title: Ted Cruz

text: Michael Wayne Haley was arrested for stealing a calculator from Walmart in 1997. Because of Haley's previous criminal convictions, he was sentenced to 16-and-a-half years in prison under the Texas habitual offender law. After Haley had exhausted his appeals, it became known that Haley's robbery offense occurred three days before one of his other convictions was finalized; this raised a question about the applicability of the habitual offender statute in his case. As Solicitor General, Cruz declined to vacate Haley's sentence, saying, "I think justice is being done because he had a full and fair trial and an opportunity to raise his errors." The Supreme Court later remanded the case to lower courts based on Haley's ineffective assistance of counsel claim. During oral argument, Cruz conceded that Haley had a very strong argument for ineffective assistance of counsel since Haley's attorney failed to recognize the sentencing error and that he would not move to have Haley re-incarcerated during the appeal process. After remand, Haley was re-sentenced to "time served".


title: Ted Cruz

text: In 2008 "American Lawyer" magazine named Cruz one of the 50 Best Litigators under 45 in America, and "The National Law Journal" named him one of the 50 Most Influential Minority Lawyers in America. In 2010 "Texas Lawyer" named him one of the 25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century.


title: Ted Cruz

text: After leaving the Solicitor General position in 2008, Cruz joined the Houston office of the Philadelphia-based law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, often representing corporate clients. At Morgan Lewis, he led the firm's U.S. Supreme Court and national appellate litigation practice. In 2010, he abandoned a bid for state attorney general when incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott, who hired Cruz as solicitor general, decided to run for reelection.


title: Ted Cruz

text: At Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Cruz represented Pfizer in a lawsuit brought by a group of public hospitals and community health centers, who accused Pfizer of overcharging. Linglong Tire was found guilty of marketing versions of tires that were based on blueprints stolen by a former employee of a Florida businessman and ordered to pay $26 million to the Floridian. Cruz worked on the Chinese company's appellant brief. The appeals court denied the appeal and affirmed the jury's award. Cruz represented drug manufacturer B. Braun before the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit after the company was found guilty of wrongfully discharging a former employee. Cruz asserted that she had failed to prove that B. Braun had directed her to violate the law and that she had not presented sufficient evidence that her refusal to violate the law was why she had been fired. The appeals court rejected Cruz's argument and affirmed the $880,000 award. Cruz represented Toyota in an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court in a statute of limitations case, where a judge wanted to investigate Toyota for contempt after a former Toyota in-house lawyer accused Toyota of unlawfully withholding documents in a product liability case. Cruz unsuccessfully argued the judge's jurisdiction expired 30 days after the case was dismissed following an out-of-court settlement, but later won a second appeal using the same argument.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz defended two record-setting $54-million personal injury awards in New Mexico at the appellate level, including one that a lower court had thrown out. He represented a mentally disabled man who was allegedly raped by an employee of the facility where he lived, and the family of a 78-year-old resident of an Albuquerque nursing home who died of internal bleeding. The settlements were sealed in both cases.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz ran as a Tea Party candidate in the 2012 Republican primary, and "The Washington Post" called his victory "the biggest upset of 2012 ... a true grassroots victory against very long odds".


title: Ted Cruz

text: On January 19, 2011, after U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison said she would not seek reelection, Cruz launched his campaign via a blogger conference call. In the Republican primary, he ran against sitting Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst. Cruz was endorsed first by former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin and then by the Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative political action committee; the FreedomWorks for America super PAC; nationally syndicated radio host Mark Levin; Tea Party Express; Young Conservatives of Texas; and U.S. Senators Tom Coburn, Jim DeMint, Mike Lee, Rand Paul and Pat Toomey. He was also endorsed by former Texas Congressman Ron Paul, George P. Bush, and former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania Rick Santorum. Former Attorney General Ed Meese served as national chairman of Cruz's campaign.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz won the runoff for the Republican nomination by a 14-point margin over Dewhurst, support for Dewhurst having plummeted while Cruz's vote total dramatically increased from the first round. Cruz won despite being outspent by Dewhurst, who held a statewide elected office, $19 million to $7 million.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In the November 6 general election, Cruz faced Democratic nominee Paul Sadler, an attorney and a former state representative from Henderson, Texas. Cruz won with 4.5 million votes (56.4%) to Sadler's 3.2 million (40.6%). Two minor candidates garnered the remaining 3% of the vote. According to a poll by Cruz's pollster Wilson Perkins Allen Opinion Research, Cruz received 40% of the Hispanic vote, outperforming Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney among Hispanics in Texas.


title: Ted Cruz

text: After "Time" magazine reported that Cruz might have violated ethics rules by failing to publicly disclose his financial relationship with Caribbean Equity Partners Investment Holdings during the 2012 campaign, he said his failure to disclose the connection was inadvertent.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In January 2016, "The New York Times" reported that Cruz and his wife had taken out nearly $1 million in low-interest loans from Goldman Sachs (where she worked) and Citibank, and failed to report them on Federal Election Commission disclosure statements as required by law. Cruz disclosed the loans on his Senate financial disclosure forms in July 2012, but not on the FEC form. There is no indication that Cruz's wife had any role in providing any of the loans, or that the banks did anything wrong. The loans were largely repaid by later campaign fundraising. A spokesperson for Cruz said his failure to report the loans to the FEC was "inadvertent" and that he would file supplementary paperwork. But Cruz intentionally missed the deadline for repayment in order to challenge the law that only $250,000 in personal loans can be repaid with money raised after an election. In May 2022, the Supreme Court in "FEC v. Ted Cruz for Senate" sided with Cruz, allowing him to ask donors to help repay $555,000 he loaned to his campaigns: $545,000 he loaned to his 2012 campaign, plus $10,000 he loaned to his 2018 campaign that was over the existing limit of $250,000.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz ran for reelection to a second term in 2018. The primary elections for both parties were held on March 6, 2018, and he easily won the Republican nomination with over 80% of the vote.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz faced the Democratic nominee, U.S. Representative Beto O'Rourke, in the general election. The contest was unusually competitive for an election in Texas, with most polls showing Cruz only slightly ahead. The race received significant media attention and became the most expensive U.S. Senate election in history up to that point (until the 2020–21 Georgia special election between incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock).


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz had a leading role in the 2013 United States federal government shutdown. Cruz gave a 21-hour Senate speech in an effort to hold up a federal budget bill and thereby defund the Affordable Care Act. Cruz persuaded the House of Representatives and House Speaker John Boehner to include an ACA defunding provision in the bill. In the U.S. Senate, former Majority Leader Harry Reid blocked the filibuster attempt because only 18 Republican Senators supported the filibuster. During the filibuster he read "Green Eggs and Ham" by Dr. Seuss. To supporters, the move "signaled the depth of Cruz's commitment to rein in government". This move was extremely popular among Cruz supporters, with Rick Manning of Americans for Limited Government naming Cruz "2013 Person of the Year" in an op-ed in "The Hill", primarily for his filibuster against the Affordable Care Act. Cruz was also named "2013 Man of the Year" by conservative publications TheBlaze, and "The American Spectator", "2013 Conservative of the Year" by Townhall, and "2013 Statesman of the Year" by the Republican Party of Sarasota County, Florida. He was a finalist for "Time" magazine's "Person of the Year" in 2013. To critics, including some Republican colleagues such as Senator Lindsey Graham, the move was ineffective.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has consistently denied any involvement in the 2013 government shutdown, even though he cast several votes to prolong it and was blamed by many within his own party for prompting it.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On April 1, 2014, Cruz introduced S. 2195, a bill that would allow the president of the United States to deny visas to any ambassador to the United Nations who has been found to have been engaged in espionage or terrorist activity against the United States or its allies and may pose a threat to U.S. national security interests. The bill was written in response to Iran's choice of Hamid Aboutalebi as its ambassador to the UN. Aboutalebi was involved in the Iran hostage crisis, in which of a number of American diplomats from the Embassy of the United States, Tehran were held captive in 1979.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Under the headline "A bipartisan message to Iran", Cruz thanked President Barack Obama for signing S. 2195 into law. The letter, published in the magazine "Politico" on April 18, 2014, starts with "Thanks to President Obama for joining a unanimous Congress and signing S. 2195 into law". Cruz also thanked senators from both political parties for "swiftly passing this legislation and sending it to the White House".


title: Ted Cruz

text: In his first two years in the Senate, Cruz attended 17 of 50 public Armed Services Committee hearings, 3 of 25 Commerce Committee hearings, and 4 of the 12 Judiciary Committee hearings, and he missed 21 of 135 roll call votes during the first three months of 2015.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In a November 2014 Senate speech, Cruz accused President Obama of being "openly desirous to destroy the Constitution and this Republic". In the same speech, Cruz invoked the speeches of the ancient Roman senator Cicero against Catiline to denounce Obama's planned executive actions on immigration reform. Classics Professor Jesse Weiner, writing in "The Atlantic", said that Cruz's analogy was "deeply disquieting" because "In casting Obama in the role of Catiline, Cruz unsubtly suggests that the sitting president was not lawfully elected and is the perpetrator of a violent insurrection to overthrow the government ... In effect, he accuses the president of high treason. Regardless of one's views on immigration reform and the Obama administration at large, this is dangerous rhetoric."


