Question:
If I perish before I arise, nourish Jake, the primal advice?

(However, the second question is a bit awkward and doesn't make much sense, probably because the original question is also quite cryptic and doesn't provide enough context. It's difficult to generate a similar question with the same length, text complexity, and semantic style without knowing the intended meaning of the original question.)

"Feed Jake" is a country music track written by Danny "Bear" Mayo and performed by the group Pirates of the Mississippi. It was the third single from their debut album and became their most successful song, peaking at number 15 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in 1991.

The lines before the parable itself are similar to Luke Luke 17:3-4

That evening the crew light a bonfire and celebrate. Dancing around the fire Star is pulled aside by Jake who privately hands her a turtle. Star takes it to the edge of the water and releases it before following the turtle into the water. She immerses herself fully before rising out of the water.

Despite the original mix-up, monkey-and-typewriter arguments are now common in arguments over evolution. For example, Doug Powell argues as a Christian apologist that even if a monkey accidentally types the letters of Hamlet, it has failed to produce Hamlet because it lacked the intention to communicate. His parallel implication is that natural laws could not produce the information content in DNA.[15] A more common argument is represented by Reverend John F. MacArthur, who claims that the genetic mutations necessary to produce a tapeworm from an amoeba are as unlikely as a monkey typing Hamlet's soliloquy, and hence the odds against the evolution of all life are impossible to overcome.[16]

Another example arises from Sondheim's roots as a speaker of American rather than British English: The line "Don't you love farce?" features two juxtaposed labiodental fricative sounds (the former [v] voiced, the latter [f] devoiced). American concert and stage performers will often fail to "breathe" and/or "voice" between the two fricatives, leading audiences familiar with British slang to hear "Don't you love arse?," misinterpreting the lyric or at the least perceiving an unintended double entendre. Sondheim agrees that "[i]t's an awkward moment in the lyric, but that v and that f should be separated."[9]

"To rob Peter to pay Paul",[1] or other versions that have developed over the centuries such as "to borrow from Peter to pay Paul", and "to unclothe Peter to clothe Paul",[2][3] are phrases meaning to take from one person or thing to give to another, especially when it results in the elimination of one debt by incurring another.[4] There are many other variants and similar phrases in numerous languages.[5] "Maneuvering the Apostles", which has the same meaning, was derived from this expression.[6][7] In patchwork, "Rob Peter to pay Paul" is an alternative name for the Drunkard's Path patchwork block.[8]

Critic Andy Gill refers to "a fascinating, albeit slightly tenuous, interpretation of the song as 'outing' a homosexual". Gill writes that this interpretation is based upon "the cumulative inference of references" to a series of images in the song: "pencil in your hand", "hands you a bone", "contacts among the lumberjacks", "sword swallower", "he clicks his high heels", "he says, 'Here is your throat back, thanks for the loan'", "one-eyed midget" and "give me some milk". Gill is skeptical about this idea which he claims has appeared on internet sites devoted to Dylan's work, and writes  that it "is probably more indicative of the pitfalls of interpretation than Dylan’s intention with the song"; he adds that the song "condemns the urge to interpret pruriently that which we don’t immediately understand."[6]

The setting here presupposes that someone has buried a treasure and later died. The current owner of the field is unaware of its existence. The finder, perhaps a farm labourer, is entitled to it, but is unable to conveniently extract it unless he buys the field.[1] For a peasant, such a discovery of treasure represented the "ultimate dream."[2]

Carpe is the second-person singular present active imperative of carpō "pick or pluck" used by Horace to mean "enjoy, seize, use, make use of".[2] Diem is the accusative case of the noun dies "day". A more literal translation of "carpe diem" would thus be "pluck the day [as it is ripe]"—that is, enjoy the moment.

Each verse describes the isolation and suffering of a child, two of whom have a physical abnormality. In the first verse, a boy is injured in a car accident and misses school for an extended period; when he returns to class, his hair has changed color from black to white. In the second verse, a girl refuses to change clothes in the presence of other girls due to the birthmarks that cover her body. The third child is a boy whose parents make him come directly home after school; during services at their church, they "shake and lurch" across the floor. During a 2010 live performance for the Dutch radio station Kink FM, Brad Roberts whispered "Pentecostal" during the third verse, suggesting this is the denomination of the church.[4]


Question: Who chooses the delegates to participate in national conventions?

The process of selecting delegates for the Democratic National Convention (and similarly for the Republican National Convention) has evolved over time. Nowadays, the nominees are typically chosen much earlier in the year, rendering the conventions more of a formality to ratify these choices rather than a venue for selection. The last Democratic convention with any real suspense over the nominee was in 1980, when Ted Kennedy unsuccessfully challenged Jimmy Carter. The 1976 convention was the last to announce the vice-presidential nominee during the event, following the presidential nominee's selection. To present a unified front after the contentious conventions of 1968 and 1972, the parties have since worked to minimize public dissent. As conventions have become less dramatic and TV ratings have dropped, networks have reduced their coverage, leading the parties to exert tighter control over the televised portions of the conventions. Delegates are typically chosen through a combination of primary elections, caucuses, and state party conventions, with the specific process varying by state and party rules.

The delegates chose a presiding President of the Continental Congress to monitor the debate, maintain order, and make sure journals were kept and documents and letters were published and delivered. Otherwise, the President had little power, and he was largely a figurehead used to meet visiting dignitaries: the office was "more honorable than powerful".[7] The job was not much sought after or retained for long: there were 16 Presidents in 14 years.

The Election Commission of Pakistan, a constitutionally established institution chaired by an appointed and designated Chief Election Commissioner, supervises the general elections. The Pakistan Constitution defines (to a basic extent) how general elections are held in Part VIII, Chapter 2 and various amendments. A multi-party system is in effect, with the National Assembly consisting of 342 seats and the Senate consisting of 104 seats elected from the four provinces. The Constitution dictates that the general elections be held every five years when the National Assembly has completed its term or has been dissolved and that the Senatorial elections be held to elect members for terms of six years. By law, general elections must be held within two months of the National Assembly completing its term.[1]

Following the 1968 debacle, the McGovern-Fraser Commission proposed and the party adopted far-reaching changes in how national convention delegates were selected. More power over the presidential nominee selection accrued to the rank and file and presidential primaries became significantly more important. In 1972, the Democrats nominated Senator George McGovern (SD) as the presidential candidate on a platform which advocated, among other things, immediate U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam (with his anti-war slogan "Come Home, America!") and a guaranteed minimum income for all Americans. McGovern's forces at the national convention ousted Mayor Richard J. Daley and the entire Chicago delegation, replacing them with insurgents led by Jesse Jackson. After it became known that McGovern's running mate Thomas Eagleton had received electric shock therapy, McGovern said he supported Eagleton "1000%", but he was soon forced to drop him and find a new running mate.[51]

While waiting for the Convention to formally begin, James Madison sketched out his initial draft, which became known as the Virginia Plan and reflected his views as a strong nationalist.[6]:47 By the time the rest of the Virginia delegation arrived, most of the Pennsylvania delegation had arrived as well. They agreed on Madison's plan, and formed what came to be the predominant coalition. By the time the Convention started, the only blueprints that had been assembled were Madison's Virginia Plan, and Charles Pinckney's plan. As Pinckney didn't have a coalition behind his plan, Madison's plan was the starting point for deliberations.[6]:47

Congress sets a national Election Day. Currently, Electors are chosen on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November (the first Tuesday after November 1), in the year before the President's term is to expire. The Electors cast their votes on the Monday following the second Wednesday in December (the first Monday after December 12) of that year. Thereafter, the votes are opened and counted by the Vice President, as President of the Senate, in a joint session of Congress.

Despite this growing popular support for independence, Congress lacked the clear authority to declare it. Delegates had been elected to Congress by thirteen different governments, which included extralegal conventions, ad hoc committees, and elected assemblies, and they were bound by the instructions given to them. Regardless of their personal opinions, delegates could not vote to declare independence unless their instructions permitted such an action.[32] Several colonies, in fact, expressly prohibited their delegates from taking any steps towards separation from Great Britain, while other delegations had instructions that were ambiguous on the issue.[33] As public sentiment grew for separation from Great Britain, advocates of independence sought to have the Congressional instructions revised. For Congress to declare independence, a majority of delegations would need authorization to vote for independence, and at least one colonial government would need to specifically instruct (or grant permission for) its delegation to propose a declaration of independence in Congress. Between April and July 1776, a "complex political war"[34] was waged to bring this about.[35]

Generally, voters are required to vote on a ballot where they select the candidate of their choice. The presidential ballot is a vote "for the electors of a candidate" meaning that the voter is not voting for the candidate, but endorsing a slate of electors pledged to vote for a specific presidential and vice presidential candidate.

Currently, there is a total of 538 electors, there being 435 representatives and 100 senators, plus the three electors allocated to Washington, D.C. The six states with the most electors are California (55), Texas (38), New York (29), Florida (29), Illinois (20), and Pennsylvania (20). The seven smallest states by population—Alaska, Delaware, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Vermont, and Wyoming—have three electors each. This is because each of these states is entitled to one representative and two senators.

