title: Equinor

text: Exploration for oil and gas in the Great Australian Bight first began in the late 1960s. Not long ago, several oil majors, BP, Statoil/Equinor, and Chevron proposed plans to drill exploration wells in the southern part of the area from 2017 onwards. On October 11, 2016, BP withdrew its plans to explore the area claiming that it was not competitive and did not align with BP's strategic goals. The proposal to explore in the bight was the focus of community opposition. The Wilderness Society showed that a worst-case scenario leak of oil could have a catastrophic effect on the southern coastline of Australia. The Australian Senate commenced an inquiry into oil or gas production in the Great Australian Bight on 22 February 2016. The committee was reestablished on 13 September 2016 following the Australian Federal Election. In October 2017, Chevron withdrew from the project, but it returned alongside BP in 2019. Though the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority approved exploration plans in late 2019, Equinor withdrew from the project in February 2020, citing profitability reasons.


title: Equinor

text: In 2020, a report revealed important issues regarding $20 billion lost in the United States. According to Equinor chairman Jon Erik Reinhardsen, the losses were driven by an ambitious growth strategy and overly optimistic price assumptions.


title: Equinor

text: Equinor engages professional lobbyists to represent its interests in various jurisdictions. In South Australia, they were represented by the firm Hawker Britton.


title: Equinor

text: Equinor and Shell were planning on building a gas-fired powerplant in Norway that would infuse CO underground or beneath the seabed, but they discarded the plan due to economic reasons. Equinor has injected CO into the Utsira formation on the Sleipner gas field for environmental storage purposes since 1996. Natural gas (methane) containing approximately 8.5% CO is produced on the Sleipner Vest field. The gas is transported to the Sleipner Treatment platform, where the CO is removed. The gas is exported to the UK, Germany, and Belgium, and the CO is injected into the Utsira formation.


title: Equinor

text: Equinor sponsors talents in art, education, and sports through the program "Morgendagens helter" (Tomorrow's heroes).


title: Equinor

text: Two musical prizes are included in the program. As of 2013, the grant for both awards is of 1 million NOK (about $166,000). The Statoil classical music award has been awarded since 1999. The Statoil stipend to a Norwegian pop/rock artist or group has been awarded since 2008 during the festival and is meant to stimulate an international career.


title: Equinor

text: The program also includes an art prize, "Statoils kunstpris", that has been awarded every second year since 2007 to a talented artist in Norway. The grant is 500,000 NOK (about $83,000) which makes it Norway's largest prize of its kind.


title: Equinor

text: Sponsorship for sports includes support for football and skiing. Sponsorship for education focuses on natural sciences and included a yearly competition for high school students in Norway where "Statoils realfagspris" is awarded.


title: Equinor

text: Statoil was an official sponsor of the 2011 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships that was held in Oslo.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas County (, ) is a county located on the west central coast of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 959,107. The county is part of the Tampa–St. Petersburg–Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Clearwater is the county seat. St. Petersburg is the largest city as well as the largest city in Florida that is not a county seat.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: When Europeans first reached the Pinellas peninsula, the Tampa Bay area was inhabited by people of the Safety Harbor culture. The Safety Harbor culture area was divided into chiefdoms. One documented chiefdom in what is now Pinellas County was that of the Tocobaga, who occupied a town and large temple mound, the Safety Harbor site, overlooking the bay in what is now Safety Harbor. The modern site is protected and can be visited as part of the County's Philippe Park.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: During the early 16th century Spanish explorers discovered and slowly began exploring Florida, including Tampa Bay. In 1528 Panfilo de Narvaez landed in Pinellas, and 10 years later Hernando de Soto is thought to have explored the Tampa Bay Area. By the early 18th century the Tocobaga had been virtually annihilated, having fallen victim to European diseases from which they had no immunity, as well as European conflicts. Later Spanish explorers named the area "Punta Piñal" (Spanish for "Point of Pines" or "Piney Point"). After trading hands multiple times between the British and the Spanish, Spain finally ceded Florida to the United States in 1821, and in 1823 the U.S. Army established Fort Brooke (later Tampa).


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In 1834 much of west central Florida, including the Pinellas peninsula (then known simply as "West Hillsborough"), was organized as Hillsborough County. The very next year Odet Philippe, a French Huguenot from Charleston, South Carolina became the first permanent, non-native resident of the peninsula when he established a plantation near the site of the Tocobaga village in Safety Harbor. It was Philippe who first introduced both citrus culture and cigar-making to Florida.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Around the same time, the United States Army began construction of Fort Harrison, named after William Henry Harrison, as a rest post for soldiers from nearby Fort Brooke during the Second Seminole War. The new fort was located on a bluff overlooking Clear Water Harbor, which later became part of an early 20th-century residential development (now historic district) called Harbor Oaks. University of South Florida archaeologists excavated the site in 1977 after Alfred C. Wyllie discovered an underground ammunition bunker while digging a swimming pool on his estate. Clearwater would later become the first organized community on the peninsula as well as the site of its first post office.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Armed Occupation Act, passed in 1842, encouraged further settlement of Pinellas, like all of Florida, by offering 160 acres (0.65 km) to anyone who would bear arms and cultivate the land. Pioneer families like the Booths, the Coachmans, the Marstons, and the McMullens established homesteads in the area in the years following, planting more citrus groves and raising cattle. During the American Civil War, many residents fought for the Confederate States of America. Brothers James and Daniel McMullen were members of the Confederate Cow Cavalry, driving Florida cattle to Georgia and the Carolinas to help sustain the war effort. John W. Marston served in the 9th Florida Regiment as a part of the Appomattox Campaign. Many other residents served in other capacities. Otherwise the peninsula had virtually no significance during the war, and the war largely passed the area by.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: On September 27, 1848, a strong hurricane struck the West Coast of Florida. It separated the barrier island on the coast and created a waterway known today as John's Pass. John Levique, along with Joseph Silva, was the one who discovered it and named it after himself and is now a federally owned canal.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Tarpon Springs became West Hillsborough's first incorporated city in 1887, and in 1888 the Orange Belt Railway was extended into the southern portion of the peninsula. Railroad owner Peter Demens named the town that grew near the railroad's terminus St. Petersburg in honor of his hometown. The town would incorporate in 1892. Other major towns in the county incorporated during this time were Clearwater (1891), Dunedin (1899), and Largo (1905).


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Construction of Fort De Soto, on Mullet Key facing the mouth of Tampa Bay, was begun in 1898 during the Spanish–American War to protect Tampa Bay from potential invading forces. The fort, a subpost of Fort Dade on adjacent Egmont Key (which lies in the mouth of Tampa Bay), was equipped with artillery and mortar batteries.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Even into the early years of the 20th century, West Hillsborough had no paved roads, and transportation posed a major challenge. A trip to the county seat, across the bay in Tampa, was generally an overnight affair and the automobiles that existed on the peninsula at that time would frequently become bogged down in the muck after rainstorms. Angry at what was perceived as neglect by the county government, residents of Pinellas began a push to secede from Hillsborough. They succeeded, and on January 1, 1912 Pinellas County came into being. The peninsula, along with a small part of the mainland were incorporated into the new county.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Aviation history was made in St. Petersburg on January 1, 1914 when Tony Jannus made the world's first scheduled commercial airline flight with the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line from St. Petersburg to Tampa. The popular open-air St. Petersburg concert venue Jannus Live (formerly known as Jannus Landing) memorializes the flight.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The early 1920s saw the beginning of a land boom in much of Florida, including Pinellas. During this period municipalities issued a large number of bonds to keep pace with the needed infrastructure, such as roads and bridges. The travel time to Tampa was cut in half—from —by the opening of the Gandy Bridge in 1924, along the same route Jannus' airline used. It was the longest automobile toll bridge in the world at the time.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Prohibition was unpopular in the area and the peninsula's countless inlets and islands became havens for rumrunners bringing in liquor from Cuba. Others distilled moonshine in the County's still plentiful woods.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: As was the case in much of Florida, the Great Depression came early to Pinellas with the collapse of the real estate boom in 1926. Local economies came into severe difficulties, and by 1930, St. Petersburg defaulted on its bonds. Only after World War II would significant growth return to the area. During the war, the area's tourist industry collapsed, but thousands of recruits came to the area when the U.S. military decided to use the area for training. Area hotels became barracks. The Vinoy Park Hotel was used as an Army training school. The area's women and girls participated in the war effort as well. Hundreds of girls from the area's most prominent families formed a group called the Bomb-a-Dears, holding dances, socializing with recruits, and selling war bonds. After the war many of these same soldiers remembered their wartime experience in Pinellas well, and returned as tourists or residents.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: With the end of the Second World War, Pinellas would enter another period of rapid growth and development. In 1954 the original span of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge was opened, replacing earlier ferry service. By 1957 Clearwater was America's fastest growing city.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council was founded by the late mayor of St. Petersburg, Herman Goldner, who sought without success during the 1960s to consolidate various municipalities and unincorporated areas in south Pinellas County. Each year the council presents its Herman Goldner Award for Regional Leadership.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Tragedy struck on May 9, 1980, when the southbound span of the original Sunshine Skyway Bridge was struck by the freighter MV "Summit Venture" during a storm, sending over of the bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. The collision caused ten cars and a Trailways bus to fall into the water, killing 35 people. The new bridge opened in 1987 and has since been listed as #3 of the "Top 10 Bridges" in the World by the Travel Channel.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The county operates a living history museum called Heritage Village containing more than 28 historic structures, some dating back to the 19th century, where visitors can experience what life was once like in Pinellas.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (55.0%) is water. It is the second-smallest county in Florida by land area, larger than only Union County. Pinellas forms a peninsula bounded on the west by the Gulf of Mexico and on the south and east by Tampa Bay. It is long and wide at its broadest point, with of coastline.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Elevation in the county ranges from mean sea level to its highest natural point of near the intersection of SR 580 and Countryside Blvd. in Clearwater. Due to its small size and high population, by the early 21st century Pinellas County has been mostly built out, with very little developable land left available. The county has maintained a fairly large system of parks and preserves that provide residents and visitors retreat from the city and a glimpse of the peninsula's original state.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Geologically, Pinellas is underlain by a series of limestone formations, the Hawthorne limestone and the Tampa limestone. The limestone is porous and stores a large quantity of water. The Hawthorne formation forms a prominent ridge down the spine of the county, from east of Dunedin, south to the Walsingham area and east towards St. Petersburg.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The 35 miles of beaches and dunes which make up the county's 11 barrier islands provide habitat for coastal species, serve as critical storm protection for the inland communities, and form the basis of the area's thriving tourism industry. The islands are dynamic, with wave action building some islands further up, eroding others, and forming entirely new islands over time. Though hurricanes are infrequent on this part of Florida's coast, they have had a major impact on the islands, with the Hurricane of 1848 forming John's Pass between Madeira Beach and Treasure Island, a hurricane in 1921 creating Hurricane Pass and cleaving Hog Island into Honeymoon and Caladesi Islands, and 1985's Hurricane Elena sealing Dunedin Pass to join Caladesi with Clearwater Beach.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Between the barrier islands and the peninsula are several bodies of water, through which traverses a section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. From north to south they are: St. Joseph Sound between the islands and Dunedin, Clearwater Harbor between Clearwater and Clearwater Beach, and Boca Ciega Bay in the southern third of the county. Connecting Clearwater Harbor to Boca Ciega Bay is a thin, approximately stretch of water known as The Narrows, which runs next to the town of Indian Shores.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Extending from northeastern Boca Ciega Bay, Long Bayou separates Seminole from St. Petersburg near Bay Pines. Long Bayou once extended significantly farther up the peninsula until the northern portion was sealed off to create Lake Seminole. Extending further still from Long Bayou, the Cross Bayou Canal traverses the peninsula, crossing Pinellas Park in a northeasterly direction before emptying into Tampa Bay on the northwest side of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Boyd Hill Nature Preserve- A 245-acre park on the shores of Lake Maggiore in south St. Petersburg, operated by the city and featuring a nature center, bird-of-prey aviary, and over three miles of trails through a variety of ecosystems.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Hillsborough County extends along the shipping channel towards Egmont Key and into the Gulf of Mexico, separating Pinellas County from Manatee County.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Several natural communities exist within the county, including areas of freshwater wetlands (dominated by bald cypresses and ferns), coastal mangrove swamps, sporadic hardwood hammocks (dominated by laurel oaks and live oaks, cabbage palms, and southern magnolias), low-lying, poorly drained pine flatwoods (dominated by longleaf pines and saw palmettos), and well-drained, upland sandhills (dominated by longleaf pines and turkey oaks) and sand pine scrub (dominated by sand pines, saw palmettos, and various oaks). Offshore ecosystems include the Tampa Bay estuary and numerous gulf seagrass beds. The county also maintains several artificial reefs


