title: Narrative

text: Considering how mythologies have historically been transmitted and passed down through oral retellings, there is no qualitative or reliable method to precisely trace exactly where and when a tale originated; and since myths are rooted in a remote past, and are viewed as a factual account of happenings within the culture it originated from, the worldview present in many oral mythologies is from a cosmological perspective—one that is told from a voice that has no physical embodiment, and is passed down and modified from generation to generation. This cosmological worldview in myth is what provides all mythological narratives credence, and since they are easily communicated and modified through oral tradition among various cultures, they help solidify the cultural identity of a civilization and contribute to the notion of a collective human consciousness that continues to help shape one's own understanding of the world.


title: Narrative

text: Myth is often used in an overarching sense to describe a multitude of folklore genres, but there is a significance in distinguishing the various forms of folklore in order to properly determine what narratives constitute as mythological, as anthropologist Sir James Frazer suggests. Frazer contends that there are three primary categories of mythology (now more broadly considered categories of folklore): Myths, legends, and folktales, and that by definition, each genre pulls its narrative from a different ontological source, and therefore has different implications within a civilization. Frazer states:


title: Narrative

text: "If these definitions be accepted, we may say that myth has its source in reason, legend in memory, and folk-tale in imagination; and that the three riper products of the human mind which correspond to these its crude creations are science, history, and romance."


title: Narrative

text: Janet Bacon expanded upon Frazer's categorization in her 1921 publication—"The Voyage of The Argonauts".


title: Narrative

text: In the absence of a known author or original narrator, myth narratives are oftentimes referred to as prose narratives. Prose narratives tend to be relatively linear regarding the time period they occur in, and are traditionally marked by its natural flow of speech as opposed to the rhythmic structure found in various forms of literature such as poetry and haikus. The structure of prose narratives allows it to be easily understood by many—as the narrative generally starts at the beginning of the story, and ends when the protagonist has resolved the conflict. These kinds of narratives are generally accepted as true within society, and are told from a place of great reverence and sacredness. Myths are believed to occur in a remote past—one that is before the creation or establishment of the civilization they derive from, and are intended to provide an account for things such as humanity's origins, natural phenomenon, and human nature. Thematically, myths seek to provide information about oneself, and many are viewed as among some of the oldest forms of prose narratives, which grants traditional myths their life-defining characteristics that continue to be communicated today.


title: Narrative

text: Another theory regarding the purpose and function of mythological narratives derives from 20th Century philologist Georges Dumézil and his formative theory of the "trifunctionalism" found in Indo-European mythologies. Dumèzil refers only to the myths found in Indo-European societies, but the primary assertion made by his theory is that Indo-European life was structured around the notion of three distinct and necessary societal functions, and as a result, the various gods and goddesses in Indo-European mythology assumed these functions as well. The three functions were organized by cultural significance, with the first function being the most grand and sacred. For Dumèzil, these functions were so vital, they manifested themselves in every aspect of life and were at the center of everyday life.


title: Narrative

text: These "functions", as Dumèzil puts it, were an array of esoteric knowledge and wisdom that was reflected by the mythology. The first function was sovereignty—and was divided into two additional categories: magical and juridical. As each function in Dumèzil's theory corresponded to a designated social class in the human realm; the first function was the highest, and was reserved for the status of kings and other royalty. In an interview with Alain Benoist, Dumèzil described magical sovereignty as such,"[Magical Sovereignty] consists of the mysterious administration, the 'magic' of the universe, the general ordering of the cosmos. This is a 'disquieting' aspect, terrifying from certain perspectives. The other aspect is more reassuring, more oriented to the human world. It is the 'juridical' part of the sovereign function."This implies that gods of the first function are responsible for the overall structure and order of the universe, and those gods who possess juridical sovereignty are more closely connected to the realm of humans and are responsible for the concept of justice and order. Dumèzil uses the pantheon of Norse gods as examples of these functions in his 1981 essay—he finds that the Norse gods Odin and Tyr reflect the different brands of sovereignty. Odin is the author of the cosmos, and possessor of infinite esoteric knowledge—going so far as to sacrifice his eye for the accumulation of more knowledge. While Tyr—seen as the "just god"—is more concerned with upholding justice, as illustrated by the epic myth of Tyr losing his hand in exchange for the monster Fenrir to cease his terrorization of the gods. Dumèzil's theory suggests that through these myths, concepts of universal wisdom and justice were able to be communicated to the Nordic people in the form of a mythological narrative.


title: Narrative

text: The second function as described by Dumèzil is that of the proverbial hero or champion. These myths functioned to convey the themes of heroism, strength, and bravery and were most often represented in both the human world and the mythological world by valiant warriors. While the gods of the second function were still revered in society, they did not possess the same infinite knowledge found in the first category. A Norse god that would fall under the second function would be Thor—god of thunder. Thor possessed great strength, and was often first into battle, as ordered by his father Odin. This second function reflects Indo-European cultures' high regard for the warrior class, and explains the belief in an afterlife that rewards a valiant death on the battlefield; for the Norse mythology, this is represented by Valhalla.


title: Narrative

text: Lastly, Dumèzil's third function is composed of gods that reflect the nature and values of the most common people in Indo-European life. These gods often presided over the realms of healing, prosperity, fertility, wealth, luxury, and youth—any kind of function that was easily related to by the common peasant farmer in a society. Just as a farmer would live and sustain themselves off their land, the gods of the third function were responsible for the prosperity of their crops, and were also in charge of other forms of everyday life that would never be observed by the status of kings and warriors, such as mischievousness and promiscuity. An example found in Norse mythology could be seen through the god Freyr—a god who was closely connected to acts of debauchery and overindulging.


title: Narrative

text: Dumèzil viewed his theory of trifunctionalism as distinct from other mythological theories because of the way the narratives of Indo-European mythology permeated into every aspect of life within these societies, to the point that the societal view of death shifted away from a primal perception that tells one to fear death, and instead death became seen as the penultimate act of heroism—by solidifying a person's position in the hall of the gods when they pass from this realm to the next. Additionally, Dumèzil proposed that his theory stood at the foundation of the modern understanding of the Christian Trinity, citing that the three key deities of Odin, Thor, and Freyr were often depicted together in a trio—seen by many as an overarching representation of what would be known today as "divinity".


title: Narrative

text: A narrative can take on the shape of a story, which gives listeners an entertaining and collaborative avenue for acquiring knowledge. Many cultures use storytelling as a way to record histories, myths, and values. These stories can be seen as living entities of narrative among cultural communities, as they carry the shared experience and history of the culture within them. Stories are often used within indigenous cultures in order to share knowledge to the younger generation. Due to indigenous narratives leaving room for open-ended interpretation, native stories often engage children in the storytelling process so that they can make their own meaning and explanations within the story. This promotes holistic thinking among native children, which works toward merging an individual and world identity. Such an identity upholds native epistemology and gives children a sense of belonging as their cultural identity develops through the sharing and passing on of stories.


title: Narrative

text: For example, a number of indigenous stories are used to illustrate a value or lesson. In the Western Apache tribe, stories can be used to warn of the misfortune that befalls people when they do not follow acceptable behavior. One story speaks to the offense of a mother's meddling in her married son's life. In the story, the Western Apache tribe is under attack from a neighboring tribe, the Pimas. The Apache mother hears a scream. Thinking it is her son's wife screaming, she tries to intervene by yelling at him. This alerts the Pima tribe to her location, and she is promptly killed due to intervening in her son's life.


title: Narrative

text: Indigenous American cultures use storytelling to teach children the values and lessons of life. Although storytelling provides entertainment, its primary purpose is to educate. Alaskan Indigenous Natives state that narratives teach children where they fit in, what their society expects of them, how to create a peaceful living environment, and to be responsible, worthy members of their communities. In the Mexican culture, many adult figures tell their children stories in order to teach children values such as individuality, obedience, honesty, trust, and compassion. For example, one of the versions of La Llorona is used to teach children to make safe decisions at night and to maintain the morals of the community.


title: Narrative

text: Narratives are considered by the Canadian Métis community, to help children understand that the world around them is interconnected to their lives and communities. For example, the Métis community share the "Humorous Horse Story" to children, which portrays that horses stumble throughout life just like humans do. Navajo stories also use dead animals as metaphors by showing that all things have purpose. Lastly, elders from Alaskan Native communities claim that the use of animals as metaphors allow children to form their own perspectives while at the same time self-reflecting on their own lives.


title: Narrative

text: American Indian elders also state that storytelling invites the listeners, especially children, to draw their own conclusions and perspectives while self-reflecting upon their lives. Furthermore, they insist that narratives help children grasp and obtain a wide range of perspectives that help them interpret their lives in the context of the story. American Indian community members emphasize to children that the method of obtaining knowledge can be found in stories passed down through each generation. Moreover, community members also let the children interpret and build a different perspective of each story.


title: Narrative

text: An emerging field of information warfare is the "battle of the narratives". The battle of the narratives is a full-blown battle in the cognitive dimension of the information environment, just as traditional warfare is fought in the physical domains (air, land, sea, space, and cyberspace). One of the foundational struggles in warfare in the physical domains is to shape the environment such that the contest of arms will be fought on terms that are to one's advantage. Likewise, a key component of the battle of the narratives is to succeed in establishing the reasons for and potential outcomes of the conflict, on terms favorable to one's efforts.


title: Narrative

text: In historiography, according to Lawrence Stone, narrative has traditionally been the main rhetorical device used by historians. In 1979, at a time when the new social history was demanding a social-science model of analysis, Stone detected a move back toward the narrative. Stone defined narrative as organized chronologically; focused on a single coherent story; descriptive rather than analytical; concerned with people not abstract circumstances; and dealing with the particular and specific rather than the collective and statistical. He reported that, "More and more of the 'new historians' are now trying to discover what was going on inside people's heads in the past, and what it was like to live in the past, questions which inevitably lead back to the use of narrative."