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has repeatedly said that the 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran "will make the Obama administration the world's leading financier of radical Islamic terrorism". In response, Obama called Cruz's statements an example of "outrageous attacks" from Republican critics that crossed the line of responsible discourse: "We've had a sitting senator, who also happens to be running for President, suggest that I'm the leading state sponsor of terrorism. Maybe this is just an effort to push Mr. Trump out of the headlines, but it's not the kind of leadership that is needed for America right now." Former Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney also criticized Cruz's remarks, writing that although he, too, opposed the Iran agreement, Cruz's statement connecting Obama to terrorism was "way over the line" and "hurts the cause".


title: Ted Cruz

text: After the death of Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Cruz said that the winner of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, rather than Obama, should appoint a new Justice. In June 2016, Cruz blamed the Obama administration for the Orlando nightclub shooting, reasoning that it did not track the perpetrator Omar Mateen properly while he was on the terrorist watch-list. Following the terrorist attack on Nice, France, Cruz said in a statement that the country was at risk as a result of the Obama administration having a "willful blindness" to radical Islamists. With the death of Fidel Castro in November, Cruz charged Obama with celebrating and lionizing Castro in public statements he made addressing the death. On December 28, after Secretary of State John Kerry gave a speech defending the U.S.'s decision to allow a U.N. resolution to pass that condemned Israeli settlements "on land meant to be part of a future Palestinian state", Cruz denounced the speech as "disgraceful", and said that history would remember Obama and Kerry as "relentless enemies of Israel". Cruz also accused the Obama administration of having a "radical anti-Israel agenda".


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz was one of Donald Trump's most vocal critics during the 2016 presidential campaign, with the two often exchanging heated comments directed at each other, and Cruz's family. But he became an important ally of Trump's in the Senate.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz said to journalists of Donald Trump: "I wake up every day and laugh at the latest thing Donald has tweeted, because he’s losing it. We need a commander in chief, not a Twitterer in chief. We need someone with judgment and the temperament to keep this country safe."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In late January 2017, Cruz praised Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch as "brilliant and immensely talented" in a written statement. On February 23, while speaking at the 2017 CPAC, Cruz showed interest in Trump's nomination of a young justice in the mold of Scalia and Clarence Thomas. On March 1, he called Trump's joint address to Congress the previous day "positive" and "unifying". Cruz said that during his visit to the Mar-a-Lago estate on March 18, he spoke with affiliates of Trump while negotiating the American Health Care Act. On April 6, shortly after the Shayrat missile strike, he released a statement displaying his interest in having Trump appeal to Congress to take "military action in Syria" to prevent Islamic terrorists from acquiring weapons stored in Syria.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In April 2018, in the copy accompanying Trump's entry on the "Time" 100 most influential people of 2017, Cruz wrote, "President Trump is doing what he was elected to do: disrupt the status quo." Cruz's authorship was criticized by Charles Pierce of "Esquire", Jay Willis of "GQ", and CNN's Chris Cillizza.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has used harsh rhetoric against fellow Republican politicians, and his relationships with various Republican members of Congress have been strained. In 2013, he called Republicans he considered insufficiently resistant to Obama's proposals a "surrender caucus". He also called fellow Republicans "squishes" on gun-control issues during a Tea Party rally. Cruz's role in the United States federal government shutdown of 2013 in particular attracted criticism from a number of Republican colleagues. Republican Senator John McCain was reported to have particularly disliked Cruz; in a Senate floor speech in 2013, McCain denounced Cruz's reference to Nazis when discussing the Affordable Care Act. In March 2013, McCain also called Cruz and others "wacko birds" whose beliefs are not "reflective of the views of the majority of Republicans". During the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, John Boehner described Cruz as "Lucifer in the flesh"; in an interview, Lindsey Graham said, "If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In a heated Senate floor speech in July 2015, Cruz accused Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of telling "a flat-out lie" over his intentions to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank of the United States, which Cruz opposes. "What we just saw today was an absolute demonstration that not only what he told every Republican senator, but what he told the press over and over and over again was a simple lie", Cruz said. His "incendiary outburst" was "unusual in the cordial atmosphere of the Senate", according to Reuters. In the same speech, Cruz assailed the "Republican majority in both houses of Congresses" for what he called an insufficiently conservative record. His speech, and especially his accusation against McConnell, was condemned by various senior Republican senators, with McCain saying that the speech was "outside the realm of Senate behavior" and "a very wrong thing to do". Orrin Hatch expressed a similar opinion: "I don't condone the use of that kind of language against another senator unless they can show definitive proof that there was a lie ... And I know the leader didn't lie." Cruz alleged that McConnell scheduled a vote on the Ex-Im Bank as part of a deal to persuade Democrats like Maria Cantwell to stop blocking a trade bill; McConnell denied there was any "deal", and that denial was what Cruz called a "lie". Hatch said McConnell did pledge to help Cantwell get a vote on the Ex-Im Bank.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Among Cruz's few close allies in the Senate is Mike Lee of Utah. Cruz has expressed pride in his reputation for having few allies, saying in June 2015 that he has been vilified for fighting "the Washington cartel".


title: Ted Cruz

text: When Boehner resigned from the House in September 2015, Cruz expressed his concern that before resigning Boehner might have "cut a deal with Nancy Pelosi to fund the Obama administration for the rest of its tenure". The next month, the budget agreement passed in the House by a vote of 266 to 187, with unanimous support from Democrats and Boehner, lifting the debt ceiling through March 2017. Cruz called the agreement "complete and utter surrender".


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz is one of the Senate Republicans in favor of the "nuclear option", "to speed up consideration of President Trump's nominees". Changing the Senate's rules to a simple majority vote would "ensure a quicker pace on Trump's court picks".


title: Ted Cruz

text: In September 2020, Trump included Cruz on a shortlist, alongside fellow Senators Tom Cotton and Josh Hawley, for possible appointment to the Supreme Court. Cruz declined consideration for the position.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz backed a failed appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court attempting to overturn or nullify the 2020 presidential election in Pennsylvania filed by U.S. Representative Mike Kelly, which argued that the Pennsylvania Constitution requires in-person voting except in narrow and defined circumstances; the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania had already rejected this argument. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up the case or issue an injunction and Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes were cast for Joe Biden. Cruz later led an effort by a group of Republican senators to refuse to count Pennsylvania's Electoral College votes, citing baseless allegations of fraud.


title: Ted Cruz

text: As part of the attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that Trump lost, Texas attorney general Ken Paxton filed a suit with the U.S. Supreme Court, seeking to have election results in four states nullified. Cruz, who had previously argued nine cases before the Supreme Court, agreed to Trump's request to argue the Paxton suit should it come before the Court, though it did not. Cruz also garnered the support of ten other senators for a plan by his decades-long friend, Trump attorney John Eastman, to delay the January 6 electoral vote certification for ten days to allow Republican legislatures in six key states Biden had won to consider submitting slates of Trump electors, based on false allegations of widespread voting fraud. Cruz said he was he was "leading the charge" to prevent Biden's certification as president.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On January 6, 2021, during the debate about whether Congress should accept Arizona's electoral votes, Cruz said that 39% of Americans believed the 2020 presidential election was rigged, but that "I am not arguing for setting aside the result of this election". Some observers think Cruz knew claims about fraud in the election were inaccurate and that this speech and his earlier statements were attempts to mislead for political gain. There are also concerns that he misrepresented the percentage of those concerned about rigging, with the correct number being 28%.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Congress's counting of the Electoral College votes was interrupted by an insurrectionist mob that stormed the United States Capitol after a rally near the White House. The attack resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.


title: Ted Cruz

text: When Congress reconvened that evening to continue the count, Cruz voted to object to Arizona's and Pennsylvania's electoral votes. The Senate rejected these objections by 93–6 and 92–7, respectively. The Texas Democratic Party called on Cruz to resign, saying that his efforts to block Biden's lawful victory empowered the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol. The Texas Democratic Party also called on the U.S. Department of Justice to open an official investigation into Cruz for inciting sedition and treason. The "Houston Chronicle" called for Cruz to resign. The "San Antonio Express News" called for Cruz to be expelled from the Senate. Thousands of lawyers and law students called for him to be disbarred for inciting the insurrection. President-elect Biden and Republican senator Pat Toomey both said Cruz was complicit in the "big lie" of Trump's allegations of voter fraud. Republican operative Chad Sweet, the chair of Cruz's 2016 presidential campaign, denounced Cruz for "assault on our democracy." Several corporations halted donations to Cruz and other Republicans who voted to overturn the election based on Trump's false claims. Lauren Blair Bianchi, Cruz′s communications director, resigned.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On May 28, 2021, Cruz voted against creating an independent commission to investigate the riot. On the eve of the anniversary of the attack, he was recorded on video calling it a "violent terrorist attack", which drew sharp criticism from Fox News host Tucker Carlson on his program that night. Cruz appeared on Carlson's program the next night to apologize for that comment as "frankly dumb" and "sloppy." The next day CNN reported that Cruz had characterized the attack as terrorism at least 17 times during the preceding year. Despite his attempts to downplay the incident, Cruz was widely condemned by pro-Trump Republicans—especially Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene—for his comments.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In February 2021, during a historic winter storm, up to 4.3 million Texas residents were left without power and millions of others without drinking water, including Cruz and his family. In the middle of the storm, Cruz and his family were spotted on a plane heading to Cancún, Mexico, where they planned to stay at the luxury Ritz Carlton hotel and escape their home, which Heidi Cruz called in a text message "FREEZING". Cruz requested that the Houston police escort him and his family through the airport.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz left the family poodle Snowflake alone inside the house without heat; reporters saw the dog through the window of the front door of the dark and empty house. Later, a self-identified security guard told a reporter he was caring for the dog.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz's political allies and rivals condemned him for leaving Texas during a crisis and traveling internationally during the COVID-19 pandemic. Cruz initially said he was taking his daughters on a weeklong vacation from school at their request, in an attempt to be a "good dad". Later that day, he returned to Texas, after allowing his family to stay in Mexico, saying that the vacation was a mistake. Protesters calling for his resignation greeted him in front of his house upon his return. After returning from Cancún, Cruz volunteered in Houston to help with recovery efforts.