Before the advent of the short ballot in the early 20th century, as described above, the most common means of electing the presidential electors was through the general ticket. The general ticket is quite similar to the current system and is often confused with it. In the general ticket, voters cast ballots for individuals running for presidential elector (while in the short ballot, voters cast ballots for an entire slate of electors). In the general ticket, the state canvass would report the number of votes cast for each candidate for elector, a complicated process in states like New York with multiple positions to fill. Both the general ticket and the short ballot are often considered at-large or winner-takes-all voting. The short ballot was adopted by the various states at different times; it was adopted for use by North Carolina and Ohio in 1932. Alabama was still using the general ticket as late as 1960 and was one of the last states to switch to the short ballot.

Each state chooses as many Electors as it has Representatives and Senators representing it in Congress. Under the 23rd Amendment, the District of Columbia may choose no more electors than the state with the lowest number of electoral votes. No Senators, Representatives or federal officers may become Electors.


Question: Who received an Oscar for their work in Schindler's List?

At the 66th Academy Awards, Schindler's List emerged as the big winner, taking home seven awards. Steven Spielberg was honored with the Best Director award, and the film also clinched the coveted Best Picture category. Other notable winners included Jurassic Park and The Piano, each receiving three awards, while Philadelphia secured two. Additional awards were given to The Age of Innocence, Belle Epoque, Defending Our Lives, The Fugitive, I Am a Promise: The Children of Stanton Elementary School, Mrs. Doubtfire, Schwarzfahrer, and The Wrong Trousers, each earning one award. The ceremony was viewed by over 46 million people in the United States.

Penn has appeared in more than 50 films and won many awards during his career as an actor and director. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Actor for Mystic River (2003) and Milk (2008), and was nominated three more times in the same category for Dead Man Walking (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and I Am Sam (2001). He also received a Directors Guild of America nomination for directing Into the Wild (2007).

On May 2, 2007, the 50th San Francisco International Film Festival honored Spike Lee with the San Francisco Film Society's Directing Award. In 2008, he received the Wexner Prize.[12] In 2013, he won The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, one of the richest prizes in the American arts worth $300,000.[13] In 2015, Lee received an Academy Honorary Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for his contributions to film.[14]

The three films together were nominated for a total of 30 Academy Awards, of which they won 17, a record for any movie trilogy (the three nominations for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug along with the single nomination for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies brings the series' total to 37 nominations). The Fellowship of the Ring earned thirteen nominations, the most of any film at the 74th Academy Awards, winning four. The Return of the King won in every category in which it was nominated, setting the current Oscar record for the highest clean sweep, and its 11 Academy Awards wins ties the record held by Ben-Hur and Titanic (though both of those films had additional nominations that they ultimately lost). The Return of the King became only the second sequel to win the Oscar for Best Picture (after The Godfather Part II) and the first fantasy film to receive this honor, though this has been widely perceived as an award by proxy for the entire series (the first two films were also nominated for Best Picture).[78] No actors in any of the three films won Oscars, and Ian McKellen was the only actor in the trilogy to receive a nomination, for his work in The Fellowship of the Ring.[78]

Spielberg directed 2015's Bridge of Spies, a Cold War thriller based on the 1960 U-2 incident, and focusing on James B. Donovan's negotiations with the Soviets for the release of pilot Gary Powers after his aircraft was shot down over Soviet territory. The film starred Tom Hanks as Donovan, as well as Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, and Alan Alda, with a script by the Coen brothers.[77] The film was shot from September to December 2014 on location in New York City, Berlin and Wroclaw, Poland (which doubled for East Berlin), and was released on October 16, 2015.[78][79] Bridge of Spies received positive reviews from critics, and was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture; Rylance won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second actor to win for a performance directed by Spielberg.

The film grossed over $390 million worldwide, ranking as the second-highest-grossing film of 1991. For his role as George, Sheriff of Nottingham, Rickman received the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The film's theme song, "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", by Bryan Adams, was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television.[5]

For his portrayal of Ennis Del Mar in Brokeback Mountain, Ledger won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actor and Best International Actor from the Australian Film Institute, and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role[4] and for the Academy Award for Best Actor.[5] Posthumously he shared the 2007 Independent Spirit Robert Altman Award with the rest of the ensemble cast, the director, and the casting director for the film I'm Not There, which was inspired by the life and songs of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. In the film, Ledger portrayed a fictional actor named Robbie Clark, one of six characters embodying aspects of Dylan's life and persona.[6]

In a career spanning more than four decades, Spielberg's films have spanned many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films, such as Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), were seen as archetypes of modern Hollywood escapist filmmaking.[6] In later years, his films began addressing numerous humanistic issues such as the Holocaust, the transatlantic slave trade, civil rights, war, and terrorism in such films as The Color Purple (1985), Empire of the Sun (1987), Schindler's List (1993), Amistad (1997), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich (2005), War Horse (2011), Lincoln (2012), Bridge of Spies (2015), and The Post (2017). His other films include Jurassic Park (1993), A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), and War of the Worlds (2005).

Ledger went on to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, becoming the second person to win a posthumous Academy Award for acting (after fellow Australian actor Peter Finch, who won for 1976's Network), as well as the first comic-book movie actor to win an Oscar for their acting. Ledger's family attended the ceremony on 22 February 2009, with his parents and sister accepting the award on stage on his behalf.[164][33] Following talks with the Ledger family in Australia, the Academy determined that Ledger's daughter, Matilda Rose, would own the award. However, due to Matilda's age, she will not gain full ownership of the statuette until her eighteenth birthday in 2023.[165] Until that time, her mother Michelle Williams, will hold the statuette in trust for Matilda.[166]

Out of Africa is a 1985 American epic romantic drama film directed and produced by Sydney Pollack, and starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep. The film is based loosely on the autobiographical book Out of Africa written by Isak Dinesen (the pseudonym of Danish author Karen Blixen), which was published in 1937, with additional material from Dinesen's book Shadows on the Grass and other sources. This film received 28 film awards, including seven Academy Awards.

Hill returned to work in the 1980s and 1990s, playing parental and authority-figure roles in such films as Yentl (1983), Garbo Talks (1984), Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs, Heartburn (1986), Running on Empty (1988), Billy Bathgate (1991), and The Firm (1993). Hill also appeared as a mob kingpin in Raw Deal (1986), an action vehicle for Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hill played New York District Attorney Bower in the 1986 comedy-drama Legal Eagles, foreshadowing his appearance as Adam Schiff in Law & Order.[17]


Question: What is the role of the bromophenol blue dye in the samples?

Bromophenol blue, also known as 3′,3″,5′,5″-tetrabromophenolsulfonphthalein or BPB, is a versatile compound used as a pH indicator, color marker, and dye. It is often employed in samples to serve as a visual marker due to its distinctive blue color, which can help in tracking the movement of substances during various laboratory procedures. Its preparation involves slowly adding excess bromine to a hot solution of phenolsulfonphthalein in glacial acetic acid.

In an acid, it is reddish and in alkali, it is yellow.  Methyl orange has a pKa of 3.47 in water at 25 °C (77 °F).[2]

In practice, the risk of contaminated-matching is much greater than matching a distant relative, such as contamination of a sample from nearby objects, or from left-over cells transferred from a prior test. The risk is greater for matching the most common person in the samples: Everything collected from, or in contact with, a victim is a major source of contamination for any other samples brought into a lab. For that reason, multiple control-samples are typically tested in order to ensure that they stayed clean, when prepared during the same period as the actual test samples. Unexpected matches (or variations) in several control-samples indicates a high probability of contamination for the actual test samples. In a relationship test, the full DNA profiles should differ (except for twins), to prove that a person was not matched as being related to their own DNA in another sample.

The original method for production involves the nitration of phenol with sodium nitrate gives a mixture of two isomers, from which the wanted 4-nitrophenol (bp 279 °C) can easily be separated by steam distillation. In this electrophilic aromatic substitution reaction, phenol's oxygen is strongly activating, thus the reaction requires only mild conditions as compared to nitration of benzene itself. The nitro group is then reduced to an amine, giving 4-aminophenol. Finally, the amine is acetylated with acetic anhydride.[113] Industrially direct hydrogenation is used, but in the laboratory scale sodium borohydride serves.[114][115]

Research is being done on alternative, more efficient techniques, mostly utilizing stir bars to decrease or even eliminate the chance of emulsification, thus decreasing the amount of waiting time.[7]

The United States Military uses red and blue marking rounds in the 9mm caliber known as Special Effects Small Arms Marking Systems (SESAMS). Commonly used for training simulations, these rounds are comparable in function to the paintballs used in paintball markers, except they are fired with a powder charge, and can be shot in Beretta M9 service pistols with only a barrel modification (The Glock 19 pistol, common among police departments, has a similar available modification). The 9mm SESAMS rounds are fired from specially modified pistols, as well as M16 and M4 rifles, which are incapable of chambering standard live ammunition.

After the reaction is complete, the remaining titrant and product are quantified (e.g., by FT-IR); this is used to determine the amount of analyte in the original sample.

The choice of negative stain in electron microscopy can be very important. An early study of plant viruses using negatively stained leaf dips from a diseased plant showed only spherical viruses with one stain and only rod-shaped viruses with another. The verified conclusion was that this plant suffered from a mixed infection by two separate viruses. Negative staining at both light microscope and electron microscope level should never be performed with infectious organisms unless stringent safety precautions are followed. Negative staining is usually a very mild preparation method and thus does not reduce the possibility of operator infection.

With the Duke method, the patient is pricked with a special needle or lancet, preferably on the earlobe[5] or fingertip, after having been swabbed with alcohol. The prick is about 3–4 mm deep. The patient then wipes the blood every 15 seconds with a filter paper. The test ceases when bleeding ceases. The usual time is about 2–5 minutes.

