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Error code:   DatasetGenerationError
Exception:    ArrowInvalid
Message:      JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 1
Traceback:    Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 153, in _generate_tables
                  df = pd.read_json(f, dtype_backend="pyarrow")
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 815, in read_json
                  return json_reader.read()
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1025, in read
                  obj = self._get_object_parser(self.data)
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1051, in _get_object_parser
                  obj = FrameParser(json, **kwargs).parse()
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1187, in parse
                  self._parse()
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/pandas/io/json/_json.py", line 1403, in _parse
                  ujson_loads(json, precise_float=self.precise_float), dtype=None
              ValueError: Trailing data
              
              During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:
              
              Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1997, in _prepare_split_single
                  for _, table in generator:
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 156, in _generate_tables
                  raise e
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/packaged_modules/json/json.py", line 130, in _generate_tables
                  pa_table = paj.read_json(
                File "pyarrow/_json.pyx", line 308, in pyarrow._json.read_json
                File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 154, in pyarrow.lib.pyarrow_internal_check_status
                File "pyarrow/error.pxi", line 91, in pyarrow.lib.check_status
              pyarrow.lib.ArrowInvalid: JSON parse error: Missing a closing quotation mark in string. in row 1
              
              The above exception was the direct cause of the following exception:
              
              Traceback (most recent call last):
                File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1529, in compute_config_parquet_and_info_response
                  parquet_operations = convert_to_parquet(builder)
                File "/src/services/worker/src/worker/job_runners/config/parquet_and_info.py", line 1154, in convert_to_parquet
                  builder.download_and_prepare(
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1029, in download_and_prepare
                  self._download_and_prepare(
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1124, in _download_and_prepare
                  self._prepare_split(split_generator, **prepare_split_kwargs)
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 1884, in _prepare_split
                  for job_id, done, content in self._prepare_split_single(
                File "/src/services/worker/.venv/lib/python3.9/site-packages/datasets/builder.py", line 2040, in _prepare_split_single
                  raise DatasetGenerationError("An error occurred while generating the dataset") from e
              datasets.exceptions.DatasetGenerationError: An error occurred while generating the dataset

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pred_label string	pred_label_prob float64	wiki_prob float64	text string	source string
__label__wiki	0.549976	0.549976	Bets On Favorite Monthly Lists & Picks Sounding Off on Audio Redemption Point: A Crimson Lake Novel by Candice Fox You may be at least somewhat familiar with Candice Fox from her recent collaborative efforts with James Patterson. Truth be told, though, Fox has been active for a few years, having published several critically acclaimed and commercially successful novels in her native Australia. CRIMSON LAKE, the first of a series bearing the same name as the title, released in the United States in 2018. We have just been blessed with the publication of REDEMPTION POINT, the second installment, and it’s even better than its predecessor. It will take up rent-free space in your head long after you finish reading it. The Crimson Lake series pairs up a couple of damaged and star-crossed characters who more or less stumbled into each other and formed a detective agency that is even greater than the significant sum of its parts. Ted Conkaffey is a former police detective with significant personal and professional problems. He was unjustly accused of, but never tried for, abducting and raping a young girl. While the case remains open, he is living proof of the adage that no one has had their life improved by being the subject of media scrutiny. With his police career having come to an end and his life in ruins, Ted has retreated to Crimson Lake, a Queensland rainforest town, in the hope of living quietly. "REDEMPTION POINT has two intriguing mysteries --- one each for Amanda and Ted --- and plenty of unforgettable characters, not all of whom make it to the last page." During the events of CRIMSON LAKE, Ted met Amanda Pharrell, a local woman with a criminal history that she loves to call her own. By any definition, Amanda is a delightful piece of work. One never knows what cringeworthy masterpiece is going to fall from her lips in the next moment. Her background is such that it is remarkable she is able to function at all. Function, though, she does, and quite well, to the extent that she is often the quickest and smartest person in the room by default. As REDEMPTION POINT begins, Ted is confronted once again by his past, while Amanda is brought sideways into the double murder of two employees in a dive bar. The killings occurred after the place was closed for the night, and to Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney, robbery appears to be the motive, at least at first. That changes when Amanda arrives on the scene. Sweeney finds it difficult to keep up with Amanda, who makes Sherlockian observations and conclusions with rapid-fire aplomb. The bar, known as the Barking Frog Inn, and its immediate surroundings come loaded with secrets, and a great deal of the book’s enjoyment is watching how Amanda peels back the wrapping on the deceptively quiet atmosphere to reveal the secrets beneath while solving the double murder in the bargain. Meanwhile, Ted is sent reeling when he has to deal with a new set of allegations that seem to confirm he is guilty of the heinous crime with which he was originally charged. As this is occurring, the real doer of the original act is revealed to the reader in the form of a diary that is about as chilling as anything you are likely to read this year. However, Ted is not entirely alone, given that he is supported by Amanda as well as a podcast audience and a Lebanese drug dealer who supplies him with two bodyguards named... You’ll have to read the book to find out how everything comes together --- and falls apart --- in a conclusion that will stay with you far beyond the final sentences. REDEMPTION POINT has two intriguing mysteries --- one each for Amanda and Ted --- and plenty of unforgettable characters, not all of whom make it to the last page. But it is the unpredictable Amanda who will put you in the mind of a more accessible (and smarter) Lisbeth Salander and for whom you will come back as long as Fox sees fit to keep writing this series, which hopefully will be a very long time. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub on April 5, 2019 Genres: Fiction, Suspense, Thriller Mass Market Paperback: 480 pages Publisher: Forge Books Candice Fox View all » \| By Author » \| By Genre » \| By Date » bookreporter.com on Facebook bookreporter.com on Twitter	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line3
__label__cc	0.666962	0.333038	RealEstateRama Rep. Gosar Calls on White House to Withdraw from Unconstitutional Paris Climate Agreement Rep. Gosar Calls on White House to Withdraw from Unconstitutional Paris Climate Agreement By Arizona RealEstateRama - WASHINGTON, D.C. – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-04) joined several of his House colleagues in calling on the White House to completely withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement: “President Trump ran his campaign on the idea of putting America’s interests first. He can fulfill that pledge in a big way by using his authority to completely withdraw the United States from the misguided Paris Climate Agreement. This unconstitutional treaty is nothing more than an extension of the Obama Administration’s ideological war on affordable energy. This liberal pipedream abdicates our sovereignty in favor of a global redistribution of wealth. Furthermore, this scheme was designed to favor our economic rivals like China and India by giving them until 2030 to reduce emissions while the United States front-loaded our costs at the expense of American jobs. “President Obama had to pull off Olympic-level legal gymnastics to mislead Americans into thinking the Paris Agreement wasn’t a treaty because he knew this charade would never pass the U.S. Senate. Spending nearly a trillion dollars per year to reduce the global average temperature in 2100 by a third of one degree defies common sense and is a terrible business decision. Thankfully, we have a new deal-maker in the White House who puts America first. It’s time to put this bad deal to bed once and for all.” Congressman Gosar signed onto two separate letters calling on President Trump to completely withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Those draft letters can be found HERE and HERE. (Courtesy of the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service) The Paris Agreement to address climate change internationally entered into force on November 4, 2016 and has been accepted by 112 parties, including the United States and the European Union. The Paris Agreement is a subsidiary to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), a broader, framework treaty entered into during the George. H. W. Bush Administration. Unlike the UNFCCC, which received the Senate’s advice and consent in 1992, President Obama never submitted the Paris Agreement to the Senate for approval. Instead, the Obama Administration appears to have treated the Paris Agreement as an executive agreement, which the President may unilaterally execute, rather than a treaty, which requires the advice and consent of the Senate. (The key distinctions are analyzed in this report and infographic.) No legislation implementing the UNFCCC or the Paris Agreement into domestic law has been enacted, nor has the executive branch asserted that the provisions in either are self-executing, a term used to describe international obligations that have the force of domestic law without subsequent congressional action. Rather, the commitments made by the United States under the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement have been carried out domestically through pre-existing legislation, including the Intermodal Surface Transportation Energy Efficiency Act of 1991 and the Clean Air Act. Under domestic law, the requirements for withdrawal depend on the type of agreement. For executive agreements, the President has generally terminated such agreements without authorization from the legislative branch, and this practice has not been challenged by Congress or the Senate. (Courtesy of the Washington Times) A peer-reviewed study [found] that implementing all provisions of all signers to the Paris Agreement would prevent only 0.306 degrees Fahrenheit of global warming by 2100. What would it cost? Unofficial estimates by the United States, European Union, Mexico and China amount to $739-$757 billion per year. Those parties account for about 80 percent of signatories’ emissions reduction pledges. Other pledges would have similar costs per unit, implying something in the range of $185-$189 billion. All told, $924-$946 billion. Per year. Every year from 2030 to the end of the century. “And that’s if the politicians do everything right. If not, the real cost could double.” So, for $65-$132 trillion, we might — if the alarmists are right — reduce global average temperature by a third of one degree by 2100. That’s $212-$431 billion per thousandth of a degree of cooling Contact: Steven D. Smith Steven.Smith (at) mail.house (dot) gov Arizona RealEstateRama http://arizona.realestaterama.com/ Arizona RealEstateRama is an Internet based Real Estate News and Press Release distributor chanel of RealEstateRama for Arizona Real Estate publishing community. RealEstateRama staff editor manage to selection and verify the real estate news for State of Arizona. Property for Sale: Houses for sale: Property24 Arizona Builder Named NAHB Custom Home Builder of the Year; Finalists from North Carolina and Rhode Island Recognized Previous articleSEIA Statement on Settlement Reached in Arizona Next articleDominion Self-Storage Opens Second East Valley Location - Palo Alto Housing - Property24.com is South Africa's largest property search portal and is the first place to start your property search! Property24.com lists houses, flats, vacant land... Arizona Builder Named NAHB Custom Home Builder of the Year; Finalists... - Arizona RealEstateRama - PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT AS BLM EVALUATES PUBLIC LAND LEASE TO PINAL... Bipartisan Witnesses Testify in Strong Support of Public Land Renewable Energy... Arizona Real Estate Market Conditions Booming - Nicholas McConnel - U.S. REP. MCSALLY APPLAUDS HOUSE PASSAGE OF SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS PACKAGE, FULLY... Chandler Parcel Sold for $1.6 million, Data Center Breaks Ground on... - Lee & Associates Arizona Research Division - Archives Select Month March 2019 February 2019 December 2018 November 2017 October 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 October 2008 September 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 RealEstateRama - Professional Services · Government & Public Policy. RealEstateRama is a real estate press release distribution platform. We provide real estate press releases from more than 2,000 Government & Public Policy sources.	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line8
__label__wiki	0.728339	0.728339	Amend the False Claims Act Supporters of the Amendment THE CASE FOR AMENDING THE FALSE CLAIMS ACT MWI and the FCA: 1998-2017 MWI Corporation’s experience with the False Claims Act began on August 18, 1998 when a former employee filed a qui tam complaint under seal in Washington, D. C. After reviewing some of the wild and ultimately unprovable allegations in the complaint, Attorney General Janet Reno ordered a criminal investigation. MWI did not become aware of this investigation until April 22, 1999 when two FBI Special Agents appeared at the homes of two employees to serve Grand Jury subpoenas. The U.S. Department of Justice later abandoned the criminal investigation in early 2002 without bringing any indictments. As a former Assistant United States Attorney I can tell you it is a rare if not unprecedented event for DOJ to conduct a 30 month long criminal investigation and to fail to indict anyone. In March 2002 DOJ announced that they were going to intervene in the qui tam complaint of our former employee and this was the first time we learned of it existence. The complaint related to $74.3 million in loans from the Export-Import Bank of the United States that MWI used for its business with seven states in Nigeria. DOJ was aware at the time they intervened that the Government of Nigeria had repaid these loans in full and that the U.S. Government had actually made a profit of $33.7 million on the transactions. Although it was initially unclear, MWI was absolutely stunned to learn that DOJ was seeking damages equal to three times the amount of the loans or $222.9 million plus civil penalties of $580,000. A judgment of that magnitude would have meant instantaneous bankruptcy for what was then a 76 year old family-owned pump manufacturer. Every one of the 58 times MWI made a shipment to Nigeria under these Exim Bank credits, it was required to file a Supplier’s Certificate with the Bank certifying that it had paid “Regular commissions or fees paid or to be paid to our regular sales agent…and readily identifiable on our books and records as to amount, purpose and recipient”. The dispute with DOJ centered around MWI’s reasonable interpretation of the undefined term “regular commission” which was then and remains today undefined. Former Exim Bank General Counsel, Warren Glick, testified on MWI’s behalf at trial and he stated that he created the Supplier’s Certificate in this manner because the Bank did not wish to get involved in commissions exporters paid to their agents. Mr. Glick further testified that he agreed with MWI’s interpretation of their legal obligations when they filed each Supplier’s Certificate. Thinking that I might have missed an Exim Bank policy on allowable commissions to be paid by an exporter to their sales agent, I went on the Bank’s web site and did a search for “Policy on commissions”. As I suspected, I found nothing that related to allowable commissions to sales agents but I made a somewhat surprising discovery of Exim Bank’s policy regarding their payment of a commission of up to 40% to their Export Credit Insurance Agents. I was asked about my discovery during my deposition and the very next day the search function on the Exim web site had been disabled. In the summer of 2013 DOJ panicked in an effort to keep the jury from learning about Exim’s embarrassing 40% commission and filed a Motion In Limine to bar MWI from introducing that into evidence. U.S. District Judge Gladys Kessler granted DOJ’s motion with the proviso that MWI could introduce this fact into evidence if they were to open the door. At trial in November 2013 former Exim Bank Director Dr. Rita Rodriguez testified that in her 40 years of working in international finance she had “never seen a commission as high as MWI’s.” After she “opened the door” she was then questioned about Exim Bank’s spurious 40% commission which the jury was finally able to learn about. The Mediation exercise MWI participated in on October 22, 2013 ended up being an exercise in futility. Even though DOJ had possession of its financial statements, they continually made unreasonable demands to resolve the case. DOJ refused to understand that paying the exorbitant amount of money they demanded over a period of years would make MWI radioactive for any bank considering it for a line of credit and MWI had already lost its line of credit because of the prospect of a $222.9 million judgment. MWI finally terminated the Mediation and announced that it would go to trial. The night before the commencement of trial in November 2013, Judge Kessler reversed an earlier ruling and decided to bar MWI from introducing evidence that the Government of Nigeria had repaid the $74.3 million loans in full and that the U.S Government had made a profit of $33.7 million. The jury later returned a verdict for the Government for $7.5 million which was trebled to $22.5 million. In a post-trial hearing, Judge Kessler reduced the damages to zero based on the fact that the Government of Nigeria had repaid the $74.3 million loans in full and the U.S Government had made a profit of $33.7 million on the transactions. She did, however, impose the maximum civil penalties of $580,000. DOJ foolishly appealed the offset of the damages to zero and MWI cross-appealed the verdict of liability and the imposition of the civil penalties. The National Association of Manufacturers filed an Amicus brief in the D.C. Circuit on MWI’s behalf and on November 24, 2015 that Court issued a strong and unanimous opinion in MWI’s behalf reversing the judgment of liability and instructing the District Judge to enter judgment for MWI. The Court even cited Dr. Rodriguez’s testimony and the evidence of Exim’s 40% commission. The D.C. Circuit subsequently denied DOJ’s petitions for rehearing and rehearing en banc. In September 2016 the U.S Solicitor General declined to file a Petition for Certiorari although the relator did so. On January 9, 2017 the U.S. Supreme Court declined to grant relator’s petition and that spelled the final end of the historic case after 18 years and 136 days. In the end, MWI was completely vindicated and totally exonerated. Defendants rarely win FCA cases where DOJ intervenes due to the treble damages club that DOJ swings to bludgeon settlements out of defendants. The MWI case was one of the very rare cases that actually ended up going to trial. The False Claims Act should be amended to enable defendants who prevail in such cases to be reimbursed for every dollar they spend in their successful defense. Such an amendment will do nothing to enable MWI to recover the $12 million it spent defending itself but it would, hopefully, reign in an out of control DOJ and possibly prevent them from doing to another company what they did to MWI. The proposed amendment to the False Claims Act is a matter of simple equity and $12 million would be an insignificant offset to the $4.7 billion that DOJ returned to the Treasury in 2016 through their enforcement of the FCA. Please contact your Senators and every member of your state’s Congressional delegation today to urge their support for this amendment to the False Claims Act. William E. Bucknam, Esq. is the Vice President & General Counsel of MWI Corporation. Bucknam oversaw this case from 1998 through to its final successful conclusion in 2017. © Amend the False Claims Act - Powered by WordPress. Theme by WP Dev Shed	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line9
__label__wiki	0.689438	0.689438	Lewis: Four months is not enough for a debate on euthanasia. Just like everyone who has taken a role in trying to combat euthanasia, I am well aware of the poll numbers on societal support for government-sponsored killing. But numbers, no matter how high, lay flat on a page. They carry no emotion and nor do they reveal the depth of support. Someone's "yes" may be weaker than another person's "yes." I got a real taste of what real enthusiastic support for assisted suicide sounds and feels like. Last week, Bill Maher, the most obnoxious liberal talk show host in history of media, was interviewing California's Deputy-Governor, Gavin Newsom. Newsom, a Democrat, is tall, boyish and handsome with a full head of dark hair. He already has said he'll runs for governor and do not be surprised if his name pops up shortly after that as a likely presidential candidate. He is Kennedyesque, as Americans like to say. Maher's interview was more of a love in. He and Newsom share the same views on a host of issues, including easy access to abortion, limiting carbon dioxide emissions and, as it turns out, assisted suicide. Newsom listed his government's accomplishments to which the audience responded with polite applause to every item ticked off. But they saved their most explosive applause for when Newsom noted legalized assisted suicide as one of those achievements. It is not a surprise that those sitting in the studio to watch Maher lean left. Nor is it a surprise that Maher and his audience support assisted suicide — though I will never understand why legalized assisted suicide became such an American liberal project. In the past, American liberals were an important driver of such things as civil rights, equal protection under the law, fair hiring, equal work for equal pay and voting rights for the country's black citizens, the right to health care. Most will agree that these causes were justified and life affirming. But now the liberal banner has turned from life affirming to life ending. Newsom grinned when the audience thundered its support for killing patients. What was he grinning about? Should not someone with an ounce of morality still feel some regret about taking the life of anyone, especially someone who is innocent? Perhaps a good man might have frowned, and silenced the audience with a wave of his hand. He might have said this is nothing to celebrate. He might have added: The taking of a life is always tragic. He could have made the case that assisted suicide is an awful but needed response to what he sees as a tragic situation. Finally, he could have gone out of his way to assure his audience that he and his government would ensure that the new law be used only in the most extreme situations. I would not have become a supporter of assisted suicide if he followed my fantasy script but at least I might have been assured that this misguided legislation was at least approached with the care and gravitas it deserves. But no: The Maher audience became a rally for death. It is important to keep this in mind as we come down the stretch in Canada. The court gave our Liberal government a four month extension to come up with new legislation that reflects the court's Feb. 6 2015 decision to strike down the nation's ban on euthanasia. Four months is not enough. It is not enough for debate and not enough so every Canadian gets to here a full debate on the issue — something that amazingly enough has not yet happened. But perhaps the supporters of euthanasia in Canada are as enthusiastic as their like-mined brothers and sisters in California. If that turns out to be the case, then God save us. Charlie Lewis was a journalist for 33 years and a former columnist with the National Post. Previous article by Charles Lewis: Opinion: No cooperation with killers in euthanasia and assisted suicide. Labels: Assisted Suicide, California, Charles Lewis, euthanasia, Supreme Court Collective madness occasionally overtakes entire societies. It's happened so many times in the past - in Rwanda, in Germany, in Turkey, in Russia, in Cambodia - the list goes on and on. Now we're seeing it happen before our very eyes - right here in Canada. But when these pages are written into history, it must be known that some people did not go along with the killing and tried to stop it. Wisdom Hunter said... Well said Charlie Lewis	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line14
__label__wiki	0.806912	0.806912	Alien Explorations Exploring the "Alien" Movies and HR Giger. All entries are continuously edited and altered. Articles are published not by actual date. Alien vs Shivers vs High-Rise (Was Alien inspired by Shivers and was Shivers inspired by Ballard's writings before High-Rise?) leading from Francis Bacon vs Alien vs Eraserhead vs Shivers Alien vs Eraserhead, Alien: Inspired by Philip José Farmer's "Strange Relations"? J G Ballard a) Questioning Dan O'Bannon's inspiration David Cronenberg made the film Shivers in which there appeared a parasitic creature that lived in the body, it would leap onto the victims face and enter through the mouth to infect the host and be seen bulging through the skin, his view that it wormed its way out with corrosive fluidse For Cronenberg that was enough to suggest something of the Facehugger's method of impregnation and how the chestburster gets out in Alien. Also what is seen at the beginning of the movie is a man is seen cutting open the body of a young woman to get at the parasite within and kill it with acid. The setting of the film was the Starliner Towers hi-rise complex that perhaps was begging to be reimagined aboard a space ship. Of course he didn't actually know Dan O'Bannon or anything about his personal body horrors that Dan seemed to have been relating through the idea of the chestburster . However Dan had admitted to being inspired by Philip José Farmer's "Strange Relations" published in 1960 which contained in its closing lines the idea of what the facehugger does to its victim and by Tim Boxell's comic book story Defiled which came out in 1972 that had featured a man raped by an alien creature using sexual organs incompatible with the human form leading to a creature that grows inside and soon comes out of the chest. Whether Shivers remains another guiding vision for Dan O'Bannon's Alien remains a question. scene from Shivers b) Incident in Germany At a film festival in German when they had shown several of his early films, someone from that country in the audience stood up and said "How dare you show this film! You have so obviously stolen from the movie Alien! There is parasite that comes out of the mouth and there is acid that burns a face, just like Alien!" Cronenberg replied "You know, but this movie was made three years before Alien," The German man said "What?" Cronenberg replied "Yes". The German man responded "Ah, now we know who the thief is" c) Cronenberg's Inquiries Cronenberg realised that over time he was having a strange sort of a non-relationship with Dan O'Bannon because he never met him and he knew a lot of people who knew him and worked with him. For instance he knew John Landis and he told Cronenberg that Dan knew very well what he called the "Canadian films" by which he meant Shivers and Rabid, when he wrote Alien. In Cronenberg's mind that meant that he must have stolen all the parasite stuff from Shivers and he would have been familiar with Rabid as well. He found himself talking to Ron Shusett because he had been given Dan and Ron's Total Recall script to take a look at and Ron Shusett told him, "He never saw those movies, knows nothing about them and I believe him." And so Dan O'Bannon would later deny that he has even seen those movies while John Landis would swear that Dan talked about about them all the time and knew them very well. d) Synchronicity / Idea Parallelism Dan O'Bannon would use a term "Idea Parallelism", and this frustrated him as he would be working on his original ideas and several other writers all working on their original ideas independent of one another might well find that they're all working on the same idea. It was down to the one who could get the idea past the starting gate first and Dan O'Bannon had found that many of his projects had evaporated because others had had the power to realise the same idea first. However David Cronenberg had seen enough similarities between films that he was making and suddenly the idea would come out in another form , maybe in a capsule summery of another movie or a review of the movie, no matter how obscure or personal you idea might be, it might suddenly share ideas with another movie that would take away it's impact. In a Jungian sense once can see this as synchronicity. When Cronenberg made The Brood, he found out that the film Manitou shared something similar when he read about a birth of a weird creature coming out of a woman's back and then when he made Scanner, he found out about Altered States that shared some things that were similar. Also while he made the 1983 film Videodrome released in that featured a gun that fused to the hand with ribbed piping creating the biomechanic look associated with the work of HR Giger The film dealt with the merging of human consciousness and machinery such as the guns and video and one of the stars of that film was Debbie Harry who had been in a music video directed by H R Giger earlier that year, and she was the one who pointed out the coincidence there. Cronenberg's film Shivers was released on October 10, 1975, and then just over a month later on 13th November 1975, Ballard's novel High-Rise was released strangely dealing with many of the same themes. Perhaps because Cronenberg would go on later to make the film Crash based on Ballard's novel by the same name. However, while Cronenberg knew of Ballard as a science fiction author, his attention had only been first drawn to him after he made Scanners, and a critic sent him a copy of the book Crash, which he never read. Later producer Jeremy Thomas started to talk to him about Crash about the time they started to make the movie Naked Lunch together The madness in Ballard's High-Rise would remain unexplained, while for Cronenberg, the madness would exist because of these slug like creatures. What that should say about Alien though is another thing, should the madness be the alien or should it be Weyland-Yutani's who sent the ship along and a robot who would break rules to let it in? e) High-Rise film director Ben Wheatley enters the High-Rise/Shivers confusion Ben Wheatley the film maker could only marvel in disbelief at the synchronicity when he appeared before an audience at a Brighton showing of his movie High-Rise, almost quite sure that Cronenberg had been copying Ballard even though he knew that Ballard's book came out afterwards. As far as he was concerned, there was some sort of crossover, or that one of them was aware of the other. people were saying that they came out at the same time, but Shivers was so very close to High Rise in so many ways, The interviewer Graham Duff would tell him that the idea that Cronenberg would have found all he needed to read in Ballard's other writings before hand, while interviewer Jamie Sherry would inform him that they were produced in isolation of each other, seeing it as something like 'convergent evolution' with two species developing in similar ways despite being independent of each other. But with the amount of time it took for Cronenberg to develop and make the film, it suggested that the idea for the film hatched before 1975 and Ballard had been working on his novel for some time as well f) Attempts to find the Cronenberg's Shivers/ J G Ballard's High-Rise link However despite the emotions invested in the whole fiasco about Dan O'Bannon borrowing from Alien for the Shivers, Cronenberg talked about the time that he went to see Alien himself, he was disappointed in the film because he didn't see any metaphysics or philosophy in the way that he would want to in a film of his own. For him it was a creature that turns out to be a man dressed in a crocodile suit who chases people around a room. He thought that his own films touched a deeper seared nerve than the idea that you don't want a crocodile to eat you. To him, Alien was a $300,000 'B' movie on a $10,000,000 budget and he was saying that because his own Shivers cost $185,000 He saw no metaphor behind the way Alien's parasite was used, it didn't evoke anything for him. He saw only that when John Hurt had the parasite within him, he was going abut his business as usual. But in Shivers, the parasite stays inside the people and changes their behaviour and their motives, which uses the thing for more than simple shock value. Meanwhile JG Ballard historian David Pringle was able to say that there was a Ballard story called "The Man on the 99th Floor" (1962), about a guy who tries to reach the 100th floor of a high-rise building. But it was exceedingly minor, and the chances of Cronenberg having read it and been influenced by it are slim. The World Trade Center in New York City was opened in 1973. There were lots of other high-rise buildings going up around the world at that time -- so stories set in high-rises were kind of in the air. Two novel-length thrillers about such buildings were The Tower (1973) by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno (1974) by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. The rights to both books were bought by Irwin Allen, and they were combined to make the movie The Towering Inferno, first released at the end of 1974. f) See also: Alien vs High-Rise: Did J G Ballard's High-Rise inspire parts of Alien? Source Quote David Cronenberg: And I had a funny non-relationship with Dan O'Bannon, because I never met him but I know tons of people who know him and have worked with him. John Landis told me that he knew very well what he called 'the Canadian films' by which he meant Shivers and Rabid, when he wrote Alien. And so I know he stole all the parasite stuff from Shivers. And Ron Shusett said "He never saw those movies and knows nothing about it and I believe him" Dan O'Bannon later denied that he had ever seen those movies, but John Landis swears that he talked about them all the time and knew them very well. (David Cronenberg, Interviews with Serge Grunberg, p78-79) David Cronenberg: But what they did want was my screenplay for Shivers which was a kind of a unique horror film that that nobody had ever seen anything quite like that before. erm, you will , you'll probably notice that the film Alien took a lot of things from my film Shivers, and it is well known that Dan O'Bannon who co-wrote Alien knew my films very well and erm, ah, so of, you know, it's the way it works, I mean, if your film is influential, people copy elements of it, that's that's the way it goes, but erm they wanted my script, they didn't want me as director, I said if you, if you want my script, you have to take me as director, and eventually a company in Montreal called Cinepix, did end up producing my first couple of. It was really the, at that time in Canada, there was no film industry, there were documentary films, there was TV, but there was really no film industry, that the people were not making feature films at all, so I really had to invent myself as a Canadian feature film maker, and since my first film was definitely a horror film, there was no tradition whatsoever of horror film making in Canada, in fact, there was not a, there was not a tradition of genre film making, there were no thrillers, there were no detective movies, there were no action movies, it was all basically documentary stuff like. ( A masterclass with David Cronenberg - YouTube) David Cronenberg: You know, the interesting thing was that I went to a film festival years later in Germany and we showed Shivers, and a man stood up and said, "How can you show this? This is stolen from Alien! There is parasite that comes out of the mouth and there is acid that burns a face, just like Alien!" I said "Yes, but Shivers was made four years before," to which he said, " Ah! Now we know who the thief is!" As is turns out, one of the writers of Alien did know my films very well. Fangoria: Dan O'Bannon. Cronenberg: Yes, Dan O'Bannon. He confessed to John Landis that he particularly like the Canadian horror films, so anyway, who knows.( Fangoria Legends and tiff. present David Cronenberg, p10) David Cronenberg So I remember at the film festival in Hof in Germany I had a little retrospective there and we showed Shivers. This was many years ago, maybe Shivers and Rabid were all I had to show with Stereo and Crimes Of The Future. Anyway, afterwards, when I was talking to the audience, this man stood up and said "how dare you show this movie, when it is so obvious that you have stolen from Alien!". And I said, "Well, this movie was made three years before Alien," He said, "What?" I said "Yes". Then he said, "Now we know who the thief is". So that was my vindication, somebody knew then. I had a chance to say that. So it was odd for me to read a script from Dan O'Bannon. Not that I minded, I mean everybody steals from everybody else, but he was apparently a very aggressive sort of hostile character. I don't know, I've never met him. (David Cronenberg, Interviews with Serge Grunberg, p79) David Cronenberg: I was at a film festival in Germany called the Hof Film Festival. Someone stood up , they had showed several of my early films, and he said "how dare you show this film, you have so obviously stolen from the movie Alien!". And I said, "you know, but this movie was made five years before Alien," and he said, "Ah , now we know who the thief is". (Interview with Film Four, 2001) E.C.McMullen Jr: When Cronenberg pointed out that SHIVERS was made years before ALIEN (1975 vs. 1979) and that Dan O'Bannon admitted that he saw SHIVERS before he wrote ALIEN, the German said, "Ah. So now we know who the thief was." ( Feomante http://www.feoamante.com 2002) David Cronenberg: So for me to invent some phantasmagoria, to create metaphors for the body and the things that happen in the body and have part of the body outside the body so we can look at it and deal with it, brings me into the genre of body horror.. Which perhaps was not so directly recognised here, but in the context of what I did later I think it becomes pretty obvious. In fact I have to say that some of my images like this ended up in things like Alien, which was more popular than any of the films I've ever made. But the writer of Alien has definitely seen these movies, Dan O'Bannon. The idea of parasites that burst out of your body and uses a fluid and leaps on your face, that's all in Shivers. So it obviously touched a nerve in the public in general, the imagery, and for me it's natural to pursue it. (Interviews with Serge Grünberg, p39) David Cronenberg: I have to say that Dan O'Bannon definitely knew my movies and he wrote the script for Alien. The whole idea of a parasite bursting out of a chest and jumping onto the face was all in Shivers. The idea of parasites living in your body was of course the basic idea of Shivers (Interviews with Serge Grünberg, p43) David Cronenberg: It's a common thing that happens and I found that amongst directors and other artists, it's fairly universal. The instant that you do something, you start finding all of these capsule summaries and reviews of things that sound like your movie! No matter how bizarre, obscure, strange, arcane or personal, you can find something that even if it's not exactly your movie, sounds close enough to what you're doing to destroy its impact. With The Brood, I do remember, it was the Manitou, I read that it had the birth of a weird creature out of a woman's back. With Scanners, it was Altered States, which in fact did have some things that were similar. (Videodrome, Tim Lucas p31) Debbie Harrie: David's concept here is very biomechanical, like the work of H R Giger who I worked with earlier this year. It's very much like that in that the brain is taking over and your reality is switching into video, you're seeing and your vision is taking on that video look; and you've got a gun that's an extension of your hand and shooting something because it offends you.... This is all biomechanical.(Videodrome, Tim Lucas, p71) Debbie Harrie: I don't think my work with Giger made me want to do Videodrome any more or less, but I thought it was a very strong coincidence. I think that it's interesting how things often run in pairs or threes, and it seemed there that it was happening to me. (Videodrome, Tim Lucas, p71) I was going to do Total Recall. Like with a lot of Philip Dick stuff the concept of Total Recall was incredible. The beginning was great. It didn’t quite have an ending that was satisfying and that was always the thing; what’s the third act? How’s it going to end? But I felt a great connection with Philip Dick. He’s such an interesting guy. A brilliant guy. A lot of his writing is very shoddy and not good because he wrote so fast and so constantly and he would be taking speed and would write for 48 hours straight which of course is ultimately what killed him. So I was working on it. At the time it was for Dino De Laurentiis and Ron Shusett, the producer, who’d had a lot of success with Alien, which, I have to say, took a lot of stuff from Shivers. There’s a parasite that lives inside you? Burns its way out? Jumps on your face and goes down your throat? I did all that before Alien and Dan O’Bannon (who wrote Alien) certainly knew my work. But that’s another thing. So anyway, I wanted to cast William Hurt for the lead, and it ended up being Arnold Schwarzenegger so there’s the difference. Once again I thought it could be sci-fi and entertaining, but heavy duty, you know? This was heavy duty. And ultimately what happened was, after doing a year’s worth of work — writing ten to twelve drafts myself, I finally handed the last draft to Ron Shusett and I said, “here, I think we have it, this is it.” And he said, “well, you know what you’ve done?” And I said, ”what?” And he said, “you’ve done the Philip K. Dick version.” And I said, “well isn’t that what we wanted?“ And he said, “no, we wanted Raiders of the Lost Ark Go to Mars.” And I said, “well it’s too bad we didn’t talk about that earlier because we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble!” - See more at: http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/post/16638057207/cronenberg#sthash.r0erCIV8.dpuf David Cronemberg: I was going to do Total Recall. Like with a lot of Philip Dick stuff the concept of Total Recall was incredible. The beginning was great. It didn’t quite have an ending that was satisfying and that was always the thing; what’s the third act? How’s it going to end? But I felt a great connection with Philip Dick. He’s such an interesting guy. A brilliant guy. A lot of his writing is very shoddy and not good because he wrote so fast and so constantly and he would be taking speed and would write for 48 hours straight which of course is ultimately what killed him. So I was working on it. At the time it was for Dino De Laurentiis and Ron Shusett, the producer, who’d had a lot of success with Alien, which, I have to say, took a lot of stuff from Shivers. There’s a parasite that lives inside you? Burns its way out? Jumps on your face and goes down your throat? I did all that before Alien and Dan O’Bannon (who wrote Alien) certainly knew my work. But that’s another thing. So anyway, I wanted to cast William Hurt for the lead, and it ended up being Arnold Schwarzenegger so there’s the difference. Once again I thought it could be sci-fi and entertaining, but heavy duty, you know? This was heavy duty. And ultimately what happened was, after doing a year’s worth of work — writing ten to twelve drafts myself, I finally handed the last draft to Ron Shusett and I said, “here, I think we have it, this is it.” And he said, “well, you know what you’ve done?” And I said, ”what?” And he said, “you’ve done the Philip K. Dick version.” And I said, “well isn’t that what we wanted?“ And he said, “no, we wanted Raiders of the Lost Ark Go to Mars.” And I said, “well it’s too bad we didn’t talk about that earlier because we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble!” (source: http://blog.lareviewofbooks.org/ 28th Jan, 2012) David Cronenberg: Even with Alien. My movie Shivers I have a parasite that lives in you and burns its way out of your body and jumps on your face and and jumps on your face and goes down your throat. I know Dan O'Bannon knew my movie. In a case like that you wouldn't mind a little credit for it. But beyond that, if you are influential -- and I've had many young filmmakers say that I was a big influence and sometimes their movies do remind me of my old movies -- you take it as a compliment. You obviously touched a nerve. It's nice to have people be aware of that. But beyond that it's inevitable; things become communal understandings, let's say. The whole parasite thing. I mean there are movies called Parasite. But I did it first but, you know, whatever. (thefilmexperience.net/blog/2011/12/1) David Cronenberg: It was then , dare I say, stolen for Alien. Here is a parasite that lives inside your body and burns its way out with corrosive fluid and jumps on your face and goes down your throat. The timeline is very suspicious. It's very similar in the later film. But obviously this was done with a much bigger budget. Yet this was an idea that was so horrifying and scary that it worked despite the limitations that I would say are obvious when you look at this effect. (Empire, November 2013, p108) The Face : On his own admission, Dan O'Bannon runs off at the mouth, - when he knows he should keep his own counsel. The frustration that he feels over what he calls "idea parallelism" is not uncommon with creative writers working on original ideas as it is possible for several people to have the same idea, simultaneously totally independent of each other. Call it synchronicity, what you will. It is down to the one who can get the idea past the starting gate first, and O'Bannon has seen many of his projects evaporate because others had had the power to realise the same idea before him. (The Face, April 1986, p52) David Cronenberg: A lot of people have pointed out a similarity between the parasite of Alien and the parasite of shivers. I was very disappointed with Alien, it as no metaphysics, no philosophy. The creature winds up as a man in a crocodile suit who chases a bunch of people around a room. I think that my own films do a lot more in touching a deep seated nerve, more than the simple reaction that you don't want a crocodile to eat you. (Fangoria #3, December 1979, p13) David Cronenberg: Alien was just a $300,00 'B' movie with a $ 10-million budget. The parasite device isn't used in a metaphorical way, it wasn't used to evoke anything. In Alien, John Hurt has the parasite in him, he goes about his business as usual. In Shivers, the parasite stays inside the people and changes their behaviour and their motives. It's used for something more than simple shock value.(Fangoria #3, December 1979,p13) SPLICED:...and it has some of the same kinds of themes, body themes, that you often work with... Cronenberg: Yeah, because the original "Alien" took stuff from "Shivers." It was obvious that happened. I know how it happened, too, but we won't get into that. (http://www.splicedwire.com, April 14, 1999 at the Prescott Hotel in San Francisco ) David Cronenberg: As far back as Alien, for example, which totally ripped off things from my movie Shivers – Shivers featured a parasite that lives in your body, bursts out of your chests, jumps onto your face, and jumps down your mouth, and suddenly you see this in a studio film, which was hugely successful, Alien. The writer of the script, Dan O’Bannon, had seen Shivers, we know that he had seen my movie and, shall we say, appropriated it. So this is not new stuff for me. (http://collider.com/david-cronenberg-fantastic-four-alien/ February 14th 2015) Graham Duff: Another thing I wanted to mention was Cronenberg's Shivers which came out in '75. People think it's sort of influenced by Ballard, but it's actually contemporaneous with with Ballard. I wondered how much that was on your mind, had you looked at that before your started making the film? Ben Wheatley: Yeah, totally, I watched it, and I've seen it obviously many times and I watched it before doing it and I was really surprised about how similar it is in plot and there's something that's never gotten, gotten to the bottom of, of whether or not which came first and it's obviously, if the book is published in '75. the film, the film's obviously shot in '74. There's something really weird going on, you know, that, that they could be so close to each other, so I don't know. I mean, I kind of feel, that there, that Shivers is influenced by High-Rise but, I know that I come from a position of a mad, I don't know, I've got a mental picture that Ballard is always before Cronenberg, but they are contemporaries so Graham Duff: I suppose Ballard's concerns were in the books lead up to Hi-Rise anyway, so probably influenced. I was think probably said about Canadian sensibilities , that English sensibilities in that er, Shivers opens up with somebody sort of murdering a teenage schoolgirl, I don't quite know why but, whereas er, High-Rise opens up with a man eating a dog, and I think, perhaps where our English sensibilities, that's a bit more extreme, I don't know Ben Wheatley: But more shocking. That's interesting, yeah. But I think the thing in Shivers, they they they had a, you know, they had a kind of B movie issue, which is like have you introduced the madness, the madness is the slugs isn't it, Graham Duff: yeah Ben Wheatley: which is kind of as silly as not introducing it at all, which we do in this, but it's kind of like, I think that, I can see how that, that kind of, that's their sci-fi solution to that moment, whereas Ballard doesn't give a fuck about it, and in the book, it just happens. Graham Duff: yeah, Ben Wheatley: There's no explanation, you know (High-Rise Q&A with Ben Wheatley) Facebook, 2 December 2015 Mike H:"Having a Dog for Dinner" ... a pretty knowledgeable review of High-Rise by Michael Bonner for Uncut magazine: http://www.uncut.co.uk Mike B: Thanks for pointing out this review Mike. It mentions that while Ballard was constructing the novel High-Rise, Cronenberg was hatching the film Shivers which deals with very similar themes. At the Brighton showing of High-Rise Ben Wheatley made the same link, marvelling that such synchronicity was possible -- he kept thinking Cronenberg must have been influenced by Ballard. Dominic Kulcsar: Does anyone know what month was the novel was released? David Pringle 13th November 1975 -- its 40th anniversary of publication was last month, the day of the Paris terrorist attacks! Dominic Kulcsar: hmm, Shivers was released October 10, 1975, so it sounds to me like idea parallelism (which happens quite a bit in Cronenberg's reality) David Pringle: Indeed, _Shivers_ preceded _High-Rise_ by about a month. David Cronenberg: Amongst the early film festivals that I went to as a beginning film maker, er, one was Hoff, in Germans, right near the border between East and West Germany, and it was a very interesting festival and it it it there was there were a lot of science fiction films there, not only science fiction films. It was a very good little festival, and I, I showed an in, they did a small retrospective, you know, you only have to do three movies and you have a retrospective immediately, you know. So erm, they showed Shivers there, sometime after it had been made, I can't remember the era, maybe I had already made scanners possibly, erm, so they would have showed Shivers, Rabid and a couple of other films, and then I talked to the audience after we screened Shivers and a a member of the audience, a German, mm, I don't know, I don't know if he was a filmmaker or student or whatever. He stood up and he was very angry, and he said "How dare you show this movie, because it's so obviously stolen everything from the movie Alien". And I said 'What do you mean?". He said "Well you know" in this movie, you have the same thing in Alien, the parasites in the chest, they use a corrosive fluid that burns through the chest and then the parasites jump on the face and then the parasites go in the mouth. That's just like Alien" "I said, you know, this movie was made before Alien" he said, oh, he said" now we know who the thief is" So that was, that's, now, my understanding is that Dan O'Bannon who wrote Alien was very familiar with the scripts that I wrote for Shivers and Rabid and was very familiar with Shivers the movie and the feeling is that he appropriated some of the imagery of of of Shivers because there are these very great similarities, not only that, um, the buildings, the building in er in Shivers, in which which all of this action takes place is called Starliner Towers which suggests a spaceship of course, so you could really see from seeing Shivers, it is not very big jump to go to a real Spaceship that has these parasites, er, infecting all of the inhabitants" (2003 David Cronenberg interview about Shivers (1975) & Rabid (1977) https://www.facebook.com/CultClassicShit/videos/314060235679380/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED) Serge Grünberg: When we discussed it in the past, you told me how the book had been important for you David Cronenberg: No, it hadn't, it was different with Crash. Here's the story. This is different from Naked Lunch, obviously. I had not read Ballard and the first time I had heard of Crash was once again ten years before I made [the film]. And I got a letter from a critic who I had done an interview with - I can't remember her name, I think I met her in Philadelphia or Chicago maybe, when I was on the road for some movie, it might even have been as far back as Scanners. And she said that I should really make a movie of Crash, this J. G. Ballard novel. And that was the first that I had heard of Ballard or Crash, I have to admit. I might have heard of Ballard as a science fiction writer. And I think she might have sent me a copy of it, and I didn't read it. And then Jeremy Thomas started to talk to me about Crash and he said he knew Ballard and that I should... He might even have talked to me about that before we did Naked Lunch together. And then I started to read Crash. And I read about half of it, and I put it away because it was disturbing and I just, I don't know, I just couldn't finish the book. And I said to Jeremy, 'I can't read this, I can't make this,' and so we forgot about it. And then at a certain point I picked up the book again, I don't remember why, and 1 read the other half, and then I read it again. And at that time, I felt that it was obviously an extraordinary book, but not one that you like, which didn't bother me. (David Cronenberg: Interviews with Serge Grünberg) Dominic Kulcsar: It is a bit of an odd question floating around. Should Cronenberg have found enough in Ballard's pre-High-Rise writings to find a germ of a story to make his Shivers seem to have some commonality with High-Rise? (Of course I realise that Cronenberg , although he'd heard of Ballard as a scifi writer, he hadn't read anything until he read Crash around the time of the Naked Lunch film production) David Pringle: Well, Dominic, there was a Ballard story called "The Man on the 99th Floor" (1962), about a guy who tries to reach the 100th floor of a high-rise building. But it was exceedingly minor, and the chances of Cronenberg having read it and been influenced by it are slim. The World Trade Center in New York City was opened in 1973, I believe. There were lots of other high-rise buildings going up around the world at that time -- so stories set in high-rises were kind of in the air. Two novel-length thrillers about such buildings were The Tower (1973) by Richard Martin Stern and The Glass Inferno (1974) by Thomas N. Scortia and Frank M. Robinson. The rights to both books were bought by Irwin Allen, and they were combined to make the movie The Towering Inferno, first released at the end of 1974...(JG Ballard Public group: https://www.facebook.com/10156425918085591/) (See more chat at J G Ballard on Facebook also: https://www.facebook.com/groups/2232690590/permalink/10156654766220591/)(24th March 2016 ) Rue Morgue: Do you feel th`t your version of The Fly has had a major influence on horror cinema? David Cronenberg: I don’t think just The Fly. I think my first movie, Shivers, had a huge impact because a lot of that was filched for Alien, for example. Dan O’Bannon was very familiar with Shivers. If you look at Shivers, which was a really low-budget film, I’m talking $185,000, and at Alien, you have a parasite that lives in your body, that worms its way out of it with corrosive fluids, that jumps on your face, that goes down your mouth to infect you - is that a coincidence? Except that Shivers was first. I think that not just The Fly, but a lot of my films have had a huge Influence, which is pleasing to me. You would like to get credit for your own innovation, and I suppose The Fly is a much better known film than Shivers, but nonetheless I think the ripples are there from most of those early horror films.(Rue Morgue #116 October 2011) Jamie Sherry: The first trailer for High-Rise played out like an advertisement for the building to prospective buyers, and also evoked the opening section of David Cronenberg’s Shivers. Ben Wheatley: Maybe you can tell me about this, because I’ve never managed to get to the bottom of it. Shivers was released in 1975 and High-Rise was published in the same year, and there does appear to be a grey area regarding which came first and whether there was any influence either way. People say they came out at the same time, but Shivers is so very close to High-Rise in so many ways, it feels to me like there must have been some kind of crossover, or that one of them was aware of the other. Jamie Sherry: My understanding is that they were produced in isolation to each other. This is a subject that interests me, where culture operates like ‘convergent evolution’ – two species developing in similar ways despite being independent of each other. It’s unlikely that Cronenberg heard about the novel – the amount of time it took to develop and make the film suggests it was hatched prior to 1975. But Ballard was also working on his novel for some time, as well. Ben Wheatley:I rewatched Shivers recently, having seen it as a kid. The only difference I can really see between them is that Cronenberg uses a kind of B-movie conceit – the sex parasites are an excuse for the increasing breakdown of the characters. We had the same issue when adapting High-Rise early on – we realised there isn’t anything explicit in the book that explains the breakdown, so you have to take a leap of faith with the narrative. The lack of motivation really doesn’t seem to be much of a problem in the novel, but with the film you’re asking something more of the audience. (http://www.ballardian.com/working-for-the-building-an-interview-with-ben-wheatley) Posted by wmmvrrvrrmm wmmvrrvrrmm 24 February 2016 at 01:52 Added another quote from David Cronenberg about Dan O'Bannon borrowing from his film Shivers for Alien from the A masterclass with David Cronenberg - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7MDG4lAXtc) to Alien vs Shivers vs High-Rise Alien Vs Predator: Requiem Ron Cobb's art Chris Foss' art H R Giger's Art Jean Giraud / Moebius' Art Ridleygrams Aliens in the comics Books and magazine, etc... Updates 2007-2012	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line15
__label__cc	0.523122	0.476878	Chadwick Helicopters C-122 Rainbow The single-seat C-122 Rainbow helicopter was a design of Russell Chadwick, and was intended to be available in kit form for amateur construction. Powered by a 40 hp Rotax 503 two-stroke piston engine, the prototype started tethered tests late 1985 and was mainly intended as a proof of concept/technology demonstrator. The design consists of a fibreglass shell enclosing a truss structure to which the engine, rotor mast, landing gear, and pilot's seat were attached. The skid-type undercarriage could be quickly fitted with wheels for ground-handling, or floats for operations from water. A prototype was constructed in 1985, and publicly unveiled at the Helicopter Association International annual convention the following year. Flight testing continued through 1987, with deliveries anticipated for that Autumn. In 1986 Chadwick formed Chadwick Helicopters International, Inc. at Sherwood, Oregon for development, marketing and production of the type in ready-to-fly form. These were to have a longer tail boom, new rotor blades and a tail rotor guard ring, but reportedly only two C-122S machines were built and further development was halted. Chadwick C-122 Engine: Rotax 503, 40 hp Rotor diameter: 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m) Rotor disk: 268.8 sq.ft (24.97 sq.m) Length (rotors turning): 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m) Length: 19 ft 0 in (5.79 m) Height: 7 ft 2.25 in (2.19 m) Weight empty: 253 lb (115 kg) Weight loaded: 500 lb (227 kg) Max speed: 94 mph (151 kmh) Cruise speed: 74 mph (119 kmh) Climb: 945 ft (288 m)/min Range: 120 mls (193 km) Seats: One pilot	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line16
__label__cc	0.546517	0.453483	Information for the General Public Information for Brain Tumor Patients Maria G. Castro, PhD Pedro R. Lӧwenstein, MD, PhD Dr. Castro's Publications (selected from >200) Dr. Lowenstein's Publications (selected from >200) Adult Brain Tumors Glioblastoma multiforme is the most common primary malignant brain tumor in adults. Approximately 10,000 people per year in the United States are diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme and a similar number of people die each year from this disease. Presenting symptoms range from the subtle to the dramatic including headaches, focal neurologic deficits, altered mental status, personality changes, and seizures. Treatment of these devastating tumors requires a multidisciplinary approach with contributions from neurosurgery, radiation oncology, and neuro-oncology and neurology. Despite advances in all avenues of treatment, prognosis remains poor. Five-year survival remains less than 5%. We continue to try to understand the biology of this disease and discoveries have led to several new approaches to treatment including immunotherapy and gene therapy. These novel approaches as well as ones sure to come hold promise for combating this devastating disease. Within the Departments of Neurosurgery and Cell and Developmental Biology at the University of Michigan, our team is developing novel experimental therapies with the aim of providing safe and efficacious approaches for the treatment of brain tumors. We anticipate that a significant improvement in patient survival will stem from the combination of several agents, including gene therapy, vaccination and small molecules. Pediatric Brain Tumors Brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in children. Pediatric glioblastoma remains one of the most difficult childhood tumors to treat, as 70-90% of patients will die within the first two years of receiving this diagnosis. Despite histologic similarities, pediatric GBM is a distinct tumor from adult GBM at the molecular level. In genome-wide sequencing of pediatric GBM tumors, distinct alterations are seen in pediatric GBM. Mutations are seen in the histone gene H3F3A in 36%% of pediatric tumors, but only 3% of adult GBMs (all in young adults). There is an overlap of these mutations with p53 mutations, and p53 mutations are more frequently seen than in adult tumors. Further, copy number alterations in genes within the “core pathways” of adult GBM are seen at much lower frequency in pediatric GBMs. Gene expression profiles of pediatric GBM tumors are also distinct from adult GBM tumors, with significantly increased expression of gene sets associated with PDGFRA amplification, and down-regulation of the gene sets associated with EGFR-amplification. Other clinical aspects of pediatric GBM point to biological distinctions including lower rates of malignant transformation of lower grade astrocytomas. As well, a significant proportion of pediatric high-grade gliomas are located in the thalamus and brainstem, which is only rarely seen in adults. Initial treatment for pediatric GBM is similar to adult GBM with attempt for radical resection followed by radiation, usually with concurrent temozolomide. However, the addition of temozolomide to irradiation in pediatric patients does not appear to offer a survival advantage as it does in adult GBM. National Brain Tumor Society American Brain Tumor Foundation Leah’s Happy Hearts ChadTough Foundation Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation St. Baldrick’s Foundation PHASE ONE Foundation University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Amrican Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Society for NeuroOncology (SNO) Society for NeuroOncology Pediatrics (SNO) American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Clinical Trials. Gov NIH Clinical Trials Subpages (1): Information for Brain Tumor Patients © 2014 Regents of the University of Michigan \| U-M Medical School	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line32
__label__cc	0.577664	0.422336	You are at:Home»Articles from Our Contributors»Dolphin Tale 2 Looks Fun & Family Friendly Dolphin Tale 2 Looks Fun & Family Friendly By Lisa M. Hendey on June 16, 2014 Articles from Our Contributors, Movies and TV, News, Culture, and Fun Since we like to keep you posted on movies that look good for the entire family, I thought I’d share today’s newly released trailer for the film Dolphin Tale 2: The film looks great: Warner Bros. Pictures and Alcon Entertainment’s “Dolphin Tale 2” continues the story of the brave dolphin Winter, whose miraculous rescue and recovery—thanks to a groundbreaking prosthetic tail—made her a symbol of hope and perseverance to people around the world and inspired the 2011 family hit movie “Dolphin Tale.” The film reunites the entire main cast, led by Harry Connick, Jr., Oscar® winner Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”), Ashley Judd, Kris Kristofferson, Nathan Gamble, Cozi Zuehlsdorff, Austin Stowell, and, of course, the remarkable dolphin Winter as herself. Charles Martin Smith, who directed “Dolphin Tale,” wrote the sequel and is again at the helm. It has been several years since young Sawyer Nelson (Gamble) and the dedicated team at the Clearwater Marine Hospital, headed by Dr. Clay Haskett (Connick, Jr.), rescued Winter. With the help of Dr. Cameron McCarthy (Freeman), who developed a unique prosthetic tail for the injured dolphin, they were able to save her life. Yet their fight is not over. Winter’s surrogate mother, the very elderly dolphin Panama, has passed away, leaving Winter without the only poolmate she has ever known. However, the loss of Panama may have even greater repercussions for Winter, who, according to USDA regulations, cannot be housed alone, as dolphins’ social behavior requires them to be paired with other dolphins. Time is running out to find a companion for her before the team at Clearwater loses their beloved Winter to another aquarium. Reprising their roles, Kristofferson plays Clay’s father, Reed; Zuehlsdorff is Clay’s teenage daughter, Hazel; Judd returns as Sawyer’s mom, Lorraine; and Stowell plays Sawyer’s cousin, Kyle. Champion surfer Bethany Hamilton, who herself has been an example of courage, appears as herself in the film. Oscar® nominees Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson (“The Blind Side”) are producing the film together with Alcon President of Worldwide Marketing, Richard Ingber, who brought the first project to the Company. Inspired by true events, “Dolphin Tale 2” is being filmed at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, the non-profit rescue and rehabilitation facility that Winter calls home. Warner Bros. Pictures will distribute the film and has slated “Dolphin Tale 2” for a September 19, 2014, release. Since I’m a huge Harry Connick, Jr. fan, this one will be on my “must see” list for September. Stay tuned! Copyright 2014 Lisa M. Hendey Brian K Kravec on June 17, 2014 23:37 I loved the first…looking forward to 2!	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line33
__label__wiki	0.822169	0.822169	No breaking seal of confession for abusers, church insists U.S. bishops hear pope on pro-life, transgender issues ‘Marxist communism’ returning to Spain, cardinal warns Bishops urge Central African Republic leaders to face challenges in 2020 Comboni Sisters in West Bank build bridges amid walls Rome-brokered peace deal increases chances of papal visit to South Sudan Mexican pilgrims hope papal visit will bring much-needed change A card with an image of Pope Francis is seen Feb. 11 next to images of the Our Lady of Guadalupe at a store close to the the basilica in her name in Mexico City. Pope Francis will arrive in the city Feb. 12 for a six-day visit to the country. (CNS photo/Carlos Garcia Rawlings, Reuters) By Junno Arocho Esteves • Catholic News Service • Posted February 12, 2016 MEXICO CITY (CNS) — With anticipation growing in the streets of Mexico City for Pope Francis’ visit, a group of local pilgrims found time to thank their “mother” and prayed that it would give their country a spiritual awakening. Final preparations were underway at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe Feb. 11 as workers installed scaffolding and chairs for the thousands of people expected to attend the papal Mass Feb. 13. Although countless security measures have made traveling to the basilica difficult, before the pope’s arrival, pilgrims from across the country continued to come to try to catch a glimpse and pray in front of the mantle bearing the miraculous image of Mary. A group of local farmers from the village of Nuestro Senor de las Maravillas were one of the countless groups waiting to enter the basilica’s Holy Door. Jose Gomez, one of the pilgrims in the group, explained that the pilgrimage was a tradition carried out by the farmers of his village for more than half a century. “We make this pilgrimage to give thanks to the Virgin Mary for everything that has gone well and to pray that it continues to go well,” Gomez told Catholic News Service. Devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared to St. Juan Diego in 1531, is a cornerstone of Mexican faith. Often referring to Mary as “madre” (mother), the pilgrims noted that the pope shares their filial devotion. For Gomez, the pope’s visit to the basilica is a touching honor. “It means a lot for us that he’s coming because he doesn’t go to just any country he wants. We’re really happy he’s coming,” he said. Jose Montier, whose grandfather was one of the first farmers to travel on the annual pilgrimage to the basilica, continues the tradition. To spend a few minutes walking to the basilica, he said, “is nothing compared to all that our mother gives us.” Montier noted that although the pope is “closer to (Mary) ” and “knows a lot more things compared to us indigenous people,” he still “considers her a mother just like we do.” “For me, the devotion he has to the image of the Blessed Mother makes me really happy,” he told CNS. “I’m very happy that he can come and give us his blessing, the people who believe in her.” Carrying a banner embroidered with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Maria Concepcion said she was grateful to God for the pope’s visit. She also hoped that it would provoke a change for the better in her country, which has suffered greatly due to violence, drug trafficking and political corruption. “We hope that he’ll reflect on what is wrong in our country and we’re also hoping for, at least, a spiritual change here,” she said. PREVIOUS: Cookies, sombrero and a shoe shine: Even reporters give pope gifts NEXT: No change to church guidelines on sexual abuse, Vatican says	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line34
__label__wiki	0.536692	0.536692	About the Ashlings Our Sound Wedding Ceremony Music Wedding Music: Your Special Song Wedding Reception Music Sample Reception List Central Oregon Weddings Indie Wedding Music Popular Wedding Music Featured Musician/Composer Eco/Sustainable Weddings Classical Wedding Music Incredible Central Oregon Wedding Photos Bend Wedding Music The Ashings are a wedding duo/trio featuring alto-soprano female vocals, classical/folk guitar, violin and/or cello. Based in Bend, Oregon, The Ashlings provide the perfect combination of elegant classical and time-honored pieces for your ceremony, with upbeat Americana, traditional and Irish songs for your reception and dinner. While many groups can provide one or the other, no other group in Central Oregon offers this unique combination. In addition, The Ashlings will learn your special song(s), a piece of music that you can carry with you long after your wedding day is over. Let us help you pick your songs. We’ve played 100s of weddings and we know what works! Its hard to know where to start. Here is a sample of some typical music choices. Please see our blog to get an idea of some other approaches that might be a better fit for you. Pre-ceremony music: Classical and contemporary mix of instrumentals only Wedding Party: “Can’t Help Falling in Love With You” Elvis – Instrumental Bridal Entrance: Pachelbel’s Canon in D – Instrumental Recessional – Couple Leaves the Ceremony: “All I Want is You” U2 – With Vocals Cocktail Hour: Upbeat Americana with vocals Here is a sample of our wedding repertoire. If you are looking for a song or piece that you don’t see on this list please contact us. We love learning new songs. Pachelbel’s Canon By far the world’s most popular wedding song for the processional, Pachelbel’s Canon never gets old. It brings out emotion in me no matter how many times we play it. This song was buried for centuries and then rediscovered in the 20th Century and first published in 1919. But it’s placement in a number of pop songs of the 90’s include Green Day’s Basket Case and the Pet Shop Boy’s cover of “Go West” is what really catapulted this song into the American consciousness. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Pachelbel-MIX.mp3 Wedding March – Mendelssohn Written by Felix Mendelssohn in 1842, this song feels the most cliche of all the typical wedding classical pieces, but it’s charm definitely lies in its history and tradition. Mendelssohn wrote this for a suite of pieces to Shakespeare’s play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” but this song was first popularized by the royals, namely Princess Victoria when she married Prince Rederick William of Prussia in 1858. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Wedding-March-MIX.mp3 Bridal Chorus – Wagner Also popularized by Princess Victoria’s wedding, and often coupled with Mendelssohn’s Wedding March, Bridal Chorus is also known as “Here Comes the Bride” and is one of the most popular processionals in the western world. It was originally written for the German opera Lohengrin in 1850, and was sung by the women of the wedding party in the opera as they accompany the protagonist, Elsa to her bridal chamber. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Bridal-Chorus-MIX.mp3 Trumpet Voluntary – Clarke Also known as the Prince of Denmark’s March, it was written by Jeremiah Clarke around 1700. It’s perfect for the procession or recessional after the couple has been presented to the guests. Great bit of trivia: it was the song played at the 1918 wedding of Charles, the Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. The Ashlings do a wonderful version of this song with violin or cello and guitar, but here is a link to Trumpet Voluntary played with trumpets, how it was originally intended. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Trumpet-Voluntary-MIX.mp3 Pavane – Fauré From the composer that brought the world the magnificent opera “Requiem,” Pavane is named for a sixteenth century court dance performed in pairs and influenced by the Spanish aristocracy. An emotional and melancholy piece, this elegant composition nonetheless sets the stage for a sophisticated ceremony. A great prelude while the guests are being seated. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Pavane-MIX.mp3 Eine Kleine Nachtmusik – Mozart In German this translates as “a little serenade” or more commonly known as “a little night music.” Originally written for a string quartet, this piece sounds authentic with guitar and cello (or cello and violin) as performed by The Ashlings below. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Eine-Kline-Nacht-MIX.mp3 Just Like Heaven – The Cure One of The Cure’s best songs, and one of the best songs to come out of the 80s for that matter, Just Like Heaven’s can stand on it’s own as a melodic masterpiece. Wait to you hear the intro and interludes on a cello! (Hear The Ashling’s version below.) Robert Smith says that on one level the song was written about a trip to the coast of southern England with his fiancé, but it is also about learning magic tricks as a child, and later seduction tricks as an adult. So in quintessential Cure fashion the song is playful, a little creepy, and little morose with more than a few strokes of brilliance. Perfect for the couple who remembers loving this song as kids or teenagers. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Just-Like-Heaven-MIX.mp3 She Moved Through The Fair – Irish Traditional This haunting Irish ballad written in mixolydian mode can be traced by to Mediaeval times, and was originally collected by Padraic Colum who rewrote the first few verses. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/She-Moved-Through-The-Fair-MIX.mp3 Into the Dark – Death Cab for Cutie An instant classic and one of the truly timeless gems that can be claimed by our generation, Ben Gibbard’s I Will Follow You Into the Dark is the band’s best selling single to date. In layman’s terms, Gibbard explores the conflicts of upbringing, love, death and the quest for some kind of spirituality outside of the Catholic Church. http://centraloregonweddingmusic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/Into-the-Dark.mp3 Venues Performed Timberline Lodge, Government Camp, OR Willamette Valley Vineyards, Turner, OR Allison Inn & Spa, Newberg, OR Sunriver Resort, Sunriver, OR Broken Top Club, Bend, OR Five Pine Lodge, Sisters, OR St. Edwards Catholic Church, Sisters, OR Suttle Lake Lodge, Sisters, OR Proghorn Golf Club, Bend, OR Eagle Crest Resort, Redmond, OR Brasada Ranch, Powell Butte, OR Oxford Hotel, Bend, OR Black Butte Ranch, Sisters, OR Big Yellow Barn, Bozeman, MT Playa de Coyote, Baja, MX Conway Ranch, Prairie City, OR Aspen Lakes Golf Course, Sisters, OR laurel {at} laurelbrauns.com five four one six zero four zero two four six Black Butte Ranch Weddings Gay & Lesbian Oregon Weddings Sisters Oregon Wedding	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line37
__label__cc	0.689371	0.310629	Six-wheel pickup T.Fotiadis SLT Range Rover 6×6 Berlin firm T.Fotiadis Design, specializing in the development of luxury yachts over 100 meters in length, unexpectedly introduced a six-wheel pickup on the basis of SUV Range Rover Vogue. The modification was named T.Fotiadis SLT Range Rover 6×6, in which the abbreviation SLT stands for “Superyacht Land Tender”. According to the idea of the head of the company – Greek Theodoros Fotiadis, such a vehicle is designed to help the owners of superyachts carry their baggage overland. Catalog Range Rover As a basis for the six-wheel pickup was taken long-range Range Rover. Specialists of the Berlin firm added a third axle to the car, and a cargo compartment was installed behind the passenger compartment. When decorating the model, T.Fotiadis Design specialists are ready to take into account any wishes of the customer, as the materials of finishing are offered as porcelain, crystal, and also a certain “liquid metal”.In the process of finalizing the width and height of the car did not practically change, but the length was increased to 6.2 meters. Among the engines available 4.4-liter diesel V8 with a capacity of 339 hp, a 5.0-liter compressor “eight” for a maximum of 565 forces, or a hybrid installation with a total return of 404 hp. Receiving orders for pick-up T.Fotiadis SLT Range Rover 6×6 will open in the summer of 2018, although the live car will be shown for the first time only in September at the yacht show in Monaco. Previous Previous post: Aston Martin Vanquish S Volante from Wheelsandmore S Atelier Next Next post: Details are known about the electric Audi e-tron The new Fiat Abarth 124 Spider 2017, prices and equipment At the Geneva Motor Show 2016, the premiere of the new Abarth 124 Spider on the basis of the model Fiat 124 Spider, which debuted in the fall of 2015 at an exhibition in Los… The G-Power company worked on the Mercedes-AMG G63 G-Power Atelier presented a program of improvements designed for off-road car the Mercedes-AMG G63. Tuners offer car engine to increase performance and establish special wheels.… New Corvette C8 will receive a mid-layout Concern GM is preparing a new Chevrolet Corvette C8, who will receive a revolutionary change in the structure. The premiere model is scheduled for 2018, but some details are known…	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line40
__label__cc	0.749775	0.250225	HERO CENTRAL: Food For Others Saves Families from Hunger \| News HERO CENTRAL: Food For Others Saves Families from Hunger Submitted by WUSA9 Web Staff Monday, July 1st, 2013, 12:33pm Topics: News FAIRFAX, Va. (WUSA9)--- "I get to go home and make something to eat for you know my little ones," said Lamar Edmonds on his first trip to Food for Others. The non-profit organization distributes free food from its warehouse. Edmonds gets bread, a package of food along with milk and eggs. The items are a part of the Emergency Assistance Program. Northern Virginia has about 90,000 people living in poverty. The number represents about 5 percent of the population in the area, according to the U.S. Census. Food for Others makes sure area residents won't have to suffer from hunger. "People are always going to experience emergencies. People's houses burn down, they may have experienced a job loss, someone will get sick in the family who is the major breadwinner," explained Roxanne Rice, Executive Director of Food for Others. Each month, Food for Others distributes food directly to over 2,000 families in Northern Virginia. Edmonds, 30, has been struggling to find a job. Social services referred him to the non-profit organization so he can feed his family in Alexandria. "I feel great. I feel excellent, you know what I'm saying? I'm not even going to lie to you. I mean it just lift my spirits up," Edmonds described his emotions at the warehouse. He is a full-time dad with two young children. "As soon as school comes out, I'm going to go get my daughter for the summer and let them have fun. I told them no need to pay for summer camps, I'll be the summer camp," he said. To help feed his family, Edmonds can return five more times over the course of the year. Each package of food is intended to last between three to five days. Meanwhile, he continues to look for a job. "All I need is an inch, I don't need the whole yard. Just an inch-- some type of help," he explained. The Food for Others warehouse receives donations from grocery stores, food banks and food drives. "One of the greatest things about working here is working with the volunteers. They are here because they want to be here. They're giving up their free time to work", expressed Rice. Nine people make up the full-time staff, while about 500 volunteers make up the bulk of the workforce. "It's great to be in a situation and an environment like that where, you know, someone's not always downing you. They're trying to help you," said Edmonds. Food for Others also distributes free food in two other main ways: 1. neighborhood sites in Northern Virginia. 2. local charitable organizations within its list of community partners. NOTE: Gannett Foundation has provided a grant to Food for Others. Produced/Written by: Elizabeth Jia WUSA9 & WUSA9.com	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line42
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Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, she first entered the music industry by recording demo tapes under the direction of record producer Evan Rogers in 2003. She ultimately signed a recording contract with Def Jam Recordings after auditioning for its then-president, hip hop producer and rapper Jay Z. In 2005, Rihanna rose to fame with the release of her debut studio album Music of the Sun and its follow-up A Girl like Me (2006), which charted on the top 10 of the US Billboard 200 and respectively produced the singles "Pon de Replay" and "SOS". She assumed creative control for her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) and adopted a public image as a sex symbol while reinventing her music. Its successful lead single "Umbrella" became an international breakthrough in her career, as she won her first Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration with Jay Z in 2008. After releasing four consecutive platinum studio albums, including the Grammy Award winner Unapologetic (2012), she was recognized as a pop icon. Her eighth studio album Anti (2016) and its lead single "Work" reached number-one on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100. Many of her songs rank among the world's best-selling singles of all time, including the singles "Umbrella", "Take a Bow", "Disturbia", "Only Girl (In the World)", "S&M", "We Found Love", "Diamonds", and "Stay" in which she is the lead artist, and her collaborations "Live Your Life" (with T.I.), "Love the Way You Lie" and "The Monster" (both with Eminem). With sales exceeding 230 million records worldwide, Rihanna is one of the best-selling artists of all time. Rihanna is the youngest and fastest solo artist to earn fourteen number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, and was named the Digital Songs Artist of the 2000s decade and the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade by Billboard. Among numerous awards and accolades, Rihanna has won eight Grammy Awards, twelve American Music Awards, twelve Billboard Music Awards and the inaugural Icon Award at the American Music Awards of 2013. Widely recognized for frequently reinventing her style, she received the Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from the Council of Fashion Designers of America in 2014. Forbes ranked Rihanna the fourth most powerful celebrity of 2012, and was named one of Time's "100 Most Influential People in the World" later that year. Robyn Rihanna Fenty was born on February 20, 1988, in Saint Michael, Barbados. Her mother, Monica (Braithwaite), is a retired accountant of Afro-Guyanese background, and her father, Ronald Fenty, is a warehouse supervisor of Afro-Barbadian and Irish descent. Rihanna has two brothers, Rorrey and Rajad Fenty, and two half-sisters and a half-brother from her father's side, each born to different mothers from his previous relationships. She grew up in a three-bedroom bungalow in Bridgetown and sold clothes with her father in a stall on the street. Rihanna's childhood was deeply affected by her father's addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol which contributed to her parents' strained marriage. As a child, she went through a lot of CT scans for the excruciating headaches she suffered: "[The doctors] even thought it was a tumor, because it was that intense." By the time she was fourteen, Rihanna's parents had divorced and her health began to improve. Rihanna grew up listening to reggae music and began singing at around the age of seven. She attended Charles F. Broome Memorial Primary School and Combermere High School, where she studied alongside future England cricketer Chris Jordan and future West Indies cricketer Kraigg Brathwaite. Rihanna was an army cadet in a sub-military programme; the singer-songwriter Shontelle was her drill sergeant. Although she initially wanted to graduate from high school, she chose to pursue a musical career instead. 2003-2004: Career beginnings In 2003, Rihanna formed a musical trio with two of her classmates. She was discovered in her home country of Barbados by American record producer Evan Rogers. Without a name or any material, the girl group managed to land an audition with Rogers who commented, "The minute Rihanna walked into the room, it was like the other two girls didn't exist". Rihanna went to Rogers' hotel room, where she performed renditions of Destiny's Child's "Emotion" and Mariah Carey's "Hero". Impressed, Rogers scheduled a second meeting with her mother present, and then invited her to his hometown in the United States to record some demo tapes which could be sent to record labels. She recorded the demo over the next year intermittently, due to only being able to record during school holidays. "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time" were two tracks recorded for the demo tape, which were eventually included on her debut album Music of the Sun. That same year, Rihanna was signed to Rogers' and Carl Sturken's production company, Syndicated Rhythm Productions. Rihanna's demo was shipped out to Def Jam Recordings, where Jay Brown, an A&R executive at the record label, was one of the first to hear the demo. Brown played the demo tape for rapper Jay Z, who had recently been appointed as president and Chief executive officer (CEO) of Def Jam. When Jay Z first heard the track "Pon de Replay", he felt the song was too big for her, saying "when a song is that big, it's hard [for a new artist] to come back from. I don't sign songs, I sign artists". Despite being sceptical, he invited Rihanna to audition for the label. In early 2005, Rihanna auditioned for Def Jam in New York, where Jay Z introduced her to music mogul Antonio "L.A." Reid. At the audition, she sang Whitney Houston's cover of "For the Love of You" (1987), as well as the demo tracks "Pon de Replay" and "The Last Time". Jay Z was absolutely certain about signing her after she performed her future hit single "Pon de Replay". His boss L.A. Reid was also impressed with her audition, telling Jay Z not to let Rihanna leave the building until the contract was signed. Reid left it to Jay Z and his team to close the deal which resulted in a six-album record deal with Def Jam. She waited in Jay Z's office till three in the morning to get lawyers to draft up a contract because he wanted to prevent her from signing with another label. Rihanna cancelled other meetings with record labels and relocated from Barbados to the United States to live with Rogers and his wife. 2005-2006: Music of the Sun and A Girl like Me After signing with Def Jam, Jay Z and his team did the A&R for Rihanna's debut album and spent the next three months recording and completing her debut album. She worked with different producers to complete her debut studio album, primarily Rogers and his production partner Carl Sturken. With several songs to pick as a lead single, "Pon de Replay" was chosen because it seemed liked the best song suited for a summer release. In May 2005, her debut single, "Pon de Replay", was released which charted successfully worldwide, peaking in the top five in fifteen countries, including at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and the UK Singles Chart. The song became a big club hit in the United States, peaking at number-one on the Billboard Dance Club Songs. Music of the Sun was released in August 2005. It debuted at number ten on the Billboard 200 and received a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting shipments of over 500,000 units. The album sold over two million copies worldwide. A second single, "If It's Lovin' that You Want", was not as successful as its predecessor, but reached the top ten in Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. Aside from her work in music, Rihanna made her acting debut in a cameo role in the straight-to-DVD film Bring It On: All or Nothing, released in August 2006. A month after the release of her debut album, Rihanna began working on her second studio album. A Girl like Me was released in April 2006. Rolling Stone felt that "the burning rock guitar of "Kisses Don't Lie" and haunted strings of "Unfaithful" help make "A Girl like Me much more likable." The album was a commercial success, charting in the top ten in thirteen countries. The album reached number one in Canada and number five in the United Kingdom and United States, where it sold 115,000 copies its first week. The album became her first to be certified platinum by the RIAA, after selling over 1,000,000 units. Its lead single, "SOS", was an international success, charting in the top five in eleven countries. The song reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and in Australia, her first to reach this chart position. "Unfaithful", the album's second single, reached the top ten in eighteen countries, including number one in Canada and Switzerland. Two more singles were released from the album: "We Ride" and "Break It Off". 2007-2009: Good Girl Gone Bad and Rated R In early 2007, Rihanna began work on her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad. With the help of producers Timbaland, Tricky Stewart and Sean Garrett, she embraced a new musical direction through uptempo dance tracks. Released in May 2007, the album charted at number two in Australia and the US and topped the charts in multiple countries, including Brazil, Canada, Ireland, and the UK. The album received the most positive critical reviews of her first three albums. The lead single, "Umbrella", topped the charts in thirteen countries and remained number one in the UK for ten consecutive weeks, the longest-running number one single since Wet Wet Wet's single "Love Is All Around" spent fifteen weeks at the top in 1994. It was Rihanna's first single to be named one of the best-selling singles worldwide, with sales of over 6.6 million copies. The songs "Shut Up and Drive", "Hate That I Love You" featuring Ne-Yo, and "Don't Stop the Music" were also released as singles, with the latter becoming an international hit. In support of the album, she began the Good Girl Gone Bad Tour in September 2007, with 80 shows across the US, Canada, and Europe. Rihanna was nominated for several 2008 Grammy Awards, winning Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for "Umbrella" alongside Jay Z, her first Grammy Award. During the late 2000s, Rihanna began experimenting with pop, dubstep and rock music while shifting her musical style and image away from the Barbados island girl. Throughout 2008, Rihanna performed on the Glow in the Dark Tour alongside Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, and N.E.R.D. Her third studio album's reissue, Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded, was released in June 2008 with three new songs: "Disturbia", "Take a Bow", and the Maroon 5 duet "If I Never See Your Face Again". All three were released as singles and charted highly, reaching peak positions worldwide. In August 2008, Rihanna and a host of other female singers, recorded the charity single "Just Stand Up!", the theme song to the anti-cancer campaign Stand Up to Cancer. "Live Your Life", a duet between T.I. and Rihanna, released that November, and topped the Billboard Hot 100. A remix album, Good Girl Gone Bad: The Remixes, was released in January 2009. Good Girl Gone Bad has sold over 2.8 million units in the United States alone, receiving a two-times-platinum certification from the RIAA. It is Rihanna's best-selling album in the country to date. The album has sold over seven million copies worldwide. By late 2008, Rihanna remained on the charts with her eighth single, "Rehab" and was named "Diva of the Year" by Entertainment Weekly for her "newfound staying power". On February 8, 2009, Rihanna's scheduled performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards was cancelled. Reports surfaced that then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown had physically assaulted her. He was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats. A leaked photograph from the police department obtained by TMZ.com revealed that Rihanna had sustained visible injuries. In early 2009, Rihanna began working on her fourth studio album, Rated R. Rated R was released in November 2009 with Rolling Stone stating that Rihanna "transformed her sound and made one of the best pop records of the year". Rated R featured a darker and more foreboding tone than Rihanna's previous albums. Rated R debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 181,000 copies in the United States, giving Rihanna her highest first-week sales in the US at that time. The album was supported by six singles including "Rude Boy", which was the biggest worldwide success from the album, topping the US Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks and reaching top ten positions in twenty-two other countries. 2010-2011: Loud and Talk That Talk In summer 2010, Rihanna collaborated with rapper Eminem on "Love the Way You Lie", which was a major worldwide success, reaching number one in over twenty countries. The song was Rihanna's seventh US number one of her career, making her the female artist with the fifth-most number ones in the chart's history. Reaching number two, the song became the biggest-selling song of 2010 in the UK, and the first of Rihanna's singles to sell over one million copies in the country. She also lent her vocals to "All of the Lights", a single from Kanye West's album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, alongside John Legend, The-Dream, Elly Jackson, Alicia Keys, Fergie, Kid Cudi, and Elton John. In October 2010, Rihanna switched managers, joining Jay Z's Roc Nation Management. Loud, Rihanna's fifth studio album, was released in November 2010. Its lead single, "Only Girl (In the World)", reached number one in fifteen countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States The album's second single, "What's My Name?", featuring rapper Drake, also reached number one in the US and UK. The third single, "S&M", reached number one on the Hot 100 following the release of its official remix featuring Britney Spears, becoming her tenth number one single. Rihanna set a record as the solo artist with the fastest accumulation of ten chart toppers. At the 53rd Grammy Awards, "Only Girl (In the World)" won the award for Best Dance Recording. "Man Down" and "California King Bed" were released as singles in May 2011 with moderate success. "Cheers (Drink to That)", which interpolates Avril Lavigne's 2002 single "I'm with You", was released as the sixth and final single from the album, reaching the top twenty in the UK and the top ten in the US. To promote the album, Rihanna embarked on her Loud Tour in June 2011, which sold out ten nights at The O2 Arena in London, the most sold out shows for a female artist in the venue's history. The tour was the seventh highest grossing tour worldwide of 2011. Rihanna's sixth album, Talk That Talk, was released in November 2011. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with sales of 198,000 copies and number one in the UK, selling 163,000 copies. The lead single, "We Found Love", topped charts in twenty-seven countries worldwide, peaking in the top ten in thirty countries and breaking many records worldwide. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for ten non-consecutive weeks, becoming Rihanna's longest-running number one single and the longest-running number one of 2011. The song was later named the 24th biggest hit of all time on the Billboard Hot 100. "You Da One" and the title track featuring Jay Z were released as the second and third singles from the album to moderate success. "Where Have You Been", the fifth single, successfully charted worldwide, reaching number five in the US and six in the UK. "Cockiness (Love It)" was released as the album's sixth and final single in a remixed form featuring rapper ASAP Rocky. 2012-2014: Battleship and Unapologetic In early 2012, two collaborations featuring Rihanna were released: Coldplay's "Princess of China" from the album Mylo Xyloto and Drake's "Take Care" from his album of the same name. In February 2012, Rihanna won her third Grammy Award for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 2012 Grammy Awards, and was voted the Best International Female Solo Artist at the 2012 BRIT Awards for the second consecutive year. March 2012 saw the simultaneous release of collaborations between Rihanna and Chris Brown: remixes of her song "Birthday Cake" and his "Turn Up the Music". The recordings received mainly negative responses due to the pair's history of domestic violence. In September 2012, "We Found Love" won the MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year, making Rihanna the first woman to receive the accolade more than once. Rihanna starred as Petty Officer (GM2) Cora Raikes in her first theatrical feature film Battleship, which was released on May 18, 2012. Loosely based on the game of the same name, both the film and Rihanna's performance received mixed-to-negative reviews; The New York Times said she was "just fine in the rather generic role". On August 19, 2012, Rihanna appeared in the first episode of the second season of Oprah Winfrey's American prime time television show Oprah's Next Chapter. The episode scored the second-highest ratings in the history of the Oprah Winfrey Network. Rihanna's seventh studio album, Unapologetic, was released in November 2012. In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with sales of 238,000, marking Rihanna's first number one album in the country. The album was Rihanna's third consecutive number one album in the United Kingdom and fifth in Switzerland. The lead single from the album, "Diamonds", reached number one in more than twenty countries worldwide, including on the US Billboard Hot 100, her twelfth number one on the chart. The album's second single, "Stay", featuring Mikky Ekko, reached the top five in over twenty countries, including number three on the Billboard Hot 100. As promotion prior to the album's release, Rihanna embarked on the 777 Tour, a mini tour of seven shows in seven countries in seven days. In February 2013 at the 55th Grammy Awards, Rihanna won her sixth Grammy Award, in the category Best Short Form Music Video for "We Found Love" (2011). Also that month, the Official Charts Company announced that Rihanna had sold 3,868,000 records in the past year in the UK alone, ranking at number one in the list of 2013 BRIT Awards artist nominees. Rihanna's fifth headlining concert tour, the Diamonds World Tour, began in March 2013 in support of Unapologetic. Rihanna appeared in the Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg comedy film This Is the End, released in June 2013. That same month, American hip hop artist Wale released a remixed version of his single "Bad" featuring Rihanna. In October 2013, Eminem released his Rihanna-assisted single, "The Monster", the fourth release from his eighth studio album The Marshall Mathers LP 2 (2013). With the song entering the UK Singles Chart at number one, Rihanna joined Elvis Presley and The Beatles as just one of three acts to have scored a number one single each year over seven consecutive years in the chart's history. The song also peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, which marked Rihanna's thirteenth chart topper. Rihanna appeared on Shakira's single, "Can't Remember to Forget You", which was released in January, 2014. 2015-present: Anti and acting career Following the release of Unapologetic and its accompanying tour, Rihanna aimed to take a hiatus from recording music stating; "I wanted to have a year to just do whatever I want artistically, creatively.? In January 2014, Rihanna began working on her eighth studio album. In May 2014, Rihanna left Def Jam to sign fully with Roc Nation, who had managed her career since October 2010. A year after Rihanna began working on the album she released the single, "FourFiveSeconds", featuring Kanye West and Paul McCartney. Two further singles followed its release: "Bitch Better Have My Money" and "American Oxygen"; both did not make the final track listing for her eighth studio album. In March 2015, Rihanna released a concept album based around the 3D animated film Home, which she starred in, alongside Jim Parsons, Steve Martin and Jennifer Lopez. "Towards the Sun" was released as the first single from the album. In late 2015, inked a $25 million contract with Samsung that would see Rihanna promoting Samsung's Galaxy line of products whilst Samsung would sponsor the release of Anti and its supporting tour. The Anti World Tour was announced in November 2015 and began in March 2016, with Travis Scott supporting in North America, and The Weeknd and Big Sean supporting at selected European dates. On January 28, 2016, Rihanna released her eighth studio album Anti exclusively through streaming service Tidal. The album peaked at number one on the US Billboard 200, becoming Rihanna's second number one and eighth top ten album on the chart. The album was supported by the release of four singles including the lead single "Work" featuring Drake, which topped the Billboard Hot 100. Further platinum singles "Needed Me" and "Love on the Brain" both peaked inside the top ten of the Hot 100. In 2016, Rihanna was featured on several singles. The first collaboration was Calvin Harris' "This Is What You Came For," which reached number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and number two in the United Kingdom. Rihanna was also featured on Drake's "Too Good" from his album Views and Mike Will Made It's single, "Nothing Is Promised". On June 27, 2016, Rihanna released "Sledgehammer", the lead single from the Star Trek Beyond soundtrack. On August 28, Rihanna was honored with the MTV Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. As of February 2017, Rihanna played the recurring role of Marion Crane in the fifth and final season of Bates Motel. The show received universal acclaim from critics. In 2015, it was announced that she would have a major role in the upcoming Luc Besson film, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, an adaptation of the comic book series Valérian and Laureline, which is scheduled for a 2017 release. In August 2016, Rihanna joined the all-female spin-off of the Ocean's Eleven franchise, called Ocean's Eight directed by Gary Ross, opposite Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway and Awkwafina. Music and voice Rihanna possesses a mezzo-soprano vocal range of three octaves and two notes. While recording tracks for her third studio album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Rihanna took vocal lessons from Ne-Yo. Speaking of the experience she stated, "I've never had vocal training, so when I'm in the studio, he'll tell me how to breathe and stuff... He'll call out these big fancy words: 'OK, I want you to do staccato.' And I'm like, 'OK, I don't know what that is.'" Her vocal performance on Loud (2010) received positive reviews from music critics. James Skinner from BBC praised Rihanna's vocals on the song "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" and wrote that her voice is powerful and that "it is Rihanna's vocal - at once commanding, soulful and vulnerable - that anchors the song, and Loud itself". Andy Gill from The Independent feels that "California King Bed" features her best vocal performance. In a review of Unapologetic, Billboard magazine wrote, "Diamonds finds Rihanna doing one of her throatiest, most impassioned vocals to date, on this inspirational pop ballad." Jon Caramanica of The New York Times stated, "over the years, as her game face froze in place, her voice cured into a weapon of emotional chill and strategic indifference. It's decidedly unfriendly, made to give orders". Rihanna's music has encompassed a broad range of genres; including dancehall, reggae and soca, as well as pop, R&B, dubstep, hip hop and electronic dance music. Some of her songs are also inspired through record sampling from other artists. With its provocative subject matter and lyrics, her musical career has been an experiment with new musical ideas and stated that she wants "to make music that could be heard in parts of the world that I'd never been to". Growing up in Barbados, she wasn't exposed to a lot of music, mainly reggae, hip-hop, and soca music. At the time of her debut, she recorded songs that were inspired by her Caribbean roots and described her early sound as "a fusion of reggae, hip-hop and R&B, with a little something different thrown in". Her early dancehall roots can be found on her debut album, Music of the Sun (2005), and its follow-up, A Girl like Me (2006). When she moved to the United States, she became exposed to a lot of American music "rock being one of them, and I fell in love with it. [Now] I love rock music." Music of the Sun demonstrates the influence of Rihanna’s musical heritage of the Caribbean. Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times complimented its combination of dancehall and reggae, who said, "Dancehall reggae sometimes seems like a furiously insular form of music, but ... Rihanna is only the latest singer to discover how versatile the genre's spring-loaded electronic rhythms can be". Her debut single, "Pon de Replay" features a dancehall-pop mixture that infuses a reggae style, while "If It's Lovin' that You Want" talks about a girl seducing a guy to be her boyfriend. Aiming for artistic growth, A Girl like Me expresses personal experiences that typical 18-year-old girls go through with ballads that were described as elegant and mature. During a review for Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine to write that Rihanna "finally figured out that she's a dance artist and the majority of the album is comprised of uptempo dance-pop" songs like "Push Up On Me" and "Don't Stop the Music". It represents a departure from the Caribbean sound of her previous albums, and is described as a turning point in her career. While the first half of the record shares a lot of 1980s pop influences with songs like "Don't Stop the Music" and "Shut Up and Drive", the second half retreats into standard R&B. Recorded after the assault by her then-boyfriend, Chris Brown, Rated R (2009) had a much darker tone and was filled with various emotions she experienced throughout 2009. In Loud (2010), Rihanna reflects on the fun and energetic vibe she had while recording the album. The album is a mixture of ballads, party anthems, and empowering love songs. Talk That Talk (2011) was similar to Rated R, as both contain hip hop, R&B, dancehall, and dubstep genres. Loud and Talk That Talk saw her explore sexuality in her work ("S&M" and "Birthday Cake") and return to her dancehall roots ("Man Down" and "Watch n' Learn"). She also branched out into house music with tracks like "We Found Love", "Only Girl (In the World)" and "Complicated." Rihanna has named Madonna as her idol and biggest influence. She said that she wanted to be the "black Madonna" and praised the singer for being able to constantly reinvent herself successfully throughout her career. "I think that Madonna was a great inspiration for me, especially on my earlier work. If I had to examine her evolution through time, I think she reinvented her clothing style and music with success every single time. And at the same time remained a real force in entertainment in the whole world." Another major influence on Rihanna's music and career has been Mariah Carey, whose song "Hero" she performed when Rihanna was still a teenager at her high school talent show. She revealed that Carey's song "Vision of Love" "was the song that made [her] want to do music" and that "everything Mariah did, [she] would try to do." She grew up watching videos of reggae legend Bob Marley on television because that's what they would play in the Caribbean. She stated, "He's one of my favourite artists of all time - he really paved the way for every other artist out of the Caribbean". She built a shrine in her home dedicated to the reggae legend and has covered Marley's "Is This Love" and Bob Marley & The Wailers' "Redemption Song" during her concert tours. During her childhood, she would go around singing Whitney Houston songs and "A Whole New World" into her hairbrush so much that her neighbors started calling her "Robyn Redbreast". She also stated that one of the first songs she remembers falling in love with was Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You" and that it "was really inspiring, and it made me develop a passion for music, so really, she’s partly responsible for me being here in this industry." Rihanna commented that Janet Jackson "was one of the first female pop icons that I could relate to" and that late R&B singer Aaliyah has a huge impact on her style and also complimented on the singers artistry as well. Watching Beyoncé on television with Destiny's Child also inspired Rihanna's musical career, who was chosen along with R&B recording artists Amerie and Teairra Marí, to give a tribute performance to the female group at the 2005 World Music Awards. Other musical influences and idols include Celine Dion, Grace Jones, Alicia Keys, Prince, Fefe Dobson, and Brandy. Rihanna takes influence from the different types of music she discovered when she came to America and revealed that rock music was one of the first genres she fell in love with. She commented, "as I grow older, I want to know more about music. I want to discover more types of music". She cited Brandy's fourth studio album, Afrodisiac (2004), as her main inspiration for her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007). In her early career, her music contained strong influences of Caribbean music, including reggae and dancehall. The music video of the song "Rude Boy" featured images inspired by her Caribbean roots. Videos and stage Rihanna has worked with music video director Anthony Mandler on more than a dozen music videos, the first being "Unfaithful" (2006). "We've done 16 videos together; they're not all tough, [...] Yeah, I mean, I'm known for the 'Disturbia's and the 'Russian Roulette's and things like that, but 'Only Girl (In the World)' is certainly an ethereal kind of empowering, beauty-filled video," Mandler said. Jocelyn Vena of MTV wrote, "Rihanna, like Madonna, also has a tendency to make truly thought-provoking music videos that fit the songs they represent. Smattered in between glitzier, more glamorous clips, Madge and Ri want us to think about bigger issues". Jon Bream of the Star Tribune commented "[i]n the tradition of Madonna and Janet Jackson, Rihanna has become the video vixen of the '00s ... Rihanna has perfected the pout, the long-legged strut and trend-setting hairdos that keep women and men alike checking her out on YouTube." George Epaminondas of InStyle considers Rihanna's music videos to be "cinematic" due to her "blend of lush island rhythms and swinging pop and ... mischievous sensuality." Tamar Anitai from MTV Buzzworthy listed "Disturbia" at number five on the "Buzzworthy's Top 5 Most Paranoid Music Videos" and said that "Paranoia never looked so supernaturally sexy!". Many of her music videos were shot as short films exploring issues such as love triangles, abuse, and substance abuse romance, including "We Found Love" and "Man Down". Her music video for "Umbrella" shows Rihanna's transition into adulthood and her newly adopted image. The "dark, creepy" scenes of "Disturbia" have been compared to Michael Jackson's Thriller. The video for "Russian Roulette" features Rihanna in a padded room playing a game of russian roulette with her partner. A scene of Rihanna being approached by a speeding car at night was compared to the altercation with Chris Brown. The Caribbean-inspired music video for "Rude Boy" was compared to rapper M.I.A.'s video "Boyz" by many critics for its colorful aesthetic similarities. In 2011, she released three controversial music videos about sadomasochism, rape, and domestic violence. "Man Down", which features Rihanna shooting a man in a train station, was criticized by the Parents Television Council. "We Found Love", which shows Rihanna and her love interest in a drug-filled unhealthy relationship, sparked criticism from the Rape Crisis Centre for its inappropriate message. But Charne Graham of the Houston Press defended the singer, asking, "Why should Rihanna's music videos get everyone riled up when others' equally sexual and controversial videos are in rotation? [...] she just like[s] to make music videos that give us something to talk about." She is the first woman to pass two billion cumulative views on the music video website VEVO. As of December 2016, she has accumulated over 10 billion views on the site. Denis Armstrong of Canadian Online Explorer commented on her performance at the Ottawa Bluesfest, saying "her show was a Disney-esque choreographed fantasy of non-stop hip-swiveling, sassy attitude and personal endearments and a string of funky, sugar-free hits." Her performance of "Disturbia" at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards was ranked tenth best on the MTV Video Music Awards, according to a Billboard poll. Her revealing leather costumes during her Good Girl Gone Bad Tour were highly criticized by Malaysia's conservative Islamic party, who recommended that her concert tour should be banned. Whilst commenting on her third album's accompanying tour, The Times compared Rihanna's stage wardrobe styling to that of Janet Jackson and called her "a vision of Ann Summers couture in thigh-high boots and a few scraps of black PVC." In the October 2011 issue of British Vogue, Rihanna said her performance outfits and appearances are all an act; "[t]hat's not me. That's a part I play. You know, like it's a piece of art, with all these toys and textures to play with". Known for reinventing her style and image, Rihanna's music and fashion sense are noted by the media. In 2009, New York magazine described Rihanna's early look as that of a cookie-cutter teen queen, noting she has the ability to shift looks dramatically and with great ease. Around the time of the release of her second studio album, A Girl like Me (2006), many critics felt that Rihanna's style, sound, and musical material were too similar to those of Beyoncé. In an interview with Look magazine, Rihanna spoke about comparisons to Beyonce: "Beyoncé is a great artist and I feel honored to be mentioned in the same sentence, but we're different performers with different styles". She revealed during Oprah's Next Chapter that Def Jam's pop-princess blueprint made her feel claustrophobic during her early years with the label. According to Rihanna, "I felt like they were giving me a blueprint. [...] They had a brand, they had an idea of what they wanted me to be without figuring out who I was." With the release of her third album, Good Girl Gone Bad (2007), Rihanna dismissed her innocent image for an edgier look with a new hairstyle, which was inspired by Charlize Theron's bob cut in the science fiction thriller Æon Flux (2005). She followed the likes of recording artists Janet Jackson and Christina Aguilera who also shed their innocent image for an edgier look and sound. Nico Amarca of Highsnobiety magazine wrote "over the course of her now 10-year career, [Rihanna] has undergone one of the most significant aesthetic metamorphoses the world has ever seen". Her image and fashion has changed several times with different hairstyles since the release of her third album. She commented that as a child she "used to watch her [mother] get dressed" and that her love and admiration for fashion started with her mom. When putting together her own wardrobe she stated, "It's become more about taking a risk ... I always look for the most interesting silhouette or something that's a little off." Jess Cartner-Morley of The Guardian wrote that "Rihanna's wardrobe is the most talked-about, influential and dissected in pop right now" and that whatever she wears "is immediately reproduced on the high street, because it sells". Country singer Miranda Lambert admires Rihanna's fashion and style stating, "I don't necessarily get inspired by the whole no-bra thing, but I love that you never know what she's going to wear. It always keeps you guessing, which makes her sassy and interesting." In an interview with Alexa Chung during Vogue Festival 2015, Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing praised Rihanna by stylistically comparing her to some of the biggest fashion icons in music history, such as Madonna, David Bowie, Michael Jackson, and Prince. Commenting on the cultural expectation for pop stars to be role models, she said "[being a role model] became more of my job than I wanted it to be. But no, I just want to make music. That's it". In a May 2013 interview with MTV, The Vagina Monologues writer and feminist Eve Ensler praised the singer, saying, "I'm a huge Rihanna fan, I think she has a kind of agency over her sexuality and she's open about her sexuality, she has enormous grace and she's immensely talented." Described as one of the sexiest women of her generation, she revealed that being a sex symbol is not a priority and that "it's definitely flattering, but also uncomfortable." Emily Hewett from Metro wrote, "Rihanna is quite possibly [the] most sexiest woman in the world. The 25-year-old songbird can grind like no other, pull off a provocative pose better than a Playboy pro." Her appearance has landed her on the cover of magazines such as Maxim, FHM, Rolling Stone and GQ. She has appeared in the top ten on Maxim's Hot 100 list and on FHM's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" several times. In 2007, she was tagged Venus Breeze's "Celebrity Legs of a Goddess" by Gillette, and was ranked second on People magazine's list of "10 Best Dressed Stars" the following year. In 2009, Glamour ranked her at number 17 on the 50 Most Glamorous Women and Esquire named her the Sexiest Woman Alive of 2011. In December 2012, Rihanna became the first woman to be featured on the cover of GQ magazine's "Men of the Year" issue and ranked fifth on Complex list of "100 Hottest Female Singers of All Time". The following year, VH1 placed Rihanna second on their list of "100 Sexiest Artists". Rihanna is well known for having a wide collection of small tattoos around her body. The 21 in total include two musical notes on the front of her ankle (now covered), a skull with a pink hair bow on the back of her ankle, a Pisces sign behind her right ear, a Sanskrit prayer going down her hip, a star in her left ear, the word "love" on her left middle finger, an Arabic phrase meaning "Freedom in Christ" on her ribcage area, a trail of stars going down the back of her neck, the phrase "shhh..." on her right index finger, the date 11.4.86 in Roman numerals on top of her left shoulder, a henna-style tribal dragon claw including hibiscus flowers inside her right hand/wrist, and a handgun under her right armpit. A gun tattoo was planned to be placed just below her shoulders but was ultimately located on her rib cage. In late 2009, Rihanna had the phrase, "Never a failure, always a lesson" inked onto her chest backwards as she wanted to be able to read it in the mirror; it is her "motto in life for everything". In mid-2010, the phrase "rebelle fleur" was tattooed onto the singer's neck. In 2012, a Christian cross was tattooed on her collarbone, the word "lover" in Tibetan above her left buttock. Rihanna covered the music notes on her ankle with a gun-shaped Egyptian falcon design. As a tribute to her late grandmother, Dolly, the singer had the Egyptian goddess, Isis, inked on her chest. In 2013, she had the Ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti tattooed on the side of her left rib cage. In 2015, Rihanna had "1988" (her year of birth) inked above her right ankle. In 2016, whilst with Drake in Miami, she had a shark inked above her left ankle. Drake had the same tattoo inked on his right forearm. Rihanna's first albums established her as a "Pop/R&B Princess" by media outlets. Nick Levine of Digital Spy described her third studio album Good Girl Gone Bad, as "the closest thing to a Thriller that 2007/08 is likely to produce". Her single "Umbrella", famous for its "ella ella" hook, is considered by Rolling Stone to be one of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Her 2011 single "We Found Love" was ranked by Billboard as the 24th biggest US Billboard Hot 100 hit of all time. The music video won a Grammy as Best Short Form Music Video and MTV's Video of the Year. Time magazine included Rihanna on its 100 Most Influential People in the World issue in 2012. Stella McCartney writes "She's one of the coolest, hottest, most talented, most liked, most listened to, most followed, most impressive artists at work today, but she does it in her own stride. She works hard, very hard. She gives to her fans, friends and foundation not just herself but her energy and spirit." On June 2, 2014, Rihanna was presented with Fashion Icon lifetime achievement award from Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), a special prize reserved for "an individual whose style has made a significant impact on popular culture on an international stage". In August 2013, Rihanna is placed at number 13 on Billboard's "Greatest Of All Time Hot 100 Artists" list, being its highest ranking newcomer. Billboard also ranked Rihanna the top Hot 100 artist of the 2010s decade. In 2014, Time magazine's pop stardom ranking metric, ranked Rihanna second in history, based on all-time chart performance and contemporary significance. Rihanna's work has directly influenced a number of contemporary artists such as Little Mix, Selena Gomez, Justin Bieber, Ellie Goulding, Tegan and Sara, Jessie J, Cover Drive, Fifth Harmony, Demi Lovato, Alexandra Stan, Grimes, Cher Lloyd and Willow Smith. Rihanna has an honorary title of Ambassador for Culture and Youth in Barbados. Additionally, Rihanna has become a dominating figure in social media and internet streaming, ranking at number one on Forbes' 2012 list of Social Networking Superstars. In 2013, Rihanna was also named the most influential pop star in the United Kingdom by UK channel 4Music. In February 22, 2008, former Barbados Prime Minister, David Thompson, launched the national "Rihanna Day" in their country. Although it is not a bank holiday, Barbadians celebrate it every year to honor Rihanna's success in the music industry. Rihanna has received numerous awards throughout her career such as 8 Grammy Awards, 12 Billboard Music Awards, 12 American Music Awards, 8 People's Choice Awards, among others. Rihanna received the "Icon Award" at the 2013 American Music Awards and the Michael Jackson Video Vanguard Award at the 2016 MTV Video Music Awards. She has sold over 230 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In the United States, Rihanna has sold over 10 million albums, while Nielsen SoundScan ranked her as the best-selling digital artist in the country, breaking a Guinness World Record for digital single sales of over 58 million as of 2012. On July 1, 2015 the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that Rihanna had surpassed more than 100 million Gold & Platinum song certifications. In doing so Rihanna has the most digital single awards and is the first and only artist to surpass RIAA’s 100 million cumulative singles award threshold. In the United Kingdom, she has sold over seven million albums, making her the third best selling female artist this century. Rihanna has accumulated fourteen number-one singles on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for the third most number ones in the chart's history. She has been named the top Mainstream Top 40 chart artist of the past twenty years by Billboard; she ranks first with most entries (36), most top tens (23), and most number ones (10). As of March 2014, Rihanna has sold over 18 million singles and six million albums in the United Kingdom. She is the tenth best-selling and the second best-selling female singles artist in the country, only behind Madonna and is second only to The Beatles for the most million-selling singles in the UK of all time. Her collaboration with Eminem, "Love the Way You Lie", together with "Umbrella", "Disturbia", "Only Girl (In the World)", "We Found Love", and "Diamonds", are some of the best-selling singles of all time worldwide. According to Billboard, her total album sales stand at 54 million copies sold worldwide. In February 2017, Rihanna surpassed Elvis Presley as the best-selling solo artist of all time in certified units. Rihanna has ventured into other businesses and industries. In October 2005, Rihanna struck an endorsement deal (her first of many) with Secret Body Spray. In 2010, Rihanna featured in the Optus commercial, in conjunction with Optus supporting Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour. The same year Rihanna also featured in the Kodak commercial along with rapper Pitbull. In October 2010, the singer released an eponymous book. The book, featured photos from Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour and served as an accompaniment to her fourth studio album Rated R (2009). Rihanna's first fragrance, "Reb'l Fleur", was released in January 2011. The product became highly successful, according to Rolling Stone, Reb'l Fleur was a financial success and was expected to gross US$80 million at retail by the end of 2011. In 2011, Nivea celebrated its "100 Years of Skincare" festivities which featured several performances from Rihanna. Rihanna's song "California King Bed" was featured as a part of the "100 Years of Skincare" commercial campaign. Rihanna also became the face of Vita Coco in 2011. Rihanna's second fragrance, "Rebelle", was released in February 2012. The promotional campaign for Rebelle, was shot by director, Anthony Mandler, who also shot the promotional campaign for Reb'l Fleur. In November 2012, Rihanna released her third fragrance, "Nude". In 2013, the singer collaborated with MAC Cosmetics and released her own summer, fall and holiday lines of makeup called "RiRi hearts MAC". In July 2013, lager production company Budweiser announced that Rihanna had become a part of their global "Made For Music" campaign, also co-starring Jay Z. A commercial video was released featuring the singer and song "Right Now". Rihanna's fourth women's fragrance, titled Rogue was released on September 14, 2013. The singer announces to release a men's version the following year. It was announced on August 1, 2014 that September 2014 will see the release Rihanna's first fragrance for men, "Rogue Man". Also in July 2015, she announced her latest fragrance, RiRi by Rihanna. The scent features notes of passion fruit extract, rum absolute, sparkling cassis, and Italian mandarin and arrive at retailers in September 2015. Business endeavours On March 30, 2015, it was announced that Rihanna is a co-owner, with various other music artists, in the music streaming service Tidal. The service specialises in lossless audio and high definition music videos. Jay Z acquired the parent company of Tidal, Aspiro, in the first quarter of 2015. Including Beyoncé and Jay Z, sixteen artist stakeholders (such as Kanye West, Beyoncé, Madonna, Chris Martin, Nicki Minaj and more) co-own Tidal, with the majority owning a 3% equity stake. "The challenge is to get everyone to respect music again, to recognize its value", stated Jay Z on the release of Tidal. In November 2015, Rihanna and Benoit Demouy launched a beauty and stylist agency named Fr8me. The business based in Los Angeles was set up in order to assist artists in booking commercials, editorial shoots, ad campaigns, and red-carpet appearances. Speaking on the venture Rihanna stated "Hair, makeup and styling play an important role in creativity, I am very involved with that part of my process, so this agency was an organic thing for me to do." The roster includes Rihanna’s makeup artist Mylah Morales, wardrobe stylist Jason Bolden, hairstylist Patricia Morales, and Marcia Hamilton. In addition to Fr8me, Rihanna opened a photo agency called "A Dog Ate My Homework", which represents photographers Erik Asla and Deborah Anderson. Under her PUMA collection, she released the "Puma Creepers". Then in 2016, she released the PUMA Fenty Trainer, which premiered in red, white, and black, and then was scheduled to release in a grey "Quarry" colorway at midnight on June 14 via Packer Shoes; they sold for $180. The "Fenty Trainers" were available on June 15 in-store at both Packer Shoes locations. Early in her career, Rihanna made clear her interest in fashion and desire to work in the clothing design industry. In November 2011, Rihanna announced her first fashion venture with Armani. In February 2013, Rihanna presented her first women's spring fashion collection at London Fashion Week for British street fashion brand River Island, collaborating with her personal stylist Adam Selman. They published two more collections for the brand, a summer edition released on May 25, 2013 and an autumn edition released on September 10, 2013. The fourth and last collection for River Island, the winter edition was released on November 7, 2013. Rihanna went on to collaborate with numerous fashion house's including Dior, Stance and Manolo Blahnik. In December 2014, it was confirmed that Rihanna would become the creative director of the fashion sportswear Puma, overseeing the brand’s women’s line which will include collaborations in apparel and footwear. In the fall of 2015, Rihanna released her first trainer with Puma, the sneaker sold out online with three hours of its pre-sale launch. Over the next two years Rihanna released various other footwear in different colour ways and styles which were all met to positively by both critics and buyers. 2016 saw Rihanna debut her first clothing line in collaboration with Puma at New York Fashion Week, the collection was met with rave reviews from fashion critics. In the spring of that year, Rihanna debuted her second collection at Paris Fashion Week and was met with critical acclaim. Vogue Magazine praised the collection and Rihanna stating "Sometimes when a famous person tries his or her hand at another discipline, the results can be uneven. And yet there are those special cases when making the switch leads to a good surprise. Judging by the collection she showed today, we can add Rihanna to that list." Rihanna herself has become an fashion icon her. On June 2, 2014, Rihanna "will receive the Fashion Icon Award at the 2014 Council of Fashion Designers of America Fashion Awards" at the Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. and said regarding it "Fashion has always been my defense mechanism". Mexican singer Becky G has stated Rihanna is one of style icons to Latina magazine. In March 2015, it was announced that Rihanna was chosen as the new face of Dior; this makes her the first black woman to be the face of Dior. She has also branded into other fashion ventures. Her first television program, Styled to Rock, premiered in the UK in August 2012 on Sky Living. In the ten-week series, Rihanna, Nicola Roberts, Lysa Cooper, and Henry Holland assist up-and-coming British designers with their clothing lines. Meanwhile, the US version of Styled to Rock premiered on October 25, 2013 on Bravo. In 2006, she created her Believe Foundation to help terminally ill children. In 2007, Rihanna was named as one of the Cartier Love Charity Bracelet Ambassadors, with each celebrity representing a different global charity. To help raise awareness and combat HIV/AIDS, Rihanna and other public figures designed clothing for the February 2008 H&M Fashion Against AIDS line. In 2008, Rihanna performed a series of charity concerts entitled A Girl's Night Out to benefit the Believe Foundation. The concerts were made free for the public. Money from sponsors and advertisers were to be donated to provide medical supplies, school supplies and toys to children in need. In September 2008, Rihanna contributed to the song "Just Stand Up!" with fifteen other female artists, who shared the stage to perform the song live on September 5, 2008, during the "Stand Up to Cancer" television special. The proceeds from the single were given to the fundraiser. The television special helped raise $100 million for cancer research. Rihanna founded the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) in 2012, in honor of her grandparents, Clara and Lionel Braithwaite. Current programs include the Clara Braithwaite Center for Oncology and Nuclear Medicine at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados, and education programs. The CLF host an annual Diamond Ball?charity fundraiser event. The inaugural event in 2014 raised over $2 million, with the second raising over $3 million. On February 12, 2012, Rihanna performed a benefit show at the House of Blues to raise money for the Children's Orthopaedic Center and The Mark Taper-Johnny Mercer Artists Program at Children's Hospital. In November 2012, Rihanna gave $100,000 to food bank donation for Hurricane Sandy, On January 3, 2014 Rihanna was part of the MAC Viva Glam campaign, which benefits women, men, and children living with HIV/AIDS. In February 2017, Rihanna was named Harvard University's "Humanitarian of the Year" by the Harvard Foundation. On February 8, 2009, Rihanna's scheduled performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards was cancelled. Reports surfaced that then-boyfriend, singer Chris Brown had physically assaulted her. He was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. On March 5, 2009, Brown was charged with assault and making criminal threats. Due to a leaked photograph from the police department obtained by TMZ.com?which revealed that Rihanna had sustained visible injuries?an organization known as STOParazzi proposed "Rihanna's Law", which, if enacted, would "deter employees of law enforcement agencies from releasing photos or information that exploits crime victims." Gil Kaufman of VH1 reported the "nonstop coverage of the Rihanna/Brown case has brought up a number of issues regarding the privacy of alleged victims of domestic violence, including the decision by almost all major news outlets to divulge the identity of the victim?which is not typically done in domestic-violence cases" and discussed the controversial distribution of the leaked photograph. Rihanna was subpoenaed to testify during a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles on June 22, 2009. On June 22, 2009, Brown pleaded guilty to felony assault. Brown received five years probation and was ordered to stay fifty yards (46 meters) away from Rihanna, unless at public events, which then would be reduced to ten yards (nine meters). In February 2011, at the request of Brown's lawyer and with Rihanna's consent, Judge Patricia Schnegg modified the restraining order to a "level one order", which allows the singers to appear at awards shows together in the future. From December 2009 to 2010, Rihanna dated Dodgers baseball player Matt Kemp. Canadian rapper Drake has also dated the singer. In a January 2013 interview with Rolling Stone, Rihanna confirmed that she had rekindled her relationship with Chris Brown, though he remained under probation for the 2009 domestic violence incident. The confirmation followed persistent media speculation throughout 2012 regarding the pair's reunion. In a May 2013 interview, Brown stated that he and Rihanna had broken up again. In 2015, Rihanna briefly dated Travis Scott, a rapper from Missouri City, Texas. Rihanna has stated that she believes in God and that she focuses on obeying God and reading her Bible. She is a fan of Protestant charismatic minister Joyce Meyer. In 2015, Rihanna told Harper's Bazaar that her faith in God has helped her throughout her career. During her performance at the NCAA March Madness Music Festival, Rihanna expressed her disagreement with Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act that allows companies and individuals to use their religious beliefs as protection, in case of being accused of discrimination against LGBT people. Rihanna along with numerous other high-profile celebrities featured in an online video entitled "23 Ways You Could Be Killed If You Are Black in America". The video was released in partnership with the We Are Here Movement and called for action against police brutality. According to the New York Post, Rihanna filed a lawsuit against Peter Gunis and the firm Berdon LLP for $35 million but settled out of court for more than $10 million. Forbes began reporting on Rihanna's earnings in 2012, calculating that she earned $53 million between May 2011 and May 2012, for her music, tour, and endorsements. In 2013, Rihanna came in at number 13 on the list with a total earning of $43 million due to endorsements such as vita coco. In 2015 Rihanna earned $26 million, which resulted in her net worth rising to $160 million by 2016. In July 2016, Forbes magazine placed Rihanna at number 13 on their list of highest paid celebrities, earning $75 million between 2015 and 2016. Rihanna currently lives in Manhattan, New York City and owns a penthouse there that is worth $14 million. Music of the Sun (2005) A Girl like Me (2006) Good Girl Gone Bad (2007) Rated R (2009) Loud (2010) Talk That Talk (2011) Unapologetic (2012) Anti (2016) Bring It On: All or Nothing (2006) Coldplay Live 2012 (2012) Katy Perry: Part of Me (2012) This Is the End (2013) Annie (2014) Bates Motel (2017) Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets (2017) Ocean's Eight (2018) Rihanna: Live in Concert Tour (2006) Good Girl Gone Bad Tour (2007-2009) Last Girl on Earth Tour (2010-2011) Loud Tour (2011) Diamonds World Tour (2013) The Monster Tour (with Eminem) (2014) Anti World Tour (2016) Culture of Barbados Honorific nicknames in popular music List of Billboard Social 50 number-one artists List of Billboard Hot 100 chart achievements and milestones Music of Barbados List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna Artists with the most number-ones on the U.S. Hot 100 Artists with the most number-ones on the U.S. dance chart Rihanna (given name) Rihanna at the Internet Movie Database 1 Don't Stop the Music 2 Umbrella 3 Rude Boy 4 Disturbia 5 We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) 6 Unfaithful 7 Only Girl (In the World) 8 S&M 10 Shut Up and Drive A Girl Like Me You need to be logged in to comment Haiti Talks. The Podcast - Episode... In this inaugural episode of Haiti Talks the Podcast, former episode Paul Altidor chats with publisher of the Haitian Times, Vania Andre, on his tenure as ambassador, tips he has for his successor,... HAC Podcast - Haitian American... Welcome to the Haitian American Culture Podcast. Whether you are in the car or at home we welcome you to listen and give feedback to our podcast. Go check out our Gallery for the latest... The Suite Podcast with WANDA WANDAFounder/Host Wanda Tima-Gilles is a wife, blogger, vlogger and media maven. In October 2011, Wanda started “L’union Suite”, a Haitian-American blog dedicated to... Win a car every day this week! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Etiam malesuada fermentum massa, nec convallis nisi ornare quis. Proin non blandit dolor, vel accumsan velit. 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__label__cc	0.685942	0.314058	A requiem for the remnants of the old brigade. by Cmoni January 15, 2019, 1:18 pm 231 Views 0 Comments A prince or general who knows exactly how to organise his war according to his object and means, who does neither too little nor too much, gives by that the greatest proof of his genius. But the effects of this talent are exhibited not so much by the invention of new modes of action, which might strike the eye immediately, as in the successful final result of the whole. It is the exact fulfilment of silent suppositions, it is the noiseless harmony of the whole action which we should admire, and which only makes itself known in the total result.~ Carl von Clausewitz If we are to go with the saying that “politics is war by other means” then it would be fair to say that the Prussian General who theorised the above quote in his book On War III could have had a vision of President Muhammadu Buhari. The 19th-century military theorist renowned for his intellectual texts on the political and psychological aspects of war succinctly captured Buhari’s approach since he took charge. This strategy could ultimately determine the result of the war of attrition between him and the retired generals as we approach the 2019 presidential elections. A keen observer of Nigerian politics will agree that our politics is not yet organic, especially at the national level. Dating back to the second republic the leadership choices available to the hoi polloi have often been decided by political power blocs controlled by the military class. They determine most of the elected and appointed political office holders that gather in Abuja to superintend over the affairs of the nation. In their thinking and should I say justification, they have this mephistophelean dogma that having fought and shed blood for the country they have earned the epaulettes to maintain a perpetual stranglehold on our collective patrimony. They want to dictate who gets what, when and how much. Former presidents Obasanjo and Babangida have publicly echoed this severally. And to achieve this they had long cornered a huge chunk of the nation’s resources for themselves and their cronies especially in the sleazy and opaque oil sector of our mono-product economy. When TY Danjuma arrogantly informed an impoverished nation of his dilemma on how to spend the $500 million profit raked in from the sale of one oil block, I wondered if Bill Gates, then the world’s richest man had any single business entity he could sell at such an incredulous markup. Alongside Danjuma and the prominent ex-heads of state, there are others like General Aliyu Gusau, the unassuming but dangerous veteran of military intelligence who was indicted for corruption by the Rafindadi led NSO in 1985 before he was let off the hook after Buhari’s government was toppled. These men are stupendously rich, powerful and ruthless. They have a concentric modus operandi and there is almost always a fallback option. There is hardly a worthy boardroom in the corporate sector without their bagmen and they ensure that whoever sits on the throne will often do their bidding. They are responsible for many great and ignoble deeds. Look around you and almost every major infrastructure built across the country is traceable to them. From the airports to the refineries, the power stations, Abuja and the third mainland bridge in Lagos. They have killed friends, soldiers and civilians, truncated our democratic progress many times and looted the nation blind. A friend succinctly described them as the “Godless men who do not fear any God”, and together they form the nucleus of the ‘Nigerian Establishment’. However, Buhari who is also a member of the so-called ‘class of 66’ and equally a former Head Of State had been persistently knocking on the door of Aso Rock since 2003. Not as an outsider so to say but as an insider with a somewhat different ideology. He is not known for the wealth and affluence of the rest, and this made him a darling of the poor masses especially in the northern region that is riddled with ubiquitous poverty. He was rebuffed and his efforts thwarted thrice by this Obasanjo until he was forced to make some compromise in an effervescent alliance with Bola Tinubu. Then aided by former President Jonathan’s naivety, the North’s determination to take back power and the sheer momentum of the APC coalition the generals were lobbied into lending support, albeit reluctantly for their colleague to realise his long-standing ambition. Today, after almost four years in power Buhari is back in the trenches in a portentous battle to retain power against the wishes of the same mates who supported him in 2015. At face value, the outcome of the clash will appear to be a no-brainer. President Buhari will receive the Tyson treatment, knocked out before the end of round one by the group of disgruntled generals led by the indefatigable rabble-rouser himself former President Obasanjo. All they need do is to approve and a crisis that will bring Buhari to his knees will erupt. And make no mistake about it these men have the resources to destabilise Africa let alone Nigeria. However, this kind of battle is rarely fought in a linear manner. There are other asymmetries to be considered and of particular interest would be the loyalty of the security forces who wield enormous powers during elections. The partisan forces are also in the reckoning. They form a large section of the foot soldiers that disseminate truths, half-truths and fallacies to influence the masses who will troop to the polls. And lastly the leverage of western powers. Together this combination often determines the outcome of an election in my country. Nevertheless, these generals are not particularly concerned about national development, I mean they have contributed their bit and are mostly octogenarians now. They are more concerned about their vested interest and this perhaps explains why they threw their weight behind Atiku Abubakar who best represents an agglomeration of those interests. Having had direct and indirect dealings in the business of ripping off the nation with him over the years they simply couldn’t trust Tambuwal more. So they drafted Aliyu Gusau to teach Wike a political lesson in his home turf. Paradoxically in uniting behind Atiku, the generals shot themselves in the foot. The former Vice President is a bad product considering the trail of excess baggage around him which Obasanjo severally trumpeted to the world over the past decade. This much the Ebora Owu must have realised with the recent attempt to invalidate Atiku’s congressional indictment in the US. Even with Obasanjo’s international clout, there are things you simply can’t manipulate in a functional democracy where perception is critical. So try as they may, the campaign slogans, jingles and sound bites of the PDP cannot and will not cleanse the odorous stigma of corruption firmly imprinted on our consciousness. Such a candidate cannot defeat Buhari. The generals know this. They have little electoral relevance with the grassroots. What’s more, they are up against a fellow general, the fact that he may not have stolen does not preclude an awareness of the mechanism and dynamics of power politics. Buhari is a product of the system, an American trained strategist, a former everything you can think of and currently the commander in chief. With the millions of Talakawas willing to march at the command of his raised fist the old Czars know they have been outfoxed, boxed into a tight corner where they have little option but to negotiate from that disadvantaged position. Any other untoward contemplation will be risking a date with the Hague. As I wrote in a previous article there are over 40 oil licenses due to expire this year and the President holds the knife and the yam. That is the real meat of the matter. When the minister of state for petroleum resources Ibe Kachikwu recently stated that the federal government had already raised about $2 billion from early renewals because of the need to finance the budget it was a clear indication that Buhari is unwilling to take chances. Nevertheless, it is expected that the president will be pragmatic. The leaders of western nations whose interests are equally at stake here will see to this. While the political tittle-tattle goes on in the media, it is often at the table of negotiations hosted by foreign powers that the significant decisions on African leadership are made. They will remind Buhari that nobody is bigger than the nation. And no matter how inchoate in thought he may be about it he will be persuaded to adjust his position on some contentious areas for progress to be made. But most importantly, the President will be warned that he runs the risk of being wrongly judged by posterity if urgent measures are not deployed to tackle the surfeit of manifest blunders of omission and commission of his administration. So as we continue with the final lap of the campaigns, expect to see more of the devious subterfuge and political chicanery come to the fore as each camp attempts to gain some advantage. You can be sure that the current chartbuster on the CJN will be followed by others. They are part of the intrigues that make up the cruel duel for power in Africa. Buhari’s likely victory may not resolve the conflict of the Nigerian state. But long after he would have left the stage, Nigerians will look back and appreciate his tenure as one which despite the difficulties, proclaimed the requiem for the remnants of the old brigade including Buhari himself. They will remember it as the watershed in our history that galvanised vibrant and visionary young leaders like Ezekwesili, Sowore, Moghalu and Durotoye to courageously challenge the status quo. So by and large, February 2019 could herald a new dawn in our democratic journey. For we can only begin genuine transformation when we replace a ruling class dependent on state patronage with a new set of productive leaders solely determined by the proletariat. Ododgwu Cmoni Previous article Six atypical tips for staying trim. Next article Nature never hurries. The children of a lesser god. PODIUM, Rimshot, Why Saraki is scheming for 2023. Agenda For The New APC Leadership by Thisday A lesson from Adedayo’s sack. by Cmoni January 15, 2019, 1:18 pm THERE IS NOTHING ILLICIT ABOUT KAIKAI. GET OFF YOUR COLONIAL AND TEMPERANCE INDUCED IGNORANCE ABOUT THIS GREAT ANCESTRAL SPIRIT […] Six atypical tips for staying trim. Nature never hurries. 8 − four =	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line45
__label__cc	0.684076	0.315924	Home Adelphian (St. Bonaventure's College) College staff The Adelphian, 1943, vol. 33 m\£ St. Bonaventure's College Founded in 1856 by the Right Rev. J. T. Mullock, d.d., o.s.f. FOR RESIDENTIAL AND DAY STUDENTS Most. Rev. E. P. Roche, d.d., Archbishop of St. John's, Chairman. Most Rev. J. M. O'Neill, d.d., Bishop of Hr. Grace. Most Rev. M. J. O'Reilly, d.d., Bishop of St. George's. Right Rev. Monsignor McDermott, b.a., v.g. Hon. L. E. Emerson, k.c. C. J. Fox, Esq., k.c. J. G. Higgins, Esq., k.c. R. S. Furlong, Esq., b.l. J. A. Barron, Esq., ll.b. :d G. A. Frecker, Esq. b.a., b.e. Title The Adelphian, 1943, vol. 33 Publisher St. Bonaventure's College Place of Publication St. John's (N.L.) Physical Description 152 p. : ill. Description The Adelphian began in 1904 as the magazine of St. Bonaventure's College, a St. John's Catholic academy for boys. Since then, it has become a yearbook in the modern sense, and this is reflected in the content. From general material on the school, including news, sports, grades, poetry and prose, the Adelphian now is mostly made up of extensive photographs of students and their activities, including listings of students by year. Subject St. Bonaventure's College (St. John's, N.L.)--Periodicals Student newspapers and periodicals--Newfoundland and Labrador--St. John's School verse School prose Note Covers missing. Includes advertisements. -- Frequency: quarterly, 1904-06; three times a year, 1907-1924; annual, 1924-present. Indexed In Newfoundland Periodical Article Bibliography Location Canada--Newfoundland and Labrador--Avalon Peninsula--St. John's Time Period 20th Century Local Call Number LH 3 A3 1943 Resource Type Periodical Format image/jpeg; application/pdf Collection Adelphian magazine of St. Bonaventure's College Sponsor Centre for Newfoundland Studies Source Print text held in the Centre for Newfoundland Studies. Repository Memorial University of Newfoundland. Libraries. Centre for Newfoundland Studies PDF File (37.93 MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/adelphian/Adelphian_1943_V33.pdf Title College staff Description The Adelphian 1943 Vol. 33 PDF File (37.93MB) -- http://collections.mun.ca/PDFs/adelphian/Adelphian_1943_V33.pdf Transcript m\£ rm m St. Bonaventure's College ST. JOHN'S, NEWFOUNDLAND Founded in 1856 by the Right Rev. J. T. Mullock, d.d., o.s.f. FOR RESIDENTIAL AND DAY STUDENTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS: Most. Rev. E. P. Roche, d.d., Archbishop of St. John's, Chairman. Most Rev. J. M. O'Neill, d.d., Bishop of Hr. Grace. Most Rev. M. J. O'Reilly, d.d., Bishop of St. George's. Right Rev. Monsignor McDermott, b.a., v.g. Hon. L. E. Emerson, k.c. C. J. Fox, Esq., k.c. J. G. Higgins, Esq., k.c. R. S. Furlong, Esq., b.l. J. A. Barron, Esq., ll.b. :d G. A. Frecker, Esq. b.a., b.e. Archbishop's Address	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line47
__label__cc	0.728685	0.271315	image/tiff application/pdf (5) canadian newspapers -- newfoundland and labrador -- st. john's -- 20th century (5) folklore -- canada -- periodicals (2) folklore -- newfoundland and labrador -- periodicals (2) canada -- civilization (1) material culture -- canada (1) memorial university of newfoundland -- 20th century -- periodicals (1) All fields: Pragmatism 1998-02-05. MUN Gazette, vol. 30, no. 12 Memorial University of Newfoundland--20th century--Periodicals The official newspaper of Memorial University of Newfoundland. The Muse, vol. 12, no. 16 (16 March 1962) Memorial University of Newfoundland--Students--Periodicals; College students--Newfoundland and Labrador--St. John's--Periodicals; College student newspapers and periodicals--Newfoundland and Labrador--St. John's The student newspaper of Memorial University of Newfoundland, providing coverage of not only university life but also national and international news relating to students. Is planning possible under capitalism? Economic policy; Capitalism Socialism : from dream to reality : speech by a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, at s meeting at Moscow State University February 12, 1990 Perestroi?ka; Soviet Union--Economic policy--1986-1991 Socialism From Dream to Reality The Newfoundland Quarterly, volume 093, no. 1 (Fall 1999) The Newfoundland Quarterly, volume 93, no. 1 (Fall 1999) Letters of Caspar Henry Burton, Jr. World War, 1914-1918--Personal narratives, American; Missions, Medical--Newfoundland and Labrador--Labrador Edited by his brother Spence, this biography of Caspar Burton Junior contains mainly letters Burton sent to family and friends and gives great insight into the life of a heroic young man who died far too young from injuries suffered in the First... Report of the fourth annual meeting of the Atlantic Oral History Association meeting, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 23-25 September 1982 Oral history; History--Methodology This book contains the proceedings of a Atlantic Oral History Association conference, which was held at Memorial University in 1982. Included are texts of several of the papers presented, a list of participants, and the documents dealing with the... Report of the President, 1984-1985. Pt. II : Faculty activities Memorial University of Newfoundland--Periodicals; Universities and colleges--Newfoundland and Labrador--Periodicals This report provides information to Memorial University of Newfoundland's current and potential future stakeholders on projects, activities, and achievements of faculty, staff, and students, as well as statistics and financial information. Report of the President, 1986-1987, Pt. II : Faculty activities Among the Deep Sea Fishers, volume 70, issue 2 (July 1972) Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir, 1865-1940; International Grenfell Association; Medicine--Newfoundland and Labrador; Missions, Medical--Newfoundland and Labrador Culture & Tradition, vol. 11 (1987) Folklore--Canada--Periodicals; Folklore--Newfoundland and Labrador--Periodicals Culture & Tradition is published by graduate students in the Department of Folklore, Memorial University of Newfoundland. It is Canada's longest running, bilingual folklore journal. The journal was founded in 1976 by graduate students in the...	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line48
__label__wiki	0.855493	0.855493	History of CCA Submit a Conference Proposal Stephen J. Farnsworth Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington Stephen J. Farnsworth is Professor of Political Science and International Affairs and Director of the Center for Leadership and Media Studies at the University of Mary Washington. He is the author or co-author of six books and a 2017 recipient of the Virginia Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia. His books include “Presidential Communication and Character: White House News Management from Clinton and Cable to Twitter and Trump,” “The Global President: International Media and the U.S. Government,” “The Nightly News Nightmare: Media Coverage of U.S. Presidential Elections, 1988-2008,” “Spinner in Chief: How Presidents Sell Their Policies and Themselves,” “The Mediated Presidency: Television News and Presidential Governance” and “Political Support in a Frustrated America.” His political commentary has appeared in a wide range of media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, PBS NewsHour, Politico, C-SPAN and BBC World. All sessions by Stephen J. Farnsworth Keynote Panel: What lies ahead for this election year?	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line51
__label__wiki	0.69104	0.69104	London Protests against Mining Abuses in Colombia and Peru Photo Credit: Amnesty London Photography On 1 June Colombians, Latin Americans, British people, and people from other countries peacefully gathered outside the Colombian embassy in London in solidarity with the people of Tolima, Colombia, whose livelihoods are under threat by the devastating consequences posed by the La Colosa gold mining project. The picket outside the Colombian embassy was timed to coincide with a march in Ibagué (the nearest major city in the area) on 5 June, when thousands of people are expected to take to the streets to voice their opposition to the mining project. The demonstration was well-attended, during which slogans were chanted in English and Spanish to reinforce the message that water and food sovereignty are more important than gold. The protest culminated with this letter being handed to Colombian embassy officials by representatives of various social and environmental organizations from London. The letter expresses concern about the AngloGold Ashanti gold mining project, and presents several reasons why this project should not go ahead. Earlier on the same afternoon, a protest was held outside the Peruvian embassy, a short distance away, against environmental and human rights abuses of multinational mining companies in Peru. Protesters voiced concerns about the proposed Conga gold mining project, which was recently given approval by President Ollanta Humala despite pledging during his presidential campaign that he would not give the project the go-ahead. There were also calls to end the brutal repression in Espinar, in the Cusco region, where protests against an XStrata copper mine have lead to four deaths in recent days. According to OCMAL, Peru currently has 27 conflicts related to mining, more than any other country in Latin America. Colombia currently has 16 conflicts, but it is feared that it will soon overtake Peru if President Santos continues with his policy of handing over huge swathes of the country to mining multinationals, due to the environmental impacts and displacement of communities often caused by these projects. Further information can be viewed at the following media reports: http://www.demotix.com/news/1249988/colombians-and-environmentalists-protest-colombian-gold-mine-london Photos outside the Colombian embassy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/amnestylondon/sets/72157630017923072/ Photos outside the Peruvian embassy:http://www.flickr.com/photos/amnestylondon/sets/72157630014047204/ carta-embajada-1jun2012.pdf [Letter to Colombian Embassy about La Colosa - 1 June 2012] 856 Kb	cc/2020-05/en_head_0051.json.gz/line52

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