Question: What is the role of the emperor in Japan?

The Emperor of Japan serves as the head of the Imperial Family and the symbolic head of state, embodying the unity of the nation according to the 1947 constitution. Although he holds no political power, he remains a significant cultural figure, historically linked to the Shinto religion. In Japanese, he is referred to as Tennō, meaning "heavenly sovereign," while the term Mikado, once widely used in English, is now regarded as outdated.

Qin Shi Huang, the first ruler of the Qin dynasty, established China's imperial system of government in 221 BC after unifying the Seven Warring States through conquest, bringing to an end the Warring States period. For a time, the rulers of the warring states claimed nominal allegiance to an overlord king of the Zhou dynasty (c. 1050 – 256 BC), yet the Zhou kings' political power and prestige was less than that of later Chinese emperors.[8] The imperial system fell apart after the fall of Qin in 206 BC. However, following Han's victory over Chu, the King of Han reestablished the imperial system and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu (r. 202–195 BC).[9]

The source of the pacifist clause is disputed. According to the Allied Supreme Commander Douglas MacArthur, the provision was suggested by Prime Minister Kijūrō Shidehara,[8] who "wanted it to prohibit any military establishment for Japan—any military establishment whatsoever".[9] Shidehara's perspective was that retention of arms would be "meaningless" for the Japanese in the post-war era, because any substandard post-war military would no longer gain the respect of the people, and would actually cause people to obsess with the subject of rearming Japan.[10] Shidehara admitted to his authorship in his memoirs Gaikō Gojū-Nen (Fifty Years' Diplomacy), published in 1951, where he described how the idea came to him on a train journey to Tokyo; MacArthur himself confirmed Shidehara's authorship on several occasions. However, according to some interpretations, he denied having done so,[11] and the inclusion of Article 9 was mainly brought about by the members of the Government Section of Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers (GHQ) (連合国軍最高司令官, Rengō-Koku-Gun-Saikō-Shirei-Kan), especially Charles Kades, one of Douglas MacArthur's closest associates. There is, however, another theory by constitutional scholar Toshiyoshi Miyazawa that the idea came from MacArthur himself and that Shidehara was merely a pawn in his plans.[12][romanization needed] The article was endorsed by the Diet of Japan on November 3, 1946. Kades rejected the proposed language that prohibited Japan's use of force "for its own security", believing that self-preservation was the right of every nation.[13]

On August 12, the Emperor informed the imperial family of his decision to surrender. One of his uncles, Prince Asaka, then asked whether the war would be continued if the kokutai could not be preserved. Hirohito simply replied, "Of course."[235] As the Allied terms seemed to leave intact the principle of the preservation of the Throne, Hirohito recorded on August 14 his capitulation announcement which was broadcast to the Japanese nation the next day despite a short rebellion by militarists opposed to the surrender.[236]

After being closed for centuries to Western influence, Japan opened itself to the West during the Meiji Era (1868–1912), characterized by swift modernization and borrowings from European culture (in law, science, etc.) This, in turn, helped make Japan the modern power that it is now, which was symbolized as soon as the 1904–1905 Russo-Japanese War: this war marked the first victory of an Asian power against a European imperial power, and led to widespread fears among European populations (first appearance of the "Yellow Peril"). During the first part of the 20th century, while China was still subject to various European imperialisms, Japan became an imperialist power, conquering what it called a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere".

The Japanese Emperor Hirohito and all members of the imperial family such as Prince Asaka, were not prosecuted for involvement in any the three categories of crimes. Herbert Bix explains that "the Truman administration and General MacArthur both believed the occupation reforms would be implemented smoothly if they used Hirohito to legitimise their changes."[5] As many as 50 suspects, such as Nobusuke Kishi, who later became Prime Minister, and Yoshisuke Aikawa, head of the zaibatsu Nissan, and future leader of the Chuseiren,[clarification needed] were charged but released without ever being brought to trial in 1947 and 1948. Shiro Ishii received immunity in exchange for data gathered from his experiments on live prisoners. The lone dissenting judge to exonerate all indictees was Indian jurist Radhabinod Pal.

At the end of World War II, Japan was occupied by the Allied Powers, led by the United States with contributions also from Australia, India, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. This foreign presence marked the first time in its history that the island nation had been occupied by a foreign power.[4] The San Francisco Peace Treaty, signed on September 8, 1951, marked the end of the Allied occupation, and after it came into force on April 28, 1952, Japan was once again an independent country.

The monarchy of Canada is at the core of both Canada's federal structure and Westminster-style of parliamentary and constitutional democracy.[6] The monarchy is the foundation of the executive (Queen-in-Council), legislative (Queen-in-Parliament), and judicial (Queen-on-the-Bench) within both the federal and each provincial jurisdiction.[10] The sovereign is the personification of the Canadian state and is Canada as a matter of constitutional law.[11][12][17] The current Canadian monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952. Elizabeth's eldest son, Prince Charles, is heir apparent.

In addition to his many other roles, the emperor acted as the highest priest in the land who made sacrifices to Heaven, the main deities known as the Five Powers, and the spirits (shen ç¥ž) of mountains and rivers.[157] It was believed that the three realms of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind were linked by natural cycles of yin and yang and the five phases.[158] If the emperor did not behave according to proper ritual, ethics, and morals, he could disrupt the fine balance of these cosmological cycles and cause calamities such as earthquakes, floods, droughts, epidemics, and swarms of locusts.[159]

An autocracy is a system of government in which supreme power (social and political) is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject to neither external legal restraints nor regularized mechanisms of popular control (except perhaps for the implicit threat of a coup d'état or mass insurrection).[1] Absolute monarchy (such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Brunei and Swaziland) and dictatorships (such as North Korea) are the main modern day forms of autocracy.

As the House of Councillors can veto a decision made by the House of Representatives, the House of Councillors can cause the House of Representatives to reconsider its decision. The House of Representatives however, can still insist on its decision by overwriting the veto by the House of Councillors with a two-thirds majority of its members present. Each year, and when required, the National Diet is convoked at the House of Councillors, on the advice of the Cabinet, for an extra or an ordinary session, by the Emperor. A short speech is, however, usually first made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives before the Emperor proceeds to convoke the Diet with his Speech from the throne.[63]


Question: Which foreign currency option grants the right, but not the obligation, to purchase foreign currency?

A foreign exchange option, often abbreviated as FX option or currency option, is a financial derivative instrument that grants the holder the right, but not the obligation, to convert an amount of money from one currency to another at a predetermined exchange rate on a specific future date. This type of option falls under the category of foreign exchange derivatives.

Internationally, there are international treaty procedures, such as the procedures under the European Patent Convention (EPC) [constituting the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg)], that centralize some portion of the filing and examination procedure. Similar arrangements exist among the member states of ARIPO and OAPI, the analogous treaties among African countries, and the nine CIS member states that have formed the Eurasian Patent Organization. A key international convention relating to patents is the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, initially signed in 1883. The Paris Convention sets out a range of basic rules relating to patents, and although the convention does not have direct legal effect in all national jurisdictions, the principles of the convention are incorporated into all notable current patent systems. The most significant aspect of the convention is the provision of the right to claim priority: filing an application in any one member state of the Paris Convention preserves the right for one year to file in any other member state, and receive the benefit of the original filing date. Another key treaty is the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), administered by WIPO and covering more than 150 countries. The Patent Cooperation Treaty provides a unified procedure for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states. A patent application filed under the PCT is called an international application, or PCT application.

Patent licensing agreements are contracts in which the patent owner (the licencor) agrees to grant the licensee the right to make, use, sell, and/or import the claimed invention, usually in return for a royalty or other compensation. It is common for companies engaged in complex technical fields to enter into multiple license agreements associated with the production of a single product. Moreover, it is equally common for competitors in such fields to license patents to each other under cross-licensing agreements in order to share the benefits of using each other's patented inventions.

Capital flight occurs when assets or money rapidly flow out of a country because of that country's recent increase in unfavorable financial conditions such as taxes, tariffs, labor costs, government debt or capital controls. This is usually accompanied by a sharp drop in the exchange rate of the affected country or a forced devaluation for countries living under fixed exchange rates. Currency declines improve the terms of trade, but reduce the monetary value of financial and other assets in the country. This leads to decreases in the purchasing power of the country's assets.

The Soviet currency (ruble) was non-convertible after 1932 (when trade in gold-convertible "chervonets", introduced by Lenin in NEP years, was suspended) until the late eighties. It was impossible (both for citizens and state-owned businesses) to freely buy or sell foreign currency even though the "exchange rate" was set and published regularly. Buying or selling foreign currency on a black market was a serious crime until the late eighties. Individuals who were paid from abroad (for example writers whose books were published abroad) normally had to spend their currency in a foreign-currency-only chain of state-owned "Beryozka" ("Birch-tree") stores. Once a free conversion of currency was allowed, the exchange rate plummeted from its official values by almost a factor of 10.

"Pardon my French" or "Excuse my French" is a common English language phrase ostensibly disguising profanity as words from the French language. The phrase is uttered in an attempt to excuse the user of profanity, swearing, or curses in the presence of those offended by it, under the pretense of the words being part of a foreign language.[1] Although the phrase is often used without any explicit or implicit intention of insulting the French people or language, it can nevertheless be perceived as offensive and belittling by Francophone speakers.[2] However, most users of the term intend no such belittlement, but rather a light-hearted way of apologizing on-the-fly for having used a somewhat profane comment. In other words, it can be (and usually is) used as a very effective oral English device to indicate that the speaker does not intend to escalate the general level of profanity use.

The text of the English Bill of Rights of 1689 includes language protecting the right of Protestants against disarmament by the Crown. This document states: "That the Subjects which are Protestants may have Arms for their Defence suitable to their Conditions and as allowed by Law."[40] It also contained text that aspired to bind future Parliaments, though under English constitutional law no Parliament can bind any later Parliament.[41] Nevertheless, the English Bill of Rights remains an important constitutional document, more for enumerating the rights of Parliament over the monarchy than for its clause concerning a right to have arms.

The Swiss have a statutory right to bear arms under Article 3 of the 1997 Weapons Act.[30][31][32] Switzerland practices universal conscription, which requires that all able-bodied male citizens keep fully automatic firearms at home in case of a call-up. Every male between the ages of 20 and 34 is considered a candidate for conscription into the military, and following a brief period of active duty will commonly be enrolled in the militia until age or an inability to serve ends his obligation.[33] Until December 2009, these men were required to keep their government-issued selective fire combat rifles and semi-automatic handguns in their homes as long as they were enrolled in the armed forces.[34] Since January 2010, they have had the option of depositing their personal firearm at a government arsenal.[35] Until September 2007, soldiers received 50 rounds of government-issued ammunition in a sealed box for storage at home; after 2007 only about 2,000 specialist troops are allowed to keep the ammunition at home.[36]

A banknote (often known as a bill, paper money, or simply a note) is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by commercial banks, who were legally required to redeem the notes for legal tender (usually gold or silver coin) when presented to the chief cashier of the originating bank. These commercial banknotes only traded at face value in the market served by the issuing bank.[2] Commercial banknotes have primarily been replaced by national banknotes issued by central banks.

Trading globally gives consumers and countries the opportunity to be exposed to new markets and products. Almost every kind of product can be found on the international market: food, clothes, spare parts, oil, jewellery, wine, stocks, currencies and water. Services are also traded: tourism, banking, consulting and transportation. A product that is sold to the global market is an export, and a product that is bought from the global market is an import. Imports and exports are accounted for in a country's current account in the balance of payments.[2]

where

r

{\displaystyle r}

 is the continuously compounded risk free rate of return, and T is the time to maturity. The intuition behind this result is that given you want to own the asset at time T, there should be no difference in a perfect capital market between buying the asset today and holding it and buying the forward contract and taking delivery. Thus, both approaches must cost the same in present value terms. For an arbitrage proof of why this is the case, see Rational pricing below.


Question: How many representatives are there in Nigeria's House of Representatives?

The House of Representatives in Nigeria serves as the lower chamber within the nation's bicameral National Assembly, with the Senate being the upper chamber.

The first chairman of NTV was Olapade Obisesan, a lawyer trained in the United Kingdom and son of Akinpelu Obisesan, an Ibadan socialite and first President of Cooperative Bank, Nigeria. The first official director general was Vincent Maduka, a former engineer. Prior to his appointment, Maduka was General Manager of Western Nigeria Television, Ibadan, which was Africa's first television station. The NTA has been criticized by performing artists such as Becky Umeh for pressuring artists to align their expression with government propaganda goals.[2][3] The Guardian in its editorial of Sunday October 18, 2009 stated "The federal government-owned television network, the Nigeria Television Authority, (NTA) is arguably the largest of its type in Africa, but it is yet to have the operational freedom required to maximize its potentials". However, the NTA's monopoly on the Nigerian airspace was broken in the mid-1990s with the establishment of privately owned television stations and networks, notable among which is the Africa Independent Television.

Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power; 609 members serve five-year terms.[4] The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote.[134] Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote".[4] Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts".[4]

The legislative branch of government is the unicameral House of Assembly of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, seating 15 elected members representing single-member constituencies and six appointed members known as Senators. The parliamentary term of office is five years, although the Prime Minister may call elections at any time.

The Scottish Parliament is the national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood"[15] (cf. "Westminster"), is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members who are known as Members of the Scottish Parliament, or MSPs. Members are elected for four-year terms under the mixed member proportional representation system. As a result, 73 MSPs represent individual geographical constituencies elected by the plurality ("first past the post") system, with a further 56 returned from eight additional member regions, each electing seven MSPs.[16]

Though their bearers usually maintain the monarchical styles and titles of their sovereign ancestors, both their independent activities and their relations with the central and regional governments of Nigeria are closer in substance to those of the high nobility of old Europe than to those of actual reigning monarchs.

The procedure of the House depends not only on the rules, but also on a variety of customs, precedents, and traditions. In many cases, the House waives some of its stricter rules (including time limits on debates) by unanimous consent.[40] A member may block a unanimous consent agreement; in practice, objections are rare. The presiding officer, the Speaker of the House enforces the rules of the House, and may warn members who deviate from them. The Speaker uses a gavel to maintain order.[41] The box in which legislation is placed to be considered by the House is called the hopper.[42]

The quorum for the panels, committees and subcommittees is, nevertheless, one-third or three members, whichever the greater, as according to the Rules of Procedure. The three standing committees, namely, the Finance Committee, the Public Accounts Committee and Committee on Members' Interests, is exceptional that the quorums are 9, 3 and 3 respectively.

Further, Republic Act Number 8 of 2003has limited the number of Dinases in each district to three unless the criteria for establishing more than three is fulfilled. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture has no direct influence on any decisions regarding agricultural programs at the local level.

The West has been the most vocal in calls for reform of the Senate, in which Ontario, Quebec, and particularly Atlantic Canada are seen by some westerners as being over-represented. The population of Ontario alone (13.1 million) exceeds that of all the Western provinces combined. The total population of Atlantic Canada, however, is 2.3 million, and this region is represented by 30 senators. Thus, Ontario is under-represented, Quebec has representation proportional to its population and the Atlantic provinces are over-represented. Westerners have advocated the so-called Triple-E Senate, which stands for "equal, elected, effective." They feel if all 10 provinces were allotted an equal number of senators, if those senators were elected instead of appointed, and if the Senate were a body that had more direct political power (for example via an arrangement more similar to the structure of the Australian Senate or the United States Senate rather than the UK model), then their region would have more of its concerns addressed at the federal level. Other westerners find this approach simplistic and either advocate keeping the status quo or may support other models for senate reform. The combination of all of these issues has led to the concept known as Western alienation, as well as calls for Western Canada independence by various fringe groups.

The constitution of Botswana is the rule of law which protects the citizens of Botswana and represents their rights. The politics of Botswana take place in a framework of a representative democratic republic, whereby the President of Botswana is both head of state and head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Parliament of Botswana. The most recent election, its eleventh, was held on 24 October 2014. Since independence was declared, the party system has been dominated by the Botswana Democratic Party.


Question: How many representatives are there in the Nigerian House of Representatives?

The Nigerian House of Representatives, following the elections in April 2015, comprises 360 members. These representatives are elected from single-member constituencies using the first-past-the-post system, with each serving a term of four years. The Speaker of the House oversees the proceedings.

As a check on the regional, popular, and rapidly changing politics of the House, the Senate has several distinct powers. For example, the "advice and consent" powers (such as the power to approve treaties) are a sole Senate privilege.[23] The House, however, has the exclusive power to initiate bills for raising revenue, to impeach officials, and to choose the President in the event that a presidential candidate fails to get a majority of the Electoral College votes.[24] The Senate and House are further differentiated by term lengths and the number of districts represented: the Senate has longer terms of six years, fewer members (currently one hundred, two for each state), and (in all but seven delegations) larger constituencies per member. The Senate is informally referred to as the "upper" house, and the House of Representatives as the "lower" house.

The Resident Commissioner of Puerto Rico, the delegate elected by Puerto Ricans to represent them before the federal government, including the U.S. Congress, sits in the United States House of Representatives, serves and votes on congressional committees, and functions in every respect as a legislator except being denied a vote on the final disposition of legislation on the House floor, also engages in foreign affairs to the same extent as other members of Congress. The current Resident Commissioner is Pedro Pierluisi from the New Progressive Party and member of the Democratic Party of the United States.

In the 150-seat House of Representatives, the one-term incumbent Liberal/National Coalition government suffered a 14-seat swing, reducing it to 76 seats, a bare one-seat majority. Resulting from the national three percent two-party swing against the government, the Labor opposition picked up a significant number of previously government-held seats âˆ’ totaling 69 seats. On the crossbench the Greens, the Nick Xenophon Team, Katter's Australian Party, and independents Wilkie and McGowan won a seat each. On 19 July the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced a re-count for the Coalition-held but provisionally Labor-won Division of Herbert. At the start of the Herbert re-count, Labor led by eight votes.[22][23] The AEC announced on 31 July that Labor had won Herbert by 37 votes.[24][25][26]

The Gbara or Great Assembly would serve as the Mandinka deliberative body until the collapse of the Manden Kurufa in 1645. Its first meeting, at the famous Kouroukan Fouga (Division of the World), had 29 clan delegates presided over by a belen-tigui (master of ceremony). The final incarnation of the Gbara, according to the surviving traditions of northern Guinea, held 32 positions occupied by 28 clans.[32]

Membership of initiatory societies that have inalienable functions within the kingdoms is also a common feature of Nigerian nobility, particularly among the southern tribes, where such figures as the Ogboni of the Yoruba, the Nze na Ozo of the Igbo and the Ekpe of the Efik are some of the most famous examples. Although many of their traditional functions have become dormant due to the advent of modern governance, their members retain precedence of a traditional nature and are especially prominent during festivals.