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Numerous bird species can be sighted in Pinellas, either as permanent residents or during the winter migration, including wading birds like great blue herons, egrets, white ibises and roseate spoonbills, aquatic birds like brown pelicans, white pelicans, and cormorants, numerous species of shorebirds, and very-common birds like seagulls and passerines like the blue jay, mockingbird, and crow. Ospreys are a commonly seen bird-of-prey, with other birds of prey like turkey vultures, red tailed hawks, great horned owls, screech owls, barn owls, and bald eagles, among others, seen as well.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Gopher tortoises are found in many areas, the burrows they dig making them a keystone species. Coyotes, though often associated with the American West, are native-to and can be found in Pinellas. White-tailed deer, wild turkeys, bobcats, otters, and alligators can be found in the county as well.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Sea turtles nest on the shores or Pinellas' barrier islands and have been threatened by development. Offshore, dolphins, sharks, and manatees are numerous as well, while closer inshore stingrays are a common sight, leading those in-the-know to do the "stingray shuffle" (shuffling up the sand to scare nearby stingrays off) when entering gulf waters. Species of fish commonly caught in the waters surrounding the county include spotted seatrout, red drum or redfish, snook, pompano, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, grouper, mullet, flounder, kingfish, and tarpon.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Like much of Florida, Pinellas County is home to several invasive species that propagate easily outside their (and their natural predators') native range. Examples of commonly seen invasives include Brazilian pepper, water hyacinth, Australian pine, melaleuca


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: and air potato. These species are considered serious pests, and varying methods have been tried to eradicate them. Examples of invasive animals include the wild boar, which poses significant health and agricultural problems in Florida and can sometimes be found in Pinellas, and the monk parakeet, small flocks of which can sometimes be seen in flight or building nests on electrical poles or telecommunications towers.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas gained some national attention as the home of the "Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay", a non-native, feral rhesus macaque that had been on the loose for approximately three years in the south of the county. No one was sure where the monkey came from, and a Facebook page set up for the monkey had over 84,000 likes (as of October 2012). The monkey was the subject of a sketch on the March 11, 2010 episode of "the Colbert Report". As of February 2012, the monkey had apparently taken up semi-permanent residence behind a family's home at an undisclosed location in St. Petersburg, according to the "Tampa Bay Times". Efforts to capture the monkey were reignited after it reportedly bit a woman living near where it had taken up residence, and the monkey was captured in late October 2012 and eventually was sent to live at Dade City's Wild Things, a zoo north of Tampa.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas, like the rest of the Tampa Bay area, has a humid subtropical climate, resulting in warm, humid summers with frequent thunderstorms, and drier winters. Pinellas County's geographic position- lying on a peninsula between Tampa Bay and the Gulf of Mexico introduces large amounts of humidity into the atmosphere and serves to moderate temperatures. The geography of the peninsula also causes some variance in the county's average temperatures. St. Petersburg, further south on the peninsula, tends to have warmer daily average lows (by about 3 degrees) than areas such as Dunedin and Palm Harbor further north, though daily highs are very close. The north of the county also has fewer overall days of rain, but higher total annual precipitation when measured in inches, the county's south being prone to shorter, more frequent thunderstorms especially in the late summer.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Freezing temperatures occur only every 2–3 years, with freezing precipitation occurring extremely rarely. Springs are usually short, mild, and dry, with occasional late-season cold fronts. Summertime weather is very consistent, with highs in the low 90s °F (around 32 °C), lows in the mid-70s °F (around 24 °C), accompanied by high humidity and an almost daily chance of afternoon thundershowers. The area experiences significant rainfall during its summer months (approximately May through October), with nearly two-thirds of annual precipitation falling between the months of June and September. The area is occasionally affected by tropical storms and hurricanes, but has not suffered a direct hit since 1921. Fall, like spring, is usually mild and dry, with the hurricane season extending through November and sometimes affecting the area.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Many portions of south Pinellas, especially near the bay and gulf, have tropical microclimates. Tropical trees such as coconut palms and royal palms and fruit trees like mangoes grow very well in these microclimates.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The following is a list of all cities, towns, and census-designated places in Pinellas County, Florida.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: As of the 2020 United States census, there were 959,107 people, 413,239 households, and 232,884 families residing in the county.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In 2010, 6.5% of the population considered themselves to be of only American ancestry (regardless of race or ethnicity.)


