title: Adi Shankara

text: In the "Upadesasahasri Shankara", Shankara is ambivalent on the need for meditation on the Upanishadic "mahavyaka". He states that "right knowledge arises at the moment of hearing," and rejects "prasamcaksa" or "prasamkhyana" meditation, that is, meditation on the meaning of the sentences, and in Up.II.3 recommends "parisamkhyana", separating "Atman" from everything that is not "Atman", that is, the sense-objects and sense-organs, and the pleasant and unpleasant things and merit and demerit connected with them. Yet, Shankara then concludes with declaring that only "Atman" exists, stating that "all the sentences of the "Upanishads" concerning non-duality of "Atman" should be fully contemplated, should be contemplated." As Mayeda states, "how they ["prasamcaksa" or "prasamkhyana" versus "parisamkhyana"] differ from each other in not known."


title: Adi Shankara

text: "Prasamkhyana" was advocated by Mandana Misra, the older contemporary of Shankara who was the most influential Advaitin until the 10th century. "According to Mandana, the "mahavakyas" are incapable, by themselves, of bringing about "brahmajnana". The "Vedanta-vakyas" convey an indirect knowledge which is made direct only by deep meditation ("prasamkhyana"). The latter is a continuous contemplation of the purport of the "mahavakyas". Vācaspati Miśra, a student of Mandana Misra, agreed with Mandana Misra, and their stance is defended by the Bhamati-school, founded by Vācaspati Miśra. In contrast, the Vivarana school founded by Prakasatman (c. 1200–1300) follows Shankara closely, arguing that the "mahavakyas" are the direct cause of gaining knowledge.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara, in his text "Upadesasahasri", discourages ritual worship such as oblations to "Deva" (God), because that assumes the Self within is different from the Brahman. The "doctrine of difference" is wrong, asserts Shankara, because, "he who knows the Brahman is one and he is another, does not know Brahman". The false notion that "Atman" is different from "Brahman" is connected with the novice's conviction that ("Upadesasaharsi" II.1.25)


title: Adi Shankara

text: Recognizing oneself as "the Existent-"Brahman"," which is mediated by scriptural teachings, is contrasted with the notion of "I act," which is mediated by relying on sense-perception and the like. According to Shankara, the statement "Thou art That" "remove[s] the delusion of a hearer," "so through sentences as "Thou art That" one knows one's own "Atman", the witness of all internal organs," and not from any actions. With this realization, the performance of rituals is prohibited, "since [the use of] rituals and their requisites is contradictory to the realization of the identity [of "Atman"] with the highest "Atman"."


title: Adi Shankara

text: However, Shankara also asserts that Self-knowledge is realized when one's mind is purified by an ethical life that observes Yamas such as "Ahimsa" (non-injury, non-violence to others in body, mind and thoughts) and Niyamas. Rituals and rites such as yajna (a fire ritual), asserts Shankara, can help draw and prepare the mind for the journey to Self-knowledge. He emphasizes the need for ethics such as Akrodha and "Yamas" during Brahmacharya, stating the lack of ethics as causes that prevent students from attaining knowledge.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara's Vedanta shows similarities with Mahayana Buddhism; opponents have even accused Shankara of being a "crypto-Buddhist," a qualification which is rejected by the Advaita Vedanta tradition, given the differences between these two schools. According to Shankara, a major difference between Advaita and Mahayana Buddhism are their views on Atman and Brahman. According to both Loy and Jayatilleke, more differences can be discerned.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Despite Shankara's criticism of certain schools of Mahayana Buddhism, Shankara's philosophy shows strong similarities with the Mahayana Buddhist philosophy which he attacks. According to S.N. Dasgupta,


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to Mudgal, Shankara's Advaita and the Buddhist Madhyamaka view of ultimate reality are compatible because they are both transcendental, indescribable, non-dual and only arrived at through a "via negativa" (neti neti). Mudgal concludes therefore that


title: Adi Shankara

text: Some Hindu scholars criticized Advaita for its "Maya" and non-theistic doctrinal similarities with Buddhism. Ramanuja, the founder of Vishishtadvaita Vedānta, accused Adi Shankara of being a "Prachanna Bauddha", that is, a "crypto-Buddhist", and someone who was undermining theistic Bhakti devotionalism. The non-Advaita scholar Bhaskara of the Bhedabheda Vedānta tradition, similarly around 800 CE, accused Shankara's Advaita as "this despicable broken down Mayavada that has been chanted by the Mahayana Buddhists", and a school that is undermining the ritual duties set in Vedic orthodoxy.


title: Adi Shankara

text: The qualification of "crypto-Buddhist" is rejected by the Advaita Vedanta tradition, highlighting their respective views on "Atman", "Anatta" and "Brahman". There are differences in the conceptual means of "liberation." Nirvana, a term more often used in Buddhism, is the liberating 'blowing out' of craving, aided by the realization and acceptance that there is no Self (anatman) as the center of perception, craving, and delusion. Moksha, a term more common in Hinduism, is the similar liberating release from craving and ignorance, yet aided by the realization and acceptance that one's inner Self is not a personal 'ego-self', but a Universal Self.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara lived in the time of the great "Late classical Hinduism", which lasted from 650 till 1100 CE. This era was one of political instability that followed the Gupta dynasty and King Harsha of the 7th century CE. power became decentralised in India. Several larger kingdoms emerged, with "countless vasal states". The kingdoms were ruled via a feudal system. Smaller kingdoms were dependent on the protection of the larger kingdoms. "The great king was remote, was exalted and deified", as reflected in the Tantric Mandala, which could also depict the king as the centre of the mandala.


title: Adi Shankara

text: The disintegration of central power also lead to regionalisation of religiosity, and religious rivalry. Local cults and languages were enhanced, and the influence of "Brahmanic ritualistic Hinduism" was diminished. Rural and devotional movements arose, along with Shaivism, Vaisnavism, Bhakti and Tantra, though "sectarian groupings were only at the beginning of their development". Religious movements had to compete for recognition by the local lords, and Buddhism, Jainism, Islam and various traditions within Hinduism were competing for members. Buddhism in particular had emerged as a powerful influence in India's spiritual traditions in the first 700 years of the 1st millennium CE, but lost its position after the 8th century, and began to disappear in India. This was reflected in the change of puja-ceremonies at the courts in the 8th century, where Hindu gods replaced the Buddha as the "supreme, imperial deity".


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara has an unparallelled status in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. Hagiographies from the 14th-17th century portray him as a victor who travelled all over India to help restore the study of the Vedas According to Frank Whaling, "Hindus of the Advaita persuasion (and others too) have seen in Sankara the one who restored the Hindu "dharma" against the attacks of the Buddhists (and Jains) and in the process helped to drive Buddhism out of India." His teachings and tradition are central to Smartism and have influenced Sant Mat lineages. Tradition portrays him as the one who reconciled the various sects (Vaishnavism, Shaivism, and Saktism) with the introduction of the form of worship, the simultaneous worship of five deities – Ganesha, Surya, Vishnu, Shiva and Devi, arguing that all deities were but different forms of the one Brahman, the invisible Supreme Being, implying that Advaita Vedanta stoos above all other traditions.


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to Koller, Shankara, and his contemporaries, made a significant contribution in understanding Buddhism and the ancient Vedic traditions, then transforming the extant ideas, particularly reforming the Vedanta tradition of Hinduism, making it India's most important "spiritual tradition" for more than a thousand years. Benedict Ashley credits Adi Shankara for unifying two seemingly disparate philosophical doctrines in Hinduism, namely Atman and Brahman.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Scholars have questioned Shankara's early influence in India. The Buddhist scholar Richard E. King states,


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to Clark, "Sankara was relatively unknown during his life-time, and probably for several centuries after, as there is no mention of him in Buddhist or jain sources for centuries; nor is he mentioned by other important philosophers of the ninth and tenth centuries." According to King and Roodurmun, until the 10th century Shankara was overshadowed by his older contemporary Mandana-Misra, the latter considered to be the major representative of Advaita. Maṇḍana Miśra, an older contemporary of Shankara, was a Mimamsa scholar and a follower of Kumarila, but also wrote a seminal text on Advaita that has survived into the modern era, the "Brahma-siddhi". The "theory of error" set forth in the "Brahma-siddhi" became the normative Advaita Vedanta theory of error, and for a couple of centuries he was the most influential Vedantin. His student Vachaspati Miśra, who is believed to have been an incarnation of Shankara to popularize the Advaita view, wrote the "Bhamati", a commentary on Shankara's "Brahma Sutra Bhashya", and the "Brahmatattva-samiksa", a commentary on Mandana Mishra's "Brahma-siddhi". His thought was mainly inspired by Mandana Miśra, and harmonises Shankara's thought with that of Mandana Miśra. The Bhamati school takes an ontological approach. It sees the Jiva as the source of avidya. It sees yogic practice and contemplation as the main factor in the acquirement of liberation, while the study of the Vedas and reflection are additional factors. The later Advaita Vedanta tradition incorporated Maṇḍana Miśra into the Shankara-fold, by identifying him with Sureśvara (9th century), believing that Maṇḍana Miśra became a disciple of Shankara after a public debate which Shankara won.


