title: Discounted cash flow

text: for each future cash flow ("FV") at any time period ("t") in years from the present time, summed over all time periods. The sum can then be used as a net present value figure. If the amount to be paid at time 0 (now) for all the future cash flows is known, then that amount can be substituted for "DPV" and the equation can be solved for "r", that is the internal rate of return.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: If the cash flow stream is assumed to continue indefinitely, the finite forecast is usually combined with the assumption of constant cash flow growth beyond the discrete projection period. The total value of such cash flow stream is the sum of the finite discounted cash flow forecast and the Terminal value (finance).


title: Discounted cash flow

text: The act of discounting future cash flows asks "how much money would have to be invested currently, at a given rate of return, to yield the forecast cash flow, at its future date?" In other words, discounting returns the present value of future cash flows, where the rate used is the cost of capital that "appropriately" reflects the risk, and timing, of the cash flows.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: For the latter, various models have been developed, where the premium is (typically) calculated as a function of the asset's performance with reference to some macroeconomic variable - for example, the CAPM compares the asset's historical returns to the "overall market's"; see Capital asset pricing model#Asset-specific required return and Asset pricing#General Equilibrium Asset Pricing.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: An alternate, although less common approach, is to apply a "fundamental valuation" method, such as the "T-model", which instead relies on accounting information.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: Note that the terminology "expected return", although formally the mathematical expected value, is often used interchangeably with the above, where "expected" means "required" or "demanded" in the corresponding sense.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: The method may also be modified by industry, for example different formulae have been proposed when choosing a discount rate in a healthcare setting.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: For these valuation purposes, a number of different DCF methods are distinguished today, some of which are outlined below. The details are likely to vary depending on the capital structure of the company. However the assumptions used in the appraisal (especially the equity discount rate and the projection of the cash flows to be achieved) are likely to be at least as important as the precise model used. Both the income stream selected and the associated cost of capital model determine the valuation result obtained with each method. (This is one reason these valuation methods are formally referred to as the Discounted Future Economic Income methods.)


title: Discounted cash flow

text: The below is offered as a high-level treatment; for the components / steps of business modeling here, see .


title: Discounted cash flow

text: To address the lack of integration of the short and long term importance, value and risks associated with natural and social capital into the traditional DCF calculation, companies are valuing their environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance through an Integrated Management approach to reporting, that expands DCF or Net Present Value to Integrated Future Value (IntFV).


title: Discounted cash flow

text: This allows companies to value their investments not just for their financial return but also the long term environmental and social return of their investments. By highlighting environmental, social and governance performance in reporting, decision makers have the opportunity to identify new areas for value creation that are not revealed through traditional financial reporting.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: As an example, the social cost of carbon is one value that can be incorporated into Integrated Future Value calculations to encompass the damage to society from greenhouse gas emissions that result from an investment.


title: Discounted cash flow

text: This is an integrated approach to reporting that supports Integrated Bottom Line (IBL) decision making, which takes triple bottom line (TBL) a step further and combines financial, environmental and social performance reporting into one balance sheet. This approach provides decision makers with the insight to identify opportunities for value creation that promote growth and change within an organization.


title: Arise, O Compatriots

text: "Arise, O Compatriots" is the national anthem of Nigeria. It was adopted in the late 1970s and is the country's second national anthem.


title: Arise, O Compatriots

text: The lyrics are a combination of words and phrases taken from five of the best entries in a national contest. The words were put to music by the Nigerian Police Band under the directorship of Benedict P. Odiase (1934–2013). The Nigerian national anthem lyrics were created by five people: P. O. Aderibigbe, John A. Ilechukwu, Dr. Sota Omoigui, Eme tim Akpan and B.A. Ogunnaike.


title: Arise, O Compatriots

text: Although the anthem has two verses, usually only the first is sung. On some occasions, the second verse is recited as "The National Prayer".


title: Arise, O Compatriots

text: The Nigerian pledge of allegiance is recited immediately after the playing of the Nigerian national anthem. It was written by Felicia Adebola Adeyoyin in 1976.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, described as "one of popular music's great backroom figures". Many musicians recorded Toussaint's compositions. He was a producer for hundreds of recordings, among the best known of which are "Right Place, Wrong Time", by his longtime friend Dr. John, and "Lady Marmalade" by Labelle.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: The youngest of three children, Toussaint was born in 1938 in New Orleans and grew up in a shotgun house in the Gert Town neighborhood, where his mother, Naomi Neville (whose name he later adopted pseudonymously for some of his works), welcomed and fed all manner of musicians as they practiced and recorded with her son. His father, Clarence, worked on the railway and played trumpet. Allen Toussaint learned piano as a child and took informal music lessons from an elderly neighbor, Ernest Pinn. In his teens he played in a band, the Flamingos, with the guitarist Snooks Eaglin, before dropping out of school. A significant early influence on Toussaint was the syncopated "second-line" piano style of Professor Longhair.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: After a lucky break at age 17, in which he stood in for Huey "Piano" Smith at a performance with Earl King's band in Prichard, Alabama, Toussaint was introduced to a group of local musicians led by Dave Bartholomew, who performed regularly at the Dew Drop Inn, a nightclub on Lasalle Street in Uptown New Orleans. His first recording was in 1957 as a stand-in for Fats Domino on Domino's record "I Want You to Know", on which Toussaint played piano and Domino overdubbed his vocals. His first success as a producer came in 1957 with Lee Allen's "Walking with Mr. Lee". He began performing regularly in Bartholomew's band, and he recorded with Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis, Lee Allen and other leading New Orleans performers.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: After being spotted as a sideman by the A&R man Danny Kessler, he initially recorded for RCA Records as Al Tousan. In early 1958 he recorded an album of instrumentals, "The Wild Sound of New Orleans", with a band including Alvin "Red" Tyler (baritone sax), either Nat Perrilliat or Lee Allen (tenor sax), either Justin Adams or Roy Montrell (guitar), Frank Fields (bass), and Charles "Hungry" Williams (drums). The recordings included Toussaint and Tyler's composition "Java", which first charted for Floyd Cramer in 1962 and became a number 4 pop hit for Al Hirt (also on RCA) in 1964. Toussaint recorded and co-wrote songs with Allen Orange in the early 1960s.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: In 1960, Joe Banashak, of Minit Records and later Instant Records, hired Toussaint as an A&R man and record producer. He did freelance work for other labels, such as Fury. Toussaint played piano, wrote, arranged and produced a string of hits in the early and mid-1960s for New Orleans R&B artists such as Ernie K-Doe, Chris Kenner, Irma Thomas (including "It's Raining"), Art and Aaron Neville, The Showmen, and Lee Dorsey, whose first hit "Ya Ya" he produced in 1961.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: The early to mid-1960s are regarded as Toussaint's most creatively successful period. Notable examples of his work are Jessie Hill's "Ooh Poo Pah Doo" (written by Hill and arranged and produced by Toussaint), Ernie K-Doe's "Mother-in-Law", and Chris Kenner's "I Like It Like That".<ref name="Ankeny (Ooh/Jess. Hill)"></ref> A two-sided 1962 hit by Benny Spellman comprised "Lipstick Traces (on a Cigarette)" (covered by The O'Jays, Ringo Starr, and Alex Chilton) and the simple but effective "Fortune Teller" (covered by various 1960s rock groups, including The Rolling Stones, The Nashville Teens, The Who, The Hollies, The Throb, and The Searchers founder Tony Jackson).<ref name="Hamilton (O' Jays/Lispstick)"></ref><ref name="Marks and McIntyre (Fort. Tell./Throb"></ref> "Ruler of My Heart", written under his pseudonym Naomi Neville, first recorded by Irma Thomas for the Minit label in 1963, was adapted by Otis Redding under the title "Pain in My Heart" later that year, prompting Toussaint to file a lawsuit against Redding and his record company, Stax (the claim was settled out of court, with Stax agreeing to credit Naomi Neville as the songwriter). Redding's version of the song was also recorded by The Rolling Stones on their second album and was in the Grateful Dead's early repertoire.<ref name="Unterberger (Ruler/Irma)"></ref> In 1964, "A Certain Girl" (originally by Ernie K-Doe) was the B-side of the first single release by The Yardbirds. The song was released again in 1980 by Warren Zevon, as the single from the album "Bad Luck Streak in Dancing School"; it reached 57 on Billboard's Hot 100. Mary Weiss, former lead singer of The Shangri-Las, released it as "A Certain Guy" in 2007. Linda Ronstadt released a jazzy version of "Ruler of my Heart" in 1998 on "We Ran".


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint credited about twenty songs to his parents, Clarence and Naomi, sometimes using the pseudonym "Naomi Neville". These include "Fortune Teller", first recorded by Benny Spellman in 1961, "Pain In My Heart," first a hit for Otis Redding in 1963, and "Work, Work, Work", recorded by The Artwoods in 1966. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant covered "Fortune Teller" on their 2007 album "Raising Sand".


