title: Germaine de Staël

text: Comte's disciple Frederic Harrison wrote about de Staël that her novels "precede the works of Walter Scott, Byron, Mary Shelley, and partly those of Chateaubriand, their historical importance is great in the development of modern Romanticism, of the romance of the heart, the delight in nature, and in the arts, antiquities, and history of Europe."


title: Germaine de Staël

text: Recent studies by historians, including feminists, have been assessing the specifically feminine dimension in de Staël's contributions both as an activist-theorist and as a writer about the tumultuous events of her time. She has been called a precursor of feminism.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The Aladdin was a hotel and casino located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. Toy manufacturer Edwin S. Lowe originally opened the 450-room Tallyho Hotel on the property in 1962. The Tallyho was the only major hotel in Nevada to not include a casino; it closed at the end of the year and was sold to Kings Crown Inns of America, a hotel chain which reopened the property a month later as the King's Crown Tallyho. The company added a casino and showroom but plans to open the casino were halted when the Nevada Gaming Control Board declined to issue a gambling license because of concerns about the resort being inadequately financed.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Milton Prell purchased the hotel and began an extensive $3 million renovation of the property before reopening it as the Aladdin on April 1, 1966. A 19-story hotel tower was added in 1976. After various ownership changes, the Aladdin was closed in 1997 and demolished the following year to make room for a new Aladdin resort that opened in 2000.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The English Tudor-styled Tallyho hotel was conceived by owner Edwin S. Lowe, a New York toy manufacturer who also served as the president of the hotel. Lowe, who believed that there were some Las Vegas tourists who were not interested in gambling, chose not to add a casino to the Tallyho. The hotel was built on the Las Vegas Strip, across the street from the Dunes resort. Construction of the Tallyho was underway in March 1962, with an opening planned for July. In May 1962, the Clark County Ground Water Board denied an application for a water well that would be used for a nine-hole pitch and putt golf course, which Lowe planned to construct at the rear of the property. A nine-hole golf course was ultimately added to the final plans.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In June 1962, the hotel's opening was delayed until October 1, 1962. Simultaneously, county officials discovered that the three-story stucco hotel may be in violation of fire codes. A request was made for the owner to propose plans to fireproof the hotel's wooden roof and attic. County officials suggested the installation of either a sprinkler system or sheet rock in the attic, as well as the addition of fire-proof materials on the roof of the hotel structures. In November 1962, key positions in the resort were being named while an opening date of Christmas week was being planned.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The Tallyho Hotel and Country Club opened on December 24, 1962, at a cost of $12 million. Grand opening celebrations were held in February 1963. It was the only major resort in Nevada to not include a casino. The hotel featured 450 rooms, 32 villas, six restaurants, horseback and bicycle-riding facilities, and a helicopter service to take guests to nearby attractions such as Mount Charleston and Lake Mead. Despite the lack of a casino, the business was operating successfully at the time of its opening. However, the Tallyho closed on October 10, 1963, because of low revenue caused by the lack of a casino. The closure affected 100 employees, and Lowe conceded that it was a mistake to not open the hotel with an adjoining casino.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Kings Crown Inns of America, Incorporated, a chain of hotels, purchased the Tallyho at a cost of $7 million, and reopened it as the King's Crown Tallyho on November 5, 1963. Kings Crown planned to add a casino and showroom as soon as possible. The Tallyho was Kings Crown's first hotel in the western United States.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Lighting and sound system details for the showroom were being finalized in March 1964, while Kings Crown planned to have the showroom opened in the summer. Sound men who designed the showroom consulted with sound engineers at the University of California, Los Angeles. Film producer Steve Parker, husband of actress Shirley MacLaine, was named as the head of the hotel's showroom, to be named the Crown Room Theater-Restaurant. In addition, Parker was named as a part owner in the resort. In April 1964, a fire started in one of the hotel rooms and caused smoke damage to part of the hotel. The fire was believed to have been started by a cigarette.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Groundbreaking ceremonies for the casino and showroom were scheduled for the weekend of April 11–12, 1964. Celebrities, including MacLaine, were expected to attend the ceremonies. Other additions in the $3 million expansion project would include a convention hall and another restaurant. Future plans included the addition of a 15-story hotel structure with 500 rooms. Construction of the casino and showroom was underway in May 1964, while Parker was planning a show that would feature non-topless showgirls, a concept that was not present in other showgirl shows in Las Vegas.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: By the end of 1964, a partnership of six corporations, with a total of 17 stockholders, was seeking a gambling license to open the casino as part of a $500,000 investment. On December 22, 1964, the Nevada Gaming Control Board deferred action on the approval of a gambling license until the following month to allow time for an investigation of the partnership's finances. A New Year's Eve opening date had been planned for the casino, while the possibility remained for a showroom lounge and two new restaurants to open at that time, although they ultimately did not. A total of 500 people were expected to be employed at the resort's new facilities. In January 1965, the Gaming Board considered the request for a gambling license, but agreed to the hotel's request to delay action for another 30 days so financial agreements could be worked out between people in the partnership. By that time, the partnership consisted of 18 people with a total investment of $800,000.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In February 1965, as the Gaming Board was considering the issuance of a gambling license, the hotel submitted multiple partnership changes that would include increasing Parker's ownership from eight percent to twenty percent. The Gaming Board deferred action on the gambling license until the following month. Board member W. E. Leypoldt said, "I don't think it's fair to ask us to act on something that's entirely different from what was presented Monday. It would do the casino industry a great deal of harm if you opened and in six months went broke because of lack of financing."


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The request for a gambling license was withdrawn in March 1965, to allow more time to reorganize the partnership. Later that month, a suit was filed by Kings Crown Tallyho Inn Incorporated, Equitable Real Estate Investment Trust, and Fidelity Real Estate Investment Trust, all of which requested that the present leasees of the hotel be removed for not paying $632,000 in rent and other payments. The companies stated that other groups were interested in taking over the resort as soon as the leasees, including Chuck Luftig and Edward Nealis, could be removed.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Phone service to the hotel was cut off in April 1965, due to unpaid phone bills dating back to January. All 50 non-permanent guests were asked to leave the hotel. Luftig and Nealis were removed as lessees at the end of the month, after a judge ruled that the hotel be vacated and returned to Kings Crown. The next month, Luftig and Nealis asked for a $3.3 million judgment, alleging that Kings Crown failed to finish necessary improvements to the property during the period of August 1964 to January 1965, leading to financial losses.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: On January 1, 1966, Milton Prell agreed to purchase the King's Crown Tallyho, which was owned by three trusts overseen by the Cook brothers of Indiana. Prell agreed to purchase the resort for $10 million, which would be delivered in monthly payments.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Prell announced plans to remove the old English theme and reopen the resort as the Oriental-themed Aladdin on April 16 following an extensive $3 million renovation. Prell also planned to construct a $20 million, 40-story hotel addition with 600 rooms. Construction of the high-rise was expected to begin later in the year. Martin Stern Jr. was the architect for the Aladdin project, while R. C. Johnson and Associates was the contractor and was hired to construct new facilities and renovate existing structures. Renovation plans included the remodeling of the showroom and lounge, as well as the casino and the hotel's front side. Elevators and escalators were also installed at the hotel's two main front entrances. The original English-themed room wings were kept, but received an "Arabian Nights" theme along with the rest of the resort. The Aladdin was named after the character of the same name. A serrated canopy was added along with a $750,000, 15-foot "Aladdin's Lamp" sign.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Two weeks after Prell took over the property, a new opening date of April 1 was announced due to the fast progress of renovations, while construction of the high-rise was expected to begin in the fall. Later in the month, Prell requested a gambling license to operate 27 table games and 350 slot machines, with casino operations to be financed at a cost of $400,000 through Prell and his partners, Gil Gilbert and Sidney Krystal. Prell owned a 20-percent interest in the hotel corporation, while Gilberts, the corporate vice president, held five percent and Krystal, secretary-treasurer, had seven percent. A large group of investors owned the remaining stock. Prell named Joe Rollo and Bernie Richards, both of Beverly Hills, to serve as entertainment director and head of orchestrations respectively. The Gaming Board recommended approval of Prell's request for a gambling license in February 1966. Prell was approved the next month for gaming and liquor licenses, with approval to operate 351 slot machines and 29 table games.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The resort opened as Milton Prell's Aladdin at midnight on April 1, 1966, becoming the first major resort to open on the Las Vegas Strip in nine years. The Aladdin included the largest casino on the Las Vegas Strip and the 500-seat Bagdad Theatre. People present at the grand opening included Prell and his wife, as well as County Commission Chairman William H. Briare, Las Vegas mayor Oran K. Gragson, and "Las Vegas Sun" publisher Hank Greenspun. The Aladdin, located on , included a golf course and five dining facilities. A week after opening, the sign for the Dunes casino welcomed the Aladdin and wished the new resort "good luck." The Aladdin was considered one of the most luxurious resorts on the Las Vegas Strip, although profits were usually low. Construction of the high-rise hotel addition was scheduled to begin in October 1966.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In September 1966, nine people – including Prell's daughter Sheila – were approved to invest $287,500 for a combined 11.5 percent interest in the Aladdin. At the end of 1966, Prell stopped making payments to the trusts, stating he could not afford the overall $10 million sale price. The trusts agreed to reduce the sale price to $5 million, and Prell's purchase of the property was completed on February 9, 1967. Prell Hotel Corporation was the new owner.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In 1968, MK Investment Corporation made a failed offer to purchase the Aladdin. Renovations totaling $750,000 were completed in August 1969, which included making the Sinbad Lounge enclosed and leveled above the casino floor with Arabic motif.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In 1969, Parvin Dohrmann Corporation took over the Aladdin, and the company was renamed as Recrion Corporation. In February 1971, a group led by Las Vegas resident Walter Gardner agreed to purchase the Aladdin at a cost of $16.5 million. The sale was to be completed once the new owners received licensing to operate the Aladdin's casino. Recrion's agreement with Gardner required that the sale be completed by May 15, 1971. Gardner was a former executive at the Binion's Horseshoe in downtown Las Vegas, and his group included six unnamed investors. In May 1971, Recrion granted the group an extension in order to raise the money to complete the purchase. The deal was cancelled later in the month after Gardner failed to make the purchase, which resulted in Recrion filing a $250,000 suit against Gardner.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: By the end of 1971, Recrion was planning a $5 million sale of the Aladdin, which would help pay off the resort's debts. The Aladdin was sold to Sam Diamond, St. Louis politicians Peter Webbe and Sorkis Webbe, and St. Louis attorney Richard L. Daly for $5 million. The new owners announced plans for the $25 million, 24-story, 800-room Regency Tower, to be built adjacent to the Aladdin and expected to be opened in late 1973. Under the new owners, a $60 million face lift was conducted, including the addition of a 17-story tower and the new 7,500-seat Performing Arts Center replacing the golf course, which was $4 million over budget.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Construction began on the 19-story "Tower of Majesty" in May 1975. It was designed by Lee Linton, and built by the Del E. Webb Corporation. The tower opened on June 1, 1976.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: A $250,000 porte-cochere continued the tower's arabesques. The Aladdin added a new $300,000 blockbuster sign with little neon, huge attraction panels and none of the arabesque of the Aladdin's original sign. The Aladdin celebrated the grand opening of their new "Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts" with singer Neil Diamond being paid $650,000 for four shows; July 2 through July 5, 1976. In 1981, heavy metal band Iron Maiden played at the Aladdin – it was their first-ever concert in America.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In August 1979, several individuals were convicted by a Detroit Federal Jury of conspiring to allow hidden owners to exert control over the resort, and the Nevada Gaming Commission then closed the hotel.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The resort was sold to Wayne Newton and Ed Torres in 1980 for $85 million, snubbing an offer from comedian Johnny Carson. Newton sold his share to Torres 21 months later. Newton sued NBC, who had alleged in broadcasts, that his purchase of the Aladdin was tied to the mafia. He won a $22.8 million judgement, which was overturned on appeal. In February 1984, the Aladdin went into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In 1986, Japanese businessman Ginji Yasuda purchased the Aladdin out of bankruptcy for $54 million. Yasuda spent an additional $35 million to refurbish the resort. Yasuda was removed as the casino's operator by state regulators in September 1988. Yasuda placed the resort in Chapter 11 bankruptcy in October 1989, and died two months later. The property was publicly put up for sale in 1990, after months of unsuccessful private attempts to locate a buyer.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The New Jersey-based Bell Atlantic-Tricon Leasing Corporation acquired the resort out of bankruptcy from Ginji Corporation in 1991. That year, Bell Atlantic-Tricon put the property up for sale at a minimum price of $44 million. In January 1994, businessman Donald Trump considered purchasing the Aladdin for $51 million, although Bell Atlantic-Tricon declined to sell the property for less than $60 million. Trump decided not to purchase the Aladdin as he felt the price was too high. Interest in the property increased following the news of Trump's potential purchase, with several prospective buyers emerging. At the time, the resort consisted of a 1,000-room hotel and a 37,000 square-foot casino. Later in 1994, Jack Sommer, a Las Vegas real estate developer, and the Sommer Family Trust purchased the hotel. The Sommer Family Trust owned the Aladdin through Aladdin Gaming Corporation – which also operated the resort – and Aladdin Holdings LLC. A pair of endangered peregrine falcons nested on the hotel tower during the mid-1990s.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In May 1996, plans were approved by the Clark County Commission for a $600 million renovation and expansion of the Aladdin, which had 1,100 hotel rooms at the time. Sommer and the county spent six months working on the design of the project, which would retain the original hotel tower and theater. The expansion would include four new hotel towers, including a centerpiece 400-foot-high rectangular tower. Other additions would include a 256-room timeshare condominium, a 300-room hotel-casino, and a shopping mall that would be co-managed by Eddie DeBartolo. The hotel would continue operations during the expansion project, which was expected to take 24 to 30 months. On December 6, 1996, American psychedelic rock band Phish performed at the Aladdin, marking the first appearance in Las Vegas by the band. The performance was ultimately released as a CD/DVD release entitled "Vegas 96". The concert featured a guest appearance by members of the band Primus and a group of Elvis impersonators.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In January 1997, Aladdin Gaming Corporation announced that London Clubs International would invest $50 million for a 25 percent interest in the Aladdin resort. London Clubs planned to add a luxury gaming facility to the Aladdin, aimed at attracting high rollers. The new facility would include 30 gaming tables and 100 slot machines. It would be part of the two-year renovation and expansion project, which was expected to cost $750 million and was scheduled to begin later in 1997. The new gaming facility would feature a European design. The Aladdin had been struggling to compete against larger resorts on the Las Vegas Strip.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: In March 1997, Aladdin Holdings announced that the resort would add a shopping mall as part of the expansion project. It would feature the Aladdin's Arabian theme and was expected to open in 1999, with TrizecHahn Corporation handling construction, leasing, and operations. The mall, to be known as Desert Passage, was expected to cost $210 million. For the expansion project, Jack Sommer considered various options, which included closing the resort to renovate it, and demolishing the resort entirely to build a new one.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: On September 25, 1997, it was announced that the Aladdin would close in two months and eventually be demolished to make room for a new Aladdin resort that would be three times larger than the original, and would include the Desert Passage mall. The Aladdin had 1,485 employees, while the new resort would employ over 7,000 people. The Aladdin's 7,000-seat Theater for the Performing Arts would be retained and modernized for the new resort. Among the final performances in the Aladdin theater was Jane's Addiction.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The Aladdin closed at 6:00 p.m. on November 25, 1997. Few casino guests expressed sadness about the closure. The Aladdin theater hosted its final performance later that night, with a show by Mötley Crüe. The performance turned chaotic when the band encouraged the audience to stand up, as one person tried to grab the hat worn by guitarist Mick Mars, accidentally knocking him down. Demolition was expected to begin in December 1997, and an implosion of the hotel tower was expected to occur in February 1998. The Aladdin's porte cochere contained 9,230 light bulbs, which cost a total of $23,499 to light up during 1997. In February 1998, Aladdin Gaming announced that it had financed plans for the new Aladdin resort, expected to cost $826 million. National Content Liquidators conducted an on-site liquidation sale of the Aladdin beginning on March 6, 1998.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: On April 27, 1998, the hotel tower was imploded at 7:27 p.m. to make way for construction of the new Aladdin resort. It was the fifth Las Vegas resort to be imploded. The tower was imploded by Controlled Demolition, Inc., who had handled every hotel implosion on the Strip to this point. According to company president Mark Loizeaux, the tower used a poor concrete block design. He said, "This is the worst construction I've ever seen. It's shoddy. It's a poor man's high-rise. It is extremely susceptible to collapse. It is not a building I'd want to be in in an earthquake". The design meant that bringing down the tower in the implosion would be easy, but it also posed a challenge for getting the building to come down in the right direction. Because the tower would be easy to bring down during the implosion, Loizeaux decreased the amount of explosives from 370 pounds to 232 pounds.


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: An estimated 20,000 people arrived to watch the implosion from nearby. Aladdin executives set up a 1,000-person tent near the Aladdin and charged $250 a ticket for people to watch the implosion from inside the tent, with the proceeds benefiting the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Southern Nevada. The old resort's sign read, "Out of the dust Aladdin rises anew. See you in 2000." Frank Wright, the curator of the Nevada State Museum, said about the Aladdin's lack of success: "I don't know why it never made it. It never had the glamour of the Sands or the exotic dancers of the Tropicana or the Dunes or Stardust. Maybe it was location, but the Hacienda was farther out, and it was a success." Don Payne, the former chief of the Las Vegas News Bureau, said the Aladdin "certainly couldn't match the Flamingo or the Dunes. It never had the big name entertainment policy. It didn't have the advertising the big guys had. But it was a well-thought-of place."


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: The new Aladdin resort opened in August 2000. It experienced financial problems and entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2001. In February 2002, Aladdin Gaming was searching for potential buyers. The resort was sold in bankruptcy on June 20, 2003 to a partnership of Planet Hollywood and Starwood. After a renovation, the resort began operating in 2007 under the name "Planet Hollywood".


title: Aladdin (hotel and casino)

text: Robert Hirsch, a Las Vegas location consultant and the former director of the Nevada Motion Picture Division, said that film and television crews "always loved the porte cochere" of the Aladdin, but that they "just didn't like the rest of the place." The Aladdin's casino was featured substantially in the 1979 film "Going in Style" and the 1986 film "Heat". The porte cochere and casino appeared in the 1993 film, "Best of the Best II", while the theatre appeared in the 1997 documentary film, "Dancing for Dollars". "Behind Closed Doors", a documentary series, shot footage of the hotel tower's demolition preparations prior to its implosion. The series also placed cameras inside the tower to give an interior view of the building during the implosion. The Aladdin was also featured in a 1998 episode of "Ohh Nooo! Mr. Bill Presents", in which the character of Mr. Bill performs at the resort. Footage of the implosion was used in the closing credits of the 2003 film "The Cooler".


title: Yellowbeard

text: Yellowbeard is a 1983 British comedy film directed by Mel Damski and written by Graham Chapman, Peter Cook, Bernard McKenna, and David Sherlock, with an ensemble cast featuring Chapman, Cook, Peter Boyle, Cheech & Chong, Martin Hewitt, Michael Hordern, Eric Idle, Madeline Kahn, James Mason, and John Cleese, and the final cinematic appearances of Marty Feldman, Spike Milligan, and Peter Bull.


title: Yellowbeard

text: In 1687, pirate Yellowbeard attacks the ship of inquisitor El Nebuloso and seizes a treasure hoard from the Spanish Main. Although his second-in-command Moon devised the attack plan, Yellowbeard treats him harshly and severs Moon's hand for touching the treasure. Yellowbeard continues piracy in the West Indies until he is betrayed by Moon and imprisoned in England for tax evasion.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Twenty years later, Yellowbeard is about to complete his prison sentence, having kept secret the location of his buried treasure from his torturers and from Moon's spy Gilbert. Commander Clement, a Royal Navy officer and head of Her Majesty's Secret Service, provokes Yellowbeard by greatly extending his sentence. Yellowbeard escapes and visits his wife Betty's tavern to retrieve his treasure map. However, she destroyed the map after tattooing it onto the head of their son Dan, now twenty years old.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Clement and Gilbert each arrive and are eluded by Yellowbeard. Informant Blind Pew directs Clement to Yellowbeard's trail. Gilbert confronts Pew and exposes him as a government agent, turning the tavern patrons against him, but Pew is able to use his wit and prowess to defeat them.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Yellowbeard finds Dan who volunteers to help find the treasure. However, because Dan was raised as a gentleman by Lord Lambourne, Yellowbeard believes him unsuited to piracy and tries to take only Dan's head. Clement's men arrive, so Dan and Lambourne hide Yellowbeard with botanist Dr. Gilpin. They devise a plan to disguise Yellowbeard and travel to Jamaica as a botany expedition. Betty agrees to conceal their activities for a share, but her obvious lies raise Clement's suspicions. Meanwhile, Moon and Gilbert kill Pew.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Dan's group book passage in Portsmouth, pursued by Clement, Gilbert and Moon. Moon usurps leadership of a press gang and waylays Dan, Lambourne and Gilpin, impressing them into service on the "Lady Edith" under Captain Hughes. Following weeks of harsh "preemptive discipline" at sea, Dan confronts cruel Mr. Crisp and is knocked-out. Yellowbeard, who had secretly stowed away on the ship, overpowers Crisp to save the map and drops him into the sea. Moon informs Hughes that Dan is Yellowbeard's son, and Hughes arrests Dan, Lambourne and Gilpin for conspiracy to mutiny. Moon immediately engineers a mutiny and installs Dan as captain. That night, Yellowbeard alters the ship's course, leading Dan and Moon to suspect each other of the act.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Meanwhile, Clement questions Betty aboard his frigate while trying to intercept Yellowbeard. By happenstance, the "Lady Edith"s new course brings the ships together. To preserve the secrecy of his mission, Clement raises the French flag and is mystified when the "Edith" engages them despite being outgunned and outmanned. He feigns battle and withdraws.


title: Yellowbeard

text: The "Lady Edith" arrives at an island which matches the map. Yellowbeard covertly swims to shore while Dan and the others accompany foraging parties. However, El Nebuloso has a fortress on the island and Dan is captured. Lambourne and Gilpin find Yellowbeard and attack the fortress to rescue Dan. They meet no resistance, per Nebuloso's ruse to capture their leader and learn the treasure's location. However, his men are either killed by Yellowbeard or paralyzed by Gilpin's botanical extract. Nebuloso holds Dan hostage but Yellowbeard reveals himself and a terrified Nebuloso fatally falls into an acid pool.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Moon and his men arrive and a swordfight ensues. Yellowbeard withdraws to search for the treasure. Moon outfights Dan and backs him to the acid pool, but Nebuloso's daughter Triola, who had instantly fallen in love with Dan, knocks Moon into the acid. Meanwhile, Clement arrives on the island and Betty tries to guide his marines from her recollections of the map.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Dan finds Yellowbeard retracing his steps. Losing his place, Yellowbeard slices off Dan's hair to check the map and they soon unearth the treasure. Yellowbeard embraces Dan and inadvertently impales himself on Dan's dagger; approving of patricidal betrayal, Yellowbeard acknowledges Dan as his son before collapsing. Clement arrives and congratulates Dan for killing Yellowbeard while claiming the treasure for the queen. Triola immediately attaches herself to Clement.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Back at sea, Clement considers keeping the treasure and settling in the Americas. However, Dan, Yellowbeard, Lambourne, Gilpin and Betty seize the ship and hoist the Jolly Roger.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Peter Cook remembered "It all started when Keith Moon, Sam Peckinpah, Graham Chapman and myself were dining at Trader Vic's. Keith suggested doing a movie about pirates and we were all discussing it and being enthusiastic, when I saw Sam, who was too tired to actually go to the lavatory, relieving himself in the artificial palm tree by the table. It was then that I thought the whole thing was rather unlikely to get off the ground."


title: Yellowbeard

text: The original concept for the film was funded by Chapman's close friend Moon, who wanted to play the lead role, but was dropped early on because of his deteriorating health.


title: Yellowbeard

text: The film has a complicated development history, largely due to the amount of time taken to get funding. There are at least four versions of the script drafts. The one that is "truest to Chapman and McKenna's original version" is published in the book "Yellowbeard: High Jinks on the High Seas". Major difference between Chapman and McKenna's script, which was altered at Hollywood's request, is that the original has less emphasis on minor characters and more emphasis on the overall plot. Cook is credited as a writer because, in October 1980, Chapman asked Cook to help with one of the rewrites.


title: Yellowbeard

text: In casting, producer Carter De Haven wanted to choose actors that would broaden the film's appeal to American audiences.


title: Yellowbeard

text: The actor set to play the romantic lead changed from Adam Ant to Sting to Martin Hewitt. Adam Ant was frustrated with production delays and quit. Sting wanted to play the role, but the producers thought the film was becoming too British. Hewitt is quoted as saying that "Sting should have had my part. For crying out loud, I would have hired Sting over me any day."


title: Yellowbeard

text: Haven told "The New York Times", "I got the cast I wanted. All the actors are integral. They are not just playing cameo roles."


title: Yellowbeard

text: David Bowie makes a cameo appearance as the Shark – a character named Henson who dons a rubber shark fin on his back. Bowie was on holiday in Mexico in late 1982 after completing his album "Let's Dance" when he met with Chapman and Idle on a beach, agreeing to make a cameo appearance. Bowie also appeared in the 50-minute behind-the-scenes feature titled "Group Madness".


title: Yellowbeard

text: Apart from a couple of weeks spent in England, the entire film including interiors was shot in Mexico.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Chapman's friend Harry Nilsson created a preliminary soundtrack, including one song specifically for the film. This was not used because the producers felt he could not be relied on to finish it.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Three ships in the film were portrayed by "Bounty II", built by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for the 1962 version of "Mutiny on the Bounty". The pirate ship was named "Edith", after Chapman's mother.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Marty Feldman died of a heart attack while filming in Mexico City in December 1982. His work on the film was nearly finished except for the scene of his character's death, filmed a few days later using a stunt double. Chapman said about Feldman's death: "I try to look at the positive side...I take pleasure knowing that Marty was back on form for his last role."


title: Yellowbeard

text: Chapman was not allowed to assist with the editing, and his comments on the first cut were ignored; these included shortening the credits, so that audience expectation was not too far raised, and making the jokes less obvious.


title: Yellowbeard

text: The film received some praise, with the "Los Angeles Times" writing that there are "many moments of hilarity here", but it was not a big box-office success, and received mostly negative reviews. Various reasons are suggested, such as the peculiar combination of British and American humour, and it being poorly timed given the movie climate, with other kinds of comedy being popular. "DVD Verdict" gives it 75 out of 100, but writes "It is, at times, hilarious, and contains all of the pieces of a great comedy. These pieces never come together to make a great film." Roger Ebert gave the film one-and-a-half stars, and said ""Yellowbeard" is soon over and soon forgotten." On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a 22% approval rating based on reviews from 9 critics.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Cleese played a part out of loyalty to Chapman. He said he found the script to be one of the worst he had read, although it is unclear which version he was referring to. In an interview given in 2001, Cleese described "Yellowbeard" as "one of the six worst films made in the history of the world".


title: Yellowbeard

text: Eric Idle mentioned "Yellowbeard" as one of the worst films he has ever made, but said he enjoyed making it. "Sometimes, the best times can be on the worst movies and vice versa, e.g. "Yellowbeard", which I wouldn't have missed for the world."


title: Yellowbeard

text: During the production of "Yellowbeard", Michael Mileham and Phil Schuman produced and directed a 45-minute behind-the-scenes documentary for Orion Pictures, entitled "Group Madness: The Making of Yellowbeard". Mileham said he wanted to make the documentary because "Yellowbeard" had "more comics in it than any film since [1963's] "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"". Mileham and his crew followed the "Yellowbeard" filmmakers and cast to locations in England and Mexico, documenting their off-screen antics and interviewing many cast members, including Chapman, Idle, Cleese, Feldman, Boyle, Cook and Kahn.


title: Yellowbeard

text: Near the time of the 1983 release of "Yellowbeard", "Group Madness" was syndicated to 75 television stations in the United States and broadcast only once on NBC on 11 June 1983, pre-empting "Saturday Night Live". In the mid-1990s, video copies of the documentary could be ordered from Mileham; it was eventually released on DVD in 2007 and later streamed on Amazon.com.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Scottish Labour (, ; officially the Scottish Labour Party) is a social democratic political party in Scotland. It is an autonomous section of the UK Labour Party. From their peak of holding 56 of the 129 seats at the first Scottish parliament election in 1999, the Party has lost seats at each Holyrood election, returning 22 MSPs at the 2021 election. The party currently holds one of 59 Scottish seats in the UK House of Commons, with Ian Murray having represented Edinburgh South continuously since 2010.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Throughout the later decades of the 20th century and into the first years of the 21st, Labour dominated politics in Scotland; winning the largest share of the vote in Scotland at every UK general election from 1964 to 2010, every European Parliament election from 1984 to 2004 and in the first two elections to the Scottish Parliament in 1999 and 2003. After this, Scottish Labour formed a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, forming a majority Scottish Executive. More recently, especially since the 2014 Scottish independence referendum, the party has suffered significant decline; losing ground predominantly to the pro-independence Scottish National Party, who advocate Scottish independence from the United Kingdom.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Scottish Labour experienced one of their worst defeats ever at the 2015 general election. They were left with a sole seat in the House of Commons, Edinburgh South, and lost 40 of its 41 seats to the SNP. This was the first time the party had not dominated in Scotland since the Conservative Party landslide in 1959. At the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, the party lost 13 of its 37 seats, becoming the third-largest party after being surpassed by the Scottish Conservatives.


title: Scottish Labour

text: At the 2017 general election, Scottish Labour improved their fortunes and gained six seats from the SNP, bringing its total seat tally to seven and winning a 27% share of the vote. This was the first time since the 1918 general election, 99 years previously, that Labour had finished in third place at any general election in Scotland. Overall, the 2017 general election marked the first time in twenty years that the Labour Party had made net gains in the UK at any election.


title: Scottish Labour

text: The success was short-lived, however, and at the 2019 general election, Labour lost all new seats gained two years earlier, and again were left with Edinburgh South as their only Scottish seat in the House of Commons. Ian Murray has served as the MP for the constituency since 2010, and is currently one of Scotland's longest-serving MPs. The 2019 general election was Labour's worst result nationally in 84 years, with their lowest share of the vote recorded in Scotland since the December 1910 general election.


title: Scottish Labour

text: The 2021 Scottish Parliament election saw Labour decline even further, achieving their lowest number of seats in Holyrood since devolution in 1999; with 22 MSPs returned to the Scottish Parliament. Despite this, Anas Sarwar remained as leader.


title: Scottish Labour

text: The 2022 Scottish local elections resulted in Labour gaining 20 seats across Scottish local councils, with a slight increase in their share of the vote.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Scottish Labour is registered with the UK Electoral Commission as an Accounting Unit (AU) of the UK Labour Party and is therefore not a registered political party under the terms of the Political Parties, Elections and Referendums Act 2000. As with Welsh Labour, Scottish Labour has its own general secretary which is the administrative head of the party, responsible for the day-to-day running of the organisation, and reports to the UK General Secretary of the Labour Party. The Scottish Labour headquarters is currently at Bath Street, Glasgow. It was formerly co-located with the offices of Unite the Union at John Smith House, 145 West Regent Street. The party holds an annual conference during February/March each year.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Scottish Labour is administered by the Glasgow-based Scottish Executive Committee (SEC), which is responsible to the Labour Party's London-based National Executive Committee (NEC). The Scottish Executive Committee is made up of representatives of party members, elected members and party affiliates, for example, trade unions and socialist societies.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In 2008, Scottish Labour membership was reported as 17,000, down from a peak of approximately 30,000 in the run-up to the 1997 general election. The figures included in the Annual Report presented to the Scottish Party Conference in 2008, also recorded that more than half of all Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs) had less than 300 members, with 14 having less than 200 members.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In September 2010, the party issued 13,135 ballot papers to party members during the Labour Party (UK) leadership election. These did not necessarily equate to 13,135 individual members – due to the party's electoral structure, members can qualify for multiple votes. The party has declined to reveal its membership figures since 2008, and did not publish the number of votes cast in the leadership elections of 2011 or 2014, only percentages.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In November 2014 the party's membership was claimed by an unnamed source reported in the "Sunday Herald" to be 13,500. Other reports in the media at around this time quoted figures of "as low as 8,000" (the "Evening Times") and "less than 10,000" ("New Statesman"). In December 2014 the newly elected leader Jim Murphy claimed that the figure was "about 20,000" on the TV programme "Scotland Tonight".


title: Scottish Labour

text: In late September 2015, following a membership boost resulting from the 2015 Labour leadership election, a total of 29,899 people were associated with the party; 18,824 members, 7,790 people affiliated through trade unions and other groups, and 3,285 registered supporters.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In September 2017, it was reported that the party had 21,500 members and 9,500 affiliated through trade unions and other groups, making a total of 31,000 people associated with the party.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In January 2018, the total Scottish membership stood at 25,836, however within 12 months it was leaked in January 2019 that this value had fallen by 4,674 to 21,162.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In February 2021, the membership figure was down to 16,467. Leaked figures obtained by the "Daily Record" in February 2022 showed that nearly one third of Scottish Labour members were in favour of another Scottish independence referendum. Asked whether "in principle" there should be a referendum on independence, 30% agreed and 57% disagreed.


title: Scottish Labour

text: From the formation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900, it had members in Scotland, but unlike in England and Wales, it made no pact with the Liberal Party and so initially struggled to make an impact. In 1899, the Scottish Trades Union Congress organised the Scottish Workers' Representation Committee, which merged into the Labour Party in 1909, greatly increasing its presence in Scotland. By this time, the party's structure in the nation was complex, with constituency parties, and branches of affiliated parties, but no co-ordination at the national level. To provide this, a Scottish Advisory Council was founded in 1915, its first conference chaired by Keir Hardie. This was later renamed as the Scottish Council of the Labour Party, then in 1994 as the "Scottish Labour Party".


title: Scottish Labour

text: In the early years, the Scottish Council had little power, and its conference could only consider motions on Scottish matters until 1972. However, this allowed it to devote significant time to the question of Scottish devolution. The Labour Party campaigned for the creation of a devolved Scottish Parliament as part of its wider policy of a devolved United Kingdom. In the late 1980s and 1990s it and its representatives participated in the Scottish Constitutional Convention with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Greens, trades unions and churches, and also campaigned for a "Yes-Yes" vote in the 1997 referendum.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Donald Dewar led Labour's campaign for the first elections to the Scottish Parliament on 6 May 1999. Labour won the most votes and seats, with 56 seats out of 129, a clear distance ahead of the second-placed Scottish National Party (SNP). Labour also won 53 of the 73 constituency seats. Labour entered government by forming a coalition with the Scottish Liberal Democrats, with Dewar agreeing to their demand for the abolition of up-front tuition fees for university students as the price for a coalition deal. Dewar became the inaugural First Minister of Scotland.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Dewar died only a year later on 11 October 2000. A new first minister was elected in a ballot by Scottish Labour's MSPs and national executive members, because there was insufficient time to hold a full leadership election. On 21 October, Henry McLeish was elected to succeed Dewar, defeating rival Jack McConnell. Labour's dominance of Scotland's Westminster seats continued in the 2001 general election, with a small loss of votes but no losses of seats.


title: Scottish Labour

text: McLeish resigned later that year amid a scandal involving allegations that he sub-let part of his tax-subsidised Westminster constituency office without it having been registered in the register of interests kept in the Parliamentary office, an affair which the press called "Officegate". Though McLeish could not have personally benefited financially from the oversight, he undertook to repay the £36,000 rental income, and resigned to allow Scottish Labour a clean break to prepare for the 2003 Scottish Parliament election. After McLeish's resignation, McConnell quickly emerged as the only candidate, and was elected First Minister by the Parliament on 22 November 2001.


title: Scottish Labour

text: The coalition between Labour and the Liberal Democrats was narrowly re-elected at the Scottish Parliament election, with Labour losing seven seats and the Liberal Democrats gaining one. The SNP also lost seats, though other pro-independence parties made gains. Labour once again won the majority of seats in Scotland at the 2005 general election. The boundaries in Scotland were redrawn to reduce the number of Westminster constituencies in Scotland from 72 to 59. Labour had a notional loss of 5 seats and an actual loss of 15.


title: Scottish Labour

text: At the start of the campaign for the 2007 Scottish Parliament election, Labour were behind the SNP in most of the opinion polls. On 10 April, McConnell unveiled Scottish Labour's election manifesto, which included plans to scrap bills for pensioners and reform Council Tax. The manifesto also proposed a large increase in public spending on education, which would allow for the school leaving age to be increased to 18 and reduce average class sizes to 19 pupils.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Labour lost 4 seats and fell narrowly behind the SNP, who won 47 seats to Labour's 46 seats. Labour still won the most constituencies, but the SNP made inroads. Both parties were well short of a majority in the parliament. SNP leader Alex Salmond was elected first minister with support from the Scottish Greens, defeating McConnell 49-46 while the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats abstained. Labour did take the most votes in the local elections on the same day but lost seats due to the introduction of proportional representation for local council elections. On 15 August 2007, McConnell announced his intention to resign as Scottish Labour leader. Wendy Alexander emerged as the only candidate to succeed him, and was installed as leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament on 14 September 2007.


title: Scottish Labour

text: During a TV interview on 4 May 2008, Wendy Alexander performed a major U-turn on previous Scottish Labour policy by seeming to endorse a referendum on Scottish independence, despite previously refusing to support any referendum on the grounds that she did not support independence. During a further TV interview two days later, she reiterated this commitment to a referendum and claimed that she had the full backing of current British Prime Minister Gordon Brown. The following day, however, Brown denied this was Labour policy and that Alexander had been misrepresented during Prime Minister's Questions in Westminster. Additionally, Brown's spokesman said: "The prime minister has always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believes a referendum on Scottish independence would be defeated." Despite this lack of backing, Alexander once again reiterated her commitment to a referendum during First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament.


title: Scottish Labour

text: On 28 June 2008, Alexander announced her resignation as Leader of Scottish Labour as a result of the pressure on her following the donation scandal. Cathy Jamieson subsequently became interim party leader. A month after, Labour lost a safe Westminster seat to the SNP in the Glasgow East by-election.


title: Scottish Labour

text: The 2008 Labour group leadership election was the first time Labour had elected its Scottish leader with the participation of its members, using a system similar to that used at the time by the UK-wide Labour Party (the system had been adopted in 2007, but no ballot had taken place as Alexander had been unopposed). The contenders were Iain Gray, MSP for East Lothian, a former Enterprise Minister in the previous Labour Executive, Andy Kerr, MSP for East Kilbride and former Health Secretary in the previous administration, and Cathy Jamieson MSP, the acting party leader who had been deputy leader under Jack McConnell. On 13 September 2008, Gray was elected leader and promised a "fresh start" for Labour in Scotland.


title: Scottish Labour

text: A few months later, Labour won the Glenrothes by-election in Fife. The result was considered a surprise, as there was speculation that the SNP could have won an upset similar to Glasgow East. The 2009 European Parliament election was catastrophic for Labour, falling behind the SNP for the first time and producing its worst results since before World War I. However, it easily won the Glasgow North East by-election later that year, which had been triggered by the resignation of House Speaker Michael Martin in the wake of the expenses scandal.


title: Scottish Labour

text: At the 2010 general election on 6 May 2010, contrary to polls preceding the election, Labour consolidated their vote in Scotland, losing no seats (despite losing 91 seats across the rest of Britain) and regained Glasgow East from the SNP. This resulted in incumbent Scottish secretary Jim Murphy stating that the result provided an impetus for Scottish Labour to attempt to become "the biggest party in Holyrood" in the 2011 Scottish Parliament elections.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Labour led the SNP in the polls for the 2011 Scottish Parliament election until the campaign began in March, at which point support for the SNP rallied. The SNP went on to win an unprecedented majority in the Scottish Parliament, a result that had been considered impossible under the proportional voting system. Labour had a net loss of 7 seats to the SNP. It also lost most of their constituency seats, although its share of the constituency vote declined by less than 1%. Labour's defeat was attributed to their campaign being directed mostly against the government in Westminster instead of the SNP. Party leader Iain Gray, who held on to his own seat by only 151 votes, announced that he would be resigning with effect from later in the year. Eight weeks later, Labour easily retained a Westminster seat at the Inverclyde by-election, suggesting that Scottish Labour's disappointing performance in the 2011 Scottish Parliament election would not necessarily translate into support for its political opponents in other elections.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Following the 2011 Scottish election, Ed Miliband commissioned the "Review of the Labour Party in Scotland" of the future structure and operation of the Labour Party in Scotland, co-chaired by Murphy and Sarah Boyack MSP. The review included a recommendation for a new post of Leader of the Scottish Labour Party to be created (previous Scottish Labour leaders had only been the leader of the Labour group in the Scottish Parliament). Others included more autonomy for the Scottish party and the reorganisation of members into branches based on Holyrood constituencies rather than Westminster constituencies. On 17 December 2011, Johann Lamont MSP was elected as leader and Anas Sarwar MP was elected as her deputy. Delivering her victory speech, Lamont said: "I want to change Scotland, but the only way we can change Scotland is by changing the Scottish Labour Party."


title: Scottish Labour

text: In the 2012 Scottish local elections, Labour were outpolled by the SNP. However, it gained votes and council seats and held its majorities on the councils of Glasgow and North Lanarkshire and regained control of Renfrewshire and West Dunbartonshire.


title: Scottish Labour

text: For the 2014 referendum on Scottish independence, Scottish Labour joined with the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to form the pro-union Better Together campaign against Scottish independence. It was led by Alistair Darling, a former Labour minister. In addition, Scottish Labour ran its own pro-UK campaign United with Labour alongside, with the support of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. Anas Sarwar MP also led an unofficial organisation called the "2014 Truth Team", described by the party as "dedicated to cutting through the noise and delivering [...] facts on independence".


title: Scottish Labour

text: In July 2012, a member of Scottish Labour started Labour for Independence, a rebel group of Labour supporters who back Yes Scotland in the campaign for Scottish independence. The group was dismissed by the Scottish Labour leadership as lacking "real support" from within the party.


title: Scottish Labour

text: The referendum was held on 18 September 2014 and resulted in a 55.3%–44.7% victory for the No side. However, many of Labour's traditional strongholds favoured the Yes side, notably including Glasgow. The SNP had a surge in membership and gained a wide lead over Labour in the opinion polls.


title: Scottish Labour

text: On 24 October 2014, Johann Lamont announced her resignation as leader. She accused Labour's UK-wide leadership of undermining her attempts to reform the Scottish Labour Party and treating it "like a branch office of London." The party's 2014 leadership election was won by Jim Murphy, an MP who had previously served as Secretary of State for Scotland and been a prominent campaigner for the pro-Union side in the referendum. In his victory speech, Murphy said that his election marked a "fresh start" for Scottish Labour: "Scotland is changing and so too is Scottish Labour. I'm ambitious for our party because I'm ambitious for our country". He also said that he planned to defeat the SNP in 2016, and would use the increased powers being devolved to Holyrood to end poverty and inequality. In her speech after being elected deputy leader, Kezia Dugdale said that the party's "focus has to be on the future – a Scottish Labour party that's fighting fit and fighting for our future".


title: Scottish Labour

text: Labour's poll ratings in Scotland did not reverse, and the party suffered a landslide defeat in the general election in May 2015, losing 40 of their 41 seats to the SNP. Many senior party figures were unseated, including Murphy himself (East Renfrewshire), Shadow Foreign Secretary Douglas Alexander (Paisley and Renfrewshire South) and Shadow Scotland Secretary Margaret Curran (Glasgow East). Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) was the only MP re-elected. It was the first time since 1959 that the party had not won the most votes in Scotland at a general election. On 16 May 2015, Murphy resigned as leader effective 13 June 2015. Under normal circumstances, Deputy Leader Kezia Dugdale would become acting leader, but former Leader Iain Gray was appointed Acting Leader whilst a leadership and a deputy leadership election are being simultaneously held on account of Dugdale resigning as Deputy Leader to stand for Leader. Dugdale won the 2015 leadership election on 15 August 2015, beating Ken Macintosh. On 1 November 2015, Scottish Labour Party delegates backed a vote to scrap the UK's Trident nuclear missile system. The motion was supported by an overwhelming majority, in which both party members and unions voted 70% in favor of the motion.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In the 2016 Scottish Parliament election, Labour lost a third of its seats, dropping from 37 to 24. Labour got its lowest percentage of the vote in Scotland in 98 years with 23% and fell into 3rd place, a position it last occupied in Scotland in 1910, behind the Conservatives. The party also only won 3 constituency seats: holding onto the Dumbarton and East Lothian constituencies and gaining the Edinburgh Southern constituency from the SNP, whilst losing eleven of its 2011 constituencies to the SNP and two to the Conservatives.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In the 2017 local elections, Labour's share of first preference votes fell from 31.4% to 20.2%, while it lost over 130 seats. This result meant the Party fell to third place in terms of both vote share and number of councillors. Labour also lost control of Glasgow and three other councils where it had a majority. At the beginning of the 2017 general election campaign, Labour's poll ratings fell to a historic low 13%, and were more than 15% behind the Conservatives in Scotland in some polls. However, towards the end of the campaign Labour's polling increased to levels around the 24% which it had received in 2015. On election day itself, the party managed to improve on its 2015 result and received 27% of the Scottish vote in a surprisingly good night for the party nationwide, and picked up 6 seats from the SNP in traditionally Labour areas such as Coatbridge, Glasgow, Kirkcaldy, and Rutherglen, bringing its Scottish number of seats to 7. Despite the positive result for the party, Labour remained in third place in Scotland, behind the Conservatives on 29%, and the SNP on 37%.


title: Scottish Labour

text: On 29 August 2017, Dugdale resigned as leader of the Scottish Labour Party. Her deputy, Alex Rowley, took over as acting leader until 15 November, when he was suspended from Scottish Labour's parliamentary party while a probe into his conduct took place. Jackie Baillie took over as acting leader until the conclusion of the leadership election. The election for a new leader of the Scottish Labour party took place between 11 September 2017 (when nominations opened) and 18 November 2017, when the new leader was announced. Nominations for leadership candidates closed on 17 September. Anyone that wished to vote in the leadership election must have either been a member of the Scottish Labour Party, an 'affiliated supporter' (through being signed up as a Scottish Labour Party supporter through an affiliated organisation or union), or a 'registered supporter' (which requires signing up online and paying a one-off fee of £12) by 9 October. Voting opened on 27 October and closed at midday on 17 November. Richard Leonard won the leadership election with 56.7% of the vote and was elected as the leader of the Scottish Labour Party on 18 November.


title: Scottish Labour

text: On 12 December 2019, Scottish Labour returned to having only one seat in Westminster (Edinburgh South). Leonard apologised for the UK party failing to address concerns over Brexit and for the Scottish party not having stopped what he described as the "SNP juggernaut". However, he said he would continue as leader and carry out a listening exercise.


title: Scottish Labour

text: After surviving previous calls for him to go, Leonard resigned as leader on 14 January 2021, triggering the 2021 Scottish Labour leadership election. Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Leonard had been pressured into resigning by wealthy donors, who told UK Labour leader Keir Starmer that they would not give money to the Westminster party unless Leonard quit.


title: Scottish Labour

text: On 27 February 2021, former Deputy Leader Anas Sarwar was elected Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, defeating rival Monica Lennon by 57.6% to 42.4% and promised to heal and unite the party. At the 2021 Scottish Parliament election, Labour lost a further two seats including the constituency seat of East Lothian, bringing their number of MSPs to 22, an all time low. They also recorded their worst performance on both the Constituency and List vote in terms of vote share, however it was better than had been predicted by many polls at the start of Sarwar's tenure as leader, some of which had predicted Labour to potentially fall to fourth place behind the Scottish Greens. Under Sarwar's leadership, Scottish Labour have re-affirmed their constitutional position of unionism which has led to a sometimes controversial selections of candidates. The party has been criticised for fielding a number of candidates affiliated with the Orange Order in local elections.


title: Scottish Labour

text: In February 2022, during an interview on Times Radio, Sarwar said: "[Labour] have got to demonstrate to people the kind of alternative we can have and the difference it would make to people's lives so they positively vote Labour, not just negatively vote against the Tories or the SNP. If I'm honest, I didn’t quite grip or grasp how I think hollowed out we were as an organisation, not just in terms of our political message and our political result, as an organisation I hadn't really grasped how hollowed out we were." The party rebranded the following month, changing its traditional red rose logo to a red and purple thistle. A party spokesman said: "Scottish Labour is committed to transforming our party to win back the trust of the people to Scotland. We're on the side of the Scots, and hope they'll join us so we can build the future together. To do that we need new ideas and new thinking. At Scottish Labour conference this week you will hear Anas Sarwar relentlessly focus on the future."


title: Scottish Labour

text: At the 2022 local elections, Labour made minor gains and overtook the Conservatives into second place by gaining 20 seats and a slight increase in their share of the vote, but still finished far behind the SNP; with 282 seats overall, it was Labour's second worst-worst result since 1977, beaten only by the 262 seats won in 2017. The party was criticised in the aftermath of the elections for pledging to do no deals or partake in coalitions with the SNP or the Greens, instead choosing to work with the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats to form minority administrations in several cases. In Edinburgh, they suspended two councillors for refusing to vote for the deal which gave Conservatives positions within the council.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Sarwar, like Starmer, voiced his opposition to a proposed second Scottish independence referendum, stating that a Labour government would not grant a Section 30 order for one to be held.


title: Scottish Labour

text: Ian Murray – MP for Edinburgh South since 2010. Shadow Secretary of State for Scotland 2015–2016 and since 2020


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: Brandon Duc Allen (born September 5, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Arkansas and was their starting quarterback from 2013 to 2015. He was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft and has also previously been a member of the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: Allen attended Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville, Arkansas. As a senior, he threw for 3,408 yards and 38 touchdowns. He was ranked by Rivals.com as the fifth-best pro-style quarterback recruit.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: Allen was redshirted as a freshman in 2011. In 2012, he was the backup to Tyler Wilson. He appeared in five games and started one game after Wilson missed a game because of injury. He finished the season completing 21 of 49 passes for 186 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: In 2013, Allen took over as the starting quarterback. He passed for 1,552 yards, completing 49.6 percent of his throws, and threw for 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a team that finished 3–9 under first year head coach Bret Bielema.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: As a junior in 2014, Allen had 2,285 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. He was the offensive MVP of the 2014 Texas Bowl, a 31–7 victory against the Texas Longhorns. Allen threw two touchdowns in the game, and Arkansas finished with a 7–6 record.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: During his senior year in 2015, Allen threw a then-school record six touchdown passes, and ran in the game winning 2 point conversion in a 53–52 overtime win over Ole Miss. He broke the record two weeks later with seven touchdowns in a 51–50 loss to Mississippi State. He also broke Arkansas' record for career passing touchdowns against Mississippi State. He finished the year with 3,440 passing yards, 30 touchdowns, and eight interceptions for a team that finished 8–5, and beat Kansas State in the 2016 Liberty Bowl, 45–23.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: Allen was drafted by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the sixth round with the 201st overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft. On May 5, 2016, Allen signed a 4-year $2.48 million contract, which included a $147,687 signing bonus. Allen was the Jaguars third-string quarterback his rookie season behind Blake Bortles and Chad Henne. He was waived by the Jaguars on September 3, 2017, following final roster cuts for the 2017 season.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: On September 4, 2017, Allen was claimed off waivers by the Los Angeles Rams. He was inactive for every game of the season as the Rams' third-string quarterback behind Jared Goff and Sean Mannion. He was placed on injured reserve on December 20, 2017.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: On September 18, 2018, Allen was waived by the Rams and was re-signed to the practice squad the next day.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: Allen signed a reserve/future contract with the Rams on February 7, 2019. On August 30, 2019, Allen was released as part of final roster cuts.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: On September 1, 2019, Allen was claimed off waivers by the Denver Broncos. After an injury to starting quarterback Joe Flacco in week 8 of the 2019 season, Allen stepped in as the starting quarterback. Allen made his first start in Week 9 against the Cleveland Browns. In the game, Allen threw for 193 yards and two touchdowns in the 24–19 win.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: On August 1, 2020, Allen was signed by the Cincinnati Bengals. He was released on September 5, 2020, and signed to the practice squad the next day. He was promoted to the active roster on November 23, 2020, after starting quarterback Joe Burrow suffered a season-ending injury. On November 25, 2020, the team announced that Allen would start for the Bengals during their Week 12 game against the New York Giants in place of the injured Joe Burrow. In Week 16, against the Houston Texans, he had 371 passing yards and two touchdowns in the 37–31 victory. Allen started the final game for the season against the Baltimore Ravens, where he completed six of 21 passes for 48 yards, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 0.0 as the Bengals lost 3–38.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: Allen played his first game of the 2021 season against the Detroit Lions in week 6. Allen threw a touchdown pass to Auden Tate on his only pass attempt of the game, while taking 3 kneel downs at the end of the game. Allen would appear in the Bengals' next game against the Ravens, recording no stats in the 41-17 victory. In week 9, with the game out of reach for the Bengals, Allen would go 1 for 2 for 6 yards passing, while rushing once in the 16-41 loss to the Cleveland Browns. In week 12, Allen would once again see playing time, this time against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Allen threw an incomplete pass on his only passing attempt, and lost a yard on his only rush attempt of the game. Allen started the season finale against the Cleveland Browns where he threw for 136 yards and a touchdown in the 21–16 loss.


title: Brandon Allen (American football)

text: His father, Bobby Allen, is the Razorbacks’ director of high school and NFL relations. He has a younger brother, Austin Allen, who became the starting quarterback for the Razorbacks after Brandon completed his college eligibility. Austin signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as an undrafted free agent following the 2018 NFL Draft. Brandon Allen graduated in 2014 with a degree in recreation and sport management.


title: Poonam Kaur

text: Poonam Kaur is an Indian actress and model who primarily appears in Telugu and Tamil films. She is also a politician, based out of Telangana and a member of the Congress Party.


title: Poonam Kaur

text: Born and raised in Hyderabad, India, Poonam Kaur did her schooling in Hyderabad Public School, before doing fashion designing at the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) in Delhi. In 2006, after her studies, she signed up for a film to be directed by Teja, which didn't take off for unknown reason. However, she took an offer for another Teja film, "Oka Vichitram". Even before the release of that film, Kaur was pursuing a lead role in another Telugu film, "Mayajalam", which released first.


title: Poonam Kaur

text: Subsequently, she appeared in several Telugu films as "Nikki And Neeraj", enacting the title role of Nikki, and in "Souryam", alongside Gopichand and Anushka Shetty. For her performance in the latter, Kaur received a nomination for the Best Supporting Actress Award for 2008. She made her acting debut in the Tamil and Kannada film industries, with S. A. Chandrasekhar's "Nenjirukkum Varai" and "Bandhu Balaga", respectively. In 2010, she made a comeback in Tamil with the highly anticipated "Unnaipol Oruvan", a remake of the 2008 Bollywood film, "A Wednesday!", in which she played a small supporting role alongside Kamal Haasan and Mohanlal. Recently, she was nominated as a brand ambassador for the Miss Telangana event.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Conversion to Christianity is the religious conversion of a previously non-Christian person to Christianity. Different Christian denominations may perform various different kinds of rituals or ceremonies initiation into their community of believers. The most commonly accepted ritual of conversion in Christianity is through baptism, but this is not universally accepted among them all. A period of instruction and study almost always ensues before a person is formally converted into Christianity and becomes a church member, but the length of this period varies, sometimes as short as a few weeks and possibly less, and other times, up to as long as a year or possibly more.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Most mainline Christian denominations will accept conversion into other denominations as valid, so long as a baptism with water in the name of the Trinity took place, but some may accept a simple profession of faith in Jesus as Lord as being all that was needed for true conversion. Other Christians may not accept conversions performed in other denominations and certain communities may be discriminated against as heretical. This is true for many nontrinitarian sects, which many mainstream Christian denominations (Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant) reject as having valid forms of conversion. Consequently, many nontrinitarian sects spiritually isolate themselves in that they may only consider their conversions valid and not those of mainstream Christianity.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Social scientists have shown great interest in the Christian conversion as a religious experience that believers describe as strengthening their faith and changing their lives. Christianization, defined as the "reformulation of social relations, cultural meanings, and personal experience in terms of (commonly accepted or supposed) Christian ideals", should be distinguished from conversion. "Christianization" is the broader cultural term, and typically has involved efforts to systematically convert an entire continent or culture from existing beliefs to Christianity.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Christian denominations vary on the exact procedures of conversion. More traditional Christian groups such as the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, and some Reformed Christians consider the sacrament of baptism in the name of the Trinity to be the moment of conversion. All of these groups teach the doctrine of baptismal regeneration, that is, once baptized, all past sins, including original sin, are washed away and a person becomes justified before God. Through baptism, one is incorporated into the body of believers, called the Church, and may rightly be considered a Christian. Some of these groups may also administer other sacraments in the process of conversion such as confirmation. Some Evangelical Christians, like Baptist, and Pentecostals, do not believe baptism is necessary for salvation and conversion, but only that a profession of faith is enough. Christians also differ on how old someone must be to convert. More traditional groups of Christians believe conversion is not restricted to age, and tend to baptize infants.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Before conversion takes place, converts, also called "catechumens", must undergo a period of instruction. In the Catholic Church, this usually involves spending a few months preparing in RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults), where catechumens spend time learning about the Christian faith and the teachings of the Bible and the Church. In the Orthodox Church, it can take up to a full year of studying and participation before one is baptized. Protestant denominations and other Christian groups have various other ways of instructing converts which may focus heavily on the Bible.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: There are different modes of baptism in Christianity, these include immersion, affusion (pouring), and aspersion (sprinkling). The way in which a person is baptized depends on the denomination one enters. Almost all baptisms share in common the use of the Trinitarian formula (in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) by the minister while baptizing the convert. The Roman Catholic Church primarily baptizes with affusion but occasionally does so with immersion. Orthodox Christians and some Eastern Catholics baptize by triple immersion upon invocation of the Trinity; the only time the Orthodox Church permits other forms of baptism is in the case of an emergency.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Protestants baptize in a number of different ways. Many Anglicans and Lutherans baptize by affusion, whereas Presbyterians and Congregationalists typically baptize with aspersion. Others, like Methodists, may conduct all three forms of baptism. Many Evangelical Protestants insist that only full immersion baptism is valid, basing this on the New Testament Greek word for baptism "baptizo" (βαπτίζω) which can be translated as "dipping" or "submersion."


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Depending on which of these denominations one enters, the sacrament of Confirmation, also known as Chrismation by eastern Christians, may be immediately administered after the baptism. In the Latin Catholic Church, infants who are baptized are not confirmed, but instead must wait until they're in their teens to be confirmed. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, and many Eastern Catholic Churches, infants are Chrismated and communed by a priest or bishop immediately after they are baptized. When an adult convert enters the Catholic or Orthodox Church, they are immediately confirmed after baptism, upon which, a clergy member will anoint the forehead with olive oil (or in the case of Byzantine Christians, the forehead, eyes, nostrils, mouth, ears, breast, hands, and feet), calling upon the Holy Spirit to seal the convert with his gifts. After confirmation ensues, the convert is invited to partake of first communion. These rites usually occur on Easter Vigil.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Persons who convert to most mainline Protestant groups will be received via baptism and be initiated further by any traditions the particular denomination holds to.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Oneness Pentecostals baptize converts by full immersion in the name of Jesus alone, a departure from the usual form of baptism. They base this off of certain passages found in the Acts of the Apostles. Unlike most Pentecostals, Oneness Pentecostals believe baptism is necessary for salvation. Although they do not baptize infants, stressing that conversion is a personal decision.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) teach that baptism is the first sacrament, called an ordinance in LDS theology, following conversion and is required for membership in the LDS Church. Baptism, according to the LDS theology, requires that the convert be accountable (credobaptism), that it be by immersion, and that it be performed by an authorized priesthood holder. As the LDS Church does not recognize the priesthood authority of other churches, all converts, even those from other Christian denominations, are required to be baptized. Following baptism, a convert is confirmed a member of the LDS Church and receives the Gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands of a Melchizedek Priesthood holder.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: In Lutheranism, conversion or regeneration in the strict sense of the term is the work of divine grace and power by which man, born of the flesh, and void of all power to think, to will, or to do any good thing, and dead in sin is, through the gospel and holy baptism, taken from a state of sin and wrath and spiritual death into a state of spiritual life of faith and grace, rendered able to will and to do what is spiritually good and, especially, made actually to accept the benefits of the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The majority of Seekers are young adults seeking membership in Old Order Anabaptist Christian denominations value "Having a strong community, being serious about following the Bible and leading a Christian life and a commitment to modesty".


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The Beachy Amish, many of whom conduct their services in English and allow for a limited range of modern conveniences, regularly receive seekers into their churches as visitors, and eventually, as members. Becoming a member involves a proving period and a study of the Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1633).


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Evangelical Protestants do not consider baptism to be necessary for salvation. Because of this, instead of baptism, a person becomes a Christian the moment they profess Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Evangelicals base this off of their interpretation of certain verses in the Bible.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: This may be expressed at some Evangelical church services where the Pastor may conduct an "altar call", inviting non-Christian persons to go up publicly and "receive" Jesus into their hearts to become Christian.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: As a result of this belief, many Evangelicals do not practice infant baptism and from this they profess one must be able to make the decision on their own to convert to Christianity; other Evangelicals, such as Methodists, practice infant baptism as a celebration of prevenient grace. Nevertheless, all Evangelicals recognize the form of believer's baptism as a public pronouncement of faith in Christ.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Most denominations accept one's baptism performed by another denomination. Nearly always, the baptism must have been with water and performed in the name of the Trinity. Such converts are usually received by a formal rite which normally also includes taking communion in the denomination and possibly being confirmed. The similarity of belief necessary for acceptance of a baptism under a different denomination is called "Like Faith and Practice" or sometimes "Right Method, Right Medium, Right Meaning".


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The Catholic Church considers all forms of baptism with water, including full immersion, affusion, and aspersion, that are done in the name of the Trinity as valid.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Protestants (Lutherans, Moravians, Anglicans, Presbyterians, Baptists, Assemblies of God, Methodists, etc.) who convert to Catholicism are usually not baptized, but instead are asked to make a simple profession of faith at Mass on an ordinary Sunday. Confirmation usually follows (though not always), and the convert proceeds to receive first communion.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Eastern Christians (Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Assyrians), are only asked to make a simple profession of faith and then begin participation in the Eucharist without having to be confirmed due to the Catholic Church recognizing eastern Christian sacraments. Eastern Christians who convert to the Catholic Church are automatically enrolled into the eastern rite corresponding to the Church they originated from regardless of what Church they entered the Catholic Church through.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The amount of instruction before reception varies depending on how active the person has been in their Christian life, and how informed they are about the faith. Validly baptized persons coming from previous denominations do not have to be enrolled in RCIA because the Church does not consider them catechumens since their baptism has already made them Christians. Private instructions may be given by a priest, which can last from a few weeks to a few months at most. After instructions have ensued, the person may be asked to pick a sponsor for confirmation if the pastor decides to perform the sacrament.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Oneness Pentecostals, Christadelphians, Christian Scientist, and other groups who hold to nontrinitarianism and/or who do not baptize in the "proper" Trinitarian formula are received into the Catholic Church through baptism due to the Catholic Church not recognizing nontrinitarian baptisms. Quakers and members of the Salvation Army are also baptized because neither church practices baptism.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Converts into any of the Eastern Catholic Churches, 23 sui juris Churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, are usually received by the traditions of that particular Church.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: In the Eastern Orthodox Churches there are different opinions held by bishops and theologians on how to receive Christians coming from other denominations. Some will only accept Eastern Orthodox baptism done by triple immersion, and thus will rebaptize all converts. Generally, most jurisdictions will accept baptism done in another denomination by economy, as long as it has been done with water in the name of the Trinity; this is the position held by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople. Most converts from other Christian denominations with baptisms in the Trinitarian formula (Catholics, Protestants, Oriental Orthodox, Assyrians) are received by chrismation and a profession of faith. Specifically, those who are baptized in the Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Old Catholic, Moravian, Anglican, Methodist, Reformed, Presbyterian, Brethren, Assemblies of God, or Baptist traditions can be received into the Orthodox Church through the sacrament of Chrismation. Confirmations of non-Eastern Orthodox Churches are not ordinarily deemed valid by the Eastern Orthodox Churches.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Some Eastern Orthodox groups, such as the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), a semi-autonomous part of the Russian Orthodox Church since 2007, chooses to rebaptize all converts to Orthodoxy including Protestants and Catholics as well as most Oriental Orthodox. Since ROCOR is a fully canonical part of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox Christians who converted from another Christian denomination without being baptized again, but were received simply by chrismation or confession in their respective jurisdiction, are still communed by ROCOR clergy since Orthodox are not to doubt the validity of someone's conversion to the Orthodox faith.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The Eastern Orthodox Church baptizes all Christians coming from nontrinitarian denominations, such as the LDS Church, because the Eastern Orthodox Church does not consider nontrinitarian baptisms as valid.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Oriental Orthodox reception of converts from other Christian denominations varies greatly. The Coptic Orthodox Church accepts all baptisms done in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and since April 2017, accepts those baptisms done in the Roman Catholic Church. The Armenian Apostolic, the Syriac Orthodox Church, and the Malankara Orthodox Church are generally willing to accept any baptism done with water in the name of the Trinity.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Most mainline Protestant groups hold that baptism performed with water in the name of the Trinity is valid and will accept converts who had been baptized within a previous Christian denominations in accordance with their particular customs.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Some Evangelical groups like Baptists and Pentecostals do not consider baptism done by sprinkling or pouring as valid and might rebaptize a convert from another denomination by full immersion.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Mormons do not recognize baptisms done in Christian denominations and will rebaptize using the Trinitarian formula (although they reject the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity) and confirm converts.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Oneness Pentecostals only accept baptism done in the name of Jesus, and subsequently, baptize converts from previous denominations who were not previously baptized in this particular formula.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The conversion of the Apostle Peter, as recorded in the Bible, serves as a classic example of "a previously non-Christian person entering upon the Christian way of life":


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: The Gospels speak of the coming of the Kingdom with power from on high and while Jesus was alive on earth he was still under the Jewish Law being obedient to its rules and regulations. Jesus though was given all authority in heaven and on earth, even the authority to forgive sins which before only God could do. While alive on the cross he did forgive the thief who asked him because he had that authority. In , Jesus' last command was for his disciples to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything he had commanded.


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: In we see the start of the Christian church with the Holy Spirit coming down, and Peter preaching to the crowd about how their sins, along with the help of wicked men, crucified the savior. Their response was "what shall we do?" Peter's response to their faith was, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Another dramatic conversion to Christianity occurred in the life of the Apostle Paul whose formal name had been Saul of Tarsus. He was a zealot for the cause of Second Temple Judaism who had been "breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord". While traveling to Damascus to arrest Jewish Christians, he fell to the ground upon being surrounded by a bright light "from heaven". He heard a voice accusing him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" The experience rendered him temporarily blind. The voice directed him to go on to Damascus where he was cured and baptized by Ananias of Damascus, was described as being filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to passionately proclaim the Christian gospel (good news).


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: In the book of Romans there is a description of what transpires through water baptism. We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? (repentance) Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Being immersed in water through baptism is like Jesus being buried in the tomb and being brought up out of the water is like Jesus' resurrection to a new life, i.e., born again by water and Spirit)


title: Conversion to Christianity

text: Hanigan perceives a common "death and rebirth" experience in these and other conversions which he describes as "encounters with the living God". His analysis is that these individuals responded not so much out of a sense of guilt, but from their awe, reverence, and holy fear of God's presence. The pattern, he writes, begins with God taking initiative in the individual's life. Then, the person responds by acknowledging and confessing personal lostness and sinfulness, and then accepting a call to holiness.


title: Liu Yuning

text: Liu Yuning (; born 8 January 1990) is a Chinese pop singer, actor, and the lead singer of Modern Brothers. In 2018 Liu rose to stardom by his covers on social media platforms, and released his debut single "Imagination" in September 15, 2018. He released his debut studio Album "Ten" in 2019, and held his first concert tour (the "Growth Storm", 6 concerts in five cities) in 2020. His debut Album "Ten" won the "Media Recommended Album" award in 2020 Chinese Top Ten Music Awards, and his second EP "Listen Ning" (2020-21) won the "Most Popular EP" award in 2021 Chinese Top Ten Music Awards. Besides singing, he also gains recognition for his roles in various TV series.


title: Liu Yuning

text: Liu Yuning was born in Dandong, Liaoning Province. He grew up with his grandparents. After graduating from vocational high school, he tried different temporary jobs. Liu does not have a formal music education and used to sing at local bars and restaurants. He later formed the rock band 'Modern Brothers'.


title: Liu Yuning

text: In 2010, Liu took part in Hunan Television's "Super Boy", but was eliminated in the audition stage and failed to advance.


title: Liu Yuning

text: In 2014, Liu formed Modern Brothers band with A Zhuo and Da Fei, and joined the YY live broadcasting platform in March 2015.


title: Liu Yuning

text: In 2017 he moved his band's live streaming stage from indoors to outdoors, to a historical street market in his hometown, Dandong.


title: Liu Yuning

text: Liu Yuning and the Modern Brothers band had a phenomenal rise to stardom after 4 years of live-streaming (singing) on the YY platform, a direct result of his posting of short singing videos on TikTok in June 2018. He and his band were invited to various television shows to perform. In July and August 2018, Liu was invited to a number of television shows includes Hunan Television's "Day Day Up" and CCTV3's "Setting Out for Happiness", but his first professional music stage performance was Jiangsu Television's "Finding Gold Song". He was also invited to perform at festival galas. On October 19, he attended Zhejiang Television's Autumn Gala with his Modern Brothers band. In November, he participated in Jiangsu Television's "Mask Singer". On Dec 31, he attended Jiangsu Television's 2019 New Year Concert.


title: Liu Yuning

text: Liu Yuning also sang OSTs for various films and TV series that year. On July 30, he released "Toast the wine" (让酒) for "Tomb of the sea" (沙海). On September 12, Liu sang the theme song for Jia Zhangke's film "Ash Is Purest White".


title: Liu Yuning

text: On August 17, 2018, Liu and his Modern Brothers band held their first offline singing club event at the exhibition center of Guangzhou Central Station.


title: Liu Yuning

text: In January 2019, Liu Yuning was voted the "National recommended singer" to be a contestant as the challenge singer in Hunan Television's singing competition "Singer 2019".


title: Liu Yuning

text: On March 25, 2019, Liu won the Best New Artist and the Internet Influence Honor awards at the Chinese Top Ten Music Awards. His "Toast the Wine" was also awarded the Media Recommended OST. In March 2019, Liu participated as regular member in Hunan TV's variety show "Our Brilliant Masters".


title: Liu Yuning

text: In October 2019, Liu participated as a regular member in Shanghai TV's music show "Our song 2019". As one of the eight young singers, he teamed up with older generation singer Richie Jen.


title: Liu Yuning

text: Liu and Modern Brothers also held their first concert tour in 5 cities from August to November 2019 (the last stop, planned to be held on February 14, 2020 in Wuhan, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic).


title: Liu Yuning

text: Liu released dozens of singles and OSTs, including the theme song (Chinese version) for anime film Penguin Highway.


title: Liu Yuning

text: He continues his high productivity in 2020 and multiple singles, EPs, and OSTs were released. His single "An Island" (一座岛), the 4th song for his first EP "Promise" (如约) was released on May 21, 2020. Other singles included "Stay up Late“ (熬夜) and "Flying on Paper" (纸上飞行), the second collaboration with CORSAK (胡梦周). From November to early December 2020, the trilogy "Loyal Audience" (忠实观众), " Hope You Are Well" (别来无恙) and "Handwritten Fairy Tale" (手写童话) for his second EP "Listen∙Ning" was released. Notable OSTs include theme song "Heroes in Harm's Way" for the first chapter of "Heroes in Harm's Way", theme song "Love and Redemption" for the TV series "Love and Redemption", and trailer song "A Good Guy" (挺好个人呐) for the movie "My people, My Homeland".


title: Liu Yuning

text: In July 2020, Liu brought his new single "Talking about Love" (你说爱情啊) to the stage of Chinese Top Ten Music Awards, and he also won the All-round Artist of the Year award, the National Recommended Singer award, and the Media Recommended Album for his first studio album "Ten" (十).


title: Liu Yuning

text: In 2021, Liu has released more than 30 OSTs for various TV series, movies, documentaries, and video games, including "Heavenly Questions" (天问) for the popular TV series "Word of Honor", which won 3 consecutive top hits in Uni Music chart. In March 21, "Magical Surprise" (奇妙的惊喜), the new theme song Liu sang for the 5th anniversary of Shanghai Disneyland was released. Liu is the first Chinese pop singer to sing a Chinese theme song for Disney. Liu also sang the character song for Wei Wuxian in the Anime series "Mo Dao Zu Shi".


title: Liu Yuning

text: In October 2021, Liu returned as a regular member in Shanghai TV's music show "Our Song 2021". He teamed up with Penny Tai.


title: Liu Yuning

text: In November 2021, Liu again won the All-round Artist of the Year award, the Internet Influential Male Singer award, and the Most Popular EP award for his second EP "Listen∙Ning" at the Chinese Top Ten Music Awards.


title: Liu Yuning

text: In January 1st of 2022, "Fall in Love", the first song of his second Studio Album, was released. In summer of 2022, the theme song "Looking for you" for popular TV series "Love Between Fairy and Devil" won him 4 consecutive champions in TenCent Music Billboard.


title: Liu Yuning

text: Besides his music career, he also gains growing recognition for acting. Popular roles include "Dark Glasses" in TV series "Ultimate Notes", Hao Du in "the Long Ballad", and Bai Choufei in "Heroes".


title: Hyderabadi biryani

text: Hyderabadi biryani (also known as Hyderabadi dum biryani) is a style of biryani from Hyderabad, India made with basmati rice and meat (mostly mutton). Originating in the kitchens of the Nizam of Hyderabad, it combines elements of Hyderabadi and Mughlai cuisines. Hyderabad biryani is a key dish in Hyderabadi cuisine and it is so famous that the dish is considered synonymous with the city of Hyderabad.


title: Hyderabadi biryani

text: Hyderabad was conquered by the Mughals in the 1630s, and ruled by its Nizams. Mughlai culinary traditions joined with local traditions to create Hyderabadi cuisine. Local folklore attributes the creation of Hyderabadi biryani to the chef of the first Nizam, Nizam-ul-Mulk, Asaf Jah I, in the mid-18th century, during a hunting expedition. In 1857, when the Mughal Empire declined in Delhi, Hyderabad emerged as the center of South Asian culture, resulting in a mix of innovations in Hyderabadi biryani.


title: Hyderabadi biryani

text: The exact origin of the dish is uncertain. Despite legends attributing it to the Nizam's chef, the biryani is of South Indian origin, derived from "pilaf" varieties brought to South Asia by Arab traders. "Pulao" may have been an army dish in medieval India. Armies would prepare a one-pot dish of rice with whichever meat was available. The distinction between "pulao" and "biryani" is arbitrary. Hyderabadi Biryani developed engrossing Deccani or Telangana flavors into it, as stated by the Himayat Ali Mirza, the great-grandson of Mir Osman Ali Khan. Himayat said that this evolution had taken place in the Asaf Jah’s Kitchen.


title: Hyderabadi biryani

text: Base ingredients are basmati rice, goat meat or (sometime chicken or beef), dahi, fried onion and ghee. Spices include cinnamon, cloves, cardamom ("elaichi"), bay leaves, nutmeg, papaya paste, caraway (shahi jeera), mace flower (javitri), star anise (biryani flower), lemon, and saffron.


title: Hyderabadi biryani

text: The "kachchi" biryani is prepared with "kachchi gosht" (raw meat) marinated with spices overnight and then soaked in curd (dahi) before cooking. The meat is sandwiched between layers of fragrant basmati rice and cooked "in dum" after sealing the "handi" (vessel) with dough. This is a challenging process as it requires meticulous attention to time and temperature to avoid over- or under-cooking the meat.


title: Hyderabadi biryani

text: A biryani is usually served with dahi chutney and mirchi ka salan. Baghaar-e-baingan is a common side dish. The salad includes onion, carrot, cucumber, and lemon wedges.


title: Picard–Lindelöf theorem

text: In mathematics – specifically, in differential equations – the Picard–Lindelöf theorem gives a set of conditions under which an initial value problem has a unique solution. It is also known as Picard's existence theorem, the Cauchy–Lipschitz theorem, or the existence and uniqueness theorem.