title: Narrative

text: Some philosophers identify narratives with a type of explanation. Mark Bevir argues, for example, that narratives explain actions by appealing to the beliefs and desires of actors and by locating webs of beliefs in the context of historical traditions. Narrative is an alternative form of explanation to that associated with natural science.


title: Narrative

text: Historians committed to a social science approach, however, have criticized the narrowness of narrative and its preference for anecdote over analysis, and clever examples rather than statistical regularities.


title: Narrative

text: Storytelling rights may be broadly defined as the ethics of sharing narratives (including—but not limited to—firsthand, secondhand, and imagined stories). In "Storytelling Rights: The uses of oral and written texts by urban adolescents", author Amy Shuman offers the following definition of storytelling rights: "the important and precarious relationship between narrative and event and, specifically, between the participants in an event and the reporters who claim the right to talk about what happened."


title: Narrative

text: The ethics of retelling other people's stories may be explored through a number of questions: whose story is being told and how, what is the story's purpose or aim, what does the story promise (for instance: empathy, redemption, authenticity, clarification)—and at whose benefit? Storytelling rights also implicates questions of consent, empathy, and accurate representation. While storytelling—and retelling—can function as a powerful tool for agency and advocacy, it can also lead to misunderstanding and exploitation.


title: Narrative

text: Storytelling rights is notably important in the genre of personal experience narrative. Academic disciplines such as performance, folklore, literature, anthropology, cultural studies, and other social sciences may involve the study of storytelling rights, often hinging on ethics.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Spinal disc herniation is an injury to the cushioning and connective tissue between vertebrae, usually caused by excessive strain or trauma to the spine. It may result in back pain, pain or sensation in different parts of the body, and physical disability. The most conclusive diagnostic tool for disc herniation is MRI, and treatment may range from painkillers to surgery. Protection from disc herniation is best provided by core strength and an awareness of body mechanics including posture.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: When a tear in the outer, fibrous ring of an intervertebral disc allows the soft, central portion to bulge out beyond the damaged outer rings, the disc is said to be herniated.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Disc herniation is frequently associated with age-related degeneration of the outer ring, known as the "annulus fibrosus", but is normally triggered by trauma or straining by lifting or twisting. Tears are almost always posterolateral (on the back sides) owing to relative narrowness of the posterior longitudinal ligament relative to the anterior longitudinal ligament. A tear in the disc ring may result in the release of chemicals causing inflammation, which can result in severe pain even in the absence of nerve root compression.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Disc herniation is normally a further development of a previously existing disc protrusion, in which the outermost layers of the "annulus fibrosus" are still intact, but can bulge when the disc is under pressure. In contrast to a herniation, none of the central portion escapes beyond the outer layers. Most minor herniations heal within several weeks. Anti-inflammatory treatments for pain associated with disc herniation, protrusion, bulge, or disc tear are generally effective. Severe herniations may not heal of their own accord and may require surgery.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: The condition may be referred to as a "slipped disc", but this term is not accurate as the spinal discs are firmly attached between the vertebrae and cannot "slip" out of place.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Symptoms of a herniated disc can vary depending on the location of the herniation and the types of soft tissue involved. They can range from little or no pain, if the disc is the only tissue injured, to severe and unrelenting neck pain or low back pain that radiates into regions served by nerve roots which have been irritated or impinged by the herniated material. Often, herniated discs are not diagnosed immediately, as patients present with undefined pains in the thighs, knees, or feet.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Symptoms may include sensory changes such as numbness, tingling, paresthesia, and motor changes such as muscular weakness, paralysis, and affection of reflexes. If the herniated disc is in the lumbar region, the patient may also experience sciatica due to irritation of one of the nerve roots of the sciatic nerve. Unlike a pulsating pain or pain that comes and goes, which can be caused by muscle spasm, pain from a herniated disc is usually continuous or at least continuous in a specific position of the body.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: It is possible to have a herniated disc without pain or noticeable symptoms if the extruded "nucleus pulposus" material doesn't press on soft tissues or nerves. A small-sample study examining the cervical spine in symptom-free volunteers found focal disc protrusions in 50% of participants, suggesting that a considerable part of the population might have focal herniated discs in their cervical region that do not cause noticeable symptoms.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: A herniated disc in the lumbar spine may cause radiating nerve pain in the lower extremities or groin area and may sometimes be associated with bowel or bladder incontinence.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Typically, symptoms are experienced only on one side of the body, but if a herniation is very large and presses on the nerves on both sides within the spinal column or the "cauda equina", both sides of the body may be affected, often with serious consequences. Compression of the "cauda equina" can cause permanent nerve damage or paralysis which can result in loss of bowel and bladder control and sexual dysfunction. This disorder is called cauda equina syndrome. Other complications include chronic pain.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: When the spine is straight, such as in standing or lying down, internal pressure is equalized on all parts of the discs. While sitting or bending to lift, internal pressure on a disc can move from (lying down) to over (lifting with a rounded back). Herniation of the contents of the disc into the spinal canal often occurs when the anterior side (stomach side) of the disc is compressed while sitting or bending forward, and the contents ("nucleus pulposus") get pressed against the tightly stretched and thinned membrane ("annulus fibrosus") on the posterior side (back side) of the disc. The combination of membrane-thinning from stretching and increased internal pressure () can result in the rupture of the confining membrane. The jelly-like contents of the disc then move into the spinal canal, pressing against the spinal nerves, which may produce intense and potentially disabling pain and other symptoms.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Some authors favour degeneration of the intervertebral disc as the major cause of spinal disc herniation and cite trauma as a minor cause. Disc degeneration occurs both in degenerative disc disease and aging. With degeneration, the disc components – the "nucleus pulposus" and "annulus fibrosus" – become exposed to altered loads. Specifically, the nucleus becomes fibrous and stiff and less able to bear load. Excess load is transferred to the "annulus", which may then develop fissures as a result. If the fissures reach the periphery of the "annulus", the nuclear material can pass through as a disc herniation.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Mutations in several genes have been implicated in intervertebral disc degeneration. Probable candidate genes include type I collagen (sp1 site), type IX collagen, vitamin D receptor, aggrecan, asporin, MMP3, interleukin-1, and interleukin-6 polymorphisms. Mutation in genes – such as MMP2 and THBS2 – that encode for proteins and enzymes involved in the regulation of the extracellular matrix has been shown to contribute to lumbar disc herniation.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Disc herniations can result from general wear and tear, such as weightlifting training, constant sitting or squatting, driving, or a sedentary lifestyle. Herniations can also result from the lifting of heavy loads.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Professional athletes, especially those playing contact sports, such as American football, Rugby, ice hockey, and wrestling, are known to be prone to disc herniations as well as some limited contact sports that require repetitive flexion and compression such as soccer, baseball, basketball, and volleyball. Within athletic contexts, herniation is often the result of sudden blunt impacts against, or abrupt bending or torsional movements of, the lower back.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: The majority of spinal disc herniations occur in the lumbar spine (95% at L4–L5 or L5–S1). The second most common site is the cervical region (C5–C6, C6–C7). The thoracic region accounts for only 1–2% of cases. Herniations usually occur postero-laterally, at the points where the "annulus fibrosus" is relatively thin and is not reinforced by the posterior or anterior longitudinal ligament. In the cervical spine, a symptomatic postero-lateral herniation between two vertebrae will impinge on the nerve which exits the spinal canal between those two vertebrae on that side. So, for example, a right postero-lateral herniation of the disc between vertebrae C5 and C6 will impinge on the right C6 spinal nerve. The rest of the spinal cord, however, is oriented differently, so a symptomatic postero-lateral herniation between two vertebrae will impinge on the nerve exiting at the next intervertebral level down.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Lumbar disc herniations occur in the back, most often between the fourth and fifth lumbar vertebral bodies or between the fifth and the sacrum. Here, symptoms can be felt in the lower back, buttocks, thigh, anal/genital region (via the perineal nerve), and may radiate into the foot and/or toe. The sciatic nerve is the most commonly affected nerve, causing symptoms of sciatica. The femoral nerve can also be affected and cause the patient to experience a numb, tingling feeling throughout one or both legs and even feet or a burning feeling in the hips and legs. A herniation in the lumbar region often compresses the nerve root exiting at the level below the disc. Thus, a herniation of the L4–5 disc compresses the L5 nerve root, only if the herniation is posterolateral.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Cervical disc herniations occur in the neck, most often between the fifth and sixth (C5–6) and the sixth and seventh (C6–7) cervical vertebral bodies. There is an increased susceptibility amongst older (60+) patients to herniations higher in the neck, especially at C3–4. Symptoms of cervical herniations may be felt in the back of the skull, the neck, shoulder girdle, scapula, arm, and hand. The nerves of the cervical plexus and brachial plexus can be affected.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Intradural disc herniation is a rare form of disc herniation with an incidence of 0.2–2.2%. Pre-operative imaging can be helpful for diagnosis, but intra-operative findings are required for confirmation.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: It is increasingly recognized that back pain resulting from disc herniation is not always due solely to compression of the spinal cord or nerve roots, but may also be caused by chemical inflammation. There is evidence that points to a specific inflammatory mediator in back pain: an inflammatory molecule, called tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF), is released not only by a herniated disc, but also in cases of disc tear ("annulus" tear) by facet joints, and in spinal stenosis. In addition to causing pain and inflammation, TNF may contribute to disc degeneration.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Terms commonly used to describe the condition include "herniated disc", "prolapsed disc", "ruptured disc", and "slipped disc". Other conditions that are closely related include disc protrusion, radiculopathy (pinched nerve), sciatica, disc disease, disc degeneration, degenerative disc disease, and black disc (a totally degenerated spinal disc).


