title: Stand-up comedy

text: Experienced comics with a popular following may produce a special. Typically lasting between one and two hours, a special may be recorded on tour or at a show advertised and performed specifically for the purpose. It may be released as a comedy album, video, or on television and streaming services.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: A stand-up defines their craft through the development of the routine or set. These are designed through the construction and revision of jokes and "bits" (linked jokes). The routine emerges from the arrangement of bits to build an interlinked narrative or overarching theme leading to the closer (the final joke that ties the themes of the show together in a satisfying or meaningful conclusion).


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Most jokes are the juxtaposition of two incongruous things and are made up of the premise, set-up, and punchline, often adding a twist, topper or tagline for an intensified or extra laugh. Delivery relies on the use of intonation, inflection, attitude and timing or other stylistic devices such as the rule of three, idioms, archetypes or wordplay. Another popular joke structure is the paraprosdokian, a surprising punchline that changes the context or meaning of the setup.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: In order to falsely frame their stories as true or to free themselves of responsibility for breaking social conventions, comedians can use the jester's privilege, the right to discuss and mock anything freely without being punished. "Punching up" and "punching down" describe who should be the "butt of the joke". This carries the assumption that, relative to the comedian's own socio-political identity, comedy should "punch up" at the rich and powerful without "punching down" at those who are marginalized and less fortunate.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Appropriation and plagiarism are considered "social crimes" by most stand-ups. There have been several high-profile accusations of joke theft, some ending in lawsuits for copyright infringement. Those accused will sometimes claim cryptomnesia or parallel thinking, but it is difficult to successfully sue for joke theft regardless due to the idea–expression distinction.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: According to Anna Spagnolli, stand-up comedy audiences "are both 'co-constructors of the situation' and 'co-responsible for it'".


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Audiences enter into an unspoken contract with the comedian in which they temporarily disregard normal social rules and accept the discussion of unexpected, controversial or scandalous subjects. The ability to understand the premise and appreciate the associated punchline determines whether a joke results in laughter or scathing disapproval.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Stand-up comedy differs from most other performing arts as the comedian is usually the only thing on stage and addresses the audience directly. The material should be perceived as spontaneous and only fully succeeds when the comic creates a sense of intimacy, while also discouraging heckling.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Part of the appeal of stand up is in appreciation of the skill of the performer, most people find the idea of standing on stage extremely daunting; research on the subject has consistently found that the fear of public speaking is more intense than the fear of dying.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: The audience is integral to live comedy, both as a foil to the comedian and as a contributing factor to the overall experience. The use of canned laughter in television comedy reveals this, with shows often seeming "dry" or dull without it. Shows may be filmed in front of a live audience for the same reason.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Chewing the scenery: Being overly theatrical or "trying too hard" to get a laugh, especially when failing.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Clapter: When the audience cheers or applauds an opinion that they agree with, but which is not funny enough for them to laugh at. Coined by Seth Meyers.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Corpsing or breaking: When the comedian laughs unintentionally during a portion of the show in which they are supposed to keep a straight face.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Killing and dying: When a stand-up does well, they are killing. If they are doing poorly, they are dying.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: The room: The space where the performance takes place. Stand-ups can "read the room" to interpret signs from the audience or "work the room" by interacting with the audience directly.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Smelling the road: Claiming that one can "smell the road" on a comedian suggests they have compromised their originality or pandered to get laughs while touring.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Tight five: A five-minute routine that is well-rehearsed and consists of a comedian's best material that reliably gets laughs. It is often used for auditions and is a stepping stone to getting a paid spot.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Warm up: To warm up a "cold" audience during the opening act before the main show. Often used at the filming of television comedies in front of studio audiences.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: Lee Evans sold £7 million worth of tickets for his 2011 tour in a day, the biggest first-day sale of a British comedy tour.


title: Stand-up comedy

text: British comedian Peter Kay currently holds multiple records for his 2010-2011 show The Tour That Doesn't Tour Tour...Now On Tour on a 112 date UK & Ireland arena tour.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Ultimate Spider-Man (titled Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors for the third season and Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister Six for its final season) is an American superhero animated television series broadcast on the cable network Disney XD, based on the Spider-Man comics published by Marvel Comics. The series featured writers such as Brian Michael Bendis (who also created the comic book series of the same name), Paul Dini, and Man of Action (a group consisting of Steven T. Seagle, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey and Duncan Rouleau).


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: It was first announced in early 2012, and debuted alongside the second season of "" as part of the "Marvel Universe" programming block on April 1, 2012. In a break from other series, Spider-Man breaks the fourth wall and speak directly to the audience. It also includes fantasy sequences from Peter's mind.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: The series concluded its run on January 7, 2017, with the two-part episode "Graduation Day." with 4 seasons each consisting of 26 episodes. Reruns continued to air on Disney XD until August 30, 2017.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Peter Parker has been Spider-Man for one year. He has saved lives and fought supervillains, but he is still in the process of learning how to be a superhero. Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. offers Peter the chance to train to be a real superhero and become "The Ultimate Spider-Man". However, Peter will first have to learn how to work with a team of four fellow teenage superheroes: Nova, White Tiger, Iron Fist, and Power Man.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: During the first season, corrupt industrialist Norman Osborn targets Spider-Man in the shadows in hopes of collecting his DNA to create a spider-soldier army to sell to the government. To do this, he uses Doctor Octopus as his pawn, having him send numerous supervillains (like Whirlwind, Taskmaster) after Spider-Man and use a sample of Spidey's blood to create the Venom symbiote, which ends up bonding with Harry Osborn, Norman's son and Peter's best friend. In the two-part season finale, Spider-Man learns that it was Norman who was the mastermind behind Doctor Octopus' schemes and Venom's creation, just in time to see Doctor Octopus take his revenge on Norman for the way he treated him by turning him into the Green Goblin from an altered form of Venom


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: In the second season, following the fight with the Green Goblin which destroyed the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, Spider-Man's team ends up staying at Peter Parker's house. In the season premiere, after learning that Spider-Man got his powers from one of Oscorp's genetically altered spiders at the end of last season, Doctor Octopus creates a bunch of serums with animal DNA in hopes of re-creating the process and S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist Dr. Curt Connors, still dealing with the aftermath of the Helicarrier's destruction after injuring his right arm and having it amputated, injects himself with one of these serums to become the Lizard. Later, Doctor Octopus controls Lizard so that he can join him, Electro, Rhino, Kraven the Hunter, and Beetle as a member of the Sinister Six. While Spider-Man and his team can defeat the Sinister Six, Lizard gets away, and Spider-Man swears to find and cure him. Later the Sinister Six reappears in the penultimate episode with Beetle replaced by Scorpion. During the season, Spider-Man learns more about his teammates' origins: Ava Ayala having assumed the mantle of White Tiger after her father Hector was killed by Kraven, Sam Alexander being the last member of the Nova Corps since former member Titus wiped the rest out trying to get another helmet and was recruited by the Guardians of the Galaxy, Danny Rand having assumed the mantle of Iron Fist after training in K'un-L'un and Luke Cage had received his powers from a S.H.I.E.L.D. version of the Super Soldier Formula developed by his parents. Norman Osborn, who was the Green Goblin, was healed and reformed, becoming Iron Patriot to mend his mistakes in the past by helping Spider-Man and his team, but in the escape of the Sinister Six, Spider-Man cures the Lizard with an antidote which turns him back into Dr. Connors while Doctor Octopus turns Norman back into the Green Goblin who turns Spider-Man's team into monster goblins like him, but Spider-Man cures them with an antidote and they prevent Green Goblin from spreading the goblin gas on New York on the old Helicarrier.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: In the third season, Spider-Man officially joins the Avengers, but after a fight with Loki, Doctor Octopus and a group of Norse creatures (Ulik the Savage - Rock Trolls, Frost Dragons, Frost Giants, Fenris Wolf) bonded with the Venom symbiote, he chooses to resign and remain with S.H.I.E.L.D. In the aftermath, the symbiote permanently bonds with Flash Thompson to become Agent Venom and Spider-Man is tasked by Nick Fury to recruit other young heroes to form the New Warriors. At the same time, Green Goblin hires Taskmaster to find the young heroes before Spider-Man does and form the Thunderbolts. Spider-Man manages to recruit Ka-Zar and his pet smilodon Zabu from the Savage Land, and Amadeus Cho in the Iron Spider armor, while Taskmaster recruits Cloak and Dagger and Vulture. When the Thunderbolts attempt to free Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Beetle and Scorpion, Spider-Man leads the New Warriors against the group, and is able to convince Cloak and Dagger to switch sides. The New Warriors ultimately defeat the villains, but Green Goblin escapes with the Siege Perilous, leading to a variation of the "Spider-Verse" storyline in which he travels across the Multiverse to collect DNA samples of Spider-Man's alternate counterparts to turn himself into the Spider-Goblin. Chasing after him, Spider-Man meets up with Spider-Man 2099, Spider-Girl, Spider-Man Noir, Spider-Ham, Spyder-Knight, and Miles Morales, helping them each one by one with their problems, before teaming up with all of them to take down Spider-Goblin and a giant Helicarrier robot controlled by Electro. After both are defeated and the alternate Spider-Men return to their homes, Goblin reverts into Norman Osborn and ends up suffering amnesia, making him forget his time as the Goblin. Afterwards, Spider-Man and his team begin their education at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy located at the Triskelion while dealing with the reawakened Arnim Zola. Not long afterwards, Spider-Man gets involved in a contest between the Collector and the Grandmaster for the fate of Earth. During this time, Aunt May, Agent Venom, and Iron Spider learn of Spider-Man's identity.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: As the fourth and final season begins, Doctor Octopus allies himself with Arnim Zola and HYDRA and begins to form a new


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: iteration of the Sinister Six starting with Kraven the Hunter. When Doctor Octopus attempts to turn Norman Osborn back into Green Goblin, he finds that Osborn injected himself with an anti-Goblin serum to prevent further transformations. Doctor Octopus then uses the Siege Perilous to summon the Green Goblin's demonic winged counterpart from Miles Morales's universe and after a brief battle recruits him instead. He bribes Rhino into becoming a spy for him while operating as a student at the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy in exchange for finding a cure for his condition. When Spider-Man and his team accidentally release the water-made criminal Hydro-Man, Doctor Octopus spares no expense in recruiting him. Doctor Octopus then completes his lineup with Electro. Spider-Man forms his own new team consisting of Agent Venom, Iron Spider, Miles Morales (going by the name Kid Arachnid now), and the newly introduced Scarlet Spider (who has no identity and is later named Ben by Aunt May). It was later revealed that Doctor Octopus actually created the Sinister Seven and that Scarlet Spider was the real spy for him, and unmasks Spider-Man in front of Doctor Octopus, revealing his identity. This leads to Doctor Octopus leading up to his next plot that has him turning against Arnim Zola and captures Aunt May. However, Scarlet Spider has a change of heart at the last minute, he ends up sacrificing himself to save the city from Doctor Octopus.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Soon after, Spider-Man discovers the reason behind Fury and Nova's disappearance; they were protecting Madame Web from HYDRA, but were ultimately discovered and Fury was held hostage by HYDRA and Crossbones. After Fury is rescued by Spider-Man, Madame Web and Triton, Fury and Madame Web go into hiding again to protect themselves from HYDRA, with Fury leaving Spider-Man in complete control of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy during his absence. Later, Crossbones and Michael Morbius do some experiments with the Venom symbiote which leads to the revival of Carnage leading up to Carnage's explosion causing every civilian to turn into Carnage-like monsters. Harry awakens from his coma and reverts into Anti-Venom, and begins to drain the Carnage symbiotes away from the civilians. After losing control, Peter reveals his identity to Harry, who reverts to himself, before re-emerging with Anti-Venom to destroy the Carnage symbiotes. The Carnage symbiote reveals itself to still be alive, however, and goes on a rampage throughout the city in direction of Midtown High to find Mary Jane Watson, who was overtaken by the Carnage symbiote to become the "Carnage Queen". They are attacked by Morbius, who became a living vampire due to the injection he received from Doctor Octopus. Spider-Man, Agent Venom and Patrioteer ultimately save Mary Jane from the symbiote after revealing their identities to her, and she destroys the symbiote herself. Unbeknownst to Spider-Man, a fragment of the Carnage symbiote is inside her body.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Later on, Madame Web comes to the conclusion that the destruction of the Siege Perilous during the fight with Doctor Octopus and alternate Green Goblin has shattered the dimensional barriers between numerous worlds. Spider-Man and Miles Morales travel to alternate realities in order to collect the pieces of the Siege Perilous, but an evil version of Spider-Man named Wolf Spider seeks to reassemble the pieces in his plans to conquer the Multiverse. During their adventure, they reunite with Spider-Man Noir and meet other spider-based characters as they work to get to the Siege Perilous shards before Wolf Spider does. They find the last piece in Miles' native dimension where they learn that since he and Goblin left, crime got even higher and the universe's native Aunt May, feeling that it needs a Spider, used leftover equipment from the universe's native Peter Parker (who died in a fight with the demonic Green Goblin) to turn one of his friends Gwen Stacy into a new spider-powered hero Spider-Woman. Together with her, they repair the Siege Perilous, but Wolf Spider manages to swipe it and go forth with his plan. Spider-Man manages to deceive his evil counterpart into absorbing too much power, causing him to explode which sends the life force of the other spiders back to their native homes. Although they have the Siege Perilous and after seeing how well Spider-Woman has done with protecting his universe, Miles decides to let her remain as the main spider-powered person of it, while he and his mother Rio Morales permanently settle in Spider-Man's native dimension.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: In a similarity to the "Clone Saga", Spider-Man and Mary Jane soon discover the clone of Spider-Man called Kaine who tries to feed off them. The clone of Spider-Man eventually leads them to "Project Kaine" which involves combining the DNA of Spider-Man with the Synthezoids. Surprisingly, Mary Jane is able to control the Carnage Symbiote inside her, thanks to Dr Connors experiment and assumes the identity of Spider-Woman. It is discovered that Doctor Octopus and Arnim Zola had created Scarlet Spider as part of Weapon S which are Spider-Man/Synthezoid Spider-Slayers where he is to have been the leader of the Delta-Nine Synthezoids that consist of Bone Spider, Goliath Spider, and Ghost Spider. When Scarlet Spider gets control of the Delta-Nine Synthezoids and Doctor Octopus reclaims his Nanotech that gives him a more mobile body, Spider-Man's group causes HYDRA Island to sink into the water again. They head back to the Triskelion, the other team of Spider-Man: Nova, Power Man, Iron Fist, and Squirrel Girl attack Scarlet Spider and the Delta-Nine Synthezoids, because they know Scarlet Spider worked for Doctor Octopus, who, not only knows Spider-Man's identity, but also endangered S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy and Aunt May, being all against him. Kaine returns and draining the energies of its inhabitants enough to leave them with coma-like symptoms, he targets the spider-based heroes. The Web-Warriors fight Kaine, but he gets control of the Delta-Nine Synthezoids. Spider-Man and the other spider-based heroes try to defeat Kaine even when he combines with the Delta-Nine Synthezoids to form a hybrid form called The Ultimate Spider-Slayer until Agent Venom saves Scarlet Spider and uses the energy transmitter to overload to explode.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: In the series' climax, the graduation day comes in which Doctor Octopus warns Peter Parker that he should never become Spider-Man and save his Aunt May from dying. Spider-Man quickly goes to the Triskelion and assembles his team, the New Warriors and Web-Warriors, and tells them about what happened in the morning. Doctor Octopus along with his Superior Sinister Six capture Spider-Man and use an antidote on him to which he loses his spider powers but after working with Norman Osborn at Oscorp who now knows that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, Spider-Man is able to gain his spider powers back and uses the antidote to cure Vulture, Rhino, and a Lizard-mutated Crossbones and defeat Scorpion and Kraven. With the same antidote, Spider-Man also defeats and cures Doctor Octopus of his mindless Octopus monster form, on which Octavius is eventually convinced that Spider-Man shows respect for him despite all difficulties and redeems himself by helping Spider-Man undo the force-field he projected to destroy Spider-Man's teammates and the graduation attendants. In the epilogue, Otto Octavius eventually surrenders as he is taken under custody by Iron Man, Spider-Man and his teammates successfully graduate as Agent Venom and Scarlet Spider are named the new teachers in S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. After a conversation with his Aunt May (after moving to another home), Peter eventually takes on his old super hero life satisfied to have finally become what he trained in S.H.I.E.L.D. to be: The Ultimate Spider-Man.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: He also made guest appearances in episodes of other series: In "Avengers Assemble", in the episodes "Hulk's Day Out", "Avengers Disassembled" and "Avengers Underground", and in "Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.", in the episodes "The Collector", "The Venom Within", "Spidey, I Blew Up the Dinosaur" and "Planet Monster, Part 2".


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: In "Avengers Assemble", in the episode "Planet Doom", Slinger, a masked vigilante member of the Defenders, was introduced. Unlike the original Spider-Man, Slinger is sarcastic and cynical, making snide comments and doubting Thor's ability to be their savior. His costume is similar to that of Spider-Man Noir's.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: And in "Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H.", in the episode "Days of Future Smash, Part 1 - The Dino Era", in a dinosaur-dominated timeline has a dinosaur version of Spider-Man called Spider-Raptor. Alongside El Diablo, he was among those who fought the tyranny of King Sauron. With help from the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., Spider-Raptor and El Diablo were able to free the primitive humans and overthrow King Sauron.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: The series is adapted from the "Ultimate Spider-Man" comic book, which was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis. Bendis and Paul Dini served as writers and producers on the show. Man of Action (a group consisting of Steven T. Seagle, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey and Duncan Rouleau), the creators of the animated series "Ben 10" and "Generator Rex", serve as supervising producers on the show. Twenty-six episodes were ordered for the first season. According to Paul Dini, the series features a "redefined" Peter Parker, and a combination of frequent guest stars loosely based on Bendis' comics, and original material, such as the origins of some heroes and villains. Actor J. K. Simmons reprises his role as J. Jonah Jameson from Sam Raimi's live-action "Spider-Man" film trilogy for the series. Notable voice actors include Adrian Pasdar as Iron Man (returning to the role after previously having voiced him in Madhouse's and Marvel's "Iron Man" anime), and Kevin Michael Richardson, who voices Robbie Robertson and Bulldozer.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: The series depicts Spider-Man becoming the newest member of S.H.I.E.L.D. under the leadership of Nick Fury, on a team with four other teenage superheroes. Villains such as Living Laser, Venom and Doctor Doom were seen in a trailer shown at the 2011 San Diego Comic Con.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: "Ultimate Spider-Man" premiered on April 1, 2012, on Disney XD in the United States, while the pilot episode was released on Xbox Live and PlayStation Store on April 2, 2012. In the UK and Ireland, the show premiered on Disney UK and Ireland on May 31, 2013. It premiered in Canada on June 22, 2012, on Teletoon.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Disney XD and Marvel officially announced Season 3 on July 20, 2013, at San Diego Comic Con. Season 3, retitled "Ultimate Spider-Man: Web-Warriors", includes Spider-Man joining the Avengers (consisting of the line-up from "Avengers Assemble") and introducing characters such as Cloak and Dagger, Amadeus Cho, Ka-Zar and Agent Venom.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: A fourth season, retitled "Ultimate Spider-Man vs. the Sinister 6", began broadcasting on February 21, 2016.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Launch parties for the series were held in New York City and Los Angeles on March 31, 2012, the day before the series' broadcast television debut. On hand at the New York City party at Midtown Comics Downtown in Manhattan were Marvel Chief Creative Officer Joe Quesada, writer/producer Joe Kelly and Chris Eliopoulos, who wrote the first issue of the tie-in comic book, while the Los Angeles party at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood was attended by Marvel Head of Television Jeph Loeb, Duncan Rouleau, Steven T. Seagle, voice actors Clark Gregg and Misty Lee, and Creative Consultant Paul Dini, who wrote the series pilot.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: A comic book series that ties in with the show called "Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures" debuted on April 25, 2012. "Ultimate Spider-Man Adventures" is an ongoing series and is being released alongside "The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Adventures". The comics was written by Dan Slott and Ty Templeton, while Nuno Plati provided artwork. In 2015, Marvel began releasing a series of free digital comics simply called "Ultimate Spider-Man", which can be read on the "Marvel Kids" website.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Additionally, the U.K branch of Panini Comics released eleven issues in their "Ultimate Spider-Man Magazine!" that tied into the third season, "Ultimate Spider-Man: Web-Warriors".


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: In the 2014 comic book crossover storyline, "Spider-Verse", the version of Spider-Man from the cartoon teams up with the comics version of Spider-Man of Earth-616 in recruiting a Spider-Man Army to fight the Inheritors.


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: The series received generally positive reviews from audiences and mixed reviews from critics. Brian Lowry of "Variety" criticized the series, suggesting that the source material was "strained through the juvenile, rapid-fire-joke filter of "Family Guy"", and called the show a "high-profile misfire" that didn't "bode well for Marvel's efforts to straddle the line of catering to kids without dumbing down venerable properties that plenty of adults know and love."


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: David Sims of "The A.V. Club" gave the pilot a "C" ranking, writing that the first episode "feels rather lame and perfunctory, with wackiness dialed up to 11 in an effort to distract from how fundamentally bland it is." Sim subsequently gave a "C+" to the episode "Doomed" and a "B+" to the episode "Back in Black." Oliver Sava, also of "The A.V. Club", gave the episode "Venom" a "B", stating that the title of the show should be changed to "Synergy Spider-Man", because it goes beyond movie and Ultimate continuity to create an entry point for young viewers into the main line of Marvel titles. Sava subsequently gave the episode "Field Trip" an "A−".


title: Ultimate Spider-Man (TV series)

text: Emily Ashby of "Common Sense Media" gave the show a 4 out of 5 stars, noting the abundance of action and humor afforded by the series' premise, and opining that the lessons that Parker learns about growth and responsibility under the guidance of his mentor and friends would at least make lasting impressions on young viewers.


title: Oatmeal

text: Oatmeal is a preparation of oats that have been de-husked, steamed, and flattened, or a coarse flour of hulled oat grains (groats) that have either been milled (ground) or steel-cut. Ground oats are also called white oats. Steel-cut oats are known as coarse oatmeal, Irish oatmeal, or pinhead oats. Rolled oats were traditionally thick old-fashioned oats, but can be made thinner or smaller, and may be categorized as quick oatmeal or instant oatmeal depending on the cooking time required, which is determined by the size of the oats and the amount of precooking.


title: Oatmeal

text: The oat grains are de-husked by impact, and are then heated and cooled to stabilize the groats, the seed inside the husk. The groats may be milled to produce fine, medium, or coarse oatmeal. Steel-cut oats may be small and contain broken groats from the de-husking process (these bits may be steamed and flattened to produce smaller rolled oats).


title: Oatmeal

text: Rolled oats are steamed and flattened whole oat groats. Old-fashioned oats may be thick and require longer cooking time. Quick-cooking rolled oats are cut into small pieces before being steamed and rolled. Instant oatmeal is cooked and dried, often with a sweetener and flavorings added.


title: Oatmeal

text: Both types of rolled oats may be eaten uncooked, as in muesli, or may be cooked with water or milk to make porridge. In some countries, rolled oats are eaten raw or toasted with milk and sugar, sometimes with raisins added, as in muesli. The term 'oatmeal' sometimes refers to a porridge made from the bran or fibrous husk as well as from the kernel or groat. Rolled oats are often used as a key ingredient in granola, in which toasted oats are blended with sugar and/or nuts and raisins, and in granola bars.


title: Oatmeal

text: Rolled oats are also used as an ingredient in oatmeal cookies, oatcakes, British flapjack bars, and baked oatmeal dessert dishes such as Apple Brown Betty and apple crisp. Oats may also be added to foods as an accent, as in the topping on many oat bran breads and as the coating on Caboc cheese. Oatmeal is also used as a thickening agent in savory Arabic or Egyptian meat-and-vegetable soups, and sometimes as a way of adding relatively low-cost fibre and nutritional content to meatloaf.


title: Oatmeal

text: Unenriched oatmeal, cooked by boiling or microwave, is 84% water, and contains 12% carbohydrates, including 2% dietary fiber, and 2% each of protein and fat (table). In a 100 gram amount, a serving of cooked oatmeal provides 71 Calories and contains 29% of the Daily Value (DV) for manganese and moderate content of phosphorus and zinc (11% DV each), with no other micronutrients in significant quantity (see table on right).


title: Oatmeal

text: Oatmeal and other oat products were the subject of a 1997 ruling by the Food and Drug Administration that consuming oat bran or whole rolled oats can lower the risk of heart disease when combined with a low-fat diet via the effect of oat beta-glucan to reduce levels of blood cholesterol. A similar conclusion was reached in 2010 by the European Food Safety Authority.


title: Oatmeal

text: Oatmeal has a long history in Scottish culinary tradition because oats are better suited than wheat to the country's low temperatures and high humidity. As a result, oats became the staple grain of Scotland. The ancient universities of Scotland had a holiday called Meal Monday to permit students to return to their farms and collect more oats for food.


title: Oatmeal

text: Samuel Johnson referred, disparagingly, to this in his dictionary definition for oats: "A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people." His biographer, James Boswell, noted that Lord Elibank was said by Sir Walter Scott to have retorted, "Yes, and where else will you see such horses and such men?"


title: Oatmeal

text: In Scotland, oatmeal is created by grinding oats into a coarse powder. It may be ground fine, medium, or coarse, or rolled, or the groats may be chopped in two or three pieces to make what is described as pinhead oatmeal. Ground oatmeal, rolled oats, and pinhead oatmeal, are all used (throughout Britain); one Scots manufacturer describes varieties as "Scottish Porridge Oats" (rolled), "Scottish Oatmeal" (medium ground), and "Pinhead Oatmeal". The main uses are:


title: Oatmeal

text: Staffordshire oatcakes are a local component of the full English breakfast. It is a plate-sized pancake, made with medium oatmeal and wheatmeal (flour), along with yeast. Once the mixture has risen, it is ladled onto a griddle or bakestone and dried through. Staffordshire oatcakes are commonly paired with bacon, sausages, mushrooms, kidney, and baked beans, among others. A related oatcake is sometimes found in neighbouring Derbyshire.


title: Oatmeal

text: Throughout the Netherlands, the Nordic countries, the Baltic states and Russia, oatmeal porridge made from rolled oats and water or milk is a traditional breakfast staple. Known under various local names meaning "oat porridge", "oat flake porridge" or "oatmeal porridge", it is normally made either savoury or sweet by adding salt or sugar, and it is often eaten with added nuts, raisins or dried fruits as well as spices, most commonly cinnamon. Local names for the porridge include Dutch "havermoutpap", Swedish "havregrynsgröt", Danish "havregrød", Norwegian "havregrøt" or "havregraut", Icelandic "hafragrautur", Finnish "kaurapuuro", Estonian "kaerahelbepuder", Latvian "auzu pārslu (putra)", Lithuanian "avižinių dribsnių košė", Polish "owsianka" and Russian "овсянка" (ovsyanka).


title: Oatmeal

text: Oatmeal porridge has a long tradition in these regions, but during the Middle Ages porridge made from rye or barley was even more common in at least some parts of the area.


title: Oatmeal

text: In the United States, oatmeal is often served as a porridge with milk or cream and a sweetener, such as brown sugar or honey. It may include additional ingredients such as peanut butter, cinnamon or various types of fruits.


title: Oatmeal

text: In Nigeria, a common oatmeal dish known as Zimbuleh (Also known as Zimbeleh in the Abuja region) is eaten during the winter months. Traditionally it is sweetened with raw honey and cardamom. In the Eket and Kwa Ibo region it is often served alongside warm milk, and it is customary to pour it into the porridge just moments before eating.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Barbara Billingsley (born Barbara Lillian Combes; December 22, 1915 – October 16, 2010) was an American actress. She began her career with uncredited roles in "Three Guys Named Mike" (1951), "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952), and "Invaders from Mars" (1953), and was featured in the 1957 film "The Careless Years" opposite Natalie Trundy. She then appeared in recurring TV roles, such as "The Brothers".


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley gained prominence for her best-known role of June Cleaver, the mother in the television series "Leave It to Beaver" (1957–1963) and its sequel "The New Leave It to Beaver" (1983–1989). She appeared as the "Jive Lady" in "Airplane!" (1980), and her final film role was as Aunt Martha in the 1997 film version of "Leave It to Beaver".


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley was born Barbara Lillian Combes on December 22, 1915, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Lillian Agnes (née McLaughlin) and Robert Collyer Combes, a police officer. She had one elder sibling, Elizabeth. Her parents divorced sometime before her fourth birthday, and her father, who later became an assistant chief of police, remarried. After the divorce, Billingsley's mother began working as a foreman at a knitting mill.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: After attending Los Angeles Junior College for one year, Billingsley traveled to Broadway, when "Straw Hat", a revue in which she was appearing, attracted enough attention to send it to New York City. When the show closed after five days, she took an apartment on 57th Street and went to work as a $60-a-week fashion model. In 1941, she married Glenn Billingsley Sr. She landed a contract with MGM Studios in 1945, and moved with her husband to Los Angeles in 1946. That same year, Glenn Billingsley opened a steakhouse there.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: She had mostly uncredited roles in major movies in the 1940s. These roles continued into the first half of the 1950s with supporting roles in "Three Guys Named Mike" (1951), opposite Jane Wyman; "The Bad and the Beautiful" (1952); and the science-fiction film "Invaders from Mars" (1953). In 1952, Billingsley had her first role as a guest star in an episode of "The Abbott and Costello Show".


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: In 1955, she won a costarring role in the sitcom "Professional Father", starring Stephen Dunne and Beverly Washburn. It lasted one season. The next year, Billingsley had a recurring role in "The Brothers" (with Gale Gordon and Bob Sweeney) and an appearance with David Niven in his anthology series "Four Star Playhouse". In 1957, she costarred with Dean Stockwell and Natalie Trundy in "The Careless Years", her first and only major role in a film.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley had guest roles in "The Pride of the Family", "Schlitz Playhouse of Stars", "Letter to Loretta", "You Are There", and "Cavalcade of America". She appeared on "Make Room for Daddy" on January 14, 1957 in the episode "Danny's Date", where she played Mary Rogers.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: After Billingsley signed a contract with Universal Studios in 1957, she made her mark on TV as June Cleaver in the sitcom "Leave It to Beaver". It debuted on CBS in 1957 to mediocre ratings. It was picked up by ABC the following year and became a hit, airing for the next five seasons, and broadcast in over 100 countries. It also starred Hugh Beaumont as Ward Cleaver, June's husband and the kids' father, and child actors Tony Dow as Wally Cleaver and Jerry Mathers as Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: In the show, Billingsley was often seen doing household chores wearing pearls and earrings. The pearls, which were Billingsley's trademark, were, in turn, her idea to have her alter ego wear on television. She had what she termed "a hollow" in her neck and thought that wearing a strand of white pearls would lighten it up for the cameras. In later seasons, she started wearing high heels to compensate for the fact that the actors playing her sons were getting taller than she was. The pearl necklace was so closely associated with the character that an entire episode of the sequel series dealt with the necklace when it was lost.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley had one regret about the show's lasting success: In standard actors' contracts in the 1950s, residual payments ended after six reruns—and the show, subsequently considered a classic, was syndicated for the rest of her life.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley said that her character was the "ideal mother" during a 1997 interview with "TV Guide". She said that some people thought June was a weak character, but that she didn't: "She was the love in that family. She set a good example for what a wife could be. I had two boys at home when I did the show. I think the character became kind of like me and vice versa. I've never known where one started and where one stopped." Billingsley explained her view on the enduring appeal of the "Leave It to Beaver" characters: "I think everybody would like a family like that. Wouldn't it be nice if you came home from school and there was Mom standing there with her little apron and cookies waiting?"


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley, however, questioned her character's reactions to the Cleaver children's misbehavior, basing her concern on personal experience as the mother of two sons. As co-producer Joseph Connelly explained: "In scenes where she's mad at the boys, she's always coming over to us with the script and objecting. 'I don't see why June is so mad over what Beaver's done. I certainly wouldn't be.' As a result, many of Beaver's crimes have been rewritten into something really heinous like lying about them, in order to give his mother a strong motive for blowing her lady-like stack."


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: After six seasons and 234 episodes, the series was canceled because of the cast's desire to move on to other projects, especially Mathers, who retired from acting to enter his freshman year in high school. The younger actor considered Billingsley a mentor, a second mother, and a close professional friend:


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: When production of the show ended in 1963, Billingsley had become typecast and had trouble obtaining acting jobs for years. She traveled extensively abroad until the late 1970s. After an absence of 17 years from the public eye (other than appearing in two episodes of "The F.B.I." in 1971), she spoofed her wholesome image with a brief appearance in the comedy "Airplane!" (1980) as a passenger who could "speak jive." She said the role gave her as much publicity as "Beaver" and revived her career.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Returning to TV, she appeared on episodes of "Mork & Mindy" and "The Love Boat". In 1983 she reprised her role as June Cleaver in the "Leave It to Beaver" television movie titled "Still the Beaver" in 1983. Hugh Beaumont had died the previous year of a heart attack, so she played his widow. She also appeared in the revival of the series "The New Leave It to Beaver" from 1985 to 1989. During the run of "The New Leave It to Beaver", Billingsley became the voice of Nanny on "Muppet Babies" from 1984 to 1991. For her performance as Nanny, she was nominated for the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Series in 1989 and 1990.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: After "The New Leave It to Beaver" ended its run in 1989, Billingsley appeared in guest roles on "Parker Lewis Can't Lose", "Empty Nest", and "Murphy Brown". She also reprised her role as June Cleaver in various television shows, including "Elvira's Movie Macabre", "Amazing Stories", "Baby Boom", "Hi Honey, I'm Home!", and "Roseanne". In 1998, she appeared on "Candid Camera", with June Lockhart and Isabel Sanford, as audience members in a spoof seminar on motherhood. Billingsley's final film role was as Aunt Martha in the 1997 film version of "Leave It to Beaver". She made her final onscreen appearance in the 2003 television movie "Secret Santa".


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: After the show's cancellation in 1963, Mathers remained her close friend. They were reunited on "The New Leave It to Beaver". Billingsley, Mathers, Dow, Frank Bank, and Ken Osmond celebrated the show's 50th anniversary together on "Good Morning America".


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley was married three times and had two children. She married Glenn Billingsley, Sr. in 1941, a restaurateur and a nephew of Sherman Billingsley, owner of the Stork Club. His businesses included Billingsley's Golden Bull, Billingsley's Bocage, the Outrigger Polynesian restaurants in Los Angeles, and a Stork Club in Key West, Florida, where they lived briefly after their wedding. They had two sons and divorced in 1947.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: In 1953 she married British-born movie director Roy Kellino. Their marriage lasted three years, when in 1956 he died of a heart attack at age 44. It was about six months later that she was handed the pilot for what would become "Leave It To Beaver" (then titled "It's a Small World"). Billingsley's third and final marriage was to William S. Mortensen in 1959; they remained together until his death in 1981.


title: Barbara Billingsley

text: Billingsley died of polymyalgia at her home in Santa Monica, California, on October 16, 2010, at the age of 94. She is interred at Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery, Santa Monica.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek (), ), formerly Pishpek and Frunze, is the capital and largest city of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is also the administrative centre of the Chüy Region. The region surrounds the city, although the city itself is not part of the region but rather a region-level unit of Kyrgyzstan. Bishkek is situated near the Kazakhstan–Kyrgyzstan border. Its population was 1,074,075 in 2021.


title: Bishkek

text: In 1825, the Khanate of Kokand established the fortress of Pishpek to control local caravan routes and to collect tribute from Kyrgyz tribes. On 4 September 1860, with the approval of the Kyrgyz, Russian forces led by Colonel Apollon Zimmermann destroyed the fortress. In the present day, the fortress ruins can be found just north of Jibek jolu street, near the new main mosque. In 1868, a Russian settlement was established on the site of the fortress under its original name, Pishpek. It lay within the General Governorship of Russian Turkestan and its Semirechye Oblast.


title: Bishkek

text: In 1925, the Kara-Kirghiz Autonomous Oblast was established in Russian Turkestan, promoting Pishpek to its capital. In 1926, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union renamed the city Frunze, after Bolshevik military leader Mikhail Frunze (1885–1925), who was born there. In 1936, Frunze became the capital of the Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic, during the final stages of national delimitation in the Soviet Union. In 1991, the Kyrgyz parliament changed the capital's name to Bishkek.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek is situated at an altitude of about , just off the northern fringe of the Kyrgyz Ala-Too Range, an extension of the Tian Shan mountain range. These mountains rise to a height of . North of the city, a fertile and gently undulating steppe extends far north into neighbouring Kazakhstan. The river Chüy drains most of the area. Bishkek is connected to the Turkestan–Siberia Railway by a spur line.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek is a city of wide boulevards and marble-faced public buildings combined with numerous Soviet-style apartment blocks surrounding interior courtyards. There are also thousands of smaller, privately built houses, mostly outside the city centre. Streets follow a grid pattern, with most flanked on both sides by narrow irrigation channels, which provide water to trees which provide shade during the hot summers.


title: Bishkek

text: The official website of the Bishkek's city hall provides the following etymological justification for the name of the city: the pregnant wife of a heo) lost a paddle used to churn kumis. While looking for it, she suddenly gave birth to a boy, who she named Bishkek. Bishkek would grow up to be a noble figure and after his death, was buried on a mound near the banks of the Alamüdün. There, a tombstone was erected. The building was seen and described by travelers of the 17th and 18th centuries.


title: Bishkek

text: Based on DNA evidence, the area near Bishkek is considered one of the possible origins of the Black Death between AD 1346 and 1353.


title: Bishkek

text: Originally a caravan rest stop, possibly founded by the Sogdians, on one of the branches of the Silk Road through the Tian Shan range, the location was fortified in 1825 by the khan of Kokand with a mud fort. In the last years of Kokhand rule, the Pishpek fortress was led by Atabek, the Datka. In 1844, the forces of Ormon Khan, the leader of the , briefly captured the fortress.


title: Bishkek

text: In 1860, Imperial Russia annexed the area, and the military forces of Colonel took and razed the fort. Colonel Zimmermann rebuilt the town over the destroyed fort and appointed field-Poruchik Titov as head of a new Russian garrison. The Imperial Russian government redeveloped the site from 1877 onward, encouraging the settlement of Russian peasants by giving them fertile land to develop.


title: Bishkek

text: In 1926, the city became the capital of the newly established Kirghiz ASSR and was renamed Frunze after Mikhail Frunze, Lenin's close associate who was born in Bishkek and played key roles during the revolutions of 1905 and 1917 and during the Russian Civil War of the early 1920s.


title: Bishkek

text: The early 1990s were a tumultuous time for Bishkek. In June 1990, a state of emergency was declared following severe ethnic riots in southern Kyrgyzstan that threatened to spread to the capital. The city was renamed Bishkek on 5 February 1991, and Kyrgyzstan achieved independence later that year during the breakup of the Soviet Union. Before independence, the majority of Bishkek's population were ethnic Russians. In 2004, Russians made up approximately 20% of the city's population, and about in 2011.


title: Bishkek

text: Today, Bishkek is a modern city with many restaurants and cafes, and many second-hand European and Japanese cars and minibuses crowding its streets. However, streets and sidewalks have fallen into disrepair since the 1990s. At the same time, Bishkek still preserves much of its former Soviet feel with Soviet-period buildings and gardens prevailing over newer structures. Since the early 2010s, the city has seen a tremendous amount of new construction that is starting to remove some of the old Soviet architecture, especially on the city's southern side.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek is Kyrgyzstan's financial centre, with all of the country's 21 commercial banks headquartered there. During the Soviet era, the city was home to many industrial plants, but most have been shut down since 1991 or now operate on a much-reduced scale. One of Bishkek's largest employment centres today is the Dordoy Bazaar open market, where many of the Chinese goods imported to CIS countries are sold.


title: Bishkek

text: Although Bishkek itself is relatively young, its surrounding area has some sites of interest dating to prehistoric times. There are also sites from the Greco-Buddhist period, the period of Nestorian influence, the era of the Central Asian "khanates", and the Soviet period.


title: Bishkek

text: The central part of the city is laid out on a rectangular grid plan. The city's main street is the east-west Chüy Avenue (Chüy Prospekti), named after the region's main river. In the Soviet era, it was called Lenin Avenue. Along or near it are many important government buildings and universities. These include the Academy of Sciences compound. The westernmost section of the avenue is known as Deng Xiaoping Avenue.


