title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The Holden VL Commodore SS Group A SV was the first car produced by HSV. Developed under contract to Holden, it was released in March 1988. Modifications were made to the standard Holden 5.0 litre V8 to produce at 5200 rpm and at 4000 rpm. Best known for the polarising body kit and bluish-silver colour, the VL Group A SS was also the first model to feature a fuel-injected version of the Holden V8, with the first electronic fuel injection (EFI) VN Holden Commodore V8s not released until August 1988. The SV88 model was based on the VL Holden Calais and used a carburetored version of the V8 producing .


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: A number of models based on the VN Holden Commodore were developed by HSV, the most potent of which was the Commodore SS Group A SV built for Holden's touring car homologation requirements. It featured an extensively modified version of Holden's 5.0 litre V8 to produce at 5200 rpm and at 4000 rpm coupled to a six-speed ZF S6-40 manual transmission as used in the Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1. Upgrades were also made to the suspension, tyres and brakes. Although a total production of 500 cars was original planned for racing homologation reasons, only 302 were ultimately produced in non-sequential order meaning that build number 450 may exist while build number 100 may not. The VN Group A SS was the last Holden built as a homologation racing special.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Other models used either or versions of the same V8 except the SV3800, which had a 3.8-litre V6. In 1990, the first HSV Maloo was released, based on the VG series Holden Ute of the time. The lighter Ute body provided a performance edge over the other HSV sedan counterparts. Models based on the long-wheelbase Holden VQ Caprice were released soon after. The SV90 and SV93 were treated with reworked suspension, wider front track and the V8. The Statesman 5000i (in both series I and II form) featured .


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The VN series also spawned HSV V6-engined regional models, which are less known and widely based on Holden Commodore models with HSV add-ons.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: With the release of the VP series, HSV began introducing independent rear suspension (IRS) to its models as well as introducing new model names, Senator and GTS. While the entry-level Clubsport and luxury Senator were equipped with the V8, the high-performance GTS came standard with the version and HSV's premium brake package. A limited-slip differential was standard across the range.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Following the appointment of award-winning designer Ian Callum as design chief for TWR, VR series HSV models benefited from a more cohesive and stylish body design. Upgrades were made to the 5.0 litre V8 to yield , while the GTS included a 5.7-litre stroked version producing 292 PS (215 kW) (also available as an option on the Senator) from May 1994 onwards. The VS series of 1995 introduced mild styling tweaks and a new three-spoke alloy wheel design. A value-oriented Manta was established as the base HSV model to broaden appeal. In 1996, a limited edition flagship GTS-R was created which came standard with the 5.7-litre V8, Tremec T56 six-speed transmission and "Hydratrak" limited slip differential (LSD) package. Available only in a polarising bright yellow colour (known as "XU-3 Yellah") with carbon fibre inserts and large rear wing, the GTS-R engine could be blueprinted for more power. In total, 85 GTS-Rs were produced (10 exported to New Zealand). The VS series II of 1996 introduced HSV's "Integrated Security System" (ISS) as standard, which featured an immobiliser and different electronics configuration for each car produced in an effort to deter theft. In 1996, a new Statesman-based model known as the Grange replaced previous HSV Statesman models.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This series was based on the all-new Holden VT Commodore range released in August 1997. It was the last series to be powered by Australian-made 5.0 litre V8 (cast iron block) and the 5.7-litre stroker in the GTS. A Senator Signature wagon was introduced and was mechanically identical to the sedan counterpart. The VS ute bodyshell was retained for the Maloo. There were only 180 Manta units produced, after which this model was dropped from production due to its close competition with the donor Commodore SS model.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The range also comprised the XU8, which was built in limited numbers to carry last-ever Australian-made V8 engine.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The VT Series II represented a major update for HSV through the introduction of the new 5.7 litre GENIII LS1 V8, which saw "Wheels" magazine name the GTS as the fastest Holden ever at the time. The Manta and Senator Signature wagon were both dropped from the line-up due to poor sale performance. The flagship GTS presented many unique features such as a Callaway tuned version of the LS1, a 3.91 final drive ratio and the addition of toe-control links to its IRS design. The recent release of the new WH series Caprice in 2001 allowed the Grange to gain its new look. This series also saw the introduction of a supercharged V6 model named the XU6, which ultimately did not prove successful and was described as being agricultural against new competitors such as the Magna VR-X, which was rated a superior product in a direct comparison. For the first time, a more performance-oriented Clubsport was launched, known as the Clubsport R8. It came standard with HSV's "Performance" suspension and braking package, which were offered as optional extras on the Clubsport. Again, the Maloo remained available using the VS ute body shell.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Acting on feedback from owners, HSV strove to differentiate its range of vehicles from the standard Holden offerings. To achieve this, HSV introduced more distinguishing bodykit and interior designs. This series also saw the LS1 engine output increase by . The introduction of the new VU Holden Ute allowed HSV to produce an all-new Maloo variant. A limited edition Senator 300 model also became available, equipped with the V8 and suspension modifications from the GTS.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The VX range saw HSV offer its first Coupé models based on the new V2 series, in GTO and GTS spec. The latter replaced the GTS sedan but was powered by a less powerful engine. A Maloo R8 model was added with similar upgraded specification to the Clubsport R8. This series saw the addition of the XU6-Maloo, which was essentially a utility version of the XU6 sedan. This model was shortly discontinued due to a lack of demand. The special edition SV300 was introduced to replace the Senator 300. Toe-control links for the rear suspension was now fitted across the range in line with the Holden VX series update, for improved handling. The VXII update also brought with it the addition of Microdots across the range in order to reduce theft, a feature HSV refers to as "HSV DNA".


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Coinciding with the release of the VY Commodore, HSV produced the Y Series models adopting an even more distinguishing design and an alphabetical designation to further distance itself from donor Holden. While the GTS sedan returned (with a recalibrated ECU increasing power to ), the XU6 was discontinued due to a lack of demand attributed to a perceived lack of extra power relative to Holden's supercharged V6 sedans. The twin kidney grille design first introduced on the VR series Commodore became HSV's new signature grille. Finally, the Senator range was split into entry-level Senator and high-end luxury Senator Signature models.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This upgraded range is characterised by a significant power increase to . Rumors followed that a new engine was due for release, with the development of GM's new LS2 nearly complete. This power upgrade closed the performance gap between HSV's mainstream models and the flagship GTS, which prompted speculation that the GTS was set for a power increase as well. An updated WK Statesman/Caprice from Holden also formed the basis for the new Grange. The GTO Coupé returned, and the forays of parent company Holden into AWD saw the introduction of the Avalanche (based on the Holden Adventra), the XUV (based on the Holden Crewman), and the Coupé4 (based on the Holden Monaro). The latter was particularly significant, as it was the first time that Holden's AWD system had been used in such a low-riding application. These new additions to the range made the Y Series II the biggest HSV range in history, with 16 variants.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This series of HSVs (released in October 2004) were known as the "Z" Series, reflecting the fact they were based on the VZ-series of the donor Holden Commodore. This saw the introduction, across the range, of the new GM LS2 V8, which generated 297 kW (400 hp). The AWD models retained the less powerful LS1. The lack of a GTS model in this series was attributable to the negligible power difference between the new LS2 models and a potential GTS, sparking rumors that the new LS7 V8 was going to be used in the next series. In lieu of the GTS, HSV released the SV6000, which was based on the Clubsport and limited to 50 units. A new WL Statesman/Caprice model also resulted in an upgraded Grange.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The Z-series was the first range with which HSV reached the Middle East with the one-make racing ClubSport R sedans, and it was the last series to be based on the 1997–2006 VT Commodore, which adopted the V-body.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: On 25 May 2006, a standard 2006 HSV Maloo R8 driven by Mark Skaife was clocked at an averaged speed of 271.44 km/h (168.7 mph) in the Woomera, South Australia. The speed was recognised by the Guinness World Records representative, Chris Sheedy, as the Fastest Production Pickup Truck recorded. The speed improved over the previous record held by a Dodge Ram SRT-10 at 248.784 km/h (154.587 mph).


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: A revised range was launched in January 2006, and is designated as the Z Series MY06 (in lieu of the more traditional "Series II" moniker).


