelectricity. The electricity produced is used at home and sold for export. There is cattle breeding in the northern areas. The production of wine is important in the canton and exported to mainly other areas in Switzerland. The vineyards are mostly concentrated in the southern half of the canton where the climate is warmer. Other agricultural produce includes corn (maize), potatoes, tobacco and vegetables.

paragraphs: The weather in the canton is often inverse to that north of the Alps. This, and a warmer climate in general, attracts many tourists from other Swiss cantons. The lakes together with the sunshine are considered attractive. Tourism is the single most important economic factor in the canton.

paragraphs: There is also light industry, mostly concentrated around the three largest towns of Lugano, Locarno and Bellinzona.

paragraphs: The canton is well connected to the rest of Switzerland. There are tunnels underneath the Gotthard massive, both for rail and road. The canton of Grisons (Graubünden) is connected with a direct coach link, whereas the canton of Valais is connected by rail through a tunnel at the Simplon Pass. There are good rail links to Milan and Rome in Italy as well as Germany via Basel and Zürich.

paragraphs: Because of the tourist trade there are a number of small railways in scenic areas in the mountains. Winter sports is important, despite being less developed.

paragraphs: There are two major centres of education and research located in the canton of Ticino. The University of Italian speaking Switzerland (USI, Università della Svizzera Italiana) is the only Swiss university teaching in Italian. The University of Applied Sciences of Italian speaking Switzerland (SUPSI, Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana) on the other hand is a professional training college focused on a practical method of teaching in the areas of applied art, economy, social work, technology and production science.

paragraphs: Three daily newspapers are published in Ticino: Corriere del Ticino, La Regione, and Giornale del Popolo. These represent the only Italian daily publications in Switzerland.

paragraphs: The official language, and the one used for most written communication, is Italian. In oral communication Western Lombard (Ticinese) varieties, although receding in favour of Italian (especially in the cities of Lugano, Ascona and Locarno and among the younger generations), are still well preserved. These are further subdivided into local variations, with the northern valleys speaking a dialect more closely aligned with Romansch, Switzerland's fourth official language. There is a certain amount of popular literature (poems, comedies, etc.) in Ticinese, and the national radio and televisions trasmit regularly program in Ticinese (mainly comedies).

paragraphs: The population is mostly Roman Catholic (75%) or Protestant (7%). About 2% each are Orthodox or Muslim.

paragraphs: The Canton of Ticino is divided into 8 districts ("distretti") and 38 circles ("circoli"):

paragraphs: There are 195 municipalities in the canton (as of February 2006). These municipalities ("comuni") are grouped in 38 "circoli" (circles or sub-districts) which are in turn grouped into districts ("distretti"). Since late 1990 there is an ongoing project of group some municipalities together (as they are small).


title: Ticino (river)

paragraphs: The Ticino river is a river that originates in the Alps, near Nufenen. It then flows through the Swiss canton of Ticino and northern Italy. It flows into the Po River, near Pavia. It is 270 km long. It gave its name to the canton. In Switzerland, it is dammed to make electricity. In Italy, it is mainly used for irrigation. The river flows through Lago Maggiore.


title: Po (river)

paragraphs: The Po (Latin: "Padus", , ancient "Eridanus") is a river that flows 652 kilometers (405 miles) eastward across northern Italy, from Monviso (in the Cottian Alps) to the Adriatic Sea near Venice. It has a drainage area of 71,000 km² and is the longest river in Italy.

paragraphs: It goes through many important Italian towns, including Turin (Torino) and (indirectly) Milan (Milano), in Lombardy. It is connected to Milan through a net of channels called "navigli", which Leonardo da Vinci helped design. Near the end of its course, it creates a wide delta (with hundreds of small channels and five main ones, called "Po di Maestra", "Po della Pila", "Po delle Tolle", "Po di Gnocca" and "Po di Goro") at the southern part of which is Comacchio, an area famous for eels. The Po valley corresponds to the Roman Cisalpine Gaul, divided in Cispadane Gaul (South of the Po) and Transpadane Gaul (North of the Po).

paragraphs: The vast valley around the Po is called "Pianura Padana" and is so efficiently connected by the river that the whole valley became the main industrial area of the country. This river is subject to the authority of a special authority, the "Magistrato delle Acque".

paragraphs: Roman poets sometimes referred to the Po river as Eridanus, which also has other meanings.

paragraphs: The main products of the farms around the river are cereals.

paragraphs: In 2005, water from the Po was found to contain "staggering" amounts of benzoylecgonine, which is excreted by cocaine users in urine. Based on these figures, cocaine consumption was estimated to be about 4 kg daily, or 27 doses per day per thousand young adults in areas that feed into the river—a number nearly three times higher than previous estimates. The po river also has large fish in the waters which can be found only in the summer. The river consists of 71,000,000 pounds of water that turns purple once every year. the temperature in the waters are below 1-.

paragraphs: On May 4, 2007 The river dried up in spots completely. Italy declared a state of emergency in the northern and central regions. The Alps had reduced snowfall the previous winter. It was the Alps's warmest winter in 1300 years. Experts said this could have been part of global warming. There was some discussion about filling the river up by diverting water flows from large lakes and reservoirs in the Alps.

paragraphs: The Po showed the effects of drought again in 2017. By then, experts were even surer it was part of global warming, then called climate change.

paragraphs: Tributaries include (R from the right side, L from the left, looking downstream):