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to Satchidanandendra Sarasvati, "almost all the later Advaitins were influenced by Mandana Misra and Bhaskara." He argues that most of post-Shankara Advaita Vedanta actually deviates from Shankara, and that only his student Suresvara, who's had little influence, represents Shankara correctly. In this view, Shankara's influential student Padmapada misunderstood Shankara, while his views were manitained by the Suresvara school.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Hajime Nakamura states that prior to Shankara, views similar to his already existed, but did not occupy a dominant position within the Vedanta. Until the 11th century, Vedanta itself was a peripheral school of thought; Vedanta became a major influence when it was utilized by various sects of Hinduism to ground their doctrines. The early Vedanta scholars were from the upper classes of society, well-educated in traditional culture. They formed a social elite, "sharply distinguished from the general practitioners and theologians of Hinduism." Their teachings were "transmitted among a small number of selected intellectuals". Works of the early Vedanta schools do not contain references to Vishnu or Shiva. It was only after Shankara that "the theologians of the various sects of Hinduism utilized Vedanta philosophy to a greater or lesser degree to form the basis of their doctrines," whereby "its theoretical influence upon the whole of Indian society became final and definitive." Examples are Ramanuja (11th c.), who aligned bhakti, "the major force in the religions of Hinduism," with philosophical thought, meanwhile rejecting Shankara's views, and the Nath-tradition.


title: Adi Shankara

text: In medieval times, Advaita Vedanta position as most influential Hindu "darsana" started to take shape, as Advaitins in the Vijayanagara Empire competed for patronage from the royal court, and tried to convert others to their sect. It is only during this period that the historical fame and cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedanta was established. Many of Shankara's biographies were created and published in and after the 14th century, such as Vidyaranya's widely cited "Śankara-vijaya". Vidyaranya, also known as Madhava, who was the 12th Jagadguru of the Śringeri Śarada Pītham from 1380 to 1386 and a minister in the Vijayanagara Empire, inspired the re-creation of the Hindu Vijayanagara Empire of South India. This may have been in response to the devastation caused by the Islamic Delhi Sultanate, but his efforts were also targeted at Sri Vaishnava groups, especially "Visishtadvaita", which was dominant in territories conquered by the Vijayanagara Empire. Furthermore, sects competed for patronage from the royal court, and tried to convert others to their own sectarian system. Vidyaranya and his brothers, note Paul Hacker and other scholars, wrote extensive Advaitic commentaries on the Vedas and Dharma to make "the authoritative literature of the Aryan religion" more accessible. Vidyaranya was an influential Advaitin, and he created legends to turn Shankara, whose elevated philosophy had no appeal to gain widespread popularity, into a "divine folk-hero who spread his teaching through his "digvijaya" ("universal conquest") all over India like a victorious conqueror." In his doxography "Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha" ("Summary of all views") Vidyaranya presented Shankara's teachings as the summit of all "darsanas", presenting the other "darsanas" as partial truths which converged in Shankara's teachings, which was regarded to be the most inclusive system. The Vaishanava traditions of Dvaita and Visishtadvaita were not classified as Vedanta, and placed just above Buddhism and Jainism, reflecting the threat they posed for Vidyaranya's Advaita allegiance. Bhedabheda wasn't mentioned at all, "literally written out of the history of Indian philosophy." Such was the influence of the "Sarvadarśanasaṅgraha", that early Indologists also regarded Advaita Vedanta as the most accurate interpretation of the Upanishads. And Vidyaranya founded a "matha", proclaiming that it was established by Shankara himself. Vidyaranya enjoyed royal support, and his sponsorship and methodical efforts helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedānta philosophies, and establish monasteries ("mathas") to expand the cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedānta.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara's position was further established in the 19th and 20th-century, when neo-Vedantins and western Orientalists elevated Advaita Vedanta "as the connecting theological thread that united Hinduism into a single religious tradition." Shankara became "an iconic representation of Hindu religion and culture," despite the fact that most Hindus do not adhere to Advaita Vedanta.


title: Adi Shankara

text: There are at least fourteen different known hagiographies of Adi Shankara's life. These, as well as other hagiographical works on Shankara, were written many centuries to a thousand years after Shankara's death, in Sanskrit and non-Sanskrit languages, and the hagiographies are filled with legends and fiction, often mutually contradictory.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Scholars note that one of the most cited Shankara hagiographies, Anandagiri's, includes stories and legends about historically different people, but all bearing the same name of Sri Shankaracarya or also referred to as Shankara but likely meaning more ancient scholars with names such as Vidya-sankara, Sankara-misra and Sankara-nanda. Some hagiographies are probably written by those who sought to create a historical basis for their rituals or theories.


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to the oldest hagiographies, Shankara was born in the southern Indian state of Kerala, in a village named Kaladi sometimes spelled as Kalati or Karati. He was born to Nambudiri Brahmin parents. His parents were an aged, childless, couple who led a devout life of service to the poor. They named their child Shankara, meaning "giver of prosperity". His father died while Shankara was very young. Shankara's , the initiation into student-life, had to be delayed due to the death of his father, and was then performed by his mother.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara's hagiography describe him as someone who was attracted to the life of Sannyasa (hermit) from early childhood. His mother disapproved. A story, found in all hagiographies, describe Shankara at age eight going to a river with his mother, "Sivataraka", to bathe, and where he is caught by a crocodile. Shankara called out to his mother to give him permission to become a "Sannyasin" or else the crocodile will kill him. The mother agrees, Shankara is freed and leaves his home for education. He reaches a Saivite sanctuary along a river in a north-central state of India, and becomes the disciple of a teacher named Govinda Bhagavatpada. The stories in various hagiographies diverge in details about the first meeting between Shankara and his "Guru", where they met, as well as what happened later. Several texts suggest Shankara schooling with Govindapada happened along the river Narmada in Omkareshwar, a few place it along river Ganges in Kashi (Varanasi) as well as Badari (Badrinath in the Himalayas).


title: Adi Shankara

text: The hagiographies vary in their description of where he went, who he met and debated and many other details of his life. Most mention Shankara studying the Vedas, Upanishads and Brahmasutra with Govindapada, and Shankara authoring several key works in his youth, while he was studying with his teacher. It is with his teacher Govinda, that Shankara studied Gaudapadiya Karika, as Govinda was himself taught by Gaudapada. Most also mention a meeting with scholars of the Mimamsa school of Hinduism namely Kumarila and Prabhakara, as well as Mandana and various Buddhists, in "Shastrartha" (an Indian tradition of public philosophical debates attended by large number of people, sometimes with royalty). Thereafter, the hagiographies about Shankara vary significantly. Different and widely inconsistent accounts of his life include diverse journeys, pilgrimages, public debates, installation of yantras and lingas, as well as the founding of monastic centers in north, east, west and south India.


title: Adi Shankara

text: While the details and chronology vary, most hagiographies present Shankara as traveling widely within India, Gujarat to Bengal, and participating in public philosophical debates with different orthodox schools of Hindu philosophy, as well as heterodox traditions such as Buddhists, Jains, Arhatas, Saugatas, and Charvakas. The hagiographies credit him with starting several "Matha" (monasteries), but this is uncertain. Ten monastic orders in different parts of India are generally attributed to Shankara's travel-inspired "Sannyasin" schools, each with Advaita notions, of which four have continued in his tradition: Bharati (Sringeri), Sarasvati (Kanchi), Tirtha and Asramin (Dvaraka). Other monasteries that record Shankara's visit include Giri, Puri, Vana, Aranya, Parvata and Sagara – all names traceable to Ashrama system in Hinduism and Vedic literature.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara had a number of disciple scholars during his travels, including Padmapadacharya (also called Sanandana, associated with the text "Atma-bodha"), Sureśvaracharya, Totakacharya, Hastamalakacharya, Chitsukha, Prthividhara, Chidvilasayati, Bodhendra, Brahmendra, Sadananda and others, who authored their own literature on Shankara and Advaita Vedanta.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Adi Sankara is believed to have died aged 32, at Kedarnath in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand, a Hindu pilgrimage site in the Himalayas. Texts say that he was last seen by his disciples behind the Kedarnath temple, walking in the Himalayas until he was not traced. Some texts locate his death in alternate locations such as Kanchipuram (Tamil Nadu) and somewhere in the state of Kerala.


title: Adi Shankara

text: A statue of Adi Shankara has been built behind Kedarnath Temple to commemorate his life and work as part of the temples redevelopment after the 2013 deluge in the area. The 12-foot statue inaugurated by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 5 November 2019, is made of chlorite schist and weighs 35 tonnes.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara is regarded as the founder of the of Hindu monasticism, and the "Panchayatana puja" and of the Smarta tradition.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Advaita Vedanta is, at least in the west, primarily known as a philosophical system. But it is also a tradition of renunciation. Philosophy and renunciation are closely related:


title: Adi Shankara

text: Shankara was a Vaishnavite who came to be presented as an incarnation of Shiva in the 14th century, to facilitate the adoption of his teachings by previously Saiva-oriented "mathas" in the Vijayanagara Empire. From the 14th century onwards hagiographies were composed, in which he is portrayed as establishing the Daśanāmi Sampradaya, organizing a section of the Ekadandi monks under an umbrella grouping of ten names. Several other Hindu monastic and Ekadandi traditions remained outside the organisation of the Dasanāmis.