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: The popular term "slipped disc" is a misnomer, as the intervertebral discs are tightly sandwiched between two vertebrae to which they are attached, and cannot actually "slip", or even get out of place. The disc is actually grown together with the adjacent vertebrae and can be squeezed, stretched and twisted, all in small degrees. It can also be torn, ripped, herniated, and degenerated, but it cannot "slip". Some authors consider that the term "slipped disc" is harmful, as it leads to an incorrect idea of what has occurred and thus of the likely outcome. However, during growth, one vertebral body can slip relative to an adjacent vertebral body, a deformity called spondylolisthesis.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Diagnosis of spinal disc herniation is made by a practitioner on the basis of a patient's history and symptoms, and by physical examination. During an evaluation, tests may be performed to confirm or rule out other possible causes with similar symptoms – spondylolisthesis, degeneration, tumors, metastases and space-occupying lesions, for instance – as well as to evaluate the efficacy of potential treatment options.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: The straight leg raise is often used as a preliminary test for possible disc herniation in the lumbar region. A variation is to lift the leg while the patient is sitting. However, this reduces the sensitivity of the test. A Cochrane review published in 2010 found that individual diagnostic tests including the straight leg raising test, absence of tendon reflexes, or muscle weakness were not very accurate when conducted in isolation.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Tests may be required to distinguish spinal disc herniations from other conditions with similar symptoms.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: In the majority of cases spinal disc herniation can be treated successfully conservatively, without surgical removal of the herniated material. Sciatica is a set of symptoms associated with disc herniation. A study on sciatica showed that about one-third of patients with sciatica recover within two weeks after presentation using conservative measures alone, and about three-quarters of patients recovered after three months of conservative treatment. However the study did not indicate the number of individuals with sciatica that had disc herniations.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Initial treatment usually consists of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), but long-term use of NSAIDs for people with persistent back pain is complicated by their possible cardiovascular and gastrointestinal toxicity.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Epidural corticosteroid injections provide a slight and questionable short-term improvement for those with sciatica, but are of no long-term benefit. Complications occur in up to 17% of cases when injections are performed on the neck, though most are minor. In 2014, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) suggested that the "injection of corticosteroids into the epidural space of the spine may result in rare but serious adverse events, including loss of vision, stroke, paralysis, and death", and that "the effectiveness and safety of epidural administration of corticosteroids have not been established, and FDA has not approved corticosteroids for this use".


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Non-surgical methods of treatment are usually attempted first. Pain medications may be prescribed to alleviate acute pain and allow the patient to begin exercising and stretching. There are a number of non-surgical methods used in attempts to relieve the condition. They are considered indicated, contraindicated, relatively contraindicated, or inconclusive, depending on the safety profile of their risk–benefit ratio and on whether they may or may not help:


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Surgery may be useful when a herniated disc is causing significant pain radiating into the leg, significant leg weakness, bladder problems, or loss of bowel control.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: When different forms of surgical treatments including (discetomy, microdiscectomy, and chemonucleolysis) were compared evidence was suggestive rather than conclusive. A Cochrane review from 2007 reported: "surgical discectomy for carefully selected patients with sciatica due to a prolapsed lumbar disc appears to provide faster relief from the acute attack than non‐surgical management. However, any positive or negative effects on the lifetime natural history of the underlying disc disease are unclear. Microdiscectomy gives broadly comparable results to standard discectomy. There is insufficient evidence on other surgical techniques to draw firm conclusions." Regarding the role of surgery for failed medical therapy in people without a significant neurological deficit, a Cochrane review concluded that "limited evidence is now available to support some aspects of surgical practice".


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Following surgery, rehabilitation programmes are often implemented. There is wide variation in what these programmes entail. A Cochrane review found low- to very low-quality evidence that patients who participated in high-intensity exercise programmes had slightly less short term pain and disability compared to low-intensity exercise programmes. There was no difference between supervised and home exercise programmes.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Disc herniation can occur in any disc in the spine, but the two most common forms are lumbar disc herniation and cervical disc herniation. The former is the most common, causing low back pain (lumbago) and often leg pain as well, in which case it is commonly referred to as sciatica. Lumbar disc herniation occurs 15 times more often than cervical (neck) disc herniation, and it is one of the most common causes of low back pain. The cervical discs are affected 8% of the time and the upper-to-mid-back (thoracic) discs only 1–2% of the time.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: The following locations have no discs and are therefore exempt from the risk of disc herniation: the upper two cervical intervertebral spaces, the sacrum, and the coccyx. Most disc herniations occur when a person is in their thirties or forties when the "nucleus pulposus" is still a gelatin-like substance. With age the "nucleus pulposus" changes ("dries out") and the risk of herniation is greatly reduced. After age 50 or 60, osteoarthritic degeneration (spondylosis) or spinal stenosis are more likely causes of low back pain or leg pain.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Because there are various causes of back injuries, prevention must be comprehensive. Back injuries are predominant in manual labor, so the majority of low back pain prevention methods have been applied primarily toward biomechanics. Prevention must come from multiple sources such as education, proper body mechanics, and physical fitness.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Education should emphasize not lifting beyond one's capabilities and giving the body a rest after strenuous effort. Over time, poor posture can cause the intervertebral disc to tear or become damaged. Striving to maintain proper posture and body alignment will aid in preventing disc degradation.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Exercises that enhance back strength may also be used to prevent back injuries. Back exercises include the prone push-ups/press-ups, upper back extension, transverse abdominis bracing, and floor bridges. If pain is present in the back, it can mean that the stabilization muscles of the back are weak and a person needs to train the trunk musculature. Other preventative measures are to lose weight and not to work oneself past fatigue. Signs of fatigue include shaking, poor coordination, muscle burning, and loss of the transverse abdominal brace. Heavy lifting should be done with the legs performing the work, and not the back.


title: Spinal disc herniation

text: Swimming is a common tool used in strength training. The usage of lumbar-sacral support belts may restrict movement at the spine and support the back during lifting.


title: Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

text: The Twenty-fifth Amendment (Amendment XXV) to the United States Constitution deals with presidential succession and disability.


text: It clarifies that the vice president becomes president if the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, and establishes how a vacancy in the office of the vice president can be filled.


text: It also provides for the temporary transfer of the president's powers and duties to the vice president, either on the initiative of the president alone or on the initiative of the vice president together with a majority of the president's cabinet. In either case, the vice president becomes acting president until the presidential powers and duties are returned to the president.


text: The amendment was submitted to the states on July 6, 1965, by the 89th Congress and was adopted on February 10, 1967, the day that the requisite number of states (38) had ratified it.


text: Section 1 clarifies that in the enumerated situations the vice president becomes president, instead of merely assuming the powers and duties of the presidency as acting president. It operates automatically, without needing to be explicitly invoked.


text: Section 2 provides a mechanism for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency. Before the Twenty-fifth Amendment, a vice presidential vacancy continued until a new vice president took office at the start of the next presidential term; the vice presidency had become vacant several times due to death, resignation, or succession to the presidency, and these vacancies had often lasted several years.


text: Section 3 allows for the voluntary transfer of presidential authority to the vice president (for example, in anticipation of a medical procedure) by the president declaring in writing to be unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency. The vice president then assumes those powers and duties as acting president; the vice president does not "become" president and the president remains in office, although without authority. The president regains those powers and duties upon declaring, in writing, to be again able to discharge them.


text: Section 4 addresses the case of a president who is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency but cannot, or does not, execute the voluntary declaration contemplated by Section3. It allows the vice president, together with a "majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide", to issue a written declaration that the president is unable to discharge his duties. Immediately upon such a declaration being sent to Congress, the vice president becomes acting president


text: John Feerick, the principal drafter of the amendment, writes that Congress deliberately left the terms "unable" and "inability" undefined "since cases of inability could take various forms not neatly fitting into [a rigid] definition... The debates surrounding the Twenty-fifth Amendment indicate that [those terms] are intended to cover all cases in which some condition or circumstance prevents the President from discharging his powers and duties..."


text: Among potential examples of such unforeseen emergencies, legal scholars have listed kidnapping of the president and "political emergencies" such as impeachment.


text: Traits such as unpopularity, incompetence, impeachable conduct, poor judgment, or laziness might not in and of themselves constitute inability, but should such traits "rise to a level where they prevented the President from carrying out his or her constitutional duties, they still might constitute an inability, even in the absence of a formal medical diagnosis." In addition, a president who already manifested disabling traits at the time he or she was elected is not thereby immunized from a declaration of inability.


text: The "principal officers of the executive departments" are the fifteen Cabinet members enumerated in the United States Code at :


text: If the president subsequently issues a declaration claiming to be able, then a four-day period begins during which the vice president remains acting president.


text: If by the end of this period the vice president and a majority of the "principal officers" have not issued a second declaration of the president's inability, then the president resumes his powers and duties; but if they do issue a second declaration within the four days, then the vice president remains acting president while Congress considers the matter. Then if within 21 days the Senate and the House determine, each by a two-thirds vote, that the president is unable, then the vice president continues as acting president; otherwise the president resumes his powers and duties.


text: Section 4's requirement of a two-thirds vote of the House and a two-thirds vote of the Senate is more strict than the Constitution's requirement for impeachment and removal of the president for "high crimes and misdemeanors"a "majority" of the House followed by two-thirds of the Senate.