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The limited edition Signature Coupe was HSV's farewell to the Monaro/GTO as the last two door coupe manufactured in Australia.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: In addition, in July 2005, HSV released upgraded manual-only Clubsport, Clubsport R8 and Coupé GTO fitted with optional 2-Stage "Dealer Team Spec" performance packages.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: An all-new Holden Commodore chassis, known as the VE was unveiled in July 2006. Following this, a new range of "E" Series HSV models were released in August 2006.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Changes to the exhaust system yielded a increase in power (see below) for the LS2 to . Extensive modifications to the base VE Commodore sheetmetal and interior were introduced, most notably the unique LED taillights and distinctive side vents. The new GM 6L80-E 6 speed automatic transmission from the VE Commodore is offered, and Electronic Stability Control is standard on all models.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The GTS, Senator Signature and Grange additionally feature switchable "Magnetic Ride Control" to improve ride and handling. As such, the E Series represents HSV's most expensive model developments in its history, with the MRC suspension system alone costing A$4.5 million. In October, a new Grange model based on the Holden WM Caprice was released featuring the same V8 and MRC suspension as the Senator Signature and GTS, albeit with its own unique settings.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: HSV also released a HSV Senator Signature SV08 which is released in a limited run of 20 manual and 30 automatic units. This model featured lower paint-outs, sill plates and extra chrome accents on the side mirrors and door handles. It was powered by a V8 engine developing 317 kW mated to a new Tremec TR-6060 gearbox and had 20-inch "Pentagon" wheels, "Magnetic Ride Control" suspension system with Sport mode and Park Assist system.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: In August 2008, HSV launched its new flagship model, the W427. This car is based on the GTS, but carries a 7.0 L LS7 V8 engine along with larger brakes, strengthened gearbox, revised suspension and unique MRC settings. The W427 was the most powerful car ever made in Australia until the release of the Gen-F GTS, with power outputs of at 7000 rpm and at 5000 rpm. It is still the most expensive, at $155 500.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: On 28 March 2008, HSV announced that the LS3 6.2-litre engine would be fitted to all E-Series models (with the exception of the LS7 W427) from April 2008. The LS3 power output is , whilst peak torque has not increased over the LS2.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: 12 May 2008 saw the announcement of a new HSV E Series model; the HSV "Tourer". This new model, based on the VE Holden Sportwagon was later officially released in September 2008.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The HSV E Series 2 range was released late 2009 and was the most major update since the release of E Series HSV's. Prices started at $65,990 for the Clubsport R8.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The range received many cosmetic changes with new front and rear bumpers, twin-nostriled bonnet (from the Pontiac G8) and a new range of wheel designs. The Series 2 has a very distinctive look set of daytime running lights standard across the E2 range. On 9 September 2010, HSV released the E Series 3.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The new engines in the range are the 6.2-litre LS3 V8 used exclusively by the HSV GTS, with the rest of the E2 range being powered by an LS3 in trim. The new engines have also improved fuel economy by 4.2 per cent on the LS3 V8.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: New is the intelligent launch controls, Competition mode ESC and Extended cruise control systems which are all standard for E2 models excluding intelligent launch control which is only available with a manual transmission.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The noticeable changes between E Series 2 and 3 included an increase in power in the GTS range to , making it once again the top of the HSV list; the GTS E Series II was also increased to a price of $80,990; the HSV Enhanced Driver Interface (racing version of Holden IQ), the new LPI system, LPG and unleaded fuel are $5,990 options on all models except the R8 Tourer; and the updated Holden VE II Commodore interior and new rear exhaust and rear spoilers.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The Gen-F series, which is based on the VF Commodore series went on sale in August 2013. The HSV GTS became the most powerful production car ever produced in Australia, with and of torque. Its retail price was considerably higher than the equivalent E Series 3 models, costing over $90,000.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Although the majority of HSV models are based on variants of the Holden Commodore, HSV has also produced a few cars based on other models part of the Holden lineup.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The HSV Astra SV1800 was released in 1988, and was based on the LD-series Holden Astra of the time (which was itself based on the Nissan Pulsar N13 series).


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: It shared the same 1.8L engine as the standard Astra, but was released with extractors, sports exhaust and an aerodynamic sports body kit (adopted from the Walkinshaw, which is why the SV1800 was nicknamed the Baby Walky) however, only 65 were made in both sedan and hatchback form.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The HSV VXR Turbo is a rebadged Vauxhall Astra which was imported from Belgium between 2006 and 2009. It has a 2.0 litre turbocharged 4-cylinder engine producing and , coupled to a 6-speed manual transmission. Additionally it is equipped with the adaptive IDS (Interactive Driving System) suspension system along with ESC, traction control system, ABS and BA. The VXR Turbo was marketed without the Astra name.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This mid-size SUV was released in July 1993 and was a cosmetic upgrade of the Holden Jackaroo, which was itself the Australian adaptation of the second generation Isuzu Trooper. It was powered by the same 130 kW (177 hp) 3.2L SOHC V6 petrol engine as the donor Holden model.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Plans for a high power version of the Holden Colorado using the LT1 engine and a 10-speed transmission was cancelled in 2020 with the closure of HSV and Holden. Two prototypes were built with powertrains taken from crash-tested Chevrolet Camaros, one based on a HSV SportsCat, and the other based on a North American Chevrolet Colorado to be aimed at that market. It was the final project worked on by HSV, and would have received a new name, ThunderCat being one of the considered options.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The following is a chronological list of all HSV models (and build numbers, where available) since 1988, including limited editions and dealer specials.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: HSV exported its range to New Zealand without any rebranding, as in the case of Singapore, where exports resumed in 2010 after a two-decade absence. From the 2000s, however, exports to the United Kingdom and Middle East, saw the cars rebadged Vauxhall and CSV, respectively.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Based on the VX HSV Maloo, it was fitted with a new bodykit featuring significantly flared wheel arches to accommodate wider track and 20-inch wheels. The roof was lowered and modifications made to the suspension to produce a "ground hugging" stance. The ute was powered by a LS6 V8 stroked to 6.2 litres (producing 350 kW (469 hp)) with exhaust exiting from the side.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Unveiled at the 2002 Sydney Motor Show, the HRT (Holden Racing Team) 427 was based on a modified Holden Monaro bodyshell and, among other things, it featured a (7.0-Litre) V8 engine (adapted from the Corvette C5-R) – hence the name. Due to the high cost specifications, the business case for full production failed since Holden could not build the 427 in such limited quantities for the original asking price of A$215,000. In all, only two road and four racing versions were ever built.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This concept was unveiled at the 2004 Sydney Motor Show also based on the Monaro bodyshell. Similarities could be drawn with the HRT 427, however, this model was only intended for a one-make racing series and was powered by a modified 6.0-litre version of Chevrolet's LS2 V8 engine producing . This concept, too, never reached production.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: The supercharged 6.2L LSA is similar to the LS9 and debuted in the 2009 CTS-V. The LSA has been SAE certified at 556 bhp (415 kW) at 6100 rpm and 551 lb·ft (747 N·m) at 3800 rpm. GM labels it "the most powerful ever offered in Cadillac's nearly 106-year history". The LSA features a smaller 1.9L capacity supercharger rather than the 2.3 L variant of the LS9. Other differences include a slightly lower 9.0:1 compression ratio, single unit heat exchanger and cast pistons.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This engine was originally used in the sixth-generation Corvette Z06 that was then shipped over for usage in the W427. It made its first appearance in Australia in 2008. The W427 was designed and built to celebrate the 20th anniversary of HSV.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This engine debuted in the E Series. It is a GM built LS3 V8 customized for HSV's usage. The transition from LS2 to LS3 was primarily to meet impending Euro IV emissions requirements being introduced in Australia on 1 January 2009 and to compete against 2008's FPV GT.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This motor started its debut in the VTII series of HSV sedans. It produced of power – more than HSV's previous "Stroker" 5.7 V8 used in the VT. It was a slightly de-tuned version, with less than when it was in the two-door sports body of the Corvette. Continuous modifications were made to the LS1 engine throughout its lifetime, reaching in the YII series, just under the GTS. AWD models such as the Coupé4 retained a similar configuration to other YII series models but were fitted with a more restrictive exhaust system, reducing power to . The LS1 was phased out for the new 6.0-litre LS2 in the Z Series. However, it was still used in the AWD models of the Z series.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This engine for HSV was available in 2 guises. The twin throttle bodied versions designed for racing use were available in the VL and VN Group A cars from 1988 and 1990 respectively. For the majority of HSV sedans using this capacity motor, the engines were modified versions of the standard EFI Holden V8. Note that there was also a VP equipped Clubsport 5000i that used the remaining 4 bolt main Group A blocks with SV5000 red motor ancillaries.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: Available on the VT and VX series HSV XU6. Also only two HSV VX Senators were ever produced with a V6 Supercharged motor. There were several limited VT HSV sedans and wagons with the L67. This engine is a modified version of Holden's supercharged V6 with upgraded air intake and exhaust to boost power from the standard . Due to the popularity and superior performance of Ford's standard I6 engine, let alone the turbocharged variant, this model was removed from the line-up after the VY series.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: This 4-cylinder engine is used in the HSV VXR, a model based on the Vauxhall Astra VXR/Opel Astra OPC.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: In 2005, HSV provided sponsorship for the V8 Supercar team formerly known as the Kmart Racing Team. The team adopted HSV Dealer Team as their new name. With Garth Tander and Rick Kelly driving the two cars, the newly renamed team struggled in its first few outings in 2005, they found form later in the season, and from round one led the 2006 Championship to victory. Rick Kelly won the 2006 series.. In 2007, Tander and Kelly won 17 races between them out of a possible 37, with Tander winning 15 of them and four round wins, winning the championship along the way. HSVDT also won their second Teams Championship in succession. The team was disbanded for the 2009 season. HSV's remaining sponsorship is with Walkinshaw Andretti United.


title: Holden Special Vehicles

text: HSV's direct rival was Ford Australia through its various performance arms, namely Ford Tickford Experience (FTE) from 1999, and Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) from 2002 to 2014, with their production of modified Ford Falcon-based cars. Another rival, albeit on a smaller scale, has been Corsa Specialised Vehicles (CSV – not to be confused with HSV's exports badged Chevrolet Special Vehicles in some markets) with its Commodore-based high performance cars that included the CSV GTS of 2007. This CSV beat the HSV W427 to the market by being the first Holden vehicle powered by a 7.0L LS7 V8 engine.


title: Chand Bardai

text: Chand Bardai was an Indian poet who composed "Prithviraj Raso", an epic poem in Brajbhasa about the life of the Chahamana king Prithviraj Chauhan. The poem presents him as a court poet of Prithviraj. According to it, after Prithviraj was defeated at the Second battle of Tarain and taken to Ghazna by Muhammad of Ghor, Chand Bardai travelled to Ghazna and helped Prithviraj kill Muhammad. However, this is a fictional narrative not corroborated by any historical evidence.


title: Chand Bardai

text: The "Prithviraj Raso" was embellished with time and quite a few authors added to it. Only parts of the original manuscript are still intact. There are many versions of Raso but scholars agree that the biggest canto is considered the part of original "Prithivraj Raso". In its longest form the poem comprises upwords of 10,000 stanzas. "Prithviraj Raso" was proved historically unreliable and inaccurate by historians like Georg Bühler, Morrison, GH Ojha and Munshi Devi Prasad.


