document_title: Santiago de Compostela Cathedral

question_text: when was the cathedral of santiago de compostela built

text: Santiago de Compostela Cathedral

text: History[edit]

text: According to legend, the apostle Saint James the Great brought Christianity to the Iberian Peninsula.[3][4] In 44 AD, he was beheaded in Jerusalem. His remains were later brought back to Galicia, Spain.[5] Following Roman persecutions of Spanish Christians, his tomb was abandoned in the 3rd century. According to legend, this tomb was rediscovered in 814 AD by the hermit Pelagius, after he witnessed strange lights in the night sky. Bishop Theodomirus of Iria recognized this as a miracle and informed king Alfonso II of Asturias and Galicia (791–842). The king ordered the construction of a chapel on the site. Legend has it that the king was the first pilgrim to this shrine. This was followed by the first church in 829 AD and then in 899 AD by a pre-Romanesque church, ordered by king Alfonso III of León,[6] which caused the gradual development of the major place of pilgrimage.[7]

text: In 997 the early church was reduced to ashes by Al-Mansur Ibn Abi Aamir (938–1002), army commander of the caliph of Córdoba. The Al-Andalus commander was accompanied on his raid by his vassal Christian lords, who received a share of the loot, while St James' tomb and relics were left undisturbed. The gates and the bells, carried by local Christian captives to Córdoba, were added to the Aljama Mosque.[8] When Córdoba was taken by king Ferdinand III of Castile in 1236, these same gates and bells were then transported by Muslim captives to Toledo, to be inserted in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of Toledo.

text: Construction of the present cathedral began in 1075 under the reign of Alfonso VI of Castile (1040–1109) and the patronage of bishop Diego Peláez. It was built according to the same plan as the monastic brick church of Saint Sernin in Toulouse, probably the greatest Romanesque edifice in France. It was built mostly in granite. Construction was halted several times and, according to the Liber Sancti Iacobi, the last stone was laid in 1122. But by then, the construction of the cathedral was certainly not finished. The cathedral was consecrated in 1211 in the presence of king Alfonso IX of Leon.[9][10]

text: According to the Codex Calixtinus the architects were "Bernard the elder, a wonderful master", his assistant Robertus Galperinus and, later possibly, "Esteban, master of the cathedral works". In the last stage "Bernard, the younger" was finishing the building, while Galperinus was in charge of the coordination. He also constructed a monumental fountain in front of the north portal in 1122.

text: The church became an episcopal see in 1075 and, due to its growing importance as a place of pilgrimage, it was soon raised to an archiepiscopal see by pope Urban II in 1100. A university was added in 1495.

text: The cathedral was expanded and embellished with additions in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries.

text: Exterior of the cathedral[edit]

text: Each of the façades along with their adjoining squares constitute a magnificent urban square. The Baroque façade of the Praza do Obradoiro square was completed by Fernando de Casas Novoa in 1740. Also in baroque style is the Acibecharía façade by Ferro Caaveiro and Fernández Sarela, later modified by Ventura Rodríguez. The Pratarías façade, built by the Master Esteban in 1103, and most importantly the Pórtico da Gloria, an early work of Romanesque sculpture, were completed by Master Mateo in 1188.

text: Pórtico da Gloria[edit]

text: The Pórtico da Gloria ("portico of the glory" in Galician) of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is a Romanesque portico by Master Mateo and his workshop commissioned by King Ferdinand II of León. To commemorate its completion in 1188, the date was carved on a stone and set in the cathedral, and the lintels were placed on the portico. Finalising the complete three-piece set took until 1211, when the temple was consecrated in the presence of King Alfonso IX of León.[9][10]

text: The portico has three round arches that correspond to the three naves of the church, supported by thick piers with pilasters. The central arch, twice as wide as the other two, has a tympanum and is divided by a central column—a mullion—containing a depiction of Saint James. Vertically, the lower part is formed by the bases of the columns, decorated with fantastic animals, the middle portion consists of columns adorned with statues of the Apostles and the upper part supports the base of the arches crowning the three doors. The sculpture is intended to serve as an iconographic representation of various symbols derived from the Book of Revelation and books of the Old Testament.[11]

text: Tympanum[edit]

text: The arrangement of the tympanum is based on the description of Christ that John the Evangelist makes in Revelation (Chapter 1 v 1 to 18). In the centre, the Pantocrator is shown, with the image of Christ in Majesty, displaying in his hands and feet the wounds of crucifixion. Surrounding Christ, the tetramorph with the figures of the Four Evangelists with their attributes: left, top St. John and the eagle and below St. Luke with the ox, on the right, above St. Matthew on the hood of the tax collector and below St. Mark and the lion.[12]

text: On both sides of the evangelists, behind Mark and Luke, are four angels on each side with the instruments of the Passion of Christ. Some are, without touching them directly, the cross and crown of thorns (left) and lance and four nails (right), another the column in which he was whipped and the jar with which he was washed Pontius Pilate. Above the heads of these angels, two large groups of souls of the blessed, forty in all. In the archivolt of the central tympanum are seated the elders of the Apocalypse, each holding a musical instrument, as if preparing a concert in honor of God.[12]

text: Mullion[edit]

text: In the mullion, the figure of Saint James is seated with a pilgrim's staff, as a patron of the basilica. St. James appears with a scroll which contains written Misit me Dominus (the Lord sent me). The column just above his head with a capital which represents the temptations of Christ. On three of its sides, facing the inside of the temple, two kneeling angels pray. At the foot of the saint is another capital with the figures of the Holy Trinity. Under the Apostle represents the tree of Jesse, the name given to the family tree of Jesus Christ from Jesse, father of King David, is the first time that this subject is represented in religious iconography in the Iberian Peninsula. The column rests on a base where there is a figure with beard to his chest (perhaps an image of Noah) and two lions. At the foot of the central column at the top inside looking towards the main altar of the cathedral, is the kneeling figure of the himself Master Mateo, holding a sign that is written Architectus. This image is popularly known as Santo dos Croques[13] by the ancient tradition of students from hitting their heads against the figure for wisdom, a tradition that was adopted later by pilgrims, although steps are being taken to limit access to try to stop the deterioration that is why the work has suffered.

text: Jambs[edit]

text: In the columns of the central door and two side doors, the apostles are represented, as well as prophets and other figures with their iconographic attributes. All are topped with its own capital which represent different animals and human heads with leaf motifs. The names of all the figures are on the books or scrolls held in their hands.

text: The four pillars of the portico are based on strong foundations which represent various groups of animals and human heads with beards. For some historians, these figures are images of demons and symbolize the weight of glory (the portico in this case) crushing sin. Other sources give an apocalyptic interpretation, with wars, famine and death (represented by the beasts) with situations that can only be saved by human intelligence (the heads of older men).

text: Side doors[edit]

text: The arch of the right door represents the Last Judgment. The double archivolt is divided into two equal parts by two heads. Some authors identify these heads with the figures of archangel Michael and Christ. For others, they are Christ-Judge and an angel or may indicate God the Father and God the Son. To the right of these heads, Hell is represented with figures of monsters (demons) that drag and torture the souls of the damned. On the left, the Heaven with the elect, with figures of angels with children symbolizing the saved souls.[14][15]

text: The arch of the left door depicts scenes from the Old Testament, with the righteous await the arrival of the Savior. In the center of the first archivolt is God the Creator who blesses the pilgrim and holding the Book of Eternal Truth, to his right is Adam (naked), Abraham (with the index raised) and Jacob. With them are two figures that could be Noah (new father of humanity to save the Flood) and Esau or Isaac and Judah. To the left of God it see Eve, Moses, Aaron, King David and Solomon. In the second archivolt, the top, ten small figures representing the twelve tribes of Israel.[12]

text: Façade of the Obradoiro[edit]

text: The Obradoiro square in front of the façade alludes to the workshop (obradoiro, in Galician) of stonemasons who worked on the square during the construction of the cathedral. In order to protect the Pórtico da Gloria from deterioration caused by weather, this façade and towers have had several reforms since the 16th century. In the 18th century it was decided to build the current Baroque façade, designed by Fernando de Casas Novoa. It has large glazed windows that illuminate the ancient Romanesque façade and is located between the towers of the Bells and of the Ratchet. In the middle of the central body is St. James and one level below his two disciples Athanasius and Theodore, all dressed as pilgrims. In between, the urn (representing the found tomb) and the star (representing the lights he saw the Hermit Pelagius) between angels and clouds. The tower on the right depicts Mary Salome, mother of St. James, and the tower on the left depicts his father Zebedee. The balustrade on the left side depicts St. Susanna and St. John and the one on the right depicts St. Barbara and James the Less.[16]

text: A stair allows reaching the entrance of the façade. The stair was made in the 17th century by Ginés Martínez and it is of Renaissance style inspired by Giacomo Vignola of Palazzo Farnese. It is diamond-shaped with two ramps that surround the entrance to the old 12th century Romanesque crypt of the Master Mateo, popularly called the "Old Cathedral".[17]

text: Between the existing plane of the façade of the Obradoiro and the old Romanesque portal (Pórtico da Gloria) there is a covered narthex.

text: This façade has become a symbol of the cathedral and the city of Santiago de Compostela. As such, it is the engraving on the back of the Spanish euro coins of 1, 2 and 5 cents.

text: South façade or das Pratarías[edit]

text: The façade of the Silverware (Pratarías in Galician) is the southern façade of the transept of the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and is the only Romanesque façade that is preserved in the cathedral. It was built between 1103 and 1117 and elements from other parts of the cathedral have been added in subsequent years.[18] The square is bound by the cathedral and cloister on two sides. Next to the cathedral is the Casa do Cabido.