text: In addition, an impeached president retains his authority unless and until the Senate votes to remove him or her at the end of an impeachment trial; in contrast, should Congress be called upon to decide the question of the president's ability or inability under Section4, presidential authority remains in the hands of the vice president (as acting president) unless and until the question is resolved in the president's favor.


text: This provision is ambiguous as to whether, in the enumerated circumstances, the vice president becomes the president, or merely assumes the "powers and duties" of the presidency. It also fails to define what constitutes "inability", or how questions concerning inability are to be resolved. The Twenty-fifth Amendment addressed these deficiencies. The ambiguities in ArticleII, Section1, Clause6 of the Constitution regarding death, resignation, removal, or disability of the president created difficulties several times:


text: The 1951 novel "The Caine Mutiny" and its 1954 film version influenced the drafters of the amendment. John D. Feerick told "The Washington Post" in 2018 that the film was a “live depiction” of the type of crisis that could arise "if a president ever faced questions about physical or mental inabilities but disagreed completely with the judgment", which was not dealt with in the Constitution. Lawmakers and lawyers drafting the amendment wanted no such "Article 184 situation" as depicted in the film, in which the Vice President of the U.S. or others could topple the President by merely saying that the President was "disabled".


text: In 1963, Senator Kenneth Keating of New York proposed a Constitutional amendment which would have enabled Congress to enact legislation providing for how to determine when a president is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the presidency, rather than, as the Twenty-fifth Amendment does, having the Constitution so provide. This proposal was based upon a recommendation of the American Bar Association in 1960.


text: Senators raised concerns that the Congress could either abuse such authority, or neglect to enact any such legislation after the adoption of this proposal. Tennessee senator Estes Kefauver, the Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments, a long-time advocate for addressing the disability question, spearheaded the effort until he died in August 1963. Senator Keating was defeated in the 1964 election, but Senator Roman Hruska of Nebraska took up Keating's cause as a new member of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments.


text: By the 1960s, medical advances had made increasingly plausible that an injured or ill president might live a long time while incapacitated. The assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963 underscored the need for a clear procedure for determining presidential disability, particularly since the new president, Lyndon Johnson, had once suffered a heart attack andwith the office of vice president to remain vacant until the next term began on January 20, 1965the next two people in the line of succession were the 71-year-old speaker of the House John McCormack and the 86-year-old Senate president pro tempore Carl Hayden. Senator Birch Bayh succeeded Kefauver as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments and set about advocating for a detailed amendment dealing with presidential disability.


text: On January 6, 1965, Senator Birch Bayh proposed S.J. Res.1 in the Senate and Representative Emanuel Celler (Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee) proposed H.J. Res.1 in the House of Representatives. Their proposal specified the process by which a president could be declared "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office", thereby making the vice president an acting president, and how the president could regain the powers of their office. Also, their proposal provided a way to fill a vacancy in the office of vice president before the next presidential election. This was as opposed to the Keating–Kefauver proposal, which neither provided for filling a vacancy in the office of vice president prior to the next presidential election, nor provided a process for determining presidential disability. In 1964, the American Bar Association endorsed the type of proposal which Bayh and Celler advocated. On January 28, 1965, President Johnson endorsed S.J. Res.1 in a statement to Congress. Their proposal received bipartisan support.


text: On February 19, the Senate passed the amendment, but the House passed a different version of the amendment on April13. On April22 it was returned to the Senate with revisions. There were four areas of disagreement between the House and Senate versions:


text: On July 6, after a conference committee ironed out differences between the versions, the final version of the amendment was passed by both Houses of the Congress and presented to the states for ratification.


text: Nebraska was the first state to ratify, on July12, 1965, and ratification became complete when Nevada became the 38th state to ratify, on February10, 1967.


text: When President Lyndon B. Johnson underwent planned surgery in 1965, he was unable to temporarily transfer power to Vice President Hubert H. Humphrey because ratification remained incomplete. On February23, 1967, at the White House ceremony certifying the ratification, Johnson said:


text: On October 10, 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned; two days later President Richard Nixon nominated Representative Gerald Ford to replace Agnew as new vice president pursuant to Section2. Ford was confirmed by the Senate and the House on November27 and December6 respectively, and sworn in December6.


text: On August 9, 1974 Nixon resigned and Ford became president under Section1; Ford is the only president to have been elected neither president nor vice president.


text: The office of vice president was thus again vacant, and on August20 President Ford nominated former New York governor Nelson Rockefeller. Rockefeller was confirmed by the Senate and the House on December 10 and 19 respectively, and sworn in December 19.


text: Feerick writes that the Twenty-fifth Amendment helped pave the way for Nixon's resignation during the Watergate scandal. Nixon and Agnew were Republicans, and in the months immediately following Agnew's resignation, with the vice presidency empty, removal or resignation of Nixon would have transferred the presidential powers to House Speaker Carl Albert, a Democrat. But once Ford (a Republican) became vice president under Section 2, removal of Nixon became more palatable because it would, now, not result in a change in the party holding the presidency, and therefore "the momentum for exposing the truth about Nixon's involvement in Watergate increased."


text: On December 22, 1978, President Jimmy Carter considered invoking Section3 in advance of hemorrhoid surgery. Since then, presidents Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama also considered invoking Section3 at various times without doing so.


text: On July 12, 1985, President Ronald Reagan underwent a colonoscopy and was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He elected to have the lesion removed immediately, and consulted with White House counsel Fred Fielding about whether to invoke Section3, and in particular about whether doing so would set an undesirable precedent. Fielding and White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan recommended that Reagan transfer power, and two letters were drafted: one specifically invoking Section3, the other mentioning only that Reagan was mindful of its provisions. On July 13, Reagan signed the second letter before being placed under general anesthesia for a colectomy, and Vice President George H. W. Bush was acting president from 11:28 a.m. until 7:22 p.m., when Reagan transmitted a letter declaring himself able to resume his duties.


text: In the "Fordham Law Review", commentator John Feerick asserted that although Reagan disclaimed any use of the Twenty-fifth Amendment in his letter (likely out of "fear of the reaction of the country and the world to a 'President' who admitted to being disabled, and concern ... [over] set[ting] a harmful precedent"), he followed the process set forth in Section3. Furthermore, Feerick noted that "no constitutional provision except the Twenty-Fifth Amendment would have allowed" him to designate the vice president as acting president. Reagan later stated in a memoir that he had, in fact, invoked the Twenty-fifth Amendment.


text: On June 29, 2002, President George W. Bush explicitly invoked Section3 in temporarily transferring his powers to Vice President Dick Cheney before undergoing a colonoscopy, which began at 7:09 a.m. Bush awoke about forty minutes later, but did not resume his presidential powers until 9:24 a.m. to ensure any aftereffects had cleared. According to his staff, Acting President Cheney held his regular national security and homeland security meetings with aides at the White House, but made no appearances and took no recorded actions while being acting president.


text: In the view of commentator Adam Gustafson, this confident application of Section3 "rectified" President Reagan's "ambivalent invocation" and provided an example of a "smooth and temporary transition" under Section3 that paved the way for future applications. Together with the 2007 invocation, it established the reasonableness of invocation for relatively minor inabilities, promoting continuity in the Executive Branch.


text: On July 21, 2007, Bush again invoked Section3 before another colonoscopy. Cheney was acting president from 7:16 a.m. until 9:21 a.m. During that time, Vice President Cheney (as acting president) remained at home. This 2007 invocation and the 2002 invocation received relatively little attention in the press overall.


text: On November 19, 2021, President Joe Biden temporarily transferred his powers and duties to Vice President Kamala Harris before undergoing a colonoscopy, making her acting president from 10:10 a.m. until 11:35 a.m. Harris is the first woman to hold the powers and duties of the U.S. presidency.


text: Following the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan on March30, 1981, Vice President George H. W. Bush did not assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president. Reagan had been rushed into surgery with no opportunity to invoke Section3; Bush did not invoke Section4 because he was on a plane at the time of the shooting, and Reagan was out of surgery by the time Bush landed in Washington. In 1995, Birch Bayh, the primary sponsor of the amendment in the Senate, wrote that Section4 should have been invoked. Physician to the President Daniel Ruge, who supervised Reagan's treatment immediately after the shooting, said he had erred by not having Reagan invoke Section3 because the president needed general anesthesia and was in an intensive care unit.


text: From the end of the 1980s onwards, Reagan's political opponents alleged that he showed signs of dementia. According to Reagan biographer Edmund Morris, staffers to White House chief of staff Howard Baker intended to use their first meeting with Reagan in 1987 to evaluate whether he was "losing his mental grip". However, Reagan "came in stimulated by the press of all these new people and performed splendidly".


text: Reagan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in 1994, five years after leaving office. The president told neurosurgeon Daniel Ruge, according to Ruge in 1980, that he expected doctors to test his memory, and promised to resign if it deteriorated. After the 1994 diagnosis, Ruge said he never found any sign of Alzheimer's while talking to him almost every day from 1981 to 1985.


text: After President Donald Trump dismissed FBI director James Comey in May 2017, acting FBI director Andrew McCabe claimed that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein held high-level discussions within the Justice Department about approaching Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet about possibly invoking Section4. Miles Taylor, who anonymously authored "I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration" and "A Warning", also wrote that he and other aides considered approaching Pence to invoke the Twenty-fifth Amendment. A spokesperson later said that Rosenstein denied pursuing the Twenty-fifth Amendment, and Pence strongly denied considering invoking Section4. On March 15, 2019, Senator Lindsey Graham stated the Senate Judiciary Committee would investigate the discussions and seek related documents.


text: After the storming of the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, President Trump was accused of having incited the incident, leading to several calls for Section4 to be invoked. Proponents included Representatives Ted Lieu and Charlie Crist, former Defense Secretary William Cohen, and the National Association of Manufacturers (which asked Vice President Pence to "seriously consider" invoking the amendment). By evening, some of Trump's Cabinet members were also reportedly considering invoking Section4. In a "New York" magazine article, law professor Paul Campos also supported using Section4 "immediately" and "for the good of the nation." On January 7, incoming Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi also called for Section4 to be invoked.


title: Marty Stuart

text: John Marty Stuart (born September 30, 1958) is an American country and bluegrass music singer, songwriter, and musician. Active since 1968, Stuart initially toured with Lester Flatt, and then in Johnny Cash's road band before beginning work as a solo artist in the early 1980s. His greatest commercial success came in the first half of the 1990s on MCA Records Nashville. Stuart has recorded over 20 studio albums, and has charted over 30 times on the "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts. His highest chart entry is "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'", a duet with Travis Tritt. Stuart has also won five Grammy Awards out of 16 nominations. He is known for his combination of rockabilly, country rock, and bluegrass music influences, his frequent collaborations and cover songs, and his distinctive stage dress. Stuart is also a member of the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame.


