title: Globe Theatre

text: The name of the Globe supposedly alludes to the Latin tag "totus mundus agit histrionem" ("all the world plays the player"), in turn derived from "quod fere totus mundus exerceat histrionem"—"because all the world is a playground"—from Petronius, the satirical Roman author who had wide circulation in England in the Burbages' time. "Totus mundus agit histrionem" was, according to this explanation, therefore adopted as the theatre's motto. It seems likely, however, that the link between the supposed motto from Petronius and the theatre was made only later, originating with the industrious early Shakespeare biographer William Oldys, who claimed as his source a loaned copy of the Harleian Manuscripts to which he once had access. This was repeated in good faith by his literary executor George Steevens, but the tale is now thought "suspicious", with Oldys perpetrating a "hoax on his credulous public". The Shakespearean editor Edmond Malone took Oldys's conjecture further, by reporting that the motto was on the theatre's flag of a globe of the Earth on the shoulders of Hercules.


title: Globe Theatre

text: Another allusion, familiar to the contemporary theatre-goer, would have been to "Teatrum Mundi" ("Theatre of the World"), a meditation by the twelfth-century philosopher John of Salisbury, in his "Policraticus", book three. This included a discourse on theatrical metaphors from the Bible and from many authors from classical antiquity. Reprinted in 1595, it was in wide circulation and much read. Critic Ernst Curtius has described how it was John of Salisbury's commentary, rather than the works of Petronius, that suggested the name.


title: Globe Theatre

text: There would have been a ready understanding of the classical derivation. Shakespeare's complaint in "Hamlet" (act 2, scene 3) likening the child actors of the Blackfriars Theatre stealing the Globe's custom as "carrying off Hercules[…]and his load too" alludes to the metaphor. An elegy on the death of Globe actor Richard Burbage alludes to the god Atlas on the theatre's flag, but in mythology the figures of Atlas and Hercules can be interchangeable, as one of the labours of Hercules was to relieve Atlas of his burden. G. B. Harrison, in his introduction to an edition of "As You Like It" (Penguin Books, 1953), perceives that Jaques is making reference to the Globe Theatre's motto in his "All the world's a stage" speech (act 2 scene 7).


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: The Palm Jumeirah is an archipelago of artificial islands on the Persian Gulf in Jumeirah, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is part of a larger series of developments called the Palm Islands, including Palm Jebel Ali and Palm Deira, which, if completed, will together increase Dubai's shoreline by a total of . It has an estimated population of at least 10,000 as of 2017.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: The islands were created using land reclamation. The construction was done as a joint venture by two Dutch specialist companies, Van Oord and Boskalis. The same companies also created The World. The recently opened destinations The Pointe, Club Vista Mare and Nakheel Mall are the latest additions to Palm Jumeirah.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: The Palm Jumeirah Monorail, monorail connecting the Atlantis Hotel to the Gateway Towers at the foot of the island. The monorail connects The Palm Jumeirah Dubai to the mainland, with a planned further extension to the Red Line of the Dubai Metro. The line began operating on 30 April 2009. It is the first monorail in the Middle East.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: In the summer seasons, jellyfish frequent the beaches surrounding the Palm. In early 2020, due to the reduction of human activity during the COVID-19 pandemic, an increase in wildlife, such as dolphins, around The Palm Jumeirah was observed.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: Construction of The Palm Jumeirah Dubai island began in June 2001 and the developers announced handover of the first residential units in 2006.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: At this time, 75% of the properties were ready to hand over, with 500 families already residing on the island. By the end of 2009, 28 hotels were opened on the Crescent.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: The complexities of the construction were blamed, in part, for the extended delays to the completion of the project, the date of which was pushed back multiple times and was nearly two years late.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: In 2009, "The New York Times" reported that NASA's laser altimeter satellites had measured the Palm as sinking at the rate of per year. In response the developer, Nakheel Properties said they had received no reports of structural problems of a type that would be expected if there were any subsidence, and pointed out that the laser satellites had a measurement resolution of only .


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: After launching the project, it was revealed that the developer increased the number of residential units on the island (with a concomitant reduction in the amount of physical space between individual properties) from the originally announced 4,500 (comprising 2,000 villas purchased early in the expectation of greater separation between properties). This increase was attributed to the developer miscalculating the actual cost of construction and requiring the raising of additional capital, although they had never commented publicly on the matter. The New York Times reported in 2009 that many people had bought houses before they were built and are furious about the space available now and the way they seem to be living on top of each other.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: The outer breakwater was designed as a continuous barrier, but by preventing natural tidal movement, the seawater within the Palm became stagnant. The breakwater was subsequently modified to create gaps on either side, allowing tidal movement to oxygenate the water within and prevent it from stagnating, albeit less efficiently than would be the case if the breakwater did not exist.


title: Palm Jumeirah

text: According to a study published in the journal Water in 2022, the construction of this island has had an effect on increasing water-soluble materials, changing the spectral profile of water and also increasing the temperature of the water surface around the island.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American actor, author, comedian, producer and writer. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and Ron White. Known for his "You might be a redneck" one-liners, Foxworthy has released six major-label comedy albums. His first two albums were each certified 3× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. Foxworthy has written several books based on his redneck jokes, as well as an autobiography entitled "No Shirt, No Shoes... No Problem!"


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy has also made several ventures into television, starting in the mid-1990s with his own sitcom called "The Jeff Foxworthy Show". He has also appeared alongside Engvall and Larry the Cable Guy in several Blue Collar television specials, most notably "Blue Collar TV" for The WB. Since 2007, he has been the host of the quiz show "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" on Fox (2007–09 and 2015) and in syndication (2009–11). Foxworthy hosted a nationally syndicated radio show called "The Foxworthy Countdown" from April 1999 to December 2009. For three seasons, he hosted GSN's "The American Bible Challenge".


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on September 6, 1958, the first of three children of Carole Linda ("née" Camp) and IBM executive Jimmy Abstance Foxworthy. His parents were both of English descent, with his roots lying in the county of Essex. His grandfather, James Marvin Camp, was a Hapeville firefighter for over three decades. He has two younger siblings, Jay Foxworthy and Jennifer Foxworthy.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: According to Foxworthy, who grew up in the Southern Baptist tradition, he remembers accepting Jesus Christ when he was seven years old. When he told his mother that he wanted to go down to the local sanctuary to accept Christ as his Lord and Savior, his mother, who felt he was too young, told him to wait until he had a firmer understanding of the undertaking. Foxworthy argued with her until a preacher came to their home and vouched for Foxworthy, who went back to the church that night with his mother. Despite this, Foxworthy says that complying with the often-strict rules of the church were difficult for him, saying, "I love God, but I can't act and dress like that.”


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy graduated from Hapeville High School. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, but left just before graduating. He worked for five years in mainframe computer maintenance at IBM, where his father also worked. At the urging of IBM co-workers, Foxworthy entered and won the Great Southeastern Laugh-off at Atlanta's Punchline comedy club in 1984.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 1993, he released "You Might Be a Redneck If…", which topped the comedy albums chart and started the "You Might Be a Redneck" fad. The album went gold in 1994, platinum by 1995, and 3× platinum by 1996, which is more than three million copies.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy's July 1995 release "Games Rednecks Play" received a 1996 Grammy nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: "Totally Committed" was released in May 1998. In conjunction with the album was a one-hour HBO stand-up special by the same name. The album reached "gold" status and received a 1999 Grammy Award nomination. The video for the "Totally Committed" song featured frequent references to then-Atlanta Braves pitcher, Greg Maddux as well as an appearance at the very end by Maddux himself (along with teammate John Smoltz).


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 1995, Foxworthy starred in "The Jeff Foxworthy Show", a sitcom created out of his stand-up comedy persona. It aired on ABC, but was canceled after one season. NBC subsequently picked up the show, but it was again canceled after one season. Later, he remarked that the network did not understand how to properly market his humor; thinking his routine was "too Southern" for a national network ("Has anyone heard me talk?", he commented in one of his stand-up routines), they based the first season of his sitcom in Bloomington, Indiana. Later, the series aired on Nick at Nite and CMT in 2005 and 2006. He also appeared in Alan Jackson's video for "I Don't Even Know Your Name" in 1995.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy hosted Country Weekly's ""TNN Music City News Country Awards" show for 1998, 1999, and 2000.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 1998, Foxworthy appeared on the mock talk show "Space Ghost Coast to Coast", where he attempts to explain his famous “You might be a Redneck” joke to Space Ghost, yet fails entirely. Throughout the episode, Space Ghost, Zorak, and Moltar are taking the Ghost Planet to the US, with plans to make it the 51st state. By the end of the episode Foxworthy is sent to “The Box”.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: He hosted "Are You Smarter than A 5th Grader?" on Fox in prime time. He hosted the syndicated version of the series from September 21, 2009, until its cancellation on March 24, 2011. It was announced that Foxworthy would return as host of "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" In addition, he is a host on "The Bucks of Tecomate" which airs on the NBC Sports Network with Alabama native David Morris.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 2011, Foxworthy appeared as a guest “Shark” for two episodes of ABC’s second season of Shark Tank.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Since August 2012, Foxworthy has been the host and a producer of the GSN biblical-themed game show "The American Bible Challenge", which has aired two seasons. He is also the host of the food reality competition series "The American Baking Competition", which aired its first season in summer 2013.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy has appeared as host and featured guest on several programs on the Outdoor Channel and Versus.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In February 2019, Foxworthy was announced as a judge for NBC's comedy competition series "Bring the Funny".