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint was drafted into the United States Army in 1963 but continued to record when on leave. After his discharge in 1965, he joined forces with Marshall Sehorn<ref name="Ankeny (Toussaint/Seahorn)"></ref> to form Sansu Enterprises, which included a record label, Sansu, variously known as Tou-Sea, Deesu, or Kansu, and recorded Lee Dorsey, Chris Kenner, Betty Harris, and others. Dorsey had hits with several of Toussaint's songs, including "Ride Your Pony" (1965), "Working in the Coal Mine" (1966), and "Holy Cow" (1966). The core players of the rhythm section used on many of the Sansu recordings from the mid- to late 1960s, Art Neville and the Sounds, consisted of Art Neville on keyboards, Leo Nocentelli on guitar, George Porter Jr on bass, and Zigaboo Modeliste on drums. They later became known as The Meters.<ref name="Tulane (Toussaint/Sansu/Meters)"></ref> Their backing can be heard in songs such as Dorsey's "Ride Your Pony" and "Working in the Coal Mine", sometimes augmented by horns, which were usually arranged by Toussaint. The Toussaint-produced records of these years backed by the members of the Meters, with their increasing use of syncopation and electric instrumentation, built on the influences of Professor Longhair and others before them, but updated these strands, effectively paving the way for the development of a modern New Orleans funk sound.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint continued to produce The Meters when they began releasing records under their own name in 1969. As part of a process begun at Sansu and reaching fruition in the 1970s, he developed a funkier sound, writing and producing for a host of artists, such as Dr. John (backed by the Meters, on the 1973 album "In the Right Place", which contained the hit "Right Place, Wrong Time") and an album by The Wild Tchoupitoulas, a New Orleans Mardi Gras Indians tribe led by "Big Chief Jolly" (George Landry) (backed by the Meters and several of his nephews, including Art and Cyril Neville of the Meters and their brothers Charles and Aaron, who later performed and recorded as The Neville Brothers).<ref name="Chrispell (Dr. John/Toussaint)"></ref><ref name="Christgau (Wild Tchop./Toussaint)"></ref>


title: Allen Toussaint

text: In the 1970s, Toussaint began to work with artists from beyond New Orleans artists, such as B. J. Thomas, Robert Palmer, Willy DeVille, Sandy Denny, Elkie Brooks, Solomon Burke, Scottish soul singer Frankie Miller ("High Life"), and southern rocker Mylon LeFevre. He arranged horn music for The Band's albums "Cahoots" (1971) and "Rock of Ages" (1972), as well as for the documentary film "The Last Waltz" (1978).<ref name="Ruhlmann (Cahoots/Band/Tous.)"></ref><ref name="Ruhlmann (Moondog/Band/Tous.)"></ref><ref name="Deming (Last Waltz/Band/Tous.)"></ref> Boz Scaggs recorded Toussaint's "What Do You Want the Girl to Do?" on his 1976 album "Silk Degrees", which reached number 2 on the U.S. pop albums chart. The song was also recorded by Bonnie Raitt for her 1975 album "Home Plate" and by Geoff Muldaur (1976), Lowell George (1979), Vince Gill (1993), and Elvis Costello (2005). In 1976 he collaborated with John Mayall on the album "Notice to Appear".


title: Allen Toussaint

text: In 1973 Toussaint and Sehorn created the Sea-Saint recording studio in the Gentilly section of eastern New Orleans. Toussaint began recording under his own name, contributing vocals as well as piano. His solo career peaked in the mid-1970s with the albums "From a Whisper to a Scream" and "Southern Nights".<ref name="Planer (Whisper/Toussaint)"></ref><ref name="Erlewine (South. Nights/Tousssaint)"></ref> During this time he teamed with Labelle and produced their acclaimed 1975 album "Nightbirds", which contained the number one hit "Lady Marmalade". The same year, Toussaint collaborated with Paul McCartney and Wings for their hit album "Venus and Mars" and played on the song "Rock Show". In 1973, his "Yes We Can Can" was covered by The Pointer Sisters for their self-titled debut album; released as a single, it became both a pop and R&B hit and served as the group's introduction to popular culture. Two years later, Glen Campbell covered Toussaint's "Southern Nights" and carried the song to number one on the pop, country and adult contemporary charts. Two of Toussaint's songs, "I'll Take A Melody" and "The Maker" figured permanently in the repertoire of the Jerry Garcia Band.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: In 1987, he was the musical director of an off-Broadway show, "Staggerlee", with a score composed of songs from his catalog, which ran for 150 performances.<ref name="Milward (Stagerlee/Tous.)"></ref> Like many of his contemporaries, Toussaint found that interest in his compositions was rekindled when his work began to be sampled by hip hop artists in the 1980s and 1990s.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Most of Toussaint's possessions, including his home and recording studio, Sea-Saint Studios, were lost during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.<ref name="Baer (Katrina/Tous.)"></ref> He initially sought shelter at the Astor Crowne Plaza Hotel on Canal Street. Following the hurricane, whose aftermath left most of the city flooded, he left New Orleans for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and for several years settled in New York City. His first television appearance after the hurricane was on the September 7, 2005, episode of the "Late Show with David Letterman", sitting in with Paul Shaffer and his CBS Orchestra. Toussaint performed regularly at Joe's Pub in New York City through 2009. He eventually returned to New Orleans and lived there for the rest of his life.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint is interviewed on screen, served as a musical director, led his band and appears in performance footage in the 2005 documentary film "Make It Funky!", which presents a history of New Orleans music and its influence on rhythm and blues, rock and roll, funk and jazz. In the film, he performed a medley of his compositions "Fortune Teller", "Working in the Coal Mine" and "A Certain Girl". He also performed "Tipitina" in a piano duo with Jon Cleary, and accompanied Irma Thomas on "Old Records", Lloyd Price on "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", and Bonnie Raitt on "What is Success".


title: Allen Toussaint

text: "The River in Reverse", Toussaint's collaborative album with Elvis Costello, was released on May 29, 2006, in the UK on Verve Records by Universal Classics and Jazz UCJ.<ref name="Erlewine (Toussaint/Costello)"></ref> It was recorded in Hollywood and at the Piety Street Studio in the Bywater section Toussaint's native New Orleans, as the first major studio session to take place after Hurricane Katrina. In 2007, Toussaint performed a duet with Paul McCartney of a song by New Orleans musician and resident Fats Domino, "I Want to Walk You Home", as their contribution to "" (Vanguard Records).


title: Allen Toussaint

text: In 2008, Toussaint's song "Sweet Touch of Love" was used in a deodorant commercial for the Axe (Lynx) brand. The commercial won a Gold Lion at the 2008 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. In February 2008, Toussaint appeared on "Le Show", the Harry Shearer show broadcast on KCRW. He appeared in London in August 2008, where he performed at the Roundhouse. In October 2008 he performed at Festival New Orleans at The O alongside acts such as Dr. John and Buckwheat Zydeco. Sponsored by Quint Davis of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and Philip Anschutz, the event was intended to promote New Orleans music and culture and to revive the once lucrative tourist trade that had been almost completely lost following the flooding that came with Hurricane Katrina. After his second performance at the festival, Toussaint appeared alongside Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Mitch Landrieu.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint performed instrumentals from his album "The Bright Mississippi" and many of his older songs for a taping of the PBS series "Austin City Limits", which aired on January 9, 2015. In December 2009, he was featured on Elvis Costello's "Spectacle" program on the Sundance Channel, singing "A Certain Girl". Toussaint appeared on Eric Clapton's 2010 album, "Clapton", in two Fats Waller covers, "My Very Good Friend the Milkman" and "When Somebody Thinks You're Wonderful".


title: Allen Toussaint

text: His late-blooming career as a performer began when he accepted an offer to play a regular Sunday brunch session at an East Village pub. Interviewed in 2014 by "The Guardian"s Richard Williams, Toussaint said, "I never thought of myself as a performer... My comfort zone is behind the scenes." In 2013 he collaborated on a ballet with the choreographer Twyla Tharp. Toussaint was a musical mentor to Swedish-born New Orleans songwriter and performer Theresa Andersson. Toussaint's one marriage ended in divorce.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint died in the early hours of November 10, 2015, in Madrid, Spain, while on tour. Following a concert at the Teatro Lara on Calle Corredera Baja de San Pablo, he had a heart attack at his hotel and was pronounced dead on his arrival at hospital. He was 77. He had been due to perform a sold-out concert at the EFG London Jazz Festival at The Barbican on November 15 with his band and Theo Croker. He was also scheduled to play with Paul Simon at a benefit concert in New Orleans on 8 December. His final recording, "American Tunes", titled after the Paul Simon song, which he sings on the album, was released by Nonesuch Records on June 10, 2016.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: He was survived by his three children, Clarence (better known as Reginald), Naomi, and Alison, and several grandchildren. His children had managed his career in his last years.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Writing in "The New York Times", Ben Sisario quoted Quint Davis, producer of the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival: "In the pantheon of New Orleans music people, from Jelly Roll Morton to Mahalia Jackson to Fats—that's the place where Allen Toussaint is in". Paul Simon said, "We were friends and colleagues for almost 40 years... We played together at the New Orleans jazz festival. We played the benefits for Katrina relief. We were about to perform together on December 8. I was just beginning to think about it; now I'll have to think about his memorial. I am so sad."


title: Allen Toussaint

text: The "Daily Telegraph" described Toussaint as "a master of New Orleans soul and R&B, and one of America's most successful songwriters and producers", adding that "self-effacing Toussaint played a crucial role in countless classic songs popularised by other artists". He had written so many songs, over more than five decades, that he admitted to forgetting quite a few.


title: Allen Toussaint

text: Toussaint was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998, the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2009, the Songwriter's Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame in 2011. In 2013 he was awarded the National Medal of Arts by President Barack Obama. In 2016, he posthumously won the Pinetop Perkins Piano Player title at the Blues Music Awards. In January 2022, the New Orleans City Council voted unanimously to rename one of the city's thoroughfares, Robert E. Lee Boulevard, to Allen Toussaint Boulevard in his honor, which went into effect later the same month.


title: Sunset Strip

text: The Sunset Strip is the stretch of Sunset Boulevard that passes through the city of West Hollywood, California. It extends from West Hollywood's eastern border with the city of Los Angeles near Marmont Lane to its western border with Beverly Hills at Phyllis Street. The Sunset Strip is known for its boutiques, restaurants, rock clubs, and nightclubs, as well as its array of huge, colorful billboards.


title: Sunset Strip

text: Prior to the 1984 incorporation of the city of West Hollywood, the Sunset Strip lay in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County. Because of this, the Sunset Strip and all of West Hollywood gained a reputation for being a loosely regulated area, in large part because it was not under the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Police Department.


title: Sunset Strip

text: Gambling was illegal in the city of Los Angeles, but legal in unincorporated Los Angeles County, which fostered the development of rather wilder nightlife in West Hollywood than was found within the city limits. In the 1920s a number of nightclubs and casinos moved in along Sunset Strip, which attracted movie people; alcohol was served in back rooms during Prohibition.<ref name="roadandtrack/a39529791"></ref>


title: Sunset Strip

text: In the 1930s and the 1940s, restaurants and nightclubs on Sunset Strip, like Sherry's, Ciro's, the Mocambo and the Trocadero, were patronized by people working in the movie industry. Some of its expensive nightclubs and restaurants were said to be owned by gangsters like Mickey Cohen and Bugsy Siegel, earning Sunset Strip a place in Raymond Chandler's 1949 Philip Marlowe novel, "The Little Sister". Also on Sunset Strip are the Garden of Allah apartments—Hollywood quarters for transplanted writers like Robert Benchley, Dorothy Parker, and F. Scott Fitzgerald—and Schwab's Drug Store.


title: Sunset Strip

text: By the early 1960s, Sunset Strip had lost favor with the majority of movie people, but its restaurants, bars and clubs continued to serve as an attraction for locals and tourists. In the mid-1960s it became a major gathering place for the counterculture and was the scene of the Sunset Strip curfew riots in November 1966, involving police and crowds of young club-goers. Those riots inspired the Buffalo Springfield song "For What It's Worth".


title: Sunset Strip

text: Sunset Strip became popular with rock musicians and their fans. Bands such as Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Byrds, Love, The Seeds, Frank Zappa, and others played at clubs like Gazzari's, the Whisky a Go Go, the Roxy, Pandora's Box and the London Fog. In July 1965 Go-Go dancers also began performing. The Hyatt West Hollywood (now known as the Andaz West Hollywood) became a popular hotel.


title: Sunset Strip

text: Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, influenced by Britain's glam rock movement, opened in 1972. It became a hangout for musicians, including The Stooges and the New York Dolls. Clubs on the Sunset Strip at that time, Rodney Bingenheimer's and the Starwood in particular, were notorious for allowing teenage patrons. "Nobody carried or cared about ID's. Thirteen-year-old girls could walk in dressed like sexy 25-year-olds, and kids could saddle up to the bar and order a cocktail, so it wasn't a big stretch for us to get up and play there", recalled Quiet Riot founder Kelly Garni. The 1979 Donna Summer song "Sunset People", from the album "Bad Girls", was about the nightlife on Sunset Boulevard. Sunset Strip continued to be a major focus for punk rock and new wave music during the late 1970s.


title: Sunset Strip

text: During the latter part of the 1970s and well into the 1980s, the Sunset Strip would become synonymous with the Los Angeles heavy metal movement, commonly referred to as the West Coast Metal Explosion. The clubs on the Sunset Strip such as the Starwood, Whisky a Go Go, and The Roxy, became home to numerous LA-based heavy metal bands such as Van Halen, Quiet Riot, Mötley Crüe, Ratt and Guns N' Roses. The scene became synonymous with glam metal, with many fans mimicking the hair and clothing worn by the bands. The many heavy metal fans who would congregate outside the clubs along the strip became a defining feature.


title: Sunset Strip

text: The adoption of "pay to play" policies, in which bands were charged a fee to play at clubs, diminished its appeal to groups, other than as an industry showcase. As of the 2010s, the music industry establishment continues to dominate the clubs on Sunset Strip.


title: Sunset Strip

text: In November 1984, voters in West Hollywood passed a proposal on the ballot to incorporate, and the area became an independent city. Increasingly, the western end of Sunset Strip was occupied by office buildings, mostly catering to the entertainment industry, as well as hotels.


title: Sunset Strip

text: During the 1990s, the center of the alternative music activity in Los Angeles shifted further east to areas like Echo Park, Silver Lake and Los Feliz.


title: Sunset Strip

text: "77 Sunset Strip", a 1958–1964 TV series, was set on Sunset Strip between La Cienega Boulevard and Alta Loma Road, although the address was fictional, as street numbers there run in the 7000s to 8000s. A second crime drama, "Dan Raven", starring Skip Homeier, aired on NBC during calendar year 1960, also set on Sunset Strip. "Dan Raven" featured several celebrities appearing as themselves, including Bobby Darin, Marty Ingels, and Paul Anka. The 1979 film "Hardcore" had scenes from Sunset Strip when George C. Scott's character Jake Van Dorn flew to Los Angeles to find his missing teenage daughter.


title: Sunset Strip

text: "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" was a behind-the-scenes television drama of a late-night comedy sketch show performed at a fictional theater on Sunset Strip.


title: Sunset Strip

text: Premiering on January 27, 2006, in Los Angeles at Vanguard Hollywood, the "Rock of Ages" stage production inspired the 2012 film of the same name. Its story line is centered along Sunset Strip in 1987.


title: Sunset Strip

text: The video game "Grand Theft Auto V" features a parody of the Whisky-a-Go-Go, named Tequi-la-la, a bar established in Eclipse Blvd, in the fictional city of Los Santos, based on Los Angeles.


title: Sunset Strip

text: Los Angeles-based artist Edward Ruscha created the artist's book "Every Building on the Sunset Strip" in 1966, later "12 Sunsets" website for the Getty Research Institute.<ref name="washingtonpost/ruscha-sunset-strip"></ref>


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn (; stylized as D@bbe Cin Çarpması) is a 2013 Turkish horror film directed and written by Hasan Karacadağ. It is the fourth film in the D@bbe series.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: Kübra was possessed by a djinn prior to her wedding when she stabbed her husband-to-be and killed him in front of the entire family. Ebru is a psychiatrist, Kübra's childhood friend from Kıbledere village. Ebru wants to observe Kübra and film the actions of so-called djinn exorcists in an attempt to prove whether djinns exist or not. Ebru and a djinn exorcist, Faruk, head to Kübra's village. They visit a cursed tree at the village entrance, hear stories about creepy events from Kıbledere's past and see a strange code, 7175, engraved in the tree.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: Even with proof, Ebru isn't convinced about the curse, not even after Faruk performs exorcism on Kübra in her bedroom, then performs it alone in a room with two mirrors which are supernaturally smashed and give them a sign towards a toilet outside the house, which makes Faruk suspect that black magic tools are hidden under the toilet, which he finds. Faruk tells about Dabbe to Ebru, claiming he doesn't know what it means, but it is an apocalypse mentioned in the Quran which will cover the whole world like a web. Faruk thinks it refers to the internet; the World Wide Web. With just one click, the most dangerous spells of black magic can be found and thus, internet is the main issue here.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: The story continues with Faruk performing exorcism in an even bigger warehouse and warns the djinn, Sare, inside Kübra to leave otherwise he will kill it. The exorcism ends in success with the djinn violently killed by Faruk.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: Everyone assumes that Kübra is healed, however with a strange turn of events, she tries to kill her aunt that same night and runs out to the cursed tree. Sick of Faruk's supposed exploitations, Ebru leaves him at the tree and takes Kübra to a hospital for medical and psychological assistance.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: The next morning, Kübra's injured aunt reveals to Faruk that Kübra's father died on the night of her birth, assumingly while being possessed by Sare. Faruk, still not satisfied about his discoveries, rings his friend outside town and asks him about the 7175 code. Meanwhile, Ebru returns and they both agree to visit İlyas, a man who resides in an abandoned village and supposedly knows about Sare.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: The two hunt the village for İlyas’ house all to no avail, when suddenly Faruk finds it at the very edge of the village. They are welcomed by İlyas, who explains that this all is due to a curse placed on the village by Kübra and Ebru's father. Ebru is shocked on the revelation and tries to defend her deceased father when İlyas elaborates that the two were poor, but greedy men who sought the help of djinns for finding treasures. On finding it, they killed the djinn and buried it but it came back and haunted Kübra. Ebru seemed to have been left alone because her family shifted to İzmir. Faruk and Ebru ask how İlyas knows all this on which he reveals his wife told him about this. They ask about where she is, and he tells she is right here, watching all of them. Revealing that his wife isn't human, but a djinn, with whom İlyas even has a child. Frightened, İlyas yells on them both to leave, saying the djinns of Sare's clan will try to harm him and his wife. He tells Faruk that the only way to lift the curse is to dig up Sare's dead body from under the cursed tree and bury it somewhere else in peace.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: Faruk and Ebru drive back and do as İlyas had instructed and Faruk, after burying the vase with the supposed dead body of Sare, tells Ebru that her clan has decided to leave the village in peace. They return with the good news to Kübra's family and everyone is delighted. Kübra seems to have become healthy and normal and an obviously confused Ebru records all of her findings from the past days on camera, saying she still doesn't know whether to believe in all this or not.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: That night, Kübra's mother suddenly tells Faruk that İlyas called him for a very urgent matter. Ebru follows but is stopped by Kübra's mother, pleading for her to stay with Kübra. Ebru agrees but asks Faruk to take her camera and record his conversation with İlyas. Ebru returns to her room and discovers a strange spell tucked inside her bra, while Faruk is stopped on his way by a call from his friend outside town. Faruk pulls over and the friend explains that 7175 is an ancient code originating from the Muslim tradition that believes Jesus wasn't killed but instead, saved by Allah and lives on to this day. The numbers 7175, in Arabic numerals are written as ۷۱۷۰ which, if read in Latin, spell “VIVO”. The word means “I am alive” and is used by djinns to signal they aren't dead. Upon the shocking revelation, Faruk realises Sare wasn't killed by Kübra and Ebru's father, but buried alive, which means he repeated the same deed as the last time.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: His thoughts are interrupted by a frightened, injured İlyas banging on his car's window. Faruk hurries out and İlyas yells at him why he did that to Sare, for his wife has been captured by Sare's clan in revenge. Ebru, on the other hand enters Kübra's room as she sees Kübra in black clothes and a completely disfigured face, possessed completely by Sare. She screams and tries to escape but is suddenly trapped and beaten by Kübra's mother and sister. Injured and unable to understand the situation, Ebru faints.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: İlyas on the other side reveals to Faruk that it was all a trap set to lure Ebru back to this village. There is absolutely no way to get rid of Sare, however she could be passed from one body to another. Hence, Kübra's family planned to save her daughter and make Ebru suffer for her father's deeds. As İlyas also, is captured by the djinns of Sare's clan, Faruk rushes back only to find the house empty and Kübra's aunt killed by her mother and sister. Panicking, he drives to the cursed tree, yelling Ebru's name when he is suddenly hit by someone and thrown into a well. He looks up to see the cunning faces of Kübra's mother and sister who throw heavy rocks on him. Unable to take the injuries, Faruk passes out. Ebru wakes up in a grave, seeing Kübra's mother and sister who tell her that they have suffered long enough and now it's Ebru's turn to have her soul devoured by Sare. An injured Ebru tries to plead and get up but is unable to do so. She is buried alive alongside several live snakes and after desperate cries for help, she starts to choke when suddenly the screen cuts to black, leaving her fate uncertain.


