Some context: Culture Club are an English band that was formed in 1981. The band comprised Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and Jon Moss (drums and percussion). They are considered one of the most representative and influential groups of the 1980s. Culture Club sold more than 50 million albums and 100 million singles (including Boy George solo) records worldwide, including 7 million-records awards RIAA certificate in the United States.
The band's second album, Colour by Numbers (UK No. 1, US No. 2), was released in 1983. The first single, "Church of the Poison Mind", featuring backing vocalist Helen Terry, reached the UK and US Top 10. The second single, "Karma Chameleon", gave the band their biggest hit, peaking at No. 1 in the UK (the band's second chart-topper there), where it became the best selling single of 1983 and has sold 1.5 million copies there to date. It also peaked at No. 1 in the US for three consecutive weeks, and would ultimately hit No. 1 in 30 countries, thus becoming one of the top twenty best-selling singles of the 1980s sold up 7 million copies worldwide, with one of the most iconic images of Boy George on the cover shot by photographer David Levine. The album Colour by Numbers would spawn more hits including "Miss Me Blind" (#5 US), "It's a Miracle" (#4 UK, No. 13 US), and "Victims" (#3 UK), and sold four million copies in the US and another five million worldwide at its time of release. The album gave Culture Club the distinction of being the first group in music history to have an album certified diamond in Canada (for sales of one million copies in that country). The band also won the 1984 Brit Award for Best Group and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist, where George gave a speech via satellite stating, "Thanks America, you've got style, you've got taste, and you know a good drag queen when you see one." The group's back-up singer, Helen Terry, began work on her solo album, for which George and Hay wrote the song "Love Lies Lost". The pair also wrote "Passing Friend" for the Beach Boys' album. Culture Club wrote two songs for the soundtrack to the movie Electric Dreams. George and Hay wrote "The Dream" and "Love Is Love", with the latter being released as a single in Canada and Japan, the E.P "Love is Love" became a major hit in Japan. George also collaborated on the song "Electric Dreams", sung by P. P. Arnold. The song was written with Phil Pickett (former member of the 1970s band Sailor) who had also co-written "Karma Chameleon" and frequently played keyboards for the group. Despite Culture Club's commercial success, there were significant pressures within the band. George was using drugs with money from his new-found fame. George and Moss were also romantically involved with each other, which was unknown to the public and the media at the time. Their relationship lasted for over four years and was often turbulent, with alleged physical and verbal abuse. Their constant arguments and the pressure to hide the relationship from the public started to take its toll on the band.
Did the album sell many copies?
A: sold 1.5 million copies
Some context: Ballmer was born in Detroit; he was the son of Beatrice Dworkin and Frederic Henry Ballmer (Fritz Hans Ballmer), a manager at the Ford Motor Company. His father was a Swiss immigrant, and his mother was Belarusian Jewish. Through his mother, Ballmer is a second cousin of actress and comedian Gilda Radner. Ballmer grew up in the affluent community of Farmington Hills, Michigan.
On March 6, 2008, Seattle mayor Greg Nickels announced that a local ownership group involving Ballmer made a "game changing" commitment to invest $150 million in cash toward a proposed $300 million renovation of KeyArena and were ready to purchase the Seattle SuperSonics from the Professional Basketball Club LLC in order to keep the team in Seattle. However, this initiative failed, and the SuperSonics relocated to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where they now play as the Oklahoma City Thunder. In June 2012, Ballmer was an investor in Chris R. Hansen's proposal to build a new arena in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle and bring the SuperSonics back to Seattle. On January 9, 2013, Ballmer and Hansen led a group of investors in an attempt to purchase the Sacramento Kings from the Maloof family and relocate them to Seattle for an estimated $650 million. However, this attempt also fell through. Following the Donald Sterling scandal in May 2014, Ballmer was the highest bidder in an attempt to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for a reported price of $2 billion, which is the second highest bid for a sports franchise in North American sports history (after the $2.15 billion sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012). After a California court confirmed the authority of Shelly Sterling to sell the team, it was officially announced on August 12, 2014 that Ballmer would become the Los Angeles Clippers owner. On September 25, 2014, Ballmer said he would bar the team from using Apple products such as iPads, and replace them with Microsoft products. It has been reported that he had previously also barred his household family from using iPhones.
Did he try to invest in other teams?
A: Following the Donald Sterling scandal in May 2014, Ballmer was the highest bidder in an attempt to purchase the Los Angeles Clippers for a reported price of $2 billion,
Some context: Clifford Bundy Stearns Sr. (born April 16, 1941) was the U.S. Representative for Florida's 6th congressional district from 1989 to 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party. On August 14, 2012, Stearns lost to veterinarian Ted Yoho in a four-way Republican primary by about 1 percent of the vote.
Stearns led the congressional effort involving the meningitis outbreak. As of November 14, 2012, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed 32 deaths and that 438 people have been sickened across 19 states. An investigation determined that the New England Compounding Center(NECC) was the source of the contaminated product. As Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, Stearns held a hearing on this outbreak. During the hearing, Stearns stated the outbreak was preventable had the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted. The FDA knew of severe quality control violations at NEC as early as 2002, and in 2006 the FDA threatened NECC if it did not comply with regulations. During the hearing, FDA Commissioner Dr. Margaret Hamburg testified that the FDA lacked the authority to close down NECC. Stearns noted that the FDA had authority to close NECC, but simply failed to protect the American people. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, deputy commissioner of the FDA from 2005-07 and Mr. SheldonBradshaw, FDA's chief counsel during that same period, disagreed strongly with Hamburg. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed on November 13, 2012, they stated unequivocally that FDA did have enough authority and could have acted but chose not to because of FDA's desire to regulate "the full scope of the practice of pharmacy." They further stated that NECC's illegal actions, which FDA was aware of, that "put the NECC firmly in violation of FDA rules-if the agency had chosen to enforce existing provisions."
Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?
A:
During the hearing, Stearns stated the outbreak was preventable had the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted.