title: The Blue Boy

text: On Mr. Toad's Wild Ride in Disneyland California, before exiting your car, you can spot a painting of Toad posing while dressed all in blue holding a feathered hat. This is a Toad-themed reproduction of Gainsborough's oil painting "The Blue Boy."


title: Ida Dalser

text: Ida Irene Dalser (20 August 1880 – 3 December 1937) was the first wife of Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.


title: Ida Dalser

text: Ida Dalser was born in Sopramonte, a village near Trento (Trient), which was then within the borders of the County of Tyrol in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The daughter of the town mayor, she was sent to Paris to study cosmetic medicine. When she returned, she moved to Milan, where she opened a French-style beauty salon.


title: Ida Dalser

text: It is unclear whether Ida Dalser first met young Benito Mussolini in Trento, where he had found his first job as a journalist in 1909, or in Milan, where he had moved soon afterwards. The two started a relationship, and when Mussolini was refused work on the basis of his fervent socialist political activity, she financed him with the revenues of her beautician job. According to some sources, they married in 1914, and in 1915 she had a son, Benito Albino Mussolini. Though Fascist agents sought to erase all traces of the relationship, an edict from the city of Milan ordering Mussolini to make maintenance payments to "his wife Ida Dalser" and their child was overlooked.


title: Ida Dalser

text: In 1917, Mussolini came back from the war. His political career accelerated, and in 1919 he went on to found the Fasci italiani di combattimento. In 1921, it became the National Fascist Party, and in the same year, he was also elected to the Chamber of Deputies.


title: Ida Dalser

text: With the 1922 March on Rome, Mussolini seized power and became a dictator who was officially recognised by the reigning House of Savoy.


title: Ida Dalser

text: Once Mussolini was in power, Ida Dalser and her son were placed under surveillance by the police, and paper evidence of their relationship was tracked down to be destroyed by government agents. She persisted in continuing to claim her role as the dictator's wife and even publicly denounced Mussolini as a traitor. She said that during his years in Milan, he had accepted a bribe from the French government, in exchange for political campaigning in support of the involvement of neutral Italy in the war on the side of France.


title: Ida Dalser

text: Eventually, she was transferred to the island of San Clemente in Venice, where she died in 1937. The cause of death was officially given as a "brain hemorrhage".


title: Ida Dalser

text: Benito Albino Mussolini was abducted by government agents and was told that his mother was dead. In 1931, he was adopted as an orphan at 15 by the fascist ex-police chief of Sopramonte. Initially educated at a Barnabite college in Moncalieri, he enrolled in the Italian Royal Navy and always remained under close surveillance by the fascist government. Nevertheless, he persisted in stating that Benito Mussolini was his father and was eventually forcibly interned in an asylum in Mombello, Province of Milan, where he died on 26 August 1942 after repeated coma-inducing injections, at 26.


title: Ida Dalser

text: The story of Benito Mussolini's first marriage was suppressed during the fascist rule and remained generally unknown for years afterwards. It was resurrected in 2005 by Italian journalist Marco Zeni and made public in a documentary on RAI state television as well as in two books ("L'ultimo filò" and "La moglie di Mussolini").


title: Ida Dalser

text: "Vincere", a biopic on Dalser's life that was directed by Marco Bellocchio and starring Giovanna Mezzogiorno, was screened at the 2009 American Film Institute Festival and in competition at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.


title: Stem Player

text: The Stem Player is an audio remix device and music streaming platform developed by British technology company Kano Computing in collaboration with American artist Kanye West. The device was launched in August 2021 in conjunction with the release of West's 10th studio album "Donda".


title: Stem Player

text: The Stem Player has four touch-sensitive haptic sliders that adjust individual stems for tracks, and six hardware buttons for volume and effects. The device's service uses artificial intelligence to split tracks into four stems (sometimes isolated vocals, bass, and drums) with each track being able to be manipulated using a front slider. Users can add tracks to the device by uploading an audio file to the device through an official online web application.


title: Stem Player

text: In February 2022, West made an announcement that he would begin releasing music exclusively to the device, commencing with "Donda 2" that month.


title: Stem Player

text: In January 2019, following an encounter within the company's booth at CES Technology Show in Las Vegas, West met company CEO Alex Klein and invited him over to his Calabasas home for breakfast. In a 2019 interview with journalist Zane Lowe for Apple Music, West confirmed he was working on developing a portable stem player.


title: Stem Player

text: On 25 August 2021, the Stem Player launched for pre-sale with the initial name of "Donda Stem Player". The device began shipping to purchasers in October that year, pre-loaded with three tracks not available on streaming platforms, including "Life of the Party" and other remixes that appeared on the "Donda" album.


title: Stem Player

text: The Stem Player mainly features a service that splits chosen songs into stems that can then be freely customized and manipulated using the device's touch-sensitive sliders and buttons; emulated versions of the service were widely circulated online in early 2022 following criticism of the Stem Player's expenses. It features controls for vocal isolation and volume control, real time loop and speed controls, tactile audio effects, audio track management, recording of mixes and recording playback.


title: Stem Player

text: The Stem Player is a beige, circular device, measuring 7 centimetres in diameter. 4 touch-sensitive LED sliders cover the front of the device. Physical specifications include 8GB of storage, USB-C connectivity, and support for Bluetooth.


title: Stem Player

text: Upon initial release, the Stem Player was met with a generally mixed to positive reception. Critics praised the device for its unique design as well as its AI-based technology. Criticism of the device was mainly relayed on the lack of wireless file downloading, limited storage space, low transfer speeds, and the omission of a navigation screen.


title: Stem Player

text: In a review for online publication "The Verge", Jay Peters found that "for someone who likes to make their own music, the Stem Player could be a mind-blowingly awesome tool." Jordan Minor of "PCMag" said "while the Donda Stem Player is an imaginative and surprisingly flexible music creation tool…it’s more of a toy than a path to superstardom". Terence O' Brien of "Engadget" called the device "fascinating and unique" but saw its design as “slightly unnerving”, criticized the instructions as “pretty barebones and at times, slightly confusing”, and was “disappointed by the Stem Player’s ability to handle non-Donda tracks”.


title: Stem Player

text: West received criticism following the announcement of his exclusive music releases on the platform, with many fans expressing concern and uncertainty that they would not be able to listen to the latest release as a result. Corey Taylor of Slipknot criticized West for the decision due to the price: "People can't afford their apartments, for fuсk's sake." This resulted in an emulator of the device being developed that people have used as an alternative to buying the device.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: Angamaly Diaries is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by Chemban Vinod Jose. The film features 86 debutant actors, with Antony Varghese, Anna Rajan, Kichu Tellus, Ullas Jose Chemban, Vineeth Vishwam, Bitto Davis, Tito Wilson, Sarath Kumar, and Sinoj Varghese playing the main roles. The film is Vijay Babu's first sole production under Friday Film House. The film released on 3 March 2017 to critical acclaim and emerged as a major commercial success.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: The story follows Vincent Pepe (Antony Varghese) who wants to be a powerful leader of a righteous gang that will rule the town of Angamaly, like his seniors. The film features an uncut 11-minute long take in the climax featuring around 1000 artists. It was included in The Hindu's top 25 Malayalam films of the decade.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: Vincent Pepe (Antony Varghese) is from Angamaly. He lives with his mother (Jolly Chirayath) and his sister Mercy (Athira Patel), while his father went to an undeveloped area in Karnataka to run a cotton business. Although he was brought up to be a devout Catholic and also became an altar server in the local church, and his real role models were the local football team, the New Stars Team, and their captain Babuji (Anson Antony), who was also a good/bad thug, feared by most in Angamaly. Inspired by them, Pepe decides to make his own gang and to be like Babuji and his New Stars Team.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: Pepe eventually selects the people for his gang, most of them being his friends. He eventually falls in love with Seema (Amrutha Anna Reji) in his childhood, like the rest of his gang. However, Pepe's friend and gang member Lino leaves the gang as his dad had to move to Chandigarh. The gang adopts a decent name, 'Palliyangadi Team', and they also make their first fight, in college, which ends in a disaster for them and the gang getting admitted in the hospital. Seema feels sorry for him, and the two fall in love. However, news comes that Ravi (Sarath) and Rajan (Tito Wilson) have murdered Babuji, and they get arrested, after the Palliyangadi Team makes a fight. Seema also marries someone else and settles in Singapore, so Pepe falls in love with Sakhi (Binny Rinky Benjamin) who is a nursing student in Angamaly, and her family is settled in Germany. She also happens to be Lily's (Anna Rajan) student. Pepe is hoping to marry Sakhi and to settle in Germany as well. Varkey (Kichu Tellus), a Palliyangadi Team member, falls in love with Alice (Sruthi Jayan), a local police constable at Angamaly.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: Pepe, along with owning a cable business, presents the idea of starting a pork business to the gang, to which they accept. They suggest help from Ravi and Rajan, now known as 'Appani Ravi' and 'U-Clamp Rajan', who own a pork farm and shop, and who also trade marijuana throughout Angamaly and participating in other crimes. Pepe reluctantly agrees to this, and they form a business.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: The story takes a turn when Pepe accidentally kills someone. There are a lot of fights because of this. The rest of the story revolves around this incident and how Pepe and his friends together get out of this issue.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: The film introduces 86 new actors and the audition was held at different parts of Kerala, especially at Kochi. Actor Chemban Vinod Jose wrote the screenplay. The filming started on 11 October 2016 in Kochi. "Angamaly Diaries" is Vijay Babu's first sole production after the spat with his business partner Sandra Thomas.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: The film's music was composed by Prashant Pillai, with lyrics by P. S. Rafeeque and Preeti Pillai. The full movie soundtrack was released on 23 February 2017 and consists of 9 songs: six original and three alternate versions.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: The film received positive reviews from the critics and became commercial success. The film collected over ₹20 crore in its final run in theatres.


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: Since its release, "Angamaly Diaries" has met with critical acclaim. It was lauded for its realistic making, cinematography, casting and performance of actors. The Hollywood Reporter's Deborah Young termed the film as a "rambunctious breakout" and praised the climax describing it as "dazzling, can’t-look-away finale, shot in a single 12-minute take that throws in everything plus the kitchen sink and brings the story to a shrill conclusion".


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: Anjana George of The Times of India gave the film 4 stars out of 5 and praised the film as "Showcasing a mélange of beautiful visuals, thumping music and natural performances, Angamaly Diaries is one of the more fresh and terrific attempts made by a filmmaker of late in Mollywood Film." She added, "Chemban has weaved in the dialect, food, music and culture of the people in Angamaly to the plot, paying careful attention to every intricate detail, while making it an engaging movie." Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost also gave it 4 stars out of 5 and called it as a "delightful, unexpectedly hilarious take on the squalid underbelly of Kerala’s Angamaly town.". She added, "If ever there was an example of the committed cinephile’s dictum “it is not the story but the treatment that makes a film”, you have it here. Because if you think about it, Angamaly Diaries – funny and insightful in equal measure – does not have a story in the conventional sense, yet that, among so many other reasons, is what makes it brilliant." Critic Veeyen termed the film as "Excellent" and stated that "the Angamaly that filmmaker Lijo Jose Pellissery and writer Vinod Jose scribble their diary notes on is a dusty, deafening town that smells of pork and sloshed human blood. The ceaseless squabbles for honour, money and might render it a land with almost dystopian proportions, where a terrifyingly realistic tale of subsistence unfurls." Baradwaj Rangan of Film Companion South wrote "Like last year’s Kannada blockbuster Kirik Party, Angamaly Diaries is proof that these relatively under-the-radar upstart films are making far better use of mainstream tropes – fights, songs, comedy – than your average mega-budget big-star vehicle...like Premam, Angamaly Diaries places a certain kind of small-town, short-fused masculinity under a microscope. Men are defined by their actions – and I’m not just talking about the action sequences."


title: Angamaly Diaries

text: The film also received high praises from the film fraternity. Actor Mohanlal wrote: "Happened to watch Angamaly Diaries and I'm impressed by the way the movie is made. Brilliant acting by every one and Kudos to the whole team and to Chemban Vinod Jose and Lijo Jose Pellissery". Actor Prithviraj Sukumaran lauded it as a "stunning piece of film making" and praised its "original writing". Actor Nivin Pauly applauded the casting, performances, story calling them "so refreshing and real". Director Karthik Subbaraj called the film as "Super Fantastic" and lauded it, saying "Writing, Performances & Filmmaking Crafts at its best". Director Anurag Kashyap called it as "an extraordinary film" and tagged "Angamaly Diaries" as his film of the year so far. Antony Varghese won the Youth Icon Award at Asianet Film Awards.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck Shinawatra (, , ; ; born 21 June 1967), nicknamed Pou (, , , meaning "crab"), is a Thai businesswoman, politician and a member of the Pheu Thai Party who became the Prime Minister of Thailand following the 2011 election. Yingluck was Thailand's first female prime minister and its youngest in over 60 years. She was removed from office on 7 May 2014 by a Constitutional Court decision.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Born in Chiang Mai Province into a wealthy family of Hakka Chinese descent, Yingluck Shinawatra earned a bachelor's degree from Chiang Mai University and a master's degree from Kentucky State University, both in public administration. She then became an executive in the businesses founded by her elder brother, Thaksin Shinawatra and later became the president of property developer SC Asset and managing director of Advanced Info Service. Thaksin served as Prime Minister from 2001 until 2006 when he was overthrown by a military coup. He fled abroad shortly before he was convicted in absentia of using his position to increase his own wealth. He has since lived in self-imposed exile to avoid his sentence in prison.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: In May 2011, the Pheu Thai Party, which maintains close ties to Thaksin, nominated Yingluck as their candidate for Prime Minister in the 2011 election. She campaigned on a platform of national reconciliation, poverty eradication, and corporate income tax reduction and won a landslide victory.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: After mass protests against her government in late 2013, she asked for a dissolution of parliament on 9 December 2013, triggering a snap election, but continued to act as caretaker prime minister. On 7 May 2014, the Constitutional Court of Thailand removed Yingluck Shinawatra from the office of caretaker prime minister and defence minister following months of political crisis. The court found her guilty of charges of abuse of power over the removal of national security chief Thawil Pliensri in 2011. In the wake of the May 2014 military coup, Yingluck was arrested along with former cabinet ministers and political leaders of all parties and held at an army camp for a few days while the coup was consolidated.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: She was tried in 2016 but did not appear in court in August 2017 for the verdict. An arrest warrant was issued. She reportedly fled the country. In September 2017, she was found guilty in absentia and sentenced to five years in prison. She is rumoured to now be in London. Yingluck has become the chairwoman and legal representative of Shantou International Container Terminals Ltd since 12 December 2018, a Chinese port operator, operating in the Shantou Port area in eastern Guangdong.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck Shinawatra is the youngest of nine children of Loet Shinawatra and Yindi Ramingwong. Her father was a businessman and member of parliament for Chiang Mai. Her paternal family is of Hakka Chinese origin, descending from Seng Saekhu (her great-grandfather) who immigrated from Meizhou, Guangdong, to Siam in the 1860s, becoming a tax farmer in Chiang Mai. On her maternal side, she is a descendant of the former royal family of Chiang Mai through her grandmother, Princess Chanthip na Chiangmai (great-great-granddaughter of Prince Thammalangka who ruled Chiang Mai in the early-19th century). Yingluck grew up in Chiang Mai and attended Regina Coeli College, a private girls' school, for the lower secondary level, followed by Yupparaj College, a co-educational school, at the upper secondary level. She graduated with a BA degree from the Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration, at Chiang Mai University in 1988 and received a MPA degree (specialisation in Management Information Systems) from Kentucky State University in 1991.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck began her career as a sales and marketing intern in 1993 at Shinawatra Directories Co., Ltd., a telephone directory business founded by AT&T International. She later became the director of procurement and the director of operations. In 1994, she became the general manager of Rainbow Media, a subsidiary of International Broadcasting Corporation (which later became TrueVisions). She left as Deputy CEO of IBC in 2002, and became the CEO of Advanced Info Service (AIS), Thailand's largest mobile phone operator. After the sale of Shin Corporation (the parent company of AIS) to Temasek Holdings, Yingluck resigned from AIS, but remained managing director of SC Asset Co Ltd, the Shinawatra family property development company. She was investigated by Thailand's Securities and Exchange Commission regarding possible insider trading after she sold shares of her AIS stock for a profit prior to the sale of the Shin Corporation to Temasek Holdings. However, no charges were filed. Yingluck Shinawatra is also a committee member and secretary of the Thaicom Foundation.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck received 0.68 percent of Shin Corp shares out of the 46.87 percent that Thaksin Shinawatra and her then-wife held in 1999. The military junta-appointed Assets Examination Committee charged that Yingluck made up false transactions and that "there were no real payments for each Ample Rich Co., Ltd shares sold" and "the transactions were made at a cost basis of par value in order to avoid income taxes, and all the dividends paid out by Shin to those people were transferred to [her sister-in-law] Potjaman's bank accounts". However, the AEC did not pursue a case against her. Yingluck, in response, claimed that "her family has been a victim of political persecution".


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: After the governing People's Power party was dissolved and its executive board was banned from political activity for five years by the Constitutional Court on 2 December 2008, the former People's Power Party MPs formed the Pheu Thai Party. Yingluck was asked to become the party's leader, but she declined, saying that she had no desire to be prime minister and wanted to concentrate on business. Yongyuth Wichaidit became the leader of the party.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: US diplomatic cables leaked in 2011 revealed that during a 9 September 2009 meeting, former Deputy Prime Minister and "close Thaksin ally" Sompong Amornwiwat told Ambassador to Thailand Eric John that she did not envision a big role for Yingluck in the Pheu Thai Party, and that "Thaksin himself was not eager to raise her profile within the party, and was more focused on finding ways to keep his own hand active in politics." However, in a subsequent cable dated 25 November 2009, the ambassador noted that in a meeting with Yingluck, she spoke with confidence about the "operations, strategy and goals" of the Pheu Thai party and seemed "far more poised" than in previous meetings. The cable cited Yingluck saying that, "Someone could easily emerge relatively late in the game to take the reins of the party and serve as the next Prime Minister."


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck's bank account was among 86 accounts that the Abhisit government accused of being used to finance the Red Shirt protesters during their demonstrations in 2010. Abhisit accused the Red Shirts of trying to overthrow the monarchy, something they denied. However, the government did not pursue any legal action against her. The Department for Special Investigation found that from 28 April 2009 to May 2010, 150 million baht was deposited into one of her accounts while 166 million baht was withdrawn. On 28 April 2010 alone, 144 million baht was withdrawn.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yongyuth had stated her intention of resigning as party leader in late 2010. Speculation about a snap election in early 2011 heightened internal debate over the party leadership. The front runners were Yingluck and Mingkwan Saengsuwan, who had led the opposition in an unsuccessful motion of no confidence against the Democrat Party-led coalition government. As late as 28 January 2011, Yingluck continued to rule out the party leadership, repeating that she wanted to focus on business. However, she was endorsed by veteran politician Chalerm Yubamrung.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 16 May 2011, the Pheu Thai party voted to name Yingluck as their top candidate under the party-list system (and presumably be the party's nominee for Prime Minister) for parliamentary election scheduled for 3 July. However, she was not made party leader and did not join the party's executive board. The ultimate decision was made by Thaksin himself. "Some said she is my nominee. That's not true. But it can be said that Yingluck is my clone... Another important thing is that Ms Yingluck is my sister and she can make decisions for me. She can say 'yes' or 'no' on my behalf," noted Thaksin in an interview.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Pheu Thai campaigned with a slogan of "Thaksin thinks, Pheu Thai acts". Yingluck's main campaign theme was reconciliation following the extended political crisis from 2008 to 2010, culminating in the military crackdown on protesters which left nearly 100 protesters dead and thousands injured. She promised to empower the Independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (ITRC), the panel that the Democrat-led government had set up to investigate the killings. The ITRC had complained that its work was hampered by the military and the government.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck also proposed a general amnesty for all major politically motivated incidents that had taken place since the 2006 coup, which could include the coup itself, court rulings banning Thai Rak Thai and People's Power Party leaders from seeking office, the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) seizures of Government House and Don Muang and Suvarnabhumi Airports, the military crackdowns of 2009 and 2010, and the conviction of Thaksin Shinawatra for abuse of power. The proposal was fiercely attacked by the government, who claimed that it would specifically give amnesty to Thaksin, and also result in the return to him of the 46 billion baht of his wealth that the government had seized as a penalty. However, Yingluck denied that the return of seized assets was a priority for the Pheu Thai party, and repeated that she had no intention of giving amnesty to any one person. Abhisit claimed outright that Yingluck was lying and that amnesty to Thaksin actually was the Pheu Thai party's policy. The government blamed Pheu Thai for the bloodshed during the military crackdown.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck described a 2020 vision for the elimination of poverty. She promised to reduce the corporate income tax from 30 per cent to 23 per cent and then 20 per cent by 2013 and to raise the minimum wage to 300 baht per day and the minimum wage for university graduates to 15,000 baht per month. Her agricultural policies included improving operating cashflow to farmers and providing loans of up to 70 per cent of expected income, based on a guaranteed rice price of 15,000 baht per tonne. She also planned to provide free public Wi-Fi and a tablet PC to every schoolchild (a Thai Rak Thai Party plan to provide one laptop per child was cancelled after the 2006 military coup).


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Exit polls indicated a landslide victory, with Pheu Thai projected to win as many as 310 seats in the 500-seat parliament. However, the official result was 265 seats and 47 percent of the vote for Pheu Thai, with a 75.03 percent election turnout rate. There were 3 million invalid ballots; the large number was cited as the cause for the difference between the exit poll results and the official count. It was only the 2nd time in Thai history that a single party won more than half of the seats in parliament; the first time was in 2005 with Thaksin's own Thai Rak Thai Party.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon welcomed the outcome of the elections and called for all parties to "respect the will of the Thai people as expressed through the democratic process." Aung San Su Kyi congratulated Yingluck, praised the election as "free and fair," and said that she expected "the ties between Myanmar and Thailand to get better."


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck quickly formed a coalition with the Chartthaipattana (19 seats), Chart Pattana Puea Pandin (7 seats), and Phalang Chon (7 seats), and Mahachon (1 seat), and New Democracy (1 seat) parties, giving her a total of 300 seats. Outgoing Defense Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said that he accepted the election results, and after having talked with military leaders, would not intervene.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Following the general election, the first separate session of the House of Representatives was held in the morning of 5 August to select a new Prime Minister. 296 of the 500 members of parliament voted to approve the premiership of Yingluck Shinawatra, three disapproved, and 197 abstained. Four Democrat lawmakers were absent. Somsak Kiatsuranont, President of the National Assembly, advised and consented King Bhumibol Adulyadej to appoint Yingluck Prime Minister on 8 August. The Proclamation on her appointment was made retroactive, taking effect from 5 August.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck established her cabinet on 9 August. She and her Ministers were sworn in on 10 August. They were then required to complete addressing their administrative policy to the National Assembly. According to the Constitution, the address had to be made within fifteen days from the effective date of the Proclamation on Yingluck's appointment.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Key members of Yingluck's cabinet include former Interior Permanent Secretary Yongyuth Wichaidit as Interior Minister, Securities and Exchange Commission Secretary-General Thirachai Phuvanatnaranubala as Finance Minister, and former Defense Permanent Secretary General Yuthasak Sasiprapa as Defense Minister. Absent from Yingluck's cabinet were Red Shirts who had spearheaded protests against the Democrat-led government.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Polls from shortly after her cabinet was announced found that the cabinet rated most highly in terms of economic competency. It also showed that Yingluck was much more popular than her exiled brother Thaksin.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: The 2011 rainy season saw the highest levels of rainfall in Thailand in the previous 50 years. Flooding started in northern Thailand on 31 July, a week prior to Yingluck's appointment as Prime Minister. Flooding quickly spread from the North to the Central Chao Phraya River Basin, and by the beginning of October, the province of Ayutthaya, north of Bangkok, was almost flooded. The floods were the worst in Thailand in over 50 years. Yingluck established centralised flood monitoring and relief operations in mid-August and made tours of flooded provinces beginning 12 August. Yingluck also pledged to invest in long-term flood prevention projects, including the construction of drainage canals. Flood reduction measures were hampered by disputes between people on the different sides of flood barriers: those on the flooded side in some instances sabotaged the barriers, sometimes resulting in armed confrontation. Opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and military leaders called for Yingluck to declare a state of emergency, claiming that it would give the military greater authority to deal with embankment sabotage. A state of emergency had last been declared in 2010 during the Abhisit-government's crackdown on anti-government protesters. Yingluck refused to declare a state of emergency, saying that it would not improve flood management. Instead, she invoked the 2007 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Act and issued a disaster warning which gave her government greater authority to manage flood control and drainage.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 18 January 2012, Yingluck reshuffled her cabinet, assigning six cabinet members to new posts, naming ten new ministers and deputies and dismissing nine members of the government. The regrouping was assessed as a step to increase loyalty to the head of government and a reaction to discontent with the government's management of the flood disaster. Especially noted was the choice of Nalinee Taveesin (Minister in the PM's Office), who is on a US blacklist for alleged business links to Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, and Nattawut Saikua (Deputy Minister of Agriculture), the first leader of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD, or "Red Shirts") in the government. Yingluck's first cabinet had not incorporated any "Red Shirts" activists.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 30 June 2013, the fifth reshuffle occurred in the cabinet of Yingluck, leading to changes in 18 cabinet posts. She herself assumed the post of minister of defence in the reshuffle.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 9 December 2013, Yingluck dissolved the country's parliament and called early elections in the face of anti-government protests.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 7 May 2014, the Constitutional Court unanimously dismissed Yingluck from office in consequence of her removing an appointee of an earlier government, Thawil Pliensri, from his post as National Security Council secretary-general in 2011. The court deemed the transfer unconstitutional and therefore, removed Yingluck from office.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Based on the 2007 Thai constitution, public officials can be charged and imprisoned for abuse of power and negligence, even without proof of corruption.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: As chairperson of the rice committee, Yingluck was investigated by Thailand's anti-graft agency about her role in the rice pledging scheme. Two of her former ministers were also investigated, and later sentenced for decades in prison.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Despite being chairperson of the rice committee, Yingluck admitted in the 2013 censure debate against her government that she had never attended meetings of the National Rice Policy Committee.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 8 May 2014, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) unanimously agreed to indict Yingluck in the rice-pledging scheme corruption case citing millions of rice farmers who remain unpaid.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 28 November, Thailand's National Legislative Assembly (NLA) denied the addition of 72 pieces of evidence to her rice-pledging case. The first hearing of her impeachment case was also scheduled to be on 9 January 2015.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 25 August 2017, the scheduled verdict day, Yingluck did not appear before the court, who then issued an arrest warrant for her and confiscated her bail. 3,000 of her supporters gathered outside the court in Bangkok. Reportedly, Yingluck fled the country ahead of the judgment. Some senior members of her political party said she left Thailand the week before to Dubai. The pronouncement was then rescheduled to 27 September 2017.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: On 27 September 2017, in her absence, she was found guilty of dereliction of duty over the rice subsidy scheme and was sentenced to five years in prison.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: Yingluck's passports were cancelled by the Junta controlled government, and she is rumoured to be in London and to have a UK passport. She has been granted citizenship by the government of Serbia.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: During Yingluck Shinawatra's tenure as Prime Minister, she travelled to more than 40 countries and territories in an effort to strengthen the relationship between them. Her goals included improvement of trade relations and increased export business investments, and studying water resources management.


title: Yingluck Shinawatra

text: She has one son, Supasek, with her common law husband, Anusorn Amornchat. Anusorn was an executive of the Charoen Pokphand Group and managing director of M Link Asia Corporation PCL. Her sister, Yaowapha Wongsawat, is the wife of former prime minister, Somchai Wongsawat.


title: Linda Womack

text: Linda Womack (née Cooke; born April 25, 1953), now known as Zeriiya Zekkariyas, is an American singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of soul singer Sam Cooke. She later had a successful career as half of the duo Womack & Womack with her husband Cecil Womack.


title: Linda Womack

text: Linda Womack (née Cooke) is the eldest child of Barbara Campbell and Sam Cooke, born on April 25, 1953. Her parents married in 1958. In December 1964, when she was 11 years old, her father was killed. Soon after, her mother married Cooke's protégé Bobby Womack on March 5, 1965. In 1970, Barbara shot at him after she discovered he was having an affair with Linda, who was 17-years-old at the time. According to Womack, Linda never spoke to her mother again after that incident.


title: Linda Womack

text: In 1972, Linda co-wrote Bobby Womack's 1972 hit song "Woman's Gotta Have It". In 1979, she signed to Capricorn Records and went on the road with him. They planned to collaborate for her debut album. She gained renown as a songwriter of soul songs in the late 1970s and '80s, with "Love Bankrupt", released by Patti LaBelle; and the ballad "New Day" by soul singer and jazz guitarist, George Benson.


title: Linda Womack

text: Linda married Bobby's brother Cecil Womack, and together they had a successful recording career under the name Womack & Womack. Their first album, "Love Wars", released by Elektra Records, was a critical hit. "Baby I'm Scared of You" was a Top 40 R&B single. Other albums included "Radio M.U.S.I.C. Man" (Elektra 1985), "Starbright" (Manhattan EMI 1986), "Conscience" (Island 1988) and "Family Spirit" on Arista/RCA in 1991. Their 1988 single "Teardrops" from the album "Conscience" was a worldwide hit. The song, written by Linda and Cecil (as Womack and Womack), featured Linda on lead vocals. The 1993 album "Transformation Into The House Of Zekkariyas" was their last as Womack & Womack.


title: Linda Womack

text: In the 1990s, Linda and her family moved to South Africa. She records with her seven children as The House of Zekkariyas. Her husband died on January 25, 2013 in South Africa, aged 65.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a graphical representation for specifying business processes in a business process model.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Originally developed by the Business Process Management Initiative (BPMI), BPMN has been maintained by the Object Management Group (OMG) since the two organizations merged in 2005. Version 2.0 of BPMN was released in January 2011, at which point the name was amended to Business Process Model "and" Notation to reflect the introduction of execution semantics, which were introduced alongside the existing notational and diagramming elements. Though it is an OMG specification, BPMN is also ratified as ISO 19510. The latest version is BPMN 2.0.2, published in January 2014.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) is a standard for business process modeling that provides a graphical notation for specifying business processes in a "Business Process Diagram" (BPD), based on a flowcharting technique very similar to activity diagrams from Unified Modeling Language (UML). The objective of BPMN is to support business process management, for both technical users and business users, by providing a notation that is intuitive to business users, yet able to represent complex process semantics. The BPMN specification also provides a mapping between the graphics of the notation and the underlying constructs of execution languages, particularly Business Process Execution Language (BPEL).


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: BPMN has been designed to provide a standard notation readily understandable by all business stakeholders, typically including business analysts, technical developers and business managers. BPMN can therefore be used to support the generally desirable aim of all stakeholders on a project adopting a common language to describe processes, helping to avoid communication gaps that can arise between business process design and implementation.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: BPMN is one of a number of business process modeling language standards used by modeling tools and processes. While the current variety of languages may suit different modeling environments, there are those who advocate for the development or emergence of a single, comprehensive standard, combining the strengths of different existing languages. It is suggested that in time, this could help to unify the expression of basic business process concepts (e.g., public and private processes, choreographies), as well as advanced process concepts (e.g., exception handling, transaction compensation).


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Two new standards, using a similar approach to BPMN have been developed, addressing case management modeling (Case Management Model and Notation) and decision modeling (Decision Model and Notation).


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: BPMN is constrained to support only the concepts of modeling applicable to business processes. Other types of modeling done by organizations for non-process purposes are out of scope for BPMN. Examples of modeling excluded from BPMN are:


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: In addition, while BPMN shows the flow of data (messages), and the association of data artifacts to activities, it is not a data flow diagram.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: BPMN models are expressed by simple diagrams constructed from a limited set of graphical elements. For both business users and developers, they simplify understanding of business activities' flow and process.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: These four categories enable creation of simple business process diagrams (BPDs). BPDs also permit making new types of flow object or artifact, to make the diagram more understandable.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: "Flow objects" are the main describing elements within BPMN, and consist of three core elements: events, activities, and gateways.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: "Flow objects" are connected to each other using Connecting objects, which are of three types: sequences, messages, and associations.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Swim lanes are a visual mechanism of organising and categorising activities, based on cross functional flowcharting, and in BPMN consist of two types:


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Artifacts allow developers to bring some more information into the model/diagram. In this way the model/diagram becomes more readable. There are three pre-defined Artefacts and they are:


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: The vision of BPMN 2.0.2 is to have one single specification for a new Business Process Model and Notation that defines the notation, metamodel and interchange format but with a modified name that still preserves the "BPMN" brand. The features include:


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Business process modeling is used to communicate a wide variety of information to a wide variety of audiences. BPMN is designed to cover this wide range of usage and allows modeling of end-to-end business processes to allow the viewer of the Diagram to be able to easily differentiate between sections of a BPMN Diagram. There are three basic types of sub-models within an end-to-end BPMN model: Private (internal) business processes, Abstract (public) processes, and Collaboration (global) processes:


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Within and between these three BPMN sub-models, many types of Diagrams can be created. The following are the types of business processes that can be modeled with BPMN (those with asterisks may not map to an executable language):


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: BPMN is designed to allow all the above types of Diagrams. However, it should be cautioned that if too many types of sub-models are combined, such as three or more private processes with message flow between each of them, then the Diagram may become difficult to understand. Thus, the OMG recommends that the modeler pick a focused purpose for the BPD, such as a private or collaboration process.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: Event-driven process chains (EPC) and BPMN are two notations with similar expressivity when process modeling is concerned. A BPMN model can be transformed into an EPC model. Conversely, an EPC model can be transformed into a BPMN model with only a slight loss of information. A study showed that for the same process, the BPMN model may need around 40% less elements than the corresponding EPC model, but with a slightly larger set of symbols. The BPMN model would therefore be easier to read. The conversion between the two notations can be automated.


title: Business Process Model and Notation

text: UML activity diagrams and BPMN are two notations that can be used to model the same processes: a subset of the activity diagram elements have a similar semantic than BPMN elements, despite the smaller and less expressive set of symbols. A study showed that both types of process models appear to have the same level of readability for inexperienced users, despite the higher formal constraints of an activity diagram.


title: Las Ketchup

text: Las Ketchup is a Spanish girl group founded by flamenco record producer . The group, which consists of sisters Lucía, Lola, and Pilar Muñoz (later to be joined by a fourth sister Rocío), is best known for the 2002 hit single, "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)", a single that sold over seven million copies worldwide. The group's debut studio album, "Hijas del Tomate", has sold over two million copies worldwide, but the second did not achieve the same success.


title: Las Ketchup

text: They represented Spain at Eurovision Song Contest 2006 in Athens with the song "Un Blodymary". The group has not released any singles since 2006, but still performs together publicly around Spain and other countries.


title: Las Ketchup

text: All members of the group are daughters of flamenco musician Juan Manuel Muñoz Expósito, best known by his stage name, El Tomate (Spanish for "The Tomato").


title: Las Ketchup

text: Las Ketchup were originally discovered by the flamenco record producer Manuel "Queco" Ruiz, who signed them to his newly formed, independent Córdoba label Shaketown Music, that he ran together with Manuel Illán.


title: Las Ketchup

text: In the middle of 2002, they had a major flamenco Europop fusion hit with "Aserejé" (released as "The Ketchup Song" in the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries), which reached the top of the charts in many countries, including: Spain, Portugal, Colombia, the United Kingdom, Italy, Japan, Albania, France, Finland, Turkey, Syria, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, and Australia. However, it failed to hit the top 40 on the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100. The title and part of the lyrics were in Spanish. The hit also had an accompanying dance. The second single was "Kusha Las Payas" and garnered moderate success. The group re-released "The Ketchup Song" later in the same year, with a new video, as a Christmas song.


title: Las Ketchup

text: The group took an extended absence from the public eye to write songs for a new album and, during the same period, Pilar had a baby. In 2006, they were joined by Rocío, a fourth sister, and came back as a four girl group to represent Spain in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The girls said themselves that Rocío had always been a member of "Las Ketchup", but that had not appeared in the promo material or performances because she was pregnant. They released their second studio album, titled "Un Blodymary". The album release was delayed until the beginning of 2006. They planned to release one million copies and their record producer Queco, who also produced and wrote their worldwide single, "Aserejé", indicated that the album displayed their original sound. Their first single from the album was also titled "Un Blodymary" for the Spanish entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 2006. The song finished twenty-first with only 18 points.


title: Las Ketchup

text: In 2016, the group performed their hit "The Ketchup Song (Aserejé)" as an interval during the first semi final of the Swedish pre-selection to the Eurovision Song Contest, Melodifestivalen. In 2017, they performed at the Pal Norte in Monterrey, Mexico.


title: Las Ketchup

text: – Best Pop Album By a Duo or Group with Vocals "Hijas del Tomate" (Nominated, lost to Bacilos's "Caraluna".)


title: Las Ketchup

text: In 2002, the German comedian Elmar Brandt wrote (using the tune of Aserejé) a Gerhard Schröder parody called "Der Steuersong" (The Tax Song) for the radio program "The Gerd Show".


title: Las Ketchup

text: In 2002, a satirical version to the tune of Aserejé by "El Grupo Mayonesa" circulated in Gibraltar prior to the referendum on a proposal of joint sovereignty, entitled 'Vota Que No, Que No, Que No No No'


title: Rod Dreher

text: Raymond Oliver Dreher Jr. (born February 14, 1967), known as Rod Dreher, is an American writer and editor living in Budapest, Hungary. He is a senior editor and blogger at "The American Conservative" and author of several books, including "How Dante Can Save Your Life", "The Benedict Option", and "Live Not by Lies". He has written about religion, politics, film, and culture in "National Review" and "National Review Online", "The Weekly Standard", "The Wall Street Journal", "Touchstone", "Men's Health", the "Los Angeles Times", and other publications.


title: Rod Dreher

text: He was a film reviewer for the "South Florida Sun-Sentinel" and chief film critic for the "New York Post". His commentaries have been broadcast on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered", and he has appeared on CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, Court TV, and other television networks.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher was born on February 14, 1967, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was named after his father, Ray Oliver Dreher. He was raised in the small town of St. Francisville, and was part of the first graduating class at Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts in Natchitoches. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism from Louisiana State University in 1989.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher began his career as a television critic for "The Washington Times", and later worked as chief film critic for the "New York Post" and editor for the "National Review". In 2002, Dreher wrote an essay that explored a subcategory of American conservatism he defined as "granola conservatism", whose adherents he described as "crunchy cons". He defined these people as traditionalist conservatives who believed in environmental conservation, frugal living, and the preservation of traditional family values, while also expressing skepticism towards aspects of free-market capitalism. He portrayed "crunchy cons" as being generally religious (typically traditionalist Roman Catholics, conservative Protestants, or Eastern Orthodox). Four years later, Dreher published a book expanding on the themes of this manifesto, "Crunchy Cons: How Birkenstocked Burkeans, Gun-Loving Organic Gardeners, Evangelical Free-Range Farmers, Hip Homeschooling Mamas, Right-Wing Nature Lovers, and Their Diverse Tribe of Countercultural Conservatives Plan to Save America (or At Least the Republican Party)".


title: Rod Dreher

text: From 2006, Dreher maintained a Beliefnet blog entitled "Crunchy Con"; the blog was renamed "Rod Dreher" in 2010, with a shift in focus from political to cultural topics. During this time, Dreher worked as an editorial writer and columnist for "The Dallas Morning News", which he left in late 2009 to become the publications director for the John Templeton Foundation. On August 20, 2011, Dreher announced on Twitter that he was leaving the Templeton Foundation in order to return to full-time writing. In 2013, Dreher published a book titled "The Little Way of Ruthie Leming", about his childhood in Louisiana and his sister's battle with cancer. In 2015, Dreher published "How Dante Can Save Your Life," a memoir about how reading Dante's "Divine Comedy" helped him after his sister's death. Dreher has maintained a blog at the "American Conservative", where he is now senior editor, since 2008; in 2017, the blog received on average more than a million page views per month.


title: Rod Dreher

text: From 2015 to 2021 Dreher wrote about what he calls the "Benedict Option", the idea that Christians who want to preserve their faith should segregate themselves to some degree from "post-Obergefell" society, which he sees as drifting further away from "traditional Christian values" (particularly those regarding sex, marriage, and gender). Dreher says that Christians should try to form intentional communities, such as the Bruderhof Communities, or the School for Conversion. The phrase "Benedict Option" was inspired by Alasdair MacIntyre's 1981 book "After Virtue," and refers to the sixth-century monk Benedict of Nursia. Dreher's book on the subject, "The Benedict Option", was published by Sentinel in 2017.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Reviews for "The Benedict Option" ranged from the laudatory to the highly critical. David Brooks of "The New York Times" described it as "the most discussed and most important religious book of the decade," while also expressing concern that "by retreating to neat homogeneous monocultures, most separatists will end up . . . fostering narrowness, prejudice and moral arrogance." Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote that the prominence the book gives to "same-sex relations," as opposed to "poverty, racism and war," "reinforces the common perception that the only ethical issues that interest traditional Christians are those involving sexual matters." Nonetheless, Williams suggested that "The book is worth reading because it poses some helpfully tough questions to a socially liberal majority, as well as to believers of a more traditional colour." Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, described Dreher's book as "brilliant, prophetic, and wise," while Alan Levinovitz, a religious scholar at James Madison University, described it as "spiritual pornography," the soul of which "is not love of God; it is bitter loathing of those who do not share it." Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito cited "The Benedict Option" in a court ruling in favor of the freedom of hiring by two religious schools on July 3, 2020.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Various conferences and symposia have discussed the Benedict Option as an idea, as have Christian theologians and commentators. The Reformed philosophical theologian James K. A. Smith, for instance, has written a number of critical responses to the idea, including one in which he argues that the world Dreher laments the loss of "tends to be white. And what seems to be lost is a certain default power and privilege." Dreher has repeatedly called these charges "motivated reasoning" on his blog. The Catholic writer Elizabeth Bruenig has argued that Dreher's strategy of "withdrawing from conventional politics is difficult to parse with Christ's command that we love our neighbors," while the Christian literary scholar Alan Jacobs has responded to these and other criticisms of "The Benedict Option". The writer Leah Libresco has published a guide to the practical aspects of building "BenOp communities."


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher's experience as a 2021 fellow at Hungary's Danube Institute and his observance of Viktor Orbán's government persuaded him that Christian conservatives could in fact still win and wield substantial political power. "Orbán was so unafraid, so unapologetic about using his political power to push back on the liberal élites in business and media and culture," Dreher told "The New Yorker"s Andrew Marantz in 2022. "It was so inspiring: this is what a vigorous conservative government can do if it's serious about stemming this horrible global tide of wokeness." Dreher also argued that the U.S. Republican Party needs "a leader with Orbán's vision—someone who can build on what Trumpism accomplished, without the egomania and inattention to policy, and who is not afraid to step on the liberals' toes."


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher holds to what he describes as biblical Christian teaching on sexuality and gender, including on the sinfulness of same-sex sexual relations and the naturalness of male–female difference. While some writers have praised Dreher's insights into the fundamental nature of the social changes caused by the sexual revolution, others have argued that Dreher has not sufficiently grappled with the problem of how conservative Christians should live alongside those whose lifestyles they disapprove of and have criticized the language Dreher has used to describe gay people. Dreher has published numerous articles expressing alarm at the growing visibility of transgender people in American society, which he sees as part of a "technology-driven revolution in our view of personhood." He has been described in "The Guardian" as "a man who appears to view fomenting transgender panic more as a vocation than a job."


title: Rod Dreher

text: In September 2018, during Brett Kavanaugh's U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearing, Dreher sided with those conservatives who minimized the importance of an alleged sexual assault by Kavanaugh when he was 17. Dreher tweeted: "I do not understand why the loutish drunken behavior of a 17 year old high school boy has anything to tell us about the character of a 53 year old judge."


title: Rod Dreher

text: In a 2014 blog post titled "Tips for Not Getting Shot by Cops," Dreher wrote that Michael Brown was shot by police in part because Brown was a "lawbreaker" who "hung out with lawbreakers," although "None of this means that Wilson was justified in using deadly force against Brown" and "it doesn't mean that there aren't big problems with policing in Ferguson."


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher is a critic of large-scale immigration to the United States and Europe; he has defended the concept of Western civilization and condemned identity politics associated with race. In 2001, Dreher published an article mocking the funeral celebrations of the African American singer Aaliyah, and subsequently reported having received threatening phone calls from people with "black accents". (Dreher later expressed regret for his comments on the funeral.) In June 2018, Dreher compared African immigration to Europe to a "barbarian invasion". Subsequent to the Christchurch mosque shootings of March 2019, Dreher strongly condemned the shooter's actions and aspects of his ideology, but also commented that the shooter had "legitimate, realistic concerns" about "declining numbers of ethnic Europeans" in Western countries; as a result of these comments, multiple scholars criticized the University of Wollongong's Ramsay Center for Western Civilization for inviting Dreher as a speaker. Dreher has said that his concerns about immigration stem from sympathy for the less well-off, whom he argues are most negatively affected it, and by a desire to preserve Western cultural traditions.


title: Rod Dreher

text: In January 2018, Dreher attracted criticism for his qualified defense of Donald Trump's comments regarding "shithole countries" (he defended the content of the comments while criticizing their vulgarity), and in particular, for his suggestion that readers would object to section 8 housing being built in their neighborhoods because "you don't want the destructive culture of the poor imported into your neighborhood." In response to those remarks, Sarah Jones of the progressive commentary magazine "The New Republic" described Dreher as having a "race problem." Her article also referred to Dreher's comments on Jean Raspail's 1973 novel "Camp of the Saints." Dreher has strongly criticized the novel's use of derogatory language to describe non-Westerners and called the book bad, both aesthetically and morally. However, Dreher has also referred to the "valuable" and "prophetic" lessons that can be drawn from the work, including from Raspail's argument, which Dreher presents as potentially correct, that "the only way to defend Western civilization from these invaders [non-Western immigrants] is to be willing to shed their blood." He has also drawn parallels between the migrant crisis described in the book and contemporary immigration to Europe and the United States. Dreher replied to Sarah Jones by calling her a "social justice warrior" and "propagandist." Dreher's comments on section 8 housing were defended by the columnist Damon Linker, who wrote: "Every time a wealthy liberal enclave takes a NIMBY position on affordable housing, it shows he [Dreher] has a point about the need for greater honesty on these issues".


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher has been a consistent critic of the role of Islam in international affairs, but has shifted in his view of the efficacy of foreign military interventions. Subsequent to the September 11 attacks, Dreher published numerous articles that were critical of Islam, including one in which he praised the anti-Islamic Italian writer Oriana Fallaci's anti-Islamic book, "The Rage and the Pride", as containing "much truth" to "shock awake a noble civilization hypnotized by multiculturalist mumbo-jumbo"; he also noted that the book contained a "few ugly parts". In 2002, Dreher described the assassinated Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn as a "martyr in the war on political correctness." Dreher supported the Iraq War in 2003, but later came to believe that the invasion was a mistake; he now supports a non-interventionist foreign policy. He was critical of US President Donald Trump's decision to order missile strikes in Syria in April 2017.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher has expressed support for various conservative and neo-nationalist governments and parties in Europe. He has praised the French "Front National" politician Marion Maréchal-Le Pen. He has written that although Francisco Franco and his regime were not "without sin", he is "glad that Franco won" the Spanish Civil War, due to the Red Terror carried out by the Second Spanish Republic. In 2020, Dreher was criticized for attending a conference of nationalist politicians and thinkers in Rome that included Orbán, Marechal-Le-Pen, and Giorgia Meloni.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher has written supportively of the government of Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, whom Dreher first met at a religious-liberty conference in Budapest in 2019. In 2021, Dreher was given a paid fellowship by the Danube Institute, a conservative think tank based in Budapest and funded by Orbán's government. While many international observers believe that Orbán's premiership has been responsible for the erosion of democracy, human rights, an independent judiciary, press freedom, and the rule of law in Hungary, Dreher commented that "I was there about ten days before I realized that eighty, ninety per cent of the American narrative about the country just isn't true." Observing Orbán's government, Dreher found "so inspiring ... what a vigorous conservative government can do if it's serious about stemming this horrible global tide of wokeness." Dreher identified as instructive for U.S. conservatives Orbán's belief "in national sovereignty, not globalism. He's not opposed to transnational alliances and organizations, but he believes that it's important for people to keep and defend their own traditions and ways of life. That entails controlling immigration." Discussing Orbán's anti-LGBT+ policies, Dreher stated, "We are living, right now, through an ongoing societal catastrophe with gender confusion and transgenderism. Viktor Orbán wants to save his nation from this ideological toxin and does not hesitate to use the power of the state to do so, even if it might violate the spirit of liberalism." Orbán famously asserted in a 2014 speech that "The new state that we are building in Hungary is an illiberal state." Comparing dynamics in Hungary to those in America, Dreher said, "We all seem to be barreling towards a future that is not liberal and democratic but is going to be either left illiberalism, or right illiberalism. If that's true, then I know which side I'm on: the side that isn't going to persecute me and my people."


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher has played a key role in encouraging other members of the American conservative movement to engage with Hungary and to look toward Orbán's political strategy and governance as a model. In 2021, Dreher invited Tucker Carlson, whom Dreher calls "the most important conservative figure in America," to visit Hungary. After Carlson replied that he was already considering a visit but that the trip had become entangled in red tape, Dreher personally spoke to Hungarian government ministers and one of Orbán's closest advisers to assure them that "Tucker was somebody who could be trusted." Carlson subsequently spent a week in Hungary taping episodes of his Fox News series "Tucker Carlson Tonight", during which Carlson conducted a one-on-one interview with Orbán and praised him as the only elected leader on Earth who "publicly identifies as a Western-style conservative." Subsequently, the American Conservative Union hosted its first conference in Europe, CPAC Hungary, in Budapest in May, 2022, with Dreher in attendance.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher has stated that the U.S. Republican Party needs "a leader with Orbán's vision" and has written favorably about American candidates and elected officials whose words and actions echo Orbán's. In 2022, speaking to Andrew Marantz of "The New Yorker" he said, "Seeing what [J.D.] Vance is saying, and what Ron DeSantis is actually doing in Florida, the concept of American Orbánism starts to make sense. I don't want to overstate what they'll be able to accomplish, given the constitutional impediments and all, but DeSantis is already using the power of the state to push back against woke capitalism, against the crazy gender stuff." By contrast, Dreher's close friend and fellow conservative writer Andrew Sullivan has spoken critically of U.S. conservatives' admiration for Orbán: "If these people think the extreme left is hijacking American society in dangerous ways, then, yes, I agree. ... But to go from that to 'Let's embrace this authoritarian leader in this backwater European country, and maybe try out a version of that model with our own charismatic leader back home'—I mean, that leap is just weird, and frankly stupid."


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher has been associated with a recent political movement that has been alternatively labelled "postliberalism," "anti-liberalism," "national conservatism," or "the new nationalism." The movement has been defined in connection with a manifesto titled "Against the Dead Consensus," published in "First Things" in March 2019, which Dreher was a signatory to, and which argues that the "pre-Trump conservative consensus failed to retard, much less reverse, the eclipse of permanent truths, family stability, [and] communal solidarity," and "too often bowed to a poisonous and censorious multiculturalism"; the manifesto argues for a conservatism of national, communal, and familial solidarity. Critics of the movement have compared its proponents to the intellectual defenders of fascism in the 1930s, while those sympathetic to the movement have argued that "there is nothing shameful about love of one's own, the impulse that links individual self-regard and love of family to affection for one's own neighborhood, town or city, state, and political community as a whole (the nation)."


title: Rod Dreher

text: On November 1, 2020, Dreher recommended that "unsafe state readers" of his blog vote for Donald Trump, while noting that he planned to vote for the American Solidarity Party because his state is already "safely in Trump's hands." In October 2020, Dreher tweeted that the American Solidarity Party enabled him, for the first time, to vote "for a party [he] actually [believes] in." He also later appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" and said that he is a supporter of the American Solidarity Party, and on the same day, published an article endorsing Brian Carroll of the American Solidarity Party.


title: Rod Dreher

text: In the 2015 and 2019 Louisiana gubernatorial elections, Dreher voted for Democrat John Bel Edwards citing his views on abortion, guns, and economics.


title: Rod Dreher

text: In the early 2010s, Dreher involved himself in a controversy surrounding Metropolitan Jonah, then serving as the primate of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), who had encountered resistance in his attempts to involve the OCA more heavily in political issues, such as abortion and gay marriage. Dreher started an anonymous website called OCA Truth, which published alleged private information about an opponent in the controversy. Dreher's connection with the website was exposed when emails connected to the website were leaked. Dreher later described his involvement in the affair as "foolish".


title: Rod Dreher

text: In May 2017, Dreher published, without context, remarks of Professor Tommy Curry of Texas A&M University, quoting a single sentence from the remarks misleadingly to suggest that Curry had incited violence against white people. Curry was subsequently subjected to a wave of racist abuse and intimidation. Dreher said that he did not seek comment from Curry prior to publishing his blog post, and Curry received the support of his faculty colleagues and university president.


title: Rod Dreher

text: In January 2020, Dreher was named in a lawsuit brought by the parents of Kayla Kenney, a 15-year-old girl whose private Instagram images he posted to his blog allegedly without parental permission, and against whom he made allegations of sexual harassment, based on anonymous sources, that are denied by the girl and her family. The lawsuit accuses Dreher of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and invasion of privacy.


title: Rod Dreher

text: Dreher married Julie Harris Dreher in 1997. Dreher announced publicly through his blog the couple had begun the divorce process in April 2022. The couple had three children together. Dreher lived in East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana. Raised a Methodist, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1993, and subsequently wrote widely in the Catholic press. Covering the Catholic Church's sex abuse scandal, starting in 2001, led him to question his Catholicism, and on October 12, 2006, he announced his conversion to Eastern Orthodoxy. At the time, Dreher had argued that the scandal was not so much a "pedophile problem," but that the "sexual abuse of minors is facilitated by a secret, powerful network of gay priests," known as the "Lavender Mafia."


title: Mark Felton

text: Mark Felton (born 1974) is a British historian of the Second World War and author of more than twenty books. His most recently published work is 2019's "Operation Swallow: American Soldiers' Remarkable Escape From Berga Concentration Camp", which details the illegal mistreatment of U.S. prisoners of war under Nazi captivity and their struggles. He has additionally created a variety of informational online videos available on YouTube covering different historical subjects of the 20th century (including material outside of the First World War and Second World War context, such as releases about the Cold War).


title: Mark Felton

text: Felton was born in Colchester, Essex, and received his education at the Philip Morant School. Felton sat for a BA in history with English at Anglia Polytechnic University, holds a postgraduate certificate in political science, an MA in Native American studies, and a PhD in history, all from the University of Essex.


title: Mark Felton

text: Felton lectured in Shanghai, China, between 2005 and 2014, latterly at Fudan University. He also worked as a volunteer for the Royal British Legion, organising the annual Poppy Appeal in Eastern China, 2010–2014. Following a request from Prime Minister David Cameron, he assisted the British Consulate Shanghai in the rediscovery of the graves of four British soldiers killed by the Japanese in 1937, and was awarded a Royal British Legion Certificate of Appreciation.


title: Mark Felton

text: Felton has appeared on television as a military history expert, including in the series "Combat Trains" (The History Channel), "Top Tens of Warfare" (Quest TV), and "Evolution of Evil" (American Heroes Channel). His book "Zero Night", about an escape from a German prison camp, received much critical attention, and was the subject of the BBC Radio documentary "Three Minutes of Mayhem". "Zero Night" has been highlighted to Essential Media for feature film development.


title: Mark Felton

text: In 2016, Felton's book "Castle of the Eagles: Escape from Mussolini's Colditz", which concerns the escape of British generals from Vincigliata Castle near Florence in 1943, was identified for feature film development by Entertainment One. Also in 2017, he was made a Companion of the Naval Order of the United States.


title: Mark Felton

text: In October 2017, Felton started his first YouTube channel, titled "Mark Felton Productions", which explores a variety of historical subjects in terms of the 20th century (including material outside of the First World War and Second World War context, such as releases about the Cold War). For example, a July 2022 production discussed the use of 'Iron Cross' type decorations by Colombia during the nation's involvement within the United Nations' allied effort fighting during the Korean War. As well, a March 2022 production detailed the Hungarian Uprising and the results of anticommunist militant forces failing to overcome the occupying Soviet administration of Hungary in late 1956. As of December 2022, this channel has picked up 1.78 million subscribers.


title: Mark Felton

text: On 26 November 2019, Felton created a second channel, titled "War Stories with Mark Felton", on which he posts recordings of himself reading various books that he has written (usually in parts). By July 2022, his second channel had accumulated over 281,000 subscribers.


title: Mark Felton

text: In 2022, Felton announced that he had been elected a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, as well as being elected to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts later the same year.


title: Mark Felton

text: Felton's most recently published work is 2019's "Operation Swallow: American Soldiers' Remarkable Escape From Berga Concentration Camp", which details the illegal mistreatment of U.S. prisoners of war under Nazi captivity and their struggles. The company Center Street (of the Hachette Book Group) published the book.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Woodstock 50 was a planned American music festival originally scheduled to be held on August 16–18, 2019, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland. The event was intended as a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music & Art Fair, a landmark festival that was held August 15–18, 1969, in Bethel, New York. Just prior to its cancellation, it was announced the event had been reduced from three days to one day. Woodstock 50 was canceled on July 31, 2019, after a series of permit and production issues, venue relocations, and artist cancellations.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Artists initially announced for the Woodstock 50 lineup included The Killers, Imagine Dragons, Halsey, Miley Cyrus, Robert Plant, The Raconteurs, Cage the Elephant and Janelle Monáe. The lineup also included several musical acts that had performed at the original 1969 festival, such as Dead & Company (featuring three members of the Grateful Dead), John Fogerty (with Creedence Clearwater Revival in 1969), Santana, David Crosby (with Crosby, Stills & Nash in 1969), Melanie, John Sebastian, Hot Tuna (featuring two members of Jefferson Airplane), Canned Heat and Country Joe McDonald (lead singer of Country Joe and the Fish in 1969).


title: Woodstock 50

text: Woodstock 50 and its lineup were officially announced in March 2019 but tickets were not released for sale on a previously scheduled date. In late April 2019, a financial backer claimed the festival had been canceled, which was disputed by organizers. Conflicting media reports ranged from allegations of financial and legal difficulties to an inability to secure proper permits from local officials. In May, a judge ruled that the financiers had no right to cancel the festival, allowing the event to proceed as planned. The festival was to take place at the Watkins Glen International racetrack but in June 2019 the venue announced the event would no longer be held there. The concert's location was moved to Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland on July 25. The next day, all of the artists who had been initially announced as part of the festival's lineup were released from their contracts.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Woodstock's co-creator Michael Lang helped organize Woodstock 50. Since 2014, Lang had been planning to hold a 50th anniversary Woodstock festival in 2019. He began negotiating with Japanese investment firm Dentsu Aegis Network in late 2018 to arrange funding for Woodstock 50. Lang was hired as a consultant by Woodstock 50 LLC, a production company founded by hoteliers Greg Peck and Susan Cronin, and a separate entity from Lang's company Woodstock Ventures. This arrangement was made so Lang could avoid a conflict of interest with Woodstock Ventures, which owns the rights to the Woodstock brand. Woodstock 50 LLC and Lang entered into a partnership with Dentsu Aegis in December 2018, and licensed the rights to use the Woodstock name from Woodstock Ventures. The investment firm was contracted to contribute about $49.1 million to fund the festival, based on Lang's initial estimated attendance number of 150,000 people.


title: Woodstock 50

text: In January 2019, Lang confirmed that he would be organizing a fourth three-day Woodstock festival that would take place in August in Watkins Glen, New York. The Watkins Glen International racetrack was chosen as the festival location. In August 2018, a festival organized by the rock band Phish that was to be held at the racetrack was canceled by New York Department of Health officials one day before it was scheduled to begin due to water quality and safety issues following several days of flooding in the Finger Lakes region. Lang said he planned for a separate water supply to be brought into the Woodstock 50 site to avoid these issues. "Billboard" reported that promoters and agents had tried to persuade Lang to seek another venue because the site was too far away from hotels and was seen as a risky location following the circumstances of Phish's cancellation the previous year.


title: Woodstock 50

text: In selecting artists for the festival's lineup, Lang planned to book popular contemporary artists alongside musical acts who had appeared in lineup of the original 1969 Woodstock festival. In early documents, Lang named several potential headliners for Woodstock 50, including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, Beyoncé, My Morning Jacket, Bruce Springsteen, Stevie Wonder, Phish, Kendrick Lamar, Green Day, and Drake, none of whom would appear in the announced lineup. Lang had also sought Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, and a reunited Led Zeppelin as headlining performers, but with the exception of Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, none of those artists appeared in Woodstock 50's final lineup. Joan Baez told "Rolling Stone" she had been approached to perform at the festival but had turned the offer down.


title: Woodstock 50

text: The festival's lineup was announced on March 19, 2019. The Black Keys were announced as part of the lineup but pulled out of the festival on April 5 due to a scheduling conflict. Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney later explained that the band decided to cancel because they had just returned from a hiatus, and "We realized that we didn’t want our first show back to be in front of 150,000 people in a field without any control." Following the lineup announcement press conference, Dentsu Aegis privately expressed concern that organizers had spent too much money on acquiring artists other than those that had been previously considered.


title: Woodstock 50

text: A second Woodstock 50th anniversary event, held at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts—the site of the original 1969 festival—was also scheduled for August 2019. The lineup for the three-day concert program included John Fogerty and Santana, both of whom were included in the Woodstock 50 lineup, as well as Ringo Starr, Arlo Guthrie, Edgar Winter, the Doobie Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Tedeschi Trucks Band, and Grace Potter. Lang was not involved with the Bethel concert and filed a cease-and-desist notice against its organizer Live Nation for promoting it as a rival event to his Woodstock 50 festival. The Bethel concerts were held as planned on August 16–18.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Tickets for the Woodstock 50 festival were supposed to go on sale on April 22, 2019, but no tickets were made available on that date. At that date, the organizers had yet to receive a mass gathering permit from the New York State Department of Health. A New York state health regulation forbids advertising for large, overnights events that do not have a permit, which delayed the sale of tickets. A mass gathering permit for the festival had been submitted on April 15 but the Department of Health had not approved it at that time.


title: Woodstock 50

text: On April 29, investors Dentsu Aegis Network announced it was no longer funding the festival and that the event had been canceled. Officials from Schuyler County, New York also confirmed the cancellation. Dentsu Aegis ceased its involvement after the organizers reduced the capacity of the festival grounds from 100,000 people to 75,000 to accommodate campers. Later that day, the festival organizers disputed the cancellation in a statement to the "Poughkeepsie Journal" and announced they would be seeking a "legal remedy." Lang also stated on his Facebook page that, despite the loss of their financial backer, the Woodstock 50 organizers would continue to plan the festival and seek new investors, and the festival would go ahead as planned.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Superfly, a production partner of the Woodstock organizers, pulled out of the festival on May 1, also citing changes to the festival's capacity as a reason for its withdrawal. Before their departure, Superfly had estimated 65,000 people as the safest maximum capacity at Watkins Glen, which was a lower estimate than either Dentsu Aegis or Lang had previously considered. Once they received further information of the terrain on the race-track property, they revised their maximum capacity estimate down to 61,000, and stated they would not continue to work on the festival if the festival planned to exceed that number.


title: Woodstock 50

text: As result of Dentsu Aegis's withdrawal, none of the scheduled artists were obliged to play at the event because they had contracts through either Dentsu or Amplifi Live rather than the Woodstock promoters. Representatives from two major talent agencies told "Billboard" Dentsu Aegis' decision may have voided the artists' contracts and it was unlikely their clients would be performing at the festival. Following the company's announcement, Dead & Company removed Woodstock 50 from the tour itinerary on their website. John Fogerty told "Rolling Stone" he was disappointed by the announcement and surprised the festival had not secured permits sooner, saying. "You got the sense there was some shakiness to this whole thing".


title: Woodstock 50

text: "Billboard" reported on May 6 that CID Entertainment would be producing the festival and that for the event to proceed, Lang would need about $30 million by May 10 and a mass gathering permit from the New York Department of Health. Lang also accused Dentsu Aegis of illegally removing $17 million from the festival's bank account, blocking the April 22 ticket sale and attempting to cancel the event without his consent. Lawyers for the Woodstock organizers requested an injunction against Dentsu Aegis in a New York court on May 9, seeking the return of the disputed $17 million. Amplifi Live filed a counter-claim against Lang on May 13, arguing they had the right to take over the festival and cancel it due to Lang's contractual breaches and logistical misrepresentation.


title: Woodstock 50

text: A judge in New York Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Woodstock organizers on May 15 and found that Dentsu Aegis had no legal right to cancel the festival, allowing the event to proceed. The judge also ruled that the organizers were not entitled to the $17.8 million that had been removed from the festival's bank account. On May 17, Oppenheimer Holdings was announced as the festival's new financial backer. Following the court ruling, Lang announced that three-day passes to the festival would cost around $400 and that a limited quantity of limited single-day passes would be available, a change from earlier plans in which only three-day passes would be sold.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Watkins Glen International announced on June 10 it had canceled the contract for the Woodstock 50 festival and that the event would no longer be held at the racetrack. The festival had lost its booking at the racetrack because organizers had missed a $150,000 payment. The same day, CID Entertainment announced it would also be pulling out of the festival. A representative for the festival subsequently told Associated Press the organizers were in talks with another venue to host the event.


title: Woodstock 50

text: In late June, the Woodstock organizers applied for a permit to hold a smaller festival at Vernon Downs horse racing track in Vernon, New York. The organizers were refused the permit on July 9. The organizers' third appeal was denied by the Vernon planning board on July 16.


title: Woodstock 50

text: "Bloomberg News" reported on July 25 that the Woodstock organizers had moved the festival to Merriweather Post Pavilion, a venue with a smaller capacity than either of the planned New York sites, in Columbia, Maryland. Known as "Woodstock 50 Washington", the festival would act as a fundraiser for non-profit organizations involved with voter registration and climate change. Instead of being a ticketed event as originally planned, the festival would be free and concertgoers would be encouraged to donate to charitable causes. Seth Hurwitz, co-founder of Merriweather Post Pavilion operator IMP, said his venue would host the festival if organizers presented them with a lineup. A concert headlined by The Smashing Pumpkins was scheduled to take place at the venue on August 17. Woodstock 50 would have been reduced from three days to one.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Jay-Z and John Fogerty withdrew from the Woodstock 50 lineup shortly after the move to Maryland was announced. On July 26, the promoters released all of the remaining artists on the lineup from their contracted appearances at the relocated festival. The organizers informed artists of the relocation and contract release in a letter that also requested they still perform at the festival and reminded them of the payment they had received from Dentsu Aegis. In the following days, Dead & Company, Country Joe McDonald, John Sebastian, Santana, The Lumineers, The Raconteurs, Pussy Riot, and Miley Cyrus announced they would not be appearing at the relocated festival. Several artists withdrew because they had already scheduled other concerts in the Mid-Atlantic region around the festival weekend and the relocation to Merriweather Post Pavilion conflicted with the radius clauses for some of those events. A representative for The Zombies told "Variety" that the band still planned to perform at Woodstock 50. On July 30, 17 days before the festival's planned start date, Woodstock 50 organizers had not submitted a permit application to hold an event at Merriweather Post Pavilion.


title: Woodstock 50

text: On July 31, the organizers of Woodstock 50 announced the cancellation of the event. In a press release, representatives said, "unforeseen setbacks made it impossible to put on a festival we imagined with the great line-up we had booked and the social engagement we were anticipating". Lang told media he blamed Dentsu Aegis for the festival's failure and that he was considering further legal action against the firm. Despite the cancellation, Lang said he hoped to hold a smaller fundraising event at Merriweather Post Pavilion in late 2019 but was not sure it would bear the Woodstock name.


title: Woodstock 50

text: In June 2020, the organizers of Woodstock 50 filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court against Dentsu Aegis and Amplifi Live. In the suit, the organizers accused the two firms of sabotaging the event by announcing its cancelation in April 2019. Lang died on January 8, 2022.


title: Woodstock 50

text: Each artist on the Woodstock 50 lineup was paid an advance and the remainder of the payment was held in escrow until performance or the cancellation of the festival. Alongside the official announcement that the event would not proceed, the organizers suggested the artists donate at least 10 percent of their earnings to HeadCount, a non-profit organization that promotes voter registration. Lang was criticized for trying to make the artists feel guilty. Prior to July 26, 2019, when remaining artists withdrew "en masse" from the event and organizers released them from their contracts, the lineup for the festival was to have included:


title: Naayak

text: Naayak () is a 2013 Indian Telugu-language action comedy film directed by V. V. Vinayak who co-wrote the film with Akula Siva. The film was produced by DVV Danayya and presented by S. Radha Krishna under the banner Universal Media. The film stars Ram Charan, Kajal Aggarwal, and Amala Paul, with Brahmanandam, Pradeep Rawat, and Ashish Vidyarthi in supporting roles. S. Thaman composed the film's score and soundtrack. Chota K. Naidu was the cinematographer and Gautham Raju was the film's editor. In the film Cherry, a software engineer in Hyderabad, and Siddharth Naayak, an inspiring young leader in Kolkata fighting against an evil politician named Rawat. The story revolves around Cherry assisting Siddharth in the triumph of good over evil after their paths cross.


title: Naayak

text: Production began on 9 November 2011, and principal photography began on 7 February 2012. The film was extensively shot in Hyderabad and Kolkata, while a couple of the songs were shot in Dubai, Iceland, and Slovenia, making "Naayak" the first Indian film to be shot in Slovenia. Filming ended on 29 December 2012. Released during the season of the Makara Sankranti festival on 9 January 2013, on 1589 screens worldwide, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and was a modest commercial success, emerging as the fifth highest-grossing Telugu film of 2013.


title: Naayak

text: Siddharth Naayak kills Central Minister Rawat's brother, Taxi Seth, and his henchmen to save four men. Rawat orders a CBI officer to catch the criminal so that he may be executed. Ram "Cherry" Charan works a software engineer in CgTrix, Hyderabad, who is a dead ringer for Siddharth. Cherry's uncle Jilebi, the CEO of CgTrix, unexpectedly runs into trouble, angering the local Don, Babji. Cherry saves Jilebi from Babji by manipulation, but in the process becomes romantically interested in Babji's sister, Madhu. After Cherry saves several children from a mafia don, Madhu reciprocates his love. This angers Babji and he goes to kill Cherry but is shocked when he sees what he thinks is Cherry assassinating the DGP of West Bengal. The CBI Officer also misunderstands, believing that Cherry is responsible for the two murders, although Siddharth is the real murderer. With Jilebi, the CBI Officer goes to Kumbh Mela at Haridwar in pursuit of Cherry. As Rawat is offering holy rituals, the CBI Officer catches Cherry and holds him, however, Siddharth rises from the Ganges and stabs Rawat with a trident, after which he fights with all of Rawat's guards. As he is about to kill Rawat, the CBI Officer attacks him with a taser and arrests him, thereby exonerating Cherry.


title: Naayak

text: Cherry learns the story of his look–alike. Siddharth visits his sister's house in Kolkata after passing IIT in Delhi. He shares a strong bond of love and affection with his sister, her husband, and his sister-in-law Nandini. Siddharth and Nandini are about to be married. Meanwhile, his brother-in-law, who is a doctor, attends a case of a minor who was injected with steroids by Rawat's second brother Badvel and then forced into prostitution. When he complains to the police, he is unaware that the police officer is friends with Badvel, and is betrayed to Badvel, who kills him to silence him. Siddharth is unable to bear this and kills Badvel and all his men, becoming a public sensation overnight and at night when Rawat and Taxi Seth and several men to kill Siddharth, he kills them sparing Rawat and Taxi Seth. Siddharth becomes the reigning leader of West Bengal and a terror to Rawat's mafia and all goons on Kolkata.


title: Naayak

text: Shortly after, Siddharth seizes all of Rawat's property and distributes it to the public. Rawat kills the Minister, and puts the blame on Siddharth, who he stabs and throws into the Ganges. Rawat becomes the Minister within a week, while Siddharth survives, planning to kill Rawat. Cherry, after reading about his story, decides to help him. He, along with Jilebi, goes to the CBI Jail where Siddharth is in custody. He introduces himself and hatches a plan to get Siddharth exonerated. In court, since Siddharth admits that he committed the crime, the Judge orders that he be put to death.


title: Naayak

text: Cherry enters the court, stating that he is Siddharth Naayak and the one standing there is his fan. Siddharth tells exactly the same story, leading to confusion. The judge orders the CBI to find out the real identities of the two persons within ten days. During that time, Siddharth manages to bring Madhu and her family, including Babji and his paternal uncle, to Kolkata, uniting Cherry and Madhu. The next day, Rawat calls Siddarth to come to his place to save the kidnapped school children.


title: Naayak

text: But Cherry eavesdrops on the conversation and goes to Rawat's place ahead of Siddharth, where he is severely attacked by Rawat. Siddharth reaches the place after watching a MMS sent by Rawat, saves Cherry and the two kill Rawat. The case is dismissed due to lack of evidence, and Siddharth is freed. In the end, both Siddharth and Cherry unite with their respective lovers.


title: Naayak

text: At the end of April 2011, V. V. Vinayak held story discussions for his next film, featuring Ram Charan as the protagonist and written by Akula Siva. By then, Vinayak was busy in giving final touches to his film "Badrinath" (2011), and Ram Charan was participating in the shooting of "Racha" (2012), directed by Sampath Nandi. After completing all of the promotional activities for "Badrinath", Vinayak and Siva started working on the film's script in early July 2011. DVV Danayya was confirmed to produce the film under the banner Universal Media, and pre-production on the film was expected to be launched in August, followed by filming starting in September 2011. The film's script was approved by Ram Charan's father, and it was announced that actor Chiranjeevi would be part of the cast; Kona Venkat was brought in to assist with the film's screenplay. The project was confirmed in late October 2011. The film was officially launched on 9 November 2011, at Annapurna Studios in Hyderabad.


title: Naayak

text: S. Thaman was announced as the music director, marking his first collaboration with both Vinayak and Charan; Chota K. Naidu and Gautham Raju were announced as the film's cinematographer and editor, respectively. The film's title was announced as "Naayak", with the caption "The Leader", on 13 August 2012. Weeks before the film's release, a few Girijan students protested that the term "Naayak" referred to a certain tribal group, and they demanded a change of the title. While censoring the film, the Central Board of Film Certification looked into the group's objection about the title. They found that there was no derogatory reference to either the name Naayak or the caste of tribes, either visually or in the audio part of the film, and cleared the use of the title.


title: Naayak

text: Kajal Aggarwal was considered for one of the two female leads in the film in early October 2011, later signing on to the film, which marked her second collaboration with Ram Charan after "Magadheera" (2009). Ram Charan confirmed that he would be seen in a dual role in the film. Hansika Motwani was rumoured as the second female lead, however this was denied by Danayya, who added that she was never considered for that role, and Kajal was the only actress who had been signed up until that point. In late February 2012, Amala Paul was selected as the second female lead, which she confirmed to Sify saying "Mynaa meets Magadheera".


title: Naayak

text: It was reported that Shruti Haasan would perform an item number in the film, which she later denied. Chiranjeevi and N. T. Rama Rao Jr. were rumoured to make cameo appearance in the film. Charmee Kaur confirmed in late December 2012 that she would perform an item number along with Ram Charan. Posani Krishna Murali and Jaya Prakash Reddy were seen in comic roles.


title: Naayak

text: Principal photography began on 7 February 2012. By April 2012, the film was shot at various locales in Hyderabad. A few action sequences were shot at night, for which Ram Charan trained for several days; he performed several of the stunt sequences himself without using a body double. Filming was suspended for almost three weeks when Ram Charan was injured during filming "Racha" (2012). Vinayak intended to complete shooting Ram Charan's solo portions and then start the schedule with Kajal; Ram Charan and Amala Paul would take part in the final part of the planned schedule.


title: Naayak

text: The next portion of the schedule started in Dubai, where a song, "Laila O Laila", with Ram Charan and Kajal was shot. Ram Charan later said "It was a week before my wedding and I had just returned from my bachelor's party. I landed directly in Dubai to shoot the song. I had to wear shades to hide the fatigue" and added "I was told that I wouldn't need much rehearsals, but was zapped when I saw the choreographer take me through the routine. I was like 'can we please slow the beat or something?' I couldn't settle for anything less than the best and went ahead and completed the song in seven days." After its completion, some key scenes and songs were shot in Europe involving the three leads.