Section Two provides for the election of the House of Representatives every second year. Since Representatives are to be "chosen... by the People," State Governors are not allowed to appoint temporary replacements when vacancies occur in a state's delegation to the House of Representatives; instead, the Governor of the state is required by clause 4 to issue a writ of election calling a special election to fill the vacancy.

The latest incarnation of the Assembly was established under the Good Friday Agreement of 1998, an accord aimed at bringing an end to Northern Ireland's violent 30-year Troubles. It is based on the principle of power-sharing under the D'Hondt method to ensure that Northern Ireland's largest political communities, the unionist and nationalist communities both participate in governing the region. The Assembly is a unicameral, democratically elected body comprising 108 members who are known as Members of the Legislative Assembly, or MLAs. Members are elected under the single transferable vote form of proportional representation.

Amongst growing calls for self-governance, such as the 1948 Accra Riots and unrest (which led to the arrest of the Big Six), the Coussey Committee was commissioned by the United Kingdom government. Its report led to the 1951 constitution, which gave the Executive Council an African majority, and created an 84-member Legislative Assembly, 38 of which were to be elected by the people, 37 representing territorial councils, six appointed to represent commercial interests and three ex officio members appointed by the Governor. Those representing commercial interests and appointed by the Governor were all white.[4]

Cuba's national legislature, the National Assembly of People's Power (Asamblea Nacional de Poder Popular), is the supreme organ of power; 609 members serve five-year terms.[4] The assembly meets twice a year; between sessions legislative power is held by the 31 member Council of Ministers. Candidates for the Assembly are approved by public referendum. All Cuban citizens over 16 who have not been convicted of a criminal offense can vote.[134] Article 131 of the Constitution states that voting shall be "through free, equal and secret vote".[4] Article 136 states: "In order for deputies or delegates to be considered elected they must get more than half the number of valid votes cast in the electoral districts".[4]

Each state chooses electors, equal in number to that state's combined total of senators and representatives. There are a total of 538 electors, corresponding to the 435 representatives and 100 senators, plus the three electors for the District of Columbia as provided by the Twenty-third Amendment.[7] The Constitution bars any federal official, elected or appointed, from being an elector. The Office of the Federal Register is charged with administering the Electoral College.[8] Since the mid-19th century when all electors have been popularly chosen, the Electoral College has elected the candidate who received the most popular votes nationwide, except in four elections: 1876, 1888, 2000, and 2016. In 1824, there were six states in which electors were legislatively appointed, rather than popularly elected, so the true national popular vote is uncertain; the electors failed to select a winning candidate, so the matter was decided by the House of Representatives.[9]


Question: Who was the actor that portrayed Grizzly Adams?

Daniel Francis "Dan" Haggerty, an American actor, was most renowned for his portrayal of the main character in "The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams." He was born on November 19, 1941, and passed away on January 15, 2016.

At age 10, Riggs was cast in his biggest role to date: Carl Grimes in The Walking Dead, an AMC horror drama television series.[8] Grimes, his family and friends fight to survive in a violent apocalyptic world populated with zombies and the few surviving humans, some of whom are even more diabolical and dangerous than the zombies themselves. The series is the highest rated in cable television history and has smashed all previous ratings records.[9] Riggs had previously worked with the show's executive producer Gale Anne Hurd on The Wronged Man.

Ralph George Macchio Jr. (/ˈmɑːtʃioʊ/; born November 4, 1961) is an American actor, known for his roles as Daniel LaRusso in The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai, Eugene Martone in Crossroads, Bill Gambini in My Cousin Vinny, and Johnny Cade in The Outsiders. Additionally, he competed on the twelfth season of Dancing with the Stars.

David Anders Holt (born March 11, 1981), known professionally as David Anders, is an American television and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Julian Sark on Alias, as Adam Monroe on Heroes, as John Gilbert in the TV series The Vampire Diaries, as Victor Frankenstein/Dr. Whale on ABC's Once Upon a Time, and as Blaine "DeBeers" McDonough on iZombie. Although Anders is American, a few of his roles have required him to use a British Home counties accent.

Pera's other acting roles include a disturbed pre-teen in an episode of Night Gallery, Silent Snow, Secret Snow, narrated by Orson Welles, and guest appearances on The Six Million Dollar Man, as Don Ameche's son in the episode Gidget Gets Married. Between 1969 and 1985 other guest-starring credits include two episodes of Lassie, Marcus Welby, M.D., the single episodes of Family Affair, Hawaii Five-O, and The Waltons among many others.

Lloyd portrayed the star character in the adventure game Toonstruck, released in November 1996. In 1999, he was reunited onscreen with Michael J. Fox in an episode of Spin City entitled "Back to the Future IV — Judgment Day", in which Lloyd plays Owen Kingston, the former mentor of Fox's character, Mike Flaherty's who stopped by City Hall to see him, only to proclaim himself God. That same year, Lloyd starred in the movie remake of the 1960s series My Favorite Martian. He starred on the television series Deadly Games in the mid-1990s and was a regular on the sitcom Stacked in the mid-2000s. In 2003, he guest-starred in three of the 13 produced episodes of Tremors: The Series as the character Cletus Poffenburger. In November 2007, Lloyd was reunited onscreen with his former Taxi co-star Judd Hirsch in the season-four episode "Graphic" of the television series Numb3rs. He played Ebenezer Scrooge in a 2008 production of A Christmas Carol at the Kodak Theatre with John Goodman and Jane Leeves.[citation needed] In 2009, he appeared in a comedic trailer for a faux horror film entitled Gobstopper, in which he played Willy Wonka as a horror-movie-style villain.[17] In October 2009, he did a two-man show with comic performer Joe Gallois in several Midwest cities.[citation needed]

Wayne Carson Newton (born April 3, 1942) is an American singer and entertainer. One of the best-known entertainers in Las Vegas, Nevada, he is known by the nicknames The Midnight Idol, Mr. Las Vegas and Mr. Entertainment. His well-known songs include 1972's "Daddy, Don't You Walk So Fast" (his biggest hit, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard chart), "Years" (1980),[1] and his vocal version of "Red Roses for a Blue Lady" (1965). His signature song "Danke Schoen" (1963) was notably used in the score for Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

In 1999, White returned to television in the UPN sitcom Grown Ups. The series was based around White as a young man striking out into adulthood. He also co-produced and wrote some episodes for the show, in which he starred as "J", a college graduate struggling to establish his role in life as an adult. The pilot episode featured another former child actor, Soleil Moon Frye, known for her role as Punky Brewster, as the girl whom he chose as a roommate.[14] The show received poor reviews from critics but debuted in second place in the ratings upon its premiere.[15] However, ratings soon dropped and UPN canceled the series after one season.[16]

In March 2015, English actor Dan Stevens was cast as the Beast in a live-action adaptation of the film, which was released on March 17, 2017.[11] The Beast was portrayed with a “more traditional motion capture puppeteering for the body and the physical orientation", where Stevens was "in a forty-pound gray suit on stilts for much of the film". The facial capture for the Beast was done separately order to "communicate the subtleties of the human face" and "[capture the] thought that occurs to him" which gets "through [to] the eyes, which are the last human element in the Beast.”[12]

Character actor Arthur Kennedy was cast as Emerson Cole. Kennedy was confined to shooting riding scenes until his knee healed, after spraining it while filming the fight scene with Jay C. Flippen, who plays Jeremy Baile, the leader of the Baile family. Julie Adams was cast as Laura while Lori Nelson was cast as her sister Marjie. Adams is best known for her role as Kay Lawrence in the 1954 horror film Creature from the Black Lagoon and Nelson played the female lead role in the 1955 sequel Revenge of the Creature, which were both directed by Jack Arnold. Rock Hudson played Trey Wilson, a professional gambler.

John Joseph Corbett (born May 9, 1961) is an American actor and country music singer.[1] Corbett began his acting career in television commercials. He is known for his roles as Chris Stevens on CBS' Northern Exposure and as Aidan Shaw on HBO's Sex and the City. He reprised the latter role for the film sequel Sex and the City 2 (2010). Corbett also portrayed the male lead, Ian Miller, in the romantic comedy film My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) and its 2016 sequel.


Question: Who performs "Blame It on the Bossa Nova"?

"Blame It on the Bossa Nova," a song penned by Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, became a significant hit for Eydie Gormé in 1963. It climbed to the seventh spot on Billboard's Hot 100 chart that year and reached number 23 in the UK. Interestingly, Eydie's biggest hit in the UK was "Yes, My Darling Daughter," which secured the tenth position on the charts.