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to tradition, Adi Sankara organised the Hindu monks of these ten sects or names under four (Sanskrit: ) (monasteries), with the headquarters at Dvārakā in the West, Jagannatha Puri in the East, Sringeri in the South and Badrikashrama in the North. Each "matha" was headed by one of his four main disciples, who each continues the Vedanta Sampradaya.


title: Adi Shankara

text: According to Paul Hacker, the system may have been initiated by Vidyaranya (14th c.), who may have founded a "matha", proclaiming that it was established by Shankara himself, as part of his campaign to propagate Shankara's Advaita Vedanta. Vidyaranya enjoyed royal support, and his sponsorship and methodical efforts helped establish Shankara as a rallying symbol of values, spread historical and cultural influence of Shankara's Vedānta philosophies, and establish monasteries ("mathas") to expand the cultural influence of Shankara and Advaita Vedānta.


title: Adi Shankara

text: Traditionally, Shankara is regarded as the greatest teacher and reformer of the Smartism sampradaya, which is one of four major "sampradaya" of Hinduism. According to Alf Hiltebeitel, Shankara established the nondualist interpretation of the Upanishads as the touchstone of a revived "smarta" tradition:


title: Adi Shankara

text: "Panchayatana puja" (IAST "") is a system of "puja" (worship) in the Smarta tradition. It consists of the worship of five deities set in a quincunx pattern, the five deities being Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, Surya, and an Ishta Devata such as Kartikeya, or Ganesha or any personal god of devotee's preference. Sometimes the Ishta Devata is the sixth deity in the mandala. while in the Shanmata system, "Skanda", also known as "Kartikeya" and "Murugan", is added. Panchayatana puja is a practice that became popular in medieval India, and has been attributed to Adi Shankara. However, archaeological evidence suggests that this practice long predates the birth of Adi Shankara.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The is a historic dog breed of large size originating from the mountains of northern Japan. The two separate varieties of Akita are a pure Japanese strain, commonly called Akita-ken ("ken" is the on'yomi for "inu" meaning dog in Japanese), and a mixed American strain, commonly larger. The Akita has a short double coat similar to that of many other northern spitz breeds.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The Akita is a powerful, independent, and dominant breed, commonly aloof with strangers, but affectionate and deeply loyal with its family. As a breed, Akitas are generally hardy. Historically they were used as guard dogs, fighting dogs and for the hunting of bears.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Debate exists among fanciers whether these are two separate breeds of Akitas. As of 2020, the American Kennel Club, now considers American and Japanese Akitas to be two separate breeds, no longer allowing free breeding between the two. The United Kennel Club, the Federation Cynologique Internationale, The Kennel Club, the Australian National Kennel Council, the New Zealand Kennel Club, and the Japan Kennel Club consider Japanese and American Akitas as separate breeds. Some countries refer to the American Akita as simply the Akita and not the American Akita. The issue is especially controversial in Japan. For the FCI's 84 countries, the breed split formally occurred June 1999, when the FCI decided that the American type would be called the Great Japanese Dog, later renamed the American Akita in January 2006.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The Akita Inu originated in the snowy and rural lands of Odate, Akita Prefecture, a wild and mountainous region of Japan. They were trained to hunt animals such as elk, wild boar, and Ussuri brown bears. This breed in the 1600s was involved in dog fighting, which at the time was popular in Japan. From the 1500s into the 1800s, the Akita served as companions for "samurai".


title: Akita (dog)

text: In 1931, the Akita was officially declared a Japanese natural monument. The mayor of Odate City in Akita Prefecture organized the Akita Inu Hozonkai to preserve the original Akita as a Japanese natural treasure through careful breeding.


title: Akita (dog)

text: In 1933, Heishiro Takaku (Takahisa), one of the early members of Nippo in Tokyo and later of the Nipponinu Kyokai (Nikkyo) in Osaka and Katsuichi (Shoichi) each published articles on a proposed Japanese dog standard, which Included the Akita dog. Akita dogs revealed the most non-uniformity at that time, when compared to medium and small Japanese dogs, due to being outcrossed to the Tosa fighting dog, and other Imported foreign dogs. Then in 1934, the first Japanese breed standard for the Akita Inu was listed, following the breed's declaration as a natural monument of Japan.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The Akita breed was used during the Russo-Japanese War to track prisoners of war and lost sailors. During World War II, the Akita was considered a non-military breed and was crossed with German Shepherds in an attempt to save them from the wartime government order for all non-military dogs to be culled. Some were used as scouts and guards during the war.


title: Akita (dog)

text: A native Japanese breed known as Matagi (hunting dog) was used along with the Hokkaido Inu breed to mix back into the remaining Akita dogs to restore the breed. There were many lines of Akita, but the most influential were the Dewa and Ichinoseki. Both lines contributed to the foundation stock for both Akita types, and many exported dogs were a combination of these lines. According to one Japanese judge, the greatest difference between Japanese- and American-bred Akitas is that the latter still show much evidence of the Dewa strain. In the early 1900's, Dewa-line akitas were heavily favored and did well in show. Kongo-go (from the Heirakudo Kennel of Eikichi Hiraizumi) is considered to be the most influential dog of that line. For a time, it was said: “Kongokei ni arazunba Akitainu ni arazu (“If not from the Kongo line, ‘tis not an Akita dog.”


title: Akita (dog)

text: However, the Dewa-line later went into a decline because Japanese breeders felt that the akita did not give the impression of a Japanese dog, so began to breed towards an ideal type reminiscent of other Nihon-ken. The Dewa line was stereotyped as the “German Shepherd” type, while the Ichinoseki line was referred to as the “Mastiff” type. Thus, the Ichinoseki-line rose in popularity. Goromaru-Go was regarded as the most influential akita of that line who, although didn't perform well in show, produced outstanding akita dogs when bred to Taihei and Nikkei lines from Southern Akita. Goromaru-Go then became foundation to further the Japanese type.


title: Akita (dog)

text: During the occupation years following the war, the breed began to thrive again through the efforts of Sawataishi and others. Morie Sawataishi and his efforts to breed the Akita is a major reason this breed exists today. For the first time, Akitas were bred for a standardized appearance. Akita fanciers in Japan began gathering and exhibiting the remaining Akitas and producing litters to restore the breed to sustainable numbers and to accentuate the ideal characteristics of the breed muddied by crosses to other breeds. It wasn't until the 1960-70's where the foxier Japanese type started to diverge from the typical American type.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The story of Hachikō, the most revered Akita of all time, helped push the Akita into the international dog world. Hachikō was born in 1923 and owned by Professor Hidesaburō Ueno of Tokyo. Professor Ueno lived near the Shibuya Train Station in a suburb of the city, and commuted to work every day on the train. Hachikō accompanied his master to and from the station each day. On May 25, 1925, when the dog was 18 months old, he waited for his master's arrival on the four o'clock train, but Professor Ueno had suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage at work. Hachikō continued to wait for his master's return. He travelled to and from the station each day for the next nine years. He allowed the professor's relatives to care for him, but he never gave up the vigil at the station for his master. His vigil became world-renowned when, in 1934, shortly before his death, a bronze statue was erected at the Shibuya train station in his honor. This statue was melted down for munitions during the war, but a new one was commissioned after the war. Each year on April 8 since 1936, Hachikō's devotion has been honoured with a solemn ceremony of remembrance at Tokyo's Shibuya railroad station. Eventually, Hachikō's legendary faithfulness became a national symbol of loyalty, particularly to the person and institution of the Emperor.


title: Akita (dog)

text: In 1967, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Akita Dog Preservation Society, the Akita Dog Museum was built to house information, documents and photos. There is a tradition in Japan, that when a child is born they receive a statue of an Akita. This statue symbolizes health, happiness, and a long life.


title: Akita (dog)

text: In 1937, Helen Keller travelled to Japan. She expressed a keen interest in the breed and was presented with the first two Akitas to enter the US. The first dog, presented to her by Mr. Ogasawara and named Kamikaze-go, died at months of age from distemper, one month after her return to the States. A second Akita was arranged to be sent to Miss Keller: Kamikaze's litter brother, Kenzan-go. Keller nicknamed the dog Go-Go and they were great companions from day one. Go-Go even spent his first night at Keller’s home sleeping at the foot of her bed. Kenzan-go died in the mid-1940s. By 1939, a breed standard had been established and dog shows had been held, but such activities stopped after World War II began. Keller wrote in the "Akita Journal":


title: Akita (dog)

text: The Japanese Akita and American Akita began to diverge in type during the post-World War II era due to America and Europe preserving the akitas that fell out of favour with the Japanese, particularly the Dewa-types and dogs with the signature black mask or pinto marking. American Akitas are typically considered mixed by Japanese breeders (and not true Akitas by the Japanese standard) however, their phenotype predates the Japanese akita by a few decades, thus being closer to pre-war akitas like Hachiko.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Helen Keller is credited with bringing the Akita to America after being given two Akitas by the Japanese government in 1938. By 1939, a breed standard was established, and dog shows began to be held, but this development was interrupted by World War II. During this time, US servicemen serving as part of the occupation force in Japan first came into contact with the Akita, the breed so impressed them that many service members chose to bring an Akita back home with them upon completion of their tour.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Although both types derive from common ancestry, marked differences are seen between the two. American Akitas generally are heavier boned and larger, with a more bear-like head, whereas Japanese Akitas tend to be lighter and more finely featured with a fox-like head. Additionally, while American Akitas are acceptable in all colors, Japanese Akitas are only permitted to be red, white, or brindle. Additionally, American Akitas may be pinto and/or have black masks, unlike Japanese Akitas, where these are considered disqualifications and are not permitted in the breed standards.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1955, the Akita was placed in the Miscellaneous class. The AKC did not approve the Akita standard until 1972, and it was moved to the Working Dog class. As such, the Akita is a rather new breed in the United States. Foundation stock in America continued to be imported from Japan until 1974, when the AKC cut off registration to any further Japanese imports until 1992, when it recognized the Japan Kennel Club standards. This decision set the stage for the divergence in type between the American Akita and Japanese Akita Inu that is present today.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Elsewhere in the world, one American Akita was first introduced to the UK in 1937. He was a Canadian import, owned by a Mrs. Jenson; the descendants of Mrs. Jenson live on today breeding American Akitas. The most widely known of these is Mr. Joseph Felton, an award-winning Akita breeder, but the breed was not itself widely known until the early 1980s. The breed was introduced in Australia in 1982 with an American import and to New Zealand in 1986 with an import from the UK.