title: Ted Cruz

text: As early as 2013, Cruz was widely expected to run for the presidency in 2016. On March 14, 2013, he gave the keynote speech at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Washington DC. He tied for 7th place in the 2013 CPAC straw poll on March 16, winning 4% of the votes cast. In October 2013, Cruz won the Values Voter Summit presidential straw poll with 42% of the vote. Cruz finished first in two presidential straw polls conducted in 2014 with 30.33% of the vote at the Republican Leadership Conference and 43% of the vote at the Republican Party of Texas state convention.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz did speaking events in mid-2013 across Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, all early primary states, leading to further speculation that he was laying the groundwork for a 2016 bid. Legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin described Cruz as the first potential presidential candidate to emphasize originalism as a major national issue.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On April 12, 2014, Cruz spoke at the Freedom Summit, an event organized by Americans for Prosperity and Citizens United. The event was attended by several potential presidential candidates. In his speech, Cruz mentioned that Latinos, young people and single mothers are the people most affected by the recession, and that the Republican Party should make outreach efforts to these constituents. He also said that the words "growth and opportunity" should be tattooed on the hands of every Republican politician.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On March 23, 2015, Cruz started his 2016 presidential campaign for the Republican primaries and caucuses, in a morning speech delivered at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. Also, at the same hour, he posted on his Twitter page: "I'm running for President and I hope to earn your support!" He was the first major Republican presidential candidate for the 2016 campaign. During the primary campaign, his base of support was mainly among social conservatives, though he had crossover appeal to other factions within his party, including in particular libertarian conservatives.


title: Ted Cruz

text: HarperCollins published Cruz's book "A Time for Truth: Reigniting the Promise of America" on June 30, 2015. The book reached the bestseller list of several organizations in its first week of release.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Cruz received over 7.8 million votes, won 12 states, and earned 559 delegates. He raised nearly $92 million, a record for a Republican primary candidate, much of it from small online donors. The Cruz campaign had more than 325,000 volunteers.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On February 1, 2016, Cruz won the Iowa caucuses. The Iowa win made him the first Hispanic to win either a presidential primary election or caucus. He received 28% of the vote. On February 10, Cruz placed third in the New Hampshire primary, with about 12% of the vote. On February 21, he placed third in the South Carolina Republican primary with about 22.3% of the vote.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On March 1, 2016, Super Tuesday, Cruz won Texas by 17%, along with Alaska and Oklahoma, providing him with four state primary victories total. In the Texas primary, he received the most votes in all but six of the state's 254 counties. On March 5, Cruz won the Kansas and Maine caucuses, giving him six statewide wins.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz won his widest margin up to that point in Kansas, where he beat front-runner Donald Trump by 25 points. With his victories over Trump in Texas, Kansas, and Maine, he established himself as the candidate with the best opportunity to defeat Trump, the leading contender for the nomination.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On March 8, 2016, Cruz won the Idaho primary with 45% of vote—defeating Trump by 17% and earning his seventh statewide victory. He placed second in Michigan, Mississippi, and Hawaii. On March 12, Cruz won the Wyoming county conventions with 67% of the vote and 9 delegates, giving him his eighth statewide win. On March 22, Cruz won the Utah Caucus with 69.2% of the vote, versus John Kasich with 16.8% and Trump with 14%. Because he surpassed the 50% winner-take-all threshold, he won all 40 of Utah's delegates. This win was his ninth. On April 3, North Dakota elected a slate of delegates dominated by pro-Cruz delegates. Cruz received the support of the majority of the delegates.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On April 6, 2016, Cruz won the Wisconsin primary with 48.2% of the vote to Trump's 35.1%. It was Cruz's tenth statewide win. He won 36 of the 42 delegates available in Wisconsin. Trump received the other six. On April 2 and 7–9, Cruz swept the Colorado congressional district and state conventions, taking all 34 delegates. This gave Cruz his 11th state win. On April 16, Cruz won all 14 of Wyoming's at-large delegates in the state convention. This secured the majority of state delegates, giving Cruz his 12th state win. On April 27, he said that, if he were selected as the party's nominee, he would choose former CEO of HP and fellow 2016 Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina as his vice-presidential running mate. Shortly after losing overwhelmingly to Trump in the Indiana primary on May 3, Cruz suspended his campaign.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has said that when he was a child, his mother told him that she would have to formally request Canadian citizenship for him, so he and his family had always assumed he was not a Canadian citizen. In August 2013, after the "Dallas Morning News" pointed out that he had dual Canadian-American citizenship, he applied to formally renounce his Canadian citizenship and ceased being a citizen of Canada on May 14, 2014.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Several lawsuits and ballot challenges asserting that Cruz was ineligible to become U.S. president were filed at the time. None were successful, and in February 2016, the Illinois Board of Elections ruled in Cruz's favor, stating, "The candidate is a natural born citizen by virtue of being born in Canada to his mother who was a U.S. citizen at the time of his birth."


title: Ted Cruz

text: Shortly after the campaign's end, Cruz indicated that he would restart the bid if successful in the Nebraska primary, which Trump later won.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In the months following, several publications noted that Cruz still had not endorsed Trump, Cruz explaining in June that he was "watching and assessing" to determine if he would support him in the forthcoming general election. On July 7, after a meeting with Trump, he confirmed that he would speak at the 2016 Republican National Convention.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In his speech on July 20, the third day of the convention, Cruz congratulated Trump but did not endorse him. He instead told listeners to "vote your conscience, vote for candidates up and down the ticket who you trust to defend our freedom and to be faithful to the Constitution". The speech was met with boos and a negative reception among the crowd. The following day at the Texas Republican delegation breakfast, Cruz defended his choice to not endorse Trump: "I am not in the habit of supporting people who attack my wife and attack my father. That pledge was not a blanket commitment that if you go and slander and attack Heidi, that I'm going to nonetheless come like a servile puppy dog and say, 'Thank you very much for maligning my wife and maligning my father.'" On September 23, 2016, he publicly endorsed Trump for president.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On October 10, after the 2005 audio recording of Trump was released and several Republicans retracted their endorsements, Cruz reaffirmed his support, calling Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton "manifestly unfit to be president". On November 15, he met with President-elect Trump at Trump Tower in New York City. It had been reported that Trump was considering Cruz for the position of U.S. Attorney General, but the position went to Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. On November 28, in light of Trump showing a softer tone on his campaign promises, Cruz warned that justified backlash could ensue if he strayed from them.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has been characterized as staunchly conservative, "radical right", a religious conservative, and anti-establishmentarian.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz is a critic of the rapprochement between Cuba and the United States, saying on Fox News in December 2014 that the thaw in relations was a "manifestation of the failures of the Obama-Clinton-Kerry foreign policy" that "will be remembered as a tragic mistake".


title: Ted Cruz

text: In July 2018, Cruz spoke at the Rally for Religious Freedom in Asia. He said, "It is a pleasure to be here and stand in solidarity for the men and women across this globe who have been persecuted by communists... We must stand united, in shining light, in highlighting heroism, in highlighting courage, in speaking out for those like my family, like so many millions across the globe who've seen the jackboot of communism firsthand."


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has called for an end to "overcriminalization, harsh mandatory minimum sentences, and the demise of jury trials". He supports the death penalty. In his 2012 Senate campaign, Cruz frequently mentioned his role as counsel for the State of Texas in "Medellín v. Texas", a 2008 case in which the U.S. Supreme Court held that Texas has the right to ignore an order from the International Court of Justice directing the U.S. to review the convictions and sentences of dozens of Mexican nationals on death row. He has called "Medellín" the most important case of his tenure as Texas solicitor general.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt discussing the attack that killed three people at a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado Springs, Cruz said that "the simple and undeniable fact is the overwhelming majority of violent criminals are Democrats", and claimed that Democrats are "soft on crime" because "convicted felons tend to vote Democratic."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In August 2015, in the wake of the ambush death of a Texas police officer who was gunned down while filling up at a gas station, Cruz said that police are "feeling the assault from the President, from the top on down, as we see—whether it's in Ferguson or Baltimore, the response from senior officials, the President or the Attorney General, is to vilify law enforcement. That's wrong. It's fundamentally wrong. It's endangering all of our safety and security."


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz opposes the legalization of marijuana, but believes it should be decided at the state level. After Colorado legalized marijuana, he said, "If the citizens of Colorado decide they want to go down that road, that's their prerogative. I personally don't agree with it, but that's their right."


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz met with Alyssa Milano and Fred Guttenberg to discuss gun violence in the United States. Guttenberg said this was "a really important day."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In May 2022, after the Robb Elementary School shooting, Cruz blamed mass shootings on declining church attendance, violent video games, prescription drugs, cyberbullying, social isolation, and other societal factors.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has been described by the Cato Institute's Center for Trade Policy Studies as a "free trader" and as a "free-trade advocate" by "The Wall Street Journal". In 2013, he proposed the abolition of the IRS and the implementation of a flat tax "where the average American can fill out taxes on a postcard". Cruz is "adamantly opposed to a higher minimum wage".