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: There were 415,876 households, out of which 19.89% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.33% were married couples living together, 11.86% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.67% were non-families. 35.42% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.14% (4.53% male and 10.61% female) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.79.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The age distribution is 17.8% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 30.8% from 45 to 64, and 21.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.3 years. For every 100 females there were 92.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.8 males.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The median income for a household in the county was $45,258, and the median income for a family was $58,335. Males had a median income of $41,537 versus $35,003 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,742. About 8.1% of families and 12.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 9.0% of those aged 65 or over.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In 2010, 11.2% of the county's population was foreign born, with 50.3% being naturalized American citizens. Of foreign-born residents, 33.6% were born in Europe, 32.1% were born in Latin America, 20.9% born in Asia, 9.8% in North America, 3.0% born in Africa, and 0.6% were born in Oceania.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: As of 2000, there were 921,482 people, 414,968 households, and 243,171 families residing in the county. The population density was 1,271/km (3,292/sq mi), making it the most densely populated county in Florida. There were 481,573 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 85.85% White (82.8% were Non-Hispanic White,) 8.96% Black or African American, 0.30% Native American, 2.06% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 1.14% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. 4.64% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: There were 414,968 households, out of which 22.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.80% were married couples living together, 10.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.40% were non-families. 34.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.17 and the average family size was 2.77.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In the county, the population was spread out, with 19.30% under the age of 18, 6.40% from 18 to 24, 27.30% from 25 to 44, 24.50% from 45 to 64, and 22.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 91.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.80 males.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In 2000, 87.8% of persons age 25 or above were high school graduates, slightly above Florida's average of 84.9% for Florida. 26.7% of persons age 25 or above held a Bachelor's degree or higher, also slightly higher than Florida's rate of 25.6%.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The median income for a household in the county was $37,111, and the median income for a family was $46,925. Males had a median income of $32,264 versus $26,281 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,497. About 6.70% of families and 10.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.90% of those under age 18 and 8.20% of those age 65 or over.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In 2000, as Florida's 6th and the nation's 53rd most populous county, Pinellas has a population greater than that of the individual states of Wyoming, Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, Alaska, North Dakota, and Vermont, as well as the District of Columbia. With a population density (as of the 2000 Census) of 3292 inhabitants/mi, Pinellas County is by far the most densely populated county in the state, more than double that of Broward County, the next most densely populated.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: As of 2010, 87.17% of all residents spoke English as their first language, while 5.56% spoke Spanish, 0.78% Vietnamese, 0.70% French, 0.65% Greek, 0.56% German, and 0.52% of the population spoke Serbo-Croatian as their mother language. In total, 12.83% of the population spoke languages other than English as their primary language.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Board of County Commissioners governs all unincorporated areas of the county under the state's constitution, with the power to adopt ordinances, approve the county budget, set millages, and provide services. The county's municipalities, while governing their own affairs, may call upon the county for specialized services. The county administrator, appointed by and reporting to the Board, oversees most of the day-to-day operations of the county.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The county's government website won a "Sunny Award" in 2010 for its proactive disclosure of government data from Sunshine Review.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In national politics, Pinellas County, was one of the first areas of Florida to turn Republican. From 1948 to 1988, it went Republican in every presidential election except Lyndon Johnson's 44-state landslide of 1964. However, for the last quarter-century, as part of the I-4 Corridor stretching from Tampa Bay to Orlando, it has been a powerful swing county in one of the nation's most critical swing states. Voter registration is almost tied, with Republicans having a small plurality of registered voters. It is closely divided between predominantly liberal St. Petersburg and its predominantly suburban and conservative north and beaches. Due in part to the more populated southern portion around St. Petersburg, it has supported a Democrat for president in all but two elections since 1992. The brand of Republicanism in Pinellas County has traditionally been a moderate one, so the county has become friendlier to Democrats as a result of the national GOP having shifted right.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In 2000, Al Gore became the first Democrat to win a majority of the county's vote since 1964, and only the second since Franklin D. Roosevelt. In 2004, Pinellas County swung the other way when George W. Bush carried the county by a narrow plurality of 49.56% (225,686 votes), with John Kerry following closely behind with 49.51% (225,460 votes)–a margin of just 226 votes. In the 2012 Presidential Election, Barack Obama won Pinellas with 52% of the vote (239,104 votes) to Mitt Romney's 46.5% (213,258 votes), slightly narrower than Obama’s 2008 election results in Pinellas of 53% (248,299 votes) to John McCain’s 45% (210,066 votes).


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In the 2012 U.S. Senate election, Pinellas voters helped re-elect U.S. Senator Bill Nelson over challenger Connie Mack IV with 59% of the vote, greater than his statewide average of 55%. In the 2010 U.S. Senate election, Pinellas was one of only four Florida counties won by outgoing Republican Governor Charlie Crist, a St. Petersburg native, who won 42% of Pinellas voters running as an Independent in a three-way race with Republican nominee (and eventual winner) Marco Rubio and former Democratic U.S. Representative Kendrick Meek, who won 37% and 16.8% of the Pinellas vote, respectively. Statewide, Rubio won almost 49% of the vote to Crist's 29.7% and Meek's 20% in a highly polarized election that would witness Crist depart from the Republican Party and eventually become a Democrat.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Portions of Pinellas fall into Florida's 12th and 13th congressional districts, served by Republican Gus Bilirakis and Democrat Crist. Previously, a large slice of Pinellas, including much of St. Petersburg, had been in the Tampa-based 14th District. A court-ordered remap merged most of the 14th's share of Pinellas into the 13th. This enabled Crist to defeat Republican incumbent David Jolly in the 2016 election, breaking a 62-year GOP hold on what is now the 13th.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In state politics, portions of Pinellas are represented in the Florida Senate by Democratic State Senator Arthenia Joyner (District 19) and Republican State Senators Jack Latvala (District 20) and Jeff Brandes (District 22). In the Florida House parts of the county are represented by Republicans James Grant (District 64), Chris Sprowls (District 65), Larry Ahern (District 66), Chris Latvala (District 67), and Kathleen Peters (District 69) and Democrats Dwight Dudley (District 68) and Darryl Rouson (District 70).


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The entire county is served by the Pinellas County School District. The current superintendent is Dr. Michael Grego. The district, the nation's 24th largest, comprises 143 schools, including 72 elementary schools, 18 middle schools, 2 K-8 schools, 17 high schools, and 35 additional facilities including ESE, adult ed, career/technical, and charters. The district also operates the K-12 Pinellas Virtual School. Among the many notable magnet programs in the district are three International Baccalaureate (IB) programs, at St. Petersburg High School, Palm Harbor University High School, and Largo High School, Project Lead the Way's (PLTW) engineering program at East Lake High School, the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) at Lakewood High School, the Pinellas County Center for the Arts (PCCA) at Gibbs High School, three middle school Centers for Gifted Studies, at Thurgood Marshall Fundamental, Morgan Fitzgerald, and Dunedin Highland Middle Schools, and Florida's only Fundamental High School, at Osceola High School.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The county is also home to many private schools, including Admiral Farragut Academy, Canterbury School, Calvary Christian, Clearwater Central Catholic, Keswick Christian School, Shorecrest Preparatory School, Indian Rocks Christian School and St. Petersburg Catholic High School, among others.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas County is home several institutions of higher learning, including Eckerd College, the University of South Florida St. Petersburg, the multi-campus St. Petersburg College, the Stetson University College of Law in Gulfport, and the main campus of Schiller International University in Largo, after previously being located in Dunedin.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative (PPLC) serves county residents by coordinating activities, funding and information and facilitating borrowing across 15 of its constituent systems within the county. Individual libraries are primarily funded and operated by their municipalities. PPLC provides digital resources, coordinated marketing, courier service between libraries, and a shared online publicly accessible catalog.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The PPLC was created in 1989 to provide access to unincorporated areas of Pinellas County and to municipalities that do not have library services. In March of that year, county residents voted to pay an extra tax to allow them to use city libraries throughout the county. The exceptions to this were the cities of Clearwater, South Pasadena, Kenneth City, Indian Rocks, and Indian Shores, who would have to pay a $100 non-member fee to use the PPLC libraries. Clearwater and others have since joined the cooperative. Librarian Bernadette Storck was hired as the cooperative administrator. Storck was retiring from thirty years working in the Tampa-Hillsborough library System. The cooperative opened on Monday, October 1, 1990 with twelve participating libraries across the county. The Pinellas Public Library Cooperative's vision is "to connect communities."


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Due to community partnerships, PPLC offers free admission to the following museums: Museum of Fine Arts, Florida Holocaust Museum, Great Explorations Children's Museum, Henry B. Plant Museum, Imagine Museum, Leepa-Rattner Museum of Art, Dunedin History Museum, and the Tampa Bay History Center.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The PPLC also offers the Talking Book Library and Deaf Literacy Center as a way to provide library services for whom conventional print is a barrier due to visual, physical or learning disabilities whether permanent or temporary. The Talking Book Library provides recorded audio, Braille and large print books and magazines as well as a collection of descriptive videos to residents of Pinellas and Sarasota counties. The Deaf Literacy Center provides a bilingual/bicultural learning environment for Deaf, deafened and hard of hearing individuals. They offer small group and individualized basic literacy instruction, traditional library and information services, computer literacy, signed storytimes, special workshops, presenters and sign language classes.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Agriculture was the single most important industry in Pinellas until the early 20th century, with much of the best land devoted to citrus production. Cattle ranching was another major industry. In 1885 the American Medical Society declared the Pinellas peninsula the "healthiest spot on earth", which helped spur the growth of the tourist industry.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Anchored by the urban markets of Clearwater and St. Petersburg, Pinellas has the second largest base of manufacturing employment in Florida.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas has diverse, yet symbiotic, industry clusters, including aviation/aerospace, defense/national security, medical technologies, business and financial services, and information technology.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Fortune 500 technology manufacturers Jabil Circuit and Tech Data and a Fortune 500 financial company Raymond James Financial are headquartered in the Gateway area in and adjacent to Pinellas. Other large companies include HSN, Nielsen, and Valpak.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Service industries such as healthcare, business services and education account for more than 200,000 jobs in the county, generating almost $19 billion in revenue. Other major sectors include retail, with close to 100,000 employees in jobs such as food service, bars, and retail sales generating $12 billion for the local economy in 2010, and industries related to finance, insurance and real estate with approximately 44,000 workers generating $8.5 billion in sales.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Florida Orchestra splits its performances between Ruth Eckerd Hall, the Mahaffey Theater, and the Straz Center for the Performing Arts in Tampa. Clearwater Jazz Holiday held every October in Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater; in its 32nd year.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Long established communities, particularly Old Northeast in St. Petersburg, Pass-a-Grille in St. Pete Beach, Harbor Oaks in Clearwater, and old Tarpon Springs contain notable historic architecture.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The area has embraced farmer's markets, with St. Petersburg's Saturday Morning Market drawing large crowds, and other markets located weekly in several other parts of the county also seeing a growth in popularity.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Downtowns in St. Petersburg and Dunedin, and many of the beaches, especially Clearwater Beach, all attract a vibrant nightlife.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: In addition to the above-mentioned Heritage Village in Largo, a number of small local history museums operate within the county: the St. Petersburg Museum of History on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront, the Gulf Beaches Historical Museum in Pass-a-Grille, the Dunedin History Museum in Dunedin, the Palm Harbor Museum in Palm Harbor, and the Historic Depot Museum in Tarpon Springs all provide visitors a glimpse of the area's history.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Two botanical gardens are located within the county: The Florida Botanical Gardens, a part of the Pinewood Cultural Park in Largo, and Sunken Gardens, a former tourist attraction located in and now run by the City of St. Petersburg.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Indian Shores is home to the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary, currently the largest non-profit wild bird hospital in the United States and considered one of the top avian rehabilitation centers in the world. A variety of species can be found at the sanctuary, which is open 365 days a year and is free to the public.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: On Clearwater Beach is the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, a non-profit dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation and release of injured marine animals and public education. CMA's best-known permanent resident, is Winter, a bottlenose dolphin who was rescued in December 2005 after having her tail caught in a crab trap. Her injuries caused the loss of her tail; CMA successfully fitted Winter with a prosthetic tail which brought worldwide attention to the facility. Winter was the subject of the 2011 film "Dolphin Tale", shot partially on location at CMA.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: On the south end of Anclote Key, off of Tarpon Springs, is the Anclote Key Light, a lighthouse built in 1887. The light is Pinellas County's only functioning lighthouse, and one of only two in the Tampa Bay Area. The light was deactivated in 1984, but by 2003 had been restored and as of 2013 continues to be in use. The island forms Anclote Key Preserve State Park and is accessible only by private boat.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Tampa Bay Area is home to three major professional sports teams and a number of minor-league and college teams. Regardless of the specific city where they play their games, all of the professional teams claim "Tampa Bay" in their name to signify that they represent the entire area.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Professionally, baseball's Tampa Bay Rays play at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, while football's Tampa Bay Buccaneers and hockey's Tampa Bay Lightning both play in nearby Tampa.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Two MLB teams come to Pinellas for spring training: the Philadelphia Phillies play at BayCare Ballpark in Clearwater while the Toronto Blue Jays play at TD Ballpark in Dunedin. Additionally, Minor League Baseball affiliates of those teams play at their spring training ballparks; the Clearwater Threshers play at BayCare Ballpark and the Dunedin Blue Jays play at TD Ballpark.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg is held every spring on the downtown St. Petersburg waterfront.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The PGA Tour plays its Valspar Championship annually in March on the Copperhead Course at the Innisbrook Golf Resort in Palm Harbor.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Other popular fishing locations include Pier 60 on Clearwater Beach and the Gulf and Bay Piers at Fort De Soto Park, as well as countless spots along the bridges and passes of the area, among many others.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas County's coastal geography, with a long system of barrier islands on the Gulf and small-to-large mangrove islands dotting the waters on all sides, provides for an extensive series of blueways that are enjoyed by kayakers of all ability levels. The county also maintains a series of artificial reefs in the Gulf which are popular spots for fishing and scuba diving