title: Akita (dog)

text: As a spitz breed, the appearance of the Akita reflects cold-weather adaptations essential to their original function. The Akita is a substantial breed for its height with heavy bones. Characteristic physical traits of the breed include a large, bear-like head with erect, triangular ears set at a slight angle following the arch of the neck. Additionally, the eyes of the Akita are small, dark, deeply set, and triangular in shape. Akitas have thick double coats, and tight, well-knuckled, cat-like feet. Their tails are carried over the tops of their backs in a gentle or double curl down the loin.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Mature American-type males measure typically 26-28 in (66–71 cm) at the withers and weigh between 100 and 130 lb (45–59 kg). Mature females typically measure 24-26 in (61–66 cm) and weigh between 70 and 100 lb (32–45 kg). The Japanese type, as stated in the breed standards, is a little smaller and lighter.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Breed standards state that all dog breed coat colors are allowable in the American Akita, including pinto, all types of brindle, solid white, black mask, white mask, self-colored mask, and even differing colors of undercoat and overlay (guard hairs). This includes the common Shiba Inu coloring pattern known as "urajiro". The Japanese Akitas, as per the breed standards, are restricted to red, fawn, sesame, brindle, and pure white, all with "urajiro" markings - whitish coat on the sides of the muzzle, on the cheeks, on the underside of jaw, neck, chest, body, and tail, and on the inside of the legs.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The two coat types in the Akita are the standard coat length and the long coat. The long coat is considered a fault in the show ring, however. The long coat, also known as "moku", is the result of an autosomal recessive gene and may occur phenotypically only if both sire and dam are carriers. They have longer (about 3-4 in long) and softer coats and are known to have sweeter temperaments. This gene is thought to come from the nearly extinct Karafuto Ken "samurai" dog.


title: Akita (dog)

text: American Akitas are a low-maintenance dog breed. They actually tend to groom themselves like a cat. Grooming them should be an easy process. They are fairly heavy shedders and can go heavier than normal two to three times per year. Specifically, Akitas "blow out" their coats twice a year. Daily brushing could be a good way to reduce this problem. This breed needs to bathe every few months, although it can be more often, depending on the needs of each owner. Toenails should be trimmed every month, and their ears should be cleaned once a week.


title: Akita (dog)

text: The Akita is generally seen as territorial about its property, and can be reserved with strangers. It is sometimes described as feline in its actions; not unusually, an Akita may clean its face after eating, preen its kennel mate, and be fastidious in the house. It is known to be intolerant of other dogs of the same sex, as stated in the AKC breed standard.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Since it is a large, powerful dog, the Akita is not considered a breed for a first-time dog owner. The breed has been defined in some countries' breed-specific legislation as a dangerous dog. The Akita is a large, strong, independent, and dominant dog. A well-trained Akita should be accepting of nonthreatening strangers, otherwise they treat all strangers in an aggressive manner. As a breed, they should be good with children; the breed is said to have an affinity for children. Not all Akitas necessarily have the same temperament.


title: Akita (dog)

text: Akitas tend to be reactive towards other dogs, so caution must be used in situations when Akitas are likely to be around other dogs, especially unfamiliar ones. In particular, Akitas tend to be less tolerant of dogs of the same sex. For this reason, Akitas, unless highly socialized, are not generally well-suited for off-leash dog parks. Sometimes spontaneous, it needs a confident, consistent handler, without which the dog will be very willful and may become very aggressive to other dogs and animals.


title: Akita (dog)

text: In addition to these, some immune-mediated endocrine diseases with a heritable factor can occur, such as:


title: Akita (dog)

text: Predecessors of the modern Akita were used for hunting bear, wild boar, and deer in Japan as late as 1957. They would be used to flush out the boar and keep it at bay until the hunter could come and kill it. Today, the breed is used primarily as a companion dog, but is currently also known to be used as therapy dogs, and compete in all dog competitions, including conformation showing, obedience trials, canine good-citizen program, tracking trials, and agility competition, as well as weight pulling, hunting, and "Schutzhunde" (personal protection dogs).


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The United States invasion of Grenada began at dawn on 25 October 1983. The United States and a coalition of six Caribbean nations invaded the island nation of Grenada, north of Venezuela. Codenamed Operation Urgent Fury by the U.S. military, it resulted in military occupation within a few days. It was triggered by the strife within the People's Revolutionary Government which resulted in the house arrest and execution of the previous leader and second Prime Minister of Grenada Maurice Bishop, and the establishment of the Revolutionary Military Council with Hudson Austin as Chairman. The invasion resulted in the appointment of an interim government, followed by elections in 1984.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Grenada had gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1974. The communist New Jewel Movement seized power in a coup in 1979 under Maurice Bishop, suspending the constitution and detaining several political prisoners. In September 1983, an internal power struggle began over Bishop's leadership performance. Bishop was pressured at a party meeting to share power with Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard. Bishop initially agreed, but later balked. He was put under house arrest by his own party's Central Committee until he relented. When his secret detention became widely known, Bishop was freed by an aroused crowd of his supporters. A confrontation then ensued at military headquarters between Grenadian soldiers loyal to Coard and civilians supporting Bishop. Shooting started under still-disputed circumstances. At least 19 soldiers and civilians were killed on 19 October 1983 including Bishop, his partner Jacqueline Creft, two other cabinet ministers and two union leaders.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Reagan administration in the U.S. launched a military intervention following receipt of a formal appeal for help from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States. In addition, the Governor-General of Grenada Paul Scoon secretly signaled he would also support outside intervention, but he put off signing a letter of invitation until 26 October. Reagan also acted due to "concerns over the 600 U.S. medical students on the island" and fears of a repeat of the Iran hostage crisis.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The invasion began on the morning of 25 October 1983, just two days after the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut. The invading force consisted of the 1st and 2nd battalions of the US Army's 75th Ranger Regiment, the 82nd Airborne and the Army's rapid deployment force, U.S. Marines, Army Delta Force, Navy SEALs, and ancillary forces totaling 7,600 troops, together with Jamaican forces and troops of the Regional Security System (RSS). The force defeated Grenadian resistance after a low-altitude airborne assault by Rangers and the 82nd Airborne on Point Salines Airport at the south end of the island, and a Marine helicopter and amphibious landing on the north end at Pearls Airport. Austin's military government was deposed and replaced, with Scoon as Governor-General, by an interim advisory council until the 1984 elections.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The invasion was criticized by many countries. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher privately disapproved of the mission and the lack of notice that she received, but she publicly supported it. The United Nations General Assembly condemned it as "a flagrant violation of international law" on 2 November 1983 by a vote of 108 to 9.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The date of the invasion is now a national holiday in Grenada called Thanksgiving Day, commemorating the freeing of several political prisoners who were subsequently elected to office. A truth and reconciliation commission was launched in 2000 to re-examine some of the controversies of the era; in particular, the commission made an unsuccessful attempt to find Bishop's body, which had been disposed of at Austin's order and never found. The invasion also highlighted issues with communication and coordination between the different branches of the American military when operating together as a joint force, contributing to investigations and sweeping changes in the form of the Goldwater-Nichols Act and other reorganizations.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Sir Eric Gairy had led Grenada to independence from the United Kingdom in 1974, but his term in office coincided with civil strife in Grenada. He was head of the Grenada United Labour Party and claimed victory in the general election of 1976, but the opposition did not accept the result as legitimate. The civil strife took the form of street violence between Gairy's private army the Mongoose Gang, and gangs organized by the New Jewel Movement (NJM). Maurice Bishop led the NJM in an armed revolution and overthrew the government on 13 March 1979, while Gairy was out of the country, establishing the People's Revolutionary Government.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Bishop government began constructing the Point Salines International Airport with the help of the United Kingdom, Cuba, Libya, Algeria, and other nations. The British government proposed the airport in 1954 when Grenada was still a British colony. Canadians designed it, the British government underwrote it, and a London firm built it. The American government accused Grenada of constructing facilities to aid a Soviet-Cuban military buildup in the Caribbean based on the runway which could accommodate the largest Soviet aircraft, such as the An-12, An-22, and the An-124. Such a facility would enhance the Soviet and Cuban transportation of weapons to Central American insurgents and expand Soviet regional influence. Bishop's government claimed that the airport was built to accommodate commercial aircraft carrying tourists, pointing out that such jets could not land at Pearls Airport with its runway on the island's north end, and that Pearls could not be expanded because its runway abutted a mountain at one end and the ocean at the other.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: In 1983, Representative Ron Dellums (D, California) traveled to Grenada on a fact-finding mission, having been invited by the country's prime minister. He described his findings before Congress:


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Based on my personal observations, discussion, and analysis of the new international airport under construction in Grenada, it is my conclusion that this project is specifically now and has always been for the purpose of economic development and is not for military use... It is my thought that it is absurd, patronizing, and totally unwarranted for the United States government to charge that this airport poses a military threat to the United States' national security.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: In March 1983, President Reagan began issuing warnings about the threat posed to the United States and the Caribbean by the Soviet-Cuban militarization of the Caribbean, evident from the excessively long airplane runway being built and intelligence indicating increased Soviet interest in the island. He said that the runway and the numerous fuel storage tanks were unnecessary for commercial flights, and that evidence indicated that the airport was to become a Cuban-Soviet forward military airbase.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: On 16 October 1983, Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard seized power and placed Bishop under house arrest. Mass protests against the coup led to Bishop escaping detention and reasserting his authority as the head of the government. He was eventually captured and murdered by a firing squad of soldiers, along with his partner and several government officials and union leaders loyal to him. The army under Hudson Austin then stepped in and formed a military council to rule the country, placing Governor-General Paul Scoon under house arrest. The army announced a four-day total curfew during which anyone seen on the streets would be summarily executed.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), Barbados, and Jamaica all appealed to the United States for assistance. Scoon had requested the invasion through secret diplomatic channels, but it was not made public for his safety. He was well within his rights to take this action under the reserve powers vested in the Crown. On Saturday, 22 October 1983, the Deputy High Commissioner in Bridgetown, Barbados visited Grenada and reported that Scoon was well and "did not request military intervention, either directly or indirectly", but in his 2003 autobiography, "Survival for Service", Scoon maintains he asked the visiting British diplomat to pass along "an oral request" for outside military intervention at this meeting.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: On 25 October, the combined forces of the United States and the Regional Security System (RSS) based in Barbados invaded Grenada in an operation code named "Operation Urgent Fury". The United States stated that this was done at the request of Barbados' Prime Minister Tom Adams and Dominica's Prime Minister Eugenia Charles. The invasion was highly criticized by the governments in Canada, Trinidad and Tobago, and the United Kingdom. The United Nations General Assembly condemned it as "a flagrant violation of international law" by a vote of 108 to 9, with 27 abstentions.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: H-hour for the invasion was set for 05:00 on 25 October 1983. U.S. troops deployed for Grenada by helicopter from Grantley Adams International Airport on Barbados before daybreak. Nearly simultaneously, American paratroopers arrived directly by transport aircraft from bases in the eastern United States and U.S. Marines were airlifted to the island from the USS "Guam" offshore. It was the first major operation conducted by the American military since the Vietnam War. Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf III, Commander of the Second Fleet, was the overall commander of American forces, designated Joint Task Force 120, which included elements of each military service and multiple special operations units. Fighting continued for several days and the total number of American troops reached some 7,000 along with 300 troops from the Organization of American States, commanded by Brigadier Rudyard Lewis of Barbados.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The main objectives on the first day were for the 75th Ranger Regiment to capture the Point Salines International Airport in order for the 82nd Airborne Division to land reinforcements on the island; the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment to capture Pearls Airport; and other forces to rescue the American students at the True Blue Campus of St. George's University. In addition, a number of special operations missions were undertaken by Army Delta Force operatives and Navy SEALs to obtain intelligence and secure key individuals and equipment. Many of these missions were plagued by inadequate intelligence, planning, and accurate maps of any kind, and the American forces mostly relied upon tourist maps.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The invading forces encountered about 1,500 Grenadian soldiers of the People's Revolutionary Army (PRA) manning defensive positions. The PRA troops were for the most part equipped with light weapons, mostly Kalashnikov-pattern automatic rifles of Soviet bloc origin, and smaller numbers of obsolete SKS carbines and PPSh-41 submachine guns. They had few heavy weapons and no modern air defense systems. The PRA was not regarded as a serious military threat by the US, which was more concerned by the possibility that Cuba would send a large expeditionary force to intervene on behalf of its erstwhile ally.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The PRA did possess eight BTR-60PB armored personnel carriers and two BRDM-2 armored cars delivered as military aid from the Soviet Union in February 1981, but no tanks.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Cuban military presence in Grenada was more complex than initially thought. Most of the Cuban civilian expatriates present were also military reservists. Fidel Castro described the Cuban construction crews in Grenada as "workers and soldiers at the same time", claiming the dual nature of their role was consistent with Cuba's "citizen soldier" tradition. At the time of the invasion, there were an estimated 784 Cuban nationals on the island. About 630 of the Cuban nationals listed their occupations as construction workers, another 64 as military personnel, and 18 as dependents. The remainder were medical staff or teachers. Colonel Pedro Tortoló Comas was the highest-ranking Cuban military officer in Grenada in 1983, and he later stated that he issued small arms and ammunition to the construction workers for the purpose of self-defense during the invasion, which may have further blurred the line between their status as civilians and combatants. They were also expressly forbidden to surrender to US military forces if approached. The regular Cuban military personnel on the island were serving as advisers to the PRA at the time. Cuban advisers and instructors deployed with overseas military missions were not confined to non-combat and technical support roles; if the units to which they were attached participated in an engagement, they were expected to fight alongside their foreign counterparts.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Bob Woodward wrote in "Veil" that captured "military advisors" from socialist countries, including Cuba, were actually accredited diplomats and their dependents. He claimed that none of them took any actual part in the fighting. The US government asserted that most of the supposed Cuban civilian technicians on Grenada were in fact military personnel, including special forces and combat engineers. A summary of the Cuban presence in "The Engineer", the official periodical of the US Army Engineer School, noted that "resistance from these well-armed military and paramilitary forces belied claims that they were simply construction crews."