On 29 March 1969, she represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest performing the song "Boom Bang-a-Bang",[14] written by Peter Warne and Alan Moorhouse, the song chosen from a selection of six by viewers of her BBC1 variety series Happening for Lulu and on a special show hosted by Michael Aspel in which she performed all six one after another. One song, "I Can't Go On...", written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, came last in the postcard vote but was later recorded by Cilla Black, Sandie Shaw, Polly Brown and Elton John himself as well as by Lulu. In Madrid, Lulu was accompanied by Sue and Sunny while the orchestra was conducted by Lulu's musical director Johnny Harris. Lulu later recalled:

"Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" was used in the film Spy Hard, which parodied the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Police Constable Pan-Am sings the opening lines at the end of his appearance in Series 2, Episode 4 of Monty Python's Flying Circus. It is on the soundtracks to Forrest Gump and Spider-Man 2, in the latter accentuating Peter Parker's blissful mood after abandoning his Spider-Man identity and its responsibilities. It was used in the Kevin Smith film Clerks II. The first episode of the second season of the popular medical drama Grey's Anatomy is named after the song. It is also used in The Simpsons, episode 16 of the fourth season, called "Duffless", at the end of the episode, while credits are presented. It was also used in a season 1 episode of Arrested Development entitled "Altar Egos". It was also used in the 2003 film The In-Laws starring Michael Douglas and Albert Brooks, which was a remake of the 1979 Peter Falk / Alan Arkin film.

Jim Keltner, the session drummer and percussionist, was not listed as a Wilbury on either album. However, he is seen in all of the group's music videos, and on the DVD released in 2007, he is given the nickname "Buster Sidebury". Overdubs to the bonus tracks "Maxine" and "Like a Ship" also credited as "Ayrton Wilbury", a pseudonym for Dhani Harrison. The name Ayrton was used in honour of F1 racer Ayrton Senna.[88] Jim Horn played saxophone on both albums. The lead guitar on the Volume 3 song "She's My Baby" was played by rock guitarist Gary Moore ("Ken Wilbury").[89]

The song's music video was directed by Geoff Moore in New York.[3] It features a man being lost on an island and putting a message in a bottle into the water. A woman implied to be his lover is shown on a dock reading a newspaper and at the end of the video receives and reads the message and smiles. The video also shows the band performing the song in what looks to be the interior of the bottle released by the man lost at sea, as well as Nina Persson looking out from the bottles neck and later through a periscope at the woman. Midway through the song, the band is also interviewed by several scuba equipment-wearing reporters who descend from a ladder into the room.

The song is a diss track directed at 50 Cent and Eminem, with lines such as "Like Bush and Saddam, I'm-a find out where Em Laden's hiding and bomb him first", "And God gave me his blessings to handle my business, All these wanksta snitches, let the nina blow kisses, If she some how misses, he gon' meet the mistress, And 'Clap that boy' like Birdman and Clipse".[citation needed] Another line, "Fuck the Dog, beware of Rule, 'cause I'm the problem", was also interpreted as being aimed at DMX.[citation needed]

"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" was written by McCartney as a pastiche of ska music. The track took a surprising amount of time to complete, with McCartney demanding perfectionism that annoyed his colleagues.[54] Jimmy Scott, a friend of McCartney, suggested the title and played bongos on the initial take. He demanded a cut of publishing when the song was released, but the song was credited to "Lennon-McCartney".[87] After working for three days on the backing track, the work was scrapped and replaced with a new recording.[86] Lennon hated the song, calling it "granny music shit",[88] while engineer Richard Lush recalled that Starr disliked having to record the same backing track repetitively, and pinpoints this session as a key indication that the Beatles were going to break up.[86] McCartney attempted to remake the backing track for a third time, but this was abandoned after a few takes and the second version was used as the final mix.[86] The group, save for McCartney, had lost interest in the track by the end of recording, and refused to release it as a single. Marmalade recorded a version that became a number one hit.[87] In 2004, an online survey of 1,000 people in the UK by Mars ranked the song as the worst ever.[89]

Four songs from the episode were released in the US as singles available for digital download: Taylor Swift's "Mean" performed by Jones and Salling,[9] Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up" performed by Michele,[10] Irene Cara's "Flashdance... What a Feeling" performed by Michele and Ushkowitz, and Celine Dion's "Because You Loved Me" performed by Ushkowitz as Rachel.[11][12] "I Won't Give Up" is also featured on the soundtrack album Glee: The Music, The Graduation Album.[13] A fifth song, an excerpt of "Always True to You in My Fashion" from Kiss Me Kate, is performed by an unnamed male student (Derek L. Butler) singing in a master class for Carmen; it was not released as a single.[14]

Andy Kellman of AllMusic selected the song as one of the album's highlights, citing the song and "Sorry" as tracks that "showed him making a deeper connection with his material and that, yes, he was progressing from performer to artist."[13] In a similar mode, Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly cited both songs and "Where Are Ü Now" for being "stripped down for maximum aerodynamics, the vocals mentholated and sweetened with a brushstroke of bass here, a snake-charmer synth line there."[23] Brad Nelson of Pitchfork praised the song and "Sorry" for being "vivid tropical house tracks that sound like sunlight drifting down through palm fronds. Bieber's voice often resembles a breath contorted inexpressively through notes; here, he lets it weightlessly fall through textures. They are his best performances to date, allowing him to flex a rhythmic playfulness without communicating an iota of legible emotion."[12] Sheldon Pearce of Complex called it "the album’s spiritual centerpiece,"[24] while Janine Schaults of Consequence of Sound selected it as one of the album's essential tracks.[25] Josh Duboff of Vanity Fair considered it "breezy and low-key, like “Where Are Ü Now?” with 35 percent less propulsion." He also found it to be "vaguely reminiscent of OMI’s omnipresent 'Cheerleader'," and that "Bieber sounds more relaxed and confident than perhaps ever before on the track."[26] Nick Messitte of Forbes agreed with the "Cheerleader" comparison, noting that it has "the intersection of the mellow and the danceable, the four-on-the-floor with the smooth."[27]

"What Do You Want From Me?" is the most popular single by New Order bassist Peter Hook's band Monaco. Released in 1997 from the band's debut album Music For Pleasure, it peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The band released two further singles from the album, but this remains the most successful. The song appeared in season 2 of the MTV cartoon series Daria as well as in season 1 of the UK television show Trigger Happy TV and on the show's soundtrack album. A music video was also shot for the song. The song is about Hook's failed relationship with comedian Caroline Aherne. The song was adopted by fans of Shelbourne F.C. in 2011.[1]

The song was featured on the soundtrack album for the 2014 romantic drama film Endless Love, starring Alex Pettyfer and Gabriella Wilde.[8] In February 2014, it was featured in a season three episode of Suburgatory, titled "The Birds and the Biederman".[9] It was also performed by the cast of Glee featuring Lea Michele, Darren Criss, Naya Rivera, Chris Colfer and Amber Riley in an April 2014 episode of the series, "Opening Night", and later released on a digital five-track EP titled Glee: The Music, Opening Night.[10] It also featured as soundtrack in EA Sports game, 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil and since 2013 it has the current theme tune to the BBCâ€™s football results programme Final Score.


Question: What characteristics define a computer as a general-purpose computer?

A general-purpose computer is characterized by its four essential components: the arithmetic logic unit (ALU), the control unit, the memory, and the input and output devices (I/O). These components are connected through buses, typically consisting of groups of wires. Each part contains a vast number of small electrical circuits, which can be either activated or deactivated through electronic switches. Each circuit represents a bit of information, with an "on" state denoting a "1" and an "off" state representing a "0" in positive logic. These circuits are organized into logic gates, enabling one or more circuits to influence the state of others.

Depending on the language and its implementation, primitive data types may or may not have a one-to-one correspondence with objects in the computer's memory. However, one usually expects operations on basic primitive data types to be the fastest language constructs there are.[citation needed] Integer addition, for example, can be performed as a single machine instruction, and some processors offer specific instructions to process sequences of characters with a single instruction.[citation needed] In particular, the C standard mentions that "a 'plain' int object has the natural size suggested by the architecture of the execution environment". This means that int is likely to be 32 bits long on a 32-bit architecture. Basic primitive types are almost always value types.

Of any two related concepts, such as A and B, A is a "generalization" of B, and B is a special case of A, if and only if

In computer science, digital image processing is the use of computer algorithms to perform image processing on digital images.[1] As a subcategory or field of digital signal processing, digital image processing has many advantages over analog image processing. It allows a much wider range of algorithms to be applied to the input data and can avoid problems such as the build-up of noise and signal distortion during processing. Since images are defined over two dimensions (perhaps more) digital image processing may be modeled in the form of multidimensional systems.

Conceptual models (models that are conceptual) range in type from the more concrete, such as the mental image of a familiar physical object, to the formal generality and abstractness of mathematical models which do not appear to the mind as an image. Conceptual models also range in terms of the scope of the subject matter that they are taken to represent. A model may, for instance, represent a single thing (e.g. the Statue of Liberty), whole classes of things (e.g. the electron), and even very vast domains of subject matter such as the physical universe. The variety and scope of conceptual models is due to then variety of purposes had by the people using them. Conceptual modeling is the activity of formally describing some aspects of the physical and social world around us for the purposes of understanding and communication."[3]

In computer science, formal specifications are mathematically based techniques whose purpose are to help with the implementation of systems and software. They are used to describe a system, to analyze its behavior, and to aid in its design by verifying key properties of interest through rigorous and effective reasoning tools.[1][2] These specifications are formal in the sense that they have a syntax, their semantics fall within one domain, and they are able to be used to infer useful information.[3]

In software and systems engineering, a use case is a list of actions or event steps typically defining the interactions between a role (known in the Unified Modeling Language as an actor) and a system to achieve a goal. The actor can be a human or other external system. In systems engineering use cases are used at a higher level than within software engineering often representing missions or stakeholder goals. The detailed requirements may then be captured in the Systems Modeling Language (SysML) or as contractual statements.

Computer controlled stepper motors are a type of motion-control positioning system. They are typically digitally controlled as part of an open loop system for use in holding or positioning applications.