title: Bishkek

text: The main north–south street is Yusup Abdrakhmanov Street, still commonly referred to by its old name, Sovietskaya Street. Its northern and southern sections are called, respectively, Yelebesov and Baityk Batyr Streets. Several major shopping centres are located along with it, and in the north, it provides access to Dordoy Bazaar.


title: Bishkek

text: Erkindik ("Freedom") Boulevard runs from north to south, from the main railroad station (Bishkek II) south of Chüy Avenue to the museum quarter and sculpture park just north of Chüy Avenue, and further north toward the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the past, it was called Dzerzhinsky Boulevard, named after a Communist revolutionary, Felix Dzerzhinsky, and its northern continuation is still called Dzerzhinsky Street.


title: Bishkek

text: An important east–west street is Jibek Jolu ('Silk Road'). It runs parallel to Chüy Avenue about north of it and is part of the main east–west road of Chüy Region. Both the eastern and western bus terminals are located along Jibek Jolu.


title: Bishkek

text: There is a Roman Catholic church located at ul. Vasiljeva 197 (near Rynok Bayat). It is the only Catholic cathedral in Kyrgyzstan.


title: Bishkek

text: A stadium named in honour of Dolon Omurzakov is located near the centre of Bishkek. This is the largest stadium in the Kyrgyz Republic.


title: Bishkek

text: The Dordoy Bazaar, just inside the bypass highway on the north-eastern edge of the city, is a major retail and wholesale market.


title: Bishkek

text: The Kyrgyz Ala-Too mountain range, some away, provides a spectacular backdrop to the city; the Ala Archa National Park is only a 30 to 45 minutes drive away.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek is about 300 km away directly from the country's second largest city Osh. However, its nearest large city is Almaty of Kazakhstan, which is 190 km to the east. Furthermore, it is 470 km from Tashkent (Uzbekistan), 680 km from Dushanbe (Tajikistan), and about 1,000 km each from Astana (Kazakhstan), Ürümqi (China), Islamabad (Pakistan), and Kabul (Afghanistan).


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek has a Mediterranean-influenced humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dsa"), as the average mean temperature in the winter is below . Average precipitation is around per year. Average daily high temperatures range from in January to about during July. The summer months are dominated by dry periods, punctuated by the occasional thunderstorm, which produces strong gusty winds and rare dust storms. The mountains to the south provide a natural boundary and protection from damaging weather, as does the smaller mountain chain that runs north-west to south-east. In the winter months, sparse snow storms and frequent heavy fog are the dominating features. There are sometimes temperature inversions, during which the fog can last for days at a time.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek is the most populated city in Kyrgyzstan. Its population, estimated in 2021, was 1,074,075. From the foundation of the city to the mid-1990s, ethnic Russians and other peoples of European descent (Ukrainians, Germans) comprised the majority of the city's population. According to the 1970 census, the ethnic Kyrgyz were only 12.3%, while Europeans comprised more than 80% of the Frunze population. Now Bishkek is a predominantly Kyrgyz city, with 75% of its residents Kyrgyz, while European peoples make up around 15% of the population. Despite this fact, Russian is the main language while Kyrgyz continues losing ground, especially among the younger generations.


title: Bishkek

text: Emissions of air pollutants in Bishkek amounted to 14,400 tons in 2010. Among all cities in Kyrgyzstan, the level of air pollution in Bishkek is the highest, occasionally exceeding maximum allowable concentrations by several times, especially in the city centre. For example, concentrations of formaldehyde occasionally exceed maximum allowable limits by a factor of four.


title: Bishkek

text: Responsibility for ambient air quality monitoring in Bishkek lies with the Kyrgyz State Agency of Hydrometeorology. There are seven air-quality monitoring stations in Bishkek, measuring levels of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde, and ammonia.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek uses the Kyrgyzstan currency, the som. The som's value fluctuates regularly but averaged around 75 som per U.S. dollar as of July 2020. The economy in Bishkek is primarily agricultural, and agricultural products are sometimes bartered in the outlying regions. The streets of Bishkek are regularly lined with produce vendors in a market-style venue. In most of the downtown area there is a more urban cityscape with banks, stores, markets, and malls. Sought-after goods include hand-crafted artisan pieces, such as statues, carvings, paintings, and many nature-based sculptures.


title: Bishkek

text: As with many cities in post-Soviet states, housing in Bishkek has undergone extensive changes since the collapse of the Soviet Union. While housing was formerly distributed to citizens in the Soviet era, housing in Bishkek has since become privatised.


title: Bishkek

text: Though single-family houses are slowly becoming more popular, the majority of the residents live in Soviet-era apartments. Despite the Kyrgyz economy experiencing growth, increases in available housing have been slow with very little new construction. As a result of this growing prosperity and the lack of new formal housing, prices have been rising significantly—doubling from 2001 to 2002.


title: Bishkek

text: Those unable to afford the high housing price within Bishkek, notably internal migrants from rural villages and small provincial towns, often have to resort to informal squatter settlements on the city's outskirts. These settlements are estimated to house 400,000 people or about 30 percent of Bishkek's population. While many of the settlements have lacked basic necessities such as electricity and running water, recently, the local government has pushed to provide these services.


title: Bishkek

text: Local government is administered by the Bishkek Mayor's Office. Askarbek Salymbekov was mayor until his resignation in August 2005, after which his deputy, Arstanbek Nogoev, took over the mayorship. Nogoev was in turn removed from his position in October 2007 through a decree of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev and replaced by businessman and former first deputy prime minister Daniar Usenov. In July 2008 former head of the Kyrgyz Railways Nariman Tuleyev was appointed mayor, who was dismissed by the interim government after 7 April 2010. From April 2010 to February 2011 Isa Omurkulov, also a former head of the Kyrgyz Railways, was an interim mayor, and from 4 February 2011 to 14 December 2013 he was re-elected the mayor of Bishkek. Kubanychbek Kulmatov was nominated for election by parliamentary group of Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan in city kenesh, and he was elected as a new mayor on 15 January 2014, and stepped down on 9 February 2016.


title: Bishkek

text: The next mayor, Albek Sabirbekovich Ibraimov, was also nominated for election by parliamentary group of Social Democratic Party of Kyrgyzstan in city kenesh, and Bishkek City Kenesh elected him on 27 February 2016. The current mayor is Emil Abdykadyrov, who was elected on 24 February 2022.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek city covers and is administered separately and not part of any region. Besides the city proper, one urban-type settlement and one village are administered by the city: Chong-Aryk and Orto-Say. The city is divided into 4 districts: Birinchi May, Lenin, Oktyabr and Sverdlov. Chong-Aryk and Orto-Say are part of Lenin District. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been discussion of replacing the Soviet era district names with ones that reflect Kyrgyz identity and history. Other former Soviet republics have widely replaced Soviet era place names; despite renaming the capital in 1991, Kyrgyzstan is the only nation in Central Asia to retain Soviet era names for districts in its capital.


title: Bishkek

text: Bishkek is home to Spartak, the largest football stadium in Kyrgyzstan and the only one eligible to host international matches. Several Bishkek-based football teams play on this pitch, including six-time Kyrgyzstan League champions, Dordoi Bishkek. Others include Alga Bishkek, Ilbirs Bishkek, and RUOR-Guardia Bishkek.


title: Bishkek

text: Public transportation includes buses, electric trolleybuses, and public vans (known in Russian as "marshrutka"). The first bus and trolley bus services in Bishkek were introduced in 1934 and 1951, respectively.


title: Bishkek

text: There are two main bus stations in Bishkek. The smaller old Eastern Bus Station is primarily the terminal for minibusses to various destinations within or just beyond the eastern suburbs, such as Kant, Tokmok, Kemin, Issyk Ata, or the Korday border crossing.


title: Bishkek

text: Long-distance regular bus and minibus services to all parts of the country, as well as to Almaty (the largest city in neighbouring Kazakhstan) and Kashgar, China, run mostly from the newer grand Western Bus Station; only a smaller number run from the Eastern Station.


title: Bishkek

text: The Dordoy Bazaar on the north-eastern outskirts of the city also contains makeshift terminals for frequent minibusses to suburban towns in all directions (from Sokuluk in the west to Tokmak in the east) and to some buses taking traders to Kazakhstan and Siberia.


title: Bishkek

text: , the Bishkek-2 railway station sees only a few trains a day. It offers a popular three-day train service from Bishkek to Moscow.


title: Bishkek

text: There are also long-distance trains that leave for Siberia (Novosibirsk and Novokuznetsk), via Almaty, over the TurkSib route, and to Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk) in the Urals, via Astana. These services are remarkably slow (over 48 hours to Yekaterinburg), due to long stops at the border and the indirect route (the trains first have to go west for more than a before they enter the main TurkSib line and can continue to the east or north). For example, as of the fall of 2008, train No. 305 Bishkek-Yekaterinburg was scheduled to take 11 hours to reach the Shu junction—a distance of some by rail, and less than half of that by road.


title: Bishkek

text: The city is served by Manas International Airport (IATA code FRU), located approximately north-west of the city centre.


title: Bishkek

text: In 2002, the United States obtained the right to use Manas International Airport as an air base for its military operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Russia subsequently (2003) established an airbase of its own (Kant Air Base) near Kant, some east of Bishkek. It is based at a facility that used to be home to a major Soviet military pilot training school; one of its students, Hosni Mubarak, later became president of Egypt.


title: TCL Technology

text: TCL Technology (originally an abbreviation for Telephone Communication Limited) is a Chinese electronics company headquartered in Huizhou, Guangdong Province. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells consumer products including television sets, mobile phones, air conditioners, washing machines, refrigerators, and small electrical appliances. In 2010, it was the world's 25th-largest consumer electronics producer. It became the second-largest television manufacturer by market share by 2019.


title: TCL Technology

text: TCL comprises five listed companies: TCL Technology, listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange (), TCL Electronics Holdings, Ltd. (), TCL Communication Technology Holdings, Ltd. (former code ; delisted in 2016), China Display Optoelectronics Technology Holdings Ltd. (), and Tonly Electronics Holdings Ltd. (), listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.


title: TCL Technology

text: TCL Technology's business structure is focused on three major sectors: semiconductor display, semiconductor and semiconductor photovoltaic, industrial finance and capital.


title: TCL Technology

text: The company was founded in 1981 under the brand name TTK as an audio cassette manufacturer. It was founded as a state-owned enterprise.


title: TCL Technology

text: In 1985, after being sued by TDK for intellectual property violation, the company changed its brand name to TCL by taking the initials from Telephone Communication Limited.


title: TCL Technology

text: On 19 September 2002, TCL announced the acquisition of all consumer electronics related assets of the former German company Schneider Rundfunkwerke AG, including the right to use its trademarks as "Schneider", "Dual", "Albona", "Joyce" and "Logix".


title: TCL Technology

text: In July 2003, TCL chairman Li Dongsheng formally announced a "Dragon and Tiger Plan" to establish two competitive TCL businesses in global markets ("Dragons") and three leading businesses inside China ("Tigers").


title: TCL Technology

text: In November 2003, TCL and Thomson SA of France announced the creation of a joint venture to produce televisions and DVD players worldwide. TCL took a 67 percent stake in the joint venture, with Thomson SA holding the rest of the shares, and it was agreed that televisions made by TCL-Thomson would be marketed under the TCL brand in Asia and the Thomson and RCA brands in Europe and North America.


title: TCL Technology

text: In April 2004, TCL and Alcatel announced the creation of a mobile phone manufacturing joint venture: Alcatel Mobile Phones. TCL injected 55 million euros in the venture in return for a 55 per cent shareholding.


title: TCL Technology

text: In April 2005, TCL closed its manufacturing plant in Türkheim, Bavaria, laying off 120 former "Schneider" employees.


title: TCL Technology

text: In May 2005, TCL announced that its Hong Kong-listed unit would acquire Alcatel's 45 per cent stake in their mobile-phone joint venture for consideration of HK$63.34 million ($8.1 million) worth of TCL Communication shares.


title: TCL Technology

text: In June 2007, TCL announced that its mobile phone division planned to cease using the Alcatel brand and switch entirely to the TCL brand within five years.


title: TCL Technology

text: In April 2008, Samsung Electronics announced that it would be outsourcing the production of some LCD TV modules to TCL.


title: TCL Technology

text: In July 2008, TCL announced that it planned to raise 1.7 billion yuan ($249 million) via a share placement on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange to fund the construction of two production lines for LCD televisions; one for screens of up to 42 inches, and the other for screens of up to 56 inches. TCL sold a total of 4.18 million LCD TV sets in 2008, more than triple the number during 2007.


title: TCL Technology

text: In January 2009, TCL announced plans to double its LCD TV production capacity to 10 million units by the end of 2009.


title: TCL Technology

text: In November 2009, TCL announced that it had formed a joint-venture with the Shenzhen government to construct an 8.5-generation thin film transistor-liquid crystal display production facility in the city at a cost of $3.9 billion.


title: TCL Technology

text: In March 2010, TCL Multimedia raised HK$525 million through the sale of shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, in order to fund the development of its LCD and LED businesses and to generate working capital.


title: TCL Technology

text: In May 2011, TCL launched the China Smart Multimedia Terminal Technology Association in partnership with Hisense Electric Co. and Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., with the aim of helping to establish industry standards for smart televisions.


title: TCL Technology

text: In 2014, TCL changed the meaning of its identifying initials from "Telephone Communication Limited" to a branding slogan, "The Creative Life", for commercial purposes.


title: TCL Technology

text: In February 2014, TCL spent 280 million RMB to purchase 11 percent shareholdings of Tianjin 712 Communication & Broadcasting Co., Ltd, a Chinese military-owned company which produces communication devices and navigation systems for the Chinese army.


title: TCL Technology

text: In August 2014, TCL partnered with Roku for use as TCL's primary Smart TV platform. TCL Corporation and Tonly Electronics was implicated in bribing a government official in Guangdong province in exchange for government subsidies.


title: TCL Technology

text: In 2016, TCL reached an agreement with BlackBerry Limited to produce smartphones under the BlackBerry brand, under BlackBerry Mobile. This deal ceased on 31 August 2020.


title: TCL Technology

text: In 2019, due to restructuring, TCL completed the handover of major assets and was split into TCL Technology Group Corporation (TCL Technology) and TCL Industrial Holdings (TCL Industrials).


title: TCL Technology

text: In 2020, TCL Technology acquired Samsung Display's assets in Suzhou, China, including a Gen 8.5 fab and a co-located LCD module plant.


title: TCL Technology

text: In addition, it has four affiliated business areas covering real estate and investment, logistics services, online education services, and finance.


title: TCL Technology

text: In 2021, TCL has 28 research and development (R&D) organizations, 10 joint laboratories, and 22 manufacturing bases. TCL Corporation also has its own research facility called TCL Corporate Research, which is located in Shenzhen, with the objective to research cutting-edge technology innovations for other subsidiaries.


title: TCL Technology

text: TCL's primary products are TVs, DVD players, air conditioners, mobile phones, home appliances, electric lighting, and digital media.


title: TCL Technology

text: The company, as of April 2012, is in venture with Swedish furniture giant IKEA to provide the consumer electronics behind the Uppleva integrated HDTV and entertainment system product.


title: TCL Technology

text: In 2016, it contract manufactured the DTEK50 and DTEK60, for BlackBerry Limited, under their flagship BlackBerry brand. In December 2016, it became a licensee of the BlackBerry brand, to manufacture, distribute, and design devices for the global market. As of 2017, it distributes BlackBerry devices under the name of BlackBerry Mobile.


title: TCL Technology

text: TCL is also the owner of the Palm brand. The company launched the Palm "ultra-mobile companion" smartphone in 2018.


title: TCL Technology

text: TCL announced the 10 series for 2020, consisting of the TCL 10 SE, TCL 10L, TCL 10 Pro, TCL 10 Plus and TCL 10 5G.


title: TCL Technology

text: Since 2015, TCL offers its own video streaming service: "GoLive TV" or simply "GoLive". It was later renamed "TCL Channel" in 2021.


title: William H. McRaven

text: William Harry McRaven (born November 6, 1955) is a retired United States Navy four-star admiral who served as the ninth commander of the United States Special Operations Command (SOCOM) from August 8, 2011 to August 28, 2014. From 2015 to 2018, he was the chancellor of The University of Texas System.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven previously served from June 13, 2008, to August 2011 as commander of Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and from June 2006 to March 2008 as commander of Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR). In addition to his duties as COMSOCEUR, he was designated as the first director of the NATO Special Operations Forces Coordination Centre (NSCC), where he was charged with enhancing the capabilities and inter-operability of all NATO Special Operations Forces. McRaven retired from the U.S. Navy on September 1, 2014, after more than 37 years of service.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven was reportedly considered as President Joe Biden's choice to be Secretary of Defense. However, Biden nominated retired general Lloyd Austin.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina. His father, a career Air Force officer, was stationed at Pope Air Force Base, now known as Pope Field, part of Fort Bragg. He has two older sisters. His family moved to Texas while he was in elementary school and settled in San Antonio. McRaven attended Theodore Roosevelt High School where he took part in track. He is the son of Anna Elizabeth (Long) and Col. Claude C. McRaven, a Spitfire fighter pilot in World War II who played briefly in the NFL.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven attended the University of Texas at Austin where he was a walk-on member of the track team, and was a member of the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps. He graduated in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 2012. McRaven holds a master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, where he helped establish and was the first graduate from the Special operations/Low intensity conflict curriculum.


title: William H. McRaven

text: After graduating from The University of Texas at Austin, McRaven was commissioned as an officer (Ensign) in the U.S. Navy and volunteered for Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training (BUD/S). After six months of training, McRaven graduated with BUD/S class 95 in January 1978. Following completion of a six-month probationary period, he received the 1130 designator as a Naval Special Warfare Officer, entitled to wear the Special Warfare insignia. As a Navy SEAL officer, McRaven was deployed to the Philippines with Naval Special Warfare Unit One in 1979 and 1981. In 1982, as a junior officer, McRaven received assignment to SEAL Team Six in Dam Neck, Virginia under the command of CDR Richard Marcinko and completed a specialized selection and training course. McRaven served as assault team leader but was relieved of duty in 1983 due to McRaven's concerns about military discipline, and difficulties in keeping his sailors in line at the command. Richard Marcinko fired the 27-year-old McRaven in 1983. "He was a bright guy, but he didn't like my rude and crude way," Marcinko said. "If I was a loose cannon, he was too rigid. He took the special out of special warfare." McRaven was transferred to another east coast based SEAL team.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven served numerous staff and command assignments within the special operations community, including platoon commander at Underwater Demolition Team 21/SEAL Team Four, squadron commander at Naval Special Warfare Development Group, executive officer of SEAL Team ONE, task unit commander during the Persian Gulf War, task group commander in the CENTCOM area of responsibility, commanding officer of SEAL Team THREE from 1994 to 1996, deputy commander for operations at JSOC, commanding officer of Naval Special Warfare Group ONE from 1999 to 2001. McRaven earned a Master of Arts degree at the Naval Postgraduate School in 1993. McRaven's thesis was titled "The Theory of Special Operations" (republished in 1995 as "Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice").


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven later served as a staff officer with an interagency coordination focus, including as the director for Strategic Planning in the Office of Combating Terrorism on the National Security Council Staff, assessment director at U.S. Special Operations Command, on the Staff of the Chief of Naval Operations and the chief of staff at Naval Special Warfare Group 1.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven was the deputy to General Stanley A. McChrystal and later leader of a battle group targeting Al Qaeda in Iraq called 'Task Force 714', which proved to be innovative and highly successful.


title: William H. McRaven

text: On April 6, 2011, McRaven was nominated by President Barack Obama for promotion from the rank of vice admiral to admiral and appointed as the ninth commander of USSOCOM, of which JSOC is a component.


title: William H. McRaven

text: In his confirmation hearings, McRaven "endorsed a steady manpower growth rate of 3% to 5% a year" and favored more resources for USSOCOM. After the Armed Services committee hearings, in late June, McRaven was confirmed unanimously by the Senate for his promotion to full Admiral and assignment as commander of USSOCOM and took command August 8. The transfer ceremony was led by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in Tampa, with ADM Eric T. Olson also in attendance, two days after the Wardak Province helicopter crash which cost 30 Americans, including 22 SEALs, their lives. With several hundred in attendance, Panetta spoke of sending "a strong message of American resolve [and] ... carry[ing] on the fight".


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven is credited for organizing and overseeing the execution of Operation Neptune's Spear, the special ops raid that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. CIA Director Leon Panetta delegated operational & execution decisions on the raid to McRaven, who had worked almost exclusively on counter-terrorism operations and strategy since 2001.


title: William H. McRaven

text: According to "The New York Times", "In February, Mr. Panetta called then-Vice Adm. William H. McRaven, commander of the Pentagon's Joint Special Operations Command, to CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, to give him details about the compound and to begin planning a military strike. Admiral McRaven, a veteran of the covert world who had written a book on American Special Operations, spent weeks working with the CIA on the operation, and came up with three options: a helicopter assault using U.S. Navy SEALs, a strike with B-2 bombers that would obliterate the compound, or a joint raid with Pakistani intelligence operatives who would be told about the mission hours before the launch." The day before the assault, President Obama "took a break from rehearsing for the White House Correspondents Dinner that night to call Admiral McRaven, to wish him luck".


title: William H. McRaven

text: A June 2013 Freedom of Information request revealed that on May 13, 2011, McRaven sent email titled "OPSEC Guidance / Neptune Spear" that instructed redacted recipients that "all photos [of UBL's remains] should have been turned over to the CIA; if you still have them destroy them immediately" or "get them to" a recipient whose identity was redacted.


title: William H. McRaven

text: In June 2014, it was announced that Admiral McRaven had his request for retirement approved after a 37-year career. Admiral McRaven retired from the U.S. Navy on September 1, 2014. During the last few years of his career he was also Bull Frog, the longest serving Navy SEAL still on duty, having succeeded his SOCOM predecessor Eric T. Olson in the title.


title: William H. McRaven

text: Admiral McRaven was selected as the next chancellor of the University of Texas System in July 2014. He was appointed on January 5, 2015.


title: William H. McRaven

text: The Trump campaign transition team considered McRaven as a potential candidate for National Security Adviser.


title: William H. McRaven

text: On May 31, 2018, McRaven stepped down from his position as chancellor of the university, due to chronic health issues and a desire to spend more time with his family.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven spent $215M dollars on land in south Houston so that the UT system could expand. The land was a former chemical manufacturing site and was contaminated. The more than 300 acre parcel was formerly owned by another UT alumnus. McRaven sidestepped the Texas Legislature who should have been informed of the purchase at a time when funds for higher education have been cut. McRaven was also criticized for the unknown amount that would be needed remediate the soil of contaminates.


title: William H. McRaven

text: In August 2018, McRaven expressed support for former CIA Director John O. Brennan, whose security clearance had recently been revoked by the Trump Administration. He authored an open letter to President Donald Trump in "The Washington Post" entitled "Revoke my security clearance, too, Mr. President", in which he affirmed his regard for Brennan, his former colleague, and offered criticism of the decisions and personal behavior of President Trump. McRaven said of Brennan, "He is a man of unparalleled integrity, whose honesty and character have never been in question ... except by those who don't know him." Of Trump, McRaven wrote, "Through your actions, you have embarrassed us in the eyes of our children, humiliated us on the world stage and, worst of all, divided us as a nation."


title: William H. McRaven

text: In a November 18, 2018, interview on Fox News, Chris Wallace mentioned McRaven's name. Trump called McRaven a "Hillary Clinton fan" and accused McRaven of being a fan of former President Barack Obama. McRaven later told CNN, "I did not back Hillary Clinton or anyone else. I am a fan of President Obama and President George W. Bush, both of whom I worked for. I admire all presidents, regardless of their political party, who uphold the dignity of the office and who use that office to bring the nation together in challenging times." One media source noted that Trump's ire seemed to be rooted in "McRaven’s criticism that the president’s rhetoric toward the press is the 'greatest threat to democracy' in his lifetime".


title: William H. McRaven

text: On October 17, 2019, McRaven published an op-ed in "The New York Times" with the headline "Our Republic Is Under Attack From the President", arguing that if Trump did not demonstrate leadership, he was to be replaced. He elaborated his position in a CNN interview the same day, saying that Trump was undermining domestic institutions and damaging America's international standing, especially with respect to the treatment of the Kurds during the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria.


title: William H. McRaven

text: Upon the February 2020 dismissal by the president of Joseph Maguire for having briefed congressional intelligence committee members about emerging evidence of foreign efforts to interfere in the 2020 presidential election, McRaven authored a guest editorial in "The Washington Post" in which he declared that, "As Americans, we should be frightened — deeply afraid for the future of the nation. When good men and women can’t speak the truth, when facts are inconvenient, when integrity and character no longer matter, when presidential ego and self-preservation are more important than national security — then there is nothing left to stop the triumph of evil."


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven is the son of a career Air Force officer. McRaven married Georgeann Brady, then a fellow undergraduate at the University of Texas at Austin, in 1978. They have three children.


title: William H. McRaven

text: McRaven attended the 2012 White House Correspondents' Association Dinner as the guest of his fifth grade classmate, Karen Tumulty.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for starring as a perennially upbeat young nurse in "Nurse Jackie" (2009–2015), an intrepid widow in the Netflix period miniseries "Godless" (2017), and a detective investigating a serial rapist in the Netflix crime mini-series "Unbelievable" (2019). For "Nurse Jackie", she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2013, for "Godless", she won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie in 2018 and for the mini-series Unbelievable, she was nominated the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film in 2020.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever has also had supporting roles in other television series, including "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" (2006–2007), "New Girl" (2013), and "The Walking Dead" (2015–2016). She has also played supporting roles in such films as "Michael Clayton" (2007), "Birdman" (2014), and "Marriage Story" (2019), all of which were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, with "Birdman" winning.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever was born in Manhattan, New York City, New York. She was conceived via a sperm donor and raised by her mother, Georgia. Her mother is from Texas, and is a feminist and political activist.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever graduated from Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School and Sarah Lawrence College, and she trained in acting in New York.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever began her career starring in low budget, independent short and feature films. She has performed in theater productions, including a performance in Brooke Berman's play "Smashing", and in "Cavedweller" with Deidre O'Connell, both off-Broadway. Since she began her career, Wever has performed in numerous feature films, including: "Into the Wild", "Neal Cassady", "Michael Clayton", "", "Signs", "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole", "Bringing Rain", "Tiny Furniture" and "All I Wanna Do", among others.


title: Merritt Wever

text: She has guest-starred on a number of TV shows, including "New Girl", "The Good Wife", "Conviction", "" and "The Wire". She also starred in Ed Zwick's ill-fated pilot "Quarterlife", with Rachel Blanchard, Austin Nichols, and Shiri Appleby. She also had a recurring role on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" as Suzanne.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever is perhaps best known for her role as Zoey Barkow in the series "Nurse Jackie", which premiered on Showtime in June 2009. Zoey is described on the official "Nurse Jackie" website as "an irrepressibly bubbly trauma nurse, who serves as a comic foil to Edie Falco's hard-bitten (and prescription drug-addicted) titular character". Wever received widespread critical acclaim for her role on the show.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2012 and 2013 for her role in "Nurse Jackie", winning the award in 2013 and delivering a memorable speech that consisted only of her stunned reaction: "Thanks so much. Thank you so much. I gotta go. Bye."


title: Merritt Wever

text: In 2016, Wever had a recurring role on AMC's "The Walking Dead" as Denise Cloyd. Her character's death toward the end of the sixth season of the series was controversial and sparked outrage on social media with many fans, most notably members of the LGBT community.


title: Merritt Wever

text: Wever played a lead role in 2017's miniseries "Godless" as Mary Agnes McNue, a tough leader of a female-dominated town. She said in interviews that she had been intimidated by the role: "I spent so much of this shoot thinking I would come off as a fool, that nobody would buy me as this and it wouldn't be believable." Many critics nonetheless noted her character as a highlight of the show. "Entertainment Weekly" titled its review of "Godless" "Merritt Wever rides tall in Netflix's "Godless"" and wrote that "no one is more electric than the always extraordinary Merritt Wever". In 2018, she won an Emmy for the role.


title: Merritt Wever

text: In 2019, Wever starred in another Netflix miniseries "Unbelievable", opposite Toni Collette and Kaitlyn Dever released on September 13, 2019. The series received critical acclaim, with Wever receiving her first Golden Globe Awards nomination for Best Actress- Miniseries or Television Film.


title: Merritt Wever

text: In 2020, Wever began starring in the HBO black comedy thriller series "Run" opposite Domhnall Gleeson. It was cancelled after one season.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: Dyke is a slang term, used as a noun meaning lesbian and as an adjective describing things associated with lesbians. It originated as a homophobic slur for masculine, butch, or androgynous girls or women. Pejorative use of the word still exists, but the term "dyke" has been reappropriated by many lesbians to imply assertiveness and toughness.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: The origin of the term "dyke" is obscure and many theories have been proposed. Most etymologies assert that "dyke" is derived from "bulldyke", which has a similar meaning. The term first appears in an August 1921 article in the journal "Medical Review of Reviews" titled "The 'Fairy' and the Lady Lover". In this article, Perry M. Lichtenstein, a prison physician in New York City, reports on the case of a female prisoner he examined: "She stated that she had indulged in the practice of 'bull diking,' as she termed it. She was a prisoner in one of the reformatories, and there a certain young woman fell in love with her." The forms "bulldyker" and "bulldyking" also appear later on in the Harlem Renaissance novels of the late 1920s, including Eric D. Walrond's 1926 "Tropic Death", Carl van Vechten's 1926 "Nigger Heaven", and Claude McKay's 1928 "Home to Harlem". The "Oxford English Dictionary" notes the first attestation as Berrey and Van den Bark's 1942 "American Thesaurus of Slang", which lists "bulldiker" as a synonym for "lesbian".


title: Dyke (slang)

text: The etymology of "bulldyke" is also obscure. It may be related to the late-19th-century slang use of "dike" ("ditch") for the vulva. "Bull" ("male cattle") being used in the sense of "masculine" and "aggressive" (e.g., in "bullish"), a "bulldyke" would have implied (with similar levels of offensiveness) a "masculine cunt". Other theories include that "bulldyke" derived from "morphodite", a variant of "hermaphrodite"; that it was a term for stud bulls and originally applied to sexually successful men; or that it was a dialectical corruption of the name of the rebel Celtic queen Boadicea.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, "dike" had been American slang for a well-dressed man, with "diked out" and "out on a dike" indicating a young man was in his best clothes and ready for a night on the town. The etymology of that term is also obscure, but may have originated as a Virginian variant of "deck" and "decked out".


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In the 1950s, the word "dyke" was used as a derogatory term for lesbians by straight people, but was also used by lesbians of higher social status to identify crude, rough-bar lesbians.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In a 1970 study, Julia Stanley theorized that the source of these varying definitions stems from gender-determined sub-dialects. Homosexuality in America is a “subculture with its own language.” As such, a special vocabulary is developed by its members. Previously, male homosexuals defined "dyke" as lesbian without derogation. A "bull dyke" was also defined as a lesbian without further distinction. For female homosexuals of the community, however, a dyke is an extremely masculine, easily identified lesbian, given to indiscretion. "Bull dyke" is an extension of this term, with the addition of this person described as nasty, obnoxiously aggressive, and overly demonstrative of her hatred of men.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In 1995, Susan Krantz discussed the etymology of "bulldyke", with derivations of the Middle English "falsehood" for "bull" and "dick" for "dyke" (Farmer and Henley 1891). Therefore, a possible origin for a masculine lesbian comes from "bulldicker" that could specifically mean "fake penis", denoting a "false man". Further speculation talks of the synonymous term "bulldagger." Here, dagger also alludes to the male genitalia and bull referring to "false" rather than "man".


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In 1969, people in the gay community began to march in the streets to demand civil rights. Terms such as "dyke" and "faggot" were used to identify people as political activists for the gay community. During this time, "dyke" referred to a woman committed to revolution, the most radical position. A surge of feminism in the lesbian community led to "dyke separatism", which emphasized that lesbian women should consider themselves to be separate from men, their ideas and movements.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In 1971, the poem "The Psychoanalysis of Edward the Dyke" by Judy Grahn was published by the Women's Press Collective. This use of "dyke" empowered the lesbian community because heretofore it had only been employed as a condemnation. Because of the exposure of the word to the public, the term "dyke" was reclaimed by the lesbian community in the 1970s.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: The meaning of "dyke" has positively changed over time. Most members of the community have dropped "bull" from the term to use it as a positive identifier of one who displays toughness, or as a simple, generic term for all lesbians. This abbreviation does not carry the negative connotations of the full phrase as it previously did. Scholar Paula Blank, in a 2011 article on lesbian etymology, called for taking ownership of "lesbian" and similar words.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In the late 20th and early 21st century, the term "dyke" was claimed by many lesbians as a term of pride and empowerment. Alison Bechdel, author of comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For" (1983–2008), said use of the term was "linguistic activism". The strip depicts the lives of a lesbian community and is one of the earliest representations of lesbians in popular culture. It has been described "as important to new generations of lesbians as landmark novels like Rita Mae Brown's "Rubyfruit Jungle" (1973) and Lisa Alther's "Kinflicks" (1976) were to an earlier one."


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In her 2011 article "The Only Dykey One", Lucy Jones argues that consideration of lesbian culture is core to an understanding of lesbian identity construction. Matters came to a head when the United States Patent and Trademark Office denied the lesbian motorcycle group Dykes on Bikes a trademark for its name, on the grounds "dyke" was offensive, derogatory and disparaging to lesbians. However, the office reversed itself and permitted the group to register its name after attorneys appealed and submitted hundreds of pages to show the slang word does not disparage lesbians in the way it once did. On December 8, 2005, Dykes on Bikes won the trademark case, and the organization has since gained international recognition for leading gay pride parades from San Francisco to Sydney.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: In June 2017, Facebook censored the use of the word "dyke" on its website as "abusive content". This decision resulted in a Change.org protest petition created by the "Listening 2 Lesbians" collective that was signed by 7,247 supporters.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: Dyke Marches have become popular gay pride events nationwide in the United States and Canada. They are generally non-commercial, in sharp contrast to corporate-sponsored pride events, and some are participated in by bisexual and trans women. The stated mission of the Boston Dyke March, for example, is "to provide a dynamic and welcoming space for participants of all sexualities, genders, races, ages, ethnicities, sizes, economic backgrounds, and physical abilities." Marches also take place in several European cities. The United Kingdom's first Dyke March was held in London in 2012. In Germany, the annual Dyke March Berlin was established in 2013. In Mexico, the Marcha Lésbica (Lesbian March) was founded in March 2003 and is held biannually in Mexico City.


title: Dyke (slang)

text: A dyke bar is any bar or club frequented by lesbians, and is considered as slang in the vocabulary of the LGBT community. The existence of official dyke bars, or lesbian bars, in the United States has decreased tremendously in the past 40 years. In the 1980s there were around 200 lesbian bars, in 2021 the number is thought to be at 16. The COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the closing of dyke bars, with the lack of business preventing bar owners from paying rent, exacerbating an already existing decline in lesbian spaces. While gay bars and gender inclusive LGBT bars exist across the United States, spaces specifically for lesbians/sapphics are much less common, and their presence is steadily decreasing.


title: Allan Saint-Maximin

text: Allan Irénée Saint-Maximin (born 12 March 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Newcastle United. He previously played for Saint-Étienne, Monaco and Nice.


title: Allan Saint-Maximin

text: Saint-Maximin was born in Châtenay-Malabry, a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, and is of Guadeloupean and French Guianese descent.


title: Allan Saint-Maximin

text: Saint-Maximin made his Ligue 1 debut for Saint-Étienne on 1 September 2013, replacing Romain Hamouma after 69 minutes in a 2–1 home win against Bordeaux.


title: Allan Saint-Maximin

text: On 31 July 2015, Saint-Maximin joined Monaco, but was immediately loaned to German club Hannover 96. On 28 July 2016, Saint-Maximin joined Bastia on a season-long loan deal.


title: Allan Saint-Maximin

text: On 2 August 2019, Saint-Maximin joined Premier League side Newcastle United on a six-year contract. He made his debut nine days later in Newcastle's defeat to Arsenal on the opening day of the Premier League season. On 5 December, Saint-Maximin scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 win against Sheffield United. His second goal came two months later in the fourth round of the FA Cup against League One opposition Oxford United, scoring a late winner after a solo run.


title: Allan Saint-Maximin

text: The Frenchman also scored the winning goal in Newcastle's 1–0 win at Southampton in a Premier League match on 7 March 2020. On 1 July, Saint-Maximin provided three assists in the Magpies' 4–1 win over AFC Bournemouth.


title: Roberto Mancini

text: Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team.


title: Roberto Mancini

text: As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped the team win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italia titles, and the European Cup Winners' Cup. He was capped 36 times for Italy, taking part at UEFA Euro 1988 and the 1990 FIFA World Cup, achieving semi-final finishes in both tournaments, although he was never put onto the pitch during the 1990 tournament. In 1997, after 15 years at Sampdoria, Mancini left the club to join Lazio, where he won a further "scudetto" and Cup Winners' Cup, in addition to the UEFA Super Cup and two more Coppa Italia titles. Alongside Gianluigi Buffon, he is the player with the most Coppa Italia titles (6). As a player, Mancini would often give team talks at half-time. Towards the end of his playing career he became an assistant to Sven-Göran Eriksson at Lazio.


title: Roberto Mancini

text: His first manager role was at Fiorentina in 2001, at only 36 years old, winning a Coppa Italia title. The following season, he took over as manager at Lazio, where he guided the club to another Coppa Italia title. In 2004, Mancini was offered the manager's job at Inter Milan, with which he won three consecutive Serie A titles, a club record; he was dismissed in 2008. After being out of football for over a year, Mancini was appointed Manchester City manager in December 2009. He helped City win the FA Cup in the 2010–11 season, the club's first major trophy in 35 years, and their first league title in 44 years in the 2011–12 season. Mancini took over managerial duties at Turkish club Galatasaray in September 2013, winning the Turkish Cup in his only season at the club, before returning to Inter Milan for two more years before managing Russian side Zenit. In 2018, he took charge of the Italian national team after Italy had failed to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. In 2021, Mancini guided Italy to their second-ever European Championship at Euro 2020. Under his management, Italy then failed to reach the World Cup for the second time in a row after a loss to North Macedonia.


title: Roberto Mancini

text: Regarded as a cup specialist, Mancini has reached at least a semi-final of a major national cup competition in every season he has been a manager, from 2002 to 2014. He holds a number of records, including most consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008, with Lazio once in 2004 and with Inter Milan in the following four seasons.


title: Roberto Mancini

text: Mancini was born in the small town of Iesi, Marche, on 27 November 1964, but then moved onto the mountain town of Roccadaspide and was raised by Aldo and Marianna Mancini along with his younger sister Stephanie. He had served as an altar boy in his youth.


title: Roberto Mancini

text: Mancini debuted in Serie A for Bologna in 1981. The following year, he was bought by Sampdoria, for £2.2 million, whom he played for until 1997. With Sampdoria, he formed a dynamic strike partnership with Gianluca Vialli under manager Vujadin Boškov, which earned the pair the nickname "The Goal Twins" ("I Gemelli del Gol", in Italian). Together, they helped the club to its only league title in 1991, four Coppa Italias and a Cup Winners' Cup in 1990. He also appeared in the final of the 1991–92 European Cup against Barcelona. At 27, Mancini sat on the interview panel that selected Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager. Mancini often delivered the team-talk for Sampdoria. He attended board meetings and had a say in transfer business. In David Platt's 1995 autobiography, "Achieving the Goal", he described the day he met Sampdoria in Genoa while playing for Bari and, lining up in the tunnel, became aware that Mancini was looking his way. Platt wrote: "I thought nothing of it until he asked me, very matter-of-factly, if I was staying at Bari. Outright he asked if I wanted to join Sampdoria. Mancini had been at the club years and was almost a son to the president, Paolo Mantovani." Mancini kept in touch when Platt moved to Juventus and eventually helped bring him to Sampdoria. At that stage, Mancini had established himself as the most powerful voice in the "Blucerchiati" dressing room.