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In the early 2000s, Foxworthy had a career resurgence as a result of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, in which he and three other comedians (Larry the Cable Guy, Ron White, and Bill Engvall), specializing in common-man comedy, toured the country and performed for record crowds. The tour lasted three full years, constantly being extended after an initial run of 20 shows.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 2004, he launched a new television series called "Blue Collar TV" on The WB Television Network, Comedy Central, and Comedy Network (2007). He served as executive producer and starred alongside Blue Collar Comedy Tour-mates Larry the Cable Guy and Bill Engvall. (Ron White made occasional guest appearances.) On Larry the Cable Guy's website, he posted that the show was canceled on October 17, 2005, by WB. Reruns of "Blue Collar TV" continued until the network merged with UPN to form The CW. In 2006, Foxworthy resurrected the "Blue Collar TV" format on Country Music Television (CMT) with "Foxworthy's Big Night Out". The show began airing in the fall and was canceled after one season of 12 episodes.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy has authored several books, including "You Might Be a Redneck If..." (1989), as well as his autobiography, "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Problem!" (1996). Artist Layron DeJarnette provided illustrations for the Redneck Dictionary books. R. David Boyd has been the exclusive illustrator for most of Foxworthy's books and album covers.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: He also has released a cookbook entitled "The Redneck Grill", co-authored with Newnan, Georgia, artist R. David Boyd, and ""Redneck Extreme Mobile Home Makeover"" (2005), a book with some of his redneck jokes.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In February 2008, Foxworthy released his first children's book "Dirt On My Shirt". This was followed by "Silly Street" in 2009 and "Hide!!!" in 2010, both of which were illustrated by Steve Bjorkman.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In May 2008, Foxworthy released "How to Really Stink at Golf", with co-author Brian Hartt and illustrations by Layron DeJarnette. In May 2009, he released "How to Really Stink at Work, A Guide to Making Yourself Fire-Proof While Having the Most Fun Possible". This book was also co-authored with Hartt and illustrations by DeJarnette.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In April 1999, Foxworthy began "The Foxworthy Countdown", a nationally syndicated, weekly radio show, which featured the top 30 country hits of the week, as reported by "Mediabase". In 2001, he received a Country Music Association nomination for "Broadcast Personality of the Year". The program's last broadcast, the 2009 year-end countdown, aired the weekend of December 27, 2009. In 2006, Sirius Satellite Radio launched the Blue Collar Comedy channel, which featured stand-up comedy centered around the Blue Collar group. In 2015, now under the SiriusXM banner, the station rebranded as Jeff & Larry's Comedy Roundup, which featured similar programming to the previous channel with an enhanced focus on Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In August 2011, Foxworthy launched Foxworthy Outdoors, a website carrying an assortment of Foxworthy-brand hunting and outdoors products. On the site, he also hosts a web series called "Jeff Foxworthy: Inside & Out", featuring some of his friends as they document hunting trips, fishing outings, and land conservation on his Georgia farm.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 2017 Foxworthy created the card game "Relative Insanity", a game similar to Cards Against Humanity with a family theme. Family Game Shelf praised the game, saying "it will have you laughing until your sides hurt".


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: Foxworthy met his wife Pamela Gregg at the Punchline in Atlanta, Georgia, and they married on September 18, 1985. They have two daughters, Jordan and Julianne. He is a noted hunting enthusiast, beginning when he was a teen hunting on his father's farm property in central Georgia.


title: Jeff Foxworthy

text: In 2012, Foxworthy endorsed Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, and had donated in the 2000s to the presidential campaign of George W. Bush, as well as the Republican National Committee. Despite this, he doesn't include politics in his comedy. In 2015 he stated that Donald Trump is "tapping into the American spirit".<ref>


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Media Group LLC is an American-Canadian digital media and broadcasting company. , the Vice Media Group included five main business areas: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV (also known as VICELAND); VICE News; and VIRTUE (an agency offering creative services). It was cited as the largest independent youth media company in the world, with 35 offices.


title: Vice Media

text: Developing from "Vice" magazine, originally based in Montreal and co-founded by Suroosh Alvi, Shane Smith, and Gavin McInnes, Vice expanded primarily into youth and young adult–focused digital media. This included online content verticals and related web series, the news division Vice News, a film production studio, and a record label among other properties. Vice re-located to New York City in 2001.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Media originally broadcast their news programs on HBO, which broadcast the Emmy-winning weekly documentary series "Vice", which premiered in April 2013. "Vice" features segments on global issues hosted by co-founders Smith and Alvi, and a rotating cast of correspondents. They also broadcast "Vice News Tonight", which premiered 10 October 2016, showcased a nightly roundup of global news, technology, the environment, economics, and pop culture while eschewing traditional news anchors. However, on 10 June 2019, HBO announced the news program's cancellation in addition to ending relations with Vice Media, after a seven-year partnership.


title: Vice Media

text: In August 2019, it was reported that the company was laying off staff, as part of a shift towards news that would involve merging VICELAND and VICE News.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Media founders Shane Smith, Suroosh Alvi, and Gavin McInnes launched the magazine "Voice of Montreal" in October 1994 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada with government funding, to cover music, art, trends and drug culture not covered in print. The magazine was an alternative to the "Montreal Mirror", then perceived as too mainstream by the Montreal alternative English-speaking scene. During the 1990s, Montreal's Plateau Mont-Royal/Mile-End neighbourhood was home to a burgeoning subculture with the advent of collectives such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Dummies Theatre, Bran Van 3000 and later Arcade Fire.


title: Vice Media

text: They changed the name to "Vice" in 1996, and as the magazine became more successful, the company began to find it difficult to scale their operations while based in Canada. Following an investment of $4 million by Canadian investor Richard Szalwinski, Vice relocated to New York City in 1999. In 2001, the co-founders bought "Vice" back and moved to new offices in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The magazine continued to gain attention and readership due to its content, commentary, and contributions from photographers Terry Richardson and Ryan McGinley. The magazine then rapidly expanded internationally, with Andrew Creighton and Andy Capper co-founding the UK division of "Vice". The magazine then expanded further into five continents.


title: Vice Media

text: In 2006, on the advice of creative director Spike Jonze, Vice began expanding into digital video, launching new video service VBS.tv as a joint venture with MTV Networks. VBS gained a fan base with shows like "The Vice Guide To Travel", "Epicly Later'd", "Toxic" and "Hamilton's Pharmacopeia". The documentaries on the channel featured unusual subjects, and were hosted by young people working at Vice Media, often the founders themselves.


title: Vice Media

text: In 2007, Vice Media began aggressively expanding its digital video operation, launching new channels, such as "Motherboard" (tech), "Noisey" (music), and "The Creators Project," an arts/technology site founded in partnership with Intel. Vice Media would later launch sites around electronic music culture ("Thump"), global news ("Vice News"), food ("Munchies") and sports ("Vice Sports"). Additionally, Vice Media launched Virtue Worldwide, a creative services agency, to expand their capabilities for work around their platforms. During this time, Santiago Stelley was the director of content of VBS.tv (20062010) and creative director of Vice Media (20102012).


title: Vice Media

text: In January 2008, co-founder Gavin McInnes left Vice Media due to "creative differences" with the company, and founded the website "streetcarnage.com". He later co-founded "Rooster", an advertising agency and became a far-right activist, founding the Proud Boys.


title: Vice Media

text: According to "Columbia Journalism Review", Vice has altered shots during the editing process in pursuit of more entertaining or impressive scenes. In a 2011 documentary on Libya, a voiceover from the reporter claim that he had gone to the frontlines amidst an offensive, while a source claims he did not make the trip, with only a cameraman going there.


title: Vice Media

text: With the end of VBS.tv, "Vice" began releasing films like "UK's Scariest Debt Collector", "Swansea Love Story, World's Scariest Drug," and "Inside the Superhuman World of the Iceman" through their main website and YouTube channel, as well as new series like "Slutever", "Fringes", "Love Industry" and "High Society." Like previous "Vice" content, their online films and series almost always featured on-screen hosts such as Thomas Morton, Ryan Duffy, Matt Shea, Karley Sciortino, Charlet Duboc, and Krishna Andavolu.


title: Vice Media

text: In mid-August 2013, Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox invested US$70 million in Vice Media, resulting in a 5 percent stake. Following the announcement, Smith explained, "We have set ourselves up to build a global platform but we have maintained control."


title: Vice Media

text: In 2013 Vice Media premiered a new 30-minute news program for HBO titled "Vice," executive produced by Bill Maher. In 2014, the second season of the show won a Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special in the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.


title: Vice Media

text: In 2014, Vice Media launched its news channel, Vice News, which almost immediately gained global attention for its coverage of protests and conflict in Ukraine and Venezuela. As of October 2014, the editor of BBC Radio 1's Newsbeat claimed the BBC was "playing catch-up" to Vice News.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Media has routinely advocated for their "immersionist" brand of journalism in the pursuit of more authentic and interesting stories. Their founders and editors have regularly garnered controversy from the likes of "The New York Times" David Carr, who bristled in an exchange with Shane Smith in the 2011 documentary "." In a 2014 "Time" column, Carr said that "Vice" had since grown into a strong news entity. In August 2014, Carr published a "New York Times" column further reversing his earlier criticism of Vice, saying, "Being the crusty old-media scold felt good at the time, but recent events suggest that Vice is deadly serious about doing real news that people, yes, even young people, will actually watch."


title: Vice Media

text: On 2 July 2014, Vice Media announced that it would be relocating into a warehouse space in Williamsburg that had been occupied by the independent arts spaces and concert venues 285 Kent, Death by Audio, and Glasslands, among others. Utilizing various means, Vice and the building property owners facilitated the clearance of the building and the displacement of the existing creative tenants. Vice spent US$20 million to renovate the building as part of an eight-year lease, facilitating the establishment of new production facilities with full broadcast capabilities, and received an offer of US$6.5 million in tax credits from New York state's Empire State Development.


title: Vice Media

text: In August 2014, A&E Networks, a television group jointly owned by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Corporation, made a US$250-million investment in Vice Media for an ownership stake of 10%. In November and December 2015, Disney made two additional individual investments of US$200 million totalling $400 million.


title: Vice Media

text: On 26 March 2015, HBO announced it would renew its contract to broadcast the weekly "Vice" documentary series for four years, while expanding the annual broadcast schedule from 14 to nearly 30 episodes. The network also announced Vice would be launching a nightly news program. The show, entitled "Vice News Tonight", premiered 10 October 2016 and was planned to run 48 weeks each year, featuring pre-edited video and graphics segments covering global news, technology, the environment, economics and pop culture, while eschewing the use of live TV anchors.


title: Vice Media

text: In November 2015, Vice and A&E Networks announced Viceland, a then-upcoming cable network that would feature Vice-produced content.


title: Vice Media

text: On 14 March 2017, Vice announced an expanded original programming deal with Snap Inc. The new deal builds on VICE's previous deal to serve as a 2015 global launch partner on the Snapchat Discover platform. The first program planned under the new deal is "Hungry Hearts with Action Bronson", starring the titular rapper. Also in March 2017, Vice announced a wide range of content deals which would make its programming available in more than 80 territories by the end of 2017.


title: Vice Media

text: On 23 December 2017, "The New York Times" reported that there have been four settlements involving allegations of sexual harassment or defamation against Vice employees. In addition, over twenty other women stated that they had experienced or witnessed sexual misconduct, including unwanted kisses, groping, lewd remarks and propositions for sex, at the company. In a statement provided to "The New York Times", Vice co-founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi said, "from the top down, we have failed as a company to create a safe and inclusive workplace where everyone, especially women, can feel respected and thrive." In January 2018 Vice's COO/CFO Sarah Broderick sent a memo to staff on 2 January 2018 announcing Creighton had volunteered to go on temporary leave whilst a new investigation into a $135,000 settlement from a case the company paid in 2016 to a former employee who alleged she was fired after turning him down, and the suspension of Mike Germano, who has served as chief digital officer. Germano founded Carrot Creative, which was acquired by Vice in 2013; he has been accused of pulling a former colleague onto his lap at a company party, as well as telling his former strategist Amanda Rue he originally didn't want to hire her "because he wanted to have sex with her." The investigation on Creighton found the allegation was without merit. Vice has also been criticized by current and former employees for featuring work by Terry Richardson, a photographer facing accusations of sexual abuse by multiple models. In another documentary, a former female employee covering a story about sex workers in a developing country said Vice attempted to "sensationalize and exploit" the women depicted. In one occasion, producers requested her to go undercover as a prostitute, which she refused. She also remarks being oriented to swear more while on camera.


title: Vice Media

text: In March 2018, Vice Media co-founder Shane Smith announced he was transitioning out as CEO and would take on the new title of Executive Chairman. Former A+E Networks CEO Nancy Dubuc succeeded Smith as CEO. "Smith will now be focused on creating content and strategic deals and partnerships to help grow the company."


title: Vice Media

text: In June 2017, Vice secured a $450 million investment from private-equity firm TPG Capital to increase spending on scripted programming and ongoing international expansion. As a result of the deal, Vice Media was valued at $5.7 billion. In September 2018, Disney wrote down its investment in Vice by $157 million. Disney acquired Fox's stake in Vice when its acquisition of 21st Century Fox completed in March 2019. As a result, Disney owns a combined 26% stake in Vice Media, through Fox and A+E.


title: Vice Media

text: On 20 August 2018, Vice's Munchies and Fremantle Media signed a deal with Triple Five Group to gain control of the food hall at American Dream Meadowlands. The food hall was expected to open in April 2019.


title: Vice Media

text: In November 2018, "The Wall Street Journal" reported that Vice Media was looking to trim its workforce by 10–15%, relying on attrition rather than layoffs. The same month, CEO Nancy Dubuc told an audience at "The New York Times" Dealbook conference that Vice would return to profitability the following year. In March 2019, it was reported that Vice Media was looking to raise another $200 million in funding.


title: Vice Media

text: On 3 May 2019, Vice Media announced that it raised $250 million in debt from George Soros and other investors. In October, Vice Media announced that it was acquiring Refinery29. The deal, worth a reported $400 million, valued the combined company at $4 billion. In May 2020, Vice media announced they were laying off more than 150 staff due to financial difficulties. In June 2020, Vice Media launched an investigation into allegations of subsidiary Refinery29's toxic work environment.


title: Vice Media

text: On 2 October 2020, Vice Media Group appointed Nadja Bellan-White as the global CMO, to be in charge of worldwide branding, communications and promotions. It was also announced that Meera Pattni had been promoted to VP Communications, directly reporting to Bellan-White.


title: Vice Media

text: In April 2021, Van Scott, former ABC News communications executive, joined VICE as VP Corporate Communications to lead communications in the US. Scott would report into Laura Misselbrook, Global SVP Communications, based in London.


title: Vice Media

text: In April 2021, Vice Media was criticized by Cambodians for photoshopping images of the victims of the Khmer Rouge Genocide. Some victims had smileys photoshopped onto their faces. Vice later admitted to the images being photoshopped and said that "We regret the error and will investigate how this failure of the editorial process occurred."


title: Vice Media

text: In March 2020, Vice Media organised the Azimuth music festival in Saudi Arabia, less than two years after Vice paused all work in Saudi Arabia following the assassination of Jamal Khashoggi. Vice’s brand was not used on marketing material, and contractors had to sign to sign non-disclosure agreements regarding Vice's involvement. Vice opened a commercial and creative office in Riyadh in 2022.


title: Vice Media

text: In March 2021, it was claimed that "VICE Media Group is the world’s largest independent youth media company", with offices in 35 cities across the world. Its five key businesses were listed as: VICE.com (digital content); VICE STUDIOS (film and TV production) VICE TV; VICE NEWS; and VIRTUE (an agency offering creative services).


title: Vice Media

text: VICE Media operates a range of digital and offline entities, a live music venue and other enterprises. These include:


title: Vice Media

text: "Vice" is a print magazine and website focused on arts, culture, and news topics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the magazine was the first product of the media company now known as Vice Media.


title: Vice Media

text: As of April 2017, the magazine's editor-in-chief is Ellis Jones. The magazine switched to a quarterly publication schedule in 2018, though issues still generally explore a single theme.


title: Vice Media

text: "Vice News" is the name of Vice Media's current affairs brand, consisting of ViceNews.com, a nightly news program called Vice News Tonight, and an Emmy-winning weekly news program, Vice, both airing on HBO. Vice News focuses on coverage of events that may not be as well covered by other news sources. On 24 May 2016, Vice Media promoted Josh Tyrangiel to oversee a unified Vice News division consisting of Vice News, the weekly HBO Vice News show, and the daily "Vice News Tonight."


title: Vice Media

text: Vice News creates content daily, distributing written articles and video on its website and YouTube channel. In 2015, the channel won two Peabody Awards for its video series "The Islamic State" and "Last Chance High".


title: Vice Media

text: In 2013, HBO aired the first 10-episode season of a half-hour newsmagazine known as "Vice", with Bill Maher as executive producer. The initial season saw international coverage for the season one finale that had Vice play an exhibition basketball game in North Korea with Dennis Rodman and the Harlem Globetrotters. The show was renewed for a second season, which aired in 2014 and won an Emmy award for Outstanding Informational Series or Special. The show was picked up for two more 14-episode seasons by HBO in May 2014, which aired in 2015 and 2016. The program is currently in its fifth season which was expanded to a total of 30 episodes.


title: Vice Media

text: In October 2016, a second Vice News program, a nightly news program called "Vice News Tonight", premiered. The program is slated to run 48 weeks each year, featuring pre-edited video and graphics segments covering global news, technology, the environment, economics, and pop culture, while eschewing the use of live TV anchors.


title: Vice Media

text: Following the violent protests by white supremacists, white nationalists and other groups at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, "Vice News Tonight" broke from its normal newsmagazine format to devote an entire episode to a documentary film on the events. The episode aired the same weekend as the rally, 14 August 2017. "Charlottesville: Race and Terror" garnered critical praise, with "Esquire" urging readers to "watch it and share it". In addition to featuring the video on its subscription streaming channels, HBO agreed to post the entire video on YouTube. Within two weeks, it had more than 44 million views between HBO and online platforms. "The Guardian" wrote that the film "lays bare" the "horror of neo-Nazis in America." The episode received a Peabody Award for public service journalism in April 2018.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice on TV is a cable television network operated by Vice primarily featuring documentary-style programs targeted toward millennials. It operates under partnership with local cable and free-to-air television providers in the following regions:


title: Vice Media

text: Viceland was formerly available as a dedicated channel in Canada, through a partnership with Rogers Communications; however, this channel was shut down in March 2018 due to low viewership. In August 2018, Vice signed a new content deal with Bell Media to relaunch Vice-branded content in Canada on various Bell-owned properties including Much and CraveTV.


title: Vice Media

text: In August 2019, it was reported that Vice media is moving Viceland toward news and away from entertainment and other lifestyle programming, and has plans to merge Viceland with Vice News.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Records or Vice Music, launched in 2002, is Vice's in-house record label. It has released albums and singles by the following artists through various major label distributors:


title: Vice Media

text: Since 2007, Vice Media has released documentaries through the Vice Films label. Its first theatrical release was "White Lightnin'" in 2009. Vice Films released its first narrative feature, "Fishing Without Nets," in 2014. On 8 December 2014, 20th Century Fox and Vice Media announced they would collaborate to finance, produce, distribute, market, and acquire narrative films under the Vice Films brand.


title: Vice Media

text: Documentaries and features from Vice Films have been recognized by major US and international film festivals. Cutter Hodierne received the best director award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 for "Fishing Without Nets." "The Bad Batch," another feature film, received the Special Jury Prize at the 2016 Venice Film Festival.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Films also released 2008's feature length rockumentary "Heavy Metal in Baghdad," which followed the thrash metal band Acrassicauda in Iraq. The New York Times praised the production and reporting, calling it a "stirring testament to the plight of cultural expression in Baghdad and a striking report on the refugee scene in Syria."


title: Vice Media

text: Andy Capper directed "Reincarnated" starring Snoop Dogg and Diplo, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival. Netflix acquired the rights. He also made "Lil Bub & Friendz", which won the 2013 Tribeca Film Festival.


title: Vice Media

text: After it premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2017, Netflix acquired the rights to the Vice Films documentary "," about Jim Carrey's portrayal of the late Andy Kaufman in the movie "Man on the Moon." The film was directed by Chris Smith and produced by Spike Jonze.


title: Vice Media

text: The MTV series "The Vice Guide to Everything," which premiered in December 2010, was a weekly news magazine featuring short video segments on various global issues, hosted by Shane Smith and roster of correspondents. The segments sought to cater to a younger audience with a more condensed, entertaining approach to the news. The series aired until 2011.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice Media has steadily acquired media properties and firms and closed deals in order to expand its global operations.


title: Vice Media

text: In June 2014, it was reported that Time Warner was negotiating to acquire up to a 40% stake in Vice Media; among the company's plans were to give Vice Media control over the programming of HLN—a spin-off network of CNN which had recently struggled in its attempts to re-focus itself as a younger-skewing, social media-oriented news service. However, the deal fell through as the companies were unable to agree on a proper valuation, and Vice Media chose to partner with A&E Networks for a 10% minority stake. A&E's co-owner Disney made a second investment of $200 million.


title: Vice Media

text: On 30 October 2014, Vice Media announced a CDN$100 million joint venture with Rogers Communications that to facilitate the construction of production facilities in Toronto, as well as the introduction of a Vice-branded television network and digital properties in Canada in 2015. Rogers CEO Guy Laurence described the proposed studio as "a powerhouse for Canadian digital content focused on 18- to 34-year-olds" that will be "exciting" and "provocative." The content of the partnership will be aimed primarily toward digital platforms.


title: Vice Media

text: In November 2014, Vice Media announced that Alyssa Mastromonaco, who formerly worked in the Obama administration, would come on board as the company's chief operating officer in January 2015, and that James Schwab, who had previously advised Vice and DreamWorks on media deals, would be joining as co-president.


title: Vice Media

text: In June 2016, at the Cannes Lions Awards, the company announced its planned expansion into over 50 countries, including partnerships with The Times of India Group and Moby that will see Vice enter the India and Middle East markets with digital, mobile, and linear operations. New Viceland channels have already launched in Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and Africa.


title: Vice Media

text: In late 2016, Vice announced a news and content expansion into the Indonesian market, with the goal of reaching the country's roughly 100 million young adults aged between 18 and 34 years. As of 7 November 2016, Vice had struck digital and cable programming deals with Google and Indonesian television network Jawa Pos TV to broadcast its original lifestyle, culture, and news content.


title: Vice Media

text: On 1 March 2017 at Mobile World Congress, Vice announced new content deals with mobile operators in multiple regions, including an extensive Asia Pacific expansion and renewed partnership with Verizon's Go90 branch. The new deals will bring Vice's content into more than 80 global territories by the end of 2017.


title: Vice Media

text: On 22 March 2017, Vice Media finalized a deal with French digital media studio Blackpills for the creation of a line-up of original short-form programming, set to premiere on Vice's digital video hub, video.vice.com. Blackpills would enlist international filmmakers including Luc Besson, Bryan Singer, and Zoe Cassavetes in the creative effort. Vice London subsidiary Pulse Films contributed original content to air on video.vice.com, and Viceland in both the US and Canada aired Blackpills' first series, French/Canadian co-production starring Donald Trump impersonator John Di Domenico and comedian Ron Sparks.


title: Vice Media

text: Later in March 2017, while in India, Shane Smith discussed his partnership with the Times Group. The company launched Vice India as well as their agency business, Virtue. Smith also revealed that the company had "held India back as a launch partner because it's so important to get it right. We didn't just want to come in, set up a studio and go. We wanted to have a plan, make sure we did it correctly." In June 2017, Vice announced a partnership with Brazilian media giant Grupo Globo that will see Vice grow its existing presence in the region through increased local production capabilities and increased mobile programming.


title: Vice Media

text: In November 2017, Vice announced the launch of a new Asia Pacific office with a dedicated CEO to oversee programming and business operations in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and elsewhere in the region. The headquarters, in Singapore, will include "studio space that will be used for original documentary, drama, and film projects as well as by Vice's branding agency, Virtue."


title: Vice Media

text: In March 2021, the Pedestrian Group announced a multi-year deal to become the Australian digital publishing home of the brand. In January 2022 a new team of five, headed by Brad Esposito, was announced to head up Vice Australia and New Zealand.


title: Vice Media

text: In 2004 Vice acquired a pub and music venue in Shoreditch, East London named The Old Blue Last, in which a live music program entitled "Live at the Old Blue Last" is filmed. After Vice bought the Old Blue Last in 2004, it underwent a series of improvements, with most taking place in 2010. In 2012, Vice began selling beer under the Old Blue Last label.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice integrated with the British fashion magazine "i-D" in December 2012, with Vice president Andrew Creighton calling it "one of the only fashion publications in the world we actually respect."


title: Vice Media

text: In 2015, Vice announced it invested an "undisclosed sum" in VRSE.farm, a virtual reality company founded by acclaimed director Chris Milk. The announcement came alongside a debut VR experience at the Sundance Festival, a "virtual-reality journalism broadcast" made in partnership with Spike Jonze and Vice News.


title: Vice Media

text: In March 2016, Vice acquired controlling stake in UK television and film production company Pulse Films, to bolster its original programming efforts. As of 22 March 2017, Pulse Films produces original content, including the series "Pillowtalk" and "Twiz and Tuck Bucket List" for exclusive release on video.vice.com, Vice's digital video hub. Pulse Films has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Paris, Berlin and Milan. It specialises in producing fiction feature, music documentaries and drama-documentaries.


title: Vice Media

text: Vice acquired UK magazine Garage in July 2017 to expand its foothold in the youth market and announced plans to launch a digital channel focused on art, fashion and literature.


title: Vice Media

text: In May 2018 Vice announced the acquisition of experiential events company Villain at its NewFronts presentation, but didn't reveal what they paid for it. Villain is based in a 15,000 ft warehouse near Vice's headquarters in Williamsburg, NYC. The company works with a host of major brands, including PepsiCo, Toyota and RedBull.


title: Vice Media

text: On 26 January 2017, Vice announced the consolidation of its in-house agency Virtue with Carrot Creative, a digital and mobile agency Vice acquired in 2013, Pulse Films, a production company Vice acquired in 2016 into the new "Virtue Worldwide." Based in Brooklyn, New York, the combined 450-person global consultancy provides the services of a full agency network and multi-platform content creation studio. Virtue Worldwide will be led by CEO Lars Hemming Jorgensen.


title: Vice Media

text: Relying on these in-house and acquired agencies, apart from its editorial operations, Vice works with advertisers to create global ad campaigns tailored to the company's younger audience. The ads generate revenue from the production of the ad and placement within a given media property. Vice maintains the separation between the production of branded and hard news content, while some critics contend that their operation "blurs the line between editorial and sponsorship". This practice is sometimes referred to as "native advertising," due to how ads are often mingled with regular content. Co-founder Alvi has also said that Vice has had "franchises that were underwritten by sponsors – that's our goal, to get a lot of our news franchises and stories and reports sponsored by advertisers. It's kind of the way news used to be in the fifties: 'Brought to you by Gillette' or whatever it was. We love that model."


title: Vice Media

text: Some of the brands that Vice has worked with are Google, Unilever, Bank of America, Samsung, Toyota, Levi Strauss & Co. and Intel. However, some advertisers have been controversial; Edition Worldwide, a subsidiary of Vice UK, was called "highly irresponsible" by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and other anti-smoking groups for their work producing content for tobacco giant Philip Morris International. This was seen as unethical by anti-tobacco groups due to the young audience which Vice News usually attracts. In March 2019, Vice accepted £5M from Philip Morris to promote e-cigarettes to young people.


title: Vice Media

text: On 7 August 2015, the roughly 70-person writing staff of Vice Media US voted to unionize, joining the Writers Guild of America, East. Vice management quickly recognized the union. The successful union drive followed in the footsteps of Salon, Gawker, and "The Guardian".


title: Vice Media

text: Then, in September 2017, employees and freelancers who "work on video content for Vice.com, cable channel Viceland, and Vice programming on HBO" unionized through Writers Guild of America, East and the Motion Pictures Editors Guild. At the time, a leader from one of the unions said, "We have built a constructive relationship with Vice management and applaud the company for continuing to respect the right of its employees to engage in collective bargaining."


title: Vice Media

text: On 2 May 2017, Vice Media ratified a three-year collective bargaining agreement with 170 employees of the company's Canadian division who had joined the Canadian Media Guild union in 2016.


title: Vice Media

text: In February 2016, staff members at Vice UK called for unionization with an officially recognised trade union by the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Staff members said this was following the steps of Vice US (which unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East), in order to allow the staff to "share in the success of the company", to strengthen job security by Vice providing better contracts, to address "pay issues ... so everyone gets a fair deal, including freelancers" and enhance career progression opportunities.


title: Vice Media

text: This proposition was rejected by Vice UK; the company refused to recognise the NUJ, but instead said that they were free to set up an internal staff council. Vice chief executive, Matt Elek, claimed the NUJ had displayed "a concerning lack of transparency from them about who they are purporting to represent here [and had] not been able to provide us with any numbers to demonstrate the degree of support they have in this office", adding that: "The NUJ are used to working with old print media businesses and structures – they are not used to innovative, digital workplaces like this where the culture has always been to encourage flexibility and allow people work across different departments."


title: Vice Media

text: The accusation that the NUJ has not been transparent in its discussions with Vice management is simply untrue. It's a shame that the company has proven so resistant to listening to its own staff and facilitating what they want – a collective voice at work. That the NUJ and its 30,000 members – including those at Vice – are not used to the reality of a digital workforce is laughable and shows it's the company who are out of date with 21st century trade unions. Rejecting calls for union recognition from their own journalists and then trying to fob them off with a Rupert Murdoch-style staff association is a pretty old-fashioned union-busting ruse that misses the point. NUJ officials and reps at Vice will continue with the push for recognition and if the company wants that to be gained through the law forcing their hand rather than through sensible engagement with their staff, so be it.


title: Vice Media

text: The NUJ submitted a new request for recognition in March 2019. Following talks at Acas, the company agreed to recognise the NUJ for purposes of collective bargaining on 25 July 2019.


title: Vice Media

text: In July 2014, Vice Media announced it would be moving its headquarters to a new building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where their New York office had been since 1999. According to an article in "The Wall Street Journal", the move would allow them to double their current office size and hire about 500 new employees.


title: Vice Media

text: Following this announcement, the two music venues occupying the building, Glasslands Gallery and Death By Audio, soon announced the news they would be closing. Following the announcement from Glasslands management in October 2014 that the arts venue would close at the end of 2014, thereby making it the third Williamsburg music space to close through Vice Media's expansion—alongside 285 Kent and Death By Audio—"Big Shot Magazine" claimed that the Brooklyn music community had received a "proverbial kick in the groin."


