title: Gomez (band)

text: After signing to Hut Records in September 1997, they began recording their debut album. They entered Parr Street Studios with engineer Ken Nelson (later Badly Drawn Boy, Coldplay) recording new songs and improving the mixes of the demos. The band self produced. The album went platinum. A season of English Festivals (including two performances at Glastonbury) followed. The band's successful year was crowned when they won the Mercury Music Prize in September 1998. Other nominees included Massive Attack – "Mezzanine", Pulp – "This Is Hardcore", The Verve – "Urban Hymns".


title: Gomez (band)

text: In 1998, Philips Electronics chose Gomez to cover The Beatles' song "Getting Better" for a $100 million ad campaign for Philips new lines of flat panel and high-definition television sets. The cover song was not released on an album until 2000 with "Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline", a collection of B-sides and rarities.


title: Gomez (band)

text: The band's second album, "Liquid Skin", was released in 1999, lending Gomez further success on the British and Australian albums charts. The band also made the Billboard Heatseeker chart for the first time. After winning the Mercury Prize, the band went back to Parr Street Studios, pressing on with recording as much material as they could between tours. Ken Nelson engineered once again and the band self produced. The album went Platinum and touring followed, including a performance at Glastonbury Festival on the second stage.


title: Gomez (band)

text: The group's third album, "In Our Gun", was released in 2002. It made the top 10 on the UK charts as well as the top 50 on the Australian charts. The single "Shot Shot" charted in the UK top 40, the top 20 in Portugal, and the Billboard Heatseeker chart. The band produced and recorded the record in Batsford Manor, Gloucestershire with additional recordings in the famous Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios. Giving the album a perfect score in his review for "PopMatters", Matt Cibula wrote "everyone who doesn’t like this record is insane in a bad way. Screw Wilco; "In Our Gun" is sounding very much like the Album of the Year."


title: Gomez (band)

text: While Gomez's first three albums had been self-produced, the band decided to work with Tchad Blake as producer for their fourth record. Blake had previously produced albums by Tom Waits, Crowded House and Pearl Jam. The band were massive fans of his compressed sounds inherent on Los Lobos and Latin Playboys recordings. The album was met with mixed critical response, with "Allmusic" rating it as four stars out of five and "BBC Internet Music Reviews" describing it as "one of the finest releases of the year so far. If you were one of those people who wrote them off two years ago, it's time to get listening again." However, the album received less than favourable reviews from a number of other sources, including "Pitchfork Media" and "NME".


title: Gomez (band)

text: The band had built a Studio in Portslade, just outside Brighton, England (where most of them were residing). They worked independently for months recording, until they developed what the record would be with Tchad Blake at Real World Studios.In 2007, Gomez recorded a cover of The Band's hit "Up On Cripple Creek" for the tribute album "". Also their song "How We Operate" was played in the final scene of "The Hitcher" starring Sean Bean and Sophia Bush. Gomez continued to tour, including a co-headlining 2007 US tour with label-mate Ben Kweller. The band toured Australia and New Zealand before heading back to the States for a second headlining leg of their US tour. On 2 March 2007, Gomez recorded a concert at the Vic Theater in Chicago, IL that was streamed via MSN Music. Vocalist and songwriter Ian Ball released a solo project, with an album entitled "Who Goes There". In 2008, Gomez opened up several shows for Dave Matthews Band. The album reached the top 40 in the UK and Australia. The first single "Catch Me Up" entered the UK top 40 in March 2004 and "Silence" was released as the second single.


title: Gomez (band)

text: Unfortunately for Gomez, Virgin/EMI closed down Hut Recordings and, having had such a strong bond to their friends at the label, the band asked to be released from their contract. Virgin agreed.


title: Gomez (band)

text: Gomez's fifth studio record, "How We Operate" was produced by Gil Norton (Foo Fighters, Pixies) and released on 2 May 2006. The record was developed in the band's Studio and later recorded in 6 weeks at RAK Studios, London. The album's title track was featured in the "Grey's Anatomy" episode "Deterioration of the Fight or Flight Response", and later covered by Kevin McKidd in the season seven episode "Song Beneath the Song". On 14 February 2006 their song "Get Miles" was featured in the "House" episode "Distractions", and on 6 March 2007, their song "See the World" was featured in the "House" episode "Half-Wit". "See the World" was also featured in the "Bones" episode "Widow's Son in the Windshield".


title: Gomez (band)

text: In 2005, Gomez signed a new deal with Dave Matthews' (of the Dave Matthews Band) ATO Records. Under a new label, the band released their first live album, "Out West" in June 2005. The double disc CD was compiled from shows recorded at San Francisco's famous Fillmore Theater in January 2005. In January 2006, the band performed on Jam Cruise before returning to the studio to put the final touches on "How We Operate". After playing the SxSW music festival in Austin, Tom, Ian and Ben debuted material from the upcoming release in several US cities. The band's 2006 spring tour included stops in Asheville NC, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver, San Francisco, and Portland, OR. They also performed at several large outdoor festivals, including stops at the Beale Street and Bonnaroo Festivals in Tennessee, the Jazzfest in New Orleans and Sasquatch Festival in George, WA.


title: Gomez (band)

text: A collection of A-side and B-sides and rarities titled "Five Men in a Hut" was released on 17 October 2006. The two-disc album consists of released and unreleased tracks recorded under the Hut/Virgin label from 1998–2004. A DVD with music videos and interviews from their time with Hut was also released. They were also one of the many bands featured on a John Lennon Tribute aired on BBC Radio 2 to mark the 25th anniversary of the musician's death. Gomez performed "Hey Bulldog" by The Beatles, and "Instant Karma!" by Lennon. "How We Operate" is also the ending song to the 2007 remake of the horror film "The Hitcher", and acts as the title music for the pilot episode of "The Riches".


title: Gomez (band)

text: As ever, a wide range of styles were incorporated into Gomez' sound for their next record "A New Tide", including blues, Krautrock and psychedelia. The record also saw Gomez accompanied by a number of guest musicians, including vocalist Amy Millan (of Stars/Broken Social Scene), bassist Josh Abrams (The Roots, Sam Prekop, Godspeed You Black Emperor!), cellist Oliver Krauss (Tom McRae, David Gray, Paul Weller, Beth Orton), and multi-instrumentalist Stuart Bogie of Brooklyn's world-renowned Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra.


title: Gomez (band)

text: On 21 December the band revealed to their mailing list that a new album entitled "A New Tide" would be released on 31 March in the US, in the UK and Europe on 30 March, and in Australia on 28 March 2009. Gomez recorded "A New Tide" in Chicago, and played festivals including Lollapalooza that year. The album marked a return to the British band's more experimental roots, in particular songs such as "Win Park Slope" and "Airstream Driver". With this album, the band were careful to create a collection of songs that would stand up well at live gigs. With the band members now scattered across two continents, from Brooklyn to Brighton, England, early tracks were written and recorded individually and then merged online. The process allowed for an open and adaptive songwriting approach, the material taking on its ultimate shape when Gomez officially convened in studios in Chicago and Charlottesville, VA, with producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine, Counting Crows).


title: Gomez (band)

text: In early 2004, Dajon Everett, Ian Ball and Olly Peacock were involved in a project called Operation Aloha with 14 other musicians including members from Phantom Planet and Maroon 5. They produced an album over the course of 30 days in Maui, Hawaii. A self-titled album was released on 12 May 2009.


title: Gomez (band)

text: In April 2009, the band's song "Little Pieces" was used in the 19th episode of "Grey's Anatomy" season 5. It played at the start of the episode and involved a montage of Alex watching Izzie sleep in hospital, as well as Callie dancing with Arizona around Callie's apartment. In June 2009, Gomez opened for Pearl Jam on the European leg of the Backspacer Tour.


title: Gomez (band)

text: Gomez released their seventh studio album, "Whatever's on Your Mind", on 21 June 2011. As with their last album, production on "Whatever's on Your Mind" was overseen by the band as well as Brian Deck, known for his work on albums from bands such as Modest Mouse, Counting Crows and Iron & Wine.


title: Gomez (band)

text: Since 2020, Tom Gray has been lobbying the British government to regulate music streaming with his Broken Record campaign group.


title: Gomez (band)

text: Dajon Everett has moved on to grander projects and leads a touring band in Australia playing at Australian venues as well as spearheading a multitude of revolutionary charity motorcycle events.


title: Thrombin

text: Thrombin (, "fibrinogenase", "thrombase", "thrombofort", "topical", "thrombin-C", "tropostasin", "activated blood-coagulation factor II", "blood-coagulation factor IIa", "factor IIa", "E thrombin", "beta-thrombin", "gamma-thrombin") is a serine protease, an enzyme that, in humans, is encoded by the "F2" gene. Prothrombin (coagulation factor II) is proteolytically cleaved to form thrombin in the clotting process. Thrombin in turn acts as a serine protease that converts soluble fibrinogen into insoluble strands of fibrin, as well as catalyzing many other coagulation-related reactions.


title: Thrombin

text: After the description of fibrinogen and fibrin, Alexander Schmidt hypothesised the existence of an enzyme that converts fibrinogen into fibrin in 1872.


title: Thrombin

text: Thrombin is produced by the enzymatic cleavage of two sites on prothrombin by activated Factor X (Xa). The activity of factor Xa is greatly enhanced by binding to activated Factor V (Va), termed the prothrombinase complex. Prothrombin is produced in the liver and is co-translationally modified in a vitamin K-dependent reaction that converts 10-12 glutamic acids in the N terminus of the molecule to gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla). In the presence of calcium, the Gla residues promote the binding of prothrombin to phospholipid bilayers. Deficiency of vitamin K or administration of the anticoagulant warfarin inhibits the production of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid residues, slowing the activation of the coagulation cascade.


title: Thrombin

text: In human adults, the normal blood level of antithrombin activity has been measured to be around 1.1 units/mL. Newborn levels of thrombin steadily increase after birth to reach normal adult levels, from a level of around 0.5 units/mL 1 day after birth, to a level of around 0.9 units/mL after 6 months of life.


title: Thrombin

text: In the blood coagulation pathway, thrombin acts to convert factor XI to XIa, VIII to VIIIa, V to Va, fibrinogen to fibrin, and XIII to XIIIa. In the conversion of fibrinogen into fibrin, thrombin catalyzes the cleavage of fibrinopeptides A and B from the respective Aα and Bβ chains of fibrinogen to form fibrin monomers.


title: Thrombin

text: Factor XIIIa is a transglutaminase that catalyzes the formation of covalent bonds between lysine and glutamine residues in fibrin. The covalent bonds increase the stability of the fibrin clot. Thrombin interacts with thrombomodulin.


title: Thrombin

text: As part of its activity in the coagulation cascade, thrombin also promotes platelet activation and aggregation via activation of protease-activated receptors on the cell membrane of the platelet.


title: Thrombin

text: Thrombin bound to thrombomodulin activates protein C, an inhibitor of the coagulation cascade. The activation of protein C is greatly enhanced following the binding of thrombin to thrombomodulin, an integral membrane protein expressed by endothelial cells. Activated protein C inactivates factors Va and VIIIa. Binding of activated protein C to protein S leads to a modest increase in its activity. Thrombin is also inactivated by antithrombin, a serine protease inhibitor.


title: Thrombin

text: The molecular weight of prothrombin is approximately 72,000 Da. The catalytic domain is released from prothrombin fragment 1.2 to create the active enzyme thrombin, which has a molecular weight of 36,000 Da. Structurally, it is a member of the large PA clan of proteases.


title: Thrombin

text: Prothrombin is composed of four domains; an N-terminal Gla domain, two kringle domains and a C-terminal trypsin-like serine protease domain.


title: Thrombin

text: Factor Xa with factor V as a cofactor leads to cleavage of the Gla and two Kringle domains (forming together a fragment called fragment 1.2) and leave thrombin, consisting solely of the serine protease domain.


title: Thrombin

text: As is the case for all serine proteases, prothrombin is converted to active thrombin by proteolysis of an internal peptide bond, exposing a new N-terminal Ile-NH3. The historic model of activation of serine proteases involves insertion of this newly formed N-terminus of the heavy chain into the β-barrel promoting the correct conformation of the catalytic residues. Contrary to crystal structures of active thrombin, hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry studies indicate that this N-terminal Ile-NH3 does not become inserted into the β-barrel in the apo form of thrombin. However, binding of the active fragment of thrombomodulin appears to allosterically promote the active conformation of thrombin by inserting this N-terminal region.


title: Thrombin

text: There are an estimated 30 people in the world that have been diagnosed with the congenital form of Factor II deficiency, which should not be confused with the prothrombin G20210A mutation, which is also called the factor II mutation. Prothrombin G20210A is congenital.


title: Thrombin

text: Prothrombin G20210A is not usually accompanied by other factor mutations (i.e., the most common is factor V Leiden). The gene may be inherited heterozygous (1 pair), or much more rarely, homozygous (2 pairs), and is not related to gender or blood type. Homozygous mutations increase the risk of thrombosis more than heterozygous mutations, but the relative increased risk is not well documented. Other potential risks for thrombosis, such as oral contraceptives may be additive. The previously reported relationship of inflammatory bowel disease (i.e., Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis) and prothrombin G20210A or factor V Leiden mutation have been contradicted by research.


title: Thrombin

text: Activation of prothrombin is crucial in physiological and pathological coagulation. Various rare diseases involving prothrombin have been described (e.g., hypoprothrombinemia). Anti-prothrombin antibodies in autoimmune disease may be a factor in the formation of the lupus anticoagulant (also known as antiphospholipid syndrome). Hyperprothrombinemia can be caused by the G20210A mutation.


title: Thrombin

text: Thrombin, a potent vasoconstrictor and mitogen, is implicated as a major factor in vasospasm following subarachnoid hemorrhage. Blood from a ruptured cerebral aneurysm clots around a cerebral artery, releasing thrombin. This can induce an acute and prolonged narrowing of the blood vessel, potentially resulting in cerebral ischemia and infarction (stroke).


title: Thrombin

text: Beyond its key role in the dynamic process of thrombus formation, thrombin has a pronounced pro-inflammatory character, which may influence the onset and progression of atherosclerosis. Acting via its specific cell membrane receptors (protease activated receptors: PAR-1, PAR-3 and PAR-4), which are abundantly expressed in all arterial vessel wall constituents, thrombin has the potential to exert pro-atherogenic actions such as inflammation, leukocyte recruitment into the atherosclerotic plaque, enhanced oxidative stress, migration and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells, apoptosis and angiogenesis.


title: Thrombin

text: Thrombin is implicated in the physiology of blood clots. Its presence indicates the existence of a clot. In 2013 a system for detecting the presence of thrombin was developed in mice. It combines peptide-coated iron oxide attached to "reporter chemicals". When a peptide binds to a thrombin molecule, the report is released and appears in the urine where it can be detected. Human testing has not been conducted.


title: Thrombin

text: Due to its high proteolytic specificity, thrombin is a valuable biochemical tool. The thrombin cleavage site (Leu-Val-Pro-Arg-Gly-Ser) is commonly included in linker regions of recombinant fusion protein constructs. Following purification of the fusion protein, thrombin can be used to selectively cleave between the arginine and glycine residues of the cleavage site, effectively removing the purification tag from the protein of interest with a high degree of specificity.


title: Thrombin

text: Prothrombin complex concentrate and fresh frozen plasma are prothrombin-rich coagulation factor preparations that can be used to correct deficiencies (usually due to medication) of prothrombin. Indications include intractable bleeding due to warfarin.


title: Thrombin

text: Manipulation of prothrombin is central to the mode of action of most anticoagulants. Warfarin and related drugs inhibit vitamin K-dependent carboxylation of several coagulation factors, including prothrombin. Heparin increases the affinity of antithrombin to thrombin (as well as factor Xa). The direct thrombin inhibitors, a newer class of medication, directly inhibit thrombin by binding to its active site.


title: Thrombin

text: Recombinant thrombin is available as a powder for reconstitution into aqueous solution. It can be applied topically during surgery, as an aid to hemostasis. It can be useful for controlling minor bleeding from capillaries and small venules, but ineffective and not indicated for massive or brisk arterial bleeding.


title: Thrombin

text: Thrombin, combined with fibrinogen, is sold under the brand name Fibrimex for use as a binding agent for meat. Both proteins in Fibrimex derives from porcine or bovine blood. According to the manufacturer it can be used to produce new kinds of mixed meats (for example combining beef and fish seamlessly). The manufacturer also states that it can be used to combine whole muscle meat, form and portion these, thus cutting down on production costs without a loss in quality.


title: Thrombin

text: General secretary Jan Bertoft of Swedish Consumers' Association has stated that "there is danger of misleading the consumers since there is no way to tell this reconstituted meat from real meat".


title: Ship's bell

text: A ship's bell is a bell on a ship that is used for the indication of time as well as other traditional functions. The bell itself is usually made of brass or bronze, and normally has the ship's name engraved or cast on it.


title: Ship's bell

text: Unlike civil clock bells, the strikes of a ship's bell do not accord to the number of the hour. Instead, there are eight bells, one for each half-hour of a four-hour watch. In the age of sailing, watches were timed with a 30-minute hourglass. Bells would be struck every time the glass was turned, and in a pattern of pairs for easier counting, with any odd bells at the end of the sequence.


title: Ship's bell

text: Most of the crew of a ship would be divided into two to four groups, called watches. Each watch would take its turn with the essential activities of manning the helm, navigating, trimming sails, and keeping a lookout.


title: Ship's bell

text: The hours between 16:00 and 20:00 are so arranged because that watch (the "dog watch") was divided in two. The odd number of watches aimed to give each person a different watch each day; it also allowed the entire crew of a vessel to eat an evening meal, the normal time being at 17:00 with first dog watchmen eating at 18:00.


title: Ship's bell

text: The ship's name is traditionally engraved or cast onto the surface of the bell, often with the year the ship was launched, as well. The earliest ship's bell was recovered from the wreck-site of a Portuguese armada ship off the coast of Oman. The bell was dated 1498. Occasionally (especially on more modern ships) the bell will also carry the name of the shipyard that built the ship. If a ship's name is changed, maritime tradition is that the original bell carrying the original name will remain with the vessel. A ship's bell is a prized possession when a ship is broken up and often provides the only positive means of identification in the case of a shipwreck.


title: Ship's bell

text: Most United States Navy ships of the post–World War II era have actually carried 2 or 3 bells: the larger bell engraved with the ship's name, mounted on the forecastle, and smaller bells in the pilot house and at the quarterdeck at the 1MC (public address) station, for use in making shipwide announcements and marking the time. The larger bell on the forecastle is rung periodically as a fog signal when the ship is at anchor in reduced visibility.


title: Ship's bell

text: According to seafaring legend, the ship's cooks and boatswain's mates had a duty arrangement to give the cooks more sleep. The boatswain's mates, who worked 24 hours a day on watches, would build the fire in the stove, so the cook could get up a little while later and the fire would be already going so he could begin preparing breakfast. In return, between meals, the cooks would shine the bell, which was traditionally the boatswain's mates' responsibility.


title: Ship's bell

text: It is a naval tradition to baptize children using the ship's bell as a baptismal font and to engrave the names of the children on the bell afterwards. Christening information from the bells held by the Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Museum has been entered into a searchable data archive.


title: Ryōtarō Okiayu

text: Okiayu was born in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture in 1969, moved to Osaka Prefecture when he was in the third grade of elementary school due to his parents' work, and lived in Nankō Port Town in Suminoe-ku, Osaka. His father had worked at a movie company for a time before Okiayu was born, and he would sometimes get anime posters and cels from his old colleagues. Because of this environment, Okiayu and his sister, who is one year older than him, loved anime and often listened to theatrical anime records and dramas together. His sister was skilled in the field of drawing, having been involved in animation for some time, but Okiayu found more enjoyment in imitating the voices of characters than in drawing, and he came to feel that speaking dialogue was an interesting thing to do. In his first year of high school after entering Abeno High School, he began to think about becoming a voice actor, and began to request information about training schools, but due to financial reasons, he decided to wait until after graduation and began working part-time during his high school years to save money. However, he spent the money on other things, so he ended up borrowing from his parents to attend the training school. His parents advised him to go to college, but he decided to go to the training school because he had no goals in mind. While there were almost no training schools in Osaka at the time, he auditioned and entered the Aoni Juku Osaka School. He passed an audition for Aoni Production through an in-house screening and moved to Tokyo from Osaka. He is said to have cried when he got the acceptance letter. When he first moved to Tokyo, he went to his cousin's place to find a room.


title: Ryōtarō Okiayu

text: Okiayu claims that his first jobs as a voice actor were a radio commercial for a prep school and the voice of a remote-controlled robot roaming around the Expo '90 site. His first work in anime was as a Bodkin archer in "Dragon Quest" and his first regular role was as Franz Heinel in "Future GPX Cyber Formula". His first starring role was in the OVA "Dark Cat". The role of Meisuke Nueno in "Hell Teacher Nūbē" was his first leading role in a TV anime. He said that "Nūbē" was the culmination of his career and that he was able to put himself fully into the role and play it naturally because he was close to Meisuke's age, and he said he cried when he heard it was over.


title: Ryōtarō Okiayu

text: Okiayu has taken over some of the roles from late Kaneto Shiozawa, Kazuyuki Sogabe, Tsuyoshi Takishita, and Unshō Ishizuka. Since 2016, he has also been working as a stage actor in the theater company Hero Hero Q Company.


title: Open Game

text: An Open Game (or Double King's Pawn Opening) is a chess opening that begins with the following moves:


title: Open Game

text: White has moved the king's pawn two squares and Black has replied in kind. The result is an Open Game. Other responses to 1.e4 are termed Semi-Open Games or Single King's Pawn Games.


title: Open Game

text: It should not be confused with the term "" (lowercase o and g), referring to a chess position where ranks, files and diagonals are open, and tending to more tactical gameplay.


title: Open Game

text: White opens by playing 1.e4, which is the most popular opening move and has many strengths—it immediately stakes a claim in the center, and frees two pieces (the queen and king's bishop) for action. The oldest openings in chess follow 1.e4. Bobby Fischer wrote that 1.e4 was "Best by test." On the negative side, 1.e4 places a pawn on an undefended square and weakens the squares d4 and f4. If Black keeps the symmetry by replying 1...e5, the result is an Open Game .


title: Open Game

text: The most popular second move for White is 2.Nf3 (the King's Knight Opening), attacking Black's king pawn, preparing to castle , and preparing for d2-d4. Black's most common reply is , which usually leads to the Ruy Lopez (3.Bb5), Italian Game (3.Bc4), or Scotch Game (3.d4), though 3.Nc3 Nf6 (the Four Knights Game), often played in the late 19th to early 20th century, or, less commonly, 3...g6 or ...Bb4, (the Three Knights Game), are other possibilities.


title: Open Game

text: Black's most popular alternative to 2...Nc6 is , usually leading to Petrov's Defense, though White can avoid the extensive theory of the Petrov by playing 3.Nc3.


title: Open Game

text: The Philidor Defense (2...d6) has the disadvantage of restricting the mobility of Black's king's bishop, and typically leads to solid but passive positions for Black. For this reason, it largely fell out of favor in the 20th century as Black players sought more dynamic options, however it is still occasionally seen at grandmaster level.


title: Open Game

text: The Gunderam Defense (2...Qe7) is an offbeat choice which blocks the development of the king's bishop, and has never achieved widespread popularity.


title: Open Game

text: The Elephant Gambit (2...d5) and the Latvian Gambit (2...f5) are considered very risky for Black, with the latter usually seen only in correspondence play. The Damiano Defense (2...f6) may be met by either 3.Nxe5 or 3.Bc4 with advantage and is almost never seen.


title: Open Game

text: The most popular alternatives to 2.Nf3 are 2.f4 (the King's Gambit), 2.Nc3 (the Vienna Game), and 2.Bc4 (the Bishop's Opening). These three openings have some similarities; some of the quieter lines in the Vienna and Bishop's Opening can transpose to positional variations of the King's Gambit Declined, when White plays f2–f4 before playing Nf3. The King's Gambit was popular in the nineteenth century with grandmaster and amateur alike. White offers a pawn for speedy development, as well as to attack Black's central outpost. The Vienna Game also frequently features attacks on the Black center by means of f2–f4.


title: Open Game

text: In the Center Game (2.d4), White immediately opens the center, though if the pawn is to be recovered after 2...exd4, White must prematurely develop their queen. An alternative is to sacrifice one or two pawns by offering the Danish Gambit (3.c3).


title: Open Game

text: The early development of the queen in the Danvers Opening, also known as the Parham Attack (2.Qh5), is usually played only by amateurs, though Hikaru Nakamura has experimented with it in grandmaster tournaments and was able to achieve a reasonable position. The Napoleon Opening, 2.Qf3, has even less to recommend it as Black can easily block any mating threats without compromising their development. The Portuguese Opening (2.Bb5), Alapin's Opening (2.Ne2), Konstantinopolsky Opening (2.Nf3 Nc6 3.g3), and Inverted Hungarian Opening (2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Be2) are offbeat tries for White, though none promise any advantage in the face of correct play.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili (; 11 January 1986 – 10 July 2016), known by his "nom de guerre" Abu Omar al-Shishani () or Omar al-Shishani, was a Georgian-Chechen jihadist who served as a commander for the Islamic State, and was previously a sergeant in the Georgian Army.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: A veteran of the 2008 Russo-Georgian War, Batirashvili became a jihadist after being discharged from the Georgian military and served in various command positions with Islamist militant groups fighting in the Syrian Civil War. He became the leader of the Muhajireen Brigade (Emigrants Brigade), and its successor, Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar (Army of Emigrants and Supporters). In 2013, Batirashvili joined the Islamic State and rapidly became a senior commander in the organization, directing a series of battles and ultimately earning a seat on ISIL's shura council.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: The US Treasury Department added Batirashvili to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 24 September 2014, and seven months later the US government announced a reward up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture. There were several reports of his death throughout 2015 and 2016. ISIL announced that he was killed in combat in the Iraqi city of Al-Shirqat, south of Mosul while the Pentagon said that Shishani had likely been killed in U.S coalition air strikes in Syria, but could not confirm or deny it.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: Tarkhan Tayumurazovich Batirashvili was born in the Georgian SSR, Soviet Union (now Georgia) in 1986. His father, Teimuraz Batirashvili, is a Christian Georgian. His mother was a Muslim Kist—an ethnic Chechen subgroup from Georgia's Pankisi Gorge—of the Mastoy clan.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: Batirashvili grew up in the largely Kist-populated Christian village of Birkiani, in the Pankisi Gorge in an impoverished region of northeast Georgia. He was one of three sons, all of whom would convert to Islam against their father's wishes later in life. During his childhood, his father was rarely present, as he spent long periods of time working in Russia, and the children were mostly raised by their mother. In his youth, he worked as a shepherd in the hills above the gorge. Later in the 1990s, the Pankisi Gorge was a major transit point for rebels participating in the Second Chechen War, and it was there that Batirashvili reportedly came into contact with the Chechen rebels moving into Russia. According to his father, a young Batirashvili secretly helped Chechen militants into Russia and sometimes joined them on missions against Russian troops.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: After finishing high school, Batirashvili joined the Georgian Army and distinguished himself as master of various weaponry and maps, according to his former commander Malkhaz Topuria, who recruited him into a special reconnaissance group. His unit received training at the Krtsanisi National Training Centre, which included training with US special forces. Batirashvili was reportedly a "star pupil". He rose to the rank of sergeant in a newly formed intelligence unit, and during the 2008 Russo-Georgian War he served near the front line in the Battle of Tskhinvali, spying on Russian tank columns and relaying their coordinates to Georgian artillery units. According to "Business Insider", Batirashvili's unit inflicted serious damage on the Russians, and among the actions they participated in was an attack on a column of the Russian 58th Army during which the commander of the 58th Army, General Anatoly Khrulyov, was wounded.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: Batirashvili was never decorated for his military service. He was due to be promoted to become an officer, but in 2010 he was diagnosed with tuberculosis. After spending several months in a military hospital, he was discharged on medical grounds. He tried and failed to re-enlist. Upon returning home, he applied for a job in the local police force and was rejected. Around this time, his mother also died of cancer. According to his father, he became "very disillusioned".


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: According to the Georgian Defense Ministry, Batirashvili was arrested in September 2010 for illegal possession of weapons and sentenced to three years in prison. He was released after serving in early 2012 and immediately left the country. According to an interview on a jihadist website, Batirashvili said that prison transformed him; "I promised God that if I come out of prison alive, I'll go fight jihad for the sake of God", he said.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: Batirashvili reportedly told his father that he was leaving for Istanbul, where members of the Chechen diaspora were ready to recruit him to lead fighters inside war-ravaged Syria; an older brother had already gone to Syria some months before. In an interview, Batirashvili said that he had considered going to Yemen and briefly lived in Egypt before ultimately arriving in Syria in March 2012.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: His first command was the Muhajireen Brigade, an Islamist jihadist group made up of foreign fighters that was formed in the summer of 2012. His unit became involved in the Battle of Aleppo, and in October 2012, they assisted al-Nusra Front in a raid on an air defense and Scud missile base in Aleppo.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: In December 2012, they fought alongside al-Nusra Front during the overrunning of the Sheikh Suleiman Army base in Western Aleppo. In February 2013, together with the Tawhid Brigades and al-Nusra Front, they stormed the base of the Syrian Army's 80th Regiment, near the main airport in Aleppo.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: In March 2013, Kavkaz Center reported that the Muhajireen Brigade had merged with two Syrian jihadist groups called Jaish Muhammad and Kataeb Khattab to form a new group called Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar, or Army of Emigrants and Helpers. The group played a key role in the August 2013 capture of Menagh Air Base, which culminated in a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) driven by two of their members killing and wounding many of the last remaining Syrian Armed Forces defenders. A branch of the Muhajireen Brigade was involved in the 2013 Latakia offensive.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: In May 2013, Batirashvili was appointed northern commander for the Islamic State, with authority over its military operations and forces in northern Syria, specifically Aleppo, Raqqa, Latakia, and northern Idlib Provinces. By late 2013, he was the ISIL emir (leader) for northern Syria and was operating in and around Aleppo Province. He was also in charge of fighters from Chechnya and elsewhere in the Caucasus. Units under his command participated in major assaults on Syrian military bases in and around Aleppo, including the capture of Menagh Airbase in August 2013. He was considered "one of the most influential military leaders of the Syrian opposition forces". By mid-2014, Batirashvili was a senior ISIL commander and Shura Council member based in Raqqa, Syria.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: In August 2013, Batirashvili released a statement announcing the expulsion of one of his commanders, Emir Seyfullah, and 27 of his fighters. Batirashvili accused the men of embezzlement and stirring up the animosity of local Syrians against the foreign fighters by indulging in takfir—excommunication—against other Muslims. However, Seyfullah denied these allegations and claimed that the dispute was due to his refusal to join ISIL with Batirashvili. In late 2013, Batirashvili was replaced as leader of Jaish al-Muhajireen wal-Ansar by another Chechen commander known as Salahuddin, as most of the Chechen members of the group did not support Batirashvili's support of ISIL, due to their preexisting oath to the Caucasus Emirate militant group and its leader Dokka Umarov. By mid-2014, Batirashvili was a senior ISIL commander and Shura Council member operating in Raqqa, Syria. During this time, Batirashvili came to be known for using swarming and human wave tactics, most notably during the Siege of Menagh Air Base and Battle of Al-Tabqa airbase. He would use raw recruits for assaults, reasoning that the enemy would eventually be overwhelmed or run out of ammunition regardless of the casualties among ISIL fighters. Regional expert Joanna Paraszuk sarcastically remarked that Batirashvili's approach was based on the belief that "everyone want[s] to be a Shahid" (martyr).


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: According to his father, Batirashvili called him once since he left for Syria to tell him that he was now married to a Chechen woman and had a daughter named Sophia. As of mid-2014, Batirashvili lived with his family in a large villa owned by a businessman in the town of Huraytan, just northwest of Aleppo. He is said to have overseen the group’s prison facility near Raqqa, where foreign hostages may have been held. By 2016, Batirashvili led special battalions of the ISIL, in particular a unit named "the group of the central directorate", which appeared to be the primary special forces strike force of the group.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: Batirashvili was reported killed on numerous occasions. In 2014, there were reports that he had been killed in various parts of Syria and Iraq in May, June, August and October, all of which proved to be untrue. On 13 November 2014, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov posted on his personal Instagram account that Batirashvili had been killed, and posted a photo of a dead ginger-bearded man. However, the man in the photograph was not Batirashvili, and Kadyrov later deleted the post. Before the post was deleted, the statement was picked up and reported on by many media outlets around the world. The US Treasury Department added Batirashvili to its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists on 24 September 2014. On 5 May 2015, The U.S. State Department Rewards for Justice Program announced a reward up to US$5 million for information leading to his capture.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: There were further reports of his death in 2015: in May, June and October. On December 27, Russian News Agency TASS, quoting "EIN news", claimed that American special forces had captured Batirashvili near Kirkuk in Iraq. This report was denied by a US Department of Defense spokesman.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: In March 2016, several unnamed U.S. officials told CNN that Batirashvili may have been killed in a targeted airstrike on 4 March near the Syrian town of al-Shadadi; however, they were unable to confirm his death. Other officials said that he had been "critically injured" in the strike, and that U.S. military intelligence were assessing whether or not he had died. On 12 March, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported that Batirashvili had become clinically dead following the U.S. airstrikes, with the ISIL commander in a critical condition and unable to breathe without the use of life-support machines. On 14 March 2016, two U.S. officials told CNN that there was confirmation that Batirashvili had died after the airstrike. A U.S. military spokesman erroneously "confirmed" that Batirashvili had died outside ISIL's main stronghold of Raqqa in Syria. ISIL's media wing Amaq News Agency in a released statement denied that he had been killed.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: On 13 July 2016, ISIL announced that Batirashvili had died during battle in the town of Al-Shirqat in Iraq. The U.S. admitted that their previous claim of killing Batirashvili was incorrect and that they had targeted him again on 10 July 2016. They were still trying to verify whether Batirashvili had been really killed this time. U.S. President Barack Obama confirmed Batirashvili's death during a press conference a month later.


title: Abu Omar al-Shishani

text: On 19 July 2018, Turkish authorities announced that they captured five ISIL suspects on 4 July in Istanbul including Seda Dudurkaeva, wife of Batirashvili, whose father is Asu Dudurkaev of Chechen origin and clan Mulko/Chanti, a former Chechen minister, who was sacked by Ramzan Kadyrov from his position due to his failure to prevent his daughter from travelling to join her first husband, Hamzat Borchashvili, in Syria. On 24 July, Batirashvili's older brother, Tamaz Batirashvili, died from his wounds after being injured by a US-led airstrike in town of al-Shadadi four months earlier.


title: SS Central America

text: SS "Central America, known as the Ship of Gold, was a sidewheel steamer that operated between Central America and the East Coast of the United States during the 1850s. She was originally named the SS "George Law, after George Law of New York. The ship sank in a hurricane in September 1857, along with 425 of her 578 passengers and crew and 30,000 pounds (13,600 kg) of gold, contributing to the Panic of 1857.


title: SS Central America

text: On September 3, 1857, 477 passengers and 101 crew left the City of Aspinwall, now the Panamanian port of Colón, sailing for New York City under the command of William Lewis Herndon. The ship was laden with of gold prospected during the California Gold Rush. After a stop in Havana, the ship continued north.


title: SS Central America

text: On September 9, 1857, the ship was caught up in a Category 2 hurricane while off the coast of the Carolinas. By September 11, the winds and heavy seas had shredded her sails, she was taking on water, and her boiler was threatening to fail. A leak in one of the seals between the paddle wheel shafts and the ship's sides sealed its fate. At noon that day, her boiler could no longer maintain fire. Steam pressure dropped, shutting down both the bilge pumps. Also, the paddle wheels that kept her pointed into the wind failed as the ship settled by the stern. The passengers and crew flew the ship's flag inverted (a distress sign in the US) to signal a passing ship. No one came.


title: SS Central America

text: A bucket brigade was formed, and her passengers and crew spent the night fighting a losing battle against the rising water. During the calm of the hurricane, attempts were made to get the boiler running again, but these failed. The second half of the storm then struck. The ship was now on the verge of foundering. Without power, the ship was carried along with the storm and the strong winds would not abate. The next morning, September 12, two ships were spotted, including the brig "Marine". Only 153 passengers, primarily women and children, made their way over in lifeboats. The ship remained in an area of intense winds and heavy seas that pulled the ship and most of her company away from rescue. "Central America" sank at 8:00 that evening. As a consequence of the sinking, 425 people were killed. A Norwegian bark, "Ellen", rescued an additional 50 from the waters. Another three were picked up over a week later, in a lifeboat.


title: SS Central America

text: In the immediate aftermath of the sinking, greatest attention was paid to the loss of life, which was described as "appalling" and as having "no parallel" among American navigation disasters. At the time of her sinking, "Central America" carried gold then valued at approximately (2021 value of $765 million, based on a gold price of $1,738.70 per troy ounce = $56,087 per kg). The valuation of the ship itself was substantially less than those lost in other disasters of the period, being $140,000 ().


title: SS Central America

text: Commander William Lewis Herndon, a distinguished officer who had served during the Mexican–American War and explored the Amazon Valley, was captain of "Central America", and went down with his ship. Two US Navy ships were later named USS "Herndon" in his honor, as was the town of Herndon, Virginia. Two years after the sinking, his daughter Ellen married Chester Alan Arthur, later the 21st President of the United States.


title: SS Central America

text: The ship was located by the Columbus-America Discovery Group of Ohio, led by Tommy Gregory Thompson, using Bayesian search theory. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was sent down on September 11, 1988. Significant amounts of gold and artifacts were recovered and brought to the surface by another ROV built specifically for the recovery. The total value of the recovered gold was estimated at $100–150 million. A recovered gold ingot weighing sold for a record $8 million and was recognized as the most valuable piece of currency in the world at that time.


title: SS Central America

text: Thirty-nine insurance companies filed suit, claiming that because they paid damages in the 19th century for the lost gold, they had the right to it. The team that found it argued that the gold had been abandoned. After a legal battle, 92% of the gold was awarded to the discovery team in 1996.


title: SS Central America

text: Thompson was sued in 2005 by several of the investors who had provided $12.5 million in financing, and in 2006 by several members of his crew, over a lack of returns for their respective investments. In 2009 he had an off-shore account in the Cook Islands of $4.16 million. Thompson went into hiding in 2012. A receiver was appointed to take over Thompson's companies and, if possible, salvage more gold from the wreck, in order to recover money for Thompson's various creditors.


title: SS Central America

text: Thompson was located in January 2015, along with assistant Alison Antekeier, by United States Marshals Service agents and was extradited to Ohio to provide an accounting of the expedition profits. In November 2018, Thompson agreed to surrender 500 gold coins, but then claimed he had no access to the missing coins. On November 28, 2018, a jury awarded Investors $19.4 million in compensatory damages: $3.2 million to the Dispatch Printing Company — which had put up $1 million of $22 million invested — and $16.2 million to the court-appointed receiver for the other investors.


title: SS Central America

text: In March 2014, a contract was awarded to Odyssey Marine Exploration to conduct archeological recovery and conservation of the remaining shipwreck. The original expedition had only excavated "5 percent" of the ship.


title: SS Central America

text: Universal Coin & Bullion, a precious metals dealer based in Beaumont, Texas, exhibited gold and silver coins recovered from "Central America" in May 2018.


title: SS Central America

text: Heritage Auctions sold several gold pieces recovered from the "Central America" at auction in 2019, highlighted by the very large size of the 174.04-ounce (4.93 kg) Harris, Marchand & Co. gold ingot which sold for $528,000.


title: SS Central America

text: "Central America"′s ship's bell — larger than most ship′s bells of its time at tall and a little over wide at its lower flange edge and embossed with "MORGAN IRON WORKS" and "NEW YORK 1853" — was discovered in her wreck in 1988. It was displayed publicly at the Columbus Museum of Art in Columbus, Ohio, in 1992; at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Liberty Township in Delaware County, Ohio, in 1993; and at the American Numismatic Association′s World′s Fair of Money in Rosemont, Illinois, in 2021. It was offered as a gift to the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in August 2021, and the United States Department of the Navy accepted the offer. It was positioned next to the Herndon Monument at the Academy and was dedicated in a ceremony on May 23, 2022.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The European edible dormouse or European fat dormouse (Glis glis) is a large dormouse and one of only two living species in the genus "Glis", found in most of Europe and parts of western Asia. Its name comes from the Romans, who ate them as a delicacy.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The European edible dormouse is the largest of all dormice, being around in head-body length, plus an 11- to 13-cm-long tail. It normally weighs from , but may almost double in weight immediately prior to hibernation. It has a generally squirrel-like body, with small ears, short legs, and large feet. Its fur is grey to greyish-brown in colour over most of the body, while the underparts and the inner surface of legs are white to pale buff; the line of demarcation is rather well defined.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Unlike most other dormice, they have no dark markings on the face, aside from faint rings around the eyes. The tail is long and bushy, with fur slightly darker than that on the body. Front feet have four digits and their hind feet have five. The soles of their feet are naked. Females have from four to six pairs of teats.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The edible dormouse is capable of limited autotomy; if another animal grasps the tail, the skin breaks easily and slides off the underlying bone, allowing the dormouse to escape. The exposed vertebrae then break off and the wound heals over, forming a fresh brush of hair.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The edible dormouse is found throughout much of mainland western Europe. It is also found on a number of Mediterranean islands, including Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Crete. It is rather more sparsely distributed through central Europe and the Balkans, but can be found as far north-east as the upper Volga River. Close to the Volga River where small groups of the species are found at the Zhiguli Mountains, in Russia. They are also found in the Caucasus region. Germany has a small population of edible dormice within its borders, ranging from two to six individuals per hectare.


title: European edible dormouse

text: It is also found in scattered populations throughout Thrace, located on the southeastern tip of the European Balkan peninsula. In this region, two subspecies of the edible dormouse are found, "G. g. glis" and "G. g. orientalis". Northern Anatolia has a different subspecies, "G. g pindicus".


title: European edible dormouse

text: A small, isolated population of "Glis glis" also exists in south-east England. At the turn of the 20th century, the British banker and zoologist Lionel Walter Rothschild kept "Glis glis" in his private collection in the town of Tring in Hertfordshire; in 1902 some of the animals escaped and reproduced, establishing themselves in the wild as an invasive species. Today, the British edible dormouse population is thought to be 10,000 strong, and "Glis glis" have been recorded in a radius of Tring, mostly concentrated to the south and east. The area of distribution has been described as a triangle between Beaconsfield, Aylesbury, and Luton, around the southeast side of the Chiltern Hills.


title: European edible dormouse

text: A distinct group of dormice ranging from along the coastline of the Caspian Sea from southernmost Azerbaijan west through Iran to Turkmenistan, was formerly classified in "G". "glis". However, phylogenetic analysis found it to be a distinct species, the Iranian edible dormouse ("Glis persicus"). Significant divergence has also been noted among other populations of "G". "glis", probably as a consequence of the Messinian salinity crisis, and more species will probably be split in the future.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Edible dormice inhabit deciduous forests dominated by oak and beech, from sea level to the upper limits of such forests at . They prefer dense forests with rocky cliffs and caves, but may be found in maquis vegetation, orchards, and urban margins. They have frequently been reported from caves as deep as , where they can shelter from predators.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Population densities range from two to 22 individuals per hectare. Females inhabit only very small home ranges, of , but males occupy much larger ranges of , with several burrows.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Edible dormice are primarily herbivorous, feeding mainly on berries, apples, and nuts. However, they are adaptable, and have also been reported to eat bark, leaves, flowers, invertebrates, and even eggs. Beech mast, which is rich in energy and protein, is an excellent source of food for young and lactating females. Some dormice are found to have hair and ectoparasite remains in their stomachs, but this is mainly due to accidental ingestion during grooming.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Edible dormice also consume large numbers of beech tree seeds. A single, large, seeding tree within the home range of a dormouse can produce enough resources to support the energy requirements of reproduction. The location and age of a beech tree helps dictate where a population of dormice live, since older trees produce more seeds.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Edible dormice are nocturnal, spending the day in nests taken from birds, or located in hollow trees or similar shelter. They are good climbers, and spend most of their time in the trees, although they are relatively poor jumpers. The dormouse uses sticky secretions of plantar glands when they are climbing on smooth surfaces to prevent them from falling. They generally stay in the forest and avoid open areas to any extent. They are not generally social animals, although small groups of closely related adults have occasionally been reported. Many edible dormice mothers form communal nesting areas where they care for their young together.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Communication is partly by sound, with the animals making various squeaks or snuffling sounds, and partly by scent. They leave scent trails from scent glands on their feet, as well as glands at the top of their tails by the anus. They rub their anal region on the ground and places they walk, so traces of the secretion will be left for other dormice, especially during periods of sexual activity.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Edible dormice are active during a six-month period and go into hibernation from roughly October to May, depending on local climatic conditions. They are mostly active in the summer and are active on average 202 min in a 24-hour day, mostly at night. They prepare a den in soft soil or hidden in a cave, and rely on fat reserves to survive through the winter. During hibernation, metabolic rate and body temperature fall dramatically, and the animal may cease breathing altogether for periods up to an hour. In years with low food availability edible dormice can hibernate longer than 11 months.


title: European edible dormouse

text: In the wild most edible dormice hibernate for three winters, and then die in the fourth while hibernating, when their cheek teeth are worn out to a degree that prevents normal mastication of food.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The breeding season is from late June to mid August, but both male and female dormice do not reproduce every year. Variation in food resources strongly influences reproduction because reproduction is tightly linked to the availability of energy-rich seeds. Therefore, edible dormice breed during the phase of high food availability. Females are able to produce additional young if amino acid-rich foods like inflorescences, unripe seeds, and (or) larval insects, which also increase their numbers by eating the same enriched plant food, are available. An abundance of energy-rich seeds allows newborn dormice to increase their body fat to prepare for their first hibernation. Edible dormice have adapted their life history strategies to maximize lifetime reproductive success depending on the area specific frequency of seeding events of trees producing energy-rich seeds. Females reach sexual maturity at 351–380 days old and males significantly lower their body mass during mating season.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Males are not territorial, and may visit the territories of several nearby females to mate, becoming aggressive to any other males they encounter. The male attracts a female by squeaking, then conducts a circular courtship dance before mounting her. During mating season, males lower their body mass and use their body fat reserves to help fuel the energetic costs of reproduction.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Gestation lasts from 20 to 31 days, and results in the birth of up to 11 young, although four or five are more typical. They develop their fur by 16 days, and open their eyes after around 3 weeks. They begin to leave the nest after around 30 days, and are sexually mature by the time they complete their second hibernation. Compared with similarly sized mammals, they have an unusually long lifespan, and have been reported to live up to 12 years in the wild.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The breeding habits of the edible dormouse have been cited as a possible cause of its unusual pattern of telomere lengthening with age. In humans and other animals, telomeres almost always shorten with age.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Although the edible dormouse is the only living member of its genus, a number of fossil species are also known. The genus "Glis" first originated in the middle Oligocene, although it did not become common until the Pliocene. By the Pleistocene, only one species, "G. sackdillingensis", is known to have survived, and this is likely the ancestor of the modern species, which first appeared in the early to mid-Pleistocene.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Edible dormice that have been isolated on oceanic islands are a prime example of insular gigantism, in which small animals in isolated locations become larger over the course of many generations. Although it is not known why, the number of teats on a female edible dormouse varies across regions of Europe. For example, those in Italy have two to seven, while those in Lithuania have three to six.


title: European edible dormouse

text: "Glis glis" have adapted well to the presence of humans and now frequently hibernate in insulated attics and even dark shelves in cupboards, particularly if soft materials are on the shelf to make a nest. In this situation, they are generally regarded as a pest due to the fire risk from gnawed electrical cables and fouling from their faeces. Instances of house fire have been attributed to electrical fires caused by wires chewed by "Glis glis".


title: European edible dormouse

text: Despite being regarded as a pest in the United Kingdom, the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 prohibits certain methods of killing dormice. This is because the "Gliridae" family of rodents is protected internationally under the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats, to which the United Kingdom is a signatory. Removing edible dormice from a property may only be carried out by a qualified pest controller licensed by Natural England using spring traps. The animals must then be humanely destroyed after capture.


title: European edible dormouse

text: In 2018 the published estimate for the UK population was 23,000, based on density estimates of under 1 per hectare from one to two decades ago. This differs from other independent recent estimates, however, by at least an order of magnitude, i.e. 10-20+ adults per hectare, which suggest a figure of 230,000 - 460,000+.


title: European edible dormouse

text: The edible dormouse was farmed and eaten by the ancient Romans, the Gauls, and the Etruscans (usually as a snack), hence the word edible in its name. The Romans would catch dormice from the wild in autumn when they were fattest. The dormice were kept and raised either in large pits or (in less spacious urban surroundings) in terra cotta containers, the "gliraria", similar to contemporary hamster cages. They fed these captive dormice walnuts, chestnuts, and acorns for fattening. The dormice were served by either roasting them and dipping them in honey or stuffing them with a mixture of pork, pine nuts, and other flavorings. It was, however, very important to upper-class Romans that the dormice be separated from other products of the hunt, like the large game, for presentation purposes.


title: European edible dormouse

text: Wild edible dormice are still consumed in Slovenia, as well as in Croatia. In Slovenia they are considered a rare delicacy and dormouse trapping is a tradition. Slovenians use several methods of trapping. The first used were the hollow-tree trapping method and the flat-stone trapping method. By the 17th century, the peasant trappers had invented the first self-triggering traps, usually made of different kinds of wood. In the 19th century, traps made from iron and steel were introduced. The trappers used many different types of bait to entice the dormice, ranging from pieces of fruit to bacon soaked in brandy. During the prime season, trappers could catch between 200 and 400 dormice, depending largely on what kind of trap they were using. Seasonal dormice feasts were welcome protein supplements for the impoverished peasantry. The people of Slovenia did not just catch the dormice for their meat: use of dormice for food and fur and of dormouse fat as an ointment is documented there since the 13th century.


title: John Garamendi

text: John Raymond Garamendi (; born January 24, 1945) is an American businessman, politician, and member of the Democratic Party who has represented areas of Northern California between San Francisco and Sacramento, including the cities of Fairfield and Suisun City, in the United States House of Representatives since 2009. Garamendi was the California insurance commissioner from 1991 to 1995 and 2003 to 2007, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of the Interior from 1995 to 1998, and the 46th lieutenant governor of California from 2007 until his election to Congress in late 2009.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi was born in Camp Blanding, Florida, and raised in Mokelumne Hill, California. He earned a B.A. in business from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MBA from Harvard Business School, then served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia from 1966 to 1968. He was elected to the California State Assembly in 1974, serving a single term before being elected in 1976 to the California State Senate, where he served four terms until 1990. During this time he had a spell as Majority Leader and ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nominations for governor of California in 1982 and California State Controller in 1986.


title: John Garamendi

text: In 1990, Garamendi became the first elected California insurance commissioner, serving from 1991 to 1995. He ran for governor in the 1994 election, losing in the Democratic primary. He left public office and served as President Bill Clinton's deputy secretary of the interior from 1995 to 1998, then worked for the Peace Corps again. He was elected insurance commissioner again in 2002 and briefly ran for governor again in the 2003 recall, before dropping out to support Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. In 2006, he was elected lieutenant governor to succeed the term-limited Bustamante.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi had planned to run for governor a fourth time in 2010, but after U.S. Representative Ellen Tauscher of resigned to become under secretary of state for arms control and international security, Garamendi won the November 2009 special election to succeed her.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi was born in Camp Blanding, Florida, and was raised in Mokelumne Hill, California, the son of Mary Jane (née McSorley) and Raymond V. Garamendi. His paternal grandparents were Basque immigrants from Spain and his mother was of half Irish and half Italian ancestry. Garamendi received a Bachelor of Arts in business from the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a football player and wrestler, and a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. He served in the Peace Corps in Ethiopia from 1966 to 1968. Garamendi is an Eagle Scout and a member of Sigma Chi, as a brother of the Alpha Beta Chapter at Berkeley.


title: John Garamendi

text: In 1974, Garamendi decided to run for California's 7th State Assembly district. Six-term Republican incumbent William T. Bagley did not run for reelection, instead running for California State Controller. In the election to succeed Bagley, Garamendi faced Republican State Assemblyman Douglas F. Carter. Carter had won a special election in the 12th Assembly district in July 1973 to succeed Robert T. Monagan. In the general election, Garamendi defeated Carter, 60,380 votes (64.08%) to 33,842 (35.92%), as Democrats won a supermajority in the California State Assembly for the first time since the 1800s.


title: John Garamendi

text: In 1976, Garamendi decided to retire after one term to run in California's 13th State Senate district. He defeated Republican Bob Whitten, 53% to 47%. He was reelected in 1980 (60%), 1984 (69%), and 1988 (69%).


title: John Garamendi

text: While in the California Senate, Garamendi served as Majority Leader. He chaired the Joint Committee on Science and Technology, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, and the Senate Revenue and Taxation Committee.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi first ran for governor of California in 1982. In the Democratic primary, Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley defeated him, 61% to 25%.


title: John Garamendi

text: In the 1986 Democratic primary for California State Controller, Garamendi lost to Assemblyman Gray Davis, 50% to 38%.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi first ran for California Insurance Commissioner in 1990. He won the Democratic primary with a plurality of 36% of the vote. His closest challenger was radio talk show host Bill Press, who got 28% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Republican Wes Bannister, 52% to 38%.


title: John Garamendi

text: In 1991, while serving as California Insurance Commissioner, Garamendi seized Executive Life, a failing life insurance company, and resold it to French investors who turned out to be fronts for a government-owned French bank. They made billions of dollars selling off the company's portfolio of junk bonds while the Californians with Executive Life policies were very negatively affected. This became a scandal in both the U.S. and France, with the U.S. government filing criminal charges, because it was illegal for a government-owned bank to own a U.S. insurer. Policyholders blamed Garamendi for putting them in this position.


title: John Garamendi

text: Eventually the U.S. government reached a settlement with the French bankers, and in 2005 Garamendi agreed to a settlement, the terms of which further angered Executive Life policyholders, who, according to the "Sacramento Bee", "had been damaged to the tune of perhaps $5 billion." A leader of the policyholders' interest group, Sue Watson, said, "We are shocked and outraged that the largest financial fraud in California history would be settled for so little and without even a fight." "The Bee" editorialized that "Garamendi cannot simultaneously assert that the sale was a good deal and a multibillion-dollar fraud, and then defend a cents-on-the-dollar settlement that left the buyers with billions of dollars in windfall profits. It just does not make sense."


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi ran for California governor a second time in 1994. In the Democratic primary, State Treasurer Kathleen Brown defeated him, 48% to 33%.


title: John Garamendi

text: After Garamendi's tenure as insurance commissioner, President Bill Clinton appointed him Deputy Secretary of the Interior, the second-highest post in the U.S. Department of the Interior. He resigned in 1998 and worked with the Peace Corps. He then spent time in the private sector.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi ran for California insurance commissioner for a second time in 2002. He won the Democratic primary with 39% of the vote. In the general election, he defeated Republican Gary Mendoza 46% to 42%.


title: John Garamendi

text: On August 7, 2003, Garamendi announced his candidacy for governor a third time in the gubernatorial recall election, but dropped out two days later to endorse Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante.


title: John Garamendi

text: On July 16, 2004, Garamendi announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor of California. He was endorsed by former Vice President Al Gore, the Sierra Club, the California Teachers Association, the California League of Conservation Voters, the Peace Officers Research Association of California, the California Professional Firefighters Association, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, and former U.S. Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. Garamendi won the Democratic primary by defeating state senators Jackie Speier and Liz Figueroa 43% to 40% to 18%. In the general election, he defeated Republican state senator Tom McClintock 49% to 45%.


title: John Garamendi

text: Despite living outside California's 10th congressional district, Garamendi announced his intention to run for the 2009 special election there after Representative Ellen Tauscher vacated her seat. There was some confusion about the location of Garamendi's residence. Garamendi said: "My front yard is in the district, our bedroom is not." He continued to fuel speculation about his residence when he said the same thing to "The New York Times" in July. The Sacramento Board of Elections later confirmed that no part of Garamendi's property is within the 10th congressional district.


title: John Garamendi

text: In the September election, no candidate reached the 50% threshold to avoid a runoff. Garamendi ranked first among Democrats with 26% of the vote, defeating State Senator Mark DeSaulnier (18%) and Assemblymember Joan Buchanan (12%). In the November runoff, Garamendi defeated Republican nominee David Harmer, 53% to 43%. Garamendi was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives on November 5, 2009.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi was running in a district that was over 77% new to him. While the old 10th district traditionally favored Democrats, the new 3rd was somewhat more of a swing district. But the bulk of its vote was in Democratic-leaning territory between the Bay Area and Sacramento, Garamendi's base. Garamendi defeated Republican Kim Vann 54.2% to 45.8%.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi supports abortion access for everyone. He called "Roe v. Wade" a "fundamental human right to bodily autonomy". He opposed the 2022 overturning of "Roe v. Wade", calling the decision "devastating".


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi was critical of President Donald Trump, suggesting in December 2016 that because of his international real-estate business, Trump was weighed down by conflicts of interest. He also said he was disturbed by the placement of "generals, ex-generals in every one of the key positions dealing with the military, dealing with international affairs."


title: John Garamendi

text: At a July 2017 town hall in Davis, Garamendi said that developments in the Trump administration were "far more serious" than Watergate.


title: John Garamendi

text: In July 2017, Garamendi said that during recent visits to Vietnam, South Korea, and Australia, he had encountered "angst, worry and concern about what's happening in America."


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi said in January 2018 that he was "angry" when Trump referred to certain Third World nations as "shithole countries".


title: John Garamendi

text: On February 24, 2019, Garamendi announced on Facebook that he had become a co-sponsor of H.Res.109, also known as the Green New Deal. This decision came after pressure from community members. The post read, "I welcome the energy and commitment of the supporters of H.Res.109, and I join with them as I continue my decades-long effort to stop Climate Change and save our planet."


title: John Garamendi

text: As of November 2021, Garamendi had voted in line with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time.


title: John Garamendi

text: In January 2018, Garamendi called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 a "tax scam" that would primarily benefit the so-called "1 percent". He asserted that House "deficit hawks" wanted to "cut out the social safety net" to pay for the bill.


title: John Garamendi

text: In a January 2018 interview, Garamendi said of the U.S. treasury: "There's no money. They gave it all away." He complained that current economic policies, including the large 2017 tax cuts, benefited the rich and corporations, not the middle class.


title: John Garamendi

text: In January 2018, Garamendi expressed the desire to "make sure every person is identified" and charged that E-Verify, a system intended to curtail undocumented employment, had "not really been enforced". He said that it was possible to compromise on the issue between conservative and progressive House members, and expressed concern about the fate of "undocumented immigrants who are not considered Dreamers."


title: John Garamendi

text: After Mark Zuckerberg's April 2018 testimony before a joint Senate committee, Garamendi called for a privacy law that would cover social media.


title: John Garamendi

text: In May 2011, by a vote of 60–1, the House Armed Services Committee approved a $553 billion military funding bill that would increase pay and fund new aircraft, ships, and submarines. Garamendi cast the sole "no" vote. The same month, he introduced an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would withdraw 90% of troops from Afghanistan by the end of 2013. Along with eight other members of Congress he wrote a letter to President Obama asking him to end the war.


title: John Garamendi

text: With Dianne Feinstein and Martin Heinrich, Garamendi sponsored the Due Process Guarantee Act, a 2012 bill that would bar the military from indefinitely detaining U.S. citizens or residents within the country without charge or trial.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garmendi actively opposed a GOP-backed construction of a missile defense site on the East Coast, saying it was fiscally irresponsible to be "spending up to $5 billion in the next three years on a missile defense system that doesn't work."


title: John Garamendi

text: In a May 2011 article, Garamendi wrote, "our national security is much more dependent on ending desperate poverty, funding good schools, and empowering women in the developing world while eradicating international terrorist networks like al Qaeda. With bin Laden dead and al Qaeda in Afghanistan largely extinguished, it's time we revisited the wisdom of continuing the war in Afghanistan."


title: John Garamendi

text: In April 2018, he expressed opposition to building a border wall and said, "If you want to go where the problem is, fund the Coast Guard."


title: John Garamendi

text: In the fall of 2017, Garamendi and Brian Fitzpatrick co-introduced H.R. 4001, the Student Loan Refinancing and Recalculating Act. "For many Americans, the price of a college education is too high," he said.


title: John Garamendi

text: On November 19, 2015, Garamendi voted for HR 4038, legislation that would effectively halt the resettlement of refugees from Syria and Iraq to the United States.


title: John Garamendi

text: On March 31, 2018, he described Trump's approach to Syria as "helter-skelter" and "chaos". In April 2018, he expressed opposition to a military strike on Syria. "You have to have a strategy. This president doesn't have a clue about how to build a strategy."


title: John Garamendi

text: In a June 2017 article, Garamendi rejected the proposal known as California WaterFix, calling it an "expensive boondoggle", and instead expressed support for Proposition 1.


title: John Garamendi

text: Garamendi is married to Patricia Wilkinson, who has worked as agriculture specialist for the California Exposition and State Fair and as deputy secretary of California's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. President Clinton appointed her to serve as associate director of the Peace Corps in 1993 and as deputy administrator in the Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service in 1998. Garamendi and Wilkinson live in Walnut Grove and have six children and 13 grandchildren.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: Cuts Like a Knife is the third studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Released on 18 January 1983 by A&M Records, the album was a huge commercial success in the United States and Canada. Three singles were released worldwide from the album: "Straight from the Heart", the title track and "This Time"; the three were responsible for launching Adams into mainstream popularity.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: Co-produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain, "Cuts Like a Knife" was recorded from August 13 to October 20, 1982 at Little Mountain Sound Studios in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with Clearmountain mixing the album at Le Studio in Morin-Heights, Quebec and The Power Station in New York City between October 14 to 20, 1982.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: "Straight from the Heart" is a ballad and one of Adams' most recognizable and popular songs. Co-written by Adams in 1978, the song's title originally came from his friend Eric Kagna. This track was the last recorded for the album, but the first single, released in December 1982, one month prior to the album's release. The song was later recorded by Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler in 1983; it appears on her album "Faster Than the Speed of Night". Adams version reached the top 10 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 and 32 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song has appeared on all of Adams' compilation albums with the exception of "The Best of Me".


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: "Cuts Like a Knife" was released in 1983 and became one of the most successful songs from "Cuts Like a Knife" on the American rock charts and one of Adams' most recognizable and popular songs from the 1980s. "Cuts Like a Knife" was released worldwide in March 1984. The song reached the top ten on the Mainstream Rock Tracks at six; "Cuts Like a Knife" would also chart on the "Billboard" Hot 100 at 15. "Cuts Like a Knife" was Adams' first top 20 hit on the Canadian singles chart and remained in the top 20 for six weeks. "Cuts Like a Knife" was released the following month in Europe but didn't chart.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: "Don't Leave Me Lonely" was co-written with Kiss drummer Eric Carr, intended to be included on the Kiss album "Creatures of the Night", but left off the final release.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: "This Time" by Adams and co-writer Jim Vallance was the third single released from the album. Adams initially didn't care for the song and didn't want to record it, but eventually agreed to after the insistence of co-producer Bob Clearmountain. The song peaked at 21 on the "Billboard" Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and at 24 on the "Billboard" Hot 100. "This Time" was Adams' first single to chart in Europe, where it charted after being re-released in the United Kingdom.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: The final track on the album, "The Best Was Yet to Come", which was later covered by Laura Branigan for her 1990 self-titled album, is currently one of three songs written about Dorothy Stratten.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: "Cuts Like a Knife" peaked at number eight on the "Billboard" 200. The album was released in January, 1983 and featured the hit singles "Straight from the Heart", "This Time" and "Cuts Like a Knife". "Cuts Like a Knife" and "Straight from the Heart" were nominated for a Juno Award for Single of the Year, and "Cuts Like a Knife" won the Composer of the Year award. In Canada "Cuts Like a Knife" was certified three times platinum and the album would also be certified platinum in the United States.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: The success of "Cuts Like a Knife" outside of North America was not as great, though the album would later chart on the British album chart and be certified Silver by the BPI following the success of Adams' subsequent studio album "Reckless" in late 1984.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: The music video for the song "Cuts Like a Knife" was one of the most popular videos broadcast on MTV during 1983 and is credited with fostering the album's success.


title: Cuts Like a Knife

text: The Cuts Like a Knife tour started in eastern Canada. In March, Adams started the American leg of the tour; after five months Adams had performed over 100 dates. He later joined the British progressive rock band Supertramp on tour. Though not featured on the album, drummer for the tour was the late Frankie LaRocka and the keyboard player was Johnny 'Blitz' Hannah. Adams then traveled to Vancouver where he played live in front of 30,000 fans. Later on he went to Europe for a six-week solo tour; one show (and subsequent band interview) was broadcast live on German TV and radio as part of the famous Rockpalast series. He played in six countries. In November 1983, Adams went to Japan to start his own headline tour. By this time Adams had been on the road 283 days. Adams supported The Police when they toured in Australia and New Zealand.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Brian Edward Sandoval (; born August 5, 1963) is an American politician, attorney, academic, and former federal judge who served as the 29th Governor of Nevada from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Sandoval has served as the 17th president of the University of Nevada, Reno since October 2020.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval was born in Redding, California, to Ron Sandoval (an FAA maintenance supervisor) and his wife Gloria (Gallegos) Sandoval (a legal secretary). A long-time resident of Reno, Sandoval is of Hispanic ancestry. Sandoval attended Reno's Little Flower School and graduated from Bishop Manogue High School in Reno in 1981; he attended the University of Nevada, Reno, where he was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and economics in 1986. He then went on to earn a Juris Doctor from the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law in 1989.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval passed the Nevada and California bar exams and entered private practice with several Reno law firms. In 1999, he opened his own law firm in Reno.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: When incumbent Republican Jim Gibbons decided to retire to run for Governor of Nevada in 1994, Sandoval ran for the Reno-based 25th District of the Nevada Assembly. He won the open seat and won re-election in 1996. After he resigned from his seat in 1998, Gibbons' wife Dawn won the open seat.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval sponsored 14 bills that became law—including some that prevented felons from suing victims if they are injured committing a crime, increased the penalties for operating a boat under the influence, and allowed indigent defendants to perform community service to defray their legal costs.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval served on the Judiciary, Taxation and Natural Resources Committees. He also served on the Wisconsin Legislative Commission, the Advisory Commission on Sentencing, the Juvenile Justice Commission, the Advisory Council on Community Notification of Sex Offenders, and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency Oversight Committee.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: In 1998, Sandoval was appointed to serve as a member of the Gaming Commission of Nevada, which oversees the state's gaming industry. The following year, at the age of 35, Sandoval became the youngest person ever to serve as chairman of the gaming commission. During his time on the commission, Sandoval fought national efforts to block gambling on college sports events, worked on regulations limiting neighborhood gaming and worked for regulations prohibiting slot machines with themes attractive to children.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval announced his bid on October 11, 2001 to succeed three-term Democrat Frankie Sue Del Papa who was not eligible to run for re–election as Attorney General of Nevada due to lifetime term limits established by the Nevada Constitution in 1996. His primary major party opposition was Democratic attorney John Hunt from Las Vegas, whom Sandoval defeated by a margin of 58.32% to 33.63% on November 5, 2002. Sandoval took office on January 6, 2003.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: While Attorney General, Sandoval led the state's legal fight against the storage of nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, developed Nevada's first Public Integrity Unit and sponsored legislation strengthening Nevada's laws against domestic violence, drug abuse and human trafficking.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: As attorney general, Sandoval was also the chairman and a member of several state boards and commissions, including the Nevada Boards of Pardons, Prisons, Transportation, and Examiners; the Cyber-Crime Task Force; the Committee on Domestic Violence, and the Prosecutorial Advisory Council.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: In the fall of 2004, Democratic Senator Harry Reid spoke with Sandoval about whether he was interested in serving as a judge for the United States District Court for the District of Nevada, and that December, Reid recommended to President George W. Bush that he nominate Sandoval to a future opening on that court. Sandoval was formally nominated by Bush on March 1, 2005, to the seat being vacated by Judge Howard D. McKibben.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On September 29, 2005, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a confirmation hearing on Sandoval's nomination. On October 20, 2005, the Judiciary committee reported Sandoval's nomination out of committee on a voice vote. Sandoval was unanimously confirmed by the Senate on October 24, 2005, by a vote of 89–0 (with 11 Senators not voting). Sandoval then received his judicial commission on October 26, 2005.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval announced his resignation as Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada on August 15, 2009 to become effective beginning September 15, 2009. On the same day as his resignation became official, Sandoval announced he was running for the Governorship. Sandoval's chambers were in the Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building in Reno.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On June 9, 2010 on the Republican primary, Sandoval defeated incumbent Governor Jim Gibbons. In the general election, Sandoval won 53%–41%, against Democrat Rory Reid, the Clark County Commissioner and son of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. He won every county in the state, and all with a majority except Clark County, where Las Vegas is the county seat, which Sandoval won with a plurality (49%–47%).


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval ran for re-election in 2014. He won the Republican primary with 90% of the vote. In the general election, Sandoval defeated Democrat Bob Goodman with over 70% of the vote.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval, as the state's 29th Governor, proposed a $5.8 billion 2011 budget without any new taxes. It could cause as many as 361 layoffs and 5% pay reductions for state workers. It also included a 5% cut in primary education and 7% cut in higher education. Sandoval turned down a pay raise that would have increased his salary from $141,000 to $149,573 per year. He also has said he will take a 5% pay cut to coincide with every other state worker's.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: The final budget for 2011 avoided deep cuts to education and human services programs. It contained a number of reforms that include ending teacher tenure as well as the practice of deciding layoffs based solely on teacher seniority, allowing local governments to re-open employee contracts during financial emergencies as well as barring collective bargaining by supervisors, and eliminating retirement health insurance for new state employees hired after January 1, 2012.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: He appointed U.S. Congressman Dean Heller (R–Carson City) to become U.S. Senator, after the seat become vacant from the resignation of John Ensign.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On September 11, 2014, Sandoval signed a package of bill to provide $1.3 billion in tax breaks and subsidies over 20 years for Tesla Motors in exchange for building the massive Gigafactory 1 battery factory in the state, near Reno. The factory is key to Nevada's efforts to revitalize its economy, which was hard-hit by the mortgage meltdown and the Great Recession, and has yet to fully recover.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: In June 2015, Sandoval signed several bills designed to overhaul Nevada's education system. The reforms substantially increased funding for public schools and grants, and created incentives to recruit more teachers and promote professional training. $10 million were appropriated for preschool programs and an expansion of full-day kindergarten across Nevada.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval is widely regarded as a moderate Republican, supporting abortion rights, Obamacare, immigration reform, and renewable energy. Sandoval was suggested by Senator Harry Reid as a potential nominee to fill the seat of deceased Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, given his judicial experience as well as his moderate reputation; however, Sandoval quickly withdrew himself from consideration.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On March 21, 2016, Sandoval met with Mark Davis, owner of the NFL's Oakland Raiders, about moving the Raiders to Las Vegas, Nevada. On October 14, 2016, Sandoval signed a bill that would provide $750 million in public funding for Allegiant Stadium.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On July 12, 2016, Sandoval launched a comprehensive review of Nevada's juvenile justice system and established the Statewide Juvenile Justice Improvement Task Force. Nevada was selected to receive technical assistance from The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center through a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. Following the launch, the CSG Justice Center conducted an analysis of the state's juvenile justice system and made recommendations to the task force based on its assessment.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On May 17, 2017, Sandoval signed Senate Bill 201, which would ban psychotherapists from performing conversion therapy on minors.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval came under criticism in 2015 by the rooftop solar industry in Nevada after claims that the Governor failed to act on a statewide net energy metering cap of 235MW. The cap stirred controversy due to its ability to negatively affect the future of the largely successful solar industry in Nevada, specifically related to the loss of thousands of in-state jobs. A statewide study conducted by the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada previously deemed net metering a benefit to all ratepayers.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: At the end of July 2015, NV Energy proposed new rates for rooftop solar users. NV Energy specifically states in its proposal that the new rates could eliminate all savings for solar customers.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On August 20, 2015, the controversial 235 MW net metering cap was hit. Immediately before the cap was hit, Vivint Solar pulled out of the state only two weeks after entering. This resulted in lay-offs of many recently hired Nevadans, signaling the future of the industry in Nevada without net metering.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: In December 2015, a solar company operating in Nevada filed a lawsuit against Governor Brian Sandoval to compel the release of public records the Governor's office withheld. The withheld public records included text messages between the Governor and his staff with NV Energy's lobbyists. The company claims that the public has the right to know the impact those relationships have had on critical policy decisions, including the rooftop solar debate.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On December 22, 2015, Sandoval's Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, composed of Chairman Paul Thomsen, Commissioner David Noble and Commissioner Alaina Burtenshaw, voted to eliminate the state's net metering policy for rooftop solar. The aftermath of the decision resulted in widespread layoffs in the state and an outpouring of consumer backlash due to the direct penalization of current and future solar customers.


title: Brian Sandoval

text: On September 17, 2020, Sandoval was named as UNR's 17th president (following Marc Johnson). He is considered an unusual choice because his background does not include any experience in higher education administration. He is the first Hispanic president of the university. As UNR president, Sandoval has pushed to expand enrollment to 25,000 students by 2030 in what he calls the "Wolf Pack Way".


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval has received the following awards and certificates: the Hispanics in Politics' 1996 "Broche de Oro Award"; the Anti-Defamation League's 2003 "Torch of Liberty Award;" the Nevada State Bar's 2004 "Access to Justice Public Lawyer Award;" The Latino Coalition's 2004 "Most Influential Hispanic in the U.S. Award"; and the 2004 University of Nevada "Alumnus of the Year Award."


title: Brian Sandoval

text: Sandoval married Kathleen Teipner in 1990. Along with Kathleen, the program director for the Children's Cabinet in Reno, Sandoval has three children. He and his wife announced their separation in 2017 and finalized their divorce in 2018, stating the demands of public life as the main reason. Sandoval remarried to Las Vegas gaming executive Lauralyn McCarthy on August 11, 2018.


title: Anthony Volpe

text: Anthony Michael Volpe (born April 28, 2001) is an American professional baseball shortstop and third baseman in the New York Yankees organization.


title: Anthony Volpe

text: Volpe attended Delbarton School in Morristown, New Jersey, where he played for the school's baseball team and was a teammate of Jack Leiter. As a senior, he hit .488 with seven home runs, 34 RBIs, and 17 stolen bases. He was named the 2019 New Jersey High School Player of the Year by Perfect Game. Volpe committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University.


title: Anthony Volpe

text: The New York Yankees selected Volpe in the first round, with the 30th overall selection, of the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He signed on June 10, receiving a $2.7 million signing bonus, and made his professional debut with the Pulaski Yankees of the Rookie Advanced Appalachian League. Over 34 games, he batted .215 with two home runs and 11 RBIs. During the COVID-19 shutdown resulted in the cancellation of the 2020 minor league season, Volpe worked to gain muscle and improve his swing. To begin the 2021 season, he was assigned to the Tampa Tarpons of the Low-A Southeast. After slashing .302/.455/.623 with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs across 54 games, he was promoted to the Hudson Valley Renegades of High-A East.


title: Anthony Volpe

text: The Yankees assigned Volpe to the Somerset Patriots of the Double-A Eastern League for the start of the 2022 season. On June 26, Volpe hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to a 6-5 win against the visiting Hartford Yard Goats. His solo homer delivered the Eastern League Northeast Division first-half title to the Somerset Patriots in a winner-take-all game between the division's top two teams. In July, Volpe represented the American League at the All-Star Futures Game. Volpe batted .252 with 18 home runs and 60 RBIs in 109 games for Somerset and was promoted to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders of the Triple-A International League on September 2.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: Roman René Ramírez (born June 11, 1988), better known as Rome Ramirez or simply Rome, is an American singer and guitarist best known for playing with Eric Wilson from Sublime in the band Sublime with Rome.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: Ramirez was born and raised in Fremont, California. Both of his parents are of Mexican heritage, his mother being from Guadalajara and his father's parents from Tijuana, but his father relocated the family to Oakland. He first started playing guitar at age 11, and one of the first songs he learned was a Sublime song.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: At 18, Ramirez headed to Los Angeles to focus full-time on music. There, he was introduced to one of his idols, Eric Wilson, bassist for Sublime. They became friends and started jamming together at Eric's infamous holiday parties in Long Beach. Within the year, the plan to bring back Sublime had been set into motion.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: In 2008, Rome collaborated with Eric Wilson on a RAWsession video (also at 17th Street Recording Studio) where he played Sublime songs such as "Saw Red" and "Boss DJ", and eventually began to play with the band's two surviving members, Eric and Bud Gaugh.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: The trio then went on tour together playing covers of original Sublime material. Sublime with Rome made its debut in 2009 at Cypress Hill's Smoke Out Festival in San Bernardino, California. Ramirez was soon touring steadily with Sublime with Rome, and the trio released their debut album "Yours Truly" on July 12, 2011. Shortly after, Gaugh left the band and Josh Freese stepped in to play drums. In 2015, they released another album, "Sirens". Freese left in 2017 to tour with Sting, and Carlos Verdugo of Tribal Seeds joined the band. They then released a new album in 2019 with producer Rob Cavallo.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: Rome co-wrote the song "Lay Me Down" with The Dirty Heads and has collaborated with the band on several albums including Sounds of Change, Dirty Heads, Dessert EP and Swim Team.


title: Rome Ramirez

text: Rome has said in interviews that his influences are Sublime, Muse, Jimi Hendrix, Bad Brains, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Public Enemy, The Beastie Boys and Primus.