title: What a Cartoon!

text: On April 15, 2021, Cartoon Network announced it debuted a new iteration of "Cartoon Cartoons". The lineup of the first 9 shorts were announced on November 24, 2021: "Accordions Geoffery & Mary Melodica" by Louie Zong (of "The Ghost and Molly McGee" and "We Bare Bears"), "Dang! It's Dracula" by Levon Jihanian (of "Tig n' Seek"), "Hungy Ghost" by Jesse Moynihan, "Fruit Stand at the End of the World" by Rachel Liu, "Off the Menu" by Shavonne Cherry (of "Ren and Stimpy" and "The Looney Tunes Show"), "Harmony in Despair" by Andrew Dickman (of "Looney Tunes Cartoons"), "Unravel" by Alexis Sugden, "Mouthwash Madness" by Lisa Vandenberg (of "Animaniacs"), and "Scaredy Cat" by JJ Villard (of "King Star King").


title: What a Cartoon!

text: The following is a list of the original shorts produced under Fred Seibert's management for "What a Cartoon!" by Hanna-Barbera. The shorts are listed in the order that they originally aired.


title: What a Cartoon!

text: After "What a Cartoon!" ended its run in 1997, Fred Seibert left Hanna-Barbera in 1997 to launch Frederator Studios. In 1998, Sam Register, who was Cartoon Network's vice president at the time, took over "What a Cartoon!", and two years later, turned them into "The Cartoon Cartoon Show". Register would later create "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" for Cartoon Network in 2004. Two Cartoon Cartoon shorts were produced in 1998 and one in 1999. All Cartoon Cartoon shorts produced between 2000 and 2001 were entered in "The Big Pick", a contest to choose the newest Cartoon Cartoon. The shorts premiered on Cartoon Cartoon Fridays in the weeks leading up to "The Big Pick" and the winner was revealed during the actual event. The winners were "The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy", in 2000, and "", in 2001.


title: What a Cartoon!

text: In 2002, eight new shorts premiered during the Cartoon Cartoon Weekend Summerfest. They did not compete against one another. These were the final Cartoon Cartoon shorts before the brand name was dropped. One short, "LowBrow", was given its own series under the name "Megas XLR".


title: What a Cartoon!

text: From 2000 to 2003, "The Cartoon Cartoon Show" featured new episodes and reruns of the full-series Cartoon Cartoons (which were introduced in 2002 for the primetime hours), interspersed with premieres and reruns of the Cartoon Cartoon pilot shorts (some of which were retconned "WAC!" shorts). From 2005 to 2008, the block was revived, this time dropping the pilot shorts.


title: What a Cartoon!

text: Episodes from each show were anthologized into 7 or 11-minute segments. This is a list of shows that were presented on the block:


title: Eye of a needle

text: The Babylonian Talmud applies the aphorism to unthinkable thoughts. To explain that dreams reveal the thoughts of a man's heart and are the product of reason rather than the absence of it, some rabbis say:


title: Eye of a needle

text: A midrash on the Song of Songs uses the phrase to speak of God's willingness and ability beyond comparison to accomplish the salvation of a sinner:


title: Eye of a needle

text: Rav Sheishet of Nehardea applied the same aphorism to the convoluted reasoning for which the sages of Pumbedita were evidently famous: "Are you from Pumbedita, where they push an elephant through the eye of a needle?" (Baba Metzia, 38b).


title: Eye of a needle

text: The saying was a response to a young rich man who had asked Jesus what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus replied that he should keep the commandments, which the man replied that he had done so. Jesus responded, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." The young man became sad and was unwilling to do that. Jesus then spoke that response, leaving his disciples astonished.


title: Eye of a needle

text: Cyril of Alexandria (fragment 219) claimed that "camel" was a Greek scribal typo where (, camel) was written in place of (, meaning "rope" or "cable"). More recently, George Lamsa, in his into English from the Syriac, claimed the same.


title: Eye of a needle

text: Arthur Schopenhauer, in "The World as Will and Representation", Volume 1, § 68, quoted Matthew 19:24: "It is easier for an anchor cable to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to come to God's kingdom."


title: Eye of a needle

text: In modern times, the scripture has been used as a counterargument to the prosperity gospel, the belief that accruing wealth is a virtue favored by God.


title: Eye of a needle

text: The "Eye of the Needle" has been claimed to be a gate in Jerusalem, which opened after the main gate was closed at night. A camel could not pass through the smaller gate unless it was stooped and had its baggage removed. The story has been put forth since at least the 15th century and possibly as far back as the 9th century. However, there is no widely accepted evidence for the existence of such a gate.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The nine-banded armadillo ("Dasypus novemcinctus"), also known as the nine-banded long-nosed armadillo or common long-nosed armadillo, is a mammal found in North, Central, and South America, making it the most widespread of the armadillos. Its ancestors originated in South America, and remained there until the formation of the Isthmus of Panama allowed them to enter North America as part of the Great American Interchange.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The nine-banded armadillo is a solitary, mainly nocturnal animal, found in many kinds of habitats, from mature and secondary rainforests to grassland and dry scrub. It is an insectivore, feeding chiefly on ants, termites, and other small invertebrates. The armadillo can jump straight in the air if sufficiently frightened, making it a particular danger on roads. It is the state small mammal of Texas.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: North American subspecies exhibit reduced genetic variability compared with the subspecies of South America, indicating the armadillos of North America are descended from a relatively small number of individuals that migrated from south of the Rio Grande.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Nine-banded armadillos generally weigh from , though the largest specimens can scale up to . They are one of the largest species of armadillos. Head and body length is , which combines with the tail, for a total length of . They stand tall at the top of the shell. The outer shell is composed of ossified dermal scutes covered by nonoverlapping, keratinized epidermal scales, which are connected by flexible bands of skin. This armor covers the back, sides, head, tail, and outside surfaces of the legs. The underside of the body and the inner surfaces of the legs have no armored protection. Instead, they are covered by tough skin and a layer of coarse hair. The vertebrae attach to the carapace.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The claws on the middle toes of the forefeet are elongated for digging, though not to the same degree as those of the much larger giant armadillo of South America.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Their low metabolic rate and poor thermoregulation make them best suited for semitropical environments.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Unlike the South American three-banded armadillos, the nine-banded armadillo cannot roll itself into a ball. It is, however, capable of floating across rivers by inflating its intestines, or by sinking and running across riverbeds. The second is possible due to its ability to hold its breath for up to six minutes, an adaptation originally developed for allowing the animal to keep its snout submerged in soil for extended periods while foraging. Although nine is the typical number of bands on the nine-banded armadillo, the actual number varies by geographic range.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Armadillos possess the teeth typical of all sloths and anteaters. The teeth are all small, peg-like molars with open roots and no enamel. Incisors do form in the embryos, but quickly degenerate and are usually absent by birth.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The nine-banded armadillo evolved in a warm, rainy environment, and is still most commonly found in regions resembling its ancestral home. As a very adaptable animal, though, it can also be found in scrublands, open prairies, and tropical rainforests. It cannot thrive in particularly cold or dry environments, as its large surface area, which is not well insulated by fat, makes it especially susceptible to heat and water loss. Recently, nine-banded armadillo have been found as far north as Virginia, with several studies suggesting this could get more common as temperatures rise.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The nine-banded armadillo has been rapidly expanding its range both north and east within the United States, where it is the only regularly occurring species of armadillo. The armadillo crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in the late 19th century, and was introduced in Florida at about the same time by humans. By 1995, the species had become well established in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and Florida, and had been sighted as far afield as Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Kentucky, and South Carolina. A decade later, the armadillo had become established in all of those areas and continued its migration, being sighted as far north as southern Nebraska, southern Illinois, and southern Indiana.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The primary cause of this rapid expansion is explained simply by the species having few natural predators within the United States, little desire on the part of Americans to hunt or eat the armadillo, and the animals' high reproductive rate. The northern expansion of the armadillo is expected to continue until the species reaches as far north as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut, and all points southward on the East Coast of the United States. Further northward and westward expansion will probably be limited by the armadillo's poor tolerance of harsh winters, due to its lack of insulating fat and its inability to hibernate.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: As of 2009, newspaper reports indicated the nine-banded armadillo seems to have expanded its range northward as far as Omaha, Nebraska in the west, and Kentucky Dam and Evansville, Indiana, in the east. In 1995, armadillos were only seen in the southern tip of South Carolina, and within two to three years, they had swept across most of the state. In late 2009, North Carolina began considering the establishment of a hunting season for armadillo, following reports that the species has been moving into the southern reaches of the state (roughly between the areas of Charlotte and Wilmington).


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Outside the United States, the nine-banded armadillo ranges southward through Central and South America into northern Argentina and Uruguay, where it is still expanding its range.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Nine-banded armadillos are generally insectivores. They forage for meals by thrusting their snouts into loose soil and leaf litter and frantically digging in erratic patterns, stopping occasionally to dig up grubs, beetles (perhaps the main portion of this species' prey selection), ants, termites, grasshoppers, other insects, millipedes, centipedes, arachnids, worms, and other terrestrial invertebrates, which their sensitive noses can detect through of soil. They then lap up the insects with their sticky tongues. Nine-banded armadillos have been observed to roll about on ant hills to dislodge and consume the resident ants. They supplement their diets with amphibians and small reptiles, especially in more wintery months when such prey tends to be more sluggish, and occasionally bird eggs and baby mammals. Carrion is also eaten, although perhaps the species is most attracted to the maggots borne by carcasses rather than the meat itself. Less than 10% of the diet of this species is composed by nonanimal matter, though fungi, tubers, fruits, and seeds are occasionally eaten.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Nine-banded armadillos are solitary, largely nocturnal animals that come out to forage around dusk. They are extensive burrowers, with a single animal sometimes maintaining up to 12 burrows on its range. These burrows are roughly wide, deep, and long. Armadillos mark their territory with urine, feces, and excretions from scent glands found on the eyelids, nose, and feet. Males hold breeding territories and may become aggressive in order to keep other males out of their home range to increase chances of pairing with a female. Territorial disputes are settled by kicking and chasing. When they are not foraging, armadillos shuffle along fairly slowly, stopping occasionally to sniff the air for signs of danger.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: If alarmed, nine-banded armadillos can flee with surprising speed. Occasionally, a large predator may be able to ambush the armadillo before it can clear a distance, and breach the hard carapace with a well-placed bite or swipe. If the fleeing escape fails, the armadillo may quickly dig a shallow trench and lodge itself inside. Predators are rarely able to dislodge the animal once it has burrowed itself, and abandon their prey when they cannot breach the armadillo's armor or grasp its tapered tail. Due to their softer carapaces, juvenile armadillos are more likely to fall victim to natural predation and their cautious behavior generally reflects this. Young nine-banded armadillos tend to forage earlier in the day and are more wary of the approach of an unknown animal (including humans) than are adults. Their known natural predators include cougars (perhaps the leading predator), maned wolves, coyotes, black bears, red wolves, jaguars, alligators, bobcats, and large raptors. By far the leading predator of nine-banded armadillos today is humans, as armadillos are locally harvested for their meat and shells and many thousands fall victim to auto accidents every year.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Mating takes place during a two-to-three month long mating season, which occurs from July–August in the Northern Hemisphere and November–January in the Southern Hemisphere. A single egg is fertilized, but implantation is delayed for three to four months to ensure the young will not be born during an unfavorable time. Once the zygote does implant in the uterus, a gestation period of four months occurs, during which the zygote splits into four identical embryos, attached by a common placenta. They are born in March and weigh . After birth, the quadruplets remain in the burrow, living off the mother's milk for about three months. They then begin to forage with the mother, eventually leaving after six months to a year.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: Nine-banded armadillos reach sexual maturity at the age of one year, and reproduce every year for the rest of their 12–to-15 year lifespans. A single female can produce up to 56 young over the course of her life. This high reproductive rate is a major cause of the species’ rapid expansion.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: The foraging of nine-banded armadillo can cause mild damage to the root systems of certain plants. Skunks, cotton rats, burrowing owls, pine snakes, and rattlesnakes can be found living in abandoned armadillo burrows. Occasionally, the armadillo may threaten the endangered gopher tortoise by aggressively displacing them from their burrows and claiming the burrows for themselves. Studies have shown the fan-tailed warbler habitually follows armadillos to feed on insects and other invertebrates displaced by them.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: They are typically hunted for their meat, which is said to taste like pork, but are more frequently killed as a result of their tendency to steal the eggs of poultry and game birds. This has caused certain populations of the nine-banded armadillo to become threatened, although the species as a whole is under no immediate threat.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: They are also valuable for use in medical research, as they are among the few mammals other than humans susceptible to leprosy.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: In Texas, nine-banded armadillos are raised to participate in armadillo racing, a small-scale, but well-established sport in which the animals scurry down a 40-foot track.


title: Nine-banded armadillo

text: During the Great Depression, the species was hunted for its meat in East Texas, where it was known as "poor man's pork", or the "Hoover hog" by those who considered President Herbert Hoover to be responsible for the Depression. Earlier, German settlers in Texas would often refer to the armadillo as "Panzerschwein" ("armored pig"). In 1995, the nine-banded armadillo was, with some resistance, made the state small mammal of Texas, where it is considered a pest and is often seen dead on the roadside. They first forayed into Texas across the Rio Grande from Mexico in the 19th century, eventually spreading across the southeast United States.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The second season of the American television series "The Flash", which is based on the DC Comics character Barry Allen / Flash, sees Barry recognized as a hero in Central City after saving the city, only to face a new threat from a parallel universe in the form of the speedster Zoom, who seeks to eliminate everyone connected to the Speed Force throughout the multiverse. It is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with the other television series of the universe, and is a spin-off of "Arrow". The season was produced by Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television, and DC Entertainment, with Andrew Kreisberg, Gabrielle Stanton, Aaron Helbing, and Todd Helbing serving as showrunners.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The season was ordered in January 2015, and filmed from that July to the following April in Vancouver. Grant Gustin stars as Barry, alongside principal cast members Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes, Tom Cavanagh, and Jesse L. Martin also returning from the first season, and are joined by Keiynan Lonsdale. This season also introduces characters from "Legends of Tomorrow", which was being developed as a spin-off.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The season ran for 23 episodes and premiered on October 6, 2015, airing on The CW until May 24, 2016. The premiere was watched by 3.58 million viewers, down from the first-season premiere but average for the series. The second season of "The Flash" received universal acclaim from critics, being viewed as an improvement over the first season, and finished as the 112th ranked show, slightly up from season one, with an average viewership of 4.25 million. The series was renewed for a third season on March 11, 2016.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: On January 11, 2015, "The Flash" was renewed for a second season. With the commencement of production on the season, former "Arrow" and "Ugly Betty" writer Gabrielle Stanton was promoted to executive producer and showrunner; after having served as consulting producer and writer on the first season's finale "Fast Enough". However, it was later reported that series co-creator Andrew Kreisberg would be returning to sole showrunner duties at an unspecified time. That time was later proved to be at the start of 2016, "Potential Energy", when Stanton was no longer credited as being involved with the show. Aaron and Todd Helbing also served as the season's showrunners.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Main cast members Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Carlos Valdes and Jesse L. Martin return from the first season as Barry Allen / The Flash, Iris West, Caitlin Snow, Cisco Ramon / Vibe and Joe West, respectively. Tom Cavanagh, who portrayed Eobard Thawne impersonating Harrison Wells in season one, also returned as a regular, playing Wells' Earth-2 doppelgänger. Rick Cosnett, a main cast member from season one, did not return as a regular because his character, Eddie Thawne, died in the season one finale. He instead returned as a guest star in the season premiere "The Man Who Saved Central City" in a dream sequence, and later in the episode "Flash Back", where Barry travels back to a time when Eddie was still alive. In August 2015, Keiynan Lonsdale was cast as Wally West, the unknown son of Joe, and Iris' brother. Gustin, Patton, Panabaker, Valdes and Martin also portray the Earth-2 versions of their characters in the episode "Welcome to Earth-2", while Cavanagh portrays Thawne impersonating the Earth-1 Wells in "The Man Who Saved Central City" and "Flash Back".


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Discussing the casting of Lonsdale, Kreisberg stated, "Just like when we met Grant [Gustin] for the first time, we instantly knew Keiynan embodied all the heart and courage of a hero. We are so excited to be bringing this much-beloved character onto the show." It was always intended for Wally to be the son of Joe and brother of Iris, which differs from the character's comic history, as the producers disliked second seasons of television series that would introduce cousins of characters that were never previously mentioned, feeling it was "weird". Lonsdale originally auditioned for "Legends of Tomorrow" to portray Jefferson "Jax" Jackson.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: In July 2015, it was announced that Teddy Sears would recur in the role of Jay Garrick, the Flash of Earth-2. However, later in the season it was revealed that his character was actually Hunter Zolomon / Zoom posing as Jay. Ryan Handley portrayed Zoom in costume prior to this revelation, while Tony Todd voiced Zoom.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Maya Mani replaced Colleen Atwood as the costume designer for the second season and made slight changes to the Flash costume, such as changing the color of his chest emblem from red to white, being faithful to the Flash costume from the comics. Gustin stated that, around the time of filming the season's ninth episode, "we stopped gluing the mask to my face and switched to a mask that just slipped on and off with a zipper". While Zoom's costume in the comics is a verbatim replica of Eobard Thawne's yellow-and-red Reverse-Flash costume, the costume seen in the TV series is entirely in black. Kreisberg compared Zoom's appearance to that of the Marvel Comics character Venom, saying, "The Zoom outfit is much more organic than the Reverse-Flash suit. In a way, it's hard to tell if it is a suit or alive… There's no skin showing, for all you know there's a robot underneath, or dark energy."


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Production on the season began on July 7, 2015, in Vancouver, British Columbia, and concluded on April 18, 2016.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Composer Blake Neely returned as the primary composer for the second season. The soundtrack for the second season was released digitally on July 22, 2016 and in CD format on July 26, 2016. Neely also composed a theme when Gustin as Barry appeared on the eighteenth episode of "Supergirl", "Worlds Finest". The theme was titled "World's Finest" when it was released on the "Supergirl: Season 1" soundtrack.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: In October 2015, "Arrow" showrunner Wendy Mericle revealed that the producers of the Arrowverse had begun having someone track all the characters and plots used by each series, in order to make sure everything lines up, though Aaron Helbing noted in April 2016 that "sometimes the schedules don't line up exactly...and that stuff is out of our control", such as when Barry is shown using his abilities on "Arrow" that month, while not having them the same week on "The Flash".


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The second season of "The Flash" began to explore the concept of the multiverse, by introducing Earth-2, which features doppelgängers of the inhabitants in the Arrowverse (or Earth-1). In "Welcome to Earth-2" of "The Flash", glimpses of the multiverse are seen, including an image of "Supergirl" star Melissa Benoist as Supergirl and an image of John Wesley Shipp as the Flash from the 1990 television series, implying that those two television series exist on alternate Earths to the Arrowverse.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The second annual two-way crossover with "Arrow" aired on December 1 and 2, 2015, where the Flash and the Green Arrow team up to take on Vandal Savage, who is looking for Kendra Saunders and Carter Hall, the reincarnations of Hawkgirl and Hawkman. Though "Legends of Tomorrow" did not have an episode as part of the 2015–16 crossover, the "Arrow" and "The Flash" episodes from this event did set up a number of characters who star and recur in that series. Casper Crump, Falk Hentschel and Peter Francis James debut in the crossover, as Vandal Savage, Carter Hall / Hawkman, and Dr. Aldus Boardman, respectively. ScreenRant's Alice Walker discussed how the annual "Arrow/The Flash" crossover suffered from also trying to set up Legends, which was "too much to ask from the already crowded storylines and ended up feeling like an exercise in synchronicity, with producers planting more seeds than they could reap. The crossover event was no longer a fun way to contrast the two shows; it now had to serve the much larger purpose of setting up an entirely new world."