title: Vice Media

text: After a series of articles covering the venues' eviction, BrooklynVegan reported on the deals that led to Vice Media moving into the new office, including terms buying out tenants and covering past overdue rent, that contradicted some press around the renovation of the building and Vice Media's dealings with the current tenants. Regardless, as the article puts it, "The concept of 'Vice vs. DIY' in Williamsburg is officially a thing."


title: Vice Media

text: After expanding into the Glasslands Gallery and Death by Audio space in 2014, Vice further expanded its Brooklyn footprint by leasing a 74,000 square foot property at 55 Washington Street. The new property houses agency acquisitions Carrot Creative along with other Vice corporate staff.


title: Lenny Montana

text: Lenny Montana (born Leonardo Passafaro; March 13, 1926 – May 12, 1992) was an American actor who played the role of feared hitman Luca Brasi in "The Godfather". Prior to becoming an actor, he had a successful career as a professional wrestler and worked as an enforcer for the Colombo crime family.


title: Lenny Montana

text: Montana was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 13, 1926. He was of Italian-American heritage. He was fluent in both English and Italian. His wrestling career began in neighboring New Jersey in 1953. He wrestled under the Zebra Kid gimmick, and was billed at the height of 6'6". It wasn't long before Montana found success. Along with Golden Terror, he won the New Jersey Tag Team titles on April 4, 1953. He began to travel, wrestling in the Midwest. He soon won the NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship, defeating Dave Sims on October 1, 1953, in Kansas City. However he lost the title on December 11, 1953, to Sonny Myers, who had previously held the title three times before defeating the Zebra Kid. Montana's final success of the 1950s came in 1956, winning the NWA Texas Tag Team Championship with Gene Kiniski, defeating Herb Freeman and Ray Gunkel on September 18 in Dallas under the alias Len Crosby. He also worked as a bouncer during this time to earn extra money.


title: Lenny Montana

text: By the late 1950s, Montana was on the road with the Carnival Circuit as a wrestler. As a popular wrestler on the circuit, Montana met the then unknown Eddie Sharkey in 1960. The two struck up a friendship. After seeing what Sharkey could do, Montana recommended that he try his hand at professional wrestling. Montana also clued in Sharkey on the then-unacknowledged truth about professional wrestling--that all the outcomes are predetermined. Later that year, Montana won the NWA Texas World Tag Team titles with Joe Christie, under the Len Crosby name. Then with Hard Boiled Haggerty, he won the AWA World Tag Team Championship on October 4, 1960, defeating Stan Kowalski and Tiny Mills (wrestling as Murder Inc.) in Minneapolis.


title: Lenny Montana

text: In a match against Verne Gagne, Montana suffered a broken leg, forcing Haggerty to choose a new partner. After recovering from his injury, in 1961 Montana began to wrestle in Florida. He came to the Tampa Bay area and began to wrestle under The Zebra Kid alias. At his great size, he would often pin his opponents in under one minute. The Zebra Kid had a notable feud with Eddie Graham; their battles sold out Fort Homer Hesterly Armory many Tuesday nights in 1961. Things came to a head when Montana defeated Eddie Graham in a NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Georgia version) title match on May 1, 1962.


title: Lenny Montana

text: On November 23, 1962, he won the NWA (Georgia) Southern Tag Team Titles with his partner Gypsy Joe, defeating 'Grizzly' Jake Smith and Luke Brown. Montana then went on to form a powerful partnership with Tarzan Tyler, in which they would win three titles. First, the NWA International Tag Team Titles on April 9, 1963 defeating Ted Evans and Chief Little Eagle, then again winning the NWA International Tag Team Titles later in June 1963, defeating billed champions Chief Little Eagle and Dick Steinborn. Finally, the duo won the NWA World Tag Team Championship in Georgia, during October 1963, they defeated Karl Von Brauner and Kurt Von Brauner. Montana was due to be Gorilla Monsoon's tag team partner in 1964, but at the last minute Monsoon took on The African Savage as his partner instead. Montana had been interested in acting and was meeting with casting agents in Los Angeles at the same time he was due to team up with Bison. Montana began to wrestle less and less, and went into semi-retirement; however he appeared in matches up until his acting career took off in the early 1970s.


title: Lenny Montana

text: Montana became involved with the Colombo crime family in the late 1960s. Tall and very heavily built, his talents were mostly as an enforcer and an arsonist. He told the cast and crew of "The Godfather" how he would tie a tampon to the tail of a mouse, dip it in kerosene, light it, and let the mouse run through a building, or he would put a lit candle in front of a cuckoo clock so that when the clock's bird would pop out the candle would be knocked over and start a fire. Eventually, Montana was jailed at Rikers Island. Upon being released, Montana acted as a bodyguard for many senior members of the Colombo family.


title: Lenny Montana

text: The filming of "The Godfather" faced strong opposition from the Italian-American Civil Rights League, with disputes headed by Joe Colombo and Frank Sinatra threatening its whole production. Producer Al Ruddy eventually made a deal with the league and Joe Colombo to cut the word Mafia (which was only used once in the script) and the League would back the production of the film. This meant mobsters would be present on the set of "The Godfather". In 1971, when Montana was acting as a bodyguard for a senior Colombo family member, he met Francis Ford Coppola and Al Ruddy. After being introduced to the 6'6" 320-pound Montana, they quickly cast him for the role of Luca Brasi. When Bettye McCartt, Al Ruddy's assistant, broke her watch, Montana offered to get her a new one. A week later, Montana returned with a "gift from the boys" – an antique diamond watch. He was picked for the part after the original actor playing the character died of a stroke. This was his first credited film appearance. His role was that of mob enforcer Luca Brasi, a hitman used by Don Corleone (Marlon Brando). Montana was very nervous about appearing opposite Brando. Director Coppola incorporated this real-life tension into several scenes, showing Brasi repeatedly practicing (and later fumbling) his congratulations to Corleone. Montana had little screen time in the film (although his final scene is one of the most suspenseful in the film), but his notable height and physique caught the eye of producers, and he appeared in several movies and television programs after appearing in "The Godfather".


title: Lenny Montana

text: One of the first of these roles was the Italian spoof film "The Funny Face of the Godfather" in 1973. Montana had the role of Saro, and an artist's rendition of Montana appeared on the film's poster. He established himself as an efficient character actor and appeared in "Patty" (1976), "Fingers" (1978) as the pizzeria owner Luchino, "Matilda" (1978), "They Went That-A-Way & That-A-Way" (1978), "The Jerk" (1979), "Seven" (1979), "Below the Belt" (1980), "Defiance" (1980), "Battle Creek Brawl" (1980) alongside Jackie Chan, "Evilspeak" (1981), "...All the Marbles" (1981), "Pandemonium" (1982) and "Blood Song" (1982). He also acted on television as well as the big screen, appearing in "Search" (1973), "Strike Force" (1975), which starred a young Richard Gere, "Contract on Cherry Street" (1977), which featured Frank Sinatra, "Kojak" (1978), and "Magnum, P.I." (1982). Montana was usually cast as "muscle" for hire or an intimidating mobster.


title: Lenny Montana

text: Montana retired from acting after appearing in the B movie "Blood Song" (1982), which he also co-wrote. He died May 12, 1992, of a heart attack in Lindenhurst, New York. He was 66 years old.


title: Cestoda

text: Cestoda is a class of parasitic worms in the flatworm phylum (Platyhelminthes). Most of the species—and the best-known—are those in the subclass Eucestoda; they are ribbon-like worms as adults, known as tapeworms. Their bodies consist of many similar units known as proglottids—essentially packages of eggs which are regularly shed into the environment to infect other organisms. Species of the other subclass, Cestodaria, are mainly fish infecting parasites.


title: Cestoda

text: All cestodes are parasitic; many have complex life histories, including a stage in a definitive (main) host in which the adults grow and reproduce, often for years, and one or two intermediate stages in which the larvae develop in other hosts. Typically the adults live in the digestive tracts of vertebrates, while the larvae often live in the bodies of other animals, either vertebrates or invertebrates. For example, "Diphyllobothrium" has at least two intermediate hosts, a crustacean and then one or more freshwater fish; its definitive host is a mammal. Some cestodes are host-specific, while others are parasites of a wide variety of hosts. Some six thousand species have been described; probably all vertebrates can host at least one species.


title: Cestoda

text: The adult tapeworm has a scolex (head), a short neck, and a strobila (segmented body) formed of proglottids. Tapeworms anchor themselves to the inside of the intestine of their host using their scolex, which typically has hooks, suckers, or both. They have no mouth, but absorb nutrients directly from the host's gut. The neck continually produces proglottids, each one containing a reproductive tract; mature proglottids are full of eggs, and fall off to leave the host, either passively in the feces or actively moving. All tapeworms are hermaphrodites, with each individual having both male and female reproductive organs.


title: Cestoda

text: Humans are subject to infection by several species of tapeworms if they eat undercooked meat such as pork ("Taenia solium"), beef ("T. saginata"), and fish ("Diphyllobothrium"), or if they live in, or eat food prepared in, conditions of poor hygiene ("Hymenolepis" or "Echinococcus" species). The unproven concept of using tapeworms as a slimming aid has been touted since around 1900.


title: Cestoda

text: All 6,000 species of Cestoda are parasites, mainly intestinal; their definitive hosts are vertebrates, both terrestrial and marine, while their intermediate hosts include insects, crustaceans, molluscs, and annelids as well as other vertebrates.


title: Cestoda

text: "T. saginata", the beef tapeworm, can grow up to 20 m (65 ft); the largest species, the whale tapeworm "Tetragonoporus calyptocephalus", can grow to over 30 m (100 ft). Species with small hosts tend to be small. For example, vole and lemming tapeworms are only in length, and those parasitizing shrews only .


title: Cestoda

text: Cestodes have no gut or mouth and absorb nutrients from the host's alimentary tract through their specialised neodermal cuticle, or tegument, through which gas exchange also takes place. The tegument also protects the parasite from the host's digestive enzymes and allows it to transfer molecules back to the host.


title: Cestoda

text: The body form of adult eucestodes is simple, with a scolex, or grasping head, adapted for attachment to the definitive host, a short neck, and a strobila, or segmented trunk formed of proglottids, which makes up the worm's body. Members of the subclass Cestodaria, the Amphilinidea and Gyrocotylidea, are wormlike but not divided into proglottids. Amphilinids have a muscular proboscis at the front end; Gyrocotylids have a sucker or proboscis which they can pull inside or push outside at the front end, and a holdfast rosette at the posterior end.


title: Cestoda

text: The scolex, which attaches to the intestine of the definitive host, is often minute in comparison with the proglottids. It is typically a four-sided knob, armed with suckers or hooks or both. In some species, the scolex is dominated by bothria, or "sucking grooves" that function like suction cups. Cyclophyllid cestodes can be identified by the presence of four suckers on their scolices. Other species have ruffled or leaflike scolices, and there may be other structures to aid attachment.


title: Cestoda

text: Circular and longitudinal muscles lie under the neodermis, beneath which further longitudinal, dorso-ventral and transverse muscles surround the central parenchyma. Protonephridial cells drain into the parenchyma. There are four longitudinal collection canals, two dorso-lateral and two ventro-lateral, running along the length of the worm, with a transverse canal linking the ventral ones at the posterior of each segment. When the proglottids begin to detach, these canals open to the exterior through the terminal segment.


title: Cestoda

text: The main nerve centre of a cestode is a cerebral ganglion in its scolex. Nerves emanate from the ganglion to supply the general body muscular and sensory endings, with two lateral nerve cords running the length of the strobila. The cirrus and vagina are innervated, and sensory endings around the genital pore are more plentiful than in other areas. Sensory function includes both tactoreception (touch) and chemoreception (smell or taste).


title: Cestoda

text: Once anchored to the host's intestinal wall, tapeworms absorb nutrients through their surface as their food flows past them. Cestodes are unable to synthesise lipids, which they use for reproduction, and are therefore entirely dependent on their hosts.


title: Cestoda

text: The tapeworm body is composed of a series of segments called "proglottids". These are produced from the neck by mitotic growth, which is followed by transverse constriction. The segments become larger and more mature as they are displaced backwards by newer segments. Each proglottid contains an independent reproductive tract, and like some other flatworms, cestodes excrete waste through flame cells ("protonephridia") located in the proglottids. The sum of the proglottids is called a strobila, which is thin and resembles a strip of tape; from this is derived the common name "tapeworm". Proglottids are continually being produced by the neck region of the scolex, as long as the scolex is attached and alive.


title: Cestoda

text: Mature proglottids are essentially bags of eggs, each of which is infective to the proper intermediate host. They are released and leave the host in feces, or migrate outwards as independent motile proglottids. The number of proglottids forming the tapeworm ranges from three to four thousand. Their layout comes in two forms: craspedote, meaning any given proglottid is overlapped by the previous proglottid, or acraspedote, indicating the proglottids do not overlap.


title: Cestoda

text: Cestodes are exclusively hermaphrodites, with both male and female reproductive systems in each body. The reproductive system includes one or more testes, cirri, vas deferens, and seminal vesicles as male organs, and a single lobed or unlobed ovary with the connecting oviduct and uterus as female organs. The common external opening for both male and female reproductive systems is known as the genital pore, which is situated at the surface opening of the cup-shaped atrium. Though they are sexually hermaphroditic and cross-fertilization is the norm, self-fertilization sometimes occurs and makes possible the reproduction of a worm when it is the only individual in its host's gut. During copulation, the cirri of one individual connect with those of the other through the genital pore, and then spermatozoa are exchanged.


title: Cestoda

text: Cestodes are parasites of vertebrates, with each species infecting a single definitive host or group of closely related host species. All but amphilinids and gyrocotylids (which burrow through the gut or body wall to reach the coelom) are intestinal, though some life-cycle stages rest in muscle or other tissues. The definitive host is always a vertebrate but in nearly all cases, one or more intermediate hosts are involved in the lifecycle, typically arthropods or other vertebrates. Infections can be long-lasting; in humans, tapeworm infection may last as much as 30 years. No asexual phases occur in the lifecycle, as they do in other flatworms, but the lifecycle pattern has been a crucial criterion for assessing evolution among Platyhelminthes.


title: Cestoda

text: Cestodes produce large numbers of eggs, but each one has a low probability of finding a host. To increase their chances, different species have adopted various strategies of egg release. In the Pseudophyllidea, many eggs are released in the brief period when their aquatic intermediate hosts are abundant (semelparity). In contrast, in the terrestrial Cyclophyllidea, proglottids are released steadily over a period of years, or as long as their host lives (iteroparity). Another strategy is to have very long-lived larvae; for example, in "Echinococcus", the hydatid larvae can survive for ten years or more in humans and other vertebrate hosts, giving the tapeworm an exceptionally long time window in which to find another host.


title: Cestoda

text: Many tapeworms have a two-phase lifecycle with two types of host. The adult "Taenia saginata" lives in the gut of a primate such as a human, its definitive host. Proglottids leave the body through the anus and fall to the ground, where they may be eaten with grass by a grazing animal such as a cow. This animal then becomes an intermediate host, the oncosphere boring through the gut wall and migrating to another part of the body such as the muscle. Here it encysts, forming a cysticercus. The parasite completes its lifecycle when the intermediate host passes on the parasite to the definitive host, usually when the definitive host eats contaminated parts of the intermediate host, for example a human eating raw or undercooked meat. Another two-phase lifecycle is exhibited by "Anoplocephala perfoliata", the definitive host being an equine and the intermediate host an oribatid mite.


title: Cestoda

text: "Diphyllobothrium" exhibits a more complex, three-phase lifecycle. If the eggs are laid in water, they develop into free-swimming oncosphere larvae. After ingestion by a suitable freshwater crustacean such as a copepod, the first intermediate host, they develop into procercoid larvae. When the copepod is eaten by a suitable second intermediate host, typically a minnow or other small freshwater fish, the procercoid larvae migrate into the fish's flesh where they develop into plerocercoid larvae. These are the infective stages for the mammalian definitive host. If the small fish is eaten by a predatory fish, its muscles too can become infected.


title: Cestoda

text: "Schistocephalus solidus" is another three-phase example. The intermediate hosts are copepods and small fish, and the definitive hosts are waterbirds. This species has been used to demonstrate that cross-fertilisation produces a higher infective success rate than self-fertilisation.


title: Cestoda

text: Hosts can become immune to infection by a cestode if the lining, the mucosa, of the gut is damaged. This exposes the host's immune system to cestode antigens, enabling the host to mount an antibody defence. Host antibodies can kill or limit cestode infection by damaging their digestive enzymes, which reduces their ability to feed and therefore to grow and to reproduce; by binding to their bodies; and by neutralising toxins that they produce. When cestodes feed passively in the gut, they do not provoke an antibody reaction.


title: Cestoda

text: Parasite fossils are rare, but recognizable clusters of cestode eggs, some with an operculum (lid) indicating that they had not erupted, one with a developing larva, have been discovered in fossil shark coprolites dating to the Permian, some 270 million years ago.


title: Cestoda

text: The fossil Rugosusivitta, which was found in China at base of the Cambrian deposits in Yunnan just above the Ediacaran-Cambrian border, has great similarities to present day Cestodians. If correct, this would be the earliest example of a Platyzoan and also one of the earliest bilaterian body-fossils and might thus provide an insight to the living mode of Cestodians before they became specialized parasites.


title: Cestoda

text: The position of the Cestoda within the Platyhelminthes and other Spiralian phyla based on genomic analysis is shown in the phylogenetic tree. The non-parasitic flatworms, traditionally grouped as the "Turbellaria", are paraphyletic, as the parasitic Neodermata including the Cestoda arose within that grouping. The approximate times when major groups first appeared is shown in millions of years ago.


title: Cestoda

text: The evolutionary history of the Cestoda has been studied using ribosomal RNA, mitochondrial and other DNA, and morphological analysis and continues to be revised. "Tetraphyllidea" is seen to be paraphyletic; "Pseudophyllidea" has been broken up into two orders, Bothriocephalidea and Diphyllobothriidea. Hosts, whose phylogeny often mirrors that of the parasites (Fahrenholz's rule), are indicated in italics and parentheses, the life-cycle sequence (where known) shown by arrows as "(intermediate host [→ intermediate host] → definitive host)". Alternatives, generally for different species within an order, are shown in square brackets.


title: Cestoda

text: The Taeniidae, including species such as the pork tapeworm and the beef tapeworm that often infect humans, may be the most basal of the 12 orders of the Cyclophyllidea.


title: Cestoda

text: Like other species of mammal, humans can become infected with tapeworms. There may be few or no symptoms, and the first indication of the infection may be the presence of one or more proglottids in the stools. The proglottids appear as flat, rectangular, whitish objects about the size of a grain of rice, which may change size or move about. Bodily symptoms which are sometimes present include abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhea, increased appetite and weight loss.


title: Cestoda

text: There are several classes of anthelminthic drugs, some effective against many kinds of parasite, others more specific; these can be used both preventatively and to treat infections. For example, praziquantel is an effective treatment for tapeworm infection, and is preferred over the older niclosamide. While accidental tapeworm infections in developed countries are quite rare, such infections are more likely to occur in countries with poor sanitation facilities or where food hygiene standards are low.


title: Cestoda

text: In ancient Greece, the comic playwright Aristophanes and philosopher Aristotle described the lumps that form during cysticercosis as "hailstones". In Medieval times, in "The Canon of Medicine", completed in 1025, the Persian physician Avicenna recorded parasites including tapeworms. In the Early Modern period, Francesco Redi described and illustrated many parasites, and was the first to identify the cysts of "Echinococcus granulosus" seen in dogs and sheep as parasitic in origin; a century later, in 1760, Peter Simon Pallas correctly suggested that these were the larvae of tapeworms.


title: Cestoda

text: Tapeworms have occasionally appeared in fiction. Peter Marren and Richard Mabey in "Bugs Britannica" write that Irvine Welsh's sociopathic policeman in his 1998 novel "Filth" owns a talking tapeworm, which they call "the most attractive character in the novel"; it becomes the policeman's "alter ego" and better self. Mira Grant's 2013 novel "Parasite" envisages a world where people's immune systems are maintained by genetically engineered tapeworms. Tapeworms are prominently mentioned in the System of a Down song "Needles": their inclusion within the song result in a lyrical dispute among band members.


title: Cestoda

text: There are unproven claims that, around 1900, tapeworm eggs were marketed to the public as slimming tablets. A full-page coloured image, purportedly from a women's magazine of that period, reads "Fat: the enemy ... that is banished! How? With sanitized tape worms. Jar packed. No ill effects!" When television presenter Michael Mosley deliberately infected himself with tapeworms he gained weight due to increased appetite. Dieters still sometimes risk intentional infection, evidenced by a 2013 warning on American television.


title: Sarrainodu

text: Sarrainodu () is a 2016 Indian Telugu-language action film written and directed by Boyapati Srinu and produced by Allu Aravind's Geetha Arts. The film stars Allu Arjun, Rakul Preet Singh, Catherine Tresa, Srikanth, and Aadhi Pinisetty. Brahmanandam, Sai Kumar, Jayaprakash, Pradeep Rawat, Suman, and Adarsh Balakrishna play supporting roles.. S. Thaman scored the film.


title: Sarrainodu

text: The film was released on 22 April 2016 in Telugu. "Sarrainodu" was dubbed into Malayalam as"Yodhavu" and released in Kerala a month after the Telugu version. It was a major commercial success at the box office and became the 2nd highest grossing Telugu film of 2016. It received positive reviews from critics who praised Arjun and Aadhi's performances, action sequences, cinematography, visuals and direction, but criticized its plot and characters.


title: Sarrainodu

text: Indian Army Major Gana leaves the army and becomes a vigilante to punish crooked people who escaped justice due to faults in the legal system, He is raised by his paternal uncle Sripathi, who supports his cause but Gana's father Umapathi berates him for not having an aim in life.


title: Sarrainodu

text: One day, Gana is sent to a neighboring village to meet his prospective bride, Mahalakshmi "Jaanu". She is the daughter of his father's friend, Jaya Prakash, who is an ex-IAS officer. However, Gana meets Hansitha Reddy, who is revealed to be the local MLA and falls for her. He tells an imaginary story to Umapathi that Jaanu rejected him, because he gets into fights. Vairam Dhanush is the son of CM Reddy, who kills a farmer for refusing to hand over the land documents. Later, he helps a businessman Veerendra, who seeks Dhanush's help as he actually killed a techie. The girl's parents seek Hansitha's help where they file the petition in the court.


title: Sarrainodu

text: However due to Dhanush's influence, lack of evidence and the embarrasement faced in the court. The girl's parents commit suicide. Enraged, Gana thrashes the lawyer and chops Veerandra's legs, which enrages Dhanush and decide to search for the unknown person (Gana). After learning his actions, Hansitha falls for Gana and promises to marry him if he swears in the presence of God that he will not indulge in violence, When Gana is about to do so, at the temple, A badly injured Jaanu arrives, running from Dhanush's henchmen who try to kill her. Gana strikes everyone, who tried to kill her and ultimately gives Jaanu courage. At Gana's house, Jaanu reveals that she didn't reject Gana.


title: Sarrainodu

text: Gana had arrived at Jaanu's village and had saved her from Obul Reddy, who is working for Dhanush. Then, Gana had declined the marriage. Jaanu explains how Dhanush tried to blackmail Jaya Prakash when he had been protecting farmers so that they would not have to sell their lands for laying down of oil pipelines. This incident infuriatated Dhanush, who kills the farmers, but Jaanu intervenes, where she slaps and insults Dhanush. Dhanush kills Jaya Prakash and tries to kill her, but she narrowly escaped and had ran for days to find Gana. Gana decides to solve her problems. He goes to Dhanush's home where he battles with his henchmen and tries to burn Dhanush alive, but Dhanush escapes.


title: Sarrainodu

text: Gana is questioned for the attack but claims that other people had thrashed Dhanush. Eventually, Obul Reddy reveals the truth about the atrocities that Dhanush committed in the village, and the media is thrown into an uproar. Dhanush arrives at DGP Ranjit's office to surrender. However, Dhanush shoots Ranjit and tries to kill Umapati, but Sripati takes the shot and left for dead. Reddy stops Dhanush from shooting anyone else and tells Umapati to call Gana and make him surrender to Dhanush. Gana arrives and is told that Sripati will be saved if he surrenders, Gana does so and is stabbed by Dhanush and his men. Reddy then tells Dhanush to kill Sripati, which enrages Gana into killing Reddy's bodyguards and Reddy.


title: Sarrainodu

text: Gana then fights Dhanush and decapitates him with an axe, when he tries to run over Sripathi and Umapathi. Later, Gana and Ranjit tells a cover story to the media that Reddy and Dhanush were killed while trying to protect Ranjit from unknown terrorists. Gana then announces Hansitha as a new candidate to become the new Chief Minister.


title: Sarrainodu

text: Boyapati Srinu wrote the script with Allu Arjun in mind for the lead. He wanted to cast Samantha Ruth Prabhu who acted with Arjun in "S/O Satyamurthy" (2015), but it did not happen. Rakul Preet Singh leading role and Catherine Tresa supporting role. It is Singh's first collaboration with Arjun and Tresa's third collaboration with him after "Iddarammayilatho" (2013) and "Rudhramadevi" (2015). Tamil actor Aadhi was chosen as the main antagonist. Srikanth, Sai Kumar, Suman and Jayaprakash were chosen for other important roles. Priyamani, Anushka Shetty and Disha Patani were reported to have been approached for an item number. However, it was Anjali who danced in the number with Arjun.


title: Sarrainodu

text: The filmmakers aimed for a Sankranthi release (15 January 2016) due to principal photography delay, the release date was postponed. The film was scheduled to release on 8 April 2016 coinciding with Allu Arjun's birthday, because of post-production delays, the release date was postponed again. The worldwide release date was moved to 22 April 2016.


title: Sarrainodu

text: The film was later dubbed in Hindi and released on YouTube by Goldmines Telefilms on 28 May 2017. Currently, the Hindi dubbed version of the movie holds over 700+ million views on YouTube.


title: Sarrainodu

text: The film reportedly earned in the full run with about coming from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and from Kerala.


title: Sarrainodu

text: "The Times of India" wrote "The film has nothing new to narrate and fails to keep you glued to the seats throughout. The hackneyed plot and lack of novelty make this film a regular watch, this film is something for the masses." "123 Telugu" wrote "Sarrainodu is indeed an "oora" mass entertainer. The film has many elements which will enthrall the fans and mass general audience. Bunny's stunning transformation, Aadhi's screen presence and amazing action sequences are huge assets." Suresh Kavirayani of "Deccan Chronicle" felt the core plot of the movie to have been inspired by the 2004 movie "Walking Tall".


title: Sarrainodu

text: The film score and soundtrack album were composed by S. Thaman. This is Thaman's second collaboration with Allu Arjun after "Race Gurram". Lahari Music acquired the audio rights of the film for an undisclosed price and it was announced that the audio launch event will take place on 20 March 2016, but it was pushed to April, since the audio launch of "Sardar Gabbar Singh" took place on the same day. The makers later announced that there will be no audio launch for this film and it was also announced that the album will hit the stores directly on 2 April 2016. The film features six songs with lyrics by Sri Mani, Ramajogayya Sastry, Anantha Sriram, Krishna Chaitanya and Bunny Suresh.


title: Sarrainodu

text: The album received positive reviews from critics. 123Telugu in their review stated it as, Thaman has been criticized for scoring those routine numbers with his trade mark drum beats. But one should not forget that he always comes up with some chart topping songs all the time. Same is the case with Sarainodu too. Thaman sticks to the formula and gives what is the need of the hour, some foot tapping hit numbers. Blockbuster, You are my MLA, Telusa Telusa and Atiloka Sundari are our picks and will become huge hits. Finally, like always, Allu Arjun has a thumping music album where he can show off his crazy dance moves and impress everyone like the way this album does. Behindwoods rated the album 2.75 out of 5 and stated it as "Sarrainodu is another fun filled album for Allu Arjun from S.S.Thaman. The album is quite stylish and impressively presented." Times of India rated the album 3.5 out of 5, stating that "The album is peppered with hits and is sure to do well." Indiaglitz rated the album 3.25 out of 5, with a verdict "Thaman's music keeps in mind the demands of a mega-talented dancer like Allu Arjun. Apart from that, the tunes are interesting. The singers are better than the lyrics."


title: Sarrainodu

text: The album was well received by audiences, and it has been trending on top in Apple Music as well as on radio charts. The audio success meet was held on 10 April 2016 at RK Beach in Vishakapatnam, with Chiranjeevi attending the event as chief guest. The song "Blockbuster" was well received it was later reused as "Vera Level" in Tamil film "Ayogya" (2019) which is a Tamil remake of "Temper".


title: Phoenix Lights

text: The Phoenix Lights (sometimes called the "Lights Over Phoenix") were a series of widely sighted unidentified flying objects observed in the skies over the southwestern states of Arizona and Nevada on March 13, 1997.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Lights of varying descriptions were seen by thousands of people between 7:30 pm and 10:30 pm MST, in a space of about 300 miles (480 km), from the Nevada line, through Phoenix, to the edge of Tucson. Some witnesses described seeing what appeared to be a huge carpenter's square-shaped UFO containing five spherical lights. There were two distinct events involved in the incident: a triangular formation of lights seen to pass over the state, and a series of stationary lights seen in the Phoenix area. Both sightings were due to aircraft participating in Operation Snowbird, a pilot training program of the Air National Guard based in Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona. The first group of lights were later identified as a formation of A-10 Warthog aircraft flying over Phoenix while returning to Davis-Monthan. The second group of lights were identified as flares dropped by another flight of A-10 aircraft that were on training exercises at the Barry Goldwater Range in southwest Arizona. Fife Symington, governor of Arizona at the time, years later recounted witnessing the incident, describing it as "otherworldly."


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Reports of similar lights arose in 2007 and 2008, and were attributed to military flares dropped by fighter aircraft at Luke Air Force Base. and flares attached to helium balloons released by a civilian, respectively.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: On March 13, 1997 at 7:55 pm MST, a witness in Henderson, Nevada reported seeing a large, V-shaped object traveling southeast. At 8:15 pm, an unidentified former police officer in Paulden, Nevada reported seeing a cluster of reddish-orange lights disappear over the southern horizon. Shortly afterwards, there were reports of lights seen over the Prescott Valley. Tim Ley and his wife Bobbi, his son Hal and his grandson Damien Turnidge first saw the lights when they were about 65 miles (100 km) away from them. At first, the lights appeared to them as five separate and distinct lights in an arc shape, as if they were on top of a balloon, but they soon realized that the lights appeared to be moving towards them. Over the next ten or so minutes, the lights appeared to come closer, the distance between the lights increased, and they took on the shape of an upside-down V. Eventually, when the lights appeared to be a couple of miles away, the family said they could make out a shape that looked like a 60-degree carpenter's square, with the five lights set into it, with one at the front and two on each side. Soon, the object with the embedded lights appeared to be moving toward them, about 100 to 150 feet (30 to 45 meters) above them, traveling so slowly that it gave the appearance of a silent hovering object, which seemed to pass over their heads and went through a V opening in the peaks of the mountain range towards Piestewa Peak Mountain and toward the direction of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. Between 8:30 and 8:45 pm, witnesses in Glendale, a suburb northwest of Phoenix, saw the light formation pass overhead at an altitude high enough to become obscured by the thin clouds. Amateur astronomer Mitch Stanley in Scottsdale, Arizona also observed the high altitude lights "flying in formation" through a telescope. According to Stanley, they were quite clearly individual airplanes.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Approximately 10:00 pm that same evening, a large number of people in the Phoenix area reported seeing "a row of brilliant lights hovering in the sky, or slowly falling". A number of photographs and videos were taken, prompting author Robert Sheaffer to describe it as "perhaps the most widely witnessed UFO event in history".


title: Phoenix Lights

text: According to Robert Sheaffer, what became known as "the Phoenix Lights" incident of 1997 "consists of two unrelated incidents, although both were the result of activities of the same organization: Operation Snowbird, a pilot training program operated in the winter by the Air National Guard out of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona".


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Tucson astronomer and retired Air Force pilot James McGaha said he also investigated the two separate sightings and traced them both to A-10 aircraft flying in formation at high altitude.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: The first incident, often perceived as a large “flying triangle” by witnesses, began at approximately 8:00 pm, and was due to five A-10 jets from Operation Snowbird following an assigned air traffic corridor and flying under visual flight rules. Federal Aviation Administration rules concerning private and commercial aircraft do not apply to military aircraft, so the A-10 formation displayed steady formation lights rather than blinking collision lights. The formation flew over Phoenix and on to Tucson, landing at Davis-Monthan about 8:45 pm.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: The second incident, described as "a row of brilliant lights hovering in the sky, or slowly fallings" began at approximately 10:00 pm, and was due to a flare drop exercise by different A-10 jets from the Maryland Air National Guard, also operating out of Davis-Monthan air base as part of from Operation Snowbird. The U.S. Air Force explained the exercise as utilizing slow-falling, long-burning LUU-2B/B illumination flares dropped by a flight of four A-10 Warthog aircraft on a training exercise at the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range in western Pima County. The flares would have been visible in Phoenix and appeared to hover due to rising heat from the burning flares creating a "balloon" effect on their parachutes, which slowed the descent. The lights then appeared to wink out as they fell behind the Estrella mountain range to the southwest of Phoenix.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: A Maryland Air National Guard pilot, Lt. Col. Ed Jones, responding to a March 2007 media query, confirmed that he had flown one of the aircraft in the formation that dropped flares on the night in question. The squadron to which he belonged was in fact at Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, on a training exercise at the time and flew training sorties to the Goldwater Range on the night in question, according to the Maryland Air National Guard. A history of the Maryland Air National Guard published in 2000 asserted that the squadron, the 104th Fighter Squadron, was responsible for the incident. The first reports that members of the Maryland Air National Guard were responsible for the incident were published in "The Arizona Republic" in July 1997.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Later comparisons with known military flare drops were reported on local television stations, showing similarities between the known military flare drops and the Phoenix Lights. An analysis of the luminosity of LUU-2B/B illumination flares, the type which would have been in use by A-10 aircraft at the time, determined that the luminosity of such flares at a range of approximately 50–70 miles would fall well within the range of the lights viewed from Phoenix.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: During the Phoenix event, numerous still photographs and videotapes were made showing a series of lights appearing at a regular interval, remaining illuminated for several moments, and then going out. The images were later determined to be the result of mountains not visible by night that partially obstructed the view of aircraft flares from certain angles to create the illusion of an arc of lights appearing and disappearing one by one.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Shortly after the 1997 incident, Arizona Governor Fife Symington III held a press conference, joking that "they found who was responsible" and revealing an aide dressed in an alien costume. Later in 2007, Symington reportedly told a UFO investigator he'd had a personal close encounter with an alien spacecraft but remained silent "because he didn't want to panic the populace". According to Symington, "I'm a pilot and I know just about every machine that flies. It was bigger than anything that I've ever seen. It remains a great mystery. Other people saw it, responsible people," Symington said Thursday. "I don't know why people would ridicule it".


title: Phoenix Lights

text: Lights were reported by observers and recorded by the local Fox News television station on February 6, 2007. According to military officials and the Federal Aviation Administration, these were flares dropped by F-16 aircraft training at Luke Air Force Base.


title: Phoenix Lights

text: On April 21, 2008, lights were reported over Phoenix by local residents. These lights reportedly appeared to change from square to triangular formation over time. A valley resident reported that shortly after the lights appeared, three jets were seen heading west in the direction of the lights. An official from Luke Air Force Base denied any United States Air Force activity in the area. On April 22, 2008, a resident of Phoenix told a newspaper that the lights were nothing more than his neighbor releasing helium balloons with flares attached. This was confirmed by a police helicopter. The following day, a Phoenix resident, who declined to be identified in news reports, stated that he had attached flares to helium balloons and released them from his back yard.


Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia (Tatiana Nikolaevna Romanova; ; – 17 July 1918) was the second daughter of Tsar Nicholas II, the last monarch of Russia, and of Tsarina Alexandra. She was born at Peterhof Palace, near Saint Petersburg.


title: Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna of Russia

text: Tatiana was the younger sister of Grand Duchess Olga and the elder sister of Grand Duchess Maria, Grand Duchess Anastasia, and Tsarevich Alexei. She was considered to be the most beautiful of all her sisters and the most aristocratic in appearance. She was known amongst her siblings as "the governess" for her domineering but also maternal ways. Tatiana was the closest of all the children to her mother (Tsarina Alexandra), often spending many hours reading to her. During World War I, she chaired many charitable committees and (along with her older sister, Grand Duchess Olga) trained to become a nurse. She tended to wounded soldiers on the grounds of Tsarskoye Selo from 1914 to 1917. Her time as a nurse came to an end with her family's arrest in 1917 after the first Russian Revolution.


text: Her murder by Communist revolutionaries on 17 July 1918 resulted in her canonization as a passion bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. Tatiana and all her siblings were soon rumored to have survived the murder, and dozens of impostors claimed to be surviving Romanovs; author Michael Occleshaw speculated that a woman named Larissa Tudor might have been Tatiana. However, the deaths of all the last Tsar's family, including Tatiana, at the hands of Bolsheviks have since been established by scientific evidence.


text: Tatiana was a famous beauty. She was tall, slender, and elegant. She had dark auburn hair, gray eyes, and fine features. Many viewed her as the most beautiful of the four grand duchesses and the one who resembled their mother most. Her mother's lady-in-waiting Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden reflected that "Tatiana was, to my mind, prettier than her sisters. She was taller than her mother, but so thin and so well built that her height was not a hindrance to her attractiveness. She had beautiful, regular features, and resembled some of the famous beauties among her royal relatives, whose family portraits decorated the walls of the palace.. She had dark hair, a rather pale complexion, and wide-apart, light-brown eyes, that gave her a poetic far-away look." General Count Alexander Grabbe, Major-General of His Imperial Majesty's Own Convoy, wrote that "the prettiest of the Grand Duchesses was Tatiana, the Tsar’s second daughter. In her physical appearance and her serious and ardent nature, she most resembled her mother. Slender with auburn hair and clear gray eyes, she was strikingly good looking and enjoyed the attention her beauty commanded." According to Anna Vyrubova, “when Tatiana grew up, she was the tallest and most graceful of all the Grand Duchesses, beautiful and romantic. Many officers fell in love with Tatiana, but there were no appropriate suitors for her.” Meriel Buchanan described her beauty as "almost mystical." Alexander Mossolov, head of the Imperial Chancellery, wrote that Tatiana was "the best-looking of all the sisters." Her paternal aunt Xenia said that "Tatiana and her mother are like as two peas in a pod!... so pretty." Her nanny Margaretta Eagar wrote that she was "a very pretty child, remarkably like her mother, but delicate in appearance." In 1900, the British magazine, "Woman at Home", wrote that "the flower of the flock, as far as looks are concerned … is Grand Duchess Tatiana." Nicholas wrote that Tatiana was "a very beautiful child" and he often remarked that she reminded him of Alexandra. When she was 8, her tutor Pierre Gilliard said that she "was prettier than her sister."


text: Despite her high status, Tatiana did not use her Imperial title and her friends, family, and servants called her by her first name and patronym, Tatiana Nikolaevna. The only nicknames that can be found for her using primary sources are 'Tanechka' in a postcard from her cousin Princess Irina Alexandrovna, and 'Tan'ka' in some notes from her sister, Anastasia Nikolaevna. According to one story, Tatiana kicked her lady-in-waiting Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden for addressing her as "Your Imperial Highness" during a committee meeting, and she hissed, "Are you crazy to speak to me like that?" When she was 14, Tatiana called Chebotareva at her home on the telephone, and she spoke first to Chebotareva's 16-year-old son. Unaware of her identity, Gregory asked her to identify herself. She replied, "Tatiana Nikolaevna". He could not believe that he was speaking to a grand duchess, and he repeated his question. Again, Tatiana did not claim the imperial title of Grand Duchess and replied that she was "Sister Romanova the Second".


text: Tatiana was a practical, nurturing leader. Her sisters gave her the nickname "The Governess" and sent her as their group representative when they wanted their parents to grant a favour. Olga was 18 months older than Tatiana, but she uncomplainingly allowed Tatiana to be the leader of their group. Baroness Sophie Buxhoeveden recalled that "It was Tatiana Nicolaevna who took care of the little ones, and who was a constant help to the Household, always willing to help them in arranging that their official duties should not clash with their private engagements."