title: Minerva University

text: Minerva University (formerly Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute) is a private university headquartered in San Francisco, California. It was established in 2012 using $25million in venture funding from Benchmark Capital.


title: Minerva University

text: The university employs a unique pedagogical model in which all classes are conducted as online seminars capped at 19 students. Admission is highly selective; less than 1% of applicants were accepted in 2020.


title: Minerva University

text: In April 2012, Minerva Project received in venture funding from Benchmark Capital to create the undergraduate program that would become the Minerva Schools at KGI. Stephen Kosslyn joined Minerva in March 2013 to serve as Founding Dean. Before joining Minerva, Kosslyn served as Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and Dean of Social Sciences at Harvard University. Kosslyn was responsible for hiring the heads of the four colleges in the School of Arts & Science and overseeing the development of Minerva's seminar-based curriculum.


title: Minerva University

text: In July 2013, Minerva Project partnered with the Keck Graduate Institute to officially launch the Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute.


title: Minerva University

text: Minerva received WASC regional accreditation for five of its programs: the Bachelor of Science in Social Sciences, the Bachelor of Arts in Arts and Humanities, the Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences, the Bachelor of Science in Computational Sciences, and the Bachelor of Science in business.


title: Minerva University

text: Minerva admitted its first class in 2014. The school offered places to 69 students, out of 2,464 applications. 29 students matriculated in and granted 69 acceptances resulting in a 2.8% acceptance rate and a 42% yield.


title: Minerva University

text: Starting in 2016, Minerva expanded into postgraduate education by offering a Master of Science in Decision Analysis.


title: Minerva University

text: In 2017, the school had a 2% acceptance rate and a 57% yield. In 2020, it had a less than 1% acceptance rate and a 68% yield.


title: Minerva University

text: In 2020, Minerva created its Visiting Scholars year. The one-year program, completed remotely, offers the four Cornerstone Courses ("see Pedagogy") to students accepted into a leading college or university who face challenges attending in residence for the 2020–21 academic year due to COVID-19.


title: Minerva University

text: The university is accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission. It first earned this accreditation in 2021 when it became a separate, independent institution under the Minerva Institute, the non-profit entity that was already operating the Minerva Schools at Keck Graduate Institute alongside the Keck Graduate Institute.


title: Minerva University

text: Under its first accreditation plan, Minerva's primary academic institution was its School of Arts and Sciences, which included the College of Social Sciences, the College of Natural Sciences, the College of Computational Sciences, and the College of Arts and Humanities. When the Bachelor of Science in Business was approved by WASC, it led to the creation of the School (and College) of Business. In May 2018, the schools were restructured into two divisions: the Division of Arts and Sciences and the Division of Business and Computational Sciences.


title: Minerva University

text: In late 2015, Minerva's Master's in Applied Arts and Sciences program received approval and regional accreditation. Students could take this Masters either integrated with their undergraduate studies or following completion of their B.A./B.S. This led to the creation of the Graduate Division, which is currently overseen by Joshua Fost. Subsequently, Minerva pivoted to a Master of Science in Decision Analysis programme, without the concurrent studies option.


title: Minerva University

text: Professors are trained to use Minerva's proprietary learning platform, the Minerva Forum. Faculty retain intellectual property rights to their research.


title: Minerva University

text: Courses are conducted as online seminars capped at 19 students. Minerva applies a 1972 study that shows that memory is enhanced by "deep" cognitive tasks. Such tasks include working with materials, applying it, and arguing about it instead of rote memorization. All classes begin with a short quiz and end with a second one later in the class; this is claimed to increase retention. Student performance is automatically recorded for tracking.


title: Minerva University

text: Students initially take four "Cornerstone Courses" that introduce "Habits of Mind" and "Foundational Concepts" that cut across the sciences and humanities. The four "Cornerstone Courses" are Empirical Analyses, Formal Analyses, Complex Systems, and Multimodal Communications. In Empirical Analyses, students learn about evaluating and analyzing scientific methods and use that knowledge to build problem-solving proposal. In Formal Analyses, students learn to evaluate and perform data analyses, and perform design thinking skills using game theory and classification method. In a humanities class, students learn the classical techniques of rhetoric and develop basic persuasive skills. Finally, in social science class, students learn about the characteristics of complex systems (intended to represent social interaction), and leaderships, self-awareness, and negotiation. Minerva encourages students to use massive open online courses to learn what is typically taught in first-year courses.


title: Minerva University

text: Minerva maintains one residence hall in San Francisco, California, on Turk Street, as well as ones in Seoul, Hyderabad, Berlin, Buenos Aires, London, and Taipei.


title: Minerva University

text: Minerva has no classroom facilities, since all classes are conducted through an active learning platform developed by the school, where students participate in seminar classes of up to 19 people.


title: Indrans

text: Indrans is an Indian actor and former costume designer, who appears in Malayalam films.His mentor was Shiyas M S, a law college student. He started his film career as a costume designer and actor in 1981 and got a breakthrough in 1994 with the comedy movie "CID Unnikrishnan B.A., B.Ed". Indrans was popular for his comedy roles in the 1990s and 2000s. He found success in playing character roles in his later career and won the Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention for his performance in "Apothecary" in 2014. In 2018, Indrans won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in "Aalorukkam". His performance in "Veyilmarangal" made him win the Best Actor Award at the 2019 Singapore International Film Festival. As of November 2021, he has starred in over 550 films.


title: Indrans

text: Indrans made his debut in the 1981 film "Choothattam" both as a costume designer and as an actor. The producer, TMN Charley, offered him a chance to assist him in costume designing and he worked with designing costumes for several years, acting in various small roles. He got noticed for playing a small role of a marriage broker in the 1993 film "Meleparambil Anveedu". Indrans got his breakthrough with his role in "CID Unnikrishnan B.A., BEd" (1994). This led to him being cast in various comedic roles in the films of the 1990s. Indrans’ lean figure and peculiar way of delivering his dialogue and mannerisms made him a popular comedian in Malayalam cinema during these period. Some of his memorable roles came with the movies such as "Malappuram Haji Mahanaya Joji", "Manathe Kottaram", "Vadhu Doctoranu", "Aadyathe Kanmani", "Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava" etc. He played the character "Uthaman" in the 1998 cult hit "Punjabi House". Indrans' combination with Harishree Ashokan resulted in some of the successful films.


title: Indrans

text: In the early 2000s he also started playing some minor character roles. Subsequently, his role of a thief in the 2004 film "Kathavasheshan" got him noticed as a character actor. In "Rahasya Police" (2009), Indrans was revealed to be the villain of the movie at the end. He played another villain role in "Pottas Bomb" (2013). Indrans won the Kerala State Film Award – Special Mention for his performance in the 2014 film "Apothecary".


title: Indrans

text: In 2016, Indrans got noticed for his portrayal of a serious role, in the film "Munroe Thuruth", directed by Manu. After this movie, he played several serious character roles. He appeared in serious avatars in "Kaadu Pookunna Neram" (2016) and "God Say" (2017). Indrans played several notable roles in films such as "Makkana", "Lonam", "Paathi" and "Buddhanum Chaplinum Chirikkunnu". In 2018, he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in the 2017 film "Aalorukkam". In 2019, he was awarded Singapore South Asian International Film Best actor award for his performance in "Veyilmarangal". "Veyil Marangal" also won the Outstanding Artistic Achievement at the Shanghai International film festival. Indrans played the lead role in the movie" Mohabbathin Kunjabdulla" (2019). His brief cameo as the serial killer "Ripper Ravi" in the crime thriller "Anjaam Pathiraa" (2020) was critically acclaimed.


title: Indrans

text: In 2021, he played the lead role of "Oliver Twist" in "Home". The movie was well acclaimed by the critics and audience especially praising Indrans' performance.


title: Indrans

text: Indrans was born on 16 March 1956. He is third among the seven children of Palavila Kochuvelu and Gomathi at Kumarapuram, Thiruvananthapuram. He has four sisters and two brothers.


title: Indrans

text: Indrans had to face financial problems at his house and joined his uncle to learn tailoring. Later, he joined amateur arts clubs and began acting in dramas. He started his acting career in television serial "Kaliveedu" in Doordarshan. Along with his brother, K. Jayakumar, he opened a tailoring shop named Indran's Brothers Tailors in Kumarapuram, Thiruvananthapuram.


title: Covert listening device

text: A covert listening device, more commonly known as a bug or a wire, is usually a combination of a miniature radio transmitter with a microphone. The use of bugs, called bugging, or wiretapping is a common technique in surveillance, espionage and police investigations.


title: Covert listening device

text: Self-contained electronic covert listening devices came into common use with intelligence agencies in the 1950s, when technology allowed for a suitable transmitter to be built into a relatively small package. By 1956, the US Central Intelligence Agency was designing and building "Surveillance Transmitters" that employed transistors, which greatly reduced the size and power consumption. An all solid-state device had low enough power needs that it could be operated by small batteries, which revolutionized the business of covert listening.


title: Covert listening device

text: A bug does not have to be a device specifically designed for the purpose of eavesdropping. For instance, with the right equipment, it is possible to remotely activate the microphone of cellular phones, even when a call is not being made, to listen to conversations in the vicinity of the phone.


title: Covert listening device

text: Among the earliest covert listening devices used in the United States of America was the dictograph, an invention of Kelley M. Turner patented in 1906 (US Patent US843186A). It consisted of a microphone in one location and a remote listening post with a speaker that could also be recorded using a phonograph. While also marketed as a device that allowed broadcasting of sounds, or dictating text from one room to a typist in another, it was used in several criminal investigations.


