title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: The public schools in Okinawa are overseen by the Okinawa Prefectural Board of Education. The agency directly operates several public high schools including Okinawa Shogaku High School. The U.S. Department of Defense Dependents Schools (DoDDS) operates 13 schools total in Okinawa. Seven of these schools are located on Kadena Air Base.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: Okinawa has many types of private schools. Some of them are cram schools, also known as juku. Others, such as Nova, solely teach language. People also attend small language schools.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: There are 10 colleges/universities in Okinawa, including the University of the Ryukyus, the only national university in the prefecture, and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, a new international research institute. Okinawa's American military bases also host the Asian Division of the University of Maryland University College.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: Announced on July 18, 2019, BASE Okinawa Baseball Club will be forming the first-ever professional baseball team on Okinawa, the Ryukyu Blue Oceans. The team is expected to be fully organized by January 2020 and intends on joining the Nippon Professional Baseball league.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: In addition, various baseball teams from Japan hold training during the winter in Okinawa prefecture as it is the warmest prefecture of Japan with no snow and higher temperatures than other prefectures.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: There are numerous golf courses in the prefecture, and there was formerly a professional tournament called the Okinawa Open.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: The 34 US military installations on Okinawa are financially supported by the U.S. and Japan. The bases provide jobs for Okinawans, both directly and indirectly; In 2011, the U.S. military employed over 9,800 Japanese workers in Okinawa.


title: Okinawa Prefecture

text: The Okinawa Convention and Visitors Bureau is exploring the possibility of using facilities on the military bases for large-scale Meetings, incentives, conferencing, exhibitions events.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Super Bowl XLV was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Pittsburgh Steelers and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Green Bay Packers to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2010 season. The Packers defeated the Steelers by the score of 31–25. The game was played on February 6, 2011, at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, the first time the Super Bowl was played in the Dallas–Fort Worth area.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Unlike most other Super Bowls, this game featured two title-abundant franchises: coming into the game, the Packers held the most NFL championships with 12 (9 league championships prior to the Super Bowl era and 3 Super Bowl championships), while the Steelers held the most Super Bowl championships with 6. The Packers entered their fifth Super Bowl in team history, and became the first 6-seed team in the NFC to compete in the Super Bowl, after posting a 10–6 regular season record. The Steelers finished the regular season with a 12–4 record, and advanced to an, at the time, league-tying 8th Super Bowl appearance.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Super Bowl XLV was initially dominated by Green Bay, jumping to a 21–3 lead before Pittsburgh cut it down to 21–10 just before halftime. Then after the teams exchanged touchdowns, the Steelers cut their deficit to 28–25 midway through the fourth quarter with wide receiver Mike Wallace's 25-yard touchdown reception from quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and a two-point conversion. But the Packers answered with Mason Crosby's 23-yard field goal with 2:07 remaining, and then prevented the Steelers from scoring on their final drive of the game. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named Super Bowl MVP, completing 24 of 39 passes for 304 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The broadcast of Super Bowl XLV on Fox averaged about 111 million viewers, breaking the record for the most-watched program in American television history. The game's attendance was 103,219, just short of the Super Bowl record 103,985 set in Super Bowl XIV at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. The halftime show featured the American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas, with additional performances by Usher and Slash.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Prior to Super Bowl LV, it was the last time that a wild-card team made or won the Super Bowl. This is also the last time either of the teams have made the Super Bowl, despite appearing in a combined five conference championships since then.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Pittsburgh Steelers finished the 2010 season with a 12–4 record. They earned the AFC North division title, and the second seed in the AFC and advanced to their 8th Super Bowl, tying the Dallas Cowboys' record of most Super Bowl appearances.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: After missing the first four games of the year on suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy (during which the Steelers went 3–1), quarterback Ben Roethlisberger returned for his seventh season as the Steelers starting quarterback, finishing the season with 3,200 yards and 17 touchdowns, with just five interceptions, for a 97 passer rating. He also rushed for 176 yards and two touchdowns. The team's top receiver was Mike Wallace who caught 60 passes for 1,257 yards and 10 touchdowns, giving him a 21 yards per catch average. Other reliable options included 13-year veteran Hines Ward (59 receptions for 755 yards and 5 touchdowns), the Steelers all-time leading receiver, and tight end Heath Miller who caught 42 passes for 512 yards. Halfback Rashard Mendenhall was the team's leading rusher, gaining 1,273 yards and 13 touchdowns while also catching 23 passes. The line was led by rookie center Maurkice Pouncey, the Steelers only Pro Bowl selection on offense. However, Pouncey was injured in the AFC championship game and would be inactive for Super Bowl XLV.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Steelers had one of the league's top defenses, leading the NFL in sacks (48), and fewest points (14.5) and rushing yards (62.8) allowed per game, while ranking second in fewest total yards (276.8). The line was anchored by Pro Bowl end Brett Keisel. The Steelers also had four excellent linebackers: LaMarr Woodley, James Harrison, James Farrior, and Lawrence Timmons. For the third consecutive year, Woodley and Harrison each recorded at least 10 sacks. Woodley also forced three fumbles and Harrison forced six. Farrior had 109 total tackles and six sacks. Timmons led the team with 135 total tackles, while also recording three sacks and two interceptions. The secondary was led by pro bowl safety Troy Polamalu, who won the NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award, tying his career-best seven interceptions and returning them for 101 yards and a touchdown.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Coach Mike Tomlin, already the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl, became the youngest coach ever to make it to the Super Bowl twice at age 38. The Pittsburgh Steelers had also accomplished going to the Super Bowl in five different decades; and, in every decade since the post AFL-NFL merger. 1970s: 1975, 1976, and 1979. 1980s: 1980. 1990s: 1996. 2000s: 2006 and 2009. 2010s: 2011.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Green Bay Packers finished the season with a 10–6 record and became the first sixth-seeded team in the NFC to compete in the Super Bowl. They are only the second sixth-seeded team to reach the Super Bowl, with the only other number 6 seed to accomplish this feat, coincidentally, being the Pittsburgh Steelers, who won Super Bowl XL following the 2005 season. Green Bay also joined the 2005 Steelers as the only teams ever to defeat the top three seeded teams on the road in the playoffs. In order to secure their fifth Super Bowl bid they defeated their longtime rivals, the Chicago Bears, in the NFC Championship Game at Soldier Field.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The offense was led by quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who was in his third year as a starter after taking over for the team's all-time leading passer Brett Favre. Rodgers finished the season completing 65.7% of his passes for 3,922 yards and 28 touchdowns, with only eleven interceptions, giving him his second consecutive season with a triple digit passer rating (101.2). He was also a good rusher, adding 356 yards and 4 touchdowns on the ground. His top target was pro bowl receiver Greg Jennings, who caught 76 passes for 1,265 yards and 12 touchdowns, giving him a 16.6 yards per catch average while also ranking him fourth in the NFL in yards and second in touchdown catches. Other reliable targets included receivers James Jones (50 receptions, 676 yards, 5 touchdowns), Donald Driver (51 receptions, 565 yards, 4 touchdowns), and Jordy Nelson (45 receptions, 582 yards, 496 kick return yards). The Packers lost star tight end Jermichael Finley (21 receptions 301 yards, 1 touchdown) to injury in week five who was their leading receiver at the time. The Packers ground game was crippled by injuries, especially the Week 1 loss of Ryan Grant, who had rushed for over 1,200 yards in each of the last two seasons. In his absence, the team relied prominently on Brandon Jackson, who rushed for 703 yards and caught 43 passes for 342, and fullback John Kuhn, who added 281 yards on the ground. The team's offensive line was anchored by pro bowl tackle Chad Clifton, an 11-year veteran.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Packers defense ranked second in the league in fewest points allowed per game (15). The line was led by Cullen Jenkins, who recorded seven sacks in just eleven games, and 338-pound defensive tackle B. J. Raji, who had 6.5. The linebackers were led by pro bowler Clay Matthews and A. J. Hawk. Matthews ranked fourth in the NFL with 13.5 sacks, while Hawk led the team in combined tackles (111) and intercepted three passes. Three of the Packers starters in the secondary had made the pro bowl. Tramon Williams led the team with a career-high 6 interceptions, while adding 326 punt return yards. Other pro bowl selections included safety Nick Collins (4 interceptions and 70 combined tackles) and hard hitting 13-year veteran cornerback Charles Woodson, who recorded 92 total tackles and forced five fumbles, while also intercepting two passes.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Packers entered the Super Bowl never having trailed by more than 7 points at any point during the season—a feat that had never been accomplished during a complete season in the Super Bowl era. The last team to complete a season with this distinction was the Detroit Lions in 1962. In the Super Bowl game itself, the Packers never trailed.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Of note, this was Green Bay's first Super Bowl against an AFC team that was not one of the "Original 8" American Football League franchises. The Packers had played Kansas City, Oakland, New England, and Denver in their four previous Super Bowl match-ups, winning against all but Denver. The Steelers, like the Packers, predated the AFL's launch, having begun play in 1933 (12 years after the Packers joined the NFL after two years as an independent team), and moved to the AFC in 1970 as a result of the AFL–NFL merger to even out the two conferences.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Pittsburgh advanced to the Super Bowl with two close wins in the playoffs. After a first-round bye, the Steelers defeated their division rival, the number 5 seeded Baltimore Ravens 31–24, with Ben Roethlisberger's 58-yard completion to Antonio Brown on third down and 19 setting up Rashard Mendenhall's game winning 2-yard touchdown run with 1:33 left in the game. Roethlisberger finished with 226 passing yards and two touchdowns, while the defense forced three turnovers and sacked Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco five times, three by James Harrison.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Then the Steelers defeated the number 6 seeded New York Jets 24–19 in the AFC Championship Game. Pittsburgh seemed to be in complete control at first, taking a 24–0 lead in the first half. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez rallied his team back, cutting the score to 24–10 going into the fourth quarter. The Jets then drove to the Steelers 2-yard line on a 17-play drive, but the Pittsburgh defense made a key stand, keeping them out of the end zone on four consecutive plays near the goal-line to force a turnover. New York subsequently forced a safety and scored a touchdown with just over three minutes left, but Roethlisberger's 14-yard completions to Brown and Heath Miller allowed Pittsburgh to hang onto the ball until time expired. Mendenhall finished with 121 rushing yards and a touchdown, along with 2 catches for 32 yards.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Green Bay started off their postseason with a 21–16 win over the number 3 seeded Philadelphia Eagles after Tramon Williams intercepted a pass from Michael Vick in the end zone with less than a minute left to play. Aaron Rodgers threw for 180 yards and three touchdowns while James Starks, who only rushed for 101 yards during the season, rushed for 123 yards in the game.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Packers then went to Georgia, where the top-seeded 13–3 Atlanta Falcons were waiting. Although the Falcons took advantage of an early turnover and a kick return touchdown to build a 14–7 lead, Green Bay quickly buried the Falcons with 35 straight points. By the end of the first half, the Packers held a 28–14 lead, and went on to win comfortably, 48–21. Rodgers was nearly perfect, completing 31 of 36 passes for 366 yards and three touchdowns, while adding another score on the ground. Jordy Nelson and James Jones both had touchdown catches, while John Kuhn added scores by air and ground and Tramon Williams returned one of his two interceptions 70 yards for a touchdown. Green Bay's special teams unit never had to punt the ball, while Mason Crosby contributed two field goals.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Green Bay next faced the number 2 Chicago Bears in the NFC Championship Game, defeating them 21–14. This time Rodgers had a rougher day than his previous two games, throwing no touchdown passes and being intercepted twice. But he still threw for 244 yards and scored a 1-yard touchdown run, while Starks added 74 rushing yards, including a touchdown run in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Green Bay's defense knocked Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler out of the game and intercepted three passes, one of which was returned 18 yards for a touchdown by B. J. Raji. The other two were made by rookie Sam Shields, who recorded his second interception near his own end zone with 37 seconds left to put the game away.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Both teams are known to have sizable fanbases that often travel to away games, largely due to the home games themselves having decades-long waiting lists. In August 2008, ESPN.com ranked the two teams tied as having the best fans in the NFL. ESPN's own John Clayton, a Pittsburgh native, broke the tie in favor of the Steelers.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: As the Packers were the designated home team in the annual rotation between AFC and NFC teams, the team elected to wear their green jerseys. Although both teams are known to wear their colored jerseys at home and have rarely worn white at home (the Packers wore white at home for two games in 1989), the Packers decision contrasted with the Steelers decision as the home team in Super Bowl XL to wear white jerseys. Both the 2005 Steelers and 2010 Packers were number 6 seeded teams when they reached the Super Bowl, forcing them to play all of their postseason games on the road and wearing their respective white jerseys in those games.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: A severe winter storm blanketed the Dallas–Fort Worth area in hard ice and snow the week before the game, threatening to disrupt game preparations. Snow fell from the roof of Cowboys Stadium's East end on February 4, injuring six people. Over 3,000 tickets were sold to watch the game in the stadium's East Plaza, which experienced the falling ice tragedy earlier in the week. However, the snow had melted by game time and fans who paid $200 per ticket were allowed to watch the game outside Cowboys Stadium, in the open air, as the weather turned from sleet to sun.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Since the Steelers and Packers were two of the six teams that did not have cheerleaders during the 2010 NFL season (the others being the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants), this marked the first Super Bowl without cheerleaders.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Packers lineman, Bryan Bulaga, became the youngest player to start in a Super Bowl, at the age of 21 years and 322 days old. Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey would have been the youngest player (21 years, 197 days), but he could not play because of a high ankle sprain.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: During a press conference on January 19, 2011, President Obama (a longtime Chicago Bears fan) said he would attend Super Bowl XLV if Chicago defeated Green Bay, saying "If Chicago wins, I’m going no doubt". Chicago ended up losing the NFC Championship game a few days later on January 23 to Green Bay 21–14. In a post-game locker-room speech by Green Bay Packers corner Charles Woodson poked fun at the President's comment saying "The President don't want to come watch us at the Super Bowl, guess what? We'll go see him" (implying that Green Bay would win the Super Bowl and visit the White House as the winning team usually does each year; a statement that would come true). Woodson then broke the Packers meeting with a team cheer of "White House!". On January 26 President Obama visited Green Bay and was greeted by Mayor Jim Schmitt and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker who presented the President with two Green Bay Packers Jerseys. The first had Obama's name on the back with the number 1 and the second was an autographed Charles Woodson jersey with the message "See you at the White House. Go Packers!" written on the back by Woodson.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: On August 12, 2011, Woodson's promise came true and Packers visited the White House and met with President Obama. Their visit was delayed because of the NFL lockout and took place a day before the Packers first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. President Obama was presented with a Packers jersey with the number 1 and the words Commander-In-Chief on the back. He was also presented with a stock share of the Packers organization, thus making him a part owner of the Packers. When Obama jokingly asked if this meant he could trade Aaron Rodgers to the Bears, Woodson responded that Obama was just "a minority owner."