Computer fraud is any dishonest misrepresentation of fact intended to let another to do or refrain from doing something which causes loss. In this context, the fraud will result in obtaining a benefit by:

In a broad scope, the term Information Systems is a scientific field of study that addresses the range of strategic, managerial, and operational activities involved in the gathering, processing, storing, distributing, and use of information and its associated technologies in society and organizations.[50] The term information systems is also used to describe an organizational function that applies IS knowledge in industry, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.[50] Information Systems often refers to the interaction between algorithmic processes and technology. This interaction can occur within or across organizational boundaries. An information system is the technology an organization uses and also the way in which the organizations interact with the technology and the way in which the technology works with the organizationâ€™s business processes. Information systems are distinct from information technology (IT) in that an information system has an information technology component that interacts with the processes' components.

Our example is based on a modified Post–Turing machine model of a Turing Machine. This model prints only the symbols 0 and 1. The blank tape is considered to be all b’s. Our modified model requires us to add two more instructions to the 7 Post–Turing instructions. The abbreviations that we will use are:


Question: Who was the Supreme Court judge who was previously the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court?

K. G. Balakrishnan, born on May 12, 1945, is a distinguished jurist who previously served as the Chief Justice of India. He also held the position of Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission of India, showcasing his extensive legal career and commitment to justice. Prior to these roles, Balakrishnan served as the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court, demonstrating his long-standing judicial experience at various levels of the Indian judiciary.

In November 2010, the Supreme Court of India invalidated a criminal complaint filed against PepsiCo India by the Kerala government, on the basis that the beverages did meet local standards at the time of the allegations. The court ruling stated that the "percentage of pesticides" found in the tested beverages was "within the tolerance limits subsequently prescribed in respect of such product," since at the time of testing "there was no provision governing pesticide adulteration in cold drinks."[99][100] In 2010, PepsiCo was among the 12 multinational companies that displayed "the most impressive corporate social responsibility credentials in emerging markets", as determined by the U.S. Department of State.[101] PepsiCo's India unit received recognition on the basis of its water conservation and safety practices and corresponding results.[102]

Hidayatullah was born in 1905 in the well-known family of Khan Bahadur Hafiz Mohammed Wilayatullah, an upper-class family.
His grand father Munshi Kudartullah was advocate in Varanasi.[4][5] His father was a poet of all-India repute who wrote poems in Urdu and probably it must have been from him that Justice Hidayatullah got his love for language and literature. Wilayatullah was Gold medallist of Aligarh Muslim University in 1897 besting famous mathematician Sir Ziauddin Ahmad, a favourite of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He served till 1928 in ICS and from 1929â€“33 as member of Central Legislative Assembly. Hidaytullah's elder brothers Mohammed Ikramullah (ICS, later Foreign Secretary, Pakistan) and Ahmedullah (ICS, retired as Chairman, Tariff Board) were scholars as well as sportsmen. He on the other hand excelled in Urdu poetry.[6][7]

The Constitution of India gives the power of deciding remuneration as well as other conditions of service of the Chief Justice to the Parliament of India. Accordingly, such provisions have been laid down in The Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Act, 1958.[10][11] This remuneration was revised in 2006-2008, after the sixth central pay commission's recommendation.[12]

The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom is the highest court in the land for all criminal and civil cases in England and Wales and Northern Ireland, and for all civil cases in Scots law.[3] The Supreme Court came into being in October 2009, replacing the Appellate Committee of the House of Lords.[4][5] In England and Wales, the court system is headed by the Senior Courts of England and Wales, consisting of the Court of Appeal, the High Court of Justice (for civil cases) and the Crown Court (for criminal cases). The Courts of Northern Ireland follow the same pattern. In Scotland the chief courts are the Court of Session, for civil cases, and the High Court of Justiciary, for criminal cases. Sheriff courts have no equivalent outside Scotland, as they deal with both criminal and civil caseloads.

During his term as the Chief Justice of India, the then-President of India, Zakir Husain died suddenly, in harness, on 3 May 1969. Then Vice-President of India Mr. V. V. Giri became the acting President. Later, Giri resigned from both offices as acting President and Vice-President to become a candidate in the 1969 Presidential Election. Hidayatullah then served as the President of India for a short period from 20 July to 24 August. The visit of President of the United States Richard Nixon to India made his Presidential term historic.

An all-party conference on the unrest was announced on 10 August along with a visit by an all-party delegation to the region to hold talks with various sections.[252] During the meeting held in New Delhi on 12 August, various suggestions were made for restoration of normalcy. On the suggestion of holding talks with separatists, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the decision to hold the talks will be taken based upon the prevailing situation.[253][254] Former Home Minister P. Chidambaram on 17 August blamed the state and union government for the unrest in the region which he stated was sliding into chaos.[255][256] A meeting of all opposition political parties in Jammu and Kashmir was held on the same day with resolutions demanding probe into an enquiry by a retired Supreme Court Judge over allegations of use of excessive force, special assembly session on the unrest and the start of a political dialogue with Pakistan about the Kashmir dispute were passed. During the meeting, the participants also decided that a delegation of opposition political parties will meet the President Pranab Mukherjee over the unrest.[257][258]

In December 1816, the Supreme Court of Indiana succeeded the General Court of the Indiana Territory as the state's high court. During its long history the Court heard a number of high-profile cases, including Lasselle v. State (1820). Originally begun as a three-member judicial panel, the Court underwent major reforms in 1852 and 1971, as well as several other reorganizations. Court reforms led to a majority of Supreme Court cases being delegated to lower courts, an enlarged panel of justices, and employment of a large staff to assist as its caseload increases.

A Rediff story in 2003 revealed clandestine links between R&AW and Mossad. In 1996, R.K. Yadav, a former RAW official had filed a disproportionate assets case in the Delhi High Court against Anand Kumar Verma, RAW chief between 1987 and 1990. Yadav listed eight properties that he claimed were purchased illegally by Verma using RAW's unaudited funds for secret operations. Although his petition for a CBI inquiry into Verma's properties was dismissed, Yadav managed to obtain more information using in RTI in 2005 and filed another case in 2009. In 2013, the CBI carried out an investigation of Verma's properties. Proceedings in the Delhi High Court revealed the names of two companies floated by RAW in 1988 - Piyush Investments and Hector Leasing and Finance Company Ltd. The firms were headed by two senior RAW officials V. Balachandran and B. Raman. Balachandran and Raman retired in 1994 and 1995 respectively. The companies were listed as trading houses that dealt in several kinds of minerals, automobiles, textiles, metals and spare parts, and also claimed to produce feature films. The companies purchased two flats in Gauri Sadan, a residential building on Hailey Road, New Delhi in March 1989 for â‚¹23 lakh.[106]

The Officers and Registrars are appointed by the supreme court with the approval from the Chief Justices of High Courts and the President and may make rules providing for the appointment by for their terms and conditions of employment that is granted by the Constitution.[75]

California formerly had justice of the peace courts staffed by lay judges, but began phasing them out after a landmark 1974 decision in which the Supreme Court of California unanimously held that it was a violation of federal due process (under the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) to allow a non-lawyer to preside over a criminal trial which could result in incarceration of the defendant.[62] The court specifically recognized that in the aftermath of Gideon v. Wainwright (1963), it made no sense to allow a case to be tried before a layperson incapable of understanding the legal arguments of the attorney to whom the defendant was entitled under Gideon. The remaining justice courts (as well as municipal courts) were eliminated by the passage of Proposition 220 in June 1998, which merged all lower courts within the state judicial branch into the superior courts (the courts of general jurisdiction). Under current California law, all California judges must be licensed attorneys.


Question: Who is the Supreme Court judge that was formerly the Chief Justice of the Kerala High Court?

K. G. Balakrishnan, the first judge from Kerala to ascend to the Chief Justice position in the Supreme Court of India, served an extended tenure of over three years, marking one of the longest tenures in the court's history.

The Supreme Court Building is designed by the renowned Japanese architect, Kenzo Tange, in a modernist style complimenting the Parliament Building.[80] The CDA Engineering and the Environmental Protection Agency supervised the engineering the Supreme Court's monument and civil works infrastructure throughout its lengthy construction since the 1960s.[80] In the 1980sâ€“90s, CDA Engineering later expanded infrastructure of the Supreme Court especially when building the Supreme Court's law library.[80]|

Of the 14 justices that rendered a verdict related to taking an oath under the PCO, 12 had taken the oath themselves. However, they controversially did not apply the judgement to themselves.

It is headquartered in the Federal Courthouse in Lausanne in the canton of Vaud. The two social security divisions of the Federal Supreme Court (formerly Federal Insurance Court, as an organizationally independent unit of the Federal Supreme Court), are located in Lucerne. The United Federal Assembly elects 38 federal justices to the Federal Supreme Court. The current president of the court is Ulrich Meyer.

Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada are appointed by the Governor General-in-Council, a process whereby the governor general, the viceregal representative of the Queen of Canada, makes appointments based on the advice of the Queen's Privy Council for Canada. By tradition and convention, only the Cabinet, a standing committee in the larger council, advises the governor general and this advice is usually expressed exclusively through a consultation with the prime minister. Thus, the provinces and parliament have no formal role in such appointments, sometimes a point of contention.

This high court was established on 1 May 1960 as a result of bifurcation of the former State of Bombay into two States of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The High Court started functioning near Akashwani, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad. The High Court has later shifted to the new building at Sola, Ahmedabad, from 16 January 1999.