title: Covert listening device

text: A "wire" is a device that is hidden or concealed under a person's clothes for the purpose of covertly listening to conversations in proximity to the person wearing the "wire". Wires are typically used in police sting operations in order to gather information about suspects.


title: Covert listening device

text: The act of "wearing a wire" refers to a person knowingly recording the conversation or transmitting the contents of a conversation to a police listening post. Usually, some sort of device is attached to the body in an inconspicuous way, such as taping a microphone wire to their chest. Undercover agents "wearing a wire" is a typical plot element in gangster and police-related movies and television shows. A stereotypical scene might include an individual being suspected by criminals of "wearing a wire", resulting in their tearing the suspect's shirt open to reveal the deception.


title: Covert listening device

text: The wire device transmits to a remote location where law enforcement agents monitor what is being said. Wearing a wire is viewed as risky since discovery could lead to violence against the mole or other retaliatory responses.


title: Covert listening device

text: Mobile phone (cell phone) microphones can be activated remotely, without any need for physical access. This "roving bug" feature has been used by law enforcement agencies and intelligence services to listen in on nearby conversations. A United States court ruled in 1988 that a similar technique used by the FBI against reputed former Gulfport, Mississippi, cocaine dealers after having obtained a court order was permissible. Not only microphones but also seemingly innocuous motion sensors, which can be accessed by third-party apps on Android and iOS devices without any notification to the user, are a potential eavesdropping channel in smartphones.


title: Covert listening device

text: In 2003, the FBI obtained a court order to surreptitiously listen in on conversations in a car through the car's built-in emergency and tracking security system. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals prohibited the use of this technique because it involved deactivating the device's security features.


title: Covert listening device

text: A laser microphone can be used to reconstruct audio from a laser beam shot onto an object in a room, or a window.


title: Covert listening device

text: Researchers have also prototyped a method for reconstructing audio from video of thin objects that can pick up sound vibrations, such as a houseplant or bag of potato chips.


title: Covert listening device

text: The use of listening devices is permitted under UK law providing that they are used in compliance with Data Protection and Human Rights laws. If a government body or organisation intends to use listening or recording devices they must follow the laws put in place by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA). It is usually permitted to record audio covertly in a public setting or one's own home.


title: Covert listening device

text: It is illegal to use listening or recording devices that are not permitted for public use. Individuals may only use listening or recording devices within reasonable privacy laws for legitimate security and safety reasons. Many people use listening devices in their own property to capture evidence of excessive noise in a neighbour complaint, which is legal in normal circumstances.


title: Covert listening device

text: It is legal to use listening or recording devices in public areas, in an office or business area, or in one's own home. Many people use listening devices to record evidence or to take notes for their own reference.


title: Covert listening device

text: It is illegal to use listening devices on certain Military band and Air Band UHF and FM frequencies - people in the past who have not followed this law have been fined over £10,000. This is because the use of a radio transmission bug that transmits on restricted frequencies contravenes the Telecommunications Act and is illegal. It is also against the law to place a listening or recording device in someone else's home. Due to privacy and human rights laws, using a listening or recording device to intrude on the reasonable expectation of privacy of an individual is highly illegal, i.e. placing gadgets in someone's home or car to which one does not have permitted access, or in a private area such as a bathroom.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Neam "Nim" Chimpsky (November 19, 1973 – March 10, 2000) was a chimpanzee and the subject of an extended study of animal language acquisition at Columbia University. The project was led by Herbert S. Terrace with the linguistic analysis headed up by psycholinguist Thomas Bever. Within the context of a scientific study, Chimpsky was named as a pun on linguist Noam Chomsky, who posits that humans are "wired" to develop language.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: As part of a study intended to challenge Chomsky's thesis that only humans have language, beginning at two weeks old, Nim was raised by a family in a home environment by human surrogate parents. The surrogate parents already had a human child of their own. At the age of two Nim was removed from his surrogate parents, the familiar surrounding of their home and brought to Columbia University due to perceived behavioral difficulties. The project was similar to an earlier study by R. Allen and Beatrix Gardner in which another chimpanzee, Washoe, was raised like a human child. After reviewing the results, Terrace concluded that Nim, who at this point was housed at Columbia University, mimicked symbols of the American Sign Language from his teachers in order to get a reward but did not understand the language nor could he create sentences; Nim used random patterns until receiving a reward. Mainly, Terrace claimed that he had noticed that Nim mimicked the signs used moments before by his teacher, which Terrace, by his own words, had not noticed throughout the duration of the entire study but only moments before thinking of greenlighting the study as a success. Terrace further argued that all ape-language studies, including Project Nim, were based on misinformation from the chimps, which he also only noticed and examined in such a manner at and after said moment of realization. Terrace's work remains controversial today, with no clear consensus among psychologists and cognitive scientists regarding the extent to which great apes can learn language.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Project Nim was an attempt to go further than Project Washoe. Terrace and his colleagues aimed to use more thorough experimental techniques, and the intellectual discipline of the experimental analysis of behavior, so that the linguistic abilities of the apes could be put on a more secure footing.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Attention was particularly focused on Nim's ability to make different responses to different sequences of signs and to emit different sequences in order to communicate different meanings. However, the results, according to Fouts, were not as impressive as had been reported from the Washoe project. Terrace, however, was skeptical of Project Washoe and, according to the critics, went to great lengths to discredit it.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: While Nim did learn 125 signs, Terrace concluded that he had not acquired anything the researchers were prepared to designate worthy of the name "language" (as defined by Noam Chomsky) although he had learned to repeat his trainers' signs in appropriate contexts. Language is defined as a "doubly articulated" system, in which signs are formed for objects and states and then combined syntactically, in ways that determine how their meanings will be understood. For example, "man bites dog" and "dog bites man" use the same set of words but because of their ordering will be understood by speakers of English as denoting very different meanings.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: One of Terrace's colleagues, Laura-Ann Petitto, estimated that with more standard criteria, Nim's true vocabulary count was closer to 25 than 125. However, other students who cared for Nim longer than Petitto disagreed with her and with the way that Terrace conducted his experiment. Critics assert that Terrace used his analysis to destroy the movement of ape-language research. Terrace argued that none of the chimps were using language, because they could learn signs but could not form them syntactically as language.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Terrace and his colleagues concluded that the chimpanzee did not show any meaningful sequential behavior that rivaled human grammar. Nim's use of language was strictly pragmatic, as a means of obtaining an outcome, unlike a human child's, which can serve to generate or express meanings, thoughts or ideas. There was nothing Nim could be taught that could not equally well be taught to a pigeon using the principles of operant conditioning. The researchers therefore questioned claims made on behalf of Washoe, and argued that the apparently impressive results may have amounted to nothing more than a "Clever Hans" effect, not to mention a relatively informal experimental approach.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Critics of primate linguistic studies include Thomas Sebeok, American semiotician and investigator of nonhuman communication systems, who wrote:


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Sebeok also made pointed comparisons of Washoe with Clever Hans. Some evolutionary psychologists, in effect agreeing with Chomsky, argue that the apparent impossibility of teaching language to animals is indicative that the ability to use language is an innately human development.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Terrace's skeptical approach to the claims that chimpanzees could learn and understand sign language led to heated disputes with and Beatrix Gardner, who initiated the Washoe Project. The Gardners argued that Terrace's approach to training, and the use of many different assistants, did not harness the chimpanzee's full cognitive and linguistic resources.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Roger Fouts, of the Washoe Project, also claims that Project Nim was poorly conducted because it did not use strong enough methodology to avoid comparison to "Clever Hans" and efficiently defend against it. He also shares the Gardners' view that the process of acquiring language skills through natural social interactions gives substantially better results than behavioral conditioning. Fouts argues, based on his own experiments, that pure conditioning can lead to the use of language as a method mainly of getting rewards rather than of raising communication abilities. Fouts later reported, however, that a community of ASL-speaking chimpanzees (including Washoe herself) was spontaneously using this language as a part of their internal communication system. They have even directly taught ASL signs to their children (Loulis) without human help or intervention. This means not only that they can use the language but that it has become a significant part of their lives.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: The controversy is still not fully resolved, in part because the financial and other costs of carrying out language-training experiments with apes make replication studies difficult to mount. The definitions of both "language" and "imitation" as well as the question of how language-like Nim's performance was has remained controversial.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: When Terrace ended the experiment, Nim was transferred back to the Institute for Primate Studies in Oklahoma, where he struggled to adapt after being treated like a human child for the first decade of his life. He had also never previously met another chimp and had to get used to them.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: When Terrace made his one and only visit to see Nim after a year at the Institute of Primate Studies, Nim sprung to Terrace immediately after seeing him, visibly shaking with excitement. Nim also showed the progress he had made during Project Nim, as he immediately began conversing in sign language with Terrace. Nim retreated back to a depressed state after Terrace left, never to return to see Nim again. Nim developed friendships with several of the workers at the Institute of Primate Studies, and learned a few more signs, including a sign named "stone smoke time now" which indicated that Nim wanted to smoke marijuana.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: The Institute later sold Nim to the Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery in Primates (LEMSIP), a pharmaceutical animal testing laboratory managed by NYU. At LEMSIP, Nim was confined to a wire cage, slated to be used for hepatitis vaccine studies. Technicians caring for the chimps noted that Nim and other chimps from the Institute continued to make sign-language gestures. After efforts to free him, Nim was purchased by the Black Beauty Ranch, operated by The Fund for Animals, the group led by Cleveland Amory, in Texas. While Nim's quality of life improved at the Black Beauty Ranch, Nim lived primarily in isolation inside a pen. He began to show hostility that included throwing TVs and killing a dog. Nim's behavior and overall well-being improved when other chimpanzees, several from the LEMSIP, joined Nim inside his pen after about a decade at the Black Beauty Ranch. Nim continued to show signs of the sign language he learned decades ago whenever a former trainer at the Institute for Primate Studies went to visit him.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Nim died on 10 March 2000 at the age of 26, from a heart attack, mostly attributed to health issues caused from a lifelong cigarette addiction.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: Nim's longest "sentence" was the 16-word-long "Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you."


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: "Project Nim", a documentary film by James Marsh about the Nim study, explores the story (and the wealth of archival footage) to consider ethical issues, the emotional experiences of the trainers and the chimpanzee, and the deeper issues the experiment raised. This documentary (produced by BBC Films, Red Box Films, and Passion Films) opened the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The film was released in theaters on July 8, 2011 by Roadside Attractions, and was released on DVD on 7 February 2012.


title: Nim Chimpsky

text: The story of Nim and other language-learning animals is told in Eugene Linden's book "Silent Partners: The Legacy of the Ape Language Experiments".


title: Colony (biology)

text: In biology, a colony is composed of two or more conspecific individuals living in close association with, or connected to, one another. This association is usually for mutual benefit such as stronger defense or the ability to attack bigger prey.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Colonies can form in various shapes and ways depending on the organism involved. For instance, the bacterial colony is a cluster of identical cells (clones). These colonies often form and grow on the surface of (or within) a solid medium, usually derived from a single parent cell.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Colonies, in the context of development, may be composed of two or more unitary (or solitary) organisms or be modular organisms. Unitary organisms have determinate development (set life stages) from zygote to adult form and individuals or groups of individuals (colonies) are visually distinct. Modular organisms have indeterminate growth forms (life stages not set) through repeated iteration of genetically identical modules (or individuals), and it can be difficult to distinguish between the colony as a whole and the modules within. In the latter case, modules may have specific functions within the colony.


title: Colony (biology)

text: In contrast, solitary organisms do not associate with colonies; they are ones in which all individuals live independently and have all of the functions needed to survive and reproduce.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Some organisms are primarily independent and form facultative colonies in reply to environmental conditions while others must live in a colony to survive (obligate). For example, some carpenter bees will form colonies when a dominant hierarchy is formed between two or more nest foundresses (facultative colony), while corals are animals that are physically connected by living tissue (the coenosarc) that contains a shared gastrovascular cavity.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Modular organisms are those in which a genet (or genetic individual formed from a sexually-produced zygote) asexually reproduces to form genetically identical clones called ramets.


title: Colony (biology)

text: A clonal colony is when the ramets of a genet live in close proximity or are physically connected. Ramets may have all of the functions needed to survive on their own or be interdependent on other ramets. For example, some sea anemones go through the process of pedal laceration in which a genetically identical individual is asexually produced from tissue broken off from the anemone's pedal disc. In plants, clonal colonies are created through the propagation of genetically identical trees by stolons or rhizomes.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Colonial organisms are clonal colonies composed of many physically connected, interdependent individuals. The subunits of colonial organisms can be unicellular, as in the alga "Volvox" (a coenobium), or multicellular, as in the phylum Bryozoa. The former type may have been the first step toward multicellular organisms. Individuals within a multicellular colonial organism may be called ramets, modules, or zooids. Structural and functional variation (polymorphism), when present, designates ramet responsibilities such as feeding, reproduction, and defense. To that end, being physically connected allows the colonial organism to distribute nutrients and energy obtained by feeding zooids throughout the colony. The hydrozoan Portuguese man o' war is a classic example of a colonial organism, one of many in the taxonomic class.


title: Colony (biology)

text: A microbial colony is defined as a visible cluster of microorganisms growing on the surface of or within a solid medium, presumably cultured from a single cell. Because the colony is clonal, with all organisms in it descending from a single ancestor (assuming no contamination), they are genetically identical, except for any mutations (which occur at low frequencies). Obtaining such genetically identical organisms (or pure strains) can be useful; this is done by spreading organisms on a culture plate and starting a new stock from a single resulting colony.


title: Colony (biology)

text: A biofilm is a colony of microorganisms often comprising several species, with properties and capabilities greater than the aggregate of capabilities of the individual organisms.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Individuals in social colonies and modular organisms receive benefit to such a lifestyle. For example, it may be easier to seek out food, defend a nesting site, or increase competitive ability against other species. Modular organisms' ability to reproduce asexually in addition to sexually allows them unique benefits that social colonies do not have.


title: Colony (biology)

text: The energy required for sexual reproduction varies based on the frequency and length of reproductive activity, number and size of offspring, and parental care. While solitary individuals bear all of those energy costs, individuals in some social colonies share a portion of those costs.


title: Colony (biology)

text: Modular organisms save energy by using asexual reproduction during their life. Energy reserved in this way allows them to put more energy towards colony growth, regenerating lost modules (due to predation or other cause of death), or response to environmental conditions.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: Irreligion in the United Kingdom is somewhat less prevalent than in most of Europe, with about 8% indicating they are atheistic in 2018. A third of Anglicans polled in a 2013 survey doubted the existence of God, while 15% of those with no religion believed in some higher power, and deemed themselves "spiritual" or even "religious."


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: Organised activism for irreligion in the United Kingdom derived its roots from the legacy of British nonconformists. The South Place Religious Society, which would later become associated with the Ethical movement, was founded in 1793 as an organisation of Philadelphians or Universalists.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: In 1811 "The Necessity of Atheism" was published by a young Oxford student, Percy Bysshe Shelley. It was one of the first printed, open avowals of irreligion in England.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: "The Oracle of Reason", the first avowedly-atheist periodical publication in British history, was published from 1841 to 1843 by Charles Southwell. It suffered from numerous imprisonments of its staff, including Southwell, George Holyoake and Thomas Paterson, for missives deemed "blasphemous" by the authorities (Holyoake was the last person in Britain convicted of blasphemy in a public lecture). Holyoake took to publishing "The Movement" (1842–1845) following his six-month sentence, which later became "The Reasoner" (1845–1860) and shifted to a larger focus on social issues facing the British working class, increasing the publication's readership. It was during this time that Holyoake developed his idea for the replacement of Christianity with an ethical system based upon science and reason, terming his proposal "secularism".


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: George Holyoake's coining of the word "secularism" in 1851 offered the English-speaking world the clarification of the nascent movement for separation of religion and state. The National Secular Society, founded in 1866 by politician Charles Bradlaugh, spearheaded the advocacy for freeing citizens from absolute government requirements involving religious observances; the Leicester Secular Society was founded in 1851. Bradlaugh's 1880 election to Parliament brought on a decade-long dispute over the demanded right to affirm declarations of office rather than swear oaths, as he was denied his seat for five years by a ruling that he had no right to affirm and resolutions preventing him from swearing an oath. When Bradlaugh was ultimately admitted in 1886, he took up the issue and saw the Oaths Act 1888 passed, which confirmed the right to optionally affirm declarations for inaugurations to office and offering testimony to government bodies.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: In 1881, "The Freethinker" began circulation as Britain's longest-running humanist periodical. In 1896, the Union of Ethical Societies was formed in the United Kingdom by American Stanton Coit as a union of pre-existing British Ethical movement societies; this group would later become known as the Ethical Union and the British Humanist Association. In 1899, the Rational Press Association was formed by a group of free-thinkers including Charles Albert Watts and George Holyoake.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: Meanwhile, the South Place Religious Society became further aligned with organised secularist advocacy during the tenure of Moncure D. Conway as minister of the congregation; Conway, an American Unitarian minister who served from 1864 to 1885 and 1892–1897, moved the congregation further away from doctrinal Unitarianism, and spent the break in his tenure (during which Stanton Coit served in his stead) writing a biography of American revolutionary ideologue Thomas Paine. In 1888, the South Place Religious Society became the South Place Ethical Society, now known as the Conway Hall Ethical Society.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: The 1960s were a significant time for irreligion, as the Ethical Union rebranded as the British Humanist Association, which went on to co-found the International Humanist and Ethical Union and create a symbol for humanism, the Happy Human. Broadcasters such as Margaret K. Knight sensationalised Britain with open advocacy of non-religious values and secular education. Senior figures in the British humanist movement went out to take on leading roles in institutions such as UNESCO, the World Health Organization, and the Food and Agriculture Organization.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: John William Gott, a working man of Bradford, West Yorkshire, attacked religion, especially Christianity, seeing it as reducing the opportunity for a socialist revolution. His lectures on rationalism and scepticism, and anti-Christian pamphlets, saw him jailed for blasphemy in 1911. Liberal Prime Minister H. H. Asquith was one of a group of Members of Parliament who proposed an ultimately unsuccessful piece of legislation to abolish blasphemy offences. Gott was jailed again ten years later for a pamphlet showing Jesus as a clown, and died in 1922 soon after his nine-month sentence which included hard labour despite his worsening physical condition. There was a public backlash against his sentence.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: Gott was the last Briton jailed for blasphemy, but the offence remained a technical crime through common law until being abolished in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, who first came to prominence in 1976 following the release of "The Selfish Gene", increasingly figured in British irreligion with the release of his 1986 work "The Blind Watchmaker", in which he argued in favour of evolutionary natural selection as opposed to intelligent design and creationism.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: In the 21st century, New Atheism became a popular topic of debate, support and critique in the United Kingdom. Dawkins' 2006 book "The God Delusion" and Christopher Hitchens' 2007 book "God Is Not Great" were considered emblematic works of the era among British authors, and Dawkins advocated for the Brights movement. The Atheist Bus Campaign was inaugurated during this time, in which advertisements on double-decker buses were purchased by the British Humanist Association in order to advocate non-belief in the supernatural; the campaign caused controversy and complaints to authorities, but soon spread to other countries and continents, taking root in the United States as a variety of atheist billboard campaigns. A 2009 survey of 1,000 teenagers aged 13 to 18 reports that two-thirds of British teenagers do not believe in God.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: The rise in irreligion was confirmed in the UK's 2011 census, which saw irreligion rise from 7.7 million in 2001 to 14.1 million, a rise of 10.3 percentage points. The local authority in England with the highest level of irreligion was Norwich, the county town of Norfolk, where the level was 42.5%. Religion has the least influence on youth. According to the 2011 census, 25% of England has no religion, 7% of Northern Ireland, one third in Scotland and one-third of Wales. In 2015, over 110 Parliamentarians in the UK are members of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group, which means the non-religious have substantial representation among MPs and Lords.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: According to YouGov, Christianity is perceived to be on the decline. Mori Polls have shown that British Christians support a secular state. Britons are amongst the most skeptical about religion.


title: Irreligion in the United Kingdom

text: Statistics from the Office of National Statistics published in 2019 showed that the number of non-religious people in Britain has increased by 46% since 2011 (up to a total of 39% of the population), with over 8 million more people declaring that they do not belong to any religious group. As well as this, the figures also show a 14% decline (from 59.3% to 51%) in the number of people identifying as Christian.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: Parris Island is a district of the city of Port Royal, South Carolina on an island of the same name. It became part of the city with the annexation of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island on October 11, 2002. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau previously defined Parris Island as a census-designated place (CDP) when it was an unincorporated area of Beaufort County. The population was 4,841 at the 2000 census. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, Parris Island is included within the Beaufort Urban Cluster and the larger Hilton Head Island–Beaufort Micropolitan Statistical Area.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: Parris Island was first colonized by Europeans in 1562, when members of a French expedition led by Jean Ribaut temporarily settled on the island. This was the first semi-permanent European settlement in what are now considered the United States. Four years later, a town named Santa Elena was founded here by Spanish Conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés. It was the capital of La Florida from 1566 to 1587, during which time Spanish explorers sailed from Santa Elena to explore the Tennessee Valley and Chesapeake Bay. An expedition also traveled overland into the interior to western North Carolina and points west.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: After coming under English control, the island was granted to Robert Daniell in 1706 and became known as Port Royal Island. It later came into the hands of Colonel Alexander Parris, sometimes spelled "Paris", Public Treasurer of South Carolina. After his death in 1736, it gradually became known as Parris Island (and the name Port Royal Island was applied to a different one to the north).


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: Parris Island was captured by the Union Army in 1861 during the American Civil War. It became a coaling station during the war. After the war, through the efforts of African American Congressman Robert Smalls, it continued as a coaling station for the United States Navy and became known as the Port Royal Naval Station. The island was purchased outright in 1883. In the early 1890s, a dry dock was constructed at the naval station. The dry dock was completed in 1895.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: In 1915, Parris Island became the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. In the early years of the Marine Corps presence it was referred to as Paris Island.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: The Charlesfort-Santa Elena Site and Parris Island Drydock and Commanding Generals House are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP had a total area of , of which of it is land and of it (37.96%) is water.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 4,841 people, 318 households, and 297 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 398.0 people per square mile (153.7/km). There were 358 housing units at an average density of 29.4/sq mi (11.4/km). The racial makeup of the CDP was 69.14% White, 17.35% African American, 0.83% Native American, 1.76% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 7.13% from other races, and 3.68% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 13.16% of the population.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: There were 318 households, out of which 72.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 87.7% were married couples living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 6.3% were non-families. 4.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and none had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.31 and the average family size was 3.40.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 10.6% under the age of 18, 72.4% from 18 to 24, 15.7% from 25 to 44, and 1.2% from 45 to 64. The median age was 20 years. For every 100 females, there were 303.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 339.3 males.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: The median income for a household in the CDP was $46,335, and the median income for a family was $45,750. Males had a median income of $17,428 versus $16,359 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $11,216. About 7.6% of families and 6.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: The title character from the Stephen King novel "Billy Summers" went to the Marine Academy at Parris Island.


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: Parris Island appears and is referenced several times in the "G.I. Joe" franchise. Professional wrestler/character Sgt. Slaughter (portrayed by/voiced by Bob Remus) was billed from/born in Parris Island. In the original "" cartoon, Parris Island appears in the episode "The Rotten Egg".


title: Parris Island, South Carolina

text: Parris Island is also the setting for the first half of the iconic Stanley Kubric war movie, 'Full Metal Jacket' featuring basic training at the Marine Corps training ground.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Johnny Otis (born Ioannis Alexandres Veliotes; December 28, 1921 – January 17, 2012) was an American singer, musician, composer, bandleader, record producer, and talent scout. He was a seminal influence on American R&B and rock and roll. He discovered numerous artists early in their careers who went on to become highly successful in their own right, including Little Esther Phillips, Etta James, Alan O'Day, Big Mama Thornton, Johnny Ace, Jackie Wilson, Little Willie John, Hank Ballard, and The Robins, among many others. Otis has been called the "Godfather of Rhythm and Blues".


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis was born in Vallejo, California, to Greek immigrant parents, Alexander J. Veliotes, a Mare Island longshoreman and grocery store owner, and his wife, the former Irene Kiskakes, a painter. He had a younger sister, Dorothy, and a younger brother, Nicholas A. Veliotes, who became the U.S. Ambassador to Jordan (1978–1981) and Egypt (1984–1986). Johnny grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood in Berkeley, California, where his father owned a grocery store. He became known for his choice to live his professional and personal life as a member of the African-American community. He wrote, "As a kid I decided that if our society dictated that one had to be black or white, I would be black."


title: Johnny Otis

text: On May 2, 1941, when Otis was 19, he married Phyllis Walker, an 18-year-old woman of African American and Filipino descent from Oakland, whom he had known since childhood. Despite deep and enduring objections from his mother, the young couple left California and eloped in Reno, Nevada, where interracial marriage was accepted at the time. They had four children: two sons, Shuggie Otis and Nicholas Otis—both of whom became musicians—and two daughters, Janice and Laura. Johnny and Phyllis also raised Lucky Otis, Shuggie's son with his first wife, Miss Mercy Fontenot of The GTOs.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis began playing drums as a teenager, having bought a set by forging his father's signature on a credit slip. Soon after, he dropped out of Berkeley High School, in his junior year. He joined a local band, the West Oakland House Rockers, with his pianist friend "Count" Otis Matthews. By 1939, they were performing at many local functions, mostly in and around Oakland and Berkeley, and were popular among their peers.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In the early 1940s Otis played in swing orchestras, including Lloyd Hunter's Serenaders and Harlan Leonard's Rockets. He founded his own band in 1945; they had one of the most enduring hits of the big-band era, "Harlem Nocturne", a composition by Earle Hagen. His band included Wynonie Harris, Charles Brown, and Illinois Jacquet, among others. In 1947, he and Bardu Ali opened the Barrelhouse Club in the Watts district of Los Angeles. Otis reduced the size of his band and hired the singers Mel Walker, Little Esther (born Esther Mae Jones and later known as Esther Phillips) and the Robins (who later became the Coasters). He discovered the teenaged Esther Jones when she won a talent show at the Barrelhouse Club. With this band, he toured extensively in the United States as the California Rhythm and Blues Caravan, and had a string of rhythm-and-blues hits through 1950.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis and his Orchestra played at the third annual Cavalcade of Jazz concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin, Sr. on September 7, 1947. Woody Herman, The Valdez Orchestra, The Blenders, T-Bone Walker, Slim Gaillard, The Honeydrippers, Sarah Vaughn and the Three Blazers also performed that same day.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis discovered the tenor saxophonist Big Jay McNeely, who played on his up-tempo "Barrelhouse Stomp". He began recording Little Esther and Mel Walker for Savoy Records, based in Newark, New Jersey, in 1949, and also released a stream of hit records, including "Double Crossing Blues", "Mistrustin' Blues" and "Cupid's Boogie", all of which reached number 1 on the "Billboard" R&B chart. In 1950, "Billboard" selected Otis as the R&B Artist of the Year. He also began playing the vibraphone on many of his recordings.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In 1951, Otis released "Mambo Boogie", featuring congas, maracas, claves, and mambo saxophone guajeos in a blues progression, the first R&B mambo ever recorded. Otis moved to Mercury Records in 1951. He discovered the singer Etta James, who was then 13 years old, at one of his talent shows. He produced and co-wrote her first hit, The Wallflower (Dance with Me, Henry).


title: Johnny Otis

text: In 1952, while in Houston, Texas, Otis auditioned the singer Willie Mae "Big Mama" Thornton. He produced, co-wrote, and played drums on her 1953 recording of "Hound Dog" (the first recording of the song); he and his band also provided the backup "howling" vocals. The song was co-written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Otis had a legal dispute with the songwriting duo over the credits after he learned that Leiber and Stoller had revised the contractual agreement before the singer Elvis Presley recorded a new version of the song, which quickly became a number 1 hit. Claiming Leiber and Stoller illegally had the original contract nullified and rewrote a new one stating that the two boys (who were both 17) were the only composers of the song, Otis sued. The judge decided the case in favor of the defendants, ruling that the first contract with Otis was null and void because they were minors when they signed it.


