title: Amos Yee

text: Singaporean actors Gurmit Singh and Quan Yi Fong, who both have teenage children, weighed in on the issue. Singh placed the blame on Yee's parents, saying that "parents are supposed to be there to guide the child", while Quan said that in this case, Yee's "parents should have brought him to see a doctor". "Today" published a piece by Edwin Teong, who felt that Yee's video was one of several "recent cases" involving Singaporean youth which "reflect the recklessness and the lack of self-awareness that can lead to youths making mistakes, which burden not only themselves but also their families". Mikha Chan of "Free Malaysia Today" characterised Yee as a "wannabe intellectual" and "an opinionated person who talks loud and way too long on the same subject, often sensationalising the subject matter" regarding his video. Grace Fu, Singapore's second minister for foreign affairs, said that "it's not just any YouTube video; I think it was a YouTube video that crossed the red line on religion". Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, in an interview with Time, said that the "governing authorities are open to criticism", but that the "ability to exercise the freedom of expression comes with limits".


title: Amos Yee

text: Thirty-two police reports were made against Yee's uploading of the 2015 video, while another police report was made against alleged obscene material on Yee's blog, where Yee had displayed and claimed credit for making a caricature "of Lee Kuan Yew engaging in anal sex with former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher". "The Straits Times" reported that Yee's mother had filed a police report against her son because she was unable to control his behaviour. Yee's mother, Mary Toh, later told "The Online Citizen" that she had filed a police report on 29 March, "not ... to have my son arrested", but in response to Yee publishing a vulgar image online despite her objections, leading her to fear for his safety. As she assumed that police action would soon be taken against her son, she filed a report in which she apologised to the nation for her son's actions and requested counselling for Yee. This was later reported by "Today", which added that on 5 May Yee's mother told the police that she no longer wanted to provide a statement.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee was arrested on 29 March, on the grounds of "deliberate intention of wounding the religious or racial feelings", "threatening, abusive or insulting communication" and obscenity. His arrest drew international media attention. BBC News reported that "Yee was one of several people who went online to publicly criticise Mr Lee's legacy – others include human rights activists and a prominent poet – but he is the only one to have been arrested". "The Guardian" wrote that "For some, the lodging of police reports and subsequent arrest of Yee is a sign that the suppression of free speech during Lee's time in power has continued as a part of governance in Singapore." Nathan Heller of "The New Yorker" wrote that "Yee's arrest doesn't just underscore his complaints about Singapore's backwardness on rights and freedom. It shows the country's dire need for cultural education through intelligent dissent." Ben Mathis-Lilley of "Slate" said that "details of the situation are ridiculous ... If you watch the YouTube video, it becomes clear that Amos Yee is probably not an armed insurrectionist", while further labelling the Singaporeans who reported Yee to the police as "narcs".


title: Amos Yee

text: The Committee to Protect Journalists organisation, and a petition started by a Christian Singaporean, both called for Yee's release. On the other hand, Abdul Rani Kulup Abdullah, chief of the Martabat Jalinan Muhibbah Malaysia organisation, praised the arrest of Yee, and encouraged Malaysia to follow Singapore's example of implementing strict laws on free speech to prevent "irresponsible statements" or "criticism [against the government which] may not be true but people can get influenced" leading to "anarchy".


title: Amos Yee

text: On 31 March, three charges were read out to Yee in the State Courts of Singapore, two of which were related to the 2015 video. The first charge was that Yee's 2015 video violated Section 298 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224, as it "contained remarks against Christianity, with the deliberate intention of wounding the religious feelings of Christians in general". The second charge was under Section 4 of the Protection from Harassment Act (later withdrawn) was that Yee's 2015 video violated the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 as it "contained remarks about Mr Lee Kuan Yew which was intended to be heard and seen by persons likely to be distressed". The third charge was that Yee had violated Section 292 of the Penal Code, by uploading an obscene image of Lee and Thatcher on 28 March 2015. BBC News reported that "Singapore's hate speech laws are intended to ensure harmony between its multi-ethnic population and prevent a recurrence of the racial violence of its early years."


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee was initially released on bail set at 20,000 Singapore dollars on 31 March 2015 on the condition that he not comment or distribute any content online while the case was still ongoing. Meanwhile, Yee's father, whom Yee describes as being physically abusive, addressed Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, saying that he was "very sorry". On 3 April, Yee's mother brought him to the Institute of Mental Health (IMH) to see a psychiatrist to understand why he seemed "too daring" and feared nothing, but Yee quit after two sessions. Today reported that this was because Amos refused to continue the sessions at IMH, but this was contradicted by former bailor Vincent Law, who later told The Online Citizen that Yee could not attend the third IMH session because it had clashed with the day of his bail review hearing, and that Yee had unsuccessfully asked the institute to bring the session forward.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 14 April, Yee flouted his initial bail conditions by asking for public donations to fund his legal fees on both on his blog and Facebook page; the blog post also linked to his controversial 2015 video and image. At 17 April pre-trial conference, Yee's police bail was converted to court bail of the same amount, while anyone, and not just his parents, was now allowed to post bail. Yee was taken into remand in Changi Prison for the duration of 17 to 21 April 2015 because no one in that time period posted bail, despite the bail amount only needing to be pledged instead of being physically deposited. On 21 April, Yee was bailed out by 51-year-old Vincent Law, a family and youth counsellor and a Christian parent, despite Law having never met Yee before. Three lawyers, Alfred Dodwell, Chong Jia Hao and Ervin Tan, also volunteered to represent him "pro bono".


title: Amos Yee

text: On 29 April, Yee breached his bail conditions on not uploading content online again by making two blog posts; the first questioned "the ridiculous terms of [his] bail", which Yee said "has absolutely nothing to do with my presence in court". In the second, he accused his father of being "abusive" and violent. On 30 April, the charge concerning remarks against Lee Kuan Yew was stood down. This means that the charge, instead of being dropped, would be dealt with at a later time, after the previous two charges are addressed. Yee also refused to take down the two blog posts despite being asked to by the District Judge Kessler Soh, as he felt that taking down the posts in question was tantamount to an admission of guilt. Concurrently, the bail amount was raised to $30,000. Meanwhile, Law applied to discharge himself as Yee's bailor. It remains to be decided whether Law will have to forfeit the previous $20,000 posted. Yee was again taken into remand because of a lack of anyone posting bail. Law later told "The Online Citizen" that while he wanted to post bail for Yee again, Yee rejected Law's offer as he did not want himself to be gagged, leading to Law discharging himself. Law also said that he did not regret acting as Yee's bailor, and that from talking to Yee, he had found him to be childlike and lacking in empathy.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 6 May, Yee's lawyers appealed for a change in bail amount and bail conditions, arguing that accessing social media was "like drinking water" to Yee, and that the ban on Yee posting online content was "too broad and disproportionate". The prosecution was willing to lower the bail amount and release Yee from having to report daily to a police station if Yee went for psychiatric counselling, but Yee refused. Consequently, the High Court judge Tay Yong Kwang decided to maintain Yee's bail conditions.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 30 April 2015, while en route to the state courts for a pre-trial conference, Yee was slapped in the face by 49-year-old Neo Gim Huah who ran away after challenging Yee to sue him. Neo was arrested at 2 am the next day, less than 12 hours after the attack. Neo admitted that he committed the assault as he had taken offence at portions of Yee's video, which he felt were disrespectful to Lee Kuan Yew. He said that he closely monitored the case and had the intention to confront and slap Yee before his first two court appearances as he felt that Yee's actions had put Singapore in a negative light. Neo believed that it would be difficult for the criminal justice system to deal effectively with Yee because of Yee's age, and hence decided to "instill fear" in Yee. Neo admitted that he wanted the assault to be publicised "so that the world at large would know that the victim was being taught a lesson", and so he committed the assault in the presence of the media.


title: Amos Yee

text: Neo's attack on Yee was condemned by Minister for Law K. Shanmugam and human rights non-governmental organisation Maruah as ill-befitting of a civilised society. The Singapore Democratic Party commented that "name-calling and personal destruction" was not the answer to legal procedures.


title: Amos Yee

text: Neo, who said he "lost control" and wanted to "teach Yee a lesson", has since apologised in his statement to Yee and his parents for the assault. Nevertheless, on 11 May Neo was sentenced by District Judge Ronald Gwee to three weeks in jail for voluntarily causing hurt. The prosecution had asked for two weeks' imprisonment.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee was tried as an adult on 7–8 May 2015, with Yee pleading not guilty to both charges. The timeline was pushed for by Yee's lawyers so that Yee would not "spend more time in remand than necessary". The case has attracted much public interest, with more than 20 people seen outside Court 7 more than an hour before the hearing was supposed to start. When Yee was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and leg shackles, several members of the public who were present waved at him, and he smiled at them. Amongst those who attended the trial were both of Yee's parents, Yee's former bailor, Vincent Law, blogger Roy Ngerng, as well as social activists Andrew Loh and Teo Soh Lung. Law, who said he never changed his mind about bailing him out, said that he came to support Yee and hopes he gets a good trial. The prosecution comprises DPPs Hay Hung Chun, Hon Yi and Kelvin Kow. The Defence comprises Alfred Dodwell and Chong Jia Hao from Dodwell & Co LLC and Ervin Tan from Michael Hwang Chambers LLC. The proceedings were presided over by District Judge Jasvendar Kaur.


title: Amos Yee

text: The proceedings began with arguments from the defence regarding the obscenity charge. They argued that the legal test to determine whether or not an image is obscene is whether "it has an effect which is to tend to deprave and corrupt" any person who is exposed to it, and that the prosecution has not provided any evidence that the image passes the test. They argued that Section 292, under which Amos Yee is being charged, "is targeted at peddlers and purveyors of pornography" and that it is "wholly inapt to describe the mischief (if any) in this case". The prosecution had argued that Yee's own comments showed his intention to "corrupt and deprave", but the defence countered that a person cannot be convicted ipse dixit. They also argued that the image was "not a pornographic image, designed to arouse".


title: Amos Yee

text: In court documents, Yee explained that his intention in critiquing both Christianity and Lee Kuan Yew was to open discussions on what he saw as "problems" with the faith and Singapore. He said that he was aware his critique would lead some people to take offence, but argued that this promoted discussion that "was healthy for positive change to take place in future." Yee also explained that while he "was aware that critiquing these problems (with the Christian faith) would promote ill-will", he saw this as "a natural consequence", and that "promoting ill-will is a prerogative for positive change to happen in society, especially if the issue at hand were initially controversial." In the hearing, Yee's defence lawyers Ervin Tan sought to challenge the understanding of the word "obscene" in relation to the charge against Yee for circulating obscene imagery. Another of his lawyers Alfred Dodwell was allowed to admit one more exhibit that he said would "vindicate his client". While the prosecution initially challenged this, the judge allowed its submission, to applause from members of the public in court. Amongst the court documents was the revelation that Yee knew that the contents of his blogs and videos would be offensive, but went ahead with posting them. Yee had said that he was "aware that the content of the video was offensive and would promote feelings of disharmony and ill-will within the Christian community".


