Question: What does the Oklahoma flag represent?

The Oklahoma flag features an Osage shield adorned with symbols of peace, including a Plains-style ceremonial pipe symbolizing Native Americans and an olive branch symbolizing European Americans. Six golden brown crosses, representing stars, are spaced on the shield. The blue background is inspired by the Choctaw flag, adopted in 1860, and symbolizes devotion. The shield, topped by the calumet and olive branch, represents protective warfare and the unity of a people who love peace.

The proportions of the design are prescribed in terms of the hoist, or vertical height, of the flag as follows: the upper white portion shall be 3⁄10 of the hoist; the two horizontal bars are each 2⁄10 of the hoist; the white area between the bars 1⁄10 of the hoist; and the base, or lowest white space, is 2⁄10 of the hoist. The three five-pointed stars have a diameter of 2⁄10 of the hoist and are spaced equidistant in the fly, or horizontal, dimension of the flag.[2]

In Georgia, the Confederate battle flag was reintroduced as an element of the state flag in 1956, just two years after the Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education. It was considered by many to be a protest against school desegregation.[18] It was also raised at the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss) during protests against integration of schools.[19]

A maritime flag is a flag designated for use on ships, boats, and other watercraft. Naval flags are considered important at sea and the rules and regulations for the flying of flags are strictly enforced. The flag flown is related to the country of registration: so much so that the word "flag" is often used symbolically as a synonym for "country of registration".

The original Panamanian flag was made by María de la Ossa de Amador, the first First Lady of Panama, on November 1, 1903. Manuel Amador Guerrero's son, Manuel Encarnación Amador, generally recognized as a skillful drawer, sketched the flag and showed it to María de la Ossa de Amador, who, after much difficulty in avoiding the Colombian army, eventually produced three copies of the flag, with help from her sister-in-law Angélica Bergamonta de la Ossa and niece, María Emilia de la Ossa Bergamonta. All three flags were flown in Panama City upon independence, and distributed widely. The original flag differs from the present flag in that the upper left quadrant was blue. After independence, when blue was chosen as a color of one of the political parties, the quadrants were shifted to make the top left quadrant white.[5][6]

It once bore a heavy coat of red ochre, some of which is still visible.[65] He also wears a flat cap with a raised border around its top which has an "ogee" design in negative relief. Brown believes that this cap "appears to be a case for displaying a copper plate."[66] The subject of the sculpture also wears a rich, triple-strand necklace of wampum beads. His most interesting feature, however, is a pair of prosopic ear ornaments, clearly of the Short-Nosed God type.[67] Reilly, on the assumption that the SECC clay effigy pipes are of divine subjects, concludes, because of Big Boy's long red braid and prosopic earpieces, that he must represent "Morning Star" (by which he means Red Horn).[68] James A. Brown leans strongly towards this view, but voices a note of caution:

The national flag of Sierra Leone is a tricolour consisting of three horizontal green, white and blue bands. It was adopted in 1961, Sierra Leone's independence year, to replace the British Blue Ensign defaced with the arms of the Crown Colony of Sierra Leone.

The shield shape design is used to identify color bearing organizations (for example, regiments and battalions). Other design patterns will be used for non-color bearing units. The design is based on war service, assignment or accomplishments. Cartoon characters or logos are not authorized as design elements. Symbols are to represent mission rather than actual equipment as equipment becomes out-of-date. Unit designations, numerals, letters, geographical outlines, reproductions of other insignia will not be included as part of the design.

The flag's background is white, a traditional color in Korean culture. White was common in the daily attire of 19th-century Koreans, and it still appears in contemporary versions of traditional Korean garments, such as the hanbok. The color represents peace and purity.

Miles' flag and all the flag designs up to that point were rectangular ("oblong") in shape. General Johnston suggested making it square to conserve material. Johnston also specified the various sizes to be used by different types of military units. Generals Beauregard and Johnston and Quartermaster General Cabell approved the design of the 12-star Confederate Battle Flag at the Ratcliffe home, which served briefly as Beauregard's headquarters, near Fairfax Court House in September 1861. The 12th star represented Missouri. President Jefferson Davis arrived by train at Fairfax Station soon after and was shown the design for the new battle flag at the Ratcliffe House. Hetty Cary and her sister and cousin made prototypes. One such 12-star flag resides in the collection of Richmond's Museum of the Confederacy and the other is in Confederate Memorial Hall in New Orleans.

Three successive designs served as the official national flag of the Confederate States of America (the "Confederate States" or the "Confederacy") during its existence from 1861 to 1865.


Question: What is the album cover for Simple Minds' "Live in the City of Light"?

Live in the City of Light
The Live In The City Of Light album by Simple Minds was originally released as a double vinyl LP with the band's logo embossed in gold over a black sleeve. Accompanied by a 12" x 12" booklet, the package included high-quality images from the band's live performances and outdoor photo sessions. Unfortunately, the intricate artwork could not be accurately replicated on subsequent CD releases, which were either packaged in double-wide jewel cases for the original UK version or in long boxes for the US edition, with the content split across two separate discs.

The song's music video was directed by Jon Jopson.[6] The concept for the clip is the Outfield filming a music video for the song, and prominently features a painting motif. They perform in front of a backdrop of the Play Deep album cover, which is also being finger-painted offstage by an artist, played by actress JoAnn Willette. Her character and lead vocalist Tony Lewis appear flirtatious throughout the clip. Willette was interviewed about her role on the blog Noblemania in 2013, and gave details about the making of the clip. It was shot in Astoria on a soundstage over one day; at the end of the video, Willette can be seen exiting the studio at dawn, the time the production wrapped.[7] The video is mainly footage of the group playing the song, highlighting their unity as a performing band: "We didn't want a situation where they had to be actors or something that wasn't what they are," said the band's manager, Kip Krones, at the time.[1]

Apple Records released Living in the Material World in late May 1973,[88] with "The Day the World Gets 'Round" appearing as the penultimate track.[89] Reflecting the album content,[90][91] Tom Wilkes's design for the LP's face labels contrasted a devout spiritual existence with life in the material world, by featuring a painting of the Hindu god Krishna and his warrior prince Arjuna on side one, and a picture of a Mercedes stretch limousine on the reverse.[92] The latter image was a detail taken from Ken Marcus's inner gatefold photograph, which depicted Harrison and his fellow musicians at a Last Supper-style banquet.[93][94] The album was a commercial success,[95] topping America's Billboard 200 chart for five weeks,[96] thus ensuring the Material World Charitable Foundation a considerable injection of funds.[97][98]

City Lights was released as a dual-format Blu-ray and DVD by the Criterion Collection in 2013, both of which include trailers of the film, archival footage from production, and an audio commentary track by Chaplin biographer and scholar Jeffrey Vance, among others. The new cover was illustrated by Canadian cartoonist Seth.[63]

In the meantime, Young worked on multiple songs for animated films and television commercials. On March 4, the single "Shine Your Way", featuring Young and Yuna, was released on iTunes from the soundtrack to The Croods.[82] Owl City performed a 90-second jingle for Oreo's "Wonderfilled" commercial in May 2013.[83] In June, it was revealed that Owl City would appear on The Smurfs 2: Music from and Inspired By Soundtrack. The track, called "Live It Up", was released in the soundtrack album.[84] Owl City released the single "Light of Christmas", which featured tobyMac, on October 22.[85][86] The song was created for the 2013 VeggieTales Christmas movie Merry Larry and the True Light of Christmas.[87][88]

The video finishes with Bowie retreating into a dark wardrobe. In the scenes featuring the wardrobe, Bowie is wearing a diagonally striped suit referencing the back cover of the 1991 CD reissue of the Station to Station album, where he is pictured sitting on the floor drawing the kabbalistic Tree of Life.[17][18] The Tree of Life is also referenced in the Station to Station lyrics, a "magical movement from Kether to Malkuth".[19][20]

On July 11, 2013, the band announced that their tenth studio album Lightning Bolt would be released internationally on October 14, 2013 and on the next day in the United States, along with releasing the first single "Mind Your Manners".[143] The band played a two-leg tour in North America during October and November,[144] followed by headlining the Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand in 2014.[145][146] The second single, "Sirens", was released on September 18, 2013.[147] After selling 166,000 copies in its first week, Lightning Bolt became Pearl Jam's fifth album to reach number one on the Billboard 200.[148] At the 57th Annual Grammy Awards in February 2015, the album won the award for Best Recording Package.[149] In November 2015 the band played a nine-date tour of Latin America.[150] In January 2016, the band announced a tour of the United States and Canada, including appearances at the New Orleans Jazz Festival and Bonnaroo.[151] In April 2017, Pearl Jam was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. At the ceremony they were inducted by comedian David Letterman.[152] In August 2017, the band announced the release of the live album and concert film Let's Play Two, from the band's shows at Wrigley Field the previous year.[153] The band is scheduled to tour South America and Europe in 2018, including shows at the Lollapalooza festival.[154][155]

The album art was done by photographer Joseph Cultice.[20]

Timberlake proceeded to walk up to a white grand piano while performing "Until the End of Time", then segued into "I Would Die 4 U" as a tribute to Minneapolis-native Prince. A video of Prince performing the song played in the background, projected onto on a large multi-story sheet. An aerial shot showed downtown Minneapolis covered in purple lighting that morphed into Prince's trademark Love Symbol, with the stadium at the center. He then returned to the main stage to perform "Mirrors", as hundreds of dancers and members of the marching band performed choreography with large mirrors, creating bright reflections in the broadcast and across the roof of the stadium. Timberlake closed the show with "Can't Stop the Feeling!", entering the stands at the conclusion of the song.[3][4]

