question_text: who wrote the declaration of the rights of man and of the citizens

text: History[edit]

text: The content of the document emerged largely from the ideals of the Enlightenment.[5] The key drafts were prepared by Lafayette, working at times with his close friend Thomas Jefferson.[6][7] In August 1789, Honoré Mirabeau played a central role in conceptualizing and drafting the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.[8]

text: The last article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen was adopted on 26 August 1789 by the National Constituent Assembly, during the period of the French Revolution, as the first step toward writing a constitution for France. Inspired by the Enlightenment, the original version of the Declaration was discussed by the representatives on the basis of a 24 article draft proposed by the sixth bureau[clarify],[9][10] led by Jérôme Champion de Cicé. The draft was later modified during the debates. A second and lengthier declaration, known as the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen of 1793, was written in 1793 but never formally adopted.[11]

text: Philosophical and theoretical context[edit]

text: The concepts in the Declaration come from the philosophical and political duties of the Enlightenment, such as individualism, the social contract as theorized by the Genevan philosopher Rousseau, and the separation of powers espoused by the Baron de Montesquieu. As can be seen in the texts, the French declaration was heavily influenced by the political philosophy of the Enlightenment and principles of human rights as was the U.S. Declaration of Independence which preceded it (4 July 1776).

text: The declaration is in the spirit of "secular natural law", which does not base itself on religious doctrine or authority, in contrast with traditional natural law theory, which does.[12]

text: The declaration defines a single set of individual and collective rights for all men. Influenced by the doctrine of natural rights, these rights are held to be universal and valid in all times and places. For example, "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good."[13] They have certain natural rights to property, to liberty, and to life. According to this theory, the role of government is to recognize and secure these rights. Furthermore, government should be carried on by elected representatives.[12]

text: At the time of writing, the rights contained in the declaration were only awarded to men. Furthermore, the declaration was a statement of vision rather than reality. The declaration was not deeply rooted in either the practice of the West or even France at the time. The declaration emerged in the late 18th century out of war and revolution. It encountered opposition as democracy and individual rights were frequently regarded as synonymous with anarchy and subversion. The declaration embodies ideals and aspirations towards which France pledged to struggle in the future.[14]

text: Substance[edit]

text: The Declaration is introduced by a preamble describing the fundamental characteristics of the rights which are qualified as being "natural, unalienable and sacred" and consisting of "simple and incontestable principles" on which citizens could base their demands. In the second article, "the natural and imprescriptible rights of man" are defined as "liberty, property, security and resistance to oppression". It called for the destruction of aristocratic privileges by proclaiming an end to feudalism and to exemptions from taxation, freedom and equal rights for all "Men", and access to public office based on talent. The monarchy was restricted, and all citizens were to have the right to take part in the legislative process. Freedom of speech and press were declared, and arbitrary arrests outlawed.[15]

text: The Declaration also asserted the principles of popular sovereignty, in contrast to the divine right of kings that characterized the French monarchy, and social equality among citizens, "All the citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents," eliminating the special rights of the nobility and clergy.[16]

text: Articles[edit]

text: Article I – Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions can be founded only on the common good.

text: Article II – The goal of any political association is the conservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, safety and resistance against oppression.

text: Article III – The principle of any sovereignty resides essentially in the Nation. No body, no individual can exert authority which does not emanate expressly from it.

text: Article IV – Liberty consists of doing anything which does not harm others: thus, the exercise of the natural rights of each man has only those borders which assure other members of the society the fruition of these same rights. These borders can be determined only by the law.

text: Article V – The law has the right to forbid only actions harmful to society. Anything which is not forbidden by the law cannot be impeded, and no one can be constrained to do what it does not order.

text: Article VI – The law is the expression of the general will. All the citizens have the right of contributing personally or through their representatives to its formation. It must be the same for all, either that it protects, or that it punishes. All the citizens, being equal in its eyes, are equally admissible to all public dignities, places, and employments, according to their capacity and without distinction other than that of their virtues and of their talents.

text: Article VII – No man can be accused, arrested nor detained but in the cases determined by the law, and according to the forms which it has prescribed. Those who solicit, dispatch, carry out or cause to be carried out arbitrary orders, must be punished; but any citizen called or seized under the terms of the law must obey at once; he renders himself culpable by resistance.

text: Article VIII – The law should establish only penalties that are strictly and evidently necessary, and no one can be punished but under a law established and promulgated before the offense and legally applied.

text: Article IX – Any man being presumed innocent until he is declared culpable if it is judged indispensable to arrest him, any rigor which would not be necessary for the securing of his person must be severely reprimanded by the law.

text: Article X – No one may be disturbed for his opinions, even religious ones, provided that their manifestation does not trouble the public order established by the law.

text: Article XI – The free communication of thoughts and of opinions is one of the most precious rights of man: any citizen thus may speak, write, print freely, except to respond to the abuse of this liberty, in the cases determined by the law.

text: Article XII – The guarantee of the rights of man and of the citizen necessitates a public force: this force is thus instituted for the advantage of all and not for the particular utility of those in whom it is trusted.

text: Article XIII – For the maintenance of the public force and for the expenditures of administration, a common contribution is indispensable; it must be equally distributed to all the citizens, according to their ability to pay.

text: Article XIV – Each citizen has the right to ascertain, by himself or through his representatives, the need for a public tax, to consent to it freely, to know the uses to which it is put, and of determining the proportion, basis, collection, and duration.

text: Article XV – The society has the right of requesting an account from any public agent of its administration.

text: Article XVI – Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, nor the separation of powers determined, has no Constitution.

text: Article XVII – Property being an inviolable and sacred right, no one can be deprived of private usage, if it is not when the public necessity, legally noted, evidently requires it, and under the condition of a just and prior indemnity.

text: Active and passive citizenship[edit]

text: While the French Revolution provided rights to a larger portion of the population, there remained a distinction between those who obtained the political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen and those who did not. Those who were deemed to hold these political rights were called active citizens. Active citizenship was granted to men who were French, at least 25 years old, paid taxes equal to three days work, and could not be defined as servants (Thouret).[17] This meant that at the time of the Declaration only male property owners held these rights.[18] The deputies in the National Assembly believed that only those who held tangible interests in the nation could make informed political decisions.[19] This distinction directly affects articles 6, 12, 14, and 15 of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen as each of these rights is related to the right to vote and to participate actively in the government. With the decree of 29 October 1789, the term active citizen became embedded in French politics.[20]

text: The concept of passive citizens was created to encompass those populations that had been excluded from political rights in the Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen. Because of the requirements set down for active citizens, the vote was granted to approximately 4.3 million Frenchmen[20] out of a population of around 29 million.[21] These omitted groups included women, slaves, children, and foreigners. As these measures were voted upon by the General Assembly, they limited the rights of certain groups of citizens while implementing the democratic process of the new French Republic (1792–1804).[19] This legislation, passed in 1789, was amended by the creators of the Constitution of the Year III in order to eliminate the label of active citizen.[22] The power to vote was then, however, to be granted solely to substantial property owners.[22]

text: Tensions arose between active and passive citizens throughout the Revolution. This happened when passive citizens started to call for more rights, or when they openly refused to listen to the ideals set forth by active citizens. This cartoon clearly demonstrates the difference that existed between the active and passive citizens along with the tensions associated with such differences.[23] In the cartoon, a passive citizen is holding a spade and a wealthy landowning active citizen is ordering the passive citizens to go to work. The act appears condescending to the passive citizen and it revisits the reasons why the French Revolution began in the first place.

text: Women, in particular, were strong passive citizens who played a significant role in the Revolution. Olympe de Gouges penned her Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in 1791 and drew attention to the need for gender equality.[24] By supporting the ideals of the French Revolution and wishing to expand them to women, she represented herself as a revolutionary citizen. Madame Roland also established herself as an influential figure throughout the Revolution. She saw women of the French Revolution as holding three roles; "inciting revolutionary action, formulating policy, and informing others of revolutionary events."[25] By working with men, as opposed to working separate from men, she may have been able to further the fight of revolutionary women. As players in the French Revolution, women occupied a significant role in the civic sphere by forming social movements and participating in popular clubs, allowing them societal influence, despite their lack of direct political influence.[26]

text: Women's rights[edit]

text: The Declaration recognized many rights as belonging to citizens (who could only be male). This was despite the fact that after The March on Versailles on 5 October 1789, women presented the Women's Petition to the National Assembly in which they proposed a decree giving women equal rights.[27] In 1790, Nicolas de Condorcet and Etta Palm d'Aelders unsuccessfully called on the National Assembly to extend civil and political rights to women.[28] Condorcet declared that "he who votes against the right of another, whatever the religion, color, or sex of that other, has henceforth abjured his own".[29] The French Revolution did not lead to a recognition of women's rights and this prompted Olympe de Gouges to publish the Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen in September 1791.[30]

text: The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen is modeled on the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen and is ironic in formulation and exposes the failure of the French Revolution, which had been devoted to equality. It states that:

text: “This revolution will only take effect when all women become fully aware of their deplorable condition, and of the rights, they have lost in society”.