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee's trial drew international attention. "The Wall Street Journal" wrote that Yee's trial showcases "Singapore's struggle to adapt its tradition of censorship to the realities of the digital era."


title: Amos Yee

text: The court found Yee guilty and convicted him of both charges on 12 May 2015. With regards to the obscenity charge, judge Jasvender Kaur said that "standards of obscenity will change from time to time", and differ among countries, and that "it was up to the courts to decide based on community standards." Kaur considered the effect that image had on teenagers, and concluded that it met the "strongest possible disapproval and condemnation". With regards to the second charge on making remarks intending to hurt the feelings of Christians, Kaur said that Yee's remarks were "clearly derogatory and offensive to Christians".


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee's bail was reduced to $10,000, and his parents paid the bail. The prohibition for him to post online was lifted. Yee was required to remove the offensive YouTube video and the blog post in question; it is not an offence, however, for other people to re-post Yee's videos or blog post. Yee complied, but 9 days later, on 21 May Yee made public both the blog post and video again.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee was greeted by "around a dozen onlookers who waited to welcome him and give him advice." To reporters, Yee said that he "[did] not know if [he] should celebrate [his] release or mourn [his] sentence." Yee was given a red packet containing a $100 note by retired artist Koh Ban Jee, who said "he wanted to encourage Yee to go back to school and go to university." A day before the verdict, dozens showed up for a candlelight vigil at Hong Lim Park to support Yee.


title: Amos Yee

text: During the court hearing, Yee, who faced a fine and up to three years jail, had requested to be jailed instead of going for probation after being found guilty by Kaur. The prosecution requested that Yee be given counseling and probation. The court adjourned sentencing pending a probation report for Yee.


title: Amos Yee

text: The verdict attracted international attention. International rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticised the verdict as "publicly punishing a youthful dissident who dared besmirch the image of the recently passed leader, and intimidating anyone else who might think of doing the same in the future." Phil Robertson, HRW's deputy director for Asia, said that "Singapore's actions to criminalise Yee's statements run contrary to international human rights standards and are a dangerous affront to freedom of expression." Phil Robertson, the Bangkok-based deputy director of Human Rights Watch's Asia division, said that "criminalizing free expression by anyone who dares mock the powers that be is a tried and true practice of the Singapore government, and Amos Yee is the latest victim." The Globe and Mail writes that Yee's case highlights why "support for Asia's atheists is hard to come".


title: Amos Yee

text: Amnesty International criticised the verdict and declared Yee a prisoner of conscience, citing Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that enshrines the principle to freedom of expression.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 13 May 2015, a day after being released, Yee took to Facebook alleging that he had been molested by his ex-bailor Law. Law said the allegation was "false". Yee invited the media to "catch" him at an MRT station, but he did not show up. Yee later revealed that his allegations were part of a ploy to "manipulate the press to indulge in the thoroughly exhausting experience of waiting in Pasir Panjang fruitlessly for several hours". Yee also revealed that Law "didn't really molest" him, but maintained that Law was "creepy". In response to the allegations, Law told The Online Citizen (TOC) that "he found Yee's clarification to be insincere and that it does not fully absolve him from the allegation of molest", said that he would "take legal action" for defamation if Yee does not apologise publicly and fully retract the allegation.


title: Amos Yee

text: In response to the ultimatum, Yee, who described his own actions as "horrid", wrote that he was "extremely remorseful for the turmoil" that he had caused to Law and his family. Yee also wrote that he was "currently tendering a long, and detailed public apology to Vincent and his family". He asked Law to give him "about 3 days" to finish preparing it, as he was a "slow writer". In response to Yee's apology, Law decided that he would not pursue the matter any further.


title: Amos Yee

text: After Law decided not to pursue the matter, Yee retracted his apology, revealed that he had "lied" yet again and "made fun" of Law. In a 6000-word expose, Yee detailed how Law "violated him emotionally". He also highlighted that "molest" also means "disturb" and that his accusation of Law would be accurate if one used this definition instead, and hence concluded that he was "technically molested" by Law.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee stated that "it was stupid of people to believe that he would actually issue a sincere apology". He attributes this "inherent stupidity" to "the mindset inherent in that of religion". He then proceeded to call Law a "molester", a "mentally unsound person" and a "hypocrite". Yee also described his interactions with Law and explained how he plotted to publicly humiliate Law while he was in remand prison. When asked about Yee's latest about-turn, Law replied that he thought "it's best to leave Amos alone and not write about him." He added that he was not considering legal action. Law's son, Francis Micah Law, took to Facebook to refute Yee's claims against his father. In it, he stated that his father always "painted a positive portrayal of Amos in hopes that he would improve the public opinion of Amos."


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee's accusations against Law caused anger among social media users. Vivekanandan of Free Malaysia Today writes that Yee's Facebook post was "derisive", "acerbic", and "sarcastic". It also charged that with his Facebook post, Yee was guilty of "mocking Christianity again". Carlton Tan of Asian Correspondent expressed his sadness that Yee had gone down this road, and said that he "[does] not support [Yee's] contempt towards the fundamental dignity of other persons."


title: Amos Yee

text: On 27 May 2015, Yee was called back to court for an urgent hearing as he refused to meet with his assigned probation officer. The prosecution called for a report to assess Yee's suitability for reformative training, arguing that a jail term or a fine would have no rehabilitative effect. On 2 June, Yee was remanded for three weeks and a report was made to assess whether Yee was suitable to serve reformative training. For this remand period, no bail option was offered. This decision came after Yee rejected the option of probation and instead pleaded for a jail term. The prosecution has argued that Yee's re-uploading of the image and video pertaining to his charges should be taken into account as an indication of his conduct and character.


title: Amos Yee

text: During Yee's remand, new posts emerged on Yee's Facebook page. Amongst them were comparisons of Yee to "figures of martyrdom such as Gandi and Nelson Mandela, as well as complaints about life in prison. One post lamented the lack of exposure to sunshine, while others criticise the attitudes of police officers, such as towards Yee's opting for vegetarian meals. The posts intrigued the media and public since the Singapore Prison Service has confirmed that all inmates and remandees do not have access to any telecommunication devices within the prison. In response, one of Yee's lawyers, Chong, said that they weren't aware of how this is happening and didn't "want to speculate."


title: Amos Yee

text: On 23 June 2015, district judge Kaur ordered that Yee be remanded at the Institute of Mental Health for two weeks in response to a report by Dr Munidasa Winslow who said that Yee may have autism spectrum disorder. A psychiatrist concluded that Yee does not suffer from any mental disorder, and would benefit from having a counsellor or mentor guide him in using the Internet.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee's sentence was met with criticism from the United Nations Human Rights Office which called for the immediate release of Yee in line with its commitment under the UN Convention on the Rights of Child.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee's sentence was also met with criticism from the Humans Rights Watch, which said that "nothing that Amos Yee said or posted should ever have been considered criminal – much less merit incarceration". Singaporean politician Goh Meng Seng said that even though he did not like Amos "because he's rude in the Singapore context", he felt that "he [had] to defend his rights." Singaporean academic Cherian George, lawyer Peter Low, a former president of the Law Society of Singapore, as well as leading rights activists, academics, filmmakers and members of the arts community signed a letter saying that they were "troubled by the State's harsh reactions and that "sending Yee to the facility could deter young people in the city-state from expressing their views openly for fear of reprisals.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 5 July 2015, night before Yee's next hearing was scheduled to be held, Yee was admitted to the Accident and Emergency department at Changi General Hospital for low blood glucose levels. According to his mother, Yee had not been eating for several days, was not sleeping well and feeling depressed. Earlier, on 12 June, Yee's lawyer reported that Yee had been experiencing suicidal thoughts at the prospect of reformative training. While Yee had been initially "very courteous and engaged in the process", his stint at the Institute for Mental Health had been "a shock to his system".


title: Amos Yee

text: On 6 July, Yee was sentenced to four weeks in jail, one week for posting obscene materials and three weeks for wounding the religious feelings of Christian in his video calling Lee Kuan Yew a "horrible person", with the sentences to be served consecutively. He was addressed directly by the judge Kaur who said that she hopes that Yee would "rethink long and hard his decision not to continue with formal education," before acknowledging that there are few dropout success stories.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee was released immediately after his sentences were announced as they were backdated to 2 June when he was in remand (Yee was in remand for 50 days). Yee's demeanor when he was freed differed from his previous court appearances. Yee appeared pale and gaunt, wore a frown on his face and kept his head bowed most of the time. In court, Deputy Public Prosecutor Hay Hung Chun said that they saw Yee's actions as "no less than a significant repudiation of his previous posturing, and it is an important acknowledgment that he has finally accepted the gravity of what he had done and that he was or is willing now to make amends by undoing it." This was in response to Institute of Mental Health child psychiatrist Cai Yiming's report that Yee had admitted to his guilt and has "realised what he has done was against the law and could disrupt social harmony". As a result of the change which Hay describes as "seismic", Hay announced that the prosecution would be asking for just one day of imprisonment. Upon his release, Yee began to ask for cash donations.


title: Amos Yee

text: Calling the four-week jail sentence a "dark day for freedom of expression" in Singapore, Amnesty International charges that the sentence violates the right to freedom of expression and should be quashed. Rupert Abbott, South East Asia and the Pacific Deputy Director said that "Amos Yee is not a criminal. He should never have been charged, let alone convicted. He has been punished solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression." He added that "if there is any justice Amos Yee would be walking free from court without a conviction against his name." The Online Citizen calls the conviction "wrong" and describes the sentence as "manifestly excessive". Writer and gender equality activist Jolene Tan accused the prosecution for "[focusing] overwhelmingly on Amos' attitudes rather than any harm that was done by his supposed crimes." She questioned the motive of the sentence, asking whether it was "justice for a crime", or "just as a way to quash Amos into docility." The Association of Women for Action and Research criticised the court decision and urged the state to be mindful of the "stigmatising effect of such prosecutions in the future".