The Gujarat High Court has jurisdiction over the entire state of Gujarat. It has jurisdiction on all district, administrative and other courts in Gujarat This high court is a Court of record and empowered to punish anyone for contempt of court.

Critics of the decision also argue that it is inconsistent with the principles laid down in Malik Asad Ali's case where it was held that the Chief Justice was bound by the Court's judgement. Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was removed from office based on this case.

The Supreme Court approved the Writ of Amparo on September 25, 2007.[19] The writ of amparo (Spanish for protection) strips the military of the defense of simple denial. Under the writ, families of victims have the right to access information on their casesâ€”a constitutional right called the "habeas data" common in several Latin American countries. The rule is enforced retroactively. Chief Justice Puno stated that "If you have this right, it would be very, very difficult for State agents, State authorities to be able to escape from their culpability."[20][21]

The Calcutta High Court is one of the three High Courts in India established at the Presidency Towns by Letters patent granted by Her Majesty Queen Victoria, bearing date 26 June 1862, and is the oldest High Court in India. It was established as the High Court of Judicature at Fort William on 1 July 1862 under the High Courts Act, 1861, which was preceded by the Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William.

a foreign citizen/ or an expatriate being eligible for the Supreme Court.[16] The nomination of justices in the Supreme Court comes from an executive selections made by the Prime Minister based on judges' merited qualifications, personal intellectualism, and experiences as judge in high courts.[17] The President then confirms the nomination summary and eventually appoints the Chief Justice and judges in the Supreme Court.[18]


Question: Where is Tierra del Fuego located on a map?

Tierra del Fuego, known as "Land of Fire" in Spanish, is an archipelago situated at the southernmost point of South America, just across the Strait of Magellan. The main island, Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego, covers an area of 48,100 km2 (18,572 sq mi) and is accompanied by numerous smaller islands, such as Cape Horn and the Diego Ramírez Islands. The archipelago is shared between Chile and Argentina, with the eastern half of the main island under Argentine control and the western half, along with the islands south of the Beagle Channel, belonging to Chile. The archipelago's southern boundary lies at approximately 55 degrees south latitude.

A grid reference locates a unique square region on the map. The precision of location varies, for example a simple town plan may use a simple grid system with single letters for Eastings and single numbers for Northings. A grid reference in this system, such as 'H3', locates a particular square rather than a single point.

In 1922 a historic moment in cartography and oceanography occurred. The USS Stewart used a Navy Sonic Depth Finder to draw a continuous map across the bed of the Atlantic. This involved little guesswork because the idea of sonar is straight forward with pulses being sent from the vessel, which bounce off the ocean floor, then return to the vessel.[23] The deep ocean floor is thought to be fairly flat with occasional deeps, abyssal plains, trenches, seamounts, basins, plateaus, canyons, and some guyots. Various shelves along the margins of the continents constitute about 11% of the bottom topography with few deep channels cut across the continental rise.

The Fonk Museum founded in 1937, is a varied and complete museum that shows objects from native villages from cultures such as Rapanui, atacameños, Diaguitas and Mapuches, in addition to a wide collection of Peruvian pre-Columbian jars. In the area of natural sciences there is a complete sample of arthropods and animals of different zones of the country.

The Treaty of Tordesillas was invoked by Chile in the 20th century to defend the principle of an Antarctic sector extending along a meridian to the South Pole, as well as the assertion that the treaty made Spanish (or Portuguese) all undiscovered land south to the Pole.[44]

In geography, the location of any point on the Earth can be identified using a geographic coordinate system. This system specifies the latitude and longitude of any location in terms of angles subtended at the centre of the Earth, using the equator and (usually) the Greenwich meridian as references.

The building and its surrounds occupy the whole of Bennelong Point on Sydney Harbour, between Sydney Cove and Farm Cove, adjacent to the Sydney central business district and the Royal Botanic Gardens, and close by the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

An environmental baseline survey discovered a munitions open-burn/open-detonation area on the western tip of the island surrounding Punta Boca Quebrada. Further surveying identified 16 possible open-burn/open-detonation sites in the area. As a result, 24 acres of roads and beaches were inspected for munitions, cleared of munitions with clean up completed in December 2011.[2]

An important factor in map symbols is the order in which they are ranked according to their relative importance. This is known as intellectual hierarchy. The most important hierarchy is the thematic symbols and type labels that are directly related to the theme. Next comes the title, subtitle, and legend.[4] The map must also contain base information, such as boundaries, roads, and place names. Data source and notes should be on all maps. Lastly, the scale, neat lines, and north arrow are the least important of the hierarchy of the map. From this we see that the symbols are the single most important thing to build a good visual hierarchy that shows proper graphical representation. When producing a map with good visual hierarchy, thematic symbols should be graphically emphasized. A map with a visual hierarchy that is effective attracts the map userâ€™s eyes to the symbols with the most important aspects of the map first and to the symbols with the lesser importance later.

Only the "Red Sea" (Exodus 23:31) and the Euphrates are mentioned to define the southern and eastern borders of the full land promised to the Israelites. The "Red Sea" corresponding to Hebrew Yam Suf was understood in ancient times to be the Erythraean Sea, as reflected in the Septuagint translation. Although the English name "Red Sea" is derived from this name ("Erythraean" derives from the Greek for red), the term denoted all the waters surrounding Arabiaâ€”including the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, not merely the sea lying to the west of Arabia bearing this name in modern English. Thus, the entire Arabian peninsula lies within the borders described. Modern maps depicting the region take a reticent view and often leave the southern and eastern borders vaguely defined. The borders of the land to be conquered given in Numbers have a precisely defined eastern border which included the Arabah and Jordan.

Argentina is one of the most important sport powers in the region, ending at the top of the medal count at the South American Games since 1978, with exceptions in 2002 and 2010. In the all-time medal table of the Pan American Games, Argentina holds first place among South American countries and fourth place in the Americas, behind the United States, Canada and Cuba. Despite a relative lack of success at the Olympic level in more traditional sports like athletics, swimming, and gymnastics, Argentina has had successful participations in other sports like association football, basketball, field hockey, roller hockey, padel tennis, polo and rugby union.


Question: The suburbanization in more developed nations is primarily attributed to what?

The suburbanization in more developed countries, particularly evident in the United States, is largely attributed to the preference of many metropolitan residents to live in suburban areas while working in the central urban regions. This trend is facilitated by the ability to commute via automobiles or public transportation, and in some cases, by leveraging technological advancements to work remotely from home. This suburban migration has been significant enough to make the U.S. the first country where the majority of the population resides in suburban rather than urban or rural settings. Critics of urban sprawl contend that this phenomenon contributes to urban decay and the concentration of lower-income populations in inner cities.

China's increase in urbanization was one of the several functions of the surpluses produced from the agricultural sectors in Chinese (farming and pastoral dependency). This judgment is based on (1) the fact that not until the end of the Qing Period did Chinese begin importing moderate quantities of foodstuffs from the outside world to help feed its population; and (2) the fact that the handicraft sector never challenged agricultural dominance in the economy despite a symbiotic relationship between them.

There is a long trend of gentrification amongst Sydney's inner suburbs. Pyrmont located on the harbour was redeveloped from a centre of shipping and international trade to an area of high density housing, tourist accommodation, and gambling.[114] Originally located well outside of the city, Darlinghurst is the location of a former gaol, manufacturing, and mixed housing. It had a period when it was known as an area of prostitution. The terrace style housing has largely been retained and Darlinghurst has undergone significant gentrification since the 1980s.[115][116][117]

Albuquerque has expanded greatly in area since the mid-1940s. During those years of expansion, the planning of the newer areas has considered that people drive rather than walk. The pre-1940s parts of Albuquerque are quite different in style and scale from the post 1940s areas. These older areas include the North Valley, the South Valley, various neighborhoods near downtown, and Corrales. The newer areas generally feature four to six lane roads in a 1 mile (1.61 km) grid. Each 1 square mile (2.59 km²) is divided into four 160-acre (0.65 km2) neighborhoods by smaller roads set 0.5 miles (0.8 km) between major roads. When driving along major roads in the newer sections of Albuquerque, one sees strip malls, signs, and cinderblock walls. The upside of this planning style is that neighborhoods are shielded from the worst of the noise and lights on the major roads. The downside is that it is virtually impossible to go anywhere from home without driving.

According to Tainter's Collapse of Complex Societies, societies become more complex as they try to solve problems. Social complexity can be recognized by numerous differentiated and specialised social and economic roles and many mechanisms through which they are coordinated, and by reliance on symbolic and abstract communication, and the existence of a class of information producers and analysts who are not involved in primary resource production. Such complexity requires a substantial "energy" subsidy (meaning the consumption of resources, or other forms of wealth).

Since the 1990s there has been an increasing number of apartment built in China which remain empty.  By 2010 approximately 65 million apartments, capable of housing some 250 million people, were unoccupied, due to there being too expensive for the majority of Chinese to purchase or rent. At the same time many millions of urban Chinese remained living in slums. But, as the urbanization rate in China remains high (approx. 20 million Chinese move from rural areas each year[4]) this problem is not severe and many so-called "ghost cities" become inhabited. As for 2012, there is 35 sq.meters per person in average and construction rate exceeds 1.5 sq. meters per year which allows total living area to exceed 50 sq. meters per capital as soon as in the year 2020.[5]

Two recent decades have seen two booms driven by the internet industry. First was the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, startup companies invigorated the San Francisco economy. Large numbers of entrepreneurs and computer application developers moved into the city, followed by marketing, design, and sales professionals, changing the social landscape as once-poorer neighborhoods became increasingly gentrified.[68] Demand for new housing and office space ignited a second wave of high-rise development, this time in the South of Market district.[69] By 2000, the city's population reached new highs, surpassing the previous record set in 1950. When the bubble burst in 2001, many of these companies folded and their employees were laid off. Yet high technology and entrepreneurship remain mainstays of the San Francisco economy. By the mid-2000s (decade), the social media boom had begun, with San Francisco becoming a popular location for tech offices and a popular place to live for people employed in Silicon Valley companies such as Apple and Google.[70]

Over the 20th century, Virginia shifted from a largely rural, politically Southern and conservative state to a more urbanized, pluralistic, and politically moderate environment. Up until the 1970s, Virginia was a racially divided one-party state dominated by the Byrd Organization.[294] The legacy of slavery in the state effectively disfranchised African Americans until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-1960s.[295] Enfranchisement and immigration of other groups, especially Hispanics, have placed growing importance on minority voting,[296] while voters that identify as "white working-class" declined by three percent between 2008 and 2012.[297] Regional differences play a large part in Virginia politics.[298] Rural southern and western areas moved to support the Republican Party in response to its "southern strategy", while urban and growing suburban areas, including much of Northern Virginia, form the Democratic Party base.[299][300] Democratic support also persists in union-influenced Roanoke in Southwest Virginia, college towns such as Charlottesville and Blacksburg, and the southeastern Black Belt Region.[301]

In the years surrounding the Great Famine in Ireland, the Catholic Church was doing much work to evangelize other nations in the world. As a consequence of the famine, the Parish Mission's Movement commenced that would lead to a stricter observance of Catholicism in Ireland as well as the push for reform of healthcare and education which would later be expanded into the overseas missionary work.[15] Initially inspired largely by Cardinal Newman to convert the colonized peoples of the British Empire,[citation needed] after 1922 the church continued to work in healthcare and education what is now the Third World through its bodies such as Trócaire. Along with the Irish Catholic diaspora in countries like the USA and Australia, this has created a worldwide network, though affected by falling numbers of priests.

From 1915 the MR began a programme of selling off its surplus land holdings in Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire and Middlesex for suburban housing development. Its Metropolitan Railway Country Estates Limited marketed areas such as Wembley Park under the "Metro-land" brand, promoting modern homes in beautiful countryside with a fast railway service to central London.[10] The MR sold the park land at Wembley when the site was selected to host the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and the grand British Empire Exhibition Stadium constructed for this event was later to become Wembley Stadium, the home ground of the England national football team.[11]

One of the most positive trends has been observed in voice communications. Thus, the proportion of mobile phone subscriptions in developing countries increased from about 30 percent of the world total in 2000 to more than 50 percent in 2004 and to almost 70 percent in 2007.[15] In India, the total number of mobile phone subscriptions reached 851.70 million in June 2011, among which 289.57 million came from rural areas, with a higher percentage of increase than that in urban areas.[16] Only about 35 percent of the population in developing countries has access to the Internet (versus about 80 percent in advanced economies).[17]


Question: When did the Los Angeles Lakers last win a championship?

The Los Angeles Lakers, a professional basketball team based in Los Angeles and competing in the NBA's Western Conference Pacific Division, have a storied history of success, including 16 NBA championships. Their most recent championship victory was in 2010, solidifying their status as one of the league's most accomplished teams. They share Staples Center, their home arena, with the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers, the WNBA's Los Angeles Sparks, and the NHL's Los Angeles Kings.

In 1902, Spalding, who by this time had revamped the roster to boast what would soon be one of the best teams of the early century, sold the club to Jim Hart. The franchise was nicknamed the Cubs by the Chicago Daily News in 1902, although not officially becoming the Chicago Cubs until the 1907 season.[10] During this period, which has become known as baseball's dead-ball era, Cub infielders Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance were made famous as a double-play combination by Franklin P. Adams' poem Baseball's Sad Lexicon. The poem first appeared in the July 18, 1910 edition of the New York Evening Mail. Mordecai "Three-Finger" Brown, Jack Taylor, Ed Reulbach, Jack Pfiester, and Orval Overall were several key pitchers for the Cubs during this time period. With Chance acting as player-manager from 1905 to 1912, the Cubs won four pennants and two World Series titles over a five-year span. Although they fell to the "Hitless Wonders" White Sox in the 1906 World Series, the Cubs recorded a record 116 victories and the best winning percentage (.763) in Major League history. With mostly the same roster, Chicago won back-to-back World Series championships in 1907 and 1908, becoming the first Major League club to play three times in the Fall Classic and the first to win it twice. However, the Cubs would not win another World Series until 2016; this remains the longest championship drought in North American professional sports.

In a season that included a no-hitter on April 21 by Jake Arrieta,[48] the Cubs finished with the best record in Major League Baseball and won their first National League Central title since the 2008 season, winning by 17.5 games. The team also reached the 100-win mark for the first time since 1935 and won 103 total games, the most wins for the franchise since 1910. The Cubs defeated the San Francisco Giants in the National League Division Series and returned to the National League Championship Series for the second year in a row, where they defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. This was their first NLCS win since the series was created in 1969. The win earned the Cubs their first World Series appearance since 1945 and a chance for their first World Series win since 1908. Coming back from a three-games-to-one deficit, the Cubs defeated the Cleveland Indians in seven games in the 2016 World Series, They were the first team to come back from a three-games-to-one deficit since the Kansas City Royals in 1985. On November 4, the city of Chicago held a victory parade and rally for the Cubs that began at Wrigley Field, headed down Lake Shore Drive, and ended in Grant Park. The city estimated that over five million people attended the parade and rally, which made it one of the largest recorded gatherings in history.[49]

When Dwight Howard departed from the Magic to the Los Angeles Lakers in August 2012, the rivalry softened. The Orlando Magic are undergoing a process of rebuilding, however, competition still remains tense.

The Astros played in the NL from 1962 to 2012. They played in the West Division from 1969 to 1993, and the Central Division from 1994 to 2012. While a member of the NL, the Astros played in one World Series, in 2005, against the Chicago White Sox, in which they were swept in four games. In 2017, they became the first franchise in MLB history to have won a pennant in both the NL and the AL, when they defeated the New York Yankees in the ALCS. They subsequently won the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, winning four games to three, earning the team, and Texas, its first World Series title.

The Heat and Spurs also developed a recent rivalry, coming off from two consecutive NBA finals match-ups which many feel has ignited a feud between the Heat and Texas basketball teams overall. The first time the two teams met was during the 2013 NBA Finals, where the Spurs entered their fifth NBA Finals appearance and the Heat entered their third consecutive appearance. It was LeBron James's second time facing the Spurs in the Finals, having faced them in 2007 in a crushing four-game sweep. It was the Heat's third time playing a Texas team. The Heat had home-court advantage since their record (66-16) was better than San Antonio's (58-24) with Miami as the highly favored team. The Heat fell during Game 1, 88–92 after a late upsurge led by Tony Parker. They evened the series during Game 2 with a 103–99 victory. The Heat went through a roller-coaster alternation of wins and losses which extended the series to a deciding Game 7 in Miami. The series experienced many feats, in which Ray Allen had his record for most-threes in a Finals broken by Danny Green. During Game 5, despite strong performances from LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Ray Allen, the Heat still lost 104-114. During Game 6 in Miami, Ray Allen made a game-saving clutch three-pointer to tie the game and save Miami's season. The Heat would win games 6 and 7, completing the championship repeat, a loose reminiscent of and similar fashion as the 2010 NBA Finals between the Lakers and the Celtics. James was named the Finals MVP. The Heat also handed the Spurs their first NBA Finals loss, becoming the first team to beat them.

Before the start of the 2002–03 NBA season, the Kings changed their uniforms once again. This set included a modernized version of the "Kings" script on the home jersey, and the city name on the purple road jersey. The side stripes now run through the uniform. In the 2005–06 season they introduced a gold alternate uniform, featuring the classic script "Kings" wordmark. However, this alternate lasted only two seasons.

In early July, Howard met with the Lakers, Dallas Mavericks, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors and Atlanta Hawks, and on July 5, 2013, announced via Twitter that he intended to sign with the Rockets.[81] He officially signed with Houston on July 13, 2013, joining James Harden to form a formidable duo.[82] With the Rockets, he was initially moved from center to power forward to make room for Ömer Aşık at center. However, with Aşık's under performing play and constant injuries, Howard returned to playing the center position as young forward Terrence Jones moved to power forward. In his first game for the Rockets in the season opener on October 30, Howard recorded 17 points and a career high-tying 26 rebounds in a 96-83 win over the Charlotte Bobcats.[83] Howard finished the regular season with averages of 18.3 points and 12.2 rebounds per game. During the 2014 playoffs, Howard averaged 26 points and 13.7 rebounds per game, but the Rockets were eliminated by the Portland Trail Blazers in the first round, losing the series 4-2. Howard went on to earn All-NBA second team honors.[84]

David Thompson, an All-American player from North Carolina State, called the NIT "a loser's tournament" in 1975. NC State, which had been the previous year's NCAA champion, refused to play in the tournament that year, following the precedent set by ACC rival Maryland the previous season after losing the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game to the top-ranked Wolfpack. In succeeding years, other teams such as Oklahoma State, Louisville, Georgia Tech, Georgetown, and LSU[42][43] have declined to play in the NIT when they did not make the NCAA tournament. One such team was Maryland; after being rejected by the NCAA selection committee in 2006, head coach Gary Williams announced that 19-11 Maryland would not go to the NIT, only to be told that the university had previously agreed to use Comcast Center as a venue for the NIT. The Terrapins were eliminated in the first round by the Manhattan College Jaspers. In 2008, however, Williams announced that if invited, the Terps would play, because it would serve as a chance to further develop six freshman players on his squad and to give senior forward James Gist more exposure.[44] At UCLA's Pauley Pavilion, there are individual championship banners for all 11 NCAA titles, various other banners touting many other NCAA and other tournament championships for other sports, but no mention of UCLA's 1985 NIT championship.