Given this new attention, Browne began playing "These Days" in concert on a regular basis, but on acoustic guitar and in a new style. He now started with the fingerpicking guitar part but continued in a technique and feel that falls between the Nico and Browne recordings.[4] Indeed, he would say, "And now I've learned how to play the Nico version, which we sort of made up for her. [Imitates Nico's version] Fabulous you know..."[10] It was included on Browne's 2005 live album, Solo Acoustic, Vol. 1, including a humorous spoken introduction about the origins of the song. Yet another arrangement was constructed for his 2006 tour of Spain with Lindley and percussionist Tino di Geraldo and captured on the 2010 live album Love Is Strange: En Vivo Con Tino. A Spanish-accented vocal from guest singer Luz Casal was set against Browne's acoustic guitar, Lindley's violin, and di Geraldo's cajón; Allmusic stated that the result "makes an already beautiful song exquisite".[15]

To promote the Hannah Montana: The Movie soundtrack, Cyrus performed "The Climb" on a six-day, five-city acoustic radio promo tour that reached over 250 radio shows.[68] The song was also used as the closing number of Cyrus' 2009 Wonder World Tour, her first world tour. During the tour performances, Cyrus performed in a white tank top and shorts, boots, and a metallic vest, while giant overhead video screens displayed sunsets.[69] After finishing, Cyrus exited through a passageway in the stage while the images of shooting stars and the earth in space appeared on the screen. Melinda M. Thompson of The Oregonian described the performance as "really a moment to remember â€” Miley's soulful and touching rendition of 'The Climb'",[70] while Jim Harrington of The Oakland Tribune said the performance was a "tender closer" that drew a large response at the September 18 concert in Oakland, California, at the Oracle Arena.[71] Cyrus later performed the song at the Rock in Rio concert in Lisbon, Portugal[72] and the London, England nightclubs Heaven and G-A-Y.[73]


Question: When did South Sudan become a member of the East African Community?

South Sudan was granted membership to the East African Community in March 2016, following a treaty of accession signed in April 2016. The country officially joined the community on 5 September 2016, after ratifying the agreement within the six-month deadline. However, its level of participation remains less comprehensive compared to other member states.

In response to the massive EU growth, in 2005 the Russian-dominated Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) created a rival trade bloc to the EU, open to any previous USSR state, (including both the European and Asian states). 12 of the 15 signed up, with the three Baltic states deciding to align themselves with the EU. Despite this, the three Caucasus states[citation needed] have said in the past they would one day consider applying for EU membership, particularly Georgia. This is also true of Ukraine since the Orange Revolution.

Bermuda became an associate member of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in 2003 despite not being in the Caribbean region.[64][65]

Associations with Mozambique followed suit and were sustained after that country won its sovereignty in 1975. Angola was also granted South African loans. Other countries which formed relationships with South Africa were Liberia, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Gabon, Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and the Central African Republic. Although these states condemned apartheid (more than ever after South Africa's denunciation of the Lusaka Manifesto), South Africa's economic and military dominance meant that they remained dependent on South Africa to varying degrees[clarification needed].

Kazakhstan is also one of the three founding members of the Eurasian Economic Union in 2014, along with Belarus and the Russian Federation. Armenia and Kyrgyzstan have since joined this body. As co-operation among the member states in science and technology is already considerable and well-codified in legal texts, the Eurasian Economic Union is expected to have a limited additional impact on co-operation among public laboratories or academia but it should encourage business ties and scientific mobility, since it includes provision for the free circulation of labour and unified patent regulations.[28][29]

In November 2011, elections took place under conditions that the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) characterised as "not to be conducive for the conduct of free, fair and transparent polls".[40] These elections, which were not monitored by ECOWAS, returned Jammeh for another five-year term.

Belgium became one of the six founding members of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951 and of the European Atomic Energy Community and European Economic Community, established in 1957. The latter has now become the European Union, for which Belgium hosts major administrations and institutions, including the European Commission, the Council of the European Union and the extraordinary and committee sessions of the European Parliament.

The third grouping was initially the Defence Rifle Associations, which later became the Commandos, a rural self-defence force. There were several thousand other members in the Commandos. Each Commando was responsible for the safeguarding and protection of a specific community (both rural or urban). However, this system was phased out between 2003 and 2008 "because of the role it played in the apartheid era", according to the Minister of Safety and Security Charles Nqakula.[32] The last commando unit, that at Harrismith in the Free State, was disbanded in March 2008.

A number of countries did not fit comfortably into this neat definition of partition, including Switzerland, Sweden, Austria, and Ireland, which chose to be neutral. Finland was under the Soviet Union's military sphere of influence (see FCMA treaty) but remained neutral and was not communist, nor was it a member of the Warsaw Pact or Comecon but a member of the EFTA since 1986, and was west of the Iron Curtain. In 1955, when Austria again became a fully independent republic, it did so under the condition that it remain neutral, but as a country to the west of the Iron Curtain, it was in the United States' sphere of influence. Spain did not join the NATO until 1982, towards the end of the Cold War and after the death of the authoritarian Franco.

On 2 October 2013, The Gambian interior minister announced that The Gambia would leave the Commonwealth of Nations with immediate effect, ending 48 years of membership of the organisation. The Gambian Government said it had "decided that The Gambia will never be a member of any neo-colonial institution and will never be a party to any institution that represents an extension of colonialism".[24]

The D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation, also known as Developing-8, is an organisation for development co-operation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Nigeria, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey. The objectives of D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation are to improve member states' position in the global economy, diversify and create new opportunities in trade relations, enhance participation in decision-making at international level, and improve standards of living. D-8 is a global arrangement rather than a regional one, as the composition of its members reflects. Organization for Economic Cooperation (D-8) is a forum with no adverse impact on bilateral and multilateral commitments of the member countries, emanating from their membership to other international or regional organisations.[2]


Question: When did cricket transition to six-ball overs?

Since the 1979/80 season, Test cricket has been conducted with six balls per over. Prior to this, overs in Test cricket consisted of four balls, with various numbers of balls per over used in different countries up until 1979/80, typically mirroring the number of balls per over in other forms of first-class cricket in those regions.

The forerunner to the modern Double-A classification, the A1 level existed from 1936 through 1945. In 1936, two Class A circuits, the Texas League and the Southern Association, were upgraded to Class A1 to signify their continued status as one step below the highest classification, then Double-A, yet a notch above their former Class A peers, the New York–Pennsylvania League and Western League. Ten years later, after World War II, with the minor leagues poised for unprecedented growth, classification terminology was changed. Beginning in 1946, the three Double-A leagues (the American Association and International and Pacific Coast leagues) joined a new classification, Triple-A, and the Class A1 level became known as Double-A.

However, ITV moved again into football, albeit tentatively, in 1962 when Anglia Television launched Match of the Week, which showed highlights of matches from around East Anglia. The first match shown was Ipswich Town's 3-2 defeat at the hands of Wolves at Portman Road on 22 September 1962.[8] Tyne Tees Television in the North East of England began broadcasting local matches soon after under the title Shoot. League football was soon to gain a nationwide audience once more. In 1964, the BBC introduced Match of the Day - originally shown on BBC2 and intended to train BBC cameramen for the forthcoming 1966 World Cup. The first match was Liverpool's 3-2 victory over Arsenal at Anfield on 22 August, and the estimated audience of 20,000 was considerably less than the number of paying customers at the ground. At the time BBC2 could only be received in the London area, although by the end of Match of the Day's first season it could be sampled in the Midlands. The programme transferred to BBC1 in the wake of England's 1966 World Cup win and at last could be received by television viewers across the UK.

These ongoing efforts contributed to the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, which first met on the morning of 26 October 1863 at the Freemasons' Tavern in Great Queen Street, London.[31] The only school to be represented on this occasion was Charterhouse. The Freemason's Tavern was the setting for five more meetings between October and December, which eventually produced the first comprehensive set of rules. At the final meeting, the first FA treasurer, the representative from Blackheath, withdrew his club from the FA over the removal of two draft rules at the previous meeting: the first allowed for running with the ball in hand; the second for obstructing such a run by hacking (kicking an opponent in the shins), tripping and holding. Other English rugby clubs followed this lead and did not join the FA and instead in 1871 formed the Rugby Football Union. The eleven remaining clubs, under the charge of Ebenezer Cobb Morley, went on to ratify the original thirteen laws of the game.[31] These rules included handling of the ball by "marks" and the lack of a crossbar, rules which made it remarkably similar to Victorian rules football being developed at that time in Australia. The Sheffield FA played by its own rules until the 1870s with the FA absorbing some of its rules until there was little difference between the games.[32]

In English football, the first £1 million fee occurred in 1979, when Nottingham Forest signed striker Trevor Francis from Birmingham City. Later in the same year, the English record fee was broken twice, with fees of close to £1.5 million being paid by Manchester City to Wolverhampton Wanderers for Steve Daley, and by Wolverhampton Wanderers to Aston Villa for Andy Gray. This was during a time when transfer fees were rapidly growing in English football, and the £1.5 million mark was finally reached in 1981 when Manchester United signed Bryan Robson from West Bromwich Albion. However, a change in transfer regulations around this time meant that all fees had to be paid in full within 12 months of the transfer being completed, and at least half of the fee had to be paid when the transfer was first finalised. Consequently, Robson's record fee remained intact for six years, when Liverpool signed Peter Beardsley from Newcastle United for £1.9 million. However, fees well in excess of £2 million had already been paid to English clubs by Barcelona, who had signed Mark Hughes from Manchester United and Gary Lineker from Everton in 1986. At this time, the highest transfer fees were mostly paid by Italian and Spanish clubs. Juventus paid Liverpool more than £3 million for Ian Rush.

After the break, the Braves came out with their bats swinging, setting many franchise records. They won five straight, sweeping the Padres and taking two from the Cardinals, tallying a total of 65 runs in that span. The 65 runs in five games is the best by the franchise since 1897, when the Boston Beaneaters totaled 78, including 25 in one game and 21 in another, from May 31 – June 3; the 2006 Braves also became the first team since the 1930 New York Yankees to score ten runs or more in five straight games. The Braves had a total of 81 hits during their five-game run and 98 hits in their last six games, going back to an 8–3 victory over Cincinnati on July 9, the last game before the All-Star break. Additionally, Chipper Jones was able to maintain a 20-game hitting streak and tie Paul Waner's 69-year-old Major League record with a 14-game extra-base hit streak.[25]

Every two years an ICC World Twenty20 tournament is to take place, except in the event of an ICC Cricket World Cup being scheduled in the same year, in which case it will be held the year before. The first tournament was in 2007 in South Africa where India defeated Pakistan in the final. Two Associate teams had played in the first tournament, selected through the 2007 ICC World Cricket League Division One, a 50-over competition. In December 2007 it was decided to hold a qualifying tournament with a 20-over format to better prepare the teams. With six participants, two would qualify for the 2009 World Twenty20 and would each receive $250,000 in prize money.[19] The second tournament was won by Pakistan who beat Sri Lanka by 8 wickets in England on 21 June 2009. The 2010 ICC World Twenty20 tournament was held in West Indies in May 2010, where England defeated Australia by 7 wickets. The 2012 ICC World Twenty20 was won by the West-Indies, by defeating Sri Lanka at the finals. It was the first time in Cricket history when a T20 World Cup tournament took place in an Asian country. The 2014 ICC World Twenty20 was won by Sri Lanka, by defeating India at the finals, where the tournament was held in Bangladesh. The 2016 ICC World Twenty20 was won by West-Indies, by defeating England at the finals, where the tournament was held in India.

The scoring system used in rugby has changed many times over the years. In the original games completing a "touch down" allowed the team to "try" a kick at goal. This is the derivation of the word "try". Prior to 1890, games were won by goals scored. A goal was awarded for a successful conversion after a try, a drop goal or from a goal from mark. If the game was drawn, then unconverted tries were tallied to give a winner. This system led to score lines more akin to association football with far more games resulting in draws than are experienced in the modern game. One of the first tasks undertaken by the International Rugby Football Board, formed in 1886, was to introduce a standard point scoring system. One point was awarded for a try, two points for a successful kick at goal after scoring a try (a conversion) and three points for a dropped goal or for a penalty goal. Most of the changes have been to increase the value of tries compared to goals (conversions, penalties, dropped-goals, and goals from mark) in order to promote positive, attacking play.

A stipulation that this kick must be towards the opponents' goal existed in the rules from 1883[2] until 2016.[3] This resulted in kick-offs typically involving two persons (as pictured), with one tapping the ball forward and the other passing it back to the rest of the team.

The 1961 to 1966 tournaments alone combined initial byes for seeded teams with best-of-five initial series for unseeded teams. The 1961 byes provided five and seven extra days idle for the first-place teams. By 1966 the schedule provided more rest for the first-round participants with byes of 11 and eight extra days idle.[8]

Each team consists of twelve players, but only nine players take the field. A match consists of two innings with each inning consisting of chasing and running turns of 9 minutes each. One team sits on their knees in the middle of the court, in a row, with adjacent 8 members facing opposite directions. The runners play in the field, three at a time and the team that takes the shortest time to touch all the opponents in the field, wins. There is a pole on each end and the runner can go between two players who are sitting in zig-zag manner, but the chaser is not allowed to turn back while running and go between the players. However, the chaser can go to the pole and touch it and can go back or towards the other side.


Question: Who casts their vote for the Speaker of the House?

The Speaker of the United States House of Representatives is chosen through a voting process conducted by the House members themselves. This election occurs on the initial day of each new Congress, or when the current Speaker dies, resigns, or is removed from their position. The Clerk of the House initiates the process by calling for nominations, which typically results in two candidates, one from each major political party. After the nominations, the Clerk conducts a roll call vote where each Representative states the last name of their preferred candidate. Representatives have the freedom to vote for any individual, regardless of whether they are a current House member or not. They also have the option to abstain by voting "present."

From 1970 to 2009, the House expanded delegates, along with their powers and privileges representing U.S. citizens in non-state areas, beginning with representation on committees for Puerto Rico's Resident Commissioner in 1970. In 1971, a delegate for the District of Columbia was authorized, and in 1972 new delegate positions were established for U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam. 1978 saw an additional delegate for American Samoa, and another for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands began in 2009. These six Members of Congress enjoy floor privileges to introduce bills and resolutions, and in recent congresses they vote in permanent and select committees, in party caucuses and in joint conferences with the Senate. They have Capitol Hill offices, staff and two annual appointments to each of the four military academies. While their votes are constitutional when Congress authorizes their House Committee of the Whole votes, recent Congresses have not allowed for that, and they cannot vote when the House is meeting as the House of Representatives.[53]

Article One of the United States Constitution states, "All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives." The House and Senate are equal partners in the legislative processâ€”legislation cannot be enacted without the consent of both chambers. However, the Constitution grants each chamber some unique powers. The Senate ratifies treaties and approves presidential appointments while the House initiates revenue-raising bills. The House initiates impeachment cases, while the Senate decides impeachment cases.[1] A two-thirds vote of the Senate is required before an impeached person can be forcibly removed from office.[1]

Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment allows for a state’s representation in the House of Representatives to be reduced if a state unconstitutionally denies people the right to vote. The reduction is in keeping with the proportion of people denied a vote. This amendment refers to “the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice President of the United States,” among other elections, the only place in the Constitution mentioning electors being selected by popular vote.

Each House can determine its own Rules (assuming a quorum is present), and may punish any of its members. A two-thirds vote is necessary to expel a member. Section 5, Clause 2 does not provide specific guidance to each House regarding when and how each House may change its rules, leaving details to the respective chambers.

The Article One of the United States Constitution (section II) directs the population be enumerated at least once every ten years and the resulting counts used to set the number of members from each state in the House of Representatives and, by extension, in the Electoral College. The Census Bureau now conducts a full population count every 10 years in years ending with a zero and uses the term "decennial" to describe the operation. Between censuses, the Census Bureau makes population estimates and projections.[5]

In an indirect popular vote, it is the names of the candidates who are on the ballot to be elected. Most states do not put the names of the electors on the ballot.[4] It is generally understood by the voters and the Electors themselves that they are the representative "stand-ins" for the candidates and are expected to cast their electoral college ballots for the President and Vice President who appeared on the ballot. The actual electors being voted for are usually selected by the candidate's party. There are a few cases where some electors have refused to vote for the designated candidate. Many states have mandated in law that Electors shall cast their electoral college ballot for the designated Presidential Candidate.[4] The constitutionality of such mandates is uncertain.[citation needed]

Since clause 3 provides that Members of the House of Representatives are apportioned state-by-state and that each state is guaranteed at least one Representative, exact population equality between all districts is not guaranteed and, in fact, is currently impossible, because while the size of the House of Representatives is fixed at 435, several states had less than 1/435 of the national population at the time of the last reapportionment in 2010. However, the Supreme Court has interpreted the provision of Clause One that Representatives shall be elected "by the People" to mean that, in those states with more than one member of the House of Representatives, each congressional election district within the state must have nearly identical populations.[21]

The succession follows the order of vice president, Speaker of the House of Representatives, President pro tempore of the Senate, and then the heads of federal executive departments who form the Cabinet of the United States. The Cabinet currently has fifteen members, beginning with the Secretary of State, and followed by the rest in the order of their positions' creation. Those heads of department who are ineligible to act as president are also ineligible to succeed the president by succession, for example most commonly if they are not a natural-born U.S. citizen.

Voting rights of United States citizens in Puerto Rico, like the voting rights of residents of other United States territories, differ from those of United States citizens in each of the fifty states and the District of Columbia. Residents of Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories do not have voting representation in the United States Congress, and are not entitled to electoral votes for President. The United States Constitution grants congressional voting representation to U.S. states, which Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not, specifying that members of Congress shall be elected by direct popular vote and that the President and the Vice President shall be elected by electors chosen by the States.[Note 1]

Both houses of the National Diet designates the Prime Minister with a ballot cast under the run-off system. Under the Constitution, should both houses not agree on a common candidate, then a joint committee is allowed to be established to agree on the matter; specifically within a period of ten days, exclusive of the period of recess.[37] However, if both houses still do not agree to each other, the decision made by the House of Representatives is deemed to be that of the National Diet.[37] Upon designation, the Prime Minister is presented with their commission, and then formally appointed to office by the Emperor.[6]


Question: What are the various types of non-communicable diseases?

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) encompass a wide range of medical conditions that are not caused by infectious agents and do not spread from person to person. These diseases often have a long duration and a slow progression. Among the various types of NCDs are autoimmune diseases, heart diseases, stroke, cancers, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's disease, and cataracts. Despite sometimes being synonymous with chronic diseases, NCDs are specifically defined by their non-infectious origins, although some chronic diseases may indeed have infectious causes. The management of NCDs typically requires a chronic care approach due to their long-lasting nature.

Hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) is a group of clinically similar illnesses caused by species of hantaviruses from the family Bunyaviridae. It is also known as Korean hemorrhagic fever, epidemic hemorrhagic fever, and nephropathis epidemica. The species that cause HFRS include Hantaan River, Dobrava-Belgrade, Saaremaa, Seoul, and Puumala. It is found in Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Human Development Index is a comparative measure of life expectancy, literacy, education, and standards of living for countries worldwide. It is a standard means of measuring well-being. It is used to distinguish whether the country is a developed, developing, or underdeveloped country, and also to measure the impact of economic policies on quality of life. Countries (almost all UN member states and a couple of special territories) fall into three broad categories based on their HDI: high, medium, and low human development.

ICT development includes many types of infrastructure and services, ranging from telecommunications, such as voice, data, and media services, to specific applications, such as banking, education, or health, to the implementation of electronic government (e-government). Each of these types has its own trends that vary across countries and regions.

In 2008, the World Health Organization listed these diagnoses as types of MPD:[3]

Depression is a significant mental illness with physiological and psychological consequences, including sluggishness, diminished interest and pleasure, and disturbances in sleep and appetite.[1] It is predicted that by the year 2030, depression will be the number one cause of disability in the United States and other high-income countries.[2]

In April 2013, under the terms of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, a reorganisation of the NHS took place regarding the administration of the NHS. Primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities (SHAs) were abolished, and replaced by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs).[19] CCGs now commission most of the hospital and community NHS services in the local areas for which they are responsible.[20] Commissioning involves deciding what services a population is likely to need, and ensuring that there is provision of these services. The CCGs are overseen by NHS England, formally known as the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) which was established on 1 October 2012 as an executive non-departmental public body.[21] NHS England also has the responsibility for commissioning primary care services - General Practitioners, opticians and NHS dentistry, as well as some specialised hospital services. Services commissioned include general practice physician services (most of whom are private businesses working under contract to the NHS), community nursing, local clinics and mental health services.[citation needed]

They normally infect rodents and do not cause disease in these hosts. Humans may become infected with hantaviruses through contact with rodent urine, saliva, or feces. Some strains of hantaviruses cause potentially fatal diseases in humans, such as hantavirus hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS)—also known as hantavirus cardiopulmonary syndrome (HCPS)—[1] while others have not been associated with known human disease.[2] HPS (HCPS) is a "rare respiratory illness associated with the inhalation of aerosolized rodent excreta (urine and feces) contaminated by hantavirus particles."[1]

Polypharmacy is the concurrent use of multiple medications by a patient.[1][2][3][4] Polypharmacy is most common in the elderly, affecting about 40% of older adults living in their own homes.[5] About 21% of adults with intellectual disability are also exposed to polypharmacy.[6] Polypharmacy is not always bad, but it is bad in many instances, often being more harmful than helpful or presenting too much risk for too little benefit. Therefore, health professionals consider it a situation that requires monitoring and review to validate whether all of the medications are still necessary. Concerns about polypharmacy include increased adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, prescribing cascade, and higher costs.[7] Polypharmacy is often associated with a decreased quality of life, including decreased mobility and cognition.[2]

Charcot–Marie–Tooth disease (CMT) is a heterogeneous inherited disorder of nerves (neuropathy) that is characterized by loss of muscle tissue and touch sensation, predominantly in the feet and legs but also in the hands and arms in the advanced stages of disease. Presently incurable, this disease is one of the most common inherited neurological disorders, with 37 in 100,000 affected.

The Framingham Heart Study, along with other important large studies, e.g., the Seven Countries Study, Nurses' Health Study, also showed the importance of healthy diet, not being overweight or obese, and regular exercise in maintaining good health, and that there are differences in cardiovascular risk between men and women.[9][10] It also confirmed that cigarette smoking is a highly significant factor in the development of heart disease, leading to angina pectoris, myocardial infarction (MI), and coronary death, along with other important studies about smoking, e.g., the British Doctors Study.[11][12]


Question: Who played Steve's wife on the show My Three Sons?

In the tenth season of "My Three Sons," Steve Douglas (played by Fred MacMurray) remarries, this time to widowed teacher Barbara Harper (Beverly Garland). Barbara, who becomes Steve's wife, brings along her 5-year-old daughter, Dorothy "Dodie" (Dawn Lyn), who Steve later adopts, giving him a stepdaughter. Initially, Dodie is hesitant about Steve, fearing he wants her to forget her late father. However, Steve reassures her that he wants her to remember and love her father, but since he's no longer with them, Steve wants to raise her in his place and hopes she'll come to love him as well. This season also sees fewer appearances from Don Grady and Stanley Livingston, with Grady's character, Robbie, written out of the show after the 11th season due to his work as a structural engineer on a bridge construction in Peru, allowing his wife Katie and their triplet sons to remain in the Douglas household. Chip and his wife Polly (Ronne Troup), who had eloped after Polly's father refused to approve their marriage, move into their own apartment in the final year and a half of the series.

When Short graduated from McMaster University, he intended to pursue a career in social work; however, he became interested in acting once he was cast in a Toronto production of Godspell that same year.[1] Among other members of that production's cast were Victor Garber, Gilda Radner, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, and Andrea Martin; Paul Shaffer was the musical director.[10] He was subsequently cast in several television shows and plays, including the drama Fortune and Men's Eyes (1972).[10] He worked solely in Canada through 1979. In 1979, Short starred in the U.S. sitcom The Associates about a group of young novice lawyers working at a Wall Street law firm.[11] In 1980, he joined the cast of I'm a Big Girl Now, a sitcom starring Diana Canova and Danny Thomas.[12] Canova was offered the sitcom because of her success playing Corinne Tate Flotsky on ABC's Soap and left Soap shortly before Short's newlywed wife Nancy Dolman joined it.[13]

In 2014, she and her husband Timothy Carlton appeared in the BBC adaptation of Sherlock as the parents of Sherlock Holmes, who is played by their son Benedict Cumberbatch.[7] Ventham appeared in Holby City as Myrtle McKee, a hospital patient who leads a double life.[8]

Sarandon has been married three times; he was first married to actress Susan Sarandon from 1967 to 1979.[4][5][6] After his divorce from Susan, he married Lisa Ann Cooper in 1980; together the couple had two daughters and one son, Stephanie, Alexis and Michael. The marriage ended in a divorce in 1989 after nine years of marriage. In 1994, he married actress and singer Joanna Gleason. The couple met while performing in Broadway's short-lived 1991 musical Nick & Nora, they returned to the stage together in 1998's Thorn and Bloom.[7] They also collaborated in several films together, such as Road Ends, Edie & Pen, Let the Devil Wear Black, and American Perfekt.

Cooper began her career in the 1950s, appearing as a supporting player in films with stars like Maureen O'Hara, Glenn Ford, Tony Curtis, and Henry Fonda.[1] Her first film role was as Myra in the 1953 western film, The Redhead from Wyoming. She later appeared in small roles in The Man from the Alamo, Over-Exposed, 5 Steps to Danger, Rock All Night, House of Women, 13 West Street, The Intruder, Black Zoo, The Glory Guys, Tony Rome, The Boston Strangler and Kansas City Bomber.

Ann Wilson (Janet Leigh) catches her straight-laced husband, Columbia University Assistant Professor of Chemistry David Wilson (Tony Curtis), kissing another woman. From David's perspective, he was the one being kissed innocently, the woman in question being a grateful transfer student. However, Ann wants a divorce. On the advice of David's friend, TV writer Michael Haney (Dean Martin), David tries to convince Ann that he is really an FBI agent, the kiss all in the name of national security. Ann falls for it, but is so impressed with what her husband does for a living that she can't keep quiet about it. Michael is so impressed with Ann's gullibility and patriotic urging of her husband Dave to do more "secret missions" that Michael sets up a date with two blondes with the promise of spending a weekend together with them. The indiscretions cause a number of complications, including some with the real FBI, the CIA and hostile foreign secret agents.

Hill was particularly busy in the so-called "Golden Age" of live TV drama, appearing in such offerings as The Trial of Sacco and Vanzetti in 1960, where he portrayed Bartolomeo Vanzetti.[12] "When I first became an actor, there were two young actors in New York: Marlon Brando and Steven Hill," said Martin Landau,[12] who later became Hill's castmate in the first season of Mission: Impossible. Landau went on to admit, "A lot of people said that Steven would have been the one, not Marlon. He was legendary. Nuts, volatile, mad, and his work was exciting."[12]

In the early 1970s, Young found work with New World Pictures as crew for Roger Corman, however, the failure of an actor to appear resulted in Young starring in Night Call Nurses.[1][2] While acting, he received offers to guest star on prime-time television and joined Beverly Hills Playhouse theatre group.  Young found a variety of work from both film and television including appearing in Kung Fu with William Katt and Gary Busey, Flamingo Road with Morgan Fairchild, Knight Rider and the Cheers episode 'Love Thy Neighbor'. In 1979, Young and John Chesko, along with Brenda Venus, filmed American novelist Henry Miller, resulting in the film Dinner with Henry Miller. A short thirty minute cut was released by Brenda Venus in 1984, however, over 2 hours of footage exist that is owned and being produced by Young who has yet to formally release the finished film, one of Miller's final film appearances.[1]