title: Johnny Otis

text: One of Otis's most famous compositions is the ballad "Every Beat of My Heart", first recorded by the Royals in 1952 for Federal Records. It was a hit for Gladys Knight and the Pips in 1961. Otis also produced and played the vibraphone on "Pledging My Love", by the singer Johnny Ace, which was number 1 on the "Billboard" R&B chart for 10 weeks. Another successful song for Otis was "So Fine", originally recorded by the Sheiks in 1955 for Federal and a hit for the Fiestas in 1959. As an artist and repertory man for King Records, Otis discovered numerous young prospects who later became successful, including Jackie Wilson, Hank Ballard, and Little Willie John.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis hosted a television show, "The Johnny Otis Show", and became an influential disc jockey in Los Angeles, with a program on radio station KFOX in Long Beach in 1955.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In 1955, Otis started his own label, Ultra Records (he changed the name to Dig after releasing five singles). He continued to perform and appeared on TV shows in Los Angeles from 1957. On the strength of their success, he signed with Capitol Records. Featuring the singer Marie Adams and with his band, now known as the Johnny Otis Show, he made a comeback, at first in the British charts with "Ma! He's Making Eyes at Me" in 1957. In April 1958, he recorded his best-known song, "Willie and the Hand Jive", a clave-based vamp. It was a hit in the summer of 1958, peaking at number 9 on the U.S. Pop chart, and was Otis's only Top 10 single. The single reached number 1 on the "Billboard" R&B chart. Otis's success with the song was somewhat short-lived, and he briefly moved to King Records in 1961, where he worked with Johnny "Guitar" Watson.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In 1959, Otis auditioned the Coachella Valley, CA band the Renes which featured a young Alan O'Day on vocals. Impressed, Otis recorded and produced the band performing three O'Day originals and a few covers at El Dorado Studios in Los Angeles. but the recordings were never released as most of the members of the Renes were minors.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In 1969, Otis landed a deal with Columbia Records and recorded the albums "Cold Shot!" and the sexually explicit "Snatch and the Poontangs", both of which featured his son Shuggie and the singer Delmar "Mighty Mouth" Evans. A year later, he recorded a double live album of his band's performance at the Monterey Jazz Festival, "Johnny Otis Show Live at Monterey!" with Little Esther Phillips, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, Pee Wee Crayton, Ivory Joe Hunter, and The Mighty Flea, among others. A portion of the performance was featured in the Clint Eastwood film "Play Misty for Me".


title: Johnny Otis

text: "Live at Monterey" was released in 1971 by Epic Records. Reviewing it in "" (1981), Robert Christgau said, "In-concert compilations are often incoherent, but the blues-style hard jive beloved of performer-turned-majordomo Otis has such formal integrity that this r&b spectacular moves smoothly for four sides. Some of the featured players are no more than Otis's hired hands, including guitarist Shuggie O. But (in ascending order) Roy Milton, Big Joe Turner, Ivory Joe Hunter, Little (?) Esther Phillips, Roy Brown, and Cleanhead Vinson are a cast that beats anything Richard Nader's ever put into the Garden."


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis toured less in the 1970s. He started the Blues Spectrum label and released a series of thirteen albums, "Rhythm and Blues Oldies", which featured the 1950s R&B artists Louis Jordan, Charles Brown, Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Joe Liggins, Gatemouth Moore, Roy Milton, Amos Milburn, Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson, and Richard Berry, with three of those albums by Otis himself.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In the 1980s, Otis had a weekly radio show, airing Mondays from 8 to 11 p.m. on the Los Angeles radio station KPFK, on which he played records and received as guests R&B artists such as Screamin' Jay Hawkins. Otis also recorded with his sons, Shuggie (guitar) and Nicky (drums), releasing the albums "The New Johnny Otis Show" (Alligator, 1981), "Johnny Otis! Johnny Otis!" (Hawk Sound, 1984) and "Otisology" (Kent, 1986). In the summer of 1987, Otis hosted his own "Red Beans & Rice R&B Music Festival" in Los Angeles, which featured top-name acts and hosted a Southern-style red beans and rice cook-off. Otis released "Spirit of the Black Territory Bands" in 1992, for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award. He moved the festival to the city of San Dimas, where it ran annually in association with the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation for twenty years, until 2006.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis and his family moved from southern California to Sebastopol, California, a small apple-farming town in Sonoma County. He continued his weekly radio program from KPFK's sister station KPFA in Berkeley, California, which aired every Saturday from 9am to noon. Otis performed across the United States and Europe well through the 1990s, headlining the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1990 and 2000. In 1993, he opened the Johnny Otis Market in Sebastopol, a grocery/deli/cabaret where Otis and his band (now joined by his grandsons Lucky on bass and Eric on rhythm guitar) played sold-out shows every weekend until it closed its doors in 1995. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2017.


title: Johnny Otis

text: In the 1960s, Otis entered journalism and politics. He lost an election for a seat in the California State Assembly. He then became deputy chief of staff to state Assemblyman, later, Democratic Congressman, Mervyn M. Dymally.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis also founded and preached in the New Landmark Community Gospel Church, which held Sunday services in Santa Rosa, California. Landmark's worship services centered on Otis's preaching and the traditional-style performances of a vocal group and choir backed by his rhythm section and an organist. The church closed in mid-1998.


title: Johnny Otis

text: "The Johnny Otis Show", relocated from KPFK to sister station KPFA in Berkeley, California, where it aired on Saturday mornings. After his market in Sebastopol opened in 1994, Otis broadcast from there, with his band playing live on the air, later broadcasting from the Powerhouse Brewing Co. After Otis' retirement in late 2004, his grandson Lucky hosted the show at KPFA for two years, until its final airing in late 2006, when Otis and his wife moved back to Los Angeles.


title: Johnny Otis

text: He taught Music 15-B: Jazz, Blues and Popular Music in American Culture, a 3-unit Peralta Community College District class.


title: Johnny Otis

text: Otis died of natural causes on January 17, 2012, in the Altadena area of Los Angeles. He died three days before Etta James, whom he had discovered in the early 1950s. He is interred with his wife at Mountain View Cemetery in Altadena, California, US.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: "Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their album "Beauty and the Beat" (1981) and was their debut American single in June 1981. The single eventually reached the top 5 in Australia and Canada, and the top 20 in the United States. Although originally written and performed with three verses, an abbreviated version of the song appears on "Beauty and the Beat". Although most of the song's lead vocals are performed by usual lead singer Belinda Carlisle, co-writer Wiedlin sings the bridge.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: In 1983, Hall's band, Fun Boy Three, released their version of "Our Lips Are Sealed". Issued as a single, the track became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom, besting the recording by the Go-Go's which only made it to No. 47 in the UK.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: In 2000, "Rolling Stone" & "MTV" named the Go-Go's original version of "Our Lips Are Sealed" at No. 57 on the list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs of all time. In 2021, their version was also listed at No. 477 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The Go-Go's performed the song, along with "Vacation" and "We Got the Beat", during the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: The Go-Go's supported the Specials on the latter's 1980 'Seaside' tour of England. According to Jane Wiedlin, she and Terry Hall had a brief affair despite the fact he was in a relationship with another woman at the time. After Wiedlin returned to the United States, Hall mailed her some lyrics, and this led to their co-writing the song. The Go-Go's version is significantly more upbeat than Fun Boy Three's, which Wiedlin describes as "great" but also "gloomier".


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: The official music video for the song features sequences of the band members in carefree tableaux (riding around LA in a 1960 Buick convertible, stopping at a lingerie shop, and splashing around in a fountain) interspersed with footage of the band playing at a club.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: Jane Wiedlin says the band was initially unenthusiastic when Miles Copeland, president of their label, I.R.S. Records, told them they would be doing the video. "We were totally bratty", she recalls. The video was financed with unused funds from the Police's video budget.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: The group wanted an older-style convertible, and found a red 1960 Buick LeSabre at Rent-a-Wreck. After riding around Beverly Hills, at some point, they stop at the famous Trashy Lingerie store located at La Cienega Blvd. The girls go into the shop, but Jane Wiedlin remains in the car to sing the bridge of the song (although Carlisle can be seen in the driver's seat trying to hide). The day of shooting was very hot so it was the band's idea to end the video by jumping into the fountain on the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica. Wiedlin later said "I thought, at any minute the cops are gonna come. This is gonna be so cool."


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: Wiedlin looks back on the video experience fondly. "I have horrible '80s poodle hair in it", she recalled in a 2011 history of MTV. "But there's a simplicity and innocence to the video that appeals to me."


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: The original version peaked at number 20 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 chart, and 15 on the "Billboard" Top Rock Tracks chart. On the dance chart, the song peaked at number 10. A song of unusual longevity as a hit, it remained on the "Billboard" charts until March 1982, long after its peak, ultimately charting for 30 weeks.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: The following year, co-writer Terry Hall re-recorded the song with his own band, Fun Boy Three. It was included on their second album "Waiting" and reached number seven on the UK Singles Chart, and was the last single to chart in the UK before their split later in 1983. Backing vocals were provided by Mo-dettes drummer June Miles-Kingston, who also played drums on the single and the "Waiting" LP.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: Sisters Hilary and Haylie Duff covered the song for the soundtrack of the 2004 film "A Cinderella Story", in which Hilary starred. The cover, which was released on June 5, 2004, was produced by Charlie Midnight and Spider. The Duff sisters said in an interview that they had wanted to record together, and Hilary chose "Our Lips Are Sealed" because the "secretive" theme of the song relates to the film "A Cinderella Story". As of July 27, 2014, the song had sold 161,000 copies in the United States. It was released on June 3 and received medium airplay on MuchMusic in Canada and MTV in the U.S. Though the video was popular on the MTV video chart show "Total Request Live", the single failed to chart on the US Hot 100. In Australia it was released on August 30, 2004 and reached number eight.


title: Our Lips Are Sealed

text: The single's music video was directed by Chris Applebaum and filmed in Toronto, Canada, in May 2004. Similar to the video for the Go-Go's single, it depicts the Duff sisters driving around town in a car and goofing about, and is interspersed with footage from "A Cinderella Story". A second version of the video, which had new scenes and is not interspersed with scenes from "A Cinderella Story", was included on the "Dignity" deluxe edition DVD. The song was included on Duff's compilation album, "Most Wanted" (2005) and the Japanese and Australian editions of Hilary Duff's second compilation album "Best of Hilary Duff".