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Obama, who is also a Steelers fan and considers the team to be his second-favorite after the Bears, openly supported the Steelers two years earlier in Super Bowl XLIII after the Rooney family helped with his campaigning work and later appointed Steelers chairman Dan Rooney, an ethnic Irish Catholic, the U.S. Ambassador to Ireland. He did not attend the game; instead, he hosted a 100-person Super Bowl party at the White House. Attendees included his family, elected leaders from Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, DNC member Andres Lopez of Puerto Rico, Buffalo, New York mayor Byron Brown, Buffalo deputy mayor Steve Casey, Newark, New Jersey mayor Cory Booker, Jennifer Lopez and her husband Marc Anthony, both actors/singers, ESPN columnist Michael Wilbon, and Tony Kornheiser.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Although the sitting president did not attend the game, former president and former Texas governor George W. Bush was present, along with his wife Laura and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: From June 15, 2010, through February 6, 2011, the 30-mile section of Interstate 30 between Dallas and Fort Worth along which Cowboys Stadium is situated had been temporarily designated as the "Tom Landry Super Bowl Highway" in commemoration of Super Bowl XLV. The former Dallas–Fort Worth Turnpike is normally known as the "Tom Landry Highway" in honor of former Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: While past Super Bowl games used their own unique logo designs that changed yearly and featured imagery which reflected the host city, Super Bowl XLV introduced a new standardized design, featuring an image of the Vince Lombardi Trophy sitting atop the traditional Roman numerals used to denote each edition, with a stylized image of the host stadium shown in the background. It was introduced as part of a new, standardized branding scheme for the NFL's postseason games, which also saw the redesign of the conference championship trophies.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The only changes made to the logo for future games, until Super Bowl 50, was to change the number and the stadium depicted. Super Bowl 50 deviated slightly from the standard design to emphasize the game's "golden anniversary", featuring the number "50" in large gold numbering on each side of the trophy rather than below it in Roman numerals. This modified layout, but with Roman numerals and no stadium, has been used for subsequent Super Bowl games.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Fox Sports televised the game in the United States, with Joe Buck as the play-by-play announcer and Troy Aikman, himself a three-time Super Bowl winner as a Dallas Cowboys quarterback, as the color analyst. Mike Pereira joined Buck and Aikman in the broadcast booth to comment on instant replay reviews, while Pam Oliver and Chris Myers served as sideline reporters. The pre-game show featured the "Fox NFL Sunday" crew of host Curt Menefee and a group of analysts with extensive Super Bowl experiences of their own: Terry Bradshaw (4 time Super Bowl-winning quarterback with the Pittsburgh Steelers), Howie Long (one-time Super Bowl winning defensive end with the then-Los Angeles Raiders), Michael Strahan (one-time Super Bowl winning defensive end with the New York Giants) and Jimmy Johnson (two-time Super Bowl winning head coach with the Dallas Cowboys). They were joined by a variety of other commentators.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Five days prior to the game, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, seized and shut down several websites that had provided access to pirated Internet television feeds of NFL games.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: With an average US audience of 111 million viewers, this was the most-watched Super Bowl as well as the most-watched program of any kind in American television history, beating the previous record of 106.5 million viewers for Super Bowl XLIV. However, Super Bowl XVI still holds the record for the highest rated Super Bowl in history with a 49.1 national rating and a 73 share. An estimated 162.9 million total viewers watched all or part of the game. The game drew a national household Nielsen rating of 46.0 and a 69 share. It drew a 59.7 local rating in both Milwaukee (WITI) and Pittsburgh (WPGH), the second-highest local rating for a Super Bowl after the 63.0 that Super Bowl XX drew in Chicago. In the host market of Dallas–Fort Worth (KDFW), the game drew a 53.7 rating.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Steelers also became the second team to appear on Super Bowls on all four major networks, after the Denver Broncos. The Steelers appeared previously on four NBC-aired Super Bowls (IX, XIII, XXX, XLIII), two CBS-aired Super Bowls (X, XIV), and one ABC-aired Super Bowl (XL).


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: By September 15, 2010, Fox had sold 90% of all available slots; all slots were completely sold out by October. The price of an advertisement began at US$3 million. Pepsi-Cola returned after a one-year retreat with three ads for their Pepsi Max drink, which has been named as the official soft drink of the NFL. Pepsi's Frito-Lay brand also advertised Doritos. Both brands had their advertisements created by web users as part of the annual USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter contest, which offers a prize of US $5 million. In addition, regular purchasers Anheuser-Busch InBev, GoDaddy.com, Coca-Cola, CareerBuilder.com, and E*TRADE purchased advertisements; InBev advertised Stella Artois imported beer for the first time in the Super Bowl in addition to its usual Budweiser and Bud Light advertisements. Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Audi also advertised, as did General Motors, who returned for the first time since their bankruptcy with advertisements for the Chevrolet Cruze, Camaro, Silverado and Volt. Chrysler purchased a 2-minute-long advertisement for its Chrysler 200 featuring Eminem.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: NFL International provided television coverage for viewers outside of North America, with Bob Papa and Joe Theismann calling the English language feed. The game was shown live on the following channels:


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Westwood One broadcast Super Bowl XLV across the United States and Canada, with play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan (calling his first Super Bowl for the network) and color analyst Boomer Esiason. Univision Radio carried a Spanish language feed for its stations throughout the US. The flagship stations for each team also carried the game with their respective local announcers:


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: In the United Kingdom, BBC Radio 5 Live carried radio coverage with Darren Fletcher and Greg Brady announcing.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Sirius XM Satellite Radio carried 14 feeds in ten languages to Sirius subscribers, as well as to XM subscribers with the "Best of Sirius" package. In addition to the Westwood One and local team broadcasts, Sirius carried the following international feeds:


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: FieldPass, the subscription Internet radio service provided by the league at NFL.com, also carried most of these feeds. Due to contractual restrictions, only Sirius XM and FieldPass were permitted to carry the local team broadcasts along with WTAQ, WIXX, WTMJ, WDVE and WBGG, with the teams' other network radio affiliates instead airing the Westwood One feed.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Cowboys Stadium installed 15,000 temporary seats and utilized its standing room to increase its capacity to over 105,000 fans. If the stadium had been filled to capacity (its record for an NFL game is 105,121 spectators), it would have set a record for Super Bowl attendance, breaking the previous record of 103,985 fans for Super Bowl XIV in the Rose Bowl; however the actual attendance of 103,219 fell 766 fans short. League officials had indicated that they would also count spectators watching the game on large television screens from outside the stadium in the tally, which generally is not allowed in official attendance counts. However, Super Bowl XLV was the first Super Bowl game to break the 100,000 threshold in attendance since Super Bowl XXI in 1987.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Due to numerous delays, including damage sustained from an ice storm, 1,250 temporary seats weren't ready in time for the game. According to a police officer standing near the affected area, the seats hadn't been installed in time for the fire marshal to inspect them. The NFL scrambled almost until kickoff to find replacement seats. Eventually, 850 fans in four sections were relocated, while 400 fans in two sections were given a refund equivalent to three times the face value of their ticket. The latter set of fans were later offered the chance to watch the game on monitors in the North Field Club behind the Steelers bench, but would still get the triple refund. Some of these fans were still upset, since they had spent thousands on airfare and hotels. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said that when the league decided to relocate the 850 fans, it lost any shot of setting the attendance record.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The NFL subsequently offered affected fans a ticket to the next Super Bowl in addition to the refund. It also offered fans the option of a ticket to any future Super Bowl, along with round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations. However, this wasn't enough to mollify several fans, who on February 9 filed a $5 million class-action lawsuit against the NFL, the Cowboys and Jones. In addition to Steelers and Packers fans left without seats, the suit includes Cowboys fans who paid $100,000 for personal seat licenses, only to have to watch the Super Bowl in metal folding chairs without a view of the stadium's giant video replay board. The NFL at first offered $2,400 to fans who did not receive a replacement seat, but later offered tickets to a future Super Bowl with airfare and hotels included.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Not all of the fans accepted the NFL's settlement offer, so the case went to trial. The final outcome of the lawsuit was a finding for the plaintiffs against the NFL in the matter of breach of contract, and not liable for fraudulent inducement. The Cowboys and Jerry Jones were dismissed as parties to the lawsuit since the plaintiffs' contracts were solely with the NFL. The plaintiffs were awarded between $5,600 and $22,000 depending on the value of their tickets.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Keith Urban and Maroon 5 performed during the pregame. The Texas Christian University Horned Frog Marching Band also performed during the pregame show. 22-year-old Candice Villesca of Lewisville, Texas performed the national anthem and "America the Beautiful" in American Sign Language. Lea Michele performed "America the Beautiful" supported by the Air Force Tops in Blue. Pop singer Christina Aguilera sang the national anthem, but performed the wrong lyrics for the fourth line of the song, later issuing an apology.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The coin toss ceremony was the first to commemorate two anniversaries—the 25th anniversary of Super Bowl XX and 15th of Super Bowl XXX, which marked the Dallas Cowboys' most recent Super Bowl championship. In honor of those occasions, Super Bowl XX MVP Richard Dent and former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Deion Sanders, both of whom were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2011, joined the ceremonies. They were joined by fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees and past Super Bowl participants Marshall Faulk, Chris Hanburger and Shannon Sharpe.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Black Eyed Peas performed a medley of their greatest hits: "I Gotta Feeling", "Boom Boom Pow", "Pump It", "The Time (Dirty Bit)", "Let's Get It Started", and "Where Is the Love?" Slash made a guest appearance, performing "Sweet Child o' Mine" with Fergie, while Usher made an appearance to perform his song "OMG" with will.i.am. The show also displayed a long list of other performers, including Prairie View A&M University's "Marching Storm" Band. Country music was originally in the planning until the Black Eyed Peas agreed to perform. This halftime show was intended to bring youth back into the Super Bowl halftime show as legacy artists were book for the past halftime shows following the incident during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show where Justin Timberlake exposed Janet Jackson's breast on live television.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: In Jermaine Jackson's book "You Are Not Alone: Through a Brother's Eyes", it reveals that after the This Is It tour, Michael Jackson wanted to perform in the Super Bowl one last time, which unfortunately never came to pass because of the singer's sudden death in 2009.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: After the first three drives of the game ended with punts, Green Bay opened up the scoring with Aaron Rodgers's 29-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jordy Nelson, who managed to pull slightly ahead of cornerback William Gay enough to make a leaping catch and fall into the end zone. Then on the first play after the ensuing kickoff, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was hit by Howard Green as he threw a pass, causing the ball to go well short of his intended target near the left sideline where it was intercepted by Nick Collins and returned 37 yards for a touchdown, giving Green Bay a 14–0 lead. This score continued the unbeaten streak of Super Bowl victories recorded by teams scoring on an interception run-back, improving to 11–0 in such games. It was also the third consecutive Super Bowl with an interception return for a touchdown, as well as the eighth such score in the last ten Super Bowls. The Packers also tied the Miami Dolphins' record which still stands for the largest Super Bowl lead (14 points) at the end of the first quarter, set in Super Bowl VIII against the Minnesota Vikings and later tied by the Oakland Raiders against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: This time Pittsburgh managed to respond, driving 49 yards in 13 plays including Roethlisberger's 18-yard run on 3rd down and 9. Shaun Suisham finished the drive with a 33-yard field goal to cut the score to 14–3. Then after forcing a punt, the Steelers drove to midfield, but turned the ball over again when Roethlisberger's pass was intercepted by defensive back Jarrett Bush at the 47. After the interception, Rodgers led the Packers to another score, completing two passes for 20 yards before James Starks's 12-yard run moved the ball to the 21-yard line. On the next play, Green Bay increased their lead to 21–3 with Rodgers' 21-yard touchdown pass to Greg Jennings. Taking the ball back with 2:24 left in the second quarter, Roethlisberger made a 37-yard completion to Antwaan Randle El on their first play. After that, receiver Hines Ward caught three passes for 39 yards on the drive, the last one an 8-yard touchdown catch with 37 seconds left in the half, making the score 21–10 at halftime. This was the fourth time in their four 2011 postseason games that the Packers finished the first half with a lead of at least 11 points. The first half had taken a heavy toll on both teams. The Steelers lost wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders to injury, while the Packers lost receiver Donald Driver along with defensive backs Charles Woodson and Sam Shields. Shields would be the only player among them who would return.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Pittsburgh's defense forced Green Bay to punt on the first drive of the second half, and got the ball at midfield after a face-mask call on Tom Crabtree while tackling Antonio Brown on the punt return. The offense then scored in five plays (all runs). First, Rashard Mendenhall broke free along with right sideline for a 17-yard run, then Isaac Redman rushed for 3 yards, and Roethlisberger ran for 6, bringing up third down and 1. On the next play, Redman tried to run up the middle, but was held up at the line, so he backed away and ran to the outside for a 16-yard gain to the 8-yard line. Then Mendenhall scored an 8-yard touchdown run on the next play, making the score 21–17. After forcing a punt, Pittsburgh mounted a drive to the Packers 29-yard line, but Green Bay's defense made a stand. First Roethlisberger's pass was batted down behind the line by linebacker Clay Matthews, then Roethlisberger tried a screen pass to tight end Heath Miller, but Desmond Bishop tackled him for a 3-yard loss. Then on third down Frank Zombo sacked Roethlisberger on the 34, and Suisham's ensuing 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: On the first play of the fourth quarter, the Steelers lost their third turnover of the game when Mendenhall fumbled the ball while being tackled behind the line by Matthews and Ryan Pickett. Bishop recovered the ball and returned it 7 yards to the Packers 45. Five plays later on third down and 10, Rodgers completed a 38-yard pass to Nelson at the Steelers 2-yard line. Pittsburgh linebacker LaMarr Woodley sacked Rodgers for a 6-yard loss on the next play, but Rodgers threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Jennings after that, increasing the Packers lead to 28–17. Roethlisberger led the Steelers right back with 6 of 7 completions. After a 9-yard pass to tight end Matt Spaeth, he threw three completions to receiver Mike Wallace for 27 yards to the Green Bay 40-yard line. Then after a 15-yard completion to Ward, he finished the drive with a 25-yard touchdown pass to Wallace. On the two-point conversion play, Roethlisberger faked a hand-off to Mendenhall and ran up to the line before pitching the ball to Randle El, who scored on an outside sweep, cutting the Steelers deficit to 3 points at 28–25.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Green Bay took the ball back with just over 7 minutes left, and found themselves facing third down and 10 after two plays, but Rodgers kept the drive going with a 31-yard completion to Jennings over the middle. Starks then ran 14 yards to the Steelers 30. Two plays later, James Jones caught a 21-yard pass at the 8. The Steelers defense kept Green Bay out of the end zone, forcing the Packers to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Mason Crosby that gave Green Bay a 31–25 lead with 2:07 left in regulation.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Pittsburgh got the ball back on their own 13-yard line following a penalty on the kickoff. On their first play, Roethlisberger completed a 15-yard pass to Miller. But after a 5-yard reception by Ward, his next three passes were incomplete, turning the ball over and allowing the Packers to run out the rest of the clock. In a nod to Green Bay's defensive dominance, Pittsburgh did not take the lead at any time in the entire game.


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: The Packers joined the New York Giants as the only teams to win Super Bowls in 3 different decades (1966, 1967, 1996, and 2010).


title: Super Bowl XLV

text: Nelson was the top receiver of the game with 9 receptions for 140 yards (both career highs) and a touchdown, while also gaining 19 more yards on a kick return, all despite 3 dropped passes. Jennings added 64 yards and 2 touchdowns. Roethlisberger completed 25 of 40 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns, with 2 interceptions, and ran for 31 yards. His top target was Wallace, who caught 9 passes for 89 yards and a score. Mendenhall was the top rusher of the game with 64 yards and a touchdown.


title: Vasculitis

text: Vasculitis is a group of disorders that destroy blood vessels by inflammation. Both arteries and veins are affected. Lymphangitis (inflammation of lymphatic vessels) is sometimes considered a type of vasculitis. Vasculitis is primarily caused by leukocyte migration and resultant damage. Although both occur in vasculitis, inflammation of veins (phlebitis) or arteries (arteritis) on their own are separate entities.


title: Vasculitis

text: A small number have been shown to have a genetic basis. These include adenosine deaminase 2 deficiency and haploinsufficiency of A20.


title: Vasculitis

text: Takayasu's arteritis, polyarteritis nodosa and giant cell arteritis mainly involve arteries and are thus sometimes classed specifically under arteritis.


title: Vasculitis

text: There are also many conditions that have vasculitis as an accompanying or atypical feature, including:


title: Vasculitis

text: In pediatric patients varicella inflammation may be followed by vasculitis of intracranial vessels. This condition is called post varicella angiopathy and this may be responsible for arterial ischaemic strokes in children.


title: Vasculitis

text: In this table: ANA = antinuclear antibodies, CRP = C-reactive protein, ESR = erythrocyte sedimentation rate, "ds"DNA = double-stranded DNA, ENA = extractable nuclear antigens, RNP = ribonucleoproteins; VDRL = Venereal Disease Research Laboratory


title: Vasculitis

text: Treatments are generally directed toward stopping the inflammation and suppressing the immune system. Typically, corticosteroids such as prednisone are used. Additionally, other immune suppression medications, such as cyclophosphamide and others, are considered. In case of an infection, antimicrobial agents including cephalexin may be prescribed. Affected organs (such as the heart or lungs) may require specific medical treatment intended to improve their function during the active phase of the disease.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: The Time Traveler's Wife is a 2009 American romantic science fiction drama film based on Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel of the same name. Directed by Robert Schwentke, the film stars Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams, and Ron Livingston. The story follows Henry DeTamble (Bana), a Chicago librarian with a paranormal genetic disorder that causes him to randomly time travel as he tries to build a romantic relationship with Clare Abshire (McAdams), whom he meets as a child and who later becomes his wife.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: Filming began in September 2007, originally in anticipation of an autumn 2008 release. The film's release was postponed with initially no official explanation from the studio. McAdams later noted that the delay was due to additional scenes and reshoots that could not be completed until the season at their outdoor location matched previously filmed footage, and Bana had regrown his hair following his work on the 2009 film "Star Trek". Produced by New Line Cinema, the film was released on August 14, 2009, by Warner Bros. Pictures to mixed reviews but was a commercial success.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: In the early 1970s, Henry DeTamble is in a car accident that kills his mother, Annette DeTamble, but which he survives by inadvertently time traveling back two weeks. Moments later, Henry is helped by an older version of himself who has also traveled back. Unable to control the timing or destinations of his traveling, Henry finds himself drawn to significant people, places, and events in his life but is incapable of changing events beyond the minor differences his presence creates.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: In 1991, Henry meets Clare Abshire in the library where he works. She is overjoyed to see him although he is meeting her for the first time. Clare explains that she met Henry's future self when she was a child, and that he informed her then that they would meet in the future, which is happening now. As a child, Clare develops a crush on Henry, and she is upset to learn that he is married. When Clare turns 18, two years before their meeting at the library, the older Henry kisses her, leading her to realize that he is her husband in the future. They begin a relationship, which is challenged by Henry's disorder.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: His sporadic time traveling is further complicated by the fact that he arrives at his destinations completely naked. From an early age, he had learned how to pick locks and to steal clothing to endure his travels. Among his getaways are many visits to young Clare. From present-day Clare's diary, he gets a list of dates when he visited her and gives those to young Clare so that she can be waiting for him with clothes. Clare eventually marries Henry. Henry time travels away before the ceremony and a visibly older version of himself arrives in time to step in.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: Henry's disappearances take a toll on his relationship with Clare. To make up for this, Henry buys a winning lottery ticket due to having the numbers in advance, but their relationship still has problems. Henry and Clare witness a middle-aged wounded Henry briefly arrive from another time, leaving them concerned about how long Henry must live. His disorder also makes having a child with Clare seemingly impossible, as Henry's genes cause their unborn fetuses to time travel. They seek a renowned doctor's help, but after numerous similar miscarriages, Henry has a secret vasectomy to end their suffering. However, soon after, Clare gets pregnant one last time—by a visiting younger version of Henry—and carries the baby to full term. Before the child is born, Henry travels forward in time and happily meets their pre-teen daughter, Alba. She tells him that she is a time traveler, too, but has increasing control over when and where she travels. Alba tells Henry that he will die when she is five years old, a fact that Henry subsequently hides from Clare.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: Alba's pre-teen self, who ultimately tries to prepare her younger self for Henry's death, visits young Alba sporadically. During Alba's fifth birthday party with family and friends Clare is devastated to discover Henry's impending death. Later, after suffering from severe frostbite from a time jump gone wrong and temporarily using a wheelchair, Henry time travels again and is accidentally shot by Clare's father, who is hunting elk. Henry returns in time to die in Clare's arms. Some years later, a younger Henry visits Alba and Clare, giving Clare hope that he will visit again, though he tells her not to spend her life waiting for him, hoping this encounter would provide a proper closure for Clare and Alba.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: In addition, Fiona Reid, Philip Craig, Maggie Castle and Brian Bisson play Clare's parents and siblings, respectively. The wedding band is played by Broken Social Scene.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: The film rights for Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" were optioned by Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt's production company Plan B Entertainment, in association with New Line Cinema, before the work was even published. Niffenegger stated in an interview that as she was writing the book, she had thoughts of how a film version of the book would appear. When asked about the prospect of her novel being turned into a film, Niffenegger said, "I've got my little movie that runs in my head. And I'm kind of afraid that will be changed or wiped out by what somebody else might do with it. And it is sort of thrilling and creepy, because now the characters have an existence apart from me."


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: In September 2003, the studio hired screenwriter Jeremy Leven to write an adapted screenplay of the novel. Directors Steven Spielberg and David Fincher briefly expressed interest in the project, though no negotiations took place. In March 2005, director Gus Van Sant entered negotiations with the studio to helm the project. The negotiations did not hold, and in November 2006, director Robert Schwentke was instead hired to take over the project.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: In January 2007, New Line hired screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin to rewrite Leven's script. Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams were cast in April 2007. Filming began in Toronto on September 10, 2007. It was also shot in Hamilton, Ontario. The film was originally planned for a fall 2008 release, but it was postponed with no official explanation from the studio. When asked about the delay, McAdams said, "We wound up doing a reshoot, and Eric was the holdup … He had to shave his head for a different role, for "Star Trek", I think … We did an additional scene in the meadow, so we were also waiting on the meadow to look the way it did [the first time we shot]. So we were waiting on the seasons. Basically we were waiting on nature and Eric's hair." The film was released by Warner Bros. on August 14, 2009.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: The score to "The Time Traveler's Wife" was composed by Mychael Danna, who recorded his score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Ocean Way Studios during the fall of 2008. The movie repeatedly features the musical theme of an old German hymn, "Es ist ein Ros entsprungen", whose familiar harmonization was written by German composer Michael Praetorius. This is heard just prior to the early car accident, is played at holiday gatherings, and is otherwise interwoven into the score. The trailer featured the song "Broken", by Lifehouse, which is in the film and the promotional music video. A television commercial for the film featured the song "Show Me What I'm Looking For", by Carolina Liar, although it was not included within the soundtrack. The film also features a cover of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart", performed by Canadian indie rock band Broken Social Scene.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: The official motion picture soundtrack was released as a download on August 11, 2009, by New Line Records. A CD version was released by Decca Records, but is generally only available from vendors outside the United States.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: The book's author stated back in 2009 that she had no intention of watching the film. The film has received mixed reviews from critics for the same reasons as the novel, praising the characterization of the couple, applauding their emotional depth; others criticized the melodramatic style and the plot as emotionally trite. Based on 159 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, "The Time Traveler's Wife" has a 38% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 5.11/10 saying, "Though it may satisfy fans of the novel, "The Time Traveler's Wife"s plot's contrivances and illogical narrative hamper its big screen effectiveness". Metacritic, another review aggregator which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 top reviews from mainstream critics, gives the film an average score of 47 based on 31 reviews.


title: The Time Traveler's Wife (film)

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on February 9, 2010, by New Line Home Entertainment. This is the last film to be distributed on DVD by itself. After this release, New Line films began to be distributed on home media by Warner Home Video, which absorbed New Line Home Entertainment in 2010, after New Line was absorbed by Warner Bros. in 2008.


title: Tony Todd

text: Tony Todd (born December 4, 1954) is an American actor who made his debut as Sgt. Warren in the film "Platoon" (1986), and portrayed Kurn in the television series "" (1990–1991) and "" (1996). He achieved stardom for his roles as Ben in the 1990 remake of "Night of the Living Dead", as the titular character in the four films of the "Candyman" film series (1992–2021) and William Bludworth in the "Final Destination" franchise (2000–2011). He also starred as Dan in "The Man from Earth" (2007) and voiced The Fallen in" " (2009), Darkseid in the DC Animated Movie Universe, Zoom in "The Flash" and Venom in the upcoming "Spider-Man 2" (2023) game.


title: Tony Todd

text: Todd was born in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Hartford, Connecticut, attending local schools including Hartford Public High School. He is also an alumnus of the Artists Collective, Inc. Todd attended the University of Connecticut and then went on to study theater at the Tony Award-winning Eugene O'Neill National Actors Theatre Institute, and the Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, Rhode Island.


title: Tony Todd

text: Todd has appeared in more than 100 theatrical and television films and has played opposite many major Hollywood stars. His movie credits include: "Platoon" (1986), "Night of the Living Dead" (1990), "Candyman" (1992), "The Crow" (1994), "The Rock" (1996), "Wishmaster" (1997), the "Final Destination" series (2000–2011), "Minotaur" (2006), and "Beg" (2010). Todd was the voice of The Fallen in "" (2009) and was also in the Rel Dowdell film "Changing the Game". Todd was a special guest of the Weekend of Horror Creation Entertainment on May 23, 2010, and Screamfest LA. Todd portrayed Reverend Zombie in "Hatchet II", which was released in a limited number of theaters on October 1, 2010. As "Final Destination 5" returned to the series' roots, Todd returned as William Bludworth. In 2013, Todd filmed "Dead of the Nite in Wales, UK. The film was released worldwide on DVD, including the UK, Germany and the US.


title: Tony Todd

text: Todd has acted on and off Broadway. Among his many roles are August Wilson's "King Hedley II", Athol Fugard's "The Captain's Tiger", for which he received the Helen Hayes nomination. Others include "No Place to be Somebody", "Les Blancs", "Playboys of the West Indies", "Othello", "Zooman and The Sign", award-winning playwright Keith Glover's "Dark Paradise", "Aida" (on Broadway), and "Levee James" for the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference and The New Dramatist Guild.


title: Tony Todd

text: Todd's other television appearances include a recurring role on "Boston Public" and guest appearances on "Law & Order", "", "", "" as Cecrops, "The X-Files", "Smallville", "Psych", "24", "Charmed", "Stargate SG-1", "Andromeda", "Criminal Minds", "21 Jump Street", and "Chuck".


title: Tony Todd

text: Todd is one of the few actors to have portrayed two different speaking roles on "24". He was initially cast as Detective Michael Norris in season three and four years later as General Benjamin Juma in both "" and season 7. He also played a major role in the "Babylon 5" TV film "".


title: Tony Todd

text: He has portrayed several characters in the "Star Trek" universe: Worf's brother Kurn in "" and "", an adult Jake Sisko in the episode "" in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", and an Alpha Hirogen in the episode "" in "". In 2017, Todd returned to the world of "Star Trek" as General Rodek in the MMORPG game "Star Trek Online"; Rodek was the persona taken on by Kurn after he lost the memories of his past life as Worf's brother in the "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode "Sons of Mogh".


title: Tony Todd

text: On October 12, 2018, it was confirmed by Bloody Disgusting that Todd would star in a recurring role in "", the third season of the slasher television series "Scream". The season premiered on VH1 on July 8, 2019.


title: Tony Todd

text: Todd played the titular character in Bleak December Inc.'s 2016 audio drama adaptation of Bram Stoker's "Dracula".


title: Tony Todd

text: On March 5, 2022 on his Twitter, Todd revealed his plans to retire from film acting as his primary career focus, citing the celebration of his daughter's wedding and mother's birthday celebration, respectively, as well as a desire to focus on theatre as the reasons. He also revealed several unreleased projects will still be released across 2022.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan (; ; ) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southwestern region of the country, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by land area but is the least populated one. It shares land borders with the Pakistani provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab to the north-east and Sindh to the south-east. It shares International borders with Iran to the west and Afghanistan to the north; It is also bound by the Arabian Sea to the south. Balochistan is an extensive plateau of rough terrain divided into basins by ranges of sufficient heights and ruggedness. It has the world's largest deep sea port, The Port of Gwadar lying in the Arabian Sea.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan shares borders with Punjab and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the northeast, Sindh to the east and southeast, the Arabian Sea to the south, Iran (Sistan and Baluchestan) to the west and Afghanistan (Helmand, Nimruz, Kandahar, Paktika and Zabul Provinces) to the north and northwest.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The name "Balochistan" means "the land of the Baloch". Largely underdeveloped, its provincial economy is dominated by natural resources, especially its natural gas fields. Aside from Quetta, the second-largest city of the province is Turbat in the south, while another area of major economic importance is Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan occupies the very southeasternmost portion of the Iranian Plateau, the setting for the earliest known farming settlements in the pre-Indus Valley civilisation era, the earliest of which was Mehrgarh, dated at 7000 BC, within the province. Balochistan marked the westernmost extent of civilisation. Centuries before the arrival of Islam in the seventh century, parts of Balochistan were ruled by the Paratarajas, an Indo-Scythian dynasty. At certain times, the Kushans also held political sway in parts of Balochistan.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The Hindu Sewa Dynasty ruled parts of Balochistan, chiefly Kalat. The Sibi Division, which was carved out of Quetta Division and Kalat Division in 1974, derives its name from Rani Sewi, the queen of the Sewa dynasty.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: A theory of the origin of the Baloch people, the largest ethnic group in the region, is that they are of Median descent.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: In 654, Abdulrehman ibn Samrah, governor of Sistan and the newly emerged Rashidun caliphate at the expense of Sassanid Persia and the Byzantine Empire, sent an Islamic army to crush a revolt in Zaranj, which is now in southern Afghanistan. After conquering Zaranj, a column of the army pushed north, conquering Kabul and Ghazni, in the Hindu Kush mountain range, while another column moved through Quetta District in north-western Balochistan and conquered the area up to the ancient cities of "Dawar" and "Qandabil" (Bolan). It is documented that the major settlements, falling within today's province, became in 654 controlled by the Rashidun caliphate, except for the well-defended mountain town of "QaiQan" which is now Kalat.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: During the caliphate of Ali, a revolt broke out in southern Balochistan's Makran region. In 663, during the reign of Umayyad Caliph Muawiyah I, his Muslim rule lost control of north-eastern Balochistan and Kalat when Haris ibn Marah and a large part of his army died in battle against a revolt in Kalat.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: In the 15th century, Mir Chakar Khan Rind became the first Sirdar of Afghani, Irani and Pakistani Balochistan. He was a close aide of the Timurid ruler Humayun, and was succeeded by the Khanate of Kalat, which owed allegiance to the Mughal Empire. Later, Nader Shah won the allegiance of the rulers of eastern Balochistan. He ceded Kalhora, one of the Sindh territories of Sibi-Kachi, to the Khanate of Kalat. Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the Afghan Empire, also won the allegiance of that area's rulers, and many Baloch fought under him during the Third Battle of Panipat. Most of the area would eventually revert to local Baloch control after Afghan rule.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: In 1876, northern Baluchistan became one of the Presidencies and provinces of British India in colonial India. During this time from the fall of the Durrani Empire in 1823, four princely states were recognised and reinforced in Balochistan: Makran, Kharan, Las Bela and Kalat. In 1876, Robert Sandeman negotiated the Treaty of Kalat, which brought the Khan's territories, including Kharan, Makran, and Las Bela, under British protection, even though they remained independent princely states. After the Second Afghan War was ended by the Treaty of Gandamak in May 1879, the Afghan Emir ceded the districts of Quetta, Pishin, Harnai, Sibi and Thal Chotiali to British control. On 1 April 1883, the British took control of the Bolan Pass, south-east of Quetta, from the Khan of Kalat. In 1887, small additional areas of Balochistan were declared British territory. In 1893, Sir Mortimer Durand negotiated an agreement with the Amir of Afghanistan, Abdur Rahman Khan, to fix the Durand Line running from Chitral to Balochistan as the boundary between the Emirate of Afghanistan and British-controlled areas. Two devastating earthquakes occurred in Balochistan during British colonial rule: the 1935 Quetta earthquake, which devastated Quetta, and the 1945 Balochistan earthquake with its epicentre in the Makran region. During the time of the Indian independence movement, "three pro-Congress parties were still active in Balochistan's politics", such as the Anjuman-i-Watan Baluchistan, which favoured a united India and opposed its partition.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: In British-ruled Colonial India, Baluchistan contained a Chief Commissioner's province and princely states (including Kalat, Makran, Las Bela and Kharan) that became a part of Pakistan. The province's Shahi Jirga (the grand council of tribal elders) and the non-official members of the Quetta Municipality, according to the Pakistani narrative, agreed to join Pakistan unanimously on 29 June 1947; however, the Shahi Jirga was stripped of its members from the Kalat State prior to the vote. The then-president of the Baluchistan Muslim League, Qazi Muhammad Isa, informed Muhammad Ali Jinnah that "Shahi Jirga in no way represents the popular wishes of the masses" and that members of the Kalat State were "excluded from voting; only representatives from the British part of the province voted and the British part included the leased areas of Quetta, Nasirabad Tehsil, Nushki and Bolan Agency." Following the referendum, on 22 June 1947 the Khan of Kalat received a letter from members of the Shahi Jirga, as well as sardars from the leased areas of Baluchistan, stating that they, "as a part of the Baloch nation, were a part of the Kalat state too" and that if the question of Baluchistan's accession to Pakistan arise, "they should be deemed part of the Kalat state rather than (British) Balochistan". This has brought into question whether an actual vote took place in the town hall "and that the announcement in favour of accession was secured through sheer manipulation." Political scientist Salman Rafi Sheikh, in locating the origins of the insurgency in Balochistan, says "that Balochistan's accession to Pakistan was, as against the officially projected narrative, not based upon consensus, nor was support for Pakistan overwhelming. What this manipulation indicates is that even before formally becoming a part of Pakistan, Balochistan had fallen a prey to political victimization."


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Initially aspiring for independence, the Khan of Kalat finally acceded to Pakistan on 27 March 1948 after period of negotiations with Pakistan. The signing of the Instrument of Accession by Ahmad Yar Khan led his brother, Prince Abdul Karim, to revolt against his brother's decision due to their family rift. in July 1948. Princes Agha Abdul Karim Baloch and Muhammad Rahim refused to lay down arms, leading the Dosht-e Jhalawan in unconventional attacks on the army until 1950. The Prince indulged in Terror activities without any assistance from others. Jinnah and his successors allowed Yar Khan to retain his title until the province's dissolution in 1955.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Insurgencies by Baloch nationalists took place in 1948, 1958–59, 1962–63 and 1973–77, with a new ongoing insurgency by autonomy-seeking Baloch groups since 2003. While many Baloch support the demand for autonomy, the majority are not interested in seceding from Pakistan.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: At a press conference on 8 June 2015 in Quetta, Balochistan's Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti accused India's prime minister Narendra Modi of openly supporting terrorism. Bugti implicated India's Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of being responsible for recent attacks at military bases in Smangli and Khalid, and for subverting the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) agreement.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Gwadar, a region of Balochistan was a Colony of Oman for more than a century and in the 1960s, Pakistan took over the land. Many people in this region are therefore Omani.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan is situated in the southwest of Pakistan and covers an area of . It is Pakistan's largest province by area, constituting 44% of Pakistan's total landmass. The province is bordered by Afghanistan to the north and north-west, Iran to the south-west, Punjab and Sindh, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas to the north-east. To the south lies the Arabian Sea. Balochistan is located on the south-eastern part of the Iranian plateau. It borders the geopolitical regions of the Middle East and Southwest Asia, Central Asia and South Asia. Balochistan lies at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz and provides the shortest route from seaports to Central Asia. Its geographical location has placed the otherwise desolate region in the scope of competing for global interests for all of recorded history.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The capital city Quetta is located in a densely populated portion of the Sulaiman Mountains in the northeast of the province. It is situated in a river valley near the Bolan Pass, which has been used as the route of choice from the coast to Central Asia, entering through Afghanistan's Kandahar region. The British and other historic empires have crossed the region to invade Afghanistan by this route.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan is rich in exhaustible and renewable resources; it is the second major supplier of natural gas in Pakistan. The province's renewable and human resource potential has not been systematically measured or exploited due to pressures from within and without Pakistan. Local inhabitants have chosen to live in towns and have relied on sustainable water sources for thousands of years.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The climate of the upper highlands is characterised by very cold winters and hot summers. In the lower highlands, winters vary from extremely cold in northern districts Ziarat, Quetta, Kalat, Muslim Baagh and Khanozai, where temperatures can drop to , to milder conditions closer to the Makran coast. Winters are mild on the plains, with temperatures never falling below freezing point. Summers are hot and dry, especially in the arid zones of Chagai and Kharan districts. The plains are also very hot in summer, with temperatures reaching . The record highest temperature, , was recorded in Sibi on 26 May 2010, exceeding the previous record, . Other hot areas include Turbat and Dalbandin. The desert climate is characterised by hot and very arid conditions. Occasionally, strong windstorms make these areas very inhospitable.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: In common with the other provinces of Pakistan, Balochistan has a parliamentary form of government. The ceremonial head of the province is the Governor, who is appointed by the President of Pakistan on the advice of the provincial Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, the province's chief executive, is normally the leader of the largest political party or alliance of parties in the provincial assembly.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The unicameral Provincial Assembly of Balochistan comprises 65 seats of which 11 are reserved for women and 3 reserved for non-Muslims. The judicial branch of government is carried out by the Balochistan High Court, which is based in Quetta and headed by a Chief Justice.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Besides dominant Pakistan-wide political parties (such as the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party), Balochistan nationalist parties (such as the National Party and the Balochistan National Party (Mengal)) have been prominent in the province.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: For administrative purposes, the province is divided into seven divisions: Kalat, Makran, Nasirabad, Quetta, Sibi, Zhob and Rakhshan. This divisional level was abolished in 2000, but restored after the 2008 election. Each division is under an appointed commissioner. The seven divisions are further subdivided into 33 districts:


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: As of June 2021, there are eight divisions. The eighth division, Loralai Division was created by bifurcating Zhob Division.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan's population density is low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. In March 2012, preliminary census figures showed that the population of Balochistan, not including the districts of Khuzdar, Kech and Panjgur, had reached 13,162,222, an increase of 139.3% from 5,501,164 in 1998. The population constituted 6.85% of Pakistan's total population. This was the largest increase in population in any province of Pakistan during that time period, almost thrice the national increase of 46.9%. Official estimates of Balochistan's population grew from approximately 7.45 million in 2003 to 7.8 million in 2005. The 2017 Census enumerated a population of 12,344,408.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: According to the preliminary results of the 2017 census, the languages with the most native speakers in the province are Balochi, spoken by 35.49% of the population, and Pashto, whose share at 35.34% is a marked increase on the 1998 census, when it stood at 29.6%. The Pasthuns mainly inhabit the north of Balochistan and form the majority in Quetta. Baloch on the other hand are found throughout Balochistan, but most highly concentrated in the west and south of the province. Brahui is spoken by 17.12% mainly in the central part of Balochistan. Other languages include Sindhi (%), Saraiki (%), Punjabi (%), and Urdu (%).


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochi forms the majority in 21 districts and Pashto forms majority in 9 districts of Balochistan. Brahui has majority in 4 districts. In the Lasbela District, a large minority of the population speaks Lasi, which is a dialect of Sindhi.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: According to the Ethnologue, households speaking Balochi, whose primary dialect is Makrani constitutes 13%, Rukhshani 10%, Sulemani 7%, and Khetrani 3% of the population. Other languages spoken are Lasi, Urdu, Punjabi, Hazargi, Sindhi, Saraiki, Dehvari, Dari, Tajik, Hindko, Uzbek, and Hindki.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The 2005 census concerning Afghans in Pakistan showed that a total of 769,268 Afghan refugees were temporarily staying in Balochistan. However, there are probably fewer Afghans living in Balochistan today as many refugees repatriated in 2013. As of 2015, there are only 327,778 registered Afghan refugees according to the UNHCR.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: According to the 2017 Census, nearly all of the population of Balochistan were Muslims. There were also Hindu and Christian minorities in the province. The Hindu population in the province was approximately 49,133 (including the Scheduled Castes). The Shri Hinglaj Mata mandir which is the largest Hindu pilgrimage centre in Pakistan is situated in Balochistan. There was also a Christian minority of 26,462 individuals in the province.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The economy of Balochistan is largely based upon the production of natural gas, coal and other minerals.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan has been called a "neglected province where a majority of population lacks amenities". Since the mid-1970s the province's share of Pakistan's GDP has dropped from 4.9 to 3.7%, and as of 2007 it had the highest poverty rate and infant and maternal mortality rate, and the lowest literacy rate in the country, factors some allege have contributed to the insurgency. However, in seventh NFC awards, Punjab province and Federal contributed to increase Baluchistan share more than its entitled population based share. In Balochistan poverty is increasing. In 2001–2002 poverty incidences were at 48% and by 2005–2006 these were at 50.9%. According to a report on Dawn, the rate of multidimensional poverty in Balochistan had risen to 71% by 2016.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Though the province remains largely underdeveloped, several major development projects, including the construction of a new deep sea port at the strategically important town of Gwadar, are in progress in Balochistan. The port is projected to be the hub of an energy and trade corridor to and from China and the Central Asian republics. The Mirani Dam on the Dasht River, west of Turbat in the Makran Division, is being built to provide water to expand agricultural land use by where it would otherwise be unsustainable. In the district Lasbela, there is an oil refinery owned by Byco International Incorporated (BII), which is capable of processing 120,000 barrels of oil per day. A power station is located adjacent to the refinery. Several cement plants and a marble factory are also located there. One of the world's largest ship breaking yards is located on the coast.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan's share of Pakistan's national income has historically ranged between 3.7% to 4.9%. Since 1972, Balochistan's gross income has grown in size by 2.7 times. Outside Quetta, the resource extraction infrastructure of the province is gradually developing but still lags far behind other parts of Pakistan.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: The agreements for royalty rights and ownership of mineral rights were reached during a period of unprecedented natural disasters, economic, social, political, and cultural unrest in Pakistan. The negotiations were widely considered to be insufficiently transparent.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan has much tourist potential, though the province has seen little of it. There are many tourism-worthy sites and places within the province. Tourism in Balochistan sharply declined after the 9/11 terror attacks due to terrorism. However, recently, tourism is growing in Balochistan and fights against terrorists have proved successful. The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) also aims to revive the growing tourism industry by improving road networks which would generate jobs and income for the Baloch people as well as help Pakistan in improving its GDP.


title: Balochistan, Pakistan

text: Balochistan Liberation Army, an organization listed as a terrorist organization by three countries, is active in the region.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: Thomas DeSimone (May 24, 1950 – disappeared January 14, 1979) was an American criminal associated with New York City's Lucchese crime family who is alleged to have participated in both the Air France robbery and the Lufthansa heist. He also committed numerous murders, including killing William Bentvena in 1970. DeSimone went missing in 1979 and is believed to have been murdered.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: DeSimone's career in the Lucchese family is explored in the book "Wiseguy" by Nicholas Pileggi, and inspired the character of Tommy DeVito, portrayed by Joe Pesci, one of the main characters of the 1990 film "Goodfellas".


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: Thomas DeSimone's father owned a printing shop. Both his paternal grandfather, Rosario DeSimone, and uncle, Frank DeSimone, were bosses of the Los Angeles crime family. Rosario became the boss of the Los Angeles family after Vito Di Giorgio was killed in Chicago in 1922. Frank was a criminal defense attorney turned mobster; Uncle Frank, as he was known, replaced the deceased Jack Dragna in 1956, and became the second DeSimone family member to assume control of the Los Angeles family.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: DeSimone had two sisters, Dolores and Phyllis, and two brothers, Robert and Anthony. Both of his brothers were associates of the Gambino crime family; Anthony was murdered by mobster Thomas Agro in 1979. Phyllis was James Burke's mistress from the time she turned 16. DeSimone was also the brother-in-law of mobster Joseph "The Barber" Spione, who was slain for refusing to help kill DeSimone in the late 1970s, and the ex-son-in-law of Gambino associate Salvatore DeVita.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: In 1965, when he was 15 years old, DeSimone was introduced to Paul Vario, a "caporegime" in the Lucchese family. Henry Hill, a Vario associate who was in his early 20s at the time, later recounted his first meeting with DeSimone, describing him as "a skinny kid who was wearing a wiseguy suit and a pencil mustache." DeSimone worked under Vario, Burke, and Hill, among others, becoming involved in truck hijackings, dealing and fencing stolen property, extortion, fraud and murder. While hijacking, DeSimone would always carry his gun in a brown paper bag. "Walking down the street, he looked like he was bringing you a sandwich instead of a .38," Hill said.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: During the 1960s, Air France was the carrier of American currency that had been exchanged in Southeast Asia. The airline had contracted to return the money to the U.S. for depositing with American banks. The money was usually carried in linen bags, each containing US$60,000, and Air France shipped up to $1 million a week in this manner. The money was stored in a cement-block strong room at the Air France cargo terminal at John F. Kennedy International Airport, with a round-the-clock private security guard. In 1967, Robert McMahon, an Air France employee, tipped off Burke, Hill, and DeSimone to an incoming delivery of between $400,000 and $700,000 in cash on Friday, April 7. McMahon said the best time for the actual robbery would be just before midnight when the security guard would be on his meal break.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: On the day of the robbery, Hill and DeSimone drove to Kennedy airport with an empty suitcase, the largest Hill could find. At 11:40 pm, they entered the Air France cargo terminal. McMahon suggested that they should just walk in, as people often came to the terminal to pick up lost baggage. DeSimone and Hill entered the unsecured area unchallenged and unlocked the door with a duplicate key. Using a small flashlight, they found seven of the bags, which they loaded into the suitcase and left; $420,000 was taken. No alarm was raised, no shots fired, and no one was injured. The theft was not discovered until the following Monday, when a Wells Fargo truck arrived to pick up the cash to be delivered to the CNEP subsidiary French American Banking Corporation.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: After his release from prison in 1970, according to the mafia memoir "Wiseguy", Henry Hill describes the "welcome home" party for William Bentvena at Robert's Lounge, a nightclub owned by Jimmy Burke: Bentvena jokingly asked DeSimone "if he still shined shoes", which DeSimone perceived as an insult, and leaning over to Hill and Burke intoned, "I'm gonna kill that fuck." Two weeks later, on June 11, 1970, Bentvena was at "The Suite", Hill's nightclub in Queens. With the club nearly empty, DeSimone pistol-whipped Bentvena, yelling "Shine these fucking shoes!" before beating him bloody. After Bentvena was severely beaten and presumed dead, DeSimone, Burke, and Hill placed his body in the trunk of Hill's car, stopping at DeSimone's mother's house for a knife, lime, and a shovel. Hearing sounds from the trunk, they realized that Bentvena was still alive, so DeSimone and Burke beat him to death with the shovel and a tire iron. Burke had a friend who owned a dog kennel in Upstate New York, and Bentvena was buried there.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: About three months after Bentvena's murder, Burke's friend sold the dog kennel to housing developers, and Burke ordered Hill and DeSimone to exhume Bentvena's corpse and dispose of it elsewhere. In "Wiseguy", Hill said the body was eventually crushed in a compactor at a New Jersey junkyard, which was owned by Clyde Brooks. However, on the commentary for the film "Goodfellas", he states that Bentvena's body was buried in the basement of Robert's Lounge, and that it was only later put in the compactor.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: DeSimone's third murder, described by Hill, was of a young man named Michael "Spider" Gianco, who was serving as a bartender at a card game. Gianco and DeSimone had an argument, after Gianco forgot DeSimone's drink, that resulted in DeSimone pulling out a handgun and shooting him in the thigh. A week later, when Gianco was again serving drinks and sporting a full leg cast, DeSimone started to goad him about his wounded leg, spurring Gianco to tell DeSimone to "go fuck [himself]". After a stunned silence, an impressed Burke, having now developed a respect for Gianco for sticking up for himself, gave him some money before jokingly teasing DeSimone, who hadn't said or done anything in retaliation, about "going soft". DeSimone lost his temper and fatally shot Gianco three times in the chest, angrily demanding of Burke if that was "good enough for [him]". Burke, furious with DeSimone, made him bury Gianco's body in the cellar by himself.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: Hill stated after he witnessed this incident that he was truly convinced that DeSimone was a total psychopath. It is believed that Gianco's body was subsequently moved because it was not found in that location. On "The Howard Stern Show", Hill said that Gianco was buried next to Robert's Lounge along with other bodies.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: DeSimone's fourth murder, according to Hill, occurred when he and another associate named Stanley Diamond got carried away after being asked to "rough up" a witness to a robbery. After a truck heist, a foreman had refused to allow Burke to unload the stolen cargo in his warehouse and vehemently protested because they had no union cards. Burke attempted to reason with the foreman, who stood his ground and refused to be intimidated. Burke later sent DeSimone and Diamond to the foreman's house in rural New Jersey, with instructions to "rough up" the man to ensure he would cooperate with Burke in the future. DeSimone and Diamond, angry and worked up about having to drive all the way to New Jersey, ended up beating the man to death.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: DeSimone's fifth murder occurred when Burke ordered the murder of his best friend, Dominick "Remo" Cersani. Burke got suspicious about Cersani and later found out from contacts in a Queens DA's office that he was talking to the New York City Police Department (NYPD), and that they were going to arrest Burke on a truck hijacking charge. DeSimone and Burke met Cersani at Robert's Lounge and said to him, "Let's take a ride". DeSimone strangled Cersani with piano wire. Hill said in "Wiseguy": "Remo put up some fight. He kicked and swung and shit all over himself before he died." Burke had Cersani's body buried next to the bocce court behind Robert's Lounge.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: On December 18, 1974, DeSimone killed Ronald Jerothe, a protégé of then-Gambino associate John Gotti. DeSimone had dated Jerothe's sister and had beaten her up, prompting Jerothe to threaten to kill him. When DeSimone heard about the threat, he went to Jerothe's apartment and killed him.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: On December 11, 1978, an estimated $5.875 million (equivalent to $ million in ) was stolen from the Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy airport, with $5 million in cash and $875,000 in jewelry, making it the largest cash robbery committed on U.S. soil at the time. Burke decided on DeSimone, McMahon, Angelo Sepe, Louis Cafora, Joe Manri, and Paolo LiCastri as the robbers. Burke's son Frank would drive one of the back-up vehicles while Parnell "Stacks" Edwards, a musician and career criminal, was given the task of disposing of the getaway van afterwards.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: Soon after the heist, DeSimone murdered Edwards, who was supposed to have driven the vehicle to New Jersey, where it (along with any potential evidence inside) was to be destroyed in a junkyard belonging to Gotti. Instead, Edwards parked the van in front of a fire hydrant at his girlfriend's apartment, where police discovered it two days after the heist. Vario subsequently ordered DeSimone to kill Edwards. Once he found out where Edwards was hiding, DeSimone and Sepe visited Edwards and shot him five times in the head.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: On January 14, 1979, DeSimone's wife, Angela, reported him missing. She said she had last seen DeSimone a few weeks earlier when he borrowed $60 from her. It is believed that DeSimone was murdered as revenge for the two unsanctioned murders of John Gotti's men, Bentvena and Jerothe.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: When Hill became an FBI informant in 1980, he told authorities that DeSimone had been murdered by the Gambino family. Despite the oft-given date of death of January 14, 1979, the exact date of DeSimone's murder is uncertain. Hill claimed that in "the week after Christmas," he and Burke had gone to Florida to straighten out a drug deal gone bad. DeSimone had remained behind in New York, having been told in late December 1978 or early January 1979 that he was going to be made. Peter Vario (Paul Vario's son) and Bruno Facciolo took him to an unknown location, where he was murdered. Hill also indicated in both the book "Wiseguy" and the DVD commentary to "Goodfellas" that DeSimone had already been killed when Martin Krugman disappeared on January 6, 1979. In 1994, Hill, in his book "Gangsters and Goodfellas", gave an expanded story of the events leading up to DeSimone's death, which was in part due to Tommy trying to rape Hill's wife, Karen.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: Two theories about DeSimone's alleged murder and murderer(s) exist from mob "insiders". According to mob informant Joseph "Joe Dogs" Iannuzzi, Thomas Agro claimed in 1985 that he had murdered DeSimone, as well as his brother Anthony after he turned informant. Agro also suggested murdering the eldest and last remaining brother, Robert. According to Ianuzzi, Agro would often laughingly refer to killing the third DeSimone brother, stating: "Maybe it's time to go for the DeSimone trifecta!" Another account, told by Hill in "Gangsters and Goodfellas", states that Gotti himself was the assassin, although in the presence of Agro. On May 17, 2007, episode of "The Howard Stern Show", Hill reaffirmed that Gotti had killed DeSimone. He also added that the death "took a long time," as Bentvena had been a personal friend of Gotti's, and he wanted DeSimone to suffer before he died. Gotti's role as the assassin was repeated in the 2015 book "The Lufthansa Heist", co-written by Hill and journalist Daniel Simone, although this account claims that DeSimone's death was instantaneous from three gunshots to the head. According to Sal Polisi, DeSimone was killed by Agro (in the presence of Gotti), and that Agro slowly tortured him to death.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: It has been theorized DeSimone is buried in The Hole, a suspected "Mafia graveyard" on the Brooklyn-Queens border near Kennedy airport, where the body of Al Indelicato was found in 1981 and where the bodies of Philip Giaccone and Dominick Trinchera were recovered by police in 2004.


title: Thomas DeSimone

text: DeSimone was portrayed by Joe Pesci in the 1990 movie "Goodfellas", renamed Tommy DeVito. Pesci won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his depiction.


title: Maanaadu

text: Maanaadu () is a 2021 Indian Tamil-language science fiction action thriller film written and directed by Venkat Prabhu and produced by Suresh Kamatchi. The film stars Silambarasan, S. J. Suryah and Kalyani Priyadarshan alongside S. A. Chandrasekhar, Y. G. Mahendran, Karunakaran, Premgi Amaren, Aravind Akash and Anjena Kirti in supporting roles. The film's music and score is composed by Yuvan Shankar Raja, with cinematography handled by Richard M. Nathan and editing done by Praveen K. L (in his 100th film). It revolves around a common man and a police officer, whom are trapped in a time loop, at the day of a public conference of the chief minister and forced to live the same day over and over again.


title: Maanaadu

text: The project was announced in July 2018, marking Prabhu's maiden collaboration with Silambarasan. During the extensive pre-production work, the producer ousted Silambarasan from the project in August 2019, citing his unprofessional behaviour, and the latter announced another project under the title "Maghaa Maanaadu" in that month, which he had dropped. The issue was resolved in November 2019, after Silambarasan agreed to allot his dates for the film.


title: Maanaadu

text: Filming began on 19 February 2020 at Chennai, following a preliminary announcement about the cast and crew. Despite shooting being affected twice due to the restrictions followed during the first and second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the makers wrapped the shooting of the film within July 2021, taking only 68 working days for shooting. It was filmed extensively in Chennai, with sporadic schedules taking place in Pondicherry, Yercaud and Hosur.


title: Maanaadu

text: "Maanaadu" was theatrically released worldwide on 25 November 2021. It received positive reviews from critics and audiences with praise towards cast performances (particularly S.J Suryah and STR), direction, narrative style, action sequences and technical aspects (soundtrack, editing and others). The film was highlighted for the integration of the time-loop concept with commercial elements, with many publications calling it one of the best Tamil films of 2021. It was declared as critically and commercially successful at the box office. A sequel is confirmed by Venkat Prabhu with the main cast returning.


title: Maanaadu

text: Abdul Khaliq is an NRI, who is on his way via flight to Coimbatore from Delhi, to reach Ooty. He is going to help his friend Eswaramoorthy elope with his lover Zarina Begum on the day of her marriage with the help of his other friend Syed Basha. He gets his co-passenger Seethalakshmi to join him after it is revealed that she is actually the groom's friend in Zarina's wedding. The next afternoon, They elope and escape from the bride's family in pursuit after them. On the way to the registrar's office, an unknown man suddenly falls on their car. The man is revealed to have been pursued by the cops headed by Inspector John. They are subsequently interned extrajudicially on the orders of corrupt DCP Dhanushkodi. Khaliq is forced by Dhanushkodi and John to attend a scheduled political gathering with CM Arivazhagan present and is instructed to shoot Arivazhagan with a pistol else his friends would die, Khaliq reluctantly shoots Arivazhagan. John shoots Khaliq dead in the enduring chaos, despite his protests against his actions. Khaliq awakens only to find himself in the mid-flight where he was on the start of that day and proceeds to relive all the distinct incidents of that morning.


title: Maanaadu

text: After attempting to help Eswaramoorthy elope again, he finds himself in the same spot where the police had previously accosted him. Khaliq is shocked to find the unknown man named Rafiq from his previous experience. Rafiq enters his car attempting to flee the police. The police catch up to them and Khaliq is shot dead by Dhanushkodi this time. Khaliq finds himself mid-flight once again, failing to realise he is looping in time. He attempts to take a different path and prevent interacting with the police, but he eventually dies at the hands of Zarina's brother Mansoor. He wakes up mid-flight once again and finally realises that he is trapped in a time loop. Khaliq explains the matter to his friends and Seethalakshmi who tells him about the stories of time looping and Ujjain's Kaal-Bhairav, the Hindu lord of time. Khaliq realises how he, having been born in Ujjain in Kaal-Bhairav's temple, might be behind the time loop (Khaliq looping at the same spot is the result of the aircraft flying over Ujjain at that moment) and that he has to reach a set objective to escape the loop. Khaliq begins investigating the political gathering once again and sees a cameraman shoot at Arivazhagan with a disguised sniper rifle.


title: Maanaadu

text: Using the time loop to his advantage, Khaliq locates the hitman and restrains him to prevent the assassination. However, Arivazhagan is killed in an IED bombing while leaving the gathering. Frustrated, Khaliq confronts Dhanushkodi and laments that Arivazhagan's assassination would lead to a dangerous religious riot and cause further societal conflict. It is revealed that Dhanushkodi has also been stuck in a time loop when his blood accidentally transfused into Khaliq as he was wounded in one of the previous loops. The two must struggle against each other to achieve their conflicting goals. Khaliq needs to stop the political gathering which would prevent Arivazhagan's public assassination and foil any possibility of a religious riot while Dhanushkodi needs to prevent Khaliq from doing so. Dhanushkodi is revealed to be working for Paranthaman, a veteran aide of Arivazhagan, who is unhappy with the nepotism inside his party. Paranthaman wants to get to power by assassinating Arivazhagan and Dhanushkodi expects to benefit from such a transfer of power by orchestrating the assassination. Khaliq is given a final warning by Dhanushkodi to stay away from his assassination and resets the loop.


title: Maanaadu

text: Khaliq attempts to warn Arivazhagan's son Mugilan of the impending assassination. On failing to do so, Khaliq eventually figures out Tamizhvanan, a local Hindu figurehead already knew of Paranthaman's plans to assassinate Arivazhagan. Tamizhvanan was murdered earlier that day. On knowing Arivazhagan and Tamizhvanan are close, Khaliq realizes that he needs to save Tamizhvanan and get him to warn Arivazhagan to prevent the gathering. After many futile attempts and loops, Khaliq successfully kidnaps Tamizhvanan and avoids Tamizhvanan himself to get murdered. He convinces Tamizhanan about Arivazhagan's impending assassination. Tamizhvanan helps Khaliq get to Arivazhagan but is captured by the police during a police chase. Khaliq smuggles himself into the memorial service of Kalaiselvanar (Arivazhagan's predecessor and former CM) where Arivazhagan, Mugilan, and Paranthaman attend the following afternoon. Khaliq convinces Arivazghan that an assassination was being planned by showing a video where Tamizhanan explains Arivazhagan to trust Khaliq.


title: Maanaadu

text: Arivazhagan confronts Paranthaman by acting like he is suffering from sudden palpitation. He is convinced that Khaliq is telling the truth after Paranthaman pleas for him to attend the conference. A fight ensure between Khaliq and Dhanushkodi. Mugilan is shot, but successfully warns his guards, who come straight into action, Paranthaman attempts to suffocate Arivazhagan, but is killed by Khaliq. Dhanushkodi tries to kill Arivazhagan but Khaliq takes the bullet and saves him. Dhanushkodi is killed by the guards. Mugilan and Khaliq recover and Arivazghan thank Khaliq for saving his life. Khaliq seemingly ends his time-loop. Paranthaman's death is chalked up to be cardiac arrest for political reasons. When Mansoor arrives, Khaliq stands to face him. In the post-credits scene, Khaliq awakens to find the time loop has still not ended.


title: Maanaadu

text: The bus stand portrait of late actor Manivannan is featured in the film as Kalaiselvanar, the predecessor of Arivazhagan in his political party.


title: Maanaadu

text: Venkat Prabhu initially planned to collaborate with Silambarasan for "Billa 3", the third instalment in the "Billa" film series, which came under the news in late 2016. With Prabhu failing to helm the project, because of his ongoing commitments with his directorial "Party", Silambarasan decided to direct the film by himself, after a hiatus of nearly ten years, since "Vallavan" (2006). Silambarasan then decided to revive his shelved project "Kettavan". The project was expected to take place in July 2017, with shooting being held at Mumbai and the United States, but failed to materialise then.


title: Maanaadu

text: In June 2018, producer Suresh Kamatchi of V House Productions, officially confirmed their next venture with Silambarsan and Venkat Prabhu. The project was not considered to be the third instalment of "Billa" but another fresh script written by Prabhu; though it was rumoured to be a gangster film, it was later revealed to be an action-thriller instead. On 9 July 2018, Venkat Prabhu announced the title of the film as "Maanadu", with a poster release, revealing that the film will be based on political backdrop. Venkat Prabhu added that the film would be a political thriller, his first attempt at the genre. The film, however, uses this as a subplot for the film whilst the story revolves around time loop, a first-of-a-kind in Tamil and Indian cinema; this had been kept under wraps by the team during the promotions for the film.


title: Maanaadu

text: Despite few developments in the project, in August 2019, Suresh Kamatchi announced that he had ousted Silambarasan from the film citing the actor's failure to commit to dates properly, although the film had undergone pre-production work for close to a year before Silambarasan's exit. The producer claimed that the film will go on production with another actor in the lead role, while Silambarasan later chose to launch another new project titled "Maghaa Maanaadu" immediately after his removal from "Maanaadu". Suresh Kamatchi, along with several other producers came forward with an official complaint to the Tamil Film Producers Council about Silambarasan's poor punctuality during the same month. In November 2019, the producers announced that Silambarasan would come back to the project after sorting out the issues, and the project was expected to be re-launched.


title: Maanaadu

text: With the film's cast and crew not being announced yet, it was rumoured that A. R. Rahman was being approached to compose the music and P. C. Sreeram being hired as the cinematographer. In January 2019, Raashi Khanna, was in talks to play the female lead, however Kalyani Priyadarshan, who paired up with Sivakarthikeyan in "Hero" (2019), was later cast. In June 2019, Yuvan Shankar Raja, who is known for his successful collaborations with Silambarasan and Venkat Prabhu, signed in as the composer.


title: Maanaadu

text: In January 2020, the makers announced the complete cast and crew, which includes S. A. Chandrasekhar, Bharathiraja, Premgi Amaren and Karunakaran, along with cinematographer Richard M. Nathan, editor Praveen K. L., action director Stunt Silva and costume designer Vasuki Bhaskar, being a part of the project. Furthermore, the team also included S. J. Suryah, Manoj Bharathiraja, Daniel Annie Pope and Y. G. Mahendran, to the film's cast. Prabhu initially wanted Arvind Swamy to play the DCP Dhanushkodi, but he could not allot dates, resulting in Suryah being cast. Silambarasan was reported to play a Muslim in the film, whose character name was revealed as "Abdul Khaaliq" with a poster release on Silambarasan's birthday, 3 February 2020. It is a reference to Abdul Haliq, the legal name of Yuvan Shankar Raja following his conversion to Islam in 2014. Badava Gopi joined the film's sets during the filming schedule in Pondicherry in November 2020.


title: Maanaadu

text: Principal photography commenced on 19 February 2020 with a customary pooja ceremony being held on Chennai, where the team planned to few scenes in the venue and move to Hyderabad for a 40-day schedule. Following the accident held on the sets of "Indian 2", the producer Suresh Kamatchi had assured an insurance of crores to the film's cast and crew, also ensuring the safety of the workers on the film sets. On 27 February 2020, the team moved to VGP Golden Beach at Chennai, for a song shoot featuring Silambarasan which was choreographed by Raju Sundaram, was being filmed at a huge set with around 200 dancers from Mumbai and Bangalore.