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee's sentence led to protests from several activist groups. On 27 June 2015, about sixty people under the banner of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights demonstrated outside the Singapore Trade Office in Taipei. The protesters from more than 10 civil society groups under the banner of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights (TAHR) held placards and chanted "Free Amos Yee" for about half an hour.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 30 June, university students in Hong Kong held a protest to urge the Singapore government to release Yee. Student activist group Scholarism, which took part in the protest, published a post asserting that the actions taken against Yee "reflects the unreasonable oppression and the very limited acceptance of dynamic voices in the so-called 'modernised' society of Singapore."


title: Amos Yee

text: On 5 July, a demonstration was held in Hong Kong, where protestors burnt effigies of Lee Hsien Loong and Lee Kuan Yew, to demand the release of Yee. About 50 people from various civic and political groups gathered with banners and placards near the Singapore Consulate in Admiralty district. They held banners and placards that read "Dissident is not Demented" and "Freedom of Speech should not be infringed".


title: Amos Yee

text: Also on 5 July in Singapore, a rally organised by Community Action Network, a group of individuals describing themselves as "concerned about freedom of expression in Singapore", was attended by an estimated 500 people. The rally was held to demand the release of Yee. The organisers of the protest were "damning" in their condemnation of the state's handling of Yee's case. Jolovan Wham, a social worker and civil activist said that "[the activists] came together to protest what the government is doing to Amos Yee, and to take a stand on freedom of expression," citing "an unprecedented crackdown on freedom of expression in Singapore" in the last few years.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee filed an appeal against the conviction and sentence, ahead of 20 July 2015 deadline for making an appeal. Yee's lawyer, Dodwell, said that "whether this was a crime or not still remains a question [that they wanted to] determine in the high court". Yee's mother said that she wanted "to know for sure that what Amos has done is not criminally wrong". For the hearing at the High Court, Yee's lawyers want the appeal to be heard by a non-Christian judge.


title: Amos Yee

text: In his post on 27 November 2015, Amos addressed Calvin Cheng's comments on killing the children of terrorist members. He wrote, "Oh yes and "xxxx" Islam, and Allah doesn't exist, but say you see a prick from ISIS who wants to kill or has even killed before, don't think that's a scenario where it's alright to kill him." His statement prompted several police reports from the public, and subsequent police investigation in December 2015 for allegedly posting offensive material on his blog.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 13 May 2016, it was reported in the Straits Times that Yee was arrested on 11 May for "allegedly uttering words last November with a deliberate intent to wound religious or racial feelings" and for "not showing up at a police station". He was subsequently bailed.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 17 August 2016, Yee stood trial over six charges for deliberate intent to wound religious feelings and two charges for failure to turn up for police interviews. He was not represented by a lawyer. Seven police officers were summoned as prosecution's witnesses. Before the trial could proceed further, Yee was granted permission to go for Criminal Case Resolution process.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 29 September 2016, Amos Yee was sentenced to 6 weeks' jail and fined $2000 for wounding religious feelings. The presiding judge, Ong Hian Sun, said that Yee had "deliberately elected to do harm" in a photograph and two videos he posted online that were said to have "offensive and insulting words and profane gestures to hurt the feelings of Christians and Muslims". Ong said that Yee's actions could "generate social unrest" and should not be condoned.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee began serving his jail term on 13 October 2016. During this time, a Singaporean activist based in the United States, Melissa Chen (formerly Chin) visited him and, by her own admission, handed him documents to facilitate his escape to the US.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 16 December 2016, Amos Yee fled to the United States where he was detained at Chicago's O'Hare Airport after announcing his intention to seek political asylum. During the application, he was incarcerated in McHenry County Jail in Illinois. He was subsequently transferred to Dodge County Detention Facility in Wisconsin. Yee was granted asylum in the US on 24 March 2017, after the judge ruled that Yee faced persecution in Singapore for his political opinions; the judge cited the different ways that Cheng and Yee were treated in his decision.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee was due to serve his national service upon reaching 18 years old in October 2016. By leaving Singapore, Yee breached a Singaporean law which mandates compulsory military service for all Singaporean men. Yee is considered as a defaulter by the authorities. Defaulting carries a prison sentence from two to 36 months long, depending on the length of the default period and a fine of not more than S$10,000.


title: Amos Yee

text: On 25 April 2017, the U.S. government appealed against the decision to grant Yee asylum, so he continued to be held at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) center during the appeal process. On his reasons for seeking U.S. asylum, Reuters reported that although Yee was highly critical of the U.S. government abroad, he has said that - "It is not going to the best country. This is about going to the country that most effectively promotes my political philosophy of anarchical communism and ending private property and wage labor".


title: Amos Yee

text: Amos Yee was released from a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in downtown Chicago on 26 September 2017 following an immigration appeals court's decision to uphold his bid for asylum. A Board of Immigration Appeals decision upheld Chicago immigration judge Samuel Cole's March ruling that Yee had a "well-founded fear" of being persecuted upon return to Singapore. The judge said the aim of jailing Yee in Singapore at such a young age was to stifle his political speech. With asylum status, Yee will be eligible to apply for a green card in a year.


title: Amos Yee

text: Yee told reporters after his release that he can now criticise the Singaporean government without fear of imprisonment, and that while he planned to make more critical videos on the topic, he might also broaden his work to US politics since he is in the country.


title: Amos Yee

text: In November 2017, Yee uploaded three videos to YouTube, entitled "Why Pedophilia Is Alright", "Don't Discriminate Pedophiles", and "Free Speech for the Pedophile". Yee had been previously invited to give a speech at Harvard College by The Open Campus Initiative, a student club, but his invitation was rescinded 24 hours before the event. Out of money, Yee asked for donations from his followers via Facebook, stating he would rather borrow than take a job he did not like. Shortly after his appeal for donations, he was banned from Facebook for 30 days for violating Facebook's community standards. Twitter also suspended his account.


title: Amos Yee

text: In April 2018, the Toy Industry Association pulled ads from YouTube following a CNN report its ads had been appearing on Yee's channel, which was being used to promote pedophilia. YouTube subsequently pulled all ads from Yee's videos and banned him from monetizing content. In early May 2018, YouTube terminated Yee's channel for violating community guidelines. In July 2018, Yee's Patreon account was shut down.


title: Amos Yee

text: In December 2018, Yee's Facebook and Twitter pages were shut down, as well as his WordPress blog, where he had continued to express pro-pedophilia views.


title: Amos Yee

text: In September 2019 after a 9-month internet hiatus, Yee stated in an interview that he had been busy creating pro-paedophile videos.


title: Amos Yee

text: In August 2020, it was reported that Yee stated that he was diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder while in an immigration jail in the United States. Yee also stated he was going to rebrand himself under the name "Polocle".


title: Amos Yee

text: In October 2020, Yee was arrested in Illinois on state charges of solicitation and possession of child pornography, after he allegedly exchanged nude photos and "thousands" of messages with a 14-year-old girl from Texas while he was living in Chicago via WhatsApp from February 1, 2019, to June 30, 2019. His bail was set at US$1 million and he was banned from internet usage while awaiting trial. After initially pleading not guilty to the charges in November 2020, Yee accepted a plea agreement in late 2021 where he pled guilty to two charges of child grooming and child pornography in exchange for a sentence of six years in prison, and having 16 other charges against him dropped. Yee was also warned that he may be deported back to Singapore and may be denied entry to the US in future, as well as potentially being denied naturalization as a U.S. citizen. The sentence was backdated to when he was arrested, with him projected to be released on 8 October 2026.


title: Michael X

text: Michael X (17 August 1933 – 16 May 1975), born Michael de Freitas, was a Trinidad and Tobago-born self-styled black revolutionary and civil rights activist in 1960s London. He was also known as Michael Abdul Malik and Abdul Malik. Convicted of murder in 1972, Michael X was executed by hanging in 1975 in Port of Spain's Royal Gaol.


title: Michael X

text: Michael de Freitas was born in Belmont, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, to an "Obeah-practising black woman from Barbados and an absent Portuguese father from St Kitts". Encouraged by his mother to pass for white, "Red Mike" was a headstrong youth and was expelled from school at the age of 14. In 1957 he emigrated to the United Kingdom, where he settled in London and worked as an enforcer and frontman for Peter Rachman, the notorious slum landlord. He professed to dislike the role, but it paid for his lifestyle. Appearing to look for a way out, he became involved in the radical politics and groups active in and around Notting Hill.