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart learned to play guitar and mandolin as a child, and by age 12, he had joined a gospel band called The Sullivans. While a member of this band, Stuart met mandolinist Roland White, a member of Lester Flatt's backing band; White invited Stuart to perform with Flatt at a concert in Delaware in 1972, which led to him becoming a regular member of that band. He continued to tour in this capacity until Flatt retired in 1978, and recorded an independent album called "With a Little Help from My Friends" that same year. After this, Stuart performed with Vassar Clements and Doc Watson before joining Johnny Cash's band in 1980.


title: Marty Stuart

text: In 1982, he released a second album called "Busy Bee Cafe" on Sugar Hill Records. The album was composed of a jam session that included a number of country and bluegrass performers such as Cash, Watson, and Earl Scruggs. In 1985, Stuart accompanied Johnny Cash to Memphis and played on the "Class of '55" album that also featured Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and Jerry Lee Lewis. At the end of the session, Perkins presented Stuart with his guitar. Later that year, Stuart left Cash's band and landed a recording contract with Columbia Records.


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart released his self-titled debut album on Columbia in 1985. The album accounted for Stuart's first chart entry on "Billboard" Hot Country Songs charts with his first single release, "Arlene". Three other singles charted from the album in 1986: "Honky Tonker" and "All Because of You", both written by Steve Forbert, and Stuart's own "Do You Really Want My Lovin'". However, these songs were less successful on the charts. AllMusic writer Jim Worbois gave the album a mixed review, stating that it was "Not a great album, but made somewhat more interesting by some of the people appearing on the record and the inclusion of two Steve Forbert songs." He recorded a second album for Columbia titled "Let There Be Country", which charted two singles in 1988: the Merle Haggard composition "Mirrors Don't Lie" and "Matches". Due to the underperformance of the singles, Columbia chose not to release the album, and Stuart exited the label to return to Mississippi.


title: Marty Stuart

text: After briefly rejoining the Sullivans, he returned to Nashville and signed with MCA Records in 1989. That label issued the album "Hillbilly Rock" that year. Co-produced by Tony Brown and session guitarist Richard Bennett, the album charted four singles on Hot Country Songs. First was a cover of Cash's "Cry! Cry! Cry!", followed by "Don't Leave Her Lonely Too Long", which Stuart wrote with Kostas. While these were unsuccessful on the charts, the album's title track (written by Paul Kennerley) became Stuart's first top-ten country hit in 1990. The album's final release was "Western Girls", which Stuart also co-wrote. "Hillbilly Rock" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1997 for shipments of 500,000 copies.


title: Marty Stuart

text: His second MCA album, "Tempted", followed in 1991. The album charted four singles on Hot Country Songs between 1991 and 1992: "Little Things", "Till I Found You", "Tempted", and "Burn Me Down", of which all except "Till I Found You" reached the top ten. Bennett and Brown stayed on as producers, with the former also contributing alongside Stuart on both guitar and mandolin. Kennerley and Kostas contributed as both songwriters and backing vocalists; also performing backing vocals on some tracks were Billy Thomas and Ray Herndon, who were also recording on MCA in McBride & the Ride at the time. Jana Pendragon of AllMusic gave the album four-and-a-half stars out of five, comparing it to Dwight Yoakam's "Hillbilly Deluxe" in style and saying, "Stuart kicks country-pop in its well-defined hindquarters[…]But Stuart is just as deadly when he slows things down and does a ballad."


title: Marty Stuart

text: Also in 1991, Stuart co-wrote a song with Travis Tritt called "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'". Recorded on the latter's 1991 album "It's All About to Change", this song was released in between "Tempted" and "Burn Me Down". It would go on to become Stuart's highest chart entry, reaching number two on Hot Country Songs in early 1992. It also won Stuart his first Grammy Award, for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals that year. This song's success also led to the two touring in 1992 as the No Hats Tour, a reference to the fact that unlike most contemporary country musicians, neither Tritt nor Stuart sported a cowboy hat.


title: Marty Stuart

text: His next MCA album, "This One's Gonna Hurt You", came out in 1992. The lead single "This One's Gonna Hurt You (For a Long, Long Time)", also a duet with Tritt, was a top-ten hit in 1992, but the followup singles "Now That's Country", "High on a Mountain Top", and "Hey Baby" were less successful. Kennerley and Cash were once again among the contributing vocalists, while Ashley Cleveland and Pam Tillis both sang backing vocals on "High on a Mountain Top". Johnny Cash provided duet vocals on "Doin' My Time", while the track "Me and Hank and Jumpin' Jack Flash" sampled voice recordings of Lester Flatt, Hank Williams, and Ernest Tubb. Alanna Nash of "Entertainment Weekly" rated the album "A", finding the "stylistic mix" superior to preceding albums, noting influences of bluegrass, Southern rock, rockabilly, and blues in his delivery and song choices. Also in 1992, Columbia issued "Let There Be Country". "This One's Gonna Hurt You" was certified gold by the RIAA in 1993. Stuart won his second Grammy Award in 1993, in the category of Best Country Instrumental Performance, as one of several featured artists on Asleep at the Wheel's cover of "Red Wing" on their 1993 album "Tribute to the Music of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys".


title: Marty Stuart

text: "Love and Luck" was his next album, released in 1994. Only one single, "Kiss Me, I'm Gone", made top 40 from the project. Stuart co-produced the album with Brown, while also contributing on guitar, mandolin, and songwriting. The album's opening title track featured Vince Gill, Ricky Skaggs, and Harry Stinson on backing vocals. Also included were two covers: Billy Joe Shaver's "If I Give My Soul" and The Flying Burrito Brothers' "Wheels", as well as the mandolin instrumental "Marty Stuart Visits the Moon". Daniel Gioffre of AllMusic highlighted these three tracks in particular as being among the strongest on the album. Nash rated the album "B", stating that "As a singer, Marty Stuart has all the zip of unbuttered toast, and as a writer, too many of his songs float aimlessly...Yet Stuart has genuine love for the early country greats and injects his own work with such impassioned strains of old hillbilly styles, that he charms in spite of his limitations."


title: Marty Stuart

text: Following this album, MCA issued a compilation called "The Marty Party Hit Pack" in 1995, which contained singles from his previous MCA albums, as well as "The Whiskey Ain't Workin'", the previously-unreleased "The Likes of Me" and "If I Ain't Got You", and two cover songs previously found on multi-artist tribute albums released in 1994. These were a rendition of Elvis Presley's "Don't Be Cruel", featuring The Jordanaires and previously found on "It's Now or Never: The Tribute to Elvis", and The Band's "The Weight", featuring The Staple Singers and previously found on "Rhythm, Country and Blues". Both of these cover songs were produced by Don Was, while Don Cook handled production on the two new songs. "The Likes of Me" was previously cut by Conway Twitty on his 1993 album "Final Touches", on which Cook was also a producer. Both of these new songs issued as singles in 1995, but neither entered the country music top 40. Jay Orr of "New Country" magazine criticized "The Likes of Me" and the two cover songs, but otherwise found the album a "neat summation" of Stuart's music. "The Marty Party Hit Pack" became Stuart's fourth and final gold album in 1998.


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart released "Honky Tonkin's What I Do Best" in 1996, which produced two more minor chart entries in the title track (another duet with Tritt) and "You Can't Stop Love" that year. The title track also won Stuart a Vocal Event of the Year award from the Country Music Association. Nash rated the album "A−", finding an influence of The Beatles in "Thanks to You" and of Delta blues in "The Mississippi Mudcat and Sister Sheryl Crow".


