title: City of God (2002 film)

text: In the 1970s, the favela has been transformed into an urban jungle. Rocket has joined a group of young hippies. He enjoys photography and likes one girl, Angélica, but his attempt to get close to her is ruined by a gang of petty criminal kids known as "The Runts". Li'l Dice, who now calls himself "Li'l Zé" ("Zé Pequeno"), has established a drug empire with Benny by eliminating all of the competition, except for Carrot, who is a good friend of Benny's.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Li'l Zé takes over 'the apartment', a known drug distribution center, and forces Carrot's manager Blacky ("Neguinho"), to work for him instead. Coincidentally, Rocket visits the apartment to get some drugs off Blacky for Angélica during the apartment raid. Through narration, Rocket momentarily considers attempting to kill Li'l Zé to avenge his brother but decides against it. He is let go after Benny tells Li'l Zé that Rocket is Goose's brother.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Later, a relative peace comes over the City of God under the reign of Li'l Zé, who manages to avoid police attention. Benny decides to branch out of the drug dealer crowd and befriends Tiago, Angélica's ex-boyfriend, who introduces him to his (and Rocket's) friend group. Benny and Angélica begin dating. Together, they decide to leave the City and the drug trade.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: During Benny's farewell party, Zé and Benny get into an argument. Blacky accidentally kills Benny while trying to shoot Li'l Zé. Benny's death leaves Li'l Zé unchecked. Carrot kills Blacky for endangering his life. Li'l Zé and a group of his soldiers start to make their way to Carrot's hideout to kill him.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: On the way, Zé follows a girl who dismissed his advances at Benny's party. He beats up her boyfriend, a peaceful man named Knockout Ned (Mané Galinha), and rapes her. After Ned's brother stabs Li'l Zé, his gang retaliates by shooting into his house, killing his brother and uncle in the process. A gang war breaks out between Carrot and Li'l Zé. A vengeful Ned sides with Carrot.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: The war is still ongoing a year later, in 1981, the origin forgotten. Both sides enlist more "soldiers" and Li'l Zé gives the Runts weapons. One day, Li'l Zé has Rocket take photos of him and his gang. A reporter publishes the photos, a significant scoop since no outsiders can safely enter the City of God anymore. Rocket believes his life is endangered, as he thinks Li'l Zé will kill him for publishing the photo of him and his gang. The reporter takes Rocket in for the night, and he loses his virginity to her. Unbeknownst to him, Li'l Zé, jealous of Ned's media fame, is pleased with the photos and with his own increased notoriety.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Rocket returns to the City for more photographs, bringing the film back to its opening scene. Rocket finds himself caught between Zé's gang and the arriving police, who quickly withdraw when they realize they are outnumbered and outgunned. Rocket is surprised that Zé asks him to take pictures, but as he prepares to take the photo, Carrot's gang arrives. In the ensuing gunfight, Ned is killed by a boy – revealed as the same one who wounded him earlier – who has infiltrated his gang to avenge his father, a policeman whom Ned has shot. The police capture Li'l Zé and Carrot and plan to show Carrot off to the media. Since Li'l Zé has been bribing the police, they take all of Li'l Zé's money and let him go, but Rocket secretly photographs the scene. The Runts murder Zé to avenge the Runt murdered at the behest of Zé; they intend to run his criminal enterprise themselves.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Rocket contemplates whether to publish the cops' photo, expose corruption, and become famous, or the picture of Li'l Zé's dead body, which will get him an internship at the newspaper. He decides on the latter, fearing a violent response from the cops, as well as seeing the opportunity to pursue his dream. The film ends with the Runts walking around the City of God, making a hit list of the dealers they plan to kill to take over the drug business, including the "Red Brigade".


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: On the bonus DVD, it is revealed that the only professional actor with years of filming experience was Matheus Nachtergaele, who played the supporting role of Carrot. Most of the remaining cast were from real-life favelas, and in some cases, even the real-life City of God favela itself. According to Meirelles, amateur actors were used for two reasons: the lack of available professional black actors, and the desire for authenticity. Meirelles explained: "Today I can open a casting call and have 500 black actors, but just ten years ago this possibility did not exist. In Brazil, there were three or four young black actors and at the same time I felt that actors from the middle class could not make the film. I needed authenticity."<ref name="Bessa/iG"></ref>


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Beginning around 2000, about a hundred children and young people were hand-picked and placed into an "actors' workshop" for several months. In contrast to more traditional methods (e.g. studying theatre and rehearsing), it focused on simulating authentic street war scenes, such as a hold-up, scuffle, and shoot-out. A lot came from improvisation, as it was thought better to create an authentic, gritty atmosphere. This way, the inexperienced cast soon learned to move and act naturally. After filming, the crew could not leave the cast to return to their old lives in the favelas. Help groups were set up to help those involved in the production to build more promising futures.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Meirelles went into the film with the intention of staying true to the "casual nature" of the violence in the novel by Lins. Critic Jean Oppenheimer wrote on the production of the film saying that: "A second guiding principle was to avoid glamorising the violence" and that "many of the killings are either shown indistinctly or kept out of frame."


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Because the real Cidade de Deus favela was in conflict, a large majority of the film was shot in Cidade Alta, a different favela within Rio. During the production, slumlords did not allow for the production company to have their own security, so local security guards were hired for the safety of the set.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Lund and Meirelles filmed the short film "Golden Gate" as a test run while casting for "City of God" was in the initial stages.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: The film was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival. In Brazil, "City of God" garnered the largest audience for a domestic film in 2003, with over 3.1 million tickets sold, and a gross of R$18.6 million ($10.3 million). The film grossed over $7.5 million in the U.S. and over US$30.5 million worldwide.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: On Rotten Tomatoes, "City of God" has an approval rating of 91% based on reviews from 163 critics, with an average rating of 8.3/10. The website's consensus reads, ""City of God" offers a shocking and disturbing—but always compelling—look at life in the slums of Rio de Janeiro." On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 79 out of 100 based on 33 critic reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Colin Kennedy from "Empire" awarded the film a full 5 out of 5 stars, comparing it favorably to "Goodfellas" and writing in his review, "At once a laboratory for cinema technique and a victory for raw heart, this is a snot-nosed, blood-stained masterpiece. If you see even one or two better movies this year, you will be very lucky indeed." In 2008, the magazine chose "City of God" as the 177th best film of all time.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Film critic Roger Ebert awarded the film 4 stars out of 4, writing in his review, ""City of God" churns with furious energy as it plunges into the story of the slum gangs of Rio de Janeiro. Breathtaking and terrifying, urgently involved with its characters, it announces a new director of great gifts and passions: Fernando Meirelles. Remember the name."


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Filmmaker Robert Altman stated, "I don't know how Fernando Meirelles made "City Of God". It's so courageous, so truthful. I think it's the best picture I've ever seen". Meirelles himself cited Altman's work as an influence on his own career.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: The film was not without criticism. Peter Rainer of "New York" magazine stated that while the film was "powerful", it was also "rather numbing". John Powers of "LA Weekly" wrote that "[the film] whirs with energy for nearly its full 130-minute running time, it is oddly lacking in emotional heft for a work that aspires to be so epic – it is essentially a tarted up exploitation picture whose business is to make ghastly things fun".


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Ivana Bentes, a Brazilian film critic, criticised the film for its depiction of the favela and her view that it glorified issues of poverty and violence as means of "domestication of the most radical themes of culture and Brazilian cinema ... as products for export." Bentes targets the film specifically in saying that: ""City of God" promotes tourism in hell".


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: "City of God" was ranked No.3 in Film4's "50 Films to See Before You Die", and No.7 in "Empire" magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" in 2010. It was also ranked No.6 on "The Guardian"s list of "the 25 Best Action Movies Ever". It was ranked No.1 in "Paste" magazine's 50 best movies of the decade of the 2000s. "Time" listed it as one of the 100 greatest films of all time.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: In 2012, the Motion Picture Editors Guild listed "City of God" as the 17th best-edited film of all time based on a survey of its members.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: Brazilian rapper MV Bill, a resident of Cidade de Deus, said the film had "brought no good to the favela, no social, moral, or human benefit." He said, "The world will know that they exploited the image of the children who live here in Cidade de Deus. What is obvious is that they are going to carry a bigger stigma throughout their lives; it has only become greater because of the film."


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: The score to the film composed by Antonio Pinto and Ed Córtes. It was followed by two remix albums. Songs from the film:


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: In an interview with "Slant Magazine", Meirelles states he had met with Brazil's former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva who told him about the impact the film has had on both policies and public security within the country. The film has also sparked major increase in film productions, with over 45 being done during 2002. Films such as "The Motorcycle Diaries" and "The Intruder" are some of the films which have used Brazil for film production.