title: Michael X

text: By the mid-1960s, he had become known as Michael X, after a hotel receptionist thought he was the "brother" of Malcolm X. "Michael X" became a well-known exponent of Black Power in London. Writing in "The Observer" in 1965, Colin McGlashan called him the "authentic voice of black bitterness."


title: Michael X

text: In 1967 he was involved with the counterculture/hippie organisation the London Free School (LFS) through his contact with John "Hoppy" Hopkins, which both helped widen the reach of the group, at least in the Notting Hill area, and create problems with local police who disliked his involvement. Michael and the LFS were instrumental in organising the first outdoor Notting Hill Carnival later that year.


title: Michael X

text: Later that year, he became the first non-white person to be charged and imprisoned under the UK's Race Relations Act, which was designed to protect Britain's Black and Asian populations from discrimination. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison, having been arrested on the accusation of using words likely to stir up hatred "against a section of the public in Great Britain distinguished by colour". This was after his speech at an event in Reading when he said, referring to the Notting Hill race riots: "In 1958 I saw white savages kicking black women in the streets and black brothers running away. If you ever see a white laying hands on a black woman, kill him immediately." He also said "white men have no soul".


title: Michael X

text: In 1969, he became the self-appointed leader of a Black Power commune on Holloway Road, North London, called the "Black House". The commune was financed by a young millionaire benefactor, Nigel Samuel. Michael X said, "They've made me the archbishop of violence in this country. But that 'get a gun' rhetoric is over. We're talking of really building things in the community needed by people in the community. We're keeping a sane approach." John Lennon and Yoko Ono donated a bag of their hair to be auctioned for the benefit of the Black House.


title: Michael X

text: In what the media called "the slave collar affair", businessman Marvin Brown was enticed to The Black House, viciously attacked, and made to wear a spiked "slave" collar around his neck as Michael X and others threatened him in order to extort money. The Black House closed in the autumn of 1970. The two men found guilty of assaulting Marvin Brown were imprisoned for 18 months.


title: Michael X

text: The Black House burned down in mysterious circumstances, and soon Michael X and four colleagues were arrested for extortion. His bail was paid by John Lennon in January 1971.


title: Michael X

text: In February 1971, Michael X fled to his native Trinidad and Tobago, where he started an agricultural commune devoted to Black empowerment east of the capital, Port of Spain. "The only politics I ever understand is the politics of revolution," he told the "Trinidad Express". "The politics of change, the politics of a completely new system." He began another commune, also called the Black House, which, in February 1972, also burned down.


title: Michael X

text: Police who had come to the commune to investigate the fire discovered the bodies of Joseph Skerritt and Gale Benson, members of the commune. They had been hacked to death and separately buried in shallow graves. Benson, who had been going under the name Hale Kimga, was the daughter of Conservative MP Leonard F. Plugge. She had met Michael X through her relationship with Malcolm X's cousin Hakim Jamal.


title: Michael X

text: At the time of the discovery, Michael X and his family were in Guyana by invitation of the Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham. He was then captured in Guyana and charged with the murder of Skerritt and Benson, but was never tried for the latter crime. A witness at his trial said that Skerritt was a member of Michael X's "Black Liberation Army" and had been killed by him because he refused to obey orders to attack a local police station. Michael X was found guilty and sentenced to death.


title: Michael X

text: The Save Malik Committee, whose members included Angela Davis, Dick Gregory, Kate Millet and others, including the well-known, self-described "radical lawyer" William Kunstler, who was paid by John Lennon, pleaded for clemency, but Michael X was hanged in 1975.


title: Michael X

text: Under the name Michael Abdul Malik, Michael X was the author of the autobiography "From Michael de Freitas to Michael X" (André Deutsch, 1968), which was ghost-written by John Stevenson. Michael X also left behind fragments of a novel about a romantic black hero who wins the abject admiration of the narrator, a young woman named Lena Boyd-Richardson. The novel was never completed.


title: Michael X

text: Michael X is the subject of the essay "Michael X and the Black Power Killings in Trinidad" by V. S. Naipaul, collected in "The Return of Eva Perón and the Killings in Trinidad" (1980), and is also believed to be the model for the fictional character Jimmy Ahmed in Naipaul's 1975 novel "Guerrillas".


title: Michael X

text: Michael X is a character in "The Bank Job" (2008), a dramatisation of a real-life bank robbery in 1971. The film claims that Michael X was in possession of indecent photographs of Princess Margaret and used them to avoid criminal prosecution by threatening to publish them; according to the movie plot, X killed Gale Benson because she was a British Secret Services agent and revealed where he kept the blackmail material. He was played by Peter de Jersey.


title: Michael X

text: Michael X and his trial are the subject of a chapter in Geoffrey Robertson's legal memoir "The Justice Game" (1998).


title: Michael X

text: Documentary film, "Who Needs a Heart" (1991), is inspired by Michael X. John Akomfrah is the director.


title: Michael X

text: "Michael X" is the eponymous title of a play, by the writer Vanessa Walters, that takes the form of a 1960s Black Power rally and was performed at The Tabernacle Theatre, Powis Square, London W11 (Notting Hill), in November 2008.


title: Michael X

text: Michael X (played by Adrian Lester) is portrayed in a scene opposite Jimi Hendrix in the 2013 film "All Is By My Side", based on Hendrix's early years in the music industry.


title: Michael X

text: Muhammad Ali gave his bloodied boxing shorts that he wore when he fought Henry Cooper to Michael Abdul Malik, who is referred to as a black militant from Trinidad in "" (1975) by Muhammad Ali with Richard Durham.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse is a 2015 American zombie comedy film directed by Christopher Landon and written by Landon, Carrie Evans, Emi Mochizuki and Lona Williams. The film stars Tye Sheridan, Logan Miller, Joey Morgan, Sarah Dumont and David Koechner. The film was released in the United States on October 30, 2015, by Paramount Pictures. It received mixed reviews from critics.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: A janitor is seen cleaning in a laboratory and interrupting a scientist as he asks to clean the floors in his working area. The scientist agrees and retreats to the hallway to a vending machine. The janitor accidentally knocks off a life monitor attached to a man, in his attempt to revive the man he gives chest compressions but his hands rip through the flesh as the man awakens and attacks the janitor. Moments later, the janitor attacks the scientist in the hallway.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: Three high school sophomores, Ben, Carter, and Augie, are trying to recruit new members for their Scout group, led by their Scout Leader Rogers. While Augie has always been happy about being a Scout, Ben and Carter have second thoughts. Carter tries convincing Ben to quit, but he can't as Augie is about to get his Condor Patch. Their conversation about quitting is cut short when Ben accidentally hits a deer. They manage to get help from Carter's sister, Kendall, and her friends. Ben, who's had a crush on Kendall, gets some advice from her. They all see that the supposedly-dead deer has vanished. Before they leave, the two are invited to the "Secret Seniors Party" and Carter is given the address. When they get alcohol for the party, they meet Denise, a cocktail waitress that works at a strip club. She and Ben hit it off, and she agrees to buy the alcohol for them. The two then meet up with Augie in the woods so they can set up their campsite. That night, still concerned about the disappearance of Scout Leader Rogers, the trio talk about how great their friendship has been before heading to sleep. Before the night is out, Carter wakes Ben so they can attend the party. Augie catches up, however, and is disappointed by their choice. The two drive into town to find that the bouncer for the strip club is no longer there, and they sneak in. The two are immediately attacked by a zombie bouncer and stripper before being saved by a shotgun-wielding Denise. Augie goes to Scout Leader Rogers' house to find him, only to be attacked by Scout Leader Rogers as a zombie. Augie manages to deter him, and flee the scene.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: Ben, Carter, and Denise go to the police station to discover that the town has been evacuated, before a zombie horde chases them into a locked holding cell. They wait for hours when the zombies hear music from outside and leave. Augie, seeing Ben's car, runs in and unlocks the cell, freeing them. They all escape and make their way down the freeway. After walking for a bit, the four are picked up by Corporal Reeves. They drive to the party to see if anyone is evacuated, only to find that the address that was sent to Carter was fake. The group starts to argue, but Reeves was bitten before meeting them and has now turned into a zombie. Denise kills him and they try to get a signal on his radio. They hear information about bombing the town and start panicking. Carter then remembers his sister's diary has the party information in it. The four take the vehicle and drive to Carter's house. Once there, they manage to get the diary. But, more zombies arrive, and proceed to chase after the trio. They manage to escape using a trampoline to get to the now zombified neighbor, Ms. Fielder's house. From there, they take her car and head off down the road. The four find a dirt bike down the road and Denise takes it so she can get the military. Now left by themselves, Ben, Carter, and Augie weapon up at a hardware store and head to the party.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: The zombies find the party, and proceed to attack the partygoers, until the trio turns up, armed with weapons and they proceed to kill the zombies. Once they run out of ammo, they lock themselves in the building and the zombies follow them upstairs. Ben and Carter barricade the door when Augie reveals that he's built a bomb that was hidden in Ben's backpack. He manages to light the fuse when the zombies burst in and the three escape through a garbage chute just as it explodes, killing all the zombies. Denise and the military arrive at the scene, setting up medical tents and helping the survivors while the Scouts reconcile their friendship and Ben and Kendall kiss.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: Prior to this film Christopher Landon worked on three movies in the "Paranormal Activity" series and enjoyed the chance to do something more lighthearted.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: He noted the comparisons in the script to various 80s movies stating "When I read the first script, I was like, 'Wow, I can actually make a gory R-rated version of "The Goonies" and "Gremlins" or even "Monster Squad"' " At the same time Landon noted that he wanted the film to not be a complete throwback and wanted to modernize the genre some, a task he compared to a similar issue with "Disturbia" in trying to modernize a Hitchcockian thriller.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: Although initially set for a March 13, 2015, date, it was eventually pushed back to October 30, 2015.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: In July 2015, Paramount announced that it had struck a deal with AMC Entertainment and Cineplex Entertainment to make "Scouts Guide" and "" available digitally, 17 days after they dropped 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 gave participating exhibitors an estimated 2 to 4 percent share of the studio's digital revenue made between the time the film dropped below 300 theaters and 90 days after its opening date. Participants in Paramount's formula include AMC, Canada's Cineplex, National Amusements, and Alamo Drafthouse. But many circuits, including Regal Cinema, Cinemark, and Carmike, rejected Paramount's offer to release in VOD. This meant that both films would only go out in roughly 1,350 North American theaters when opening on October 23 and 30—compared to 2,883 theaters for "" and well north of 3,000 theaters for each of the previous three "PA" installments. The impetus for Paramount's experimentation with this approach, with these two-younger demographic genre movies—which many have deemed box office failures—is 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."


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" grossed $3.7 million in North America and $12.4 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $16.1 million. The production budget was $24 million, and received $3 million in incentives and rebates as part of the California Film and Television Tax Credit Program.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: The film opened on October 30, 2015, alongside "Burnt" and "Our Brand Is Crisis". The film was initially projected to gross $2–4 million from 1,509 theaters in its opening weekend but ended up grossing $1.8 million, finishing 12th at the box office.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: Critic Peter Sobczynski of RogerEbert.com savaged the film as "disposable junk", calling it "loud, repellent, badly written, indifferently directed and almost completely devoid of any genuine laughs". Katie Rife from "The A.V. Club" gave the film a C− grade, commenting: "If "Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" is the future, maybe the world should end." Tim Janson from the SciFi Movie Page rated the film 41% out of 100%, saying: "This zombie comedy is short on laughs."


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: , the film holds a 44% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 97 reviews with an average rating of 4.8/10. The site's consensus reads, ""Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse" fails to live up to its intriguingly wacky title, instead delivering yet another zombie comedy-thriller with a tired T&A twist." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 32 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of B− on an A+ to F scale.


title: Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse

text: The film was released on December 8, 2015, onto Digital HD and On Demand, and on January 5, 2016, on DVD and Blu-ray.


title: Prick (slang)

text: Prick is a vulgar word for penis as well as a pejorative term used to refer to a despicable or contemptible individual. It is generally considered offensive, though in the past it has been used as a term of endearment. Its history as a euphemism for penis goes back to the 1500s and has been used in wordplay by Shakespeare and other writers who have combined the vulgarism with the standard meaning of the noun, which means the act of piercing or puncturing. Most linguists believe it has only been used as a direct insult since 1929.


title: Prick (slang)

text: Modern dictionaries agree on prick as a euphemism for penis. But they offer some slight variations in the use of prick as an insult. The "Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang" says a prick is: "a despicable man, a fool, used as a general term of offence or contempt. Often as an abusive form of address, always of a male or an inanimate object." Similarly "The Oxford Dictionary of English" says "a stupid or contemptible man." Merriam Webster offers "a spiteful or contemptible man often having some authority."


title: Prick (slang)

text: Peter Silverton notes that the way a person calls another person a prick, which can range from disdain to anger, will help to define its meaning: "Said lightly, it's a jerk or a bumbler. Said with a harsher punchier intonation it can mean something far nastier. Say, 'Don't be such a prick' vs. 'You prick!'"


title: Prick (slang)

text: In modern times, writes Tony Thorne, "in polite company it is the least acceptable of the many terms for the male member ("cock", "tool," etc.), it is nevertheless commonly used, together with dick, by women in preference to those alternatives."


title: Prick (slang)

text: The word comes from the Middle English "prikke", which originates in the Old English, "prica" "point, puncture, particle, small portion of space or time." The meaning of prick as a 'pointed weapon' or 'dagger' is first noted in the 1550s. Prick as a verb for sexual intercourse can be seen as early as the 14th century, in Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales". "The Oxford English Dictionary" records the first use of the word prick as penis in 1592, although it was probably used in the spoken language for some time before. It was "probably coined with the image of a thorn in mind from the shape and image of penetration evoked", says Thorne. The earliest use of the noun prick as penis is observed in the works of Shakespeare, who uses it playfully several times as a double entendre with the non-sexual meaning of prick, i.e., "the act of puncturing" as in the following examples:


title: Prick (slang)

text: He that sweetest rose will find/must find love's prick and Rosalinde. - Touchstone the Clown, in "As You Like It"


title: Prick (slang)

text: In the 16th and 17th centuries, "my prick" was used as a term of endearment by 'immodest maids' for their boyfriends.


title: Prick (slang)

text: The word is listed in Francis Grose's "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue" as "prick: the virile member" in 1788.


title: Prick (slang)

text: In the Victorian Era, the slang form of prick was hidden away from most "respectable" literature. Even earlier, an 1807 edition of "The Family Shakespeare" eliminated the 'prick' verse from "As You Like It", and continued without it in subsequent editions. In 1861, at least one version of Shakespeare had replaced prick with thorn. However, prick continued to appear in Victorian pornography such as Walter's "My Secret Life", who used it 253 times, as well as in the works of Scottish poet Robert Burns, who used it with 'vulgar good humour'.


title: Prick (slang)

text: Prick started to take on the sense of 'fool' or contemptible person in the 19th century, usually preceded by 'silly'. "The semantic association between stupidity and terms for the penis is noticeably strong" notes Hughes. Silverton observes that "whereas the French place idiocy with the vagina, the Yiddish and English place it with the penis, with shmuck and prick."


title: Prick (slang)

text: In Farmer and Henley's "A Dictionary of Slang and Colloquial English" in 1905, the two definitions of prick are "a term of endearment (1540)", or "a pimple."


title: Prick (slang)

text: Most linguists cite 1929 in the United States as the time and place when prick began to be used as a direct insult, as in "You prick!" or "What a prick!" This was also the time when similar sexual euphemisms, like cunt (1928) and twat (1929) became direct insults. Dick's history is reversed:


title: Prick (slang)

text: "Dick" as 'fool' has been recorded since the 16th century but as penis only since about 1888. In "The Life of Slang", Coleman notes the use of Prick as a stupid or contemptible person as early as 1882.


title: Prick (slang)

text: When used with the word 'silly' however, as in 'Silly prick!' the word has continued to be viewed as fairly inoffensive.


title: Prick (slang)

text: "To look at every woman through a hole in one's prick" refers to a man who views every woman as a potential instrument of sexual pleasure.


title: Prick (slang)

text: In Cockney rhyming slang, a penis is described as a "Hampton Wick", a "Hampton" or a "wick" because it rhymes with "prick".


title: Prick (slang)

text: In "Pedagogical Desire: Authority, Seducation, Transference, and the Question of Ethics", Jan Jagodzinski emphasizes the association of "prick" with authority figures in his chapter, "The Teacher as Prick", but also allows that teachers can refer to students as 'little pricks.'


title: Prick (slang)

text: By the mid-20th century, "prick" had enthusiastically returned to literature from its Victorian banishment, and was being used liberally both as a description for the penis and as an insult. Philip Roth used it frequently in "Portnoy's Complaint", with an oft-cited quote being his inclusion of the Yiddish proverb: "When the prick stands up, the brain gets buried." Darryl Ponicsan uses it to alliterative effect in "We can be just three sailors together, or we can be a prisoner and two pricks" in "The Last Detail". (1970) Norah Vincent demonstrates the use of prick as someone in authority in her book "Voluntary Madness": "I'd been at the mercy of a prick on a power trip, the kind of buttoned-up bantam rooster who gets off on control and then, when you resist him, tells you that you've got issues with control." Larissa Dubecki continued the Shakespearian wordplay tradition with her 2015 book, "Prick with a Fork: The World's Meanest Waitress Spills the Beans".


title: Prick (slang)

text: Prick is listed as a more mild 'playground word' on "The Guardian"s list of TV's most offensive words.


title: Prick (slang)

text: It was included in "The Penis Song" in "Monty Python's The Meaning of Life" (1983): "Isn't it awfully nice to have a penis / Isn't it frightfully good to have a dong / It's swell to have a stiffy / It's divine to own a dick / From the tiniest little tadger to the world's biggest prick."


title: Prick (slang)

text: In 2007, Gloria Steinem proposed the terms "prick flicks" and "prick lit" as a separate category of films and literature for men, much as films and literature for women are described as 'chick flicks' and 'chick lit'. Roger Ebert responded by criticizing all such gender-based terms for either books or film as 'sexist and ignorant.'


title: Prick (slang)

text: John F. Kennedy was alleged to have said of then Canadian Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, "I didn't think Diefenbaker was a son of a bitch. I thought he was a prick."


title: Prick (slang)

text: When an unauthorized and unflattering biography by a former ally appeared of UK prime minister David Cameron, Cameron made a speech in which he mentioned a doctor's appointment he had and announced that "just a little prick, just a stab in the back" had summed up his day.


title: Prick (slang)

text: In "The Daughter's Seduction", a book that established Jane Gallop's reputation as a psychoanalytic critic, Gallop explores the difference between the phallus and the prick, including psychologist and scholar Jacques Lacan in her definition of the latter. Lacan is not just "phallocentric", she says, he is "phallo-eccentric. Or in more pointed language, he is a prick."


title: Prick (slang)

text: In vulgar, non-philosophical usage, the prick is both the male sexual organ (the famous penis of penis-envy: attraction-resentment) and an obnoxious person-an unprincipled and selfish man who high-handedly abuses others, who capriciously exhibits little or no regard for justice. Usually restricted to men, this epithet astoundingly often describes someone whom women (or men who feel the 'prick' of this man's power, men in a non-phallic position), despite themselves, find irresistible.


title: Prick (slang)

text: Unlike phallocentrism, which locates itself in a clear-cut polemic field where opposition conditions a certain good and evil, the prick is beyond good and evil, beyond the phallus. Phallocentrism and the polemic are masculine, upright matters. The prick, in some crazy way, is feminine. The prick does not play by the rules: he (she) is a narcissistic tease who persuades by means of attraction and resistance, not by orderly systemic discourse.


title: HHhH

text: HHhH is the debut novel of French author Laurent Binet, published in 2010 by Grasset & Fasquelle. The book recounts Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi leader Reinhard Heydrich in Prague during World War II. The novel was awarded the 2010 Prix Goncourt du Premier Roman.


title: HHhH

text: The novel follows the history of the operation and the lives of its protagonists—Reinhard Heydrich and his assassins Jozef Gabčík and Jan Kubiš. It is interlaced with the author's account of the process of researching and writing the book, his commentary about other literary and media treatments of the subject, and reflections about the extent to which the behavior of real people may of necessity be fictionalised in a historical novel.


title: HHhH

text: The title is an initialism for "Himmlers Hirn heißt Heydrich" ("Himmler's brain is called Heydrich"), a quip about Heydrich in SS circles. The title was suggested by Binet's publisher, Grasset, instead of the "too sci-fi" working title "Opération Anthropoïde". The editor also requested the cut of about twenty pages criticizing Jonathan Littell's "Les Bienveillantes", another novel about the SS in World War II that was awarded the "Prix Goncourt" in 2006. "The Millions" published the "missing pages" in 2012.


title: HHhH

text: "HHhH" has been translated into more than twenty languages. The English translation by Sam Taylor was published in the US by Farrar, Straus and Giroux on 24 April 2012 and in the UK by Harvill Secker on 3 May 2012.


title: HHhH

text: Cédric Jimenez directed a film adaptation of the novel, also known as "The Man with the Iron Heart". It starred Jason Clarke, Rosamund Pike, Mia Wasikowska, Jack O'Connell and Jack Reynor.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen ( ; ) is the administrative center and largest city of Tyumen Oblast, Russia. It is situated just east of the Ural Mountains, along the Tura River. Fueled by the Russian oil and gas industry, Tyumen has experienced rapid population growth in recent years, rising to a population of 847,488 at the 2021 Census. Tyumen is among the largest cities of the Ural region and the Ural Federal District. Tyumen is often regarded as the first Siberian city, from the western direction.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen was the first Russian settlement in Siberia. Founded in 1586 to support Russia's eastward expansion, the city has remained one of the most important industrial and economic centers east of the Ural Mountains. Located at the junction of several important trade routes and with easy access to navigable waterways, Tyumen rapidly developed from a small military settlement to a large commercial and industrial city. The central part of Old Tyumen retains many historic buildings from throughout the city's history.


title: Tyumen

text: Today, Tyumen is an important business center. It is the transport hub and industrial center of Tyumen Oblast – an oil-rich region bordering Kazakhstan – as well as the home of many companies active in Russia's oil and gas industry.


title: Tyumen

text: From the Mongol word, "Tümen/Түмэн" which means a myriad, or ten thousand. Etymologically connected to the Tuman River that delineates sections of the borders between North Korea, Russia, and China.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen covers an area of . Its primary geographical feature is the Tura River, which crosses the city from northwest to southeast. The river is navigable downstream of the city. The left bank of the Tura is a floodplain surrounded by gently rolling hills. The Tura is a shallow river with extensive marshlands.


title: Tyumen

text: The river floods during the snow melting season in the spring. The spring flood usually peaks in the second half of May, when the river becomes 8–10 times wider than during the late-summer low water season. The city is protected from flooding by a dike which can withstand floods up to high. The highest ever flood water level in Tyumen was , recorded in 1979. More recently, in 2007, a water level of 7.76 was recorded. In spring 2005, a flood higher than the critical mark was expected, but did not appear.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen has a humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification "Dfb") with warm, somewhat humid summers and long, cold winters. The weather in the region is very changeable, and the temperature in town is always higher than in the surrounding area by a few degrees. The town area also attracts more precipitation. The average temperature in January is , with a record low of measured in February 1951. The average temperature in July is , with a record high of .


title: Tyumen

text: The average annual precipitation is . The wettest year on record was 1943, with , and the driest was 1917, with only .


title: Tyumen

text: The Cossack ataman Yermak Timofeyevich conquered the Tyumen area, originally part of the Siberia Khanate, to the Tsardom of Russia in 1585. Both capitals of the Siberia Khanate, Sibir/Qashliq and Tyumen/Chimgi-Tura (the capital in the 15th century), were completely destroyed. Sibir was never rebuilt, though it gave its name to all concurrent and future lands in North Asia annexed by Russia, but Tyumen was later founded again. On July 29, 1586, Tsar Feodor I ordered two regional commanders, Vasily Borisov-Sukin and Ivan Myasnoy, to construct a fortress on the site of the former Siberian Tatar town of Chingi-Tura ("city of Chingis"), also known as "Tyumen", from the Turkic and Mongol word for "ten thousand" – "tumen".


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen stood on the "Tyumen Portage", part of the historical trade route between Central Asia and the Volga region. Various South Siberian nomads had continuously contested control of the portage in the preceding centuries. As a result, Siberian Tatar and Kalmyk raiders often attacked early Russian settlers. The military situation meant that streltsy and Cossack garrisons stationed in the town predominated in the population of Tyumen until the mid-17th century. As the area became less restive, the town began to take on a less military character.


title: Tyumen

text: By the beginning of the 18th century Tyumen had developed into an important center of trade between Siberia and China in the east and Central Russia in the west. Tyumen had also become an important industrial center, known for leatherworkers, blacksmiths, and other craftsmen. In 1763, 7,000 people were recorded as living in the town.


title: Tyumen

text: In the 19th century the town's development continued. In 1836, the first steam boat in Siberia was built in Tyumen. In 1862, the telegraph came to the town, and in 1864 the first water mains were laid. Further prosperity came to Tyumen after the construction, in 1885, of the Trans-Siberian Railway. For some years, Tyumen was Russia's easternmost railhead, and the site of transhipment of cargoes between the railway and the cargo boats plying the Tura, Tobol, Irtysh, and Ob Rivers.


title: Tyumen

text: By the end of the 19th century Tyumen's population exceeded 30,000, surpassing that of its northern rival Tobolsk, and beginning a process whereby Tyumen gradually eclipsed the former regional capital. The growth of Tyumen culminated on August 14, 1944 when the city finally became the administrative center of the extensive Tyumen Oblast.


title: Tyumen

text: At the outbreak of the Russian Civil War in 1917, forces loyal to Admiral Alexander Kolchak and his Siberian White Army controlled Tyumen. However, the city fell to the Red Army on January 5, 1918.


title: Tyumen

text: During the 1930s, Tyumen became a major industrial center of the Soviet Union. By the onset of World War II, the city had several well-established industries, including shipbuilding, furniture manufacture, and the manufacture of fur and leather goods. World War II saw rapid growth and development in the city. In the winter of 1941, twenty-two major industrial enterprises evacuated to Tyumen from the European part of the Soviet Union. These enterprises went into operation the following spring. Additionally, war-time Tyumen became a "hospital city", where thousands of wounded soldiers were treated. When it seemed that Moscow might fall to German forces during Operation Barbarossa, in 1941 Vladimir Lenin's body was secretly moved from his mausoleum in Moscow to a hidden tomb in what is now the Tyumen State Agriculture Academy. Between 1941 and 1945 more than 20,000 Tyumen natives fought at the front, and some 6,000 were killed.


title: Tyumen

text: Rich oil- and gas-fields were discovered in the Tyumen Oblast in the 1960s. While most of these lay hundreds of kilometers away, near the towns of Surgut and Nizhnevartovsk, Tyumen was the nearest railway junction and so the city became their supply base while the railway was extended northwards. As the result of this economic and population boom, with tens of thousands of skilled workers arriving from across the Soviet Union between 1963 and 1985, the rapid growth of the city also brought a host of problems. Its social infrastructure was limited and the lack of city planning has resulted in uneven development, with which Tyumen has continued to struggle.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen is the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions, it also serves as the administrative center of Tyumensky District, even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the City of Tyumen—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts. As a municipal division, the City of Tyumen is incorporated as Tyumen Urban Okrug.


title: Tyumen

text: The legislative authority of Tyumen is the City Duma. In addition to legislative activities, the City Duma appoints the Head of the Tyumen City Administration, who is the chief executive officer of the city.


title: Tyumen

text: Since Tyumen is the administrative center of the oblast, all the governing bodies of the oblast are located in the city. They include the elected Legislative Assembly (Duma) of Tyumen Oblast, which also confirms the appointment of the Governor of Tyumen Oblast, who is nominated by the President of Russia.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen's population grew steadily from the 16th century through the 19th century. However, when the Trans-Siberian Railway arrived at the end of the 19th century, the town's rate of population growth was greatly boosted. Tyumen rapidly became the largest town in the region, with about 30,000 inhabitants by the beginning of the 20th century. Tyumen again experienced rapid population growth with the coming of World War II. The evacuation of workers from factories in central Russia in 1941 more than doubled Tyumen's population to 150,000.


title: Tyumen

text: In the 1960s, the discovery of the rich oil and gas fields in Western Siberia caused the city's population, which had not been forecast to exceed 250,000 inhabitants that decade, to swell to almost half a million. After the growth of the 1960s, a period of population stability lasted until 1988, when economic depression hit the Soviet Union. The city's population in 1989 was 476,869, according to the census of that year. However, within five or six years Tyumen was again a major economic center with a rising population. By 2002, Tyumen's population had risen to 510,719. Further population growth (mainly due to migration and the incorporation of surrounding settlements) meant that by 2008 regional government statistics put Tyumen's population at 588,600 inhabitants.


title: Tyumen

text: While the population of Tyumen includes people from over a hundred different ethnicities, most belong to one of the following ethnicities:


title: Tyumen

text: , there are over ten operational Orthodox temples (both newly built and historical), two mosques (both newly built), one synagogue, and one Roman Catholic church in Tyumen (St. Joseph's Church).


title: Tyumen

text: While the state religion of the Russian Empire was Orthodoxy, this religion historically prevailed in Tyumen. In 1616, Trinity Monastery was established in Tyumen by Nifont of Kazan. In 1709–1711, this monastery was rebuilt in stone by the order of Filofey Leshchinsky, the first Metropolitan of Siberia. In 1761, the Tyumen Religious School was established. Overall, from 1708 to 1885, twelve stone Orthodox churches of different size, and two monasteries were constructed in Tyumen.


title: Tyumen

text: During Soviet times, two of the churches were completely destroyed, but the rest remained. , most of them are accessible and operating. Some operational churches are also under restoration. Tyumen Religious School was reopened in 1997.


title: Tyumen

text: Despite the predominance of Orthodoxy, Catholic churches as well as mosques and synagogues were also built. However, only one Catholic church remains preserved. The Tyumen Mosque was completely destroyed, but its reconstruction on the same site caused controversy. The Tyumen synagogue collapsed in 2000, but was reconstructed on the same site. At the start of the 20th century, there was a strong Old Believers community in Tyumen.


title: Tyumen

text: All of the aforementioned religions operate cultural centers in Tyumen. There are also several other religious bodies with a few adherents in Tyumen.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen Trinity Monastery was built with special permission of Peter the Great. At the time, the construction of stone buildings outside Saint Petersburg was prohibited. The Church of Savior Uncreated was visited by Crown prince Alexandr (later Alexander II) during his Siberian tour.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen is an important service center for the gas and oil industries in Russia. Due to its advantageous location at the crossing of the motor, rail, water and air ways and its moderate climate Tyumen was an ideal base town for servicing the oil and gas industry of the West Siberia. As a result, today Tyumen is a center of industry, science, culture, education and medicine. Many large oil and gas companies such as Gazprom, LUKoil, Gazpromneft and Shell have their representative offices in Tyumen.


title: Tyumen

text: There are numerous factories, engineering companies, oil industry service companies (KCA DEUTAG and Schlumberger), design institutes, shipyard and other oil servicing companies located in Tyumen. Schwank, market leader for industrial heaters, has its subsidiary, SibSchwank, in Tyumen, holding market shares of about 25%. UTair is also based in Tyumen.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen railway station was built in 1885. Currently the station administratively belongs to the Tyumen Division of Sverdlovskaya Rail Road. The station is located in the center of the city. At the regional level, the station services three directions to Yekaterinburg, Omsk, and Tobolsk. The railroad to Yekaterinburg has been electrified since 1980. At the international level, the station services passage to (Trans-Siberian Railway): Poland, Germany, China, Mongolia, and Azerbaijan.


title: Tyumen

text: Public transportation in Tyumen is dominated by both municipal bus services and by numerous private operators (marshrutkas), which account for nearly a third of all transport capacity. The city's bus fleet is in process of modernization and expansion, with newly acquired Russian buses replacing the severely aged Soviet models.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen is a major hub for intercity bus service, centered on the bus terminal, which was constructed in 1972, and greatly expanded between 2006 and 2008.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen is served by the international Roschino Airport located west of the city. In addition Plekhanovo Airport is in the area. The Roschino airport has permits to handle the following types of aircraft: Tu-154, Tu-134, An-12, An-24, An-26, Yak-40, Yak-42, IL-18, L-410, B-737, B-767, B-757, IL-86, IL-76, ATR-42, ATR-72, HS-125. The airport also has a permit to handle all types of helicopters. The airstrip is capable of handling large freight aircraft such as the An-22 Antaeus.


title: Tyumen

text: The city has a regular service to a large number of Russian towns, including, Moscow (9 flights a day), St. Petersburg, and Samara. There are also weekly or biweekly flights to the following international locations: Baku, Erevan, Khujand, and Tashkent.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen is divided by the Tura River, the Tyumneka River, and the Trans-Siberian Railroad, creating several isolated zones. Ten bridges, one footbridge, seven flyovers, and five foot crossings connect these zones.


title: Tyumen

text: In addition, the road network was planned before the fall of the Soviet Union, and in its current state, it can operate normally only in the scheme which includes public transportation only. Compact planning of the city center prevents expansion of main roads; congestion coming from the city periphery moves slower and slower as it approaches the town center. To date, the road network serves about 200% above planned capacity, which leads to numerous traffic jams and high accident rates.


title: Tyumen

text: Since 2002, city and regional authorities have undertaken numerous initiatives to improve Tyumen's road network, but due to the continued growth of private automobile ownership rates, these efforts have only had short term positive effects. To date, a complex transport infrastructure reconstruction project is being directed by Regional Administration. In January 2015, a paid parking program and prohibition of vehicle access for non-residents began.


title: Tyumen

text: Historically, Tyumen occupied a small area on the high bank of the Tura River around the foundation site of the city. The city consisted of one and two-storey wooden buildings, surrounded by a number of villages. With time, the territory of the city was developed and extended by including the surrounding villages.


title: Tyumen

text: When viewed from above, present-day Tyumen appears to be a collection of low-rise towns with occasional clusters of tall buildings. Two areas of the city, Yamskaya Sloboda and Republic Street are noted for their historic character. These areas are dominated by old brick and wooden merchant houses and buildings, with the occasional intrusion of mid-century Soviet low-rise buildings.


title: Tyumen

text: Bukharskaya Sloboda is a historic residential area on the low bank of the Tura river. This area is mostly made up of very old one and two-storey wooden buildings. The area is part of the Historical Centre on the city and has a mostly Muslim population. Low bank Dormitories is a cluster of standard 9-storey buildings was built on reclaimed land east of Bukharskaya Sloboda – Zareka and Vatutina.


title: Tyumen

text: The area to the east of the historical town centre built between 1948 and 1978 and is mostly 4 and 5-storey buildings. Earlier buildings in this area have individual designs, but the later buildings have a rectangular style. This area contains most of the political and business activities of the town.


title: Tyumen

text: The Old Dormitories area features standard 5-storey blocks of flats constructed in the 1960s and 1970s at the west and east extremities of the city. However, today this area is actually in the town centre. While there are almost no variety in the area's architecture, this area has the most greenery in the city and the best social infrastructure.


title: Tyumen

text: The New dormitories area features clusters of standard tall buildings constructed after 1980 at the south and south-east edges of Tyumen. This area is considered to be the worst place to live in the city. The area is remote, badly planned, and has very poor social infrastructure.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen is not characterized by any particular architectural style. The town was built without planning for decades and because of that its architecture is an eclectic mix of buildings of different styles and eras.


title: Tyumen

text: Tyumen's nickname is the Capital of Villages because the most of its territory is built up by lumber houses. Many of the wooden buildings located in the historical part of the city are considered culturally valuable.


title: Tyumen

text: Museums and art galleries in Tyumen include the Tyumen Museum of Local Lore, the Tyumen Museum of the Fine Arts, Museum of Kolokolnikov estate and the Medical History Museum.


title: Tyumen

text: Many Soviet and Russian sportsmen started their careers in Tyumen youth sport, including Soviet cyclists Sergey Uslamin, Yury Korotkikh, and Oleg Polovnikov


title: Tyumen

text: In 1964, Tyumen Industrial Institute was founded to supply the oil industry with a qualified local workforce. Most students are not counted in the city population since they are non-residents of the Tyumen city according to Russian law.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville ( ) is a city located directly to the northwest of Boston, and north of Cambridge, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a total population of 81,045 people. With an area of , the city has a density of , making it the most densely populated municipality in New England and the 16th most densely populated incorporated municipality in the country. Somerville was established as a town in 1842, when it was separated from Charlestown. In 2006, the city was named the best-run city in Massachusetts by "The Boston Globe". In 1972, 2009, and 2015, the city received the All-America City Award. It is home to Tufts University, which has its campus along the Somerville and Medford border.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The territory now comprising the city of Somerville was first settled by Europeans in 1629 as part of Charlestown. In 1629, English surveyor Thomas Graves led a scouting party of 100 Puritans from the settlement of Salem to prepare the site for the Great Migration of Puritans from England. Graves was attracted to the narrow Mishawum Peninsula between the Charles and Mystic rivers, linked to the mainland at the present-day Sullivan Square. The area of earliest settlement was based at City Square on the peninsula, though the territory of Charlestown officially included all of what is now Somerville, as well as Medford, Everett, Malden, Stoneham, Melrose, Woburn, Burlington, and parts of Arlington and Cambridge. From that time until 1842, the area of present-day Somerville was referred to as "beyond the Neck" in reference to the thin spit of land, the Charlestown Neck, that connected it to the Charlestown Peninsula.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The first European settler in Somerville of whom there is any record was John Woolrich, an Indian trader who came from the Charlestown Peninsula in 1630, and settled near what is now Dane Street. Others soon followed Woolrich, locating in the vicinity of present-day Union Square. In 1639 colonists officially acquired the land in what is now Somerville from the Squaw Sachem of Mistick. The population continued to slowly increase, and by 1775 there were about 500 inhabitants scattered across the area. Otherwise, the area was mostly used as grazing and farmland. It was once known as the "Stinted Pasture" or "Cow Commons", as early settlers of Charlestown had the right to pasture a certain number of cows in the area.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: John Winthrop, the first colonial governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was granted of land in the area in 1631. Named for the ten small knolls located on the property, Ten Hills Farm extended from the Cradock Bridge in present-day Medford Square to Convent Hill in East Somerville. Winthrop lived, planted, and raised cattle on the farm. It is also where he launched the first ship in Massachusetts, the "Blessing of the Bay". Built for trading purposes in the early 1630s, it was soon armed for use as a patrol boat for the New England coast. It is seen as a precursor to the United States Navy. The "Ten Hills" neighborhood, located in the northeastern part of the city, has retained the name for over 300 years. New research has found that less than a decade after John Winthrop moved to the farm in 1631, there were enslaved Native American prisoners of war on the property. Each successive owner of Ten Hills Farm would depend upon slavery's profits until the 1780s, when Massachusetts abolished the practice.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: In a short time, the settlers began laying out roads in all directions in search of more land for planting and trade with various Native American tribes in the area. Laid out as early as the mid-1630s, the earliest highway in Somerville was probably what is now Washington Street, and led from present-day Sullivan Square to Harvard Square. In its earliest days, Washington Street was known as the "Road to Newtowne" (renamed Cambridge in 1638). During the 1700s and early 1800s, Washington Street, together with Somerville Avenue, comprised "Milk Row", a route favored by Middlesex County dairy farmers as the best way to get to the markets of Charlestown and Boston.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Laid out in 1636, Broadway was likely the second highway built in the area. Originally called "Menotomie's Road", it ran from the Charlestown Neck to the settlement at Menotomy (present-day Arlington). Initially bordered by farmsteads, Broadway would come into its own as a commercial thoroughfare after horse-drawn trolleys were