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: U.S. Special Operations Forces were deployed to Grenada beginning on 23 October, before 25 October invasion. Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 6 and Air Force combat controllers were air-dropped at sea to perform a reconnaissance mission on Point Salines. The helicopter drop went wrong; four SEALs were lost at sea and their bodies never recovered, causing most people to suspect they had drowned. The four SEALs were Machinist Mate 1st Class Kenneth J. Butcher, Quartermaster 1st Class Kevin E. Lundberg, Hull Technician 1st Class Stephen L. Morris, and Senior Chief Engineman Robert R. Schamberger. In an interview conducted by Bill Salisbury and published on 4 October 1990, Kenneth Butcher's widow claimed that she had gone to Grenada hoping that her husband had survived. She said, "There was this fisherman who said he saw four guys in wetsuits come out of the water, and then two days later he saw four bodies being thrown into the water. So we would like to think they made it, 'cause there was a boat smashed up on the beach. We would like to think the four of them got in that boat, made it to shore, got someplace, and were captured. And they're, you know, gonna come back." The SEAL and Air Force survivors continued their mission, but their boats flooded while evading a patrol boat, causing the mission to be aborted. Another SEAL mission on 24 October was also unsuccessful, due to harsh weather, resulting in little intelligence being gathered in advance of the impending intervention.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Alpha and Bravo companies of the 1st Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment embarked on C-130s at Hunter Army Airfield at midnight on 24 October to perform an air assault landing on Point Salines International Airport, intending to land at the airport and then disembark. The Rangers had to switch abruptly to a parachute landing when they learned mid-flight that the runway was obstructed. The air drop began at 05:30 on 25 October in the face of moderate resistance from ZU-23 anti-aircraft guns and several BTR-60 armored personnel carriers (APCs), which were knocked out by M67 recoilless rifle fire. AC-130 gunships provided support for the landing. Cuban construction vehicles were commandeered to help clear the airfield, and one even used to provide mobile cover for the Rangers as they moved to seize the heights surrounding the airfield.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Rangers cleared the airstrip of obstructions by 10:00 AM, and transport planes were able to land and unload additional reinforcements, including M151 Jeeps and members of the Caribbean Peace Force assigned to guard the perimeter and detainees. Starting at 14:00, units began landing at Point Salines from the 82nd Airborne Division under Edward Trobaugh, including battalions of the 325th Infantry Regiment. At 15:30, three BTR-60s of the Grenadian Army Motorized Company counter-attacked, but the Americans repelled them with recoilless rifles and an AC-130.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Rangers fanned out and secured the surrounding area, negotiating the surrender of over 100 Cubans in an aviation hangar. However, a Jeep-mounted Ranger patrol became lost searching for True Blue Campus and was ambushed, with four killed. The Rangers eventually secured True Blue campus and its students, where they found only 140 students and were told that more were at another campus in Grand Anse. In all, the Rangers lost five men on the first day, but succeeded in securing Point Salines and the surrounding area.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: A platoon of Navy SEALs from SEAL Team 4 under Lieutenant Mike Walsh approached the beach near Pearls Airport around midnight on 24 October after evading patrol boats and overcoming stormy weather. They found that the beach was lightly defended but unsuitable for an amphibious landing. The 2nd Battalion of the 8th Marine Regiment then landed south of Pearls Airport using CH-46 Sea Knight and CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters at 05:30 on 25 October; they captured Pearls Airport, encountering only light resistance, including a DShK machine gun which a Marine AH-1 Cobra destroyed.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters delivered SEAL Team 6 operators in the early morning of 25 October to Radio Free Grenada with the purpose of using the radio station for psychological operations. They captured the station unopposed and destroyed the radio transmitter. </ref> AO2 Robert Wilczynski witnessed the radio station being taken out by the SEALS while using an AM/FM radio and a spool of wire onboard the USS Independence (CV-62) flight deck. However, they were attacked by Grenadian forces in cars and an armored personnel carrier (APC), which forced the lightly armed SEALs to cut open a fence, fight their way to the water and retreat into the ocean while receiving fire from the APC. The SEALs bleeding profusely, one from the calf and one from the shoulder swam toward the open sea for three miles to the USS Guam (LPH-9), and were picked up by a helicopter several hours later after being spotted by a reconnaissance plane. The SEALS were transported from the USS Guam (LPH-9) to the USS Independence (CV-62) for medical treatment. One of two injured SEALS were carried from the USS Independence (CV-62) flight deck to sick bay by AO2 Robert Wilczynski </ref> Personal accounts of what took place onboard USS Independence (CV-62) by AO2 Robert Wilczynski.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: On 25 October, Delta Force and C Company of the 75th Ranger Regiment embarked in MH-60 and MH-6 Little Bird helicopters of Task Force 160 to capture Fort Rupert, where they believed the Revolutionary Council leaders lived, and Richmond Hill Prison, where political prisoners were being held. The raid on Richmond Hill Prison lacked vital intelligence, leaving the attackers unaware of the presence of several anti-aircraft guns and steep hilly terrain that left no room for helicopter landings. Anti-aircraft fire wounded passengers and crew and forced one MH-60 helicopter to crash land, causing another helicopter to land next to it to protect the survivors. One pilot was killed, and the Delta Force operators had to be relieved by a Navy Sea King helicopter. The raid on Fort Rupert, however, was successful in capturing several leaders of the People's Revolutionary Government.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The last major special operation was a mission to rescue Governor-General Scoon from his mansion in Saint George, Grenada. The mission departed late at 05:30 on 25 October from Barbados, resulting in the Grenadian forces being already aware of the invasion and they guarded Scoon closely. The SEAL team entered the mansion without opposition, but BTR-60 armored personnel carriers counter-attacked and trapped the SEALs and governor inside. AC-130 gunships, A-7 Corsair strike planes, and AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters were called in to support the besieged SEALs, but they remained trapped for the next 24 hours.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: At 19:00 on 25 October, 250 Marines from G Company of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment landed at Grand Mal Bay equipped with amphibious assault vehicles and four M60 Patton tanks; they relieved the Navy SEALs the following morning, allowing Governor Scoon, his wife, and nine aides to be safely evacuated at 10:00 that day. The Marine tank crews continued advancing in the face of sporadic resistance, knocking out a BRDM-2 armored car. G Company subsequently defeated and overwhelmed the Grenadian defenders at Fort Frederick.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Navy A-7 Corsairs and Marine AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters made airstrikes against Fort Rupert and Fort Frederick. An A-7 raid on Fort Frederick targeting anti-aircraft guns hit a nearby mental hospital, killing 18 civilians. Two Marine AH-1T Cobras and a UH-60 Blackhawk were shot down in a raid against Fort Frederick, resulting in five casualties.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: General Trobaugh of the 82nd Airborne Division had two goals on the second day: securing the perimeter around Salines Airport, and rescuing American students held in Grand Anse. The Army lacked undamaged helicopters after the losses on the first day and consequently had to delay the student rescue until they made contact with Marine forces.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Early on the morning of 26 October, Cuban forces ambushed a patrol from the 2nd Battalion of the 325th Infantry Regiment near the village of Calliste. The American patrol suffered six wounded and two killed, including the commander of Company B. Navy airstrikes and an artillery bombardment by 105mm howitzers targeting the main Cuban encampment eventually led to their surrender at 08:30. American forces pushed on to the village of Frequente, where they discovered a Cuban weapons cache reportedly sufficient to equip six battalions. Cuban forces ambushed a reconnaissance platoon mounted on gun-jeeps, but the jeeps returned fire, and a nearby infantry unit added mortar fire; the Cubans suffered four casualties with no American losses. Cuban resistance largely ended after these engagements.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: On the afternoon of 26 October, Rangers of the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment mounted Marine CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters to launch an air assault on the Grand Anse campus. The campus police offered light resistance before fleeing, wounding one Ranger, and one of the helicopters crashed on approach after its blade hit a palm tree. The Rangers evacuated the 233 American students by CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopters, but the students informed them that there was a third campus with Americans at Prickly Bay. A squad of 11 Rangers was accidentally left behind; they departed on a rubber raft which was picked up by at 23:00.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: By 27 October, organized resistance was rapidly diminishing, but the American forces did not yet realize this. The 2nd Battalion, 8th Marines continued advancing along the coast and capturing additional towns, meeting little resistance, although one patrol did encounter a single BTR-60 during the night, dispatching it with a M72 LAW. The 325th Infantry Regiment advanced toward the capital of Saint George, capturing Grand Anse and discovering 200 American students whom they had missed the first day. They continued to the town of Ruth Howard and Saint George, meeting only scattered resistance. An air-naval gunfire liaison team called in an A-7 airstrike and accidentally hit the command post of the 2nd Brigade, wounding 17 troops, one of whom died.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Army had reports that PRA forces were amassing at the Calivigny Barracks, only five kilometers from the Point Salines airfield. They organized an air assault by the 2nd Battalion of the 75th Ranger Regiment preceded by a preparatory bombardment by field howitzers (which mostly missed, their shells falling into the ocean), A-7s, AC-130s, and USS "Caron". However, the Blackhawk helicopters began dropping off troops near the barracks but they approached too fast. One of them crash landed and the two behind it collided with it, killing three and wounding four. The barracks were deserted.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: In the following days, resistance ended entirely and the Army and Marines spread across the island, arresting PRA officials, seizing caches of weapons, and seeing to the repatriation of Cuban engineers. On 1 November, two companies from the 2/8 Marines made a combined sea and helicopter landing on the island of Carriacou northeast of Grenada. The 19 Grenadian soldiers defending the island surrendered without a fight. This was the last military action of the campaign.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Official U.S. sources state that some of the opponents were well-prepared and well-positioned and put up stubborn resistance, to the extent that the Americans called in two battalions of reinforcements on the evening of 26 October. The total naval and air superiority of the American forces had overwhelmed the defenders. Nearly 8,000 soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines had participated in Operation Urgent Fury, along with 353 Caribbean allies from the Caribbean Peace Forces. American forces sustained 19 killed and 116 wounded; Cuban forces sustained 25 killed, 59 wounded, and 638 combatants captured. Grenadian forces suffered 45 dead and 358 wounded; at least 24 civilians were also killed, 18 of whom died in the accidental bombing of a Grenadian mental hospital. The US troops also destroyed a significant amount of Grenada's military hardware, including six BTR-60 APCs and a BRDM-2 armored car. A second BRDM-2 armored car was impounded and shipped back to Marine Corps Base Quantico for inspection.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The US government defended its invasion of Grenada as an action to protect American citizens living on the island, including medical students. Deputy Secretary of State Kenneth W. Dam said that action was necessary to "resolve" what Article 28 of the charter of the Organization of American States (O.A.S.) refers to as "a situation that might endanger the peace". He added that the OAS charter and the UN charter both "recognize the competence of regional security bodies in ensuring regional peace and stability," referring to the decision by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States to approve the invasion.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The UN Charter prohibits the use of force by member states except in cases of self-defense or when specifically authorized by the UN Security Council. The UN Security Council had not authorized invasion. Similarly, the United Nations General Assembly adopted General Assembly Resolution 38/7 by a vote of 108 to 9 with 27 abstentions, which "deeply deplores the armed intervention in Grenada, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law." A similar resolution in the United Nations Security Council received widespread support but was vetoed by the United States.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: "Time" magazine described the invasion as having "broad popular support." A congressional study group concluded that the invasion had been justified, as most members felt that American students at the university near a contested runway could have been taken hostage as American diplomats in Iran had been four years previously. The group's report caused House Speaker Tip O'Neill to change his position on the issue from opposition to support.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: However, some members of the study group dissented from its findings. Congressman Louis Stokes (D, Ohio) stated: "Not a single American child nor single American national was in any way placed in danger or placed in a hostage situation prior to the invasion." The Congressional Black Caucus denounced the invasion, and seven Democratic congressmen introduced an unsuccessful resolution to impeach President Reagan, led by Ted Weiss.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Medical students in Grenada speaking to Ted Koppel on 25 October 1983 edition of his newscast "Nightline" stated that they were safe and did not feel that their lives were in danger. Medical students told Koppel the next evening how grateful they were for the invasion and the Army Rangers, which probably saved their lives. State Department officials had assured the medical students that they would be able to complete their medical school education in the United States.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: An anti-war march attended by over 50,000 people, including Burlington, Vermont Mayor Bernie Sanders, was held in Washington, D.C. The march received support from presidential candidate Jesse Jackson.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The United Nations General Assembly adopted General Assembly Resolution 38/7 on 2 November 1983 by a vote of 108 to 9 which "deeply deplores the armed intervention in Grenada, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of that State." It went on to deplore "the death of innocent civilians" and the "killing of the Prime Minister and other prominent Grenadians", and it called for an "immediate cessation of the armed intervention" and demanded, "that free elections be organized".


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: This was the first overthrow of a Communist government by armed means since the end of World War II. The Soviet Union said that Grenada had been the object of United States threats, that the invasion violated international law, and that no small nation would find itself safe if the aggression were not rebuffed. The governments of some countries stated that the United States intervention was a return to the era of barbarism. The governments of other countries said the United States had violated several treaties and conventions to which it was a party. A similar resolution was discussed in the United Nations Security Council but it was ultimately vetoed by the United States.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: President Ronald Reagan was asked if he was concerned by the lopsided 108–9 vote in the UN General Assembly. He said, "it didn't upset my breakfast at all."


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Grenada is part of the Commonwealth of Nations and the intervention was opposed by Commonwealth members including the United Kingdom, Trinidad and Tobago, and Canada. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, a close ally of Reagan on other matters, personally opposed it. Reagan told her that it might happen; she did not know for sure that it was coming until three hours before. At 12:30 on the morning of the invasion, Thatcher sent a message to Reagan:


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Reagan told Thatcher before anyone else that the invasion would begin in a few hours, but ignored her complaints. She publicly supported the action. Reagan phoned to apologize for the miscommunication, and the long-term friendly relationship endured.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The American and Caribbean governments quickly reaffirmed Scoon as Queen Elizabeth's sole legitimate representative in Grenada, and hence was thus the only lawful authority on the island. In accordance with Commonwealth constitutional practice, Scoon assumed power as interim head of government and formed an advisory council which named Nicholas Brathwaite as chairman pending new elections. The New National Party won the elections in December 1984 and formed a government led by Prime Minister Herbert Blaize.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: American forces remained in Grenada after combat operations finished in December as part of Operation Island Breeze. Elements remaining performed security missions and assisted members of the Caribbean Peacekeeping Force and the Royal Grenadian Police Force, including military police, special forces, and a specialized intelligence detachment. The Point Salines International Airport was renamed in honor of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop on 29 May 2009, his 65th birthday. Hundreds of Grenadians turned out to commemorate the honoring of the event. Prime Minister Tillman Thomas gave the keynote speech and referred to the renaming as an act of the Grenadian people coming home to themselves. He also hoped that it would help bring closure to a chapter of denial in Grenada's history.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The invasion showed problems with the American "information apparatus," which "Time" magazine described as still being in "some disarray" three weeks after the invasion. For example, the State Department falsely claimed that a mass grave had been discovered which held 100 bodies of islanders who had been killed by communist forces. Major General Norman Schwarzkopf, deputy commander of the invasion force, said that 160 Grenadian soldiers and 71 Cubans had been killed during the invasion; the Pentagon had given a count of 59 Cuban and Grenadian deaths. Ronald H. Cole's report for the Joint Chiefs of Staff showed an even lower count.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Also of concern were the problems that the invasion showed with the military. There was a lack of intelligence about Grenada which exacerbated the difficulties faced by the quickly assembled invasion force. For example, they did not know that the students were actually at two different campuses, and there was a 30-hour delay in reaching students at the second campus. Maps provided to soldiers on the ground were tourist maps on which military grid reference lines were drawn by hand to report locations of units and request artillery and aircraft fire support. They also did not show topography and were not marked with crucial positions. Navy ships providing naval gunfire and Marine, Air Force, and Navy fighter-bomber support aircraft providing close air support mistakenly killed American ground forces due to differences in charts and location coordinates, data, and methods of calling for fire support. Communications between services were also not compatible and hindered the coordination of operations. The landing strip was drawn by hand on the map given to some members of the invasion force.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Reagan attempted to use the invasion of Grenada to end Vietnam Syndrome, a term used in reference to the American public's aversion to overseas conflicts that resulted from the Vietnam War. After the invasion, on 13 December 1983, Reagan asserted that "our days of weakness are over. Our military forces are back on their feet and standing tall."


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: The Department of Defense recognized a need for improved communications and coordination among the branches of the American military. Congress investigated many of the problems and passed the Goldwater-Nichols Act of 1986 (Pub. L.99–433). This act reworked the command structure of the military, making the most sweeping changes to the Department of Defense since the department was established in the National Security Act of 1947. It increased the power of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and advanced the concept of unified joint forces organized under one command.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: 25 October is a national holiday in Grenada, called Thanksgiving Day, to commemorate the invasion. St. George's University (SGU) built a monument on its True Blue campus to honor the American servicemen killed during the invasion, and marks the day with an annual memorial ceremony.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: On 29 May 2009, the Grenadian government changed the name of Point Salines International Airport to Maurice Bishop International Airport.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Vice Admiral Joseph Metcalf, III, COMSECONDFLT, became Commander of Joint Task Force 120 (CJTF 120) and commanded units from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard from the MARG flagship USS "Guam". Rear Admiral Richard C. Berry (COMCRUDESGRU Eight) (Commander Task Group 20) supported the task force on the aircraft carrier USS "Independence". Commanding Officer USS Guam (Task Force 124) was assigned the mission of seizing Pearls Airport and the port of Grenville, and of neutralizing any opposing forces in the area. Simultaneously, Army Rangers in Task Force 123 would secure points at the southern end of the island, including the airfield under construction near Point Salines. The 82d Airborne Division (Task Force 121) were designated to follow and assume the security at Point Salines once it was seized by Task Force 123. Task Group 20.5, a carrier battle group built around USS "Independence", and Air Force elements would support the ground forces.


title: United States invasion of Grenada

text: Two formations of U.S. warships took part in the invasion. carrier battle group; and Marine Amphibious Readiness Group, flagship , , , , and . Carrier Group Four was allocated the designation Task Group 20.5 for the operation.


title: Damocles

text: Damocles is a character who appears in an (likely apocryphal) anecdote commonly referred to as "the sword of Damocles", an allusion to the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. Damocles was a courtier in the court of Dionysius II of Syracuse, a 4th-century BC ruler of Syracuse, Sicily.


title: Damocles

text: The anecdote apparently figured in the lost history of Sicily by Timaeus of Tauromenium (). The Roman orator Cicero () may have read it in the texts of Greek historian Diodorus Siculus and used it in his "Tusculanae Disputationes", 5. 61, by which means it passed into the European cultural mainstream.


title: Damocles

text: According to the story, Damocles was to his king, Dionysius, exclaiming that Dionysius was truly fortunate as a great man of power and authority without peer, surrounded by magnificence. In response, Dionysius offered to switch places with Damocles for one day so that Damocles could taste that very fortune firsthand. Damocles quickly and eagerly accepted the king's proposal. Damocles sat on the king's throne, surrounded by countless luxuries. There were beautifully embroidered rugs, fragrant perfumes and the most select of foods, piles of silver and gold, and the service of attendants unparalleled in their beauty, surrounding Damocles with riches and excess. But Dionysius, who had made many enemies during his reign, arranged that a sword should hang above the throne, held at the pommel only by a single hair of a horse's tail to evoke the sense of what it is like to be king: though having much fortune, always having to watch in fear and anxiety against dangers that might try to overtake him. Damocles finally begged the king that he be allowed to depart because he no longer wanted to be so fortunate, realizing that with great power comes great responsibility.


title: Damocles

text: King Dionysius effectively conveyed the sense of constant fear in which a person with great power may live. Dionysius committed many cruelties in his rise to power, such that he could never go on to rule justly because that would make him vulnerable to his enemies. Cicero used this story as the last in a series of contrasting examples for reaching the conclusion in his fifth "Disputation", in which the theme is that having virtue is sufficient for living a happy life.


title: Damocles

text: Cicero's meaning in the story of the sword of Damocles has alternative interpretations. Cicero himself states "Doesn't Dionysius seem to have made it plenty clear that nothing is happy for him over whom terror always looms?" arguing that those in positions of power can never rest and truly enjoy that power. Some take this and argue further, stating that the point was that death looms over all, but that it is important to strive to be happy and enjoy life in "spite" of that terror. Others take the meaning to be something akin to "don't judge someone until you've walked a mile in their shoes," as it is impossible to know what someone is really struggling with, even if their life seems to be perfect to the outside observer. Just as King Dionysius' life looked luxurious and perfect on the outside to Damocles, so too might the lives of others that one covets for oneself. One other interpretation sees the story of the sword of Damocles as specifically meant for Julius Caesar, implicitly suggesting that he should take care not to act the same way that King Dionysius did, making enemies and denying spiritual life, falling prey to the pitfalls of the tyrant, and mind the sword hanging ever-present over his neck.


title: Damocles

text: The sword of Damocles is frequently used in allusion to this tale, epitomizing the imminent and ever-present peril faced by those in positions of power. More generally, it is used to denote the sense of foreboding engendered by a precarious situation, especially one in which the onset of tragedy is restrained only by a delicate trigger or chance. Shakespeare's "Henry IV" expands on this theme: "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"; compare the Hellenistic and Roman imagery connected with the insecurity offered by Tyche and Fortuna.


title: Damocles

text: In "The Canterbury Tales", Chaucer refers to the sword of Damocles, which the Knight describes to hang over Conquest. When the knight describes the three temples, he also pays special attention to the paintings, noticing one on the walls of the temple of Mars:


title: Damocles

text: The Roman 1st century BC poet Horace also alluded to the sword of Damocles in Ode 1 of the "Third Book of Odes", in which he extolled the virtues of living a simple, rustic life, favouring such an existence over the myriad threats and anxieties that accompany holding a position of power. In this appeal to his friend and patron, the aristocratic Gaius Maecenas, Horace describes the "Siculae dapes" or "Sicilian feasts" as providing no savoury pleasure to the man, "above whose impious head hangs a drawn sword ("destrictus ensis")."The phrase has also come to be used in describing any situation infused with a sense of impending doom, especially when the peril is visible and proximal—regardless of whether the victim is in a position of power. US President John F. Kennedy compared the omnipresent threat of nuclear annihilation to a sword of Damocles hanging over the people of the world. Soviet First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev wanted the Tsar Bomba to "hang like the sword of Damocles over the imperialists' heads".


title: Damocles

text: Woodcut images of the sword of Damocles as an emblem appear in 16th and 17th century European books of devices, with moralizing couplets or quatrains, with the import . A small vignette shows Damocles under a canopy of state, at the festive table, with Dionysius seated nearby; the etching, with its clear political moral, was later used to illustrate the idea.


title: Damocles

text: References to the sword of Damocles can also be found in cartoonist illustrations, such as in Joseph Keppler's magazine "Puck", a satiric periodical started in the late 1800s in the United States, and the sword can be used as a device to call attention to the peril that current events or contentious issues of the time place the world in.


title: Damocles

text: The sword of Damocles appears frequently in popular culture, including novels, feature films, television series, video games, and music. Some notable examples include Damocles (video game), a 16-bit videogame from 1990 in which the player races to prevent the titular comet Damocles from destroying a planet, the song "The Sword of Damocles" from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and a virtual reality headset also called The Sword of Damocles, developed by Ivan Sutherland in 1968, named for its suspension from the ceiling of the lab in which it was developed and its foreboding appearance.


title: Damocles

text: The sword of Damocles is an oft-used symbol in modern hip hop, an allusion used to impart the threat "kingly" rappers face of being deposed as the best of the best. It is referenced in the lyrics of the song "Zealots," by The Fugees in 1996 and appears in the music of Kanye West, both in the music video for his single "Power" in 2010, where a sword is positioned above West's head as he stands amidst rows of Ionic columns, and in later cover art for the song, which features the impaled head of a black man wearing a crown.


title: Clint Howard

text: Clinton Engle Howard (born April 20, 1959) is an American actor. He is the second son born to American actors Rance and Jean Howard, and younger brother of actor and director Ron Howard. His 200-plus acting credits include feature films such as "The Waterboy" and "Apollo 13", as well as television series, such as "Gentle Ben", "The Baileys of Balboa", "The Cowboys", and "My Name Is Earl". He has appeared in many films directed by his brother, Ron, and had a small role in the 1967 animated film "The Jungle Book". He is lead singer of his own band, The Kempsters, and also makes custom snow globes.


title: Clint Howard

text: Born in Burbank, California, Howard's parents are actors Rance Howard and Jean Speegle and his older brother is actor and filmmaker Ron Howard.


title: Clint Howard

text: Howard began his career when he was two, appearing in five episodes of "The Andy Griffith Show", then starring his older brother Ron. He played Leon, a toddler in a cowboy outfit who wandered around Mayberry and silently offered people a bite of his sandwich, to which they would respond, "No thanks, Leon". Other early notable roles include his appearance on "The Streets of San Francisco" in the episode entitled "The House on Hyde Street", and "The Virginian" as Tommy, the proud owner of a new litter of pups in the episode entitled "Melanie".


title: Clint Howard

text: In 1963, he appeared in the ABC medical drama "Breaking Point" in the role of four year old Mikey in the episode "The Gnu, Now Almost Extinct". He also played little Billy Taft, the nephew of Dr. Richard Kimble, in the season one episode of "The Fugitive", "Home is the Hunted" (1964).


title: Clint Howard

text: His first prominent role was as a regular on the series "Gentle Ben" (1967–69). He also starred in "The Boy Who Predicted Earthquakes", an episode segment of Rod Serling's "Night Gallery", as Herbie, a ten-year-old boy who predicts the near future, and played Billy in the made for television version of John Steinbeck's "The Red Pony", with Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara.


title: Clint Howard

text: In 2003, Howard played Johnny Bark on "Arrested Development" in the season one episode "Key Decisions", which was produced and narrated by his brother, Ron. He was seen in an episode of "Married... with Children" as a creepy janitor. He played a car thief/murderer Tobias Lehigh Nagy in the season four "Seinfeld" episode "The Trip". Howard played Creepy Rodney in the season one "My Name Is Earl" episode "Stole a Badge", and he was a guest star in the season three episode of the NBC show "Heroes" "I Am Sylar".


title: Clint Howard

text: In his film debut "The Courtship of Eddie's Father" (1963), he played a child party guest standing on a table at his birthday party.


title: Clint Howard

text: Howard also voiced Roo in Disney's animated shorts "Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree" (1966) and "Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day" (1968), which were later incorporated into "The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh" (1977), and Hathi Jr. in "The Jungle Book" (1967).


title: Clint Howard

text: Howard has appeared in seventeen films directed by his brother, Ron Howard, including Ron's first directorial effort — a short film called "Old Paint" — when Clint was ten. He also starred in Ron's first full-length feature, "Grand Theft Auto". Other roles in the elder Howard's films include: John Dexter in "Cocoon" (1985), Paul in "Gung Ho" (both film and TV series), pathologist Ricco in "Backdraft" (1991), Lou in "Parenthood", Flynn in "Far and Away" (1992), flight controller Seymour Liebergot in "Apollo 13" (1995), Ken in "EDtv" (1999), and Whobris in "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000).


title: Clint Howard

text: He also played Sheriff Purdy in "The Missing" (2003), Lloyd Davis in "Frost/Nixon" (2008), Herbert Trimpy in "The Dilemma", and Paul Lucas in the episodes "Spider" and "We Interrupt This Program" of the HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon", which was produced by Ron.


title: Clint Howard

text: He played Eaglebauer in "Rock 'n' Roll High School", Usher in "Get Crazy", Paco in "The Waterboy", Arthur Lynne in Uwe Boll's "Heart of America", cellmate Slinky in "Tango & Cash", KJZZ disk jockey in "That Thing You Do!", Johnson Ritter in the "Austin Powers" series, another flight controller in "", Nipples in "Little Nicky" (2000), Gregory Tudor in the low budget film "Ice Cream Man" (1995), Rughead in "The Wraith" (1986), Stanley Coopersmith in "Evilspeak" (1981), Kate the Caterer in "The Cat in the Hat" (2003), Doctor Koplenson in "Halloween" (2007), and appeared in the romantic comedies, "Play the Game" and "Speed-Dating".


title: Clint Howard

text: He also played Sanders in "Alabama Moon" and Dr. Owen in "Nobody Gets Out Alive", which was written and directed by filmmaker Jason Christopher.


title: Clint Howard

text: In 1981, Howard formed The Kempsters, a new wave rock and roll group that was composed mostly of his friends who were neighbors with him on Kemp Street. The band played regularly at Madame Wong's West. The band retired in 1983. Although The Kempsters never released an album while together, Howard has recently begun distributing "No Brains At All", a CD featuring four tracks the band recorded in various studios, and seven tracks recorded live on October 17, 1982, at Madame Wong's West.


title: Clint Howard

text: His second marriage with Melanie Sorich was for 22 years, from 1995 to 2017. The couple had no children.


title: Clint Howard

text: On July 1, 2020, Howard married Kat C. Howard in a private wedding ceremony at "The Little Church of the West" in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is stepfather to her daughter.


title: Clint Howard

text: Howard is a Republican (contrasting with his brother, Ron, a Democrat). On January 29, 2016, three days before the Iowa Caucuses, he endorsed United States Senator Ted Cruz of Texas for the Republican presidential nomination.


title: Clint Howard

text: In 2015, Howard began creating one-of-a-kind snow globes that are occasionally featured on entertainment programs. He brought one with him for his appearance on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (with, as a guest, Howard's niece Bryce Dallas Howard).


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 2014 American science fiction film directed by Matt Reeves from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. It is the sequel to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (2011), and the second installment in the "Planet of the Apes" reboot franchise. It stars Andy Serkis as Caesar, alongside Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee. In "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes", human survivors are battling to stay alive in the wake of a deadly pandemic which has lasted for a decade, while Caesar tries to maintain control over his expanding ape community. But when both species cross into each other, they try and make a truce to maintain peace with one another and hope to prevent a war between apes and humans.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: A sequel to "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" was announced in 2011, with the returns of both Serkis and Rupert Wyatt confirmed that November. Wyatt departed the film in September 2012, and Reeves was hired that October. Casting took place between February and March 2013, with no additional original main cast members returning. Principal photography commenced that April and lasted until that July, with filming locations including Campbell River, Vancouver Island, and New Orleans. The apes were created using visual effects and performance capture as commissioned by Weta Digital, with the film featuring greater use of these components during action sequences and to create other animals.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" premiered on June 26, 2014 at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and was theatrically released worldwide by 20th Century Fox on July 11. The film received highly positive reviews, with praise for Reeves' direction, visual effects, the performances of the cast, Michael Giacchino's score, action sequences, and emotional depth. "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" was a commercial success, grossing over $710 million, making it the eighth-highest grossing film of 2014 and the highest-grossing film in the franchise. It also received numerous awards and nominations, including an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. The sequel, "War for the Planet of the Apes", was released in 2017.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: Years after the global pandemic of a deadly Simian Flu, the worldwide human population is drastically reduced, with only about one in 500 genetically immune. This causes societal collapse among humans. The apes, all bestowed with genetically enhanced intelligence by the virus, establish a colony in the Muir Woods near San Francisco.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: A group of humans, led by a man named Malcolm, trespass the apes' territory, in search of a hydroelectric dam that would restore power to San Francisco. An encounter with the apes, ends with a man named Carver badly hurting the ape Ash. Malcolm manages to prevent further escalation, and Caesar, the apes' leader, orders the humans to leave. Prompted by Koba, a scarred bonobo, Caesar brings his army to the humans' community as a display of strength. Caesar announces to the community that, despite the apes not wanting war, he will fight the humans if he is forced to. He demands the humans to stay in their territory. Malcolm convinces his fellow leader Dreyfus to give him time to take a small team to the forest, reconcile with the apes and access the dam. Eventually, Caesar allows them to work on the generator on the condition that they surrender their guns. While working together, Malcolm, his wife Ellie, and his son Alexander bond with the apes. The fragile relationship briefly falls apart when Carver is discovered to have kept a hidden gun and is thus forcibly sent away, but it is greatly restored when Ellie, a nurse, effectively treats Caesar's wife Cornelia's illness.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: Dreyfus arms his community with the Fort Point armory. Koba, who has a vendetta against humans for his mistreatment as a laboratory test subject, discovers the armory and confronts Caesar, accusing him of loving humans more than apes. Caesar beats Koba in response but refrains from killing him. Koba later returns to the armory, kills two guards, and secretly kills Carver after the humans succeed in repairing the generator. Koba takes advantage of their celebration to covertly set fire to the apes' home. He then shoots Caesar, who falls into an underbrush. Koba frames the humans for Caesar's apparent death and the fire to justify war. Taking command, he leads the ape army to San Francisco, where they plunder the armory and mount a full-scale assault on the humans. Despite taking heavy casualties, the apes breach the building and imprison the humans as Dreyfus flees underground. While refusing orders to kill unarmed humans, Ash cites Caesar's teachings, and Koba throws him to his death. He also has any other ape who is loyal to Caesar imprisoned, including Maurice, Luca, and Rocket.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: Malcolm's family finds a severely wounded Caesar and transports him to his former house in San Francisco. After sneaking back into the settlement to find medical supplies, Malcolm encounters Blue Eyes, Caesar's son. Blue Eyes spares him before learning that his father is still alive and accompanies Malcolm to Caesar's place. After learning that it was Koba who shot Caesar, Blue Eyes reconciles with his father, returns to the tower and frees every human and ape imprisoned there. After escorting the apes into the tower, Malcolm finds Dreyfus. Apparently, the return of electricity allowed Dreyfus' men to make radio contact with survivors from a military base, who are now coming to fight the apes. Caesar confronts Koba at the top of the tower; as they fight, Dreyfus, in a suicide mission, detonates bombs that destabilize the building in a failed attempt to kill the apes. Willing to shoot at the apes that want to help Caesar, Koba eventually loses. While clinging to a metal girder, he is disowned as an ape by Caesar and dropped to his death.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: Malcolm warns Caesar of the approaching human military. Caesar responds "War has already begun" because of Koba's violent reign. Believing that the humans will never forgive the apes for their attack, Caesar convinces Malcolm to leave with his family before the fighting begins. He then addresses the apes, preparing for the upcoming war.


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: Additionally, James Franco makes an uncredited appearance as Will Rodman, Caesar's adoptive father, utilizing a combination of new and unused footage from "Rise of the Planet of the Apes".


title: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

text: After the release of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes", director Rupert Wyatt commented on possible sequels: "I think we're ending with certain questions, which is quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the beginning." Screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also stated that "Rise" featured several clues as to future sequels: "I hope that we're building a platform for future films. We're trying to plant a lot of the seeds for a lot of the things you are talking about in terms of the different apes and so forth."