title: City of God (2002 film)

text: The 2013 documentary "City of God – 10 Years Later" reunites the cast and crew of "City of God" and takes a look at how their lives have changed after the original film's release. In a "BBC" article written at the time of the documentary's release, Firmino mentions that the cast had mixed careers after the film's release. Firmino says that Jefechander Suplino, who played Clipper, could not be found by the documentary producers. His mother, however, believes him to still be alive, but is unaware of his whereabouts. Seu Jorge, who played Knockout Ned, had a better career after the film and became a major musician, performing at the London 2012 Olympic Games closing ceremony.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The BGM-71 TOW ("Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided") is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly improved semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) that could also be equipped with infrared cameras for night time use.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: First produced in 1970, TOW is one of the most widely used anti-tank guided missiles. It can be found in a wide variety of manually carried and vehicle-mounted forms, as well as widespread use on helicopters. Originally designed by Hughes Aircraft in the 1960s, the weapon is currently produced by Raytheon.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Late in World War II, the German Army began experimenting with modified versions of the Ruhrstahl X-4 wire-guided missile. Originally developed for the "Luftwaffe" as an anti-bomber weapon, by changing the warhead to one using a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) design, the new X-7 version made an effective anti-armor weapon with a range of hundreds of metres. This would greatly improve the effectiveness of infantry anti-tank operations, which at that time were generally based on smaller weapons like the Panzerfaust and Panzerschreck which were limited to ranges on the order of in the best case. X-7 was never fully developed before the war ended.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In the immediate post-war era, the design was picked up by development teams in France and Australia. In France, Nord Aviation's Jean Bastien-Thiry developed an updated version of the X-7 using a solid fuel rocket as the very small and highly portable SS.10. Development started in 1948 with the first rounds fired in 1952. Evaluations by the US Army in 1953 concluded it was not ready for operations, but that its progress should be tracked. They then instructed the Redstone Arsenal to develop their own version of the basic concept, which emerged as the SSM-A-23 Dart, a larger design with roughly double the range of the SS.10. While the development of the Dart continued, Nord delivered a workable version of the SS.10, as well as the extended-range SS.11. In the summer of 1958, the development of the Dart was cancelled in favour of purchasing the two French designs.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: During the same period, the British Army had been developing its own heavyweight long-range weapon with Australia, the Malkara with a range of about . The tracking system, similar to the SS.11, proved difficult to use and a new project started under the codename Orange William. This used a computer to calculate the impact point, sending commands to the missile using an infrared link. They found the link would not work in smoke or dust, making it largely useless on the battlefield. A new design emerged, combining the guidance system of the small Vickers Vigilant with a new and highly maneuverable missile to produce Swingfire. The goal was to allow the launcher to remain completely undercover while a gunner took a portable sight forward to aim at the targets from a concealed location.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In the fall of 1958, the Army's Office of Ordnance Research and Development formed the Ad Hoc Working Group at the Ballistic Research Laboratories (BRL) to define a future replacement for the SS.10 and 11. The team included members from Picatinny Arsenal, Frankford Arsenal, Redstone Arsenal, Watervliet Arsenal, Detroit Arsenal and Harry Diamond Laboratories. The group almost immediately decided not to attempt to define a weapon concept, and instead spend the next two years studying the problem while researching the possibility of using alternative guidance systems and continually watching foreign developments where the US was lagging.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: It was at some point during this early development that the British became aware of the US developments. Having approved Swingfire to some degree based on the possibility of foreign sales, the emergence of a possible US competitor was a concern. Meetings between Solly Zuckerman and John H. Rubel led to the July 1961 Rubel-Zuckerman agreement, wherein the UK would continue development of the long-range Swingfire while the US concentrated on shorter-range missiles, up to , with new guidance systems. The US agreed to not introduce a system that competed directly with Swingfire or Vigilant without prior consultation but was free to develop new unguided "assault weapons" to replace the LAW. Both the US and Canadian Army agreed to purchase Swingfire for the long-range role.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In spite of the efforts to reach an agreement over anti-tank missiles, in the early summer of 1961, the Chief of Ordnance asked BRL to deliver a formal definition for what was then known as the "Heavy Assault Weapon for the Long Range Time Period", or HAW for short. They asked for a weapon to be delivered sometime between 1965 and 1970. BRL assigned the work to the Armored Systems Evaluation Branch of the Weapon Systems Laboratory. David Hardison, the Branch Chief, reconvened the Ad Hoc panel to review a long list of twenty-seven design proposals, all of which were found lacking.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Hardison then began preparing a list of the ideal characteristics of a HAW weapon. Of primary importance was the adoption of some form of semi-automatic guidance, as the manual guidance systems (MCLOS) of earlier weapons like SS.11 were found to be difficult to use as the relative movements of the launcher and target increased; MCLOS worked well for stationary launchers and slow-moving targets, but had proven much more difficult to use from moving vehicles, and especially helicopters.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Experience with the MGM-51 Shillelagh missile demonstrated that the simplest solution to successfully tracking the missile was to optically track a flare attached to the missile using an infrared seeker. This was essentially identical to a heat seeking missile, but tracking its own missile rather than a separate target. Flares, however, were not ideal illumination sources, especially in the case where multiple rounds might be fired and the optical system might track the wrong one. In place of the flare, the panel selected an infrared (IR) lamp whose output would be modulated with a shutter so each missile would have a unique signal.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Using this style of guidance demanded that the missile be brought into the line-of-sight of the tracking system as soon as possible; in Shillelagh this was almost immediate because the missile was launched from a gun barrel directly into the view of the tracker. Earlier manual weapons like SS.10 and ENTAC flew upwards after launch to clear the ground when being launched by infantry lying on the ground, and thus would not be immediately visible along the line-of-sight. To ensure the HAW could be tracked successfully, it would have to be launched from a tube, like Shillelagh, but one that was lightweight to ensure mobility.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Finally, Shillelagh sent guidance commands to the missile using an infrared link, but as the British had discovered, this proved relatively unreliable in the field and was subject to countermeasures like random flashing IR lamps. For the shorter ranges envisioned for HAW, wire guidance was perfectly suitable and both much less expensive and largely immune to countermeasures.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The resulting design was tube-launched, optically tracked, and wire-guided. BRL programmer Harry Reed immediately christened it "TOW", a name that the system carried into production.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: One problem that was noted early on was that the tube launch would make it difficult for the missile to be launched from a helicopter unless it was pointed relatively directly toward the target. Earlier systems were manually guided and did not need to be "gathered" quickly, so these were easier to launch at high crossing angles. Seeing this might be a major problem in the short term, TOW simply dropped the helicopter-launch requirement.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: When the BRL team returned the HAW/TOW study, the Pentagon gave them six months to come up with an actual requirement instead of a list of desirable features. Reed gathered submissions from industry and quickly selected three contractors for further details, Hughes Aircraft, Martin Marietta, and McDonnell Douglas. All three companies concluded the concept was able to be produced.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: On 12 January 1962, the BRL officially assigned the development of the TOW concept to the U.S. Army Missile Command (MICOM), who in turn formed the Antitank/Aircraft Weapons Commodity Office on 19 November 1962. In December 1962, Hughes was instructed to continue development while a development contract was being drawn up. Budget approval for development was granted in January 1963 as the XM65 TOW, and the final development contract, the first 100 per cent cost-plus-incentive-fee, was signed on 3 May 1963. This led to the TOW Project Office opening on 1 October 1964.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The British learned of the TOW program when it was sent to MICOM. In May, the US suggested they abandon Swingfire in favor of TOW, pointing out that the French were also introducing a long-range missile and foreign sales would be difficult to find. The British were convinced that the launch vehicle would only survive if completely undercover. TOW required the launcher to remain in sight of the target through the entire flight of the missile, so they continued the development of Swingfire.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In 1969, the House Authorization Subcommittee considered ending the TOW program in favor of the Shillelagh. A series of presentations by both missile teams followed, and ultimately the decision was made to continue both programs in September 1970.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Three designs were returned for the initial selection, from Hughes, McDonnell and Martin. Hughes' design used pop-out fins and a gyroscope to allow it to automatically maintain an "up" direction. The wire spools were licensed from Bofors and the rocket motor was made by Hercules. Guidance would be via flare tracking, and Hughes supplied the IR sensor.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: McDonnell's entry did not attempt to control the spin of the missile, and instead deliberately allowed it to spin during launch and flight like an artillery shell. Like the Hughes entry, a gyroscope was used to define the up direction, but in this case, this constantly changed relative to the missile body as it spun. The IR detector was placed at the end of a vertical V-shaped channel in the launcher. As gravity pulled the missile downward, it would begin to be blocked by the lower side of the V, causing the system to send commands to pull the missile upward. When it reached the top of the view at the end of the V, it stopped the up commands. The result was that the missile bounced up and down every of flight.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Finally, Martin's missile used two side-mounted swept-back wings and a rocket that was split into two outlet tubes that were angled downward to give the missile natural lift during flight.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The initial production contract was awarded to Hughes on 28 June 1968, and the final contract on 29 November 1968. On 10 June 1969, Chrysler's Huntsville Division was awarded the second-source contract.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: A number of problems emerged with the initial design, notably the early versions of the rocket motors which sometimes ejected bits of fuel still on fire and presented a hazard to the gunners. MICOM suggested a new motor using "head end suspended double base" fuel from the M72 LAW which solved this issue. The IR source also had issues due to its use of a fine metal filament that ignited the arc lamp which often broke during firing, but repeated tests and modifications solved this. Finally, the launch tube was designed to be sealed at both ends, with the rear seal being blown off by the rocket motor and the front by pressurized gas released by the guidance system's gyroscope. In practice, both proved unreliable but remedial action solved the problems.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Production began at USAF Plant #44 and the first production examples were delivered in August 1969. In September 1970 three training battalions had formed up and by 30 September 1970 the TOW had replaced the Army's existing heavy anti-tank weapon, the M40 recoilless rifle. It increasingly replaced the French ENTAC missiles purchased earlier.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In December 1963 the issue of helicopter launches was once again considered. The problem with the existing semi-automatic systems was that the missile had to be "gathered" by the optical tracker quickly in order for it to send commands to the missile. In contrast, earlier all-manual systems could be guided by the gunner at any time. With the TOW being launched from a tube, some other system would be needed to ensure it could be guided into the optics field of view after launch. This would be all the more difficult if the helicopter was not flying directly at the target, or was manoeuvring.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: MICOM sent contracts to both Hughes and Philco Ford, makers of the Shillelagh, to develop stabilized launch sights for their respective missile designs. They were in the form of a complete system combining the sighting system, launcher tube assembly and all related equipment as the XM26 weapon system. Hughes won the contest in 1965 and was awarded a second development contract for XM26 in June 1966.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: XM26 was initially developed by a separate organization within BRL, the Aircraft Weapons Commodity Office. This was assigned to the TOW Project Office on 5 April 1970.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The U.S. Army is seeking a replacement for the TOW through the Close Combat Missile System-Heavy (CCMS-H) effort. Objectives are for a weapon with increased range out to or more, as well as greater speed, the ability to fire on the move, and lock on before and after launch capability while retaining similar launcher size and arming distance. The Army hopes to field the CCMS-H sometime between 2028 and 2032.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In 1997, Raytheon Co. purchased the missile systems division of Hughes Electronics from General Motors Corporation, so the development and production of TOW systems now come under the Raytheon brand. The weapon is used in anti-armor, anti-bunker, anti-fortification and anti-amphibious landing roles. TOW is in service with over 45 militaries and is integrated on over 15,000 ground, vehicle and helicopter platforms worldwide.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In its basic infantry form, the system breaks down into a number of modules: a folding tripod mount, a launch tube (into the rear of which encased missiles are inserted), a mandatory daylight tracker unit, which can be augmented with an optional AN/TAS-4 or AN/TAS-4/A gas-cooled night sight (or an all-in-one tracker unit on the M41 ITAS version), and a traversing unit, which mounts onto the tripod and carries the launch tube and sight, that also includes the weapon's trigger and the bridging clamp, which mates with the missile's umbilical data connector. In addition to this main assembly, there is a separate fire control system (FCS) module, which performs all guidance calculations, and a battery pack to power the system. These two modules link to each other, with the FCS then linked to the daylight tracker by a cable.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: When the target is sighted and the trigger is pulled, there is a 1.5-second firing delay while the missile spins up its internal gyroscope and the thermal battery reaches operating temperature. Once this concludes, the launch motor fires through the rear nozzle propelling the missile from the tube: this soft-launch motor fires for only 0.05 seconds and burns out before the missile has exited the tube. As the missile exits the launch tube, the first four wings just forward of the flight motor spring open forwards, followed by four tail control surfaces, which flip open rearwards as the missile completely exits the launch tube. As the wings fully extend at about 7 metres from the launcher, the flight motor ignites, boosting the missile's speed to approximately 600 miles per hour (~1,000 kilometres per hour) during its burn time. At 0.18 seconds after launch, around 65 metres from the launcher, the warhead is armed by G-forces from acceleration by the flight motor, a safety feature intended to protect the operator if the flight motor fails to ignite. The flight motor burns out 1.6 seconds after launch, with the missile gliding for the remainder of its flight time. After the tracker captures the missile, IR sensors bore-sighted to the daylight tracker continuously monitor the position of an IR beacon on the missile's tail relative to the line-of-sight, with the FCS generating course corrections which are sent via the command link to the missile's integral flight control unit. The missile then corrects its flight path via the control surface actuators. The operator keeps the sight's crosshair centered over the target until impact: if the missile fails to strike a target, the command wires are automatically cut at 3,000 metres on the original TOW and 3,750 metres on most current-production TOWs. An automatic wire cut also occurs if the tracker fails to detect the missile's thermal beacon within 1.85 seconds of launching.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The TOW missile was continually upgraded, with an improved TOW missile (ITOW) appearing in 1978 that had a new warhead triggered by a long probe, which was extended after launch, that gave a stand-off distance of for improved armor penetration. The 1983 TOW 2 featured a larger warhead with a extensible probe, improved guidance and a motor that provided around 30% more thrust. This was followed by the TOW 2A/B, which appeared in 1987.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Hughes developed a TOW missile with a wireless data link in 1989, referred to as TOW-2N, but this weapon was not adopted for use by the U.S. military. Raytheon continued to develop improvements to the TOW line, but its FOTT (Follow-On To TOW) program was cancelled in 1998, and its TOW-FF (TOW-Fire and Forget) program was cut short on 30 November 2001 because of funding limitations. In 2001 and 2002, Raytheon and the U.S. Army worked together on an extended range TOW-2B variant, initially referred to as TOW-2B (ER), but now called TOW-2B Aero, which has a special nose cap that increases range to 4.5 km. TOW-2B has top attack capability.<ref name="urlHughes / Raytheon BGM-71 TOW / TOW-2 Heavy Anti-Tank (AT) Weapon System – United States"></ref> Although this missile has been in production since 2004, no U.S. Army designation has yet been assigned. Wireless versions of the TOW-2A, TOW-2B and TOW-2B Aero have been developed that use a "stealthy" one-way radio link, identified with the suffix "RF". These missiles require no special alterations to the launcher since the RF transmitter is encased along with the missile and uses the standard umbilical data connector.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The TOW missile in its current variations is not a fire-and-forget weapon and like most second-generation wire-guided missiles has Semi-Automatic Command Line of Sight guidance. This means that the guidance system is directly linked to the platform, and requires that the target be kept in the shooter's line of sight until the missile impacts. A fire-and-forget TOW variant (TOW-FF) was under development but was cancelled by the Army in 2002.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In October 2012, Raytheon received a contract to produce 6,676 TOW (wireless-guided) missiles for the U.S. military. Missiles that will be produced include the BGM-71E TOW 2A, the BGM-71F TOW 2B, the TOW 2B Aero, and the BGM-71H TOW Bunker Buster. By 2013, the U.S. Marine Corps had retired the air-launched TOW missile.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: TOW is designated as a BGM by the U.S. military: a multiple launch environment (B) surface attack (G) guided missile (M). The B launch environment prefix is used only when the system can be used essentially unmodified when launched from a variety of launch platforms.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The M151 and M220 launchers are used by infantry, but can also be mounted on a number of vehicles, including the M151 jeep, the M113 APC, the M966 HMMWV and the M1045 HMMWV (which replaced the M966). These launchers are theoretically man-portable but are quite bulky. The updated M151 launcher was upgraded to include thermal optics to allow nighttime usage and had been simplified to reduce weight. The M220 was specifically developed to handle the TOW-2 series.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: TOW systems have also been developed for vehicle-specific applications on the M2/M3 Bradley IFV/CFV, the LAV-AT, the M1134 Stryker ATGM carrier, and the now-retired M901 ITV (Improved TOW Vehicle); they are generally referred to as TOW Under Armor (TUA).


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In helicopter applications, the M65 system used by the AH-1 series is the primary system deployed, but the XM26 system was developed for the UH-1, and a system was put into development for the later cancelled AH-56 helicopter. TOW has also been used with AH.1 (TOW) and AH.7 variants of Westland Lynx helicopters, with the attachment of two pylons, each carrying four missiles.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The M41 TOW improved target acquisition system (ITAS) is a block upgrade to the M220 ground/high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV)-mounted TOW 2 missile system. The TOW ITAS is currently being fielded to airborne, air assault, and light infantry forces throughout the active and reserve components of the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps (where it is called the SABER). The ITAS, in addition to providing better anti-armour capabilities to antitank units, also has capabilities that make it an integral part of the combined arms team. Even when organized in heavy—light task forces, where the preponderance of antiarmor capabilities traditionally has resided in the heavy elements, TOW ITAS-equipped antitank units can not only destroy threat targets but also provide superior reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition (RSTA), rear area protection, and urban operations capabilities.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The TOW ITAS consists of three new line replaceable units: the target acquisition subsystem (TAS), the fire control subsystem (FCS), and the lithium battery box (LBB); a modified TOW 2 traversing unit; the existing TOW launch tube and tripod; and a TOW Humvee modification kit. The TAS integrates into a single housing the direct view optics and missile tracker, a second-generation forward looking infrared (FLIR) night vision sight (NVS), and a laser rangefinder. TAS electronics provide automatic boresighting for these components, eliminating both tactical collimation and 180-day verification requirements. The integral cooling system for the IR optics is a modern SADA-II electrically powered cryocooler, removing the need to carry a supply of high-pressure coolant gas cartridges as was necessary for the previous AN/TAS-4 and AN/TAS-4A night sights.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The most recent addition to the ITAS system is the ITAS-FTL (far target location), which incorporates a new module called PADS (position attitude determination subsystem), a device that attaches to the top of the ITAS sighting unit and uses differential GPS tracking to relay precise coordinate data to the operator.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In 1968, a contract for full-scale production was awarded to Hughes, and by 1970 the system was being fielded by the U.S. Army. When adopted, the BGM-71 series replaced the M40 106 mm recoilless rifle and the MGM-32 ENTAC missile system then in service. The missile also replaced the AGM-22B then in service as a heliborne anti-tank weapon.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: On 24 April 1972, the U.S. "1st Combat Aerial TOW Team" arrived in South Vietnam; the team's mission was to test the new anti-armor missile under combat conditions. The team consisted of three crews, technical representatives from Bell Helicopter and Hughes Aircraft, members of the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command, and two UH-1B helicopters; each mounting the XM26 TOW weapons system, which had been taken from storage. After displacing to the Central Highlands for aerial gunnery, the unit commenced daily searches for enemy armor. On 2 May 1972, U.S. Army UH-1 Huey helicopters firing TOWs destroyed North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN) tanks near An Loc. This was heralded as the first time a U.S. unit neutralized enemy armour using American-designed and built guided missiles (in this case, against a captured American-made M41 operated by the PAVN). On 9 May, elements of the PAVN's 203rd Armored Regiment assaulted Ben Het Camp held by Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) Rangers. The Rangers destroyed the first three PT-76 amphibious light tanks of the 203rd, thereby breaking up the attack. During the battle for the city of Kontum, the TOW missile had proven to be a significant weapon in disrupting PAVN tank attacks within the region. By the end of May, BGM-71 TOW missiles had accumulated 24 confirmed kills of both PT-76 light and T-54 main battle tanks.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: On 19 August, the ARVN 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Division abandoned Firebase Ross in the Que Son Valley, southwest of Da Nang, to the PAVN 711th Division. A dozen TOW missiles were left with abandoned equipment and fell into PAVN hands.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The Israel Defense Forces used TOW missiles during the 1982 Lebanon War. On 11 June, Israeli anti-tank teams armed with TOW ambushed Syrian armoured forces and destroyed a number of Syrian Soviet-made T-72 tanks. Estimates vary regarding the number of T-72s destroyed by TOWs (vs. the number destroyed by Merkava MBTs), with the lower end at nine and the high end attributing "the majority" of the 30 T-72s destroyed by Israeli forces in the war to Yossi Peled's anti-tank TOW units. This was probably the first encounter of the American anti-tank missile with the newer Soviet tank.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In the Iran–Iraq War of the 1980s, the Islamic Republic of Iran Army used TOW missiles purchased before the Iranian Revolution in 1979, as well as those purchased during the Iran–Contra affair.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Of the 202 AH-1J Internationals (export variant of the AH-1J SeaCobra) that Iran purchased from the US, 62 were TOW-capable. Iranian AH-1Js managed to slow down Iraqi tank advances into Iran. During the "dogfights" between Iranian SeaCobras and Iraqi Mil Mi-24s, Iranians achieved several "kills", usually using TOW missiles.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: TOW was used in multiple engagements during Operation Desert Storm in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. During the war, both the M2 Bradley Infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) and the M3 Bradley Cavalry Fighting Vehicle (CFV) carried TOW missiles. The M2 can also carry seven additional rounds, while the M3 can carry twelve. The M2 and M3 medium-weight Bradley Fighting Vehicles destroyed more Iraqi tanks during the war than the M1A1 Abrams heavy Main Battle Tanks.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Both AT (TOW) Company, 2nd Tank Battalion, 2nd Marine Division and AT (TOW) Company, 3rd Tank Battalion, 1st Marine Division engaged Iraqi tanks with TOW missiles in their M1045/M1046 HMMWVs. These vehicles were configured with a roof-mounted TOW launcher and carried six rounds in the cargo compartment with an additional round in the tube.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The British Army also deployed TOW-armed, Westland Lynx helicopters to the conflict, where they were used to attack Iraqi armoured vehicles. This was the first recorded use of the TOW missile from a British helicopter.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: On 5 June, 24 Pakistani soldiers were slaughtered by members of Mohamed Farrah Aidid's Habr Gidr militia; some were skinned. Subsequently, the United Nations called for the arrest of those responsible. Weeks later they would formally place the blame on Aidid, leader of the Habr Gidr clan. Subsequently, U.N. troops hunted Aidid. Incidents between the two sides worsened, with fighting back and forth. On 12 July, three months prior to the Battle of Mogadishu, the United Nations and the United States attempted to defeat Aidid's organization by attacking a strategy meeting of his native Habr Gidr clan under Operation Michigan. "The Washington Post" described the event as a "slaughter" in which a "half-dozen" AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters fired 16 TOW missiles and 2,000 rounds from their 20 mm cannons into the meeting of the elders and senior combat commanders. The first TOW missile destroyed the stairs, preventing escape. In the aftermath, it was revealed that Aidid was not in the meeting. The Red Cross claimed that 54 people had been killed, Admiral Jonathan T. Howe reported that 20 had died, while Aidid's Somali National Alliance produced a list of 73 people who they claimed had been killed.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: 10 Humvee-mounted TOW missiles were used by U.S. forces in Iraq during the 22 July 2003 assault that killed Uday and Qusay Hussein. Although TOW missiles are generally used against armored vehicles, these missiles were used on the house the two men were in.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: The weapon was spotted as early as April 2014 in at least two videos that surfaced showing Syrian opposition forces in the Syrian civil war using BGM-71 TOWs, a weapon previously not seen in use by the opposition. Such a video, showing a BGM-71E-3B with the serial number removed, can be seen in a 27 May 2014 episode of the PBS series "Frontline".