The first full season of the post-Melo Nuggets saw the steady rise of Danilo Gallinari, who averaged 17 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists through the first 25 games of the season, which resulted to the Nuggets' best start through the first 20 games. But Gallinari was robbed off his best season by injuries to his ankle, thumb, and wrist. On March 15, 2012, the Nuggets decided to make their team younger by trading Nenê, who had played the previous 9 seasons for Denver, to the Washington Wizards for JaVale McGee.[49] In his first game as a Nugget, McGee made a putback dunk off an Arron Afflalo miss which proved to be the game-winning basket in Denver's 116-115 victory over the Detroit Pistons. In two of the Nuggets final games of their season, McGee finally earned national attention when he had a 16-point,15-rebound effort, and a 21-point, 14-rebound effort in Denver's playoff series against the Los Angeles Lakers. These performances helped the Nuggets come back from a 2-0 and a 3-1 series deficit, but the Nuggets eventually lost in Game 7, 87-96.

The softball team won the 1982 AIAW Women's College World Series, the last softball championship to be conducted by the AIAW, which governed women's intercollegiate athletics from 1972 to mid-1982 (the NCAA began sponsoring women's athletics in 1981). The 1939 football team was designated national champions by multiple selectors, including the Associated Press, the Helms Athletic Foundation, the National Championship Foundation, and the College Football Researchers Association.[31] In addition to the 1939 national title, in 2011 the football program laid claim to national titles for 1919 and 1927, each of which was chosen once to appear in different retroactive listings by two selectors in the 1970s. The equestrian team won the Varsity Equestrian overall national championship in 2002 and 2012, while winning the western-riding style component of that competition in 2005, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012.[32] The team additionally won the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) western-style championship in 2002, 2003 and 2004.[33] Before it attained varsity status in 1999, the team had also won this title in 1994.


Question: When was the most recent championship won by the Los Angeles Lakers?

The Los Angeles Lakers, a team with a storied history, have experienced numerous championship victories. Notable triumphs include their first title in Los Angeles in 1972, led by Bill Sharman. The 1980s saw the Lakers dominate with their "Showtime" style, winning five championships under the guidance of Pat Riley and the prowess of Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and James Worthy. The team secured a second "three-peat" from 2000 to 2002 with Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant, and Phil Jackson leading the charge. More recently, the Lakers won titles in 2009 against the Orlando Magic and in 2010 against their long-time rivals, the Boston Celtics. Their most recent championship victory was in 2020, where they emerged victorious in the NBA Finals.

On April 22, 2006, the Clippers won their first NBA playoff game in 13 years. Two days later, they won their second playoff game, going 2â€“0 against an opponent for the first time in franchise history. They lost Game 3, but won Game 4. On May 1, 2006, they won Game 5 in Los Angeles and their first playoff series since they moved from Buffalo.

Since their debut, the Diamondbacks have won five National League West titles, one National League Championship pennant, and the 2001 World Series.

Behind a potent offense that featured Graham, Groza, Motley, Lavelli, and running back Dub Jones,[62] the Browns finished the 1950 regular season with a 10–2 record, tied for first place in their conference.[63] Cleveland then won a playoff game 8–3 against the New York Giants on December 17 behind a pair of Groza field goals, turning the tables on a team that handed the Browns both of their regular-season losses.[64] That set up the NFL championship match a week later in Cleveland, between the Browns and the Rams, the NFL team that had moved from Cleveland just five years earlier. The Browns won the championship game, 30–28, on a last-minute Groza field goal. Fans stormed the field after the victory, carting off the goalposts, ripping off one player's jersey, and setting a bonfire in the bleachers. "There never was a game like this one," Brown said.[65]

The Heat wore a variation of their current home uniforms on the opening night of the 2012–13 season, with gold accents and a patch of the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy on the right chest. They used another variation on opening night of the 2013–14 season, this time with gold lettering.

The 2015 World Series was the championship series of Major League Baseball's (MLB) 2015 season. The 111th edition of the World Series, it was a best-of-seven playoff between the National League (NL) champion New York Mets and the American League (AL) champion Kansas City Royals. The series was played between October 27 and November 1, with the Royals winning the series 4 games to 1. It was the first time since the 2010 World Series that the World Series extended into November.[2] The Royals became the first team since the Oakland Athletics in the 1989 World Series to win the World Series after losing in the previous year. It was the first World Series to feature only expansion teams and the first since the 2007 World Series to not feature the Philadelphia Phillies, St. Louis Cardinals, or San Francisco Giants as the NL champions.

The 2010â€“11 season began with high hopes but much uncertainty for the Huskies. Maya Moore returned for her senior season after a summer with the U.S. National team, but UConn lost major contributors Tina Charles and Kalana Greene who graduated in 2010. Additionally, junior guard Caroline Doty would be out the entire season due to a third knee injury. In an early test, UConn squeaked by #2 Baylor in their second game of the season. They powered their way through 8 more consecutive wins for their 88th straight victory, beating #10 Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. Their 89th win came at home against #20 Florida State to set the college basketball record for most consecutive wins, previously held by the UCLA men's team. After a break in the schedule for the holidays, UConn traveled out west and beat the Pacific Tigers to stretch the streak to 90 games.[47] That game, however, was largely a warm-up match for their biggest test of the season, a December 30 matchup at the powerhouse Stanford Cardinal. UConn trailed for the entire game and lost for the first time since their April 6, 2008 Final Four appearance (also against the Cardinal). The loss ended the highly publicized winning streak, as well as their long held spot as the top ranked team in women's basketball which was taken over by Baylor. Connecticut recovered focus after the loss and got through the rest of the regular season undefeated, regaining the #1 ranking along the way after Baylor's loss to Texas Tech in February. They marched through the Big East tournament, including their 3rd victory of the year over Notre Dame in the Big East Tournament Championship Game.

In the second round of the playoffs against the defending champions Boston, the Magic blew a lead in Game 5 and Howard publicly questioned coach Stan Van Gundy's tactics and said that he should be given the ball more; in Game 6, the center posted 23 points and 22 rebounds to force the series into seven games.[34] The Magic went on to defeat Boston, and then defeated Cleveland—which was led by league MVP LeBron James—4–2 in the Eastern Conference Finals. Howard had a playoffs career-high 40 points to go with his 14 rebounds in the deciding Game 6, leading Orlando to its first NBA Finals in 14 years.[35] The Los Angeles Lakers took the first two home games to establish a 2–0 lead in the Finals, before a home win by the Magic brought the score to 2–1. In Game 4, despite Howard putting up 21 rebounds and a Finals-record of 9 blocks in a game, the Magic lost in overtime.[36] The Lakers went on to win Game 5, and the NBA Finals.[37]

After winning the NL West again in 2002 the Diamondbacks were swept 3â€“0 by St. Louis in the NLDS. From here they declined, losing 111 games in 2004 as Bob Brenly was fired during that season. Arizona would not win another NL West title until 2007. Schilling was traded to the Boston Red Sox after the 2003 season and in 2004 helped lead them to their first world championship since 1918. He helped them win another championship in 2007 and retired after four years with Boston, missing the entire 2008 season with a shoulder injury. Johnson was traded to the Yankees after the 2004 season, a season that saw him throw a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves, though he would be traded back to the Diamondbacks two years later and finish his career with the San Francisco Giants in 2009. The last player from the 2001 Diamondbacks roster, Lyle Overbay, retired following the 2014 season with the Milwaukee Brewers while the last player from the 2001 Yankees, Randy Choate, retired on February 16, 2017.[28]

In 1984, the Clippers moved north to Los Angeles, playing at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena. However, the move was not approved by the NBA, which fined Sterling $250 million. He sued the league for $100 million, but dropped the suit when the league agreed to decrease the fine to $6 million.[13] The Clippers finished their first season in Los Angeles 31â€“51 under head coach Jim Lynam.

The Astros clinched their first division title as a member of the American League West division, and first division title overall since 2001. They also became the first team in Major League history to win three different divisions: National League West in 1980 and 1986, National League Central from 1997–1999 and 2001, and American League West in 2017. On September 29, the Astros won their 100th game of the season, the second time the Astros finished a season with over 100 wins, the first being in 1998. They finished 101–61, with a 21-game lead in the division, and faced the Red Sox in the first round of the AL playoffs. The Astros defeated the Red Sox three games to one, and advanced to the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees. The Astros won the ALCS four games to three, and advanced to the World Series to play against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Astros defeated the Dodgers in the deciding seventh game of the World Series, winning the first championship in franchise history.[70]