A Wood's lamp may be used to rapidly assess whether an individual is suffering from ethylene glycol poisoning as a consequence of antifreeze ingestion. Manufacturers of ethylene glycol-containing antifreezes commonly add fluorescein, which causes the patient's urine to fluoresce under Wood's lamp.[15]

The primary structure of a protein refers to the sequence of amino acids in the polypeptide chain. The primary structure is held together by peptide bonds that are made during the process of protein biosynthesis. The two ends of the polypeptide chain are referred to as the carboxyl terminus (C-terminus) and the amino terminus (N-terminus) based on the nature of the free group on each extremity. Counting of residues always starts at the N-terminal end (NH2-group), which is the end where the amino group is not involved in a peptide bond. The primary structure of a protein is determined by the gene corresponding to the protein. A specific sequence of nucleotides in DNA is transcribed into mRNA, which is read by the ribosome in a process called translation. The sequence of amino acids in insulin was discovered by Frederick Sanger, establishing that proteins have defining amino acid sequences.[3][4] The sequence of a protein is unique to that protein, and defines the structure and function of the protein. The sequence of a protein can be determined by methods such as Edman degradation or tandem mass spectrometry. Often, however, it is read directly from the sequence of the gene using the genetic code. It is strictly recommended to use the words "amino acid residues" when discussing proteins because when a peptide bond is formed, a water molecule is lost, and therefore proteins are made up of amino acid residues. Post-translational modification such as disulfide bond formation, phosphorylations and glycosylations are usually also considered a part of the primary structure, and cannot be read from the gene. For example, insulin is composed of 51 amino acids in 2 chains. One chain has 31 amino acids, and the other has 20 amino acids.


Question: What is the meaning behind the song "Mercy Mercy Me" by Marvin Gaye?

"Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)" is a song from Marvin Gaye's 1971 album, What's Going On. Written by Gaye himself, it is considered a powerful and poignant environmental anthem, expressing sorrow for the state of the planet. The track features Gaye on piano, strings arranged by Paul Riser and David Van De Pitte, multi-tracked vocals from Gaye and The Andantes, instrumentation by The Funk Brothers, and a saxophone solo by Wild Bill Moore. It reached number 4 on Billboard's Pop Singles chart and topped the R&B Singles charts for two weeks in August 1971. The song's distinctive sound includes a wood block struck by a rubber mallet, drenched in studio reverb, and it also marked one of Gaye's rare appearances on the Adult Contemporary chart, peaking at number 34. In Canada, "Mercy Mercy Me" spent two weeks at number 9.

Don Henley has given a number of explanations about the song, ranging from "a journey from innocence to experience"[7] to "a sociopolitical statement".[35] In an interview with Rolling Stone, Henley said that the song was meant to be "more of a symbolic piece about America in general", and added: "Lyrically, the song deals with traditional or classical themes of conflict: darkness and light, good and evil, youth and age, the spiritual versus the secular. I guess you could say it's a song about loss of innocence."[8]

According to Björk, the lyrics express how she felt obliged to produce music because of the people that occupationally depended of her. The lyrics "I will bring back the goods/But don't know when" refer to her songwriting process; in her own words: "Sometimes I don't do things that people I work with do —like spend time with families and lead a normal life. I have to isolate myself and put myself in a state so I will write a song."[12] After the success Björk encountered as a solo artist with Debut (1993) and Post (1995) — her most promoted album —, she began to feel more pressured as she noticed how her creative output directly affected the life of those around her.[7] In an interview with Dave Hemingway she stated:

Lyrically, "Secret Love Song" details unrequited and forbidden love.[12] Edwards said the lyrics are about "being with someone and you want to scream it from the rooftops but you have to hold it in".[13] Thirlwall interprets the group's lyrics in the song as a narrative for the struggles LGBT people are faced with when coming to terms with their sexuality and public affection.[14] According to Derulo, his verse serves as a "twist" in the song, discussing his personal experience of having an affair: "I told a true story about this girl that I am really into but she has a boyfriend but we still do our thing."[3]

"Hunter" garnered acclaim from music critics, who complimented its elaborate production, its haunting melody and cryptic lyrics. Marvin Lin from Tiny Mix Tapes called it "painfully beautiful".[19] Jack Dickey of Deadspin considered "Hunter" one of the only two songs in the album where "the instruments win out" and wrote it "is like Peter and the Wolf if, instead of a merciful hunter, Artemis were chasing the wolf."[20] In a review for the single release, Keir Langley of AllMusic praised the rhythm and intensity of the track as a showcase of her collaboration with Mark Bell.[21] The Wire's Louise Gray thought it was an "extraordinary, mesmeric song."[5] Evelyn McDonnell wrote "I myself had used the prevalent critical category for Björk uncategorizable amalgalm of styles: 'quirky.' There was nothing quirky about 'Hunter.'" She also praised the song's originality and appeal to various types of listeners.[2] Phil Freeman included "Hunter" in his list of songs which "say something important about the state of music since 1979—how venerable forms have changed;" inspired by Greil Marcus' attempt to define rock and roll in Stranded (1978). He wrote "her voice is protean and capable of astonishingly raw, forceful outbursts, but it's when she holds it in, on tracks like this one, that her real power emerges."[22] Authors Shirley R. Steinberg and Donaldo Pereira Macedo identified elements of Donna Haraway's A Cyborg Manifesto in "Hunter". They state that, by assuming the position of authority in relation to the masculine other, Björk challenges the traditional notions of femininity; and that by "[leaving] to be the hunter," she "disrupts the nature/culture binary of which Haraway speaks."[23]

"What Do You Mean?" is a song recorded by Canadian singer Justin Bieber for his fourth studio album Purpose (2015). The song was released on August 28, 2015, as the album's lead single by Def Jam. Written by Bieber, Jason "Poo Bear" Boyd and Mason Levy, the song was produced by MdL and co-produced by Bieber. "What Do You Mean?" is a pop and tropical house song, with its instrumentation consisting in light flourishes of panpipes, looped vocal samples, piano chords, fervent synths, bass and "slick beat" elements with the sound of a clock ticking, while Bieber uses a smooth, soulful vocal. Lyrically, "What Do You Mean?" talks about not being able to figure out the opposite sex with Bieber asking a girl why her body language is conflicting with her words.

The song is a cynical look at the music industry as a publicist/manager begs the protagonist to remain hip for the younger crowd ("What's the matter with the car I'm driving?" / "Can't you tell that it's out of style?"), and the protagonist's refusal to change, claiming his music will remain relevant regardless of his appearance. The song was a reaction by Joel at the new music genres that were around in the late 1970s (punk, funk, new wave). It was inspired by Joel reading a review about a particular (unnamed) band, and realizing that he had no idea what their music sounded like.[citation needed] The song also includes the line "Alright Rico!" To kick off the saxophone solo performed by Richie Cannata.

In March 1986, Dylan told his audience in Japan: "This is a song I wrote a while back in response to people who ask me questions all the time. You just get tired of that every once in a while. You just don't want to answer no more questions. I figure a personâ€™s life speaks for itself, right? So, every once in a while you got to do this kind of thing, you got to put somebody in their place... So this is my response to something that happened over in England. I think it was about '63, '64. [sic] Anyway the song still holds up. Seems to be people around still like that. So I still sing it. It's called 'Ballad Of A Thin Man'."[9]

Much has been made of the lyrics reflecting the end of the overlong party that was the 1960s, as a snapshot of Swinging London burning out. That's a valid interpretation, but it should also be pointed out that there's also an uplifting and reassuring quality to the melody and performance. This is particularly true of the key lyrical hook, when we are reminded that we can't always get what we want, but we'll get what we need.[4]

"Paranoid Android" is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released as the lead single from their third studio album OK Computer (1997) on 26 May 1997. The darkly humorous lyrics were written primarily by singer Thom Yorke following an unpleasant experience in a Los Angeles bar. The song is more than six minutes long and contains four distinct sections. "Paranoid Android" takes its name from Marvin the Paranoid Android of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series.

Urish and Bielen criticised the song's instrumental music as overly sentimental and melodramatic, comparing it to the music of the pre-rock era and describing the vocal melody as understated.[54] According to Blaney, Lennon's lyrics describe hypothetical possibilities that offer no practical solutions; lyrics that are at times nebulous and contradictory, asking the listener to abandon political systems while encouraging one similar to communism.[6] Author Chris Ingham indicated the hypocrisy in Lennon, the millionaire rock star living in a mansion, encouraging listeners to imagine living their lives without possessions.[55] Others argue that Lennon intended the song's lyrics to inspire listeners to imagine if the world could live without possessions, not as an explicit call to give them up.[55] Blaney commented: "Lennon knew he had nothing concrete to offer, so instead he offers a dream, a concept to be built upon."[6]


Question: When was Mission San Antonio de Valero constructed?

The Alamo Mission in San Antonio, originally known as MisiÃ³n San Antonio de Valero, was established in the 18th century as a Roman Catholic mission and fortress. Located in San Antonio, Texas, it is now part of the San Antonio Missions World Heritage Site and famously served as the site of the Battle of the Alamo in 1836. Today, it functions as a museum within the Alamo Plaza Historic District. The exact founding year of the mission was 1718.