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz wants to decrease the size of the government significantly. In addition to eliminating the IRS as described above, he has promised to eliminate four other cabinet-level agencies: the Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Commerce, and Department of Housing and Urban Development.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz rejects the scientific consensus on climate change. In March 2015, he said that some people are "global warming alarmists" and, citing satellite temperature measurements, said, contrary to NASA's analysis, that there had been no significant warming in 18 years.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz voted against the Water Resources Development Act of 2013 that would have created the National Endowment for the Oceans and authorized more than $26 billion in projects to be built by the Army Corps of Engineers, at least $16 billion of which would have come from federal taxpayers. He voted against the bill because it neglected "to reduce a substantial backlog of projects, to the detriment of projects with national implications, such as the Sabine–Neches Waterway". Cruz said the Corps' responsibilities were expanded without providing adequate measures for state participation. Proponents of the bill argued that it would provide steady funding to support research and restoration projects, funded primarily by dedicating 12.5% of revenues from offshore energy development, including oil, gas, and renewable energy, through offshore lease sales and production based royalty payments, distributed through a competitive grant program.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In 2017, Cruz was one of 22 senators to sign a letter addressed to Trump urging him to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. According to OpenSecrets, Cruz has received more than $2.5 million in campaign contributions from oil, gas and coal interests since 2012. He has a lifetime score of 3% on the National Environmental Scorecard of the League of Conservation Voters.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz is a supporter of TransCanada's Keystone XL Pipeline, and following the Republican senate whip, was a cosponsor of legislation in support of the pipeline.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In a 2014 opinion editorial in "USA Today", Cruz wrote that auditing the Federal Reserve System was a top Republican priority in 2015 and that he supported legislation that would allow the Government Accountability Office to evaluate the Federal Reserve's monetary policy. Federal Reserve chairwoman Janet Yellen, whose confirmation Cruz tried to prevent, said in her confirmation hearing that she opposed any audit of the Federal Reserve and that "for 50 years Congress has recognized that there should be an exception to GAO ability to audit the Fed to avoid any political interference in monetary policy."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In 2015, Cruz voted for the USA Freedom Act, which reauthorized the USA Patriot Act but reformed some of its provisions.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has been an adamant opponent of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a 2015 international nuclear agreement with Iran negotiated by the U.S. and other world powers, calling it "catastrophic" and "disastrous".


title: Ted Cruz

text: In 2013, Cruz said that the U.S. had no "dog in the fight" during the Syrian Civil War and that its armed forces should not serve as "al-Qaeda's air force". In 2014, he criticized the Obama administration: "The president's foreign policy team utterly missed the threat of ISIS, indeed, was working to arm Syrian rebels that were fighting side by side with ISIS", calling ISIS "the face of evil". In a statement opposing U.S. intervention for regime change in Syria, Cruz said, "If President Obama and Hillary Clinton and Sen. Rubio succeed in toppling [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, the result will be the radical Islamic terrorists will take over Syria, that Syria will be controlled by ISIS, and that is materially worse for U.S. national security interests."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In September 2016, Cruz backed the Obama administration's plan to sell more than $1.15 billion worth of weapons to Saudi Arabia.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In early January 2017, Cruz, Texas governor Greg Abbott and some others met with Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen. Cruz criticized the People's Republic of China after it reportedly made a statement asking members of Congress not to meet with Tsai.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On January 5, 2017, Cruz voted in favor of a House resolution condemning UN Security Council Resolution 2334, which condemned Israeli settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories as a violation of international law.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In June 2017, Cruz co-sponsored the Israel Anti-Boycott Act (s. 720), which would make it a federal crime for Americans to encourage or participate in boycotts against Israel and Israeli settlements in the West Bank if protesting actions by the Israeli government.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In August 2018, Cruz and 16 other lawmakers urged the Trump administration to impose sanctions under the Global Magnitsky Act against Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim minority in western China's Xinjiang region. They wrote, "The detention of as many as a million or more Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities in 'political reeducation' centers or camps requires a tough, targeted, and global response."


title: Ted Cruz

text: On December 18, 2018, Cruz and Senator Tom Cotton put forth a resolution in the U.S. Senate urging the United States to affirm Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has called the Nord Stream II natural gas pipeline a threat to the security of Europe and the U.S. In December 2019 he and Senator Ron Johnson wrote a letter to Edward Heerema, the owner of the offshore pipe layer Allseas, to warn him of sanctions if Allseas did not suspend its work on the pipeline, which would deliver natural gas from Russia to Germany. A few days later Allseas suspended the work. In December 2020, the Russian pipelaying ship "Akademik Cherskiy" continued pipelaying. In January, another pipelayer, "Fortuna", joined forces with the "Akademik Cherskiy" to complete the pipeline. On June 4, 2021, Putin announced that the pipelaying for first line of the Nord Stream 2 was fully completed. On June 10, the pipeline's sections were connected. The laying of the second line was completed in September 2021.


title: Ted Cruz

text: A co-sponsor of the resolution to commemorate the Armenian genocide, Cruz said that while Turkey is a NATO ally, "We should never be afraid to tell the truth, and alliances grounded in lies are themselves unsustainable."


title: Ted Cruz

text: American video game company Activision Blizzard punished a Hong Kong-based professional gamer for supporting pro-democracy Hong Kong protests. Cruz accused Blizzard and Apple of censorship. He co-signed a letter to Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick that read, "As China amplifies its campaign of intimidation, you and your company must decide whether to look beyond the bottom line and promote American values—like freedom of speech and thought—or to give in to Beijing's demands in order to preserve market access."


title: Ted Cruz

text: Beginning during his time as a Dublin, California, city councilman, Eric Swalwell was targeted by a Chinese woman believed to be a clandestine officer of China's Ministry of State Security. Swalwell's general relationship with a suspected Chinese agent, Christine Fang, has been characterized as problematic, particularly given his high-profile role as a member of the House Intelligence Committee. Cruz tweeted, "More than once, I've said 'screw the Chinese communists'. Little did I know how closely Swalwell was listening."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In October 2021, Cruz posted a tweet that was critical of Australia's Northern Territory's vaccine mandates. Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Michael Gunner's response to the tweet went viral quickly, garnering near universal support from Australians.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz was one of six Republican senators to vote against expanding the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act, which would allow the U.S. Justice Department to review hate crimes related to COVID-19 and establish an online database.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz was a vocal critic of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act passed under President Obama in 2010. During the first year of Trump's presidency, Cruz sponsored legislation to repeal the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, and was part of the group of 13 senators that drafted the unsuccessful 2017 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act replacement proposals of the AHCA.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In 2013, Cruz voted against a bill to provide a package of federal aid to the Northern East Coast for recovery from Hurricane Sandy because, he said, the bill was "filled with unrelated pork" and "two-thirds of that bill had nothing to do with Sandy". "The Washington Post" disputed this, writing that "the bill was largely aimed at dealing with Sandy, along with relatively minor items to address other or future disasters." "The New York Times" wrote that "of 23 examples of extraneous spending that a spokesman for Mr. Cruz provided, all but one—$195 million in discretionary funds for the secretary of health and human services—were Sandy-related or sought to mitigate future storms, as the law required."


title: Ted Cruz

text: In 2015, in the wake of severe flooding in Texas, Cruz supported federal aid funding; and in 2017, called for federal intervention as Hurricane Harvey approached the coast of Texas.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz took a "hard-line stance" on immigration issues during the 2014 border crisis and opposes comprehensive immigration reform. He advocates an increase from 65,000 to 325,000 annually in skilled foreign workers entering the United States using H-1B visas. According to McClatchy, Cruz staked out "hard-right immigration stances" during his 2016 presidential campaign.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz opposes paths to citizenship for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children (so-called DREAMers). In February 2018, he was the sole senator to oppose a Republican motion to begin debate on legislation intended to resolve the question of what to do with DREAMers. He has called for the repeal of the clause of the 14th amendment that grants citizenship to those born in the United States. He defends the Trump administration's policy of separating migrant children from their parents, blaming the migrant parents for crossing the U.S. border to seek asylum and claiming that the Obama administration maintained a similar policy.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In December 2020, Cruz blocked the Hong Kong People's Freedom and Choice Act, which would give Hong Kongers refugee status, citing the threat of spying by China. He said the law was an attempt by Democrats "to advance their long-standing goals on changing immigration laws".


title: Ted Cruz

text: During a May 2021 Senate Rules Committee hearing, Cruz falsely asserted that House Democrats had "designed" the For The People Act such that it "directs" people "to break the law and register millions of people to vote who are not eligible to vote because they are not United States citizens" and "automatically registers to vote anyone who interacts with the government" regardless of their immigration status. The bill repeatedly states only U.S. citizens would be permitted to register.


title: Ted Cruz

text: In March 2016, about seven months before the forthcoming presidential election, Cruz argued the Senate should not consider Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court on the grounds that "this should be a decision for the people. Let the election decide. If the Democrats want to replace this nominee, they need to win the election". In September 2020, less than two months before the next presidential election, Cruz supported an immediate vote on Trump's nominee to fill the Supreme Court vacancy caused by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg's death.


title: Ted Cruz

text: During Donald Trump's presidency, Cruz and fellow Texas Senator John Cornyn contributed to the appointment of multiple conservative judges to federal courts with jurisdiction over Texas.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has criticized the U.S. military for becoming "emasculated" by its recruiting efforts, comparing those efforts unfavorably to the Russian military's. He accused Democratic politicians of trying to transform "the greatest military on earth" into "pansies". He has claimed the military is debilitated and its "ability to project power and obtain air superiority is tragically anemic". Blaming "bloated bureaucracy and social experiments", Cruz has proposed reducing the size of the active duty military while increasing spending.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz opposes net neutrality—which prevents Internet service providers from deliberately blocking or slowing particular websites—arguing that the Internet economy has flourished in the United States simply because it has remained largely free from government regulation. He has argued that net neutrality is the "Obamacare for the internet". Cruz said that the Obama-era implementation of the principle of net neutrality had the "end result" of "less broadband, less innovation, and less freedom for the American consumer". In December 2017, after the Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission repealed net neutrality, he mocked supporters of net neutrality as "snowflakes" who were misled by "online propaganda".