title: Felix Silla

text: Felix Anthony Silla (January 11, 1937 – April 16, 2021), also credited as Felix Cilla, was an Italian actor and stuntman, known for his career in Hollywood in TV and film.


title: Felix Silla

text: Silla starting his career in the circus, but is best known especially on television's "The Addams Family" as Cousin Itt, a costumed character, that was added exclusively for the TV series, and was not in Charles Addams original comic series


title: Felix Silla

text: Felix Silla was born in the small village of Roccacasale, Abruzzo, Italy. He trained as a circus performer and came to the United States aged 18, in 1955, touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. His multiple talents as a bareback horse rider, trapeze artist, and tumbler brought him to Hollywood, where he became a stuntman, appearing in the film, "A Ticklish Affair".


title: Felix Silla

text: His best-known roles include Litvak, the maniacal, miniature Hitler who menaces George Segal in film "The Black Bird" (his favorite role). He was also responsible for the physical performance of the robot Twiki in the TV series "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century", a role for which the voice was supplied by Mel Blanc or Bob Elyea.


title: Felix Silla

text: In part due to his short stature of 1.19 m (3 ft 11 in), he often doubled for children in such movies as "The Towering Inferno", "The Hindenburg", and "Battlestar Galactica". Between movies, he frequently appeared in Las Vegas and Reno, Nevada, night clubs with his own musical combo, "The Original Harmonica Band".


title: Felix Silla

text: Silla became famous however as the recurring costumed character of Cousin Itt on television's "The Addams Family". The character was not part of Charles Addams's original comic, but was introduced in the original black and white television series by producer David Levy, debuting in the 1965 first-season episode "Cousin Itt Visits the Addams Family", and appearing in a total of 19 episodes, 17 which feature Silla and 2 with Roger Arroyo over the course of the show's two seasons. The character's voice was usually provided by studio sound engineer Anthony Magro (1923–2004). The character became so popular it was carried over to subsequent licensed media including film, stage and video games.


title: Ellen Burstyn on screen and stage

text: She is known for her film performances in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show" (1971), William Friedkin's "The Exorcist" (1973), and Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974). She also has appeared in such films as "Harry and Tonto" (1974), "Same Time, Next Year" (1978), "Resurrection" (1980), and "Requiem for a Dream" (2000).


title: Ellen Burstyn on screen and stage

text: She is also known for her performances in television such as "Big Love" (2007–2011), "Political Animals" (2012), "Louie" (2014), and "House of Cards" (2016).


title: Amy O'Neill

text: Amy O'Neill is an American former actress. After appearing in several sitcoms and starring as Molly Stark on "The Young and the Restless" in 1986, she was cast in her notable role as Amy Szalinski in the 1989 Disney film, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", for which she was nominated for a Young Artist Award. She reprised her role as Amy Szalinski in the 1992 sequel, "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid" and appeared as Lisa Barnes in "Where's Rodney?"


title: Amy O'Neill

text: O'Neill was born in Pacific Palisades, California, the daughter of Virginia, an art school director, and Thomas O'Neill, a Los Angeles construction company owner. She is the third of five children. Her older siblings are brother Casey and sister Katie. Her younger brothers are Hugh and Barry. Her father is the brother of Hugh O'Neill, Esq, former Deputy Chief Counsel to The Secretary of the Navy, John Lehman. O'Neill is of Irish heritage.


title: Amy O'Neill

text: O'Neill began auditioning for parts at age ten with her older siblings. After school, the kids would drive out to Hollywood. O'Neill made her first appearance on television at age 13 in an episode of "Mama's Family" as a younger version of Betty White's character, Ellen Harper. She continued working on television shows such as "Matt Houston", "Night Court", "Highway to Heaven" and "The Twilight Zone". She also appeared on the American game show, "Body Language" in the summer of 1985. After an appearance on "Family Ties", O'Neill won the role of the pregnant teenager Molly Stark on the daytime soap, "The Young and the Restless" for thirty episodes in 1986.


title: Amy O'Neill

text: She appeared in the 1989 television films, "Desperate for Love" as Tammy Lauren's best friend, with Christian Slater and as Jodie in "I Know My First Name is Steven", before appearing in her most recognized role as Amy Szalinski in "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids". In the film, she and her brother are shrunk to 1/4 inch high by the father's (Rick Moranis) shrink ray.


title: Amy O'Neill

text: O'Neill continued work as Annette in an episode of "", but most of her scenes were cut out due to time constraints. She can, however, be seen in the background of a crowd scene. She acted as Lisa Barnes in the pilot episode of "Where's Rodney?" with "Honey" co-star Jared Rushton and Rodney Dangerfield, but it wasn't picked up in 1990 or 1991. She continued working in television series such as "Room for Romance", "The Young Riders", and "Gabriel's Fire", and starred as Susan Hartley in an episode of "Murder, She Wrote".


title: Amy O'Neill

text: She reprised the role of Amy Szalinski in the 1992 film "Honey, I Blew Up the Kid", albeit only in the opening scene where she leaves for college. The reason for this is that the film was originally a standalone story unrelated to "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", and when the plot was changed to include the Szalinski family, there was no parallel character for O'Neill to replace. Amy Szalinski is also mentioned but does not appear in the third film, "Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves".


title: Amy O'Neill

text: O'Neill later appeared in the television film, "" as Pandra, one of the young adults stuck in the Cascade Mountains, having to fend for themselves. In 1994, she appeared in the "National Lampoon" film, "Attack of the 5 Ft. 2 In. Women" as a German Skater.


title: Amy O'Neill

text: After her interest in acting had waned, O'Neill quit acting in 1994 after getting scripts that required nudity. She met old childhood friend, Roy Johns, owner of a few circus acts. As she watched his work, she became interested in how active the girls in his performances were. She became involved with his acts and is now part of Johns' crew.


title: Amy O'Neill

text: She is now part of the performance art community in Los Angeles. In 2002, she joined the Hollywood, Alabama trio, "Girls On Stilts." She has toured places in Italy and Asia, and has brandished her skills at Harrah's Casino, Disneyland, and other places. She doesn't have any children and is not currently married, but hoping to start a family with someone who isn't "intimidated" by her work as a performer.


title: Amy O'Neill

text: O'Neill returned to television in 2005 to appear in an MTV documentary with her "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" co-star Thomas Wilson Brown in "The 100 Greatest Family Films". In 2008, she appeared as an Officer's wife in an independent film, "The Japanese Sandman".


title: Ryan Leslie

text: Anthony Ryan Leslie (born September 25, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and entrepreneur from Washington, D.C. He has produced singles for a number of prominent artists in a variety of genres, ranging from R&B, hip hop, pop and gospel. Artists Leslie has worked with include Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Puff Daddy, LL Cool J, Kid Cudi, Kanye West, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Chris Brown, and Fabolous.


title: Ryan Leslie

text: From 2005 to 2006, he has his prime commercial success to date with Cassie, whom signed to Leslie's NextSelection label imprint in a joint venture with Bad Boy Records. Leslie wrote and produced her debut Platinum-certified hit single, "Me & U" along with the entirety of her eponymous debut album (2006). Leslie's 2008 self-titled debut album, was a moderate success that included the singles "Diamond Girl", "Addiction" (featuring Fabolous and Cassie) and "How It Was Supposed to Be".


title: Ryan Leslie

text: Leslie, who is a Harvard University graduate, is also the founder and CEO of SuperPhone and NextSelection Lifestyle Group. SuperPhone, a direct text marketing service, has been used by Miley Cyrus, Zayn, Joyner Lucas, Silk Sonic, and others. Leslie has been nominated for Grammy Awards, BET Awards, and Soul Train Music Awards.


title: Ryan Leslie

text: His parents are Salvation Army officers, who frequently relocate for work. Ryan's family are avid practicing Christians. Ryan has lived in various states, cities, and countries. At an early age, Leslie taught himself how to play the piano. He developed the ability to recite music, as well as arrange chords to create songs. At the age of 14, Leslie scored a 1600 on his SATs—a perfect score—while attending Bear Creek High School, in Stockton, California. In 1993, he applied to four University of California campuses as well as Stanford, Yale and Harvard. In his application essays he explained his interest in matriculating from his junior year in high school without having earned a diploma. He was accepted to all except for Stanford. He ultimately decided to attend Harvard College. At the age of 19, Leslie graduated from Harvard with a degree in Government, concentrating in Political Science and Macroeconomics. During the undergraduate Class Day ceremonies, Leslie was selected to be the Harvard Male Orator, one of four seniors who deliver orations to the graduating senior class.


title: Ryan Leslie

text: Leslie grew up around music, playing cornet as a child in the Salvation Army band. Ryan later switched to piano because his overbite made it difficult to get proper embouchure on a brass instrument. At Harvard, he joined the Krokodiloes, an a cappella group. Leslie suddenly saw a new future for himself when a friend played him a Stevie Wonder CD freshman year. "I became obsessed with him," says Leslie. "I wanted to chase that man's career." Leslie became a constant presence at the on-campus recording studio. Fellow student Chiqui Matthew, now working for Goldman Sachs, remembered Leslie making beats at every free moment: "He was on a different level of intensity. Most of us were pretty realistic — we're Harvard students; this music stuff is fun, but this isn't the future. But Ryan always had a ten-year plan about how he was going to take over the music industry." While still a college student, Leslie began producing tracks for local Boston artists, and molding his image, which Matthew found unconvincing: "He had this pseudo-sexual, thugged-out Lothario thing. I never really bought it. He seemed more like a music nerd to me".