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart released another album in 1999 called "The Pilgrim". It charted only one single that year with "Red, Red Wine and Cheatin' Songs". A concept album based around a love triangle, the album featured vocal contributions from Pam Tillis, George Jones, and Emmylou Harris, as well as a poem recited by Johnny Cash. An uncredited review of the album in AllMusic was largely favorable, stating that "no one's idea of a commercial country album, one has to admire the sheer ambition of the project, as well as the guts it took MCA Records to release what amounts to a unique and deeply personal artistic vision." After this album proved to be commercially unsuccessful, Stuart left MCA in 2000.


title: Marty Stuart

text: His next album was 2003's "Country Music", released on Columbia Records. For this album, Stuart assembled a new backing band called Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives, consisting of Harry Stinson on drums, Kenny Vaughan on guitar, and Brian Glenn on bass guitar. Included on the albums were covers of Porter Wagoner's "A Satisfied Mind", Carl Butler and Pearl's "Sundown in Nashville", and Johnny Cash's "Walls of a Prison", as well as the Merle Haggard duet "Farmer's Blues". Two singles from the album both charted: "If There Ain't, There Ought'a Be" and "Too Much Month (At the End of the Money)". Thom Jurek of AllMusic wrote that the album "is relentless in both its attack and in the pleasure it provides to the listener. There are hot licks everywhere, with great songs, vocals, and a tapestry of moods, textures, and shades that serve to leave one impression: Stuart's radical experimentation of the last ten years has resulted in his finest moment thus far."


title: Marty Stuart

text: In 2005, Stuart launched a custom record label, Superlatone Records, to issue overlooked Southern Gospel and Roots music recordings. Stuart released three critically acclaimed collections on Superlatone, "Souls' Chapel", "Badlands", and "Live at the Ryman". In October 2005, Stuart released a concept album, "Badlands: Ballads of the Lakota", which pays tribute to the Sioux culture in what is now South Dakota. In 2007, Stuart produced Porter Wagoner's final album on the predominantly punk label Epitaph Records.


title: Marty Stuart

text: The Fabulous Superlatives, Marty Stuart's band since 2002, includes him on guitar and mandolin, Kenny Vaughan on guitar, and Harry Stinson on drums, and from 2002 until 2008, Brian Glenn on bass. From 2008 until 2015, Paul Martin was on bass. In 2015, Chris Scruggs replaced Paul Martin on bass, and also played steel guitar. Every member also sings.


title: Marty Stuart

text: In a 1992 article for "Entertainment Weekly", Kate Meyers wrote that Stuart "considers himself more a stylist than a singer, meaning he gets by with a mix of approaches...rather than relying on a fantastic voice of his own", citing Johnny Cash, Bill Monroe, and Muddy Waters as his main musical influences. Stuart's musical image in the 1990s was also defined by his distinct clothing and hairstyle. Meyers described him as having a "striking black mane, speckled with well-earned gray...[o]ften tied in a black or pink bandana headband", faded jeans from Levi Strauss & Co., a black T-shirt, cowboy boots, a concho belt, and a rhinestone-studded suit jacket designed by Nudie Cohn (sometimes termed the "Nudie suit").


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart is known for his extensive collection of country music memorabilia. Some of his collection was exhibited at the Tennessee State Museum in 2007 as "Sparkle & Twang: Marty Stuart's American Musical Odyssey." The exhibit later appeared at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland, Ohio, and at the Arkansas Statehouse Museum. In early 2018, Stuart co-curated, along with the Grammy Museum, an exhibit at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, entitled "Marty Stuart's Way Out West: A Country Music Odyssey". The exhibit highlighted the West Coast impact on country music, featuring items by artists including Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, and Stuart himself. Many of the items in the exhibit came from the private collection of Stuart, including the last portrait of Cash (taken by Stuart four days before Cash died).


title: Marty Stuart

text: Yvonne and Mavis Staples of the Staple Singers gave one of their father "Pops" Staples' guitars to Marty Stuart after Pop's death. Mavis Staples explained, "My father was Marty's godfather. My sisters and I took him in as our brother. He's the only one that I've heard who -- when he's playing guitar, he sounds like Pop. He can play just like him."


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart's guitars also include 'Clarence', the familiar two-tone Fender Telecaster, once owned by Clarence White. This instrument, is the original B-Bender guitar, built by White and Gene Parsons around 1967, designed to allow the guitarist to manually raise the guitar's 'B' string one whole step to play in a style similar to a pedal steel guitar. Stuart bought this unique guitar in 1980 from White's widow.


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart is host of "The Marty Stuart Show", which features traditional country music in the vein of "The Porter Wagoner Show", "Flatt & Scruggs", the "Wilburn Brothers Show", and "Hee Haw". "The Marty Stuart Show" began airing at 8:00 pm on November 1, 2008, on cable's RFD-TV. Although no new episodes have been produced as of 2022, the network continues to air old episodes of the show under the name "The Best of the Marty Stuart Show".


title: Marty Stuart

text: Each episode features music by Stuart and his band the Fabulous Superlatives. Stuart hosts and produces the 30-minute episodes, with WSM disc jockey and Grand Ole Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs serving as the show's emcee.


title: Marty Stuart

text: Stuart is a member of the board of the Country Music Foundation and is a past president. Stuart has also been a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1992. On August 12, 2020, Stuart was selected to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.


title: Marty Stuart

text: Since July 8, 1997, Stuart has been married to country artist Connie Smith, whom he had admired since his childhood. Stuart described encountering Smith many years earlier, after attending her concert: "I met Connie when I was 12 years old. She came to the Indian reservation in my hometown of Philadelphia, Mississippi, to work at a fair. She hasn't changed a bit. She looked great then and she looks great now." Stuart said he told his mother then that he was going to marry Connie Smith. Smith explains how they have sustained their marriage : "Make the Lord the center ... and commit."


title: Marty Stuart

text: A. shared with Joe Nichols, Rhonda Vincent, Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, James Taylor, Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Terri Clark, Merle Haggard, Carl Jackson, Ronnie Dunn, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Glen Campbell, Leslie Satcher, Kathy Louvin, Pamela Brown Hayes, Linda Ronstadt, Patty Loveless, Jon Randall, Harley Allen, Dierks Bentley, Larry Cordle, Jerry Salley, Dolly Parton, Sonya Isaacs, Del McCoury, Pam Tillis, Johnny Cash and The Jordanaires.


title: Marty Stuart

text: <br> B. shared with Everett Lilly, Bea Lilly, Charles Lilly, Daniel Lilly, Mark Lilly, Rhonda Vincent, Billy Walker, Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, David Ball, Charlie Cushman, Larry Stevenson, Joe Spivey, Eddie Stubbs, Jason Carter, Dickey Lee, Freddie Weller, Mike Bub, Rad Lewis, Andy May, Darrin Vincent, Marcia Campbell, Clay Rigdon, Eric Blankenship and Bill Wolfenbarger.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Ruth Ann Buzzi ( ; born July 24, 1936) is an American actress, comedian, and singer. She has appeared on stage, in films, and on television. She is best known for her performances on the comedy-variety show "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In" from 1968 to 1973, for which she won a Golden Globe Award and received five Emmy nominations.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi was born at Westerly Hospital, Westerly, Rhode Island, the daughter of Rena Pauline and Angelo Peter Buzzi, a nationally recognized stone sculptor. Her father, who came from an Italian family, immigrated from Arzo, Switzerland in 1923. She was raised in the village of Wequetequock in the town of Stonington, Connecticut, in a rock house overlooking the ocean at Wequetequock Cove, where her father owned Buzzi Memorials, a business that her older brother Harold operated until his retirement in 2013.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi attended Stonington High School, where she was head cheerleader. At 17, she enrolled at the Pasadena Playhouse for the Performing Arts, from which she graduated with honors.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Before graduation from college, Buzzi was already a working actress with a union card in musical and comedy revues. Her first job in show business was at 19, traveling with singer Rudy Vallee in a live musical and comedy act during her summer break from college; it allowed her to graduate with an Actors' Equity Association union card. She moved to New York City after graduation and was hired immediately for a lead role in an off-Broadway musical revue, the first of 19 in which she performed around the East Coast. She worked alongside other young performers just beginning their careers at the time, including Barbra Streisand, Joan Rivers, Dom DeLuise, Bernadette Peters, and Carol Burnett. She performed in New York musical variety shows, and she made numerous television commercials, some of which won national awards including the Clio Award.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Her first national recognition on television came on "The Garry Moore Show" in 1964, just after Carol Burnett was replaced by Dorothy Loudon on the series. She performed as "Shakundala the Silent", a bumbling magician's assistant to her comedy partner Dom DeLuise, who played "Dominic the Great". Buzzi was a member of the regular repertory company on the CBS variety show "The Entertainers" (1964–65). In 1966–67, she appeared in "Sweet Charity" with Bob Fosse's wife Gwen Verdon in the original cast. She had several small roles, including "the Singing Fairy".


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: In 1967, Buzzi appeared in all eight episodes of "The Steve Allen Comedy Hour", a variety series starring Steve Allen. Her character parts in the Allen sketches led her to be cast for NBC's new show "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In". She was the only featured player to appear in every episode of "Laugh-In" including the pilot for the show and the "Laugh-In" television special. Among her recurring characters on "Laugh-In" were Flicker Farkle, youngest of the Farkle family; Busy-Buzzi, a Hedda Hopper-type Hollywood gossip columnist; Doris Swizzler, a cocktail-lounge habituée who always got smashed with husband Leonard (Dick Martin); and one of the Burbank Airlines Stewardesses, inconsiderate flight attendants.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Her most famous character was "spinster" Gladys Ormphby, clad in drab brown with her bun hairdo covered by a visible hairnet knotted in the middle of her forehead. Buzzi first used this look when she played Agnes Gooch in a school production of "Auntie Mame". In most sketches, she used her purse as a weapon, with which she would flail away vigorously at anyone who incurred her wrath. She most often was the unwilling object of the advances of Arte Johnson's "dirty old man" character Tyrone F. Horneigh. NBC collectively called these two characters "The Nitwits" when they went to animation in the mid-1970s as part of the series "Baggy Pants and the Nitwits". Buzzi and Johnson both voiced their respective roles in the cartoon.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi was featured as Gladys in many of the Dean Martin Roasts from the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, ranting about notable roastees including Muhammad Ali, Frank Sinatra, and Lucille Ball. In each case, Gladys pugnaciously attacked the honoree with her purse, and she would also hit Martin when he made disparaging remarks about her looks and her romantic prospects.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi was featured as a semi-regular on the comedy "That Girl" as Marlo Thomas's friend Margie "Pete" Peterson. She starred with Jim Nabors as the time-traveling androids Fi and Fum in "The Lost Saucer" produced by Sid and Marty Krofft which aired from September 11, 1975, until September 2, 1976 (16 episodes).