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The county's two largest freshwater lakes, Lake Tarpon (accessible through Chestnut and Anderson parks) and Lake Seminole (accessible through Lake Seminole Park), are popular for water skiing, jet-skiing, and sailing, as well as for fishing and kayaking.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Both the North Beach of Fort De Soto Park (2005) and Caladesi Island (2008) have been named by Dr. Beach as America's Top Beach.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Pinellas County, as a part of the Tampa Bay Area (the nation's 14th largest television market), is served by fourteen local broadcast television stations, as well as a variety of cable-only local stations. More than 70 FM and AM stations compete for listenership in what is the nation's 19th largest radio market.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: Major daily newspapers serving Pinellas are the "Tampa Bay Times", known as the "St. Petersburg Times" from 1884–2011 and first in circulation and readership, and "The Tampa Tribune". The "Times" also distributes a free daily (Monday-Friday) tabloid called "tbt*" in the most heavily populated areas of the county. "Creative Loafing Tampa" is the main alternative weekly.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The CSX railroad company operates the Clearwater Subdivision in Pinellas County, made up of segments of branch lines of the former Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. Beginning in Tampa, the line has daily freight rail traffic through Oldsmar, Safety Harbor, Clearwater, Largo, Pinellas Park, and into St. Petersburg. Regularly-scheduled passenger rail services in Pinellas County ended on February 1, 1984 when Amtrak discontinued its rail operations in the county, and the last passenger rail service in the county of any kind, a series of special excursion runs between Tarpon Springs and Dunedin, occurred on March 8, 1987. CSX owned the last remaining trackage in downtown St. Petersburg until March 2008 when it, along with the remaining trackage south of Central Avenue and east of 34th Street South, began to be dismantled. That right-of-way, as well as the right-of-way of several other former CSX railroad lines in the county beginning in the 1990s, was converted into a section of the Pinellas Trail.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: As of 2012, proposals are currently being developed by community leaders for a light rail system which would connect the regional core cities of Clearwater, St. Petersburg, and Tampa. The proposal, which has won the backing of the Clearwater and St. Petersburg City Councils would rely on a 1% sales tax and would have to go before voters for approval.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) operates 205 buses and trolleys servicing 37 routes across the county, with major stops at all commercial centers. Along the Gulf Beaches, PTSA operates the Suncoast Beach Trolley. PTSA also offers two express routes to downtown Tampa via the Howard Frankland and Gandy Bridges, connecting with Tampa's HartLine, and connects with Pasco's PCPT in Tarpon Springs to continue service in that county. The system's two main bus terminals are located in downtown Clearwater and downtown St. Petersburg. During fiscal year 2005-06, PSTA transported 11,400,484 passengers.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office was founded in 1912 at the founding of the county. The Sheriff's Office absorbed the County Patrol in 1960. the sheriff is Bob Gualtieri.


title: Pinellas County, Florida

text: The office provides law enforcement services in the county. These municipalities contract to the Sheriff's Office for patrol services:


Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension is a 2015 American 3D found footage supernatural horror film directed by Gregory Plotkin in his directorial debut, and written by Jason Harry Pagan, Andrew Deutschman, Adam Robitel, and Gavin Heffernan. Plotkin served as the editor for the second, third, fourth, and films. Most of the film takes place after "Paranormal Activity 4" (2012), though the plot ties in heavily with the events of "Paranormal Activity 3" (2011).


title: Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

text: It is the sixth installment in the "Paranormal Activity" series. It was released on October 23, 2015. It is the first installment not to star Katie Featherston as Katie, but she is referred to often. Most of the film involves the young 1988 Katie from the third film. The film had grossed over $78 million worldwide on a $10 million budget. The Rotten Tomatoes consensus says that the franchise's "thrills are mostly gone". Although this film was initially announced and promoted as the final film in the series, a was released in October 2021.


text: In 1988, Katie and Kristi watch as Dennis' spine is crushed by a mysterious force. Grandma Lois takes the girls upstairs while the entity takes the camera with them. A man speaks to the girls about "Tobi" and how they are important to his plan.


text: In 2013, Ryan Fleege, his wife Emily, and their six-year-old daughter Leila are about to celebrate Christmas, when Ryan's brother Mike moves in after breaking up with his girlfriend. Along with them is Skylar, who notices that Leila is talking to an imaginary friend named Tobi. Mike finds a box of old video tapes, dating from 1988 to 1992, and a very large video camera. The tapes show a young Kristi and Katie with their mother Julie and her boyfriend Dennis in 1988, while others from 1992 are in Lois's house where the two are practicing supernatural abilities with the mysterious man. Ryan and Mike notice that the girls are seemingly aware of the pair's presence: they are able to foresee Ryan and Mike's every action as the two simultaneously watch the video.


text: Leila's interactions with Tobi coincide with Ryan using the old camera around the house, where he notices the camera picks up spiritual beings. He decides to record overnight to see what weird things are occurring. One night, a black figure arises out of the ground and hovers over Leila for several hours, and she eventually talks to it. Soon, Skylar is attacked by the spirit. The next night, Ryan tapes Leila sleeping, but a demonic spirit appears and forces him to drop the camera. The following day, Ryan and Emily discover a slab of concrete in the ground with Katie, Kristi and the year 1987 etched into it, and realize their house is built on the same property that Katie and Kristi used to live in before it burned down in 1992. The grown-up Katie sold the house to the family, which was built by a coven of witches called The Midwives.


text: Leila gradually becomes less talkative and Ryan and Emily call Father Todd. Leila attacks Todd and he is convinced that 'Tobi' is a demon linked to the cult. Ryan researches the cult, and realizes they killed a family in Nevada related to a boy named Hunter, who was born on the same day as Leila. One of the tapes also shows , despite not being born until 2005. He learns that Leila's blood is needed to finish Tobi's transformation into a physical being. One night, Leila's interaction with Tobi leads her to open a doorway to another world into which she disappears. Ryan and Emily find her and flee with her to a hotel.


text: Father Todd attempts to cleanse the house and trap the demon but is strangled and dragged away by Tobi, leaving the family to finish the cleansing. Ryan entraps the demon in a white sheet soaked in holy water and finishes the prayer. Leila returns to normal and the demon disappears. After thinking the ordeal is over, Skylar starts to vomit blood all over Mike, but the blood burns him, killing them both. Leila flees, and Ryan and Emily chase her but Ryan is killed when a large arm impales him through his chest. Leila sprints into the "portal" in her room with Emily following; she arrives at Kristi and Katie's mother's house in 1992, where she finds a young Katie, and confronts the "human" version of Tobi. Emily pleads with the demon to spare Leila, but is killed; her body is tossed at the camera. Leila and "Tobi" walk off as the camera cuts, ending the film.


text: In an alternate ending, the extermination of the demon was successful. Four months later, Emily, Ryan, and Leila have moved into a new house. While Leila is playing outside, she is seen joined hand and hand with young Katie and Kristi. While celebrating Leila’s birthday party, Emily is revealed to be pregnant. Leila blows out the candles on her cake, wishing for a baby brother. Emily states they do not know the gender of their baby yet, and the film ends.


text: Industrial Light & Magic created the 3D visual effects, especially for the creation of the Tobi demon.


text: A teaser trailer was released on June 22, and promotional stills were released afterwards. The official first trailer was released the following day at midnight.


text: The film was originally slated for October 25, 2013, and was then delayed to October 2014. On September 17, 2014, it was announced that the film would be subtitled "The Ghost Dimension", and that it was set to be released on March 13, 2015. On January 27, 2015, Paramount Pictures announced that it had pushed the release date back to October 23, 2015, where it was finally released in 3D and RealD 3D.


text: In July, Paramount announced that it had struck a deal with AMC Entertainment and Cineplex Entertainment to make "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" and "Ghost Dimension" available digitally, 17 days after they drop below 300 theaters, as part of a larger experiment, and asked other theaters to join in. In return, Paramount would share an undisclosed portion of proceeds of the VOD revenues. Per industry sources, Paramount is giving participating exhibitors an estimated 2-4% share of their digital revenue made between the time the film drops below 300 theaters and 90 days after its opening date. Those agreeing to Paramount's formula includes AMC, Canada's Cineplex, National Amusements, and Alamo Drafthouse. But many circuits including Regal Cinema, Cinemark, and Carmike have rejected Paramount's offer to release in VOD. This would mean that "Ghost Dimension" will only go out in roughly 1,350 North American theaters when opening on October 23—compared to 2,883 theaters for the last title and well north of 3,000 theaters for each of the previous three films. According to early pre-release tracking, the film was pacing to open to $10–12 million in the United States and Canada—despite the fact the film had the added benefit of 3D pricing, a first for the series—compared to $18.3 million for "". The reason why Paramount carried out this approach and experimented with these two younger demographic genre movies—which many believe to be a box office failure—was because of the theatrical failure of MGM's "Hot Tub Time Machine 2". Rob Moore, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures said, "There is no question that we are going to do less theatrically, but I believe we will make it up digitally. This is about the long-term health of the business, so there is not this long period of time when a consumer can't watch a movie."


text: , "Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" has grossed $18.3 million in North America and $60.6 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $78.9 million, against a budget of $10 million, making it the poorest performing film in the series.


text: The film opened on October 23, 2015, alongside "The Last Witch Hunter", "Rock the Kasbah", and "Jem and the Holograms", as well as the expanded release of "Steve Jobs". In its opening weekend, the film had projected to gross $10–12 million from 1,656 theaters, however, some projections had it earning only in the high-single digits. The film made $500,000 from its early Thursday screenings and $3.3 million on its first day. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $8.1 million, finishing sixth at the box office.


text: On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 14% based on 77 reviews and an average rating of 3.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension" ties up some of the franchise's lingering questions, but six films into the series, the thrills are mostly gone." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 30 out of 100 based on reviews from 13 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale.


text: Andrew Barker of "Variety" wrote: "There may well be new and novel ways to spark audience shivers from not-so-bright homeowners inexplicably using their cameraphones to check out bumps in the night, but this series clearly has neither the patience nor the inclination to look for them anymore."


text: Justin Lowe of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: "Even at this late stage in the evolution of the franchise, logical lapses in filmmaking technique undercut the integrity of the found-footage format, but continuity was never one of the series' strong points, a shortcoming easily forgiven by fans."


text: Noel Murray of the Los Angeles Times gave it a positive review: "At its most basic level, the "Paranormal Activity" formula still has some kick, with its combination of creepy lo-fi video and tasteful suburbia creating some strong, unsettling dissonance."


text: Although "The Ghost Dimension" was promoted as a final installment in the series, Paramount announced in June 2019 that a was in development. The film was set to be released on March 19, 2021. However, in August 2020, the film was delayed to March 4, 2022. In February 2021, it was announced that William Eubank had been hired to direct the film which was written by series veteran Christopher Landon. The film was moved up to October 29, 2021 and was released straight to Paramount+.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The Brotherhood of Mutants (originally called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sometimes referred to as BoEM or B.O.E.M) is a fictional team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as being devoted to mutant superiority over normal humans. They are among the chief adversaries of the X-Men.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The group's roster and ideology have varied from incarnation to incarnation, ranging from world domination to serving as a terrorist group that targets anti-mutant public figures. They are almost always at odds with the more peaceful X-Men, though on rare occasions the two sides have allied against a common threat, most notably Apocalypse.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The original Brotherhood was depicted as Magneto's primary allies in his early battles with the X-Men in comics published in the 1960s. The original Brotherhood was ultimately disbanded, with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch going on to become members of the Avengers. In 1981, the Brotherhood of Mutants was revived under the leadership of Mystique while the group's most visible incarnation during the early 1990s was led by Toad.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The Brotherhood of Mutants has also appeared in several animated series featuring the X-Men and has been Magneto’s group in the recent "X-Men" film series.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants was created by writer Stan Lee and artist/co-writer Jack Kirby and first appeared in "X-Men" #4 (March 1964).


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: While later incarnations of the Brotherhood promoted the group's existence as a political and ideological rival to Professor Charles Xavier's dream of peace with humans, the group was originally conceived as simply a small, but powerful army of minions gathered by Magneto to aid in his schemes for world domination. But since the group's second incarnation, the group has become a much more politically motivated group designed for use of violence to provide justice and lead the so-called 'mutant revolution' against mankind.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: One of the greater ironies of the group has been its use of "Evil" in its name. When his decision to name the group was brought up in an interview, Stan Lee simply said, "We were kind of corny in those days." Since the early 1990s, writers have attempted to explain this away by having Toad describe it as irony, based upon the perceived notion that all mutants are "evil." Later writers have opted instead to simply drop "Evil" from the group's name and refer to the group as "The Brotherhood of Mutants" or simply the Brotherhood. In Earth-X, Uatu explained that Magneto chose it so that, as the opposing side, Charles would be forced to assume the role of "Good," and that Magneto believed that by locking Charles into absolutes of morality, he could manipulate him.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Many of the group's members have been shown to be past victims of anti-mutant prejudice, which has made the group a haven for many mutants who feel they are outcasts and pariahs. While many of these outcast mutants have willingly embraced the violent aspects of the Brotherhood's ideology, several have ultimately rejected it and left the group because of it. Most notably, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left the group due to their disdain for Magneto's various schemes for world domination to join the Avengers, a group of heroes dedicated to help save the world as opposed to ruling it.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The original leader of the team was Magneto, a mutant with the ability to control magnetic fields. It would later be revealed that Magneto was a Holocaust survivor, explaining his distrust of humanity and its inability to accept those who are different. The other members of the original team were Quicksilver, who can move and think at incredible speeds, his twin sister, the Scarlet Witch, who has the power to affect probability fields, the Toad, a sniveling villain with incredible jumping ability and a medieval costume, and Mastermind, with the power to create illusions of sight, smell, taste, touch and sound. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch had joined after Magneto saved Wanda from a mob who believed she was a Witch after she accidentally made a house burst into flame. She joined to repay the debt, and Pietro joined to keep her safe. Time and again, the Brotherhood clashed with the original X-Men team (consisting of Cyclops, Angel, Beast, Iceman and Marvel Girl), in their first appearance taking control of a small country with the aid of Mastermind creating an illusion of an army. They captured the Angel and took him to Asteroid M, but he was rescued. They tried to recruit the Sub-Mariner, and then the Blob, but the X-Men succeeded against them. Finally Magneto and Toad were captured by an extraterrestrial being called the Stranger, who they at first believed was a powerful mutant, but he revealed himself to be an alien. Mastermind had been turned to a block of solid matter by the Stranger, Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch left the team and later joined the Avengers. Later, back on Earth, Magneto reorganized the team three times, including such mutants as the Blob and Unus the Untouchable, as well as the Savage Land mutate Lorelei, and creating a team that was later alternately called Mutant Force and the Resistants. Following a battle with the Defenders, the members of the Brotherhood were all transformed into infants by Alpha. The babies were brought to Muir Island, where they were placed under the care of Moira MacTaggert. Magneto was later restored to adulthood by Erik the Red, and quickly escaped MacTaggert's research facility. During this incident, the other members of the Brotherhood also regained their adult forms, but discovered that Magneto had abandoned them. Without their leader, the Brotherhood soon teamed up with the Vanisher as part of a plot to get revenge on the X-Men, but were beaten by the Champions. After this defeat, the Brotherhood was disbanded, and its remaining members were imprisoned.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The shapeshifting mutant Mystique later organized her own Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Members included Pyro, the Blob, Avalanche, Destiny and Rogue. This team (minus Rogue, who had defected to the X-Men) later became the core membership of the government-sponsored team called Freedom Force. As Freedom Force, their membership briefly included Spiral and the second Spider-Woman, and later included Super Sabre, the Crimson Commando, and Stonewall. This group both fought and teamed up with several heroic groups, including the Avengers, but ultimately disbanded after Destiny, Super Sabre and Stonewall were killed in action, Mystique faked her death, the Crimson Commando was crippled and the Blob and Pyro were abandoned on a mission in Iraq.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The Toad also organized a Brotherhood of Evil Mutants of his own at one point, including the Blob and Pyro, a woman named Phantazia who could disrupt electronics and superhuman powers, and the vampiric humanoid pterodactyl called Sauron, who is not an actual mutant. Toad's Brotherhood was concerned mostly with hatching revenge schemes against the X-teams, but was repeatedly defeated by X-Force, X-Factor, Darkhawk, Spider-Man and Sleepwalker.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Havok, after being captured and subjected to intensive brainwashing by the Dark Beast, formed his own short-lived Brotherhood of Mutants whose membership included himself, the Dark Beast, Fatale, and, briefly, Aurora, Random, Ever and X-Man. Despite Jean Grey's proclamation that Havok was acting of his own free will as well as the plot point of Dark Beast brainwashing Havok, it was ultimately revealed that Havok formed the team as part of a sting operation designed to find out the illegal experiments the Dark Beast was performing and fell apart when Havok and the Dark Beast finally clashed. This incarnation was the first Brotherhood to omit the "Evil" from its name.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The following incarnation included new members the Mimic and Post as well as the Blob and Toad. They freed Charles Xavier from prison and helped the X-Men against the animated Cerebro, who had created a team of fake X-Men. They later cooperated with Mystique in an attempt to capture the Machine Man. The team disbanded shortly afterwards.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: During this time period, it was revealed that the teleporter named Astra had been a member of the original Brotherhood, providing Magneto with the technology used to create Asteroid M and locating potential recruits, including Nightcrawler. Though she was in love with Magneto, he did not love her. This rejection led to her quitting the team and served as the motivation behind her creation of the Magneto clone Joseph.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: During the threat of the Legacy Virus, Mystique organized another Brotherhood, drawing members from nearly every incarnation, and adding Sabretooth and Martinique Jason to the lineup. A training session also showed a new Super Sabre and Commando, but they were not included on the mission. This Brotherhood attempted to kill senator Robert Kelly (thwarted by Cable, Gambit, Beast, Colossus and Pyro), but managed to assassinate Moira MacTaggert before they were disbanded.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Later, a short-lived Marvel series called "The Brotherhood" featured a large group of mutant terrorists, unrelated to any other version of the Brotherhood. The group was founded by the mutants Hoffman, Orwell and Marshal, but Marshal left the group and became a government agent. Hoffman hid his identity under the alias "X". Marshal had the orders to take down the Brotherhood, but was really planning on killing Hoffman and becoming the new "X". This series was cancelled after nine issues, at which point all members had either been killed in the power struggle between Hoffman and Marshal or by the publicity-driven X-Force (later renamed X-Statix).


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The next incarnation of the Brotherhood was led by Mystique again and included the new member Fever Pitch. This Brotherhood had infiltrated the X-Corps and took over the group, before it was defeated by the X-Men and Mystique sucked into another dimension by X-Corps recruit Abyss (ironically landing the two into the arms of Azazel, who was the father of both Abyss and Mystique's biological son Nightcrawler). Following her being rescued from her former lover's realm, Mystique would become a reluctant agent of Professor X, doing black ops missions for him. While employed, Mystique claimed that the second and third Brotherhood formed by her were actually formed by someone trying to frame her, something Xavier dismissed as lies designed by Mystique to gain sympathy from Xavier.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Another Brotherhood was formed by former X-Man Xorn, who thought he was Magneto. His Brotherhood were his former students Beak, Angel Salvadore, Martha Johansson, Basilisk II, Ernst, Esme and old Brotherhood member Toad. Most members rebelled against Xorn after he accidentally killed Basilisk and his insanity became too obvious to ignore.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the "Heroes and Villains" arc that concluded Chuck Austen's run on "X-Men", a new version of the Brotherhood appeared. The team was led by the powerful mutant Exodus, who had once been Magneto's herald, and its other members included Avalanche, Sabretooth (who had simply been hired by Exodus), and new members Black Tom Cassidy, Mammomax, Nocturne (who was revealed to be spying on the team), and Juggernaut (who was later revealed to be a mole). After Black Tom killed Juggernaut's friend Sammy Paré the "Fish-Boy" (who was attacking Juggernaut for his "apparent betrayal"), Juggernaut lashes out and tried to destroy the Brotherhood. After knocking Juggernaut and several other Brotherhood members unconscious, Exodus led his team to the Xavier Institute to claim revenge for the apparent death of Magneto. The entire team was defeated by the second Xorn, who sucked them into the "black hole" within his head; Nocturne was sucked in as well, and Juggernaut followed her. They eventually landed in Mojoworld, where the others sold Nocturne and Juggernaut to Mojo, for their freedom.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In Young X-Men, Donald Pierce, in disguise as Cyclops, deceives several X-Men in training into attacking what he dubs a new incarnation of the Brotherhood, which consists of Cannonball, Danielle Moonstar and Magma, all under the leadership of Sunspot, Lord Imperial of the Hellfire Club. However, this was just a manipulative ruse, and these four New Mutants were neither a team at the time nor conducting villainous activity.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: An all-female incarnation called "the Sisterhood" was formed by the "Red Queen"—revealed to be Madelyne Pryor—who recruited Martinique Jason, Lady Mastermind, Chimera, and the non-mutants Spiral and Lady Deathstrike. The Sisterhood was able to capture and brainwash the former X-Man Psylocke, making her a member also. Although being neither female nor a recruited member, former Hellions member Empath was revealed to be helping the team in their attack against the X-Men. The Red Queen is later lured into a trap set by Cyclops (Madelyne's former husband) and defeated. Psylocke broke free from her brainwashing and rejoined the X-Men. The other Sisterhood members all escape.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the miniseries "Magneto: Not a Hero", Joseph is resurrected under unknown circumstances and forms a new Brotherhood of Mutants with Astra and mutated deformed versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad. It is soon revealed that the mutated versions of Blob, Mastermind, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad are clones created by Astra. All the clones were killed by Magneto. Joseph is defeated by Magneto and remanded to Utopia's X-Brig.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In Uncanny X-Force, Wolverine's son Daken forms a new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants with Mystique, Sabretooth, Shadow King, Blob (AoA version), Skinless Man (Weapon III of Weapon Plus) and the Omega Clan (consisting of Omega Red, Omega Black and Omega White who each share the DNA of the original Omega Red) with the apparent goal of exacting revenge on X-Force. The group was seen recruiting Genesis as their next member, in order to turn him into the new Apocalypse.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Mystique has since gathered a new Brotherhood which consists of herself, Sabretooth, Blob, Silver Samurai II, and Lady Mastermind. By using Lady Mastermind's illusions, they commit numerous heists to incriminate the original X-Men, who had recently been brought through time to the present by Beast.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: With the money the Brotherhood of Mutants robbed in the heists, Mystique acquired Madripoor from HYDRA and attempted to turn it into a mutant sanctuary. Posing as Dazzler, Mystique attracted Magneto to the island and showed him her plans. However, Magneto reacted violently to the plan, believing that Mystique and the others were traitors to their species in part due to allowing the use of Mutant Growth Hormone to run rampant in the streets to fund their operations. He heavily injured Mystique and the Brotherhood and left after making their base collapse.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Inspired by Madelyne's attempt of defeating the X-Men, Lady Deathstrike has recruited the likes of Typhoid Mary and Enchantress and put together an all new Sisterhood, her own illuminati to take down the X-Men, as well as helping each one of them to achieve their individual goals. They have recently added the newly resurrected Selene to their ranks with the aid of the sentient virus, Arkea, and intend to bring back Madelyne Pryor herself as well. After Lady Deathstrike's host, Ana Cortes had a change of heart about being a supervillain and serving Arkea, she contacted the X-Men and informed them of the Sisterhood's location. She committed suicide. Arkea placed Lady Deathstrike's consciousness in the same body Arkea used for a host, Reiko. Arkea then took the Jean Grey genetic material she purchased and modified Ana Cortes corpse so that it could host Madelyne Pryor. Amora completed the resurrection of Madelyne Pryor. The X-Men assaulted the Sisterhood's hideout. They cut the hideout off the grid. The X-Men assaulted the Sisterhood. As most members of the Sisterhood did not particularly care for Arkea, they did not defend her to the fullest of their capabilities. Karima killed Arkea with a bullet specifically designed to destroy hive mind bacteria. As Arkea Prime was the queen bee of Arkea, once she was killed all Arkea bacteria everywhere died. As Madelyne and Selene left, Madelyne informed the group of her plan to create a new Sisterhood. Lady Deathstrike survived the destruction of Arkea.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Following the war with the Inhumans and the destruction of the remaining Terrigen cloud, a new group claiming to be the new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants appears, consisting of a new Avalanche, a new Pyro, Masque, Magma and a new reptile-looking member named Kologoth. They are led by a somehow-repowered Mesmero and secretly funded by an anti-mutant activist named Lydia Nance. It was also discovered by the X-Men that Mesmero had used his powers to brainwash the members of his Brotherhood to join the team and force them to carry out those attacks. Once his control was broken, the Brotherhood was dissolved and Mesmero was arrested.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Mesmero eventually escape from the Box and persuades Pyro and Avalanche to help him get revenge on Lydia Nance. After the fight with the X-Men and the NYPD, the Brotherhood of Mutants retreated to their hideout where Mesmero revealed that they were still under Lydia Nance's paycheck and she was the one who facilitated their escape from the Box and that she still has plans for the Brotherhood of Mutants. While Pyro walked away upon not wanting to work for an anti-mutant activist, Avalanche remained with Mesmero and asked for Pyro's cut as well.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: When Magneto time-traveled 20 years into the future to escape an attack, he found a city in ruins and statues of himself all around. He was greeted by mutants who saw him as a savior. He was also greeted by the time-displaced X-Men, who say Magneto is beyond redemption and that they should have stopped him when they had the chance. When Magneto returns to his own time, he decides it's time to stop pretending. He knows who he is, what he is, and he feels that being that person, that monster, is necessary for mutants to survive. His trip to the future assured him of that. Donning his classic red and purple costume, he steps onto his restored base, New Asteroid M, and calls upon his new Brotherhood of Mutants which consists of Briar Raleigh, Toad, Exodus, Unuscione, Marrow, and Elixir.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: This new Brotherhood was short-lived though, as Magneto was soon afterwards captured and turned into a Horseman of Salvation, Elixir and Marrow were seen on Earth and members of Emma Frost's new Hellfire Club, while Exodus had established a new team of Acolytes, with Unuscione as one of its members.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Taking the opportunity of Magneto disappearance, Joseph disguised himself as Magneto and appears to disband the former Brotherhood, only to sway Avalanche, Juggernaut, Pyro, Random and Toad to form a new Brotherhood in the wake of the death of the X-Men. The Brotherhood went to an Air Force base in East Transia to put the fear in humans, but were confronted by a new group of X-Men led by a resurrected Cyclops. After the battle, Joseph's identity is revealed as the Master of Magnetism was kidnapped by Nate Grey and mind-controlled to become one of his Horsemen of Salvation.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the "Age of Apocalypse" reality, Apocalypse is served by a strikeforce of mutant fanatics calling itself the Brotherhood of Chaos. Its members are Copycat, Box, Spyne, Yeti and Arclight.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In "", the Brotherhood of Mutants consists of Magneto, Blob, Toad, Mist Mistress, Jubilee, and an unnamed mutant that resembles Crucible. They appear to attack the X-Mansion at the time when Spider-Man and his family are visiting. Spider-Man and his family join the fight against the Brotherhood of Mutants who are also shown to have Emma Frost in their group. Magneto wanted Emma Frost to operate Cerebro for the group. With help from Spider-Man's family, the X-Men defeats the Brotherhood of Mutants who are remanded to the Raft.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: This version of the Brotherhood appeared in the "Battle of the Atom" event, first posing as a future X-Men team who wanted to send the past X-Men to their own time. Their true reasons, to prevent the past X-Men from suffering and dying in the future, were revealed, and they were soon at war against the present X-Men, the Uncanny X-Men, and the true Future X-Men. Their members include Xorn (the past Jean Grey, who had to wear a Xorn mask to limit her power), Charles Xavier II (the alleged son of the original Professor X and Mystique), Beast, Ice Thing (a semi-sentient ice construct created by the future Iceman), Molly Hayes, Deadpool, and Raze Logan (the son of Wolverine and Mystique, who first arrived disguised as Shadowcat). Some of the members of the Future Brotherhood died during the event, while some of them survived and remain living in the present.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Although it appeared that all of the Brotherhood members had survived when they infiltrated Cyclops' new school, after the Brotherhood were defeated by the past-Jean Grey's mind powers, it is revealed that Xorn/Jean had been killed in their first appearance in the past, while all of the Brotherhood's other members- except for Raze Logan- were only working with the team due to the telepathic influence of Charles Xavier II. With Xavier II and Raze both subdued, the former Brotherhood were freed and returned to their home future while Charles Xavier II and Raze Logan are left in the present, locked in the prison's Cage.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 series, Magneto is Enrique, the Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition during the year 1602, with Brother Petros and Sister Wanda (Pietro and Wanda Maximoff respectively) serving under him as messenger and assistant, respectively. Enrique had been born a Jew in the ghetto of Venice, but he was taken away from his parents and raised within the Catholic Church. At some point Enrique befriended Carlos Javier, that world's Professor X, who crafted a helmet to protect Enrique from his psychic powers.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: After Toad, their spy at the Vatican, betrays the fact that they have been sheltering any 'Witchbreed' (1602 word for Mutants) that can hide their powers, he and his children escape being burnt at the stake, capture Toad, and sail to the Americas; as Gaiman's reinterpretation of Magneto is more rooted in religion than morality, here his group is named 'The Brotherhood of Those Who Will Inherit The Earth'. After a brief encounter with Carlos Javier in which Roberto Trefusis freezes their ship in the middle of the ocean, Enrique agrees to work with the other heroes. When the world is saved, Enrique departs, entrusting Wanda and Petros to Javier, and instructing him to take care of them until he returns, and never to tell them that they are his children. The fate of Toad in this world is unknown, but Enrique had promised to punish him for his betrayal, a punishment which was ultimately left unseen.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: The Brotherhood, led by Chief Detective Eric Magnus, is a cabal of corrupt and violent policemen, doing the bidding of Sebastian Shaw. It is formed by Magnus, Dukes, Toynbee, and Wyngarde.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In "Amazing Spider-Girl" #22, a Sisterhood of Mutants is featured. This group consists of Magneta, Impact (a superstrong mutant able to increase the size of any part of her body), Pirouette (who can rotate at high speeds), and Headcase (a powerful psychic).