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In February 2015, The Carter Center listed 23 groups within the Southern Front of the Free Syrian Army that have been documented using US-supplied TOWs.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: A sudden influx of TOWs was supplied in May 2015, mostly to Free Syrian Army affiliated factions, but also independent Islamist battalions; as a requirement of being provided TOWs, these Syrian opposition groups are required to document the use of the missiles by filming their use, and are also required to save the spent missile casings. Groups provided with TOWs include the Hazzm Movement, the 13th Division, 1st Coastal Division, Syria Revolutionaries Front, Yarmouk Army, Knights of Justice Brigade, and the 101st Division. Free Syrian Army battalions widely and decisively used TOWs in the 2015 Jisr al-Shughur offensive. Russia attempted a rescue operation after a Su-24M was shot down at the Syria–Turkey border on 24 November 2015, a video of Free Syrian Army 1st Coastal Division using a TOW missile to destroy a disabled Russian helicopter on the ground after its crew had retreated was posted on YouTube. In October 2015, Saudi Arabia delivered 500 TOW missiles to anti-Assad rebels.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: A video produced through Bulgarian Television provides evidence of non-rebel use of this weapon by Islamic affiliated fighters.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Reports indicate that small number of TOW missiles have ended up in the hands of al-Qaeda in Syria and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In August 2016 footage of the Syrian military inspecting a captured BGM-71E missile system in Bani Zeit district, Aleppo, was leaked online.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: On 2 September 2016, rebels released a video of a BGM-71 TOW destroying a French-manufactured Syrian Arab Air Force Aérospatiale Gazelle as it was landing on an airstrip near Khattab in Northern Hama.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Reports say that the TOW missile has successfully hit Russian T-90s in Syria, which are equipped with active defences designed to defeat such missiles. However, a Russian report claims the tank shows "very little damage" and was still operable.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: In August 2022 the U.S. Department of Defense announced that it would be sending 1,500 TOW missiles (presumably BGM-71, though not explicitly specified as such) to Ukraine as part of an additional $775m security assistance package to the "meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs" as part of ongoing US military assistance following the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Raytheon has taken over for Hughes in recent years, and now handles production of all current variants, as well as TOW development.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: While the original armor penetration estimates were 600 mm for BGM-71A/B and 700–800 mm for BGM-71C, a now declassified CIA study shows the CIA's estimated penetration values against a vertical target are much lower—just 430 mm for the BGM-71A/B TOW and 630 mm for the BGM-71C Improved TOW.


title: BGM-71 TOW

text: Iran has reverse engineered the type from examples acquired before 1979 and currently manufactures duplicate TOW missiles. These carry the Iranian designation of Toophan.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing political figures and authority in general, as well as popular culture and even the punk movement itself. During their initial incarnation between 1978 and 1986, they attracted considerable controversy for their provocative lyrics and artwork. Several stores refused to stock their recordings, provoking debate about censorship in rock music; in the mid-1980s, vocalist and primary lyricist Jello Biafra became an active campaigner against the Parents Music Resource Center. This culminated in an obscenity trial between 1985 and 1986, which resulted in a hung jury.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The group released a total of four studio albums and one EP before disbanding in 1986. Following the band's dissolution, Biafra continued to collaborate and record with other artists including D.O.A., NoMeansNo and his own bands Lard and the Guantanamo School of Medicine, as well as releasing several spoken word performances.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In 2000 (upheld on appeal in 2003), Biafra lost an acrimonious legal case initiated by his former Dead Kennedys bandmates over songwriting credits and unpaid royalties. In 2001, the band reformed without Biafra; various singers have since been recruited for vocal duties. Although Dead Kennedys have continued to perform live over the years, they have not released any new material since the release of their fourth studio album "Bedtime for Democracy" in 1986.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys formed in June 1978 in San Francisco, California, when East Bay Ray (Raymond Pepperell) advertised for bandmates in the newspaper "The Recycler", after seeing a ska-punk show at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco. The original band lineup consisted of East Bay Ray on lead guitar, Klaus Flouride (Geoffrey Lyall) on bass, Jello Biafra (Eric Reed Boucher) on vocals, Ted (Bruce Slesinger) on drums and 6025 (Carlos Cadona) on rhythm guitar. This lineup recorded their first demos. Their first live show was on July 19, 1978, at Mabuhay Gardens in San Francisco, California. They were the opening act on a bill that included DV8 and Negative Trend with The Offs headlining.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys played numerous shows at local venues afterward. Due to the provocative name of the band, they sometimes played under pseudonyms, including "The DK's", "The Sharks", "The Creamsicles" and "The Pink Twinkies". "San Francisco Chronicle" columnist Herb Caen wrote in November 1978, "Just when you think tastelessness has reached its nadir, along comes a punk rock group called 'The Dead Kennedys', which will play at Mabuhay Gardens on Nov. 22, the 15th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination." Despite mounting protests, the owner of Mabuhay declared, "I can't cancel them NOW—there's a contract. Not, apparently, the kind of contract some people have in mind." However, despite popular belief, the name was not meant to insult the Kennedy family, but according to Ray, "the assassinations were in much more poor taste than our band. We actually respect the Kennedy family. . . . When JFK was assassinated, when Martin Luther King was assassinated, when RFK was assassinated, the American Dream was assassinated. . . . Our name is actually homage to the American Dream."


title: Dead Kennedys

text: 6025 left the band in March 1979 under somewhat unclear circumstances, generally considered to be musical differences. In June, the band released their first single, "California über alles", on Biafra and East Bay Ray's independent label, Alternative Tentacles. The band followed with a poorly attended East Coast tour, being a new and fairly unknown band at the time, without a full album release.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In early 1980, they recorded and released the single "Holiday in Cambodia". In June, the band recorded their debut album, "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables", released in September of that year on the UK label Cherry Red. The album reached number 33 on the UK Albums Chart. Since its initial release, it has been re-released by several other labels, including IRS, Alternative Tentacles, and Cleopatra. The newest reissue—the special 25th-anniversary edition—features the original artwork and a bonus 55-minute DVD documenting the making of the album as well as the band's early years.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: On March 25, 1980, Dead Kennedys were invited to perform at the Bay Area Music Awards in an effort to give the event some "new wave credibility", in the words of the organizers. The day of the performance was spent practicing the song they were asked to play, the underground hit "California über alles". The band became the talking point of the ceremony when after about 15 seconds into the song, Biafra stopped the band—in a manner reminiscent of Elvis Costello's "Saturday Night Live" appearance—and said, "Hold it! We've gotta prove that we're adults now. We're not a punk rock band, we're a new wave band." The band, all wearing white shirts with a big, black S painted on the front, pulled black ties from around the backs of their necks to form a dollar sign, then started playing a new song titled "Pull My Strings", a barbed, satirical attack on the ethics of the mainstream music industry, which contained the lyrics, "Is my cock big enough, is my brain small enough, for you to make me a star?". The song also referenced The Knack's song "My Sharona". "Pull My Strings" was never recorded for a studio release, though the performance at the Bay Area Music Awards, which was the only time the song was ever performed, was released on the band's 1987 compilation album "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death".


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In January 1981, Ted announced that he wanted to leave to pursue a career in architecture and would help look for a replacement. He played his last concert in February 1981. His replacement was D. H. Peligro (Darren Henley). Around the same time, East Bay Ray had tried to pressure the rest of the band to sign to the major record label Polydor Records; Biafra stated that he was prepared to leave the group if the rest of the band wanted to sign to the label, though East Bay Ray asserts that he recommended against signing with Polydor. Polydor decided not to sign the band after they learned that Dead Kennedys' next single was to be entitled "Too Drunk to Fuck".


title: Dead Kennedys

text: When "Too Drunk to Fuck" came out in May 1981 it caused controversy in the UK, as the BBC feared the single would reach the Top 30, which would necessitate its title being mentioned on "Top of the Pops". It was never played, although it was called "'Too Drunk' by the Kennedys" by presenter Tony Blackburn.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: After Peligro joined the band, the extended play "In God We Trust, Inc." (1981) saw them move toward a more aggressive hardcore/thrash sound. In addition to the EP's controversial artwork depicting a gold Christ figure on a cross of dollar bills, the lyrics contained Biafra's most biting social and political commentary yet, and songs such as "Moral Majority", "Nazi Punks Fuck Off!" and "We've Got a Bigger Problem Now" placed Dead Kennedys as the spokesmen of social protest, while "Dog Bite", a cover version of "Rawhide" and various joke introductions showed a much more whimsical side. In 1982, they released their second studio album, "Plastic Surgery Disasters". The album's cover features a withered starving African child's hand being held and dwarfed by a white man's hand, a picture that had won the World Press Photo award in 1980, taken in Karamoja district in Uganda by Mike Wells.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The band's music had evolved considerably in a short time, moving away from hardcore formulae toward a more innovative jazz-informed style, featuring musicianship and dynamics far beyond other bands in the genre (thus effectively removing the music from that genre). By now the group had become a de facto political force, pitting itself against rising elements of American social and political life such as the religious right, Ronald Reagan and the idle rich. The band continued touring all over the United States, as well as Europe and Australia, and gained a large underground following. While they continued to play live shows during 1983 and 1984, they took a break from releasing new records to concentrate on the Alternative Tentacles record label, which would become synonymous with DIY alternative culture. The band continued to write and perform new material during this time, which would appear on their next album (some of these early performances can be seen in the "DMPO's on Broadway" video, originally released by Dirk Dirksen and later reissued on Rhino).


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The release of the album "Frankenchrist" in 1985 showed the band had grown in musical proficiency and lyrical maturity. While there were still a number of loud/fast songs, much of the music featured an eclectic mix of instruments including trumpets and synthesizers. Around this time Klaus Flouride released the similarly experimental solo EP "Cha Cha Cha With Mr. Flouride". Lyrically, the band continued their trademark social commentary, with songs such as "MTV Get Off The Air" and "Jock-O-Rama (Invasion of the Beef Patrol)" poking fun at mainstream America.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: However, the controversy that erupted over H.R. Giger's "Penis Landscape", included as an insert with the album, dwarfed the notoriety of its music. The artwork caused a furor with the newly formed Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC). In December 1985 a teenage girl purchased the album at the Wherehouse Records store in Los Angeles County. The girl's mother wrote letters of complaint to the California Attorney General and to Los Angeles prosecutors. In June 1986, members of the band, along with other parties involved in the distribution of "Frankenchrist", were charged criminally with distribution of harmful matter to minors. The store where the teen actually purchased the album was never named in the lawsuit. The criminal charges focused on an illustration by H.R. Giger, titled "Work 219: Landscape XX" (also known as "Penis Landscape"). Included as a poster with the album, "Penis Landscape" depicts nine copulating penises and vaginas.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Members of the band and others in the chain of distribution were charged with violating the California Penal Code on a misdemeanor charge carrying a maximum penalty of up to a year in county jail and a base fine of up to $2,000. Biafra says that during this time government agents invaded and searched his home. The prosecution tried to present the poster to the jury in isolation for consideration as obscene material, but Judge Susan Isacoff ruled that the poster must be considered along with the music and lyrics. The charges against three of the original defendants, Ruth Schwartz (owner of Mordam Records), Steve Boudreau (a distributor involved in supplying "Frankenchrist" to the Los Angeles Wherehouse store), and Salvatore Alberti (owner of the factory where the record was pressed), were dismissed for lack of evidence.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In August 1987, the case went to the jury with two remaining defendants: Jello Biafra and Michael Bonanno (former Alternative Tentacles label manager). However, the criminal trial ended with a hung jury, split 7 to 5 in favor of acquittal. District Attorneys Michael Guarino and Ira Riener made a motion for a retrial which was denied by Judge Isacoff, Superior Court Judge for the County of Los Angeles. The album, however, was banned from many record stores nationwide.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: After the break up of the band, Jello Biafra brought up the court case on "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Biafra was on the show with Tipper Gore as part of a panel discussion on the issues of "controversial music lyrics" and censorship.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In addition to the obscenity lawsuit, the band became increasingly disillusioned with the underground scene as well. The hardcore scene, which had been a haven for free-thinking intellectuals and downtrodden nonconformists, was attracting a more violent audience that imposed an increasing level of brutality on other concertgoers and began to alienate many of the bands and individuals who had helped pioneer the movement in the early 1980s. In earlier years the band had criticized neo-Nazi skinheads for trying to ruin the punk scene, but just as big a problem was the popularity of increasingly macho hardcore bands, which brought the group (and their genre) an audience that had little to do with the ideas/ideals they stood for. Biafra penned new songs such as "Chickenshit Conformist" and "Anarchy for Sale" that articulated the band's feelings about the "dumbing down" of punk rock. During the summer they recorded these for their final album, "Bedtime for Democracy", which was released in November. The artwork, depicting a defaced Statue of Liberty overrun with Nazis, media, opportunists, Klan members, corrupt government officials, and religious zombies, echoed the idea that neither America itself or the punk scene were safe havens any more for "your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free". The album contains a number of fast/short songs interspersed with jazz ("D.M.S.O."), spoken word ("A Commercial") and psychedelia ("Cesspools In Eden").


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The band decided to split up in January of 1986, prior to the recording and release of "Bedtime for Democracy", and played their last live show with the original lineup on 21 February. Biafra went on to speak about his political beliefs on numerous television shows and he released a number of spoken-word albums. Ray, Flouride, and Peligro also went on to solo careers.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In 2001, Ray, Peligro, and Flouride reformed the Dead Kennedys, with former Dr. Know singer Brandon Cruz replacing Biafra on vocals. The band played under the name "DK Kennedys" for a few concerts, but later reverted to "Dead Kennedys" permanently. They played across the continental United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Russia. Brandon Cruz left the band in May 2003 and was replaced by Jeff Penalty. The band has released two live albums of archival performances on Manifesto Records: "Mutiny on the Bay", compiled from various live shows including a recording from their last show with Biafra in 1986, and "Live at the Deaf Club", a recording of a 1979 performance at the Deaf Club in San Francisco which was greeted with more enthusiasm.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: On October 9, 2007, a best of album titled "Milking the Sacred Cow" was released. It includes two previously unreleased live versions of "Soup Is Good Food" and "Jock-O-Rama", originally found on "Frankenchrist".


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Jeff Penalty left the band in March 2008 in what he describes as a "not amicable split." In a statement released, Jeff said that, following a series of disputes, the band had secretly recruited a new singer and played a gig in his neighbourhood, although he also stated he was "really proud of what we were able to accomplish with Dead Kennedys". He was replaced by former Wynona Riders singer Ron "Skip" Greer. D. H. Peligro also left the band to "take some personal time off". He was replaced for a tour by Translator drummer Dave Scheff.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: On August 21, 2008, the band announced an extended break from touring due to the health-related issues of Flouride and Peligro. They stated their plans to collaborate on new projects. The band performed a gig in Santa Rosa, California in June 2009, with Peligro returning to the drum kit.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In August 2010, Dead Kennedys announced plans for a short East Coast tour. The lineup assembled for this tour contained East Bay Ray, Peligro, Greer, and bassist Greg Reeves replacing Flouride, who was taking "personal time off" from the band. The tour dates included performances in Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Washington, D.C., Portland, Maine and Hawaii. The band has played a reworked version of their song "MTV Get Off the Air", re-titled "MP3 Get Off the Web", with lyrics criticizing music piracy during their October 16, 2010, concert at the Rock and Roll Hotel in Washington, D.C.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys had world tours in 2013 and in 2014, the latter mostly in North American cities. In 2015 and 2016 they toured again, including South America, where they had not played since 2001.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In 2017, East Bay Ray revealed that the band and Jello Biafra had been approached by the Punk-oriented music festival Riot Fest about a potential reunion. While Ray and the rest of the band expressed interest in the concept, Biafra refused.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: On April 26, 2019, the group released "DK40", a live compilation album celebrating 40 years since the band formed.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: On October 29, 2022, the band's social media profiles shared the news that drummer D. H. Peligro had died the day prior due to trauma to his head from an accidental fall.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In the late 1990s, former band members discovered they were being underpaid in terms of royalties from Alternative Tentacles. East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D. H. Peligro claimed that Jello Biafra had conspired to pay them lower royalty rates and then attempted to disguise the precise nature of the money owed. Biafra claimed that the failure to pay these royalties was an accounting mistake.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: In 1998, the other three members of the band sued Biafra over these allegedly unpaid royalties. A jury ruled in their favor in May 2000, finding Biafra and Alternative Tentacles "guilty of malice, oppression and fraud". Malice was defined for the jury as "conduct which is intended to cause injury or despicable conduct which is carried with a willful and conscious disregard for the rights of others". Biafra's appeal was denied in June 2003; he had to pay the outstanding royalties as well as punitive damages, and was forced to hand over the rights to the majority of Dead Kennedys' back catalogue to the Decay Music partnership.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: This dispute caused minor waves within punk circles. Biafra claims that East Bay Ray had long expressed displeasure with Alternative Tentacles and with the amount of money he received from them, thus the original incentive for the discovery of the back payments. It was found out that Alternative Tentacles was paying Dead Kennedys less per CD than all the other bands, including Biafra himself, and not informing his other bandmates, which was the fraud. Biafra accused the band of wanting to license the famous Dead Kennedys song "Holiday in Cambodia" for use in a Levi's jeans commercial, which the band denied. However, an instrumental loop from "Holiday in Cambodia" was part of the 1981 movie "Neighbors," though it was not included on the soundtrack. The band maintains that the Levi's story was completely fictitious and invented by Biafra to discredit them.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Matters were stirred up even further when the three bandmates invited Jello Biafra to "bury the hatchet" in the form of a band reunion. Jello Biafra felt it was unprofessional because no one contacted him directly. In addition, Biafra was disdainful of the reunion, and having long expressed his disdain for nostalgia and rock reunion/oldies tours in particular, argued that the whole affair was motivated by greed.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Several DVDs, re-issues, and live albums have been released since the departure of Biafra most recently on Manifesto Records. According to Biafra, the live albums are "cash-ins" on Dead Kennedys' name and his music. Biafra also accused the releases of the new live material of having poor sound quality. Furthermore, he has stated he is not receiving any royalties from the sale of any Manifesto Records releases. Consequently, he has discouraged fans from buying any Dead Kennedy reissues. The other band members denied Biafra's accusations regarding the live releases, and have defended the mixes as an effort of hard work. Biafra dismissed the new group as "the world's greediest karaoke band." Nevertheless, in 2003, Klaus Flouride said of performances without the band's former frontman: "There hasn't been a show yet that people didn't really like."


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Biafra further criticized them for advertising shows using his own image taken from the original 1980s incarnation of the band, which he labeled as false advertising. He attacked the reformed Dead Kennedys in a song called "Those Dumb Punk Kids (Will Buy Anything)", which appears on his second collaboration with sludge metal band the Melvins, "Sieg Howdy!"


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Biafra told an audience at a speaking gig in Trenton, New Jersey, that the remaining Dead Kennedys have licensed their single "Too Drunk to Fuck" to be used in a rape scene in a Robert Rodriguez movie. The reference is to a lounge cover of the song, recorded by the band Nouvelle Vague, played during a scene in the "Planet Terror" segment of "Grindhouse", although no rape takes place, and in fact the would-be rapist is killed by the would-be victim. The scene in "Planet Terror" has would-be rapist, "Rapist No. 1" (Quentin Tarantino) order one-legged stripper "Cherry Darlin" (Rose McGowan) to get up off the floor and dance. At this point Tarantino hits play on a cassette recorder and Nouvelle Vague's cover of "Too Drunk To Fuck" plays. Biafra, disapproving of the situation, later wrote, "This is their lowest point since Levi's... This goes against everything the Dead Kennedys stands for in spades... The terrified woman later 'wins' by killing Tarantino, but that excuse does not rescue this at all. I wrote every note of that song and this is not what it was meant for... Some people will do anything for money. I can't help but think back to how prudish Klaus Flouride was when he objected to H.R. Giger's painting on the "Frankenchrist" (sic) poster, saying he couldn't bear to show it to his parents. I'd sure love to be a fly on the wall when he tries to explain putting a song in a rape scene for money to his teenage daughter... The deal was pushed through by a new business manager the other three hired."


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The reformed Dead Kennedys followed their court victory by releasing reissues of all Dead Kennedys albums (except "Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables", to which they did not have the rights until 2005), releasing several new archival concert DVDs, and licensing several songs to "The Manchurian Candidate" remake and the "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater" video game. East Bay Ray claims he received a fax from Alternative Tentacles purporting Biafra approved the licensing for the game.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The band claims on their website that they still pay close attention to an anti-corporate ideology, despite performing on September 5, 2003, at a festival in Turkey that was sponsored by Coca-Cola, noting that they have since pulled out of a show in Los Angeles when they found that it was being sponsored by Coors. However, Biafra claims the previous licensing deals prove otherwise.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: The original logo was created by Winston Smith. He later contributed artwork for the covers of "In God We Trust, Inc.", "Plastic Surgery Disasters", "Frankenchrist", "Bedtime for Democracy", "Give Me Convenience or Give Me Death", the back cover of the "Kill the Poor" single and the Alternative Tentacles logo. When asked about the "DK" logo in an interview, Jello Biafra explained, "...I wanted to make sure it was something simple and easy to spray-paint so people would graffiti it all over the place, and then I showed it to Winston Smith. He played around with it, came back with a bunch of designs that had the circle and slightly 3-D looking letters and he had ones with different patterns behind it. I liked the one with bricks, but ultimately I thought simple red behind it was the boldest and the best."


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys have been described as one of the first hardcore punk bands. They were noted for the harshness of their lyrics, which generally combined biting social satire while expressing a staunchly left-wing view of contemporary America. Unlike other leftist punk bands who use more direct sloganeering, Dead Kennedys' lyrics were often snide. For example, "Holiday in Cambodia" is a multi-layered satire targeting both yuppies and Cambodia's recently deposed Khmer Rouge regime.


title: Dead Kennedys

text: Dead Kennedys have influenced multiple acts such as System of a Down, Green Day, Faith No More, Rage Against the Machine, Sepultura, Descendents, Bad Religion, Slayer, X, Minutemen, The Hives, Saves the Day and Screeching Weasel among others.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Cú Chulainn ( ), called the Hound of Ulster (Irish: "Cú Uladh"), is a warrior hero and demigod in the Ulster Cycle of Irish mythology, as well as in Scottish and Manx folklore. He is believed to be an incarnation of the Irish god Lugh, who is also his father. His mother is the mortal Deichtine, sister of king Conchobar mac Nessa.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Born Sétanta, he gained his better-known name as a child, after killing Culann's fierce guard dog in self defence and offering to take its place until a replacement could be reared, hence he became the "Hound ("cú") of Culann". He was trained in martial arts by Scáthach, who gave him the spear Gáe Bulg. It was prophesied that his great deeds would give him everlasting fame, but that his life would be short. At the age of seventeen he defends Ulster single-handedly against the armies of queen Medb of Connacht in the famous "Táin Bó Cúailnge" ("Cattle Raid of Cooley"). He is known for his terrifying battle frenzy ("ríastrad"), in which he becomes an unrecognisable monster who knows neither friend nor foe. He fights from his chariot, driven by his loyal charioteer Láeg and drawn by his horses, Liath Macha and Dub Sainglend.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Cú Chulainn's wife is Emer, although he has many other lovers. With Aífe he has a son named Connla, whom Cú Chulainn tragically kills. Cú Chulainn himself is said to have died in battle, binding himself to a standing stone so he can die on his feet. He later became an icon for Irish nationalists.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: His birth name "Sétanta" may be linked to a Celtic tribe, the Setantii, who dwelt on the west coast of Celtic Britain. His later name "Cú Chulainn", is usually translated "Culann's hound", and was explained in the tale whereby he stood in for Culann's guard dog. Although "cú" literally means "hound", it was also a common figurative term for a warrior in early Irish literature, thus can also mean "Culann's warrior". Folklorist Dáithí Ó hÓgáin speculated that the second part of the name could come from an old Irish word for a chariot, "cul", thus meaning "chariot-warrior".


title: Cú Chulainn

text: There are a number of versions of the story of Cú Chulainn's miraculous birth. In the earliest version of "Compert C(h)on Culainn" ("The Conception of Cú Chulainn"), his mother Deichtine is the daughter and charioteer of Conchobar mac Nessa, king of Ulster, and accompanies him as he and the nobles of Ulster hunt a flock of magical birds. As snow begins to fall, Ulstermen seek shelter in a nearby house. As the host's wife goes into labour, Deichtine assists in the birth of a baby boy, while a mare gives birth to twin colts. The next morning, the Ulstermen find themselves at the "Brug na Bóinde" (the Neolithic mound at Newgrange)—the house and its occupants have disappeared, but the child and the colts remain. Deichtine takes the boy home and begins raising him as her own, but the boy falls ill and dies. The god Lug appears to her and tells her he was their host that night, and that he has put his child in her womb, who is to be called Sétanta. Her pregnancy turns into a scandal as she is betrothed to Sualtam mac Róich, and the Ulstermen suspect Conchobar of being the father, so she aborts the child and goes to her husband's bed "virgin-whole". She then conceives a son whom she names Sétanta.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: In the later and better-known version of "Compert Con Culainn", Deichtine is Conchobar's sister, and disappears from Emain Macha, the Ulster capital. As in the previous version, the Ulstermen go hunting a flock of magical birds, are overtaken by a snowstorm and seek shelter in a nearby house. Their host is Lug, a member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, but this time his wife, who gives birth to a son that night, is Deichtine herself. The child is named Sétanta.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The nobles of Ulster argue over which of them is to be his foster father, until the wise Morann decides he should be fostered by several of them: Conchobar himself; Sencha mac Ailella, who will teach him judgement and eloquent speech; the wealthy Blaí Briugu, who will protect and provide for him; the noble warrior Fergus mac Róich, who will care for him and teach him to protect the weak; the poet Amergin, who will educate him, and his wife Findchóem, who will nurse him. He is brought up in the house of Amergin and Findchóem on Muirthemne Plain in modern County Louth (at the time part of Ulster), alongside their son Conall Cernach.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: In another version, the child is named Sédana, and the name is given to him by Ceat mac Mágach. Ceat takes Sédana into fosterage and gives him to his own foster parents, Srían and Gabur, to nurse; they are the parents of Láeg, Cú Chulainn's charioteer, and so the pair grow up together from infancy.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The County Louth town of Dundalk has the motto "Mé do rug Cú Chulainn cróga" "I gave birth to brave Cú Chulainn".