Herbst dated photographer Johnny Lindesmith in the late 1990s and they were engaged on December 30, 1999.[13] On June 1, 2001, she married former General Hospital co-star Michael Saucedo (who portrayed Juan Santiago).[14] They have three children, two sons (Ethan and Emerson) and a daughter (Ella).[15]

Newhart was introduced by Buddy Hackett to Virginia "Ginnie" Quinn, the daughter of character actor Bill Quinn.[7] They were married on January 12, 1963. The couple have four children (Robert, Timothy, Jennifer, and Courtney), and ten grandchildren.[1] They are Roman Catholic and raised their children as such.[31] He is a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.[32]

By 1982, Newhart was interested in a new sitcom. After he had discussions with Barry Kemp and CBS, the show Newhart was created, in which Newhart played Vermont innkeeper and TV talk show host Dick Loudon. Mary Frann was cast as his wife, Joanna. Jennifer Holmes was originally cast as Leslie Vanderkellen, but left after former daytime soap star Julia Duffy joined the cast as Dick's inn maid and spoiled rich girl, Stephanie Vanderkellen. Peter Scolari (who had been a fan of Newhart's since he was 17) was also cast as Dick's manipulative TV producer, Michael Harris, in six of the eight seasons. Character actor Tom Poston played the role of handyman George Utley, earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1984, 1986, and 1987. Like The Bob Newhart Show, Newhart was an immediate hit, and again, like the show before it, it was also nominated for Primetime Emmy Awards, but failed to win any. During the time Newhart was working on the show, in 1985, his smoking habit finally caught up to him, and he was taken to the emergency room for secondary polycythemia. The doctors ordered him to stop smoking.


Question: The Chinese dragons are protectors of how many seas, Diggy? (Note: This is a direct copy of the original question, so there's no change in length, text complexity, or semantic style. However, if you want a slight variation: How many seas do the Chinese dragons protect, Diggy?)

Chinese dragons are closely tied to water and weather in folk beliefs, often seen as the sovereigns of dynamic water bodies like waterfalls, rivers, and seas. They are also associated with the distribution of rain and symbolize the yang, or masculine, energy. In their role as water and weather controllers, Chinese dragons are often depicted in a more human-like form, typically portrayed as a human figure with a dragon's head, dressed in royal attire, and wearing a crown. The exact number of seas they protect is not specified, but they are generally regarded as protectors of all major water bodies.

Bulls have held a place of significance in human culture since before the beginning of recorded history. They appear in cave paintings estimated to be up to 17,000 years old. The mythic Bull of the Heavens plays a role in the ancient Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh, dating as far back as 2150 BC. The importance of the bull is reflected in its appearance in the zodiac as Taurus, and its numerous appearances in mythology, where it is often associated with fertility. See also Korban. In Hinduism, a bull named Nandi, usually depicted seated, is worshipped as the vehicle of the god Shiva and depicted on many of the images of that God. Symbolically, the bull appears commonly in heraldry, and, in modern times, as a mascot for both amateur and professional sports teams.

The Ming dynasty (/mɪŋ/)[2] was the ruling dynasty of China – then known as the Great Ming Empire – for 276 years (1368–1644) following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming, described by Edwin O. Reischauer, John K. Fairbank and Albert M. Craig as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history",[3] was the last imperial dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the primary capital of Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun dynasty, soon replaced by the Manchu-led Qing dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne – collectively called the Southern Ming – survived until 1683.

The similarity of the Roman abacus to the Chinese one suggests that one could have inspired the other, as there is some evidence of a trade relationship between the Roman Empire and China. However, no direct connection can be demonstrated, and the similarity of the abaci may be coincidental, both ultimately arising from counting with five fingers per hand. Where the Roman model (like most modern Korean and Japanese) has 4 plus 1 bead per decimal place, the standard suanpan has 5 plus 2. (Incidentally, this allows use with a hexadecimal numeral system, which was used for traditional Chinese measures of weight.) Instead of running on wires as in the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese models, the beads of Roman model run in grooves, presumably making arithmetic calculations much slower.

The festival incorporates Grant and Kearny Streets into its street festival and parade route, respectively.  The use of these streets traces its lineage back to early parades beginning the custom in San Francisco. In 1849, with the discovery of gold and the ensuing California Gold Rush, over 50,000 people had come to San Francisco to seek their fortune or just a better way of life. Among those were many Chinese, who had come to work in the gold mines and on the railroad. By the 1860s, the residents of San Francisco's Chinatown were eager to share their culture with their fellow San Francisco residents who may have been unfamiliar with (or hostile towards) it. The organizers chose to showcase their culture by using a favorite American tradition â€“ the parade. They invited a variety of other groups from the city to participate, and they marched down what today are Grant Avenue and Kearny Street carrying colorful flags, banners, lanterns, drums, and firecrackers to drive away evil spirits.

In an effort to be gender-neutral, Yarrow now sings the line "A dragon lives forever, but not so little boys" as "A dragon lives forever, but not so girls and boys."[5] The original poem also had a verse that did not make it into the song. In it, Puff found another child and played with him after returning. Neither Yarrow nor Lipton remembers the verse in any detail, and the paper that was left in Yarrow's typewriter in 1958 has since been lost.[6]

Daenerys Targaryen (season 1â€“present) portrayed by Emilia Clarke. Daenerys Targaryen is the exiled princess of the Targaryen dynasty. Also called "the Stormborn", she and her brother Viserys were smuggled to Essos during the end of Robert's Rebellion. For seventeen years, she has been under the care of Viserys, whom she fears, as he is abusive to her whenever she displeases him. In exchange for an army, Viserys marries her to the powerful Dothraki warlord Khal Drogo, making her a Khaleesi, a queen of the Dothraki. Daenerys is at first afraid of her new husband but after learning the Dothraki language, she manages to get past their barriers. She begins to understand him and genuinely falls in love with him after learning Drogo is an intelligent leader and a kind man. After embracing the Dothraki culture, she becomes stronger and rebels against her brother. She later becomes pregnant with Drogo's son who is prophesied by the Dothraki to be the "Stallion Who Mounts the World". After her brother's death and an assassination attempt by Robert Baratheon, Drogo vows to Daenerys that he will conquer the Seven Kingdoms for her and their unborn son. However, during their journey Drogo suffers from blood poisoning due to an infected wound incurred during a fight with a Dothraki tribesman. Daenerys is forced to seek the help of healer Mirri Maz Duur to save his life using blood magic. Mirri tricks Daenerys by using her unborn son's life as a sacrifice to heal Drogo, leaving him in a permanent catatonic state, and forcing Daenerys to end her husband's life. Losing both her husband and son, Daenerys punishes Mirri by having her burnt at the stake. She also lays the three dragon eggs she received as a wedding gift onto Khal Drogo's body, then steps into the burning funeral pyre. After the fire extinguishes itself, the Khaleesi and three baby dragons, named Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, are found alive and unharmed. Daenerys takes the baby dragons and the remaining tribe to gather new allies and reclaim the Iron Throne. She becomes the first female Dothraki leader. In Season 2, she is lost in the Red Waste, a stretch of barren land. She and her khalasar eventually make it to Qarth, where the nobles are more interested in her dragons than her conquering Westeros. When her dragons are stolen by Pyat Pree, she goes into the House of the Undying and retrieves them, killing Pyat Pree. In the second season's finale, she imprisons her host Xaro Xoan Daxos for having helped Pyat Pree. Her horde loot Xaro's mansion to buy a ship. Daenerys travels from Qarth to Astapor, a city in Slaver's Bay, where she negotiates the purchase of elite eunuch soldiers called the Unsullied. She also meets the famed knight Ser Barristan Selmy, and accepts him into her queensguard. On her departure from the city, she frees the slaves and has Drogon torch its elders. By the end of Season 3, although her power has not yet been tested, she has acquired the loyalty of tens of thousands of freed slaves from Astapor and Yunkai, her remaining Dothraki brethren (and two former Westerosi soldiers whom she encountered through the Dothraki, who advise her) 2,000 'Second Sons' cavalrymen, 8,000 'Unsullied' elite infantry, and three rapidly growing dragons. The stay in Slaver's Bay has made her question her motives, however, and she takes up the cause of ending slavery as well, donning the honorific "Breaker of Chains" as the slaves hold her to the sky, praising her as their Mhysa, or "Mother". Daenerys later frees the slaves from Meereen, the last of the slave cities in Slaver's Bay, but realizes that she is slowly losing control of her dragons, especially when Drogon shows signs of aggression towards her when she tries to break up a fight between them over food. Aware that she does not have enough men to conquer Westeros just yet, Daenerys resolves to remain in Slaver's Bay and rule as Queen for the time being. She eventually learns of Jorah's original purpose, which was to spy on her for Robert Baratheon, and orders him to leave Meereen on threat of execution. After she receives too many complaints about her dragons, Daenerys, locks Rhaegal and Viserion of them in the catacombs beneath Meereen before searching for Drogon. Meanwhile, Daenerys faces a new threat to her rule in the form of the Sons of the Harpy, a resistance movement against her and the Unsullied. She considers freeing her dragons, but they attempt to attack her, making her realize that they are no longer loyal to her. After Daario and Grey Worm arrest a member of the Sons of the Harpy, Mossador implores Daenerys to execute their captive, but Barristan tells her of the Mad King's actions against his enemies, which included burning them with wildfire while laughing. He asks her not to execute the captive without a fair trial, and she agrees with him. Mossador goes against her wishes, and kills the captive Son of the Harpy. Daenerys has him publicly executed, which leads a riot to break out between the old masters and the freed slaves. At night, Daenerys finds that Drogon has returned, but when she tries to touch his face, he flies away. Soon afterward, a group of Unsullied patrolling the streets of Meereen are stopped by a crying woman who points them to an alleyway. The Unsullied head in to investigate, but it is revealed that the entire affair was a set up after they are soon cornered by a group of the Sons of the Harpy. The Unsullied attempt to fight back, but the Sons of the Harpy kill many of them. Barristan Selmy sees the commotion and tries to help, killing many of the Sons of the Harpy, but gets badly wounded, and dies. Grey Worm also sustains serious but nonfatal injuries. Daenerys is furious after learning what has happened to Barristan, and rounds up the leaders of the great Meereenese houses. She takes them into the catacombs where she randomly has one of them shoved forward. The Meereenese lord is promptly killed by dragonfire from Rhaegal, and he and Viserion eat him. Daenerys then has all the lords arrested, including her former adviser Hizdahr zo Loraq, whom she decides to marry to win over the Meereenese nobles. To respect the culture of the region, she agrees to have the fighting pits reinstated (she had previously declined due to her distaste for killing for sport). Hizdahr convinces Daenerys to go to one of the pits to see the contestants battling over who will go to the final competition. Daenerys is sickened by the bloodshed, and gets up to leave, but her attention is turned by one masked competitor who defeats all of the other competitors without killing any of them. This competitor turns out to be Jorah Mormont, who is trying to win over Daenerys' favor after being banished. Daenerys orders the Unsullied to take him away, but Jorah announces that he has brought her a gift, and Tyrion Lannister reveals himself to Daenerys. After a round of questioning, Daenerys banishes Jorah once again, but takes Tyrion on as her adviser. On the great opening of Daznak's Pit, Jorah resurfaces as a voluntary contender on the arena, but Daenerys refuses to stop the games to spare his life. Jorah eventually prevails and saves her life by impaling with his spear an attacker from the Sons of the Harpy, who appear in legions and attack Daenerys' guards. Cornered at the midst of the arena, defeat seems immediate when Drogon returns, killing many Sons of the Harpy despite being wounded by several of their spears. Daenerys manages to rekindle their bond and climbs his back, riding off into the distance to a stunned crowd. She roams the Great Steppe north of the city, where Drogon seems reluctant to obey her commands or even hunt for food. Strolling about on her own, Daenerys is faced with an incoming Dothraki khalasar of great numbers, and after dropping a ring to the ground to leave a trail, she is surrounded. In season 6, the Dothraki take her to Vaes Dothrak, where she identifies herself to Khal Moro as Drogo's former wife. Out of respect for Dothraki traditions, they take Daenerys to join the Dosh Khaleen, which consisted of the wives of deceased khals. Daenerys refuses and instead burns the temple down with herself and all the khals still inside. She emerges unscathed, and the awed Dothraki accept her as their new leader. She returns to Meereen with her new army and destroys the slaver fleet assaulting the city with her dragons. In the aftermath, Daenerys meets with Theon and Yara Greyjoy, who offer their support for her claim so that they can overthrow their uncle Euron. Daenerys accepts their aid and secures help from the Reach and Dorne, names Tyrion as her hand, but breaks up with Daario, ordering him to stay behind and govern Slaver's Bay in her absence. With her new army, Daenerys finally sets sail for Westeros. In Season 7 Daenerys finally uses her dragons in battle, annihilating a Lannister force and their baggage train with fire. Daenerys welcomes Jon Snow to Dragonstone, seeing him as a friend and ally, insisting that he bend the knee to her but exhibiting patience with his refusal. She believes his tales of white walkers and agrees to let him mine dragonglass (obsidian) from her land. When Jon's expedition north of the Wall gets into trouble Daenerys takes her dragons to rescue them, and is devastated when the Night King kills one. On the ship back to Dragonstone she and Jon make love.

Some families may invite a lion dance troupe as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Chinese New Year as well as to evict bad spirits from the premises. Members of the family who are married also give red envelopes containing cash known as lai see (Cantonese dialect) or angpow (Hokkien dialect/Fujian), or hongbao (Mandarin), a form of blessings and to suppress the aging and challenges associated with the coming year, to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers. Business managers also give bonuses through red packets to employees for good luck, smooth-sailing, good health and wealth.

Chinese names for China, aside from Zhongguo, include Zhonghua (中華/中华), Huaxia (華夏/华夏), Shenzhou (神州) and Jiuzhou (九州). Han (漢/汉) and Tang (唐) are common names given for the Chinese ethnicity. The People's Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Rénmín Gònghéguó) and Republic of China (Zhōnghuá Mínguó) are the official names for the two contemporary sovereign states currently claiming sovereignty over the traditional area of China. "Mainland China" is used to refer to areas under the jurisdiction by the PRC usually excluding Hong Kong and Macau.

Because of the wall's association with the First Emperor's supposed tyranny, the Chinese dynasties after Qin usually avoided referring to their own additions to the wall by the name "Long Wall".[14] Instead, various terms were used in medieval records, including "frontier(s)" (塞, sāi),[15] "rampart(s)" (垣, yuán),[15] "barrier(s)" (障, zhàng),[15] "the outer fortresses" (外堡, wàibǎo),[16] and "the border wall(s)" (t 邊牆, s 边墙, biānqiáng).[14] Poetic and informal names for the wall included "the Purple Frontier" (紫塞, Zǐsāi)[17] and "the Earth Dragon" (t 土龍, s 土龙, Tǔlóng).[18] Only during the Qing period did "Long Wall" become the catch-all term to refer to the many border walls regardless of their location or dynastic origin, equivalent to the English "Great Wall".[19]

The quality of life was improved with many Han inventions. The Han Chinese had hempen-bound bamboo scrolls to write on, yet by the 2nd century AD had invented the papermaking process which created a writing medium that was both cheap and easy to produce. The invention of the wheelbarrow aided in the hauling of heavy loads. The maritime junk ship and stern-mounted steering rudder enabled the Chinese to venture out of calmer waters of interior lakes and rivers and into the open sea. The invention of the grid reference for maps and raised-relief map allowed the Chinese to better navigate their terrain. In medicine, they used new herbal remedies to cure illnesses, calisthenics to keep physically fit, and regulated diets to avoid diseases. Authorities in the capital were warned ahead of time of the direction of sudden earthquakes with the invention of the seismometer that was tripped by a vibration-sensitive pendulum device. To mark the passing of the seasons and special occasions, the Han Chinese used two variations of the lunisolar calendar, which were established due to efforts in astronomy and mathematics. Han-era Chinese advancements in mathematics include the discovery of square roots, cube roots, the Pythagorean theorem, Gaussian elimination, the Horner scheme, improved calculations of pi, and negative numbers. Hundreds of new roads and canals were built to facilitate transport, commerce, tax collection, communication, and movement of military troops. The Han-era Chinese also employed several types of bridges to cross waterways and deep gorges, such as beam bridges, arch bridges, simple suspension bridges, and pontoon bridges. Han ruins of defensive city walls made of brick or rammed earth still stand today.


Question: The Chinese dragons are protectors of how many different seas, Diggy?

In Chinese mythology, there are four primary Dragon Kings, each overseeing one of the Four Seas. These include the East Sea (equivalent to the East China Sea), the South Sea (equivalent to the South China Sea), the West Sea (which is occasionally interpreted as Qinghai Lake and beyond), and the North Sea (sometimes identified as Lake Baikal).

Nick, Hank, Wu, Monroe, Rosalee, and Trubel continue to search for clues in the Map of the Seven Knights. Nick has a flashback of his mother, Kelly, telling him about the legendary seven keys belonging to seven knights, ancestors to all Grimm. The knights fought for seven royal families in the Fourth Crusade. The seven keys together made a map showing where the knights hid the wealth they took from Constantinople when it was sacked and burnt. Nick believes the treasure could be found. Trubel thinks they may have buried it in seven churches. Nick and Monroe travel to Germany on counterfeit passports, using Frederick Calvert (Rosalee's late brother) and Felix Dietrich as aliases, to avoid detection from the Black Claw. They travel to the church locations marked on the map, but find little that is old enough to be a possible location, and local Wesen become suspicious of their questions. Nick and Monroe travel at night to a spot in the forest near the site of the German Peasants' War, where they believe an ancient church may have stood. They discover chisel marks on old stones and end up falling into an old underground cavern.

The melodies played by the accompaniment mainly fall into three broad categories. The first is the aria. The arias of Peking opera can be further divided into those of the Erhuang and Xipi varieties. An example of an aria is wawa diao, an aria in the Xipi style that is sung by a young Sheng to indicate heightened emotion.[83] The second type of melody heard in Peking opera is the fixed-tune melody, or qupai. These are instrumental tunes that serve a wider range of purposes than arias. Examples include the "Water Dragon Tune" (shui long yin), which generally denotes the arrival of an important person, and "Triple Thrust" (ji san qiang), which may signal a feast or banquet.[84] The final type of musical accompaniment is the percussion pattern. Such patterns provide context to the music in ways similar to the fixed-tune melodies. For example, there are as many as 48 different percussion patterns that accompany stage entrances. Each one identifies the entering character by his or her individual rank and personality.[84]

The Nine-Dash Line—at various times also referred to as the "10-dash line" and the "11-dash line"—refers to the undefined[1], vaguely located, demarcation line used initially by the government of the Republic of China (ROC / Taiwan) and subsequently also by the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC), for their claims of the major part of the South China Sea.[2][3] The contested area in the South China Sea includes the Paracel Islands,[a] the Spratly Islands,[b][4] and various other areas including the Pratas Islands, the Macclesfield Bank and the Scarborough Shoal. The claim encompasses the area of Chinese land reclamation known as the "great wall of sand".[5][6][7][8]

He is met by the Pagemaster, the mythical Keeper of Books and Guardian of the Written Word. Richard asks for directions to the exit so the Pagemaster sends him through the fiction section toward the green neon exit sign. Along the way, Richard befriends three anthropomorphic books: Adventure, a swashbuckling pirate-like book; Fantasy, a sassy but caring fairy tale book; and Horror, a fearful "Hunchbook" with a misshapen spine. The three agree to help Richard if he checks them out using his new library card. Together, the quartet encounters classic-fictional characters. They meet Dr. Jekyll who turns into Mr. Hyde, driving them to the open waters of the Land of Adventure. However, the group is separated after Moby-Dick attacks, following the whale's battle with Captain Ahab. Richard and Adventure are picked up by the Hispaniola, captained by Long John Silver. The pirates go to Treasure Island, but find no treasure except for one gold coin, nearly causing a mutiny. Fantasy and Horror return and defeat the pirates. Silver attempts to convince Richard to leave with him, but surrenders when Richard threatens him with a sword.

Composer Bear McCreary found the Hong Kong setting of the episode to be "the perfect opportunity to introduce Chinese instrumentation into [the] score", collaborating with composer Jeremy Zuckerman, who played the gu zheng throughout the episode. McCreary found "the nearly ten-minute long action scene" at the climax of the episode to be "the real beast of this episode" and "one of the most challenging pieces [he had] composed yet for the series", calling it "pretty chaotic" and noting the difficulty the orchestra had in recording it.[5]

Other common activities include hanging up icons of Zhong Kui (a mythic guardian figure), hanging mugwort and calamus, taking long walks, and wearing perfumed medicine bags. Other traditional activities include a game of making an egg stand at noon (this "game" implies that if someone succeeds in making the egg stand at exactly 12:00 noon, that person will receive luck for the next year), and writing spells. All of these activities, together with the drinking of realgar wine, were regarded by the ancients as effective in preventing disease or evil, while promoting health and well-being.

The Great Wall of China is a series of fortifications made of stone, brick, tamped earth, wood, and other materials, generally built along an east-to-west line across the historical northern borders of China to protect the Chinese states and empires against the raids and invasions of the various nomadic groups of the Eurasian Steppe. Several walls were being built as early as the 7th century BC;[2] these, later joined together and made bigger and stronger, are collectively referred to as the Great Wall.[3] Especially famous is the wall built in 220–206 BC by Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Little of that wall remains. The Great Wall has been rebuilt, maintained, and enhanced over various dynasties; the majority of the existing wall is from the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644).

In the fantasy section, Richard sees the exit sign on the top of a mountain. However, Adventure's bumbling awakens a dormant dragon. Richard tries to fight the dragon with a sword and shield, but the dragon swallows him. Richard finds books in the dragon's stomach and uses a beanstalk from Jack and the Beanstalk to escape through the dragon's mouth. He and the books climb the beanstalk to reach the exit. They enter a large dark room where the Pagemaster awaits them. Richard accuses the Pagemaster of causing the horrors that he suffered, but the Pagemaster reveals the journey was intended to make Richard face his fears. Dr. Jekyll, Captain Ahab, Long John Silver, and the dragon reappear in a magical twister and congratulate him. The Pagemaster then swoops Richard and the books into the twister, sending them back to the real world.

Another theory, advanced by Wen Yiduo, is that the Dragon Boat Festival originated from dragon worship. Support is drawn from two key traditions of the festival: the tradition of dragon boat racing and zongzi. The food may have originally represented an offering to the dragon king, while dragon boat racing naturally reflects reverence for the dragon and the active yang energy associated with it. This was merged with the tradition of visiting friends and family on boats.

Chinese popular religion is "diffused", rather than "institutional", in the sense that there are no canonical scriptures or unified clergy—though it relies upon the vast heritage represented by the Chinese classics—, and its practices and beliefs are handed down over the generations through Chinese mythology as told in popular forms of literature, theatre, and visual arts, and are embedded in rituals which define the microcosm of the nuclear families, the kins or lineages (which are peoples within the Chinese people, identified by the same surnames and by the same ancestor-god), and professional guilds, rather than in institutions with merely religious functions.[213] It is a meaning system of social solidarity and identity, which provides the fabric of Chinese society, uniting all its levels from the lineages to the village or city communities, to the state and the national economy.


Question: What's the translation of Gorakh Dhanda in Urdu?

Naz Khialvi (1947 - 12 December 2010) was a prominent Pakistani lyricist and radio host, best known for his Sufi poetry, including the piece "Tum Ek Gorakh Dhanda Ho" (You are a Riddle). This poem gained immense popularity when it was performed by the renowned Qawwali singer, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and it catapulted both of them to national fame. Khialvi also had a long-standing radio program, Sandhal Dharti, which he hosted at the Faisalabad radio station for 27 years.

The Message of the Qur'an is an English translation and interpretation of the Qur'an by Muhammad Asad, an Austrian Jew who converted to Islam. The book was first published in Gibraltar in 1980, and has since been translated into several other languages. It is considered one of the most influential Quranic Translations of the modern age.[citation needed]

The term Sapadalaksha (literally "one and a quarter lakhs" or 125,000) refers to the large number of villages in the area.[11] It became prominent during the Chahamana reign. It appears that the term originally referred to the area around modern Nagaur near Bikaner. This area was known as Savalak (vernacular form of Sapadalaksha) in as late as 20th century.[9] The early Chahamana king Samantaraja was based in Ahichchhatrapura, which can be identified with modern Nagaur. The ancient name of Nagaur was Nagapura, which means "the city of the serpent". Ahichchhatrapura has a similar meaning: "the city whose chhatra or protector is serpent".[12]

Story lines of traditional Nautankis range from mythological and folk tales to stories of contemporary heroes. For instance, while Nautanki plays such as Satya-Harishchandra and Bhakt Moradhwaj are based on mythological themes, Indal Haran and Puranmal originated from folklore. In the first half of the 20th century, contemporary sentiment against British rule and feudal landlords found expression in Nautankis such as Sultana Daku, Jalianwala Bagh, and Amar Singh Rathore. In the last four decades, Pandit Ram Dayal Sharma (a renowned Nautanki maestro) and later Dr. Devendra Sharma have co-authored many new Nautankis. These new Nautankis are centered on contemporary social messages such as health, HIV/AIDS, women's empowerment, dowry, immigration, and family planning. They are of a much shorter duration â€” around two hours. This is to give audiences an opportunity to watch performances during a break in their daily routine. These contemporary Nautankis have been performed extensively in India and America and met with resounding popularity.

The Shrutisagar Ashram, located at Phulgaon off the Nagar road, houses the Vedanta Research Centre and a unique temple of Dakshinamurthy, located near the confluence of the Bhima, Bhama, and Indrayani rivers. It was established in 1989 by Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati. Here one can find detailed explanations of śruti and smriti (including the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads and Puranas) in Marathi and English. As of the 2011 census, the population of Pune is as follows.[70]

According to local tradition, the earliest inhabitants in Almora were Tewaris who were required to supply Sorrel daily for cleansing the vessels of sun temple at Katarmal.[2]:8 Ancient lore mentioned in Vishnu Purana and Mahabharata present primordial accounts of human settlements in the City.[2]:8 The Sakas, the Nagas, the Kiratas, the Khasas and the Hunas are credited to be the most ancient tribes.[2]:8 The Kauravas and Pandavas of the Hastinapur royal family were the next important princes from the plains who are said to have affected the conquest of these parts.[20]:166 After the Mahabharata war the district seems to have remained for some time under the sway of the kings of Hastinapur whose authority was never more than nominal.[20]:166 The actual rulers were the local chiefs of whom the Kulindas (or Kunindas) were probably strong in the southern and western part of the city.[2]:8 The Khasas were another ancient people who belonged to an early Aryan stock and were widely scattered in those times.[20]:167 They gave this region the name Khasadesha or Khasamandala.[2]:8[20]:167

Kambojas are also included in the Uttarapatha. In ancient literature, the Kamboja is variously associated with the Gandhara, Darada and the Bahlika (Bactria). Ancient Kamboja is known to have comprised regions on either side of the Hindukush. The original Kamboja was located in eastern Oxus country as neighbor to Bahlika, but with time, some clans of the Kambojas appear to have crossed the Hindukush and planted colonies on its southern side also. These latter Kambojas are associated with the Daradas and Gandharas in Indian literature and also find mention in the Edicts of Ashoka. The evidence in the Mahabharata and in Ptolemy's Geography distinctly supports two Kamboja settlements.[31] The cis-Hindukush region from Nurestan up to Rajauri in southwest of Kashmir sharing borders with the Daradas and the Gandharas constituted the Kamboja country.[32] The capital of Kamboja was probably Rajapura (modern Rajori) in the south-west of Kashmir. The Kamboja Mahajanapada of the Buddhist traditions refers to this cis-Hindukush branch of ancient Kambojas.[33]

In 1791, the Gorkhas of Nepal while expanding their kingdom westwards across Kali River, invaded and overran Almora.[2]:8[23] In the meantime, the British were engaged in preventing the Gorkhas from over-running the whole of the northern frontier.[24] The Gorkha rule lasted for twenty-four years. Due to their repeated intrusion into British territories in the Terai from 1800 onwards, Lord Moira, the Governor-General of India, decided to attack Almora in December 1814,[25] marking the beginning of the Anglo-Gorkha war. The war that broke out in 1814,[26][27] resulted in the defeat of the Gorkhas and subsequently led to the signing of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816.[28]:594[29] According to the treaty, Nepal had to cede all those territories which the Gorkhas had annexed to the British East India Company. After the war, the old Lal Mandi fort, near Almora was renamed ‘Fort Moira’.

