title: Latin Empire

text: Nevertheless, the crusaders were well aware of the fact that Constantinople was the capital of the Roman Empire and that the Greek-speaking inhabitants of the empire saw themselves as "Romaioi" (Romans). The full title actually used by the first Latin Emperor, Baldwin I, was "Balduinus dei gratia fidelissimus in Christo imperator a Deo coronatus Romanorum moderator et semper augustus". His title is a near perfect replication of the title used by Byzantine Emperor Alexios IV Angelos, placed on the throne by the crusaders previously, in a letter (only known in its Latin version) to Pope Innocent III: "fidelis in Christo imperator a Deo coronatus Romanorum moderator et semper augustus". Letters by Baldwin to Pope Innocent III give his title as "imperator Constantinopolitanus", possibly altered by Papal scribes as the Pope recognized the Holy Roman Emperor as the "imperator Romanorum". In his seals, Baldwin abbreviated "Romanorum" as "Rom.", conveniently leaving it open for interpretation whether he referred to "Romaniae" ("land of the Romans") or "Romanorum" ("the Romans"). It is probably more likely that he meant "Romanorum". The term "Romania" had been used unofficially by the population of the Byzantine Empire for their country for centuries.


title: Latin Empire

text: Baldwin's successor Henry used three different versions of his imperial title; "Henricus Dei Gratia Imperator Romaniae" ("Emperor of Romania"), "Henricus Dei Gratia Imperator Romanorum" ("Emperor of the Romans") and "Henricus Dei Gratia Imperator Constantinopolitani" ("Emperor of Constantinople"), possibly intended for different recipients. Usage of the title Emperor of Constantinople may not just have been to appease the Pope and Western Europe, but might also have been used to legitimize the rule of the Latin Emperors in regards to the Byzantines that they ruled. Possession of the city itself was a key legitimizing factor that set the Latin Emperors apart from Byzantine claimants in Nicaea, Trebizond and Thessalonica.


title: Latin Empire

text: After the fall of Constantinople in the Fourth Crusade, the crusaders agreed to divide up Byzantine territory. In the "Partitio terrarum imperii Romaniae", signed on 1 October 1204, three eighths of the empire — including Crete and other islands — went to the Republic of Venice. The Latin Empire claimed the remainder and exerted control over:


title: Latin Empire

text: Further duchies were projected in Asia Minor, at Nicaea (for Louis of Blois), Nicomedia (Thierry de Loos), Philadelphia (Stephen du Perche), and Neokastra. These duchies remained theoretical, due to the establishment of the Empire of Nicaea in the area. Nicaea itself was never occupied and Louis of Blois was killed in 1205. Thierry de Loos was captured by the Nicaeans in 1207 and, although released, left the Latin Empire two years later. After a brief Nicaean reconquest, Nicomedia returned to Latin control, but the "ducatus Nichomedie" remained part of the Imperial domain. Philadelphia never came under actual Latin control, although the Latin emperor Henry of Flanders laid claim to the region after defeating the local strongman, Theodore Mangaphas, in 1205. The duchy of Neokastra ("ducatus Novi Castri") on the other hand was never accorded to a single holder, but was divided among the Knights Hospitaller (one quarter) and other feudatories. The term "duchy" in this case reflects the earlier Byzantine use of the term "thema", usually governed by a "doux", to designate a province.


title: Latin Empire

text: The Doge of Venice did not rank as a vassal to the Latin Empire, but his position in control of three-eighths of its territory and of parts of Constantinople itself ensured Venice's influence in the Empire's affairs. However, much of the former Byzantine territory remained in the hands of rival successor states led by Byzantine Greek aristocrats, such as the Despotate of Epirus, the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond, each bent on reconquest from the Latins.


title: Latin Empire

text: The crowning of Baldwin I (16 May 1204) and the establishment of the Latin Empire had the curious effect of creating five simultaneously existing entities claiming to be successors of the Roman Empire: the Latin Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and the three remnants of the Byzantine Empire, the Despotate of Epirus, the Empire of Nicaea, and the Empire of Trebizond. None of these polities actually controlled the city of Rome, which remained under the temporal authority of the Pope.


title: Latin Empire

text: The initial campaigns of the crusaders in Asia Minor resulted in the capture of most of Bithynia by 1205, with the defeat of the forces of Theodore I Laskaris at Poemanenum and Prusa. Latin successes continued, and in 1207 a truce was signed with Theodore, newly proclaimed Emperor of Nicaea. The Latins inflicted a further defeat on Nicaean forces at the Rhyndakos river in October 1211, and three years later the Treaty of Nymphaeum (1214) recognized their control of most of Bithynia and Mysia.


title: Latin Empire

text: The peace was maintained until 1222, when the resurgent power of Nicaea felt sufficiently strong to challenge the Latin Empire, by that time weakened by constant warfare in its European provinces. At the battle of Poimanenon in 1224, the Latin army was defeated, and by the next year Emperor Robert of Courtenay was forced to cede all his Asian possessions to Nicaea, except for Nicomedia and the territories directly across from Constantinople. Nicaea turned also to the Aegean, capturing the islands awarded to the empire. In 1235, finally, the last Latin possessions fell to Nicaea.


title: Latin Empire

text: Unlike in Asia, where the Latin Empire faced only an initially weak Nicaea, in Europe it was immediately confronted with a powerful enemy: the Bulgarian tsar Kaloyan. When Baldwin campaigned against the Byzantine lords of Thrace, they called upon Kaloyan for help. At the Battle of Adrianople on 14 April 1205, the Latin heavy cavalry and knights were crushed by Kaloyan's troops and Cuman allies, and Emperor Baldwin was captured. He was imprisoned in the Bulgarian capital Tarnovo until his death later in 1205. Kaloyan was murdered a couple of years later (1207) during a siege of Thessalonica, and the Bulgarian threat conclusively defeated with a victory the following year, which allowed Baldwin's successor, Henry of Flanders, to reclaim most of the lost territories in Thrace until 1210, when peace was concluded with the marriage of Henry to Maria of Bulgaria, tsar Kaloyan's daughter.


title: Latin Empire

text: At the same time, another Greek successor state, the Despotate of Epirus, under Michael I Komnenos Doukas, posed a threat to the empire's vassals in Thessalonica and Athens. Henry demanded his submission, which Michael provided, giving off his daughter to Henry's brother Eustace in the summer of 1209. This alliance allowed Henry to launch a campaign in Macedonia, Thessaly and Central Greece against the rebellious Lombard lords of Thessalonica. However, Michael's attack on the Kingdom of Thessalonica in 1210 forced him to return north to relieve the city and to force Michael back into submission.


title: Latin Empire

text: In 1214 however, Michael died, and was succeeded by Theodore Komnenos Doukas, who was determined to capture Thessalonica. On 11 June 1216, while supervising repairs to the walls of Thessalonica, Henry died, and was succeeded by Peter of Courtenay, who himself was captured and executed by Theodore the following year. A regency was set up in Constantinople, headed by Peter's widow, Yolanda of Flanders, until her death in 1219. Her son Robert of Courtenay being absent in France, the regency passed first to Conon de Béthune, and after his death shortly after, to Cardinal Giovanni Colonna, until 1221, when Robert of Courtenay arrived in Constantinople. Distracted by the renewed war with Nicaea, and waiting in vain for assistance from Pope Honorius III and the King of France Philip II, the Latin Empire was unable to prevent the final fall of Thessalonica to Epirus in 1224. Epirote armies then conquered Thrace in 1225–26, appearing before Constantinople itself. The Latin Empire was saved for a time by the threat posed to Theodore by the Bulgarian tsar Ivan II Asen, and a truce was concluded in 1228.


title: Latin Empire

text: After Robert of Courtenay died in 1228, a new regency under John of Brienne was set up. After the disastrous Epirote defeat by the Bulgarians at the Battle of Klokotnitsa, the Epirote threat to the Latin Empire was removed, only to be replaced by Nicaea, which started acquiring territories in Greece. Emperor John III Doukas Vatatzes of Nicaea concluded an alliance with Bulgaria, which in 1235 resulted in a joint campaign against the Latin Empire, and an unsuccessful siege of Constantinople the same year. In 1237, Baldwin II attained majority and took over the reins of a much-diminished state. The empire's precarious situation forced him to travel often to Western Europe seeking aid, but largely without success. In order to raise funds, he was forced to resort to desperate means, from removing the lead roofs of the Great Palace and selling them, to handing over his only son, Philip, to Venetian merchants as a guarantee for a loan.


title: Latin Empire

text: By 1247, the Nicaeans had effectively surrounded Constantinople, with only the city's strong walls holding them at bay, and the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259 signaled the beginning of the end of Latin predominance in Greece. Thus, on 25 July 1261, with most of the Latin troops away on campaign, the Nicaean general Alexios Strategopoulos found an unguarded entrance to the city, and entered it with 800 troops only, restoring the Byzantine Empire for his master, Michael VIII Palaiologos.


title: Latin Empire

text: The remaining Latin states ruled territories of present-day Greece, some of them until the 18th century, and are known as Latinokratia states.


title: Latin Empire

text: For about a century thereafter, the heirs of Baldwin II continued to use the title of Emperor of Constantinople, and were seen as the overlords of the various remaining Latin states in the Aegean. They exercised effective authority in Greece only when actually ruling as princes of Achaea, as in 1333–83.


title: Latin Empire

text: The empire was formed and administered on Western European feudal principles, incorporating some elements of the Byzantine bureaucracy. The emperor was assisted by a council, composed of the various barons, the Venetian Podestà of Constantinople and his six-member council. This council had a major voice in the governance of the realm, especially in periods of regency, when the Regent ("moderator imperii") was dependent on their consent to rule. The podestà, likewise, was an extremely influential member, being practically independent of the emperor. He exercised authority over the Venetian quarters of Constantinople and Pera and the Venetian dominions within the empire, assisted by a separate set of officials. His role was more that of an ambassador and vicegerent of Venice than a vassal to the empire. The podestà was granted the title of Governor of One-Fourth and One-Half of the Empire of Romania, and was entitled to wearing the imperial crimson buskins like the emperor.


title: Latin Empire

text: The Latins did not trust the professional Greek bureaucracy, and in the immediate aftermath of the conquest completely dismantled the Greek economic administration of the areas they controlled. The result was disastrous, disrupting all forms of production and trade. Almost from its inception the Latin Empire was sending requests back to the papacy for aid. For a few years, the major commodities it exported from the surrounding region of Thrace were wheat and furs; it also profited from Constantinople's strategic location on major trade routes. While the empire showed some moderate vitality while Henry of Flanders was alive, after his death in 1216 there was a major deficit in leadership. By the 1230s, Constantinople - even with its drastically reduced population - was facing a major shortage of basic foodstuffs. In several senses, the only significant export on which the economy of the Latin Empire had any real basis was the sale of relics back to Western Europe which had been looted from Greek churches. For example, Emperor Baldwin II sold the relic of the Crown of Thorns while in France trying to raise new funds.


title: Latin Empire

text: The elite of the empire were the Frankish and Venetian lords, headed by the emperor, the barons and the lower-ranking vassals and liege lords, including many former Byzantine aristocrats. The bulk of the people were Orthodox Greeks, still divided according to the Byzantine system in income classes based on land ownership.


title: Latin Empire

text: As with all Latin states, the Orthodox hierarchy was replaced by Roman Catholic prelates, but not suppressed. An expansive Catholic hierarchy was established, under the dual supervision of the Latin archbishop of Constantinople and the Papal legate, until the two offices were merged in 1231. Western Catholic religious orders, such as the Cistercians, the Dominicans and the Franciscans were established in the empire. The Orthodox clergy retained its rites and customs, including its right to marriage, but was demoted to a subordinate position, subject to the local Latin bishops.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: In Western esotericism the left-hand path and right-hand path are the dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic. This terminology is used in various groups involved in the occult and ceremonial magic. In some definitions, the Left-Hand Path is equated with malicious black magic or black shamanism, while the Right-Hand Path is equated with benevolent white magic. Other occultists have criticised this definition, believing that the Left–Right dichotomy refers merely to different kinds of working and does not necessarily connote good or bad magical actions. Other practitioners state the difference between the two is that the desired outcome of the right is to be beside God and to serve him, while the left believe in self deification and bow to no one.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: In more recent definitions, which base themselves on the terms' origins in Indian Tantra, the Right-Hand Path (RHP, or "Dakshinachara"), is seen as a definition for those magical groups that follow specific ethical codes and adopt social convention, while the Left-Hand Path (LHP, or "Vamamarga") adopts the opposite attitude, espousing the breaking of taboo and the abandoning of set morality. Some contemporary occultists, such as Peter J. Carroll, have stressed that both paths can be followed by a magical practitioner, as essentially they have the same goals.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: Another distinguishing characteristic separating the two is based upon the aim of the practitioner. Right-handed path practitioners tend to work towards ascending their soul towards ultimate union (or reunion) with the divine source, returning to heaven, allegorically alluded to as restoration or climbing back up the ladder after the "great fall". In Solomon's lesser key, they embrace the light and try to annihilate anything they regard as "dark" or "evil". On the other hand, left-handed path practitioners do not see this as the ultimate aim but a step towards their goal. Left-handed path practitioners embrace the dark as well as the light in order to invoke the alchemical formula "solve et coagula" ("dissolve and precipitate"), confronting the negative in order to transmute it into desirable qualities. Left-handed path practitioners descend towards union with the divine to obtain Godhood status, with God-like powers of their own, having reunited with the ultimate divine source-energy; then once there, taking one more step separating from that divinity, out of this creation into a new creation of their own making, with themselves as the sole divinity of the new universe, apart from the previous creation. The godhood self sought by Left Hand Path followers is represented by the Qlipha Thaumiel in the Tree of Knowledge.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: The Right-Hand Path is commonly thought to refer to magical or religious groups which adhere to a certain set of characteristics:


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: The historian Dave Evans studied self-professed followers of the Left-Hand Path in the early 21st century, making several observations about their practices:


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: "Vāmācāra" is a Sanskrit term meaning "left-handed attainment" and is synonymous with Left-Hand Path or Left-path (Sanskrit: "Vāmamārga"). It is used to describe a particular mode of worship or spiritual practice (Sanskrit: "sadhana") that is not only heterodox (Sanskrit: "Nāstika") to standard Vedic injunction, but extreme in comparison to prevailing cultural norms. These practices are often generally considered to be Tantric in orientation. The converse term "Dakshinachara" (glossed "Right-Hand Path") is used to refer not only to orthodox ("Āstika") sects, but to modes of spirituality that engage in practices that accord with Vedic injunction, and are generally agreeable to prevailing cultural norms. Modes of practice aligned with left-handed and right-handed paths are evident across orthodox and heterodox schools of Dharmic religions such as Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism and are a matter of taste, culture, proclivity, initiation, "sadhana", and dharmic lineage ("parampara").


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: The Western use of the terms "Left-Hand Path" and "Right Hand-Path" originated with Madame Blavatsky, a 19th-century occultist who founded the Theosophical Society. She had travelled across parts of southern Asia and claimed to have met with many mystics and magical practitioners in India and Tibet. She developed the term "Left-Hand Path" as a translation of the term Vamachara, an Indian Tantric practice that emphasised the breaking of Hindu societal taboos by having sexual intercourse in ritual, drinking alcohol, eating meat and assembling in graveyards, as a part of the spiritual practice. The term "Vamachara" literally meant "the left-hand way" in Sanskrit, and it was from this that Blavatsky first coined the term.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: Returning to Europe, Blavatsky began using the term. It was relatively easy for her to associate "left" with evil in many European countries, where it already has had an association with evil and bad luck since the Classical Latin era. As the historian Dave Evans noted, homosexuals were referred to as "left-handed", and while in Protestant nations Roman Catholics were called "left-footers".


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: In New York, Madame Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society with several other people in 1875. She set about writing several books, including "Isis Unveiled" (1877) in which she introduced the terms "Left-Hand Path" and "Right-Hand Path", firmly stating that she herself followed the RHP, and that followers of the LHP were practitioners of Black Magic who were a threat to society. The occult community soon picked up on her newly introduced duality, which, according to historian Dave Evans, "had not been known before" in the Western Esoteric Tradition. For instance, Dion Fortune, the founder of an esoteric magical group (the Society of the Inner Light) also took the side of the RHP, making the claim that "black magicians", or followers of the LHP, were homosexuals and that Indian servants might use malicious magical rites devoted to the goddess Kali against their European masters.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: Aleister Crowley further altered and popularized the term in certain occult circles, referring to a "Brother of the Left-Hand Path", or a "Black Brother", as one who failed to attain the grade of Magister Templi in Crowley's system of ceremonial magic. Crowley also referred to the Left-Hand Path when describing the point at which the Adeptus Exemptus (such as his old Christian mentor, MacGregor Mathers) chooses to cross the Abyss, which is the location of Choronzon and the illusory eleventh Sephira, which is Da'ath or Knowledge. In this example, the adept must surrender all, including the guidance of his Holy Guardian Angel, and leap into the Abyss. If his accumulated Karma is sufficient, and if he has been utterly thorough in his own self-destruction, he becomes a "babe of the abyss", arising as a Star in the Crowleyan system. On the other hand, if he retains some fragment of ego, or if he fears to cross, he then becomes encysted. The layers of his self, which he could have shed in the Abyss, ossify around him. He is then titled a "Brother of the Left-Hand Path", who will eventually be broken up and disintegrated against his will, since he failed to choose voluntary disintegration. Crowley associated all this with "Mary, a blasphemy against BABALON", and with the celibacy of Christian clergy.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: Another of those figures that Fortune considered to be a follower of the LHP was Arthur Edward Waite, who did not recognise these terms, and acknowledged that they were newly introduced and that in any case he believed the terms LHP and RHP to be distinct from black and white magic. However, despite Waite's attempts to distinguish the two, the equation of the LHP with Black Magic was propagated more widely in the fiction of Dennis Wheatley; Wheatley also conflated the two with Satanism and also the political ideology of communism, which he viewed as a threat to traditional British society. In one of his novels, "Strange Conflict" (1941), he stated that:


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: The Order of the Left-Hand Path... has its adepts... the Way of Darkness is perpetuated in the horrible Voodoo cult which had its origins in Madagascar and has held Africa, the Dark Continent, in its grip for centuries.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: In the latter half of the 20th century various groups arose that self-professedly described themselves as LHP, but did not consider themselves as following Black Magic. In 1975, Kenneth Grant, a student of Aleister Crowley, explained in "Cults of the Shadow" that he and his group, the Typhonian Order, practiced the LHP. Grant's usage takes meaning from its roots in eastern Tantra; Grant states that it is about challenging taboos, but that it should be used in conjunction with the RHP to achieve balance.


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: While Anton Szandor LaVey developed his form of Satanism during the 1960s, he emphasized the rejection of traditional Christian morality, and explicitly labelled his new philosophy a form of the Left-Hand Path. In "The Satanic Bible" LaVey wrote that "Satanism is not a white light religion; it is a religion of the flesh, the mundane, the carnal—all of which are ruled by Satan, the personification of the Left-Hand Path."


title: Left-hand path and right-hand path

text: Stephen E. Flowers of the Temple of Set writes of two criteria to be considered a true Lord of the Left-Hand Path: self-deification and antinomianism.


title: C-Murder

text: Corey Miller (born March 9, 1971), better known by his stage name C-Murder, is an American rapper and songwriter. He initially gained fame in the mid-1990s as a part of his brother Master P's label No Limit Records, primarily as a member of the label's supergroup, TRU. Miller went on to release several solo albums of his own through the label, including 1998's platinum "Life or Death". C-Murder has released nine albums altogether on six different labels, No Limit Records, TRU Records, Koch Records, Asylum Records, RBC Records, and Venti Uno.


title: C-Murder

text: In 2002, Miller was arrested in connection with the murder of 16-year-old Steve Thomas, and was sentenced to life in prison on August 14, 2009. Miller is serving his sentence at the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Controversy surrounding witnesses involved in Miller's trial came to light in 2018 when two key witnesses recanted their statements, claiming they had been pressured into testifying against Miller by authorities. Miller maintains his innocence, and he, his brothers, and his nephew have all called for a new trial numerous times.


title: C-Murder

text: Corey Miller was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on March 9, 1971. He grew up in the Calliope 3rd Ward projects.


title: C-Murder

text: In 1998, Miller released his first album "Life or Death" which peaked at No. 3 on the "Billboard" 200 and was eventually certified platinum.


title: C-Murder

text: In 1999, he released "Bossalinie" which peaked at No. 2 on the "Billboard" 200 and was certified gold.


title: C-Murder

text: In 2000, he released "Trapped in Crime" which peaked at No. 9 on the "Billboard" 200. It included the single "Down for My N's" which featured fellow No Limit artists Snoop Dogg and Magic.


title: C-Murder

text: In 2001, he released "C-P-3.com", his last album with No Limit Records. It peaked at No. 45 on the "Billboard" 200 and included the singles "What U Gonna Do" and "Im Not Just".


title: C-Murder

text: In 2003, he was convicted of the murder of fan Steve Thomas. He recorded three hit albums while under house arrest awaiting re-trial: "The Truest Shit I Ever Said" (2005) which reached No. 41 on the "Billboard" 200, "Screamin' 4 Vengeance" (2008) which reached No. 130, and "Calliope Click" (2009) which peaked at No. 68 on the "Billboard" R&B Albums chart.


title: C-Murder

text: In 2009, he lost his appeal and pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted murder in an unrelated incident. While in prison he's self-released a mixtape "Ricochet" (2013) and four albums, "Tomorrow" (2010), "Ain't No Heaven in the Pen" (2015), "Give Me Freedom Or Give Me Death" (2021), and the compilation "Oldies but Goodies" (2018).


title: C-Murder

text: In 2016, he released a diss track accusing rapper 2 Chainz of using the slogan and name style of his former group TRU and record label TRU Global Records.


title: C-Murder

text: Miller acted in the No Limit films "Da Game of Life", I Got the Hook Up", and "Hot Boyz". He is the author of the novel "Death Around The Corner", published by Vibe.


title: C-Murder

text: In September 2003, Miller was convicted of the January 12, 2002 beating and fatal shooting of a fan, 16-year-old Steve Thomas, at the Platinum Club, a now-closed nightclub in Harvey, Louisiana. Miller was arrested in the early hours of January 19 for causing a disturbance at the House of Blues in New Orleans. He was indicted on February 28, 2002. Judge Martha Sassone granted a new trial based on the claim that prosecutors improperly withheld criminal background information on three of their witnesses.


title: C-Murder

text: While awaiting re-trial, Miller was placed under house arrest. Sassone allowed Miller to promote his new, yet-to-be-titled CD and his novel, "Death around the Corner", while under house arrest, but ruled that a gag order pertaining to the case would remain in effect. The terms of the house arrest required Sassone's permission for all visitors, including reporters.


title: C-Murder

text: On March 13, 2007, Sassone granted Miller's request to work on his music career on a per-request basis, but denied his request for a 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. curfew. Sassone's rulings in the case became an issue in her failed 2008 bid for re-election. Sassone was defeated by Judge Ellen Kovach; prosecutors subsequently renewed a request to have Miller returned to jail. During January 2009, Miller was confined to his residence on house arrest, and could only leave for a documented medical emergency.


title: C-Murder

text: On May 27, 2009, Miller pleaded no contest to two counts of attempted second degree murder. These charges stem from a 2001 incident in Baton Rouge in which Miller fired one shot, after which it jammed, from a semi-automatic pistol at the owner and bouncer of a night club who refused to allow Miller to enter the business with the gun. Miller was sentenced to ten years with credit for time served. A surveillance video of the incident was posted on YouTube.


title: C-Murder

text: On August 5, 2009, the murder trial began. The father of the victim spoke of his son being a fan of C-Murder before the incident. A bouncer also testified against Miller, saying he witnessed the shooting. He expressed fear of repercussions for his testimony. Prosecutors also charged C-Murder's associates with witness tampering.


title: C-Murder

text: On August 10, 2009, the jury reported being deadlocked, but Judge Hans Liljeberg instructed them to attempt to resolve the deadlock. Three hours later, the jury returned to announce it reached a 10–2 guilty verdict. The judge suspected that, given the deadlock announced earlier followed by the quick reversal, one of the jurors decided to switch under pressure to end the trial and instructed the jury to go back and deliberate on the case longer.


title: C-Murder

text: When they returned with the same 10–2 verdict, Miller was convicted of second-degree murder. During sentencing, the victim's father said, "I'm not rejoicing. I feel bad for [Miller's] family. But at least they can see him. What have we got but a gravesite and a photograph?" C-Murder was sentenced on August 14 by District Judge Hans Liljeberg to mandatory life imprisonment.


title: C-Murder

text: On August 27, 2009, Ernest Johnson, president of the Louisiana NAACP, requested an investigation into the jury deliberations. C-Murder's financial woes reportedly landed him the help of two Harvard attorneys, one of them Ronald Sullivan, who have agreed to assist with his appeal. One of the jurors, Mary Jacob, said that both she and a fellow juror, a 20-year-old student at Xavier University of Louisiana, were verbally abused by fellow jurors for their decision to acquit. According to Jacob, the abuse resulted in her switching her verdict, saying, "They literally made this 20-year-old girl so violently ill, she was shaking so bad. She ran into the bathroom. She was throwing her guts up. She couldn't function anymore. That's when I decided, the judge don't want to listen to me, doesn't want to listen to us? I told them, 'You want him to be guilty? He's guilty; now let's get the hell out of here. This account was partially confirmed by another juror. At the time, a 10–2 consensus was sufficient for conviction in Louisiana but a 9–3 consensus would result in a mistrial. As a result, Miller appealed the conviction.


title: C-Murder

text: On February 19, 2013, the Supreme Court rejected Miller v. Louisiana, which was Miller's final appeal of his conviction. After a jury voted 10–2 to convict Miller, Miller's attorneys argued that because federal juries must reach unanimous verdicts in criminal cases, Miller should have not been convicted in Louisiana.


title: C-Murder

text: On April 2, 2014, Miller's attorney, Rachel Conner, filed a post-conviction relief application in state court in Gretna. She raised 10 points to support her assertion that her client received no fair trial. Conner said she plans to raise additional points. Primary among the assertions is what she described as irregularities during the jury's deliberations, stating, "One juror cast a guilty vote not based on the evidence but because she wanted to end deliberations to protect another juror who refused to convict Miller but was targeted by other jurors to change her mind, Conner wrote."


title: C-Murder

text: In August 2021, Miller went on hunger strike to protest his conditions, which he feared would result in him getting COVID-19, and the status of his trial, saying he believed the district attorney had withheld evidence. That month, he hired civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump.


title: C-Murder

text: In June 2018, Miller's case was featured on "Investigation Discovery Reasonable Doubt". It was on this episode that Kenneth Jordan recanted and discussed his false testimony. Jordan stated he was pressured by detectives to testify against Miller or he himself would have faced a 10-year prison sentence for unrelated criminal charges. On July 6, another witness, Darnell Jordan, recanted his testimony, saying he was detained and locked in a hotel room by the police for refusing to testify against Miller.


title: Chief technology officer

text: A chief technology officer (CTO), also known as a chief technical officer or chief technologist, is an executive-level position in a company or other entity whose occupation is focused on the scientific and technological issues within an organization.


title: Chief technology officer

text: A CTO is very similar to a chief information officer (CIO). CTOs will make decisions for the overarching technology infrastructure that closely align with the organization's goals, while CIOs work alongside the organization's information technology ("IT") staff members to perform everyday operations. A CTO should be aware of new and existing technologies to guide the company's future endeavors. The attributes of the roles a CTO holds vary from one company to the next, mainly depending on their organizational structure.


title: Chief technology officer

text: In the United States, the average salary for a CTO ranges between $130,000 and $195,000 per annum depending on the company's sector. According to a 2018 report from the InfoSec Institute, CTOs in the financial sector earn around $200,000, while e-commerce CTOs earn around $76,000.


title: Chief technology officer

text: After World War II, large corporations established research laboratories at locations separate from their headquarters. The corporation's goals were to hire scientists and offer them facilities to conduct research on behalf of the company without the burdens of day-to-day office work. This is where the idea of a CTO focusing on the overarching technology infrastructures originates.


title: Chief technology officer

text: At that time, the director of the laboratory was a corporate vice president who did not participate in the company's corporate decisions. Instead, the technical director was the individual responsible for attracting new scientists, to do research, and to develop products.


title: Chief technology officer

text: In the 1980s, the role of these research directors changed substantially. Since technology was becoming a fundamental part of the development for most products and services, companies needed an operational executive who could understand the product's technical side and provide advice on ways to improve and develop.


title: Chief technology officer

text: This all led to the creation of the position of Chief Technology Officer by large companies in the late 1980s with the growth of the information technology industry and computer (internet) companies.


title: Chief technology officer

text: A CTO "examines the short and long term needs of an organization, and utilizes capital to make investments designed to help the organization reach its objectives... [the CTO] is the highest technology executive position within a company and leads the technology or engineering department". The role became prominent with the ascent of the IT industry, but has since become prevalent in technology-based industries of all types – including computer-based technologies (such as game developer, e-commerce, and social networking service) and other/non-computer-focused technology (such as biotech/pharma, defense, and automotive). In non-technical organizations as a corporate officer position, the CTO typically reports directly to the chief information officer (CIO) and is primarily concerned with long-term and "big picture" issues (while still having deep technical knowledge of the relevant field). In technology-focused organizations, the CIO and CTO positions can be at the same level, with the CIO focused on the information technology and the CTO focused on the core company and other supporting technologies.


title: Chief technology officer

text: Depending on company structure and hierarchy, there may also be positions such as R&D manager, director of R&D and vice president of engineering whom the CTO interacts with or oversees. The CTO also needs a working familiarity with regulatory (e.g. U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, Consumer Product Safety Commission, as applicable) and intellectual property (IP) issues (e.g. patents, trade secrets, license contracts), and an ability to interface with legal counsel to incorporate these considerations into strategic planning and inter-company negotiations.


title: Chief technology officer

text: In many older industries (whose existence may predate IT automation) such as manufacturing, shipping or banking, an executive role of the CTO would often arise out of the process of automating existing activities; in these cases, any CTO-like role would only emerge if and when efforts would be made to develop truly novel technologies (either for facilitating internal operations or for enhancing products/services being provided), perhaps through "intrapreneuring".


title: Chief technology officer

text: To fulfill the role of a company's CTO, a person must meet many qualifications such as the following: bachelor's degree, master's degree, certifications, years of experience within the relevant field, and technology-related management skills.


title: Chief technology officer

text: As technology has become essential in the business world, new positions continue to arise. A CTO, may additionally interact with a newer position, a Chief Security Officer (CSO), or more accurately referred to as Chief Information Security Officer. The role of a CSO in comparison to a CTO would be to protect the network from being penetrated which could lead to privacy and legal issues for the company. All executive positions relating to technology must collaborate within companies to have the best working infrastructure and will report to the CEO.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: "The Final Countdown" is a song by Swedish rock band Europe, released in 1986. Written by lead singer Joey Tempest, it was based on a keyboard riff he made in the early 1980s, with lyrics inspired by David Bowie's "Space Oddity". Originally made to just be a concert opener, it is the first single and title track from the band's third studio album. The music video by Nick Morris, made to promote the single, has become iconic with 1 billion views on YouTube. The video features footage from the band's two concerts at Solnahallen in Solna, as well as extra footage of the sound checks and footage from Stockholm.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song was based on a keyboard riff which Joey Tempest had written, as early as 1981 or 1982, on a Korg Polysix keyboard which he had borrowed from keyboardist Mic Michaeli. In 1985, bassist John Levén suggested that Tempest should write a song based on that riff. Tempest recorded a demo version of the song and played it for the other band members. At first, the members expressed mixed reactions to it, including guitarist John Norum who was put off by the synth intro but said that he was glad that they didn't listen to him. Tempest described their uncertainty: "Some of the guys in the band thought it was too different for a rock band. But in the end, I fought hard to make sure it got used."


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song's lyrics were inspired by David Bowie's song "Space Oddity". The sound of the keyboard riff used in the recording was achieved by using a Yamaha TX-816 rack unit and a Roland JX-8P synthesizer, as described by Michaeli: "I made a brassy sound from the JX-8P and used a factory sound from the Yamaha, and just layered them together."


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: When it was time to choose the first single from the album "The Final Countdown", Tempest suggested the song "The Final Countdown". The band had not originally planned to release the song as a single, and some members wanted "Rock the Night" to be the first single. "The Final Countdown" was written to be an opening song for concerts, and they never thought it would be a hit. When their record company Epic Records suggested, however, that it should be the first single, the band decided to release it.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: It's always a nice feeling. Sometimes, you hear it on the streets or someone has it on their mobile phone or something… it's a nice feeling! Actually, I did an interview about a year ago with a newspaper from America and they talked about how much it's been used in sports in America… which I didn't know so much about. Apparently, it has been used a lot and it was nice to hear. The ironic thing, though, is that the song was actually written for the fans. It was over six minutes long and was never meant to be a hit or anything like that. It was meant to be an opening for the 'live' show. We were putting out our third album and we wanted a really 'grand' opening for the show. So, I had that 'riff' tucked away in a drawer since my college years and I took it out, found a tempo for it, wrote lyrics, and it turned out to be a great opening for that album and for the show, as well. Nowadays, we don't rehearse it, but when we play it live, it is still just so amazing! It does communicate so well with the audience and we really love playing it.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: In 2009, Tempest told the BBC's Liam Allen, "I can trace bands like UFO in it, sort of a galloping theme like Iron Maiden had on "The Number of the Beast" album on quite a few songs. I wanted to make a combination of guitars and keyboards. That was a statement on that and it sort of worked out nicely." It is set in the key of F♯ minor.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: "The Final Countdown" became an instant success on the charts worldwide upon its release, reaching number one in 25 countries (including the UK, where it spent two weeks at the top and is Europe's only Top 10 hit to date), and is widely regarded as the band's most popular and recognizable song. The single reached number 8 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and is the most successful song from the album on the Album Rock Tracks chart, peaking at number 18 (and charting for 20 weeks).


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song is also the band's highest-charting single in Australia and Canada, peaking at number 2 and number 5, respectively.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: "Blender" listed "The Final Countdown" as the 27th worst song ever, and both VH1 and "Blender" included it at 16 on the list of the "Most Awesomely Bad Songs...Ever". VH1 ranked it at number 66 on their list of the best hard rock songs of all time.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The music video, directed by Nick Morris, contains footage from two concerts the band did at Solnahallen in Solna, Sweden on 26 and 27 May 1986, as well as some extra footage filmed at the sound checks for those concerts.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song has been a regular in Europe concerts ever since its live debut on the premiere of their "Final Countdown Tour" in April 1986. One of the most memorable performances of the song took place in Stockholm, Sweden on 31 December 1999, as part of the Millennium celebrations, as it was the first, and to date only, Europe performance with both of the band's lead guitarists, the original guitarist John Norum and his replacement, Kee Marcello.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song reached number one in 25 countries, including the United Kingdom, and was certified gold in that country in 1986. In the United States, the song peaked at number 8 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and number 18 on the "Billboard" Album Rock Tracks chart.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: In 1999, the dance remix "The Final Countdown 2000" was released. It was produced by Brian Rawling, who had previously had success with "Believe" by Cher. The band's reaction to the remix was less than enthusiastic. "That remix was a disaster", drummer Ian Haugland said, "I wouldn't pass water on it if it was on fire!" In a 2013 interview with "The National", Joey Tempest commented on the remix, saying, "The band were not happy with it. We were trying to get some other people to do the remix and it just didn't pan out, so it ended up becoming a last-minute thing."


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song is a favourite at sporting events, often being played to rally crowds. It has also become a staple of high school and college pep bands for the same purpose.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: On 26 December 1987, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ΕΡΤ), used the song as the theme for the documentary "The Road to Glory" about EuroBasket 1987, which was won by the Greek national team. Since then, the song is considered by fans as the unofficial anthem of the team.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: On 2 October 1990, just a few hours before the German reunification, the English segment of international radio broadcaster of former East Germany "RBI", played the intro of the song while the female radio announcer says: "Our broadcast came to you from Radio Berlin International, the voice of the disappearing German Democratic Republic".


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song is used frequently by the character of Gob (Will Arnett) during his magic shows on the series "Arrested Development".


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song and band Europe appeared in a 2015 USA television commercial for GEICO insurance, playing in a lunchroom as a microwave oven's timer is counting down toward zero seconds, saying if you're Europe, "you love a final countdown: it's what you do."


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: The song was used as entrance music for professional wrestler Bryan Danielson on the independent circuit and in Ring of Honor.


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: "The Final Countdown" is a particular favourite of guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, who incorporated elements of it into "Gone with the Wind", his 1999 reimagining of Lev Knipper's "Polyushko-polye".


title: The Final Countdown (song)

text: American husband-and-wife banjo-players Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn performed an interpretation of the song in May 2015 for "The A.V. Club" A.V. Undercover series. "Time" magazine called out the cover as "really, really lovely."


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( ; PSOE ) is a social-democratic political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in government longer than any other political party in modern democratic Spain, namely from 1982 to 1996 under Felipe González; from 2004 to 2011 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero; and currently since 2018 under Pedro Sánchez.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE was founded in 1879, making it the oldest party currently active in Spain. The PSOE played a key role during the Second Spanish Republic, being part of coalition government from 1931 to 1933 and from 1936 to 1939, when the Republic was defeated by Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War. The party was then banned under Franco's dictatorship and its members and leaders were persecuted or exiled. The PSOE was only legalised again in 1977. Historically a Marxist party, it abandoned Marxism in 1979. Just like most mainstream Spanish political organizations since the mid-1980s, PSOE has been considered by experts to embrace a positive outlook towards European integration.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE has historically had strong ties with the General Union of Workers (UGT), a Spanish trade union. For a couple of decades, UGT membership was a requirement for PSOE membership. Since the 1980s, the UGT has frequently criticized the economic policies of the PSOE, even calling for several general strikes against the PSOE governments on 14 December 1988, 28 May 1992, 27 January 1994 and 29 September 2010, all jointly with the Workers' Commissions, another major trade union. Both the trade unions and the left have often criticized the economic policies of the PSOE for its economic liberal nature, have denounced the policies of deregulation and generalization of the precarious and temporary work, cuts in social benefits such as unemployment and retirement as well as the privatisations of big companies and public services.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE is a member of the Party of European Socialists, Progressive Alliance and the Socialist International. In the European Parliament, the PSOE's 20 Members of the European Parliament sit in the Socialists and Democrats European parliamentary group.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE was founded by Pablo Iglesias on 2 May 1879 in the Casa Labra tavern in Tetuán Street near the Puerta del Sol at the centre of Madrid. Iglesias was a typesetter who had become in contact in the past with the Spanish section of the International Workingmen's Association and with Paul Lafargue. The first program of the new political party was passed in an assembly of 40 people on 20 July of that same year. The bulk of the growth of the PSOE and its affiliated trade union, the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) was chiefly restricted to the Madrid-Biscay-Asturias triangle up until the 1910s. The obtaining of a seat at the Congress by Pablo Iglesias at the 1910 Spanish general election in which the PSOE candidates presented within the broad Republican–Socialist Conjunction became a development of great symbolical transcendence and gave the party more publicity at the national level.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE and the UGT took a leading role in the general strike of August 1917 in the context of the events leading to the Spanish crisis of 1917 during the conservative government of Eduardo Dato. The strike was crushed by the army with the result of further undermining of the constitutional order. The members of the organizing committee (Julián Besteiro, Francisco Largo Caballero, Daniel Anguiano and Andrés Saborit) were accused of sedition and sentenced to life imprisonment. Sent to the prison of Cartagena, they were released a year later after being elected to the Cortes in the 1918 Spanish general election. During the 1919−1921 crisis of the socialist internationals, the party experienced tensions between the members endorsing the Socialist International and the advocates for joining the Communist International. Two consecutive splits of dissidents willing to join the Communist International, namely the Spanish Communist Party in 1920 and the Spanish Communist Workers' Party in 1921, broke away from the PSOE and soon merged to create the Communist Party of Spain (PCE). The PSOE was a member of the Labour and Socialist International between 1923 and 1940.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: After the death of Pablo Iglesias in 1925, Julián Besteiro replaced him as president of both the PSOE and the UGT. During the 1923–1930 dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera, corporatist PSOE and UGT elements were willing to engage into limited collaboration with the regime, against the political stance defended by other socialists such as Indalecio Prieto and Fernando de los Ríos, who instead advocated a closer collaboration with republican forces. The last years of the dictatorship saw a divergence emerge among the corporatist which was personified in Francisco Largo Caballero, who began to endorse the rapport with bourgeois republicans; and Julián Besteiro, who continued to show great distrust towards them. Besteiro's refusal to participate in the Revolutionary Committee led to his resignation as president both of the party and the trade union in February 1931. He was replaced as president of the party by Remigio Cabello.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: After the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic on 14 April 1931, three PSOE members were included in the cabinet of the provisional government, namely Indalecio Prieto (Finance), Fernando de los Ríos (Education) and Francisco Largo Caballero (Labour). The socialist presence remained in the rest of cabinets of the Social-Azañist Biennium (1931–1933).


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: After the November 1933 general election which marked a win for the centre-right forces in a climate of increasing polarization and growing unemployment, along with a desire to make amends for the mistake of not having sided with the republicans in the election against the united right, Largo Caballero adopted a revolutionary rhetoric, calling for violent revolution and a transitionary dictatorship of the proletariat. Indalecio Prieto had also participated in the increasingly aggressive rhetoric, having already condemned the heavy-hand repression of the December 1933 largely anarchist uprising by the government, that has been cheered on by the CEDA leaders on parliament. The Socialist Youth of Spain (JSE) also engaged into a shrilling revolutionary rhetoric while Besteiro firmly opposed the insurrectionary drift of the militancy.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The formation of a new cabinet that included CEDA ministers in October 1934 was perceived among the left as a reaction, with the CEDA party being indistinguishable from contemporary fascism to most workers while CEDA leader Gil-Robles had advocated the establishment of a corporative state already in the 1933 electoral campaign. The UGT called for a nationwide general strike for 5 October which developed into a full-blown insurrection (the Revolution of 1934) in the mining region of Asturias which was vocally supported by socialists such as Largo Caballero and Prieto. After the end of the revolt, whose repression was entrusted to Generals Francisco Franco and Manuel Goded, most PSOE and UGT leaders were jailed.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: A growing rift between Prieto and Largo Caballero (with disparate views of politics, albeit sharing a general pragmatist approach) formed in 1935 while Besteiro's hold on the party diminished significantly. Followers of Indalecio Prieto would ultimately become "estranged from the party left". The PSOE formed part of the broad left-wing Popular Front electoral coalition that stood for election in the 1936 Spanish general election and achieved a victory in seats over the right.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In September 1936, a few months into the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), a cabinet presided over by Largo Caballero was formed (he also held the functions of Minister of War). In November, Largo Caballero succeeded in bringing some CNT members into his government. The left socialist "caballeristas" were revolutionary in rhetoric, although in reality they proposed moderate reformist policies while in government. The May Days of 1937 in Barcelona destabilised the government which was replaced by a new cabinet led by Juan Negrín, another socialist.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: With the PSOE reduced to clandestinity during the Francoist dictatorship, its members were persecuted, with many leaders, members and supporters being imprisoned or exiled and even executed. Prime Minister Negrín fled to France in March 1939 after the final collapse of the Republican front and his fall from office. The aging and ill Julián Besteiro, who preferred to stay in Spain over exile, died in a Francoist prison in 1940. Julián Zugazagoitia, government minister in 1937–1938, was captured in exile by the Gestapo, handed over to Spain and executed in 1940. The party was legalized again only in 1977 during the Spanish transition to democracy.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: Disputes between the followers of Indalecio Prieto (who had exiled to Mexico) and Juan Negrín over the political strategy of the Republican government in exile soon arose. Negrín, whose 1937–1939 spell at the government in wartime was seen negatively by large elements of both "caballerista" and "prietista" extraction, had become vilified. The party was re-organized along new lines in 1944 in the 1st Congress in Exile that took place in Toulouse and in which Rodolfo Llopis became the party's new secretary-general.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE congresses in exile during the post-war period were marked by strong anti-communist positions as a reflection of how the exiles remembered the last events of the Civil War (which featured bitter strifes with the communists) and in line with the stance of other parties of the Socialist International during the Cold War, neglecting any kind of rapprochement with the Spanish Communist Party (PCE). The relative void left in Spain by the PSOE, with a Toulouse-based direction lacking in dynamism and innovation, was filled by the PCE and other new clandestine organizations such as the Agrupación Socialista Universitaria (ASU), the Popular Liberation Front (FELIPE) or later the Enrique Tierno Galván's Socialist Party of the Interior. The Toulouse executive board became increasingly detached from the party in Spain in the 1960s an insurmountable chasm between the former and the party in the interior was already defined by 1972.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The 25th party congress was held in Toulouse in August 1972. In 1974, Felipe González was elected Secretary-General at the 26th party congress in Suresnes, replacing Llopis. González was from the reform wing of the party and his victory signaled a defeat for the historic and veteran wing of the party. The direction of the PSOE shifted from the exiles to the young people in Spain who had not fought the war. Llopis led a schism to form the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (historic). González showed intentions to move the party away from its Marxist and socialist background, turning the PSOE into a social-democratic party, similar to those of the rest of western Europe. In 1977, the PSOE became the unofficial opposition leading party with 29.2% of the vote and 118 seats in the Cortes Generales (which until then it had been the PCE, leading more aggressively among a larger representation of underground parties since the last free popular vote during the Civil War on Republican territory). Their standing was further boosted in 1978 when the Popular Socialist Party agreed to merge into the PSOE.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: At the 27th party congress in May 1979, González resigned because the party would not abandon its Marxist character. In September of that year, the extraordinary 28th congress was called in which González was re-elected when the party agreed to move away from Marxism. Western European social-democratic parties supported González's stand and the Social Democratic Party of Germany granted them money. PSOE party symbol was changed from the anvil with the book to the social democratic fist and rose created in the French Socialist Party, redrawn for the PSOE by José María Cruz Novillo. In the 1978 Spanish constitutional referendum, the PSOE supported the Spanish constitution which was approved. In the 1979 Spanish general election, the PSOE gained 30.5% of the vote and 121 seats, remaining the main opposition party. In the 1982 Spanish general election, the PSOE was victorious with 48.1% of the vote (10,127,392 total). González became Prime Minister of Spain on 2 December, a position he held until May 1996.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: Although the party had opposed NATO, most party leaders supported keeping Spain inside the organisation after reaching the government. The González administration organised a referendum on the question in 1986, calling for a favourable vote, and won. The administration was criticised for avoiding the official names of "North Atlantic Treaty Organisation" and "NATO", using the unofficial "Atlantic Alliance" terms. A symbol of this U-turn is Javier Solana who campaigned against NATO but ended up years later as its Secretary General. The PSOE supported the United States in the Gulf War (1991). PSOE won the 1986, 1989 and 1993 general elections. Under the Gonzalez administration, public expenditure on education, health, and pensions rose in total by 4.1 points of the country's GDP between 1982 and 1992.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: Economic crisis and state terrorism (GAL) against the violent separatist group ETA eroded the popularity of González. In the 1996 Spanish general election, the PSOE lost to the conservative People's Party (PP) (PP). Between 1996 and 2001, the PSOE weathered a crisis, with Gonzalez resigning in 1997. The PSOE suffered a heavy defeat in the 2000 Spanish general election, with 34.7% of the popular votes. However, the PSOE remained as the ruling party in the autonomous communities of Andalusia, Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In 2000, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected as the new Secretary-General, renewing the party. Later, the PSOE won the 2003 Spanish local elections. The PSOE strongly opposed the Iraq War which was supported by the Aznar government.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In the 2003 Catalan regional election, the PSOE's Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) increased its vote total, but ended up in second place after Convergence and Union. After a period of negotiations, the party formed a pact with the Initiative for Catalonia Greens, the Republican Left of Catalonia and the United and Alternative Left, governing Catalonia until 2010.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In the 2004 Spanish general election, the PSOE won with almost 43% of the votes following the 11-M terrorist (11 March) attacks. It was alleged that the PSOE, with the help of the national newspaper "El Pais", did not observe the "reflection journey" which forbade political parties from trying to sway public opinion (forbidden by Spanish law), calling the opposing political party "assassins" and blaming the terrorist attack on them. The PSOE maintained their lead in the 2004 European Parliament election.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In 2005, the PSOE called for a yes vote on the European Constitution. The PSOE also favoured the negotiations between the government and the ETA during the 2006 cease-fire which had a "de facto" end with the Barajas Airport terrorist attack. In the 2008 Spanish general election, the PSOE won again, with Zapatero remaining Prime Minister. The PSOE increased their share of seats in the Congress of Deputies from 164 to 169 after the latest election.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: After waning popularity throughout their second term, mainly due to their handling of the worsening economic climate in Spain in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, the PSOE was defeated in the 2011 Spanish general election by the conservative People's Party. Shortly after, an extraordinary congress was held in which Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, former Deputy to Zapatero and Minister of the Interior, was elected Secretary-General defeating Carme Chacón, the other candidate, who stood for the Zapatero platform. This victory caused huge internal divisions and weakened the party's external image.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In 2013, the PSOE held a political conference which introduced a completely new platform, widely seen as a move to the left in an attempt to regain votes from parties such as the United Left, whose popularity rose steadily due to the general discontent with the two-party system and spending cuts. That platform was the basis for the 2014 European Parliament election manifesto, promoted as a solid alternative to the conservative plan for Europe. The expectations inside the party which chose Elena Valenciano as their election candidate were optimistic, but the PSOE suffered another defeat due to the appearance of new parties such as Podemos which managed to gain the support of left-wing voters, with PSOE winning 14 seats. Shortly thereafter, Rubalcaba resigned as Secretary-General and an Extraordinary Congress was convoked.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: This party congress was the first to use a primary election system with three candidates, namely Pedro Sánchez, Eduardo Madina and José Antonio Pérez Tapias. Sánchez was elected with 49% of the vote of the affiliates and therefore became Secretary-General on 27 July 2014.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In the 2015 Spanish municipal elections, the PSOE won 25% of the vote, one of its worst results in since the restoration of democracy. Together with the fall of the People's Party which won 27% of votes, it meant the end of the two-party system in Spain in favor of new parties. The PSOE alone lost 943 councilors. The 2015 Spanish general election produced an hung parliament broken into four major parties. Due to the large increase for parties such as Podemos (left) and Citizens (centre-right), the PSOE got about 20% of the vote, its worst result since democracy was restored. The parliament was so fragmented, no government could be formed and six months later new elections were held. The 2016 Spanish general election resulted in the PSOE losing a further five seats despite gaining 0.6% of the vote (still the party's second-worst popular vote total after 2015 since the restoration of democracy), leaving the party with 85 seats in the parliament, their lowest total since the restoration of democracy and the fewest since the 1933 in Republican Spain left the party with 59 seats in the 473-member parliament.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: With the exception of the 2015 Andalusian regional election, elections held during the early leadership of Sánchez were losses for the PSOE. In addition, the policy of pacts conducted by Sánchez after the 2016 general election, based on Sánchez's outright refusal to facilitate a People's Party government, caused a faction within the party critical of Sánchez to gain momentum, led by President of Andalusia Susana Díaz. On 28 September 2016, the Secretary of Federal Policy Antonio Pradas went to the party's headquarters and presented the "en bloc" resignation of 17 members of the Federal Executive and the demands of those who resigned for the party to be run by an interim manager and to pressure Sánchez to resign as secretary-general. The Executive later lost two more members in the "en bloc" resignation, bringing the total number of resignations to 19. Resigning executives included the president of the party Micaela Navarro, the former Minister Carme Chacón, the President of Valencia Ximo Puig and the President of Castilla–La Mancha Emiliano García-Page. This launched the 2016 PSOE crisis. On the afternoon of 1 October 2016, after holding a tense Federal Committee meeting, Sánchez resigned as party General-Secretary, forcing an extraordinary party congress to choose a new General-Secretary. That night, it was reported that an interim manager would be chosen, later confirmed to be the President of Asturias Javier Fernández Fernández. Sánchez announced his intention to run for General-Secretary of the party as did Susana Díaz (one of the leaders of the anti-Sánchez faction of the party) and Patxi López, former President of the Basque Autonomous Community. At the 39th federal congress in June 2017, Díaz received 48.3% of endorsements, outpacing both Sánchez (43.0% of endorsements) and López (8.7% of endorsements), but Sánchez won an absolute majority of the party's popular vote at 50.3% (Díaz received 39.9% and López 9.8%). Both Díaz and López withdrew before the delegate vote, returning Sánchez as the General-Secretary and ending the crisis. Sánchez won every region of Spain except for the home regions of López and Díaz.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In mid-2018, the National Court found that the conservative People's Party profited from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of the Gürtel case, confirming the existence of an illegal accounting and financing structure that ran in parallel with the party's official one since 1989 and that sentenced that the PP helped to establish "a genuine and effective system of institutional corruption through the manipulation of central, autonomous and local public procurement". The PSOE Parliamentary Group in the Congress of Deputies filed a motion of no confidence against the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, presenting Sánchez as alternative candidate. The PSOE's motion passed with the support of Unidos Podemos (UP), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), Coalició Compromís, EH Bildu and New Canaries (NCa), bringing down the Rajoy government. The PP voted against the proposal, joined by Citizens (C's), the Navarrese People's Union (UPN) and the Asturias Forum (FAC). The Canarian Coalition (CC) abstained. Following the successful motion of no confidence, Sánchez became Prime Minister on 2 June 2018 in a minority government. In December 2018, the PSOE's branch in Andalusia was defeated in the 2018 Andalusian regional election for the first time since the restoration of democracy, with a centre-right coalition of PP, C's and the resurgent right-wing nationalists Vox taking power in the region.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: For most of his first term as Prime Minister, Sánchez relied on support from the UP and the NC to get his agenda passed, occasionally being forced into negotiating with the Catalan separatist parties the ERC and the PDeCAT and the PNV on individual issues. In February 2019, the ERC, the PDeCAT and En Marea withdrew their support of Sánchez's government by voting against and helping defeat the 2019 General State Budget and Sánchez called an early election for 28 April 2019. The April 2019 Spanish general election resulted in victory for the PSOE, with the party winning 123 seats on 28.7% of the vote in the Cortes and an absolute majority of 139 in the Senate, gains of 38 and 79 seats respectively. The PSOE also finished eight percentage points ahead of the PP which finished second in both seats and in the popular vote. At election night, party supporters demanded Sánchez to reject any coalition with Cs. On the same day as the April 2019 general election, the 2019 Valencian regional election resulted in the Valencian branch of the PSOE being re-elected in coalition with the Valencianist party Compromís and UP.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: On 26 May 2019, the PSOE became the largest Spanish party in the European Parliament following the 2019 European Parliament election. The PSOE gained six seats to bring their total to 20 and won all but eight provinces in the country. 26 May also saw regional elections for every region in the country except Valencia, Catalonia, Andalusia, the Basque Country and Galicia. In every region, the PSOE gained seats and votes from the 2015 regional elections. The PSOE finished first in terms of votes and seats in every region except for Cantabria, where the Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) finished first and the PSOE third behind the PP; and Navarra, where the conservative regionalist NA+ finished first and the Socialist Party of Navarre finished second. PSOE governments were re-elected in Castilla-La Mancha and Extremadura, with the party receiving an absolute majority of seats in both regions. The party took over the Presidency of the Canary Islands with the support of New Canaries and Podemos, ending 26 years of Canarian Coalition government. On the same date, the PSOE became the largest party in the municipalities following the local elections.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: Following months of political deadlock, Sánchez called a second general election in seven months. In the November 2019 Spanish general election, the PSOE lost only three members of parliament and 0.7% of the popular vote in the election, but the PP and VOX gained 23 and 28 seats respectively, further worsening the deadlock. As of 23 December, there was still no government in place, although members of PSOE, PSC and UP have voted overwhelmingly to join in a coalition government, agreed to by Sánchez and UP Secretary-General Pablo Iglesias Turrión. On 5 January 2020, the PSOE–UP government failed its first investiture vote, with 166 votes in favor and 165 opposed with 18 abstentions and one UP parliamentarian absent, therefore the government fell short of an absolute majority. On 7 January, the investiture motion, this time requiring only a simple majority, passed with 167 votes in favour and 165 against. PSOE, UP, En Comú Podem, Grupo Común da Esquerda, PNV, Más País, Compromís, NCa, the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) and Teruel Existe (TE) voted in favor of the government, with PP, Vox, Cs, Together for Catalonia (JxCat), the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP), NA+, CC, PRC and FAC voting against while ERC and EH Bildu both abstained.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE was founded with the purpose of representing and defending the interests of the proletariat formed during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th century. In its beginnings, the PSOE's main objective was the defense of worker's rights and the achievement of the ideals of socialism, emerging from contemporary philosophy and Marxist politics, by securing political power for the working class and establish a dictatorship of the proletariat in order to achieve social ownership of the means of production. The ideology of the PSOE has evolved throughout the 20th century according to relevant historical events and the evolution of Spanish society.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: In 1979, the party abandoned its definitive Marxist thesis at the hands of its Secretary-General Felipe González, not before overcoming great tensions and two party congresses, the first of which preferred to maintain Marxism. Before this situation, notable internal leaders such as Pablo Castellano and Luis Gómez Llorente founded the internal faction of Left Socialists which included the militants who would not renounce Marxism. This allowed for the consolidation of the leftist forces in the PSOE. From this moment, the diverse events both outside and within the party led to projects that resembled those of other European social-democratic parties and acceptance of the defence of the market economy. The democratic socialist faction has been especially critical of the party's Third Way move to the centre starting in the 1980s for its economic liberal nature, denouncing the policies of deregulation, cuts in social benefits, and privatisations.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: The PSOE defines itself as social democratic, left-wing and progressive. It is grouped with other self-styled socialists, social democrats and labour parties in the Party of European Socialists, and supports pro-Europeanism. During his shift to the left in 2017, party leader Pedro Sánchez stood for a refoundation of social democracy in order to transition to a post-capitalist society and end neoliberal capitalism as well as for the indissoluble link between social democracy and Europe.


title: Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

text: During the Second Spanish Republic, the matter of the conception of the state was open within the party, with two different views connected in discourse to the interests of the working class competed against each other, namely a centralist view as well as a federal one. The late years of the Francoist dictatorship was a period in which the PSOE defended the right to "self-determination of the peoples of Spain" in that it was a reflection of both an ideological and a pragmatist approach. Ultimately, the party, while sticking to a preference for a federal system, gradually ceased to mention the notion of self-determination during the Spanish transition to democracy. Postulates coming from peripheral nationalisms that have been assumed by elements of the party, bringing an understanding of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia as nations and thus deserving of a different treatment than the rest of regions, have been heavily criticised by other party elements as according to the latter they would undermine the principle of territorial equality among the autonomous communities.


title: Glasnost

text: Glasnost (; , ) has several general and specific meanings – a policy of maximum openness in the activities of state institutions and freedom of information, the inadmissibility of hushing up problems, and so on. It has been used in Russian to mean "openness and transparency" since at least the end of the 18th century.


title: Glasnost

text: In the Russian Empire of the late-19th century, the term was particularly associated with reforms of the judicial system. Among these were reforms permitting attendance of the press and the public at trials whose verdicts were now to be read aloud. Vladimir Lenin repeatedly emphasized the importance of glasnost as the most important feature of democracy. In the mid-1980s, it was popularised by Mikhail Gorbachev as a political slogan for increased government transparency in the Soviet Union.


title: Glasnost

text: Human rights activist Lyudmila Alexeyeva argues that the word "glasnost" has been in the Russian language for several hundred years as a common term: "It was in the dictionaries and lawbooks as long as there had been dictionaries and lawbooks. It was an ordinary, hardworking, non-descript word that was used to refer to a process, any process of justice or governance, being conducted in the open." In the mid-1960s it acquired a revived topical importance in discourse concerning the cold-war era internal policy of the Soviet Union.


title: Glasnost

text: On 5 December 1965 the Glasnost rally took place in Moscow, considered to be a key event in the emergence of the Soviet civil rights movement. Protesters on Pushkin Square led by Alexander Yesenin-Volpin demanded access to the closed trial of Yuly Daniel and Andrei Sinyavsky. The protestors made specific requests for "glasnost", herein referring to the specific admission of the public, independent observers and foreign journalists, to the trial that had been legislated in the then newly issued Code of Criminal Procedure. With a few specified exceptions, Article 111 of the Code stated that judicial hearings in the USSR should be held in public.


title: Glasnost

text: Such protests against closed trials continued throughout the post-Stalin era. Andrei Sakharov, for example, did not travel to Oslo to receive his Nobel Peace Prize due to his public protest outside a Vilnius court building demanding access to the 1976 trial of Sergei Kovalev, an editor of the "Chronicle of Current Events" and prominent rights activist.


title: Glasnost

text: In 1986, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and his advisers adopted "glasnost" as a political slogan, together with the term "perestroika". Alexander Yakovlev, Head of the Propaganda Department of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, is considered to be the intellectual force behind Gorbachev's reform program.


title: Glasnost

text: Glasnost was taken to mean increased openness and transparency in government institutions and activities in the Soviet Union (USSR). "Glasnost" reflected a commitment of the Gorbachev administration to allowing Soviet citizens to discuss publicly the problems of their system and potential solutions. Gorbachev encouraged popular scrutiny and criticism of leaders, as well as a certain level of exposure by the mass media.


title: Glasnost

text: Some critics, especially among legal reformers and dissidents, regarded the Soviet authorities' new slogans as vague and limited alternatives to more basic liberties. Alexei Simonov, president of the Glasnost Defence Foundation, makes a critical definition of the term in suggesting it was "a tortoise crawling towards Freedom of Speech".


title: Glasnost

text: Between 1986 and 1991, during an era of reforms in the USSR, glasnost was frequently linked with other generalised concepts such as perestroika (literally: restructuring or regrouping) and demokratizatsiya (democratisation). Gorbachev often appealed to glasnost when promoting policies aimed at reducing corruption at the top of the Communist Party and the Soviet government, and moderating the abuse of administrative power in the Central Committee. The ambiguity of "glasnost" defines the distinctive five-year period (1986–1991) at the end of the USSR's existence. There was decreasing pre-publication and pre-broadcast censorship and greater freedom of information.


title: Glasnost

text: The "Era of Glasnost" saw greater contact between Soviet citizens and the Western world, particularly the United States: restrictions on travel were loosened for many Soviet citizens which further eased pressures on international exchange between the Soviet Union and the West.


title: Glasnost

text: Gorbachev's interpretation of "glasnost" can best be summarised in English as "openness". While associated with freedom of speech, the main goal of this policy was to make the country's management transparent, and circumvent the holding of near-complete control of the economy and bureaucracy of the Soviet Union by a concentrated body of officials and bureaucratic personnel.


title: Glasnost

text: During Glasnost, Soviet history under Stalin was re-examined; censored literature in the libraries was made more widely available; and there was a greater freedom of speech for citizens and openness in the media. It was in the late 1980s when most people in the Soviet Union began to learn about the atrocities of Stalin, and learned about previously suppressed events.


title: Glasnost

text: Information about the supposedly higher quality of consumer goods and quality of life in the United States and Western Europe began to be transmitted to the Soviet population, along with western popular culture.


title: Glasnost

text: Furthermore, in the socialist state of Yugoslavia, similar reforms also existed, with the first major reforms beginning in Slovenia.


title: Glasnost

text: The outright prohibition of censorship was enshrined in Article 29 of the new 1993 Constitution of the Russian Federation. This however has been the subject of ongoing controversy in contemporary Russia owing to heightened governmental interventions restricting access to information for Russian citizens, including internet censorship. There has also been pressure on government-operated media outlets to not publicize or discuss certain events or subjects in recent years. Monitoring of the infringement of media rights in the years from 2004 to 2013 found that instances of censorship were the most commonly reported type of violation.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Ben 10: Alien Force is an American animated television series created by team Man of Action (a group consisting of Duncan Rouleau, Joe Casey, Joe Kelly, and Steven T. Seagle), and produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It takes place five years after "Ben 10" and takes a darker turn than its predecessor.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: The series premiered on Cartoon Network in the United States on April 18, 2008, and on Teletoon in Canada on September 6, 2008, and ended on March 26, 2010. The series was originally produced under the working title of "Ben 10: Hero Generation". The series ran for a total of three seasons and forty-six episodes with its final episode being aired on March 26, 2010.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: It was nominated for four Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Sound Mixing – Live Action and Animation.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Set five years after the end of the original series, Ben Tennyson, now a teenager, once again dons the Omnitrix to protect the earth and other parts of the universe from villainous alien activity. The Omnitrix itself, a wristwatch-shaped device, allows Ben to transform into numerous alien forms, thereby inheriting the unique abilities of that alien race.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: "Ben 10: Alien Force" is set five years after the original series. The second series is quite different from the first one: the storyline is notable for having matured the characters and taken a darker tone with more complex plots, more characters dying, and much less humor. The original logo has changed from the original series. This change received mixed reactions from the fans, and caused a division among them. Despite this, "Ben 10: Alien Force's" ratings were successful, allowing the production of "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien," taking place one year later.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: When the Omnitrix was recalibrated it gained a more watch-style shape, a green wristband, and became smaller and sleeker with the face plate becoming black and green. The inside of the hourglass shape on the face now glows in different colors at special moments; these colors signify the state that the Omnitrix is in. The display mode of alien-shaped black silhouettes printed on the face has been replaced by a dark green 3D hologram hovering above the watch, giving a more detailed look of the selected alien.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: The new Omnitrix also functions as a Plumber's badge which is used in the series as a communicator, a detector of other Plumber's badges, an alien-language translator, and as a key for accessing the Extranet, an intergalactic Internet.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: In "Ben 10", the reason Azmuth invented the Omnitrix was for all the beings of the universe to better understand each other. It was revealed in "Ben 10: Alien Force" that there was another reason for the creation of the Omnitrix. Azmuth tells Ben that the Omnitrix was invented to preserve the DNA of all living beings in the Milky Way Galaxy and restore them if they should ever become extinct.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: "Ben 10: Alien Swarm" is a live-action film based on the series, announced by Cartoon Network at their 2008 upfront. It is a sequel to "". The first teaser trailer was shown on October 3, 2008, during the premiere of "", a full trailer was shown after the season 2 finale on March 27, 2009, and another full trailer, this time showing a preview of Humongousaur, was shown during the season 3 premiere on September 11, 2009. The film aired on November 25, 2009.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Again directed by Alex Winter, the film's cast included Ryan Kelley as Ben, Nathan Keyes as Kevin, and Galadriel Stineman as Gwen. Lee Majors was offered to reprise his role as Grandpa Max, but he turned it down; the role was recast with Barry Corbin. The film also featured Alyssa Diaz as a new character named Elena, who was a childhood friend of Ben. The aliens seen were Big Chill, Humongousaur, and a new alien named Nanomech. In the movie, Kevin's car was a green Dodge Challenger.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: A total of three games based on "Ben 10: Alien Force" were produced: "", "", and "". Characters from the Ben 10 series also made appearances in Cartoon Network's MMO, "FusionFall".


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: "Ben 10: Alien Force" has been featured in "Cartoon Network Action Pack!", an anthology comic book series published by DC Comics, since issue #27 (September 2008 cover date). It normally alternates bi-monthly with "The Secret Saturdays" as the lead story.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: "Ben 10: Alien Force" stories have been published in "Cartoon Network Action Pack!" #27, 28, 31, 33, 35, 37, 38, 41, 42, and 43.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: "Ben 10: Alien Force: Doom Dimension" is a two-part graphic novel series published by Del Rey Books, written by Peter David, and illustrated by Dan Hipp.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Scholastic Books has published a number of books based on the series, including a collection of chapter books written by Charlotte Fullerton, who has written several episodes for the show.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Lego "Ben 10: Alien Force" was a Lego theme based on the animated television series "Ben 10: Alien Force" of the same name. It is licensed from Cartoon Network. There were the total of six sets of buildable figures similar to Bionicle. The theme was first introduced in January 2010. The product line was discontinued by the end of 2010 and replaced with the Hero Factory in 2010.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Lego Ben 10: Alien Force was based on Ben 10: Alien Force animated television show. The product line focuses on Ben Tennyson's powerful alien forms with various abilities. Lego Ben 10: Alien Force aimed to recreate the main characters in Lego buildable figures, including Spidermonkey, Swampfire, Chromastone, Humungousaur, Jet Ray and Big Chill. Each of the sets included the Bionicle parts and allows children to built an action figure version of one of Ben's alien forms.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Lego Ben 10: Alien Force theme was launched at the American International Toy Fair in 2010. The Lego Group had a partnership with Cartoon Network. As part of the marketing campaign, The Lego Group released six sets based on Ben 10: Alien Force. The six sets were Spidermonkey, Swampfire, Chromastone, Humungousaur, Jet Ray and Big Chill. The toy sets are marketed at children aged 5 to 12 years old.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: According to Bricklink, The Lego Group released a total of 6 Lego sets as part of "Lego Ben 10: Alien Force" theme. It was discontinued by the end of 2010.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Spidermonkey (set number: 8409) was released on 1 January 2010 and based on the Ben 10: Alien Force character of Spidermonkey. The set consists of 21 pieces. The set measures over 8" (22 cm) tall.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Swampfire (set number: 8410) was released on 1 January 2010 and based on the Ben 10: Alien Force character of Swampfire. The set consists of 22 pieces and measures 9" (23 cm) tall.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Chromastone (set number: 8411) was released on 1 January 2010 and based on the Ben 10: Alien Force character of Chromastone. The set consists of 21 pieces and measures 9" (23 cm) tall.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Humungousaur (set number: 8517) was released on 1 January 2010 and based on the Ben 10: Alien Force character of Humungousaur. The set consists of 14 pieces and measures 9" (23 cm) tall.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Jet Ray (set number: 8518) was released on 1 January 2010 and based on the Ben 10: Alien Force character of Jet Ray. The set consists of 16 pieces and measures 9" (23 cm) tall.


title: Ben 10: Alien Force

text: Big Chill (set number: 8519) was released on 1 January 2010 and based on the Ben 10: Alien Force character of Big Chill. The set consists of 20 pieces and measures over 8" (22 cm) tall.


title: Sharman Joshi

text: Sharman Joshi (born 28 April 1979) is an Indian actor and television presenter who predominantly works in Hindi movies, known for his roles in films like "Rang De Basanti" (2006), "" (2006), "Dhol" (2007) and "3 Idiots" (2009).


title: Sharman Joshi

text: Joshi belongs to a Gujarati Brahmin family of actors and performing artists. His father, Arvind Joshi, was a veteran of Gujarati theatre, while his aunt Sarita Joshi (Bhosle) and cousins acted in Marathi and Gujarati theatre. His sister is actress Manasi Joshi Roy and brother-in-law is actor Rohit Roy.


title: Sharman Joshi

text: Joshi married Prerana Chopra, daughter of actor Prem Chopra, on 15 June 2000 at the age of 21. The couple have three children .


title: Sharman Joshi

text: Joshi has acted, produced and directed stage plays in English, Hindi, Marathi and Gujarati languages. He directed and starred in various theatre performances. He appeared as a deaf character in Gujarati version of popular play "All the Best", which did over 550 shows in three years.


title: Sharman Joshi

text: Another one of his popular comedy play was "Ame Layi Gaya, Tame Rahi Gaya" where he played four different roles. In 2016, he made his directorial debut with the Hindi rom-com, Main Aur Tum. It features him in the lead role along with Tejashree Pradhan.


title: Sharman Joshi

text: He made his film debut in the 1999 art film, "Godmother". This was followed by "Style" (2001), produced by N Chandra. "Style" was followed by its sequel "Xcuse Me" (2003) and other comedies such as "Shaadi No. 1" (2005). In 2006, he starred in "Rang De Basanti". Later that year he starred in the comedy film "Golmaal". In 2007 he appeared in "Life in a... Metro", "Dhol", and "Raqeeb". The following year saw him as the character Shyam in "Hello", the film adaptation of Chetan Bhagat's novel "One Night @ the Call Center". Joshi played the male lead in "Sorry Bhai!" in 2008 and one of the three characters (Raju Rastogi) in the 2009 film "3 Idiots", which was based on Chetan Bhagat's novel "Five Point Someone". He also played the role of a cop in the erotic-thriller "Wajah Tum Ho". He has played a lead role in the Bollywood movies "Kaashi in Search of Ganga" (2018) and "3 Storeys." He is best known for his role as Raju Rastogi in the movie "3 Idiots". He made his digital debut with Balaji Telefilms's production "Baarish" in 2019 as the male lead opposite to Asha Negi.


title: Sharman Joshi

text: In 2009, he hosted a game show at Real T.V. called "", which was based on a British game show called "PokerFace". He has been honored with the life membership of International Film and Television Club of Asian Academy of Film & Television. Sharman refers to be type-cast during his career and spoke about it at a TEDx conference in Mumbai in January, 2017.


title: Prune

text: A prune is a dried plum, most commonly from the European plum ("Prunus domestica"). Not all plum species or varieties can be dried into prunes. A prune is the firm-fleshed fruit (plum) of "Prunus domestica" varieties that have a high soluble solids content, and does not ferment during drying. Use of the term "prune" for fresh plums is obsolete except when applied to varieties of plum grown for drying.


title: Prune

text: Most prunes are "freestone" cultivars (the pit is easy to remove), whereas most plums grown for fresh consumption are "clingstone" (the pit is more difficult to remove).


title: Prune

text: Prunes are 64% carbohydrates including dietary fiber, 2% protein, a rich source of vitamin K, and a moderate source of B vitamins and dietary minerals. The sorbitol content of dietary fiber likely provides the laxative effect associated with consuming prunes. Contrary to the name, boiled plums or prunes are not used to make sugar plums.


title: Prune

text: More than 1,000 plum cultivars are grown for drying. The main cultivar grown in the United States is the 'Improved French' prune. Other varieties include 'Sutter', 'Tulare Giant', 'Moyer', 'Imperial', 'Italian', and greengages. Fresh prunes reach the market earlier than fresh plums and are usually smaller in size. The great majority of commercially grown prune varieties are self-fertile and do not need separate pollinator trees.


title: Prune

text: In 2001, plum growers in the United States were authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to call prunes "dried plums". Due to a perception that prunes relieve constipation (perceived as derogatory), some distributors stopped using the word "prune" on packaging labels in favor of "dried plums".


title: Prune

text: Prunes contain dietary fiber (about 7% of weight; table) which may provide laxative effects. Their sorbitol content may also be responsible for this, a conclusion reached in a 2012 review by the European Food Safety Authority. The report also demonstrated that prunes effectively contribute to the maintenance of normal bowel function in the general population if consumed in quantities of at least per day.


title: Prune

text: Prunes are 31% water, 64% carbohydrates, including 7% dietary fiber, 2% protein, and less than 1% fat (table). Prunes are a moderate source of vitamin K (57% of the Daily Value, DV) and a moderate source of several B vitamins and dietary minerals (4-16% DV; table).


title: Prune

text: Prunes and prune juice contain phytochemicals, including phenolic compounds (mainly as neochlorogenic acids and chlorogenic acids) and sorbitol.


title: Prune

text: Contrary to the name, boiled plums or prunes are not used to make sugar plums, which instead may be nuts, seeds, or spices coated with hard sugar, also called comfits.


title: The Night of the Hunter (film)

text: The Night of the Hunter is a 1955 American film noir thriller directed by Charles Laughton and starring Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters and Lillian Gish. The screenplay by James Agee was based on the 1953 novel of the same title by Davis Grubb. The plot focuses on a corrupt faux minister serial killer who charms an unsuspecting widow in order to get his hands on $10,000 in stolen bank loot hidden by her executed husband.


title: The Night of the Hunter (film)

text: The novel and film draw on the true story of Harry Powers, who was hanged in 1932 for the murder of two widows and three children in Clarksburg, West Virginia. The film's lyrical and expressionistic style, borrowing techniques from silent film, sets it apart from other Hollywood films of the 1940s and 1950s, and it has influenced such later directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Robert Altman, and Martin Scorsese.


title: The Night of the Hunter (film)

text: Despite receiving negative reviews upon its original release, it has been positively re-evaluated in later decades and is now considered one of the greatest films ever made. It was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry in 1992. The influential French film magazine "Cahiers du Cinéma" selected "The Night of the Hunter" in 2008 as the second-best film of all time, behind "Citizen Kane". In spite of the film's later acclaim, the negative reaction to its premiere made it Charles Laughton's only feature film as director.


title: The Night of the Hunter (film)

text: In West Virginia in the Great Depression, Reverend Harry Powell is a misogynistic serial killer and self-proclaimed preacher traveling along the Ohio River, who justifies murdering widows he marries for their money as doing God's work. After reaching a small town sometime after his latest murder, Powell ends up being arrested for driving a stolen car and serves 30 days at Moundsville Penitentiary. There he shares a cell with Ben Harper, an impoverished father of two who killed two men in a bank robbery for $10,000 he stole so that his children wouldn’t go hungry. With the police about to catch him, Harper made his children, John and Pearl, promise to never reveal where he hid the money. Despite Powell's attempts to worm it out of him, Harper takes the secret to his grave.