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville was home to one of the first hostile acts of the American Revolutionary War. The removal of gunpowder by British soldiers from a powder magazine in 1774, and the massive popular reaction that ensued, are considered to be a turning point in the events leading up to war.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: First built by settlers for use as a windmill in the early 1700s, the Old Powder House was sold to the colonial government of Massachusetts for use as a gunpowder magazine in 1747. Located at the intersection of Broadway and College Avenue in present-day Powder House Square, the Old Powder House held the largest supply of gunpowder in all of Massachusetts. General Thomas Gage, who had become the military governor of Massachusetts in May 1774, was charged with enforcement of the highly unpopular Intolerable Acts, which British Parliament had passed in response to the Boston Tea Party. Seeking to prevent the outbreak of war, he believed that the best way to accomplish this was by secretly removing military stores from storehouses and arsenals in New England.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Just after dawn on September 1, 1774, a force of roughly 260 British regulars from the 4th Regiment, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel George Maddison, were rowed in secrecy up the Mystic River from Boston to a landing point near Winter Hill. From there they marched about to the Powder House, and after sunrise removed all of the gunpowder. Most of the regulars then returned to Boston the way they had come, but a small contingent marched on to Cambridge, seizing two field pieces from the Cambridge Common. The field pieces and powder were then taken from Boston to the British stronghold on Castle Island, then known as Castle William (renamed Fort Independence in 1779).


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: In response to the raid, amid rumors that blood had been shed, alarm spread through the countryside as far as Connecticut and beyond, and American Patriots sprang into action, fearing that war was at hand. Thousands of militiamen began streaming toward Boston and Cambridge, and mob action forced Loyalists and some government officials to flee to the protection of the British Army. This action provided a "dress rehearsal" for the Battles of Lexington and Concord seven months later in the famous "shot heard 'round the world", and inflamed already heated feelings on both sides, spurring actions by both British and American forces to remove powder and cannon to secure locations.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: After the raid on the Powder House, the colonists took action to conceal arms and munitions of war in Concord. When General Gage found out, he was resolved to take the powder by force if necessary. The Americans learned that the British intended to start for Concord on April 18, 1775, and couriers Paul Revere and William Dawes set out on their famous ride to warn the farmers and militiamen in between Boston and Concord, including Sam Adams and John Hancock. That night, he set out from the North End through Charlestown towards East Somerville. In Revere's own written account of his ride, he mentions a specific location in Somerville (then part of Charlestown). The location was the site where the executed body of a local slave known as "Mark", owned by John Codman, was publicly gibbeted and displayed for several years after his execution. The location is probably near the site of the present day Holiday Inn on Washington Street. Revere wrote "nearly opposite where Mark was hung in chains, I saw two men on Horse back, under a Tree", which he then realized were two British officers stationed on Washington Street. They immediately pursued him, and Revere galloped up Broadway towards Winter Hill and eventually eluded them. His warning gave the militia enough time to prepare for battle, and launch the American Revolution.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Shortly after Paul Revere set out on his ride, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Smith and 700 British Army regulars landed near Lechmere Square. As it was nearly high tide, East Cambridge was an island and the troops, skirting the marshes, were obliged to wade "thigh deep" to reach Somerville. They probably came through Prospect Street into Washington Street, and through Union Square.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Defeated and in retreat, the British army passed again through Somerville en route back to Boston. Upon reaching Union Square, the British marched down Washington Street as far as the base of Prospect Hill, where a skirmish took place. The handful of rebellious locals, having heard of the storied battles at Lexington and Concord earlier that day, caught an exhausted retreating British contingent off guard. As the story goes, 65-year-old minuteman James Miller lost his life in the scuffle while standing his ground against the British. He was shot thirteen times after famously telling a retreating colleague, "I am too old to run."


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Somerville occupied a conspicuous position during the entire Siege of Boston, which lasted nine months, and Prospect Hill became the central position of the Continental Army's chain of emplacements north of Boston. Its height and commanding view of Boston and the harbor had tremendous strategic value and the fortress became known as the "Citadel". Originally occupied by just 400 men, Prospect Hill became a primary encampment for American forces after General Israel Putnam's retreat from the Battle of Bunker Hill. It is believed that on January 1, 1776, the Grand Union Flag flew for the first time at the Citadel, the first official raising of an American flag.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: With the Revolutionary War over, the residents of Somerville were able once again to devote their energies wholeheartedly to the business of making a living. From the 1780s until Somerville's separation from Charlestown in 1842, material progress was continuous, if a bit slow. As transportation infrastructure gradually transformed the area, new industries sprang up, such as brickmaking, quarrying and dairy farming.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Transportation improvements in the early to mid-1800s factored significantly in the growth of a more urban residential form and Somerville's incorporation as a City in 1872. These improvements included the opening of the Middlesex Canal through Somerville in 1803, various turnpikes such as Medford and Beacon streets, built during the 1810s and 1820s, and especially the introduction of rail lines. In 1841, the Fitchburg Railroad was built between Boston and Fresh Pond in Cambridge, paralleling the route of Somerville Avenue. This led to the establishment of industries along its path. Soon after, in 1843 the Fitchburg Railroad commenced passenger service and enabled residential development along the southern slopes of Prospect and Spring hills. By the early 1840s, the population of present-day Somerville topped 1,000 for the first time.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Despite the growth, however, discontent was growing steadily outside the "neck". The area's rural farmers paid taxes to the local government in Charlestown, but received little in return. By 1842, the area had no churches, few schools, no taverns, and suffered from poor and impassable roads. For many years after the Revolution the two parts of Charlestown styled "within" and "without the neck" were nearly equal in population; the former had by this time completely outstripped the latter. With this growth of population and trade came the need of city institutions, and consequently greater expenses were involved. Therefore, the rural part of Charlestown found herself contributing to the paving of the streets, the maintenance of a night watch, to the building of engine houses, and various other improvements from which they derived little benefit.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Charlestown be set off as a separate town, to be known as Warren. This petition was subsequently withdrawn. The desire for a separate township continued to spread, and by 1841, becoming impatient at the neglect of the government to adequately provide for their needs, the inhabitants again agitated a division of the town, and a meeting in reference to the matter was held November 22 in the Prospect Hill school house.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: A petition was accordingly drawn up and signed by Guy C. Hawkins and 151 others, and a committee deputed to further its passage through the Legislature, then in session. A bill incorporating a new town was signed by the governor on March 3, 1842. The original choice for the city's new name, after breaking away from Charlestown, was Walford, after the first settler of Charlestown, Thomas Walford. However, this name was not adopted by the separation committee. Charles Miller, a member of this committee, proposed the name "Somerville", which was ultimately chosen. It was not derived from any one person's name, and a report commissioned by the Somerville Historical Society found that Somerville was a "purely fanciful name".


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Before Somerville became a township in 1842 the area was primarily populated by British farmers and brick makers who sold their wares in the markets of Boston, Cambridge and Charlestown. As the markets grew, the population of Somerville increased six-fold between the years of 1842 and 1870 to 14,685. With the sharp influx of immigrants to the Somerville area, industry boomed and brick manufacturing became the predominant trade. Before mechanical presses were invented, Somerville produced 1.3 million bricks a year. Thereafter, production increased rapidly to 5.5 million bricks a year, and the success of the brickyards began to attract numerous other industries. In 1851, American Tubes Works opened, followed by meat processing and packaging plants. Other Somerville factories came to produce steam engines, boilers, household appliances, glass, and iron.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: Shortly thereafter Somerville incorporated as a city in 1872. The population growth was due in part to improvements in pre-existing transportation lines, as well as a new rail line, the Lexington and Arlington Railroad, introduced through Davis Square in 1870. At its height, Somerville was served by eight passenger rail stations. Somerville's buoyant economy during this period was tied to industries that tended to locate at the periphery of the residential core, near freight rail corridors. By the mid 1870s meat packing plants were the primary employers and profit centers of the community.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: The Late Industrial Period (1870–1915) was a time of phenomenal growth for Somerville in all spheres including civic and commercial ventures. Infrastructure such as rail, water lines, telegraph and electricity were established and connected to surrounding towns. The population soared from 15,000 to 90,000. While brickmaking had taken a hold in the area after the railroads first arrived in the 1830s, Somerville's brickyards boomed through 1870. Meatpacking soon displaced brickmaking as the primary industry in the city, dubbed "The Chicago of New England". Additionally, Somerville's location adjacent to Boston and proximity to rail and road transportation made it an ideal location for distribution facilities.


title: Somerville, Massachusetts

text: It was in this period that Irish immigrants moved to Somerville to work in the brickyards and on the railroad. At the same time, older residents of East Boston and Charlestown moved to Somerville to seek a more bucolic setting than that of more densely populated areas. They also worked to maintain political control over immigrant groups, using slogans such as "Keep Somerville Republican" and establishing a local branch of the anti-Catholic American Protective Association.