title: Dabbe: Curse of the Jinn

text: It is revealed in the credits that the film is based on a true story. Faruk was rescued by the villagers next morning, but the injuries to his head caused him amnesia. People tried to find Ebru and rescue her as well but she was never found. Kübra's family estate had been sold before Ebru and Faruk had arrived, hence after burying Ebru, the whole family escaped the village that night. They haven't been found to this day.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine, also known as (S)-ketamine or S(+)-ketamine, is the "S"(+) enantiomer of ketamine, is a dissociative hallucinogen drug used as a general anesthetic and as an antidepressant for treatment of depression. It is sold under the brand names Spravato (for depression), Ketanest (for anesthesia), among others. Esketamine is the active enantiomer of ketamine in terms of NMDA receptor antagonism and is more potent than racemic ketamine.


title: Esketamine

text: It is specifically used as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and for major depressive disorder (MDD) with co-occurring suicidal ideation or behavior. Its effectiveness for depression is modest and similar to that of other antidepressants. Esketamine is used by infusion into a vein for anesthesia and under direct medical supervision as a nasal spray once or twice weekly for depression.


title: Esketamine

text: Adverse effects of esketamine include dissociation, dizziness, sedation, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, numbness, anxiety, lethargy, increased blood pressure, and feelings of drunkenness. Less often, esketamine can cause bladder problems. Esketamine acts primarily as a "N"-methyl--aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist but also has other actions.


title: Esketamine

text: In the form of racemic ketamine, esketamine was first synthesized in 1962 and introduced for medical use as an anesthetic in 1970. Enantiopure esketamine was introduced for medical use as an anesthetic in 1997 and as an antidepressant in 2019. It is used as an anesthetic in the European Union and as an antidepressant in the United States and Canada. Due to misuse liability as a dissociative hallucinogen, esketamine is a controlled substance.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine is a general anesthetic and is used for similar indications as ketamine. Such uses include induction of anesthesia in high-risk patients such as those with hemorrhagic shock, anaphylactic shock, septic shock, severe bronchospasm, severe hepatic insufficiency, cardiac tamponade, and constrictive pericarditis; anesthesia in caesarian section; use of multiple anesthetics in burns; and as a supplement to regional anesthesia with incomplete nerve blocks.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine is approved under the brand name Spravato in the form of a nasal spray added to a conventional antidepressant as a therapy for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) as well as major depressive disorder (MDD) associated with suicidal ideation or behavior in adults in the United States. In the clinical trials that led to approval of esketamine, TRD was defined as MDD with inadequate response to at least two different conventional antidepressants. The nasal spray formulation of esketamine used for depression delivers two sprays containing a total of 28 mg esketamine and doses of 56 mg (2 devices) to 84 mg (3 devices) are used. The recommended dosage of Spravato is 56 mg on day 1, 56 or 84 mg twice per week during weeks 1 to 4, 56 or 84 mg once per week during weeks 5 to 8, and 56 or 84 mg every 2 weeks or once weekly during week 9 and thereafter. Dosing is individualized to the least frequent dosing necessary to maintain response or remission. Spravato is administered under the supervision of a healthcare provider and patients are monitored for at least 2 hours during each treatment session. Due to concerns about sedation, dissociation, and misuse, esketamine is available for treatment of depression only from certified providers through a restricted program under a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) called Spravato REMS.


title: Esketamine

text: Five clinical studies of esketamine for TRD (TRANSFORM-1, -2, and -3, and SUSTAIN-1 and -2) were submitted to and evaluated by the FDA when approval of esketamine for treatment of TRD was sought by Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Of these five studies, three were short-term (4-week) efficacy studies (the TRANSFORM studies). Two of these three studies (TRANSFORM-1 and -3) did not find a statistically significant antidepressant effect of esketamine relative to placebo. In the one positive short-term efficacy study (TRANSFORM-2), there was a 4.0-point difference between esketamine and placebo on the Montgomery–Åsberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) after 4 weeks of treatment ("P" = 0.020). This scale ranges from 0 to 60 and the average score of the participants at the start of the study was about 37.0 in both the esketamine and placebo groups. The total change in score after 4 weeks was –19.8 points in the esketamine group and –15.8 points in the placebo group. This corresponded to a percentage change in MADRS score from baseline of –53.5% with esketamine and –42.4% with placebo (a difference and reduction of depression score of –11.1% potentially attributable to the pharmacological action of esketamine) in these patient samples. Placebo showed 80.0% of the antidepressant effect of esketamine for TRD in this study and hence approximately 20.0% of the antidepressant response was attributable to esketamine. In the two negative short-term efficacy trials that did not reach statistical significance (TRANSFORM-1 and -3), the differences in MADRS reductions between esketamine and placebo were –3.2 ("P" = 0.088) and –3.6 ("P" = 0.059) after 4 weeks of treatment.


title: Esketamine

text: The 4.0-point additional reduction in MADRS score with esketamine over placebo in the single positive efficacy trial corresponds to less than "minimal improvement" and has been criticized as being below the threshold for clinically meaningful change. A difference of at least 6.5 points was originally suggested by the trial investigators to be a reasonable threshold for clinical significance. In other literature, MADRS reductions have been interpreted as "very much improved" corresponding to 27–28 points, "much improved" to 16–17 points, and "minimally improved" to 7–9 points. It has additionally been argued that the small advantage in scores with esketamine may have been related to an enhanced placebo response in the esketamine group due to functional unblinding caused by the psychoactive effects of esketamine. In other words, it is argued that the study was not truly a double-blind controlled trial. Dissociation was experienced as a side effect by a majority of participants who received esketamine (61–75% with esketamine and 5–12% with placebo; ~7-fold difference) and "severe" dissociation was experienced by 25%. Deblinding and expectancy confounds are problems with studies of hallucinogens for psychiatric indications in general. The FDA normally requires at least two positive short-term efficacy studies for approval of antidepressants, but this requirement was loosened for esketamine and a relapse-prevention trial was allowed to fill the place of the second efficacy trial instead. This is the first time that the FDA is known to have made such an exception and the decision has been criticized as lowering regulatory standards. In the relapse-prevention trial (SUSTAIN-2), the rate of depression relapse was significantly lower with esketamine continued than with it discontinued and replaced with placebo in esketamine-treated stable responders and remitters (51% rate reduction in remitters and 70% reduction in responders).


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine was approved for the treatment of MDD with co-occurring suicidal ideation or behavior on the basis of two short-term (4-week) phase 3 trials (ASPIRE-1 and -2) of esketamine nasal spray added to a conventional antidepressant. The primary efficacy measure was reduction in MADRS total score after 24 hours following the first dose of esketamine. In both trials, MADRS scores were significantly reduced with esketamine relative to placebo at 24 hours. The mean MADRS scores at baseline were 39.4 to 41.3 in all groups and the MADRS reductions at 24 hours were –15.9 and –16.0 with esketamine and –12.0 and –12.2 with placebo, resulting in mean differences between esketamine and placebo of –3.8 and –3.9. The secondary efficacy measure in the trials was change in Clinical Global Impression of Suicidal Severity - Revised (CGI-SS-r) 24 hours after the first dose of esketamine. The CGI-SS-r is a single-item scale with scores ranging from 0 to 6. Esketamine was not significantly effective in reducing suicidality relative to placebo on this measure either at 24 hours or after 25 days. At 24 hours, CGI-SS-r scores were changed by –1.5 with esketamine and –1.3 with placebo, giving a non-significant mean difference between esketamine and placebo of –0.20. Hence, while efficacious in reducing depressive symptoms in people with depression and suicidality, antisuicidal effects of esketamine in such individuals have not been demonstrated.


title: Esketamine

text: Expectations were initially very high for ketamine and esketamine for treatment of depression based on early small-scale clinical studies, with discovery of the rapid and ostensibly robust antidepressant effects of ketamine described by some authors as "the most important advance in the field of psychiatry in the past half century". According to a 2018 review, ketamine showed more than double the antidepressant effect size over placebo of conventional antidepressants in the treatment of depression based on the preliminary evidence available at the time (Cohen's "d" = 1.3–1.7 for ketamine, Cohen's "d" = 0.8 for midazolam (active placebo), and Cohen's "d" = 0.53–0.81 for conventional antidepressants). However, the efficacy of ketamine/esketamine for depression declined dramatically as studies became larger and more methodologically rigorous. The effectiveness of esketamine for the indication of TRD is described as "modest" and is similar in magnitude to that of other antidepressants for treatment of MDD. The comparative effectiveness of ketamine and esketamine in the treatment of depression has not been adequately characterized. A January 2021 meta-analysis reported that ketamine was similarly effective to esketamine in terms of antidepressant effect size ( for depression score of –1.1 vs. –1.2) but more effective than esketamine in terms of response and remission rates ( = 3.01 vs. RR = 1.38 for response and RR = 3.70 vs. RR = 1.47 for remission). A September 2021 Cochrane review found that ketamine had an effect size (SMD) for depression at 24hours of –0.87, with very low certainty, and that esketamine had an effect size (SMD) at 24hours of –0.31, based on moderate-certainty evidence. However, these meta-analyses have involved largely non-directly-comparative studies with dissimilar research designs and patient populations. Only a single clinical trial has directly compared ketamine and esketamine for depression as of May 2021. This study reported similar antidepressant efficacy as well as tolerability and psychotomimetic effects between the two agents. However, the study was small and underpowered, and more research is still needed to better-characterize the comparative antidepressant effects of ketamine and esketamine. Preliminary research suggests that arketamine, the "R"(−) enantiomer of ketamine, may also have its own independent antidepressant effects and may contribute to the antidepressant efficacy of racemic ketamine, but more research likewise is needed to evaluate this possibility.


title: Esketamine

text: In February 2019, an outside panel of experts recommended in a 14–2 vote that the FDA approve the nasal spray version of esketamine for TRD, provided that it be given in a clinical setting, with people remaining on site for at least two hours after. The reasoning for this requirement is that trial participants temporarily experienced sedation, visual disturbances, trouble speaking, confusion, numbness, and feelings of dizziness during immediately after. The approval of esketamine for TRD by the FDA was controversial due to limited and mixed evidence of efficacy and safety. In January 2020, esketamine was rejected by the National Health Service (NHS) of Great Britain. The NHS questioned the benefits of the medication for depression and claimed that it was too expensive. People who have been already using esketamine were allowed to complete treatment if their doctors considered this necessary.


title: Esketamine

text: Spravato debuted to a cost of treatment of per year when it launched in the United States in March 2019. The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), which evaluates cost effectiveness of drugs analogously to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) in the United Kingdom, declined to recommend esketamine for depression due to its steep cost and modest efficacy, deeming it not sufficiently cost-effective.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine is the second drug to be approved for TRD by the FDA, following olanzapine/fluoxetine (Symbyax) in 2009. Other agents, like the atypical antipsychotics aripiprazole (Abilify) and quetiapine (Seroquel), have been approved for use in the adjunctive therapy of MDD in people with a partial response to treatment. In a meta-analysis conducted internally by the FDA during its evaluation of esketamine for TRD, the FDA reported a standardized mean difference (SMD) of esketamine for TRD of 0.28 using the three phase 3 short-term efficacy trials conducted by Janssen. This was similar to an SMD of 0.26 for olanzapine/fluoxetine for TRD and lower than SMDs of 0.35 for aripiprazole and 0.40 for quetiapine as adjuncts for MDD. These drugs are less expensive than esketamine and may serve as more affordable alternatives to it for depression with similar effectiveness.


title: Esketamine

text: The most common adverse effects of esketamine for depression (≥5% incidence) include dissociation, dizziness, sedation, nausea, vomiting, vertigo, numbness, anxiety, lethargy, increased blood pressure, and feelings of drunkenness. Long-term use of esketamine has been associated with bladder disease.


title: Esketamine

text: In mice, the rapid antidepressant effect of arketamine was greater and lasted longer than that of esketamine. The usefulness of arketamine over esketamine has been supported by other researchers.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine inhibits dopamine transporters eight times more than arketamine. This increases dopamine activity in the brain. At doses causing the same intensity of effects, esketamine is generally considered to be more pleasant by patients. Patients also generally recover mental function more quickly after being treated with pure esketamine, which may be a result of the fact that it is cleared from their system more quickly. This is however in contradiction with arketamine being devoid of psychotomimetic side effects.


title: Esketamine

text: Unlike arketamine, esketamine does not bind significantly to sigma receptors. Esketamine increases glucose metabolism in the frontal cortex, while arketamine decreases glucose metabolism in the brain. This difference may be responsible for the fact that esketamine generally has a more dissociative or hallucinogenic effect while arketamine is reportedly more relaxing. However, another study found no difference between racemic ketamine and esketamine on the patient's level of vigilance. Interpretation of this finding is complicated by the fact that racemic ketamine is 50% esketamine.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine is eliminated from the human body more quickly than arketamine ("R"(–)-ketamine) or racemic ketamine, although arketamine slows the elimination of esketamine.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine was introduced for medical use as an anesthetic in Germany in 1997, and was subsequently marketed in other countries. In addition to its anesthetic effects, the medication showed properties of being a rapid-acting antidepressant, and was subsequently investigated for use as such. Esketamine received a breakthrough designation from the for treatment-resistant depression (TRD) in 2013 and major depressive disorder (MDD) with accompanying suicidal ideation in 2016. In November 2017, it completed phase III clinical trials for treatment-resistant depression in the United States. Johnson & Johnson filed a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) New Drug Application (NDA) for approval on 4 September 2018; the application was endorsed by an FDA advisory panel on 12 February 2019, and on 5 March 2019, the FDA approved esketamine, in conjunction with an oral antidepressant, for the treatment of depression in adults. In August 2020, it was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the added indication for the short-term treatment of suicidal thoughts.


title: Esketamine

text: Since the 1980s, closely associated ketamine has been used as a club drug also known as "Special K" for its trip-inducing side effects.


title: Esketamine

text: "Esketamine" is the generic name of the drug and its and , while "esketamine hydrochloride" is its . It is also known as "S(+)-ketamine", "("S")-ketamine", or "(–)-ketamine" ("(-)[+] ketamine") as well as by its developmental code name "JNJ-54135419".


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine is sold under the brand name Spravato for use as an antidepressant and the brand names Eskesia, Ketanest, Ketanest S, Ketanest-S, Keta-S for use as an anesthetic (veterinary), among others.


title: Esketamine

text: Esketamine is marketed as an antidepressant in the United States; and as an anesthetic in the European Union.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: Astro's Playroom is a platform video game developed by Japan Studio's Team Asobi division and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment for the PlayStation 5. A sequel to "Astro Bot Rescue Mission," the game comes pre-installed on every console, serving additionally as a free tech demo for the DualSense controller.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: The game was announced on 11 June 2020 at the PlayStation 5 reveal event. It was released on 12 November 2020.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: Alongside "Demon's Souls", "Astro's Playroom" was the final game released by Japan Studio before their dissolution in April 2021. Team Asobi was formally spun off into an independent studio within Sony's PlayStation Studios in June 2021.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: "Astro's Playroom" is a 3D platformer in which the player controls the title character Astro Bot using the DualSense controller. Like the previous game, he is able to jump, hover, punch enemies and objects, as well as use a spin attack by charging his punch. The haptic feedback of the controller is used to provide realistic tactile vibrations from actions, such as walking on different types of material, like sand, walking through rainfall, and walking against the wind. The game starts in a hub world called CPU Plaza which is modeled after the inside of the PlayStation 5 console and provides access to four worlds which are each themed after a component of the console, and the artifacts are themed after the corresponding console: GPU Jungle (PlayStation 4), Cooling Springs (PlayStation 3), SSD Speedway (PlayStation 2), and Memory Meadow (PlayStation). The plaza also houses two other areas: Network Speed Run, in which players can compete in unlockable time trials for the fastest time which can be shared to online leaderboards, and PlayStation Labo, which houses all of the collectables a player has collected.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: Each of the four worlds are split up into four levels that are interconnected with each other. Two of these levels involve regular platforming whereas the other two involve a special power-up suit which makes use of the DualSense controller's capabilities. For example, one world features a frog suit with a spring at the bottom in which the controller must be tilted laterally to guide the frog and the trigger pressed down to compress the spring, which offers resistance similar to how a real spring would using the adaptive trigger system. Another example is the ball suit in which the player must swipe the touchpad to guide the ball. The worlds also contain large numbers of other robots performing various activities, including acting out scenes from various current and former PlayStation-exclusive game franchises, such as "God of War" and "Resident Evil". In the worlds, there are cable wires that Astro Bot can pull to collect projectiles, coins, and artifacts. There are also enemy robots that Astro Bot can defeat and also earn coins. If Astro Bot falls or gets defeated, the level will restart from the latest checkpoint cleared.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: Three types of collectables exist within each world: coins, puzzle pieces, and artifacts. Coins collected can be used at a gacha machine in PlayStation Labo to potentially obtain collectable in-game figurines as well as more puzzle pieces and artifacts. Puzzle pieces are used to fill in a PlayStation mural that adorns the walls of the PlayStation Labo area. Finally, artifacts are 3D rendered representations of real-world objects from the history of PlayStation, such as consoles, controllers, and accessories. When collected, the player is able to examine them by moving the DualSense controller around and interact with them using the touchpad or built-in microphone. Artifacts are stored in PlayStation Labo where Astro Bot (and many other robots) can later interact with them by punching or jumping on them.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: At the end of each world, there is an area inspired by the startup sequences of the previous four PlayStation home consoles, where the player receives an artifact of the respective console as a reward for completing the world. Once all four worlds have been completed, a secret fifth world opens up called 1994 Throwback, in which Astro Bot must complete a boss fight inspired by the T-Rex tech demo from the original PlayStation's first demo disc. Once the T-Rex has been defeated, the credits roll and the player is rewarded with artifacts from the PlayStation 5 era, including the DualSense controller and the PlayStation 5 console itself.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: Team Asobi began development on "Astro's Playroom" in early 2018. The game initially started as a series of tech demos for the PlayStation 5's DualSense controller, although its status as a launch title was not established until later in development. According to creative director Nicolas Doucet, at least 80 tech demos for the DualSense controller had been designed while working on the game.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: As a celebration of the PlayStation brand, the game features appearances by characters from several PlayStation franchises, as well as characters from series by third-party developers, such as Bandai Namco Entertainment, Capcom, Square Enix, Konami, and Activision. Team Asobi consulted with the original developers, such as "Tekken" series producer Katsuhiro Harada, for the numerous easter eggs found in "Astro's Playroom" referencing the different video game franchises, In designing the cameos, concept artist Toshihiko Nakai focused on capturing recognizability, humor, and fan appeal. A number of animators at Team Asobi had previously worked on some original titles referenced in "Astro's Playroom".


title: Astro's Playroom

text: "Astro's Playroom" received generally favorable reviews, with an aggregate score of 83/100 on Metacritic. Critics praised the game's variety, celebration of the PlayStation brand, and the use of the DualSense controller.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: In a highly positive review, "Electronic Gaming Monthly"s Mollie Patterson awarded the game a perfect score, lauding the variety of the gameplay and the game's nostalgia factor. She wrote:


title: Astro's Playroom

text: "Destructoid"s Chris Carter praised the gameplay as being a great showcase for the DualSense and the instant load times. Similarly, "Eurogamer"s Martin Robinson praised the game for being a promising glimpse of the future for the PlayStation 5 and remarked it as being "one of the best launch titles I can remember in an age."


title: Astro's Playroom

text: The usage of cameos and references to various PlayStation and PlayStation-related franchises such as "Uncharted" and "Crash Bandicoot" was praised by "Game Informer"s Joe Juba, comparing their inclusion favorably to the various licensed Lego video games. Many of the developers behind the various included franchises, such as Naughty Dog, responded positively to these references.


title: Astro's Playroom

text: "GameSpot"s Mike Epstein enjoyed the game's visual fidelity and solid platforming, but was critical of the game's motion control sequences. Jonathon Dornbush, writing for "IGN", enjoyed the game's homages to PlayStation's history and the DualSense interactions, but criticized how it felt more like a technical showcase than a full game. Complaints about the game being more of a technical showcase were echoed by Game Rant's Anthony Taormina.


title: Pandæmonium (Paradise Lost)

text: "Pandæmonium" (in some versions of English "Pandemonium") stems from the Greek "παν", meaning "all" or "every", and "δαιμόνιον", a diminutive form meaning "little spirit", "little angel", or, as Christians interpreted it, "little daemon", and later, "demon". It thus roughly translates as "All Demons", but can also be interpreted as Παν-δαιμον-ειον, Pandemoneios or "all-demon-place".


title: Pandæmonium (Paradise Lost)

text: John Milton invented the name for the capital of Hell, "the High Capital, of Satan and his Peers", built by the fallen angels at the suggestion of Mammon at the end of Book I of "Paradise Lost" (1667). It was designed by the architect Mulciber, who had been the designer of palaces in Heaven before his fall. (In Roman times, Mulciber was another name for the Roman god Vulcan.) Book II begins with the debate among the "Stygian Council" in the council-chamber of Pandæmonium. The demons built it in about an hour, but it far surpassed all human palaces or dwellings; it was probably quite small, however, as its spacious hall is described as being very crowded with the thronging swarm of demons, who were taller than any human man, until at a signal they were shrunk from their titanic size to less than "smallest dwarfs". It was also reputed to be made of solid gold.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Chennakeshava Temple, also referred to as Keshava, Kesava or Vijayanarayana Temple of Belur, is a 12th-century Hindu temple in the Hassan district of Karnataka state, India. It was commissioned by King Vishnuvardhana in 1117 CE, on the banks of the Yagachi River in Belur also called Velapura, an early Hoysala Empire capital. The temple was built over three generations and took 103 years to finish. It was repeatedly damaged and plundered during wars, repeatedly rebuilt and repaired over its history. It is 35 km from Hassan city and about 200 km from Bengaluru.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Chennakesava ("lit", "handsome Kesava") is a form of the Hindu god Vishnu. The temple is dedicated to Vishnu and has been an active Hindu temple since its founding. It is reverentially described in medieval Hindu texts, and remains an important pilgrimage site in Vaishnavism. The temple is remarkable for its architecture, sculptures, reliefs, friezes as well its iconography, inscriptions and history. The temple artwork depicts scenes of secular life in the 12th century, dancers and musicians, as well as a pictorial narration of Hindu texts such as the "Ramayana", the "Mahabharata" and the Puranas through numerous friezes. It is a Vaishnava temple that reverentially includes many themes from Shaivism and Shaktism, as well as images of a Jina from Jainism and the Buddha from Buddhism. The Chennakeshava temple is a testimony to the artistic, cultural and theological perspectives in 12th-century South India and the Hoysala Empire rule.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Belur temple complex along with the nearby Hindu and Jain Temples at Halebidu have been proposed to be listed under UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Chennakeshava Temple is located in Belur taluk in Hassan district of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is about northwest of Hassan. The temple is about from Halebidu temples. Belur has no nearby airport, and is about west of Bengaluru (IATA Code: BLR), about 3.5 hours drive accessible with a four lane NH75 highway. Hassan is the closest city near Belur that is connected by railway network to major cities of Karnataka.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Chennakeshava Temple is an active Hindu temple and a major Vaishnava pilgrimage site. It is located on the banks of Yagachi River (also called Badari River in historic texts), a tributary of Hemavati River.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Hoysala period of South Indian history began about 1000 CE and continued through 1346 CE. In this period, they built around 1,500 temples in 958 centres. Belur is called Beluhur, Velur or Velapura in old inscriptions and medieval era texts. It was the early capital of the Hoysala kings. The city was so esteemed by the Hoysalas that it is referred to as "earthly Vaikuntha" (Vishnu's abode) and "dakshina Varanasi" (southern holy city of Hindus) in later inscriptions.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: One of the Hoyasala kings was Vishnuvardhana, who came to power in 1110 CE. He commissioned the Chennakeshava temple dedicated to Vishnu in 1117 CE, a temple considered as one of "five foundations" of his legacy. According to Dhaky – a scholar of Indian temple architecture and temple history, this temple reflects the rising opulence, political power, deep spiritual dedication to Sri Vaishnavism of Ramanujacharya, and it is his "magnum opus". The main temple is called "Vijaya-Narayana" and the smaller temple next to it built by his queen Santala Devi is called "Chennakesava" in the inscriptions of his era, but these two temples are now called the Chennakesava temple and Chennigaraya temple respectively.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The main Chennakeshava temple at Belur was complete and consecrated in 1117 CE, though the complex continued to expand over 100 some years. Vishnuvardhana moved his capital to Dorasamudra, (also referred to as Dvarasamudra, now Halebidu), famous for the Hoysaleswara Temple dedicated to Shiva. Its construction continued till he died in 1140 CE. His legacy was continued by his descendants who completed the Hoysaleswara Temple in 1150 CE, and other temples about 200 kilometers away such as the Chennakesava Temple, Somanathapura in 1258 CE. The Hoysalas employed many noted architects and artisans who developed a new architectural tradition, which art historian Adam Hardy calls the "Karnata Dravida" tradition.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Hoysala Empire and its capital was invaded, plundered and destroyed in the early 14th century by Malik Kafur, a commander of the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji. Belur and Halebidu became the target of plunder and destruction in 1326 CE by another Delhi Sultanate army. The territory was taken over by the Vijayanagara Empire. The Hoysala style, states James C. Harle, came to an end in the mid 14th century, when Hoysala king Veera Ballala III was killed in a war with the Muslim Madurai Sultanate followed by his son.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Historians have found 118 inscriptions in the temple complex, dated between 1117 CE to the 18th century, which provide a history of the temple, the grants made to the Chennakeshava temple for its upkeep and the repairs during later times.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Chennakeshava complex at Belur consists of a 443.5 feet by 396 feet court with several Hindu temples and minor shrines inside a walled compound. The compound is entered from the east through a Gopuram added during the repairs of the Vijayanagar empire era. The temples and monuments found inside the walled complex are:


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The complex has many other small monuments and features, such as the "ane-bagilu" or "elephant's gate" just south of the gopuram and a memorial of past destruction in the form of pillars and statues in the northwestern part of the complex.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The temple is a "ekakuta" "vimana" design (single shrine) of 10.5 m by 10.5 m size. It combines elements of North Indian Nagara and South Indian Karnata style architecture. The temple stands on an open and wide platform designed to be a circumambulatory path around the sanctum. The temple and platform were without walls and the platform surrounded an open "mantapa", following the contour of the temple. A visitor would have been able to see the ornate pillars of the open "mantapa" from the platform. Later walls and stone screens were added, creating an enclosed vestibule and mantapa, providing security but creating too much dark to appreciate the artwork inside. The vestibule connects the circumambulatory platform to the "mandapa" (hall). There is intricate and abundant artwork both on the outside and inside the temple.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The temple has a simple Hoysala plan and features one sanctum. The building material used in the Chennakesava temple is chloritic schist, more commonly known as soapstone. It is soft when quarried and allows artists to more easily carve details. Over time the material hardens. This Hoysala temple, according to the art critic and historian Settar, deployed the Western Chalukyan artists and their tradition that originally developed in Aihole, Badami and Pattadakal. It is simpler than later Hoysala temples (including the Hoysaleswara temple at Halebidu and the Keshava temple at Somanathapura).


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The temple is built on a "jagati" (literally, "worldly"), a symbolic worldly platform with a wide walking space for circumambulation ("pradakshina-patha"). There is one flight of steps leading to the "jagati" and another flight of steps into the "mantapa". The "jagati" provides the devotee the opportunity to do a "pradakshina" around the temple before entering it. The "jagati" carefully follows the staggered square design of the "mantapa" and the star shape of the shrine.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The visitor sees numerous artwork during the circumambulation of the temple over the "jagati" platform in horizontal bands. The bottom band is of elephants with different expressions, as symbolic supporters of the entire structure. Above it is an empty layer, followed by cornice work with a periodic lion face. Above it is another band of scroll and then cornice band, except at the back of the temple where a row of horsemen in various riding positions are depicted.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The fifth carved band is of small figurines, mostly females with various expressions facing the viewer, while periodically the band includes Yakshas who face towards the inside of the temple. This layer also has numerous dancers and musicians, as well as professionals with their tools. The band above has pilasters between some of which are carved secular figures mostly females and couples. A nature and creepers band wraps the temple above the pilaster band, with scenes of the "Ramayana" epic included in this band. Above this layer are scenes from common life depicting kama, artha and dharma. Included here are couples in courtship, eroticism and sexual scenes, followed by couples with children, economic and festive activities. Towards the north outer wall, friezes with scenes from the "Mahabharata" are portrayed.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Above these bands is later construction that added 10 perforated stone windows and screens to north side and 10 to the south side of the temple. The later artists engraved Purana scenes in ten of these later additions, and the other ten have geometric floral designs. The perforated screens with characters show:


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Above the perforated screens, on capitals of the supporting pillars, are "madanakai" (Salabhanjika) figures. There were originally 40 "madanakai", of which 38 have survived in damaged or good form. Two of these are Durga, three huntresses (with bow), others are dancers in "Natya Shastra" abhinaya mudra (acting posture), musicians, women dressing or doing make up, a woman with a pet parrot, men making music. A majority of these "madanakai" figures are also carved into miniatures in the sixth band of the outer wall around the "pradakshina patha".


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The wall also features 80 large reliefs around the temple. Of these 32 are of Vishnu, 9 of his avatars (Narasimha, Varaha, Vamana, Ranganatha, Balarama); 4 of Shiva in various forms including Nataraja (with or without Parvati); 2 of Bhairava (Shiva); 2 of Harihara (half Shiva, half Vishnu); 4 of Surya (Sun god); 5 of Durga and Mahishasuramardini; 1 of Kama and Rati; 1 of Ganesha, Brahma, Saraswati, Garuda and Chandra. Other major reliefs are of Arjuna shooting an arrow to win Draupadi; Ravana lifting the Kailasha; Daksha, Bali and Sukracharya.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Some of the statues present exceptional details. For example, one "madanakai" figure is shown with a fruit tree canopy, where a small fly is shown sitting on the fruit and nearby a lizard is preparing to pounce on the fly. In another, an eagle is shown attacking a "sarabha", which in turn is attacking a lion, which in turn is pouncing on an elephant, which itself is seizing a snake, which in turn is shown in the act of swallowing a rat – a sight that includes a pondering sage. Secular life is shown in these images, such as an artist making a drawing or musicians lost in their music. A notable image is the depiction of 12th century Rudra-vina and a Lasya dance posture. Also included is the image of a Jina of Jainism.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The outer wall on the side of the eastern entrance into the temple inside shows Bhairava and Durga. The outer wall on the side of the southern entrance into the temple shows Tandavesvara and Brahmani. The outer sides at the northern entrance into the temple show Vishnu and Mahishasuramardini.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The Chennakesava temple has three entrances and their doorways have decorated sculptures called "dvarapalaka" (doorkeepers) on either side. The central hall ("navaranga") was originally open on all sides except the west where the sanctum is, but all sides were later closed with perforated screens. This reduced the amount of light significantly and the intricate art work is difficult to appreciate without secondary light. The artwork starts on entry to the three entrances to the hall. Each leads to raised verandas on both sides. The hall has carved pillars with a large domed ceiling in the center. The "mandapa" has 60 "bays" (compartments).


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The "navaranga" in Kesava temple at Belur is the largest of any Hoysala temple, is of "triratha" diamond-shaped layout, according to James Harle.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The navaranga hall has forty eight pillars. All except the central four are carved in a unique way. The central four are later additions, added in 1381 CE during the Vijayanagara Empire era, to support the internal structure of a damaged temple. The pillars are of three sizes. Two pillars are particularly notable. One is the so-called Narasimha pillar which is carved with miniature figures from top to bottom, such as a tiny bull ("kadale basava"). The local legend states that this pillar once could rotate because of how it was supported, but it no longer can be rotated. The other pillar is the Mohini pillar. Other than the female avatar of Vishnu, the pillar has eight bands of carvings, including those of Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, then ten avatars of Vishnu, the eight direction deities, mythical animals with the body of a lion but the face of other wildlife. The four central pillars are notable for having been hand carved while the others were lathe turned.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: In the center of the hall is a large open square, above which is a domed ceiling about 10 feet in diameter and 6 feet deep. At the top is a lotus bud with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva carved on it. At the bottom of the dome is a series of friezes with the "Ramayana" story. On the capitals of the four pillars are "madanikas" ("Salabhanjika"). One represents dancing Saraswati, the Hindu god of knowledge, arts and music. The others are regular dancers, but with different expressions. One is dressing her hair, the other in a Natya posture, and the fourth has a parrot seated on her hand. The head and neck jewelry made of rock are freely mounted and can be moved. The bracelets similarly are moveable. The design of the ceiling follows the Hindu texts, and is a modified "utksipta" style with images placed in concentric rings.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Other reliefs inside the hall include large images of Vishnu avatars, friezes of the Vedic and Puranic histories, and more scenes of the "Ramayana".


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The mandapa leads to the "garbha griya" past the pillars and a doorway. The door is flanked by "dvarapala", Jaya and Vijaya. Its pediment has Lakshminarayana in center. Below it are musicians playing 12th-century musical instruments. On the side are two "makaras" with Varuna and Varuni together riding on them. Inside the square sanctum is the image of Keshava, or as inscriptions call it "Vijayanarayana". It stands on a 3 feet high pedestal, is about 6 feet high with a halo. It has four hands, with chakra and shankha in the upper hands and a gada and lotus in his lower hands. The halo has cyclical carving of the ten avatars of Vishnu – Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana, Parasurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki. The temple is active house of worship, with Keshava dressed and decorated, priests present and devotees doing darshana.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: The temple had a tower, which was repeated damaged and destroyed, rebuilt and restored. In the 19th-century restorations, the temple was left without a tower. According to Foekema, the tower when it existed would have been of the "Bhumija" style when it existed and not the regular star shaped tower that followed the shape of the "vimana". The "Bhumija" towers, which are intact on the miniature shrines at the entrance of the hall are actually a type of "nagara" (North Indian) tower, being curvilinear in shape. This shape of tower is quite uncommon in pure dravidian architecture.


title: Chennakeshava Temple, Belur

text: Some of the Hoysala artists signed their work in the form of inscriptions. In doing so, they sometimes revealed details about themselves, their families, guilds and place of origin. Stone inscriptions and copper plate inscriptions provide more information about them. Ruvari Mallitamma was a prolific artist to whom more than 40 sculptures are attributed. Dasoja and his son Chavana who were from Balligavi in modern Shimoga district made important contributions. Chavana is credited with the work on five "madanikas" and Dasoja accomplished four of them. Malliyanna and Nagoja created birds and animals in their sculptures. Artists such as Chikkahampa and Malloja are credited with some of the sculptures in the "mantapa". These artists also contributed to the artwork found in other major Hoysala temples found within 50 kilometers of Belur.


title: Cajón

text: A cajón (; "box", "crate" or "drawer") is a box-shaped percussion instrument originally from Peru, played by slapping the front or rear faces (generally thin plywood) with the hands, fingers, or sometimes implements such as brushes, mallets, or sticks. Cajones are primarily played in Afro-Peruvian music (specifically música criolla), but has made its way into flamenco as well. The term cajón is also applied to other box drums used in Latin American music, such as the Cuban cajón de rumba and the Mexican cajón de tapeo.


title: Cajón

text: Sheets of 13 to 19 mm (1/2 to 3/4 inch) thick wood are generally used for five sides of the box. A thinner sheet of plywood is nailed on as the sixth side, and acts as the striking surface or head. The striking surface of the cajón drum is commonly referred to as the "tapa". A sound hole is cut on the back side. The modern cajón may have rubber feet, and has several screws at the top for adjusting percussive timbre.


title: Cajón

text: Originally the instruments were only wooden boxes, but, thanks to a contribution by Spanish flamenco exponent Paco de Lucía, now they may have several stretched cords pressed against the top for a buzz-like effect, resembling a snare drum — guitar strings (the original modification), rattles or drum snares may serve this purpose. Bells may also be installed inside near the cords.


title: Cajón

text: The cajón is the most widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument since the late 19th century. Slaves of west and central African origin in the Americas are considered to be the source of the cajón drum. Currently, the instrument is common in musical performance throughout some of the Americas and Spain. The cajón was developed during the periods of slavery in coastal Peru. The instrument reached a peak in popularity by 1850, and by the end of the 19th century cajón players were experimenting with the design of the instrument by bending some of the planks in the cajón's body to alter the instrument's patterns of sound vibration. After slavery the cajón was spread to a much larger audience including Criollos.


title: Cajón

text: Given that the cajón comes from slave musicians in the Spanish colonial Americas, there are two complementary origin theories for the instrument. It is possible that the drum is a direct descendant of a number of boxlike musical instruments from west and central Africa, especially Angola, and the Antilles. These instruments were adapted by slaves from the Spanish shipping crates at their disposal. In port cities like Matanzas, Cuba, codfish shipping crates and small dresser drawers became similar instruments. Peruvian musician and ethnomusicologist Susana Baca recounts her mother's story that the cajón originated as "the box of the people who carried fruit and worked in the ports," putting it down to play on whenever they had a moment. Another theory is that slaves used boxes as musical instruments to subvert Spanish colonial bans on music in predominantly African areas, essentially disguising their instruments.


title: Cajón

text: While early 20th century versions of the festejo appeared to have been performed without the cajón, especially due to the influence of Perú Negro, a musical ensemble founded in 1969, the cajón began to be more important than the guitar and, indeed, became "a new symbol of Peruvian blackness".


title: Cajón

text: After a short 1977 visit to a diplomat’s party and a TV presentation in Lima along with Peruvian percussionist Caitro Soto, Spanish flamenco guitar player Paco de Lucía brought a cajón to Spain to use it in his own music, after being impressed by the rhythmic possibilities of the instrument. In 2001, the cajón was declared National Heritage by the Peruvian National Institute of Culture. In 2014, the Organization of American States declared the cajón an "Instrument of Peru for the Americas".


title: Cajón

text: In the 2000s (decade), the cajón is heard extensively in Coastal Peruvian musical styles such as Tondero, Zamacueca and Peruvian Waltz, Spanish modern Flamenco and certain styles of modern Cuban Rumba. The modern cajón is often used to accompany a solo acoustic guitar or piano. The cajón is becoming rapidly popular in blues, pop, rock, funk, world music, jazz, etc. The cajón is often used as a bass drum by bands instead of a full drum kit when performing in minimalist settings, as the cajón can simultaneously serve as both a bass drum and a seat for the drummer. Though occasionally played by some bands in place of the ', the cajón has not become a popular instrument in the folk music of Ireland, where the quieter and higher-pitched ' traditional frame drum serves the same purpose, and has a unique playing style.


title: Cajón

text: The player sits astride the box, tilting it at an angle while striking the head between their knees. The percussionist can play the sides with the top of their palms and fingers for additional sounds. Some percussionists attach a bass drum pedal to the instrument, enabling them to play it with a single foot.


title: Cajón

text: The instrument has been played not only with hands, but also with plastic and metal brushes, as used for drum kits, for example with the Pen Technique, developed by Patrizio Migliarini, which allows the musician to play jazz and funky rhythms with a completeness and dynamic richness close to that of a drums, through the use of metal brushes. Another way of playing the cajón is to use an ordinary bass drum pedal, thus turning the cajón into an indirect percussion instrument which can be played with the feet. This enables the player to beat it just like a pedal-bass drum, thus leaving the hands (and one other foot) free to play other instruments. On the other hand, it also restricts the player's standard cajón-playing position, as when the cajón is placed on the ground, in the bass drum location, it is hard for the performer to slap it with her or his hands.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Criticism of Marxism (also known as Anti-Marxism) has come from various political ideologies and academic disciplines. This includes general intellectual criticism about dogmatism, a lack of internal consistency, criticism related to materialism (both philosophical and historical), arguments that Marxism is a type of historical determinism or that it necessitates a suppression of individual rights, issues with the implementation of communism and economic issues such as the distortion or absence of price signals and reduced incentives. In addition, empirical and epistemological problems are frequently identified.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Some democratic socialists and social democrats reject the idea that societies can achieve socialism only through class conflict and a proletarian revolution. Many anarchists reject the need for a transitory state phase. Some thinkers have rejected the fundamentals of Marxist theory such as historical materialism and the labour theory of value and have gone on to criticise capitalism and advocate socialism using other arguments.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Some contemporary supporters of Marxism see many aspects of Marxist thought as viable, but contend that the corpus is incomplete or outdated in regard to certain aspects of economic, political or social theory. They may therefore combine Marxist concepts with the ideas of other theorists such as Max Weber—the Frankfurt School provides one example of this approach.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Conservative historian Paul Johnson wrote: "...It must be said that he [Marx] developed traits characteristic of a certain type of scholar, especially Talmudic ones: a tendency to accumulate immense masses of half-assimilated materials and to plan encyclopedic works which were never completed; a withering contempt for all non-scholars; and extreme assertiveness and irascibility in dealing with other scholars. Virtually all his work, indeed, has the hallmark of Talmudic study: it is essentially a commentary on, a critique of the work of others in his field."


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: He continues: "The truth is, even the most superficial inquiry into Marx's use of evidence forces one to treat with skepticism everything he wrote which relies on factual data". For example, Johnson stated: "The whole of the key Chapter Eight of Capital is a deliberate and systematic falsification to prove a thesis which an objective examination of the facts showed was untenable".


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Historical materialism remains one of the bases of Marxism. It proposes that technological advances in modes of production inevitably lead to changes in the social relations of production. This economic "base" of society supports, is reflected by and influences the ideological "superstructure" which encompasses culture, religion, politics, and all other aspects of humanity's social consciousness. It thus looks for the causes of developments and changes in human history in economic, technological and, more broadly, material factors as well as the clashes of material interests among tribes, social classes, and nations. Law, politics, the arts, literature, morality and religion are understood by Marx to make up the superstructure as reflections of the economic base of society. Many critics have argued that this is an oversimplification of the nature of society and claim that the influence of ideas, culture and other aspects of what Marx called the superstructure are just as important as the economic base to the course of society, if not more so. However, Marxism does not claim that the economic base of society is the only determining element in society as demonstrated by the following letter written by Friedrich Engels, Marx's long-time contributor:


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: According to the materialist conception of history, the "ultimately" determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life. More than this neither Marx nor I ever asserted. Hence if somebody twists this into saying that the economic element is the only determining one he transforms that proposition into a meaningless, abstract, senseless phrase.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: According to critics, this also creates another problem for Marxism. If the superstructure also influences the base then there is no need for Marx's constant assertions that the history of society is one of economic class conflict. This then becomes a classic chicken or the egg argument as to whether the base or the superstructure comes first. Peter Singer proposes that the way to solve this problem is to understand that Marx saw the economic base as ultimately real. Marx believed that humanity's defining characteristic was its means of production and thus the only way for man to free himself from oppression was for him to take control of the means of production. According to Marx, this is the goal of history and the elements of the superstructure act as tools of history.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Marx held that the relationship between material base and ideological superstructure was a determination relation and not a causal relation. However, some critics of Marx have insisted that Marx claimed the superstructure was an effect caused by the base. For instance, Anarcho-capitalist Murray Rothbard criticized historical materialism by arguing that Marx claimed the "base" of society (its technology and social relations) determined its "consciousness" in the superstructure.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Marx's theory of history has been considered a variant of historical determinism linked to his reliance on dialectical materialism as an endogenous mechanism for social change. Marx wrote:


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: At a certain stage of development, the material productive forces of society come into conflict with the existing relations of production or – this merely expresses the same thing in legal terms – with the property relations within the framework of which they have operated hitherto. From forms of development of the productive forces these relations turn into their fetters. Then begins an era of social revolution. The changes in the economic foundation lead sooner or later to the transformation of the whole immense superstructure.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: The concept of the dialectic first emerged from the dialogues of the ancient Greek philosophers, but it was revived by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel in the early 19th century as a conceptual framework for describing the often-opposing forces of historical evolution. Historical determinism has also been associated with scholars like Arnold Toynbee and Oswald Spengler, but in recent times this conceptual approach has fallen into disuse.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Terry Eagleton writes that Marx's writings "should not be taken to mean that everything that has ever happened is a matter of class struggle. It means, rather, that class struggle is most fundamental to human history".


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Academic Peter Stillman believes Marx's status as a determinist is a "myth". Friedrich Engels himself warned about conceiving of Marx's ideas as deterministic, saying: "According to the materialist conception of history, the ultimately determining element in history is the production and reproduction of real life. Other than this neither Marx nor I have ever asserted. Hence if somebody twists this into saying that the economic element is the only determining one, he transforms that proposition into a meaningless, abstract, senseless phrase." On another occasion, Engels remarked that "younger people sometimes lay more stress on the economic side than is due to it". While historical materialism has been referred to as a materialist theory of history, Marx does not claim to have produced a master-key to history and that the materialist conception of history is not "an historico-philosophic theory of the "marche generale", imposed by fate upon every people, whatever the historic circumstances in which it finds itself". In a letter to editor of the Russian newspaper "Otetchestvennye Zapiskym" (1877), he explains that his ideas are based upon a concrete study of the actual conditions in Europe.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: In an effort to reassert this approach to an understanding of the forces of history, Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar criticised what he considered the narrow conceptual basis of Marx's ideas on historical evolution. In the 1978 book "The Downfall of Capitalism and Communism", Ravi Batra pointed out crucial differences in the historical determinist approaches of Sarkar and Marx:


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Sarkar's main concern with the human element is what imparts universality to his thesis. Thus while social evolution according to Marx is governed chiefly by economic conditions, to Sarkar this dynamic is propelled by forces varying with time and space: sometimes physical prowess and high-spiritedness, sometimes intellect applied to dogmas and sometimes intellect applied to the accumulation of capital (p. 38). [...] The main line of defence of the Sarkarian hypothesis is that unlike the dogmas now in disrepute, it does not emphasise one particular point to the exclusion of all others: it is based on the sum total of human experience – the totality of human nature. Whenever a single factor, however important and fundamental, is called upon to illuminate the entire past and by implication the future, it simply invites disbelief, and after closer inspection, rejection. Marx committed that folly, and to some extent so did Toynbee. They both offered an easy prey to the critics, and the result is that today historical determinism is regarded by most scholars as an idea so bankrupt that it can never be solvent again.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Various thinkers have argued that a communist state would by its very nature erode the rights of its citizens due to the postulated violent revolution and dictatorship of proletariat, its collectivist nature, reliance on "the masses" rather than individuals, historical materialism and centrally planned economy. These points have also been debated by various thinkers, who argue that we currently exist in a Dictatorship of the Bourgeoisie that Marxism is not deterministic.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: The American neoclassical economist Milton Friedman argued that the absence of a free market economy under socialism would inevitably lead to an authoritarian political regime. Friedman's view was shared by Friedrich Hayek, who also believed that capitalism is a precondition for freedom to flourish in a nation state. David Harvey has responded to such claims by suggesting that socialism enables individual freedom, stating that "the achievement of individual liberties and freedoms is, I argued, a central aim of such emancipatory projects. But that achievement requires collectively building a society where each one of us has adequate life chances and life possibilities to realize each one of our own potentialities." In contrast, Jonathan Chait writes that "Marxist governments trample on individual rights because Marxist theory does not care about individual rights. Marxism is a theory of class justice. The only political rights it respects are those exercised by members of the oppressed class, with different left-wing ideological strands defining those classes in economic, racial, or gender terms, or sometimes all at once. Unlike liberalism, which sees rights as a positive-sum good that can expand or contract for society as a whole, Marxists (and other left-wing critics of liberalism) think of political rights as a zero-sum conflict."


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Anarchists have also argued that centralized communism would inevitably create coercion and state domination. Mikhail Bakunin believed Marxist regimes would lead to the "despotic control of the populace by a new and not at all numerous aristocracy". Even if this new aristocracy were to have originated from among the ranks of the proletariat, Bakunin argued that their new-found power would fundamentally change their view of society and thus lead them to "look down at the plain working masses".


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: Marxian economics have been criticized for a number of reasons. Some critics point to the Marxian analysis of capitalism while others argue that the economic system proposed by Marxism is unworkable.


title: Criticism of Marxism

text: There are also doubts that the rate of profit in capitalism would tend to fall as Marx predicted. In 1961, Marxian economist Nobuo Okishio devised a theorem (Okishio's theorem) showing that if capitalists pursue cost-cutting techniques and if the real wage does not rise, the rate of profit must rise.