Sta. Cruz is the oldest municipality in the province; it was founded on 5 October 1884, thirty-six years after the foundation of Davao, which is its mother city, by Don Jose Uyanguren of Guipúzcoa, Spain. It all started when Spanish pioneers and missionaries attempted to settle and Christianize the area in what is now Barangay Poblacion as early as 1880. But because of the relentless Islamic faith of the local people in the area, the enraged pioneers and missionaries planted a cross under a shelter to mark the failure of the missionaries to convert these people to Christianity; the town's name now bears the name of the cross planted by those Spaniards. Fortunately, for the next 4 years, the local people will submit themselves to Christianity and had themselves conquered by Angel Rodriguez, the Spanish Governor-General of Davao. But, like Don Uyanguren's attempt to develop the newly established Davao, the area around the young town did not prosper until after almost 20 years since then.

During the Spanish expeditions of the late 18th century, several missions were founded in the San Francisco Bay Area. During the mission period, Milpitas served as a crossroads between Mission San José de Guadalupe in modern-day Fremont and Mission Santa Clara de Asis, in present Santa Clara. The land in modern-day Milpitas was divided between the 6,353-acre (25.71 km2) Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros (Spanish for "corner of the wetlands") granted to Ygnacio Alviso; the 4,457.8-acre (18.040 km2) Rancho Milpitas (Spanish for "little corn fields") granted to José María Alviso; and the 4,394.35-acre (17.7833 km2) Rancho Los Tularcitos (Spanish for "little tule marshes") granted to José Higuera. Jose Maria Alviso was the son of Francisco Xavier Alviso and Maria Bojorquez, both of whom arrived in San Francisco as children with the de Anza Expedition. (A son of Ygnacio Alviso was also named Jose Maria Alviso, this has led to some confusion by researchers.) Due to Jose Maria Alviso's descendents' difficulty securing his claims to the Rancho Milpitas property, portions of his land were either swindled from the Alviso family or were sold to American settlers to pay for legal fees.[8]

In contrast to many treaties of its day, this treaty was very brief and simple, with all parties agreeing to a mutual cooperation and a sharing of the land. The treaty was agreed to at a meeting in San Saba County, Texas,[49] and signed by all parties on May 9, 1847 in Fredericksburg, Texas. The treaty was very specifically between the Peneteka band and the German Immigration Company. No other band or tribe was involved. The German Immigration Company was dissolved by Meusebach himself shortly after it had served its purpose. By 1875, the Comanches had been relocated to reservations.[50]

At its peak in 1810â€“1820, the average Indian population at Pueblo Dolores was about 1,100 people. The California missions were not only houses of worship. They were farming communities, manufacturers of all sorts of products, hotels, ranches, hospitals, schools, and the centers of the largest communities in the state...in 1810 the Mission owned 11,000 sheep, 11,000 cows, and thousands of horses, goats, pigs, and mules. Its ranching and farming operations extended as far south as San Mateo and east to Alameda. Horses were corralled on Potrero Hill, and the milking sheds for the cows were located along Dolores Creek at what is today Mission High School. Twenty looms were kept in operation to process wool into cloth. The circumference of the mission's holdings was said to have been about 125 miles.[13]

Very close to the Nuestra SeÃ±ora de la Salud and Oratorios de San Felipe Neri churches is the Plaza Civica or Civic Plaza. This plaza was originally constructed in 1555 and was supposed to be the original center of the town. It is next to the Plaza de la Soledad and served as the main marketplace. Today, it has a equestrian statue of Ignacio Allende which dominates it.[26]

As local lore tells it, on September 4, 1781 the 44 pobladores gathered at San Gabriel Mission and, escorted by a military detachment and two priests from the Mission, set out for the site that Crespí had chosen. In reality, several of the families were probably already working on their plots of land as early as late July.[6] Governor de Neve gave the new town the name El Pueblo de la Reina de los Ángeles-The Town of the Queen of the Angels. Per the Laws of the Indies and Reglamento the new towns in Alta California were to have four square leagues of land; that is a distance marked by one league in each cardinal direction from the town center.[7] The streets, however, were laid out at forty-five degrees from the cardinal directions, a plan which is still preserved in Downtown Los Angeles.[8] The old town limits are still marked by Hoover and Indiana Streets in the west and east respectively. In 1784 an asistencia or sub-mission of the San Gabriel Mission was established on the central plaza, to provide religious services to the settlers.

During the expedition, Father Crespí observed a location along the river that would be good for a settlement or mission. However, in 1771, Father Serra instead commissioned two missionaries to establish the Mission San Gabriel Arcángel-San Gabriel Mission near the present day Whittier Narrows section of the San Gabriel River. The missionaries encountered resistance from the Tongva to their attempts to resettle the Natives on the mission. The mission encountered further trouble in 1776 when a flood damaged the mission, convincing the missionaries to move and rebuild the mission on a higher and more defensible location: its present site in San Gabriel. The first Spanish governor of Las Californias, Felipe de Neve had, as well, recommended to Viceroy Bucareli Father Crespí's location on the Río Porciúncula (Los Angeles River) for a mission. Instead, in 1781, King Charles III mandated that a pueblo be built on the site instead, which would be the second town in Alta California, after San José de Guadalupe in 1777. The monarch, disregarding the production and trade roles of the missions, saw a greater need for secular pueblos to be established as the centers of agriculture and commerce to supply the crown's ever-growing military presence in "Nueva California." The priests at the missions ignored the royal mandate and continued their ranching, trading and production of tallow, soap, hides, and beef, often in competition with new pueblo ventures.

Over more than 300 years of Spanish colonial history, their explorers and missionary priests recorded the names of more than one thousand bands or ethnic groups. Band names and their composition doubtless changed frequently, and bands often identified by geographic features or locations. Most of the bands apparently numbered between 100 and 500 people. The total population of non-agricultural Indians, including the Coahuiltecan, in northeastern Mexico and neighboring Texas has been estimated by two different scholars as 86,000 and 100,000.[6] Possibly 15,000 of these lived in the Rio Grande delta, the most densely populated area. In 1757 a small group of African blacks was also recorded as living in the delta, apparently refugees from slavery.[7]

The [Battle of the Alamo] took place from February 23 to March 6, 1836. At first the battle was primarily a siege marked by artillery duels and small skirmishes. After twelve days Santa Anna, tired of waiting for his heavy artillery, determined to take the Alamo by storm.

In 1853, Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin selected Commander David G. Farragut to create Mare Island Navy Yard near San Francisco in San Pablo Bay. In August 1854, Farragut was called to Washington from his post as assistant inspector of ordnance at Norfolk, Virginia. President Franklin Pierce congratulated Farragut on his naval career and the task he was to undertake. On September 16, 1854, Commander Farragut arrived to oversee the building of the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo, California, which became the port for ship repairs on the West Coast. Captain Farragut commissioned Mare Island on July 16, 1858. Farragut returned to a hero's welcome at Mare Island on August 11, 1859.[21][22]


Question: When was the Mission San Antonio de Valero constructed?

In 1718, the Spanish colonial authorities set out to create a series of Roman Catholic missions in East Texas to support their religious and territorial expansion. The missions faced logistical challenges due to their remote location, far from other Spanish settlements. To address these difficulties, Governor Martín de Alarcón planned to establish a strategic way station between the Rio Grande missions and the new East Texas missions. On May 1, 1718, during his expedition, Alarcón's group constructed a temporary shelter near the headwaters of the San Antonio River. This structure would serve as the foundation for the Alamo Mission, originally known as Mission San Antonio de Valero, which was named in honor of Saint Anthony of Padua and Baltasar de Zúñiga y Guzmán, the viceroy of New Spain and Marquess of Valero. Under the leadership of Father Antonio de San Buenaventura y Olivares, the mission was initially inhabited by a small number of Coahuiltecan converts from Mission San Francisco Solano. Approximately one mile north of the mission, a presidio (fort) named Presidio San Antonio de Bexar was established, along with the first civilian settlement in Texas, San Antonio de Bexar, which is now known as San Antonio, Texas.

Smallpox and slavery decimated the Coahuiltecan in the Monterrey area by the mid-17th century.[8] Due to their remoteness from the major areas of Spanish expansion, the Coahuiltecan in Texas may have suffered less from introduced European diseases and slave raids than did the indigenous populations in northern Mexico. But, the diseases spread through contact among indigenous peoples with trading. After a Franciscan Roman Catholic Mission was established in 1718 at San Antonio, the indigenous population declined rapidly, especially from smallpox epidemics beginning in 1739.[9] Most groups disappeared before 1825, with their survivors absorbed by other indigenous and mestizo populations of Texas or Mexico.

Since the 1920s, steps have been taken to preserve the historic center’s charm. The first set of protections was put into place by the INAH when it was declared a national monument. This required that all restorations and new construction conform to the area's colonial architecture.[2][8] To preserve the city’s trademark colonial look, a civil society regulates the renovation and maintenance of the city, especially its historic center. This includes aspects such as traffic, garden spaces and even the kinds of social events that may be held. The town has also put much effort into preserving the cobblestone streets.[20] The most recent designation is that of a World Heritage site, along with the religious sanctuary in nearby Atotonilco, which also puts restrictions and protections into place.[21]

After the war, San Antonio prospered as a center of the cattle culture. Anglo Americans learned the Spanish and Mexican techniques of herding cattle on horseback, creating a new generation of cowboys. The major cattle trails for driving stock to markets and railroads, including Chisholm Trail, began in San Antonio. The business promoter "Bet a Million" Gates chose San Antonio to demonstrate the value of his barbed wire in the herding of cattle. In 1876 he fenced off Alamo Plaza with the new invention and had cowboys drive a herd of cattle into the wire. When the wire held the cattle, many of the ranchers in attendance quickly placed orders for the new product. San Antonio was crucial during both the beginning and end of the open-range period in American ranching culture.

