title: Patty and Selma

text: Patty's only known relationship with a man involved Principal Skinner. On a blind date arranged by Homer, Skinner was supposed to fall for Selma, but he noticed Patty first and fell in love with her instead. They dated for a while, though Patty often showed signs of reluctance through things like unjoyful facial expressions and turned down his marriage proposal, claiming him she was too devoted to Selma to abandon her. However, she did consider Skinner a gentleman and ended their relationship with the words "Good night, sweet principal." Like Selma, Patty also has a long-running fixation on "MacGyver", although this aspect of her personality has been played down in later episodes.


title: Patty and Selma

text: After coming out as a lesbian, Patty exclaims "you could see it from space!". There had been many previous hints of her sexuality: she was seen visiting a burlesque house; she exclaimed (upon seeing Homer naked) "There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality"; she was seen hiding in a closet with Smithers on a parade float during a gay pride parade. In another nod to Patty's sexuality being obvious, Homer sarcastically quipped, "Here's another bomb for ya, Marge: I like beer!" when Marge was shocked at the revelation.


title: Patty and Selma

text: Patty wooed a tenured professor from Yale University away from her husband and has also been attracted to Edna Krabappel. When Selma claimed she couldn't face prison, Patty replied that she could, implying she would welcome a female-only environment. Patty's first serious relationship with a woman was with Veronica, a pro golfer. It was later discovered by Marge and revealed during Patty's wedding that Veronica was actually a man in disguise. Patty's next serious relationship with a woman was with Evelyn, who quickly bonded with Homer over similar traits during a trip to Costa Rica. When Marge pointed out that Evelyn was ruining the trip and was a female version of Homer, a horrified Patty broke up with her. However, when a remorseful Marge apologized to Patty and reassured her that the difference between Homer and Evelyn was that Evelyn truly loved her, Patty decided to reconcile with Evelyn.


title: Patty and Selma

text: Selma Bouvier is two minutes older than Patty. Due to a childhood bottle rocket accident, she has no sense of taste or smell. According to Marge, Selma "likes "Police Academy" movies and Hummel figurines, and walking through the park on clear autumn days." In contrast to her twin, Selma yearns for male companionship and children. She is also slightly more sympathetic towards Homer than Patty. Selma helped reunite Homer and Marge after seeing how upset Marge was without him, despite an agreement with Patty not to say anything. Homer was sympathetic to her when she broke down after a disastrous trip to Duff Gardens with Bart and Lisa, remarking "I just couldn't cut it today", referring to raising kids. Homer also agreed to pose as Selma's husband to help her adopt a baby from China. During Homer and Marge's trial separation, when Marge went out on a date with someone else, Selma called Homer and offered to help him save their marriage, but was left frustrated when Homer mistook her for Patty over the phone.


title: Patty and Selma

text: Unable to find companionship in a man, Selma has also sought to have children. At one point she considered using a sperm donor which Homer mistakenly thought meant Selma would have sex with a robot. After babysitting Bart and Lisa for a day, she realized she was not ready to have children and wound up adopting Jub-Jub, her late Aunt Gladys's pet iguana. Much later, she adopted a Chinese baby girl, Ling. During the adoption process, Selma pretended to be married to Homer, since the Chinese government only allows children to be adopted by married couples. After the fraud was exposed, Selma managed to keep the baby as a Chinese dignitary (voiced by Lucy Liu), who had also been raised by a single parent, became sympathetic.


title: Patty and Selma

text: Despite being identical twins, Patty and Selma have very different track records when it comes to finding dates. According to Marge, Patty chose a life of celibacy, while Selma had celibacy thrust upon her. Her standards are extremely low, as evidenced by her comments on Mr. Burns: "Single, eh? Well, he passes the Selma Test."


title: Patty and Selma

text: Selma has actively sought out a husband, and has been married to six different men. Her current name has evolved into Selma Bouvier-Terwilliger-Hutz-McClure-Stu-Simpson-D'Amico. Her first marriage, to Robert "Sideshow Bob" Terwilliger, ended when his plan to kill her was foiled by Bart. After an off-screen marriage to Lionel Hutz, she began dating Troy McClure. They married, but she soon discovered it was just a sham to boost his flagging career. She told him she was unwilling to bring a baby into a loveless marriage and broke it off. Another unseen marriage was to Disco Stu, which was annulled by the Pope. For a time she dated Abe Simpson, to the horror of Homer and Patty. Despite their objections, the two got married, but came to realize it would not work due to his age and her job, so they called it quits. Her most recent husband is Fat Tony D'Amico, though he was already married and regarded Selma as his "goomar". It has been implied that Selma had a second failed marriage to Sideshow Bob, giving her a total of seven marriages.


title: Patty and Selma

text: One person Selma refused to marry was Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, because she said her collection of last names was long enough. However, there is evidence that she slept with Apu after Homer and Marge's second wedding. Selma has also dated various other men around Springfield, among them Hans Moleman, Moe Szyslak, and pitifully, Barney Gumble. She was rejected by Groundskeeper Willie, who upon seeing her dating video remarked "Back to the Loch with you Nessie".


title: Patty and Selma

text: Series creator Matt Groening said he suggested that Kavner voice Patty and Selma as characters who "suck the life out of everything..." Al Jean said Kavner makes Patty's voice more masculine and a lower register, while Selma's voice is a little sweeter.


title: Patty and Selma

text: In the 2005 episode "There's Something About Marrying" of the sixteenth season, Patty was revealed to be a lesbian and became the first openly gay recurring character in the series. Groening has stated that the staff wanted to out Patty as gay because portraying her as a "love-starved spinster [...] seemed old" on the show. There had previously been hints about Patty's orientation. For example, in the season thirteen episode "Jaws Wired Shut" she is part of the Springfield Gay Pride Parade's "stayin' in the closet" float, though only her voice was heard and she was not seen.


title: Patty and Selma

text: According to the publications "Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture" and "Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights", it was the controversial lesbian outing of the main character (played by Ellen DeGeneres) in the sitcom "Ellen" in 1997 that paved the way for Patty's coming-out in "There's Something About Marrying", as well as for many other gay characters on other television shows. In his book "Queers in American Popular Culture", Jim Elledge noted that it is possible the "Simpsons" staff chose Patty to come out as gay instead of a male character because lesbians were "traditionally considered more acceptable" on television. She did, however, not "adhere to the eroticized male lesbian fantasy or fit into the loveable, asexual guise of the comedy lesbian" that had previously been seen on shows such as "Ellen". Instead, Patty is "rude, crude, and not ashamed of declaring her sexual preferences", and this could make her unpalatable to some viewers according to Elledge.


title: Patty and Selma

text: It was reported a long time in advance of the episode's airing in 2005 that a major character would come out as gay during the episode. There was a widespread debate among fans of the series as to who the character would be. Patty was suspected by many fans and the press because she had not often been seen dating men on the show. The tabloid newspaper "The Sun" revealed already in September 2004 that character who would come out was Patty, though this was regarded as a rumor and "The Simpsons" executive producer Al Jean would not confirm it. Bookmakers in the United States and the United Kingdom took bets on which character would be uncovered as homosexual—BetUS laid odds at four to five that it was Patty, while Smithers had four to one odds and Ned Flanders fifteen to one odds. BetUS said gamblers made more than 900 bets on the coming-out on their website. According to "The Baltimore Sun", another bookmaker Paddy Power "stopped taking wagers because so much money was being placed on [Patty]."


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Orange Juice was a Scottish jangle pop band founded in the Glasgow suburb of Bearsden as the Nu-Sonics in 1976. They became Orange Juice in 1979, and became perhaps the most important band in the Scottish independent music scene that emerged in the post-punk era, inspired by contemporary punk bands including Subway Sect, Television, and Buzzcocks but also 1960s acts, most notably The Byrds and The Velvet Underground. Musically, the band brought together styles and genres that often appeared incongruous, for example, country, disco and punk.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: The band released their first singles during 1980 and 1981 on the independent Postcard Records label founded by Alan Horne, along with fellow Scottish bands Josef K and Aztec Camera. Orange Juice's 'neo acoustic', jangly guitar sound – as evident in singles including "Blue Boy" and "Simply Thrilled Honey" – came to define 'The Postcard Sound' that directly influenced acts as diverse as The Bluebells, Haircut One Hundred and The Smiths.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Despite their association with the independent scene, the band signed to the major label Polydor Records in 1981 and recorded their first album, "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" for them. However, internal tensions led to splits in the band in late 1981, with their second album, released in late 1982, showing more pop sensibilities and combining their guitar-based sound with disco influences. The band's only Top 40 hit, "Rip It Up" was achieved with the aid of the synthesizer – it was the first hit to use the Roland TB-303. "Rip It Up", reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1983. Subsequent singles failed to chart as highly, but the band continued to be critically acclaimed, finally splitting up in January 1985 after a gig for the UK miners' strike. Their four albums have been subsequently reissued and remastered on several occasions, with a major career-spanning box set "Coals to Newcastle" released in 2010.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Edwyn Collins pursued a successful solo career following the band's split, whilst other members James Kirk, David McClymont, Malcolm Ross and Zeke Manyika have had lower-profile solo releases. The original line-up of the band reunited once in 2008 to be honoured for their influence on Scottish music, but the band has never reformed.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Orange Juice had their origin in the Nu Sonics, formed by Edwyn Collins with college friend Alan Duncan (on bass) in 1976: the band was named after the affordable Burns nu-sonic guitar used by Collins. Two students in the year below them – Steven Daly and James Kirk, previously in punk band, The Machetes – were drafted into the band in 1977, with a fifth member, Geoff Taylor, playing drums. A first gig was held in the Silver Thread in Paisley in November 1977, with Daly on lead vocals. Daly subsequently shifted to drums, and further local gigs followed as a four-piece, including one supporting Steel Pulse at Satellite City in January 1978, alongside Johnny and the Self-Abusers, later to be known as Simple Minds. Duncan left the band after a gig at Hardgate Town Hall, leaving the remaining members to search for a new bass player.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Shortly after Duncan's departure, one of Collins' colleagues in the Glasgow Parks Department, David McClymont, joined the band on bass, and the band was rechristened as Orange Juice. Collins, Kirk, McLymont and Daly's first gig as Orange Juice occurred in April 1979 in the Glasgow School of Art refectory. At another early gig at Teviot Row House at the University of Edinburgh was recorded by Malcolm Ross of Josef K, and one track from this (Kirk's "Felicity") was pressed as a flexi-disc to be distributed with a planned fanzine to be called "'Strawberry Switchblade"', a name that later inspired and was adopted for a band formed by friends of the group and notably Alan Horne, the manager of Postcard Records. Horne planned the fanzine with Collins in 1979 primarily as a conduit to release Orange Juice's music. The fanzine never appeared, though some copies of the flexi were given away in the "Ten Commandments" fanzine run by Robert Hodgens (of The Bluebells).


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Daly left shortly after the Teviot Row gig, joining local punk act Fun 4. Daly was replaced in Orange Juice by Chris Gordon on drums, but was persuaded back to record the band's debut single "Falling and Laughing" for Postcard after Gordon suffered from stage fright at a number of gigs. The debut single was recorded in December 1979 in Strathaven, with Malcolm Ross co-producing and adding guitar to both the A-side and the playful and instrumental B-side "Moscow", the latter recorded as a tentative 'theme tune' for the coming 1980 Moscow Olympics. Fewer than 1,000 copies of "Falling and Laughing" were pressed, and most included copies of the "Felicity" flexi: 200 also included a postcard of the band. The wrap-round cover and amateur packaging established Postcard's home-spun aesthetic, with the label's "Sound of Young Scotland" tagline marking it out as something of a reaction to much of the seriousness and angst of post-punk. Released in February 1980, "Falling and Laughing" was Postcard's signature tune: lyrically and musically, it celebrated the innocence of youth and was very much at odds with much contemporary independent music, combining a disco bass-line purloined from an ELO song with jangly guitars reminiscent of the Velvet Underground.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: "Falling and Laughing" immediately marked out Postcard Records as a label to watch, and subsequent releases by Josef K and Aztec Camera consolidated its reputation as being at the cutting-edge of a new wave of Scottish pop. But it was Orange Juice that came to embody the "Sound of Young Scotland", with Collins' on-stage behaviour, charity-shop chic and occasional self-parody combining camp aesthetics with a subversive rejection of macho rock and roll cliché. Live, performances could be shambolic, with guitars often out of tune, and songs often aborted as drums, bass and guitar raced away from each other. Occasionally, crowds were hostile towards the band, seeing them as effeminate and anti-rock. Nonetheless, gigs in Glasgow and then Edinburgh began to attract a sizable fan-base: notable gigs with Josef K were sold as 'Postcard' nights, including the infamous 'Funky Glasgow Now' show at Glasgow Technical College in April 1980.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: The band's debut single was followed by a series of well-received Postcard 7" releases: "Blue Boy", "Simply Thrilled Honey" and "Poor Old" Soul in 1980 and 1981. Selling sufficiently to appear prominently in the independent charts, these garnered considerable interest from the London-based music press, much of which appeared charmed by the band's on-stage antics. Invitations to record two sessions for Radio One DJ's John Peel followed, and, in the autumn of 1980, the band was invited on a national tour by Peel-favourites The Undertones, gaining further exposure. One of these gigs was at Rock City in Nottingham: coming on as support band, Orange Juice became the first band to play this now-legendary venue (on 11 Dec 1980).


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Demos for an album on Postcard were completed in a single day at Hellfire Studios in Glasgow in 1981, with the working title "Ostrich Churchyard". Seeking better distribution to get the debut album to a larger audience, Postcard approached Rough Trade Records with these demos, with Rough Trade agreeing to fund recording sessions in London in the summer of 1981, promising to distribute the debut album whilst allowing Postcard to retain artistic freedom. The album was recorded in Regent's Park Studios in London in August 1981, under the auspices of Scritti Politti producer Alan Kidron, who sought to augment the band's guitar-based sound with backing singers, horns and keyboards, emulating the sound that had made Scritti's "The "Sweetest Girl"" a modest crossover hit. Afterwards, Orange Juice took the tapes from these sessions and signed to Polydor, hastening the demise of Postcard (with a scheduled fifth Orange Juice single on Postcard, "Wan Light", failing to ever see the light of day). The Postcard Records-era history of Orange Juice is featured in the 2015 documentary film "Big Gold Dream".


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Debut album "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" was not released until February 1982, and received mixed reviews, with the use of backing singers and synthesizers anathema to some of the band's long-term fans. Retrospectively, however, the album is often cited as a classic of the era and a key influence on the C86 generation and beyond. By the stage the album was released, the band in any case had a new line-up: in August 1981, Josef K split up, with Collins asking guitarist Malcolm Ross to join the band, making it a five-piece. This caused some ructions, with Daly and Kirk reportedly feeling the band was losing its original sound (Daly in particularly having publicly objected to the first Polydor single "L.O.V.E... Love", a cover of the Al Green classic, released in October 1981). Collins was reported in the press as siding with Kirk and Daly before deciding to leave with Malcolm Ross and bass player David McLymont. Collins, Ross and McLymont performed as a three-piece, with stand-in drummers, on a couple of Autumn 1981 gigs before Zeke Manyika made his live debut in January 1982 at the London Venue. As such, the line-up that promoted "You Can't Hide Your Love Forever" on tour in early 1982 was not the line-up that recorded it: ignoring older material penned by James Kirk (e.g. "Felicity", "Wan Light", "You Old Eccentric", "Three Cheers for Out Side") the band often used dates to debut new songs that overtly more pop in style, including a cover of The Staple Singers' "I'll Take You There", future single "I Can't Help Myself" (with its telling reference to The Four Tops), and "In Spite of It All", later renamed and issued as the single "Two Hearts Together" in the summer of 1982. The latter single was released as a double A-side with "Hokoyo", a song co-written by Zeke Manyika and featuring lyrics in Shona, showing the band moving away from its original guitar-based sound and towards a more varied and eclectic musical palette.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Despite increasing exposure on TV and media, both of Orange Juice's 1982 singles failed to deliver the anticipated hit. However. the album "Rip It Up" issued in November 1982 was to spawn the eponymous single "Rip It Up", which reached number 8 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1983. Referencing both Chic and the Buzzcocks, the single cemented Orange Juice as one of the brightest bands in the 'new pop' scene. The single was promoted through two memorable "Top of the Pops" performances, including one where bass player David McLymont appeared to fall into the crowd, apparently inebriated, gaining them a ban from the programme. DJ Janice Long championed the band, commissioning two further Radio One Sessions in March 1983 (neither commercially released, and assumed missing from the BBC archive), while magazines including "Smash Hits" continued to showcase the band (its editor Ian Cranna becoming the band's manager). However, the follow-up single to "Rip It Up", "Flesh of My Flesh", failed to build on its success, peaking at number 41 in the spring of 1983.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: New single "Place in my Heart" was scheduled for October 1983 as a teaser for an album that would come out the following month. However, both were pulled following Ross and McClymont leaving the group, citing 'musical differences': the last appearance of the four-piece Orange Juice was their open-air festival appearance at Victoria Park, Hackney 6 Aug 1984. Salvaged from the album sessions, the six-track mini-album "Texas Fever", issued in March 1984, was critically feted, but failed to spawn a hit with its only single, "Bridge".


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: From this point Orange Juice had a core line-up of Collins and Manyika, who proceeded to record Orange Juice's final album, "The Orange Juice", with Clare Kenny on bass, and with Johnny Britten on guitar and Paul Herd on bass joining the live set-up. Produced by Dennis Bovell, the album was named with reference to the third album by The Velvet Underground. Again critically acclaimed, the album's blue-eyed soul influences presaged other 1980s Scottish acts taking inspiration from this genre, including Wet Wet Wet and Hue and Cry. The album's lead single "What Presence?!" was notable for a video by Derek Jarman but also failed to break into the top 40, peaking at 47, while prophetic single "Lean Period" just crept into the top 75. The album was promoted via 'The Artisans' tour in the Autumn of 1984, with Steve Skinner replacing Britten on guitar, but by this stage venues and crowds were becoming smaller (and a final London Lyceum date in December 1984 was cancelled because of poor sales). Relations with Polydor became strained by the fact Orange Juice could not tour internationally because of Zeke Manyika's immigration status, with the release of a third single from the album vetoed as the record label focused on other acts, to Collins' vocal disapproval. At the same time, Collins' decision to release material with former schoolfriend Paul Quinn on Alan Horne's new Swampland Records label further soured the relationship with Polydor.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: The band's final show was in January 1985 at a gig for the UK miners' strike, where they came on as the first act (before Aztec Camera and Everything but the Girl), announcing it was their last gig to a half-empty venue. Their final song was "Rock and Roll (I Gave You the Best Years of My Life)", a cover of a Kevin Johnson song. Following the split, Manyika recorded a solo album for Polydor, who also released an Orange Juice 'greatest hits' album "In a Nutshell" in 1985, while Collins signed for Creation Records the same year, with his solo debut single "Don't Shilly Shally" released on the Creation-offshoot Elevation Records in 1986.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: While never enjoying prolonged commercial success, Orange Juice were to exercise considerable influence over the indie pop and indie rock scenes that followed in the UK. Most notably, commentators often noted the debt that The Smiths owed to Collins' lyrics, while a number of other later 1980s bands were to cite Orange Juice and other Postcard Records acts as an influence, with the C86 scene featuring numerous acts who either covered Orange Juice songs (e.g. The Wedding Present) or who borrowed elements of their sound (e.g. Mighty Mighty, The Chesterf!elds, The June Brides, The Bodines). Internationally, Orange Juice also inspired the neo-acoustic movement in Japan, with the band Flipper's Guitar naming their 1989 debut album after one of James Kirk's compositions, "Three Cheers for Our Side".


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: In the 1990s, the rejuvenated Postcard Records issued a collection of the band's early singles and in 1993 finally released the demos for the first album "Ostrich Churchyard" alongside a reissue of "Blue Boy", while Polydor collected the best of their major releases on a new 'best of' compilation, "The Esteemed – The Very Best of Orange Juice".


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: In the 2000s, guitar bands including Franz Ferdinand, Hatcham Social, The Drums, and The Cribs proclaimed Orange Juice as an influence, triggering renewed interest in the band. Franz Ferdinand's label, the Domino Recording Company, responded by issuing re-releases of all four Polydor albums on vinyl and CD, with a major 6 CD/DVD collection "Coals to Newcastle" released in 2010.


title: Orange Juice (band)

text: Edwyn Collins continues to perform Orange Juice songs at his live shows. Though Malcolm Ross was initially part of Collins' live band, and Kirk, Manyika, and McLymont continue to record and perform intermittently, the band has never reformed. To date, the original line-up of the band has reunited publicly just once, in 2008, when they were honoured for their influence on Scottish music by the Nordoff Robbins musical trust.


title: Daniel 2

text: Daniel 2 (the second chapter of the Book of Daniel) tells how Daniel related and interpreted a dream of Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon. In his night dream, the king saw a gigantic statue made of four metals, from its head of gold to its feet of mingled iron and clay; as he watched, a stone "not cut by human hands" destroyed the statue and became a mountain filling the whole world. Daniel explained to the king that the statue represented four successive kingdoms beginning with Babylon, while the stone and mountain signified a kingdom established by God which would never be destroyed nor given to another people. Nebuchadnezzar then acknowledges the supremacy of Daniel's God and raises him to high office in Babylon.


title: Daniel 2

text: The book of which Daniel is the hero divides into two parts, a set of tales in chapters 1–6, and the series of visions in chapters 7–12, the tales no earlier than the Hellenistic period (323–30 BCE), and the visions from the Maccabean era (the mid-2nd century BCE). Chapter 2 in its present form dates from no earlier than the first decades of the Seleucid Empire (312–63 BCE), but its roots may reach back to the Fall of Babylon (539 BCE) and the rise of the Persian Achaemenid Empire (c. 550–330 BCE).


title: Daniel 2

text: The overall theme of the Book of Daniel is God's sovereignty over history. On the human level Daniel is set against the Babylonian magicians who fail to interpret the king's dream, but the cosmic conflict is between the God of Israel and the false Babylonian gods. What counts is not Daniel's human gifts, nor his education in the arts of divination, but "Divine Wisdom" and the power that belongs to God alone, as Daniel indicates when he urges his companions to seek God's mercy for the interpretation of the king's dreams.


title: Daniel 2

text: In the second year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, is troubled by a dream. He summons his magicians and astrologers to interpret it, but demands that they first tell him what the dream was. They protest that no man can do such a thing, and Nebuchadnezzar orders that they all be executed. This decree also falls on Daniel, but he, through the agency of his God, is able to tell the king the dream. It was a dream of a great statue with a head of gold, arms and chest of silver, belly and thighs of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of mingled iron and clay. A great stone, not cut by human hands, fell on the feet of the statue and destroyed it, and the rock became a mountain that filled the whole world. Having related the dream, Daniel then interprets it: it concerns four successive kingdoms, beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, which will be replaced by the everlasting kingdom of the God of heaven. Hearing this, Nebuchadnezzar affirms that Daniel's god is "the God of gods and Lord of kings and revealer of mysteries". He lavishes gifts on Daniel and makes him chief of all the wise men and ruler over the province of Babylon.


title: Daniel 2

text: It is generally accepted that the Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Jewish community in Babylon and Mesopotamia in the Persian and early Hellenistic periods (5th to 3rd centuries BCE), expanded in the Maccabean era (mid-2nd century) by the visions in chapters 7–12. Modern scholarship agrees that Daniel is a legendary figure; it is possible that this name was chosen for the hero of the book because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition. The tales are in the voice of an anonymous narrator, except for chapter 4 which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar. The first three verses of chapter 2 and part of verse 4 are in Hebrew. The remainder of chapter 2 and chapters 3–7 are in Aramaic and are in the form of a chiasmus, a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side:


title: Daniel 2

text: Chapter 1 and the first few lines of chapter 2 are in Hebrew, but in verse 4 the text says, in Hebrew, "Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic," and the book then continues in Aramaic until the end of chapter 7, where it switches back to Hebrew. No convincing explanation for this has been put forward.


title: Daniel 2

text: Chapter 2 in its present form dates from no earlier than the first decades of the Seleucid empire (late 4th/early 3rd centuries BCE), but its roots may reach back to the fall of Babylon and the rise of the Persian Achaemenid empire, and some scholars have speculated that the dream of four kingdoms was originally a dream of four kings, Nebuchadnezzar and his four successors. The lack of linguistic continuity (the switch from Hebrew to Aramaic at verse 4), and of continuity with other parts of Daniel (e.g., the king needs an introduction to Daniel despite having interviewed him at the completion of his training in Daniel 1:18), as well as various instances of repetitiveness (see verses 28–30), are sometimes cited as evidence that later hands have edited the story, or as signs that the author was working from multiple sources.


title: Daniel 2

text: The Book of Daniel is an apocalypse, a literary genre in which a heavenly reality is revealed to a human recipient; such works are characterized by visions, symbolism, an other-worldly mediator, an emphasis on cosmic events, angels and demons, and pseudonymity (false authorship). Apocalypses were common from 300 BCE to 100 CE, not only among Jews and Christians, but Greeks, Romans, Persians and Egyptians. Daniel, the book's hero, is a representative apocalyptic seer, the recipient of the divine revelation: has learned the wisdom of the Babylonian magicians and surpassed them, because his God is the true source of knowledge; he is one of the "maskil", the wise, whose task is to teach righteousness. The book is also an eschatology, meaning a divine revelation concerning the end of the present age, a moment in which God will intervene in history to usher in the final kingdom.


title: Daniel 2

text: Daniel 2 exhibits both these genres, but it is also made up numerous subgenres: a court tale, a dream report, a legend, an aretalogy, a doxology, and a midrash. In folkloric terms it can be typified as a "court legend," a story set in the royal court, concerned with wonderful events and containing an edifying message. The plot of such tales (another example is the story of Joseph and Pharaoh in Genesis 41) is as follows: a person of low status is called before a person of high status to answer a difficult question or to solve a riddle; the high-status person poses the problem but none present can solve; the person of low status solves it and is rewarded.


title: Daniel 2

text: The overall theme of the Book of Daniel is God's sovereignty over history, and the theme of the tales in chapters 1–6 is that God is sovereign over all earthly kings. In Daniel 2 these two merge, and the claim of God's sovereignty extends beyond the immediate story to take in all of history. On the human level Daniel is set against the Babylonian magicians who fail to interpret the king's dream, but the cosmic conflict is between the God of Israel and the false Babylonian gods. What counts is not Daniel's human gifts, nor his education in the arts of divination, but "Divine Wisdom" and the power that belongs to God alone, as Daniel indicates when he urges his companions to seek God's mercy for the interpretation of the king's dreams.


title: Daniel 2

text: In the ancient world, dreams, especially those of kings, were regarded as portents. An inscription of the historic Babylonian king Nabonidus, for example, tells of a dream he had of his great predecessor Nebuchadnezzar, mentioning a young man who appeared in the dream to reassure him that it was not an evil portent. Giant figures were frequent in ancient dream records, and parallels can be drawn from Greek (Hesiod's "Works and Days"), Latin (Ovid's "Metamorphosis") and the Persian "Bahman Yasht".


title: Daniel 2

text: The king's behaviour implies a distrust of his court dream-interpreters, and sets the scene for his later celebration of Daniel's God. The secret of Nebuchadnezzar's dream is called a "mystery," a term found in the scrolls from Qumran indicating a secret that can be learned through divine wisdom; appropriately, Daniel receives the divine wisdom as a "vision of the night", a dream. Daniel 2:20–23 emphasizes the Divine as a repository of wisdom and the controller of the destiny of kings; such hymns and prayers are typical of postexilic biblical narratives. Finally Nebuchadnezzar prostrates himself before Daniel and commands that offerings and incense be offered to him, suggesting that he views Daniel as divine; nevertheless, although he acknowledges and respects the god of Daniel, he is not a convert.


title: Daniel 2

text: Most modern scholars agree that the four world empires symbolised by the statue are Babylon (the head), the Medes (arms and shoulders), Persia (thighs and legs) and Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt (the feet). Jewish scholars interpret the mixed materials forming the feet as the kingdom of Rome alongside kingdoms under Islamic rule. The concept of four successive world empires is drawn from Greek theories of mythological history, while the symbolism of the four metals is drawn from Persian writings. The consensus among scholars is that the four beasts of chapter 7 symbolise the same four world empires. Verses 41b-43 give three different interpretations of the meaning of the mixture of iron and clay in the statue's feet, as a "divided kingdom," then as "strong and brittle," and finally as a dynastic marriage. The marriage might be a reference to either of two between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies, the first in c.250 BCE and the second in 193.


title: Daniel 2

text: The symbolic significance of the stone which destroys the statue and becomes a mountain evokes biblical imagery of God as the "rock" of Israel, Zion as a mountain rising above all others, and God's glory filling the whole world. Images from the Book of Isaiah seem to be especially favoured. Whether the author was conscious of it or not, the image of the shattered statue blown away in the wind like chaff from the threshing floor brings to mind Isaiah 41:14–15 where Israel is a threshing sled that turns mountains into chaff, and the rock itself reflects the address to the Judean exiles in Isaiah 51:1, "look to the rock from which you were hewn."


title: Daniel 2

text: The traditional interpretation of the dream identifies the four empires as the Babylonian (the head), Medo-Persian (arms and shoulders), Greek (thighs and legs), and Roman (the feet) empires.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: The Battle of Saraighat was a naval battle fought in 1671 between the Mughal Empire (led by the Kachwaha raja, Ram Singh I), and the Ahom Kingdom (led by Lachit Borphukan) on the Brahmaputra river at Saraighat, now in Guwahati, Assam, India. Although weaker, the Ahom Army defeated the Mughal Army by massive army, clever diplomatic negotiations to buy time, guerrilla tactics, psychological warfare, military intelligence and by exploiting the sole weakness of the Mughal forces—its navy.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: The Battle of Saraighat was the last battle in the last major attempt by the Mughals to extend their empire into Assam. Though the Mughals managed to regain Guwahati briefly later after a Borphukan deserted it, the Ahoms wrested control in the Battle of Itakhuli in 1682 and maintained it till the end of their rule.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: After Nara Narayana died in 1587, the Koch kingdom (ensconced between the Mughal Empire in the west/south and Ahom kingdom in the east) was divided into the western Koch Bihar and the eastern Koch Hajo, ruled by his son Lakshimi Narayan and nephew Raghudev respectively. These two kingdoms were bitter rivals. In due course the Mughals formed an alliance with Lakshmi Narayan and the Nawab of Dhaka, a governor of the Mughals attacked Parikshit Narayan, the son of Raghudev in 1602 at Dhubri, the westernmost corner of present-day Assam. Following many battles, Parikshit finally accepted defeat and was sent off to Delhi; but his brother, Bali Narayana took refuge with the Ahoms, who were interested in keeping the Koch as a buffer between themselves and the Mughals. The first Mughal-Ahom, Battle of Samdhara took place in 1615 when the Mughals attacked the Ahoms, then under Pratap Singha. This resulted in a period of Ahom-Mughal conflicts fluctuating fortunes that ended with the Treaty of Asurar Ali in 1639. The Treaty fixed Barnadi river in the north bank and Asurar Ali in the south bank of the Brahmaputra as the boundary between the Ahoms and the Mughals. This, and the defeat of the Koch king at Pandu in 1641, resulted in a period of Mughal administration in Kamrup (Guwahati and Hajo).


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Taking advantage of the Mughal war of succession after the fall of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in 1658, Pran Narayan of Koch Bihar tried to occupy Koch Hajo, but the Ahoms under Jayadhwaj Singha took Guwahati and pushed him back beyond Dhubri. That the Ahoms reached Dhubri by defeating the Koch king and not the Mughals would form a central tenet in later Ahom diplomacy. Soon after, Aurangzeb occupied the Delhi throne. Mir Jumla II, pursuing Shah Shuja in Bengal, was appointed the Subahdar of Bengal in 1660 and asked to retake Assam. Mir Jumla marched in 1661 and defeated the Ahoms at successive encounters to finally take the Ahom capital Garhgaon. But the "daga juddha" (guerrilla warfare) of Atan Burhagohain and the rains succeeded in cutting off Mughal communication lines making it impossible for Mir Jumla to consolidate Mughal rule. Unaware of Mir Jumla's difficulties and unnerved by Baduli Phukan's defection, Jayadhwaj Singha sued for peace, an opportunity Mir Jumla seized on. The Treaty of Ghilajharighat (1663) brought an end to Mughal occupation of Garhgaon, but the conditions of this treaty were so severe that the Ahoms were soon resolved to reverse them.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: After the humiliating defeat inflicted by Mir Jumla, the Ahom king Jayadhwaj Singha died in despair. On his deathbed, he exhorted his cousin and successor Chakradhwaj Singha to "remove the spear of humiliation from the bosom of the nation." There followed a complete overhaul of the Ahom kingdom. People who had dispersed due to Mir Jumla's invasion were rehabilitated in the appropriate "khels", food and military productions were increased, new forts were constructed and garrisoned and an expeditionary army was organized under a new commander—Lachit Borphukan. Alliances were renewed with the Jaintia and the Kachari kingdoms. During this period Mughal imperial demands were tactfully and diplomatically rebuffed, but when the new "faujdar" of Guwahati, Firuz Khan, forced the matter in March 1667, the Ahoms were compelled to move. In August 1667 the Ahom army, under Lachit Borphukan and accompanied by Atan Burhagohain, sailed downstream to retake Guwahati.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Lachit made Kaliabor, the old seat of the Borphukan, his base camp and advanced toward Guwahati along both banks of the Brahmaputra. On the north bank the Deka Phukan retook Bahbari in early September 1667. On the south bank, the "Nausalia" Phukan and others, moving on land and water, captured Kajali, Sonapur, Panikhaiti, and Titamara forts between the Kapili river and Guwahati. The Ahoms then reached Guwahati which was defended by five "choukies" on each bank of the Brahmaputra (north—Kanai-borosi-bowa, Hillar, Hindurighopa, Patduar and Korai; south—Latasil, Joiduar, Dharamduar, Duarguria and Pandu). With some loss, the Ahoms captured Shah Buruz and Rangamahal forts, a little north of the city. An extended battle was fought for the Itakhuli fort (at the site of the current Deputy Commissioner's bungalow). The Ahoms besieged Joiduar, occupied Pandu, and in spite of a Mughal reinforcement, approached Itakhuli. The grand attack was launched on the night of 4 November 1667, when the Ahoms scaled the walls by ladders and after two months of siege, Itakhuli fell in mid-November 1667. Most of the defenders were massacred, many surrendered but a few managed to escape. War provisions, treasures and war material fell into Ahom hands.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: The Mughals received some reinforcement at this point and retaliated against the Ahoms. The Ahoms fought back with their naval forces and removed them from their bases in Umananda and Barhat. The Mughals, pursued by the Ahoms, managed to fortify the Manahmukh (the confluence of Manas river) and fend off the attackers for some time but Firuz Khan finally surrendered and was taken prisoner. This brought an end to the recapture of Guwahati and the Ahoms were able to control their old Manas border once again. But this did not last long and they had to beat a strategic retreat due to the advancing Mughal army of Raja Ram Singh.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Mughal emperor Aurangzeb was informed of the losses on 19 December 1667 and he commissioned Raja Ram Singh of Amber, son of the famous Mirza Raja Jai Singh, to take back Guwahati. Ram Singh left Delhi on 27 December 1667 and finally reached Rangamati in February 1669. He was accompanied by Rashid Khan, ex-faujdar of Guwahati. The Ahoms, anticipating a Mughal strike, are said to have followed his movements from Delhi itself. Along the way Aurangzeb augmented Ram Singh's forces of 4,000 troopers (from his "char-hazaari mansab"), 1,500 "ahadis" (soldiers recruited by the Emperor) and 500 "barqandezes" by an additional 30,000 infantrymen, 21 Rajput chiefs (Thakurs) with their contingents, 18,000 cavalry, 2,000 archers and shieldmen and 40 ships. When Lachit surveyed the massive Mughal force later, he was moved to tears and he uttered: "It is a tragedy that my country is facing this dire catastrophe during my Phukanship. How will my king be saved? How will my people be saved? And how will my posterity be saved?"


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Aware of Mughal military might and the weakness of the Ahom militia, especially against the professional cavalry and mounted forces in open fields, Lachit Borphukan and the other commanders decided to choose the terrain of the battlefield with care. The choice fell on Guwahati, which was hilly, on the way to the heart of the Ahom kingdom and without open fields where the Mughal forces would not have sufficient mobility. The only way east was via the Brahmaputra river passing through it. The Brahmaputra at Saraighat, at its narrowest 1 km width, was ideal for a naval defense. To check Mughal advance, Lachit prepared a complex system of mud embankments in Guwahati When the Mughals found Guwahati impregnable by land, they would be forced to use their navy, which was their weakest asset. Lachit set up his headquarters at Andharubali, the sandbanks between the Kamakhya and Sukreshwar hills. The deliberations of the war council were recorded and made into a manual.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: When the Mughal march reached the Manas river in March–April 1669 and defeated Ahom forces, Lachit decided on a strategic retreat to Guwahati. Three Rajkhowas were asked to meet the Mughal forces and retreat to Guwahati, keeping the Mughal forces in sight but beyond the reach of their weapons. When the Mughals reached closer, he started a sham negotiation via the captured Firuz Khan with Ram Singh, who had set up camp at Agiathuti, calling the Mughal Emperor the "Bhai Raja" (brother sovereign) to the Ahom king. And when he was ready for the Mughal attacks, he sent words to Ram Singh that "Guwahati and Kamrup do not belong to the Mughals" since they were taken from the Koch and that the Assamese were prepared to fight to the last.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: A period of battles between the Ahom and Mughal forces in the region of Guwahati followed, with varied results with forts changing hands many times. In these battles, the Mughal forces were arraigned in four divisions:


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: In these attacks the Ahom allies—the Garos, the Jaintia, the Nagas, the Rani of Darrang, the Raja of Rani, and even the monsoons of 1669—joined battle. The Ahom defense was arraigned as:


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Both commanders had a number of "pali" commanders each defending a specific strategic area, with each "pali" reorganized in response to the challenge posed by Ram Singh's forces.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Aurangzeb received information of the lack of progress in August 1669 and made arrangements with the Subahdar of Bengal, Shaistha Khan, to provide reinforcements to Ram Singh. This period is also known for Atan Burhagohain's "dagga judha" (guerilla warfare). Ram Singh protested that these harassing campaigns lowered the "dignity of warfare", and withdrew from fighting (October 1669 – March 1670), to no particular military advantage.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: One of these battles stood out for a major Ahom reversal. Exasperated with the delaying tactics of the Borphukan, Ram Singh asked for a duel with the Ahom king. He promised to withdraw from Assam with his army if he was defeated. Lachit updated Chakradhwaj Singha about this proposal, who rejected the offer on the ground that it was beneath his dignity to duel a mere servant "who has no umbrella over his head" (who is not a "Chhatrapati"). Annoyed with Ram Singh's proposal he ordered Lachit to confront the Mughals militarily. In a battle that was set up as a challenge, a force of 10,000 Mughals under Mir Nawab was to confront a force of 20,000 Ahom cavalry. Ram Singh's "approach was psychological, marked by pride, chivalry and revenge". The Ahom approach, to cover their basic weaknesses, was based on "diplomacy, deception and mispresentation". So instead of 20,000, they sent in 40,000 and using an anti-koch tactic that had worked against Chilarai, they dressed their vanguard archers and musketeers as Brahmans to make the Rajput warriors desist from killing them. Ram Singh, on the other hand, set a woman, Madanavati, dressed as a man, to command the vanguard to deny the Ahoms any glory in case of a victory. The battle took place in the fields adjoining the Alaboi hills about 5 August 1669.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: In the first phase, Madanavati dispersed the first four lines of the Ahom vanguard with ease, but the Borphukan had trenches dug to conceal his other lines. In the second phase, a diversion to cross the Brahmaputra was thwarted, and Madanavati was shot. The battle turned and in the third phase, Mir Nawab's forces were routed. Enraged at the deception, Ram Singh let loose his veteran horsemen and in the carnage that followed, 10,000 Ahom soldiers were massacred.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Aurangzeb was pleased with these Mughal successes and increased Ram Singh's mansab from 4000 to 5000. Ram Singh was also instructed to invest Guwahati soon, and if it was not possible, to devastate the land and plunder the people.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: After the Mughal advances in late 1669, Ram Singh began diplomatic efforts. The proposal was for the Assamese to evacuate Guwahati and a return to the 1639 status quo (Treaty of Asurar Ali) in return for a Mughal payment of 300,000 rupees. The Ahoms did not respond favorably. Ram Singh next attempted to bribe and create divisions among the Ahom field commanders (Phukans). In the meantime, the Ahom king Chakradhwaj Singha died and was succeeded by his brother Udayaditya Singha. The long war had resulted in popular discontent in the Ahom kingdom. Ram Singh again put forward his proposal on the 1639 status quo settlement and this time the Ahoms appeared receptive. The Ahom king, though displeased, left the decision to his commanders in Guwahati. In the meeting which included Lachit Borphukan, the only dissenter to the proposal was Atan Burhagohain, who displayed his statesmanship.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Atan Burhagohain argued that there was no guarantee that the Emperor at Delhi will abide by Ram Singh's assurance. Also, a settlement then would mean that the drain on the country's resources would have been in vain. Further, what was the guarantee that once the Mughals take Guwahati, they would not reach for Garhgaon or even Namrup.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Atan Burhagohain was able to persuade the other commanders and the Ahoms rejected this proposal. The diplomatic efforts of Ram Singh failed once again.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Meanwhile, Mughal reinforcements in the shape of war vessels and imperial officers ("Omraos") reached Ram Singh, along with the Mughal admiral, Munnawar Khan and the Mughal Viceroy Shaista Khan, sent the message that Ram Singh was sent to fight the Assamese, not make friends with them. Ram Singh now made preparations for his final and direct assault on Guwahati and began moving along the north bank. Near Sualkuchi he was joined by ships with artillery and archers under five Mughal captains including two firingis. The Mughals had large boats, some carrying as many as sixteen cannons. The Mughal ambassador, Paditrai, had reported a breach in the embankment at Andharubali a few days earlier, and Ram Singh wanted to exploit this opening.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: The new king Udayaditya Singha sent a army of 20,000 soldiers under Atan Buragohain from Samdhara to Saraighat. Lachit Borphukan and their admiral were both seriously ill, which demoralized the soldiers, and the Nara Hazarika, the son of the Miri Sandikoi, was in command. An encounter both on land and water ensued near Ashwakranta. The Ahom land forces, under Laluksola Phukan, worsted the Mughals, but the Mughal boats compelled the Ahom boats to retreat to Barhila, north of Saraighat. The land forces, fearing an encirclement, too retreated. The battle reached a crucial phase, when the Mughals were beginning to get close to Andharubali. The Borphukan, as well as the Nara Hazarika sent messages to inspire the soldiers. It looked as if there was a break in command and some boats began falling back to Kajali and Samdhara. Lachit Barphukan was observing this from his sickbed in the gatehouse of the Itakhuli fort.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: At this crucial moment in the battle, when the Mughals were about to land at Andharubali, the Borphukan sent orders via "katakis" to all the land and naval forces to attack. He also ordered six war-boats for himself and had Nadai of Kharangi carry him to a boat. He shouted "The King has put all the people in my hands to fight the Bongal. Shall I go back to my wife and children?" and pushed a few men into the water. With the other six war-boats the Borphukan headed toward the naval battle.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: The entry of the Borphukan transformed the Ahom soldiers. His small flotilla soon swelled with Ahom warships from all sides that smashed into the Mughal warships at Amrajuli on the north bank, opposite Kamakhya hills. The triangle in the river, between Itakhuli, Kamakhya and Aswakranta was filled with men and boat. The Ahoms spanned the river over an improviso bridge of boats and resorted to a combined front and rear attack. The Mughal admiral Munnawar Khan, smoking a hookah was killed by a gunshot from the back, throwing the Mughals out of gear. They suffered the loss of three top-ranking amirs, and another 4,000 dead. The day of this decisive battle is not known for certain, only that it happened in the middle of March 1671.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: The Mughals were pursued to the Manas river, the Ahom kingdom's western boundary. The Borphukan instructed his men not to attack the retreating army, reminding them of Alaboi. Anticipating a counterattack, he set messengers at regular intervals, while Atan Burhagohain and other commanders stood ready for one. The Mughals in Darrang were also worsted, and Ram Singh left Kamrup on 7 April 1671 for Rangamati. Ram Singh waited in vain for another opportunity and finally had an audience with Aurangzeb on 25 June 1676.


title: Battle of Saraighat

text: Lachit Borphukan died at Kaliabor about a year later in April 1672, but not from the illness at Saraighat. And this was not the final battle between the Ahoms and the Mughals, nor did Guwahati remain with the Ahoms. Lachit Borphukan's own brother and successor Borphukan, Laluk Sola, deserted Guwahati for the Mughals in 1679. It remained with the Mughals until 1682, when the Ahoms under Gadadhar Singha recovered it and ended Mughal control in Kamrup permanently.


title: Brian Mast

text: Brian Jeffery Mast (born July 10, 1980) is an American politician and U.S. military veteran who has served as the U.S. representative for Florida's 18th congressional district since 2017. Mast is a member of the Republican Party.


title: Brian Mast

text: A veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom, Mast lost both his legs while serving as a U.S. Army explosive ordnance disposal technician in Afghanistan in 2010.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the son of James Mast and Tixomena Trujillo. His maternal grandparents were immigrants from Mexico. Mast graduated from South Christian High School in 1999. In 2016, he obtained a Bachelor of Liberal Arts from Harvard University Extension School with a concentration in economics and minors in government and environmental studies.


title: Brian Mast

text: After graduating from high school, Mast enlisted in the United States Army Reserve in May 2000 and became a combat engineer assigned to the 841st Combat Engineer Battalion. In 2006, he transitioned to the active U.S. Army and became an explosive ordnance disposal technician. Mast later joined the elite 28th Ordnance Company, a special operations explosive ordnance disposal unit that works alongside personnel of the 75th Ranger Regiment. He served in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. On September 19, 2010, while clearing a path for United States Army Rangers in Kandahar, Mast stepped on an IED along the road. The explosion resulted in the amputation of both his legs and his left index finger.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast and his family were awarded a custom ADA-compliant home by the nonprofit organization Helping a Hero.


title: Brian Mast

text: After his honorable discharge from the Army, Mast was hired as an explosives specialist for the United States Department of Homeland Security. While recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Mast provided explosive and counter-terrorism expertise to the Office of Emergency Operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration from July 2011 to February 2012, and as an instructor of homemade explosives for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast first considered running for office while recovering from his injuries at Walter Reed Medical Center. It was reported in May 2015 that he was considering a run for Congress.


title: Brian Mast

text: On June 8, 2015, Mast announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for U.S. Representative in Florida's 18th congressional district. He defeated five opponents in the August 30, 2016, primary with 38% of the vote. Mast faced Democratic businessman Randy Perkins in the November 8 general election.


title: Brian Mast

text: During the 2015-16 election campaign, Mast's largest donors were Duty Free Americas (owned by the pro-Israel Falic family), NextGen Management (a condo property firm), and Superior Foods (frozen foods).


title: Brian Mast

text: In 2016, Mast was briefly linked with World Patent Marketing, a company the Federal Trade Commission shut down as an invention promotion scam. World Patent Marketing donated money to Mast's campaign fund and said in a press release that he sat on their advisory board. Mast claimed no knowledge of being given a position on the board and said he only had a couple encounters with members of the company.


title: Brian Mast

text: In 2018, Anthony Bustamante, a campaign consultant who had worked on Mast's 2016 campaign, told "The Wall Street Journal" that he had used data hacked from the Democratic National Committee by Guccifer 2.0, a front for Russia's GRU military intelligence service, to adjust Mast's campaign strategy. Guccifer 2.0 had leaked the hacked data to the HelloFLA blog.


title: Brian Mast

text: On April 25, 2018, physician Mark Freeman announced a primary challenge to Mast, focusing on his promise to "defend the Second Amendment" and be an "unwavering partner" to President Donald Trump. Freeman called Mast an "establishment candidate" and complained about Mast's shift on gun control issues after the Parkland school shooting.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast defeated Freeman in the Republican primary. In the general election, he defeated Democratic nominee Lauren Baer, an attorney and foreign policy expert who served as an official in the Obama Administration, with 54% of the vote.


title: Brian Mast

text: During the 2017-18 election campaign, Mast's largest donors were Duty Free Americas and Amway/Alticor (run by the DeVos family). Between March and June 2018, Mast's campaign received thousands of dollars from Soviet-born Igor Fruman, one of two business associates of Rudy Giuliani who later faced charges of violating federal campaign finance laws. After this allegedly illegal contribution was discovered and reported by the press, Mast's spokesman said he would disburse the funds to the Treasury Department, but less than two weeks later, Mast said, "I think we donated it to charity."


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast ran for reelection in 2020 against Democratic nominee Pam Keith. In August 2020 he apologized for what he called "disgusting and inappropriate jokes" that he made on Facebook in 2009 and 2011 responding to a friend and subsequent campaign manager about sex with 15-year-old girls in South Africa and an end-of-the-world pick-up line involving rape or murder.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast was sworn in on January 3, 2017. He is a member of the Republican Main Street Partnership and the Climate Solutions Caucus.


title: Brian Mast

text: After voting in favor of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, he had a 40% approval rating among his constituents; 45% said they were disappointed with his work in Congress.


title: Brian Mast

text: In May 2018, the Associated Press reported that the Trump administration was considering Mast for secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs.


title: Brian Mast

text: In the first session of the 115th United States Congress, Mast was ranked the 32nd most bipartisan member of the House by the Bipartisan Index, a metric published by The Lugar Center and Georgetown's McCourt School of Public Policy to assess congressional bipartisanship.


title: Brian Mast

text: During Trump's presidency, Mast voted in line with the president's stated position 90.6% of the time. As of September 2021, Mast had voted in line with Joe Biden's stated position 19.4% of the time.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast believes abortion should be illegal except in cases where the woman's life is at risk or in cases of rape or incest.


title: Brian Mast

text: In April 2018, Mast said he would probably vote for legislation to reduce support for sugar farmers, who under the then current Farm Bill were protected by fixed minimum prices, by limits on imports and on domestic production, and by government loans to sugar growers. "I expect I'll be supporting it when it comes up for a vote next week," Mast said of the Sugar Policy Modernization Act, "because it's important to the community I represent, and our waterways". The proposed act, reported TCPalm, "would make sugar import quotas more flexible and protect taxpayers from government-funded buyouts of surplus sugar". Mast said he would "probably be the only representative in the history of this district to vote against the sugar industry". Mast accepted over $15,000 in campaign donations from the executives at Florida Crystals and the Fanjul family that owns the company.


title: Brian Mast

text: In December 2020, Mast was one of only five House Republicans to vote for the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act. The act aimed to "correct the historical injustices of failed drug policies that have disproportionately impacted communities of color"; it included provisions to remove cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, impose a federal tax on cannabis products, and use the proceeds of the tax to fund restorative justice programs. A month before the vote, Mast invested between $15,000 and $50,000 in the cannabis company Tilray. He disclosed the purchase on December 1.


title: Brian Mast

text: In November 2021, Mast was one of four original cosponsors of the Republican-led States Reform Act to legalize cannabis federally and regulate it similarly to alcohol. In April 2022, after Representative Don Young died in office, Mast was named to replace him as a co-chair of the Congressional Cannabis Caucus.


title: Brian Mast

text: In June 2016, Mast said he supported President Donald Trump "unanimously and wholeheartedly" in the 2016 presidential election. After the 2005 "Access Hollywood" recording of Trump making crude remarks about sexually assaulting women became public, Mast called Trump's remarks "inexcusable and disgusting". In February 2017, he voted against a resolution that would have directed the House to request ten years of Trump's tax returns, which would then have been reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee in a closed session.


title: Brian Mast

text: On December 18, 2019, Mast voted against both articles of impeachment against Trump. Of the 195 Republicans who voted, all voted against both impeachment articles.


title: Brian Mast

text: On January 6, 2021, following the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Mast and 146 other Republican members of Congress voted against certifying the election of President Joe Biden.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast believes it was a mistake for the U.S. Supreme Court to rule on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage in "Obergefell v. Hodges". Later, on July 19, 2022, he was among 47 Republican Representatives who voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which would codify the right to same-sex marriage in federal law. However, Mast voted against final passage on December 8, 2022.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast wrote an opinion piece in "The New York Times" in support of the Second Amendment right to bear arms, but said "it does not guarantee that every civilian can bear any and all arms." He supports a ban on assault weapons, citing his military background: "I cannot support the primary weapon I used to defend our people being used to kill the children I swore to defend."


title: Brian Mast

text: After the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, Mast announced his support for prohibiting the sale of assault and tactical firearms without confiscating such weapons that are already owned; ensuring that all firearm purchasers undergo a background check; improving background checks; banning the sale of gun accessories that enhance the firing rate of weapons, such as bump stocks; preventing those who have been detained for mental illnesses from purchasing firearms; ensuring that those on the Terror Watch List cannot purchase firearms; and placing anyone who makes threats of violence against schools on an FBI watch list for "a long time".


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast also supports conducting further research on gun violence, which federal law currently prohibits in some ways.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast has at least partly blamed violent video games and violent movies for school shootings. In March 2017, he voted for the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act. The measure passed the House but stalled in the Senate.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast is in favor of repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). On May 4, 2017, he voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act and pass the American Health Care Act.


title: Brian Mast

text: In June 2018, commenting on the Trump administration family separation policy, Mast said: "It is our duty as an American government to deal compassionately with any child from any nation, just as it is the responsibility of foreign families seeking asylum in the U.S. to choose only legal means to enter our nation so they can avoid family disruption. I am confident this process will be improved." Citing his own Mexican grandparents, he said, "The way that they got to work, the way that they assimilated to the American way of life and became a part of our system is not what we're seeing across the board."


title: Brian Mast

text: In June 2018, a volunteer for the Democratic Party of Martin County who was angry about the Trump administration's immigration policy was arrested after threatening to kill Mast's children. The first trial in the case ended in a mistrial in April 2019.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast was critical of Obama's Middle East policy. "ISIS is as strong as it is because of a lack of US leadership," he said in 2016. "ISIS could have been defeated at the time of the Arab Spring if we had sent in special operations forces. What's being done now is too little too late. It's going to require an all-out military effort. The only way to guarantee peace is to make the enemy surrender."


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast views Obama's Iran nuclear deal as a betrayal by the U.S. of its own national security as well as that of Israel, Jordan, and other regional allies. "The deal has aligned us with a Shia regime, which is just enabling extremism. This is going to make it very hard to get Sunni regimes to align with us, and Putin is now the go-to player in Syria with his alliance with Assad," he said in 2016.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast is "a vocal supporter of Israel and Israelis", reported "The Times of Israel" during his 2016 campaign. "If anyone was lobbing rockets into the US, guys like me would be sent to kill them, and Americans would applaud us," he said.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, was the first member of Congress to open an office inside a federal agency. The office in question, which opened in 2018, was in the West Palm Beach Veterans Affairs facility. In 2018 he introduced a House bill that would make it easier for other House members to do the same. But in 2019, the Department of Veterans Affairs evicted Mast from the West Palm Beach office. Mast sent the VA Secretary Robert Wilkie a letter of complaint about the eviction.


title: Brian Mast

text: In October 2017, Mast voted against the original version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 due to "out of control" federal spending, fear of the national debt growing, and a desire to see lower tax rates with loopholes closed. In December 2017, he voted for the final version of the bill, saying it "provides a lot of confidence to a lot of people" and is "a great moment for our country and our community".


title: Brian Mast

text: During his 12 years of U.S. Army service, Mast received the Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart, Defense Meritorious Service Medal and Army Commendation Medal with "V" for valor device.


title: Brian Mast

text: President Barack Obama invited Mast as a guest to his 2011 State of the Union Address, at which he was seated with First Lady Michelle Obama and Second Lady Jill Biden. Mast was named one of 10 House freshmen to watch by the Washington, D.C. newspaper "The Hill", out of 55 new members of the House elected in 2016.


title: Brian Mast

text: Mast lives in Palm City, Florida, with his wife Brianna and their four children, Madalyn, Maverick, Magnum, and Major. As of 2016, he attended the evangelical Calvary Chapel.


title: Brian Mast

text: In January 2015, Mast volunteered with the Israel Defense Forces, working at a base outside Tel Aviv, packing medical kits and moving supplies.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Joshua Allen (born July 13, 1997) is an American football outside linebacker for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Kentucky, where he received Unanimous All-American honors, and was selected seventh overall by the Jaguars in the 2019 NFL Draft. During his rookie season, Allen was named to the Pro Bowl.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Allen was born on July 13, 1997 to Kim and Robert Allen in Cumberland County, Virginia. He has a twin brother, Isaiah, and four older sisters. Due to a stutter, he spent part of his studies in New Jersey's special education system. Allen then went to live with his relatives in Alabama, attending Abbeville High School. He was later diagnosed with ADHD.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Although Allen grew up playing basketball, his uncle convinced him to try out for the high school football team. In his freshman year, he did not play a single snap in a game. In his sophomore year, he started as a varsity receiver, and in his junior year, he was an all-state receiver with 1,150 yards and 11 touchdowns. Allen decided to return to New Jersey for his senior year, attending Montclair High School. He switched position from receiver to defensive end, affecting his recruiting opportunities. During his sole season with the Mounties, Allen led the state in sacks that year and recorded a touchdown catch, as the team finished 11-1 and won the 2014 state title (after losing their first and only game of the season to Pascack Valley). After high school, Allen first committed to Monmouth, a Division I FCS school not far from Montclair, but later received an offer from Kentucky.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Despite Allen leading New Jersey in sacks as a senior, he was still very much under the recruiting radar. Four highly rated recruits who went on to become NFL players—Jabrill Peppers, Quenton Nelson, David Njoku, and Mike Gesicki—were fellow high school seniors in New Jersey. The recruiting website 247Sports rated Allen as a two-star prospect (out of a possible five), and ranked more than 2,000 players in the 2015 recruiting class ahead of him. John Fiore, at the time head coach at Montclair High, actively tried to get Rutgers to evaluate Allen, but the coaching staff there showed no interest. In a 2019 ESPN story on Allen, Fiore said about Rutgers' lack of interest, "Some people just couldn't see the potential in him. Kentucky did, and they won big. I told Rutgers, 'You guys are going to look foolish when he's drafted in the first round.'" In fact, when Allen made his verbal commitment to Monmouth, no Division I FBS school had offered him a scholarship, and no other NCAA Division I school, whether FBS or FCS, had made him an offer.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Allen's journey to Kentucky began with West Orange High School head coach Jim Matsakis, whose team had faced Montclair High in Allen's senior year. Matsakis made a phone call to his brother Louie, who was then on the Wildcats coaching staff. Louie first contacted D. J. Eliot, then Kentucky's outside linebackers coach, who in turn contacted the then-defensive backs coach Derrick Ansley while the latter was on a recruiting trip in the Washington metropolitan area. Eliot told Ansley to detour to New Jersey to meet with Allen, and arrange for an immediate campus visit if he was at least 6'4". While Allen had verbally committed to Monmouth, he was still available for recruitment as he had yet to sign a letter of intent. Allen visited Kentucky and signed with the Wildcats three days later.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Following his junior season in which he had 7 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss, Allen was named to the AP Second-team and the All-SEC team. After this season, Allen considered forgoing his senior year and declaring for the 2018 NFL draft. He later decided to return to Kentucky for his senior season. He also dropped into coverage on 141 snaps and allowed just 130 yards on 19 targets without allowing a touchdown. Allen won the Chuck Bednarik Award, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy, and was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year. Allen finished his career as Kentucky's all-time sack leader with 31.5.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Allen was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. On May 23, 2019, Allen signed his four-year rookie contract, worth a fully guaranteed $21.8 million, including a $14.6 million signing bonus.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: During Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans, Allen recorded his first two career sacks on Marcus Mariota as the Jaguars won 20–7. Two weeks later against the Carolina Panthers, he sacked Kyle Allen once in the 34–27 road loss. During Week 8 against the New York Jets, Allen sacked Sam Darnold twice in the 29–15 win.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Allen finished the season with a team-leading (and franchise rookie record-setting) 10.5 sacks, 44 tackles, and two forced fumbles. Following the AFC Championship Game, he was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate for defensive end Frank Clark. As a result, Allen became the first Jaguars player in history to be selected to the Pro Bowl in their rookie season.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: In Week 3 against the Miami Dolphins on "Thursday Night Football", Allen recorded his first sack of the season during the 31–13 loss. On November 24, 2020, Allen was placed on injured reserve with a knee injury.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: In Week 9 against the Buffalo Bills, Allen helped lead the Jaguars to a 9–6 upset with a career game. Allen had eight tackles, a sack, an interception, and a fumble recovery on Bills quarterback Josh Allen, becoming the first player in NFL history to record a sack, interception, and a fumble recovery from a quarterback with the same name.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: One of his sisters, Myisha Hines-Allen, is a professional basketball player for the Washington Mystics. Another sister, LaTorri Hines-Allen, played Division I basketball at Towson, and still another sister, Kyra Hines-Allen, played NCAA Division II basketball at Cheyney. An uncle, Gregory Hines, was a legendary basketball player at Hampton when the Pirates were still in Division II and was chosen in the fifth round of the 1983 NBA draft; although he never played in the league, he did play professionally for over a decade.


title: Josh Allen (defensive end)

text: Allen married Kaitlyn Morrison on April 17, 2019. The two met freshman year of college in 2015 at the University of Kentucky. Kaitlyn is from Ohio and has a license in Cosmetology, as well as attending college for psychology.


title: Curd (India)

text: Curd, also dahi, is a traditional yogurt or fermented milk product, originating from the Indian subcontinent, usually prepared from cow's milk, and sometimes buffalo milk, or goat milk. It is popular throughout the Indian subcontinent. The word "curd" is used in Indian English to refer to (naturally probiotic) homemade yogurt, while the term "yogurt" refers to the pasteurized commercial variety known as "heat treated fermented milk".


title: Curd (India)

text: Curd is made by bacterial fermentation of milk. In this process lactose in milk is converted into lactic acid by several probiotic microorganisms. The species involved in the fermentation depends on the temperature and humidity of the environment, and may include "Lactococcus lactis", "Streptococcus diacetylactis", "Streptococcus cremoris", "Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus" and "Streptococcus thermophilus".


title: Curd (India)

text: Curd starter is sometimes made with dried red chillies (or their stems) in hot milk. Milk is boiled and then allowed to cool for a while. When lukewarm, dried chili peppers or their stems are added. The reason for this tradition is that dried chillies are rich in a type of lactobacilli, the bacteria that helps in fermentation of milk to form curd. The bowl is then kept undisturbed in a warm place for 5 to 10 hours.


title: Curd (India)

text: After the starter is made, or saved from a previous batch of curd, milk is boiled and cooled. In a separate bowl curd is mixed with its whey, and then mixed together with the milk. It is then left to sit undisturbed for 5 to 10 hours.


title: Curd (India)

text: For best results, add 3% skim milk powder. Premix 3% good curd in milk, then add to the rest. Keep at 40-45C, covered with cloth to avoid cooling. Put in fridge only when it's slightly sour. Avoid harmful bitter taste. Don't reuse bitter curd.


title: Curd (India)

text: Buffalo curd ( "mudavāpu meekiri") is a traditional type of yogurt prepared from water buffalo milk. It is popular throughout the Indian subcontinent. Buffalo milk is traditionally considered better for making yogurt than cow milk due to its higher fat content making a thicker yogurt mass. Buffalo curd is usually packaged in clay pots.


title: Curd (India)

text: Buffalo curd is obtained by bacterial fermentation of buffalo milk. In this process lactose in buffalo milk is converted into lactic acid using several micro-organisms. The species involved in the fermentation are the same as above.


title: Curd (India)

text: Buffalo milk has a higher amounts of protein, fat, lactose, minerals and vitamins than cow's milk. Quality of the curd depends on the starter culture. Fermentation also develops the characteristic flavor and colour of the product.


title: Curd (India)

text: Buffalo curd can be made in both traditional and industrial forms. Traditionally buffalo milk is filtered and boiled, the scum is removed and it is cooled to room temperature. A few spoonfuls of a previous batch of curd are added and it is then mixed well and poured into clay pots. These are sealed by wrapping a piece of paper over the pot and allowing it to stand for 12 hours.


title: Curd (India)

text: Curd is an important part of everyday diet in the Indian subcontinent, both in slow cooked food and fast food.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat Inc. is an American communications company based in Carlsbad, California, with additional operations across the United States and worldwide. Viasat is a provider of high-speed satellite broadband services and secure networking systems covering military and commercial markets.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat was co-founded in May 1986 by Mark Dankberg, Mark Miller and Steve Hart. Mark Dankberg became chief executive officer and Mark Miller and Steve Hart became chief technical officers. Viasat received venture capital financing of $300,000 from Southern California Ventures. In December 1996, Viasat had its initial public offering (IPO). In 1999, Viasat moved into its headquarters in Carlsbad, California. Viasat launched a spin-off company, TrellisWare Technology, in 2000. The self-funded company focuses on developing communications and signal processing systems.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: The acquisition of the satellite networking business of Scientific-Atlanta for $75 million in cash in 2000 helped Viasat to focus on providing technology for interactive services to businesses.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2001, Viasat started working with Boeing on Connexion broadband for airliners. The company acquired Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications' products unit, Comsat Laboratories in 2001 for an undisclosed amount. Comsat Laboratories is Viasat's technology and product development group for communication systems focusing on developing new technologies for extremely bandwidth efficient, high data rate satellite transmission. In 2001, Viasat also purchased US Monolithics, a company focused on designing high frequency broadband circuitry, for around $30 million.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Eutelsat entered an agreement in 2001 to use Viasat's LinkStar high performance IP terminals for their broadband multimedia network over Ku-based FSS satellites. Viasat entered a joint venture in 2001 with Loral Skynet to found Immeon Networks to develop the Immeon satellite bandwidth-on-demand service sold in monthly managed service plans. ABC News used Immeon to improve its voice and data-communications for on-location news.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat won a contract with WildBlue Communications worth $16 million in March 2001 to build WildBlue's satellite modems to support the company's initial service launch. WildBlue signed a second contract with Viasat in 2001 for $17 million and Viasat would develop and produce satellite modem termination systems for six gateway stations.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: WildBlue launched its internet service in October 2004 after gaining Ka-band transponder capacity on the Telesat Anik F2 satellite. It conducted formal technical testing until January 2005, followed by nationwide beta testing before the first residential retail customers had services installed in June. The WildBlue service was upgraded in 2007 using the satellite WildBlue-1, which launched the year before.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2005, Viasat acquired Efficient Channel Coding, a producer of broadband communication integrated circuits and satellite communication systems, which gave Viasat access to the IPStar satellite broadband market. Enerdyne, a defense technology firm, was acquired by Viasat in 2006 for an initial investment of $17 million adding its EnerLinks II video data link equipment to Viasat's defense products.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat acquired JAST Antenna Systems, based in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2007. JAST develops microwave circuits and antennas for terrestrial and mobile satellite applications.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: On December 15, 2009, Viasat bought WildBlue, based in Colorado, for $568 million in cash and stock. Wildblue also brings its WildBlue-1 satellite and Ka-band capacity on Telesat's Anik F2 and about $75 million in cash and $45 million in tax losses, bringing the net purchase price to about $445 million.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2010, Viasat bought Stonewood Group of Dorset, England, an encryption company, for $20 million in cash and stock.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In January 2013, Viasat broke ground for its expansion in Duluth, Georgia, the second largest location after the company's headquarters in Carlsbad, California at the time. In 2015, Viasat opened a 116,000 square foot facility at the Arizona State University Research Park in Tempe, Arizona. The Arizona campus focuses on design and manufacturing of advanced microwave communication and radar products, radio frequency systems and cybersecurity. In 2016, Viasat announced a research and development facility in Chennai, India. In 2017, Viasat broke ground on an 80,000 square foot facility on the ATLAS property near the Texas A&M Health Science Center in Bryan, Texas.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2014, Viasat partnered with Thuraya Telecommunications, a mobile satellite services operator, to provide machine to machine (M2M) services. The same year, Viasat entered a partnership with LightSquared to work on M2M services in vehicular and aviation devices. Viasat also teamed with Southern California Edison to provide an easy transition into operational networks. NetNearU based in Bryan/College Station, Texas was acquired in 2014. Focused on government and enterprise customers, NetNearU has a wifi management system called TRACKOS, a cloud-based software. ViaSat acquired Gray Labs, a company that specialized in satellite-to-earth communications for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance in July 2014.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat acquired network virtualization company Engreen in 2015 to enhance its Flexible Broadband System. In March 2015, Viasat acquired EAI Design Services in order to add its Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) and Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) microprocessor design into satellite and cybersecurity projects.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2016, Viasat acquired Arconics, an aviation software provider based in Dublin, Ireland. The company added 40 Arconics employees to its staff and expanded its software offerings as a result of the acquisition.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2017, Viasat announced the intention to enter into a joint venture with the European satellite operator Eutelsat. As part of the venture, the companies will jointly operate two new business entities with one owning and operating Eutelsat's KA-SAT satellite and wholesale broadband business and the other purchasing KA-SAT satellite-based capacity and marketing retail broadband internet services throughout Europe. Both businesses would be headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. The companies aborted their joint venture plans in April 2018.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: The company launched its third (previous satellites were ViaSat-1 and WildBlue-1) satellite, ViaSat-2 on June 1, 2017 and ViaSat-3, a high-capacity three satellite constellation, is expected to launch first satellite in 2020.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In December 2020, Viasat acquired RigNet, a secure managed networking solutions and specialized applications developer. RigNet will be incorporated into Viasat’s Global Enterprise and Mobility business unit, providing Viasat access to its digital transformation toolset, end-to-end managed communications, and connectivity service capabilities.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In May 2021, Viasat appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit and requested a halt for SpaceX’s ongoing launches of low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites that power Starlink. Viasat alleged that the Federal Communications Commission's decision did not comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and said that SpaceX launches should be halted due to "environmental harms when satellites are taken out of orbit; light pollution that alters the night sky; [and] orbital debris." The FCC rejected these claims, and, on July 20, 2021, the judges ruled that SpaceX can keep launching broadband satellites.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: On November 8, 2021, Viasat announced a $7.3 billion deal to purchase Inmarsat for $850million in cash, approximately 46million shares of Viasat stock and assumption of $3.4billion in debt.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: On 24 February, 2022, the day Russia invaded Ukraine, thousands of Viasat modems got bricked by a "deliberate ... cyber event". Thousands of customers in Europe have been without internet for a month since.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: On 3 October, 2022, Viasat and L3Harris announced that L3Harris would purchase Viasat's Tactical Data Link product line and network for $1.96 billion, consisting of Viasat's Link 16's terminals and networks.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In July 2013, Viasat was licensed by the Federal Communications Commission for Ka-band aeronautical earth stations. Viasat operates resources on four satellites: ViaSat-1, WildBlue1, Anik-F2 and ViaSat-2.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: The ViaSat-3 constellation is expected to be in service by 2022. In addition, there is a contract for a SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch for another ViaSat-3 class satellite, as well as a third satellite to be launched by United Launch Alliance within a similar timeframe.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Launched in 2012 under the Exede name, Viasat Internet is a broadband internet service that covers areas traditional terrestrial internet service providers do not reach. In 2013, the Voice home service was introduced as a companion to the data service. The company also distributes a business internet, initially called Exede Business, which was launched in 2014.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat's Exede Internet is powered by Viasat's ViaSat-1 satellite. The satellite was announced in 2008. Designed by Viasat and manufactured by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, the satellite was completed in 2011. It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in October 2011 using a Proton Breeze M rocket. The satellite has a geostationary orbit over North America at 115.1° West longitude. ViaSat-1 has 72 spotbeams. The satellite has 63 beams covering the continental USA and Hawaii, and 9 covering Canada through the Xplornet service. The satellite weighs 6,740 kg and has a 15-year operational life. ViaSat-1 cost $400 million to produce and launch. ViaSat-2, which launched in June 2017, expands the capacity and coverage of the Viasat Internet service.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Initially the satellite broadband internet was launched as a response to the lack of coverage provided by terrestrial services. The 12 Mbit/s service was faster than earlier satellite internet access options such as WildBlue which could reach 1.5 Mbit/s. In 2016, a 25 Mbit/s download speed was introduced in some areas, as well as a new modem supporting the new speed tier that includes an integrated Wi-Fi router and VoIP adapter. In 2017, Viasat sunsetted the name Exede and rebranded as Viasat Internet.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: The internet service covers most of the continental U.S. and Hawaii. Between 2012 and 2015, the Federal Communications Commission has reported that Viasat's Exede Internet met or surpassed advertised speeds. In the 2015 report, download speeds were just over 100% of advertised, while upload speeds topped 150% of advertised speeds.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: The long distance to the geosynchronous orbit used by Viasat has a latency of over 600 ms, over 10 times more than terrestrial or low Earth orbit systems like Starlink, rendering it much less competitive for applications like videoconferencing and video gaming.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat Internet likewise offers voice over IP residential phone service with its Viasat Voice Services. DirecTV is one of the major retailers that offers Viasat Internet to its customers. Dish Network resells the Viasat Internet service and other internet services under its own DishNet brand name.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In December 2013, Viasat launched its in-flight WiFi service on JetBlue. The fleet contained 190 aircraft using the service in 2014, and 420 in November 2015. The company has since expanded the service to other airlines including United Airlines, American Airlines, Scandinavian Airlines, Delta, El Al, Aeroméxico, JetBlue, and Qantas. The dual-band technology allows airlines to offer connectivity to over 150 customers at a time per plane.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In 2017, Viasat established a commercial agreement with Grupo Prosperist, a telecommunications service provider in Mexico, to deploy the Community Wi-Fi service. Community Wi-Fi utilizes a centralized hotspot in order to connect to a Viasat satellite and deliver affordable internet service to remote communities in Mexico. By 2019, Community Wi-Fi was now accessible to over one million people throughout Mexico. Facebook also began investing in Community Wi-Fi in 2019 to continue providing high-speed, satellite-powered internet to rural locations across the world.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: In July 2020, Viasat launched a high-speed residential internet service for Brazil, using bandwidth from the Telebras SGDC-1 satellite. Its minimal infrastructure Wi-Fi service reached across eight states, including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais, Pernambuco, Paraná, Rio Grande do Sul, Federal District, and Amazonas.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Eclypt hard drives and external USB drives produced by Viasat are encrypted to ensure that data stored cannot be retrieved if a computer or storage device is stolen. Eclypt drives are used by governments, military forces, and law enforcement agencies.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat Critical Infrastructure Security was introduced in 2013, designed to stop security breaches and monitor operation of grid networks using real-time intelligence. The process adds encrypted sensors to the critical national infrastructure networks and monitors all abnormal activity through a security operations center. Viasat is working in conjunction with Southern California Edison to enhance their critical infrastructure security systems through a funding from the U.S. Department of Energy meant to improve protection of the nation's electric grid and oil and gas infrastructure from cyber-attack.


title: Viasat (American company)

text: Viasat also offers mobile two-way satellite broadband services to the United States Government. Tactical communications for the US military involves tactical data, information assurance, and satellite communications. Tactical data links provide secure networking for voice and data. Information assurance for encryption devices allow for the transfer of classified data across public networks. Satellite communications give real-time intelligence for command and control functions. The US government uses ArcLight technology over a managed private network that operates on Ku-band satellite links and can use the Yonder global satellite network as well. The worldwide satellite broadband access that Viasat offers allows for airborne mobile broadband for en route communications. The company has an airborne mobility program for C-17 jets and encrypts the satellite to hub link connections for the government. Viasat's Satellite Access Manager (SAM) supports Department of Defense missions through airborne intelligence for surveillance and reconnaissance operations. SAM increases bandwidth utilization and efficiency through real-time network monitoring systems for the ArcLight2 broadband terminals.


title: Tatiana Okunevskaya

text: Okunevskaya was born in Zavidovo, Moscow Governorate, in 1914. She was active in Soviet film and theatre from 1933 to 1948, whereupon she was raped by Lavrentiy Beria at his residence, arrested for alleged anti-state agitation and propaganda, and sentenced to ten years labour at Steplag. Beria picked her up under the pretense of bringing her to perform for the Politburo. Instead, he took her to his dacha where he offered to free her father and grandmother from NKVD prison if she submitted. He then raped her telling her "scream or not, it doesn't matter." Beria already knew her relatives had been executed months earlier. Okunevskaya was arrested shortly after the encounter and sentenced to solitary confinement in the Gulag, which she survived.


title: Tatiana Okunevskaya

text: Following her release in 1954, she returned to the theatre, where she worked until 1959. From 1959 to 1979, she worked as an artist for Gosconcert (the Soviet State Concert Company) and Mosconcert (its Moscow equivalent). Her previously robust health declined rapidly due to complications from surgery in 2000, ending in her death in Moscow in 2002 at the age of 88.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: Mao Xinyu (born 17 January 1970) is a grandson of Mao Zedong and a major general in the People's Liberation Army of the People's Republic of China.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: Born the son of Mao Anqing in 1970, he is one of Mao Zedong's twelve grandchildren. He spent the first 11 years of his life away from his parents, who were based in Russia. He graduated from the History Department of Renmin University of China in 1992. He works as a researcher at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Sciences, where he completed his doctorate.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: Mao has written several books, including "Grandfather Mao Zedong (Yeye Mao Zedong)", published by the National Defence University Press in October 2003.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: In June 2009, Mao won promotion to the rank of major general in the People's Liberation Army in a controversial move. According to the "Changjiang Daily", Mao is now the youngest general in the PLA. Some critics described his promotion as nepotism. "To have such an unqualified person become a general in China's military, it's an insult to the People's Liberation Army," said Pu Zhiqiang, a lawyer and human rights activist. By contrast, Bao Goujin, a spokesman for the Academy of Military Sciences, said "his is a natural elevation. Mao's many achievements earned him the right to be promoted." Mao's own view is that "family factors" contributed to his promotion.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: Mao is also a member of the Chinese National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, an advisory group to the central government.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: In September 2011, Mao took up a teaching position at Guangzhou University, teaching Mao Zedong Thought at Songtian Professional College.


title: Mao Xinyu

text: Mao's father, Mao Anqing (1923–2007), was a child of Mao's marriage with Yang Kaihui. Anqing served as a Russian–Chinese interpreter for the Chinese Communist Party until he became disabled by a mental illness, possibly schizophrenia. His mother, Chairman Mao's daughter-in-law, was Shao Hua ().


title: Mao Xinyu

text: Mao's first wife was waitress Hao Mingli(郝明莉). The wedding ceremony was held on 7December 1997, but Hao died in 2003 at Qincheng Prison, an institution well known for its political prisoners, having been incarcerated there since 2002. Mao Xinyu remarried in 2003 to Liu Bin (), who was from Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province and whom he had met in 2000. Mao Xinyu and Liu Bin have one son, Mao Dongdong (毛东东, born 2003), as well as one daughter, Mao Tianyi (毛甜懿, born 2008).