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: In February 2016, it was announced that Gustin would appear on the eighteenth episode of "Supergirl", with Berlanti and Kreisberg, also "Supergirl" executive producers, thanking "the fans and journalists who have kept asking for this to happen. It is our pleasure and hope to create an episode worthy of everyone's enthusiasm and support." While no plot details on the episodes were released at the time, Ross A. Lincoln of "Deadline Hollywood" noted that "the in-universe reason" for the crossover was due to Barry's ability to travel to various dimensions, thus implying that "Supergirl" exists on an alternate Earth to the Arrowverse in a multiverse. "Welcome to Earth-2" confirmed this, showing an image of Benoist as Supergirl during a sequence where characters travel through that multiverse. The Earth that the series inhabits has been informally referred to as "Earth-CBS" by Marc Guggenheim, one of the creators of "Arrow".


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: In "Worlds Finest", which aired on CBS on March 28, 2016, "Supergirl" is established as being in an alternate universe where the Flash helps Kara fight the Silver Banshee and Livewire in exchange for her help in returning home. The episode title was inspired by the "World's Finest Comics" series, in which Superman would team up with various other DC superheroes, including the Flash. The events of this episode take place between two moments in the eighteenth episode of "The Flash" season two, "Versus Zoom", which aired on April 19, 2016, in which Barry enters and exits a breach while wearing the tachyon device seen in this episode. The crossover required "a lot more logistical trickery" than the usual Arrowverse crossovers due to Gustin filming "The Flash" in Vancouver alongside "Arrow" and "Legends of Tomorrow", while "Supergirl" is produced in Los Angeles. The producers chose to use the Flash as the character to crossover, due to his ability to travel between various Earths, and because it was "a little more fun at first to bring the veteran from that show to the chemistry of a new show." Berlanti stated that "in a perfect world", the crossover would have featured both Gustin and Amell's Green Arrow, "but logistically that would have been a nightmare to try and do both shows. We had to facilitate one." Gustin was optimistic that the crossover in 2016 would allow another crossover the following year with the rest of the Arrowverse shows.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The crossover episode received excellent reviews. Cliff Wheatley of IGN gave the episode an 8.6/10, stating "After the grim 'n' gritty "", "Supergirl" "Worlds Finest" offered a fun, upbeat palette cleanser and one of the series' strongest episodes to date. Instead of the usual "beatdown" introduction, Supergirl and the Flash went straight to being superfriends, which was refreshing. Not only did Barry Allen fit perfectly in Kara's world, but actors Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist had fantastic chemistry together onscreen. While the city's turnaround on Supergirl's Red K incident was a little sudden, overall, "Worlds Finest" was delightful." Stacy Glanzman of TV Fanatic gave the episode a 5.0 out of 5 stars.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: "The Flash" surged 1,378% in buzz (highest year over year growth in conversation) from last year for its second season.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The season began streaming on Netflix on October 4, 2016, and was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Region 1 on September 6, 2016.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating for the second season with an average rating of 7.84/10, based on 24 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With distinctive visuals and a terrific cast, "The Flash" remains one of the strongest comic book shows on television." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the season a score of 81 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Reviewing for Collider, Dave Trumbore gave the season premiere a rating of 4 stars out of 5, saying, "All in all, a very good way to start season two after the strong run of season one." Mike Cecchini of "Den of Geek!" meanwhile rated the episode 3.5 stars out of 5, criticizing the episode's "unsettled" and "rushed" nature. He felt that the episode "seems so focused on getting this season off to a running start that it [...] doesn't give events time to breathe." Erik Kain of "Forbes" noted a "very big piece" missing in the absence of Harrison Wells, but felt that the episode was "an excellent start to the sophomore season of the CW’s best super hero show." Although Henry Allen's abrupt exit was a common point of criticism amongst reviewers, Trumbore nevertheless felt that it was "a small price to pay for an otherwise cohesive, entertaining, and emotionally satisfying episode."


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: The episode "Welcome to Earth-2" received a number of positive reviews. Erik Kain said that it was ""The Flash" at its best. An engaging, funny, scary episode that hits all the right notes from start to finish." IGN's Jesse Schedeen rated it 9.7 out of 10, praising the concept of Earth-2, Barry's dramatic moments, the depiction of Deathstorm, Killer Frost, and Reverb, but criticized the need to kill off Reverb so soon. He concluded, ""The Flash" delivered one of its best episodes yet as Barry and friends took a hilarious but emotional trip to Earth-2." Angelica Jade Bastién of "Vulture" said the episode "marries incredible action sequences, amazing direction by Millicent Shelton, some of the cast's best acting (particularly from Candice Patton and Grant Gustin), lots of heart, and just the right number of nods to the comics. It is undoubtedly the best episode of the season, and just may be the best episode of "The Flash" yet." Dave Trumbore rated the episode 4 stars out of 5, saying, "This was an absolutely insane episode of "The Flash", and that's saying something since this show is normally fast-paced and full of Easter eggs even on a relatively slow week." "Entertainment Weekly"s Jonathon Dornbush praised the scene where Barry talks to his Earth-2 doppelgänger's mother over phone, saying Gustin "has proved mightily adept at tackling Barry's grief, hope, and the many other emotions swirling around in regard to his mother and her death." Scott Von Doviak of "The A.V. Club" said, "Since its return from hiatus, "The Flash" has been sluggish and morose, and the Zoom arc has fizzled. 'Welcome to Earth-2' jump-starts both the storyline and the season as a whole [...and] is just about as good as "The Flash" gets."


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: Reviewing the season finale, Allison Keene of Collider directed specific praise to Gustin's performance, saying "Sometimes a great TV performer can come out of an already fantastic episode, but occasionally an actor can rise above the material, proving that even though the writers have let them down, the actor is going to make the most of what they’ve been given. That’s exactly where we find ourselves with "The Flash"s head-scratching finale, which capped off a largely enjoyable but ultimately uneven second season. What has never been in doubt, though, is star Grant Gustin’s ability to convince viewers that this all makes sense in an emotional, earnest, and often light-hearted way." In his review for "Nerdist", Joseph McCabe concluded, "For all this season's faults, most of which came from repeating the major villain arc of season one, [...] there were moments in the last handful of episodes where Barry demonstrated more independent thought than the show often allows him. Coming up with his own ideas, for example, to defeat the villain of the week rather than relying on his friends at STAR Labs. That's the Barry I want to see more of in season three.


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: A number of critics felt that the season as a whole suffered from the standards set by its predecessor, calling it "uneven" and criticizing the handling of the season's main villain. Collider's Kayti Burt gave the season 3 stars out of 5, saying, ""The Flash" finished off an uneven season with an uneven finale that couldn't overcome the burden of an underdeveloped, illogical villain. With Zoom, "The Flash" fell victim to a common drama mistake of a contemporary TV era: it prioritized the plot twist over the well-developed character arc." Jeff Jensen of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the season a "B−" grade, calling it "certifiably slumptacular" and said that the "bold" introduction of the multiverse did not meet his expectations. Jensen praised Barry's onscreen rapport with Joe but felt it was underutilized due to the introduction of Joe's biological son Wally, and criticized Barry's romantic fixation for Iris. He also criticized Zoom, saying, "He began as an alluring mystery but lost zip over time" and once his identity was revealed, "became a weak embodiment of generic villainy". Jesse Schedeen gave the entire season a rating of 8.6 out of 10, explaining, "This season met and occasionally even exceeded the heights of its predecessor. But it was also a more uneven and ultimately more flawed experience in the end."


title: The Flash (season 2)

text: "The Flash" was included on multiple Best/Top TV Shows of 2015 lists, ranking on "The Salt Lake Tribune"s (4th), "Omaha World-Herald"s (7th), and "IndieWire"s (10th), as well as on un-ranked lists of "Criticwire" and "Variety". In its second season, "The Flash" was nominated for 20 awards, winning five. The series was nominated for three Saturn Awards, winning Best Superhero Adaption Television Series for the second year in a row. The show was also nominated for three Leo Awards, winning again for Best Visual Effects in a Dramatic Series for the episode "Gorilla Warfare". At the 2016 Teen Choice Awards, the show gained six nominations with Gustin winning for Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi.


title: Julian Barnes

text: Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with "The Sense of an Ending", having been shortlisted three times previously with "Flaubert's Parrot", "England, England", and "Arthur & George". Barnes has also written crime fiction under the pseudonym Dan Kavanagh. In addition to novels, Barnes has published collections of essays and short stories.


title: Julian Barnes

text: In 2004 he became a Commandeur of L'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. His honours also include the Somerset Maugham Award and the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize. He was awarded the 2021 Jerusalem Prize.


title: Julian Barnes

text: Barnes was born in Leicester, although his family moved to the outer suburbs of London six weeks afterwards. Both of his parents were French teachers. He has said that his support for Leicester City Football Club was, aged four or five, "a sentimental way of hanging on" to his home city. At the age of 10, Barnes was told by his mother that he had "too much imagination". In 1956, the family moved to Northwood, Middlesex, the 'Metroland' of his first novel. He was educated at the City of London School from 1957 to 1964. He then went on to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied Modern Languages. After graduation, he worked as a lexicographer for the Oxford English Dictionary supplement for three years. He then worked as a reviewer and literary editor for the "New Statesman" and the "New Review". During his time at the "New Statesman", Barnes suffered from debilitating shyness, saying: "When there were weekly meetings I would be paralysed into silence, and was thought of as the mute member of staff". From 1979 to 1986 he worked as a television critic, first for the "New Statesman" and then for "The Observer".


title: Julian Barnes

text: His first novel, "Metroland", is the story of Christopher, a young man from the London suburbs who travels to Paris as a student, finally returning to London. The novel deals with themes of idealism and sexual fidelity, and has the three-part structure that is a common recurrence in Barnes's work. After reading the novel, Barnes's mother complained about the book's "bombardment" of filth. His second novel "Before She Met Me" features a darker narrative, a story of revenge by a jealous historian who becomes obsessed by his second wife's past. Barnes's breakthrough novel "Flaubert's Parrot" departed from the traditional linear structure of his previous novels and featured a fragmentary biographical style story of an elderly doctor, Geoffrey Braithwaite, who focuses obsessively on the life of Gustave Flaubert. In reference to Flaubert, Barnes has said, "he’s the writer whose words I most carefully tend to weigh, who I think has spoken the most truth about writing." "Flaubert's Parrot" was published to great acclaim, especially in France, and it helped established Barnes as one of the pre-eminent writers of his generation.


title: Julian Barnes

text: In 1980, Barnes, under the name Dan Kavanagh (Barnes had recently married the literary agent Pat Kavanagh), published the first of four crime novels about Duffy, one of Britain's first gay male detectives. Barnes was quoted as calling the use of a pseudonym, "liberating in that you could indulge any fantasies of violence you might have". While "Metroland", also published in 1980, took Barnes eight years to write, "Duffy" took less than two weeks—an experiment to test "what it would be like writing as fast as I possibly could in a concentrated way".


title: Julian Barnes

text: "Staring at the Sun" followed in 1986, another ambitious novel about a woman growing to maturity in post-war England and dealing with issues of love, truth and mortality. In 1989 Barnes published "A History of the World in 10½ Chapters", which is also a non-linear novel, and uses a variety of writing styles to call into question the perceived notions of human history and knowledge itself.


title: Julian Barnes

text: In 1991, he published "Talking It Over", a contemporary love triangle, in which the three characters take turns to talk to the reader, reflecting over common events. This was followed by a sequel, "Love, etc", which revisited the characters ten years on. Barnes's novel "The Porcupine" again deals with a historical theme as it depicts the trial of Stoyo Petkanov, the former leader of a collapsed Communist country in Eastern Europe, as he stands trial for crimes against his country. "England, England" is a humorous novel that explores the idea of national identity as the entrepreneur Sir Jack Pitman creates a theme park on the Isle of Wight that resembles some of the tourist spots of England.


title: Julian Barnes

text: "Arthur & George", a fictional account of a true crime that was investigated by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, launched Barnes's career into the more popular mainstream. It was the first of his novels to be featured on the "New York Times" bestsellers list for Hardback Fiction.


title: Julian Barnes

text: Barnes is a keen Francophile, and his 1996 book "Cross Channel" is a collection of 10 stories charting Britain's relationship with France. He also returned to the topic of France in "Something to Declare", a collection of essays on French subjects.


title: Julian Barnes

text: In 2003, Barnes undertook a rare acting role as the voice of Georges Simenon in a BBC Radio 4 series of adaptations of Inspector Maigret stories.


title: Julian Barnes

text: Barnes's eleventh novel, "The Sense of an Ending", published by Jonathan Cape, was released on 4 August 2011. In October of that year, the book was awarded the Man Booker Prize. The judges took 31 minutes to decide the winner and head judge, Stella Rimington, said "The Sense of an Ending" was a "beautifully written book" and the panel thought it "spoke to humankind in the 21st Century." "The Sense of an Ending" also won the "Europese Literatuurprijs" and was on the "New York Times" Bestseller list for several weeks.


title: Julian Barnes

text: In 2013 Barnes published "Levels of Life". The first section of the work gives a history of early ballooning and aerial photography, describing the work of Gaspard-Félix Tournachon. The second part is a short story about Fred Burnaby and the French actor Sarah Bernhardt, both also balloonists. The third part is an essay discussing Barnes's grief over the death of his wife, Pat Kavanagh (although she is not named): "You put together two people who have not been put together before . . . Sometimes it works, and something new is made, and the world is changed . . . I was thirty-two when we met, sixty-two when she died. The heart of my life; the life of my heart." In "The Guardian", Blake Morrison said of the third section, "Its resonance comes from all it doesn't say, as well as what it does; from the depth of love we infer from the desert of grief."


title: Julian Barnes

text: In 2013, Barnes took on the British government over its "mass closure of public libraries", Britain's "slip down the world league table for literacy" and its "ideological worship of the market – as quasi-religious as nature-worship – and an ever-widening gap between rich and poor".


title: Julian Barnes

text: Barnes's brother, Jonathan Barnes, is a philosopher specialising in ancient philosophy. Julian Barnes is a patron of human rights organisation Freedom from Torture, for which he has sponsored several fundraising events, and Dignity in Dying, a campaign group for assisted dying. He has lived in Tufnell Park, north London, since 1983.


title: Julian Barnes

text: Barnes married Pat Kavanagh, a literary agent, in 1979. She died on 20 October 2008 of a brain tumour. Barnes wrote about his grief over his wife's death in an essay in his book, "Levels of Life".


When life gives you lemons, make lemonade is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can-do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune. Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life; making lemonade is turning them into something positive or desirable.


title: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade

text: The phrase was coined by Christian anarchist writer Elbert Hubbard in a 1915 obituary he penned and published for dwarf actor Marshall Pinckney Wilder. The obituary, entitled "The King of Jesters", praises Wilder's optimistic attitude and achievements in the face of his disabilities:


text: "He was a walking refutation of that dogmatic statement, "Mens sana in corpore sano". His was a sound mind in an unsound body. He proved the eternal paradox of things. He cashed in on his disabilities. He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade-stand."


text: Although the expression was coined by Hubbard, many modern authors attribute the expression to Dale Carnegie who used it in his 1948 book "How to Stop Worrying and Start Living". Carnegie's version reads:


text: The September 1916 edition of the "Auburn Seminary Record" was the first to publish the phrase following its initial coinage:


text: "[Hugh K. Walker] described a pessimist as one who fletcherizes his bitter pill, the optimist as the man who made lemonade of the lemon handed him."


text: Eight years before Carnegie's book brought the phrase back into the mainstream, a poetic rendition of the phrase entitled "The Optimist" appeared in a 1940 edition of "The Rotarian":


text: "I have never been afraid of trouble. I have always had this slogan: If somebody hands you a lemon, make lemonade of it."


text: Warren Hinckle's 1974 autobiography detailing his time as chief editor of "Ramparts" is called "If You Have a Lemon, Make Lemonade".


text: The initial opening theme for "Mystery Science Theater 3000" included the lyric "Joel says when you got lemons, you make lemonade." This was changed when the show was broadcast nationally.


text: In "The Amazing World of Gumball" episode "The Curse", there is a song named "When Life Hands You Lemons", which is an obvious nod to the popular sentence.


text: In "Portal 2", one of the supporting characters, Cave Johnson, gives a speech through a recorded message where he contests whether one should make lemonade when life gives one lemons.


text: A commercial for Super Bowl LV advertising Bud Light Seltzer Lemonade mentions 2020 being a "lemon of a years" (a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic) showing lemons literally falling from the sky. Someone was about to say the saying phrase but someone else cuts him off by saying they already knew it.


title: Shane Long

text: Shane Patrick Long (born 22 January 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL Championship club Reading and the Republic of Ireland national team. He also played hurling for the Tipperary county team in his early life.


title: Shane Long

text: Long began his football career at Cork City. He later moved to Reading where, among other achievements, he scored three goals in ten substitute appearances during his team's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, guided his team into the Fourth round of the FA Cup by defeating Liverpool in a third round replay match in 2010, and later won a player of the season award. He signed for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion in 2011 for a fee of £6 million, and joined Hull City in January 2014, then Southampton in August 2014. On 23 April 2019, he scored the fastest goal in Premier League history.


title: Shane Long

text: Long made his senior debut for the Republic of Ireland in 2007, and has since earned over 80 international caps.


title: Shane Long

text: Long was born in Gortnahoe, County Tipperary, Ireland. He was a talented hurler and appeared in two All-Ireland Minor Hurling Championship (under-18) semi-finals with Tipperary at Croke Park, and was regarded as a pacey and promising forward. Long was also playing Gaelic football at this time, and started his career in the game with Two-Mile Borris club St Kevin's FC in 1994, joining St. Michael's in Tipperary Town in 2002.


title: Shane Long

text: Long was discovered and brought to Cork City with a scholarship on 1 July 2004 by Pat Dolan. He was called to the first team squad for the 2005 season when manager Dolan was replaced by Damien Richardson, and the new manager awarded him his senior League of Ireland debut on 25 March 2005 as a substitute for Joe Gamble. His only other appearance was again as a substitute in the Setanta Sports Cup on 2 May. However, following Dolan's consultation with his brother, Reading coach Eamonn Dolan, Reading made bids for both Long and Kevin Doyle. Cork were forced to sell Doyle due to a contract clause, but the circumstances surrounding Long's transfer were not disclosed. Long signed as a Reading player on 7 June 2005.


title: Shane Long

text: In Reading's Championship-winning 2005–06 campaign, Long scored three goals in ten substitute appearances, making his first league start on 17 April 2006 in the 3–1 home victory against Stoke City. For the first season, he was mostly second choice in the pecking order behind fellow Irishman Kevin Doyle, Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita. He started all of the games in Reading's FA Cup campaign and scored one goal.


title: Shane Long

text: On 4 July 2007, Long signed an improved four-year contract to keep him at Reading until the end of the 2010–11 season.


title: Shane Long

text: On 16 March 2008, in a 2–1 defeat at Anfield against Liverpool, Long was involved in an incident as to where he flung his shirt to the ground, citing frustration at his performance and frustration with the match official Andre Marriner, after being subbed by manager Steve Coppell. In the post-match interview, Steve Coppell made a stern point in that "it will not happen again". Long made a full apology on the official club website.


title: Shane Long

text: His 2008–09 season ended happily after scoring an equaliser in a 1–1 draw at Southampton, before ending the season with a brace in a 2–0 victory at Norwich City.


title: Shane Long

text: In the 2010 FA Cup third round replay match against Liverpool, Long was fouled by Yossi Benayoun to win a 93rd-minute penalty as Liverpool led 1–0 at Anfield to bring the match into extra time. Long then scored a glancing header in the 100th minute in front of the Anfield Kop from a cross supplied by Brynjar Gunnarsson, which sent Reading into the Fourth round of the FA Cup to play at home against Burnley.