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: In 1979, she co-starred on the Canadian kid's comedy show "You Can't Do That on Television" (also known as "Whatever Turns You On").


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi also guest-starred as Chloe, the wife of phone company worker Henry Beesmeyer (Marvin Kaplan) on "Alice" in 1981. She was also a guest star on "Down to Earth" in 1985. Dean Martin's producer Greg Garrison hired her for his comedy specials starring Dom DeLuise. She recorded the single "You Oughta Hear The Song" in 1977 which reached number 90 on Billboard's national Country Music chart; Buzzi joked in 2022 in hindsight: "Here’s a medley of my hit song: I’d like to thank the millions and millions of you who didn’t buy a copy. I got to spend quality time at home in ‘78 instead of standing in front of all those aggravating audiences."


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi was a guest star on many television series, including "Donny & Marie", "The Flip Wilson Show", "The Dean Martin Music and Comedy Hour", the Dean Martin Roasts, "The Carol Burnett Show", "Tony Orlando and Dawn", "The Monkees", "Emergency!", and variety series hosted by Leslie Uggams and by Glen Campbell. She also appeared occasionally on game shows and was a celebrity judge on "The Gong Show". She appeared on Lucille Ball's last comedy "Life with Lucy" as Mrs. Wilcox in the episode "Lucy Makes a Hit with John Ritter". She appeared eight times on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" and has made more than 200 other television guest appearances.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi voiced the character Nose Marie in the Hanna-Barbera animated series "Pound Puppies" (1986). She also voiced Mama Bear in "Berenstain Bears" (1985) and performed hundreds of guest voices for many other cartoon series, including "The Smurfs", "The Angry Beavers", and Mo Willems' "Sheep in the Big City".


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: She joined the cast of "Sesame Street" in 1993 as shopkeeper, Ruthie, as part of the Around the Corner set expansion. Ruthie ran Finders Keepers, which sold items previously owned by fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters. After the set was removed in 1999 she continued to appear on the show, often in inserts, usually in costume as other characters. She also voiced Suzie Kabloozie and her pet cat, Feff in animated inserts that were shown on the show from 1994 to 2008. She reprised her role as Ruthie in Sesame Street Stays Up Late, Sesame Street's All Star 25th Birthday: Stars and Street Forever and Elmopalooza as well as the direct-to-video production, The Best of Elmo and the feature film The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi performed in numerous national television commercials, most notably for Clorox 2, Clairol, Ban roll-on deodorant, and Santa Anita Park, and she voiced Granny Goodwitch in television commercials for Sugar Crisp cereal. She originated the Goodwitch character in the animated TV series "Linus the Lionhearted" (1964–65).


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi appeared in the "Weird Al" Yankovic video "Gump" and similarly appeared in other music videos with the B-52's and The Presidents of the United States of America. She appeared on "Saved by the Bell", "The Muppet Show", two episodes of "You Can't Do That on Television" in 1979 (as well as the entire run of the "You Can't Do That On Television"'s spinoff "Whatever Turns You On"), and numerous other television shows. She played the role of the eccentric Nurse Kravitz on NBC's daytime soap opera "Passions". In 2006 and 2007, she made guest appearances on the children's TV series "Come on Over".


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi had a successful nightclub act across the United States, including at Las Vegas's Sahara and at the MGM Grand hotels. She performed the act for one year. Her shows all sold out and she was reportedly offered an extended stay but declined.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: She had featured roles in more than 20 films, including "Chu Chu and the Philly Flash", "Freaky Friday", "The North Avenue Irregulars", "The Apple Dumpling Gang Rides Again", "The Villain", "The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland", and a number of westerns for the European market known as the Lucky Luke series in which she plays the mother of the Dalton Gang.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi is a charter member of the Pasadena Playhouse Alumni Association. Buzzi paints as a hobby; she has never offered her oil paintings for sale to the public, but has donated original works to charity, where they have sold in excess of $6,000.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi supports numerous children's charities including Make a Wish Foundation, the Special Olympics, The Thalians, St. Jude's Hospital, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and is a children's art summer camp sponsor through Dallas Museum of Biblical Art. She is active in fundraising for the Utopia Animal Rescue Ranch in Medina, Texas and other animal causes.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi lives with her husband Kent Perkins on a cattle and horse ranch near Stephenville, Texas. Buzzi and her husband are avid automobile collectors. Their collection focuses on post-war English vehicles including Bentley and Rolls-Royce and Jaguar, although it also includes several American convertibles and muscle cars. Some of her vehicles have been in television commercials, featured in parades, and her blue Bentley convertible was featured on the cover of "Vogue" with Jessica Simpson behind the wheel. with some of their cars having been donated and/or loaned to and displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, California including a red, fuel-injected 1957 Chevrolet convertible that was exhibited (from 1993 to 2011) as part of the display honoring the cars of Steve McQueen. Buzzi's 1960 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud drophead coupe convertible was on display for the "Century of Elegance" exhibit.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: The museum featured a 1965 Chrysler Imperial convertible previously owned by Katharine Hepburn, donated to the museum by Buzzi and Perkins in 2001 and the vehicle remains there for special exhibition. Buzzi and Perkins won first place in their category with their 1961 Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud II drophead coupe at the Concours d'Elegance national championship in Amelia Island, Florida. The vehicle won first place in the Los Angeles Rolls Royce Owners Club's "most elegant car" competition.


title: Ruth Buzzi

text: Buzzi has been name-dropped in numerous songs, including House of Pain's "I'm A Swing It", The Bled's "Ruth Buzzi Better Watch Her Back", and the Loretta Lynn/Conway Twitty duet "You're the Reason Our Kids Are Ugly".


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: "White Rabbit" is a song written by Grace Slick and recorded by the American rock band Jefferson Airplane for their 1967 album "Surrealistic Pillow". It draws on imagery from Lewis Carroll's 1865 book "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and its 1871 sequel "Through the Looking-Glass".


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: It was released as a single and became the band's second top-10 success, peaking at number eight on the "Billboard" Hot 100. The song was ranked number 478 on "Rolling Stone"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, number 483 in 2010, and number 455 in 2021 and appears on The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: "White Rabbit" was written and performed by Grace Slick while she was still with The Great Society. Slick quit them and joined Jefferson Airplane to replace their departing female singer, Signe Toly Anderson, who left the band with the birth of her child. The first album Slick recorded with Jefferson Airplane was "Surrealistic Pillow", and Slick provided two songs from her previous group: her own "White Rabbit" and "Somebody to Love", written by her brother-in-law Darby Slick and recorded under the title "Someone to Love" by the Great Society. The Great Society's version of "White Rabbit" was much longer than the more aggressive version of Jefferson Airplane. Both songs became top-10 hits for Jefferson Airplane and have ever since been associated with that band.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: "White Rabbit" is one of Grace Slick's earliest songs, written during December 1965 or January 1966. It uses imagery found in the fantasy works of Lewis Carroll—1865's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and its 1871 sequel "Through the Looking-Glass"—such as changing size after taking pills or drinking an unknown liquid.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: Slick wrote the lyrics first, then composed the music at a red upright piano she had bought for US$50 with eight or ten keys missing—"that was OK because I could hear in my head the notes that weren't there"


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: —moving between major chords for the verses and chorus. She said that the music was heavily influenced by Miles Davis's 1960 album "Sketches of Spain", particularly Davis's treatment of the "Concierto de Aranjuez" (1939). She later said: "Writing weird stuff about Alice backed by a dark Spanish march was in step with what was going on in San Francisco then. We were all trying to get as far away from the expected as possible."


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: Slick said the composition was supposed to be a slap to parents who read their children such novels and then wondered why their children later used drugs. She later commented that all fairytales read to little girls have a Prince Charming who comes and saves them. But Alice did not; she was on her own in a very strange place, but she kept on going and followed her curiosity – "that's the White Rabbit". A lot of women could have taken a message from that story about how you can push your own agenda. The line "feed your head" is about reading, as well as psychedelics feed your head by paying attention: read some books, pay attention.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: Characters Slick referenced include Alice, the White Rabbit, the hookah-smoking caterpillar, the White Knight, the Red Queen, and the Dormouse. Slick reportedly wrote the song after an acid trip.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: For Slick, "White Rabbit" "is about following your curiosity. The White Rabbit is your curiosity." For her and others in the 1960s, drugs were a part of mind expansion and social experimentation. With its enigmatic lyrics, "White Rabbit" became one of the first songs to sneak drug references past censors on the radio. Even Marty Balin, Slick's eventual rival in Jefferson Airplane, regarded the song as a "masterpiece". In interviews, Slick has related that "Alice in Wonderland" was often read to her as a child and remained a vivid memory well into her adulthood.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: In an interview with "The Wall Street Journal", Slick mentioned that, in addition to "Alice in Wonderland", her other inspiration for the song was Ravel's "Boléro". Like "Boléro", "White Rabbit" is essentially one long crescendo. The music combined with the song's lyrics strongly suggests the sensory distortions experienced with hallucinogens, and the song was later used in pop culture to imply or accompany just such a state.


title: White Rabbit (song)

text: The song was first played by the Great Society in a bar in San Francisco in early 1966, and later when they opened the bill for bigger bands like the Grateful Dead. They made a series of demo records for Autumn Records, for which they were assisted by Sly Stone. Grace Slick said: "We were so bad that Sly eventually played all the instruments so the demo would sound OK." When Slick joined Jefferson Airplane later in 1966, she taught the song to the band, who recorded it for their album "Surrealistic Pillow". "White Rabbit" is in the key of F-sharp which Slick acknowledges "is difficult for guitar players as it requires some intricate fingering".


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Charlotte Douglas International Airport (IATA: CLT, ICAO: KCLT, FAA LID: CLT), typically referred to as Charlotte Douglas, Douglas Airport, or simply CLT, is an international airport in Charlotte, North Carolina, located roughly six miles west of the city's central business district. Charlotte Douglas is the primary airport for commercial and military use in the Charlotte metropolitan area. Operated by the city of Charlotte's aviation department, the airport covers 5,558 acres (2,249 ha) of land.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, the airport was later renamed for Ben Elbert Douglas Sr., who was mayor of Charlotte when the airport was first built. In 1982 the airport was renamed again, this time to its current Charlotte Douglas International Airport.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 2019, CLT was the 11th-busiest airport in the United States in terms of passenger traffic, having processed over 50 million passengers, and fifth-busiest in terms of aircraft operations, ranking sixth globally. In 2021, CLT grew to the sixth busiest airport in the United States. Charlotte is a fortress hub for American Airlines, which operates the majority of the airport's flights. The airport has four runways and one passenger terminal with 115 gates (the most of any airport terminal in the U.S.) across five concourses. A commercial-civil-military facility, the airport is home to the Charlotte Air National Guard base and its host unit, the 145th Airlift Wing of the North Carolina Air National Guard.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: The city received Works Progress Administration funding to establish Charlotte's first municipal airport; the airport was, at the time, the largest single WPA project in the United States, incorporating a terminal, hangar, beacon tower and three runways.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1936, Charlotte Municipal Airport opened, operated by the City of Charlotte; Eastern Air Lines began scheduled passenger service in 1937. The original passenger terminal still exists and is used for offices and training rooms by various aviation-related organizations.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: The United States Army Air Forces took control of the airport and established Charlotte Air Base in early 1941, which was renamed Morris Field soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The US military invested more than $5 million in airfield improvements by the time the facility was returned to the City of Charlotte in 1946. The airfield was used by the Third Air Force for antisubmarine patrols and training.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1954, a passenger terminal opened and the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport in honor of former Charlotte Mayor Ben Elbert Douglas Sr., who had overseen the airport's opening 20 years earlier. The terminal had two floors; passenger operations were confined to the ground floor. Ticketing and baggage claim were on each side of an open space that bisected the building north to south, and a mezzanine restaurant and airline offices overlooked this open space. Delta Air Lines began scheduled passenger service in 1956. The OAG for April 1957 shows 57 weekday departures on Eastern, 7 Piedmont, 6 Capital, 4 Delta and 2 Southern. Nonstop flights did not reach beyond Newark, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Louisville, Birmingham, and Jacksonville.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Scheduled jet flights (Eastern Air Lines Boeing 720s) began in early 1962. Eastern used the west pier, Piedmont and Delta the center pier, and United and Southern used the east pier.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: A major renovation project in the late 1960s expanded the facility. Eastern opened a unit terminal in 1967, replacing the old west pier. This new facility had eight dedicated gates for Eastern, each with its own departure lounge, snack bar and separate baggage claim space. Eastern passengers continued to check in at the main terminal.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1969, a new enclosed concourse was built parallel to the center pier. When it was completed, Piedmont, Eastern, and Delta moved in and the old center pier was demolished. The new concourse had separate departure lounges, restrooms and an enlarged baggage claim area. United's flights continued to use the east pier, with an enclosed holding room added for waiting passengers. Eastern added two more gates to the end of its west concourse in 1973.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: After airline deregulation, passenger numbers at the terminal nearly doubled between 1978 and 1980, and a new parallel runway and control tower opened in 1979. The airport's master plan called for a new terminal across the runway from the existing site, with ground broken in 1979. At the time, the airport had only two concourses: one used exclusively by Eastern, and one used by other carriers, including United, Delta, Piedmont, and several commuter airlines.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1979, Piedmont Airlines chose Charlotte as the hub for its expanding network. A new passenger terminal designed by Odell Associates opened in 1982, and the airport was renamed Charlotte Douglas International Airport. Concourses B and C were expanded in 1987 and 1984 respectively, while Concourse A was built in 1986 to handle future growth.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1987, Piedmont started non-stop 767 flights to London. In the mid-1980s, the old terminal site was converted to a cargo center, and the central concourse and Eastern unit terminal were removed to make way for more cargo buildings. The original main building still stands and is used for office space. The old control tower was removed in the late 1990s. In 1989 Piedmont merged with USAir; the new merged operations kept the USAir name.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1990, a new international and commuter concourse (Concourse D) opened, and in 1991 further expansion of the central terminal building continued, reflective of USAir's dominating presence at the airport. A monumental bronze statue of Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz (the namesake of the city), created by Raymond Kaskey, was placed in front of the main terminal.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1990, Lufthansa began Boeing 747 service to Germany; this service ended shortly thereafter. In 1994 British Airways began service to London via a "global alliance" with USAir. This was later discontinued, as British Airways formed the Oneworld Alliance and USAir become a part of the Star Alliance (although USAir later joined Oneworld prior to merging with American). Lufthansa restarted service to Charlotte in 2003 and now operates flights between Charlotte and Munich, utilizing their Airbus A350-900 fleet. Prior to March 31, 2019, Lufthansa flew their Airbus A340-600 and Airbus A330-300 aircraft on the route.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 1999, plans were announced for the construction of a regional carrier concourse (present-day Concourse E) and for the expansion of Concourses A and D. This expansion was designed by The Wilson Group and LS3P Associates Ltd. In 2002, the new 32-gate Concourse E opened. The airline closed its Concourse D US Airways Club location in 2002. In 2003, the main ticketing hall was expanded to the east, providing 13 additional ticketing counters and a new security checkpoint; Concourse D was expanded by an additional nine gates.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Following the 2005 acquisition of US Airways by America West Airlines in a reverse takeover, Charlotte remained the primary domestic hub for the airline. The majority of US Airways' international routes remained at the airline's second-largest hub, Philadelphia.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Between 2007 and 2015, the airport completed $1.5 billion worth of construction projects, part of which later became known as the "CLT 2015" plan. These projects included a new airport entrance roadway, new hourly parking decks with a centralized rental car facility, a regional intermodal cargo facility, an expansion of the east-side terminal lobby, new checked baggage handling systems, and additional space for concessions and shops.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Construction of the airport's fourth runway began in spring 2007. At long, the new "third parallel" allows three independent approaches for arrivals even from the south, potentially increasing capacity by 33 percent. The new runway lies west of the three existing runways. The construction of the fourth runway required the relocation of parts of Wallace Neel Road (which had been the Western boundary of the airport) to an alignment located farther to the west. Construction occurred in two phases. The first phase, which began in March 2007, included grading and drainage. The second phase included the paving and lighting of the runway. In August 2009, crews paved the last section.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: With the merger of US Airways and American Airlines in 2013, Charlotte became the second-largest hub for the merged airline, after Dallas/Fort Worth.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In 2015, airport officials formally announced the completion of the "CLT 2015" plan, and kicked off construction of the new Destination CLT airport development plan. Destination CLT represents a total $2.5 billion investment into the future growth of the airport.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Concourse A North, a nine-gate expansion of Concourse A, was completed in summer 2018. Air Canada, JetBlue, United, Southwest, Frontier, and Spirit moved their operations to Concourse A North upon its completion. A digital artwork titled "Interconnected," by Refik Anadol, is prominently featured on three massive display screens in Concourse A North. The artwork draws from the airport's data network of aircraft movements and turns the data into an always-changing visual artwork. The main 139-foot-long screen is one of the largest digital artworks of its kind in the world.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In late 2019, the new terminal roadway was opened. The new roadway has sixteen lanes over two levels, with departures traffic using the elevated level and arrivals traffic utilizing the ground level. The eight lanes on each level are split into five outer lanes for personal vehicles, and three inner lanes for commercial and airport vehicles. Some components of the project, namely the skybridges from the hourly parking deck and rental car facility, the glass canopy over the roadway, and some lanes on the departure level will not be finished until the terminal lobby project is complete.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: In November 2019, the East Terminal Expansion opened. The expansion added 51,000 square feet, primarily of passenger amenity space, across three levels. The main level of the expansion is "The Plaza," a food court. The Plaza's artistic centerpiece is a hanging artwork entitled "Loops" by Christian Moeller. "Loops" became a part of the project through a partnership between the airport and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Arts and Science Council. The upper level of the East Terminal Expansion includes a Centurion Lounge.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: The airport announced that it had served 50.2 million passengers in 2019, a new record for the airport.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: Destination CLT includes a $90 million terminal renovation project of Concourses A, B, C, D, and the Atrium. Aspects of the renovations include the replacement of carpet with terrazzo, upgraded lighting, remodeled bathrooms, and new seats with charging in every seat. Concourse B renovations wrapped up in 2019.


title: Charlotte Douglas International Airport

text: With the conclusion of the terminal roadway and curb front construction, work on the terminal lobby renovation and expansion began. The $600 million project is projected to be completed in 2025. The project will consolidate existing security checkpoints A, B, C, D, and E into three larger and more efficient checkpoints. The baggage claim and ticketing areas will be completely gutted and remodeled. Raymond Kaskey's "Queen Charlotte" statue will be moved to a prominent position within the new "Queen's Court" area in the expanded lobby. After the lobby renovation and expansion is complete, a 146,000-square-foot glass canopy will be constructed over the roadway and pedestrian skybridges and tunnels will be built connecting the terminal to the hourly parking/rental car facility complex.