The earliest archaeological evidence of human habitation of the territory of the city of San Francisco dates to 3000 BC.[30] The Yelamu group of the Ohlone people resided in a few small villages when an overland Spanish exploration party, led by Don Gaspar de Portolà, arrived on November 2, 1769, the first documented European visit to San Francisco Bay.[31] Seven years later, on March 28, 1776, the Spanish established the Presidio of San Francisco, followed by a mission, Mission San Francisco de Asís (Mission Dolores), established by the Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza.[1]

After the Mexican secularization act of 1833 most of the mission's land and livestock was sold off by Mexico. Most of the buildings continued to be used as a parish church, unlike the other missions in California.[13]

The defenders of the Alamo included Anglo and Hispanic Texans who fought side by side under a banner - the flag of Mexico with the numerals "1824" superimposed. This was meant to indicate that the defenders were fighting for their rights to democratic government under the Mexican constitution of that year. During their siege, the Texas Congress declared an independent Republic of Texas.

Upon independence from Spain in 1821, the area became part of Mexico. Under Mexican rule, the mission system gradually ended, and its lands became privatized. In 1835, Englishman William Richardson erected the first independent homestead,[32] near a boat anchorage around what is today Portsmouth Square. Together with Alcalde Francisco de Haro, he laid out a street plan for the expanded settlement, and the town, named Yerba Buena, began to attract American settlers. Commodore John D. Sloat claimed California for the United States on July 7, 1846, during the Mexican–American War, and Captain John B. Montgomery arrived to claim Yerba Buena two days later. Yerba Buena was renamed San Francisco on January 30 of the next year, and Mexico officially ceded the territory to the United States at the end of the war. Despite its attractive location as a port and naval base, San Francisco was still a small settlement with inhospitable geography.[33]

Like many municipalities in the American Southwest, San Antonio has had steady population growth since the late twentieth century. The city's population has nearly doubled in 35 years, from just over 650,000 in the 1970 census to an estimated 1.2 million in 2005 through population growth, immigration, and land annexation (considerably enlarging the physical area of the city).

San Diego has been called "the birthplace of California".[13] Historically home to the Kumeyaay people, it was the first site visited by Europeans on what is now the West Coast of the United States. Upon landing in San Diego Bay in 1542, Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo claimed the area for Spain, forming the basis for the settlement of Alta California 200 years later. The Presidio and Mission San Diego de Alcalá, founded in 1769, formed the first European settlement in what is now California. In 1821, San Diego became part of the newly independent Mexico, which reformed as the First Mexican Republic two years later. California became part of the United States in 1848 following the Mexican–American War and was admitted to the union as a state in 1850.

The Alviso Adobe can be seen mostly in its original form with one kitchen addition made by the Cuciz family after they purchased the adobe from the Gleason family in 1922. Prior to the city acquiring the Alviso Adobe in 1995, it was the oldest continuously occupied adobe house in California dating from the Mexican period and today is still gradually being restored and undergoing seismic upgrades by the City of Milpitas. Alviso Adobe History Park is to be opened, after the exterior restoration of the adobe and outbuildings is completed, as an educational museum with historic items, trees, buildings, and documents.


Question: Is the film Taking Chance based on a true story?

Taking Chance is a 2009 American historical drama film that recounts the true story of Marine Colonel Michael Strobl, played by Kevin Bacon, who accompanies the remains of a deceased Marine, PFC Chance Phelps, who was posthumously promoted to LCpl, from the Iraq War back to his hometown.

The song's music video was directed by Samuel Bayer, best known for his work with Nirvana and Metallica.[7] Bayer wrote the treatment for the video, which he envisioned as a mini-movie.[3] Bayer brought the idea of an Iraq War-themed video to the trio after interviewing soldiers who had signed up to fight after being persuaded by a television advertisement. The song's music video thus attempts to "turn the machine on itself" by acting as a commercial for "free thought or peace."[8] Although it was far from the song's literal meaning, Armstrong felt it appropriate considering the song's theme of loss.[9] Bayer noted that he felt bored with predictable music videos, and wanted to produce a video that felt like a film. Consequently, he and a crew spent a month casting actors for the roles and conducted rehearsals, uncommon for music videos.[7] The clip was filmed in Los Angeles in late March 2004.[3]

The Rings of Saturn (German: Die Ringe des Saturn: Eine englische Wallfahrt - An English Pilgrimage) is a 1995 novel by the German writer W. G. Sebald. Its first-person narrative arc is the account by a nameless narrator (who resembles the author in typical Sebaldian fashion[1]) on a walking tour of Suffolk. In addition to describing the places he sees and people he encounters, including translator Michael Hamburger, Sebald discusses various episodes of history and literature, including the introduction of silkworm cultivation to Europe and the writings of Thomas Browne, which attach in some way to the larger text. The book was published in English in 1998. A film, Patience (After Sebald), directed by Grant Gee and released in 2012, is based on this book.

The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom (1993) is a TV movie which dramatized the true story of Wanda Holloway, the Texas mother whose obsession with her daughter's cheerleading career made headline news. Another lurid TV movie based on a true story, Fab Five: The Texas Cheerleader Scandal was produced in 2008.

Salt is a 2010 American action thriller film directed by Phillip Noyce, written by Kurt Wimmer, and starring Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Daniel Olbrychski, August Diehl, and Chiwetel Ejiofor. Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, who is accused of being a Russian sleeper agent and goes on the run to try to clear her name.

The animals continue on their way, but Chance tries to befriend a porcupine, ending up with a load of quills in his muzzle.  The animals then encounter a little girl named Molly (Mariah Milner), who is lost in the woods. Too loyal to ignore her, they stand guard over her and keep her warm during overnight. In the morning, Shadow finds a rescue party and leads them back to the girl.  They recognize the animals from a missing pets flyer and take them to the local animal shelter, but Chance mistakes it for a dog pound and the trio panic.  As the medical staff removes the quills from Chance's muzzle, Sassy sneaks in and frees Shadow. Together, they retrieve Chance and escape the shelter, unaware that their owners are on their way to get them.

Based on the strength of his work, Universal signed Spielberg to do four TV films. The first was a Richard Matheson adaptation called Duel. The film is about a psychotic Peterbilt 281 tanker truck driver who chases the terrified driver (Dennis Weaver) of a small Plymouth Valiant and tries to run him off the road. Special praise of this film by the influential British critic Dilys Powell was highly significant to Spielberg's career. Another TV film (Something Evil) was made and released to capitalize on the popularity of The Exorcist, then a major best-selling book which had not yet been released as a film. He fulfilled his contract by directing the TV film-length pilot of a show called Savage, starring Martin Landau. Spielberg's debut full-length feature film was The Sugarland Express, about a married couple who are chased by police as the couple tries to regain custody of their baby. Spielberg's cinematography for the police chase was praised by reviewers, and The Hollywood Reporter stated that "a major new director is on the horizon."[4]:223 However, the film fared poorly at the box office and received a limited release.

After the success of Chokher Bali, Rai returned to mainstream Hindi film with Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee (2004), an action thriller featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan and Tusshar Kapoor. The film tells the story of five constables embroiled in a mystery surrounding a terrorist attack; Rai's role was that of Mahalakshmi, a gun moll. While filming for Khakee, Rai was accidentally hit by a running car, which resulted in the fracture of her left foot.[66] Upon release, the film received moderate critical and commercial success.[67] In her next release, the romantic comedy Kyun! Ho Gaya Na..., Rai played Diya Malhotra, a university student who develops a one-sided attraction toward her friend Arjun Khanna (played by Vivek Oberoi). The film received positive to mixed comments from critics, but failed commercially.[68][69]

Road to Perdition is a 2002 American crime film directed by Sam Mendes. The screenplay was adapted by David Self from the graphic novel of the same name by Max Allan Collins. The film stars Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Jude Law, and Daniel Craig. The plot takes place in 1931, during the Great Depression, following a mob enforcer and his son as they seek vengeance against a mobster who murdered the rest of their family.

Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a 2008 British coming of age-comedy film co-written and directed by Gurinder Chadha. The film's lead is played by Georgia Groome, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Karen Taylor amongst the supporting cast. The story is based on two teenage novels by Louise Rennison: Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging and It's OK, I'm Wearing Really Big Knickers. The narrative follows fourteen-year-old Georgia Nicholson (Groome) as she tries to find a boyfriend while also organising her fifteenth birthday party.

VanCamp starred in Hallmark Hall of Fame film Beyond the Blackboard, based on the true story of teacher Stacey Bess, whom VanCamp portrays.[14] The film aired on CBS on April 24, 2011. She was then cast as Amanda Clarke/Emily Thorne in the ABC drama Revenge, which was given a series order in May 2011.[15][16] As the first TV show VanCamp has truly headlined, Revenge has garnered her a significant amount of recognition, including multiple Teen Choice Awards nominations.


Question: What does the term "utang na loob" mean?

Utang na loob, a distinctive Filipino cultural concept, literally translates to "a debt of one's inner self." Commonly, it is understood as a "debt of gratitude," signifying a profound sense of obligation and thankfulness one feels towards others who have extended help or kindness.

Among Taiwanese, Tn̂g-soaⁿ has been used, for example, in the saying, "has Tangshan father, no Tangshan mother" (有唐山公，無唐山媽; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Ū Tn̂g-soaⁿ kong, bô Tn̂g-soaⁿ má).[37][38] This refers how the Han people crossing the Taiwan Strait in the 17th and 18th centuries were mostly men, and that many of their offspring would be through intermarriage with Taiwanese aborigine women.

The fluency and sophistication of the Tagalog used in the poem also do not match Rizal's grasp of the language. Although Rizal's native tongue was Tagalog, his early education was all in Spanish. In the oft-quoted anecdote of the moth and the flame from Rizal's memoir, the children's book he and his mother were reading was entitled El Amigo de los NiÃ±os, and it was in Spanish.[11] He would later lament his difficulties in expressing himself in Tagalog. In 1886, Rizal was in Leipzig working on a Tagalog translation of Friedrich Schiller's William Tell, which he sent home to his brother Paciano. In the accompanying letter, Rizal speaks of his difficulty finding an appropriate Tagalog equivalent of Freiheit (freedom), settling on kalayahan. Rizal cited Del Pilar's translation of his own essay as his source for kalayahan.[2][10] Rizal also attempted to write Makamisa (the intended sequel to El filibusterismo) in Tagalog, only to give up after only ten pages and start again in Spanish.[2][3]

"The Filipino wants to harmonize the object and the subject, while at the same time holding both as distinct."

In terms of pawn transactions, money is lent and the borrower provides an item of property as security, the resale value of which is greater than the loan. The creditor is entitled to sell the property if the money is not repaid by an agreed date, and to keep the proceeds of the sale.

The term white elephant refers to an extravagant but burdensome gift that cannot be easily disposed of, based on the legend of the King of Siam gifting rare albino elephants to courtiers who had displeased him, that they might be ruined by the animals' upkeep costs. While the first use of this term remains a matter of contention among historians,[3] one theory suggests that Ezra Cornell brought the term into the popular lexicon through his frequent social gatherings as early as 1828.[4]

And one more from the same theme appears in an Abbot and Costello routine in which Abbot asks Costello for a fifty dollar loan. Costello holds out forty dollars and says, "That's all I have." Abbot responds, "Fine, you can owe me the other ten."

The Biblical words usually translated as "abomination" do not always convey the same sense of moral exceptionalism as the English term does today, as it often may signify that which is forbidden or unclean according to the religion (especially sheqets). Linguistically in this case, it may be closer in meaning to the Polynesian term taboo or tapu, signifying that which is forbidden, and should not be eaten, and or not touched, and which sometimes was a capital crime. The word most often translated "abomination" to denote grave moral offenses is Tōʻēḇā. This article examines the term as it is used in English translations of the Bible, and also the actual senses of the words which are being translated into this term in English.[2]

Al-ḥamdu lil-lāh (Arabic: ٱلْـحَـمْـدُ للهِ) or Alḥamdulillāh, also known as Taḥmīd (Arabic: تَـحْـمِـيْـد, lit. 'Praising'),[1] is an Arabic phrase meaning "praise be to the Lord", sometimes translated as "thank Lord!".[2]

The word fealty derives from the Latin fidelitas and denotes the fidelity owed by a vassal to his feudal lord. Fealty also refers to an oath which more explicitly reinforces the commitments of the vassal made during homage. Such an oath follows homage. Once the commendation was complete, the lord and vassal were now in a feudal relationship with agreed-upon mutual obligations to one another. The vassal's principal obligation to the lord was the performance of military service. Using whatever equipment the vassal could obtain by virtue of the revenues from the fief, the vassal was responsible to answer to calls to military service on behalf of the lord.

Christmas carols in predominantly Catholic Philippines exhibit the influence of indigenous, Hispanic and American musical traditions, reflecting the country's complex history. Carollers (Tagalog: NamamaskÃ´) begin wassailing in November, with mostly children and young adults participating in the custom.


Question: When did the use of the electric chair cease in America?

The electric chair, once a prominent symbol of capital punishment in the U.S., is now less frequently used due to the increasing preference for lethal injection, considered a more humane execution method. Although some states retain electrocution as an execution option, it is typically offered as a secondary choice at the prisoner's request or as a fallback when lethal injection drugs are unavailable. As of 2014, Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, and Virginia permit inmates to select lethal injection over electrocution. Kentucky reserves the electric chair for those convicted before March 31, 1998, who opt for it, while Tennessee allows electrocution for pre-1999 crimes if the prisoner chooses or if lethal injection drugs are not available. Arkansas and Oklahoma consider the electric chair as an alternative if lethal injection is deemed unconstitutional. On February 8, 2008, Nebraska's Supreme Court ruled electrocution as "cruel and unusual punishment," effectively halting this method of execution in the state, which was the last to exclusively use electrocution.

Before 2011, the condemned was given an opportunity to have a last meal based on what the unit's cafeteria could prepare from its stock. Robert Perkinson, author of Texas Tough: The Rise of America's Prison Empire, said in 2010 that most condemned prisoners ordered "standard American fare in heaping portions, the sorts of meals that recall a childhood Sunday."[40] Many female prisoners under the death sentence did not take a last meal.[42]  However, Lawrence Russel Brewer, a white supremacist gang member convicted for the high-profile hate crime dragging death of James Byrd Jr., ordered a large last meal and did not eat it before his execution. In response, John Whitmire, a member of the Texas legislature, asked the TDCJ to stop special meals. Whitmire stated to the press that Brewer's victim, Mr. Byrd, "didn't get to choose his last meal." The TDCJ complied. Brian Price, a former prison chef, offered to personally cook and pay for any subsequent special last meal since the TDCJ is not paying for them anymore.[43] However, Whitmire warned in a letter that he would seek formal state legislation when lawmakers next convened if the "last meal" tradition wasn't stopped immediately.[44]  Afterwards, the TDCJ stopped serving special last meals, and will only allow execution chamber prisoners to have the same kind of meal served to regular prisoners.[45]  Many prisoners requested cigarettes (which were denied as TDCJ has banned smoking in its facilities).

Within the context of the overall murder rate, the death penalty cannot be said to be widely or routinely used in the United States; in recent years the average has been about one death sentence for every 200 murder convictions.

Since 1999, Belarus has been the only recognized country in Europe to carry out executions. 2009 and 2015 were the first two years in recorded history when Europe was completely free of executions. This century the following European countries have abolished capital punishment: Ukraine (2000), Malta (2000), Cyprus (2002), Turkey (2004), Greece (2004), Moldova (2005), Albania (2007), and Latvia (2012).

Frank Rayner, who had been with the Company since 1887, and had served as its engineer and later general manager since 1896, died in December 1945. Sir Ernest Jardine, who as vice-chairman had partly funded the first lock at Cromwell in 1908, died in 1947, and the company ceased to exist in 1948, when the waterways were nationalised. The last act of the directors was to pay a 7.5 per cent dividend on the shares in 1950. Having taken over responsibility for the waterway, the Transport Commission enlarged Newark Town lock in 1952, and the flood lock at Holme was removed to reduce the risk of flooding in Nottingham. More improvements followed between 1957 and 1960. The two locks at Cromwell became one, capable of holding eight Trent barges, dredging equipment was updated, and several of the locks were mechanised. Traffic increased from 620,000 tonnes during 1951 to 1,017,356 tonnes during 1964, but all of this was below Nottingham. Commercial carrying above Nottingham ceased during the 1950s, to be replaced by pleasure cruising.[96]

Executions in the Americas in 2017: United States (23).[110]

After five years on death row at the Kansas State Penitentiary (now known as Lansing Correctional Facility) in Lansing, Kansas, Smith and Hickock were executed by hanging just after midnight on April 14, 1965. Hickock was executed first and was pronounced dead at 12:41 a.m. after hanging for nearly 20 minutes. Smith followed shortly after and was pronounced dead at 1:19 a.m. Warden Official Greg Seamon presided over the executions in Lansing. The gallows used in their executions now forms part of the collections of the Kansas State Historical Society.[8]

From the mid-1890s until the early 1920s both phonograph cylinder and disc recordings and machines to play them on were widely mass-marketed and sold. The disc system gradually became more popular because of its cheaper price and better marketing by disc record companies. Edison ceased cylinder manufacture in the autumn of 1929, and the history of disc and cylinder rivalry was concluded.

By 1956, however, Costello, who was convicted of tax evasion in 1954 and now controlled the Luciano family from prison, was engaged in a major power struggle with fellow associate Vito Genovese and his grip on power greatly weakened.[66] In 1957, Costello was released from prison after winning an appeal but officially abandoned his role as head of the Luciano family following a failed assassination attempt.[66] In 1958, DeSapio's "reform" image was severely damaged after he ran his own candidate for Senate, Manhattan District Attorney Frank Hogan.[68] New Yorkers now saw DeSapio as an old-time Tammany Hall boss, and Hogan would lose the Senate election to Republican Kenneth Keating;[68] Republican Nelson Rockefeller would also be elected Governor the same year.[68] Democrats who once praised De Sapio now excoriated him.[68] In 1961, Wagner won re-election by running a reformist campaign that denounced his former patron, DeSapio, as an undemocratic practitioner of Tammany machine politics.[68] Eleanor Roosevelt organized a counterattack with Herbert H. Lehman and Thomas K. Finletter to form the New York Committee for Democratic Voters, a group dedicated to fighting Tammany. In 1961, the group helped remove DeSapio from power. The once mighty Tammany political machine, now deprived of its leadership, quickly faded from political importance, and by 1967 it ceased to exist; its demise as the controlling group of the New York Democratic Party was sealed when the Village Independent Democrats under Ed Koch wrested away control of the Manhattan party.