title: Shane Long

text: On 29 January 2010, Long scored a crucial goal at home to strugglers Barnsley that gifted Reading all three points in a 1–0 win for the Royals.


title: Shane Long

text: The following Saturday, his good run of form continued with an opening goal which contributed to a 2–1 win away to Doncaster Rovers at the Keepmoat Stadium. His goalscoring continued, as on 9 February 2010, he scored a brace in a 2–1 win at home to Plymouth Argyle, giving Reading their third consecutive league victory and Long's fourth goal in three games.


title: Shane Long

text: On 13 February 2010, however, in an FA Cup fifth round match at home to West Bromwich Albion, Long was sent off for a careless lunge at West Brom Ivorian defender Abdoulaye Méïté. It was his second-straight dismissible offence of the season, the first procured away to Derby County in a Championship match in November. On 7 March 2010, in Reading's FA Cup quarter-final against Aston Villa, Long scored a brace in the first half, which saw Reading leading 2–0 at half-time. However, a hat-trick from Norwegian striker John Carew and a strike from Ashley Young in the second-half saw Long's brace go to waste as Aston Villa booked themselves a place in the semi-finals. On 2 May 2010, Long played his 150th game for Reading in the 4–1 Championship win over Preston North End at the Madejski Stadium.


title: Shane Long

text: On 11 September 2010, Long won two penalties and converted the first in Reading's 3–0 win over Crystal Palace. On 4 November, Shane Long signed a one-year contract extension, valid until 2012. On 18 December, he scored twice against Derby, which led to his best goal-scoring form of his life. He followed up with a brace against Bristol City on Boxing Day. On 3 January 2011, Long scored another brace to give Reading the three points against Burnley in a 2–1 victory. On 8 January 2011, Long then hit the only goal in the FA Cup's third round encounter with West Brom. After an impressive season for Reading, Long won the Player of the Season award, beating Jimmy Kébé and Jem Karacan.


title: Shane Long

text: Long scored two goals for Reading on 17 May 2011 in a 3–0 away win against Cardiff City in the second leg of the Championship Play-off semi-finals; one goal came from the penalty spot and the other a lob after a blocked clearance from Cardiff goalkeeper Stephen Bywater. Long received the Man of the Match award for his efforts. He finished the season with 28 goals in 58 matches for club and country, the best season in his career to date. After the play-off final defeat against Swansea City, Reading chairman John Madejski declared Long to be world-class: "What is the value I would place on him? £20m."


title: Shane Long

text: On 9 August 2011, Long signed for Premier League side West Bromwich Albion on a three-year deal, with a further year's option. Although the fee was undisclosed, it is believed to be £4.5 million, with add-ons that could eventually rise to £6.5 million, which would be a record fee for West Bromwich, surpassing the £4.7 million paid for Spanish international midfielder Borja Valero from Mallorca in 2008. On 12 August, Long was handed the number 9 shirt, and two days later made his debut in the league opener against Manchester United at The Hawthorns. He marked his debut by scoring an equalising goal that went past Manchester United goalkeeper David de Gea, albeit in a losing effort, 2–1. Long scored again in the fourth minute of his second match, against Chelsea on 20 August 2011, in what proved to be yet another 2–1 defeat. Long scored his third goal in the fifth minute against Sunderland on 1 October, his seventh game of the season. The match ended 2–2 with James Morrison also scoring on the fourth minute.


title: Shane Long

text: On 16 October 2011, Long was named man of the match in the Black Country derby against Wolverhampton Wanderers, despite not scoring. The match ended 2–0 to West Brom, with Chris Brunt scoring in the eighth minute and Peter Odemwingie scoring in the 76th minute. Long suffered a chipped bone in his knee after a match against Aston Villa after a robust challenge by Alan Hutton, ruling him out for approximately six weeks. On 19 November, weeks before he was predicted injury-free, he played 90 minutes against Bolton Wanderers, a game which Albion won 2–1, with Long scoring what proved to be the winner with a header against a much more physical opponent in David Wheater. On 3 December, Long scored a goal off a deflected shot in the last minutes a match against Queens Park Rangers earning Albion a draw by leveling the game at 1–1. Long once again found the net on 25 March against Newcastle United, with a consolation goal in a 1–3 defeat. On the final day of the season, he scored in a 2–3 defeat against Arsenal to finish his debut season for West Brom with eight Premier League goals.


title: Shane Long

text: In 2012–13 season, he started off the season very brightly after winning two penalties against Liverpool. Although he missed the first penalty, he won the second, which Peter Odemwingie converted. He continued his good form with Premier League goals against Everton, Aston Villa, Manchester City, Chelsea and Sunderland, as well as a brace against Yeovil Town in the second round of the Football League Cup, to put him on seven goals for the season by the end of November. He finished the season with 11 goals in all competitions, supplemented with two goals for Republic of Ireland.


title: Shane Long

text: On the final day of the summer transfer window for the 2013–14 season, a move to Hull City valued at £5 million fell through at the last moment, after West Brom manager Steve Clarke pulled out from the transfer. Clarke stated that Long was needed, as he did not have enough attacking options, despite signing Stéphane Sessègnon and Victor Anichebe just minutes earlier both for £6 million fees from Sunderland and Everton respectively. After limited starts at the beginning of the season, Long started and scored his first of the season against Chelsea away at Stamford Bridge. The game finished 2–2. Long continued his good run of form against Aston Villa with two superb goals in the first 11 minutes, later being named Man of the Match.


title: Shane Long

text: On 17 January 2014, Long signed for Hull City for an undisclosed fee on a three-and-a-half-year deal. Long made his debut on 28 January 2014 away at Crystal Palace in a 1–0 defeat. In his next match, at home to Tottenham Hotspur on 1 February 2014, Long opened the scoring in a 1–1 draw. On 22 March 2014, he played in his first match against previous club West Brom at the KC Stadium. Despite a warm reception before the game from the travelling West Brom fans, he won a penalty for Hull after 30 minutes, which has been interpreted as a dive by the West Brom supporters. From then, West Brom fans booed his every touch, and he scored his third Hull goal before half time, cementing a 2–0 win for Hull. Long missed Hull's historic run to the FA Cup Final as he was cup-tied, having played in West Brom's third-round tie against Crystal Palace.


title: Shane Long

text: Long played in both legs of Hull's Europa League qualifying tie against AS Trencín before the start of the 2014–15 Premier League season. They were his last official matches for Hull, as on 14 August 2014, Long signed a four-year contract with Southampton for an undisclosed fee, believed to be in the region of £12 million.


title: Shane Long

text: Three days later, he made his first appearance for the club, replacing fellow debutant Dušan Tadić for the final 16 minutes of a 2–1 defeat at Liverpool in Southampton's opening game of the league season. He almost scored a late equaliser when he nodded a header just wide of the post. Long scored his first Southampton goal against Stoke City in the League Cup on 29 October, putting his team 2–0 up in a 3–2 victory.


title: Shane Long

text: He scored his first league goals for the club with a brace in a 2–0 win over Leicester City, having come on as a substitute for Sadio Mané with 22 minutes remaining.


title: Shane Long

text: On 16 May 2015, Long assisted teammate Sadio Mané twice inside three minutes as the latter scored the fastest ever hat-trick in Premier League history during the first half of a 6–1 demolition of Aston Villa. Later on in the first half, Long himself scored twice to give the Saints a 5–0 lead five minutes from half-time. The second of these efforts was a 35-yard lob which was named as Southampton's Goal of the Season.


title: Shane Long

text: In his first appearance the following season, Long scored Southampton's final goal in a 3–0 victory over Dutch opponents Vitesse Arnhem at St Mary's Stadium in the first leg of the Europa League third qualifying round. He scored his first Premier League goal of the season on the opening weekend, coming off the bench against Newcastle to head the score level, bringing the game to 2–2. On 26 December 2015, Long scored two goals against Arsenal in a game that ended 4–0 to Southampton. He scored his 100th career goal in English football in the 4–2 home win over Manchester City on 1 May 2016.


title: Shane Long

text: On 21 July 2016, Long signed a new contract with Southampton, extending his stay with the club until 2020. He ended a barren run of 23 games without a goal for Southampton on 31 December 2016, when he headed in against West Bromwich Albion at St. Mary's to give the home side a 1–0 lead. The match finished 2–1 to the visitors.


title: Shane Long

text: On 5 April 2019, he became only the fourth Irish player to score 50 Premier League goals, after Robbie Keane, Niall Quinn and Damien Duff when he scored in a 3–1 defeat to Liverpool.


title: Shane Long

text: On 23 April 2019, Long scored the fastest goal in Premier League history against Watford, clocking in at 7.69 seconds after kick off. The record was previously held by Ledley King when he scored after 10 seconds for Tottenham Hotspur against Bradford City in December 2000.


title: Shane Long

text: On 4 June 2020, it was announced that Long had signed a two-year contract extension with Southampton, which would extend his stay at the club until the 2021–22 season.


title: Shane Long

text: On 2 February 2021, Long joined Championship club AFC Bournemouth on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. Five days later, he made his debut for the Cherries, being included in the starting lineup for a 3–2 home league win over Birmingham City. He scored his first goal for Bournemouth in a 2–1 defeat at Queens Park Rangers on 20 February 2021.


title: Shane Long

text: Long's form for Reading in the 2005–06 season earned him four Republic of Ireland U19 caps. Due to injuries to his Reading teammate Kevin Doyle and Sunderland's Stephen Elliott, he earned his first senior cap for the Republic of Ireland in their 2–1 win away to San Marino on 7 February 2007.


title: Shane Long

text: When Long earned his second cap as a substitute against Slovakia on 28 March 2007 he became the first person to play both hurling and international football at Croke Park, having been part of the Tipperary team for the All-Ireland Minor semi-finals in 2003 and 2004. Long scored his first international goal in a friendly 1–1 draw against Bolivia on 26 May 2007, and followed this with a brace in Ireland's 4–0 win over Denmark on 22 August 2007. He was nominated as the Football Association of Ireland Young Player of the Year for 2007.