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The stories of Cú Chulainn's childhood are told in a flashback sequence in "Táin Bó Cúailnge". As a small child, living in his parents' house on Muirthemne Plain, he begs to be allowed to join the boy-troop at Emain Macha. However, he sets off on his own, and when he arrives at Emain he runs onto the playing field without first asking for the boys' protection, being unaware of the custom. The boys take this as a challenge and attack him, but he has a "ríastrad" and beats them single-handed. Conchobar puts a stop to the fight and clears up the misunderstanding, but no sooner has Sétanta put himself under the boys' protection than he chases after them, demanding they put themselves under his protection.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Culann the smith invites Conchobar to a feast at his house. Before going, Conchobar goes to the playing field to watch the boys play hurling. He is so impressed by Sétanta's performance that he asks him to join him at the feast. Sétanta has a game to finish, but promises to follow the king later. But Conchobar forgets, and Culann lets loose his ferocious hound to protect his house. When Sétanta arrives, the enormous hound attacks him, but he kills it in self defence, in one version by smashing it against a standing stone, and in another by driving a sliotar (hurling ball) down its throat with his hurley. Culann is devastated by the loss of his hound, so Sétanta promises he will rear him a replacement, and until it is old enough to do the job, he himself will guard Culann's house. The druid Cathbad announces that his name henceforth will be "Cú Chulainn"—"Culann's Hound".


title: Cú Chulainn

text: One day at Emain Macha, Cú Chulainn overhears Cathbad teaching his pupils. One asks him what that day is auspicious for, and Cathbad replies that any warrior who takes arms that day will have everlasting fame. Cú Chulainn, though only seven years old, goes to Conchobar and asks for arms. None of the weapons given to him withstand his strength, until Conchobar gives him his own weapons. But when Cathbad sees this he grieves, because he had not finished his prophecy—the warrior who took arms that day would be famous, but his life would be short. Soon afterwards, in response to a similar prophecy by Cathbad, Cú Chulainn demands a chariot from Conchobar, and only the king's own chariot withstands him. He sets off on a foray and kills the three sons of Nechtan Scéne, who had boasted they had killed more Ulstermen than there were Ulstermen still living. He returns to Emain Macha in his battle frenzy, and the Ulstermen are afraid he will slaughter them all. Conchobar's wife Mugain leads out the women of Emain, and they bare their breasts to him. He averts his eyes, and the Ulstermen wrestle him into a barrel of cold water, which explodes from the heat of his body. They put him in a second barrel, which boils, and a third, which warms to a pleasant temperature.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: In Cú Chulainn's youth he is so beautiful the Ulstermen worry that, without a wife of his own, he will steal their wives and ruin their daughters. They search all over Ireland for a suitable wife for him, but he will have none but Emer, daughter of Forgall Monach. However, Forgall is opposed to the match. He suggests that Cú Chulainn should train in arms with the renowned warrior-woman Scáthach in the land of Alba (Scotland), hoping the ordeal will be too much for him and he will be killed. Cú Chulainn takes up the challenge, travelling to her residence "Dún Scáith" (Fortress of Shadows) on the Isle of Skye. In the meantime, Forgall offers Emer to Lugaid mac Nóis, a king of Munster, but when he hears that Emer loves Cú Chulainn, Lugaid refuses her hand.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Scáthach teaches Cú Chulainn all the arts of war, including the use of the Gáe Bulg, a terrible barbed spear, thrown with the foot, that has to be cut out of its victim. His fellow trainees include Ferdiad, who becomes Cú Chulainn's best friend and foster brother. The two share a very close relationship, sharing a bed and speaking often and at great length of their love for one another; this has at times been interpreted that the two men were lovers as well as foster-brothers (though this theory is controversial). During his time there, Scáthach faces a battle against Aífe, her rival and in some versions her twin sister. Scáthach, knowing Aífe's prowess, fears for Cú Chulainn's life and gives him a powerful sleeping potion to keep him from the battle. However, because of Cú Chulainn's great strength, it only puts him to sleep for an hour, and he soon joins the fray. He fights Aífe in single combat, and the two are evenly matched, but Cú Chulainn distracts her by calling out that Aífe's horses and chariot, the things she values most in the world, have fallen off a cliff, and seizes her. With his sword at her throat, he agrees to spare her life on the condition that she call off her enmity with Scáthach, and bear him a son.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Leaving Aífe pregnant, Cú Chulainn returns from Scotland fully trained, but Forgall still refuses to let him marry Emer. Cú Chulainn storms Forgall's fortress, killing twenty-four of Forgall's men, abducts Emer and steals Forgall's treasure. Forgall himself falls from the ramparts to his death. Conchobar has the "right of the first night" over all marriages of his subjects. He is afraid of Cú Chulainn's reaction if he exercises it in this case, but is equally afraid of losing his authority if he does not. Cathbad suggests a solution: Conchobar sleeps with Emer on the night of the wedding, but Cathbad sleeps between them.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Eight years later, Connla, Cú Chulainn's son by Aífe, comes to Ireland in search of his father, but Cú Chulainn takes him as an intruder and kills him when he refuses to identify himself. Connla does not identify himself, as his mother Aífe bound him to not identify himself or back down from a challenge. She does this as she wishes revenge upon Cú Chulainn for loving another woman after her. Connla was also trained and almost beat his father in battle, but misses his spear shot on purpose as he finds out Cú Chulainn is his father. However Cú Chulainn hits Connla with his spear, the Gae Bulg, which mortally wounds him. Connla's last words to his father as he dies are that they would have "carried the flag of Ulster to the gates of Rome and beyond", leaving Cú Chulainn grief-stricken. The story of Cú Chulainn and Connla shows a striking similarity to the legend of Persian hero Rostam who also kills his son Sohrab. Rostam and Cú Chulainn share several other characteristics, including killing a ferocious beast at a very young age, their near invincibility in battle, and the manner of their deaths. Another similar myth is found in the Hildebrandslied, in which Hildebrand is thought to kill his son, Hadubrand, though the poem's ending is lost.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: During his time abroad, Cú Chulainn had rescued Derbforgaill, a Scandinavian princess, from being sacrificed to the Fomorians. She falls in love with him, and she and her handmaid come to Ireland in search of him in the form of a pair of swans. Cú Chulainn, not realising who she is, shoots her down with his sling, and then saves her life by sucking the stone from her side. Having tasted her blood, he cannot marry her, and gives her to his foster-son Lugaid Riab nDerg. Lugaid goes on to become High King of Ireland, but the "Lia Fáil" (stone of destiny) fails to cry out when he stands on it, so Cú Chulainn splits it in two with his sword. When Derbforgaill is mutilated by the women of Ulster out of jealousy for her sexual desirability and dies of her wounds, Lugaid dies of grief, and Cú Chulainn avenges them by demolishing the house the women are inside, killing 150 of them.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: At the age of seventeen, Cú Chulainn single-handedly defends Ulster from the army of Connacht in the "Táin Bó Cúailnge". Medb, queen of Connacht, has mounted the invasion to steal the stud bull Donn Cúailnge, Cú Chulainn allows her to take Ulster by surprise because he was with a woman when he should have been watching the border. The men of Ulster were disabled by a curse that caused them to suffer from labour pains, so it becomes Cú Chulainn's job to stop Medb's army from advancing further. He does this by invoking the right of single combat at fords. He defeats champion after champion in a standoff that lasts for months.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Before one combat a beautiful young woman comes to him, claiming to be the daughter of a king, and offers him her love, but he refuses her. The woman reveals herself as the Morrígan, and in revenge for this slight, she attacks him in various animal forms while he is engaged in combat against Lóch mac Mofemis. As an eel, she trips him in the ford, but he breaks her ribs. As a wolf, she stampedes cattle across the ford, but he blinds her eye with a sling stone. Finally, she appears as a heifer at the head of the stampede, but he breaks her leg with another sling stone. After Cú Chulainn finally defeats Lóch, the Morrígan appears to him as an old woman milking a cow, with the same injuries he had given her in her animal forms. She gives him three drinks of milk, and with each drink he blesses her, healing her wounds.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: After one particularly arduous combat, Cú Chulainn lies severely wounded but is visited by Lug, who tells him he is his father and heals his wounds. When Cú Chulainn wakes up and sees that the boy-troop of Emain Macha have attacked the Connacht army and been slaughtered, he has his most spectacular "ríastrad" yet:


title: Cú Chulainn

text: When his foster father Fergus mac Róich, now in exile in Medb's court, is sent to face him Cú Chulainn agrees to yield, so long as Fergus agrees to return the favour the next time they meet. Finally, he fights a gruelling three-day duel with his best friend and foster brother, Ferdiad, at a ford that was named "Áth Fhir Diadh" (Ardee, County Louth) after him.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The Ulstermen eventually rouse, one by one at first, and finally "en masse". The final battle begins. Cú Chulainn stays on the sidelines, recuperating from his wounds, until he sees Fergus advancing. He enters the fray and confronts Fergus, who keeps his side of the bargain and yields to him, pulling his forces off the field. Connacht's other allies panic and Medb is forced to retreat. At this inopportune moment she gets her period, and although Fergus forms a guard around her, Cú Chulainn breaks through as she is dealing with it and has her at his mercy. However, he spares her because he does not think it right to kill women, and guards her retreat back to Connacht as far as Athlone.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The troublemaker Bricriu once incites three heroes, Cú Chulainn, Conall Cernach and Lóegaire Búadach, to compete for the champion's portion at his feast. In every test that is set Cú Chulainn comes out on top, but neither Conall nor Lóegaire will accept the result. Cú Roí mac Dáire of Munster settles it by visiting each in the guise of a hideous churl and challenging them to behead him, then allow him to return and behead them in return. Conall and Lóegaire both behead Cú Roí, who picks up his head and leaves, but when the time comes for him to return they flee. Only Cú Chulainn is brave and honourable enough to submit himself to Cú Roí's axe; Cú Roí spares him and he is declared champion. This beheading challenge appears in later literature, most notably in the Middle English poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight". Other examples include the 13th century French "Life of Caradoc" and the English romances "The Turke and Gowin", and "Sir Gawain and the Carle of Carlisle".


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Cú Roí, again in disguise, joins the Ulstermen on a raid on Inis Fer Falga (probably the Isle of Man), in return for his choice of the spoils. They steal treasure, and abduct Blathnát, daughter of the island's king, who loves Cú Chulainn. But when Cú Roí is asked to choose his share, he chooses Blathnát. Cú Chulainn tries to stop him taking her, but Cú Roí cuts his hair and drives him into the ground up to his armpits before escaping, taking Blathnát with him. Like other heroes such as the Biblical Samson, Duryodhana in the Mahabharata and the Welsh Llew Llaw Gyffes, Cú Roí can only be killed in certain contrived circumstances, which vary in different versions of the story. Blathnát discovers how to kill him and betrays him to Cú Chulainn, who does the deed. However, Ferchertne, Cú Roí's poet, enraged at the betrayal of his lord, grabs Blathnát and leaps off a cliff, killing her and himself.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Cú Chulainn has many lovers, but Emer's only jealousy comes when he falls in love with Fand, wife of Manannán mac Lir. Manannán has left her and she has been attacked by three Fomorians who want to control the Irish Sea. Cú Chulainn agrees to help defend her as long as she marries him. She agrees reluctantly, but they fall in love when they meet. Manannán knows their relationship is doomed because Cú Chulainn is mortal and Fand is a fairy; Cú Chulainn's presence would destroy the fairies. Emer, meanwhile, tries to kill her rival, but when she sees the strength of Fand's love for Cú Chulainn she decides to give him up to her. Fand, touched by Emer's magnanimity, decides to return to her own husband. Manannán shakes his cloak between Cú Chulainn and Fand, ensuring the two will never meet again, and Cú Chulainn and Emer drink a potion to wipe the whole affair from their memories.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: (Irish: "Aided Con Culainn", also known as "Brislech Mór Maige Muirthemne"). Medb conspires with Lugaid, son of Cú Roí, Erc, son of Cairbre Nia Fer, and the sons of others Cú Chulainn had killed, to draw him out to his death. His fate is sealed by his breaking of the "geasa" (taboos) upon him. Cú Chulainn's "geasa" included a ban against eating dog meat, but in early Ireland there was a powerful general taboo against refusing hospitality, so when an old crone offers him a meal of dog meat, he has no choice but to break his "geis". In this way he is spiritually weakened for the fight ahead of him. Lugaid has three magical spears made, and it is prophesied that a king will fall by each of them. With the first he kills Cú Chulainn's charioteer Láeg, king of chariot drivers. With the second he kills Cú Chulainn's horse, Liath Macha, king of horses. With the third he hits Cú Chulainn, mortally wounding him. Cú Chulainn ties himself to a standing stone to die on his feet, facing his enemies. This stone is traditionally identified as Clochafarmore, located near Dundalk. Due to his ferocity even when so near death, it is only when a raven lands on his shoulder that his enemies believe he is dead. Lugaid approaches and cuts off his head, but as he does so the "hero-light" burns around Cú Chulainn and his sword falls from his hand and cuts Lugaid's hand off. The light disappears only after his right hand, his sword arm, is cut from his body. According to the Annals, Cú Chulainn died in the year AD 1.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Conall Cernach had sworn that if Cú Chulainn died before him he would avenge him before sunset, and when he hears Cú Chulainn is dead he pursues Lugaid. As Lugaid has lost a hand, Conall fights him with one hand tucked into his belt, but he only beats him after his horse takes a bite out of Lugaid's side. He also kills Erc, and takes his head back to Tara, where Erc's sister Achall dies of grief for her brother.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Cú Chulainn's appearance is occasionally remarked on in the texts. He is usually described as small, youthful and beardless. He is often described as dark: in "The Wooing of Emer" and "Bricriu's Feast" he is "a dark, sad man, comeliest of the men of Erin", in "The Intoxication of the Ulstermen" he is a "little, black-browed man", and in "The Phantom Chariot of Cú Chulainn" "[h]is hair was thick and black, and smooth as though a cow had licked it... in his head his eyes gleamed swift and grey"; yet the prophetess Fedelm in the "Táin Bó Cúailnge" describes him as blond. The most elaborate description of his appearance comes later in the "Táin":


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The "Siabur-Charpat Con Culaind" (or "Demonic Chariot of Cu Chulaind") tells the story of when Saint Patrick was trying to convert King Lóegaire to Christianity.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: In the tale St. Patrick visited King Loegaire, attempting to convert him to the Christian faith. The king agreed but on a condition: that the saint call up Cu Chulainn from the dead, bringing him to the king's presence. St. Patrick agreed, and then the hero appeared, complete with chariot, and his two horse "Liath Macha" and "Dub-Sainglend", together with his charioteer "Loeg". The saint asks if the king is convinced – he replies that the appearance was so short he was not yet sure. The saint responds that God is so powerful that the king would see the hero again.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The ghostly hero returns, and this time salutes and addresses the saint, he then turns to the king, confirms it is Cu Chulainn he sees and not some demon, and implores him to believe in the saint and his god. A dialogue between king and ghostly hero takes place, in which the old hero recounts his life, including a poetic telling of his heroic deeds, ending with a request to Patrick to allow him too into heaven – the king is convinced. At the end of this the saint declares that Cu Chulainn is welcome in heaven.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Unrecorded before the 19th century, the earliest known version was "A Legend of Knockmany" in the 1845 "Tales and Sketches ... of the Irish Peasantry" by William Carleton. Variants were published in Patrick Kennedy's "Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts" (1866), and republished and brought to a larger audience by W.B. Yeats in "Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry" (1888), followed by numerous adaptions and variant, many uncredited. The work was included in later collections of 'folk tales' by other editors such as Joseph Jacobs in his "Celtic Fairy Tales" (1891).


title: Cú Chulainn

text: In this tale, Cú Chullain's power was contained in his middle finger. Wishing to defeat Finn, he came to Finn's house, but Finn disguised himself as a baby while his wife Oona baked cakes, some with griddle irons inside, some without. When Cú Chulainn could not bite through his cake (which had an iron in it) but the baby could (Finn's cake had no iron), in amazement Cú Chulainn felt to see how sharp the baby's teeth were, allowing Finn to bite his middle finger off and deprive Cú Chulainn of both his strength and size.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Cú Chulainn shows striking similarities to the legendary Persian hero Rostam, as well as to the Germanic Lay of Hildebrand and the labours of the Greek epic hero Heracles, suggesting a common Indo-European origin, but lacking in linguistic, anthropological and archaeological material. Cú Chulainn's smiting of the hound with a hurling stick is reminiscent of the tenth labour of Heracles, in which Heracles is charged with stealing the cattle of Geryon and is attacked by a two-headed hound, which he dispatches with a club.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Additional Indo-European typological parallels include Lithuanian Velnias, who like Cú Chulainn is the protector of cattle, and Romulus, who is associated with a canine in his youth and is surrounded by a youthful band of warriors (the "maccrad" in the case of Cú Chulainn).


title: Cú Chulainn

text: The image of Cú Chulainn is often invoked by Irish nationalists. The Gaelic revival fed into the Irish revolutionary period, with elements of Irish mythology adopted in nationalist symbolism. In St. Enda's School, run by revolutionary Patrick Pearse, there was a stained-glass panel of Cú Chulainn. A bronze sculpture of the dying Cú Chulainn by Oliver Sheppard stands in the Dublin General Post Office (GPO) in commemoration of the Easter Rising of 1916. Éamon de Valera unveiled the statue in 1935 as President of the Executive Council (Prime Minister) and described Sheppard's work as "symbolising the dauntless courage and abiding constancy of our people". The statue's image is reproduced on the obverse of 1916 Medal awarded to republican veterans of the rising, the Military Star of the Irish Defence Forces, and the commemorative ten shilling coin issued in 1966 for the rising's 50th anniversary. He is also depicted in several murals in nationalist areas of Northern Ireland. An example is the mural painted in 1996 on Lenadoon Avenue, Belfast commemorating Provisional IRA members from the area, which shows Cú Chulainn in the centre.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: More recently, some Ulster loyalists have attempted to appropriate Cú Chulainn, depicting him as an ancient "defender of Ulster" from Irish enemies to the south. This is based on Ian Adamson's widely-rejected theory that Cú Chulainn was a Cruthin hero and that they were a non-Celtic people who were at war with the Gaels. He is depicted in a loyalist mural on Highfield Drive, and was formerly depicted in another on the Newtownards Road, Belfast.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: A statue of Cú Chulainn carrying the body of Fer Diad stands in Ardee, County Louth, traditionally the site of their combat in the "Táin Bó Cúailnge". A sculpture by Martin Heron, entitled "For the Love of Emer", depicting Cú Chulainn balancing on a tilting 20-foot pole, representing the feat of balancing on the butt of a spear he learned from Scáthach, was installed in Armagh in 2010.


title: Cú Chulainn

text: Augusta, Lady Gregory retold many of the legends of Cú Chulainn in her 1902 book "Cuchulain of Muirthemne", which paraphrased the originals but also romanticized some of the tales and omitted most of the more violent content. It was very popular, supported by the Celtic Revival movement. It featured an introduction by her friend William Butler Yeats, who wrote several pieces based on the legend, including the plays "On Baile's Strand" (1904), "The Green Helmet" (1910), "At the Hawk's Well" (1917), "The Only Jealousy of Emer" (1919) and "The Death of Cuchulain" (1939), and the poems "Cuchulain's Fight with the Sea" (1892) and "Cuchulain Comforted" (1939), the latter completed two weeks before his death. An tAthair Peadar Ua Laoghaire, a priest from Castlelyons in County Cork, serialised the Táin Bó Cúailnge on a weekly basis in "The Cork Examiner" between 1900 and 1901 as part of the Gaelic revival. Pádraig Pearse, another revivalist age writer and member of Conradh na Gaeilge mentions Cú Chulainn in his 1912 his Irish language poem Mise Éire where Pearse personifies Ireland as a mother figure who gave birth to Cú Chulainn, but whose glory days are behind her. Sheppard's statue of Cú Chulainn is depicted in Samuel Beckett's 1938 novel Murphy as a vice to mock the Irish Free State and the attitude of its inhabitants. The story of Cú Chulainn and many other characters from Irish Béaloideas tales such as Fionn mac Cumhaill are still taught as part of the Irish primary school curriculum in both the Republic and Northern Ireland.


title: It's a Sin (TV series)

text: It's a Sin is a British drama miniseries written by Russell T Davies. Set in London between 1981 and 1991, it depicts the lives of a group of gay men and their friends during the HIV/AIDS crisis in the United Kingdom. "It's a Sin" features a main cast consisting of Olly Alexander, Omari Douglas, Callum Scott Howells, Lydia West, and Nathaniel Curtis. Other actors cast were David Carlyle, Keeley Hawes, Shaun Dooley, Tracy Ann Oberman, Neil Patrick Harris and Stephen Fry. The series was directed by Peter Hoar, produced by Red Production Company, and premiered in the United Kingdom on Channel 4 on 22 January 2021.