In North American residential construction, aluminum wire was used for wiring entire houses for a short time from the 1960s to the mid-1970s during a period of high copper prices. Electrical devices (outlets, switches, lighting, fans, etc.) at the time were not designed with the particular properties of the aluminum wire being used in mind, and there were some issues related to the properties of the wire itself, making the installations with aluminum wire much more susceptible to problems. Revised manufacturing standards for both the wire and the devices were developed to reduce the problems. Existing homes with this older aluminum wiring used in branch circuits present a potential fire hazard.

Whipping was the most commonly used form of punishment, especially in the south with slaves. Other frequently used punishments included branding, cutting off ears, and placing people in the pillory. These punishments were sometimes harsher, depending on the crimes committed. In the American colonies, executions were less common than in England. However, when such a method was used, it was most often a public hanging. Usually capital offenses, such as murder or rape, or repeated serious offenses constituted a need for an execution.


Question: When does season 18 of Law and Order: SVU begin?

The eighteenth season of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premiered on NBC on Wednesday, September 21, 2016, and concluded with a two-hour finale on Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

The fifth season of the television drama series Wentworth premiered on Showcase in Australia on 4 April 2017, having previously aired on SoHo, and concluded on June 20, 2017. It was executive produced by FremantleMedia's Director of Drama, Jo Porter. The season comprised 12 episodes. The fifth season picks up just days after the death of Bea Smith and is therefore noted as the first season not to feature Danielle Cormack.[1]

The show will return in 2018, as confirmed by Ant & Dec at the end of the Coming Out show on 15 December 2017. It is the first series in a new two-year contract.

12 Monkeys is an American television series on Syfy created by Terry Matalas and Travis Fickett.[1] It is a science fiction mystery drama based on the 1995 film of the same name, directed by Terry Gilliam, which itself was based on Chris Marker's 1962 short film La Jetée. The series aired between January 16, 2015 and July 6, 2018.[2]

Principal photography began in Boston in September 2016. The film originally premiered at the Gala Presentations section at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2017,[4] and was released in the United States on April 6, 2018, by Entertainment Studios.[5] It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its balanced screenplay and Clarke's performance.[6]

This is the last season the original hard rock theme song was used in the opening sequence before changing to the fast-paced theme song of the now-defunct related series Law & Order: Trial by Jury â€“ coinciding with the show's move to USA Network in Fall 2007.

On September 8, 2017, Entertainment Studios acquired distribution rights to the film for $4 million.[12] The film premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10.[1] The film was initially scheduled for an awards season release, on December 8, 2017, but was moved back to April 6, 2018.[13][5] The studio spent $16 million on promotion and advertisement.[14]

The CW officially ordered Life Sentence to series on May 10, 2017.[17] In January 2018, the network announced the premiere date of Life Sentence on March 7, 2018.[18]

Julie Chen announced on September 7, 2017, during a live double eviction episode of Big Brother 19 that Celebrity Big Brother would air sometime during the winter, before the twentieth season of Big Brother in the summer of 2018. CBS later confirmed via a press release that Julie Chen would return to host the new season, and Allison Grodner and Rich Meehan will be executive producers. The season will be produced by Fly on the Wall Entertainment in association with Endemol Shine North America.[15]

Ghost Adventures is an American television series about the paranormal created by Zak Bagans and Nick Groff, airing on the Travel Channel. The series follows ghost hunters Zak Bagans, Nick Groff (seasons 1-10), and Aaron Goodwin as they investigate locations that are reported to be haunted. The show is introduced and narrated by Bagans. As of April 14, 2018,[update] 186 episodes of Ghost Adventures have aired, including 32 specials.

On May 11, 2017, ABC renewed American Housewife for a second season, which premiered on September 27, 2017.[6][7] On October 31, ABC ordered two additional episodes, bringing the season total to 24.[8]


Question: When did Lord Howe Island become a World Heritage Site?

Lord Howe Island was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982. This followed the establishment of a "Permanent Park Preserve" in 1981, covering the island's north and south ends, aimed at conservation. The island's conservation efforts were guided by an extensive survey conducted by the Lord Howe Island Board, which was published in 1974.

There remains occasional confusion between the Isle of Wight as a county and its former position within Hampshire.[62] The island was regarded and administered as a part of Hampshire until 1890, when its distinct identity was recognised with the formation of Isle of Wight County Council (see also Politics of the Isle of Wight). However, it remained a part of Hampshire until the local government reforms of 1974 when it became a full ceremonial county with its own Lord Lieutenant.[63]

Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity. The fertile volcanic soils support extensive agriculture, with vineyards and orchards spread across the lower slopes of the mountain and the broad Plain of Catania to the south. Due to its history of recent activity and nearby population, Mount Etna has been designated a Decade Volcano by the United Nations.[6] In June 2013, it was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.[7]

The city and the archaeological site are located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Mexico City. The site covers a total surface area of 83 square kilometres (32 sq mi) and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.[5] It is the most visited archaeological site in Mexico, receiving 4,185,017 visitors in 2017.[6]

Dominions were semi-independent polities under the British Crown, constituting the British Empire, beginning with Canadian Confederation in 1867.[1][2] They included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State, and then from the late 1940s also India, Pakistan, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). The Balfour Declaration of 1926 recognised the Dominions as "autonomous Communities within the British Empire", and the 1931 Statute of Westminster granted them full legislative independence.

The building was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987 for its architectural and historic significance.[107]

The island was originally scheduled to land in 2012.[33] However, the island landing and ceremony actually took place on 26 January 2013.[33]

Consequently, Sydney experienced population growth and increased cultural diversification throughout the post-war period. The people of Sydney warmly welcomed Queen Elizabeth II in 1954 when the reigning monarch stepped onto Australian soil for the first time to commence her Australian Royal Tour.[66] Having arrived on the Royal Yacht Britannia through Sydney Heads, Her Majesty came ashore at Farm Cove. There were 1.7 million people living in Sydney at 1950 and almost 3 million by 1975. The Australian government launched a large scale multicultural immigration program.

The other main island in this group, Dauan (Mt Cornwallis), is a smaller island with steep hills, composed largely of granite. This island actually represents the northernmost extent of the Great Dividing Range, the extensive series of mountain ranges which runs along almost the entire eastern coastline of Australia. This peak became an island as the ocean levels rose at the end of the last ice age.

The island has been home to the poets Swinburne and Tennyson and to Queen Victoria, who built her much-loved summer residence and final home Osborne House at East Cowes. It has a maritime and industrial tradition including boat-building, sail-making, the manufacture of flying boats, the hovercraft, and Britain's space rockets. The island hosts annual music festivals including the Isle of Wight Festival, which in 1970 was the largest rock music event ever held.[5] It has well-conserved wildlife and some of the richest cliffs and quarries for dinosaur fossils in Europe.

Since 1872 the United States National Park System has grown from a single, public reservation called Yellowstone National Park to embrace over 450 natural, historical, recreational, and cultural areas throughout the United States, its territories, and island possessions. These areas include a diverse varieties of areas â€”National Parks, National Monuments, National Memorials, National Military Parks, National Historic Sites, National Parkways, National Recreation Areas, National Seashores, National Scenic Riverways, National Scenic Trails, and others.[1]


Question: When is the release date for the new Saw 8 movie?

The eighth installment in the Saw franchise, Jigsaw, was released in the United States on October 27, 2017. Production began in November 2016, and post-production concluded in January 2017. Despite receiving mixed reviews from critics, the film grossed $102.9 million worldwide.

In March 2015, T.S. Nowlin, who co-wrote the first and wrote the second film, was hired to write Maze Runner: The Death Cure based on the novel The Death Cure.[10] In September 2015, Ball was hired to direct the film.[11] Ball said that the film will not be split into two films.[12] Principal photography took place in Cape Town, South Africa between March and June 2017 for a January 26, 2018 release.[13][14][15][16]

A US-German co-production, Isle of Dogs was produced by Indian Paintbrush and Anderson's own production company, American Empirical Pictures. The film opened the 68th Berlin International Film Festival, where Anderson was awarded the Silver Bear for Best Director. It began a limited release in the United States on March 23, 2018, by Fox Searchlight Pictures, with a wide release on for April 13, 2018. The film has grossed $41 million worldwide and received praise for its animation, story and deadpan humor; some critics, however, accused it of cultural appropriation.

In May 2013, Fox scheduled the film for April 7, 2017 release.[15] In February 2016, the release date was pushed back from its original release date of April 7, 2017 to July 21, 2017.[21] In August 2016, the release date was again pushed back, this time from July 21, 2017 to December 22, 2017, taking over the release date of DreamWorks Animation's The Croods 2,[22] before that film was temporarily cancelled.[23] In February 2017, the film was moved up by one week from December 22, 2017 to December 15, 2017.[5] The first trailer premiered on March 28, 2017,[24] followed by the second trailer on June 14, 2017.[25]

Spawn was released in the United States on August 1, 1997. It grossed $87 million worldwide against its production budget of $40 million, but received generally negative reviews from critics. The film was Williamson's final film appearance before his death on December 16, 2011.

The video game has been adapted into four manga series: Corpse Party: Blood Covered, published by Square Enix; Corpse Party: Musume and Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, published by Media Factory; and Corpse Party: Another Child, published by Mag Garden. One original video animation (OVA), Corpse Party: Missing Footage, was released on August 2, 2012.[8] Another OVA consisting of four episodes titled Corpse Party: Tortured Souls, was released on July 24, 2013,[29] and later licensed by Section23 Films. A movie adaptation was also made, which was released on August 1, 2015.

Tomb Raider premiered on March 2, 2018 in Berlin, Germany, at an exclusive preview with invited guests and cosplaying fans.[2][3] It was released in the United States on March 16, 2018, by Warner Bros. Pictures,[27] days after the fifth anniversary of the franchise's video game reboot. The film received an IMAX 3D and a RealD 3D release.[28]

By October 2015, F. Gary Gray and Ryan Coogler had been considered to direct the film,[90][91] though negotiations with Coogler had cooled,[91] and Gray had chosen to direct Fast & Furious 8 instead.[92] Joe Robert Cole, a member of the Marvel writers program, was in talks to write the screenplay,[93] and Marvel changed the release date once again, moving it to February 16, 2018.[94] By December, discussions with Coogler were reignited after the successful opening of his film Creed.[91] Feige described Black Panther as "a big geopolitical action adventure that focuses on the family and royal struggle of T'Challa in Wakanda, and what it means to be a king", while calling the film "a very important" link to Avengers: Infinity War and its sequel.[95][96] He added that the film would be the first Marvel Studios production to feature a "primarily African-American cast".[96][97]

A sequel to Madagascar had been in development since 2005, when the first film had been released, with a release date planned for late 2008.[5] In the first teaser trailer, which was released in March 2008, the film was subtitled with The Crate Escape.[6] By June 2008, the film was given its final title â€“ Escape 2 Africa.[7]

The dump months are what the film community calls the two periods of the year when there are lowered commercial and critical expectations for most new releases. Audiences during these periods are smaller than the rest of the year, so no tentpole movies are released. January[1] and February are usually most commonly described this way, with August and September sometimes included.[2] Releases during those times primarily include films that would have been released at other times of year had they done better at test screenings, films with less prominent stars, genre films (particularly horror), movies that cannot be easily marketed and films intended for a teenage audience, which has fewer entertainment options outside the home.

The film stars Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, Simon Pegg, Hannah John-Kamen and Mark Rylance. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2018, and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. in the United States on March 29, 2018. It received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its visuals and brisk pacing, and noting it an improvement over the book, though criticism for the lack of character development and "achingly regressive" view of pop culture fans.[39][40]


Question: Who was the winner of the 2017 women's Wimbledon final?

In the 2017 Wimbledon Championships for Women's Singles, Garbiñe Muguruza emerged victorious, securing her second Grand Slam singles title. She triumphed over Venus Williams in the final with a score of 7–5, 6–0. Muguruza's win made her the second Spanish woman to claim the Wimbledon title, following Conchita Martínez's victory in 1994. Additionally, she became the first player to defeat both of the Williams sisters in Grand Slam singles finals.

The 2011 Cricket World Cup Final was a One Day International (ODI) match played between India and Sri Lanka at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai, on 2 April 2011. The culmination of the tenth edition of the World Cup, it was the first time that these two teams had met each other at this stage in the tournament history. India won the match by six wickets—its second World Cup win after the 1983 tournament—and became the third team to have won the title more than once, after Australia (1987, 1999, 2003 and 2007) and the West Indies (1975 and 1979).[3]

In July, Murray/Peers reached the final of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships finishing as runners up to Rojer/Tecau in straight sets.

Dixon took part in series 5 of TV show Strictly Come Dancing in 2007, partnered with professional dancer Matthew Cutler. Dixon was at first hesitant to join, fearing that snobbery within the music industry would damage her career. In a later interview, she said, "there's always this preconceived idea that people do reality TV shows because they want to kick-start their careers whereas I was actually worried that it would affect it."[24] They had been the favourite from the third week, receiving the most points from the judges on numerous occasions. Dixon herself gained high appraisal from the judges, even being likened to a "young Josephine Baker" by Bruno Tonioli.[11] They received 4.5 million votes in the final, beating actor Matt Di Angelo and professional dancer Flavia Cacace to win the glitter disco ball.[25] Dixon is currently the most successful contestant to ever take part in Strictly Come Dancing, with an average point score of 36.5/40, the highest average score from any contestant to ever take part in the show.

Australia clinched their tenth title in this tournament after defeating England 2â€“1 in the final match.

The second attempt, Women's Professional Soccer, was founded in 2009, and featured involvement of many former WUSA figures. The champion of WPS' first season in 2009 was Sky Blue FC, out of the New York–New Jersey area. They defeated the Los Angeles Sol 1–0 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. WPS launched with seven teams, all based in the United States. The Sol folded after the league's inaugural season, and two new teams joined for 2010, bringing WPS to eight teams. However, the 2010 season saw considerable instability, with another charter team, Saint Louis Athletica, folding during the season, champions FC Gold Pride folding after the season, and the Chicago Red Stars deciding to regroup in the second-tier Women's Premier Soccer League (WPSL). The 2011 season, in which six teams based along the East Coast played, was marked by low attendance for most of the season and conflict with Dan Borislow, who had purchased the former Washington Freedom, moved the team to South Florida, and renamed it magicJack. The dispute between WPS and Borislow led the league to suspend the magicJack franchise, with Borislow responding by suing. The legal battle led WPS to suspend its 2012 season, with hopes of returning in 2013, but WPS soon decided to fold completely.

In early March 2016 she signed Gopichand Malineni's film Winner starring with Sai Dharam Tej for the first time.[36][37] In early July 2016, she signed to AR Murugadoss' bilingual film opposite to Mahesh Babu,  titled Spyder.[38][39][40] In September 2016 she signed another Telugu film titled Rarandoi Veduka Chudham directed by Kalyan Krishna starring opposite Naga Chaitanya.[41] The movie was released on 26 May which was a huge blockbuster.[42] She later has received a lot of applause for her look and character as Bramaramba in Rarandoi Veduka Chudham.[43]

The 2017 AFL season was the 121st season in the Australian Football League contested by the Carlton Football Club. The club's senior team finished sixteenth out of eighteen teams with a win-loss record of 6â€“16. The club's women's team also contested the inaugural season of the AFL Women's competition, finishing fourth.

Williams' came into the WTA Championships with no warm-up events having withdrawn from the Asian Swing. Williams ended in the red group with Victoria Azarenka, Angelique Kerber and Li Na. She played the first match of the tournament facing Kerber, to whom she lost their last encounter. Williams took the first three-game then lead but was pegged back by the German by taking the next 3 games. Williams then broke Kerber to take the set. Williams then took the last 5 games of the match to take the second set and the match. Williams made 26 winners and 20 unforced errors in the match.[69][70] Her next opponent was China's Li. The match began with Williams breaking Li's serve. However Li was quick to strike back reeling off four games only to see Williams comeback to take four straight games herself. In the next four games the two traded breaks to send the set into a tie-breaker. Williams won it with ease. The second began by Li breaking WIlliams only to see Williams again reel off four games. The rest of the set went on serve until Williams closed out the match. Williams ended with 22 winners and 31 unforced errors in the match.[71][72] In her final Round Robin match it was a rematch of the 2012 US Open finals against Azarenka. The match began with seven straight holds of serve until Williams broke in the ninth game just to broken back but Williams broke again when Azarenka double-fauled to give away the set. Azarenka began the second by reeling of three straight games. However she was unable to hold on as Williams won four straight games herself. Williams broke Azarenka in the tenth game to take the match with a double-fault. Williams have now improved her record against Azarenka to 11–1 and advancing into semifinals as the Red Groups top player with a 3–0 match win record and without the loss of a set.[73] In the semifinals Williams' faced world no. 4 Agnieszka Radwańska. Williams reeled off an eight-game winning streak from the 4th game in the first set. Williams won the match and was accompanied by 39 winners.[74] In the final, Williams faced Maria Sharapova in a rematch of the 2004 WTA Tour Championships. The first set was close with Williams winning the set 6–4. Williams started the first set by breaking the Sharapova serve and then broke Sharapova again to win the match. Williams didn't face a single break points and made 40 winners – 14 unforced errors to Sharapova's 13 – 12 Williams also made 11 aces in the match. This is Williams' third Year-End title and is the oldest woman to hold win the title. This win also meant that she has won the most titles in the season with 7.[75]

In the United Kingdom, On May 2007, Brightman sang along soprano Lesley Garrett at Wembley Stadium the anthem "Abide With Me" before the FA Cup final between Chelsea and Manchester United,[65] and participated as well in a dinner held at The Mansion House, where the Prince of Wales highlighted the urgent need for action to halt tropical deforestation. Brightman sang at the event to engage the financial community in the task of finding a solution to the problem of making rainforests "worth more alive than dead". The music performed was Nella Fantasia and was further declared hymn to the rainforests.[66]

Murray and Peers instantly gained revenge for their loss as the grass court season began, defeating the Bryan brothers in straight sets at the Aegon Championships.[80] They made it all the way to the final, their second of the year, but were beaten by second seeds Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares in a hotly contested match.[81] They then lost their opening match of the Aegon International. At Wimbledon they were seeded 14th and won their opening two matches in straight sets. They then faced Peya and Soares in the third round. The match went all the way to a fifth set but Murray and Peers once again were unable to overcome the duo and narrowly missed out on making their second Grand Slam quarterfinal.[82] Murray did, however, make the quarterfinals of the mixed doubles, partnering Australian Casey Dellacqua.[83]