title: Ted Cruz

text: During his 2016 presidential campaign, Cruz strongly denounced outsourcing American jobs to other countries, alleging that any politician who allowed it to happen was betraying their constituents. He pinned some of his blame on then-President Obama, saying that Obama had overseen outsourcing for the previous seven years. Cruz's denunciation of Obama was criticized by PolitiFact, which found that the modern pattern of American outsourcing, while prevalent during the Obama years, had started earlier. During the campaign, one of Cruz's promises was to return manufacturing jobs to the U.S. His choice of running mate, Carly Fiorina, was met with pushback due to her record of outsourcing, but he defended her. In 2022, Cruz voted against Bernie Sanders's proposed measure for the United States Innovation and Competition Act, which promised to fund semiconductor manufacturers amid a shortage of their products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The measure would block semiconductor manufacturers funded by the bill from outsourcing their jobs and forbid them to dissuade their employees from forming unions.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz is strongly anti-abortion, but "would allow the procedure...when a pregnancy endangers the mother's life". He is in favor of cutting federal funding to Planned Parenthood.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz opposes both same-sex marriage and civil unions. In 2013, he said he wanted marriage to be legally defined as only "between one man and one woman", but also said that the legality of same-sex marriage should be left to each state to decide. In 2015, after the Supreme Court decision in "Obergefell" ruled same-sex marriage bans unconstitutional, he called the decision "the very definition of tyranny", accused the court of judicial activism, and said it was "among the darkest hours of our nation." In 2017, the same day that an audio clip resurfaced of Alabama Judge Roy Moore calling "Obergefell" "worse" than the 1857 ruling that upheld slavery, Cruz endorsed Moore for U.S. Senate. He reaffirmed his position in 2022 after comments by Justice Clarence Thomas. In July 2022, Cruz called for Texas to repeal its unenforced anti-gay sodomy law.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz compared the vandalism and destruction of monuments and memorials in the United States to the 2001 destruction of the giant Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taliban.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz and Michael J. Knowles started a podcast, "Verdict with Ted Cruz", on January 21, 2020. The first episodes were summaries of the impeachment hearings of Donald Trump. After the hearings ended the podcast expanded its content to include other topics and interviews, including with Washington politicians such as U.S. Senators Tim Scott, Lindsey Graham, and Mike Lee, Trump administration officials including White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, then-U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, and actors Jon Voight and Isaiah Washington.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz married Heidi Nelson on May 27, 2001; they have two daughters, Caroline (b. circa 2008) and Catherine (b. circa 2011). The couple met when Cruz was working on George W. Bush's 2000 presidential campaign. Heidi took leave from her position as head of the Southwest Region in the Investment Management Division of Goldman, Sachs & Co. in 2016 to support Cruz's run for president. She previously worked in the White House for Condoleezza Rice and in New York as an investment banker. Cruz lives in River Oaks, Houston.


title: Ted Cruz

text: Cruz has joked, "I'm Cuban, Irish, and Italian, and yet somehow I ended up Southern Baptist." He is fond of wearing cowboy boots, but he refrained from doing so when arguing before the Rehnquist court.


title: Ted Cruz

text: On March 8, 2020, Cruz began self-isolation after contact with a person infected with COVID-19 at the ACU's Conservative Political Action Conference. Staying at his home in Texas, he avoided contact with colleagues and constituents for 14 days. Cruz said he had been advised that the odds of contracting the virus were very low.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: 1917 is a 2019 war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes, who co-wrote the film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Partially inspired by stories told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred about his service during World War I, the film takes place after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich, and follows two British soldiers, Will Schofield (George MacKay) and Tom Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman), in their mission to deliver an important message to call off a doomed offensive attack. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, and Benedict Cumberbatch also star in supporting roles.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The project was announced in June 2018, with MacKay and Chapman signing on in October and the rest of the cast joining the following March. Filming took place from April to June 2019 in the UK, with cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith using long takes to have the entire film appear as two continuous shots.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: "1917" premiered in the UK on 4 December 2019 and was released theatrically in the United States on 25 December by Universal Pictures and in the United Kingdom on 10 January 2020 by Entertainment One. It was a critical and box office success, grossing $384.9 million worldwide. The film was nominated for ten awards at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning three, and received numerous other accolades.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: On 6 April 1917, aerial reconnaissance has observed that the Imperial German Army, which has pulled back from a sector of the Western Front in northern France, is not in retreat but has made a strategic withdrawal to the new Hindenburg Line, where they are waiting to overwhelm the British with artillery. In the British trenches, with field telephone lines cut, two young British lance corporals, William Schofield, a veteran of the Somme, and Tom Blake, are ordered by General Erinmore to carry a message to Colonel Mackenzie of the 2nd Battalion of the Devonshire Regiment, calling off a scheduled attack the next morning that would jeopardise the lives of 1,600 men, including Blake's brother Joseph, a lieutenant.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Schofield and Blake cross no man's land to reach the abandoned German trenches, but Schofield injures his left hand along the way. In an underground barracks, they discover a tripwire set by the Germans, which is promptly triggered by a rat; the explosion almost kills Schofield, but Blake saves him, and the two escape. They arrive at an abandoned farmhouse, where a German plane is shot down in a dogfight with Allied aircraft. Schofield and Blake save the burned pilot from the wreck. Blake persuades Schofield to get water for the pilot. When Schofield's back is turned, the pilot stabs Blake. Schofield shoots the pilot dead and comforts Blake as he dies, promising to complete the mission and to write to Blake's mother. Taking Blake's rings and dog tag, as well as Erinmore's letter, he is picked up by a passing British unit.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: A destroyed canal bridge near Écoust-Saint-Mein prevents the British lorries from crossing, and Schofield chooses to part with them. He uses what is left of the bridge to cross alone, and comes under fire from a sniper. Exchanging shots, Schofield wounds the sniper and advances, whereupon he and the sniper shoot each other simultaneously; the sniper is killed, while Schofield is struck in the helmet and knocked unconscious. He awakens at night and makes his way through the flare-lit ruins of the town. After evading a German soldier, he discovers a French woman hiding with an infant. She treats his wounds, and he gives her his canned food and milk from the farm. Despite her pleas, Schofield leaves, after hearing the chimes of a nearby clock and realising that time is running out. Encountering German soldiers, he strangles one to death and escapes pursuit by jumping into a river. The river carries him while the cherry blossoms fall. He is swept over a waterfall before reaching the riverbank. In the forest, he finds D Company of the 2nd Devons, which is in the last wave of the attack. As the company starts to move toward the front, Schofield tries to reach Colonel Mackenzie.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Realising that the trenches are too crowded for him to make it to Mackenzie in time, Schofield goes "over the top" and sprints on the open battlefield parallel to the British trench line, just as the infantry begins its charge. He forces his way in to meet Mackenzie, who reads the message and reluctantly calls off the attack. Schofield looks for Blake's brother, and finds him, who was among the first wave and is bloodied but unharmed. Schofield informs Joseph of his mission and of Tom's death, passing on Tom's rings and dog tag. Joseph is deeply upset about his brother but thanks Schofield for his efforts. Schofield asks for permission to write to their mother about Tom's heroics, to which Joseph agrees. Exhausted, Schofield sits under a nearby tree and looks at photographs of his wife and children.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Amblin Partners and New Republic Pictures were announced to have acquired the project on 18 June 2018, with Sam Mendes directing and co-writing the screenplay alongside Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Tom Holland was reported to be pushing for a lead role in the film in September 2018 but ultimately was not involved as he was contractually obligated to do reshoots for "Chaos Walking" in April 2019. In October 2018, Roger Deakins was set to reunite with Mendes as cinematographer. George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman entered negotiations to star that same month. Thomas Newman was hired to compose the score in March 2019. That same month, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Mark Strong, Richard Madden, Andrew Scott, Daniel Mays, Adrian Scarborough, Jamie Parker, Nabhaan Rizwan, and Claire Duburcq joined the cast in supporting roles.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: In August 2019, Mendes stated that the film shows "the story of a messenger who has a message to carry." In December 2019, Mendes stated that the writing involved some risk-taking: "I took a calculated gamble, and I'm pleased I did because of the energy you get just from driving forward (in the narrative), in a war that was fundamentally about paralysis and stasis." The ideas for a script, which Mendes wrote with Krysty Wilson-Cairns, came from the story that Mendes's grandfather, Alfred Mendes, a native of Trinidad who was a messenger for the British on the Western Front, had told him.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Roger Deakins was the cinematographer for the film, reuniting with Mendes for their fourth collaboration, having first worked together on "Jarhead" in 2005. Filming was accomplished with long takes and elaborately choreographed moving camera shots to give the effect of two continuous takes. Although many media accounts have referred to the story as being told in only one shot, the story cuts to black one hour and six minutes into the film, when Schofield is knocked unconscious, and fades in upon his regaining consciousness after night has fallen. Mendes explained, "It was to do with the fact that I wanted the movie to go from afternoon to dusk, and then from night into dawn. I wanted it to be in two movements...I wanted to take it somewhere more like a hallucination. Somewhere more surreal, almost dream-like. And horrifying too".


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: "1917" was the first film to be shot with the Arri Alexa Mini LF digital cinema camera. Deakins wanted to use a camera with a large format image sensor, but thought that the original Alexa LF was too large and heavy to capture the intimate shots he wanted. Arri provided him with a prototype of the Mini LF two months before filming was set to begin, and two more cameras a week before. His lenses were Arri Signature Primes, of which he used three focal lengths: a 40 mm lens for most of the film, a wider 35 mm for scenes in the tunnels and bunkers, to emphasise feelings of claustrophobia, and a narrower 47 mm in the river, "to lose some of the background".