text: It has two entrance doors in degradation with archivolts and historian tympanums. The archivolts are attached over eleven columns, three are of white marble (middle and corners) and the rest of granite. In the center are the figures of twelve prophets and the Apostles on the sideline. On the tympanums is a large frieze is separated from the upper body by a strip supported by grotesque corbels, on this floor are two windows that are decorated with Romanesque archivolts.[18]

text: In the central frieze is Christ, with various characters and scenes. On the right six figures belong to the choir of Master Mateo that were placed in the late 19th century. The original provision of the iconographic elements was invalidated since that 18th century numerous images were introduced recovered from the dismantled Acibecharía facade.[19] A central medallion shows the Eternal Father (or Transfiguration) with open hands and on the top surface there are four angels with trumpets heralding the Final Judgment.[18]

text: In the tympanum of the left door is Christ tempted by a group of demons. To the right is a half-dressed woman with a skull in her hands, which could be Eve or the adulterous woman. This figure is not praying on her knees but is sitting on two lions. The jambs are Saint Andrew and Moses. In the left abutment, the Biblical King David seated on his throne with his legs crossed, translucent through the thin fabric of his clothes, and playing what appears to be a rebec, personifies the triumph over evil and is an outstanding work of the Romanesque, sculpted by Master Esteban. The creation of Adam and Christ's blessing is also shown. Many of these figures come from the Romanesque façade of the north or do Paraíso (current façade of the Acibecharía) and were placed on this façade in the 18th century.[18][20]

text: In the tympanum of the right door there are several scenes from the Passion of Christ and the Adoration of the Magi. In one of the jambs is the inscription commemorating the laying of the stone:

text: Registration follows the Roman calendar, according to the computation of the call Spanish era, corresponding to July 11, 1078. An image, unidentified, on a fox eats a rabbit and, against this, a badly dressed woman with an animal in her lap, comes from elsewhere. Supported on the wall of the tower Berenguela appear other images representing the creation of Eve; Christ on a throne and the Binding of Isaac.[18]

text: North façade or da Acibecharía[edit]

text: The façade "da Acibecharía" (Galician name derived from the jet gemstone) is in the Praza da Inmaculada or Acibecharía, draining the last section of urban roads: French, Primitive, Northern and English through the old gate Franxígena or Paradise door. The Romanesque portal was built in 1122 by Bernardo, treasurer of the temple. This portal was demolished after suffering a fire in 1758, some sculptural pieces that were saved were placed on the façade das Pratarías. The new façade was designed in Baroque style by Lucas Ferro Caaveiro and finished by Domingo Lois Monteagudo and Clemente Fernández Sarela in the neoclassical style in 1769, although it retained some traces of the baroque.[21]

text: At the top of the façade is an 18th-century statue of St. James, with two kings at his feet in prayer: Alfonso III of Asturias and Ordoño II of León. In the centre is the statue of Faith.[22][23]

text: East façade or da Quintana[edit]

text: The façade of the cathedral that overlooks the Quintana Square has two gates: the Porta Real (royal gate) and the Porta Santa (holy gate). The construction of the Porta Real, baroque, begun under the direction of José de Vega y Verdugo and by José de la Peña de Toro in 1666, and was completed by Domingo de Andrade in 1700, who built some of the columns that span two floors of windows, a balustrade with large pinnacles and an aedicula with an equestrian statue of Saint James (now disappeared), well adorned with decorative fruit clusters and large-scale military trophies. The kings of Spain entered the cathedral through this door, hence its name, and on its lintel is the royal coat of arms.[18][24]

text: The so-called Holy Door (Porta Santa) or Door of Forgiveness (Porta do Perdón) is the closest to the steps, is usually closed with a fence and opened only in Jubilee Years (years when St James's Day (25 July) falls on a Sunday). It was one of the seven lesser gates and was dedicated to St. Pelagius (whose monastery is just opposite). On this door niches contain the image of James and his disciples Athanasius and Theodore at his side. On the bottom and sides of the door were placed twenty-four figures of prophets and apostles (including St. James) coming from the old stone choir of Master Mateo. Inside this door through a small courtyard is the true Holy Door, which enters into the ambulatory of the apse of the church.[18][25]

text: Bell Towers[edit]

text: The early towers in the main façade of the cathedral were Romanesque (current façade of the Obradoiro). They are called the Torre das Campás, which is situated on the side of the Epistle (right) and Torre da Carraca, to the side of the Gospel (left). The two have a height of between 75 and 80 metres.[26]

text: The first part of the tower was built in the 12th century, but in the 15th century several modifications were made and King Louis XI of France donated in 1483 the two largest of the thirteen bells.[27]

text: Due to a tilt that was detected in its structure between the 16th and 17th centuries, the towers had to be reinforced with buttresses, between 1667 and 1670. José de la Peña made the body in baroque style in which the bells are housed, and which was completed by Domingo de Andrade. The architecture of the towers has a great effect in perspective with its vertical lines and the sequencing of its floors.[28][29]

text: North Tower or da Carraca[edit]

text: It is located to the left of the façade del Obradoiro, and was built – like its partner – on the opposite side of an earlier tower of the Romanesque period. It was designed by Fernando de Casas Novoa in 1738, imitating the Torre das Campás by Peña del Toro and Domingo de Andrade in the 17th century: baroque decorations adorned all kinds of ornamentation that provided a unifying architecture across the façade.[28]

text: Clock Tower, Torre da Trindade or Berenguela[edit]

text: The Clock Tower, also called Torre da Trindade or, Berenguela, is at the intersection of the Pratarías square and the Quintana square. Traditionally, construction was thought to begin in 1316, at the request of Archbishop Rodrigo de Padrón as a defence tower. After his death his successor, Archbishop Bérenger de Landore, continued to work on it, although some authors argue that these dates may not be correct.[27] When he became main master of the cathedral, Domingo de Andrade continued with its construction and between 1676 and 1680 raised it two floors more; the use of various structures achieved a harmonious and ornamental design with a pyramid-shaped crown and a lantern as a final shot (inside of which four light bulbs stay on permanently). It rises to seventy-five metres.[29]

text: In 1833 a clock was placed in four areas (one for each side of the tower), work by Andrés Antelo, and had been commissioned by the Archbishop Rafael de Vélez. As part of its mechanism it has two bells, the hour hand, called Berenguela, and a smaller one that marks the quarter. These two were cast in 1729 by Güemes Sampedro, Berenguela, and have a diameter of 255 cm and a height of 215 cm, weighing approximately 9,600 kilos, and 1,839 kilos with a diameter of 147 cm and a height of 150 cm, respectively. Both bells cracked, forcing their replacement. The current replicas were cast in Asten (Netherlands) by the Eijsbouts house in 1989 and were placed in the cathedral in February 1990.[30][31]

text: Interior[edit]

text: The cathedral is 97 m long and 22 m high. It preserves its original barrel-vaulted cruciform Romanesque interior. It consists of a nave, two lateral aisles, a wide transept and a choir with radiating chapels. Compared with many other important churches, the interior of this cathedral gives a first impression of austerity until one enters further and sees the magnificent organ and the exuberance of the choir. This cathedral, through its monumental dimensions, is the largest Romanesque church in Spain and even one of the largest in Europe.

text: The Pórtico da Gloria[edit]

text: The 12th-century Portico da Gloria, behind the western façade, is in the narthex of the west portal. It is a remain from the Romanesque period. It is a masterwork of Romanesque sculpture built between 1168 and 1188 by Master Mateo at the request of king Ferdinand II of León. The vigorous naturalism of the figures in this triple portal is an expression of an art form, varied in its details, workmanship and polychromy (of which faint traces of colour remain). The shafts, tympana and archivolts of the three doorways which open onto the nave and the two aisles are a mass of strong and nervous sculpture representing the Last Judgment.

text: The central tympanum gives us an image of Christ in Majesty as Judge and Redeemer, showing His wounds in His feet and hands, accompanied by the tetramorph. He is surrounded on both sides by a retinue of angels carrying the symbols of the Passion. In the archivolt are represented the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse, who are playing musical instruments.

text: The column statues represent the apostles with their attribute; prophets and Old Testament figures with their name on a book or parchment. These were all polychromed. The faint smile of the prophet Daniel as he looks at the angel of Reims is especially noteworthy.

text: The middle pier represents Saint James, his face conveying an ecstatic serenity. The text scroll in his hand shows the words Misit me Dominus (the Lord sent me). Below him is the Tree of Jesse (the lineage leading to Christ), while above is a representation of the Trinity. It is customary for the pilgrims to touch the left foot of this statue, signifying that they have reached their destination. So many pilgrims have laid their hands on the pillar to rest, that a groove has been worn in the stone.

text: The lateral portals are dedicated to the Jews on the left and to the unbelievers on the right.

text: The right tympanum is divided into three parts and is dedicated to the salvation of the souls. In the centre are Christ and St Michael, flanked by Hell (represented by demons) and Heaven (represented by children). Purgatory is shown on the side. The left tympanum shows scenes from the Old Testament.

text: Demons are represented at the bottom of the pórtico, signifying that Glory crushes sin.

text: Behind the portico stands the statue of Maestro Mateo, the master architect and sculptor put in charge of the cathedral building programme in the 12th century by Fernando II. It is said that whoever butts their head three times against the statue will be given a portion of Mateo's genius[32] and perhaps enhanced memory. There is usually a long line of visitors waiting to bump their head against the statue.Although he is now blocked off because a hole has started to indent into him from all the head bumps.

text: The sculptures in this portico have been a point of reference for Galician sculpture until the 15th century.

text: The nave[edit]

text: The barrel-vaulted nave and the groin-vaulted aisles consist of eleven bays, while the wide transept consists of six bays. Every clustered pier is flanked by semi-columns, three of which carry the cross vaults of the side aisles and the truss of the arched vaults, while the fourth reaches to the spring of the vault. Lit galleries run, at a remarkable height, above the side aisles around the church.

text: The choir is covered by three bays and surrounded with an ambulatory and five radiating chapels. The vault of the apse is pierced by round windows, forming a clerestory. The choir displays a surprising exuberance in this Romanesque setting. An enormous baldachin, with a sumptuous decorated statue of Saint James from the 13th century, rises above the main altar. The pilgrims can kiss the saint's mantle via a narrow passage behind the altar.

text: In the choir aisle the beautiful lattice work and the vault of the Mondragon chapel (1521) stand out. The radiating chapels constitute a museum of paintings, retables, reliquaries and sculptures, accumulated throughout the centuries. In the Chapel of the Reliquary (Galician: Capela do Relicario) is a gold crucifix, dated 874, containing an alleged piece of the True Cross.

text: Crypt[edit]

text: The crypt, below the main altar, shows the substructure of the 9th-century church. This was the final destination of the pilgrims. The crypt houses the relics of Saint James and two of his disciples : Saint Theodorus and Saint Athanasius. The silver reliquary (by José Losada, 1886) was put in the crypt at the end of the 19th century, after authentication of the relics by Pope Leo XIII in 1884.

text: Throughout the course of time, the burial place of the saint had been almost forgotten. Because of regular Dutch and English incursions, the relics had been transferred in 1589 from their place under the main altar to a safer place. They were rediscovered in January 1879.[33][34]

text: Botafumeiro[edit]

text: A dome above the crossing contains the pulley mechanism to swing the "Botafumeiro", which is a famous thurible found in this church. It was created by the goldsmith José Losada in 1851. The Santiago de Compostela Botafumeiro is the largest censer in the world, weighing 80 kg and measuring 1.60 m in height. It is normally on exhibition in the library of the cathedral, but during certain important religious high days it is attached to the pulley mechanism, filled with 40 kg of charcoal and incense. In the Jubilee Years, whenever St James's Day falls on a Sunday, the Botafumeiro is also attached in all the Pilgrims' Masses. Eight red-robed tiraboleiros pull the ropes and bring it into a swinging motion almost to the roof of the transept, reaching speeds of 80 km/h and dispensing thick clouds of incense..[citation needed]

text: Other burials[edit]

text:
Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao, at the Panteón de Galegos Ilustres ("Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians"), Bonaval
Fructuosus of Braga
Rosalía de Castro
Fernando Pérez de Traba
Ferdinand II of León
Alfonso IX of León
Pedro Fernández de Castro

text: Old images[edit]

text:
Pórtico da Gloria by Jenaro Pérez Villaamil in 1849. On the painting one can see polychromed reliefs. This could suggest that at that time some statues were polychromed (painted), in contrast with today. Actually, the so-called Romantic painters of that time in Europe, preferred in some of their paintings to further beautify some of the details in the buildings.

Pórtico da Gloria, Collotype 1889

Westside main façade of the Cathedral towards Praza do Obradoiro, Collotype 1889


document_title: Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn

question_text: who plays nicky in nicky ricky dicky & dawn

root

text: Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn

text: Premise[edit]

text: The series focuses on quadruplets Nicky, Ricky, Dicky, and Dawn Harper, 10-years-old at the start of the series,[1] who have nothing in common and often fight, but must work together to solve everyday situations.

tag: p

text: Episodes[edit]

text: SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedFirst airedLast aired120September 13, 2014 (2014-09-13)March 24, 2015 (2015-03-24)225May 23, 2015 (2015-05-23)August 6, 2016 (2016-08-06)323January 7, 2017 (2017-01-07)August 5, 2017 (2017-08-05)414January 6, 2018 (2018-01-06)August 4, 2018 (2018-08-04)

tag: table

text: Cast and characters[edit]

text:
Brian Stepanek as Tom, the father of the quadruplets. It is a running gag in the series that he cares more about his possessions than his children, but he loves his family and is a kid at heart.
Allison Munn as Anne, the mother of the quadruplets who usually gets caught up in Tom's new obsessions.
Aidan Gallagher as Nicky, the youngest of the quadruplets. He is shown to be quite comedic, quirky, and easily confused.
Casey Simpson as Ricky, is the second oldest of the quadruplets. He is the smart one of the group, always seen carrying a book or doing his homework. He is also a neat freak and a bit of a goody two-shoes, though he occasionally tries to prove to Dawn and his brothers that he can bend rules as well.
Mace Coronel as Dicky, the third oldest and easy-going quadruplet who cares a great deal about his appearance. He always takes the easy way out. He ships himself to Australia in "Quadcodile Dundee".
Lizzy Greene as Dawn, the oldest of the quadruplets. Although she's always seen bothering her brothers, she does care about them deeply. There is a consistent rivalry for the leader spot of the quads between her and Ricky.
Gabrielle Elyse as Josie, a worker at Tom's sporting shop and babysitter for Nicky, Ricky, Dicky and Dawn. She only appears in the first season.
Kyla-Drew Simmons as Mae, the quads' friend and Dawn's best friend. She once called herself "the fifth quad". In the first two seasons, she is a recurring character, but she is promoted to a main character in the third season.

tag: ul

text: Production[edit]

text: The series was originally picked up for 13 episodes on March 13, 2014, but was later increased to 20 episodes.[2] The series premiered on September 13, 2014. On November 18, 2014, the series was renewed for a second season.[3] The second season premiered on May 23, 2015. On February 9, 2016, Nickelodeon renewed Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn for a third season of 14 episodes. It was also confirmed that Matt Fleckenstein would step down as show runner.[4] Actress Lizzy Greene announced on her Twitter account that production for season three started on April 26, 2016.[5] The third season premiered on January 7, 2017. The series was renewed for a fourth season and had its episode order for the third season increased from 14 to 24 by Nickelodeon on March 20, 2017.[6] On October 4, 2017, it was announced that Mace Coronel would be leaving both Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn, about five episodes before the end of the fourth season, and Nickelodeon.[7] On November 15, 2017, Nickelodeon announced that the fourth season would be the last.[8]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Ratings[edit]

text:
Season

Episodes

First aired

Last aired
Avg. viewers(millions)

Date

Viewers(millions)

Date

Viewers(millions)

1

20

September 13, 2014 (2014-09-13)

1.60[9]

March 24, 2015 (2015-03-24)

1.75[10]
1.75

2

25

May 23, 2015 (2015-05-23)

1.11[11]

August 6, 2016 (2016-08-06)

1.31[12]
1.46

3

23

January 7, 2017 (2017-01-07)

1.58[13]

August 5, 2017 (2017-08-05)

2.00[14]
1.47

4

14

January 6, 2018 (2018-01-06)

1.08[15]

August 4, 2018 (2018-08-04)

0.84[16]
0.95

text: Awards and nominations[edit]

text: This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text:
Year

Award

Category

Result

Refs

2015

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

Favorite TV Show

Nominated

[17][18]

2017

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

Favorite TV Show – Kids' Show

Nominated

[19]


document_title: Murder on the Orient Express (2017 film)

question_text: who played the detective on the orient express

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1934, famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot solves a theft at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. The obsessive-compulsive—who seeks balance in life, and considers his case-solving ability to see a lie amid truth to be a curse — wants to rest in Istanbul, but must return to London for another case. His friend Bouc, director of the Simplon-route Orient Express service, arranges a bunk for him aboard the train.

text: Unscrupulous businessman Edward Ratchett offers to hire Poirot as his bodyguard during the three-day journey, having received threatening letters from an unknown party, but Poirot refuses. That night, Poirot hears strange noises coming from Ratchett's compartment, and later sees someone in a red kimono running down the hallway. An avalanche derails the train's engine, stranding the passengers.

text: The next morning, Poirot discovers Ratchett was murdered during the night after having been stabbed a dozen times. Poirot and Bouc investigate the other passengers as repairs begin. Evidence indicates that Ratchett was murdered by one person, and Caroline Hubbard, a fellow passenger, claims that a man had been in her compartment in the night. Poirot discovers a partially burned note connecting Ratchett to the kidnapping of Daisy Armstrong, a child who was abducted from her bedroom and held for ransom. Though the family paid the ransom, Daisy was murdered nonetheless. Ratchett's true identity is revealed: he was John Cassetti, Daisy's kidnapper and murderer. The shock of her death caused her mother Sonia to die after giving premature birth to a stillborn baby; her father, Colonel John Armstrong, then committed suicide. The family's nursemaid Susanne was wrongly suspected of complicity, leading to her being arrested and subsequent suicide in police custody, only to be found innocent afterward.

text: More evidence is found, including a bloodstained handkerchief, and, in Mrs. Hubbard's compartment, the button of a conductor's uniform. The uniform is later found, as is the red kimono — in Poirot's own suitcase. Hubbard is suddenly stabbed in the back; she survives but cannot identify the culprit. Poirot discovers many of the passengers have direct connections to the Armstrong family and uncovers their hidden pasts. While interviewing governess Mary Debenham, Poirot is shot in the shoulder by Doctor John Arbuthnot, who claims responsibility for the murder, but Bouc stops him from killing Poirot. Poirot realizes that Arbuthnot — a medical doctor and former army sniper — never meant to kill him.

text: Poirot confronts the suspects outside the train, offering two theories of how Cassetti died. The first is simple but does not meet all of the facts: A murderer disguised as a conductor boarded the train at a previous stop, murdered Cassetti, and fled at the stop as the train left. The second is more complex: with every single suspect connected to the Armstrongs, Susanne, or her trial in some way, they all had a motive against Cassetti. Poirot predicts that they acted together. Hubbard is revealed to be Linda Arden, a former stage actress and aspiring director, and Sonia Armstrong's mother.

text: Hubbard confirms the latter, admitting that she planned the murder and had recruited everyone else to help her. All the other passengers and the Conductor, Pierre Michel (Susanne's brother), took turns stabbing Cassetti. Mary wore the kimono, and Arbuthnot stabbed Hubbard without endangering her life, to convince Poirot of a lone killer. Poirot challenges the passengers and Michel to shoot him with a confiscated gun since he is the only one who can expose their plot; Bouc can lie, but Poirot, obsessed with truth and balance, cannot. Hubbard grabs the gun and tries to kill herself, but it is not loaded; Poirot wanted to see how the suspects would react.

text: With the train back on track, Poirot concludes that justice is impossible in this case, as Cassetti deserved death; for the first time, Poirot will have to live with a lie and imbalance. He presents the lone killer theory to the Yugoslavian police, allowing the others to leave on the train. As he disembarks, a British Army messenger asks him to investigate a death on the Nile. Poirot accepts the case.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Tom Bateman as Bouc
Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot
Penélope Cruz as Pilar Estravados
Willem Dafoe as Gerhard Hardman
Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff
Johnny Depp as Edward Ratchett
Josh Gad as Hector MacQueen
Derek Jacobi as Edward Henry Masterman
Leslie Odom Jr. as Dr. Arbuthnot
Michelle Pfeiffer as Caroline Hubbard
Daisy Ridley as Miss Mary Debenham
Marwan Kenzari as Pierre Michel
Olivia Colman as Hildegarde Schmidt
Lucy Boynton as Countess Elena Andrenyi
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo as Biniamino Marquez
Sergei Polunin as Count Rudolph Andrenyi

text: Production[edit]

text: 20th Century Fox announced the project in December 2013.[8] Michael Green wrote the screenplay for a new film adaptation of Murder on the Orient Express. On June 16, 2015, it was reported Fox was in talks with Kenneth Branagh to direct.[9] On November 20, 2015, it was announced that Branagh would both direct the film and star in the role of detective Hercule Poirot.[10] He later said that he "enjoyed finding the sort of obsessive-compulsive in [Poirot] rather than the dandy."[11]

text: Principal photography on the film began on November 22, 2016, in the United Kingdom,[12][13] and concluded in May 2017. It used some of the same 65mm film cameras as Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk, which Branagh had acted in shortly before the production.[14] The two were among the very few to be shot on 65mm film since Branagh's Hamlet in 1996, and the only ones released in 2017.[1][2] While in post-production, Branagh "was Skyped in from thousands of miles away" to watch Pfeiffer record an original song called "Never Forget" for the film's finale. "As soon as we added it on to the end of the film, it joined seamlessly and gave a moment of reflection and consideration that the film needed and wanted," said Branagh.[15]

text: Release[edit]

text: A first look at the film and cast was released on May 3, 2017, in an exclusive article by Entertainment Weekly.[16]

text: Murder on the Orient Express was released in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2017 and in the United States on November 10, 2017, by 20th Century Fox.[17] The film was released on Digital HD on February 20, 2018, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray, DVD and Blu-ray on February 27, 2018.

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: Murder on the Orient Express grossed $102.8 million in the United States and Canada, and $249 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $351.8 million, against a production budget of $55 million.[5]

text: In the United States and Canada, Murder on the Orient Express was released alongside Daddy's Home 2, and was projected to gross around $20 million from 3,341 theaters in its opening weekend.[18] The film made $10.9 million on its first day, including $1.6 million from Thursday night previews at 2,775 theaters. It ended up grossing $28.7 million, finishing third at the box office, behind holdover Thor: Ragnarok, and Daddy's Home 2. 51% of the film's opening weekend audience was over the age of 35.[19] In its second weekend, the film took in $13.8 million (a drop of 51.9%), finishing fifth, behind Justice League, Wonder, Thor: Ragnarok and Daddy's Home 2.[20]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 57%, based on 241 reviews, with an average rating of 6.1/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Stylish production and an all-star ensemble keep this Murder on the Orient Express from running off the rails, even if it never quite builds up to its classic predecessor's illustrious head of steam."[21] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100, based on 45 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[22] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[19]

text: Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly gave the film a B+, calling it "a lushly old-fashioned adaptation wrapped in a veritable turducken of pearls, monocles, and international movie stars."[23] Blake Goble of Consequence of Sound said, "Handsomely staged, exceptionally well-cast, and reasonably faithful, Branagh has revived Murder on the Orient Express in a highly pleasing fashion."[24] Trace Thurman of Bloody Disgusting gave the film three and a half skulls and said, "For those looking for an involving murder mystery that is respectful of its source material and filled with an all-star cast, look no further than Murder on the Orient Express."[25] Matt Goldberg of Collider gave the film a B−, calling it a "handsomely crafted production," albeit one that "falls apart at the climax of the film."[26] Josephine Livingstone of The New Republic praised the film's "stylized gorgeousness," but wrote that Branagh's change of "Poirot's fussiness ... into obsessive compulsive tendencies" was "less distinct and, ultimately, less interesting".[27]

text: On the negative side, Matthew Jacobs of The Huffington Post was impressed by the cast, but ultimately felt "Agatha Christie's whodunit has no steam."[28] Peter Travers of Rolling Stone found that there were many dull moments and that the film was a needless remake.[29] Richard Roeper of Chicago Sun-Times gave the film two and a half stars, and stated that he felt it focused too much on Poirot to the detriment of the other characters, adding, "Never let it be said the director misses an opportunity to place his star front and center, unfortunately relegating just about everyone else in the obligatory International All-Star Cast to a paper-thin character with one or at most two defining personality traits."[30] Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club rated the film a C+ and complained that Branagh's "erratic direction—more interested in cut glass and overhead shots than in suspicions and uncertainties—bungles both the perfect puzzle logic of the crime and its devious solution."[31] Christopher Orr of The Atlantic said the film was "visually sumptuous yet otherwise inert" and summed up, "Murder on the Orient Express is not a bad movie per se, merely one that feels self-indulgent and thoroughly unnecessary."[32]

text: Accolades[edit]

text:
Award

Date of ceremony

Category

Recipient(s) and nominee(s)

Result

Ref(s)

Alliance of Women Film Journalists

January 9, 2018

Remake or Sequel That Shouldn't Have Been Made

Murder on the Orient Express

Nominated

[33]

Art Directors Guild Awards

January 27, 2018

Excellence in Production Design for a Period Film

Jim Clay

Nominated

[34]

Costume Designers Guild

February 20, 2018

Excellence in Period Film

Alexandra Byrne

Nominated

[35]

Critics' Choice Awards

January 11, 2018

Best Production Design

Jim Clay and Rebecca Alleway

Nominated

[36][37]

Empire Awards

March 18, 2018

Best Make-up and Hairstyling

Murder on the Orient Express

Nominated

[38][39]

Houston Film Critics Society

December 12, 2017

Best Original Song

"Never Forget"

Nominated

[40]

Las Vegas Film Critics Society

December 18, 2017

Best Costume Design

Alexandra Byrne

Runner-up

[41]

London Film Critics Circle

January 28, 2017

British/Irish Actress of the Year

Judi Dench (also for Victoria & Abdul)

Nominated

[42]

Phoenix Critics Circle

December 15, 2017

Best Mystery or Thriller Film

Murder on the Orient Express

Nominated

[43]

Phoenix Film Critics Society

December 19, 2017

Best Original Score

Patrick Doyle

Nominated

[44]

Best Costume Design

Alexandra Byrne

Nominated

Best Production Design

Jim Clay

Nominated

Satellite Awards

February 11, 2018

Best Costume Design

Alexandra Byrne

Nominated

[45]

Saturn Awards

June 27, 2018

Best Thriller Film

Murder on the Orient Express

Nominated

[46]

Seattle Film Critics Society

December 18, 2017

Best Production Design

Jim Clay and Rebecca Alleway

Nominated

[47]

Teen Choice Awards

August 12, 2018

Choice Drama

Murder on the Orient Express

Nominated

[48]

Choice Drama Actor

Leslie Odom Jr.

Nominated

Choice Drama Actress

Daisy Ridley

Nominated

text: Sequel[edit]

text: In 2015, Christie's great-grandson James Prichard, Chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd., expressed enthusiasm for sequels, citing the positive collaboration with Branagh and the production team.[10] In May 2017, Branagh expressed interest in further installments if the film were successful.[49] On November 20, 2017, 20th Century Fox announced that a sequel, based on the 1937 novel Death on the Nile, was in active development, with Michael Green, screenwriter of the first film, returning to write the screenplay. Branagh will again be both director and star.[50]

text: In an interview with Associated Press in December 2017, Branagh discussed developing an adaptation of Death on the Nile with the possibility of even more films to follow, potentially creating a new "cinematic universe" of Poirot films:[51]

text: "I think there are possibilities, aren't there? With 66 books and short stories and plays, she — and she often brings people together in her own books actually, so innately — she enjoyed that," he says. "You feel as though there is a world — just like with Dickens, there's a complete world that she's created — certain kinds of characters who live in her world — that I think has real possibilities."[51]

text: In February 2018, Fox scheduled Death on the Nile for release on November 8, 2019 with Branagh officially signed on to direct and star.[52] However, in June 2018, the film was pushed back to December 20, 2019.[53]


document_title: Quantitative easing

question_text: when did the federal reserve start quantitative easing

text: Quantitative easing

text: Process[edit]

text: Standard central bank monetary policies are usually enacted by buying or selling government bonds on the open market to reach a desired target for the interbank interest rate. However, if a recession or depression continues even when a central bank has lowered interest rates to nearly zero, the central bank can no longer lower interest rates, a situation known as the liquidity trap. The central bank may then implement quantitative easing by buying financial assets without reference to interest rates. This policy is sometimes described as a last resort to stimulate the economy.[27][28]

text: A central bank enacts quantitative easing by purchasing—regardless of interest rates—a predetermined quantity of bonds or other financial assets on financial markets from private financial institutions.[5][13] This action increases the excess reserves that banks hold. The goal of this policy is to facilitate an expansion of private bank lending; if private banks increase lending, it would increase the money supply, though QE does directly increase the broad money supply even without further bank lending. Additionally, if the central bank also purchases financial instruments that are riskier than government bonds, it can also lower the interest yield of those assets (as those assets are more scarce in the market, and thus their prices go up correspondingly).

text: Quantitative easing, and monetary policy in general, can only be carried out if the central bank controls the currency used in the country. The central banks of countries in the Eurozone, for example, cannot unilaterally decide to employ quantitative easing. They must instead rely on the European Central Bank's governing council (composed of all national central banks governors) to agree on a common monetary policy, which they (national central banks) implement.[29]

text: History[edit]

text: Precedents[edit]

text: The US Federal Reserve belatedly implemented policies similar to the current quantitative easing during the Great Depression of the 1930s.[30][31] Specifically, banks' excess reserves exceeded 6 percent in 1940, whereas they vanished during the entire postwar period until 2008.[32] Despite this fact, many commentators called the scope of the Federal Reserve quantitative easing program after the 2008 crisis "unprecedented".[33][34][35] [check quotation syntax]

text: Japan before 2007[edit]

text: A policy termed 'quantitative easing' (量的金融緩和, ryōteki kin'yū kanwa) was first used by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to fight domestic deflation in the early 2000s.[20][36][37][38] The BOJ had maintained short-term interest rates at close to zero since 1999. The Bank of Japan had for many years, and as late as February 2001, stated that "quantitative easing ... is not effective" and rejected its use for monetary policy.[39]

text: According to the Bank of Japan, the central bank adopted quantitative easing on 19 March 2001.[40][41] Under quantitative easing, the BOJ flooded commercial banks with excess liquidity to promote private lending, leaving them with large stocks of excess reserves and therefore little risk of a liquidity shortage.[42] The BOJ accomplished this by buying more government bonds than would be required to set the interest rate to zero. It later also bought asset-backed securities and equities and extended the terms of its commercial paper–purchasing operation.[43] The BOJ increased the commercial bank current account balance from ¥5 trillion to ¥35 trillion (approximately US$300 billion) over a four-year period starting in March 2001. The BOJ also tripled the quantity of long-term Japan government bonds it could purchase on a monthly basis.[citation needed]

text: After 2007[edit]

text: Since the global financial crisis of 2007–08, policies similar to those undertaken by Japan have been used by the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Eurozone. Quantitative easing was used by these countries because their risk-free short-term nominal interest rates (termed the federal funds rate in the US, or the official bank rate in the UK) were either at or close to zero.

text: During the peak of the financial crisis in 2008, the US Federal Reserve expanded its balance sheet dramatically by adding new assets and new liabilities without "sterilizing" these by corresponding subtractions. In the same period, the United Kingdom also used quantitative easing as an additional arm of its monetary policy to alleviate its financial crisis.[44][45][46]

text: US QE1, QE2, and QE3 [edit]

text: The U.S. Federal Reserve System held between $700 billion and $800 billion of Treasury notes on its balance sheet before the recession. In late November 2008, the Federal Reserve started buying $600 billion in mortgage-backed securities.[47] By March 2009, it held $1.75 trillion of bank debt, mortgage-backed securities, and Treasury notes; this amount reached a peak of $2.1 trillion in June 2010. Further purchases were halted as the economy started to improve, but resumed in August 2010 when the Fed decided the economy was not growing robustly. After the halt in June, holdings started falling naturally as debt matured and were projected to fall to $1.7 trillion by 2012. The Fed's revised goal became to keep holdings at $2.054 trillion. To maintain that level, the Fed bought $30 billion in two- to ten-year Treasury notes every month.[48]

text: In November 2010, the Fed announced a second round of quantitative easing, buying $600 billion of Treasury securities by the end of the second quarter of 2011.[49][50] The expression "QE2" became a ubiquitous nickname in 2010, used to refer to this second round of quantitative easing by US central banks.[51] Retrospectively, the round of quantitative easing preceding QE2 was called "QE1".[52][53]

text: A third round of quantitative easing, "QE3", was announced on 13 September 2012. In an 11–1 vote, the Federal Reserve decided to launch a new $40 billion per month, open-ended bond purchasing program of agency mortgage-backed securities. Additionally, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced that it would likely maintain the federal funds rate near zero "at least through 2015."[54][55] According to NASDAQ.com, this is effectively a stimulus program that allows the Federal Reserve to relieve $40 billion per month of commercial housing market debt risk.[56] Because of its open-ended nature, QE3 has earned the popular nickname of "QE-Infinity."[57] On 12 December 2012, the FOMC announced an increase in the amount of open-ended purchases from $40 billion to $85 billion per month.[58]

text: On 19 June 2013, Ben Bernanke announced a "tapering" of some of the Fed's QE policies contingent upon continued positive economic data. Specifically, he said that the Fed could scale back its bond purchases from $85 billion to $65 billion a month during the upcoming September 2013 policy meeting.[59][not in citation given] He also suggested that the bond-buying program could wrap up by mid-2014.[60] While Bernanke did not announce an interest rate hike, he suggested that if inflation followed a 2% target rate and unemployment decreased to 6.5%, the Fed would likely start raising rates. The stock markets dropped by approximately 4.3% over the three trading days following Bernanke's announcement, with the Dow Jones dropping 659 points between 19 and 24 June, closing at 14,660 at the end of the day on 24 June.[61] On 18 September 2013, the Fed decided to hold off on scaling back its bond-buying program,[62] and announced in December 2013 that it would begin to taper its purchases in January 2014.[63] Purchases were halted on 29 October 2014[64] after accumulating $4.5 trillion in assets.[65]

text: United Kingdom[edit]

text: During its QE programme, the Bank of England bought gilts from financial institutions, along with a smaller amount of relatively high-quality debt issued by private companies.[67] The banks, insurance companies, and pension funds could then use the money they received for lending or even to buy back more bonds from the bank. Further, the central bank could lend the new money to private banks or buy assets from banks in exchange for currency.[citation needed] These measures have the effect of depressing interest yields on government bonds and similar investments, making it cheaper for business to raise capital.[68] Another side effect is that investors will switch to other investments, such as shares, boosting their price and thus encouraging consumption.[67] QE can reduce interbank overnight interest rates and thereby encourage banks to loan money to higher interest-paying and financially weaker bodies.

text: Beginning in March 2009, the Bank of England had purchased around £165 billion in assets as of September 2009 and around £175 billion in assets by the end of October 2009.[69] At its meeting in November 2009, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to increase total asset purchases to £200 billion. Most of the assets purchased have been UK government securities (gilts); the Bank has also purchased smaller quantities of high-quality private-sector assets.[70] In December 2010, MPC member Adam Posen called for a £50 billion expansion of the Bank's quantitative easing programme, while his colleague Andrew Sentance has called for an increase in interest rates due to inflation being above the target rate of 2%.[71] In October 2011, the Bank of England announced that it would undertake another round of QE, creating an additional £75 billion.[72] In February 2012 it announced an additional £50 billion.[73] In July 2012 it announced another £50 billion,[74] bringing the total amount to £375 billion. The Bank has said that it will not buy more than 70% of any issue of government debt.[75] This means that at least 30% of any issue of government debt will have to be purchased and held by institutions other than the Bank of England. In 2012 the Bank estimated that quantitative easing had benefited households differentially according to the assets they hold; richer households have more assets.[76]

text: In August 2016, the Bank of England said it would buy an additional £60bn of UK government bonds and £10bn of corporate bonds, to address uncertainty over Brexit and worries about productivity and economic growth.[77]

text: Europe[edit]

text: The European Central Bank said that it would focus on buying covered bonds, a form of corporate debt. It signalled that its initial purchases would be worth about €60 billion in May 2009.[78]

text: At the beginning of 2013, the Swiss National Bank had the largest balance sheet relative to the size of the economy it was responsible for, at close to 100% of Switzerland's national output. A total of 12% of its reserves were in foreign equities. By contrast, the US Federal Reserve's holdings equalled about 20% of US GDP, while the European Central Bank's assets were worth 30% of GDP.[79]

text: In a dramatic change of policy, following the new Jackson Hole Consensus, on 22 January 2015 Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, announced an 'expanded asset purchase programme': where €60 billion per month of euro-area bonds from central governments, agencies and European institutions would be bought. Beginning in March 2015, the stimulus was planned to last until September 2016 at the earliest with a total QE of at least €1.1 trillion. Mario Draghi announced the programme would continue: 'until we see a continued adjustment in the path of inflation', referring to the ECB's need to combat the growing threat of deflation across the eurozone in early 2015.[80][81]

text: On 10 March 2016, ECB increased its monthly bond purchases to €80 billion from €60 billion and started to include corporate bonds under the asset purchasing programme and announced new ultra-cheap four-year loans to banks.

text: Scandinavia[edit]

text: Swedish National Bank launched quantitative easing in February 2015, announcing government bond purchases of nearly 1.2 billion USD.[82] The annualised inflation rate in January 2015 was minus 0.3 percent, and the bank implied that Sweden's economy could slide into deflation.[82]

text: Japan after 2007 and Abenomics[edit]

text: In early October 2010, the Bank of Japan announced that it would examine the purchase of ¥5 trillion (US$60 billion) in assets. This was an attempt to push down the value of the yen against the US dollar to stimulate the domestic economy by making Japanese exports cheaper; however, it was ineffective.[83]

text: On 4 August 2011 the BOJ announced a unilateral move to increase the commercial bank current account balance from ¥40 trillion (US$504 billion) to a total of ¥50 trillion (US$630 billion).[84][85] In October 2011, the Bank expanded its asset purchase program by ¥5 trillion ($66bn) to a total of ¥55 trillion.[86]

text: On 4 April 2013, the Bank of Japan announced that it would expand its asset purchase program by 60 to 70 trillion Yen a year. https://www.boj.or.jp/en/mopo/outline/qqe.htm/

text: The Bank hoped to bring Japan from deflation to inflation, aiming for 2% inflation. The amount of purchases was so large that it was expected to double the money supply.[87] This policy has been named Abenomics, as a portmanteau of economic policies and Shinzō Abe, the current Prime Minister of Japan.

text: On 31 October 2014, the BOJ announced the expansion of its bond buying program, to now buy 80 trillion Yen of bonds a year.[88]

text: Economic impact[edit]

text: Effectiveness[edit]

text: According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the quantitative easing policies undertaken by the central banks of the major developed countries since the beginning of the late-2000s financial crisis have contributed to the reduction in systemic risks following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers. The IMF states that the policies also contributed to the improvements in market confidence and the bottoming-out of the recession in the G7 economies in the second half of 2009.[24]

text: Economist Martin Feldstein argues that QE2 led to a rise in the stock market in the second half of 2010, which in turn contributed to increasing consumption and the strong performance of the US economy in late 2010.[26] Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan calculated that as of July 2012, there was "very little impact on the economy."[89] Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein has said that measures of quantitive easing such as large-scale asset purchases "have played a significant role in supporting economic activity".[25]

text: According to Neil Irwin, senior economic correspondent at The New York Times, quantitative easing by the US Federal Reserve likely contributed to: i) Lower interest rates for corporate bonds and mortgage rates, helping support housing prices; ii) Higher stock market valuation, in terms of a higher price-earnings ratio for the S&P 500 index; iii) Increased inflation rate and investor's expectations for future inflation; iv) Higher rate of job creation; and v) Higher rate of GDP growth.[90]

text: Several studies published in the aftermath of the crisis found Large Scale Asset Purchases to have lowered long term interest rates on a variety of securities as well as lower credit risk. The impacts were to modestly increase inflation and boost GDP growth.[91][92][93][94][95]

text: Exchange rate effects[edit]

text: Increasing the money supply tends to depreciate a country's exchange rates relative to other currencies, through the mechanism of the interest rate. Lower interest rates lead to a capital outflow from a country, thereby reducing foreign demand for a country's money, leading to a weaker currency. This feature of QE directly benefits exporters living in the country performing QE, as well as debtors, since the interest rate has fallen, meaning there is less money to be repaid. However, it directly harms creditors as they earn less money from lower interest rates. Devaluation of a currency also directly harms importers and consumers, as the cost of imported goods is inflated by the devaluation of the currency.[96]

text: Counteracting a falling money supply[edit]

text: In a fractional reserve monetary system the money supply will contract when repayments of bank loans (destroying money) exceed the amount of new credit extended. During the great depression, for example, the money supply fell by approximately 35%.[citation needed]

text: Risks[edit]

text: Quantitative easing may cause higher inflation than desired if the amount of easing required is overestimated and too much money is created by the purchase of liquid assets.[22] On the other hand, QE can fail to spur demand if banks remain reluctant to lend money to businesses and households. Even then, QE can still ease the process of deleveraging as it lowers yields. However, there is a time lag between monetary growth and inflation; inflationary pressures associated with money growth from QE could build before the central bank acts to counter them.[97] Inflationary risks are mitigated if the system's economy outgrows the pace of the increase of the money supply from the easing. If production in an economy increases because of the increased money supply, the value of a unit of currency may also increase, even though there is more currency available. For example, if a nation's economy were to spur a significant increase in output at a rate at least as high as the amount of debt monetized, the inflationary pressures would be equalized. This can only happen if member banks actually lend the excess money out instead of hoarding the extra cash. During times of high economic output, the central bank always has the option of restoring reserves to higher levels through raising interest rates or other means, effectively reversing the easing steps taken.

text: Economists such as John Taylor[98] believe that quantitative easing creates unpredictability. Since the increase in bank reserves may not immediately increase the money supply if held as excess reserves, the increased reserves create the danger that inflation may eventually result when the reserves are loaned out.[99]

text: Impact on savings and pensions[edit]

text: In the European Union, World Pensions Council (WPC) financial economists have also argued that artificially low government bond interest rates induced by QE will have an adverse impact on the underfunding condition of pension funds, since "without returns that outstrip inflation, pension investors face the real value of their savings declining rather than ratcheting up over the next few years".[100][101]

text: Capital flight[edit]

text: According to Bloomberg reporter David Lynch, the new money from quantitative easing could be used by the banks to invest in emerging markets, commodity-based economies, commodities themselves, and non-local opportunities rather than to lend to local businesses that are having difficulty getting loans.[102]

text: Increased income and wealth inequality[edit]

text: Critics frequently point to the redistributive effects of quantitative easing. For instance, British Prime Minister Theresa May openly criticized QE in July 2016 for its regressive effects: "Monetary policy – in the form of super-low interest rates and quantitative easing – has helped those on the property ladder at the expense of those who can't afford to own their own home."[103] Dhaval Joshi of BCA Research wrote that "QE cash ends up overwhelmingly in profits, thereby exacerbating already extreme income inequality and the consequent social tensions that arise from it".[104] Anthony Randazzo of the Reason Foundation wrote that QE "is fundamentally a regressive redistribution program that has been boosting wealth for those already engaged in the financial sector or those who already own homes, but passing little along to the rest of the economy. It is a primary driver of income inequality".[104]

text: Those critics are partly based on some evidence provided by central banks themselves. In 2012, a Bank of England report[105] showed that its quantitative easing policies had benefited mainly the wealthy, and that 40% of those gains went to the richest 5% of British households.[104][106]

text: In May 2013, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said that cheap money has made rich people richer, but has not done quite as much for working Americans.[107]

text: Answering similar critics expressed by MEP Molly Scott Cato, the President of the ECB Mario Draghi once declared:[108][109]

text: Some of these policies may, on the one hand, increase inequality but, on the other hand, if we ask ourselves what the major source of inequality is, the answer would be unemployment. So, to the extent that these policies help – and they are helping on that front – then certainly an accommodative monetary policy is better in the present situation than a restrictive monetary policy.

text: Criticism by BRIC countries[edit]

text: BRIC countries have criticized the QE carried out by the central banks of developed nations. They share the argument that such actions amount to protectionism and competitive devaluation. As net exporters whose currencies are partially pegged to the dollar, they protest that QE causes inflation to rise in their countries and penalizes their industries.[110][111][112][113]

text: Political risk[edit]

text: Richard W. Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, warned in 2010 that QE carries "the risk of being perceived as embarking on the slippery slope of debt monetization. We know that once a central bank is perceived as targeting government debt yields at a time of persistent budget deficits, concern about debt monetization quickly arises." Later in the same speech, he stated that the Fed is monetizing the government debt: "The math of this new exercise is readily transparent: The Federal Reserve will buy $110 billion a month in Treasuries, an amount that, annualized, represents the projected deficit of the federal government for next year. For the next eight months, the nation's central bank will be monetizing the federal debt."[114] Ben Bernanke remarked in 2002 that the US government had a technology called the printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), so that if rates reached zero and deflation threatened, the government could always act to ensure deflation was prevented. He said, however, that the government would not print money and distribute it "willy nilly" but would rather focus its efforts in certain areas (e.g., buying federal agency debt securities and mortgage-backed securities).[115][116] According to economist Robert McTeer, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, there is nothing wrong with printing money during a recession, and quantitative easing is different from traditional monetary policy "only in its magnitude and pre-announcement of amount and timing".[117][118]

text: Related policies[edit]

text: Qualitative easing[edit]

text: Professor Willem Buiter of the London School of Economics has proposed a terminology to distinguish quantitative easing, or an expansion of a central bank's balance sheet, from what he terms qualitative easing, or the process of a central bank adding riskier assets to its balance sheet:

text: Quantitative easing is an increase in the size of the balance sheet of the central bank through an increase [in its] monetary liabilities (base money), holding constant the composition of its assets. Asset composition can be defined as the proportional shares of the different financial instruments held by the central bank in the total value of its assets. An almost equivalent definition would be that quantitative easing is an increase in the size of the balance sheet of the central bank through an increase in its monetary liabilities that holds constant the (average) liquidity and riskiness of its asset portfolio.

text: Qualitative easing is a shift in the composition of the assets of the central bank towards less liquid and riskier assets, holding constant the size of the balance sheet (and the official policy rate and the rest of the list of usual suspects). The less liquid and more risky assets can be private securities as well as sovereign or sovereign-guaranteed instruments. All forms of risk, including credit risk (default risk) are included.[119]

text: Credit easing[edit]

text: In introducing the Federal Reserve's response to the 2008–09 financial crisis, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke distinguished the new program, which he termed "credit easing", from Japanese-style quantitative easing. In his speech, he announced,

text: Our approach—which could be described as "credit easing"—resembles quantitative easing in one respect: It involves an expansion of the central bank's balance sheet. However, in a pure QE regime, the focus of policy is the quantity of bank reserves, which are liabilities of the central bank; the composition of loans and securities on the asset side of the central bank's balance sheet is incidental. Indeed, although the Bank of Japan's policy approach during the QE period was quite multifaceted, the overall stance of its policy was gauged primarily in terms of its target for bank reserves. In contrast, the Federal Reserve's credit easing approach focuses on the mix of loans and securities that it holds and on how this composition of assets affects credit conditions for households and businesses.[120]

text: Credit easing involves increasing the money supply by the purchase not of government bonds but of private-sector assets, such as corporate bonds and residential mortgage–backed securities.[121][122] In 2010, the Federal Reserve purchased $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities to support the sagging mortgage market. These purchases increased the monetary base in a way similar to a purchase of government securities.[123]

text: Monetary financing[edit]

text: Quantitative easing has been nicknamed "printing money" by some members of the media,[124][125][126] central bankers,[127] and financial analysts.[128][129] Stephen Hester, chief executive officer of the RBS Group, said:

text: What the Bank of England does in quantitative easing is it prints money to buy government debt, ... So the Quantitative Easing has enabled governments, this government, to run a big budget deficit without killing the economy because the Bank of England has financed it.[130]

text: The Dutch Central Bank itself sees QE as being a money creation operation:[131]

text: The Eurosystem directly injects money into the economy by purchasing the bonds with newly created electronic cash. This is called quantitative easing.

text: However, QE is a very different form of money creation than it is commonly understood when talking about "money printing". Indeed, the term printing money usually implies that newly created money is used to directly finance government deficits or pay off government debt (also known as monetizing the government debt). However, with QE, the newly created money is directly used to buy government bonds or other financial assets,[124] Central banks in most developed nations (e.g., the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and the EU) are prohibited from buying government debt directly from the government and must instead buy it from the secondary market.[123][132] This two-step process, where the government sells bonds to private entities that in turn sell them to the central bank, has been called "monetizing the debt" by many analysts.[123] Also, the Federal Reserve has mostly "sterilized" its bond purchases by paying interest to banks for reserve deposits. This removes money from circulation previously added by the Fed's bond purchases. The net effect is to raise bond prices, lowering borrowing rates for mortgages and other loans, without an inflationary increase in the money supply [133]

text: The distinguishing characteristic between QE and monetizing debt is that with the former, the central bank creates money to stimulate the economy, not to finance government spending (although an indirect effect of QE is to lower rates on sovereign bonds). Also, the central bank has the stated intention of reversing the QE when the economy has recovered (by selling the government bonds and other financial assets back into the market).[124] The only effective way to determine whether a central bank has monetized debt is to compare its performance relative to its stated objectives. Many central banks have adopted an inflation target. It is likely that a central bank is monetizing the debt if it continues to buy government debt when inflation is above target and if the government has problems with debt financing.[123]

text: In fact, with the failure of quantitative easing programmes around the world, more and more people are precisely calling for a more overt and direct money printing process, including monetary financing of government budgets, helicopter money or "QE for People" (see section below).

text: QE for the people[edit]

text: In response to concerns that QE is failing to create sufficient demand, particularly in the Eurozone, a number of economists have called for "QE for the people". Instead of buying government bonds or other securities by creating bank reserves, as the Federal Reserve and Bank of England have done, some suggest that central banks could make payments directly to households (in a similar fashion as Milton Friedman's helicopter money).[134] Economists Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan argue in Foreign Affairs that this is the most effective solution for the Eurozone, particularly given the restrictions on fiscal policy.[135] They argue that based on the evidence from tax rebates in the United States, less than 5% of GDP transferred by the ECB to the household sector in the Eurozone would suffice to generate a recovery, a fraction of what it intends to be done under standard QE. Oxford economist, John Muellbauer, has suggested that this could be legally implemented using the electoral register.[136]

text: On 27 March 2015, 19 economists including Steve Keen, David Graeber, Ann Pettifor, Robert Skidelsky, and Guy Standing have signed a letter to the Financial Times calling on the European Central Bank to adopt a more direct approach to its quantitative easing plan announced earlier in February.[137]

text: In November 2015, more than 65 economists supported the campaign 'Quantitative Easing for People',[138] claiming that "Instead of flooding financial markets, money created through QE should be spent into the real economy, on essential public investment such as green infrastructure, affordable housing and/or distributed as a citizens’ dividend to all residents."

text: Those ideas were also discussed at the European Parliament on 17 February 2016.[139][140]

text: A variant of QE for the people is People's Quantitative Easing, a policy proposed by Jeremy Corbyn during the 2015 Labour leadership election, which would require the Bank of England to create money to finance government investment via a National Investment Bank.[141]

text: Altering debt maturity structure[edit]

text: Based on research by economist Eric Swanson reassessing the effectiveness of the US Federal Open Market Committee action in 1961 known as Operation Twist, The Economist has posted that a similar restructuring of the supply of different types of debt would have an effect equal to that of QE.[142] Such action would allow finance ministries (e.g., the US Department of the Treasury) a role in the process now reserved for central banks.[142]


document_title: Commercial speech

question_text: which supreme court case forms the basis for commercial speech protection today

text: Commercial speech

text: In the United States[edit]

text: In the United States, commercial speech is "entitled to substantial First Amendment protection, albeit less than political, ideological, or artistic speech".[2] In the 1980 case Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission, the U.S. Supreme Court developed a four-part test to determine whether commercial speech regulation violates the First Amendment:[3]

text:
Whether the commercial speech concerns a lawful activity and is not misleading
Whether the government interest asserted to justify the regulation is "substantial"
Whether the regulation "directly advances" that government interest
Whether the regulation is no more extensive than necessary to serve that interest

tag: ol

text: History[edit]

text: Until the 1976 Supreme Court case Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council, commercial speech in the United States was viewed as an "unprotected" category of speech beyond the pale of First Amendment protection.[4] Indeed, the idea of commercial speech was first introduced by the Supreme Court when it upheld Valentine v. Chrestensen in 1942, which ruled that commercial speech in public is not constitutionally protected.[5] In upholding the regulation, the Supreme Court said, "We are...clear that the Constitution imposes...no restraint on government as respects purely commercial advertising". This ruling, however, would be overturned with Virginia State Pharmacy Board v. Virginia Citizens Consumer Council (1976) and Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp. v. Public Service Commission (1980).[2]

text: The Court has recognized that commercial speech does not fall outside the purview of the First Amendment and has afforded commercial speech a measure of First Amendment protection "commensurate" with its position in relation to other constitutionally guaranteed expression.[6] The Court has set forth a framework for analyzing commercial speech under intermediate scrutiny:

text: At the outset, we must determine whether the expression is protected by the First Amendment. For commercial speech to come within that provision, it at least must concern lawful activity and not be misleading. Next, we ask whether the asserted governmental interest is substantial. If both inquiries yield positive answers, we must determine whether the regulation directly advances the governmental interest asserted, and whether it is not more extensive than is necessary to serve that interest.[7]

text: Criticism[edit]

text: Members of the Supreme Court have expressed doubts about the Court's differential treatment of commercial speech in relation to other types of speech. Justice Clarence Thomas replied, in 44 Liquormart, Inc. v. Rhode Island (1996), that "I do not see a philosophical or historical basis for asserting that 'commercial' speech is of 'lower value' than 'noncommercial' speech." Justice Thomas would apply strict scrutiny to regulations of commercial speech.[6] Justice Antonin Scalia expressed "discomfort with the Central Hudson test, which seem[ed to him] to have nothing more than policy intuition to support it".[8]

text: U.S. Court of Appeals judge Alex Kozinski criticized the 1942 Valentine v. Chrestensen ruling, stating that "the Supreme Court plucked the commercial speech doctrine out of thin air".[9]

text: In the European Union[edit]

text: The European Court of Human Rights has held that commercial speech is protected under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) on several occasions since the 1980s, but lacks a counterpart to the commercial speech doctrine that exists under U.S. law.[10]

text: In Germany, the courts adopted a strict approach to advertising and commercial speech due to its emphasis on ensuring competition. For example, in Barthold v. Germany (1985), the European Court of Human Rights held that enjoining a veterinary surgeon for advocating for 24-hour animal clinics (which did not exist at the time in Hamburg, Germany) violated his free expression rights. After the vet was quoted in a newspaper article, he was sued for violating the veterinary association's rules of professional conduct, which barred vets from advertising, and he was injuncted from making similar statements in the future.[11]

text: In the 1990 Markt Intern Verlag GmbH and Klaus Beermann v. Germany case—described Europe's "leading case concerning speech in commercial context"—the European Court of Human Rights concluded that there had been no violation of Article 10 when Germany's Federal Court of Justice prohibited a publishing company from repeating statements that had been published in a specialist information bulletin criticizing the practices of another company. It noted that the prohibition did not exceed the "margin of appreciation which national authorities were allowed in laying down, in accordance with Article 10, §2, formalities, conditions, restrictions or penalties on the exercise of freedom of expression".[12]


document_title: Thorns, spines, and prickles

question_text: thorns on plants is a feature of trees in

text: Thorns, spines, and prickles

text: Function[edit]

text: The predominant function of thorns, spines and prickles is deterring herbivory in a mechanical form. For this reason they are classified as physical or mechanical defenses, as opposed to chemical defenses.

text: Not all functions of spines or glochids are limited to defense from physical attacks by herbivores and other animals. In some cases, spines have been shown to shade or insulate the plants that grow them, thereby protecting them from extreme temperatures. For example, saguaro cactus spines shade the apical meristem in summer, and in members of the Opuntioideae, glochids insulate the apical meristem in winter.

text: Agrawal et al. (2000) found that spines seem to have little effect on specialist pollinators, on which many plants rely in order to reproduce.[6]

text: Definitions and technical distinctions[edit]

text: Pointing or spinose processes can broadly be divided by the presence of vascular tissue: thorns and spines are derived from shoots and leaves respectively, and have vascular bundles inside, whereas prickles (like rose prickles) do not have vascular bundles inside, so that they can be removed more easily and cleanly than thorns and spines.

text: Thorns[edit]

text: Thorns are modified branches or stems. They may be simple or branched.

text:
Smooth, featureless Citrus thorn.

Gymnosporia buxifolia thorn, its leaves, nodes, and emergence from an axillary bud demonstrating its nature as a branch.

Carissa bispinosa showing characteristic branched thorns.

text: Spines[edit]

text: Spines are modified leaves, stipules, or parts of leaves, such as extensions of leaf veins. Some authors prefer not to distinguish spines from thorns because, like thorns, and unlike prickles, they commonly contain vascular tissue.[7]

text: Spines are variously described as petiolar spines (as in Fouquieria), leaflet spines (as in Phoenix), or stipular spines (as in Euphorbia), all of which are examples of spines developing from a part of a leaf containing the petiole, midrib, or a secondary vein.[1] The plants of the cactus family are particularly well known for their dense covering of spines. Cacti often have a particular kind of spine (as found in areoles of Opuntia) called a glochidium or glochid (plural glochidia or glochids), which is very small and deciduous with numerous retrose barbs along its length.[1]

text:
The spines of Fouquieria splendens develop from the leaf petioles.

Stipule spines on Acacia xanthophloea.

Areoles and spines of the tree-like Pereskia grandifolia.

Spines of Mammillaria balsasoides

Hooked spine of Mammillaria balsasoides

text: Prickles[edit]

text: Prickles are comparable to hairs but can be quite coarse (for example, rose prickles). They are extensions of the cortex and epidermis.[8][9] Technically speaking, many plants commonly thought of as having thorns or spines actually have prickles. Roses, for instance, have prickles.[7]

text:
Raised prickles on the stem of Caesalpinia decapetala.

Rose prickles.

Prickles on the leaves of Solanum viarum.

text: Other structures[edit]

text: Other similar structures are spinose teeth, spinose apical processes, and trichomes. Trichomes in particular are distinct from thorns, spines, and prickles in that they are much smaller (often microscopic) outgrowths of epidermal tissue, and they are less rigid and more hair-like in appearance; they typically consist of just a few cells of the outermost layer of epidermis, whereas prickles may include cortex tissue. Trichomes are often effective defenses against small insect herbivores; thorns, spines, and prickles are usually only effective against larger herbivores like birds and mammals.

text:
Spinose leaf margin in Ilex aquifolium.

Spinose apical process in Sansevieria.

Stiff, sharp trichomes in Galium aparine.

Stinging trichome in Urtica dioica.

text: Spinescent is a term describing plants that bear any sharp structures that deter herbivory. It also can refer to the state of tending to be or become spiny in some sense or degree, as in: "...the division of the African acacias on the basis of spinescent stipules versus non-spinescent stipules..."[10]

text: There are also spines derived from roots, like the ones on the trunk of the "Root Spine Palms" (Cryosophila spp.). The trunk roots of Cryosophila guagara grow downwards to a length of 6–12 cm, then stop growing and transform into a spine.[5] The anatomy of crown roots on this species (roots among the bases of the living fronds) also alters during their life.[5] They initially grow upwards and then turn down and finally they, too, become spinous.[5] Lateral roots on these two types of roots, as well as those on the stilt roots on this species, also become spinous.[5] Some authors believe that some of these short spiny laterals have a ventilating function so they are 'pneumorhizae'.[5] Short spiny laterals that may have a ventilating funcion may also be found on roots of Iriartea exorrhiza.[5] There are also spines that function as pneumorhizae on the palm Euterpe oleracea.[5] In Cryosophila nana (formerly Acanthorhiza aculeata) there are spine roots or root spines, some authors may prefer "root spines" if the length of the root is less than 10x the thickness, and "spine roots" if the length is more than 10x the thickness.[5] Adventitious spiny roots have also been described on the trunks of dicotyledonous trees from tropical Africa (e.g. Euphorbiaceae, as in Macaranga barteri, Bridelia micrantha and B. pubescens; Ixonanthaceae, Sterculiaceae), and may also be found protecting perennating organs such as tubers and corms (e.g. Dioscorea prehensilis -Dioscoreaceae- and Moraea spp. -Iridaceae- respectively).[5] Short root spines cover the tuberous base of the epiphytic ant-plant Myrmecodia tuberosa (Rubiaceae), these probably give protection to ants which inhabit chambers within the tuber as they wander over the plant's surface. (Jackson 1986[5] and references therein). In many respects the pattern of spine formation is similar to that which occurs in the development of thorns from lateral shoots. (Jackson 1986[5] and references therein).

text: Evolution[edit]

text: It has been proposed that thorny structures may have first evolved as a defense mechanism in plants growing in sandy environments that provided inadequate resources for fast regeneration of damage.[11][12] However, this suggestion was unsupported by any argument to discount the likelihood that spiny defenses might have been developed as a means of defense in resource-rich environments, where herbivory might have been more intense than in the hypothesized sandy environments.[citation needed][clarification needed]

text: Morphological variation[edit]

text: Spinose structures occur in a wide variety of ecologies, and their morphology also varies greatly. They occur as:

text:
sharpened branches (e.g. in Carissa, Citrus, Crataegus),
spiky inflorescences (Tylecodon),[13]
a tiny point at the tip of the leaf (mucronate leaves) (Sansevieria),[14]
leaves fully converted to spines (Opuntia),[15]
stipules converted to spines (many Acacia),
prickles on stems (Rosa, Erythrina and Ceiba speciosa),
urticating (i.e. stinging) hairs,
bristles, and
finely barbed spines called glochids.

text: Some thorns are hollow and act as myrmecodomatia; others (e.g. in Crataegus monogyna) bear leaves. The thorns of many species are branched (e.g. in Crataegus crus-galli and Carissa macrocarpa).

text: In human culture[edit]

text: Primitive humans are known to have used thorns as tools. Human history records a variety of cultural references to sharp-pointed plant defensive mechanisms:

text:
The Book of Genesis recounts the creation of thorns as one of the punishments for the original sin of Adam and Eve, stating, "Thorns also and thistles shall [the ground] bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field." Genesis, 3:18. One of the most enduring cultural images is the Crown of Thorns described in the Bible as having been placed on the head of Jesus Christ before his crucifixion. It is mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew (27:29), Mark (15:17), and John (19:2,5) and is often alluded to by the early Christian Fathers, such as Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and others. For example, John's Gospel states that "the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on his head" (KJV, ch. 19). The biblical account does not specify what kind of thorns were involved, and leaves no clues from which to determine whether these were biologically classifiable as thorns, spines, or prickles.
An early popular myth involving a thorn is that of Androcles, a fugitive slave in ancient Greece who was said to have befriended a lion by pulling a thorn from the lion's paw.[16]
The status of the Scottish Thistle as the national emblem of Scotland is founded on the story that an invading Norse army attempting a night attack was betrayed when they encountered a thistle in the dark.

text: Plants bearing thorns, spines, or prickles are often used as a defense against burglary, being strategically planted below windows or around the entire perimeter of a property.[17] They also have been used to protect crops and livestock against marauding animals. Examples include hawthorn hedges in Europe, Agaves in the Americas and in other countries where they have been introduced, Osage Orange in the prairie states of the US, and Sansevieria in Africa.[18]

text: In modern times, the study of acanthochronology has used the oxygen isotope composition of spines from saguaro cactus to determine historical changes in local rainfall and reconstruct climate and plant ecophysiology over the plant's lifetime.


document_title: Field goal percentage

question_text: who has the best shooting percentage of all time in the nba

text: Field goal percentage

text: This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: Field goal percentage in basketball is the ratio of field goals made to field goals attempted. Its abbreviation is FG%. Although three-point field goal percentage is often calculated separately, three-point field goals are included in the general field goal percentage. Instead of using scales of 0 to 100%, the scale .000 to 1.000 is commonly used. A higher field goal percentage denotes higher efficiency. In basketball, a FG% of .500 (50%) or above is considered a good percentage, although this criterion does not apply equally to all positions. Guards usually have lower FG% than forwards and centers. Field goal percentage does not completely tell the skill of a player, but a low field goal percentage can indicate a poor offensive player or a player who takes many difficult shots. In the NBA, Center Shaquille O'Neal has a high career FG% (around .580) because he plays near the basket making many high percentage layups and slam dunks. Guard Allen Iverson often had a low FG% (around .420) because he took the bulk of his team's shot attempts, even with high difficulty shots.

text: The NBA career record for field goal percentage is held by DeAndre Jordan at 0.677. The highest field goal percentage for a single season was set by Wilt Chamberlain with 0.727 in the 1972–73 season.

text: Field goal percentages were substantially lower in the NBA until the mid-to-late 1960s.[1] For this reason, many early NBA stars have low field goal percentages, such as Bob Cousy at .375, and George Mikan, Bob Pettit, and Bill Russell, whose career field goal percentages of .404, .436, and .440, respectively, are much lower than later post players.[2]

text: Three-point field goal percentage is usually kept as additional statistics. Its abbreviation is 3FG%. A 3FG% of .400 and above is a very good percentage.