Manto chronicled the chaos that prevailed, during and after the Partition of India in 1947.[4][5] He started his literary career translating works of Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde and Russian writers such as Chekhov and Gorky. His first story was "Tamasha", based on the Jallianwala Bagh massacre at Amritsar.[6] Though his earlier works, influenced by the progressive writers of his times,[5][7] showed a marked leftist and socialist leanings, his later work progressively became stark in portraying the darkness of the human psyche, as humanist values progressively declined around the Partition. His final works, which grew from the social climate and his own financial struggles, reflected an innate sense of human impotency towards darkness and contained a satirism that verged on dark comedy, as seen in his final work, Toba Tek Singh.[8] It not only showed the influence of his own demons, but also that of the collective madness that he saw in the ensuing decade of his life. To add to it, his numerous court cases and societal rebukes deepened his cynical view of society, from which he felt isolated.[9] No part of human existence remained untouched or taboo for him, he sincerely brought out stories of prostitutes and pimps alike, just as he highlighted the subversive sexual slavery of the women of his times.[10] To many contemporary women writers, his language portrayed reality and provided them with the dignity they long deserved.[11] He is still known for his scathing insight into human behaviour as well as revelation of the macabre animalistic nature of an enraged people, that stands out amidst the brevity of his prose.[4]

Yakshagana literally means the song (gana) of the yaksha (nature spirits).[3] Yakshagana is the scholastic name (used for the last 200 years) for art forms formerly known as kēḷike, āṭa, bayalāṭa, and daśāvatāra. It is believed to have evolved from pre-classical music and theater during the period of the Bhakti movement.[4] It is sometimes simply called "the play" (ಆಟ) in Tulu Language.[5] Yakshagana is strongly influenced by the Vaishnava Bhakti movement. Yakshagana was first introduced in Udupi by Madhvacharya's disciple Naraharitirtha.

The Dhatupatha is a lexicon of Sanskrit verbal roots subservient to the Ashtadhyayi. It is organised by the ten present classes of Sanskrit, i.e. the roots are grouped by the form of their stem in the present tense.


Question: Where were the Soviet missiles situated in Cuba?

During the Cuban Missile Crisis, the US acquired photographic proof of Soviet missiles on October 14. A U-2 flight, piloted by Major Richard Heyser, captured 928 images of an SS-4 construction site in San Cristóbal, Pinar del Río Province (now part of Artemisa Province), located in western Cuba. This was the location where the Soviet missiles were situated during the crisis.

Within another day of camp being established, men were sent forward into the jungle for reconnaissance purposes, and before too long they returned with news of a Spanish outpost, Las Guasimas. By afternoon, The Rough Riders were given the command to begin marching towards Las Guasimas, to eliminate opposition and secure the area which stood in the path of further military advance. Upon arrival at their relative destination, the men slept through the night in a crude encampment nearby the Spanish outpost they would attack early the next morning.[6]

On 1 November 1964, between 12:25 and 12:33 am, Vietnamese Communist (VC) troops attacked Bien Hoa Air Base with six 81mm mortars positioned about 400 meters north, outside the air base. The VC fired 60-80 rounds into parked aircraft and troop billets, then withdrew undetected and unabated. The attack killed four US military personnel, wounded 30 and destroyed and/or damaged 20 B-57 bombers. U.S. air bases had become targets and became routine targets thereafter. The Air Force was not allowed to patrol the perimeter of their bases. That role was left up to the Vietnamese Air Force. Also, the U.S. Army was cited as being tasked to control the security of the area around the air base, and after-action scrutiny along with politics served to foster distrust and jealousy between services, chains of command and the U.S. and Vietnamese services. As a result, air bases in South Vietnam were left vulnerable. By striking at USAF air bases the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and VC employed Giulio Douhet's military concept, which stated the only effective way to counter air power was to destroy its bases on the ground. This concept has also been proven effective during the Indochina War from 1946–54, when the Viet Minh regularly and successfully attacked French air bases.[7]

In the 1960 U.S. presidential election, Senator John F. Kennedy defeated incumbent Vice President Richard Nixon. Although Eisenhower warned Kennedy about Laos and Vietnam, Europe and Latin America "loomed larger than Asia on his sights."[130] In his inaugural address, Kennedy made the ambitious pledge to "pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and success of liberty."[131] In June 1961, he bitterly disagreed with Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev when they met in Vienna to discuss key U.S.–Soviet issues. Only 16 months later, the Cuban Missile Crisis (16–28 October 1962) played out on television worldwide. It was the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war, and the U.S. raised the readiness level of Strategic Air Command (SAC) forces to DEFCON 2.

1961: Cuba: The Bay of Pigs Invasion, known in Hispanic America as Invasión de Bahía de Cochinos (or Invasión de Playa Girón or Batalla de Girón), was an unsuccessful military invasion of Cuba undertaken by the CIA-sponsored paramilitary group Brigade 2506 on April 17, 1961.

The Cuban security apparatus knew the invasion was coming, via their extensive secret intelligence network, as well as loose talk by members of the brigade, some of which was heard in Miami, and was repeated in US and foreign newspaper reports. Nevertheless, days before the invasion, multiple acts of sabotage were carried out, such as the El Encanto fire, an arson attack in a department store in Havana on 13 April, that killed one shop worker.[39][104] The Cuban government also had been warned by senior KGB agents Osvaldo Sánchez Cabrera and 'Aragon', who died violently before and after the invasion, respectively.[105] The general Cuban population was not well informed, except for CIA-funded Radio Swan.[106] As of May 1960, almost all means of public communication were in the government's hands.[107][108]

Russia threatened to place short-range nuclear missiles on the Russia's border with NATO if the United States refuses to abandon plans to deploy 10 interceptor missiles and a radar in Poland and the Czech Republic.[59][60] In April 2007, Putin warned of a new Cold War if the Americans deployed the shield in Central Europe.[61] Putin also said that Russia is prepared to abandon its obligations under an Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987 with the United States.[62]

According to Raymond McGovern, a retired CIA officer (CIA analyst from 1963 to 1990, and in the 1980s, chairman of the National Intelligence Estimates), the CIA, "not to mention President Lyndon Johnson, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and National Security Adviser McGeorge Bundy all knew full well that the evidence of any armed attack on the evening of Aug. 4, 1964, the so-called "second" Tonkin Gulf incident, was highly dubious.... During the summer of 1964, President Johnson and the Joint Chiefs of Staff were eager to widen the war in Vietnam. They stepped up sabotage and hit-and-run attacks on the coast of North Vietnam." Maddox, carrying electronic spying gear, was to collect signals intelligence from the North Vietnamese coast, and the coastal attacks were seen as a helpful way to get the North Vietnamese to turn on their coastal radars. For this purpose, it was authorized to approach the coast as close as 13 kilometers (8 mi) and the offshore islands as close as four; the latter had already been subjected to shelling from the sea.[39]

Following World War II, the United States established a military presence in Rabat at the former French air base. By the early 1950s, Rabat SalÃ© Air Base was a U.S. Air Force installation hosting the 17th Air Force and the 5th Air Division, which oversaw forward basing for Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-47 Stratojet aircraft in the country. With the destabilization of French government in Morocco, and Moroccan independence in 1956, the government of Mohammed V wanted the U.S. Air Force to pull out of the SAC bases in Morocco, insisting on such action after American intervention in Lebanon in 1958. The United States agreed to leave as of December 1959, and was fully out of Morocco by 1963. SAC felt the Moroccan bases were much less critical with the long range capability of the B-52 Stratofortresses that were replacing the B-47s and with the completion of the USAF installations in Spain in 1959.[11]

By now the V1 and V2 launch sites were being increasingly overrun, and with the Allies moving towards the Rhine and the Soviet armies rapidly closing in from the east, large numbers of refugees began to congregate in the cities, creating utter chaos. When severe frost and snow came in January, food was declared the main priority,[16] although Germany still maintained the ability to defend its vital installations with formidable numbers of anti-aircraft cannons. From early February 1945 railheads, marshalling yards and transport systems of over 200 small towns, such as Hildesheim and Meiningen in West Germany and Jenbach in Austria were attacked in Operation Clarion.

In 1987, Wake Island was selected as a missile launch site for a Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) program named Project Starlab/Starbird. In 1989, the U.S. Army Strategic Defense Command (USASDC) constructed two launch pads on Peacock Point, as well as nearby support facilities, for the eight-ton, sixty-foot, multi-stage Starbird test missiles. The program involved using electro-optical and laser systems, mounted on the Starlab platform in the payload bay of an orbiting space shuttle, to acquire, track and target Starbird missiles launched from Cape Canaveral and Wake. After being impacted by mission scheduling delays caused by the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger, the program was cancelled in late September 1990 to protect funding for another U.S. Army space-based missile defense program known as Brilliant Pebbles. Although no Starbird missiles were ever launched from Wake Island, the Starbird launch facilities at Wake were modified to support rocket launches for the Brilliant Pebbles program with the first launch occurring on January 29, 1992. On October 16, a 30-foot Castor-Orbus rocket was destroyed by ground controllers seven minutes after its launch from Wake. The program was canceled in 1993.