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Filming began on 1 April 2019 and continued through June 2019 in Wiltshire, Hankley Common in Surrey and Govan, as well as at Shepperton Studios. Concern was raised about filming on Salisbury Plain by conservationists who felt the production could disturb potentially undiscovered remains, requesting a survey before any set construction began. Some shots required the use of as many as 500 background extras.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Sections of the film were also shot near Low Force, on the River Tees, Teesdale in June 2019, a reference to river Styx. The production staff had to install signs warning walkers in the area not to be alarmed at the artificial bodies and body parts strewn around the site. For the scenes on the river, the cast and crew were assisted by a local outdoor adventure provider for safety and stunts.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The filming of the film's climax, called by many as the "Schofield Run," required extensive pre-production, and took two days to shoot with George MacKay as Schofield running about 300 meters amidst explosions and over 500 extras as soldiers during every take. Crew members on set, including two grips, had to dress as soldiers and pass in front of the lens as the camera pulled back in order to get the "complex choreography" of the scene executed properly. On preparing for the scene, MacKay recalled that "...Sam gave me a lovely note ... He said, as much as there’s desperation and it’s intense and what he’s running to is so serious, there’s almost a euphoria to it as well. It’s this kind of utter release." During the second take, MacKay knocked into two extras as soldiers mid-run and continued to run after doing so, a moment that was not scripted. This take made it into the finished film and MacKay was not seriously injured as a result. MacKay described how they actually worked in the scene, saying "As soon as the collisions happened, they felt inevitable. There’s a grace to the run, but there’s also a reality to the fact that he got knocked about on the way." It was not until after filming that MacKay saw the impact that the scene would have upon himself and audiences when he saw the completed film on the screen. "To be honest, I cried...", said MacKay about the results, "...I don’t usually get that emotional watching something I’ve been involved in because I’m more objective, but I found it so moving." In conclusion, MacKay described the shot as a "reflection of the entire film," while going to say that "It’s a very simple journey through massive difficulty, but there’s the notion that it has to get done ... It’s something that will always be with me."


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The soundtrack album of the film was released on 20 December 2019. The score was composed by Thomas Newman, the regular collaborator to Mendes. It was nominated for best original score at the Academy Awards.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The soundtrack does not include the rendition of the American folk song "The Wayfaring Stranger" by Jos Slovick. In early 2020, a Change.org petition collected over 2,500 signatures to urge film producers, Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures to release a full studio version of Slovick's performance. Subsequently, Sony Classical Records released an EP of the song on 7 February on Amazon and streaming platforms.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The film premiered on 4 December 2019 at the 2019 Royal Film Performance in London, an event held in aid of the Film & TV Charity. It was released in limited theatres in the United States on 25 December 2019, before going to wide release on 10 January 2020. The studio spent an estimated $115 million on prints and advertisements promoting the film. The film was specially formatted for IMAX at the expanded aspect ratio of 1.9:1. "1917" was released on Digital HD on 10 March 2020 and was released on DVD, Blu-ray, and Ultra HD Blu-ray on 24 March 2020.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: "1917" grossed $159.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $225.7 million in other countries, for a worldwide total of $384.9 million, against a production budget of $90–100 million. "Deadline Hollywood" calculated the net profit of the film to be $77million.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: In the US, the film made $251,000 on its first day of limited release. It went on to have a limited opening weekend of $570,000, and a five-day gross of $1 million, for an average of $91,636 per-venue. The film would go on to make a total of $2.7 million over its 15 days of limited release. It then expanded wide on 10 January, making $14 million on its first day, including $3.25 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to gross $36.5 million for the weekend (beating the original projections of $25 million), becoming the first film to dethrone "" at the box office. In its second weekend of wide release the film made $22 million (and $26.8 million over the four-day Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday), finishing third behind "Bad Boys for Life" and "Dolittle". It then made $15.8 million and $9.7 million the following two weekends, remaining in second both times. During the four-day-weekend of the Academy Awards, the film made $9.3 million.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . The website's critical consensus reads, "Hard-hitting, immersive, and an impressive technical achievement, "1917" captures the trench warfare of World War I with raw, startling immediacy." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 78 out of 100 based on 57 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale, and PostTrak reported it received an average 4.5 out of 5 from viewers they surveyed, with 69% saying they would definitely recommend it.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Several critics named the film among the best of 2019, including Kate Erbland of "IndieWire" and Sheri Linden of "The Hollywood Reporter". Writing for the "Hindustan Times", Rohan Naahar stated, "I can only imagine the effect "1917" will have on audiences that aren't familiar with the techniques Sam Mendes and Roger Deakins are about to unleash upon them." In his review for NPR, Justin Chang was less positive. He agreed the film was a "mind-boggling technical achievement" but did not think it was that spectacular overall, as Mendes's style with its impression of a continuous take "can be as distracting as it is immersive".


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Manohla Dargis of "The New York Times" called the film, "A carefully organized and sanitized war picture [...] that turns one of the most catastrophic episodes in modern times into an exercise in preening showmanship." Alison Willmore of "Vulture" compared it unfavourably to the war film "Dunkirk" (2017), writing, "The artifice of the aesthetic premise overwhelms any of the film's other intentions."


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: In September 2021, "Screen Rant" featured the best ten World War I movies according to users of IMDb, where "1917" ranked sixth.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: "1917" received ten nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, winning for Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects. It received three nominations at the 77th Golden Globe Awards and won two awards: for Best Motion Picture – Drama and Best Director. It also received eight nominations at the 25th Critics' Choice Awards, winning three awards, including Best Director, and nine nominations at the 73rd British Academy Film Awards, winning the most awards – seven, including Best Film, Best Director and Outstanding British film. It was chosen by the National Board of Review and the American Film Institute as one of the top ten films of the year.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The film was inspired by Operation Alberich, a German withdrawal to new positions on the shorter and more easily defended Hindenburg Line that took place between 9 February and 20 March 1917. However, the main and supporting characters all appear to be fictional.


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: The military historian Jeremy Banning wrote, "It made no sense, as the film depicts, to have some battalions nine miles beyond the former German line and others seemingly unaware of whether this line was manned [...] As for the assault by the Devons, no unit would attack without adequate artillery support".


title: 1917 (2019 film)

text: Contrary to the film's depiction, the number of Black soldiers serving directly in the British Army itself was unknown but negligible, as the Black population in Britain at the time remained small. Instead, the majority of Black troops who participated in the British war effort served in their own colonial regiments from Africa and the West Indies. Over 15,000 men from the British West Indies enlisted in the military during the First World War, and by 1915 they were organised into the British West Indies Regiment. The regiment served in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I, including the Sinai and Palestine campaign and the Mesopotamian campaign. Indian Sikhs would also have served in their own regiments as part of the British Indian Army, not as individuals in the ranks of British regiments and Corps. By the end of 1915, the Indian infantry formations had been withdrawn from the Western Front and sent to the Middle East.


title: Jisoo

text: Kim Ji-soo (; born January 3, 1995), known mononymously as Jisoo, is a South Korean singer and actress. She is best known as a member of the best-selling K-pop girl group Blackpink, formed by YG Entertainment, in August 2016. Outside of her music career, she made her acting debut with a cameo role in the 2015 series "The Producers" and played her first leading role in the JTBC series "Snowdrop" (2021–22).


title: Jisoo

text: Kim Ji-soo was born on January 3, 1995 in Gunpo, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. She has an older brother and sister. As a child, she played basketball and practiced Taekwondo. She dreamed of becoming a painter and writer. She was a fan of the Korean boy group TVXQ. Jisoo attended high school at the School of Performing Arts Seoul; in 11th grade, she joined a drama club at the school and earned more experience in the entertainment industry by attending auditions. Prior to debuting, Jisoo lived with her parents, siblings and grandparents. In addition to her native Korean, Jisoo has also learned to speak Chinese, Japanese and English.


title: Jisoo

text: In 2011, Jisoo joined YG Entertainment as a trainee after passing its auditions. In October 2014, she appeared in Epik High's music video for "Spoiler + Happen Ending" as a heartbroken girl. The same year, she starred in Hi Suhyun's music video for "I'm Different" as Bobby's girlfriend. In 2015, Jisoo made a cameo appearance in the KBS2 drama "The Producers" with labelmates Sandara Park of 2NE1 and Kang Seung-yoon of Winner.


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo debuted as the oldest of the four members of girl group Blackpink on August 8, 2016, alongside Jennie, Rosé and Lisa, with the release of their single album "Square One".


title: Jisoo

text: From 2017 to 2018, Jisoo joined "Inkigayo" as a host alongside Got7's Jin-young and NCT's Doyoung. She first ventured into acting in 2019 with a short cameo appearance in the tvN fantasy drama "Arthdal Chronicles" as Song Joong-ki's love interest. In June 2020, Jisoo's style in the teasers for Blackpink's single "How You Like That" went viral on social media. Celebrities and influencers in South Korea, China, Thailand, and Vietnam replicated her "two-bow hairstyle" and makeup, which Jisoo created herself. Her "dot style", a makeup idea she originated, trended on social media platforms such as Instagram to promote the challenge among overseas fans.


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo took part as writer on the lead single "Lovesick Girls" of Blackpink's first studio album "The Album" (2020).


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo had her first leading role in 2021 with JTBC series "Snowdrop", starring alongside Jung Hae-in. She played a college freshman, Eun Yeong-ro, who is held hostage by her love interest. The show ranked number one on Disney+ in four out of the five countries it was made available in, including South Korea. In September 2022, Jisoo was awarded Outstanding Korean Actress at the Seoul International Drama Awards for her role in "Snowdrop".


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo contributed songwriting credits once again to "Yeah Yeah Yeah", the fourth track from Blackpink's second studio album, "Born Pink" (2022).


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo was ranked as the 10th most popular K-pop idol in 2018 and 17th in 2019 in annual surveys conducted by Gallup Korea. In 2019, she was ranked as the sixth most popular female K-pop idol in a survey of soldiers doing mandatory military service in South Korea. During the same year, Jisoo was the only one of two Korean singers added on the BoF 500 list, a "definitive professional index" of people shaping the $2.4 trillion fashion industry. As of February 2021, she is the third most followed K-pop idol on Instagram, along with band member Rosé.


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo was included in the ranking for the top ten celebrities and influencers leading the world of cosmetics for the first five months of 2020. "Women's Wear Daily", a fashion industry trade journal, revealed that Jisoo led the ranking in average engagement per post, followed by Rihanna and Kylie Jenner. She placed 7th in the overall ranking despite having the fewest posts at just 12 in total. Jisoo was the only East Asian on the list.


title: Jisoo

text: Jisoo ranked first in the girl group's personal brand reputation list created by Korea Enterprise Research Institute, which analyzed data from brands and online consumers habits to measure those with significant impact on brand consumption and interest. Director of the Korean Language Research Institute Seong-sun Lim noted the Korean wave in the global community was rapidly destroying the conventional Western cultural dominance, naming Jisoo and Jungkook as standards for world beauty over actors Olivia Hussey and James Dean.


title: Jisoo

text: In 2020, Dior's increase in sales during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea was also attributed to a marketing campaign with Korean pop singers, including Jisoo. She appeared in promotions for Dior's new Bobby bag alongside other prominent influencers such as Chiara Ferragni and Kat Graham. At the brand's Spring/Summer 2021 collection showcase, Jisoo garnered attention as a Korean representative. Her attendance at the showcase earned Dior its highest rated post, with average 33% MIV, since its Fall 2020 show. In March 2021, creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri revealed that Dior's Autumn/Winter 2021 collection was inspired by Jisoo. It was also revealed that one of ten shades of Dior Addict Lip Glow lip balm, #025 Seoul Scarlet, was inspired by Korean women such as Jisoo.


title: Jisoo

text: Her attendance at the Dior Spring/Summer 2022 collection show generated buzz both inside and outside of the Jardin des Tuileries venue. Jisoo became the public figure that generated the most media impact value throughout Paris Fashion Week, with four photos on her personal instagram valued at $1.84 million. Furthermore, she was the top celebrity for Dior's MIV, making up $15.7 million of the total $39.1 million generated with just two posts. In March, she generated the highest media impact value for a social media post during Dior's Autumn/Winter 2022 fashion show at Paris Fashion Week, with one photo valued at $1.74 million.


title: Jisoo

text: In March 2021, the "KartRider Rush+" app's ranking increased to 11th place after the announcement of design cooperation with Jisoo. The collaboration she participated in also received a positive response from users.


title: Jisoo

text: Before her debut with Blackpink, Jisoo featured in advertisements for Samsonite, Smart Uniform, LG Electronics, and Nikon. In September 2018, Jisoo and band-mate Rosé became endorsement models for Japanese cosmetics brand Kiss Me. In February 2021, Korean clothing brand It Michaa selected Jisoo as muse for their Spring 2021 collection. She was also appointed for 2021 summer campaign on It Michaa's line, For a Day Michaa. In August 2021, Jisoo was selected as the spokesperson for Korean short brand CELEBe. In March 2022, Jisoo became the brand ambassador for Nexon's game MapleStory, making her the second ambassador after Olympic archer Kim Je-deok.


title: Jisoo

text: In December 2019, Jisoo became a local ambassador for Dior's cosmetics brand, Dior Beauty. The next summer, Jisoo was recruited to be Dior's muse and modelled for Dior's Fall/Winter 2020 collection. In September 2020, Jisoo covered the 155th edition 2020 of "Dazed" "Korea", where she discussed her work with Dior. In December 2020, Jisoo was photographed with the Lady Dior and D'Lite bags in Dior's Cruise 2020–2021 Collection.


title: Jisoo

text: In January 2021, Dior Beauty's "Dior Forever Skin Glow Cushion", endorsed by Jisoo, was released exclusively in Korea. She also promoted the brand's Spring/Summer Collection, wearing Dior's Caro bag. The next March, Jisoo cemented her long-term partnership with Dior when they announced her as their new global ambassador, alongside Natalie Portman and Cara Delevingne. In May 2021, Jisoo embarked on her first collaboration project with the brand, fronting the Dior Fall '21 and Dior Vespa campaigns as "Elle" magazine's June cover star, which hit shelves in four countries—Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore and India. Jisoo modeled Dior's newly launched lip balm, Dior Addict Lip Glow, for the Dior Beauty series.


title: Jisoo

text: In June 2021, Jisoo attended the Dior Resort 2022 show at Greece's Panathenaic Stadium, wearing all-white linen dress by creative director Maria Grazia Chiuri. In September 2021, Jisoo attended Dior's Womenswear Spring/Summer 2022 show, held during the 2021 Paris Fashion Week at Jardin des Tuileries. She sat in the front row, next to the chairman and CEO of Dior, Pietro Beccari. Ahead of the show, her journey to Paris was documented on Dior's social media accounts, showcasing moments ranging from her visit to the house's ateliers and the inspiration behind the Spring/Summer 2022 collection and to the archives of Lady Dior, named after Princess Diana.


title: Jisoo

text: In February 2022, Jisoo became the face of Dior's Addict lipstick collection along with fellow ambassadors Anya-Taylor Joy and Sharon Alexie.


title: Jisoo

text: In September 2020, Jisoo was appointed as the main model of Cartier's "Pasha de Cartier". On May 25, 2022, Cartier announced Jisoo as their brand ambassador joining the "Panthère de Cartier" community which includes Annabelle Wallis, Ella Balinska, Chang Chen, Mariacarla Boscono and Yasmine Sabri.


title: Jisoo

text: In February 2021, Line Friends announced Jisoo as their exclusive partner to design a character in mobile game "KartRider Rush+", which would be released on March 19, 2021. She personally sketched items and idea of the character herself. Her items included Chichi, a rabbit inspired by Jisoo's nickname "Turtle Rabbit Kim" among fans, and Dalgom, also the name of her pet. Both Chichi and Dalgom were developed into stickers on the platform Line Messenger.


title: Jisoo

text: All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database, unless otherwise noted.


title: Sadhguru

text: Sadhguru (born Jagadish Vasudev, 3 September 1957) is the founder and head of the Isha Foundation, based in Coimbatore, India. The foundation, established in 1992, operates an ashram and yoga centre that carries out educational and spiritual activities. Sadhguru has been teaching yoga since 1982. He is the author of the "New York Times" bestsellers "" and "Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny", and a frequent speaker at international forums.


title: Sadhguru

text: Sadhguru also advocates for protecting the environment against climate change, leading many initiatives like Project GreenHands (PGH), Rally for Rivers, Cauvery Calling, and the Journey to Save Soil. In 2017, he received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian award, for his contributions to spirituality and humanitarian services. Also in 2017, Sadhguru unveiled the Adiyogi Shiva statue, the worlds largest bust, in Coimbatore, India.


title: Sadhguru

text: Jagadish Vasudev, commonly referred to as Jaggi, was born on 3 September 1957, in Mysore, Karnataka, India. He was the youngest of five children to Susheela Vasudev (mother) and B.V. Vasudev (father). His father was an ophthalmologist at the Mysuru Railway Hospital and his mother a homemaker.


title: Sadhguru

text: Vasudev married his wife, Vijikumari, in 1984. In 1990, Vijikumari and Jaggi had their only child, Radhe. Vijikumari died on 23 January 1997. Radhe trained in Bharatanatyam at the Kalakshetra Foundation in Chennai. She married Indian classical vocalist Sandeep Narayan in 2014.


title: Sadhguru

text: After completing his formal education, Vasudev was uninterested in post-secondary schooling. One year later, however, he enrolled at the University of Mysore, where he studied English literature. While studying literature, Vasudev received second rank. Although his parents wanted him to continue his education with postgraduate studies, Vasudev disagreed and began a career in business.


title: Sadhguru

text: After graduating from the University of Mysore, Vasudev went on to build his first business, a poultry farm, in Mysore. Vasudev explained that his motivation to start a poultry farm was driven by the serenity it yielded in the hours he wasn't working. The business required minimal attention throughout the day, so Vasudev was able pursue other interests during his time off, like writing poetry. The business grew profitable, but his family repeatedly criticized and opposed his decision to work with poultry. This led Vasudev to enter the construction industry with a company named Buildaids. He started the company in partnership with a friend, who was a civil engineer. Though Vasudev had no formal engineering training, he used the experience gained from building his poultry farm in his new endeavour.


title: Sadhguru

text: At the age of 25, after a series of spiritual experiences, he shut down his businesses and began to travel and teach yoga.


title: Sadhguru

text: In 1983, he taught his first yoga class, in Mysore. He began travelling across Karnataka and Hyderabad on his motorcycle, conducting his style of yoga classes, known as Sahaja Sthiti Yoga, subsisting on the income from his poultry farm rental and donating the funds received from his students.


title: Sadhguru

text: Although Vasudev was not brought up in a spiritual household, he recollects one of his first spiritual experiences occurring after he turned 25. On 23 September 1982, he drove up Chamundi Hill, and as he sat on a stone, Vasudev had his first spiritual experience. He explained that, "All my life I had thought, this is me...But now the air I was breathing, the rock on which I was sitting, the atmosphere around me — everything had become me." After about six days, Vasudev had another similar experience at home. Six weeks later, he left his businesses and travelled extensively, in an effort to seek insight into his spiritual experiences. After about a year of meditation and travel, he decided to teach yoga to share his inner experience.


title: Sadhguru

text: In his earlier years, Vasudev had a love for driving motorcycles. One of his favourite places to drive was the Chamundi Hills in Mysore, though he sometimes drove much further, including to Nepal.


title: Sadhguru

text: In 1992, Sadhguru established the Isha Foundation as a platform for his spiritual, environmental, and educational activities. In 1993, he began searching for a location to establish an ashram to cater to the growing interest in his yoga classes. In 1994, he purchased land near the Velliangiri mountains in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and inaugurated the Isha Yoga Center. Since establishing the Isha Foundation, he remains its head. The foundation's activities are run mostly by volunteers. The organisation offers yoga programmes, known as "Isha Yoga". The foundation aims to improve the quality of education in rural India through an initiative called Isha Vidhya.


title: Sadhguru

text: Through the Isha Foundation, Sadhguru has launched several projects and campaigns focused on environmental conservation and protection, including Project GreenHands (PGH), Rally for Rivers, Cauvery Calling, and Save Soil. Sadhguru established PGH to address water and soil issues in Tamil Nadu through reforestation efforts. Launched in July 2019, the "Cauvery Calling" campaign focused on planting trees along the Cauvery river's 0.65-mile wide area to replenish water levels in the river and the groundwater table. In 2017, Sadhguru launched "Rally for Rivers", a campaign intended to build widespread support for river revitalization efforts across India, similar to the "Cauvery Calling" campaign. In 2022, Sadhguru completed a 100-day motorcycle journey from London to India to bring attention to his "Journey to Save Soil" campaign, which focuses on raising awareness about soil degradation issues and the benefits of using organic matter in farming.


title: Sadhguru

text: In May 2022, he addressed the leaders of 195 countries at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification to speak about "Journey to Save Soil". Both Trevor Noah, host of "The Daily Show", and podcast host Joe Rogan, have invited Sadhguru to discuss this movement. On World Environment Day 2022, Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, attended an event with Sadhguru to discuss efforts to improve soil health.


title: Sadhguru

text: The UN FAO has stated that "90% of the Earth's precious topsoil is likely to be at risk by 2050". However, views have been divided on whether the "Save Soil" campaign is addressing this issue. Maria Helena Semedo, deputy director-general of FAO, opined that "Organic [farming] may not be the only solution but it's the single best [option] I can think of." Meanwhile, one environmental watchdog has characterized Sadhguru's approach as "greenwashing".


title: Sadhguru

text: Sadhguru has authored over thirty books, including the "New York Times" bestsellers "" and "Karma: A Yogi's Guide to Crafting Your Destiny".


title: Sadhguru

text: Sadhguru is a frequent public speaker who has been invited to address many prestigious forums and conferences across the globe, such as the United Nations' Millennium World Peace Summit, the British House of Lords, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the International Institute for Management Development. He has also spoken at the annual World Economic Forum in 2007, 2017 and 2020.


title: Sadhguru

text: In 2017, Sadhguru was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award from the Government of India, in recognition of his contribution to the field of spirituality and humanitarian services. The same year, Sadhguru unveiled the Adiyogi Shiva statue, built by the Isha Foundation, in Coimbatore, standing at 34 metres (112 feet) tall. This was declared as the world's largest bust by the "Guinness World Records".


title: Sadhguru

text: He stood 92nd in "The Indian Express" list of 100 most powerful Indians in 2012 and 40th in "India Today"s list of fifty most powerful Indians in 2019.


title: Sadhguru

text: When Ayushmann Khurrana asked him how to choose the "correct political stance", Sadhguru responded by saying that he does not subscribe to a political party, and others shouldn't either. He stated that, "party membership should be cancelled because this is becoming a tribe." Accordingly, he encourages individuals to vote for a given party after evaluating their performance in office to "see who makes more sense". Some editorial authors have speculated that Sadhguru shares the beliefs of the Bharatiya Janata Party. After recognizing the failure in the "government's communication" of the 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act in India, Sadhguru spoke in support of the act.


title: Norse mythology

text: Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The northernmost extension of Germanic mythology and stemming from Proto-Germanic folklore, Norse mythology consists of tales of various deities, beings, and heroes derived from numerous sources from both before and after the pagan period, including medieval manuscripts, archaeological representations, and folk tradition. The source texts mention numerous gods such as the thunder-god Thor, the raven-flanked god Odin, the goddess Freyja, and numerous other deities.


title: Norse mythology

text: Most of the surviving mythology centers on the plights of the gods and their interaction with several other beings, such as humanity and the jötnar, beings who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. The cosmos in Norse mythology consists of Nine Worlds that flank a central sacred tree, Yggdrasil. Units of time and elements of the cosmology are personified as deities or beings. Various forms of a creation myth are recounted, where the world is created from the flesh of the primordial being Ymir, and the first two humans are Ask and Embla. These worlds are foretold to be reborn after the events of Ragnarök when an immense battle occurs between the gods and their enemies, and the world is enveloped in flames, only to be reborn anew. There the surviving gods will meet, and the land will be fertile and green, and two humans will repopulate the world.


title: Norse mythology

text: Norse mythology has been the subject of scholarly discourse since the 17th century when key texts attracted the attention of the intellectual circles of Europe. By way of comparative mythology and historical linguistics, scholars have identified elements of Germanic mythology reaching as far back as Proto-Indo-European mythology. During the modern period, the Romanticist Viking revival re-awoke an interest in the subject matter, and references to Norse mythology may now be found throughout modern popular culture. The myths have further been revived in a religious context among adherents of Germanic Neopaganism.


title: Norse mythology

text: The historical religion of the Norse people is commonly referred to as "Norse mythology". Other terms are "Scandinavian mythology", "North Germanic mythology" or "Nordic mythology".


title: Norse mythology

text: Norse mythology is primarily attested in dialects of Old Norse, a North Germanic language spoken by the Scandinavian people during the European Middle Ages and the ancestor of modern Scandinavian languages. The majority of these Old Norse texts were created in Iceland, where the oral tradition stemming from the pre-Christian inhabitants of the island was collected and recorded in manuscripts. This occurred primarily in the 13th century. These texts include the "Prose Edda", composed in the 13th century by the Icelandic scholar, lawspeaker, and historian Snorri Sturluson, and the "Poetic Edda", a collection of poems from earlier traditional material anonymously compiled in the 13th century.


title: Norse mythology

text: The "Prose Edda" was composed as a prose manual for producing skaldic poetry—traditional Old Norse poetry composed by skalds. Originally composed and transmitted orally, skaldic poetry utilizes alliterative verse, kennings, and several metrical forms. The "Prose Edda" presents numerous examples of works by various skalds from before and after the Christianization process and also frequently refers back to the poems found in the "Poetic Edda". The "Poetic Edda" consists almost entirely of poems, with some prose narrative added, and this poetry—"Eddic" poetry—utilizes fewer kennings. In comparison to skaldic poetry, Eddic poetry is relatively unadorned.


title: Norse mythology

text: The "Prose Edda" features layers of euhemerization, a process in which deities and supernatural beings are presented as having been either actual, magic-wielding human beings who have been deified in time or beings demonized by way of Christian mythology. Texts such as "Heimskringla", composed in the 13th century by Snorri and "Gesta Danorum", composed in Latin by Saxo Grammaticus in Denmark in the 12th century, are the results of heavy amounts of euhemerization.


title: Norse mythology

text: Numerous additional texts, such as the sagas, provide further information. The saga corpus consists of thousands of tales recorded in Old Norse ranging from Icelandic family histories (Sagas of Icelanders) to Migration period tales mentioning historic figures such as Attila the Hun (legendary sagas). Objects and monuments such as the Rök runestone and the Kvinneby amulet feature runic inscriptions—texts written in the runic alphabet, the indigenous alphabet of the Germanic peoples—that mention figures and events from Norse mythology.


title: Norse mythology

text: Objects from the archaeological record may also be interpreted as depictions of subjects from Norse mythology, such as amulets of the god Thor's hammer Mjölnir found among pagan burials and small silver female figures interpreted as valkyries or dísir, beings associated with war, fate or ancestor cults. By way of historical linguistics and comparative mythology, comparisons to other attested branches of Germanic mythology (such as the Old High German Merseburg Incantations) may also lend insight. Wider comparisons to the mythology of other Indo-European peoples by scholars has resulted in the potential reconstruction of far earlier myths.


title: Norse mythology

text: Only a tiny amount of poems and tales survive of the many mythical tales and poems that are presumed to have existed during the Middle Ages, Viking Age, Migration Period, and before. Later sources reaching into the modern period, such as a medieval charm recorded as used by the Norwegian woman Ragnhild Tregagås—convicted of witchcraft in Norway in the 14th century—and spells found in the 17th century Icelandic "Galdrabók" grimoire also sometimes make references to Norse mythology. Other traces, such as place names bearing the names of gods may provide further information about deities, such as a potential association between deities based on the placement of locations bearing their names, their local popularity, and associations with geological features. One of the surviving poems is the Old English manuscript Beowulf.


title: Norse mythology

text: Central to accounts of Norse mythology are the plights of the gods and their interaction with various other beings, such as with the jötnar, who may be friends, lovers, foes, or family members of the gods. Numerous gods are mentioned in the source texts. As evidenced by records of personal names and place names, the most popular god among the Scandinavians during the Viking Age was Thor the thunder god, who is portrayed as unrelentingly pursuing his foes, his mountain-crushing, thunderous hammer Mjölnir in hand. In the mythology, Thor lays waste to numerous jötnar who are foes to the gods or humanity, and is wed to the beautiful, golden-haired goddess Sif.


title: Norse mythology

text: The god Odin is also frequently mentioned in surviving texts. One-eyed, wolf- and raven-flanked, with a spear in hand, Odin pursues knowledge throughout the nine realms. In an act of self-sacrifice, Odin is described as having hanged himself upside-down for nine days and nights on the cosmological tree Yggdrasil to gain knowledge of the runic alphabet, which he passed on to humanity, and is associated closely with death, wisdom, and poetry. Odin is portrayed as the ruler of Asgard, and leader of the Aesir. Odin's wife is the powerful goddess Frigg who can see the future but tells no one, and together they have a beloved son, Baldr. After a series of dreams had by Baldr of his impending death, his death is engineered by Loki, and Baldr thereafter resides in Hel, a realm ruled over by an entity of the same name.