text: The Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen follows the seventeen articles of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen point for point and has been described by Camille Naish as "almost a parody... of the original document". The first article of the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaims that "Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be based only on common utility." The first article of Declaration of the Rights of Woman and the Female Citizen replied: "Woman is born free and remains equal to man in rights. Social distinctions may only be based on common utility".

text: De Gouges also draws attention to the fact that under French law women were fully punishable, yet denied equal rights, declaring "Women have the right to mount the scaffold, they must also have the right to mount the speaker's rostrum".[31]

text: Slavery[edit]

text: The declaration did not revoke the institution of slavery, as lobbied for by Jacques-Pierre Brissot's Les Amis des Noirs and defended by the group of colonial planters called the Club Massiac because they met at the Hôtel Massiac.[32] Despite the lack of explicit mention of slavery in the Declaration, slave uprisings in Saint-Domingue in the Haitian Revolution took inspiration from its words, as discussed in C. L. R. James' history of the Haitian Revolution, The Black Jacobins.[33]

text: Deplorable conditions for the thousands of slaves in Saint-Domingue, the most profitable slave colony in the world, led to the uprisings which would be known as the first successful slave revolt in the New World. Slavery in the French colonies was abolished by the Convention dominated by the Jacobins in 1794. However, Napoleon reinstated it in 1802. In 1804, the colony of Saint-Domingue became an independent state, the Republic of Haiti.

text: Legacy[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. (August 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

text: The Declaration has also influenced and inspired rights-based liberal democracy throughout the world. It was translated as soon as 1793–1794 by Colombian Antonio Nariño, who published it despite the Inquisition and was sentenced to be imprisoned for ten years for doing so. In 2003, the document was listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

text: Constitution of the French Fifth Republic[edit]

text: According to the preamble of the Constitution of the French Fifth Republic (adopted on 4 October 1958, and the current constitution), the principles set forth in the Declaration have constitutional value. Many laws and regulations have been canceled because they did not comply with those principles as interpreted by the Conseil Constitutionnel ("Constitutional Council of France") or by the Conseil d'État ("Council of State").

text:
Taxation legislation or practices that seem to make some unwarranted difference between citizens are struck down as unconstitutional.
Suggestions of positive discrimination on ethnic grounds are rejected because they infringe on the principle of equality since they would establish categories of people that would, by birth, enjoy greater rights.


document_title: Cortical homunculus

question_text: who is credited with creating the motor and somatosensory homunculi

root

text: Cortical homunculus

text: Types[edit]

text: A motor homunculus represents a map of brain areas dedicated to motor processing for different anatomical divisions of the body. The primary motor cortex is located in the precentral gyrus, and handles signals coming from the premotor area of the frontal lobes.[1]

tag: p

text: A sensory homunculus represents a map of brain areas dedicated to sensory processing for different anatomical divisions of the body. The primary sensory cortex is located in the postcentral gyrus, and handles signals coming from the thalamus.[1]

text: These signals are transmitted on from the gyri to the brain stem and spinal cord via corresponding nerves.

text: Arrangement[edit]

text: Along the length of the primary motor and sensory cortices, the areas specializing in different parts of the body are arranged in an orderly manner, although ordered differently than one might expect. The toes are represented at the top of the cerebral hemisphere (or more accurately, "the upper end", since the cortex curls inwards and down at the top), and then as one moves down the hemisphere, progressively higher parts of the body are represented, assuming a body that's faceless and has arms raised. Going further down the cortex, the different areas of the face are represented, in approximately top-to-bottom order, rather than bottom-to-top as before. The homunculus is split in half, with motor and sensory representations for the left side of the body on the right side of the brain, and vice-versa.[2]

text: The amount of cortex devoted to any given body region is not proportional to that body region's surface area or volume, but rather to how richly innervated that region is. Areas of the body with more complex and/or more numerous sensory or motor connections are represented as larger in the homunculus, while those with less complex and/or less numerous connections are represented as smaller. The resulting image is that of a distorted human body, with disproportionately huge hands, lips, and face.

text: In the sensory homunculus, below the areas handling sensation for the teeth, gums, jaw, tongue, and pharynx lies an area for intra-abdominal sensation. At the very top end of the primary sensory cortex, beyond the area for the toes, it has traditionally been believed that the sensory neural networks for the genitals occur. However, more recent research has suggested that there may be two different cortical areas for the genitals, possibly differentiated by one dealing with erogenous stimulation and the other dealing with non-erogenous stimulation.[3][4][5]

text: Discovery[edit]

text: Dr. Wilder Penfield and his co-investigators Edwin Boldrey and Theodore Rasmussen are considered to be the originators of the sensory and motor homunculi. They were not the first scientists to attempt to objectify human brain function by means of a homunculus.[5] However, they were the first to differentiate between sensory and motor function and to map the two across the brain separately, resulting in two different homunculi. In addition, their drawings and later drawings derived from theirs became perhaps the most famous conceptual maps in modern neuroscience because they compellingly illustrated the data at a single glance.[5]

text: Penfield first conceived of his homunculi as a thought experiment, and went so far as to envision an imaginary world in which the homunculi lived, which he referred to as "if". He and his colleagues went on to experiment with electrical stimulation of different brain areas of patients undergoing open brain surgery to control epilepsy, and were thus able to produce the topographical brain maps and their corresponding homunculi.[5][6]

text: More recent studies have improved this understanding of somatotopic arrangement using techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).[7]

text: Representation[edit]

text: Penfield referred to his creations as "grotesque creatures" due to their strange-looking proportions. For example, the sensory nerves arriving from the hands terminate over large areas of the brain, resulting in the hands of the homunculus being correspondingly large. In contrast, the nerves emanating from the torso or arms cover a much smaller area, thus the torso and arms of the homunculus look comparatively small and weak.

text: Penfield's homunculi are usually shown as 2-D diagrams. This is an oversimplification, as it cannot fully show the data set Penfield collected from his brain surgery patients. Rather than the sharp delineation between different body areas shown in the drawings, there is actually significant overlap between neighboring regions. The simplification suggests that lesions of the motor cortex will give rise to specific deficits in specific muscles. However, this is a misconception, as lesions produce deficits in groups of synergistic muscles. This finding suggests that the motor cortex functions in terms of overall movements as coordinated groups of individual motions.

text: The sensorimotor homunculi can also be represented as 3-D figures (such as the sensory homunculus sculpted by Sharon Price-James shown from different angles below), which can make it easier for laymen to understand the ratios between the different body regions' levels of motor or sensory innervation. However, these 3-D models do not illustrate which areas of the brain are associated with which parts of the body.

tag: ul


document_title: Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)

question_text: who played in sherlock holmes the movie 2009

text: Sherlock Holmes (2009 film)

text: Plot[edit]

text: In 1890, private detective Sherlock Holmes and his partner Dr. John Watson prevent the ritual murder of a woman by Lord Henry Blackwood, who has killed five other young women similarly. Inspector Lestrade and the police arrest Blackwood. Three months later, Watson is engaged to Mary Morstan and moving out of 221B Baker Street; while he enjoys their adventures together, Watson looks forward to not having to deal with Holmes' eccentricities. Meanwhile, Blackwood has been sentenced to death and requests to see Holmes, whom he warns of three more unstoppable deaths that will cause great changes to the world. Blackwood is subsequently hanged.

text: Holmes is visited by Irene Adler, a former adversary who asks him to find a missing man named Luke Reordan. After her departure, Holmes follows her as she meets with her secret employer, and only learns that the man is a professor and that he intimidates Adler. Meanwhile, sightings of a living Blackwood and the discovery of his destroyed tomb lead to belief that Blackwood has risen from the grave. Reordan is found dead inside Blackwood's coffin. Following a series of clues from the body, Holmes and Watson find Reordan's home and discover experiments attempting to merge science with magic. After they survive a battle with Blackwood's men who attempt to destroy the lab, Holmes is taken to the Temple of the Four Orders, a secret magical fraternity with considerable political influence. The leaders – Lord Chief Justice Sir Thomas Rotheram, U.S. Ambassador Standish, and Home Secretary Lord Coward– ask Holmes to stop Blackwood, a former member of the society and Sir Thomas's secret illegitimate son.

text: That night, Sir Thomas drowns in his bath as Blackwood watches, and the next night Lord Coward calls a meeting of the Order. He nominates Blackwood to take command in place of Sir Thomas and Blackwood reveals himself to the group. Standish attempts to shoot Blackwood but is set on fire when he pulls the trigger of his gun, and runs out a window to his death. Lord Coward issues an arrest warrant for Holmes, causing him to go into hiding. Holmes studies the rituals of the Order and recognizes their symbols in Blackwood's murders that were staged at specific locations; from this he deduces the targets of the final murder are the members of Parliament. With the aid of Lestrade, Holmes fakes arrest and is taken to see Coward, where he uses evidence on Coward's clothes to deduce Blackwood has conducted a ceremony in the sewers beneath the Palace of Westminster.

text: Holmes escapes and he, Watson, and Adler find Blackwood's men in the sewers guarding a device based on Reordan's experiments, designed to release cyanide gas into the Parliament chambers and kill all but Blackwood's supporters, whom he has secretly given an antidote. Blackwood comes before Parliament and announces their impending deaths, then attempts to activate the cyanide device by remote control, but it is disabled by Adler. Blackwood flees Parliament and sees Adler and Holmes in the sewers, and pursues them to the top of the incomplete Tower Bridge. Blackwood fights Holmes, as the latter deduces how all of Blackwood's supposed supernatural feats were the work of science and trickery. Blackwood plummets off the bridge and falls entangled in a noose of chains, killing him when the chain wrapped around his neck hangs him. Adler explains to Holmes that her employer is Professor Moriarty, and she warns that Moriarty is as intelligent as Holmes and far more duplicitous.

text: As Watson moves out of 221B, the police report to him and Holmes that a dead officer was found near Blackwood's device. Professor Moriarty used the confrontations with Adler and Blackwood as a diversion while he took a key component, based on the infant science of radio, from the machine. Holmes looks forward to the new case and new adversary.

text: Cast[edit]

text:
Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes, a bohemian scientist and eccentric detective-for-hire who becomes a wanted fugitive in his hunt for Lord Blackwood while constantly being followed by the presence of Professor Moriarty. Downey was visiting Joel Silver's offices with his wife, producer Susan Downey, when he learned about the project.[4] Ritchie initially felt Downey was too old for the role because he wanted the film to show a younger Holmes on a learning curve like Batman Begins.[5] Ritchie decided to take a chance on casting him in the role, and Downey told the BBC that "I think me and Guy are well-suited to working together. The more I look into the books, the more fantastic it becomes. Holmes is such a weirdo".[6] Downey also revealed what his wife had to say: "that when you read the description of the guy  — quirky and kind of nuts — it could be a description of me".[7] Downey intended to focus more on Holmes' patriotic side and his bohemianism, and felt that his work on Chaplin had prepared him for an English accent.[8] Ritchie feels his accent is "flawless".[9] Both Downey and Ritchie are martial arts enthusiasts, and have been inspired by the Baritsu mentioned in the 1901 story "The Adventure of the Empty House".[10] Downey lost weight for the part, because during a chat he had with Chris Martin, Martin recommended that Holmes look "gaunt" and "skinny".[11][12]

Actor Jude Law at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival.

Jude Law as Dr. John Watson, Holmes' companion and close friend who is also a surgeon and a veteran of the Second Afghan War. Law's Watson is more like the original character, who was more of a colleague, rather than the bumbling fool that actor Nigel Bruce popularised in the 1930s–40s films.[13] Law previously appeared in the Granada Television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, in an episode based on "The Adventure of Shoscombe Old Place". Being a Holmes fan, Law recognised there was material unexplored in other adaptations and was intrigued by Downey's casting; Law was cast because he had a positive meeting with Downey and concurred the film would have to explore Holmes and Watson's friendship. Downey believed by emphasizing Watson's qualities as a former soldier, a doctor, a womanizer and a gambler, it would make for a more interesting foil for Holmes.[14] Law made a notebook of phrases from the stories to improvise into his dialogue.[15] Ritchie originally envisioned Russell Crowe in the role.[16]
Mark Strong as Lord Henry Blackwood, an aristocratic serial killer dabbling in the occult to compel others to do his bidding. Having returned after his execution, Blackwood unveils plans to control the British Empire. He is given many supernatural elements to his character, and his presence is usually accompanied by a menacing crow. Strong worked with director Ritchie for the third time and said he appreciates the director's lack of ego and how easy he is to work with.[17][18]
Rachel McAdams as Irene Adler, an American femme fatale from New Jersey who outwitted Holmes twice, as chronicled in Doyle's story "A Scandal in Bohemia".[13] A skilled professional thief, as well as a divorcée, Adler is no longer married to Godfrey Norton and needs Holmes' help for the case.[14] Downey convinced Ritchie to cast McAdams, arguing she would not look too young to be his love interest.[19] In this aspect the film considerably departs from Doyle's original, where Holmes never met Adler again after the one occasion where she outwitted (and greatly impressed) him; the film conversely implies that the two of them met many times and later had an intermittent, hotly consummated love affair.
Kelly Reilly as Mary Morstan, a governess whom Watson wishes to marry, causing a conflict with Holmes.[7]
Eddie Marsan as Inspector Lestrade, an investigator from Scotland Yard who hires Holmes to look into the murders. Unlike many previous adaptations, in this storyline Lestrade is not portrayed as a bumbling inspector, but is shown to be a rather competent officer (though he is relatively fed up with Holmes).[20]
Hans Matheson as Lord Coward, the Home Secretary, who is Blackwood's right-hand man and assisted Blackwood in all his murders. He was one of a small number of Blackwood's allies aware of his usage of technology to feign magical powers.
Geraldine James as Mrs. Hudson, Sherlock Holmes' landlady. This is James' second Holmes film. She had also portrayed Dr. Mortimer's wife in the 2002 adaptation of The Hound of the Baskervilles.
James Fox as Sir Thomas Rotheram, father of Lord Blackwood, Lord Chief Justice and Head of the Temple of the Four Orders.
Robert Maillet as Dredger, a 7-foot (2.14 meter), French-speaking henchman working for Blackwood.[21]
William Hope as American Ambassador Standish.
William Houston as Constable Clark

text: Director Guy Ritchie declined to reveal the actor who voiced Professor Moriarty.[22]

text: Production[edit]

text: Development[edit]

text:
"A lot of the action that Conan Doyle refers to was actually made manifest in our film. Very often, Sherlock Holmes will say things like, 'If I hadn't been such an expert short [single] stick person, I would have died in that' or he would refer to a fight off screen. We're putting those fights on screen."

—Producer/co-writer Lionel Wigram[23]

tag: div

text: Producer Lionel Wigram remarked that for around ten years, he had been thinking of new ways to depict Sherlock Holmes. "I realized the images I was seeing in my head [when reading the stories] were different to the images I'd seen in previous films." He imagined "a much more modern, more bohemian character, who dresses more like an artist or a poet", namely Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. After leaving his position as executive for Warner Bros. in 2006,[5] Wigram sought a larger scope to the story so it could attract a large audience, and amalgamated various Holmes stories to flesh it out further.[7] Some sequences in the movie were more than suggested by uncredited incidents found in a 1979 novel Enter the Lion: A Posthumous Memoir of Mycroft Holmes. Lord Blackwood's character was developed as a nod to Victorian interests in spiritualism and the later influence of Aleister Crowley.[23] The producer felt he was "almost clever" pitting Holmes, who has an almost supernatural ability to solve crimes, against a supposedly supernatural villain. The plot point, moreover, nods to the Holmesian tale of The Hound of the Baskervilles, where a string of seemingly supernatural events is finally explained through intuitive reasoning and scientific savvy. Wigram wrote and John Watkiss drew a 25-page comic book about Holmes in place of a spec script.[23] Professor Moriarty was included in the script to set up the sequels.[24]

text: In March 2007, Warner Bros. chose to produce, seeing similarities in the concept with Batman Begins. Arthur Conan Doyle's estate had some involvement in sorting out legal issues, although the stories are in the public domain in the United States.[citation needed] Neil Marshall was set to direct,[25] but Guy Ritchie signed on to direct in June 2008.[26] When a child at boarding school, Ritchie and other pupils listened to the Holmes stories through dormitory loudspeakers. "Holmes used to talk me to sleep every night when I was seven years old," he said.[27] Therefore, his image of Holmes differed from the films. He wanted to make his film more "authentic" to Doyle,[8] explaining, "There's quite a lot of intense action sequences in the stories, [and] sometimes that hasn't been reflected in the movies."[28] Holmes' "brilliance will percolate into the action", and the film will show that his "intellect was as much of a curse as it was a blessing".[9] Ritchie sought to make Sherlock Holmes a "very contemporary film as far as the tone and texture", because it has been "a relatively long time since there's been a film version that people embraced".[28]

text: Filming[edit]

text: Filming began in October 2008.[29] The crew shot at Freemasons' Hall and St Paul's Cathedral.[24][30]

text: Filming was conducted in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Manchester Town Hall was extensively used for numerous scenes with some minor CGI modifications. The interior courtyard was used for a fight scene, the Great Hall doubled as the House of Lords and numerous areas such as the landing were used as a backdrop.[31]

text: They shot the opening scene for three days at St Bartholomew-the-Great church in London,[23] and shot on the river Thames at Wapping for a scene involving a steamboat on 7 November.[32] Filming continued at Stanley Dock and Clarence Dock in Liverpool [33] and The Historic Dockyard, Chatham.[34] Street scenes were filmed in cobbled alleyways in Chatham and Manchester. Brompton Cemetery in London was used for a key scene, and the palatial 19th-century interior of the Reform Club stood in for the Café Royal. Scenes from the interior of 221B Baker Street were shot on a sound stage at Leavesden Studios.[35]

text: In late November 2008, actor Robert Maillet, who played Dredger, was filming a fight scene at Chatham Dockyard in Kent, and accidentally punched Robert Downey Jr. in the face, causing Downey to be bloodied and knocked down, but not knocked unconscious as originally reported.[21] The Sun reported that on 28 November, a tank truck caught fire, forcing filming to stop for two hours.[36] When filming at St John's Street in December, the schedule had to be shortened from 13 to nine days because locals complained about how they would always have to park cars elsewhere during the shoot.[37] In January 2009, filming moved to Brooklyn.[38]

text: Ritchie wanted his Holmes' costume to play against the popular image of the character, joking "there is only one person in history who ever wore a deerstalker". Downey selected the character's hat, a beat-up fedora. The director kept to the tradition of making Holmes and Watson's apartment quite messy, and had it decorated with artifacts and scientific objects from the continents they would have visited.[16]

text: Music[edit]

text: The soundtrack for the film was composed by Hans Zimmer. It was released on 12 January 2010.[39]

text: Distribution[edit]

text: The film had its world premiere on 14 December 2009, in London and was subsequently released worldwide on 25 December 2009 (26 December, boxing day, in the UK and Ireland), after being pushed from a November release date.[3] An advance charity screening was held in select locations in Belgium on 10 December 2009.[40]

text: Home media[edit]

text: Sherlock Holmes was released on DVD and Blu-ray/DVD/digital on 30 March 2010 in the United States.[41] The film has since grossed $44,908,336 in DVD sales.[42]

text: Reception[edit]

text: Box office[edit]

text: The film opened to an estimated $62.4 million in its first weekend in America alone, placing in second at the US box office to Avatar, which grossed $75.6 million. The film earned a strong per-theater average of $18,031 from its 3,626 theaters. Its one-day Christmas sales broke records. Sherlock Holmes grossed $209 million in North America and $524 million worldwide[2] making it Guy Ritchie's biggest box-office success yet,[43] and the 8th highest grossing film of 2009 worldwide, and domestically. On the domestic charts, it is the fifth highest-grossing film to never hit No. 1 in the weekend box office, behind Sing, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, fellow Christmas opener Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel, and said film's predecessor.[44] Worldwide, it is the fourth highest in this category, behind Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Casino Royale, and The Day After Tomorrow.

text: Critical response[edit]

text: The film received generally positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 70% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 224 reviews, with a rating average of 6.2 out of 10, with the consensus being that "Guy Ritchie's directorial style might not be quite the best fit for an update on the legendary detective, but Sherlock Holmes benefits from the elementary appeal of a strong performance by Robert Downey, Jr."[45] Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 1–100 reviews from film critics, has a rating score of 57 based on 34 reviews.[46]

text: Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars and highlighted the film's strong characters, visuals and action-packed plot;[47] the characters were also praised by Jake Tomlinson of Shave Magazine, who believed that Downey Jr. and Law were "perfect together" and that Strong was "a convincing and creepy villain".[48]

text: A. O. Scott of the New York Times noted that the director's approach to films was "to make cool movies about cool guys with cool stuff" and that Sherlock Holmes was essentially "a series of poses and stunts" which was "intermittently diverting" at best.[49]

text: David Stratton of The Australian disliked the film's interpretation of the original Holmes stories and concluded, "The makers of this film are mainly interested in action; that, they believe, is all that gets young audiences into cinemas today. They may be right, but they have ridden roughshod over one of literature's greatest creations in the process." He praised the production design and score.[50]

text: Accolades[edit]

text: On 17 January 2010, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the winners of the 67th Golden Globe Awards with Robert Downey Jr. winning Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for the portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.[51] The Broadcast Film Critics Association nominated Hans Zimmer for Best Score but lost to Up by Michael Giacchino.[52] The film was nominated for Best Original Score and Best Art Direction at the 82nd Academy Awards. The film won Best Thriller at the Empire Awards. The film was nominated for the Vits Awards for "Best Music" and "Best Effects".[53] The film won the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture and was also nominated for Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture.[54]

text: Sequel[edit]

text: The sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, with Downey and Law reprising their roles, was released on 16 December 2011.[55]


document_title: Need for Speed Payback

question_text: where does need for speed payback take place

text: Need for Speed Payback

text: Gameplay[edit]

text: Need for Speed Payback is a racing game set in an open world environment of Fortune Valley. It is focused on "action driving" and has three playable characters (each with different sets of skills) working together to pull off action movie like sequences. In contrast with the previous game, it also features a 24-hour day-night cycle.[2] Unlike the 2015 Need for Speed reboot, Payback includes an offline single-player mode.[3]

text: Need for Speed: Payback features a total of 74 cars (81 with downloadable content), with all 2015 reboot manufacturers, except Toyota (including the Scion brand) and Ferrari, returning; the aforementioned two manufacturers do not feature in the game due to licensing issues.[4] Aston Martin, Audi, Buick, Jaguar, Koenigsegg, Land Rover, Mercury, Mini, Pagani, and Plymouth make a reappearance after their absence from the 2015 installment, while Alfa Romeo, Infiniti, Mini and Pontiac were added via Downloadable Content.

text: Plot[edit]

text: This article's plot summary may be too long or excessively detailed. Please help improve it by removing unnecessary details and making it more concise. (June 2018) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: Tyler "Ty" Morgan, Sean "Mac" McAlister, and Jessica "Jess" Miller are part of a crew in Silver Rock, Fortune Valley along with their friend and mechanic Ravindra "Rav" Chaudhry. After a friendly race between them, Tyler's childhood acquaintance and fixer Lina Navarro arrives, with a job for them: steal a precious Koenigsegg Regera belonging to Marcus "The Gambler" Weir with some high level tech inside. Tyler, posing as  a test driver, successfully steals the car and evades the police. However, as he arrives at the drop point, he finds Rav knocked out. Lina appears, revealing that she set up Tyler and his crew to take the fall for the stolen car and she drives away, leaving them at the mercy of the oncoming police force. Tyler leads the cops away from his crew and runs into The Gambler, who demands his car back. On learning that Lina betrayed both of them, Weir is angry and decides to leave Tyler to be arrested, but changes his mind and asks him to come with him so that he can be protected from being arrested.

text: Six months later, Tyler is working as a valet for Weir. As he delivers his car to his casino, Tyler spots Lina threatening Weir to hand over the casino to The House, a cartel who controls Fortune Valley's underworld. Tyler considers going after her, but Weir advises him to bide his time. Frustrated at the lack of progress, he decides to take matters into his own hands. Contacting The House as a racer, he enters a race and wins it, despite Lina having rigged the race for profit. Lina tries to have him taken out, but fails.

text: Weir proposes Tyler a way to take down The House and Lina along with it. Tyler is to enter and win "The Outlaw's Rush", a massive street racing event that has the nation's top racers participating, which The House plans to rig for their own ends. Tyler refuses at first, but when his house is blown up by Lina as a warning, he decides to accept Weir's offer and get his crew back together.

text: Since the failed mission, Mac has hit rock bottom, and has agreed to teach Internet celebrity "HashTiger" how to drift. Rav has decided to go legitimate as a mechanic, and Jess, on her own since the job, now operates as a getaway driver for the Silver Rock criminal underground. However, they agree to meet and hear out Tyler's plan for taking down The House.

text: In order to get into The Outlaw's Rush, Tyler and Mac must take down the street leagues in Fortune Valley to be accepted into the race. Meanwhile, Jess does several escorts and courier deliveries inside The House for a woman only known as The Broker. Tyler takes on and wins against La Catrina and her league, Graveyard Shift, while Mac challenges and wins against Udo Roth and his League 73. Afterwards, they get a chance to perform a heist, reclaiming Weir's Koenigsegg and delivering it back to him.

text: Tyler and Mac then challenge two leagues, Big Sister and her league Riot Club, and Shift Lock led by The Underground Soldier. Jess finds out that Lina is paying off cops and racers alike to do her bidding whenever required, and learns that she and the crew need are on the police and The House's watchlist. She also finds out that they are planning to bring something into the city called Skyhammer, and it would be operational soon.

text: Later, Tyler is contacted by La Catrina for a rematch, but on reaching there, he finds Mac and Jess there too, who have been called there on different pretexts. Realizing they have been set up by Navarro, the three are pursued by the police. During the chase, Skyhammer is revealed to be an EMP killswitch placed on the pursuit helicopter which, when activated, is capable of slowing down a car or immobilizing it if focused on for long periods. The three manage to take down the helicopter and escape the cops.

text: Exiled once again by The House, Tyler and Mac continue their quest to gain allies against The House by taking on three more leagues: The Silver Six, led by Tyler's childhood friend "Gallo" Rivera, Noise Bomb, led by Aki Kimura (originally from Need for Speed: ProStreet), and Free Ember Militia, led by Faith Jones.

text: Jess, now inside The House, continues her intel gathering on The House's operations for The Broker. She learns of two gold plated cars fitted with illegal tech that The Collector, the head of The House, is putting on display, and plans to steal them with Tyler and Mac. However, Navarro and The Collector have anticipated this and plant bombs on the cars. With the police in hot pursuit, Mac, Tyler and Rav transport the cars out of town using a semi truck. After smashing through several roadblocks, Tyler and Rav manage to detach the bombs and throw them at the pursuing police cars, ensuring their escape.

text: Jess, going back undercover, learns more about the House's activities with the help of Underground Soldier, who goes under when his cover is blown. Nevertheless, Jess manages to get the data to The Broker, where she learns The Collector is just a pawn and of something called Arkwright. Meanwhile, Tyler and Mac race against the final three leagues: Mitko Vasilev's Diamond Block, Holtzman's Hazard Company and Natalia "SuperNova" Nova's One Percent Club, all of whom are on The House's payroll. After winning, Tyler and his crew learn they have successfully made it into The Outlaw's Rush.

text: Knowing that Navarro would do anything to ensure that they don't win, Rav outfits the cars with countermeasures that prevent them from being hit by the killswitches, which have been set up on several police cars as well. Tyler decides to run both the street and the off-road races. During the street leg, Navarro sends the league bosses under her payroll to stop him, but they all fail. During the off-road leg, Navarro resorts to sending the cops after Tyler, but all the crews he and Mac have gained as allies intervene by creating multiple distractions across Fortune Valley, to draw away the cops, as well as take down the units chasing Tyler.

text: Left with no option, Navarro decides to race against Tyler herself. During the race, The Collector calls and offers Tyler to replace Navarro as his lieutenant by convincing him to lose the race, but he refuses. Tyler eventually wins The Outlaw's Rush for Silver Rock, while Navarro is left at the mercy of The Collector's thugs for her failure. The game ends with the crew deciding to race each other home.

text: In a post-credits scene, Mr. Kobashi, a customer whom Jess had driven, calls Weir and tells him his gamble worked, and that The Collector is finished. He welcomes Weir to the aforementioned Arkwright and Weir hangs up, satisfied.

text: Development[edit]

text: In January 2016, Ghost Games began development on the next Need for Speed game to be released in 2017.[5][better source needed] Electronic Arts later confirmed in their January 2017 earnings call that the next game in the franchise was in development and set to be launched during EA's fiscal year 2018 (Comprising from April 2017 to March 2018).[6]

text: Soundtrack[edit]

text: The soundtrack features songs by A$AP Ferg, Action Bronson, Barns Courtney, Gorillaz, Jacob Banks, Jaden Smith, Nothing but Thieves, Queens of the Stone Age, Rae Sremmurd, Royal Blood, Run the Jewels, Skepta, Spoon, Post Malone and X Ambassadors. Payback also features DJ Shadow and Nas song "Systematic", which was created for the Mike Judge television series Silicon Valley.

text: Reception[edit]

text: ReceptionAggregate scoreAggregatorScoreMetacritic(PC) 62/100[7](PS4) 61/100[8](XONE) 61/100[9]Review scoresPublicationScoreEGM4/10[10]GameSpot5/10[11]GamesRadar+[12]IGN5.9/10[13]Polygon6.5/10[14]

text: Need for Speed Payback received "mixed or average" reviews from critics, according to review aggregator Metacritic.[8][9][7]

text: Luke Reilly of IGN praised Electronic Arts for repairing the problems of the game's predecessor, Need for Speed, but criticized its "scripted" story, lack of police chases during free roam, scripted police chases, loot box-like mechanisms during customization, poor car handling, unrealistic car damage and several other issues.[13] PC World criticized the game for being full of microtransactions, the severely limited customizability of cars, gameplay mechanics, a lack of cockpit view and several more issues, even going so far as to compare it harshly to the Forza Horizon series.[15]

text: According to The NPD Group, Payback was the eighth best-selling title in the United States for the month of November 2017.[16]

text:
Year
Award
Category
Result
Ref

2017

Game Critics Awards

Best Racing Game

Nominated

[17]

Gamescom 2017

Best Racing Game

Nominated

[18]

2018

National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards

Song Collection

Nominated

[19]


document_title: Government of the United Kingdom

question_text: what type of government does great britain have now

text: Government of the United Kingdom

text: Government in Parliament[edit]

text: A key principle of the British Constitution is that the government is responsible to Parliament. This is called responsible government.

text: The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy in which the reigning monarch (that is, the King or Queen who is the Head of State at any given time) does not make any open political decisions. All political decisions are taken by the government and Parliament. This constitutional state of affairs is the result of a long history of constraining and reducing the political power of the monarch, beginning with the Magna Carta in 1215.

text: Parliament is split into two houses: the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The House of Commons is the lower house and is the more powerful. The House of Lords is the upper house and although it can vote to amend proposed laws, the House of Commons can usually vote to overrule its amendments. Although the House of Lords can introduce bills, most important laws are introduced in the House of Commons – and most of those are introduced by the government, which schedules the vast majority of parliamentary time in the Commons. Parliamentary time is essential for bills to be passed into law, because they must pass through a number of readings before becoming law. Prior to introducing a bill, the government may run a public consultation to solicit feedback from the public and businesses, and often may have already introduced and discussed the policy in the Queen's Speech, or in an election manifesto or party platform.

text: Ministers of the Crown are responsible to the House in which they sit; they make statements in that House and take questions from members of that House. For most senior ministers this is usually the elected House of Commons rather than the House of Lords. There have been some recent exceptions to this: for example, cabinet ministers Lord Mandelson (First Secretary of State) and Lord Adonis (Secretary of State for Transport) sat in the Lords and were responsible to that House during the government of Gordon Brown.

text: Since the start of Edward VII's reign in 1901, the prime minister has always been an elected member of Parliament (MP) and therefore directly accountable to the House of Commons. A similar convention applies to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. It would likely be politically unacceptable for the budget speech to be given in the Lords, with MPs unable to directly question the Chancellor, especially now that the Lords have very limited powers in relation to money bills. The last Chancellor of the Exchequer to be a member of the House of Lords was Lord Denman, who served as interim Chancellor of the Exchequer for one month in 1834.[8]

text: Under the British system, the government is required by convention and for practical reasons to maintain the confidence of the House of Commons. It requires the support of the House of Commons for the maintenance of supply (by voting through the government's budgets) and to pass primary legislation. By convention, if a government loses the confidence of the House of Commons it must either resign or a General Election is held. The support of the Lords, while useful to the government in getting its legislation passed without delay, is not vital. A government is not required to resign even if it loses the confidence of the Lords and is defeated in key votes in that House. The House of Commons is thus the Responsible house.

text: The prime minister is held to account during Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) which provides an opportunity for MPs from all parties to question the PM on any subject. There are also departmental questions when ministers answer questions relating to their specific departmental brief. Unlike PMQs both the cabinet ministers for the department and junior ministers within the department may answer on behalf of the government, depending on the topic of the question.

text: During debates on legislation proposed by the government, ministers—usually with departmental responsibility for the bill—will lead the debate for the government and respond to points made by MPs or Lords.

text: Committees[9] of both the House of Commons and House of Lords hold the government to account, scrutinise its work and examine in detail proposals for legislation. Ministers appear before committees to give evidence and answer questions.

text: Government ministers are also required by convention and the Ministerial Code,[10] when Parliament is sitting, to make major statements regarding government policy or issues of national importance to Parliament. This allows MPs or Lords to question the government on the statement. When the government instead chooses to make announcements first outside Parliament, it is often the subject of significant criticism from MPs and the Speaker of the House of Commons.[11]

text: Her Majesty's Government and the Crown[edit]

text: The British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II, is the head of state and the sovereign, but not the head of government.

text: The monarch takes little direct part in governing the country, and remains neutral in political affairs. However, the legal authority of the state that is vested in the sovereign, known as The Crown, remains the source of the executive power exercised by the government.

text: In addition to explicit statutory authority, in many areas the Crown also possesses a body of powers known as the Royal Prerogative, which can be used for many purposes, from the issue or withdrawal of passports to declaration of war. By long-standing custom, most of these powers are delegated from the sovereign to various ministers or other officers of the Crown, who may use them without having to obtain the consent of Parliament.

text: The head of the government, the prime minister, also has weekly meetings with the monarch, when she "has a right and a duty to express her views on Government matters...These meetings, as with all communications between The Queen and her Government, remain strictly confidential. Having expressed her views, The Queen abides by the advice of her ministers."[12]

text: Royal Prerogative powers include, but are not limited to, the following:

text: Domestic powers[edit]

text:
The power to appoint (and also, in theory, dismiss) a prime minister. This power is exercised by the monarch herself. By convention she appoints (and is expected to appoint) the individual most likely to be capable of commanding the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons.
The power to dismiss and appoint other ministers. This power is exercised by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister.
The power to assent to and enact laws by giving [Royal] Assent to Bills passed by both Houses of Parliament, which is required in order for a law to (from a passed Bill) make it into the Statute Books (i.e., to become a valid law) as an Act [of Parliament]. This is exercised by the monarch, who also theoretically has the power to refuse assent, although no monarch has refused assent to a bill passed by Parliament since Queen Anne in 1708.
The power to give and to issue commissions to commissioned officers in the Armed Forces.
The power to command the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom. This power is exercised by the Defence Council in the Queen's name.
The power to appoint members to Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.
The power to issue (and also to suspend, cancel, recall, impound, withdraw or revoke) British passports and the general power to provide (or deny) British passport facilities to British citizens and British nationals. This is exercised (in the United Kingdom, but not necessarily in the case of the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands or the British Overseas Territories) by the Home Secretary.
The Royal Prerogative of mercy (although capital punishment has been abolished (thereby removing the need to use this power to issue pardons to commute a death penalty imposed, usually substituted into life imprisonment in lieu), this power is still used under rare circumstances (e.g. to remedy errors in sentencing calculation).
The power to grant (and also to cancel and annul) honours.
The power to create corporations (including the status of being a city, with its own corporation) by Royal Charter, and also to amend, replace and revoke existing charters.

text: Foreign powers[edit]

text:
The power to ratify and make treaties.
The power to declare war and conclude peace with other nations.
The power to deploy the Armed Forces overseas.
The power to recognise states.
The power to credit and receive diplomats.

text: Even though the United Kingdom has no single constitutional document, the government published the above list in October 2003 to increase transparency, as some of the powers exercised in the name of the monarch are part of the Royal Prerogative.[13] However, the complete extent of the Royal Prerogative powers has never been fully set out, as many of them originated in ancient custom and the period of absolute monarchy, or were modified by later constitutional practice,

text: Government departments[edit]

text: Government ministers are supported by 560,000[14] Civil Servants and other staff working in the 24 Ministerial Departments[15] and their executive agencies. There are also an additional 26 non-Ministerial Departments with a range of further responsibilities.

text: Location[edit]

text: The prime minister is based at 10 Downing Street in Westminster, London. Cabinet meetings also take place here. Most government departments have their headquarters nearby in Whitehall.

text: Devolved governments[edit]

text: Since 1999, certain areas of central government have been devolved to accountable governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. These are not part of Her Majesty's Government, and are accountable to their own institutions, with their own authority under the Crown; in contrast, there is no devolved government in England.

text: Local government[edit]

text: Up to three layers of elected local authorities (such as County, District and Parish Councils) exist throughout all parts of the United Kingdom, in some places merged into Unitary Authorities. They have limited local tax-raising powers. Many other authorities and agencies also have statutory powers, generally subject to some central government supervision.

text: Limits of government power[edit]

text: The government's powers include general executive and statutory powers, delegated legislation, and numerous powers of appointment and patronage. However, some powerful officials and bodies, (e.g. HM judges, local authorities, and the Charity Commissions) are legally more or less independent of the government, and government powers are legally limited to those retained by the Crown under Common Law or granted and limited by Act of Parliament, and are subject to European Union law and the competencies that it defines. Both substantive and procedural limitations are enforceable in the Courts by judicial review.

text: Nevertheless, magistrates and mayors can still be arrested for and put on trial for corruption, and the government has powers to insert commissioners into a local authority to oversee its work, and to issue directives that must be obeyed by the local authority, if the local authority is not abiding by its statutory obligations.[16]

text: By contrast, as in every other European Union (EU) member state, EU officials cannot be prosecuted for any actions carried out in pursuit of their official duties, and foreign country diplomats (though not their employees) and foreign Members of the European Parliament[17] are immune from prosecution in the UK under any circumstance. As a consequence, neither EU bodies nor diplomats have to pay taxes, since it would not be possible to prosecute them for tax evasion. This caused a dispute in recent years when the US Ambassador to the UK claimed that London's congestion charge was a tax, and not a charge (despite the name), and therefore he did not have to pay it – a claim the Greater London Authority disputed.

text: Similarly, the monarch is totally immune from criminal prosecution and may only be sued with her permission (this is known as sovereign immunity). The monarch, by law, is not required to pay income tax, but Queen Elizabeth II has voluntarily paid it since 1993, and also pays local rates voluntarily. However, the monarchy also receives a substantial grant from the government, the Sovereign Support Grant, and Queen Elizabeth II's inheritance from her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, was exempt from inheritance tax.

text: In addition to legislative powers, HM Government has substantial influence over local authorities and other bodies set up by it, by financial powers and grants. Many functions carried out by local authorities, such as paying out housing benefit and council tax benefit, are funded or substantially part-funded by central government.

text: Even though the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is supposed to be independent of the government on a day-to-day level and is supposed to be politically unbiased, some commentators[by whom?] have argued that the prospects of the BBC having its funding cut or its charter changed in future charter renewals in practice cause the BBC to be subtly biased towards the government of the day (or the likely future government as an election approaches) at times.

text: Neither the central government nor local authorities are permitted to sue anyone for defamation. Individual politicians are allowed to sue people for defamation in a personal capacity and without using government funds, but this is relatively rare (although George Galloway, who was a backbench MP for a quarter of a century, has sued or threatened to sue for defamation a number of times). However, it is a criminal offence to make a false statement about any election candidate during an election, with the purpose of reducing the number of votes they receive (as with libel, opinions do not count).


document_title: Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

question_text: when was the wildlife protection act implemented in india

text: Wildlife Protection Act, 1972

text: History[edit]

text: The "Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972" was enacted by Parliament of India in 1972.[2]

text: Definitions under the Act (Section 2)[edit]

text:
"animal" includes amphibians, birds, mammals, and reptiles, and their young ones, and also includes, in the cases of birds and reptiles, their eggs.
"animal article" means an article made from any captive or wild animal, other than vermin, and includes an article or object in which the whole or any part of such animal has been used and an article made therefrom.
"hunting" includes

text:
"taxidermy" means the curing, preparation or preservation of trophies.
"trophy" means the whole or any part of any captive or wild animal (other than vermin) which has been kept or preserved by any means, whether artificial or natural. This includes:

text:
"uncured trophy" means the whole or any part of any captive animal (other than vermin) which has not undergone a process of taxidermy. This includes a freshly killed wild animal, ambergris, musk and other animal products.
"vermin" means any wild animal specified in Schedule V.
"wildlife" includes any animal, bees, butterflies, crustacean, fish and moths; and aquatic or land vegetation which forms part of any habitat

text: Hunting (Section 9)[edit]

text:
This section describes what constitutes hunting and the intent to hunt.
Hunting wild animals is prohibited.

text: Ownership (Section 40 & 42)[edit]

text: Regarding ownership issues and trade licences . Ownership will be not transfer to another party he also a regarding issues to trade licence.

text: Penalties (Section 51)[edit]

text: Penalties are predescribed in section 51. Enforcement can be performed by agencies such as the Forest Department, the Police, the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the Customs and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Chargesheets can be filed directly by the Forest Department. Other enforcement agencies, often due to the lack of technical expertise, hand over cases to the Forest Department.

text: Amendments[edit]

text: The Code has been amended several times.

text:
S. No.

Short title of amending legislation

No.

Year

1

Wild Life (Protection ) Amendment Act 1982

1982

2

Wild Life (Protection ) Amendment Act 1986

1986

3

Wild Life (Protection ) Amendment Act 1991

1991

4

Wild Life (Protection ) Amendment Act 1993

1993

5

Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002[3]

2002

6

Wild Life (Protection ) Amendment Act 2006

2006

7

Wild Life (Protection ) Amendment Act 2013

2013

text: 2002 Amendment[edit]

text: The 2002 Amendment Act which came into force in January, 2003 have made punishment and penalty for offences under the Act more stringent.

text: Offences[edit]

text:
For offences relating to wild animals (or their parts and products) included in schedule-I or part II of Schedule- II and those relating to hunting or altering the boundaries of a sanctuary or national park the punishment and penalty have been enhanced, the minimum imprisonment prescribed is three years which may extend to seven years, with a minimum fine of Rs. 10,000/-. For a subsequent offence of this nature, the term of imprisonment shall not be less than three years but may extend to seven years with a minimum fine of saanvi  Rs. 25,000. Also a new section (51 - A) has been inserted in the Act, making certain conditions applicable while granting bail:
'When any person accused of the commission of any offence relating to Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II or offences relating to hunting inside the boundaries of National Park or Wildlife Sanctuary or altering the boundaries of such parks and sanctuaries, is arrested under the provisions of the Act, then not withstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973, no such person who had been previously convicted of an offence under this Act shall be released on bail unless -[4]

text:
(a) The Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity of opposing the release on bail; and
-[4]
(b) Where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offences and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail".

text: In order to improve the intelligence gathering in wildlife crime, the existing provision for rewarding the informers has been increased from 20% of the fine and composition money respectively to 50% in each case. In addition to this, a reward up to Rs. 10,000/- is also proposed to be given to the informants and others who provide assistance in detection of crime and apprehension of the offender.

text: At present, persons having ownership certificate in respect of Schedule I and Part II animals, can sell or gift such articles. This has been amended with a view to curb illegal trade, and thus no person can now acquire Schedule I or Part II of Schedule II animals, articles or trophies except by way of inheritance (except live elephants).

text: Stringent measures have also been proposed to forfeit the properties of hardcore criminals who have already been convicted in the past for heinous wildlife crimes. These provisions are similar to the provisions of 'Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985'. Provisions have also been made empowering officials to evict encroachments from Protected Areas.

text: Offences not pertaining to hunting of endangered species[edit]

text:
Offences related to trade and commerce in trophies, animals articles etc. derived from certain animals  (exception: chapter V A and section 38J) attracts a term of imprisonment up to three years and/or a fine up to Rs. 25,000/-.
[5]


document_title: List of World Heritage Sites in Egypt

question_text: when was abu simbel listed as a world heritage site

text: List of World Heritage Sites in Egypt

text: World Heritage Sites[edit]

text:
Site
Image
Location
Criteria
Area
ha (acre)
Year
Description

Abu Mena

EgyptAlexandria Governorate,
 Egypt
30°51′00″N 29°40′00″E / 30.85000°N 29.66667°E / 30.85000; 29.66667
Cultural:EgyAbu
(iv)
7006183000000000000♠183 (450)
1979
The ruins of the former Christian holy city contain a church, a baptistery, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses, and workshops, and were built over the tomb of Menas of Alexandria.[2]

Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis

EgyptLuxor Governorate,
 Egypt
25°44′00″N 32°36′00″E / 25.73333°N 32.60000°E / 25.73333; 32.60000
Cultural:EgyAnc
(i)(iii)(vi)
7007739000000000000♠7,390 (18,300)
1979
The former capital of Egypt and the city of Amun, Thebes contains temples and palaces at Karnak and Luxor, as well as the necropolises at the Valley of the Kings and the Valley of the Queens, bearing witness to the height of the Egyptian civilization.[3]

Historic Cairo

EgyptCairo Governorate,
 Egypt
30°03′00″N 31°15′40″E / 30.05000°N 31.26111°E / 30.05000; 31.26111
Cultural:EgyHis
(i)(v)(vi)
7006524000000000000♠524 (1,290)
1979
One of the world's oldest Islamic cities and in the middle of urban Cairo, the site dates from the 10th century and reached its golden age in the 14th century. It contains mosques, madrasah, hammams and fountains.[4]

Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

EgyptCairo Governorate,
 Egypt
30°03′00″N 31°15′40″E / 30.05000°N 31.26111°E / 30.05000; 31.26111
Cultural:EgyHis
(i)(v)(vi)
7008163585200000000♠16,358.52 (40,422.8)
1979
The capital of the Old Kingdom of Egypt has some extraordinary funerary monuments, including rock tombs, ornate mastabas, temples and pyramids. In ancient times, the site was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.[5]

Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae

EgyptAswan Governorate,
 Egypt
22°20′11″N 31°37′34″E / 22.33639°N 31.62611°E / 22.33639; 31.62611
Cultural:EgyNub
(i)(iii)(vi)
7006374000000000000♠374 (920)
1979
Located along the Nile, the site contains monuments such as the Temple of Ramesses II at Abu Simbel and the Sanctuary of Isis at Philae, saved from being submerged by Lake Nasser as a result of the construction of the Aswan Dam.[6]

Saint Catherine Area

EgyptSouth Sinai Governorate,
 Egypt
28°33′22″N 33°58′32″E / 28.55611°N 33.97556°E / 28.55611; 33.97556
Cultural:EgySai
(i)(iii)(iv)(vi)
7008601000000000000♠60,100 (149,000)
2002
The orthodox monastery of Saint Catherine is among the oldest Christian monasteries still in function. Dating from the 6th century, it is positioned near Mount Horeb where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Tablets of the Law. The region is sacred for Christians, Muslims and Jews.[7]

Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)

EgyptFaiyum Governorate,
 Egypt
29°20′00″N 30°11′00″E / 29.33333°N 30.18333°E / 29.33333; 30.18333
Natural:EgyWad
(viii)
7008200150000000000♠20,015 (49,460)
2005
Located in western Egypt, Wadi Al-Hitan contains fossil remains of the now extinct Archaeoceti, mapping the evolution of the whales from a land-based to an aquatic mammal.[8]

text: Tentative list[edit]

text: In addition to sites inscribed on the World Heritage list, member states can maintain a list of tentative sites that they may consider for nomination. Nominations for the World Heritage list are only accepted if the site was previously listed on the tentative list.[9] As of 2016, Egypt lists thirty-three properties on its tentative list:[1]

text:
Name
Date

Siwa archaeological area
1994

Temple of Serabit Khadem
1994

North Sinai Archaeological Sites Zone
1994

Temple of Hator built by Ramses III
1994

Dahshour archaeological area
1994

El Fayoum : Kom Aushim (Karanis), Dimai (Soknopaiounesos), Qasr Qarun (Dionysias), Batn I hrit (Theadelphia), Byahma-Medinet el Fayoum (Krokodilopolis or Arsinoe), Abgig-Hawara, Seila-Medient Madi (Narmouthis), tell Umm el-Breigat (tebtunis)
1994

El-Gendi Fortress
1994

Rutho Monastery
1994

Wadi Feiran
1994

Pharaon Island
1994

Dahab
1994

Minia
1994

Newibah castle
1994

Ras Mohammed
2002

Gebel Qatrani Area, Lake Qaroun Nature Reserve
2003

Southern and Smaller Oases, the Western Desert
2003

Bird Migration Routes
2003

Desert Wadis
2003

Mountain Chains
2003

Great Desert Landscapes
2003

Alexandria, ancient remains and the new library
2003

Abydos, city of pilgrimage of the Pharaohs
2003

Pharaonic temples in Upper Egypt from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods
2003

Necropolises of Middle Egypt, from the Middle Empire to the Roman period
2003

Raoudha nilometre in Cairo
2003

The monasteries of the Arab Desert and Wadi Natrun
2003

Two citadels in Sinai from the Saladin period (Al-Gundi and Pharaoh's island)
2003

The An-Nakhl fortress, a stage on the pilgrimage route to Mecca
2003

Oasis of Fayoum, hydraulic remains and ancient cultural landscapes
2003

Historic quarters and monuments of Rosetta/Rachid
2003

Dababiya
2008

Helwan Observatory
2010

Kharga Oasis and the Small Southern Oases
2015


document_title: Blue Exorcist

question_text: who sings the opening song for blue exorcist

text: Blue Exorcist

text: Overview[edit]

text: Setting[edit]

text: The world of Blue Exorcist consists of two dimensions, attached to each other as a mirror and its reflection. The first is the material world where humans live, Assiah (物質界), and the other is Gehenna (虚無界（ゲヘナ）), the world of demons, which is ruled by Satan. Originally, a journey between the worlds, or even a contact between them, is impossible. However, any demon is able to pass to the dimension of Assiah through the possession of a living being in it. Even so, in history there are demons wandering among humans and only those who can see are those who have had direct contact with a demon of any level.

text: In contrast, there are those called Exorcists, people who train to destroy demons who act in a damaging manner in Assiah. With more than two thousand years of existence, this group has several branches all over the world, being secretly under the command of the Vatican itself and acting in a subterfuge way to the masses.

text: Plot[edit]

text: The story revolves around Rin Okumura, who, along with his younger twin Yukio Okumura, was raised by Father Shiro Fujimoto, an Exorcist. One day, Rin learns that he and Yukio are the sons of Satan. Witnessing Shiro dying to protect him, Rin draws the demon-slaying sword Kurikara (倶利伽羅), which restrains his demonic powers. From that moment on, Rin not only gains demonic features like fangs and a tail, but also the power to ignite into blue flames that destroy almost anything they touch.

text: Rin wishes to become an Exorcist like his guardian to become stronger and to defeat Satan. He enrolls at the prestigious True Cross Academy (正十字学園, Sei Jūji Gakuen), an exorcist cram school, which is actually the Japanese branch of the True Cross Order (正十字騎士團), an international organization dedicated to protect Assiah (human realm) from the Gehenna (demonic realm). Much to his surprise, Rin finds that Yukio is already a veteran Exorcist and is one of his teachers. Thus begins Rin's journey to become an Exorcist, accompanied by his brother and his fellow students who quickly become his close friends.

text: Production[edit]

text: Kazue Kato took inspiration from the 2005 film The Brothers Grimm, as she tried to work the angle of brothers fighting against monsters into a story. She eventually decided on making the story about demons and exorcists, thus conceiving Blue Exorcist.[3] Due to exorcists being the main idea of the story, the manga features a lot of Biblical references. In an interview with Anime News Network, Kato said: "I should not run away from these references if I'm working in the Exorcist genre."[3] An ending was planned by Kato but the exact length of the series has yet to be decided based on the manga's popularity in Japan.[4]

text: Media[edit]

text: Manga[edit]

text: The chapters of the Blue Exorcist manga series are written and illustrated by Kazue Kato and have been serialized by Shueisha in the monthly manga magazine Jump SQ since April 2009.[5] The first tankōbon volume was released on August 4, 2009;[6] eighteen volumes have been released as of December 31, 2016.[7] The one-shot of the manga was first featured in the September 2008 issue of Jump SQ and was titled Miyamauguisu House Case (深山鶯邸事件, Miyamauguisu-tei Jiken).[8]

text: The series was licensed by Viz Media for release in North America, with the first volume released on April 5, 2011;[5] sixteen volumes have been released as of December 6, 2016 and a 17th volume is scheduled for July 4, 2017.[9] Blue Exorcist has also been released as part of the Shōnen Jump Advance imprint starting April 5, 2011.[10]

text: The series is also licensed in France by Kazé Manga, with the first volume released on May 27, 2010,[11] and in Poland by Waneko.[12]

text: A spin-off focused on Rin's brother Yukio is running on Jump SQ.19, titled Salaryman Exorcist: The Sorrows of Yukio Okumura (サラリーマン祓魔師 奥村雪男の哀愁, Salaryman Futsumashi Okumura Yukio no Aishū). It is also written by Kazue Kato, but with illustrations by Minoru Sasaki.

text: Anime[edit]

text: An anime adaption for the manga was announced on November 27, 2010 on Shueisha's Jump SQ official website.[13] The anime was produced by A-1 Pictures with Hitoshi Okamura as the producer. Originally, the series was scheduled to air on April 10, 2011 on MBS, replacing Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto; however, due to the March 11, 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami the series' broadcast was delayed until April 17, 2011.[14] The anime ended on October 2, 2011.

text: Four pieces of theme music are used for the episodes: two opening themes and two ending themes. The opening theme for the first 12 episodes is "Core Pride" by Japanese rock band Uverworld,[15] while the opening theme from episode 13 onwards is "In My World" by Japanese rock band ROOKiEZ is PUNK'D. The ending theme for the first 12 episodes is "Take Off" by South Korean boy band 2PM,[16] while the ending theme from episode 13 through episode 25 is "Wired Life" by Japanese singer Meisa Kuroki.

text: Aniplex announced they would simulcast the series in North America through video sites Hulu, Crunchyroll, Anime News Network and Netflix starting on April 20, 2011.[17] Aniplex of America released Blue Exorcist on DVD in four sets, starting by releasing the first DVD on October 18, 2011.[18] An Original Animated Video (also known as an OVA) has also been released in 2011, called Ao No Exorcist: Kuro no Iede. The series began broadcasting in the United States and Canada on Viz Media's online network, Neon Alley, on October 2, 2012.[19] The series began airing on Adult Swim's Toonami block on February 23, 2014 and finished airing on August 10, 2014.[20]

text: After six years, a second season,[21] titled Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga, was announced in June 2016 and premiered on January 7, 2017.[22][23] Koichi Hatsumi directed the sequel, while Toshiya Ōno wrote the scripts, Keigo Sasaki designed the characters, and Hiroyuki Sawano and Kohta Yamamoto composed the series' soundtrack. A-1 Pictures returned to produce the animation.[24][25] It was also announced that there would be five new characters in the sequel. The opening theme song was "Itteki no Eikyō" (一滴の影響, lit. "Drop's Influence") by Uverworld, while the ending theme song was "Kono Te de" (コノ手デ, lit. "With This Hand") by Rin Akatsuki.[26]

text: The plot of the anime contains anime-exclusive story arcs since the anime and the manga diverge significantly starting with episode 18 of the first anime season. The original ending contained within the first season's final eight episodes is ignored in the second season, with the anime story timeline once again following the narrative of the manga. The story events which take place in the second season correspond to volumes 5 through 9 of the manga.[27]

text: Other[edit]

text: A stage play based on the series titled Live Act Ao no Exorcist ~Mashin no Rakuin~ ran for nine performances at the Nippon Seinenkan hall in Tokyo's Shinjuku ward from May 11 to 17 during 2012. Satoshi Owada directed and wrote scripts for the play. Main characters Rin and Yukio Okumura were portrayed by Ryou Kimura and Kimito Totani respectively.[28] A light novel titled Ao no Exorcist: Weekend Hero was written by Aya Yajima and illustrated by Kato. It was released by Shueisha on September 2, 2011.[29] A visual novel for PlayStation Portable, Ao no Exorcist: Genkoku no Labyrinth was released on April 26, 2012 by Bandai Namco Games.[30] Ao no Exorcist Movie is based on the manga and anime series and was released on December 28, 2012 in Japan.

text: Reception[edit]

text: As of November 2016, Blue Exorcist has sold over 15 million copies.[31] The manga has been popular in Japan with the seventh volume receiving first print run of one million copies becoming the first Jump SQ manga to reach such milestone. The release of the anime also drastically increased the manga's sales to the point that Shueisha decided to increase the print run for the seventh volume.[29] Critics have praised the Blue Exorcist manga with Comic Book Bin reviewer Leroy Douresseaux feeling the first volume had potential, enjoying the comedy in the work and the characters and their interactions, recommending it to teen readers.[32] Danica Davidson from Otaku USA felt that while the series employs disturbing storytelling, Rin's heroic traits despite being Satan's son make the plot more appealing to the readers.[33] Kato's artwork has been praised by Anime News Network's Carlo Santos for the way each character has distinct traits while background images are well designed.[34] Despite noting that the story uses several clichés, Carl Kimlinger from the same site emphasized how the execution was well-performed, resulting in entertaining episodes, especially its fight scenes, which were noted to be one of the anime's strongest points.[35]