document_title: Kashi Vishwanath Temple

question_text: who built kashi vishwanath temple varanasi in 16 century

root

text: Kashi Vishwanath Temple

text: History[edit]

text: The temple has been mentioned in the Puranas including the Kashi Khanda (section) of Skanda Purana. The original Vishwanath temple was destroyed by the army of Qutb-ud-din Aibak in 1194 CE, when he defeated the Raja of Kannauj as a commander of Mohammad Ghori. The temple was rebuilt by a Gujarati merchant during the reign of Delhi's Sultan Iltutmish (1211-1266 CE). It was demolished again during the rule of either Hussain Shah Sharqi (1447-1458) or Sikandar Lodhi (1489-1517). Raja Man Singh built the temple during Mughal emperor Akbar's rule, but orthodox Hindus boycotted it as he had let the Mughals marry within his family. Raja Todar Mal further re-built the temple with Akbar's funding at its original site in 1585.[3]

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text: In 1669 CE, Emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the temple and built the Gyanvapi Mosque in its place.[4] The remains of the erstwhile temple can be seen in the foundation, the columns and at the rear part of the mosque.[5]

text:
Gyanvapi Mosque, sketched as Temple of Vishveshvur in 1834 by James Prinsep

Plan of the Ancient Temple of Vishveshvur, by James Prinsep[6]

tag: ul

text: In 1742, the Maratha ruler Malhar Rao Holkar made a plan to demolish the mosque and reconstruct Vishweshwar temple at the site. However, his plan did not materialize, partially because of intervention by the Nawabs of Lucknow, who controlled the territory.[7]:2 Around 1750, the Maharaja of Jaipur commissioned a survey of the land around the site, with the objective of purchasing land to rebuild the Kashi Vishwanath temple.[7]:85 However, his plan to rebuild the temple did not materialize either. In 1780, Malhar Rao's daughter-in-law Ahilyabai Holkar constructed the present temple adjacent to the mosque. In 1828, Baiza Bai, widow of the Maratha ruler Daulat Rao Scindhia of Gwalior State, built a low-roofed colonnade with over 40 pillars in the Gyan Vapi precinct.[8] During 1833-1840 CE, the boundary of Gyanvapi Well, the ghats and other nearby temples were constructed.A 7-feet high stone statue of Nandi bull, gifted by the Raja of Nepal lies to the east of the colonnade. Many noble families from various ancestral kingdoms of Indian subcontinent and their prior establishments make generous contributions for the operations of the temple. In 1841, the Bhosales of Nagpur donated silver to the temple. In 1835, Maharaja Ranjit Singh donated 1 tonne of gold for plating the temple's dome.[7]:200[9]

text: The temple was managed by a hereditary group of pandas or mahants. After the death of Mahant Devi Dutt, a dispute arose among his successors. In 1900, his brother-in-law Pandit Visheshwar Dayal Tewari filed a lawsuit, which resulted in him being declared the head priest.[10]

text: Legend[edit]

text: As per Shiva Purana, once Brahma (the Hindu God of creation) and Vishnu (the Hindu God of Harmony) had an argument in terms of supremacy of creation.[11] To test them, Shiva pierced the three worlds as a huge endless pillar of light, the jyotirlinga. Vishnu and Brahma split their ways to downwards and upwards respectively to find the end of the light in either directions. Brahma lied that he found out the end, while Vishnu conceded his defeat. Shiva appeared as a second pillar of light and cursed Brahma that he would have no place in ceremonies while Vishnu would be worshiped till the end of eternity. The jyotirlinga is the supreme partless reality, out of which Shiva partly appears. The jyothirlinga shrines, thus are places where Shiva appeared as a fiery column of light.[12][13] There are 64 forms of Shiva, not to be confused with Jyotirlingas. Each of the twelve jyothirlinga sites take the name of the presiding deity - each considered different manifestation of Shiva.[14] At all these sites, the primary image is lingam representing the beginningless and endless Stambha pillar, symbolizing the infinite nature of Shiva.[14][15][16] The twelve jyothirlinga are Somnath in Gujarat, Mallikarjuna at Srisailam in Andhra Pradesh, Mahakaleswar at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh, Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, Kedarnath in Himalayas, Bhimashankar in Maharashtra, Viswanath at Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Triambakeshwar in Maharashtra, Vaidyanath Jyotirlinga, Deogarh in Deoghar, Jharkhand, Nageswar at Dwarka in Gujarat, Rameshwar at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu and Grishneshwar at Aurangabad in Maharashtra.[11][17]

text: The Manikarnika Ghat on the banks of Ganges near to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple is considered as a Shakti Peetha, a revered place of worship for the Shaktism sect. The Daksha Yaga, a Shaivite literature is considered as an important literature which is the story about the origin of Shakti Peethas.[18]

text: The temple structure[edit]

text: The temple complex consists of a series of smaller shrines, located in a small lane called the Vishwanatha Galli, near the river. The linga of the main deity at the shrine is 60 cm tall and 90 cm in circumference housed in a silver altar.[19] The main temple is quadrangle and is surrounded by shrines of other gods. There are small temples for Kaalbhairav, Dhandapani, Avimukteshwara, Vishnu, Vinayaka, Sanishwara, Virupaksha and Virupaksh Gauri in the complex. There is a small well in the temple called the Jnana Vapi also spelled as Gyaan vapi (the wisdom well). The Jnana Vapi well sites to the north of the main temple and it is believed that the Jyotirlinga was hidden in the well to protect it at the time of invasion. It is said that the main priest of the temple jumped in the well with the Shiv Ling in order to protect the Jyotirlinga from invaders.

text: According to the structure of the temple, there is a Sabha Griha or Congregation Hall leading to the inner Garbha Griha or Sanctum Sanctorum. The venerable Jyotirlinga is a dark brown colored stone which is enshrined in the Sanctum, placed on a silver platform. Structure of the Mandir is composed of three parts. The first compromises a spire on the Mandir of Lord Vishwanath or Mahadeva. The second is gold dome and the third is the gold spire atop Lord Vishwanath carrying a flag and a trident.

text: The Kashi Vishwanath temple receives around 3,000 visitors every day. On certain occasions the numbers reach 1,000,000 and more. Noteworthy about the temple is 15.5 metre high gold spire and gold dome. There are three domes each made up of pure gold.

text: Importance of the temple[edit]

text: Located on the banks of the holy Ganges, Varanasi is regarded among the holiest of the Hindu cities. The Kashi Vishwanath temple is widely recognized as one of the most important places of worship in Hindu religion. Inside the Kashi Vishvanath Temple is the Jyotirlinga of Shiva, Vishveshvara or Vishvanath. The Vishveshvara Jyotirlinga has a very special and unique significance in the spiritual history of India.

text: Many leading saints, including Adi Sankaracharya, Ramakrishna Paramhansa, Swami Vivekananda, Bamakhyapa, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Dayananda Saraswati, Sathya Sai Baba and Gurunanak have visited the site.[20] A visit to the temple and a bath in the river Ganges is one of many methods believed to lead one on a path to Moksha (liberation). Thus, Hindus from all over the world try to visit the place at least once in their lifetime. There is also a tradition that one should give up at least one desire after a pilgrimage the temple, and the pilgrimage would also include a visit to the temple at Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu in Southern India, where people take water samples of the Ganges to perform prayer at the temple and bring back sand from near that temple. Because of the immense popularity and holiness of Kashi Vishwanath temple, hundreds of temples across India have been built in the same architectural style. Many legends record that the true devotee achieves freedom from death and saṃsāra by the worship of Shiva, Shiva's devotees on death being directly taken to his abode on Mount Kailash by his messengers and not to Yama. The superiority of Shiva and his victory over his own nature—Shiva is himself identified with death—is also stated. There is a popular belief that Shiva himself blows the mantra of salvation into the ears of people who die naturally at the Vishwanath temple.

text: Puja details[edit]

text: There are 5 aartis of Shree Kashi Vishwanath:

text:
. Mangala Aarti :- 3.00 - 4.00 (Morning).
. Bhoga Aarti :- 11.15 to 12.20 (Day).
. Sandhya Aarti :- 7.00 to 8.15 (Evening).
. Shringara Aarti :- 9.00 to 10.15 (Night).
. Shayana Aarti :- 10.30-11.00 (Night).

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text: Security arrangements do not allow any cell phones, camera, belts with metal buckle, cigarettes, lighters, etc. inside the temple.


document_title: Daniel in the lions' den

question_text: how old was daniel when he went into the lion's den

question_tokens: how old was daniel when he went into the lion 's den

text: Daniel in the lions' den

text: Summary[edit]

text:
Chapters of the Book of Daniel
Chapter 1: Induction into Babylon
Chapter 2: Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
Chapter 3: The Fiery Furnace
Chapter 4: Nebuchadnezzar's Madness
Chapter 5: Belshazzar's Feast
Chapter 6: Daniel in the Lions's Den
Chapter 7: The Four Beasts
Chapter 8: The Ram, He-Goat and Horn
Chapter 9: The Seventy Weeks
Chapters 10-12: Daniel's final vision
Additions to Daniel

Song of the Three Holy Children
Susanna and the Elders
Bel and the Dragon
vte

tag: table

text: Daniel is raised to high office by his royal master Darius the Mede. Daniel's jealous rivals trick Darius into issuing a decree that for thirty days no prayers should be addressed to any god or man but Darius himself; any who break this are to be thrown to the lions. Daniel continues to pray to the God of Israel, and the king, although deeply distressed, must condemn Daniel to death, for the edicts of the Medes and Persians cannot be altered.  Hoping for Daniel's deliverance, he has him cast into the pit. At daybreak the king hurries to the place and cries out anxiously, asking if God had saved his friend. Daniel replies that his God had sent an angel to close the jaws of the lions, "because I was found blameless before him." The king commands that those who had conspired against Daniel should be thrown to the lions in his place, along with their wives and children, and writes to all the people of the whole world commanding that all should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.[3]

text: Composition and structure[edit]

text: It is generally accepted that the Book of Daniel originated as a collection of folktales among the Babylonian diaspora, the Jewish community living in Babylon and Mesopotamia in the Persian and Hellenistic periods (5th to 2nd centuries BC).[8] Chapters 4–6, which includes the tale of Daniel in the lions' den, may belong to the earliest stage, as these differ quite markedly in the oldest texts.[9] Although the entire book is traditionally ascribed to Daniel the seer, the tales of chapters 1-6, including the story of the lion's den, are the voice of an anonymous narrator (except for chapter 4 which is in the form of a letter from king Nebuchadnezzar).[10] It is possible that the name of Daniel was chosen for the hero because of his reputation as a wise seer in Hebrew tradition.[11]

text: Chapters 2-7 are in Aramaic, and are in the clear form of a chiasm (a poetic structure in which the main point or message of a passage is placed in the centre and framed by further repetitions on either side):[12]

text:
A. (2:4b-49) – A dream of four kingdoms replaced by a fifth
B. (3:1–30) – Daniel's three friends in the fiery furnace
C. (4:1–37) – Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar
C'. (5:1–31) – Daniel interprets the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar
B'. (6:1–28) – Daniel in the lions' den
A'. (7:1–28) – A vision of four world kingdoms replaced by a fifth

text: The story of Daniel in the lions' den in chapter 6 is paired with the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the "fiery furnace" in Daniel 3. The parallels include the jealousy of non-Jews, an imperial edict requiring Jews to compromise their religion on pain of death, and divine deliverance. Each story climaxes with the king confessing the greatness of the God of the Jews and issuing an edict of royal protection. In each case life is preserved through divine presence in the fire or the pit.[7]

text: The structure of Daniel 6 itself is also in the form of a chiasm:[13]

text: Rabbinic literature[edit]

text: According to Josippon, "the beasts in the den received Daniel as faithful dogs might receive their returning master, wagging their tails and licking him."  The Midrash Tehillim says that "the mouth of the den was closed with a huge stone, which had rolled of itself from Palestine to Babylon for that purpose" and that "upon this stone sat an angel in the shape of a lion, so that Daniel's enemies might not harass him."[14]

text: Artistic representations[edit]

text: In visual arts[edit]

text: Although Daniel is sometimes depicted as a young man in illustrations of the incident, James Montgomery Boice points out that he would have been over eighty years old at the time.[15]

text: Painters who have depicted this incident include:

text:
Jan Brueghel the Younger, Daniel in the Lions' Den
Briton Rivière, Daniel's Answer to the King
Peter Paul Rubens, Daniel in the Lions' Den
Henry Ossawa Tanner, Daniel in the Lions' Den
David Teniers the Younger, Daniel in the Lions' Den

text: In music[edit]

text:
The 1929 gospel blues song "I've Got the Key to the Kingdom" by Washington Phillips retells the story
The 1964 Broadway Musical Fiddler on the Roof by Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick includes a song called "Miracle of Miracles", in which Motel, the tailor, sings "Wonder of wonders; miracle of miracles; God took a Daniel once again, turned him around and, miracle of miracles, walked him through the lion's den."
The front sleeve of the 1981 album by The Sound (band) From the Lions Mouth is the painting “Daniel in the Lion’s Den” by Briton Riviere
The 1982 song "Daniel" by Raffi on his Rise and Shine album
The 1982 song "Lion's Den" by Bruce Springsteen, first released on the 1998 album Tracks, alludes to the story
The 2011 song "Us Against The World" by Coldplay includes the line 'My drunken hazard Daniel in a lion's den', as a reference to being in a bad place.
The 2013 album Bad Blood by Bastille includes a track called "Daniel in the Den"
The 2016 album Arts & Leisure by Walter Martin (formerly of The Walkmen) includes a track called "Daniel in the Lion's Den"[16]
The 2017 album Fear Not Fantasy by Joe Ransom (an unknown songwriter of Australia, residing in Honduras) will include a track called "Science Teacher" which begins with a reference to Daniel in the Lions' Den
Paul White's 'Accelerator' EP features a track called Lion's Den. In the chorus featuring rapper Danny Brown references "Daniel in the lion's den".


document_title: Panchayati raj (India)

question_text: who recommended democratic decentralisation which is popularly known as panchayat raj

text: Panchayati raj (India)

text: History[edit]

text: Mahatma Gandhi advocated Panchayati Raj as the foundation of India's political system, as a decentralized form of government in which each village would be responsible for its own affairs.[6][7] The term for such a vision was Gram Swaraj  ("village self-governance"). Instead, India developed a highly centralized form of government.[8] However, this has been moderated by the delegation of several administrative functions to the local level, empowering elected gram panchayats. There are significant differences between the traditional Panchayati Raj system, that was envisioned by Gandhi, and the system formalized in India in 1992.[9]

text: The Panchayat Raj system was first adopted by the state of Rajasthan in Nagaur district on 2 Oct 1959. During the 1950s and 60s, other state governments adopted this system as laws were passed to establish panchayats in various states.  The second state was Andhra Pradesh, while Maharashtra was the ninth state. It also founded backing in the Indian Constitution, with the 73rd amendment in 1992 to accommodate the idea.

text: In the history of Panchayati Raj, in India, on 24 April 1993, the Constitutional (73rd amendment) Act 1992 came into force to provide constitutional status to the Panchayati Raj institutions. This amendment was extended to Panchayats in the tribal areas of eight states, namely: Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, and Rajasthan beginning on 24 December 1996. This amendment contains provision for devolution of powers and responsibilities to the panchayats, both for the preparation of economic development plans and social justice, as well as for implementation in relation to 29 subjects listed in the eleventh schedule of the constitution, and the ability to levy and collect appropriate taxes, duties, tolls and fees.[5].  The Act aims to provide a three-tier systems of Panchayati Raj for all states having a population of over 2 million, to hold Panchayat elections regularly every five years, to provide seats reserved for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and women; to appoint a State Finance Commission to make recommendations regarding the financial powers of the Panchayats and to constitute a District Planning Committee

text: Various committees on Panchayati Raj[edit]

text:
Committee
Date

Balwant Rai Mehta
1957

V.T. Krishnammachari
1960

Takhatmal Jain Study Group
1966

Ashok Mehta Committee
1978

G.V.K. Rao Committee
1985

Dr. L.M. Singhvi Committee
1986

P. K. Thoongan committee
1988

text: Balwant Rai Mehta Committee[edit]

text: The Balwant Rai Mehta Committee, headed by MP Balwantrai Mehta, was a committee appointed by the Government of India in January 1957 to examine the work of the Community Development Programme (1952) and the National Extension Service (1953), to suggest measures to improve their work. The committee's recommendation of the committee by NDC in January 1958, and this set the stage for the launching of Panchayati Raj Institutions throughout the country. The committee recommended the establishment of the scheme of ‘democratic decentralization’, which finally came to be known as Panchayati Raj.

text: This led to the establishment of a three-tier Panchayati Raj system: Gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat Samiti at the block level, and Zila Parishad at the district level.

text: Block level panchayat[edit]

text: A Panchayat Samiti (block panchayat) is a local government body at the tehsil level. This body works for the villages of the tehsil that together are called a "development block". The Panchayat Samiti is the link between the Gram Panchayat and the district administration. Just as the tehsil goes by other names in various parts of India, notably mandal and taluka, there are a number of variations in nomenclature for the block panchayat. For example, it is known as Mandal Praja Parishad in Andhra Pradesh, Taluka Panchayat in Gujarat and Karnataka, and Panchayat Samiti in Maharashtra. In general, the block panchayat has the same form as the gram panchayat but at a higher level.

text: Constituency[edit]

text: Membership in the block panchayat is mostly ex-official; it is composed of: all of the Sarpanchas (gram panchayat chairmen) in the Panchayat Samiti area, the MPs and MLAs of the area, the sub-district officer (SDO) of the subdivision, co-opt members (representatives of the SC/ST and women), associate members (a farmer from the area, a representative of the cooperative societies and one from marketing services), and some elected members.

text: The Panchayat Samiti is elected for a term of five years and is headed by a chairman and a deputy chairman.

text: Departments[edit]

text: The common departments in the Samiti are as follows:

text:
General Administration
Finance
Public Works
Agriculture
Health
Education
Social Welfare
Information Technology
Water Supply Department
Animal Husbandry and others

text: There is an officer for every department. A government-appointed Block Development Officer (BDO) is the executive officer to the Samiti and the chief of its administration, and is responsible for his work to the CEO of ZP.

text: Functions[edit]

text:
Implementation of schemes for the development of agriculture and infrastructure
Establishment of primary health centres and primary schools
Supply of drinking water, drainage and construction/repair of roads
Development of a cottage and small-scale industries, and the opening of cooperative societies
Establishment of youth organisations

text: District level panchayat[edit]

text: The governing of the advance system at the district level in Panchayat Raj is also popularly known as Zila Parishad. The chief of administration is an officer of the IAS cadre. and chief officer of the Panchayat raj for the district level

text: Composition[edit]

text: The membership varies from 40 to 60 and usually comprises:

text:
Deputy Commissioner of the District
Presidents of all Panchayat Samitis in the district
heads of all Government Departments in the district
members of Parliament and Members of Legislative Assemblies in the district
a representative of each cooperative society
some women and Scheduled Caste members, if not adequately represented
co-opted members having extraordinary experience and achievements in public service.

text: Functions[edit]

text:
Provide essential services and facilities to the rural population
Supply improved seeds to farmers and inform them of new farming techniques
Set up and run schools and libraries in rural areas
Start primary health centers and hospitals in villages; start vaccination drives against epidemics
Execute plans for the development of the scheduled castes and tribes; run ashram shalas for Adivasi children; set up free hostels for them.
Encourage entrepreneurs to start small-scale industries and implement rural employment schemes.
Construct bridges, roads and other public facilities and their maintenance
Provide employment.
Works on Sanitation related issues

text: Sources of income[edit]

text:
Taxes collected locally such as on water, place of pilgrimage, local mandirs (temples), and markets
A fixed grant from the State Government in proportion to the land revenue and money for works and schemes assigned to the Parishes

text: Village level panchayat[edit]

text: Sarpanch as its elected head. The members of the gram panchayat are elected for a period of five years by the members of Gram Sabha.[10]

text: Reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions in India[edit]

text: On August 27, 2009, the Union Cabinet of the Government of India approved 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRI). The Indian states Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, West Bengal and  Uttarakhand[11] have implemented 50% reservation for women in PRIs.[12][13] The majority of candidates in these Panchayats are women. Currently 100% of elected members in Kodassery Panchayat in Kerala are women.[14]


document_title: Twizzlers

question_text: when did twizzlers pull and peel come out

text: Twizzlers

text: History[edit]

text: The manufacturer of Cherry Twizzlers candy is one of the oldest confectionery firms in the United States. The company was established in 1845 as Young and Smylie, and adopted Y&S as its trademark in 1870. National Licorice Company was created in 1902 through the merger of three small firms: Young & Smylie, S.V. & F.P. Schudder and H.W. Petherbridge. In 1908 a plant was opened in Montreal and in 1929 the Twizzler brand was established. The company changed its name to Y&S Candies Inc. in 1968 and was acquired by Hershey Foods in 1977.[1]

text: Since 1999, Twizzlers have also been manufactured in Memphis, Tennessee, as well as the main Lancaster location, in a Y&S plant that also makes chewing gum and other candies. From 1970 through 1999, it was manufactured at a plant in Farmington, New Mexico, but relocated the operation to Memphis because of rising transportation costs.[2] According to the Guinness Book of Records, the longest licorice twist ever made measured 1,200 feet (370 m) and 100 pounds (45 kg) and was made at the Y&S Candy Plant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This record-breaking twist became a Guinness World Record, on July 19, 1998.[3]

text: Flavors and varieties[edit]

text: While the original flavor introduced in 1845 was licorice, in the late 1970s the company began to expand its flavors to include strawberry, grape, chocolate, cherry, and watermelon flavors, and a variety of shapes and sizes. In addition to their Twists, Bites, and Nibs of various sizes, Y&S introduced Pull 'n' Peel in 1994.[4] Twerpz and Strawz came along in 2004.[5] Limited edition cherry cola and "rainbow" (fruit variety consisting of strawberry, orange, lemonade, watermelon, blue raspberry and grape) flavors were introduced in 2006. Today all these flavors of "rainbow" Twizzlers are still sold in stores and movie theaters. The company also manufactures a special 2-foot-long (61 cm) variety; the regular length of Twizzlers is 8 inches (20 cm).

text: In 2006, Hershey's introduced the Sweet and Sour Filled Twist. They come in two different colors, red and yellow, and both have a gooey, fruity filling inside. The yellow flavor is Citrus Punch and the red flavor is Cherry Kick.

text: In 2011, Super Long Nibs was introduced, combining the flavor and texture of the classic Nib with the length of a standard Twizzlers twist.

text: In May 2013, the Pull 'n' Peel introduced its "Raspberry Wild Berry Lemonade" flavor.

text: In December 2014, Twizzlers came out with Pull 'n' Peel Fruit Punch and Twizzlers filled Strawberry Lemonade varieties.[6]

text: In December 2016, Twizzlers came out with Pull 'n' Peel Cherry and Green Apple and Twizzlers filled Strawberry Lemonade varieties.[7]

text: All Twizzler products are kosher certified by the Orthodox Union. Twizzlers do not contain animal gelatin or other animal products, and are approved as a vegan-edible candy.


question_text: lava girl from shark boy and lava girl

question_tokens: lava girl from shark boy and lava girl

text: Plot[edit]

text: Max is a lonely child in the suburbs of Austin who creates an imaginary dreamworld named Planet Drool, where all of his dreams come to life. He creates two characters; Sharkboy, who was raised by sharks after losing his father at sea, and Lavagirl, who can produce fire and lava, but has trouble touching objects without setting them alight. The two left Max to guard Planet Drool. In reality, Max's parents have little time for him, and their marital relationship is not going well. Max is also bullied by fellow schoolmate Linus. However, he does receive friendship from Marissa, the daughter of his teacher Mr. Electricidad, whose name is Spanish for "electricity". After a chase, Linus steals Max's dream journal (where all of his most precious dreams are kept) and vandalizes it. The next day, as Max attempts to retaliate, twin tornadoes form outside the school. Sharkboy and Lavagirl emerge from the tornadoes and have Max accompany them to Planet Drool, which he learns is turning bad because of Mr. Electric, the dreamworld's now-corrupt electrician.

text: They confront Mr. Electric, who drops them in the Dream Graveyard, where some of Max's dreams have been dumped. They find Tobor, a robot toy that Max never finished building in the real world after being discouraged by his father. Tobor gives them a lift to other parts of the planet. The three form a friendship during their journey, but they face hardships, such as Sharkboy's anger for the oceans being frozen over, and Lavagirl's desperation to find her true purpose on Planet Drool. They are pursued by Mr. Electric and his "plughounds" across the planet. They plan to visit the Ice Princess and obtain the Crystal Heart, which can freeze time, giving them enough time to get to the center of Planet Drool and fix the dreamworld using Max's daydreaming. However, they are captured by Mr. Electric, and delivered to Linus's Planet Drool incarnation Minus, who has altered the dreamworld with Max's own dream journal, and traps the three in a cage. Sharkboy gets annoyed by Minus and has a shark frenzy, destroying the cage. After they escape, Max retrieves the dream journal from Minus while he is sleeping. Max informs Sharkboy that his father is alive in his book, but when Lavagirl wishes to learn what it says about her true identity, she burns the book to ash. In rage, Lavagirl asks Max why she was made out of lava, but Sharkboy tells him to let her cool down.

text: After an encounter with the Ice Guardian, Max, Sharkboy, and Lavagirl reach the Ice Princess, the Planet Drool incarnation of Marissa Electricidad. She hands over the Crystal Heart, but they are too late to stop the corruption since the ice princess is the only one who can use the Crystal Heart's power, and she cannot leave her home. Mr. Electric fools Sharkboy into jumping into water filled with electric eels, seemingly killing him. Lavagirl also dies after jumping into the water to retrieve Sharkboy. Tobor appears and convinces Max to dream a better and unselfish dream, which in turn revives Sharkboy, who then races Lavagirl to a volcano to revive her. Max concludes that her purpose is as a light against the dark clouds which have engulfed Planet Drool's skies. Max gains reality warping as the Daydreamer and defeats Minus, then offers to make a better dreamworld between the two of them, to which Minus agrees.

text: Mr. Electric refuses to accept the new dreamworld, and flies to Earth to kill Max while he is dreaming. Max awakens back in his classroom during the tornado storm. Mr. Electric materializes, and Max's parents get sucked into the storm, but are saved by Sharkboy and Lavagirl. Max gives the Crystal Heart to Marissa so she can use the Ice Princess's powers to destroy Mr. Electric. Mr. Electricidad, Linus and Max make peace with one another, and Max reunites with his parents.

text: Max later informs his class that Planet Drool became a proper dreamworld again, Sharkboy became the King of the Ocean, and Lavagirl became Queen of the Volcanoes, and as the film shows Max finally finishing Tobor, he reminds the class to "dream a better dream, and work to make it real".

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Cayden Boyd as Max. An imaginative 10-year-old[4] boy, known as the "day-dreamer" on Planet Drool. "At first he's dreaming all for himself; he wants Shark Boy and Lava Girl to take him away", says Boyd about the role. "I like that he's selfish in the beginning and he's not selfish in the end".[4]
Taylor Lautner as Sharkboy. Lautner said about the character, "He's very self-confident and sometimes his confidence gets him into trouble. He's also kinda jealous of the character, Max, because he has an inside crush on Lava Girl and she's overly motherly to Max."[5] Lautner's martial arts skills helped him to obtain the role of Sharkboy. "When I auditioned for the film, Robert Rodriguez, the director, didn't know that I had my martial arts [background], and while we were there in Austin, TX he saw a DVD of me and asked me to choreograph my own fight scenes", said Lautner.[6] Lautner was the first to audition for the film, says Rodriguez, and was chosen immediately.[7]
Taylor Dooley as Lavagirl. The role was cast after the two other main characters, Sharkboy and Max, had already been cast.[4] Her lava bike was computer-generated, like many of the elements in the film; Dooley and Lautner described the on-set versions of the lava bike and Sharkboy's shark-themed jetski as "a green box with handles".[8]
David Arquette and Kristin Davis play Max's parents. Max's father is an unemployed writer. They are on the brink of a divorce. They mean well for Max but are unable to settle his troubles. On Planet Drool, Max's parents appear as a pair of "Cookie Giants," who live happily in the Land of Milk and Cookies.
George Lopez as Mr. Electricidad, Mr. Electric, and the voices of Tobor and the Ice Guardian. Rodriguez states that he kept asking Lopez to play additional characters. Lopez spent a total of two weeks working on the film.[9]
Jacob Davich as Linus / Minus. He is a bully at Max's school and steals his Dream Journal. With it, he enters Max's dreamworld and, using the name "Minus" (a nickname bestowed by Mr. Electricidad for Linus' habit of disliked conduct), alters it to his version before ultimately befriending Max.
Sasha Pieterse as Marissa Electricidad / Ice Princess. Marissa is the daughter of Mr. Electricidad, and at first the only student who befriends Max. On Planet Drool, she appears as the Ice Princess, keeper of the Crystal Heart, which is a necklace she wears which can freeze anything, including time.

text: Robert Rodriguez has an uncredited role voicing a shark. As seen in the credits, two of Robert Rodriguez's children, Rebel and Racer, portray Sharkboy at age five and age seven respectively. Rico Torres plays Sharkboy's father. Marc Musso and Shane Graham play children at Max's school.

text: Production[edit]

text: Parts of the film were shot on location in Texas, where Max resides and goes to school in the film. Much of the film was shot in a studio against green screen. Most of the ships, landscapes and other effects including some creatures and characters, were accomplished digitally. According to Lautner and Dooley, when filming the scene with the dream train, the front part of the train was an actual physical set piece. "The whole inside was there and when they have all the gadgets you can pull on, that was all there but everything else was a green screen," said Dooley.[10] Eleven visual effects companies (Hybride Technologies, CafeFX, The Orphanage, Post Logic, Hydraulx, Industrial Light & Magic, R!ot Pictures, Tippett Studio, Amalgamated Pixels and Intelligent Creatures and Rodriguez's Texas-based Troublemaker Digital) worked on the film in order to accomplish over 1,000 visual effect shots.[11]

text: Robert Rodriguez appears in the credits fourteen times, most notably as director, a producer, a screenwriter (along with Marcel Rodriguez), visual effects supervisor, director of photography, editor, a camera operator, and a composer and performer. The story is credited to Racer Max Rodriguez, with additional story elements by Rebecca Rodriguez, who also wrote the lyrics for the main song, "Sharkboy and Lavagirl". Other members of the Rodriguez family can be seen in the film or were involved in the production.

text: Miley Cyrus had auditioned for the film with Lautner, and said it came down to her and another girl who was also auditioning; however, Cyrus began production on Hannah Montana.[12]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Critical response [edit]

text: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl received a 20% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the consensus: "The decision to turn this kiddie fantasy into a 3-D film was a miscalculation."[13] Roger Ebert gave the film 2 out of 4 stars and agreed with the other criticisms in which the 3-D process used was distracting and muted the colors, thus, he believes, "spoiling" much of the film and that the film would look more visually appealing when released in the home media market.[14]

text: Box office[edit]

text: For its opening weekend, the film earned $12.6 million in 2,655 theaters. It also was placed #5 at the box office, being overshadowed by Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Madagascar, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, and The Longest Yard.[15] The film was not very successful in the US, taking in $39,177,541 and was a box office bomb. However, it did manage to gross $30,248,282 overseas, for a total of $69,425,966 worldwide.[3]

text: Lawsuit[edit]

text: The Total Nonstop Action professional wrestler Dean Roll, who trademarked the name "Shark Boy" in 1999, sued Miramax on June 8, 2005, claiming that his trademark had been infringed and demanding "[any] money, profits and advantages wrongfully gained". In April 2007, the suit was settled for a disclosed amount of $200,000.[16]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text:
Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D

Soundtrack album by various artists

Released
June 28, 2005

Genre
Soundtrack, rock, pop

Length
43:26

Label
Varèse Sarabande

Robert Rodriguez film soundtrack chronology

Sin City
(2005)Sin City2005
The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D
(2005)
Planet Terror
(2007)Planet Terror2007

text:
Professional ratings

Review scores

Source
Rating

Filmtracks
[17]

Music from the Movies
[18]

SoundtrackNet
[19]

text: Director Robert Rodriguez composed parts of the score himself, with contributions by composers John Debney and Graeme Revell. Green Day were reportedly set to contribute "Wake Me Up When September Ends" to the soundtrack, but Robert Rodriguez declined it.[citation needed]

text:
No.
Title
Writer(s)
Performer(s)
Length

1.
"The Shark Boy"
Robert Rodriguez, John Debney

3:47

2.
"The Lava Girl"
Rodriguez

1:28

3.
"Max's Dream"
Rodriguez

1:37

4.
"Sharkboy and Lavagirl Return"
Rodriguez

1:44

5.
"Planet Drool"
Rodriguez

2:12

6.
"Mount Never Rest"
Graeme Revell

2:35

7.
"Passage of Time"
Rodriguez, Carl Thiel

1:30

8.
"Mr. Electric"
Revell

1:09

9.
"Train of Thought"
Debney

2:01

10.
"Dream Dream Dream Dream (Dream Dream)"
Rodriguez
Shark Boy and the Lava Girls
1:54

11.
"Stream of Consciousness"
Debney

1:33

12.
"Sea of Confusion"
Debney

3:04

13.
"The LaLa's"
Nicole Weinstein

1:09

14.
"The Ice Princess"
Rodriguez, Debney

2:51

15.
"Sharkboy vs. Mr. Electric"
Revell

0:55

16.
"Lavagirl's Sacrifice"
Rodriguez

2:10

17.
"The Light"
Rodriguez

2:21

18.
"Battle of the Dreamers"
Rodriguez

1:21

19.
"Mr. Electric on Earth"
Revell

1:15

20.
"Unplugged"
Rodriguez, Debney

1:12

21.
"The Day Dreamer"
Rodriguez, Debney

1:29

22.
"Sharkboy and Lavagirl"
Rodriguez, Rebecca Rodriguez
Ariel Abshire & The Lava Girls
4:09

Total length:
43:26

text: Books[edit]

text: Around the time of the film's debut Rodriguez co-wrote a series of children's novels entitled Sharkboy and Lavagirl Adventures with acclaimed science fiction writer Chris Roberson. They include Book 1, The Day Dreamer, and Book 2, Return to Planet Drool, which announces that it will be continued in a third volume, Deep Sleep, which has yet to appear. They are illustrated throughout by Alex Toader, who designed characters and environments for the film and the previous Spy Kids franchise.[20]

text: In the first book, the story of the film is told from Lavagirl's and Sharkboy's perspective, with at least one new event. In Return to Planet Drool, Sharkboy, remembering his encounter with the Imagineer in the first book, continues the search for his father by seeking to return to the Dream World. He meets a very bored Lavagirl in the underwater city of Vent, where she now reigns as queen, and together they embark on a subterranean journey. They encounter piranhas, a gargantuan red bear, and a city of inhabited by the dreams of bygone eras, where they are held captive by superheroes, pirates, and cowboys. By the end, after learning the city's secrets, Sharkboy still hopes to find his father, and Lavagirl the secrets of her origin.

text: Jeff Jensen of Entertainment Weekly praised another book appearing around the time of the film, The Adventures of SharkBoy and LavaGirl: The Movie Storybook (by Racer Max Rodriguez and Robert Rodriguez), as a far cry from the usual movie storybook tie-in, and also praised Alex Toader's "cartoony yet detailed" illustrations.[21]


document_title: List of leaders of the Soviet Union

question_text: who led the soviet union from the mid 1920s to 1953

text: List of leaders of the Soviet Union

text: Summary[edit]

text:
This article is part of a series on the

Politics of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Leadership[show]

Leaders

President

(list
Vice President)

Collective leadership
State Council
Presidential Council

Communist Party[show]

Congress
Central Committee
History

General Secretary

Politburo
Secretariat
Orgburo

Legislature[show]

Congress of Soviets
(Central Executive Committee)

Supreme Soviet

Soviet of the Union
Soviet of Nationalities
Presidium

Congress of People's Deputies

Speaker
1989 Legislative election

Governance[show]

Constitution

Official names
1924
1936
1977

Government

Ministries
State Committees
Executive Officer

Premiership

Cabinets
Council of People's Commissars
Council of Ministers
Cabinet of Ministers

Judiciary[show]

Law
Supreme Court
People's Court
Procurator General

Ideology[show]

Soviet democracy
Marxism–Leninism

Leninism
Stalinism
Khrushchevism

De-Stalinization

Society[show]

Economy

Agriculture
Consumer goods
Five-Year Plan
Kosygin reform
New Economic Policy
Science and technology
Era of Stagnation
Material balance planning
Transport

Culture

Demographics
Education
Family
Phraseology
Religion

Repression

Censorship
Censorship of images
Great Purge
Gulag system
Collectivization
Human rights
Ideological repression
Suppressed research
Political abuse of psychiatry
Political repression
Population transfer
Propaganda
Red Terror

Other countries
Atlas

v
t
e

text: Vladimir Lenin was voted the Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (Sovnarkom) on 30 December 1922 by the Congress of Soviets.[11] At the age of 53, his health declined from effects of two bullet wounds, later aggravated by three strokes which culminated with his death in 1924.[12] Irrespective of his health status in his final days, Lenin was already losing much of his power to Joseph Stalin.[13] Alexei Rykov succeeded Lenin as Chairman of the Sovnarkom and although he was de jure the most powerful person in the country, the Politburo of the Communist Party began to overshadow the Sovnarkom in the mid-1920s. By the end of the decade, Rykov merely rubber stamped the decisions predetermined by Stalin and the Politburo.[14]

text: Stalin's early policies pushed for rapid industrialisation, nationalisation of private industry[15] and the collectivisation of private plots created under Lenin's New Economic Policy.[16] As leader of the Politburo, Stalin consolidated near-absolute power by 1938 after the Great Purge, a series of campaigns of political murder, repression and persecution.[17] Nazi German troops invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941,[18] but by December the Soviet Army managed to stop the attack just shy of Moscow. On Stalin's orders, the Soviet Union launched a counter-attack on Nazi Germany which finally succeeded in 1945.[19] Stalin died in March 1953[20] and his death triggered a power struggle in which Nikita Khrushchev after several years emerged victorious against Georgy Malenkov.[21]

text: Khrushchev denounced Stalin on two occasions, first in 1956 and then in 1962. His policy of de-Stalinisation earned him many enemies within the party, especially from old Stalinist appointees. Many saw this approach as destructive and destabilising. A group known as Anti-Party Group tried to oust Khrushchev from office in 1957, but it failed.[22] As Khrushchev grew older, his erratic behavior became worse, usually making decisions without discussing or confirming them with the Politburo.[23] Leonid Brezhnev, a close companion of Khrushchev, was elected First Secretary the same day of Khrushchev's removal from power. Alexei Kosygin became the new Premier and Anastas Mikoyan kept his office as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. On the orders of the Politburo, Mikoyan was forced to retire in 1965 and Nikolai Podgorny took over the office of Chairman of the Presidium.[24] The Soviet Union in the post-Khrushchev 1960s was governed by a collective leadership.[25] Henry A. Kissinger, the American National Security Advisor, mistakenly believed that Kosygin was the leader of the Soviet Union and that he was at the helm of Soviet foreign policy because he represented the Soviet Union at the 1967 Glassboro Summit Conference.[26] The "Era of Stagnation", a derogatory term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev, was a period marked by low socio-economic efficiency in the country and a gerontocracy ruling the country.[27] Yuri Andropov (aged 68 at the time) succeeded Brezhnev in his post as General Secretary in 1982. In 1983, Andropov was hospitalised and rarely met up at work to chair the politburo meetings due to his declining health. Nikolai Tikhonov usually chaired the meetings in his place.[28] Following Andropov's death fifteen months after his appointment, an even older leader, 72 year old Konstantin Chernenko, was elected to the General Secretariat. His rule lasted for little more than a year until his death thirteen months later on 10 March 1985.[29]

text: At the age of 54, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to the General Secretariat by the Politburo on 11 March 1985.[30] In May 1985, Gorbachev publicly admitted the slowing down of the economic development and inadequate living standards, being the first Soviet leader to do so while also beginning a series of fundamental reforms. From 1986 to around 1988, he dismantled central planning, allowed state enterprises to set their own outputs, enabled private investment in businesses not previously permitted to be privately owned and allowed foreign investment, among other measures. He also opened up the management of and decision-making within the Soviet Union and allowed greater public discussion and criticism, along with a warming of relationships with the West. These twin policies were known as perestroika (literally meaning "reconstruction", but it varies) and glasnost ("openness" and "transparency"), respectively.[31] The dismantling of the principal defining features of Soviet Communism in 1988 and 1989 in the Soviet Union led to the unintended consequence of the Soviet Union breaking up after the failed August coup of 1991 led by Gennady Yanayev.[32]

text: List of leaders[edit]

text: The following list includes only those persons who held the top leadership position of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from its founding in 1922 until the party's demise as the official "leading power" of the Union in 1991 and in the few months aftwerward, lead the government. † denotes leaders who died in office.

text:
Name
(Birth–Death)
Portrait
Period
Congress
Notes

Vladimir Lenin
(1870–1924)[33]

30 December 1922[33]
↓
21 January 1924†[13]
11th–12th Congress
Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars (Sovnarkom) and informal leader of the Bolsheviks since their inception.[33] Lenin was leader of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) from 1917 and leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 until his death.[34]

Joseph Stalin
(1878–1953)[13]

21 January 1924[13]
↓
5 March 1953†[35]
13th–19th Congress
General Secretary from 3 April 1922 until the post of General Secretary was abolished in October 1952.[36][incomplete short citation] Stalin initially ruled as part of a Triumvirate with Lev Kamenev and Grigory Zinoviev until this broke down in April 1925. Stalin served as Premier from 6 May 1941 until his death on 5 March 1953.[35] Stalin also held the post of the Minister of Defence from 19 July 1941 until 3 March 1947 and Chairman of the State Defense Committee during the Great Patriotic War[37] and became the only officer to hold the office of People's Commissar of Nationalities from 1921–1923.[38]

Georgy Malenkov
(1902–1988)[39]

5 March 1953[39][40]
↓
14 September 1953
19th Congress
Succeeded to all of Stalin's titles, but he was forced to resign most of them within a month.[41] Malenkov through the office of Premier was locked in a power struggle against Khrushchev.[42]

Nikita Khrushchev
(1894–1971)[43]

8 September 1953
↓
14 October 1964[44]
20th–22nd Congress
Served as the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (from September 1953) and Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 27 March 1958 to 14 October 1964. While vacationing in Abkhazia, Khrushchev was called by Leonid Brezhnev to return to Moscow for a special meeting of the Presidium to be held on 13 October 1964. At the most fiery session since the so-called "anti-party group" crisis of 1957, he was fired from all his posts. He was largely left in peace in retirement, but he was made a "non-person" to the extent that his name was removed even from the thirty-volume Soviet Encyclopedia.[45] He died in 1971. He was seen overseas as a reformer of a "petrified structure"[46][incomplete short citation] and described his main contribution as removing the fear that Stalin had brought,[47] but many of his reforms were later reversed.

Leonid Brezhnev
(1906–1982)[44]

14 October 1964[44]
↓
10 November 1982†[48]
23rd–26th Congress
Served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party. Brezhnev was later renamed General Secretary[23] and was co-equal with premier Alexei Kosygin until the 1970s. To consolidate his power, he later assumed the title of Chairman of the Presidium.[24] At his death in 1982, he received a state funeral.

Yuri Andropov
(1914–1984)[49]

12 November 1982[49]
↓
9 February 1984†[50]
—
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party[26] and Chairman of the Presidium from 16 June 1983 until 9 February 1984.[51]

Konstantin Chernenko
(1911–1985)[52]
(de jure)

13 February 1984[52]
↓
10 March 1985†
—
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party[53] and Chairman of the Presidium from 11 April 1984 to 10 March 1985.[54]

Mikhail Gorbachev
(1931–)[55]

As Gen. Secretary:
11 March 1985[23]
↓
19 August 1991[56]
As President:
21 August 1991[23]
↓
25 December 1991[56]
27th–28th Congress
Served as General Secretary from 11 March 1985[54] and resigned on 24 August 1991,[57] Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1 October[53] 1988 until the office was renamed to the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet on 25 May 1989 to 15 March 1990[54] and President of the Soviet Union from 15 March 1990[58] to 25 December 1991.[59] The day following Gorbachev's resignation as President, the Soviet Union was formally dissolved.[56]

Gennady Yanayev
(1937–2010)
(usurper)

19 August 1991
↓
21 August 1991
—
Tried to seize power during the two days of the failed 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt with the State Committee on the State of Emergency.

text: List of troikas[edit]

text: On four occasions—the 2–3 year period between Vladimir Lenin's incapacitation and Joseph Stalin's dictatorship; the three months immediately following Stalin's death; the interval between Nikita Khrushchev's fall and Leonid Brezhnev's consolidation of power; and the ailing Konstantin Chernenko's tenure as General Secretary—a form of collective leadership known as the troika ("triumvirate")[60] governed the Soviet Union, with no single individual holding leadership alone.[24][40][61]

text:
Members
(Birth–Death)
Tenure
Notes

May 1922[62]
↓
April 1925[63]

When Vladimir Lenin suffered his first stroke in May 1922, a troika was established to govern the country in his place, although Lenin briefly returned to the leadership from 2 October 1922 until a severe stroke on 9 March 1923 ended Lenin's political career. The troika consisted of Lev Kamenev, Joseph Stalin and Grigory Zinoviev. The troika broke up in April 1925, when Kamenev and Zinoviev found themselves in a minority over their belief that socialism could only be achieved internationally. Zinoviev and Kamenev joined forces with Leon Trotsky's Left Opposition in early 1926.[63] Later, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky would all be murdered on Stalin's orders.

Lev Kamenev
(1883–1936)[64]
Joseph Stalin
(1878–1953)[13]
Grigory Zinoviev
(1883–1936)[65]

13 March 1953[40]
↓
26 June 1953[66]

This troika consisted of Georgy Malenkov, Lavrentiy Beria and Vyacheslav Molotov[67] and ended when Malenkov and Molotov joined Nikita Khrushchev in the arrest and execution of Beria.[43]

Lavrentiy Beria
(1899–1953)[40]
Georgy Malenkov
(1902–1988)[40]
Vyacheslav Molotov
(1890–1986)[40]

14 October 1964[44]
↓
16 June 1977[24]

Following Khruschev's ouster, a troika took power consisting of Leonid Brezhnev as First Secretary, Alexei Kosygin as Premier and Nikolai Podgorny who ascended to the post of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet on 9 December 1965. During Brezhnev's gradual consolidation of power, the troika was dissolved when he succeeded Podgorny in 1977 as Presidium Chairman.[24] However, the collective leadership continued to exist in a different shape after Podgorny's ouster in the party leadership throughout the rest of Brezhnev's rule.[68]

Leonid Brezhnev
(1906–1982)[44]
Alexei Kosygin
(1904–1980)[44]
Nikolai Podgorny
(1903–1983)[44]

13 February 1984[69]
↓
20 December 1984[70]

Despite succeeding Yuri Andropov as General Secretary, Konstantin Chernenko was unable to secure full control over the regime's apparatus due to his poor health[71] and lack of a mandate from the nomenklatura.[72] This resulted in a collective leadership giving Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov control over the Soviet Union's foreign policy and military[73] while leaving Chernenko in charge of the nation's domestic policies.[74] From this point forward, these three figures dominated Politburo decision-making until Ustinov's death in December 1984.

Konstantin Chernenko
(1911–1985)[52]
Andrei Gromyko
(1909–1989) [75]
Dmitry Ustinov
(1908–1984) [76]

text: Statistics[edit]

text:
#
Leaders
Date of birth
Age at ascension
(first term)
Time in office
(total)
Age at retirement
(last term)
Date of death
Longevity

1
Lenin, VladimirVladimir Lenin
18700422April 22, 1870(April 22, 1870)
52 25252 years, 252 days
01 0221 years, 22 days
53 27453 years, 274 days
19240121January 21, 1924
7004196310000000000♠19,63153 years, 274 days

2
Stalin, JosephJoseph Stalin
18781218December 18, 1878(December 18, 1878)
45 03445 years, 34 days
29 04329 years, 43 days
74 07774 years, 77 days
19530305March 5, 1953
7004271050000000000♠27,10574 years, 77 days

3
Malenkov, GeorgyGeorgy Malenkov
19020108January 8, 1902(January 8, 1902)
51 05651 years, 56 days
01 3401 years, 340 days
53 03153 years, 31 days
19880114January 14, 1988
7004314170000000000♠31,41786 years, 6 days

4
Khrushchev, NikitaNikita Khrushchev
18940415April 15, 1894(April 15, 1894)
60 29960 years, 299 days
09 2499 years, 249 days
70 18270 years, 182 days
19710911September 11, 1971
7004282720000000000♠28,27277 years, 149 days

5
Brezhnev, LeonidLeonid Brezhnev
19061219December 19, 1906(December 19, 1906)
57 30057 years, 300 days
18 02718 years, 27 days
75 32675 years, 326 days
19821110November 10, 1982
7004277200000000000♠27,72075 years, 326 days

6
Andropov, YuriYuri Andropov
19140615June 15, 1914(June 15, 1914)
68 15068 years, 150 days
01 0891 years, 89 days
69 23969 years, 239 days
19840209February 9, 1984
7004254410000000000♠25,44169 years, 239 days

7
Chernenko, KonstantinKonstantin Chernenko
19110924September 24, 1911(September 24, 1911)
72 14272 years, 142 days
01 0261 years, 26 days
73 16773 years, 167 days
19850310March 10, 1985
7004268310000000000♠26,83173 years, 167 days

8
Gorbachev, MikhailMikhail Gorbachev
19310302March 2, 1931(March 2, 1931)
54 00954 years, 9 days
06 2876 years, 287 days
60 29860 years, 298 days
Living
7004318820000000000♠31,8827004318820000000000♠87 years, 105 days (living)

9
Yanayev, GennadyGennady Yanayev
19370826August 26, 1937(August 26, 1937)
53 35853 years, 358 days
00 0020 years, 2 days
53 36053 years, 360 days
20100924September 24, 2010
7004266920000000000♠26,69273 years, 29 days


document_title: Arctic Refuge drilling controversy

question_text: how much additional oil would anwr provide to the us

text: Arctic Refuge drilling controversy

text: History[edit]

text: Before Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959, virtually all 375 million acres (152 million ha) of the Territory of Alaska was federal land and wilderness. The act granting statehood gave Alaska the right to select 103 million acres (42 million ha) for use as an economic and tax base.[11]

text: In 1966, Alaska Natives protested a Federal oil and gas lease sale of lands on the North Slope claimed by Natives. Late that year Secretary of the interior Stewart Udall ordered the lease sale suspended, and shortly thereafter announced a 'freeze' on the disposition of all Federal land in Alaska, pending Congressional settlement of Native land claims.[11][12]

text: These claims were settled in 1971 by the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, which granted them 44 million acres (18 million ha). The act also froze development on federal lands pending a final selection of parks, monuments, and refuges. The law was set to expire in 1978.[13]

text: Toward the end of 1976, with the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System virtually complete, major conservation groups shifted their attention to how best to protect the hundreds of millions of acres of Alaskan wilderness unaffected by the pipeline.[14] On May 16, 1979, the United States House of Representatives approved a conservationist-backed bill that would have protected more than 125 million acres (51 million ha) of Federal lands in Alaska, including the calving ground of the nation's largest caribou herd. Backed by President Jimmy Carter, and sponsored by Morris K. Udall and John B. Anderson, the bill would have prohibited all commercial activity in 67 million acres (270,000 km2) designated as wilderness areas. The U.S. Senate had opposed similar legislation in the past and filibusters were threatened.[15]

text: On December 2, 1980, Carter signed into law the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which created more than 104 million acres (42 million ha) of national parks, wildlife refuges and wilderness areas from Federal holdings in that state. The bill allowed drilling in ANWR, but not without the approval of Congress and the completion of an Environmental Impact Study (EIS).[16] Both sides of the controversy announced they would attempt to change it in the next session of Congress.[17]

text: Section 1002 of the act stated that a comprehensive inventory of fish and wildlife resources would be conducted on 1.5 million acres (0.61 million ha) of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain (1002 Area). Potential petroleum reserves in the 1002 Area were to be evaluated from surface geological studies and seismic exploration surveys. No exploratory drilling was allowed. Results of these studies and recommendations for future management of the Arctic Refuge coastal plain were to be prepared in a report to Congress.

text: In 1985, Chevron drilled a 15,000 foot (4,600 m) test bore on a private tract inside the border of ANWR. The well was capped. The results are a closely held secret.[18]

text: In November 1986, a draft report by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service recommended that all of the coastal plain within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge be opened for oil and gas development. It also proposed to trade the mineral rights of 166,000 acres (67,000 ha) in the refuge for surface rights to 896,000 acres (363,000 ha) owned by corporations of six Alaska native groups, including Aleuts, Eskimos and Tlingits. The report said that the oil and gas potentials of the coastal plain were needed for the country's economy and national security.[19]

text: Conservationists said that oil development would unnecessarily threaten the existence of the Porcupine caribou by cutting off the herd from calving areas.[20] They also expressed concerns that oil operations would erode the fragile ecological systems that support wildlife on the tundra of the Arctic plain. The proposal faced stiff opposition in the House of Representatives. Morris Udall, chairman of the House Interior Committee, said he would reintroduce legislation to turn the entire coastal plain into a wilderness area, effectively giving the refuge permanent protection from development.[19]

text: On July 17, 1987, the United States and the Canadian government signed the "Agreement on the Conservation of the Porcupine Caribou Herd" a treaty designed to protect the species from damage to its habitat and migration routes.[21] Canada has special interest in the region because its Ivvavik National Park and Vuntut National Park borders the refuge. The treaty required an impact assessment and required that where activity in one country is "likely to cause significant long-term adverse impact on the Porcupine Caribou Herd or its habitat, the other Party will be notified and given an opportunity to consult prior to final decision".[21] This focus on the Porcupine caribou led to the animal becoming a visual rhetoric or symbol of the drilling issue much in the same way the polar bear has become the image of global warming.[22]

text: In March 1989, a bill permitting drilling in the reserve was "sailing through the Senate and had been expected to come up for a vote"[23] when the Exxon Valdez oil spill delayed and ultimately derailed the process.[24]

text: In 1996, the Republican-majority House and Senate voted to allow drilling in ANWR, but this legislation was vetoed by President Bill Clinton. Toward the end of his presidential term environmentalists pressed Clinton to declare the Arctic Refuge a U.S. National Monument. Doing so would have permanently closed the area to oil exploration. While Clinton did create several refuge monuments, the Arctic Refuge was not among them.

text: A 1998 report by the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that there was between 5.7 billion barrels (910,000,000 m3) and 16.0 billion barrels (2.54×109 m3) of technically recoverable oil in the designated 1002 area, and that most of the oil would be found west of the Marsh Creek anticline.[25] The term technically recoverable oil is based on the price per barrel where oil that is more costly to drill becomes viable with rising prices.[26] When Non-Federal and Native areas are excluded, the estimated amounts of technically recoverable oil are reduced to 4.3 billion barrels (680,000,000 m3) and 11.8 billion barrels (1.88×109 m3). These figures differed from an earlier 1987 USGS report that estimated smaller quantities of oil and that it would be found in the southern and eastern parts of the 1002 area. However the 1998 report warned that the "estimates cannot be compared directly because different methods were used in preparing those parts of the 1987 Report to Congress".[27]

text: In the 2000s, the House of Representatives and Senate repeatedly voted on the status of the refuge. President George W. Bush pushed to perform exploratory drilling for crude oil and natural gas in and around the refuge. The House of Representatives voted in mid-2000 to allow drilling. In April 2002 the Senate rejected it. In 2001 Time's Douglas C. Waller said the Arctic Refuge drilling issue has been used by both Democrats and Republicans as a political device, especially through contentious election cycles.[28]

text: the Republican-controlled House of Representatives again approved Arctic Refuge drilling as part of the 2005 energy bill on April 21, 2005, but the House–Senate conference committee later removed the Arctic Refuge provision. The Republican-controlled Senate passed Arctic Refuge drilling on March 16, 2005 as part of the federal budget resolution for fiscal year 2006.[29][30] That Arctic Refuge provision was removed during the reconciliation process, due to Democrats in the House of Representatives who signed a letter stating they would oppose any version of the budget that had Arctic Refuge drilling in it.[31]

text: On December 15, 2005, Republican Alaska Senator Ted Stevens attached an Arctic Refuge drilling amendment to the annual defense appropriations bill. A group of Democratic Senators led a successful filibuster of the bill on December 21, and the language was subsequently removed.[32]

text: On June 18, 2008, President George W. Bush pressed Congress to reverse the ban on offshore drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in addition to approving the extraction of oil from shale on federal lands. Despite his previous stance on the issue, Bush said the growing energy crisis was a major factor for reversing the Presidential Executive Order issued by President George H. W. Bush in 1990, which banned coastal oil exploration, and oil and gas leasing on most of the outer continental shelf. In conjunction with the Presidential order, the Congress had enacted a moratorium on drilling in 1982, and renewed it annually.[33]

text: In January 2015, President Barack Obama proposed to designate 12.28 million acres (4.97 million ha) of the refuge, including the coastal plain, as wilderness, prohibiting drilling.[34][35]

text: In 2017, the Republican-controlled House and Senate included in tax legislation a provision that would open the 1002 area of ANWR to oil and gas drilling.[9]

text: Department of Energy projections and estimates[edit]

text: Estimates of oil reserves[edit]

text: In 1998, the USGS estimated that between 5.7 and 16.0 billion barrels (2.54×109 m3) of technically recoverable crude oil and natural gas liquids are in the coastal plain area of ANWR, with a mean estimate of 10.4 billion barrels (1.65×109 m3), of which 7.7 billion barrels (1.22×109 m3) lie within the Federal portion of the ANWR 1002 Area.[25] In comparison, the estimated volume of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil in the rest of the United States is about 120 billion barrels (1.9×1010 m3).[37]

text: The ANWR and undiscovered estimates are categorized as prospective resources and therefore, not proven oil reserves. The United States Department of Energy (DOE) reports U.S. proved reserves are roughly 29 billion barrels (4.6×109 m3) of crude and natural gas liquids, of which 21 billion barrels (3.3×109 m3) are crude.[38] A variety of sources compiled by the DOE estimate world proved oil and gas condensate reserves to range from 1.1 to 1.3 trillion barrels (170×10^9 to 210×10^9 m3).[39]

text: The DOE reported there is uncertainty about the underlying resource base in ANWR. "The USGS oil resource estimates are based largely on the oil productivity of geologic formations that exist in the neighboring State lands and which continue into ANWR. Consequently, there is considerable uncertainty regarding both the size and quality of the oil resources that exist in ANWR. Thus, the potential ultimate oil recovery and potential yearly production are highly uncertain."[37] A considerable source for the uncertainty is due to the fact that the Department of Energy-based these estimates of technically recoverable oil on extremely low price per barrel figures ranging from $12 to $24 per barrel, which has not been seen in a long time.[40]

text: In 2010, the USGS revised an estimate of the oil in the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPRA), concluding that it contained approximately "896 million barrels of conventional, undiscovered oil".[41] The NPRA is west of ANWR. The reason for the decrease is because of new exploratory drilling, which showed that many areas that were believed to hold oil actually hold natural gas.

text: The opening of the ANWR 1002 Area to oil and natural gas development is projected to increase U.S. crude oil production starting in 2018. In the mean ANWR oil resource case, additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR reaches 780,000 barrels per day (124,000 m3/d) in 2027 and then declines to 710,000 barrels per day (113,000 m3/d) in 2030. In the low and high ANWR oil resource cases, additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR peaks in 2028 at 510,000 and 1.45 million barrels per day (231,000 m3/d), respectively.[37]

text: Between 2018 and 2030, cumulative additional oil production is projected to be 2.6 billion barrels (410,000,000 m3) for the mean oil resource case, while the low and high resource cases project a cumulative additional oil production of 1.9 and 4.3 billion barrels (680,000,000 m3), respectively.[37] In 2007, the United States consumed 20.68 m bbls of petroleum products per day. It produced roughly 5 million barrels per day (790,000 m3/d) of crude oil, and imported 10 million barrels per day (1,600,000 m3/d) of crude and 3.5 million barrels per day (560,000 m3/d) of petroleum products.[42]

text: Projected impact on global oil price[edit]

text: The total production from ANWR would be between 0.4 and 1.2 percent of total world oil consumption in 2030. Consequently, ANWR oil production is not projected to have any significant impact on world oil prices.[37] Furthermore, the Energy Information Administration does not feel ANWR will affect the global price of oil when past behaviors of the oil market are considered. "The opening of ANWR is projected to have its largest oil price reduction impacts as follows: a reduction in low-sulfur, light crude oil prices of $0.41 per barrel (2006 dollars) in 2026 for the low oil resource case, $0.75 per barrel in 2025 for the mean oil resource case, and $1.44 per barrel in 2027 for the high oil resource case, relative to the reference case."[37] "Assuming that world oil markets continue to work as they do today, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) could neutralize any potential price impact of ANWR oil production by reducing its oil exports by an equal amount."[37]

text: Support for drilling[edit]

text: President George W. Bush's administration supported drilling in the Arctic Refuge, saying that it could "keep [America]'s economy growing by creating jobs and ensuring that businesses can expand [a]nd it will make America less dependent on foreign sources of energy", and that "scientists have developed innovative techniques to reach ANWR's oil with virtually no impact on the land or local wildlife."[43][44]

text: Both of Alaska's U.S. Senators, Republicans Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan, have indicated they support ANWR drilling.

text: A June 29, 2008 Pew Research Poll reported that 50% of Americans favor drilling of oil and gas in ANWR while 43% oppose (compared to 42% in favor and 50% opposed in February of the same year).[45] A CNN opinion poll conducted on August 31, 2008 reported 59% favor drilling for oil in ANWR, while 39% oppose it.[45] In the state of Alaska, residents receive annual dividends from a permanent fund funded partially by oil-lease revenues. In 2013 the dividend came to $900 per resident.[46]

text: The United States Department of Energy estimates that ANWR oil production between 2018 and 2030 would reduce the cumulative net expenditures on imported crude oil and liquid fuels by an estimated $135 to $327 billion (2006 dollars), reducing the foreign trade deficit.[citation needed]

text: Arctic Power cites a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service report stating that 77 of the 567 wildlife refuges in 22 states had oil and gas activities. Louisiana had the most with 19 units, followed by Texas, which had 11 units. Furthermore, oil or gas was produced in 45 of the 567 units located in 15 states. The number of producing wells in each unit ranged from one to more than 300 in the Upper Ouachita National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.[47]

text: Opposition to drilling[edit]

text: Former president Barack Obama has opposed drilling in the Arctic Refuge.[48] In a League of Conservation Voters questionnaire, Obama said, "I strongly reject drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge because it would irreversibly damage a protected national wildlife refuge without creating sufficient oil supplies to meaningfully affect the global market price or have a discernible impact on U.S. energy security." Senator John McCain, while running for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, said, "As far as ANWR is concerned, I don't want to drill in the Grand Canyon, and I don't want to drill in the Everglades. This is one of the most pristine and beautiful parts of the world."[49]

text: In 2008, the U.S. Department of Energy reported uncertainties about the USGS oil estimates for ANWR and the projected effects on oil price and supplies. "There is little direct knowledge regarding the petroleum geology of the ANWR region.... ANWR oil production is not projected to have a large impact on world oil prices.... Additional oil production resulting from the opening of ANWR would be only a small portion of total world oil production, and would likely be offset in part by somewhat lower production outside the United States."[37]

text: The DOE reported that annual United States consumption of crude oil and petroleum products was 7.55 billion barrels (1.200×109 m3) in 2006.[50] In comparison, the USGS estimated that the ANWR reserve contains 10.4 billion barrels (1.65×109 m3). Although, only 7.7 billion barrels (1.22×109 m3) were thought to be within the proposed drilling region.[25]

text: "Environmentalists and most congressional Democrats have resisted drilling in the area because the required network of oil platforms, pipelines, roads and support facilities, not to mention the threat of foul spills, would play havoc on wildlife. The coastal plain, for example, is a calving home for some 129,000 caribou."[28]

text: The NRDC has said that drilling would not take place in a compact, 2,000-acre (810 ha) space as proponents say, but would create "a spiderweb of industrial sprawl across the whole of the refuge's 1.5-million-acre (0.61-million ha) coastal plain, including drill sites, airports and roads, and gravel mines, spreading across more than 640,000 acres (260,000 ha). The NRDC also said there is danger of oil spills in the region.[51][52]

text: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said that the 1002 area has a "greater degree of ecological diversity than any other similar sized area of Alaska's north slope". The FWS also states, "Those who campaigned to establish the Arctic Refuge recognized its wild qualities and the significance of these spatial relationships. Here lies an unusually diverse assemblage of large animals and smaller, less-appreciated life forms, tied to their physical environments and to each other by natural, undisturbed ecological and evolutionary processes."[53]

text: Prior to 2008, 39% of the residents of the United States[45] and a majority of Canadians opposed drilling in the refuge.[54]

text: The Alaska Inter-Tribal Council (AI-TC), which represents 229 Native Alaskan tribes, officially opposes any development in ANWR.[55] In March 2005 Luci Beach, the executive director of the steering committee for the Native Alaskan and Canadian Gwich’in tribe (a member of the AI-TC), during a trip to Washington D.C., while speaking for a unified group of 55 Alaskan and Canadian indigenous peoples, said that drilling in ANWR is "a human rights issue and it's a basic Aboriginal human rights issue".[56][57] She went on to say, "Sixty to 70 percent of our diet comes from the land and caribou is one of the primary animals that we depend on for sustenance." The Gwich'in tribe adamantly believes that drilling in ANWR would have serious negative effects on the calving grounds of the Porcupine Caribou herd that they partially rely on for food.[58]

text: A part of the Inupiat population of Kaktovik, and 5,000 to 7,000 Gwich’in peoples feel their lifestyle would be disrupted or destroyed by drilling.[59] The Inupiat from Point Hope, Alaska recently passed resolutions[60] recognizing that drilling in ANWR would allow resource exploitation in other wilderness areas. The Inupiat, Gwitch'in, and other tribes are calling for sustainable energy practices and policies. The Tanana Chiefs Conference (representing 42 Alaska Native villages from 37 tribes) opposes drilling, as do at least 90 Native American tribes. The National Congress of American Indians (representing 250 tribes), the Native American Rights Fund as well as some Canadian tribes also oppose drilling in the 1002 area.

text: In May 2006 a resolution was passed in the village of Kaktovik calling Shell Oil Company "a hostile and dangerous force" that authorized the mayor to take legal and other actions necessary to "defend the community".[61] The resolution also calls on all North Slope communities to oppose Shell owned offshore leases unrelated to the ANWR controversy until the company becomes more respectful of the people.[62] Mayor Sonsalla says Shell has failed to work with the villagers on how the company would protect bowhead whales, which are part of Native culture, subsistence life, and diet.[62]

text: Moderate Republican House of Representatives member Carlos Curbelo and eleven others sent a letter to the Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, urging him to not include drilling in the December 2017 major tax rewrite, but the language remained in Senate passed bill. Rep. Curbelo still voted for the final bill that included drilling.[63]


document_title: Vegas Vacation

question_text: where did cousin eddie live in vegas vacation

text: Vegas Vacation

text: Plot[edit]

text: Clark Griswold has invented a long life food preservative, earning him a large bonus check. He announces to his family that he is taking them on vacation. Part of the reason for the trip is for Clark and Ellen to renew their wedding vows. Excitement wanes, however, when Clark says they are headed to Las Vegas. His wife, Ellen and teenage daughter, Audrey have their doubts, as Las Vegas is not known for its family-friendly atmosphere, while teenage son Rusty appears to be more enthusiastic. Later that night they attend a Siegfried & Roy show.

text: Upon arriving in Vegas, the family embarks upon a series of misadventures. The Griswolds visit Cousin Eddie, the husband of Ellen's cousin Catherine. Eddie and his family now live in the desert just north of Las Vegas, on what used to be a hydrogen bomb test site. While on a group tour of the Hoover Dam led by guide Arty, Clark leaves the group after accidentally creating a leak in the dam's inside walkways, and is forced to climb the scaffolding to the very top of the dam to get out, because his cries for help cannot be heard over the roaring water. The next night, they are surprised to find  tickets to a Wayne Newton concert and a dress for Ellen have been delivered to their hotel room. They go to the concert, only to realize that Newton had sent the dress. While singing, he brings Ellen up on stage to sing with him, and visits at their table.

text: The next day, the family agrees to an "alone day" and are left to their own devices. Clark goes to a casino and becomes addicted to gambling, usually losing to a snide blackjack dealer who enjoys Clark's humiliation. Rusty gets a fake ID from a Frank Sinatra look-alike and becomes a winning high roller, taking on the pseudonym Nick Pappagiorgio. Audrey starts hanging out with Eddie's free-spirited and gorgeous exotic dancer daughter Vicki and her friends. And Ellen begins spending time with Wayne Newton, who has feelings for her.

text: Clark gambles away the family's $22,600 bank account, leading a furious Ellen and the kids to desert him. Rusty goes off gambling for cars, and wins four, while Audrey goes to a strip club with Vicki and gets a job as a go-go dancer. Eddie — who has money buried in his front yard — tries to come to Clark's rescue in return for everything the Griswolds have done for him and his family over the years. Clark and Eddie go to a local casino to get their money back, but Clark ends up gambling away Eddie's money too, causing him to reevaluate his behavior. Clark then realizes he no longer cares about getting his money back, but needs to get his family back.

text: Clark then gathers up his family from around Vegas and they gamble their last two dollars on a game of keno. They sit next to an elderly man who compliments Clark on his family, and hints that he has been lonely all of his life. Out of sympathy, Clark tells the man to consider himself part of the Griswold family for the night. The man happily accepts Clark's offer, and both parties begin the game. At first, the Griswolds are optimistic, but as they realize they have already lost the game, they sit together in silence. Suddenly, the man next to them ecstatically declares that he has won the game. In his burst of joy, he suddenly begins to slip in and out of consciousness while Ellen sends Rusty for help. He awakens one last time and whispers a message to Clark, before dropping his winning ticket and lapsing one final time.

text: Clark, confused, tells Ellen that the man said "take the ticket." When the casino security guards and paramedics arrive, they declare the man officially dead. They tell the Griswolds his name was Mr. Ellis. As Mr. Ellis is carried away, a janitor approaches with a carpet cleaner, heading straight for the winning ticket on the floor. Though it appears Clark is going to allow it to be lost, at the last second, he slides the ticket out of the carpet cleaner's path. With their newfound winnings, Clark and Ellen renew their wedding vows. Afterwards, Clark gives Eddie $5,000 to repay his kindness. They all drive home in the four cars Rusty won on the slot machines: a red Dodge Viper, a maroon Ford Mustang, a black Hummer H1, and a white Ford Aspire.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Chevy Chase as Clark Griswold
Beverly D'Angelo as Ellen Griswold
Randy Quaid as Cousin Eddie
Ethan Embry as Russell "Rusty" Griswold
Marisol Nichols as Audrey Griswold
Miriam Flynn as Cousin Catherine
Shae D'Lyn as Cousin Vicki
Juliette Brewer as Cousin Ruby Sue
Wallace Shawn as Marty the Blackjack dealer
Christie Brinkley as "Girl in the Red Ferrari"
Julia Sweeney as Mirage desk clerk
Wayne Newton as himself
Siegfried & Roy as themselves
Toby Huss as Frank Sinatra impersonator
Sid Caesar as Mr. Ellis
Jerry Weintraub as "Gilly from Philly"

text: Production[edit]

text: Vegas Vacation was filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, during the busy tourist season, from mid-June through late September 1996.[citation needed] Extensive footage was shot at The Mirage Resort, and included the resort's diving dolphins and its Siegfried & Roy show.[2] Other filming locations included Casa de Shenandoah, the home of entertainer Wayne Newton, who also appears in the film.[3] Scenes were also filmed at the Klondike Hotel and Casino,[4] and on soundstages at the Las Vegas Video Sound Film Production Center.[3]

text: Nichols and Embry became the fourth different set of actors to play the Griswold children, Audrey and Rusty. This fact is referenced early in the film when Clark Griswold comments that he hardly recognizes his children anymore.

text: The role played by Toby Huss was similar to a number of MTV commercials from the early 1990s that featured Huss as a Las Vegas crooner.[citation needed]

text: The Sid Caesar death scene is reminiscent of the Jimmy Durante death scene in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World in which Caesar also starred. His character was one of the witnesses to Durante's character's death.

text: Release and reception[edit]

text: Vegas Vacation was released to cinemas in the USA on February 14, 1997.[5] To date, this is the only theatrical Vacation film to receive a PG rating, as all others are rated R (the original film and 2015's Vacation) and PG-13 (European Vacation and Christmas Vacation). The film was later released on home video and to television.[6][7][8][9]

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received negative reviews. It has garnered a rating of just 13% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 30 reviews. The critic consensus states, “The Vacation franchise hits rock-bottom in this corny and tepid trip to sinfully laugh-free city.”[10]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: The film was followed by another theatrical sequel, simply titled Vacation, that acts as both a continuation and a modernized reboot of the series. Unlike Vegas Vacation and the prior two sequels (European and Christmas) which were aimed largely towards family audiences, the 2015 film has a much more explicit tone and is the first entry since the original to receive an R-rating. It was released on July 29, 2015.