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the alternate reality depicted in the 2005 "House of M" storyline, the Brotherhood was created as an NYPD strikeforce team to take down organized crime. Members included John Proudstar (leader), Frank Castle (only human member who left due to seeing how the Brotherhood are mistreating the human criminals), Blob, Feral, Taskmaster, Avalanche, Boom Boom and Misty Knight (who had secretly infiltrated the "Avengers", and would later defect from the Brotherhood).


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In "Ultimate X-Men", the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants is called the Brotherhood of Mutant Supremacy, headed by a far more violent and genocidal version of Magneto. It was originally formed by Professor X and Magneto in a plan to create a safe haven for mutants in a city within the Savage Land, but Magneto had other plans to make the mutants more dominant over the humans. The original Brotherhood first seen consisted of Blob, Mastermind, Magneto's twins Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch; Toad, and Wolverine. Soon after their first appearance, Wolverine was planted in the X-Men as a mole and later defected to the X-Men. Cyclops once sided with the Brotherhood during Wolverine's infiltration only to turn against the Brotherhood and assist the X-Men into fighting the Brotherhood of Mutants. When Magneto was seemingly killed by Professor X, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch tried to use the Brotherhood in more useful ways of gaining mutant rights such as proceeding with talks to the UN. This caused many splinter groups (such as the Acolytes) to split off and attempt to continue Magneto's genocidal techniques. During this short-lived less violent phase, several mutant animal recruits rescued from laboratories were added (one of which was the mutated ape Prosimian), but Magneto rejected them upon his return seeing them as lower species like "Homo sapiens" and wiped out the mutant animals.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the "Ultimate War" and "Return of the King" storylines, Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch defected to the Ultimates to help stop the resurfaced Magneto. Unus, Detonator, Juggernaut, Longshot, Hard-Drive, Rogue, Sabretooth, Vanisher, Forge and Multiple Man join the Brotherhood. After being defeated by the X-Men, the Brotherhood receded for a time. Mystique and Forge free Magneto from his plastic prison cell in the Triskelion, with Mystique taking his place to prevent anyone from realizing that Magneto is free.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In "The Ultimates 3", Magneto leads Sabertooth, Blob, Unus, Multiple Man, Mystique, Pyro, Mastermind, and Lorelei in a fight against the Ultimates after the death of his daughter Scarlet Witch at the hands of Ultron. The battle results in the seeming death of Quicksilver as well (though he is later revealed to be alive), Unus being killed by Thor, and Mastermind being killed by Valkyrie who also dismembered Pyro's hands.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Magneto, Blob, Detonator, Forge, Hard-Drive, Longshot, Lorelei, and Multiple Man are killed during the "Ultimatum" storyline, during which Magneto tries to destroy the human race with Thor's hammer before being killed by Cyclops. Quicksilver turned up alive and was the one who shot Cyclops as he meets up with Mystique and Sabretooth.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Quicksilver later reforms the Brotherhood of Mutants with Mystique, Sabretooth, Blob II, and a somehow-revived Scarlet Witch.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the alternate future of the 2005 miniseries "Weapon X: Days of Future Now", Malcolm Colcord convinced people to hate mutants. In issue 4, most of the surviving mutants gather to see the return of Magneto. One of the groups is the Brotherhood led by Sabretooth and consisting of Avalanche, Blob, Caliban, Hub, Mimic, and Scalphunter.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: In the Marvel Fairy Tales continuity, the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants appears as a group of Oni who have captured the Emperor's daughter (Jean Grey). Hitome/Cyclops subdues them. The team members used for this issue were Magneto, Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Toad.


title: Brotherhood of Mutants

text: Raze assembled a Brotherhood of Mutants with mutants from various alternate universes. All members were previously members of the Brotherhood of Mutants in the main universe: Pyro, Avalanche, Blob, Phantazia, Mastermind, Unus the Untouchable, Lorelei, Vanisher, Toad, Fatale, Peepers, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. The X-Men eventually defeated Raze and his Brotherhood, and sent each of the members back to their home worlds.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story is a 2009 biographical television drama film directed and co-produced by Thomas Carter, written by John Pielmeier, and starring Cuba Gooding Jr., Kimberly Elise and Aunjanue Ellis. The film is based on the autobiography of neurosurgeon (and later politician) Ben Carson, which was co-written by Cecil Murphey and published under the same title in 1990. A Johnson & Johnson Spotlight Presentation, the movie premiered on TNT on Saturday, February 7, 2009.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: Gooding Jr. was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie. Carter was nominated for the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Television Film. The film additionally received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Movie/Miniseries and four Creative Arts Emmy Award nominations.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: In 1987, Dr. Ben Carson travels to Germany to meet a couple, Peter and Augusta Rausch, who have twins conjoined at the back of their heads. Dr. Carson believes he might be able to successfully separate them, but realizes that he also risks losing one or both of them. After explaining the risk, and despite that fact, Ben agrees to operate.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: During the four months, he spends researching and formulating a plan to increase his chances of a successful surgery, the film shifts back to 1961 in Detroit, Michigan, to a time when 11-year-old Ben Carson is doing poorly in school. His single mother, Sonya, who has but a third grade education, is distressed about both her sons’ academic failures and decides to do something about it. First, she requires Ben and his older brother Curtis to learn the multiplication tables, and unbeknownst to them, checks into a mental institution to battle depression. When she returns, she determines that her sons are watching too much television, so she restricts them to no more than two shows per week, requiring them to read books and write reports on them. She hides from Ben and Curtis the fact that she is illiterate and thus cannot read their book reports.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: Ben and Curtis begin to learn much from the world of books. Within one year, Ben goes from the bottom of his class to the top. Following an incident during Ben's middle school graduation ceremony where his teacher angrily tells Ben's white peers that they should be ashamed for performing worse than the black, less privileged Ben, Sonya has Ben enrolled in a primarily black high school. There he is repeatedly bullied by two students, but makes peace after he manages to outwit them in a "yo mama" joke battle. They soon prove to be toxic, giving Ben a knife. Meanwhile, Ben harbors an irascible temper which climaxes when he physically threatens Sonya and nearly stabs one of his former bullies. Though the blade hits the buckle of his friend's belt and does not go through, Ben runs home in horror and cries out to God to take away his bad temper, per his Seventh-day Adventist faith, allowing him to recover.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: After hard work and strong determination, Ben receives a scholarship to Yale University, where he meets his future wife, Candy Rustin, who supports him in his struggles to get through Yale. After studying neurosurgery, Ben is accepted as a resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he is faced with a dilemma that could end his career – operate on a dying man without permission or supervision, or let him die. He takes the risk and saves the man’s life, and is promoted by his superior afterwards.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: In 1985, after Ben's mother joins the family in Maryland, Candy is rushed to the hospital where she miscarries their twins. Dr. Carson stays with her all night until the next morning when he does a rare procedure, a hemispherectomy, in which he removes half the brain of a four-year-old who convulses 100 times a day. Despite the drastic risks, the procedure is a success and the girl recovers much quicker than Ben anticipated, which results in his first taste of media exposure.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: The film then returns to when Ben is preparing for a risky operation to separate the twins conjoined at the head. With four months nearing an end, Ben is still unable to figure out a way to separate the twins. Then he receives an epiphany while playing billiards by himself and, accordingly, devises a plan. 22 hours into the procedure, Dr. Carson and his team manage to separate the twins, saving their lives and liberating parents Peter and Augusta. The film ends with Dr. Carson as he is surrounded by members of the press.


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Hal Boedeker of The "Orlando Sentinel" said of the film, "It's the perfect movie for a country challenged by its new president to do better." Ray Richmond of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote, "The film is so good that a little immodesty is not only acceptable but understandable."


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: Among its detractors, John Maynard of The "Washington Post" stated, "It is a treacly, plodding affair stunted by awkward transitions and a syrupy soundtrack".


title: Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

text: The film won the Epiphany Prize for Inspiring Television, and Kimberly Elise won the Grace Award for Television at the 2010 Movieguide Awards.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: Mandana Karimi (born Manizeh Karimi; on 19 May 1988) is an Iranian actress and model based in India. After working on several successful modelling projects around the world, she appeared as a lead in the Bollywood film, "Bhaag Johnny". She participated in the popular reality TV show, "Bigg Boss 9" and became the 2nd runner up in 2015.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: Karimi was born on 19 May 1988 in Tehran, Iran, into a Muslim family. Her father has Iranian and Indian ancestry and her mother is a Persian. She was raised in Tehran.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: Karimi started her career as an air hostess, and later quit that job to pursue a career in modelling. In 2010, after working on various international modelling projects, she came to Mumbai for three months on a modelling contract.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: Karimi has done TV commercials with Shahrukh Khan, Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor and Arjun Kapoor.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: In February 2015, she made a guest appearance in the film "Roy". Later that year, in September, her movie "Bhaag Johnny" was released. She also appeared in the October 2015 film, "Main Aur Charles", where she played the role of Charles Sobraj's assistant. Karimi's next film, "Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3", a sex comedy, was released on 22 January 2016.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: Karimi was a contestant in the reality TV show, "Bigg Boss 9", where a group of celebrities from various walks of life live together in a large house. One of the contestants is eliminated every week, based on public votes. The show went on air in October 2015 on Colors. She was one of the three finalists of the season and ended up as a runner-up.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: In October 2018, Karimi accused Umesh Ghadge the director of "Kyaa Kool Hain Hum 3" of sexual harassment.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: In July 2016, Karimi got engaged to her boyfriend, Gaurav Gupta, an Indian businessman from Mumbai. The couple married in court in early March the following year, which was followed by a lavish Hindu wedding in March 2017.


title: Mandana Karimi

text: In July 2017, Karimi filed a domestic violence case against her husband and his family, which she later withdrew in hopes of saving her marriage. They got divorced in 2021.


title: Arikara

text: Arikara (), also known as Sahnish, Arikaree, Ree, or Hundi, are a tribe of Native Americans in North Dakota. Today, they are enrolled with the Mandan and the Hidatsa as the federally recognized tribe known as the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.


title: Arikara

text: The Arikara's name is believed to mean "horns", in reference to the ancient custom of wearing two upright bones in their hair. The name also could mean "elk people" or "corn eaters".


title: Arikara

text: The Arikara language is a member of the Caddoan language family. Arikara is close to the Pawnee language, but they are not mutually intelligible. As of 2007, the total number of remaining native speakers was reported as ten, one of whom, Maude Starr, died on 20 January 2010. She was a certified language teacher who participated in Arikara language education programs.


title: Arikara

text: Linguistic divergence between Arikara and Pawnee suggests a separation from the Skidi Pawnee in about the 15th century. The Arzberger site near present-day Pierre, South Dakota, designated as a National Historic Landmark, is an archeological site from this period, containing the remains of a fortified village with more than 44 lodges.


title: Arikara

text: An Arikara village, near where present-day Pierre, South Dakota developed, was visited in 1743 by two sons of the French trader and explorer La Vérendrye.


title: Arikara

text: In the last quarter of the 17th century, the Arikara came under attack from the Omaha/Ponca and the Iowa near the end of the Omaha/Ponca migration to Nebraska. With peace established later, the Arikara influenced the newcomers. The Omaha still credit the Arikara women for instructing them in the art of building earth lodges.


title: Arikara

text: The Arikara lived as a semi-nomadic people on the Great Plains. During the sedentary seasons, the Arikara lived primarily in villages of earth lodges. While traveling or during the seasonal bison hunts, they erected portable "tipis" as temporary shelter. They were primarily an agricultural society, whose women cultivated varieties of corn (or maize). The crop was such an important staple of their society that it was referred to as "Mother Corn."


title: Arikara

text: An early European, a botanist, praised the Arikara women as excellent cultivators. He had not seen finer crops anywhere in America. The surplus corn and other crops, along with tobacco, were traded to the Lakota, the Cheyenne and more southern plains tribes during short-lived truces. The amount of trading items passing through the Arikara villages made them a "trading center on the Upper Missouri". Before smallpox epidemics hit the three village tribes, they were the "most influential and affluent peoples in the Northern Plains".


title: Arikara

text: Traditionally an Arikara family owned 30–40 dogs. The people used them for hunting and as sentries, but most importantly for transportation in the centuries before the Plains tribes adopted the use of horses in the 1600s. Many of the Plains tribes had used the "travois," a lightweight transportation device pulled by dogs. It consisted of two long poles attached by a harness at the dog's shoulders, with the butt ends dragging behind the animal; midway, a ladder-like frame, or a hoop made of plaited thongs, was stretched between the poles; it held loads that might exceed 60 pounds. Women also used dogs to pull travois to haul firewood or infants. The travois were used to carry meat harvested during the seasonal hunts; a single dog could pull a quarter of a bison.


title: Arikara

text: The Arikara played a central role in the Great Plains Indian trading networks based on an advantageous geographical position combined with a surplus from agriculture and craft. Historical sources show that the Arikara villages were visited by Cree, Assiniboine, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Kiowa, Plains Apache and Comanche.


title: Arikara

text: The Arikara creation myth shows similarities with the creation myth of the neighboring Mandan people. It begins with the great sky chief Nishanu creating giants. The giants did not respect Nishanu who had created them and most of the giants were destroyed by a great flood. The good giants who were saved became corn kernels under the earth. Nishanu planted corn in the heavens yielding Mother Corn, who went to the earth to lead the people out of the East into the West, but after a time she returned to Heaven and in her absence the people of the earth began to kill one another. She returned to the earth with a leader who taught them how to fight their enemies rather than one another. This is an "emergence" style creation myth, depicting the "Corn Mother" as giving birth to the planted seeds (the remaining good giants after the flood). The figure of the "Corn Mother" can be found in many Native American mythologies. The myth is said to reflect the migrations of the Arikara from East to West.


title: Arikara

text: In the late 18th century, the tribe suffered a high rate of fatalities from smallpox epidemics, which reduced their population from an estimated 30,000 to 6,000, disrupting their social structure.


title: Arikara

text: The smallpox epidemic of 1780-1782 reduced the Arikara villages along the Missouri from 32 to 2. The effects of the epidemic may have been so terrible that it could not be comprehended but in allegorical form.


title: Arikara

text: All-out war hit the weakened and often divided Arikara. In a burned-down village, (later studied as Larson Site), archaeologists found the mutilated skeletons of 71 men, women and children, killed in the early 1780s by unknown American Indian attackers. Groups of Sioux were the ones who gained most by the weakening of the Arikara. They attacked the vulnerable Arikara and increased "the pace of Sioux expansion" west of the Missouri.