title: Shane Long

text: In March 2011, Long was brought on early to replace the injured Kevin Doyle in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Dublin. His performance was rewarded with a start in Ireland's next game against Uruguay in which Long scored the first of Ireland's goals with a header in a 2–3 loss. On 26 May 2012, Long scored when he headed the winner in a 1–0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina. He played in UEFA Euro 2012, coming off the bench against Croatia and Italy.


title: Shane Long

text: On 29 May 2013, Long scored his ninth goal for Ireland, a header against England at Wembley Stadium, a match which finished 1–1. He then captained Ireland for the first time on 2 June 2013 against Georgia, a match which Ireland won 4–0. On 5 March 2014, Long scored his 11th goal for his country in a 2–1 loss to Serbia.


title: Shane Long

text: On 29 March 2015, Long came off the bench to score a last-minute equaliser against Poland in 2016 Euro qualifier. On 8 October 2015, Long again came off the bench to score the winning goal against reigning world champions Germany in another 2016 Euro qualifier in the Aviva Stadium.


title: Shane Long

text: On 1 September 2021, Long tested positive for COVID-19 in Faro, Portugal, ahead of a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification – UEFA Group A game against Portugal, ruling him out of the match.


title: Shane Long

text: In June 2013, Long married his partner Kayleah Adams in Enniskerry in County Wicklow. They have three children.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: On 28 February 1986, at 23:21 CET (22:21 UTC), Olof Palme, Prime Minister of Sweden, was fatally wounded by a single gunshot while walking home from a cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street Sveavägen. Lisbeth Palme was slightly wounded by a second shot. The couple did not have bodyguards with them.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Christer Pettersson, who had previously been convicted of manslaughter, was convicted of the murder in 1988 after having been identified as the killer by Mrs. Palme. However, on appeal to Svea Court of Appeal, he was acquitted. A petition for a new trial, filed by the prosecutor, was denied by the Supreme Court of Sweden. Pettersson died on 29 September 2004, legally declared not guilty of the Palme assassination.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: On 10 June 2020, chief prosecutor Krister Petersson, in charge of the investigation, announced his conclusion that Stig Engström, also known as the "Skandia Man", was the most likely suspect. No direct evidence was presented but the prosecutor mentioned Engström's past knowledge of weapons, friendship with anti-Palme circles and similar clothes as described by certain witnesses. However, as Engström died on 26 June 2000, and no further investigative or judicial measures were possible, the investigation was officially closed.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Despite being Prime Minister, Palme sought to live as ordinary a life as possible. He would often go out without any bodyguard protection, and the night of his murder was one such occasion. Walking home from the Grand Cinema with his wife Lisbeth Palme on the central Stockholm street of Sveavägen, close to midnight on 28 February 1986, the couple was attacked by a lone gunman. Palme was fatally shot in the back at close range at 23:21 CET. A second shot wounded Mrs Palme.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Police said that a taxi driver used his mobile radio to raise an alarm, and two girls in a nearby car tried to assist. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the Sabbatsberg Hospital at 00:06 CET on 1 March 1986.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Deputy Prime Minister Ingvar Carlsson immediately assumed the duties of Prime Minister as the new leader of the Social Democratic Party.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Palme's decision to visit the Grand Cinema was made at very short notice. Lisbeth Palme had discussed seeing a film when she was at work during the afternoon, and called her son, Mårten Palme, at 17:00 to talk about the film at the Grand Cinema. Olof Palme did not hear about the plans until at home, at 18:30, when he met with his wife, by which time Palme had already declined any further personal bodyguard protection from the security service. He talked to his son about the plans on the phone, and they eventually decided to join Mårten and his girlfriend, who had already purchased tickets for themselves to see the Swedish comedy "Bröderna Mozart" ("The Mozart Brothers") by Suzanne Osten. This decision was made about 20:00. The police later searched Palme's apartment, as well as Lisbeth's and Mårten's workplaces, for wire-bugging devices or traces of such equipment, but did not find any.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: At 20:30 the Palmes left their apartment, unescorted, heading for the Gamla stan metro station. Several people witnessed their short walk to the station and, according to the later police investigation, commented on the lack of bodyguards. The couple took the subway train to the Rådmansgatan station, from where they walked to the Grand Cinema. They met their son and his girlfriend just outside the cinema around 21:00. Olof Palme had not yet purchased tickets which were by then almost sold out. Recognizing the prime minister, the ticket clerk wanted him to have the best seats, and therefore sold Palme the theatre director's seats.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: After the screening, the two couples stayed outside the theatre for a while but separated about 23:15. Olof and Lisbeth Palme headed south on the west side of Sveavägen, towards the northern entrance of the Hötorget metro station. When they reached the Adolf Fredrik Church, they crossed Sveavägen and continued on the street's east side. They stopped a moment to look at something in a shop window, then continued past the Dekorima (later Kreatima, now Urban Deli) shop which was then located on the corner of Sveavägen and Tunnelgatan.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: At 23:21, a man appeared from behind, shot Mr. Palme at point-blank range and fired a second shot at Mrs. Palme. The perpetrator then jogged down Tunnelgatan street, up the steps to Malmskillnadsgatan, and continued down David Bagares gata [street], where he was last seen.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Thanks to time stamps on the radio chatter in the central dispatch centre, the events immediately after the murder have been determined with very high precision.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: The only forensic leads left by the assassin were the two bullets fired, identified as Winchester-Western .357 Magnum 158 grain metal piercing. Both bullets matched the lead fragments found in the clothing of Olof and Lisbeth Palme. Because the weapon was a revolver (which does not automatically eject cartridge cases) there were no cases to recover for ballistic examination – only the two bullets recovered from the street. From the bullets' lack of certain characteristic deformations, investigators concluded they had been fired from a barrel no shorter than 10 cm (4 inches); thus the murder weapon would have been a conspicuously large handgun. The singularly most used weapon for this type of ammunition is the Smith & Wesson .357, which is why great efforts were made to locate a weapon of this make.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Throughout the investigation, Swedish police test-fired approximately 500 Magnum revolvers. The investigation placed particular emphasis on tracking down ten Magnum revolvers reported stolen at the time of the murder. Out of these all were located except the "Sucksdorff revolver", a weapon stolen from the Stockholm home of Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff in 1977. The person who stole the weapon was a friend of drug dealer Sigvard "Sigge" Cedergren, who claimed on his deathbed that he had lent a gun of the same type to Christer Pettersson two months prior to the assassination.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Another weapon that has figured prominently in the investigation is the so-called "Mockfjärd gun". This weapon, a revolver of the type Smith & Wesson Model 28 ("Highway Patrolman") with .357 Magnum caliber, was first purchased legally by a civilian in the northern Swedish city of Luleå. The gun, along with 91 metal-piercing bullets, was stolen in a burglary in Haparanda in 1983 and is believed to have been used in the robbery of a post office in Mockfjärd, Dalarna that same year. A lead isotope analysis of a bullet fired during the robbery confirmed it to have the same isotopic composition as the bullets retrieved from the assassination crime scene, verifying that the bullets were manufactured at the same time. In the autumn of 2006, Swedish police, acting on a tip communicated to the "Expressen" newspaper, retrieved a Smith & Wesson .357 revolver from a lake in Dalarna. The gun was determined to be the same one used in the post office robbery in Mockfjärd, confirmed by the gun's serial number. The gun was transferred to the National Laboratory of Forensic Science in Linköping for further analysis. However, the laboratory concluded in May 2007 that tests on the gun could not confirm whether it was used in the Palme assassination, as it was too rusty.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: There were numerous witnesses to the murder, of whom more than 25 came forward to the police. The killer was described by witnesses as a man between 30 and 50 years of age, about 180 (5'11") to 185 (6'1") centimetres tall, and wearing a dark jacket or coat. Many described him as having walked with a limp or otherwise clumsily, but those testimonies were not given immediately after the murder, only after the arrest of Christer Pettersson. Initially, many witnesses described the killer's movements as smooth, efficient and powerful. No witness was in a position to observe the killer's appearance in any detail. A police sketch of the supposed killer was widely circulated in the media a week after the murder, leading to a massive influx of tips from the public, but it was later determined that the witness on whose statement it was based probably had not seen the actual assailant. No good description of the killer's appearance therefore exists. Witnesses agreed on the killer's escape route.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Along with the length of the ensuing investigation, a number of alternative theories surrounding the murder surfaced. At the time, a murder under Swedish law was subject to prescription in 25 years. The law was later changed to prevent the Palme case from expiring, and thus the police investigation remained active for 34 years.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In February 2020, Krister Petersson, the prosecutor in charge of the investigation, stated that he expected to present a conclusive case and either bring charges or close the investigation within a matter of months.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In December 1988, almost three years after Palme's death, Christer Pettersson, a criminal, drug user and alcoholic, who had previously been imprisoned for manslaughter, was arrested for the murder of Palme. Picked out by Mrs Palme at a lineup as the killer, Pettersson was tried and convicted of the murder, but was later acquitted on appeal to the court of appeal. Pettersson's appeal succeeded for three main reasons:


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Additional evidence against Pettersson surfaced in the late 1990s, mostly coming from various petty criminals who altered their stories but also from a confession made by Pettersson. The chief prosecutor, Agneta Blidberg, considered re-opening the case, but acknowledged that a confession alone would not be sufficient, saying:


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: While the legal case against Pettersson therefore remains closed, the police file on the investigation cannot be closed until both murder weapon and murderer are found. Christer Pettersson died on 29 September 2004, after a fall during an epileptic seizure caused a cerebral haemorrhage.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: According to a documentary programme broadcast on Swedish state television channel SVT in February 2006, associates of Pettersson claimed that he had confessed to them his role in the murder, but with the explanation that it was a case of mistaken identity. Allegedly, Pettersson had intended to kill Sigvard Cedergren, a drug dealer who customarily walked along the same street at night and resembled Palme both in appearance and dress. The programme also suggested there was greater police awareness than previously acknowledged because of surveillance of drug activity in the area. The police had several officers in apartments and cars along those few blocks of Sveavägen but, 45 minutes before the murder, the police monitoring ceased. In the light of these revelations, Swedish police undertook to review Palme's case and Pettersson's role. In the newspaper "Dagens Nyheter" of 28 February 2006, other SVT reporters scathingly criticized the documentary, alleging that the film-maker had fabricated a number of statements while omitting other contradictory evidence, in particular his chief source's earlier testimony that could not be reconciled with his claim to have seen the shooting.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In the final part of the investigation, and in the end report, Pettersson was not included much due to formal legal reasons. The police is, according to law, not allowed to reopen an investigation of a person found not guilty in trial, unless major new evidence happens to materialise. Enough of such new evidence has not come up, so after the trial, the investigation was not focused on him, and the final report instead pointed out the "Skandia man" with even less evidence.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: On 21 February 1986 — a week before he was murdered — Palme made the keynote address to the "Swedish People's Parliament Against Apartheid" held in Stockholm, attended by hundreds of anti-apartheid sympathizers as well as leaders and officials from the ANC and the Anti-Apartheid Movement such as Oliver Tambo. In the address, Palme said, "Apartheid cannot be reformed, it has to be abolished."


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Ten years later, towards the end of September 1996, Colonel Eugene de Kock, a former South African police officer, gave evidence to the Supreme Court in Pretoria, alleging that Palme had been shot and killed because he "strongly opposed the apartheid regime and Sweden made substantial contributions to the ANC". De Kock went on to claim he knew the person responsible for Palme's murder. He alleged it was Craig Williamson, a former police colleague and a South African spy. A few days later, former police Captain Dirk Coetzee, who used to work with Williamson, identified Anthony White, a former Rhodesian Selous Scout with links to the South African security services, as Palme's actual murderer. Then a third person, Swedish mercenary Bertil Wedin, living in Northern Cyprus since 1985, was named as the killer by former police Lt. Peter Caselton, who had worked undercover for Williamson. The following month, in October 1996, Swedish police investigators visited South Africa, but were unable to uncover evidence to substantiate de Kock's claims.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: A book that was published in 2007 suggested that a high-ranking Civil Cooperation Bureau operative, Athol Visser (or 'Ivan the Terrible'), was responsible for planning and carrying out Olof Palme's assassination.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: The 8 September 2010 edition of "Efterlyst", Sweden's equivalent of BBC TV's" Crimewatch "programme, was co-hosted by Tommy Lindström, who was the head of Swedish CID at the time of Olof Palme's assassination. After being asked by Efterlyst's host Hasse Aro who he believed was behind the assassination of the Prime Minister, Lindström without hesitating pointed to apartheid South Africa as the number one suspect. And the motive for this, he said, was to stop the payments that the Swedish government secretly paid, through Switzerland, to the African National Congress.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In his 2005 book "Blood on the Snow: The Killing of Olof Palme", historian Jan Bondeson advanced a theory that Palme's murder was linked with arms trades to India. Bondeson's book meticulously recreated the assassination and its aftermath, and suggested that Palme had used his friendship with Rajiv Gandhi to secure a SEK 8.4 billion deal for the Swedish armaments company Bofors to supply the Indian Army with howitzers. However, Palme did not know that behind his back Bofors had used a shady company called AE Services — nominally based in Guildford, Surrey, England  — to bribe Indian government officials to conclude the deal – the Bofors scandal.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Bondeson alleged that on the morning he was assassinated, Palme had met with the Iraqi ambassador to Sweden, Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf. The two discussed Bofors, which al-Sahhaf knew well because of its arms sales during the Iran–Iraq War. Bondeson suggested that the ambassador had told Palme about Bofors' activities, infuriating Palme. Bondeson theorized that Palme's murder might have been inadvertently triggered by his conversation with the ambassador, if either the Bofors arms dealers or the middlemen working through AE Services had a prearranged plan to silence the Prime Minister should he discover the truth and the deal with India become threatened. According to Bondeson, Swedish police suppressed vital MI6 intelligence about a Bofors/AE Services deal with India.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: The Swedish journalist Anders Leopold, in his 2008 book "Det svenska trädet skall fällas" ("The Swedish Tree Shall Be Brought Down"), makes the case that the Chilean fascist Roberto Thieme killed Olof Palme. Thieme was head of the most militant wing of Patria y Libertad, a far-right political organization, financed by the CIA. According to Leopold, Palme was killed because he had gratuitously given asylum to a great number of leftist Chileans following the coup that overthrew Salvador Allende in 1973.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Another plot sees the involvement of the CIA and the Italian clandestine, pseudo-masonic lodge Propaganda Due led by Licio Gelli who wrote, in a telegram to Philip Guarino, that "the Swedish tree will be brought down". Claims of CIA involvement in the assassination were made by Richard Brenneke, an Oregon businessman who said he was an ex-CIA operative, in a RAI Television report in July 1990. The CIA denied Brenneke's allegations, calling them "absolute nonsense" of an "outrageous nature," and stating that "The agency flatly denies that Mr. Brenneke was ever an agent of the CIA or had any association with the CIA.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: A Swedish extremist, Victor Gunnarsson (labeled in the media "33-åringen", "the 33-year-old"), was soon arrested for the murder but quickly released, after a dispute between the police and prosecuting attorneys. Gunnarsson had connections to various extremist groups, among these the European Workers Party, the Swedish branch of the LaRouche movement. Pamphlets hostile to Palme from the party were found in his home outside Stockholm.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Gunnarson's body was found in 1993 in the Blue Ridge Mountains, stripped naked and with 2 .22 caliber pistol wounds to the back of the head. Some conspiracy theories suggest that Gunnarson might have been used by a foreign government, who then later had Gunnarson killed 8 years later in order to leave no trace of the crime. A former police officer, Lamont C. Underwood, was convicted of Gunnarson's murder as part of a love triangle.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: A suspect identified only as GH by the "Granskningskommissionen" of 1999 was of prime interest during the early investigation. This was based on a standard profile used by the police to identify an assassin. The conclusion was that the killer had a knowledge of handling light firearms, used a Smith & Wesson of .357 Magnum, which GH at the time possessed. The suspect was reported to have failed to appear on several police interrogations to testify during the 1990s. Later testimonies given by the suspect were deemed untrustworthy; this included the suspect's whereabouts during the night of the assassination and the disposal of firearms. He refused to submit his gun, the only registered .357 caliber weapon in the Stockholm region not to be tested, and subsequently claimed to have sold it to an unknown buyer in Kungsträdgården. GH had on one occasion had his gun license suspended after shooting his television, arguably after seeing Olof Palme's face on the screen.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: GH has also been convicted for assault, one time for kicking a dog in 1985, and a later incident in 2005 when he assaulted a young man on the metro liner after being harassed. In August 2008, GH committed suicide by gunshot after the police rang his doorbell and requested to be let in after being alerted through a phone call by his brother. He reportedly had paranoia and depression.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In an article in the German weekly "Die Zeit" from March 1995, Klaus-Dieter Knapp presented his view of the assassination as a result of a conspiracy among Swedish right-wing extremist police officers.According to this report, the murderer was identified by two witnesses who happened to be at the scene and who knew the murderer from previous encounters.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In 1971, Olof Palme said that he blamed the fear of the masses on "anarchists and people with long hair and people with beards." Following up on this suggestion, Hans Holmér, the Stockholm police commissioner, worked with an intelligence lead passed to him (supposedly by Bertil Wedin) and arrested a number of Kurds living in Sweden. The PKK was allegedly responsible for the murder. The lead proved inconclusive however and ultimately led to Holmér's removal from the Palme murder investigation.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Fifteen years later, in April 2001, a team of Swedish police officers went to interview PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan in Turkish prison. Öcalan alleged during his trial that maybe a dissident Kurdish group, led by Öcalan's ex-wife, had murdered Palme. The police team's visit proved to be unsuccessful.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In 2007, renewed allegations of PKK complicity in Palme's assassination surfaced in Turkish media during the Ergenekon investigation, which was ongoing .


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: The Turkish newspapers have several times claimed that the PKK has admitted the murder but the PKK have always denied all claims. In 1998, the PKK said that there is a strong indication that the Turkish side is trying to discredit the PKK using Olof Palme's murder. Also many Kurdish organizations believe that the initial claims were propaganda of the Turkish government.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In January 2011 the German magazine "Focus" cited official German interrogation records in connection with another investigation from 2008 as showing that the assassination had been carried out by an operative of the Yugoslavian security service.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: John Ausonius, "the Laser Man", also known as John Stannerman, was initially one of the suspects but it turned out that Ausonius had a solid alibi, as he was imprisoned on the night Palme was shot.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In 2018, journalist and investigator Thomas Pettersson published first a series of articles in the Swedish magazine "" and later a book, "Den osannolika mördaren" ("The unlikely assassin"), based on a long-running investigation into Palme's murder. Pettersson's findings were also covered elsewhere in the Swedish media, for example by "Expressen" and "Aftonbladet" newspapers.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Pettersson's theory is that Palme was shot by one Stig Engström, known as "the Skandia man" ("Skandiamannen") after his employer, the Skandia insurance company, whose head office is located next to the murder scene. In earlier accounts Engström had been treated mostly as a witness, specifically (by his own assertion) the first eyewitness to arrive at the scene of the murder. He had also been briefly investigated by the police as a possible suspect, but this had subsequently been dropped. Pettersson posits a scenario where Engström, who had a strong dislike of Palme and his policies, had chanced upon Palme in the street and shot him, possibly without premeditation.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Pettersson suggests that evidence from the crime scene strongly points towards Engström as the assassin. Most significantly, several other witnesses gave descriptions of the fleeing killer that matched Engström, some of them very closely so, while no other witness placed Engström at the scene after the shots, even though Engström himself claimed to have been present from the beginning, spoken to Mrs. Palme and the police, and taken part in attempts to resuscitate the victim. Conversely, the only persons whom Engström was able to identify as having been present at the scene were those likely to have been encountered by the killer, while he was unable to identify those who had arrived after the shooting. Also, Engström's known movements during the evening, about which he provided false information when questioned, indicate he had the opportunity to find Palme at the cinema earlier that evening and later to follow him from there to the crime scene.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Soon after the murder, Engström began a series of media appearances in which he developed an increasingly detailed story of his involvement in the events and criticized the police. He claimed those witnesses who had described the killer had in fact been describing him, running to catch up with police officers in pursuit of the assassin. The police, meanwhile, became frustrated with Engström as an unreliable and inconsistent witness and soon classified him as a person of no interest. Pettersson proposes Engström's media appearances were an opportunistic and ultimately successful tactic devised to mislead investigators and later to gain attention as an important witness neglected by the police.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: While Pettersson's theory is built on circumstantial evidence, he suggests it might be possible to prove Engström's guilt conclusively by tracing and examining the murder weapon. According to Pettersson's theory, the revolver was likely to have been one legally owned by an acquaintance of Engström's, an avid gun collector.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: The "Skandia man" theory had already previously been suggested by Lars Larsson in his 2016 book "Nationens fiende" (literally, "The enemy of the nation"), but this received only limited attention at the time.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: On 10 June 2020, the Swedish Prosecution Authority proposed The Skandia Man as the perpetrator and closed off the investigation since Engström is dead and can thus not be prosecuted, while noting the lack of direct evidence.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: Although Engström had a negative view of the prime minister, as well as long-standing financial and growing alcohol problems, investigators still did not have a "clear picture" of Engstrom's motive for killing Palme, Chief Prosecutor Krister Petersson said.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In the 1998 Swedish fictional thriller film "The Last Contract" ("Sista kontraktet"), Palme's assassination was portrayed as having been planned by a hired assassin.


title: Assassination of Olof Palme

text: In the 2021 Netflix series "The Unlikely Murderer", Palme's assassin was depicted as Stig Engström, the so-called "Skandia man," based on the book by Thomas Pettersson. Because Engström has never been found guilty in a court of law (having died in 2000 before the investigation was closed in 2020), the episodes' open with the words, "Based on an unsolved crime," and ends with the disclaimer, "It has not been proven that Stig Engström murdered Olof Palme, but the Swedish police and Prosecution Authority suspect him."


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Pandit Birju Maharaj (born Brijmohan Nath Mishra; 4 February 1938 – 16 January 2022) was an Indian dancer, composer, singer, child molester and exponent of the Lucknow "Kalka-Bindadin" Gharana of Kathak dance in India. He was a descendant of the Maharaj family of Kathak dancers, which includes his two uncles, Shambhu Maharaj and Lachhu Maharaj, and his father and guru, Acchan Maharaj. He also practised Hindustani classical music and was a vocalist. After working along with his uncle, Shambhu Maharaj at Bhartiya Kala Kendra, later the Kathak Kendra, New Delhi, he remained head of the latter, for several years, until his retirement in 1998 when he opened his own dance school, "Kalashram", also in Delhi.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Birju Maharaj was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian honor, in 1986.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Maharaj was born Brijmohan Nath Mishra, on 4 February 1937 into a Hindu Brahmin family at Handia of Allahabad district. His father was the Kathak exponent, Jagannath Maharaj, popularly known as Acchan Maharaj of Lucknow gharana and the Kalka-Bindadin family in Lucknow. His father served as the court dancer in Raigarh princely state. Maharaj started dancing early at the age of four, and was trained by his uncles, Lachhu Maharaj and Shambhu Maharaj and his father. He started his performances first at his father's concerts before performing solo at the age of seven in West Bengal. His father died when Maharaj was nine.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Maharaj started teaching the dance form at the age of thirteen, at the Sangeet Bharti in New Delhi. He then taught at the Bharatiya Kala Kendra in Delhi, and at the Kathak Kendra (a unit of the Sangeet Natak Akademi) where he was Head of Faculty, and director, retiring in 1998 after which he opened his own dance school, "Kalashram", also in Delhi.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: In addition to performing the Kathak dance form, he also brought along knowledge of Hindustani classical music and percussion instruments. He was noted to have been able to sing the "thumri" while dancing to it, and also playing instruments like the "tabla" and the "dholak". His Kathak performances in addition to mythological stories had contemporary elements including stories from daily life and social issues being communicated by way of the dance. His "ginti ki tihaais" () were noted to have been studied by Kathak students. He collaborated with other artists including the tabla player Zakir Hussain, and singers Rajan and Sajan Mishra. Some of his students included Priti Singh, Saswati Sen, Aditi Mangaldas, and Nisha Mahajan.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Maharaj also choreographed and composed music for many Indian movies. Some of the performances that he choreographed included for Saswati Sen in Satyajit Ray's "Shatranj ke Khiladi" (1977), Madhuri Dixit in "Dil To Pagal Hai" (1997) and "Devdas" (2002), Kamal Haasan in "Vishwaroopam" (2012), Deepika Padukone in "Bajirao Mastani" (2015) and Alia Bhatt in "Kalank" (2019). His choreography for Kamal Hassan in "Vishwaroopam" won him the National Film Award for Best Choreography in 2012, while his choreography for Deepika Padukone in "Bajirao Mastani" won him a Filmfare Award for Best Choreography in 2016.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Maharaj was one of the youngest artists to receive the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, when he received the award at the age of 28. He also received the Padma Vibhushan, India's second highest civilian award, in 1986.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: Maharaj was married and had five children (2 sons and 3 daughters). In later life, Maharaj had kidney disease and diabetes, and received dialysis. He died from a heart attack at his residence in Delhi, on 16 January 2022, less than a month before his 84th birthday.


title: Birju Maharaj

text: After his death, several Kathak performers accused Maharaj of sexual abuse. Some of the accusers were minors at the time of the alleged abuse.


title: And the Band Played On (film)

text: And the Band Played On is a 1993 American television film docudrama directed by Roger Spottiswoode. The teleplay by Arnold Schulman is based on the best-selling 1987 non-fiction book "And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic" by Randy Shilts, and is noteworthy for featuring both a vast historical scope, as well as an exceptionally sprawling cast.


title: And the Band Played On (film)

text: The film premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival on September 2, 1993, before being broadcast on HBO on September 11, 1993. It later was released in the United Kingdom, Canada, Spain, Germany, Argentina, Austria, Italy, Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Denmark, New Zealand, and Australia. The HBO movie was later aired on NBC in 1994. NBC (as well as ABC) were some of the networks considered to make a miniseries based on the book in the late 1980s, but the networks turned it down because they could not find a way to structure it as a two-night, four-hour miniseries. In 1994, NBC finally aired the movie with a parental discretion warning due to its sensitive subject matter.


title: And the Band Played On (film)

text: In a prologue set in 1976, American epidemiologist Don Francis from the World Health Organization arrives in a village on the banks of the Ebola River in Zaire and discovers many of the residents and the doctor working with them have died from a mysterious illness later identified as Ebola hemorrhagic fever. It is his first exposure to such an epidemic, and the images of the dead he helps cremate will haunt him when he later becomes involved with HIV/AIDS research at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


title: And the Band Played On (film)

text: In 1981, Francis becomes aware of a growing number of deaths among gay men in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco due to a rare lung condition, Pneumocystis Pneumonia, which only afflicts people with weakened immune systems. He moves to Atlanta, where CDC Administrator Dr. James Curran asks him to begin an in-depth investigation into this new immune disorder. Because of the Reagan Administration's clampdown on public spending, he is forced to work with little money, limited space, and outdated equipment. He clashes with numerous members of the medical community (many of whom resent his involvement because of their personal agendas). He also comes into contact with the gay community after he and his colleagues find strong evidence that the disease is spread through sex. Some gay men such as San Francisco activist Bill Kraus support him. While others express anger at what they see as unwanted interference in their lives, especially in his attempts to close the local gay bathhouses. Kraus works hard to try to save the gay community from the virus to the point that it costs him his relationship with boyfriend Kico Govantes. Francis and other CDC staff are further astonished that representatives of the blood industry are unwilling to do anything to try to curb the epidemic because of potential financial losses. Additionally, while Francis pursues his theory that AIDS is caused by a sexually transmitted virus, he finds his efforts are stymied due to competition between French scientists from the Pasteur Institute and American scientists, particularly Dr. Robert Gallo of the National Institutes of Health, who becomes enraged when he finds out that Francis collaborated with the French scientists. These researchers squabble over who should receive credit for discovering the virus and for development of a blood test. Meanwhile, the death toll climbs rapidly. One day in 1984, while exercising at a local gym, Kraus notices a spot on his ankle and worries that it might be Kaposi's sarcoma, an AIDS-defining illness. Kraus visits his doctor and is devastated upon learning that he has AIDS. Govantes returns to Kraus after finding out he is sick. After discovery of the AIDS virus is announced, Francis submits a plan for prevention and eventual cure despite Curran telling him that it will never be approved. The CDC rejects the proposal for being too expensive and transfers Francis to San Francisco. In November 1985, Kraus and Govantes are walking in the San Francisco candlelight parade when Kraus suddenly starts coughing and becomes too weak to stand. He is taken to a local hospital where he experiences difficulty with his vision and is only able to speak gibberish much of the time. Francis arrives, and within a few minutes, the symptoms pass. Francis laments that they could have stopped the virus from spreading but fears it might be too late. Kraus remarks that he used to be afraid of dying but now is afraid for those who live. Kraus passes away in January 1986. Francis stays at the CDC until 1992 when he leaves to work on the creation of an AIDS vaccine. The film ends with a playing of Elton John's "The Last Song" showing a photo and video montage of a number of famous people who are victims of HIV/AIDS.


title: And the Band Played On (film)

text: The film closes with footage of a candlelight vigil and march in San Francisco, followed by a montage of images of numerous celebrities who have died of AIDS or were involved with HIV/AIDS education and research, accompanied by Elton John singing his "The Last Song." The montage includes: