title: Grid plan

text: A key characteristic of the grid pattern is that any and all streets are equally accessible to traffic (non-hierarchical) and could be chosen at will as alternative routes to a destination. Cut-through driving, or shortcutting, has been resisted by residents. Cities responded by making modifications to prevent it. Current recommended design practice suggests the use of 3-way intersections to alleviate it.


title: Grid plan

text: The geometry of the normal, open grid is evidently unsuitable for protecting or enhancing the social environment of a street from the negative influence of traffic. Similarly, a 1972 ground-breaking study by Oscar Newman on a Defensible Space Theory described ways to improve the social environment and security of neighbourhoods and streets. In a practical application of his theory at Five Oaks, the neighbourhood's grid pattern was modified to prevent through traffic and create identifiable smaller enclaves while maintaining complete pedestrian freedom of movement. The positive outcome of these changes reinforces Appleyard's findings and the need to reduce or prevent through traffic on neighbourhood streets; a need that cannot be met with a typical, uniform, open grid.


title: Grid plan

text: The question of neighbourhood security has been a constant focus of research since Oscar Newman's work. New research has expanded the discussion on this disputed issue. A recent study did extensive spatial analysis and correlated several building, site plan and social factors with crime frequencies and identified subtle nuances to the contrasting positions. The study looked at, among others, dwelling types, unit density (site density) movement on the street, culs–de-sac or grids and the permeability of a residential area. Among its conclusions are, respectively, that flats are always safer than houses and the wealth of inhabitants matters, density is generally beneficial but more so at ground level, local movement is beneficial, but not larger scale movement, relative affluence and the number of neighbours have a greater effect than either being on a cul-de-sac or being on a through street. It also re-established that simple, linear cul-de-sac with good numbers of dwellings that are joined to through streets tend to be safe. As for permeability, it suggests that residential areas should be permeable enough to allow movement in all directions but no more. The overprovision of poorly used permeability is a crime hazard. The open, uniform grid could be seen as an example of undifferentiated permeability.


title: Grid plan

text: A recent study in California examined the amount of child play that occurred on the streets of neighbourhoods with different characteristics; grid pattern and culs-de-sac. The findings indicate that the open grid streets showed substantially lower play activity than the cul-de-sac street type. Culs-de-sac reduce perceived danger from traffic, and thereby encourage more outdoor play. It pointed the way toward the development of hybrid street network patterns that improve pedestrian movement but restrict cut-through driving. Similar studies in Europe and most recently in Australia found that children's outdoor play is significantly reduced on through roads where traffic is, or perceived by parents to be, a risk. As a result of this misperception of risk, children living in cul-de-sac communities are more likely to be killed by vehicles. This increased risk of death is due to multiple factors, including the families driving longer distances to reach their destinations, parents spending less time teaching their children to be as wary of traffic, and an increased risk of the parents accidentally driving over the children in their "safe" driveways and cul-de-sac streets.


title: Grid plan

text: Traditional street functions such as kids' play, strolling and socializing are incompatible with traffic flow, which the open, uniform grid geometry encourages. For these reasons, cities such as Berkeley, California, and Vancouver, British Columbia, among many others, transformed existing residential streets part of a grid plan into permeable, linked culs-de-sac. This transformation retains the permeability and connectivity of the grid for the active modes of transport but filters and restricts car traffic on the cul-de-sac street to residents only.


title: Grid plan

text: Street networks of old cities that grew organically, though admired for being picturesque, can be confusing for visitors but rarely for the original inhabitants (see plan). Similarly confusing to visitors are the plans of modern subdivisions with discontinuous and curvilinear streets. Change of street orientation, particularly when gradual or arbitrary, cannot be "mapped" in the mind. Impasses, crescents or cul-de-sacs frustrate the traveler especially when they are long, forcing an arduous retracing of steps.


title: Grid plan

text: Frequency of intersections, however, becomes also a disadvantage for pedestrians and bicycles. It disrupts the relaxed canter of walking and forces pedestrians repeatedly onto the road, a hostile, anxiety-generating territory. People with physical limitations or frailties, children and seniors for example, can find a regular walk challenging. For bicycles this disadvantage is accentuated as their normal speed is at least double that of pedestrians. Frequent stops negate the speed advantage and the physical benefit of bicycling and add to frustration. Intersections are not only unpleasant but also dangerous. Most traffic collisions and injuries occur at intersections and the majority of the injuries to pedestrians crossing "with" the right of way.


title: Grid plan

text: A dilemma arises from trying to meet important planning objectives when using the grid: pedestrianism, cost efficiency and environmental responsiveness. To serve pedestrians well, a rectangular configuration and high frequency of streets and intersections is the preferred route, which the orthogonal grid geometry provides. To reduce development costs and environmental impact, lower frequency of streets is the logical path. Since these two design objectives are contradictory a balance needs to be struck. Such balance has been achieved in leading modern projects such as Vauban, Freiburg and Village Homes, Davis. Both score high in pedestrian and bike mode share and, at the same time, in reducing negative development externalities. Their layout configurations represent a fusion of the classic grid plan with recent street network patterns.


title: Grid plan

text: Examining the issue of walkability, a recent comparison of seven neighbourhood layouts found a 43 and 32 percent increase in walking with respect to a grid plan and conventional suburban layout in a fused grid layout, which has greater permeability for pedestrians than for cars due to its inclusion of dedicated pedestrian paths. It also showed a 7 to 10 percent range of reduction in driving with respect to the remainder six neighbourhood layouts in the set, an environmental benefit.


title: Grid plan

text: Perceived and actual safety play a role in the use of the street. Perceived safety, though perhaps an inaccurate reflection of the number of injuries or fatalities, influences parents' decision to allow their children to play, walk or bike on the street. Actual levels of safety as measured by the total number of collisions and the number and severity of injuries are a matter of public concern. Both should inform the layout, if the street network is to achieve its optimum use.


title: Grid plan

text: Recent studies have found higher traffic fatality rates in outlying suburban areas than in central cities and inner suburbs with smaller blocks and more-connected street patterns. While some of this disparity is the result of distance from emergency medical facilities (hospitals are usually built in a fairly late stage of the development of a suburban area), it is clear that the lower speeds encouraged by the frequency of intersections decrease the severity of accidents occurring on streets within a grid plan.


title: Grid plan

text: An earlier study found significant differences in recorded accidents between residential neighborhoods that were laid out on a grid and those that included culs-de-sac and crescents. The frequency of accidents was significantly higher in the grid neighborhoods.


title: Grid plan

text: Two newer studies examined the frequency of collisions in two regional districts using the latest analytical tools. They investigated the potential correlation between street network patterns and frequency of collisions. In one study, cul-de-sac networks appeared to be much safer than grid networks, by nearly three to one.


title: Grid plan

text: A second study found the grid plan to be the least safe by a significant margin with respect to all other street patterns.


title: Grid plan

text: A 2009 study suggests that land use patterns play a significant role in traffic safety and should be considered in conjunction with the network pattern. While all intersection types in general reduce the incidence of fatal crashes, four-way intersections, which occur regularly in a grid, increase total and injurious crashes significantly. The study recommends hybrid street networks with dense concentrations of T-intersections and concludes that a return to the 19th century gridiron is undesirable.


title: Grid plan

text: Stringent adherence to the grid plan can cause steep inclines since the topology of the land is not taken into account. This may be unsafe for drivers, pedestrians and bicycles since it is more difficult to control speed and braking, particularly in winter conditions.


title: Grid plan

text: One of the greatest difficulties with grid plans is their lack of specialization, most of the important amenities being concentrated along the city's main arteries. Often grid plans are found in linear settlements, with a main street connecting between the perpendicular roads. However, this can be mitigated by allowing mixed use development so that destinations become closer to home. Many cities, especially in Latin America, still successfully retain their grid plans. Recently, planners in the United States and Canada have revisited the idea of reintroducing grid patterns to many cities and towns.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: An attenuated vaccine (or a live attenuated vaccine, LAV) is a vaccine created by reducing the virulence of a pathogen, but still keeping it viable (or "live"). Attenuation takes an infectious agent and alters it so that it becomes harmless or less virulent. These vaccines contrast to those produced by "killing" the virus (inactivated vaccine).


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Attenuated vaccines stimulate a strong and effective immune response that is long-lasting. In comparison to inactivated vaccines, attenuated vaccines produce a stronger and more durable immune response with a quick immunity onset. Attenuated vaccines function by encouraging the body to create antibodies and memory immune cells in response to the specific pathogen which the vaccine protects against. Common examples of live attenuated vaccines are measles, mumps, rubella, yellow fever, and some influenza vaccines.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Viruses may be attenuated using the principles of evolution via serial passage of the virus through a foreign host species, such as:


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: The initial virus population is applied to a foreign host. Through natural genetic variability or induced mutation, a small percentage of the viral particles should have the capacity to infect the new host. These strains will continue to evolve within the new host and the virus will gradually lose its efficacy in the original host, due to lack of selection pressure. This process is known as "passage" in which the virus becomes so well adapted to the foreign host that it is no longer harmful to the subject that is to receive the vaccine. This makes it easier for the host immune system to eliminate the agent and create the immunological memory cells which will likely protect the patient if they are infected with a similar version of the virus in "the wild".


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Viruses may also be attenuated via reverse genetics. Attenuation by genetics is also used in the production of oncolytic viruses.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Bacteria is typically attenuated by passage, similar to the method used in viruses. Gene knockout guided by reverse genetics is also used.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Oral vaccines or subcutaneous/intramuscular injection are for individuals older than 12 months. Live attenuated vaccines, with the exception of the rotavirus vaccine given at 6 weeks, is not indicated for infants younger than 9 months.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Vaccines function by encouraging the creation of cells, such as CD8+ and CD4+ T lymphocytes, or molecules, such as antibodies, that are specific to the pathogen. The cells and molecules can either prevent or reduce infection by killing infected cells or by producing interleukins. The specific effectors evoked can be different based on the vaccine. Live attenuated vaccines tend to help with the production of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes and T-dependent antibody responses. A vaccine is only effective for as long as the body maintains a population of these cells.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Attenuated vaccines are “weakened” version of pathogens (virus or bacteria). They are modified so that it cannot cause harm or disease in the body but are still able to activate the immune system. This type of vaccine works by activating both the cellular and humoral immune responses of the adaptive immune system. When a person receives an oral or injection of the vaccine, B cells, which help make antibodies, are activated in two ways: T cell-dependent and T-cell independent.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: In T-cell dependent activation of B cells, B cells first recognize and present the antigen on MHCII receptors. T-cells can then recognize this presentation and bind to the B cell, resulting in clonal proliferation. This also helps IgM and plasma cells production as well as immunoglobulin switching. On the other hand, T-cell independent activation of B cells is due to non-protein antigens. This can lead to production of IgM antibodies. Being able to produce a B-cell response as well as memory killer T cells is a key feature of attenuated virus vaccines that help induce a potent immunity.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Live-attenuated vaccines are safe and stimulate a strong and effective immune response that is long-lasting. Given pathogens are attenuated, it is extremely rare for pathogens to revert to their pathogenic form and subsequently cause disease. Additionally, within the five WHO-recommended live attenuated vaccines (tuberculosis, oral polio, measles, rotavirus, and yellow fever), severe adverse reactions are extremely rare.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Individuals with severely compromised immune systems (e.g., HIV-infection, chemotherapy, combined immunodeficiencies) typically should not receive live-attenuated vaccines as they may not be able to produce an adequate and safe immune response. Household contacts of immunodeficient individuals are still able to receive most attenuated vaccines since there is no increased risk of infection transmission, with the exception being the oral polio vaccine.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: As precaution, live-attenuated vaccines are not typically administered during pregnancy. This is due to the risk of transmission of virus between mother and fetus. In particular, the varicella and yellow fever vaccines have been shown to have adverse effects on fetuses and nursing babies.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Some live attenuated vaccines have additional common, mild adverse effects due to their administration route. For example, the live attenuated influenza vaccine is given nasally and is associated with nasal congestion.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: Compared to inactivated vaccines, live-attenuated vaccines are more prone to immunization errors as they must be kept under strict conditions during the cold chain and carefully prepared (e.g., during reconstitution).


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: The history of vaccine development started with the creation of the smallpox vaccine by Edward Jenner in the late 18th century. Jenner discovered that inoculating a human with an animal pox virus would grant immunity against smallpox, a disease considered to be one of the most devastating in human history. Although the original smallpox vaccine is sometimes considered to be an attenuated vaccine due to its live nature, it was not strictly-speaking attenuated since it was not derived directly from smallpox. Instead, it was based on the related and milder cowpox disease. The discovery that diseases could be artificially attenuated came in the late 19th century when Louis Pasteur was able to derive an attenuated strain of chicken cholera. Pasteur applied this knowledge to develop an attenuated anthrax vaccine and demonstrating its effectiveness in a public experiment. The first rabies vaccine was subsequently produced by Pasteur and Emile Roux by growing the virus in rabbits and drying the affected nervous tissue.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: The technique of cultivating a virus repeatedly in artificial media and isolating less virulent strains was pioneered in the early 20th century by Albert Calmette and Camille Guérin who developed an attenuated tuberculosis vaccine called the BCG vaccine. This technique was later used by several teams when developing the vaccine for yellow fever, first by Sellards and Laigret, and then by Theiler and Smith. The vaccine developed by Theiler and Smith proved to be hugely successful and helped establish recommended practices and regulations for many other vaccines. These include the growth of viruses in primary tissue culture (e.g., chick embryos), as opposed to animals, and the use of the seed stock system which uses the original attenuated viruses as opposed to derived viruses (done to reduce variance in vaccine development and decrease the chance of adverse effects). The middle of the 20th century saw the work of many prominent virologists including Sabin, Hilleman, and Enders, and the introduction of several successful attenuated vaccines, such as those against polio, measles, mumps, and rubella.


title: Attenuated vaccine

text: For many of the pathogens listed below there are many vaccines, the list below simply indicates that there are one (or more) attenuated vaccines for that particular pathogen, not that all vaccines for that pathogen are attenuated.


title: Jellicle cats

text: Jellicle cats are a fictional type of feline from T. S. Eliot's 1939 light poetry book "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats".


title: Jellicle cats

text: Jellicle cats were first mentioned in Eliot's 1933 poem "Five-Finger Exercises" and later developed in "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats". They were given further characterization in Andrew Lloyd Webber's 1981 stage musical "Cats", which was based on Eliot's book. The large cast of diverse cats is an important part of the worldbuilding of "Cats". Many of these characters originated from Eliot's book, while others are named after characters from other works by Eliot or were invented for the musical.


title: Jellicle cats

text: "Jellicle cats" are briefly mentioned in T. S. Eliot's 1933 poem "Five-Finger Exercises", although they are not described until Eliot's poem "The Song of the Jellicles", where Jellicle cats were depicted as commonly nocturnal black and white, scruffy cats. Specifically, Eliot mentions that they like to gather at an event called the "Jellicle Ball". The name "Jellicle" comes from an unpublished poem by Eliot entitled "Pollicle Dogs and Jellicle Cats", where "Pollicle dogs" is a corruption of "poor little dogs" and "Jellicle cats" of "dear little cats".


title: Jellicle cats

text: In contrast with their original poem, the Jellicles in "Cats" possess many kinds of coat-patterns, diverse personalities and individual talents. Many of the ensemble characters were created by the original 1981 London cast through extensive improvisation sessions held during the rehearsal process. Musical theatre scholar Vagelis Siropoulos noted that the level of detail given to each character was crucial in fleshing out the fantasy world of "Cats", with even the minor cats having established personalities, relationships and hierarchies within the tribe. In the musical, sub-plots involving individual Jellicle cats include the struggle of Grizabella, a former "glamour cat", and the kidnapping of the Jellicle patriarch, Old Deuteronomy.


title: Jellicle cats

text: A total of 54 cat names are given in "Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats", most of which Eliot derived from British culture, including references to Anglican traditions, historic and literary figures, as well as geographical locations. When not taken from a corresponding eponymous poem, many of the character names from the musical are taken from Eliot's poem "The Naming of Cats".


title: Jellicle cats

text: Although originally published as part of a collection of poems, "The Song of the Jellicles" was published by Faber and Faber in 2017 as a standalone picture book titled "Jellicle Cats". Madame Tussauds New York features wax figures of a few of the Jellicle cats from the musical, including one of Grizabella that sings "Memory".


title: Jellicle cats

text: In Season 1 Episode 35 of Dungeons and Daddies, titled "The Jellicle Ball", the Daddies play a game of "Throw ball, catch ball, take it to the end of the field" with a team of Jellicle cats.


title: Jellicle cats

text: In season 1, episode 2 of Bojack Horseman titled “Bojack Hates the Troops”, jellicles are mentioned in a song when the character Princess Caroline, who is an anthropomorphic cat, makes Bojack hold while calling him.


title: Dogpile

text: Dogpile is a metasearch engine for information on the World Wide Web that fetches results from Google, Yahoo!, Yandex, Bing, and other popular search engines, including those from audio and video content providers such as Yahoo!.


title: Dogpile

text: Dogpile began operation in November 1996. The site was created and developed by Aaron Flin, who was frustrated with the varying results of existing indexes and intending on making Dogpile query multiple indexes for the best search results. It originally provided web searches from Yahoo! (directory), Lycos (inc. A2Z directory), Excite (inc. Excite Guide directory), WebCrawler, Infoseek, AltaVista, HotBot, WhatUseek (directory), and World Wide Web Worm. It naturally drew comparisons with MetaCrawler, a multi-threaded search engine that had existed before, but Dogpile was more advanced, and it could also search Usenet (from sources including DejaNews) and FTP (via Filez and other indexes).


title: Dogpile

text: In August 1999, Dogpile was acquired by Go2net, who were already operating MetaCrawler. Go2net was then acquired by InfoSpace in July 2000 for $4 billion. Dogpile received a design facelift for the first time in December 2000.


title: Dogpile

text: The Dogpile search engine earned the J.D. Power and Associates award for best Residential Online Search Engine Service in both 2006 and 2007.


title: Dogpile

text: In November 2008, Dogpile launched its "Search and Rescue" program, which donates money to animal-related charities. The program also helps people find help for animals in need. By early-December 2008, people using the Dogpile search engine had raised $100,000 for Dogpile's Search and Rescue program.


title: Dogpile

text: In July 2016, InfoSpace was sold by its parent company Blucora to OpenMail for $45 million in cash, putting Dogpile under the ownership of OpenMail. OpenMail was later renamed System1.


title: Dogpile

text: In April 2005, Dogpile collaborated with researchers from University of Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania State University to measure the overlap and ranking differences of leading Web search engines in order to gauge the benefits of using a metasearch engine to search the web. Results found that from 10,316 random user-defined queries from Google, Yahoo!, and Ask Jeeves only 3.2 percent of first page search results were the same across those search engines for a given query. Another study later that year using 12,570 random user-defined queries from Google, Yahoo!, MSN Search, and Ask Jeeves found that only 1.1 percent of first page search results were the same across those search engines for a given query.


title: Dogpile

text: These studies showed that each search engine provides vastly different results. While users of the search engine may not recognize a problem, it was shown that they use ~3 search engines per month. Dogpile realized that searchers are not necessarily finding results they were looking for in one search engine and thus decided to redefine their existing metasearch engine to provide the best results.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Julianna Michelle Childs (born March 24, 1966), known professionally as J. Michelle Childs, is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a U.S. circuit judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She was a U.S. district judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina from 2010 to 2022, as well as previously a state court judge of the South Carolina Circuit Court from 2006 to 2010.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs was under consideration by President Joe Biden to fill retiring Justice Stephen Breyer's seat on the Supreme Court of the United States, but Biden nominated Ketanji Brown Jackson for Breyer's seat in February 2022.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs was born in 1966 in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents divorced when she was young. Her father, Ralph "Pete" Childs, was a champion table tennis player who won the U.S. Junior Championship in 1964 at age 16; he joined the Detroit Police Department as an officer in 1970. Her mother, Shandra ("née" Green), a personnel manager for Michigan Bell Telephone, decided to move to Columbia, South Carolina, when Childs was 14 years old due to rising crime in Detroit. Childs' father remained in Detroit and died in 1980 at age 32 from a gunshot wound, possibly self-inflicted. She attended Columbia High School, where she graduated in 1984 as class president and valedictorian. She also took part in youth beauty pageants and won the Miss Black Florida pageant in 1986.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs was inspired to pursue a legal career after participating in mock trial programs, first in high school and later at the University of South Florida, which she attended on scholarship. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She graduated "cum laude" in 1988 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in management from the University of South Florida. She enrolled at the University of South Carolina School of Law, wanting to practice law in her home state, and graduated in 1991 with a Juris Doctor. Childs also earned a Master of Arts degree in personnel and employment relations from the University of South Carolina School of Business in 1991. In 2016, she received her Master of Laws in judicial studies from Duke University School of Law.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: In 1991, Childs was hired as a law clerk at Nexsen Pruet, a firm that represents employers in labor law litigation. She was a full associate at the firm from 1992 to 1999, and became the first Black woman partner at a major South Carolina law firm when she was named a Nexsen Pruet partner in 2000. During her time at the firm, Childs gained a reputation for being an expert in employment and labor law.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: After working for Nexsen Pruet, Childs worked in the state government for six years. From 2000 to 2002, Childs served as the deputy director of the division of labor with the South Carolina Department of Labor during the administration of Governor Jim Hodges. From 2002 until 2006, she served as a commissioner on the South Carolina Workers' Compensation Commission.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: In 2006, she was elected by the South Carolina General Assembly to become Richland County Circuit Court Judge based in Columbia. During her time as a state judge, she helmed a special business court pilot program and became chief judge for General Sessions, South Carolina's criminal court.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs has received criticism from The American Prospect for sentencing a non-violent man to prison for 12 years for selling eight ounces of marijuana in a 2009 case, while Childs was a circuit court judge.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: On December 22, 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Childs to serve on the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina, to fill the seat vacated by Judge G. Ross Anderson, who assumed senior status on January 29, 2009. Her nomination was confirmed by the United States Senate on August 5, 2010. She received her commission on August 20, 2010. Her service on the district court terminated on August 2, 2022, when she was elevated to the D.C. Circuit Court.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs was elected to the American Law Institute in 2011 and served as an adviser on the "Restatement Third, Employment Law", an influential legal treatise that was published in 2015. She also served on an ALI Regional Advisory Group, helping to identify and recommend new members in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. In 2020, Childs was elected chair of the judicial division of the American Bar Association. In February 2021, Childs was promoted as a potential Supreme Court nominee under the Biden administration by U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: In November 2014, Childs ruled in favor of two women who sued to have the state recognize their marriage performed in Washington, D.C., finding South Carolina's failure to recognize their marriage to be unconstitutional.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: In September 2020, Childs granted a preliminary injunction that blocked South Carolina's absentee ballot witness requirement. A United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit panel initially blocked the injunction granted by Childs, but the full appeals court reinstated it during an en banc session. Ultimately, the injunction was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs has made two decisions related to nuclear reactor facilities in South Carolina. First, in August 2018, Childs refused to enjoin a state law that forced a state utility to cut its customers' rates after the failed construction of two new nuclear reactors in Fairfield County. Second, in December 2021, Childs refused to block a vaccine mandate for workers at a South Carolina nuclear facility. Childs ruled that the company did not have to continue employing someone who refused to get vaccinated. Childs again received criticism from The American Prospect regarding her criminal rulings.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: On January 28, 2022, the White House stated that Childs was among those being considered for nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court, to fill the seat would be vacated after Justice Stephen Breyer's retirement. Two days later, one of her home-state U.S. Senators from South Carolina, Republican Lindsey Graham, publicly voiced his support for her potential nomination. Childs' surprising ascent from district court judge to supreme court finalist can also be attributed to Jim Clyburn, the number three Democrat in the House who has been lobbying Biden to nominate Childs notwithstanding concerns over Childs' moderate record as a judge and trial lawyer. Labor rights groups voiced their disapproval with Childs' consideration for the U.S. Supreme Court given her private sector experience working at a law firm many considered to be an "anti-union" law firm.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: On February 22, 2022, President Biden ultimately chose D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill Breyer's seat.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: In January 2021, U.S. Representative Jim Clyburn sent a letter to President Biden's transition team encouraging Biden to nominate Childs to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On December 23, 2021, Biden announced Childs as his nominee for that court, and her nomination was sent to the Senate on January 10. She has been nominated to the seat to be vacated by Judge David S. Tatel, who will assume senior status upon confirmation of a successor. On April 27, 2022, a hearing on her nomination was held before the Senate Judiciary Committee. On May 26, 2022, her nomination was reported out of committee by a 17–5 vote. On July 14, 2022, the United States Senate invoked cloture on her nomination by a 58–33 vote. On July 19, 2022, her nomination was confirmed by a 64–34 vote. She received her judicial commission on July 25, 2022.


title: J. Michelle Childs

text: Childs is married to Floyd Angus, a gastroenterologist, and they have one daughter. She is a Roman Catholic and serves as a trustee on the board of Columbia's St. Martin de Porres Catholic School.


"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" () (KJV; also "You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God" (NRSV) and variants) is the second or third (depending on numbering) of God's Ten Commandments to man in the Abrahamic religions.


title: Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain

text: Based on this commandment, Second Temple Judaism by the Hellenistic period developed a taboo of pronouncing the name Yahweh at all, resulting in the replacement of the Tetragrammaton by "Adonai" (literally "my lords" – see Adonai) in pronunciation.


text: In the Hebrew Bible itself, the commandment is directed against abuse of the name of God, not against any use; there are numerous examples in the Hebrew Bible and a few in the New Testament where God's name is called upon in oaths to tell the truth or to support the truth of the statement being sworn to, and the books of Daniel and Revelation include instances where an angel sent by God invokes the name of God to support the truth of apocalyptic revelations. God himself is presented as swearing by his own name ("As surely as I live …") to guarantee the certainty of various events foretold through the prophets.


text: The Hebrew is translated as "thou shalt not take in vain". The word here translated as "in vain" is ( 'emptiness', 'vanity', 'emptiness of speech', 'lying'), while 'take' is 'to lift', 'carry', 'bear', 'take', 'take away' (appearing in the second person as ). The expression "to take in vain" is also translated less literally as "to misuse" or variants.


text: Some have interpreted the commandment to be against perjury, since invoking God's name in an oath was considered a guarantee of the truth of a statement or promise.


text: Other scholars believe the original intent was to prohibit using the name in the magical practice of conjuration.


text: Hebrew Bible passages also refer to God's name being profaned by hypocritical behavior of people and false representation of God's words or character.


text: The object of the command "thou shalt not take in vain" is this-same name of YHWH, thy "elohim"', making explicit that the commandment is against the misuse of the proper name "Yahweh" specifically.


text: In the Hebrew Bible, as well as in the Ancient Near East and throughout classical antiquity more generally, an oath is a conditional self-curse invoking deities that are asked to inflict punishment on the oath-breaker.


text: There are numerous examples in the Book of Samuel of people strengthening their statements or promises with the phrase, "As surely as Yahweh lives ..." and such statements are referred to in Jeremiah as well. The value of invoking punishment from God was based on the belief that God cannot be deceived or evaded. For example, a narrative in the Book of Numbers describes how such an oath is to be administered by a priest to a woman suspected of adultery, with the expectation that the accompanying curse will have no effect on an innocent person.


text: Such oaths may have been used in civil claims, regarding supposed theft, for example, and the commandment is repeated in the context of honest dealings between people in Leviticus 19:12. At one point of the account of the dedication of the Temple of Solomon, Solomon prays to Yahweh, asking him to hear and act upon curses uttered in a dispute that are then brought before his altar, to distinguish between the person in the right and the one in the wrong.


text: The prophet Isaiah rebuked Israel as the Babylonian captivity drew near, pointing out that they bore the name of God, and swore by him, but their swearing was hypocritical since they had forsaken the exclusive worship of Yahweh for the worship of idols. The Israelites had been told in Leviticus that sacrificing their children to idols and then coming to worship God caused God's name to be profaned, thus breaking the commandment. According to the Book of Jeremiah, Yahweh told him to look around Jerusalem, asserting that he would not be able to find an honest man – "Even when they say, As Yahweh lives,' they are sure to be swearing falsely." Jeremiah refers to a situation in which Israelites repented and took oaths in God's name – only to renege by reclaiming as slaves persons they had freed as part of their repentance. This hypocritical act was also considered profaning God's name. In Jeremiah 12, an opportunity is also described for Israel's neighbors to avoid destruction and prosper if they stop swearing by their idol and swear only by the name of Yahweh.


text: To avoid coming under guilt by accidentally misusing God's name, Jewish scholars do not write or pronounce the proper name in most circumstances, but use substitutes such as "Adonai (the Lord)," or "HaShem (the Name)." In English translations of the Bible, the name Adonai is often translated "Lord," while the proper name Yahweh represented by the tetragrammaton is often indicated by the use of capital and small capital letters, Lᴏʀᴅ.


text: Rabbi Joseph Telushkin wrote that the commandment is much more than a prohibition against casual interjections using God's name. He pointed out that the more literal translation of Lo tissa is "you shall not carry" rather than "you shall not take", and that understanding this helps one understand why the commandment ranks with such as "You shall not murder" and "You shall not commit adultery".


text: One of the first commandments listed by Maimonides in the Mishneh Torah is the responsibility to sanctify God's name. Maimonides thought the commandment should be taken as generally as possible, and therefore he considered it forbidden to mention God's name unnecessarily at any time. Jewish scholars referred to this as "motzi shem shamayim lavatalah", "uttering the Name of Heaven uselessly." To avoid guilt associated with accidentally breaking the commandment, Jewish scholars applied the prohibition to all seven biblical titles of God in addition to the proper name, and established the safeguard of circumlocution when referring to the Name of God. In writing names of God, a common practice includes substituting letters or syllables so that the written word is not exactly the name, or writing the name in an abbreviated manner. Orthodox Jews will not even pronounce a name of God unless it is said in prayer or religious study. The Sacred Name (Tetragrammaton), is never pronounced by these Jews but always read as "Adonai (the Lord)," "HaShem (the Name)," or sometimes "AdoShem".


text: The Kaddish is an important prayer in a Jewish prayer service whose central theme is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. Along with the Shema and Amidah, it is one of the most important and central prayers of Jewish liturgy.


text: In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that a person's word should be reliable and one should not swear by God or his creation. The Epistle of James reiterates the instruction to just say 'yes' or 'no' and keep your word, "so that you may not fall into condemnation."


text: According to the "Applied New Testament Commentary", appeals to authorities to validate the truth of a promise had expanded in Jesus' day, which was not in line with the original commandment. Jesus is quoted as warning that they were blind and foolish who gave credibility to such arguments.


text: According to the Gospel of John, Jesus made appeals to the power of the name of God and also claimed the name of God as his own, which constituted blasphemy if it were not true. The Gospel of John relates an incident where a group attempts to stone Jesus after he speaks God's name. Jesus says that he is the Messiah, and makes parallels between himself and the "Son of Man" referred to by the prophet Daniel, which evokes an emphatic response that he has blasphemed (broken the commandment) and deserves death.


text: Paul the Apostle occasionally invokes God's name in his epistles, calling God as witness to the purity of his motives and honesty of his dealings with the churches to whom he ministered.


text: The author of Hebrews reviewed God's promise to Abraham as assurance that outstanding promises will yet be fulfilled. "Human beings, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute." In the case of the promise of God to Abraham, God swore by his own name to guarantee the promise, since there was nothing greater for him to swear by. Philo pointed out that it is natural that God would swear by himself, even though this is "a thing impossible for anyone else."


text: Similar to the events described in the Book of Daniel, the Book of Revelation includes a description of an angel who swears by God to the truth of the end-time events being revealed to John.


text: The Catholic Church teaches that the Lord's name is holy and should be introduced into one's speech only to bless, praise or glorify that name. The name should be used respectfully, with an awareness of the presence of God. It must not be abused by careless speech, false oaths, or words of hatred, reproach or defiance toward God, or used in magic. Since Jesus Christ is believed to be the Messiah, and "the image of the invisible God," this commandment is applied to the name of Jesus Christ as well.


text: The sentiment behind this commandment is expressed in the Lord's Prayer, which begins, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name." According to Pope Benedict XVI, when God revealed his name to Moses he established a relationship with mankind; Benedict stated that the Incarnation was the culmination of a process that "had begun with the giving of the divine name." Benedict elaborated that this means the divine name could be misused and that Jesus' inclusion of "hallowed be thy name" is a plea for the sanctification of God's name, to "protect the wonderful mystery of his accessibility to us, and constantly assert his true identity as opposed to our distortion of it."


text: Taking an oath or swearing is to take God as witness to what one affirms. It is to invoke the divine truthfulness as a pledge of one's own truthfulness.


text: For the same reason, the "Catechism of the Catholic Church" teaches that it is a duty to reject false oaths that others might try to impose; an oath may be made false because it attests to a lie, because an illegitimate authority is requiring it, or because the purpose of the oath is contrary to God's law or human dignity.


text: Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe in this commandment as written in Exodus 20. This commandment has been repeated in the LDS Scriptures such as the Book of Mormon and in Doctrine and Covenants.


text: Former prophet and president of the Church, Spencer W. Kimball told the following story to inspire believers:


text: President Kimball underwent surgery many years ago, he was wheeled from the operating room to the intensive care room. The attendant who pushed the gurney which carried him stumbled and let out an oath using the name of the Lord. President Kimball, who was barely conscious, said weakly, "Please! Please! That is my Lord whose names you revile."


text: Matthew Henry described five categories of actions that constitute taking God's name in vain: 1) hypocrisy – making a profession of God's name, but not living up to that profession; 2) covenant breaking – if one makes promises to God yet does not carry out the promised actions; 3) rash swearing; 4) false swearing; and 5) using the name of God lightly and carelessly, for charms or spells, jest or sport. He pointed out that though a person may hold himself guiltless in one of these matters, the commandment specifically states that God will not.


text: "The Lutheran Witness", a magazine representing the Lutheran faith, supports the view that oaths should not generally be taken at all, except "for the glory of God and the welfare of our neighbor." Specifically, it states that proper use of God's name includes administration of oaths in court, and in swearing-in a spiritual or political leader to their respective offices, which include responsibilities toward God and fellow human beings.


text: In his Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin sets the stage for discussing this commandment by noting that an oath is calling God to witness that what we say is true, and that an appropriate oath is a kind of worship of God in that it implies a profession of faith. When human testimony fails, people appeal to God as witness, as the only one able to bring hidden things to light and know what is in the heart. False swearing robs God of his truth (to the observer), and therefore it is a serious matter. With regard to the casual use of God's name, Calvin summarized, "remember that an oath is not appointed or allowed for passion or pleasure, but for necessity." He wrote that the frequency of casual use of the name of God has dulled the public conscience but that the commandment, with its penalty, still stands.


text: "Invention of the Oath: But the chief benefit which religion ever conferred upon mankind, whether in ancient or in modern times, was undoubtedly the oath. The priests taught that if a promise was made in the name of the gods, and that promise was broken, the gods would kill those who took their name in vain. Such is the true meaning of the third commandment. Before that time treaties of peace and contracts of every kind in which mutual confidence was required could only be effected by the interchange of hostages. But now by means of this purely theological device a verbal form became itself a sacred pledge: men could at all times confide in one another; and foreign tribes met freely together beneath the shelter of this useful superstition which yet survives in our courts of law."


title: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)

text: How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (also known as Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!) is a 1966 American animated television special, directed and co-produced by Chuck Jones. It is based on the 1957 children's book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, and tells the story of the Grinch, who tries to ruin Christmas for the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway. Originally telecast in the United States on CBS on Sunday, December 18, 1966, it went on to become a perennial holiday special. The special features the voice of Boris Karloff as the Grinch and the narrator.


text: The Grinch is a surly asocial green creature with a heart "two sizes too small" who lives alone in a cave atop Mt. Crumpit, located above the village of Whoville. He especially hates Christmas and has always been annoyed by the town's Christmas celebrations. One Christmas Eve, he finally decides to stop Christmas Day from coming to Whoville by disguising himself as Santa Claus, his dog Max as a reindeer and, in a reversal of Santa's visit, stealing all presents, decorations, and symbols of Christmas. Once loaded, he plans on dumping the bags of stolen goods. He is noticed by a girl named Cindy Lou Who, but is otherwise undetected.


text: As the Grinch reaches the summit of Mt. Crumpit, ready to dump the bags, he discovers that the citizens of Whoville, despite having no gifts or decorations, have gathered in the middle of town to sing as Christmas Day dawns. Realizing that Christmas means more than just material possessions, the Grinch's heart grows three sizes. He saves the sleigh, returns the presents and the other belongings to the Whos, and joins in the town's Christmas celebration, by carving the roast beast, and Max gets the first slice.


text: Director Chuck Jones and children's-book author Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) had worked together on the "Private Snafu" training cartoons at Warner Bros. Cartoons during World War II. Jones was interested in adapting one of Geisel's books into a television special and approached him to turn "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" into one in time for the holiday season. Although Geisel was initially reluctant due to his unpleasant experiences making the film "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T.", he eventually agreed. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" was produced by The Cat in the Hat Productions in association with the television and animation divisions of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, where Jones was under contract at the time. CBS, coming off the surprise success of "A Charlie Brown Christmas" a year before, allotted Jones and MGM a $315,000 budget (around $2,465,000 in 2018), more than four times what Bill Melendez was offered to produce "A Charlie Brown Christmas".


text: Jones questioned how to make a Christmas special without the typical elements (orthodox religion, Santa, etc.). Jones' answer: "Write our new carols in Seussian Latin. After all, 'Fahoofores, Dahoodores' seems to have as much authenticity as 'Adeste fideles' to those unauthored in Latin." The song "Trim Up the Tree" was written in a square-dance type form by Albert Hague. Due to Cindy Lou Who's appealing cute design, Jones redesigned her as seeming to be the great-granddaughter of the Grinch in appearance, reluctantly having her role pared down, which broke Jones' heart. The character Max was set up as an observer and victim, and, according to the animation director, in the same way as Porky Pig and Daffy Duck in "Duck Dodgers" or "Robin Hood Daffy". The special required eleven to fourteen months of production time, 15,000 drawings and cels, 250 background layout drawings, 1,200 character layout drawings, and 60 musicians working for 8 hours to finish the special.


text: The original broadcast was sponsored by the Foundation for Full Service Banks, whose sponsor plugs within the original airing were later edited out for subsequent broadcasts. The entirety of the book's text, with some slight embellishment, was adapted into the special; to pad the special to a full 30-minute time slot, songs and animated sequences without words (the longest being an extended scene in which the Grinch and Max comically descend into Whoville) were added. As all the major networks had flipped to full color schedules by 1966, the special was likewise produced in color, establishing the Grinch's color (white in the two-tone illustrations of the original book) as green, a convention used in later television specials featuring the character as well as the 2000 live-action and 2018 3D animated film adaptations.


text: The half-hour (with commercials) short was originally telecast in the United States on CBS on December 18, 1966. CBS repeated it annually during the Christmas season until 1988. It was then seen multiple times per year on Turner-owned properties – first TNT, then TBS, and then Cartoon Network – and The WB returned it to broadcast television by adding its own annual screening in 2001. ABC took over the special after The WB ceased operations in 2006. NBC acquired the rights in 2015; its deal with Warner Bros. allows two broadcasts per season, currently scheduled for the night after Thanksgiving and Christmas night. The Christmas night broadcast has been later followed by the airing of the 2000 film of the same name. In 2022 the second airing of the special was aired on December 23 instead of Christmas Day due to a NFL game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Arizona Cardinals. TBS and TNT both continue to air the special annually many times during the holiday season.


text: The special was released in the midst of a wave of animated holiday specials, joining a number of other 1960s productions (such as 1964's "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", 1965's "A Charlie Brown Christmas", 1968's "The Little Drummer Boy", 1969's "Frosty the Snowman", and 1970's "Santa Claus Is Comin' to Town") that have come to be regarded as classics; critic Rick Du Brow compared it favorably to those specials at the time, saying it was "probably as good as most of the other holiday cartoons."


text: The critical consensus on Rotten Tomatoes, which gives the special a 100% approval rating, reads: ""How the Grinch Stole Christmas" brings an impressive array of talent to bear on an adaptation that honors a classic holiday story – and has rightfully become a yuletide tradition of its own." The special continues to be popular in Nielsen Ratings, with its 2010 airing (the last of many times it had aired that year) winning its time slot among persons 18 to 49 and finishing second in overall viewers. "TV Guide" ranked the special No. 1 on its 10 Best Family Holiday Specials list. "Fatherly" included the special on its list of the 100 best family-friendly films widely available to the public, one of only two productions made for television ("A Charlie Brown Christmas" being the other).


text: "How the Grinch Stole Christmas!" was released to VHS, Betamax, CED, and LaserDisc by MGM/UA Home Video in the 1980s, and was reissued several times. The special was released to the VHS and DVD formats in 1999 and 2000 by Warner Home Video, which acquired the rights to the MGM library in the late 1990s via their purchase of Turner Entertainment. MGM had earlier released it on DVD in 1997. The 1997 DVD release featured another Seuss-based special, "Horton Hears a Who!", while the 2000 DVD also added an audio commentary by lead animator Phil Roman and June Foray, interviews with Albert Hague and Thurl Ravenscroft, and the "Special Edition" documentary which aired alongside the special on TNT in 1994. The DVD was well-received for these bonus features, but also criticized for its sub-par picture quality; many critics pointed out that the Grinch looked yellow, not green, in this release.


text: The special was re-released on DVD in 2006 and labeled as a "50th Birthday Deluxe Edition". That labeling refers to the 1957 date of the book's publication rather than to the date of the 1966 TV special. This DVD release featured a new retrospective featurette and contained all the bonus features from the previous release, except for the audio commentary, and the Grinch was restored to his original green color. This edition is also available as part of the four-disc "Classic Christmas Favorites" box set. The special was again re-released on DVD with Phil Roman's and June Foray's audio commentary replacing the "Horton Hears a Who!" bonus special. The special was released on high definition Blu-ray Disc in 2009 with the title changed to "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!". It contained all the bonus features from the 2000 DVD, except for "Horton Hears a Who!", and also included a DVD of the special and a Digital Copy. On October 18, 2011, It featured on the "Dr. Seuss: Holidays On The Loose!" DVD set, along with "Halloween Is Grinch Night" and "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat".


text: Three songs with lyrics were included in the special: "Welcome Christmas", "Trim up the Tree" and "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch". The last of these was performed by Thurl Ravenscroft; the other two were performed by a chorus representing the voices of the Whos. None of the vocalists were credited at the time.


text: On December 18, 1966, MGM released a soundtrack LP in conjunction with the television special. CD releases include albums produced by Island (1995) and Mercury Records. In the recorded version, Boris Karloff does all voices including Cindy Lou Who. The song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", which comically describes the level of the Grinch's despicable nature, includes all verses with their original rhyming lyrics and the isolated song tracks have different durations due to being re-recorded.


text: On October 5, 1999, Rhino Entertainment released a new CD soundtrack (which included the soundtrack for another Dr. Seuss cartoon, "Horton Hears a Who!"). Both story collections contain selected dialogue and music numbers. The "isolated music tracks" in this edition are taken directly from the television soundtrack and are not the re-recorded tracks from earlier versions. The dialogues are the originals, being voiced by Boris Karloff for "Grinch" and Hans Conried for "Horton".


text: Because Thurl Ravenscroft was not credited in the closing credits of the 1966 television special as singing the song "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch", it is sometimes attributed to Boris Karloff. After becoming aware of this oversight, Seuss himself called Ravenscroft and apologized profusely and later wrote letters to columnists nationwide telling them that it was Ravenscroft who provided vocals for the musical number. Ravenscroft would become a staple in several of Seuss's later television specials, voicing one of the Wickersham Brothers in "Horton Hears a Who" and a factory worker in "The Lorax". Karloff received a Grammy Award in the Spoken Word category—the only major performing award of his career—for the album.


text: A television special called "Halloween Is Grinch Night", created by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, aired on ABC in 1977, eleven years after the Christmas special. This special involved a tale of the Grinch coming down to haunt the Whos every Halloween. Though less successful than the original, it was awarded an Emmy. A later cartoon, "The Grinch Grinches the Cat in the Hat" (alternatively titled "The Cat in the Hat Gets Grinched"), aired on ABC in 1982. Though credited to DePatie–Freleng, it was produced by Marvel Productions, which had taken over DePatie–Freleng in 1981.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Germany–Russia relations display cyclical patterns, moving back and forth from cooperation and alliance to strain and to total warfare. Historian John Wheeler-Bennett says that since the 1740s:


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Otto von Bismarck established the League of the Three Emperors in 1873 with Russia, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. But after Bismarck's dismissal in 1890, his successors chose to support Austria against Russia over competing influence in the Balkans. Germany fought against Russia in World War I (1914–1918). Relations were warm in the 1920s, very cold in the 1930s, friendly in 1939–41, and then turned into war to the death in 1941–45. In the 1920s both countries co-operated with each other in trade and (secretly) in military affairs. Hostilities escalated in the 1930s as the Fascists sponsored by Berlin and the Communists sponsored by Moscow fought each other across the world, most famously in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). In a stunning turnabout in August 1939, both countries came to an agreement, and divided up the previously independent nations of Eastern Europe. That détente collapsed in 1941 when Germany invaded the USSR. The Soviets survived however and formed an alliance with Britain and the U.S., and pushed the Germans back, capturing Berlin in May 1945.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: During the Cold War 1947–1991, Germany was divided, with East Germany under Communist control and under the close watch of Moscow, which stationed a large military force there and repressed an uprising in 1953. Since the end of the Cold War and German reunification, in 1989–91, Germany and Russia have developed a "Strategic Partnership" in which energy is indisputably one of the most important factors. Germany and Russia depend on each other for energy, namely in Germany's need for energy from Russia and Russia's need for heavy German investment to develop its energy infrastructure.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: According to a 2014 BBC World Service poll, only 21% of Germans view Russia's influence positively, which is on a par with the United States of America. Russians, however, have a much more positive view of Germany than Germans do of Russia, with 57% viewing Germany's influence positively and 12% negatively.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Relations turned highly negative in 2014 in response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and support for insurgents in Ukraine. Germany was a leader between NATO Quint in imposing round after round of increasingly harsh European Union sanctions against the Russian oil and banking industries and top allies of President Vladimir Putin. Russia responded by cutting food imports from the EU.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine led to a near complete reversal of German-Russian relations with the new German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, "ordering" the immediate transfer of thousands of missiles to the Ukrainian military to aid in its fight against the invading Russian forces. Germany has also participated in severe economic banking sanctions against Russia since the start of the war. However, Germany is very dependent on Russia for natural gas and has been less willing to sanction this sector, aside from halting the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline and the attack on September 26 temporarily shutting the pipes down. The pipeline made up a significant portion of Germany's petroleum imports from Russia. In response to sanctions imposed by Germany and the West, Russia gradually plunged flows of gas, which came to a complete halt in September 2022.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The earliest contact between Germans and East Slavs is unknown, though evidence of East Germanic loan-words suggest Slavic interactions with the Goths. Substantive historically recorded contact goes back to the times of the Teutonic Knights' campaigns in the Baltic, where the Knights took control of the land in the 13th century CE. Prince Alexander Nevsky defeated the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of the Ice in 1242.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Russia before the mid-18th century stood largely aloof from German affairs, while Germany, until the Napoleonic period, remained divided into numerous small states under the nominal leadership of the Holy Roman Emperor.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: After Russia's Great Northern War of 1700-1721 against Sweden, however, Russia's influence spread definitively into the Baltic area.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Over the centuries, from the Middle Ages onwards, German settlers steadily moved eastward, often into mostly Slavic areas and areas near to or controlled by Russia. Flegel points out that German farmers, traders and entrepreneurs moved into East and West Prussia, the Baltic region (Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia), the Danzig and Vistula River region, Galicia, Slovenia, the Banat, the Bachka, Bukovina, Transylvania, the Volga River district of Russia, Posen, the Duchy of Warsaw, Polish and Ukrainian Volhynia, Bessarabia, and the Mount Ararat region between the 17th and the 20th centuries. Often they came at the invitation of Russian governments. The Germans typically became the dominant factors in land-owning and in business enterprise. Some groups, such as part of the Mennonites, migrated to North America 1860–1914. The Germans in the Baltic states returned home voluntarily in 1940. Some 12 to 14 million were brutally expelled from Poland, Czechoslovakia and other countries in Eastern Europe in 1944–46, with the death of 500,000 or more. When the Cold War ended Germany funded the return of hundreds of thousands of people of German descent, whether or not they spoke German.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: A number of Baltic Germans served as ranking generals in the Russian Imperial Army and Navy, including Michael Barclay de Tolly, Adam von Krusenstern, Fabian von Bellingshausen, Friedrich von Buxhoeveden, Paul von Rennenkampf, Ivan Ivanovich Michelson and Eduard Totleben.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Many Baltic Germans (such as Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg, Baron Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel, Yevgeny Miller, and Anatoly Lieven) sided with the Whites and related anti-Bolshevik forces (like the "Baltische Landeswehr" and the "Freikorps" movement) during the Russian Civil War.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: With the creation of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1701 and the proclamation of the Russian Empire in 1721, two powerful new states emerged that began to interact.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: They fought on opposite sides during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740 – 1748), but the war saw both grow in power. Russia defeated Sweden and Prussia defeated Austria. Russia and Prussia again were at odds during the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) and fought the battles of Gross-Jägersdorf, Zorndorf, Kay and Kunersdorf. However, when Russian Tsar Peter III came to power, he made peace with Prussia by signing the Treaty of Saint Petersburg, allowing Prussian King Frederick the Great to concentrate on his other enemies.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Prussia and Russia in agreement with Austria then cooperated to carve up Poland-Lithuania between them in 1772, 1793, and 1795. Poland disappeared from the map.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Both Russia and Prussia had absolute monarchies that reacted sharply when the French Revolution executed the king. They at first were part of the coalition against the new French regime during the French Revolutionary Wars and later the Napoleonic Wars. During the Napoleonic era (1799 to 1815) Austria, Prussia, and Russia were at one time or another in coalition with Napoleon against his arch-enemy Great Britain. In the end, the two German states of Austria and Prussia united with Russia and Britain in opposing Napoleon. That coalition was primarily a matter of convenience for each nation. The key matchmaker was the Austrian Chancellor Klemens von Metternich, who forged a united front that proved decisive in overthrowing Napoleon, 1813–1814.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Russia was the most powerful force on the continent after 1815 and played a major role in the Concert of Europe which included France, Russia, Austria and Britain, but not Prussia. In 1815, the Holy Alliance consisting of Prussia, Russia and Austria was completed in Paris. For forty years (1816–56) Russian-German diplomat Karl Nesselrode as foreign minister guided Russian foreign policy. The revolutions of 1848 did not reach Russia, but its political and economic system was inadequate to maintain a modern army. It did poorly in the Crimean War. As Fuller notes, "Russia had been beaten on the Crimean peninsula, and the military feared that it would inevitably be beaten again unless steps were taken to surmount its military weakness." The Crimean War marked the end of the Concert of Europe. Prussia was shaken by the Revolutions of 1848 but was able to withstand the revolutionaries' call to war against Russia. Prussia did go to war with Denmark, however, and was only stopped by British and Russian pressure. Prussia remained neutral in the Crimean War.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Prussia's successes in the Wars of German Unification in the 1860s were facilitated by Russia's lack of involvement. The creation of the German Empire under Prussian dominance in 1871, however, greatly changed the relations between the two countries.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Initially, it seemed as if the two great empires would be strong allies. German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck formed the League of the Three Emperors in 1872 binding together Russia, Austria, and Germany. The League stated that republicanism and socialism were common enemies, and that the three powers would discuss any matters concerning foreign policy. Bismarck needed good relations with Russia in order to keep France isolated. In 1877–1878, Russia fought a victorious war with the Ottoman Empire and attempted to impose the Treaty of San Stefano on it. This upset the British in particular, as they were long concerned with preserving the Ottoman Empire and preventing a Russian takeover of the Bosphorus. Germany hosted the Congress of Berlin (1878), whereby a more moderate peace settlement was agreed to. Germany had no direct interest in the Balkans, however, which was largely an Austrian and Russian sphere of influence.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: In 1879, Bismarck formed a Dual Alliance of Germany and Austria-Hungary, with the aim of mutual military assistance in the case of an attack from Russia, which was not satisfied with the agreement reached at the Congress of Berlin. The establishment of the Dual Alliance led Russia to take a more conciliatory stance, and in 1887, the so-called Reinsurance Treaty was signed between Germany and Russia: in it, the two powers agreed on mutual military support in the case that France attacked Germany, or in case of an Austrian attack on Russia. Russia turned its attention eastward to Asia and remained largely inactive in European politics for the next 25 years.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Germany was somewhat worried about Russia's potential industrialization—it had far more potential soldiers—while Russia feared Germany's already established industrial power. In 1907 Russia went into a coalition with Britain and France, the Triple Entente.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The ultimate result of this was that Russia and Germany became enemies in World War I. The Eastern Front saw Germany successful, with victories at Tannenberg, First and Second Masurian Lakes and Lake Naroch. The czarist system collapsed in 1917. The Bolsheviks came to power in the October Revolution. The new regime signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk which was highly advantageous to Germany, although it was reversed when Germany surrendered to the Allies in November 1918.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: After the peace treaties that ended the Great War, the newly created states of the Weimar Republic and the Soviet Union both found themselves outcasts in the international system and gravitated toward each other. The Treaty of Rapallo (1922) formalized their warming relationship. Until 1933 the Soviet Union secretly provided training camps for the German Armed Forces.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The coming to power in 1933 of Adolf Hitler and the creation of the Nazi state with its virulent anti-Semitic and anti-communist rhetoric made for extremely hostile propaganda in both directions. Nazi propaganda, across Europe and Latin America, focused on warnings against Jewish and Bolshevik threats emanating from Moscow. The Comintern, representing Moscow's international Communist network, moved to a popular front approach after 1934, allowing the Communists worldwide to cooperate with socialists, intellectuals and workers on the left in opposing Fascism. The worldwide left-wing support for the Republicans in the Spanish Civil War (1936–39) proved of enormous aid to the Communist cause. Germany and the Soviets both sent military forces and advisors into Spain, as did Italy.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The Spanish Civil War was in part a proxy war. The Nationalists led by General Francisco Franco and the Republican government fought it out for the control of the country. Militarily, the Nationalists usually had the upper hand and they won in the end. Germany sent in the Condor Legion comprising elite air and tank units to the Nationalist forces. The Soviet Union sent military and political advisors, and sold munitions in support of the "Loyalist," or Republican, side. The Comintern helped Communist parties around the world send volunteers to the International Brigades that fought for the Loyalists.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: In August 1939 the two totalitarian states stunned the world by coming to a major agreement, the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. They agreed to invade and partition Poland and divided up Eastern Europe. The Soviets provided Germany with oil and reversed the anti-Nazi rhetoric of Communist parties around the world. At the same time, the Soviet and German interests were not reconciled in the Balkano-Danubian region. Thus, during 1940-1941 hot Soviet-German discussions concerning a new division of the South-Eastern Europe were going on. In June 1940, Moscow recognized that Slovakia was in the German sphere of influence. Otherwise, Russian request for the exclusive influence in Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey was rejected by Berlin in November 1940.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: In 1941, it was Russia's turn, yet Joseph Stalin refused to believe the multiple warnings of a German invasion. Operation Barbarossa began in June 1941, captured or destroyed multiple Soviet armies, and reached the gates of Moscow by December. Stalin fought back and forged close relations with Britain and the United States, both of which provided large amounts of munitions.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The Eastern Front became the horrendous ideological and race war with more than 27 million killed, including Soviet prisoners of war and Jews. It was perhaps the bloodiest conflict in human history.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The defeat of Germany by the Soviets and the Western allies eventually led to the occupation and partition of Germany and the expulsions of most ethnic-Germans from Soviet-conquered areas.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The creation of West Germany and East Germany complicated relations. West Germany initially tried to claim that it was the only German state and the East was illegitimate and under the Hallstein Doctrine refused to have relation with any socialist state except the Soviet Union itself. This policy eventually gave way to "Ostpolitik", under which West Germany recognized the East.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Gorbachev gave up on trying to support the deeply unpopular East German government. After the Revolutions of 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany was allowed to reunite by the World War II Allies. The Communist regime in East Germany collapsed and the country became part of West Germany. One issue was the presence of large numbers of Soviet troops; West Germany paid for their repatriation for housing them in the USSR.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Remarkably, despite the two 20th century wars, there are very few hard feelings against Germany in modern Russia, particularly on the part of Russians born after 1945. Moreover, in many places in Russia German war cemeteries were established in places of fierce World War II battles.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Relations between the two nations since the fall of Communism in 1991 have been generally good but not always without tension. German chancellor Gerhard Schröder placed high value on relations with Russia and worked for the completion of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline between them. His successor Angela Merkel, an Easterner and former dissident, has been more critical and clashed with Russian president Vladimir Putin over human rights and other issues. However, she, like her predecessor, always put a high value on the Nordstream pipeline, due to its ability to increase Russian influence. Most of the human rights issues could be seen as side-shows for the public - whilst the end-goal was always the completion of, and compensation for, NordStream. The project under both the Bush and Obama administration moved forward at rapid pace, but with only 300 km left, the Trump Administration halted the project by putting pressure on the Danish company overseeing the completion of the pipeline. Germany's relations with Russia were never likely to be as cozy under Angela Merkel as under her predecessor, Gerhard Schröder, who adopted a 3-year-old Russian girl and, on his 60th birthday, invited President Vladimir V. Putin home to celebrate.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Germany created a German-Russian Forum () in 1993. Alexandra Gräfin Lambsdorff was its first president.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Relations were normal in the first part of the new century, with expanding trade relations and an increasing German reliance on pipeline shipments of Russian natural gas. Relations turned highly negative in 2014 in response to Russia's seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and support for insurgents in Ukraine. Germany was a leader between NATO Quint in imposing round after round of increasingly harsh sanctions against the Russian oil and banking industries and top allies of President Putin. Russia responded by cutting food imports from the EU.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Since the crisis began, Chancellor Angela Merkel told President Putin that the referendum on accession of Crimea to Russia is illegal.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The European Union, the United States and their allies began using economic sanctions to force Russia to reverse course regarding Ukraine and stop supporting 2014 pro-Russian unrest in Ukraine. The "Los Angeles Times" reported that:


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: On the left, however, former Social Democrat Chancellor Gerhard Schröder announced his understanding of Russian policies and support for Putin. The "New York Times" editorialized that Schröder's decision to "embrace him [Putin] in a bear hug sent an unacceptable signal that some prominent Europeans are willing to ignore Mr. Putin's brutish ways." According to the Russian news agency ITAR/TASS, Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev admits the sanctions are hurting the Russian economy and slowing its growth. However he expects support oil industries that are hurt, to seek financing and high technology from Asia, and to import food from new sources.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Germany has traditionally been one of Russia's key economic partners. The annual trade turnover between the two countries had exceeded the $80 billion-level just before the sanctions were imposed. It is estimated that mutual sanctions entailed the decline in the bilateral trade volume of up to 20% that meant billions of losses for the German economy and, obviously, many jobs being cut. By early 2014, when the conflict was about to start, not only did German exports to Russia constitute the third of the whole EU's, but more than 6,200 German firms operated in Russia itself. In 2017, for the first time since the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions in 2014, bilateral trade increased - by 22.8%, amounting to about $50 billion. In the first eight months of 2018, the volume of mutual trade between Russia and Germany increased by almost a quarter compared to the same period last year. At the same time, Russian exports to Germany in 2018 increased by 35% to $22.1 billion, while imports rose by 12% to $16.9 billion.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Russians believe their main enemies in the world are the U.S., Ukraine, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, with 62 percent of Russians polled have a poor opinion of the EU, while Germany is rated poorly, according to a Levada Center poll that measures sentiments towards other countries. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Cuba, China, India and Armenia are Russia's best friends in the world, according to the poll asking which countries do Russians see favorably. Nonetheless, Russians are most hostile towards the United States, with 82 percent of Russians polled picking America as a top-five enemy. Ukraine came second, with 48 percent of those polled believing the country is a foe. Germany, while not rated favorably, is seen with a friendlier attitude by Russians.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: A Levada poll released in August 2018 found that 68% of Russian respondents believe that Russia needs to dramatically improve relations with Western countries, including Germany. A Levada poll released in February 2020 found that 80% of Russian respondents believe that Russia and the West should become friends and partners.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The East StratCom Task Force of the European External Action Service registered an increase in false information propagated in Russia about Germany as a result of the deterioration in German-Russian relations developed since the Poisoning of Alexei Navalny.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: In October 2021, German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had talked about the possibility of deploying nuclear weapons against Russia. She noted that nuclear weapons are a "means of deterrence."


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: After the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Germany, as one of the EU countries, imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "unfriendly nations". In April 2022, the German government said it will send 1 billion euros in military aid to Ukraine. On 17 May 2022, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner said he is "politically open to the idea of seizing" the frozen foreign-exchange reserves of the Central Bank of Russia —which amount to over $300 billion— to cover the costs of rebuilding Ukraine after the war. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko remarked that it would amount to "complete lawlessness", and that the measure would hurt Germany if adopted.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: German Riol Chemie GmbH has allegedly illegally delivered chemicals to Russia, including precursor for Novichok.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: In late 2022, Germany announced its first trade deficit since 1991, after it halted permits for Nord Stream 2, and introduced a Russian oil embargo. The country has been buckling under an acute energy shortage, approving cost-intensive subsidies to protect households from soaring energy bills. In fall 2022, Russia had halted gas flows via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline several times blaming Western sanctions against Russia, while the value of the Euro continued to slip against all major currencies. Russia's foreign ministry blamed the United States for Germany's energy crisis, by pushing its leaders towards a "suicidal" step of cutting economic and energy cooperation with Moscow, which had been a reliable energy supplier since Soviet times.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The discussion on the legitimacy of economic sanctions against Russia had a significant impact on Germany's political landscape. Parties to the right (AfD) and to the left (Die Linke) are split on the issue whether economic sanctions are effective to stop the conflict, and how they impact the German economy. Proponents of the right wanted to support the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, while politicians to the left have voiced similar concerns with regard to Germany's economic viability.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Since German reunification, Germany is home to a fast-growing and large community of people of Russian ancestry who have moved to Germany as full citizens. In the 1990s, some 100,000 to 200,000 arrived annually. Germany also has funded the communities that remain behind in Russia.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: Russian international schools in Germany include the Russian Embassy School in Berlin and the Russian Consulate School in Bonn. There is a German school in Russia: German School Moscow.


title: Germany–Russia relations

text: The Embassy of Germany is located in Moscow, Russia. The Embassy of Russia is located in Berlin, Germany.


title: The Head (2020 TV series)

text: The Head is a Spanish-made, English-language psychological thriller television series directed by Jorge Dorado which premiered on June 12, 2020.


title: The Head (2020 TV series)

text: Winter has fallen on the South Pole. The sun will soon disappear for the next six months. A small team, known as the Winterers, will remain at the Polaris VI Antarctic Research Station to continue their innovative research, a crucial part in the fight against climate change, under the command of renowned biologist Arthur Wilde (John Lynch). But when spring comes, summer commander Johan Berg (Alexandre Willaume) returns to the station only to find the entire team are either dead or missing. A killer is on the loose and Annika (Laura Bach), Johan's wife, is missing. If he wants to find her alive, he will have to trust Maggie (Katharine O’Donnelly), the young doctor who is profoundly shaken and apparently the sole survivor from the group.


title: The Head (2020 TV series)

text: The series was shot in a set in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, whereas outdoor scenes were shot in Iceland.


title: The Head (2020 TV series)

text: In October 2021, The Mediapro Studio (detached from HBO Asia and Hulu Japan) reported that they were preparing a second season set in a container ship, directed by Jorge Dorado and written by Mariano Baselga (season 1 executive producer) and Jordi Galceran, with cinematography by David Acereto, with Laura Fernández Espeso, Javier Mendez and Bernat Elias credited as executive producers.


title: The Head (2020 TV series)

text: The series aired on , Hulu Japan, HBO Asia, Canal+, AXN Portugal, and Amazon Video in the summer season 2020.


title: The Head (2020 TV series)

text: In the UK, Ireland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Luxembourg, streaming started on Starzplay on February 7, 2021.


title: Shirdi

text: Shirdi (; also known as Sainagar) is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is located in the Rahata taluka of Ahmednagar District. It is accessible via the Ahmednagar–Malegaon State Highway No.10, approximately from Ahmednagar and from Kopargaon. It is located east of the Western Seashore line (the Ahmednagar–Manmad road), a very busy route.


title: Shirdi

text: Shirdi is famously known as the home of the late 19th century saint Shirdi Sai Baba. The Shri Saibaba Sansthan Trust located in Shirdi is one of the richest temple organisations.


title: Shirdi

text: As of the 2011 India census, the population of Shirdi stood at 36,004. Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Shirdi has an average literacy rate of 70%, higher than the national average of 59.5%: male literacy is 76%, and female literacy is 62%. In Shirdi, 15% of the population is under six years of age.


title: Shirdi

text: The Sainagar Shirdi Railway station became operational in March 2009. As of 2011, there are trains from Chennai, Mumbai, Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Vijayawada, Hyderabad, Mysore and other cities/states that have Shirdi railway station as their terminal stop.


title: Shirdi

text: Shirdi Airport was inaugurated by the President of India, Ramnath Kovind, on 1 October 2017. There are major destinations from Shirdi airport, viz. the airports of Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai. The airport is located at Kakadi in Kopargaon tahsil area, 14 km south-west of Shirdi. The construction, according to the original plans, was completed in February 2016, and the first trial flight landed on 2 March 2016. There are plans to lengthen the runway from 2,200 metres to 3,200 metres. The target completion date is 2017 or 2018.


title: Shirdi

text: Shirdi is accessible via the Ahmednagar-Manmad State Highway No.10, approximately from Ahmednagar and from Kopargaon. It is approximately from Mumbai on the Eastern Express Highway.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Emperor Gaozong of Tang (21 July 628 – 27 December 683), personal name Li Zhi, was the third emperor of the Tang dynasty in China, ruling from 649 to 683; after January 665, he handed power over the empire to his second wife Empress Wu (the future Wu Zetian), and her decrees were carried out with greater force than the decrees of Emperor Gaozong's. Emperor Gaozong was the youngest son of Emperor Taizong and Empress Zhangsun; his elder brothers were Li Chengqian and Li Tai.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Emperor Gaozong's reign saw the primacy of Empress Wu, who became the effective power behind the Tang rule. Emperor Gaozong was aided in his rule by Empress Wu during the later years of his reign after a series of strokes left him incapacitated. Emperor Gaozong effectively after January 665 delegated all matters of state to his strong wife; After that Empress Wu acted as the power behind the emperor, "hanging the curtain and listening to politics" ("Chuílián tīngzhèng" 垂簾聼政). Gaozong's personal illness, over-affection and trust of Wu and led to her wielding a great deal of power in affairs of state until the end of his reign and exert her influence on him. Empress Wu was partially in control of power since November 660 and then totally since January 665 to December 683; There was an equality of power between Gaozong and Wu, which caused them to be called "two saints" (二聖, Er Sheng, literally two emperors) both inside and outside. After Emperor Gaozong died in December 683, power fell completely and solely into the hands of Empress Wu, act as Empress Dowager-regent, "presiding over court and issuing edicts" ("lin chao chengzhi" 臨朝稱制); Who subsequently became the only empress regnant in Chinese history. After his death, he was interred at the Qianling Mausoleum along with Wu Zetia


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: During the first part of his reign, Tang territorial gains, which started with his father Emperor Taizong, continued, including the conquest of Baekje, Goguryeo, and the Western Turkic Khaganate, but throughout the 670s, much of those gains were lost to the Tibetan Empire, Silla, Khitan, and Balhae. Further, territory previously conquered that belonged to both the Göktürks and the Western Turkic Khaganate were subjected to repeated rebellions.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Li Zhi was born in 628. He was the ninth son of his father, Emperor Taizong, and the third son of his mother, Emperor Taizong's wife Empress Zhangsun. In 631, he was created the Prince of Jin. In 633, he was made commandant of Bing Prefecture (并州, roughly modern Taiyuan, Shanxi), but remained at the capital Chang'an rather than reporting to Bing Prefecture. When Empress Zhangsun died in 636, Emperor Taizong was particularly touched by the grief that Li Zhi displayed, and from that point on particularly favored him. Sometime while he was the Prince of Jin, at the recommendation of his grand aunt Princess Tong'an, he married the grandniece of Princess Tong'an's husband Wang Yu () as his wife and princess.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Meanwhile, Li Zhi's two older brothers by Empress Zhangsun, Li Chengqian the Crown Prince and Li Tai the Prince of Wei, were locked in an intense rivalry, as Li Tai was favored by Emperor Taizong for his talent and was trying to displace Li Chengqian. Li Chengqian, in fear, entered into a conspiracy with the general Hou Junji, his uncle Li Yuanchang () the Prince of Han, the imperial guard commander Li Anyan (), and his brothers-in-law Zhao Jie (趙節, who was also his cousin) and Du He () to overthrow Emperor Taizong. The plot was discovered in 643, and Emperor Taizong deposed Li Chengqian. He was initially going to make Li Tai the new crown prince, but later began to believe that Li Tai's machinations were responsible for Li Chengqian's downfall. The powerful chancellor Zhangsun Wuji – Empress Zhangsun's brother—suggested that he make Li Zhi crown prince, a possibility that Li Tai was apprehensive about. Li Tai tried to intimidate Li Zhi, who had been friendly with Li Yuanchang, by pointing out to Li Zhi that Li Yuanchang had been part of the plot and that he should be concerned for himself. When Emperor Taizong noticed Li Zhi worrying about this and was told by Li Zhi of Li Tai's intimidation, Emperor Taizong's mind became set. He exiled Li Tai, and on 30 April 643, he created Li Zhi the new crown prince. He made Zhangsun and two other senior chancellors, Fang Xuanling and Xiao Yu, senior advisors to Li Zhi, and made another chancellor, Li Shiji, the head of Li Zhi's household. At the advice of another key official, Liu Ji, who pointed out that the crown prince needed to have a group of well-learned scholars that he was close to, Emperor Taizong appointed Liu, as well as Cen Wenben, Chu Suiliang, and Ma Zhou, to serve as Li Zhi's friends and advisors.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Late in 643, Emperor Taizong issued an edict to select beautiful women among good households to serve as Li Zhi's concubines. However, after Li Zhi declined such treatment, Emperor Taizong cancelled the edict. However, during his years as crown prince, he was said to have favored his concubine Consort Xiao, having two daughters (the later Princesses Yiyang and Xuan Cheng) and one son (Li Sujie) with her, much to the chagrin of his wife Crown Princess Wang, who was childless and jealous of Consort Xiao. Three other concubines of his bore his other sons Li Zhong, Li Xiao (), and Li Shangjin ().


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Around the same time, however, Emperor Taizong also became concerned that Li Zhi, who was considered kind but weak in character, would not be strong enough to be an emperor, and secretly discussed with Zhangsun Wuji the possibility of making another son by his concubine Consort Yang (daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui), Li Ke the Prince of Wu, crown prince. Zhangsun repeatedly opposed the idea, and Emperor Taizong did not carry this out.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: In 645, when Emperor Taizong launched a campaign against Goguryeo, he took Li Zhi with him to Ding Prefecture (定州, roughly modern Baoding, Hebei) and then left Li Zhi there to be in charge of logistics, before heading to the front himself. He also left senior officials Gao Shilian, Liu Ji, Ma Zhou, Zhang Xingcheng, and Gao Jifu to assist Li Zhi. After the campaign ended in failure later that year, as Emperor Taizong was leading the army back from the front, Li Zhi went to meet him at Linyu Pass (臨渝關, now Shanhai Pass). Emperor Taizong suffered an injury during the campaign, and Li Zhi was said to have, as Emperor Taizong's conditions were getting worse, sucked the pus out of his wound, until Emperor Taizong recovered somewhat. In 646, with Emperor Taizong still recovering, he transferred some of the imperial authorities to Li Zhi. Li Zhi stayed at the imperial palace and attended to Emperor Taizong in his illness. That year, when Emperor Taizong was due to visit Ling Prefecture (靈州, roughly modern Yinchuan, Ningxia) to meet with a number of tribal chiefs who were formerly vassals of Xueyantuo—which had collapsed under Tang and Huige attacks earlier that year—he was set to take Li Zhi with him, but at Zhang's suggestion left Li Zhi in charge at Chang'an instead, to allow Li Zhi to become more familiar with the important affairs of state in his absence. After Emperor Taizong returned from Ling Prefecture, he retained for himself the authorities over imperial worship, state guests, military, the commissioning of officers of higher than the fifth rank, and executions, and transferred all other authorities to Li Zhi.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: In 647, a commoner named Duan Zhichong () submitted a petition to Emperor Taizong, asking him to pass the throne to Li Zhi. Li Zhi, concerned that Emperor Taizong might be offended, was worried and grieving, and Zhangsun suggested that Duan be executed. Emperor Taizong did not take offense and did not punish Duan or Li Zhi. Meanwhile, Li Zhi began to build a Buddhist temple named Daci'en Temple () in commemoration of his mother Empress Zhangsun, and the temple was completed in 648.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: In 649, while at the summer palace Cuiwei Palace (翠微宮, in the Qin Mountains), Emperor Taizong was gravely ill, and he, while impressed with Li Shiji's abilities, was concerned that Li Shiji was too able and would not submit to Li Zhi. He stated to Li Zhi:


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: He then demoted Li Shiji to the post of the commandant of Die Prefecture (疊州, roughly modern Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu). Li Shiji, realizing what was happening, after receiving the order, departed without hesitation.


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: As Emperor Taizong's illness was getting more serious, Li Zhi continuously attended to him and wept constantly, often going without food, which touched Emperor Taizong greatly. Emperor Taizong entrusted Li Zhi to Zhangsun and Chu Suiliang, and then died on 10 July 649. Initially, Li Zhi was so mournful that he could not carry out any actions other than holding onto the necks of Zhangsun and Chu. Zhangsun, while mourning himself, reminded Li Zhi that he was now in charge of the empire and must act accordingly. Zhangsun also ordered that Emperor Taizong's death not be announced for the time being, and then, the next day, accompanied Li Zhi back to Chang'an. Zhangsun issued several edicts in Emperor Taizong's name—including making Yu Zhining, Zhang, and Gao Jifu chancellors. Two days later, Emperor Taizong's death was officially announced. On 15 July, Li Zhi took the throne (as Emperor Gaozong).


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: During his 34-year reign, he was unable to exercise power alone and was under the control of several of his great ministers and his wife, Empress Wu. The order of the regents were:


title: Emperor Gaozong of Tang

text: Emperor Gaozong's first move as emperor was to cancel a second campaign against Goguryeo that Emperor Taizong had planned for later 649. While Li Tai was disallowed from attending Emperor Taizong's funeral, Emperor Gaozong permitted him to again have a staff and be allowed to use wagons, clothes, and foods of high quality. Emperor Gaozong created his wife Crown Princess Wang empress and made her father Wang Renyou () the Duke of Wei. It was said that early in Emperor Gaozong's reign, he greatly respected both his uncle Zhangsun Wuji and Chu Suiliang and followed their advice, and that therefore, during this part of his reign, the government was organized well and the people were comforted, much like during the reign of Emperor Taizong, although in winter 650, Chu was accused of forcibly purchasing private land and paying below-market price, and was demoted to be a prefectural prefect. (Chu eventually returned to power in 653.)