TOKYO (AFP) - Japan’s Toyota Motor may recall its vehicles in Europe due to an accelerator problem that triggered massive recalls in the United States, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

The world’s largest automaker is considering recalling Corolla, RAV4 and other models produced and sold in Europe, the Mainichi Shimbun reported, adding that it was not clear how many vehicles were involved.

The models are equipped with similar accelerator pedal parts to those of 2.3 million vehicles recalled in the United States, the latest in a series of recalls by Toyota, the daily said.

The Japanese company’s US division said Thursday that the recall was to correct accelerator pedals on the vehicles that become worn and then in some cases get lodged in a partially depressed position.

The action was separate to an ongoing recall of about 4.2 million Toyota and Lexus vehicles that began last year due to a risk of loose floor mats slipping forward and jamming the pedals.

An unnamed senior official of the company told the daily: “We cannot tell how much this recall will cost, but it can be handled within our reserve (for unexpected troubles).”

But Mainichi said a decline in Toyota’s reputation for quality following the malfunction may trim its earnings, adding it could take time for Toyota to recover customers’ confidence in its production.

Toyota, which overtook US rival GM in 2008 as the world’s largest automaker, returned to profit in the three months to September and upgraded its outlook for the rest of the year thanks to demand for fuel-efficient cars.

Amber Evangeline Valletta (born February 2, 1973) is an American model and actress. She is best known for her roles in the movies Hitch, Transporter 2 and Gamer.

Early life

Valletta was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Her mother worked at the post office. Shortly after her birth, her family moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. She attended Booker T. Washington High School. She got her start in the fashion industry when her mother enrolled her in modeling school at the age of fifteen at the Linda Layman Agency.
Career

Valletta has gone on to act in several films, been on the cover of magazines and in advertisements for Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein and Versace and hosted MTV’s House of Style with friend and fellow model Shalom Harlow. Her next movie is The Spy Next Door, starring Jackie Chan, George Lopez, and Billy Ray Cyrus. She plays the mother of a child who accidentally downloads a CIA code from the internet.

Personal life

Valletta is married to Olympic volleyball player Christian “Chip” McCaw with whom she has a daughter. Her second born child, a son named Auden was fathered by a London musician named Russell. Her first marriage, in 1994, was to Hervé Le Bihan. They divorced in 1996.

Valletta also serves as the spokesperson for Oceana’s Seafood Contamination Campaign,where she brings awareness of the dangers of mercury poisoning in various kinds of seafood. The decision to join Oceana’s campaign was prompted by the mercury-poisoning experience of a friend and the fact that she is a mother.

In August 2006, the New York Daily News reported that Valletta completed a stint at The Meadow rehabilitation facility in Wickenburg, Arizona, for stress and non-substance-related issues. Valletta told People magazine, “As was correctly reported earlier this week, my stay at The Meadows had nothing to do with substance abuse or addiction; I am pleased to say I have seven years’ sobriety. But I continue every day to heal and grow as a person”.

In January 2008, she participated in a video for Barack Obama produced by Will.I.Am called “Yes We Can” along with her son Auden, whom she was holding in her arms.

Filmography

* Drop Back Ten (2000) - Mindy Deal
* What Lies Beneath (2000) - Madison Elizabeth Frank
* The Family Man (2000) - Paula
* Perfume (2001) - Blair
* Max Keeble’s Big Move (2001) - Ms. Dingman
* Duplex (2003) - Celine
* Raising Helen (2004) - Martina
* Hitch (2005) - Allegra Cole
* Transporter 2 (2005) - Audrey Billings
* Man About Town (2006) - Brynn Lilly
* Dead Silence (2007) - Ella
* Premonition (2007) - Claire
* My Sexiest Year (2007) - Marina
* The Last Time (2007) - Belisa
* Days of Wrath (2008) - Jane Summers
* Gamer (2009) - Angie
* The Spy Next Door (2010)

Television

* Hysteria - The Def Leppard Story (2001) - Lorelei Shellist
* Lucky (2003) - Sarah
* Rock Me Baby (2004) - Summer
* Punk’d (2005) - Herself
o Originally scheduled to appear on Season 6 Episode 3, but moved to Season 6 Episode 4 due to Terrell Owens suspension.

Nadia Petrova (born June 8, 1982 in Moscow, Russia) is a Russian professional tennis player. Overall, she has won 27 WTA Titles, nine in singles and eighteen in doubles. In singles, Petrova has reached a career high ranking of World No. 3 in May 2006 and has reached the semi-finals of the French Open in 2003 and 2005. In doubles, she won the year-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in 2004 with Meghann Shaughnessy. As of December 14, 2009, Petrova is ranked World No. 20 in singles and No. 16 in doubles.

Biography

Early life

Petrova was born in Moscow. Her parents were both very athletic - her father Viktor was a leading hammer thrower, while her mother Nadezhda Ilyina won a bronze medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics in the 400 meter relay. Both her parents are still athletics coaches. As a child, Nadia did a lot of travelling around the world with her parents. She eventually settled in Egypt, where she trained with Mohammed Seif and her parents.

Career

Early career

As a junior, Petrova won the 1998 French Open, beating Jelena Dokić in the final. The same year she finished runner-up at the Orange Bowl to Elena Dementieva and she also finished runner-up at the junior 1999 US Open to Lina Krasnoroutskaya. In May 1998, she played her first WTA tournament at the J&S Cup as a wildcard entrant. She also received a wildcard for her home event in Moscow, the Kremlin Cup, where she picked up her first top twenty win over Iva Majoli. By the end of 1999, Petrova had reached the top 100.

In 2000, she reached the third round of the Australian Open and the quarterfinals of the Ericsson Open, beating Julie Halard-Decugis for her first top ten win before losing to Lindsay Davenport. She finished the season at No. 50. She reached the fourth round of both French Open and the US Open in 2001 and her ranking hit a high of No. 38 during the season. However, her 2002 season was marred by injuries causing her ranking to drop out of the top 100.

2003-2006: Top Form

Ranked No. 76 in the world, she reached the semifinals of the French Open, beating former No. 1’s Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati to reach the semifinals. Later in the year, she reached her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final in Linz, losing to Ai Sugiyama 7-5, 6-4. By the end of the 2003 season, she had reached No. 12.
Nadia Petrova.jpg

Petrova reached her second WTA final at Gold Coast, losing once again to Ai Sugiyama 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. She was upset in the first round of the Australian Open to Anikó Kapros, losing 6-3, 6-3.

In March 2004, she hit the top ten at No. 9 after reaching the semifinals of the NASDAQ-100 Open. She reached the semifinals at the Bausch & Lomb Championships, beating second-seeded Serena Williams before losing to Lindsay Davenport. After this, her ranking elevated to a career high of No. 7. However, she failed to defend her semifinal points from the 2003 French Open, losing to Marlene Weingärtner in the third round 6-3, 6-2.

At the US Open, she pulled off the biggest win of her career by defeating Justine Henin 6-3, 6-2 in the fourth round. It was Petrova’s first victory over a world No. 1. She lost in the quarterfinals to eventual champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6, 6-3. She finished the season at No. 12.

Petrova reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, losing to the eventual champion Serena Williams, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. She reached her third career final at the Qatar Total German Open in May, beating Mary Pierce, Amélie Mauresmo and Jelena Janković, before losing to Justine Henin. Her ranking rose to No. 9, where she stayed for the next two years before dropping out in May 2007.

At the French Open, she lost in the semifinals to Henin 6-2, 6-3, but her ranking rose one place to No. 8. A few weeks later at Wimbledon, she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Maria Sharapova 7-6, 6-3. After Wimbledon, she reached five straight quarterfinals at Los Angeles, Toronto, the US Open, Luxembourg, and Filderstadt.

Petrova finally won her first title at the Generali Ladies Linz held in Linz, Austria. She beat Patty Schnyder in the final.

Her successful season meant she qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships in Los Angeles. She ended 2005 ranked World No. 9, her first top ten Finnish.

At the Australian Open, Petrova was seeded 6th and defeated Sophie Ferguson, Martina Müller, Maria Elena Camerin and Elena Vesnina on her way to her first quarterfinal at the Australian Open. She lost to fourth-seeded Maria Sharapova 7-6(4), 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

At the Qatar Total Open held in Doha, Petrova picked up her first title of the year and second overall by beating second-ranked and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo 6-3, 7-5 in the final. The victory took her ranking to No. 7. She followed it with a quarterfinal showing at the NASDAQ-100 Open, losing to Mauresmo 6-3, 6-1.

Petrova then began her run that would take her to three titles, winning fifteen straight matches. At the Bausch & Lomb Championships, she defeated Francesca Schiavone in the final to pick up her third title in the past six months. One week later, she won her second straight title and fourth overall at the Family Circle Cup with a victory over Patty Schnyder.

She next entered the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin, defeating Justine Henin.[2] With this win, she ascended to her career high of No. 3.

However, Petrova was defeated in the first round of the French Open by Akiko Morigami 6-2, 6-2. This may have been caused by an ankle injury Petrova suffered during training before the tournament. She then withdrew from Wimbledon and did not win a match in the U.S. Open Series, going 0-3. At the US Open, Petrova was upset in the third round by Tatiana Golovin.

At the Stuttgart, Petrova won her first tournament title since the Tier I Qatar Telecom German Open in May 2006. She then continued her return to form by reaching the final of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, losing to Russian Anna Chakvetadze.

At the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid in November 2006. Her lone victory was over top-ranked Amélie Mauresmo 6-2, 6-2. She finished the year at No. 6.
2007-2009: Injuries and Inconsistent Play

At the Australian Open, she reached the third round before falling to Serena Williams, the eventual champion, after holding a 5-3 second set lead.
Nadia Petrova at the 2007 Australian Open.

At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova picked up her seventh tour title and first of the season by beating Lucie Šafářová. Petrova reached the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, losing to Justine Henin. Petrova then reached the final in Amelia Island, losing to Tatiana Golovin.

She was the eleventh-seeded player at the French Open but lost to Květa Peschke 7-5, 5-7, 6-0. After the loss, she claimed that the low back pain had been bothering her. It was her second consecutive first round loss at the French Open because of injury.

At Wimbledon, Petrova lost to Ana Ivanović 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 in the fourth round.

In the 2007 Fed Cup tie against the USA on July 14/15, Petrova played a pivotal role in securing the victory for her team. While losing on the first day against Venus Williams, she won her singles match against Meilen Tu on the second day and then teamed with Elena Vesnina to beat Williams and Lisa Raymond in the decisive doubles rubber.[3]
Petrova won the 2008 Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open beating Natalie Dechy in the final.

At the JPMorgan Chase Open, Petrova reached her third final of the year, losing to Ana Ivanović in straight sets.

At the US Open, Petrova was seeded seventh but lost to Ágnes Szávay 6-4, 6-4. The loss meant that she had not gone past the fourth round of any Grand Slam tournament all year, the first time since 2002.

She finished 2007 ranked No. 14, her lowest year-end ranking in five years.

Petrova started her 2008 season on a two-match losing streak going into the Australian Open, losing in the first round in Gold Coast as the number 2 seed to Tathiana Garbin 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 and in Sydney 7-5, 6-3 to Sybille Bammer. She still managed to reach the fourth round of the Australian Open though as the 14th seed with wins over Nicole Pratt, Anne Kremer and Ekaterina Makarova all in straight sets.. There she played Agnieszka Radwańska of Poland, who beat her 1-6, 7-5, 6-0. Petrova held a 6-1, 3-0 lead and looked on form for an easy victory. In the third set, she won just four points.

At the Open Gaz de France in Paris, Petrova was the defending champion and seeded 5th but lost in the first round to Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-4. Petrova retired in her first-round match at the 2008 Qatar Total Open against Anabel Medina Garrigues due to an upset stomach while trailing 2-6, 2-1.

At Dubai, she lost 6-4, 6-4 to Katarina Srebotnik.

Petrova’s injuries continued to strike at her when she was forced to retire in the second round of Miami with a right quad strain while trailing 2-1 in the first set against Zheng Jie.

At the 2008 German Open in Berlin, Petrova returned to action as the 16th seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik 7-6(5), 3-6, 7-6(2) in the first round before losing in the second round to Maria Kirilenko 6-3, 6-3. Petrova was once again defeated by Kirilenko in the first round of Rome, but this time in three sets, 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

At her final warm-up tournament in Istanbul, Nadia was seeded third and got past Lilia Osterloh 6-1, 6-2 in the first round and Marta Domachowska 6-2, 6-2 in the second round. She lost to Akgul Amanmuradova 7-6(0), 1-6, 6-4 in the quarter-finals.

These losses put Petrova in poor stead going into the French Open. As the twenty-fifth seed, she beat Aravane Rezaï and Alisa Kleybanova in straight sets before being thrashed by Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-1.

Petrova’s grass season began at Eastbourne, where she reached her first final of the year showing good form. She was beaten in a close match by Pole Agnieszka RadwaÅ„ska 6-4, 6-7(11), 6-4.

At Wimbledon, Petrova was the number 21 seed and was on the right track after wins over Olga Govortsova 6-4, 6-4 and Mara Santangelo 6-4, 7-5. Petrova then pulled off an excellent win over the in-form teenager and 16th seed Victoria Azarenka 7-6(11), 7-6(4) in the third round. In the fourth round she faced unseeded Alla Kudrayatseva who just came off a win over 3rd seed Maria Sharapova; Petrova won 6-1, 6-4 to reach her second quarterfinal at Wimbledon. This was also the first time that Petrova had reached a Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2006 Australian Open. She lost a cracker two and a half hour marathon match against the fifth seed Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-7(6), 6-3. Petrova rallied from 6-1, 5-2 down and saved match points throughout the second set but eventually lost the match in the third set. Her ranking improved to World No. 17 after the tournament.

Bouncing back from a first-round defeat at Stanford to Dominika Cibulková, Petrova reached the quarterfinals at Los Angeles, defeating 5th seed Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 7-5 en route before losing to Jelena Jankovic 7-5, 6-4. At Montreal, she again suffered a surprise defeat to Cibulková in the third round, this time losing 7-6(2), 6-2.

Nadia then played in Cincinnati, as she did not gain entry into the Olympics because she was not in the top four ranked Russian players at the time. After easy wins over Galina Voskoboeva, Julie Ditty and Lilia Osterloh, Petrova once again found herself up against Maria Kirilenko for a place in the final. This time though, Petrova was victorious, coming back from a set down to win 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Petrova then thrashed Nathalie Dechy 6-2, 6-1 in the final to win her first title of the year and the eighth of her career.

Nadia Petrova at the 2008 U.S. Open

Petrova was in good form heading into the final Grand Slam Tournament of the year at the US Open. Petrova was seeded 19th and beat Olivia Sanchez 6-2, 6-4 in the first round and Hsieh Su-wei 6-4, 6-2 in round two. Petrova was ousted 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 by the 16th seed Flavia Pennetta in the third round.

Petrova bounced back to good form at the 2008 Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic. Seeded 4th, Nadia defeated fifth seed Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-3 in the quarter-finals but she lost in the semi-finals to second seed and eventual champion Patty Schnyder 7-5, 6-1.

At the 2008 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Petrova was unseeded but beat two top-ten players, Ana Ivanovic, the second seed 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 in the second round and Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 6-0 to reach the semifinals, where she lost 6-1, 6-0 to Dinara Safina, the eventual champion. At Stuttgart, she reached her third final of the season, after an impressive run, beating Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, Patty Schnyder, Li Na and Victoria Azarenka in straight sets but failed to win the title, this time losing to Jelena Jankovic, the World No. 2 6-4, 6-3. Despite not winning the title, Petrova’s ranking moved back into the top 15 to World No. 14 as a result of reaching the final.

Petrova was a quarter-finalist at her home event, the 2008 Kremlin Cup in Moscow, beating teenager Caroline Wozniacki before losing to compatriot and third seed Elena Dementieva 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(6). She was also a quarter-finalist at the Linz, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Radwanska.

At her final tournament of the season in Quebec City, she won her second title of the year beating lucky loser Angela Haynes 6-3, 6-1 in the semifinals and Bethanie Mattek-Sands 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the final. This title also secured her status as the second alternate for the WTA Tour Championships should a player withdraw. This scenario did indeed happen, and Petrova came in replacing Serena Williams. She lost her only match to Dementieva 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Petrova finished the 2008 season ranked World No. 11.

Petrova started 2009 playing at the 2009 Medibank International Sydney where she was seeded seventh. She lost in the first round to Alize Cornet 6-2, 6-4. Petrova was seeded tenth at the Australian Open in Melbourne. She lost to seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round 7-5, 6-4. However, this caused her ranking to move back into the top ten for the first time since early 2007 to World No. 10. She later reached World No. 9.

Petrova did not play in the Indian Wells, a Premier Mandatory event due to injury. In Miami Nadia entered as the no. 9 seed, but lost to world no. 54 Ekaterina Makarova in the third round, 7-5, 6-1.

Petrova next headed to Ponte Vedra Beach as the top seed where she defeated Olga Govortsova, Madison Keys (who had just won her first ever main draw match) and Alona Bondarenko. She fell in the semi final to eventual finalist Aleksandra Wozniak, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. Petrova fell in the second round at Charleston to Melinda Czink in three sets 3-6, 6-4, 7-5. At the 2009 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgard, Petrova was seeded sixth but lost in the second round to Flavia Pennetta 6-2, 6-2. She next went to the Rome Masters as the number eight seed where she had a first round bye before defeating giant killer Carla Suarez Navarro. In the third round Petrova was ousted by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-4, 6-7 (5) 6-4.

Nadia Petrova at the 2009 French Open.

Petrova was seeded eleventh at the 2009 French Open in Paris where she reached the semi-finals in 2003 and 2005. She defeated Lauren Embree in the first round 6-1, 6-2. She lost in the second round to world no. 102 Maria Sharapova by 6-2, 1-6, 8-6.

At the 2009 AEGON International, Petrova was seeded seventh and defeated Ana Ivanovic in the first round in three sets 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 where she came back from a double break down in the final set to win. However, she was defeated in the second round by fellow Russian Vera Dushevina 7-5, 0-1 where she was forced to retire due to a lower back injury after taking the first set.

Petrova’s next tournament was Wimbledon, the third grand slam of the year where she was the tenth seed. She beat Anastasiya Yakimova in the first round 6-1. 6-1. Petrova won her second round match against Shahar Peer 6-3, 6-2. She then came from a set down to beat Gisela Dulko 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Petrova lost to #8 Victoria Azarenka, in three sets, in the fourth round.

Petrova began her 2009 US Open Series campaign at Stanford where she was seeded 5th. After defeating her doubles partner Bethanie Mattek-Sands in three sets in the first round, Petrova lost again to Sharapova 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour. In Los Angeles, she was also seeded 5th but lost to 10th seed Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-3 in the third round. Petrova then headed to Cincinnati where she was the defending champion and the tenth seed. She was unable to defend her title, losing in the first round to Alona Bondarenko 6-2, 6-3. This caused her ranking to slip out of the top ten to World No.12. Petrova next played in Toronto as the tenth seed where her poor form continued as she fell again to Maria Sharapova in the first round. Continuing her campaign on the 2009 US Open Series, she then received a wildcard as the 4th seed at the New Haven but again lost to compatriot Anna Chakvetadze in the first round.

Her next tournament was the final Grandslam of the year, the 2009 US Open. Petrova was the thirteenth seed and defeated Katarina Srebotnik and Julie Coin in the first and second round in straight sets. Petrova then got past World No. 22 Zheng Jie, 6-4, 6-1. Petrova was defeated in the fourth round by unseeded American Melanie Oudin 1-6, 7-6(3), 6-3. However, her ranking improved one spot higher to World No. 12.

Petrova then headed to Quebec to defend her title at the 2009 Bell Challenge. Petrova was the top seed and advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Carly Gullickson and Madison Brengle in straight sets. Here, Petrova faced 5th seed Melinda Czink and was a set down when she was forced to retire due to a viral illness. Czink would go on to win the title. However, Nadia quickly returned to action in Tokyo as the number 13 seed but continued a dismal season, losing in the second round to Magdaléna Rybáriková 6-2, 6-2. She slipped to World No. 17 as a result of this bad form.

Nadia then participated at China Open, a Premier Mandatory tournament, where she was the thirteenth seed. She beat her compatriot Alla Kudryavtseva 6-1, 5-7, 6-2 in the first round and World No. 24 Daniela Hantuchova 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 in the second round. She played one of her best matches in 2009 by beating Serena Williams in a thriller three sets match, by 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5), in the third round despite the fact that Williams was just about to snitch back the World No. 1 ranking from Dinara Safina the following week due to the Russian’s second round loss. Petrova then survived another three setter against Peng Shuai (who earlier beat Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova) in the quarterfinals. This was only Petrova’s second semi-final of the year but she lost to the reigning French Open Champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova, by 6-1, 6-3.

Petrova then competed at Kremlin Cup as the fifth seed. She defeated Yana Buchina 6-2, 6-0 in the first round but fell to Alona Bondarenko in the second round.

Petrova finished her poor year with a 30-21 singles record and she finished the year ranked World No. 20. It was by far her worst year on tour as she captured no titles for the first time since 2004. Her highlights of the year are reaching the semi-finals in Ponte Vedra Beach and Beijing and reaching the quaterfinals in Quebec City.

2010

Petrova’s started her year at the Brisbane International in Australia. After drawing comeback queen Justine Henin as the number two seed, Petrova lost in a close 5-7, 5-7 match. She then competed in the Medibank International Sydney but lost again in the opening round to 39 year-old Kimiko Date-Krumm 3-6, 7-5, 4-6.

Seeded 19th at the 2010 Australian Open, Petrova reached the third round by defeating Edina Gallovits 6-3, 6-4 and Kaia Kanepi 6-4, 6-4. In the third round she crushed 15th seed Kim Clijsters in a 52-minute onslaught, winning 6-0, 6-1. She followed that with a 4th round win over 3rd seed Svetlana Kuznetsova with a score of 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. She will face the winner of Justine Henin and Yanina Wickmayer.

Doubles

Petrova has also had success in doubles, reaching a career high of No. 3 in the doubles rankings. She has eighteen doubles titles, eight of them with Meghann Shaughnessy including the prestigious year-ending WTA Tour Championships in 2004, where they beat Cara Black and Rennae Stubbs in the final. She also has victories at the Tier I events in Moscow, Key Biscayne, Berlin, Rome, and Montreal, with all but the Montreal title being with Meghann Shaughnessy and the aforementioned other one being with Martina Navrátilová. In 2002 and 2003, she also reached the finals of three Tier I events with Jelena Dokić.

The 67th Golden Globe Awards was telecast live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Sunday, January 17, 2010 by NBC, from 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM (PST) and 8:00PM - 11:00 PM (EST) (01:00-04:00 Monday January 18 UTC). The ceremonies were hosted by Ricky Gervais,and were broadcast live for the first time.

Nominations were announced on December 15, 2009. Among films, Up in the Air led with six nominations, followed by Nine with five and Avatar and Inglourious Basterds with four each.Matt Damon, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, and Anna Paquin were each nominated twice, Damon as Best Actor in the comedy category and as Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Bullock as Best Actress in both the comedy and drama categories, Streep competing against herself as Best Actress in the comedy category, and Paquin as Best Actress in a TV Drama Series and as Best Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries.

Television programs receiving multiple nominations include Glee, Dexter, Damages, Mad Men, House, and 30 Rock.

Martin Scorsese was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in motion pictures.

Schedule

As of January 17 2009:

Nominations and winners

Winners in bold.

Cecil B. DeMille Award

Martin Scorsese

Film

^[6]

Television

Awards breakdown

Number of nominations

Actors

• 2: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side, The Proposal)
• 2: Matt Damon (The Informant!, Invictus)
• 2: Anna Paquin (The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler, True Blood)
• 2: Meryl Streep (It’s Complicated, Julie & Julia)

Films

• 6: Up in the Air
• 5: Nine
• 4: Avatar, Inglourious Basterds
• 3: The Hurt Locker, It’s Complicated, Invictus, Precious, A Single Man
• 2: (500) Days of Summer, Brothers, Crazy Heart, The Informant!, Julie & Julia, The Last Station, Up

Television

• 4: Glee
• 3: 30 Rock, Big Love, Lost, Damages, Dexter, Georgia O’Keeffe, Grey Gardens, Into the Storm, Mad Men
• 2: Entourage, House, Hung, The Office, Taking Chance, True Blood

Number of wins

Films

• 2: Avatar, Up, Crazy Heart

• 1: Up In The Air, The Hangover, Precious, Julie & Julia, The Blind Side, Inglourious Basterds, Sherlock Holmes, The White Ribbon

Television

• 2: Dexter, Grey Gardens
• 1: Big Love, Taking Chance, 30 Rock, Glee, Mad Men, The Good Wife, The United States of Tara

Presenters

• Amy Adams
• Christina Aguilera
• Jennifer Aniston
• Justin Bartha
• Kristen Bell
• Halle Berry
• Josh Brolin
• Gerard Butler
• Cher
• Bradley Cooper
• Chace Crawford
• Robert De Niro
• Cameron Diaz
• Leonardo DiCaprio
• Colin Farrell
• Harrison Ford
• Jodie Foster
• Matthew Fox
• Jennifer Garner
• Mel Gibson
• Lauren Graham
• Tom Hanks
• Neil Patrick Harris
• Sally Hawkins
• Ed Helms
• Kate Hudson
• Felicity Huffman
• Samuel L. Jackson
• Nicole Kidman
• Jane Krakowski
• Ashton Kutcher
• Taylor Lautner
• Zachary Levi
• Sophia Loren
• Paul McCartney
• Helen Mirren
• Jim Parsons
• Amy Poehler
• Julia Roberts
• Mickey Rourke
• Zoe Saldana
• Arnold Schwarzenegger
• Steven Spielberg
• Kiefer Sutherland
• Mike Tyson
• Sofia Vergara
• Olivia Wilde
• Kate Winslet
• Reese Witherspoon
• Sam Worthington

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Hendrick Motorsports has loaned an airplane and two flight crews to an organization that is participating in the Haitian earthquake relief efforts.

The NASCAR team loaned a 45-passenger plane to Missionary Flights International, which will send support teams in and out of Port-au-Prince. The first flight is scheduled to leave Fort Pierce, Fla., on Saturday morning and will take 30 passengers and medical supplies into Haiti.

The HMS aviation team is planning to fly at least one roundtrip per day, with no timeline set on how long the plane and personnel will be on loan. The eight-team crew consists of HMS aviation director Dave Dudley, four captain-level pilots, one mechanic and one flight attendant. All volunteered to participate.

HMS officials have a second plane on standby, and team owner Rick Hendrick is covering all costs associated with the flights.

Hendrick officials said Friday they received a special exemption from the FAA to fly the plane into Port-au-Prince.

The international Red Cross estimates 45,000 to 50,000 people were killed in the earthquake, which devastated the Caribbean nation on Tuesday.

Yemen is one of the oldest centers of civilization in the Near East.It’s relatively fertile land and adequate rainfall in a moister climate helped sustain a stable population, a feature recognized by the ancient Greek geographer Ptolemy, who described Yemen as Eudaimon Arabia (better known in its Latin translation, Arabia Felix) meaning “fortunate Arabia” or Happy Arabia. Between the 12th century BCE and the 6th century CE, it was dominated by six successive civilizations which rivaled each other, or were allied with each other and controlled the lucrative spice trade: M’ain, Qataban, Hadhramaut, Awsan, Saba and Himyarite.Islam arrived in 630 CE, and Yemen became part of the Muslim realm.

The Yemeni desert regions (Rub’ al Khali and Sayhad) were the core settlements of the Nomadic Semites that would migrate to the North, settling Akkad, later penetrating Mesopotamia,eventually conquering Sumer by 2300 BCE, and assimilating the Amorites of Syria.

Some scholars[who?] believe that Yemen remains the only region in the world that is exclusively Semitic, meaning that Yemen historically did not have any non-Semitic speaking people. Yemeni Semites derived their Musnad script by the 12th - 8th centuries BCE, which explains why most historians will date all the ancient Yemeni kingdoms to the 12th - 8th centuries BCE.

Prehistory

Mesopotamia became Semitic by 2300 BCE; previously it was Sumerian. Syrian Amorites were under Sumerian influence before being assimilated by the Semites circa 2300 BCE. Coastal North Africa became Semitic by 800 BCE via the Phoenicians. Prior to that, it was Berber. The Horn of Africa’s first Semitic nation, DÊ¿mt, was a Yemeni settlement.

According to Arab tradition, the Semites of South Arabia integrated into Qahtan lineage 40 generations before the Qahtani Yemeni tribe of Jurhum adopted Ismail and 80 generations before Adnan was born, in the 23rd century BCE. After the fall of the Northern Semitic cultures, Qahtan revived the Semitic influence in the North through the famous Kahlan (Azd and Lakhm) and other Yemeni tribes migration into the North during the 3rd century CE after the first destruction of the Marib Dam..

The Qahtani Semites remained dominant in Yemen from 2300 BCE to 800 BCE, but little is known about this era because the Semites of the South were separated by the vast Arabian desert from Mesopotamian Semites and they lacked any type of script to record their history. However, it is known that they actively traded along the Red Sea coasts. This led to contact with the Phoenicians and from them, the Southern Semites adopted their writing script in 800 BCE and began recording their history.

The Tihama Semitic culture lasted from 1500-1200 BCE. During the late 2nd millennium BCE, a cultural Semitic complex arose in the Tihama region of Yemen and spread to northern Ethiopia and Eritrea (specifically the Tigray Region, central Eritrea, and coastal areas like Adulis). The Semites of Yemen began settling the Ethiopian highlands. These settlements would reach their climax by the 8th century BCE, eventually giving rise to the Dam’t and Aksum kingdoms.

Kingdoms

During the rule of the Sabaeans, 8th century BCE to 275 CE, trade and agriculture flourished generating much wealth and prosperity. The Sabaean kingdom is located in what is now the Aseer region in southwestern Yemen, and its capital, Ma’rib, is located near what is now Yemen’s modern capital, Sana’a.According to tradition, the eldest son of Noah, Shem, founded the city of Ma’rib.

During Sabaean rule, Yemen was called “Arabia Felix” by the Romans who were impressed by its wealth and prosperity. The success of the Kingdom was based on the cultivation and trade of spices and aromatics including frankincense and myrrh. These were exported to the Mediterranean, India, and Abyssinia where they were greatly prized by many cultures, using camels on routes through Arabia, and to India by sea.

During the 8th and 7th century BCE, there was a close contact of cultures between the Kingdom of DÊ¿mt in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea and Saba’. Though the civilization was indigenous and the royal inscriptions were written in a sort of proto-Ethiosemitic, there were also some Sabaean immigrants in the kingdom as evidenced by a few of the DÊ¿mt inscriptions.

Agriculture in Yemen thrived during this time due to an advanced irrigation system which consisted of large water tunnels in mountains, and dams. The most impressive dam, known as the dam of Ma’rib was built ca. 700 BCE, provided irrigation for about 25,000 acres (100 km2) of land and stood for over a millennium, finally collapsing in CE 570 after centuries of neglect.

The Sabaean kingdom, with its capital at Ma’rib where the remains of a large temple can still be seen, thrived for almost 14 centuries. Some have argued that this kingdom was the Sheba described in the Old Testament.

“Bronze man” found in Al Bayda’ (ancient Nashqum); 6th-5th century BCE. Louvre Museum.

The first known inscriptions of the Kingdom of Hadramaut are from the 8th century BCE. It was first referenced by an outside civilization in an Old Sabaic inscription of Karab’il Watar from the early 7th century BCE, in which the King of Hadramaut, Yada`’il, is mentioned as being one of his allies. When the Minaeans took control of the caravan routes in the 4th century BCE, however, Hadramaut became one of its confederates, probably because of commercial interests. It later became independent and was invaded by the growing kingdom of Himyar toward the end of the first century BC, but it was able to repel the attack. Hadramaut annexed Qataban in the second half of the 2nd century AD, reaching its greatest size. During this period, Hadramaut was continuously at war with Himyar and Saba’, and the Sabaean king Sha`irum Awtar was even able to take its capital, Shabwa, in 225. During this period the Kingdom of Aksum began to interfere in South Arabian affairs. King GDRT of Aksum acted by dispatching troops under his son, BYGT, sending them from the western coast to occupy Zafar, the Himyarite capital, as well as from the southern coast against Hadramaut as Sabaean allies. The kingdom of Hadramaut was eventually conquered by the Himyarite king Shammar Yuhar`ish around 300 CE, unifying all of the South Arabian kingdoms.

The ancient Kingdom of Awsan with a capital at Hagar Yahirr in the wadi Markha to the south of the wadi Bayhan is now marked by a tell or artificial mound, which is locally named Hagar Asfal. Once it was one of the most important small kingdoms of South Arabia. The city, which has its origin in 800 BC, seems to have been destroyed in the 7th century BCE by the king and mukarrib of Saba Karib’il Watar, according to a Sabaean text that reports the victory in terms that attest to its significance for the Sabaeans.
Bronze lion with a rider made by the Qatabanians circa 75-50 BCE.

Qataban, which lasted from the 4th century BCE to 200 CE, was one of the ancient Yemeni kingdoms which thrived in the Baihan valley. Like the other Southern Arabian kingdoms it gained great wealth from the trade of frankincense and myrrh incense which were burned at altars. The capital of Qataban was named Timna and was located on the trade route which passed through the other kingdoms of Hadramaut, Saba and Ma’in. The chief deity of the Qatabanians was Amm, or “Uncle” and the people called themselves the “children of Amm”.

Kingdom of Ma’in

During Minaean rule the capital was at Karna (now known as Sadah). Their other important city was Yathill (now known as Baraqish). Other parts of modern Yemen include Qataban and the coastal string of watering stations known as the Hadhramaut. Though Saba’ dominated in the earlier period of South Arabian history, Minaic inscriptions are of the same time period as the first Sabaic inscriptions. Note, however, that they pre-date the appearance of the Minaeans themselves, and, hence, are called now more appropriately as “Madhabic” rather than “Minaic”. The Minaean Kingdom was centered in northwestern Yemen, with most of its cities laying along the Wadi Madhab. Minaic inscriptions have been found far afield of the Kingdom of Ma’in, as far away as al-`Ula in northwestern Saudi Arabia and even on the island of Delos and in Egypt. It was the first of the South Arabian kingdoms to end, and the Minaic language died around 100 CE.

Kingdom of Himyar

The Himyarites had united Southwestern Arabia, controlling the Red Sea as well as the coasts of the Gulf of Aden. From their capital city, the Himyarite Kings launched successful military campaigns, and had stretched its domain at times as far east as the Persian Gulf and as far north to the Arabian Desert.

During the 3rd century CE, the South Arabian kingdoms were in continuous conflict with one another. GDRT of Aksum began to interfere in South Arabian affairs, signing an alliance with Saba’, and a Himyarite text notes that Hadramaut and Qataban were also all allied against the kingdom. As a result of this, the Kingdom of Aksum was able to capture the Himyarite capital of Zafar in the first quarter of the 3rd century. However, the alliances did not last, and Sha`ir Awtar of Saba’ unexpectedly turned on Hadramaut, allying again with Aksum and taking its capital in 225. Himyar then allied with Saba’ and invaded the newly taken Aksumite territories, retaking Zafar, which had been under the control of GDRT’s son BYGT, and pushing Aksum back into the Tihama.

They established their capital at Zafar (now just a small village in the Ibb region) and gradually absorbed the Sabaean kingdom. They traded from the port of al-Muza on the Red Sea. Dhu Nuwas, a Himyarite king, changed the state religion to Judaism in the beginning of the 6th century and began to massacre the Christians. Outraged, Kaleb, the Christian King of Aksum with the encouragement of the Byzantine Emperor Justin I invaded and annexed Yemen. About fifty years later, Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan asked for help from the Persians, so the Persians sent all of their criminals as an army to Yemen. One way to help get rid of the criminals in jail, and help their new ally Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan.

Kingdom of Aksum

Around 517/8, a Jewish king called Yusuf Asar Yathar (also known as Dhu Nuwas) usurped the kingship of Himyar from Ma`adkarib Ya`fur. Interestingly, Pseudo-Zacharias of Mytilene (fl. late 6th century) says that Yusuf became king because the previous king had died in winter, when the Aksumites could not cross the Red Sea and appoint another king. Ma`adkarib Ya`fur’s long title puts its truthfulness in doubt, however.[14] Upon gaining power, Yusuf attacked the Aksumite garrison in Zafar, the Himyarite capital, killing many and destroying the church there.[15][16] The Christian King Kaleb of Axum learned of Dhu Nuwas’s persecutions of Christians and Aksumites, and, according to Procopius, was further encouraged by his ally and fellow Christian Justin I of Byzantium, who requested Aksum’s help to cut off silk supplies as part of his economic war against the Persians.

Kaleb sent a fleet across the Red Sea and was able to defeat Dhu Nuwas, who was killed in battle according to an inscription from Husn al-Ghurab, while later Arab tradition has him riding his horse into the sea.[18] Kaleb installed a native Himyarite viceroy, Sumyafa` Ashwa`, who ruled until 525, when he was deposed by the Aksumite general (or soldier and former slave[19]) Abraha with the support of disgruntled Ethiopian soldiers.[16][20] According to the later Arabic sources, Kaleb retaliated by sending a force of 3,000 men under a relative, but the troops defected and killed their leader, and a second attempt at reigning in the rebellious Abraha also failed.Later Ethiopian sources state that Kaleb abdicated to live out his years in a monastery and sent his crown to be hung in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. While uncertain, it seems to be supported by the die-links between his coins and those of his successor, Alla Amidas. An inscription of Sumyafa` Ashwa` also mentions two kings (nagaśt) of Aksum, indicating that the two may have co-ruled for a while before Kaleb abdicated in favor of Alla Amidas.

Procopius notes that Abraha later submitted to Kaleb’s successor, as supported by the former’s inscription in 543 stating Aksum before the territories directly under his control. During his reign, Abraha repaired the Marib Dam in 543, and received embassies from Persia and Byzantium, including a request to free some bishops who had been imprisoned at Nisbis (according to John of Epheseus’s Life of Simeon).[21][23] Abraha ruled until at least 547, sometime after which he was succeeded by his son, Aksum. Aksum (called “Yaksum” in Arabic sources) was perplexingly referred to as “of Ma’afir” (ḏū maʻāfir), the southwestern coast of Yemen, in Abraha’s Marib dam inscription, and was succeeded by his brother, Masruq. Aksumite control in Yemen ended in 570 with the invasion of the elder Sassanid general Vahriz who, according to later legends, famously killed Masruq with his well-aimed arrow.

Later Arabic sources also say that Abraha constructed a great Church called al-Qulays at Sana’a in order to divert pilgrimage from the Kaaba and have him die in the Year of the Elephant (570) after returning from a failed attack on Mecca (though he is thought to have died before this time).[19] The exact chronology of the early wars are uncertain, as a 525 inscription mentions the death of a King of Himyar, which could refer either to the Himyarite viceory of Aksum, Sumyafa` Ashwa`, or to Yusuf Asar Yathar. The later Arabic histories also mention a conflict between Abraha and another Aksumite general named Aryat occurring in 525 as leading to the rebellion.

Sassanid period

The Persian king Khosrau I, sent troops under the command of Vahriz, who helped Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan to drive the Ethiopian Aksumites out of Yemen. Southern Arabia became a Persian dominion under a Yemenite vassal and thus came within the sphere of influence of the Sassanid Empire. Later another army was sent to Yemen, and in 597/8 Southern Arabia became a province of the Sassanid Empire under a Persian satrap. It was a Persian province by name but after the Persians assassinated Dhi Yazan, Yemen divided into a number of autonomous kingdoms.

This development was a consequence of the expansionary policy pursued by the Sassanian king Khosrau II Parviz (590-628), whose aim was to secure Persian border areas such as Yemen. Following the death of Khosrau II in 628, then the Persian governor in Southern Arabia, Badhan, converted to Islam and Yemen followed the new religion.

Islamic history

The Age of the Caliphs

Islam came to Yemen around 630, during Muhammad’s lifetime. At that time the Persian governor Badhan was ruling. Thereafter Yemen was ruled as part of Arab-Islamic caliphates, and Yemen became a province in the Islamic empire.

Yemeni textiles, long recognized for their fine quality, maintained their reputation and were exported for use by the Abbasid elite, including the caliphs themselves. The products of Sana’a and Aden are especially important in the East-West textile trade.

The former North Yemen came under control of Imams of various dynasties usually of the Zaidi sect, who established a theocratic political structure that survived until modern times. In 897, a Zaidi ruler, Yahya al-Hadi ila’l Haqq, founded a line of Imams, whose Shiite dynasty survived until the second half of the 20th century.

Nevertheless, Yemen’s medieval history is a tangled chronicle of contesting local Imams. The Fatimids of Egypt helped the Isma’ilis maintain dominance in the 11th century. Saladin (Salah ad-Din) annexed Yemen in 1173. The Rasulid dynasty (Turkish in origin) ruled Yemen, with Zabid as its capital, from about 1230 to the 15th century. In 1516, the Mamluks of Egypt annexed Yemen; but in the following year, the Mamluk governor surrendered to the Ottomans, and Turkish armies subsequently overran the country. They were challenged by the Zaidi Imam, Qasim the Great (r.1597-1620), and were expelled from the interior around 1630. From then until the 19th century, the Ottomans retained control only of isolated coastal areas, while the highlands generally were ruled by the Zaidi Imams.

19th century

As the Zaidi Imamate collapsed in the 19th century due to internal division, the Ottomans moved south along the west coast of Arabia back into northern Yemen in the 1830s, and eventually even took San‘a’ making it the Yemeni district capital in 1872. The Ottomans were aided by the adoption of Crimean War modern weapons.

British interests in the area which would later become South Yemen, began to grow when in 1832, British East India Company forces captured the port of Aden, to provide a coaling station for ships en route to India. The British interest in reducing pirate attacks on British merchants lead to their creating a protectorate over the town of Aden in 1839, and adding the surrounding lands over the following years.The colony gained much political and strategic importance after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the increased traffic on the Red Sea route to India

The Ottomans and the British eventually established a de facto border between north and south Yemen, which was formalized in a treaty in 1904. However the interior boundaries were never clearly established. However the presence of the Ottomans, and to a lesser extent the British, allowed the Zaydi Imamate to rebuild against a common enemy. Guerrilla warfare and banditry erupted into the rebellion of the Zaydi tribes in 1905.

Starting in the latter decades of the 19th century and continuing into the 20th century, Britain signed agreements with local rulers of traditional polities that, together, became known as the Aden Protectorate. The area was divided into numerous sultanates, emirates, and sheikhdoms, and was divided for administrative purposes into the East Aden Protectorate and the West Aden Protectorate. The eastern protectorate consisted of the three Hadhramaut states (Qu’aiti State of Shihr and Mukalla, Kathiri State of Seiyun, Mahra State of Qishn and Socotra) with the remaining states comprising the west.

Modern history

Republic

Ottoman suzerainty was reestablished in northern Yemen in the late 19th century but its control was largely confined to cities, and the Zaidi imam’s rule over Upper Yemen was formally recognized. Turkish forces withdrew in 1918, and Imam Yahya Muhammad strengthened his control over northern Yemen creating the Mutawakkilite Kingdom of Yemen.

Meanwhile, Aden was ruled as part of British India until 1937, when the city of Aden became the Colony of Aden, a crown colony in its own right. The Aden hinterland and Hadhramaut to the east formed the remainder of what would become South Yemen and were not administered directly by Aden but were tied to Britain by treaties of protection. Economic development was largely centred in Aden, and while the city flourished partly due to the discovery of crude oil on the Arabian Peninsula in the 1930s, the states of the Aden Protectorate stagnated.

Yemen became a member of the Arab League in 1945 and the United Nations in 1947.

Imam Yahya died during an unsuccessful coup attempt in 1948 and was succeeded by his son Ahmad. Ahmad bin Yahya’s reign was marked by growing repression, renewed friction with the United Kingdom over the British presence in the south, and growing pressures to support the Arab nationalist objectives of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser. He died in September 1962.

Encouraged by the rhetoric of President Nasser of Egypt against British colonial rule in the Middle East, pressure for the British to leave South Yemen grew. Following Nasser’s creation of the United Arab Republic, attempts to incorporate Yemen in turn threatened Aden and the Protectorate. To counter this, the British attempted to unite the various states under its protection and, on 11 February 1959, six of the West Aden Protectorate states formed the Federation of Arab Emirates of the South to which nine other states were subsequently added.

1960s

Shortly after assuming power in 1962, Ahmad’s son, the Crown Prince Muhammad al-Badr was deposed by revolutionary forces, who took control of Sanaa and created the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR). Egypt assisted the YAR with troops and supplies to combat forces loyal to the Kingdom. Saudi Arabia and Jordan supported Badr’s royalist forces to oppose the newly formed republic starting the North Yemen Civil War. Conflict continued periodically until 1967 when Egyptian troops were withdrawn.

During the 1960s, the British sought to incorporate all of the Aden Protectorate territories into the Federation. On 18 January 1963, the Colony of Aden was incorporated against the wishes of much of the city’s populace as the State of Aden and the Federation was renamed the Federation of South Arabia. Several more states subsequently joined the Federation and the remaining states that declined to join, mainly in Hadhramaut, formed the Protectorate of South Arabia.

In 1963 fighting between Egyptian forces and British-led Saudi-financed guerrillas in the Yemen Arab Republic spread to South Arabia with the formation of the National Liberation Front (NLF), who hoped to force the British out of South Arabia. Hostilities started with a grenade attack by the NLF against the British High Commissioner on 10 December 1963, killing one person and injuring fifty, and a state of emergency was declared, becoming known as the Aden Emergency.

In January 1964, the British moved into the Radfan hills in the border region to confront Egyptian-backed guerrillas, later reinforced by the NLF. By October they had largely been suppressed, and the NLF switched to grenade attacks against off-duty military personnel and police officers elsewhere in the Aden Colony.

In 1964, the new British government under Harold Wilson announced their intention to hand over power to the Federation of South Arabia in 1968, but that the British military would remain. In 1964, there were around 280 guerrilla attacks and over 500 in 1965. In 1966 the British Government announced that all British forces would be withdrawn at independence. In response, the security situation deteriorated with the creation of the socialist Front for the Liberation of Occupied South Yemen (FLOSY) which started to attack the NLF in a bid for power, as well as attacking the British.

In January 1967, there were mass riots by NLF and FLOSY supporters in the old Arab quarter of Aden town, which continued until mid February, despite the intervention of British troops. During the period there were many attacks on the troops, and an Aden Airlines Douglas DC-3 plane was destroyed in the air with no survivors. At the same time, the members of FLOSY and the NLF were also killing each other in large numbers.

The temporary closure of the Suez Canal in 1967 effectively negated the last reason that British had kept hold of the colonies in Yemen, and, in the face of uncontrollable violence, they began to withdraw.

On 20 June 1967, there was a mutiny in the Federation of South Arabia Army, which also spread to the police. Order was restored by the British, mainly due to the efforts of the 1st Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, under the command of Lt-Col. Colin Campbell Mitchell.

Nevertheless, deadly guerrilla attacks particularly by the NLF soon resumed against British forces once again, with the British being defeated and driven from Aden by the end of November 1967, earlier than had been planned by British Prime Minister Harold Wilson and without an agreement on the succeeding governance. Their enemies, the NLF, managed to seize power, with Aden itself under NLF control. The Royal Marines, who had been the first British troops to occupy Aden in 1839, were the last to leave. The Federation of South Arabia collapsed and Southern Yemen became independent as the People’s Republic of South Yemen. The NLF, with the support of the army, attained total control of the new state after defeating the FLOSY and the states of the former Federation in a drawn out campaign of terror.

Most of the opposing leaders reconciled by 1968, in the aftermath of a final royalist siege of San’a’. In 1970, Saudi Arabia recognized the Yemen Arab Republic and a ceasefire was effected.

A radical (Marxist) wing of the NLF gained power in South Yemen in June, 1969.
1970s

The NLF changed the name of South Yemen on 1 December 1970 to the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (PDRY). In the PDRY, all political parties were amalgamated into the Yemeni Socialist Party (YSP), which became the only legal party. The PDRY established close ties with the Soviet Union, People’s Republic of China, Cuba, and radical Palestinians.

The major communist powers assisted in the building of the PDRY’s armed forces. Strong support from Moscow resulted in Soviet naval forces gaining access to naval facilities in South Yemen.

Unlike East and West Germany, the two Yemens remained relatively friendly, though relations were often strained. In 1972 it was declared unification would eventually occur.

However, these plans were put on hold in 1979, and war was only prevented by an Arab League intervention. The goal of unity was reaffirmed by the northern and southern heads of state during a summit meeting in Kuwait in March 1979.

What the PDRY government failed to tell the YAR government was that it wished to be the dominant power in any unification, and left wing rebels in North Yemen began to receive extensive funding and arms from South Yemen.
1980s
Further information: Yemenite reunification

In 1980, PDRY president Abdul Fattah Ismail resigned and went into exile. His successor, Ali Nasir Muhammad, took a less interventionist stance toward both North Yemen and neighbouring Oman. On January 13, 1986, a violent struggle began in Aden between Ali Nasir’s supporters and supporters of the returned Ismail, who wanted power back. Fighting lasted for more than a month and resulted in thousands of casualties, Ali Nasir’s ouster, and Ismail’s death. Some 60,000 people, including the deposed Ali Nasir, fled to the YAR.

Efforts toward unification proceeded from 1988. See also: Aden, Aden Protectorate, Federation of South Arabia, Hadhramaut, and the People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen

Although the governments of the PDRY and the YAR declared that they approved a future union in 1972, little progress was made toward unification, and relations were often strained.

In May 1988, the YAR and PDRY governments came to an understanding that considerably reduced tensions including agreement to renew discussions concerning unification, to establish a joint oil exploration area along their undefined border, to demilitarize the border, and to allow Yemenis unrestricted border passage on the basis of only a national identification card.

In November 1989, the leaders of the YAR (Ali Abdullah Saleh) and the PDRY (Ali Salim al-Baidh) agreed on a draft unity constitution originally drawn up in 1981.
1990s

The Republic of Yemen (ROY) was declared on 22 May 1990 with Saleh becoming President and al-Baidh Vice President. For the first time in centuries, much of Greater Yemen was politically united. A 30-month transitional period for completing the unification of the two political and economic systems was set. A presidential council was jointly elected by the 26-member YAR advisory council and the 17-member PDRY presidium. The presidential council appointed a Prime Minister, who formed a Cabinet. There was also a 301-seat provisional unified parliament, consisting of 159 members from the north, 111 members from the south, and 31 independent members appointed by the chairman of the council.

A unity constitution was agreed upon in May 1990 and ratified by the populace in May 1991. It affirmed Yemen’s commitment to free elections, a multiparty political system, the right to own private property, equality under the law, and respect of basic human rights. Parliamentary elections were held on 27 April 1993. International groups assisted in the organization of the elections and observed actual balloting. The resulting Parliament included 143 GPC, 69 YSP, 63 Islaah (Yemeni grouping for reform, a party composed of various tribal and religious groups), six Baathis, three Nasserists, two Al Haq, and 15 independents. The head of Islaah, Paramount Hashid Sheik Abdallah Bin Husayn Al-Ahmar, is the speaker of Parliament.

Islaah was invited into the ruling coalition, and the presidential council was altered to include one Islaah member. Conflicts within the coalition resulted in the self-imposed exile of Vice President Ali Salim Al-Bidh to Aden beginning in August 1993 and a deterioration in the general security situation as political rivals settled scores and tribal elements took advantage of the unsettled situation.
1994 Civil War
Main article: 1994 civil war in Yemen

Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas, the former PDRY Prime Minister continued to serve as the ROY Prime Minister, but his government was ineffective due to political infighting. Continuous negotiations between northern and southern leaders resulted in the signing of the document of pledge and accord in Amman, Jordan on 20 February 1994. Despite this, clashes intensified until civil war broke out in early May 1994.

Almost all of the actual fighting in the 1994 civil war occurred in the southern part of the country despite air and missile attacks against cities and major installations in the north. Southerners sought support from neighboring states and received billions of dollars of equipment and financial assistance, mostly from Saudi Arabia, which felt threatened by a united Yemen. The United States strongly supported Yemeni unity, but repeatedly called for a cease-fire and a return to the negotiating table. Various attempts, including by a UN special envoy, were unsuccessful to effect a cease-fire.

Southern leaders declared secession and the establishment of the Democratic Republic of Yemen (DRY) on 21 May 1994, but the DRY was not recognized by the international community. Ali Nasir Muhammad supporters greatly assisted military operations against the secessionists and Aden was captured on 7 July 1994. Other resistance quickly collapsed and thousands of southern leaders and military went into exile. Early during the fighting, President Ali Abdallah Salih announced a general amnesty which applied to everyone except a list of 16 persons. Most southerners returned to Yemen after a short exile.

An armed opposition was announced from Saudi Arabia, but no significant incidents within Yemen materialized. The government prepared legal cases against four southern leaders–Ali Salim al-Baidh, Haydar Abu Bakr Al-Attas, Abd Al-Rahman Ali Al-Jifri, and Salih Munassar Al-Siyali — for misappropriation of official funds. Others on the list of 16 were told informally they could return to take advantage of the amnesty, but most remained outside Yemen. Although many of Ali Nasir Muhammad’s followers were appointed to senior governmental positions (including Vice President, Chief of Staff, and Governor of Aden), Ali Nasir Muhammad himself remained abroad in Syria.

In the aftermath of the civil war, YSP leaders within Yemen reorganized the party and elected a new politburo in July 1994. However, the party remained disheartened and without its former influence. Islaah held a party convention in September 1994. The GPC did the same in June 1995.

In 1994, amendments to the unity constitution eliminated the presidential council. President Ali Abdallah Salih was elected by Parliament on 1 October 1994 to a 5-year term. The constitution provides that henceforth the President will be elected by popular vote from at least two candidates selected by the legislature. Yemen held its first direct presidential elections in September 1999, electing President Ali Abdallah Salih to a 5-year term in what were generally considered free and fair elections. Yemen held its second multiparty parliamentary elections in April 1997.
2000s

Constitutional amendments adopted in the summer of 2000 extended the presidential term by 2 years, thus moving the next presidential elections to 2006. The amendments also extended the parliamentary term of office to a 6-year term, thus moving elections for these seats to 2003. On 20 February 2001, a new constitutional amendment created a bicameral legislature, the Assembly of Representatives of Yemen, consisting of a Shura Council (111 seats; members appointed by the president) and a House of Representatives (301 seats; members elected by popular vote).

In the 2000s the government has been fighting rebel groups such as the one led by Hussein al-Houthi’s Zaydi movement Shabab al-Mu’mineen, “The Young Believers”. (See Sa’dah conflict.)

The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a working class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family[1], which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional city of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, television and many aspects of the human condition.

The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with the producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and was an early hit for Fox, becoming the first Fox series to land in the Top 30 ratings in a season (1989-1990).

Since its debut on December 17, 1989 the show has broadcast 450 episodes and the twenty-first season began airing on September 27, 2009.[2] The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 26 and July 27, 2007, and grossed US$527 million worldwide.

The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 25 Primetime Emmy Awards, 26 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine’s December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century’s best television series, and on January 14, 2000 the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program, and in 2009 it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest running American primetime entertainment series. Homer’s exclamatory catchphrase “D’oh!” has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.

Origins

Groening conceived of the idea for the Simpsons in the lobby of James L. Brooks’s office. Brooks had asked Groening to pitch an idea for a series of animated shorts, which Groening initially intended to present as his Life in Hell series. However, when Groening realized that animating Life in Hell would require the rescinding of publication rights for his life’s work, he chose another approach and formulated his version of a dysfunctional family.He named the characters after his own family members, substituting “Bart” for his own name.

The Simpson family as they first appeared in The Tracey Ullman Show.

The Simpson family first appeared as shorts in The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. Groening submitted only basic sketches to the animators and assumed that the figures would be cleaned up in production. However, the animators merely re-traced his drawings, which led to the crude appearance of the characters in the initial short episodes.One of the earliest jobs of the Klasky Csupo company was creating animated sequences for the The Tracey Ullman Show which led to the start of The Simpsons.The animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo, with Wesley Archer, David Silverman, and Bill Kopp being animators for the first season.Georgie Peluse was the colorist and the person who decided to make the characters yellow.

In 1989, a team of production companies adapted The Simpsons into a half-hour series for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The team included what is now the Klasky Csupo animation house. Jim Brooks negotiated a provision in the contract with the Fox network that prevented Fox from interfering with the show’s content.Groening said his goal in creating the show was to offer the audience an alternative to what he called “the mainstream trash” that they were watching.The half-hour series premiered on December 17, 1989 with “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”, a Christmas special.”Some Enchanted Evening” was the first full-length episode produced, but it did not broadcast until May 1990, as the last episode of the first season, because of animation problems.In 1992, Tracey Ullman filed a lawsuit against Fox, claiming that her show was the source of the series’ success. The suit said she should receive a share of the profits of The Simpsons-a claim rejected by the courts.

Production

Executive producers

Matt Groening and James L. Brooks have served as executive producers during the show’s entire history, and also function as creative consultants. Sam Simon, described by former Simpsons director Brad Bird as “the unsung hero” of the show,served as creative supervisor for the first four seasons. He was constantly at odds with Groening, Brooks and Gracie Films and left in 1993.Before leaving, he negotiated a deal that sees him receive a share of the profits every year, and an executive producer credit despite not having worked on the show since 1993.A more involved position on the show is the show runner, who acts as head writer and manages the show’s production for an entire season.

Writing

Al Jean (left) is the current executive producer of the show and David Mirkin (right) is a former executive producer and has been a part of the writing staff since 1994.

The first team of writers, assebled by Sam Simon, consisted of John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, George Meyer, Jeff Martin, Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Jay Kogen and Wallace Wolodarsky.[18] Newer Simpsons’ writing teams typically consist of sixteen writers who propose episode ideas at the beginning of each December.The main writer of each episode writes the first draft. Group rewriting sessions develop final scripts by adding or removing jokes, inserting scenes, and calling for re-readings of lines by the show’s vocal performers.Until 2004,the leader of these sessions was George Meyer, who had developed the show since Season One. According to long-time writer Jon Vitti, Meyer usually invented the best lines in a given episode, even though other writers may receive script credits. Each episode takes six months to produce so the show rarely comments on current events. However, episodes occasionally mention planned events, such as the Olympics or the Super Bowl.
Part of the writing staff of The Simpsons in 1992. Back row, left to right: Mike Mendel, Colin ABV Lewis (partial), Jeff Goldstein, Al Jean (partial), Conan O’Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Mike Reiss, Ken Tsumara, George Meyer, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti (partial), CJ Gibson and David M. Stern. Front row, left to right: Dee Capelli, Lona Williams and unknown.

Credited with sixty episodes, John Swartzwelder is the most prolific writer on The Simpsons’ staff.One of the best-known former writers is Conan O’Brien, who contributed to several episodes in the early 1990s before replacing David Letterman as host of the talk show Late Night.[24] English comedian Ricky Gervais wrote the episode “Homer Simpson, This Is Your Wife”, becoming the first celebrity to both write and guest star in an episode.Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, writers of the film Superbad, wrote the episode “Homer the Whopper”, with Rogen voicing a character in it.

At the end of 2007 the writers of The Simpsons went on strike together with the rest of the Writers Guild of America, East. The show’s writers had joined the guild in 1998.

Voice actors

The Simpsons has six main cast members. Dan Castellaneta performs Homer Simpson, Abraham Simpson, Krusty the Clown, Barney Gumble and other adult, male characters.Julie Kavner speaks the voices of Marge Simpson and Patty and Selma, as well as several minor characters.Castellaneta and Kavner had been a part of The Tracey Ullman Show cast and were given the parts so that new actors would not be needed. Nancy Cartwright performs the voices of Bart Simpson, Ralph Wiggum and other children.Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, is the only cast member who regularly voices only one character, although she occasionally plays other episodic characters.The producers decided to hold casting for the roles of Bart and Lisa. Smith had initially been asked to audition for the role of Bart, but casting director Bonita Pietila believed her voice was too high.Smith was given the role of Lisa instead.Nancy Cartwright originally intended to audition for Lisa, but upon arriving at the audition, she found that Lisa was simply described as the “middle child” and at the time did not have much personality. Cartwright became more interested in the role of Bart, who was described as “devious, underachieving, school-hating, irreverent, [and] clever”.Matt Groening let her try out for the part instead, and upon hearing her read, gave her the job on the spot.Cartwright is the only one of the six main Simpsons cast members who had been professionally trained in voice acting prior to working on the show. There are two male actors who do not voice members of the title family but play a majority of the male townspeople; Hank Azaria, who has been a part of the Simpsons regular voice cast since the second season, voices recurring characters such as Moe, Chief Wiggum and Apu, and Harry Shearer provides voices for Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Ned Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy, and Dr. Hibbert.[28] With the exception of Harry Shearer, every main cast member has won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance. However, Shearer was nominated for the award in 2009.

With one exception, episode credits list only the voice actors, and not the characters they voice. Both Fox and the production crew wanted to keep their identities secret during the early seasons and, therefore, closed most of the recording sessions while refusing to publish photos of the recording artists.However, the network eventually revealed which roles each actor performed in the episode “Old Money”, because the producers said the voice actors should receive credit for their work.In 2003, the cast appeared in an episode of Inside the Actors Studio, doing live performances of their characters’ voices.

Up until 1998, the six main actors were paid $30,000 per episode. In 1998 they were involved in a pay dispute with Fox. The company threatened to replace them with new actors, even going as far as preparing for casting of new voices. The series creator Groening supported the actors in their action.However, the issue was soon resolved and, from 1998 to 2004, they were paid $125,000 per episode. The show’s revenue continued to rise through syndication and DVD sales, and in April 2004 the main cast stopped appearing for script readings, demanding they be paid $360,000 per episode. The strike was resolved a month laterand their salaries were increased to something between $250,000[44] and $360,000 per episode.In 2008, production for the twentieth season was put on hold due to new contract negotiations with the voice actors, who wanted a “healthy bump” in salary to an amount close to $500,000 per episode.The dispute was soon resolved, and the actors’ salary was raised to $400,000 per episode.

Homer, Grampa, Barney, Krusty, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby, Hans Moleman and many others Marge, Patty and Selma Bart, Nelson, Ralph, Todd Flanders, others Lisa Moe, Chief Wiggum, Apu, Comic Book Guy, Carl, Cletus, Professor Frink, Dr. Nick and many others Mr. Burns, Smithers, Ned Flanders, Rev. Lovejoy, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibbert, Lenny, Principal Skinner, Otto, Rainier Wolfcastle and many others

In addition to the main cast, Pamela Hayden, Tress MacNeille, Marcia Wallace, Maggie Roswell, and Russi Taylor voice supporting characters.[28] From 1999 to 2002, Maggie Roswell’s characters were voiced by Marcia Mitzman Gaven. Karl Wiedergott has appeared in minor roles, but does not voice any recurring characters.[47] Repeat “special guest” cast members include Albert Brooks, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Joe Mantegna, and Kelsey Grammer.

Episodes will quite often feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, bands, musicians and scientists. In the earlier seasons, most of the guest stars voiced characters, but eventually more started appearing as themselves. Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode “Dancin’ Homer”.The Simpsons holds the world record for “Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series”.

The show has been dubbed into several other languages, including Japanese, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. It is also one of the few programs dubbed in both French and Quebec French.The Simpsons has been broadcast in Arabic, but due to Islamic customs, numerous aspects of the show have been changed. For example, Homer drinks soda instead of beer and eats Egyptian beef sausages instead of hot dogs. Because of such changes, the Arabized version of the series met with a negative reaction from the life-long Simpsons fans in the area.

Animation

Several different U.S. and international studios animate The Simpsons. Throughout the run of the animated shorts on The Tracey Ullman Show, the animation was produced domestically at Klasky Csupo.With the debut of the series, because of an increased workload, Fox subcontracted production to several international studios, located in South Korea.These are AKOM,Anivision,Rough Draft Studios,U.S. Animation, Inc.,and Toonzone Entertainment.Artists at the U.S. animation studio, Film Roman, draw storyboards, design new characters, backgrounds, props and draw character and background layouts, which in turn become animatics to be screened for the writers at Gracie Films for any changes to be made before the work is shipped overseas. The overseas studios then draw the inbetweens, ink and paint, and render the animation to tape before it is shipped back to the United States to be delivered to Fox three to four months later.

For the first three seasons, Klasky Csupo animated The Simpsons in the United States. In 1992, the show’s production company, Gracie Films, switched domestic production to Film Roman, who continue to animate the show as of 2009. In Season 14, production switched from traditional cel animation to digital ink and paint.The first episode to experiment with digital coloring was “Radioactive Man” in 1995. Animators used digital ink and paint during production of the Season 12 episode “Tennis the Menace,” but Gracie Films delayed the regular use of digital ink and paint until two seasons later. The already completed “Tennis the Menace” was broadcast as made.

The series began high-definition production in Season 20; the first episode, “Take My Life, Please”, aired February 15, 2009. The move to HDTV included a new opening sequence. Matt Groening called it a complicated change because it affected the timing and composition of animation.

Characters

The Simpsons sports a vast array of secondary and tertiary characters.

The Simpsons are a typical family who live in a fictional “Middle American” town of Springfield.Homer, the father, works as a safety inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, a position at odds with his careless, buffoonish personality. He is married to Marge Simpson, a stereotypical American housewife and mother. They have three children: Bart, a ten-year-old troublemaker; Lisa, a precocious eight-year-old activist; and Maggie, a baby who rarely speaks, but communicates by sucking on a pacifier. The family owns a dog, Santa’s Little Helper, and a cat, Snowball V, renamed Snowball II in “I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot”. Both pets have had starring roles in several episodes. Despite the passing of yearly milestones such as holidays or birthdays, the Simpsons do not physically age and still appear just as they did at the end of the 1980s. Although the family is dysfunctional, many episodes examine their relationships and bonds with each other and they are often shown to care about one another.

The show includes an array of quirky characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople and local celebrities. The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokesters or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the comedy show SCTV.

Setting

The Simpsons takes place in the fictional American town of Springfield in an unknown and impossible-to-determine U.S. state. The show is intentionally evasive in regard to Springfield’s location.The name “Springfield” is a common one in America and appears in over half of the states.springfield’s geography, and that of its surroundings, contain coastlines, deserts, vast farmland, tall mountains, or whatever the story or joke requires. Groening has said that Springfield has much in common with Portland, Oregon, the city where he grew up.

Themes

The Simpsons uses the standard setup of a situational comedy, or sitcom, as its premise. The series centers on a family and their life in a typical American town.[64] However, because of its animated nature, The Simpsons’ scope is larger than that of a regular sitcom. The town of Springfield acts as a complete universe in which characters can explore the issues faced by modern society. By having Homer work in a nuclear power plant, the show can comment on the state of the environment.Through Bart and Lisa’s days at Springfield Elementary School, the show’s writers illustrate pressing or controversial issues in the field of education. The town features a vast array of media channels-from kids’ television programming to local news, which enables the producers to make jokes about themselves and the entertainment industry.

Some commentators say the show is political in nature and susceptible to a left-wing bias.Al Jean admitted in an interview that “We [the show] are of liberal bent.”The writers often evince an appreciation for liberal ideals, but the show makes jokes across the political spectrum.The show portrays government and large corporations as callous entities that take advantage of the common worker.Thus, the writers often portray authority figures in an unflattering or negative light. In The Simpsons, politicians are corrupt, ministers such as Reverend Lovejoy are indifferent to churchgoers, and the local police force is incompetent.Religion also figures as a recurring theme. In times of crisis, the family often turns to God, and the show has dealt with most of the major religions.

Hallmarks
Opening sequence

Elongated couch gags, such as one featuring a large stage show, have been used to fill time in shorter episodes.

The Simpsons’ opening sequence is one of the show’s most memorable hallmarks. Most episodes open with the camera zooming through the show’s title towards the town of Springfield. The camera then follows the members of the family on their way home. Upon entering their house, the Simpsons settle down on their couch to watch television. The opening was created by David Silverman, the first task he did when production began on the show.[78] The series’ distinctive theme song was composed by musician Danny Elfman in 1989, after Groening approached him requesting a retro style piece. This piece, which took two days to create, has been noted by Elfman as the most popular of his career.[79]

One of the most distinctive aspects of the opening is that three of the segments change from episode to episode: Bart writes different things on the school chalkboard,[78] Lisa plays different solos on her saxophone, and different gags accompany the family as they enter their living room to sit on the couch.[80] On February 15, 2009, a new opening credit sequence was introduced to accompany the switch to HDTV. The sequence had all of the features of the original opening, but added numerous details and characters.[81]
Halloween episodes
Bart introducing a segment of “Treehouse of Horror IV” in the manner of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery.
Main article: Treehouse of Horror (series)

The special Halloween episode has become an annual tradition. “Treehouse of Horror” first broadcast in 1990 as part of season two and established the pattern of three separate, self-contained stories in each Halloween episode.[82] These pieces usually involve the family in some horror, science fiction, or supernatural setting and often parody or pay homage to a famous piece of work in those genres.[83] They always take place outside the normal continuity of the show. Although the Treehouse series is meant to be seen on Halloween, in recent years, new installments have premiered after Halloween due to Fox’s current contract with Major League Baseball’s World Series.[84]
Humor

The show’s humor turns on cultural references that cover a wide spectrum of society so that viewers from all generations can enjoy the show.[85] Such references, for example, come from movies, television, music, literature, science, and history.[85] The animators also regularly add jokes or sight gags into the show’s background via humorous or incongruous bits of text in signs, newspapers, and elsewhere.[86] The audience may often not notice the visual jokes in a single viewing. Some are so fleeting that they become apparent only by pausing a video recording of the show.[86] Kristin Thompson argues that The Simpsons uses a “…flurry of cultural references, intentionally inconsistent characterization, and considerable self-reflexivity about television conventions and the status of the programme as a television show.”[87]

One of Bart’s early hallmarks were his prank calls to Moe’s Tavern owner Moe Szyslak in which Bart calls Moe and asks for a gag name. Moe tries to find that person in the bar, but rapidly realizes it is a prank call and angrily threatens Bart. These calls were based on a series of prank calls known as the Tube Bar recordings. Moe was based partly on Tube Bar owner Louis “Red” Deutsch, whose often profane responses inspired Moe’s violent side.[88] As the series progressed, it became more difficult for the writers to come up with a fake name and to write Moe’s angry response, so the pranks were dropped as a regular joke during the fourth season.[89][90] The Simpsons also often includes self-referential humor.[91] The most common form is jokes about Fox Broadcasting.[92] For example, an episode that aired in December 2004 included a scene where a Fox News van drove down the street while displaying a large “Bush Cheney 2004″ banner and playing Queen’s “We Are the Champions”, in reference to the 2004 presidential election.[93]

The show uses catchphrases, and most of the primary and secondary characters have at least one each.[94] Notable expressions include Homer’s annoyed grunt “D’oh!”, Mr. Burns’ “Excellent…” and Nelson Muntz’s “Ha-ha!”. Some of Bart’s catchphrases, such as “¡Ay, caramba!”, “Don’t have a cow, man!” and “Eat my shorts!” appeared on t-shirts in the show’s early days.[95] However, Bart rarely used the latter two phrases until after they became popular through the merchandising. The use of many of these catchphrases has declined in recent seasons. The episode “Bart Gets Famous” mocks catchphrase-based humor, as Bart achieves fame on the Krusty the Clown Show solely for saying “I didn’t do it.”[96]
Influences on culture
Idioms

A number of neologisms that originated on The Simpsons have entered popular vernacular.[97] Mark Liberman, director of the Linguistic Data Consortium, remarked, “The Simpsons has apparently taken over from Shakespeare and the Bible as our culture’s greatest source of idioms, catchphrases and sundry other textual allusions.”[98] The most famous catchphrase is Homer’s annoyed grunt: “D’oh!” So ubiquitous is the expression that it is now listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, but without the apostrophe.[99] Dan Castellaneta says he borrowed the phrase from James Finlayson, an actor in early Laurel and Hardy comedies, who pronounced it in a more elongated and whining tone. The director of The Simpsons told Castellaneta to shorten the noise, and it went on to become the well-known exclamation in the television series.[100]

Groundskeeper Willie’s description of the French as “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” was used by National Review columnist Jonah Goldberg in 2003, after France’s opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq. The phrase quickly spread to other journalists.[101] “Cromulent”, a word used in “Lisa the Iconoclast” has since appeared in the Webster’s New Millennium Dictionary of English.[102] “Kwyjibo”, a fake Scrabble word invented by Bart in “Bart the Genius”, was used as one of the aliases of the creator of the Melissa worm.[103] “I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords”, was used by Kent Brockman in “Deep Space Homer” and has become a common variety of phrase.[104] Variants of Brockman’s utterance are used to express mock submission, usually for the purpose of humor.[105] It has been used in media, such as New Scientist magazine.[106] The dismissive term “Meh”, believed to be popularized by the show,[107] entered the Collins English Dictionary in 2008.[108]
Television

The Simpsons was the first successful animated program in prime time since Wait Till Your Father Gets Home in the 1970s.[109] During most of the 1980s, pundits considered animated shows as appropriate only for children, and animating a show was too expensive to achieve a quality suitable for prime-time television. The Simpsons changed this perception.[7] The use of Korean animation studios for tweening, coloring, and filming made the episodes cheaper. The success of The Simpsons and the lower production cost prompted television networks to take chances on other animated series.[7] This development led to a 1990s boom in new, animated prime-time shows, such as South Park, Family Guy, King of the Hill, Futurama, and The Critic.[7] “The Simpsons created an audience for prime-time animation that had not been there for many, many years”, said Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane. “As far as I’m concerned, they basically re-invented the wheel. They created what is in many ways-you could classify it as-a wholly new medium.”[110] South Park later paid homage to The Simpsons with the episode “Simpsons Already Did It”.[111]

The Simpsons has also influenced live-action shows like Malcolm in the Middle, which debuted January 9, 2000 in the time slot after The Simpsons, due to its lack of laugh track unlike many other sitcoms.[112][113] Malcolm in the Middle featured the use of sight gags and did not use a laugh track unlike most sitcoms. Ricky Gervais has called The Simpsons a major influence on his British comedy The Office, which also dispenses with a laugh track.[114]
Reception and achievements
Early success

The Simpsons was the Fox network’s first television series to rank among a season’s top 30 highest-rated shows.[115] While later seasons would focus on Homer, Bart was the lead character in most of the first three seasons. In 1990, Bart quickly became one of the most popular characters on television in what was termed “Bartmania”.[116][117][118][119] He became the most prevalent Simpsons character on memorabilia, such as T-shirts. In the early 1990s, millions of T-shirts featuring Bart were sold;[120] as many as one million were sold on some days.[121] Believing Bart to be a bad role model, several American public schools banned T-shirts featuring Bart next to captions such as “I’m Bart Simpson. Who the hell are you?” and “Underachiever (’And proud of it, man!’)”.[122][123][124] The Simpsons merchandise sold well and generated $2 billion in revenue during the first 14 months of sales.[122] Because of his popularity, Bart was often the most promoted member of the Simpson family in advertisements for the show, even for episodes in which he was not involved in the main plot.[125]

Due to the show’s success, over the summer of 1990 the Fox Network decided to switch The Simpsons’ timeslot so that it would move from 8:00 p.m. EST on Sunday night to the same time on Thursday, where it would compete with The Cosby Show on NBC, the number one show at the time.[126][127] Through the summer, several news outlets published stories about the supposed “Bill vs. Bart” rivalry.[121][126] “Bart Gets an F” (season two, 1990) was the first episode to air against The Cosby Show, and it received a lower Nielsen Rating, tying for eighth behind The Cosby Show, which had an 18.5 rating. The rating is based on the number of household televisions that were tuned into the show, but Nielsen Media Research estimated that 33.6 million viewers watched the episode, making it the number one show in terms of actual viewers that week. At the time, it was the most watched episode in the history of the Fox Network,[128] and it is still the highest rated episode in the history of The Simpsons.[129]

The Simpsons has been praised by many critics, being described as “the most irreverent and unapologetic show on the air.”[130] In a 1990 review of the show, Ken Tucker of Entertainment Weekly described it as “the American family at its most complicated, drawn as simple cartoons. It’s this neat paradox that makes millions of people turn away from the three big networks on Sunday nights to concentrate on The Simpsons.”[131] Tucker would also describe the show as a “pop-cultural phenomenon, a prime-time cartoon show that appeals to the entire family.”[132]
Run length achievements

On February 9, 1997, The Simpsons surpassed The Flintstones with the episode “The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show” as the longest-running prime-time animated series in the United States. In 2004, The Simpsons replaced The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (1952 to 1966) as the longest-running sitcom (animated or live action) in the United States.[133] In 2009, The Simpsons surpassed The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet’s record of 435 episodes and is now recognized by Guinness World Records as the world’s longest running sitcom.[134] In October 2004, Scooby-Doo briefly overtook The Simpsons as the American animated show with the highest number of episodes.[135] However, network executives in April 2005 again cancelled Scooby-Doo, which finished with 371 episodes, and The Simpsons reclaimed the title with 378 episodes at the end of their seventeenth season.[136] In May 2007, The Simpsons reached their 400th episode at the end of the eighteenth season. While The Simpsons has the record for the number of episodes by an American animated show, other animated series have surpassed The Simpsons.[137] For example, the Japanese anime series Sazae-san has close to 2,000 episodes to its credit.[137]

The year 2007 marked the twentieth anniversary of The Simpsons franchise. As of the twenty-first season (2009-2010), The Simpsons is the longest-running American primetime, scripted television series, having surpassed Gunsmoke . However, Gunsmoke’s episode count of 635 episodes far surpasses The Simpsons, which would not reach that mark until its approximate 29th season, under normal programming schedules.[133][138]

In 2009, Fox will hold a year-long celebration of the show titled “Best. 20 Years. Ever.” to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiere of The Simpsons. It will end January 14, 2010, twenty years after “Bart the Genius” aired. One of the first parts of the celebration is the “Unleash Your Yellow” contest in which entrants must design a poster for the show.[139] On February 26, 2009, Fox announced that it had renewed the show and ordered two additional seasons, which would take the series through its twenty-second season.[140]
Awards

The Simpsons have been awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 25 Primetime Emmy Awards,[50] 26 Annie Awards[141] and a Peabody Award.[142] In a 1998 issue celebrating the 20th century’s greatest achievements in arts and entertainment, Time magazine named The Simpsons the century’s best television series.[143] In that same issue, Time included Bart Simpson in the Time 100, the publication’s list of the century’s 100 most influential people.[144] Bart was the only fictional character on the list. On January 14, 2000, the Simpsons were awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[145] Also in 2000, Entertainment Weekly magazine TV critic Ken Tucker named The Simpsons the greatest television show of the 1990s. Furthermore, viewers of the UK television channel Channel 4 have voted “The Simpsons” at the top of two polls: 2001’s 100 Greatest Kids’ TV shows,[146] and 2005’s 100 Greatest Cartoons,[147] with Homer Simpson voted into first place in 2001’s 100 Greatest TV Characters.[148] Homer would also place ninth on Entertainment Weekly’s list of the “50 Greatest TV icons”.[149] In 2002, The Simpsons ranked #8 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time;[150] in 2007 it was included in TIME’s list of the “100 Best TV Shows of All Time”;[151] in 2008 the show was placed in first on Entertainment Weekly’s “Top 100 Shows of the Past 25 Years”;[152] and Empire named it the greatest TV show of all time.
Criticism and controversy

Bart’s rebellious nature, which frequently resulted in no punishment for his misbehavior, led some parents and conservatives to characterize him as a poor role model for children.[154][155] In schools, educators claimed that Bart was a “threat to learning” because of his “underachiever and proud of it” attitude and negative attitude regarding his education.[156] Others described him as “egotistical, aggressive and mean-spirited”.[157] In a 1991 interview, Bill Cosby described Bart as a bad role model for children, calling him “angry, confused, frustrated”. In response, Matt Groening said, “That sums up Bart, all right. Most people are in a struggle to be normal he thinks normal is very boring, and does things that others just wished they dare do.”[158] On January 27, 1992, then-President George H. W. Bush said, “We are going to keep on trying to strengthen the American family, to make American families a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons.”[122] The writers rushed out a tongue-in-cheek reply in the form of a short segment which aired three days later before a rerun of “Stark Raving Dad” in which Bart replied, “Hey, we’re just like the Waltons. We’re praying for an end to the Depression, too.”

Various episodes of the show have generated controversy. The Simpsons visited Australia in “Bart vs. Australia” (season six, 1995) and Brazil in “Blame it on Lisa” (season 13, 2002) and both episodes generated controversy and negative reaction in the visited countries.[161] In the latter case, Rio de Janeiro’s tourist board-who claimed that the city was portrayed as having rampant street crime, kidnappings, slums, and monkey and rat infestations-went so far as to threaten Fox with legal action.[162] Matt Groening was a fierce and vocal critic of the episode “A Star Is Burns” (season six, 1995) which featured a crossover with The Critic. He felt that it was just an advertisement for The Critic, and that people would incorrectly associate the show with him. When he was unsuccessful in getting the episode pulled, he had his name removed from the credits and went public with his concerns, openly criticizing James L. Brooks and saying the episode “violates the Simpsons’ universe.” In response, Brooks said “I am furious with Matt, [...] he’s allowed his opinion, but airing this publicly in the press is going too far. [...] his behavior right now is rotten.”[163][164] “The Principal and the Pauper” (season nine, 1997) is one of the most controversial episodes of The Simpsons. Many fans and critics reacted negatively to the revelation that Principal Seymour Skinner, a recurring character since the first season, was an impostor. The episode has been criticized by Matt Groening and by Harry Shearer, who provides the voice of Principal Skinner. In a 2001 interview, Shearer recalled that after reading the script, he told the writers, “That’s so wrong. You’re taking something that an audience has built eight years or nine years of investment in and just tossed it in the trash can for no good reason, for a story we’ve done before with other characters. It’s so arbitrary and gratuitous, and it’s disrespectful to the audience.”
Criticism of declining quality

Critics’ reviews of early Simpsons episodes praised the show for its wit, realism, and intelligence.[10][166] In the late 1990s, around the airing of season ten, the tone and emphasis of the show began to change. Some critics started calling the show “tired”.[167] By 2000, some long-term fans had become disillusioned with the show and pointed to its shift from character-driven plots to what they perceived as an overemphasis on zany antics.[168][169] Author Douglas Coupland described claims of declining quality in the series as “hogwash”, saying “The Simpsons hasn’t fumbled the ball in fourteen years, it’s hardly likely to fumble it now.”[170] Mike Scully, who was show runner during seasons nine through twelve, has been the subject of criticism.[171][172] Chris Suellentrop of Slate wrote “under Scully’s tenure, The Simpsons became, well, a cartoon. [...] Episodes that once would have ended with Homer and Marge bicycling into the sunset now end with Homer blowing a tranquilizer dart into Marge’s neck. The show’s still funny, but it hasn’t been touching in years.”[171] When asked in 2007 how the series’ longevity is sustained, Scully replied, “Lower your quality standards. Once you’ve done that you can go on forever.”

In 2003, to celebrate the show’s 300th episode “Barting Over”, USA Today published a pair of Simpsons related articles: a top-ten episodes list chosen by the webmaster of The Simpsons Archive fansite, and a top-15 list by The Simpsons’ own writers.The most recent episode listed on the fan list was 1997’s “Homer’s Phobia”; the Simpsons’ writers most recent choice was 2000’s “Behind the Laughter”. In 2004, Harry Shearer criticized what he perceived as the show’s declining quality: “I rate the last three seasons as among the worst, so Season Four looks very good to me now.In response, Dan Castellaneta stated “I don’t agree, [...] I think Harry’s issue is that the show isn’t as grounded as it was in the first three or four seasons, that it’s gotten crazy or a little more madcap. I think it organically changes to stay fresh.”

The Simpsons managed to maintain a large viewership and attract new fans. While the first season enjoyed an average of 13.4 million viewers per episode in the U.S.,[115] the nineteenth season had an average of 7.7 million viewers.[178] In an April 2006 interview, Matt Groening said, “I honestly don’t see any end in sight. I think it’s possible that the show will become too financially cumbersome… but right now, the show is creatively, I think, as good or better than it’s ever been. The animation is incredibly detailed and imaginative, and the stories do things that we haven’t done before. So creatively there’s no reason to quit.”

Other media

Numerous Simpson-related comic books have been released over the years. So far, nine comic book series have been published by Bongo Comics since 1993.The first comic strips based on The Simpsons appeared in 1991 in the magazine Simpsons Illustrated, which was a companion magazine to the show. The comic strips were popular and a one-shot comic book titled Simpsons Comics and Stories, containing four different stories, was released in 1993 for the fans.[182] The book was a success and due to this, the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, and his companions Bill Morrison, Mike Rote, Steve Vance and Cindy Vance created the publishing company Bongo Comics.[182] Issues of Simpsons Comics, Bart Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror and Bart Simpson have been collected and reprinted in trade paperbacks in the United States by HarperCollins.

Film

A Seattle 7-Eleven store transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart as part of a promotion for The Simpsons Movie.

20th Century Fox, Gracie Films, and Film Roman produced The Simpsons Movie, an animated film that was released on July 27, 2007.[186] The film was directed by long-time Simpsons producer David Silverman and written by a team of Simpsons writers comprising Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, Al Jean, George Meyer, Mike Reiss, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, David Mirkin, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, and Ian Maxtone-Graham.Production of the film occurred alongside continued writing of the series despite long-time claims by those involved in the show that a film would enter production only after the series had concluded.[186] There had been talk of a possible feature-length Simpsons film ever since the early seasons of the series. James L. Brooks originally thought that the story of the episode “Kamp Krusty” was suitable for a film, but he encountered difficulties in trying to expand the script to feature-length.For a long time, difficulties such as lack of a suitable story and an already fully engaged crew of writers delayed the project.

Music
Collections of original music featured in the series have been released on the albums Songs in the Key of Springfield, Go Simpsonic with The Simpsons and The Simpsons: Testify.[188] Several songs have been recorded with the purpose of a single or album release and have not been featured on the show. The album The Simpsons Sing the Blues was released in September 1990 and was a success, peaking at #3 on the Billboard 200[189] and becoming certified 2x platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The first single from the album was the pop rap song “Do the Bartman”, performed by Nancy Cartwright and released on November 20, 1990. The song was written by Michael Jackson, although he did not receive any credit.

The Simpsons Ride

The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios Florida, which officially opened May 15, 2008

In 2007, it was officially announced that The Simpsons Ride, a simulator ride, would be implemented into the Universal Studios Orlando and Universal Studios Hollywood.[192] It officially opened May 15, 2008 in Florida[193] and May 19, 2008 in Hollywood.[194] In the ride, patrons are introduced to a cartoon theme park called Krustyland built by Krusty the Clown. However, Sideshow Bob is loose from prison to get revenge on Krusty and the Simpson family. It features more than 24 regular characters from The Simpsons and features the voices of the regular cast members, as well as Pamela Hayden, Russi Taylor and Kelsey Grammer. Harry Shearer decided not to participate in the ride, so none of his characters have vocal parts.

Video games

The video game industry was very quick to adapt the characters and world of Springfield into games. Some of the early games include Konami’s arcade game The Simpsons (1991) and Acclaim Entertainment’s The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991). More modern games include The Simpsons Road Rage (2001), The Simpsons Hit & Run (2003) and The Simpsons Game (2007). Two Simpsons pinball machines have been produced; one that was available briefly after the first season, and another that is still available for purchase.

Merchandise
The popularity of The Simpsons has made it a billion-dollar merchandizing industry.[122] The title family and supporting characters appear on everything from t-shirts to posters. The Simpsons has inspired special editions of well-known board games, including Clue, Scrabble, Monopoly, Operation, and The Game of Life, as well as the trivia games What Would Homer Do? and Simpsons Jeopardy!. Several card games such as trump cards and The Simpsons Trading Card Game have also been released. Many official or unofficial Simpsons books such as episode guides have been published. Many episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS over the years. When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD in history, although it was later overtaken by the first season of Chappelle’s Show.In particular, seasons one through twelve have been released on DVD in the U.S. (Region 1), Europe (Region 2) and Australia/New Zealand/Latin America (Region 4) with more seasons expected to be released in the future.

In 2003, about 500 companies around the world were licensed to use Simpsons characters in their advertising.[201] As a promotion for the The Simpsons Movie, twelve 7-Eleven stores were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts and sold The Simpsons related products. These included “Buzz Cola”, “Krusty-O” cereal, Pink doughnuts with sprinkles, and “Squishees”.

On April 9, 2009, the United States Postal Service unveiled a series of five 44 cent stamps featuring Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie, to commemorate the show’s twentieth anniversary.[203] The Simpsons is the first television series still in production to receive this recognition.[204][205] The stamps, designed by Matt Groening, were made available for purchase on May 7, 2009.[206] Approximately one billion will be printed.

Sheila Ann Dixon (born December 27, 1953) is an American politician. She was the forty-eighth Mayor of Baltimore, Maryland. When former Mayor Martin O’Malley was sworn in as Governor on January 17, 2007, Dixon, a Democrat, became mayor and served out the remaining year of O’Malley’s term. In November 2007, she was elected mayor in her own right and is currently serving her first term. She is a former member of the Baltimore City Council, the first African-American female to serve as its president, and Baltimore’s first female mayor. She is also Baltimore’s third African-American mayor. Dixon endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president in 2008.

On January 9, 2009, Dixon was indicted on twelve counts, including perjury, theft, and misconduct. The charges stem partly from incidents in which she allegedly misappropriated gift cards intended for the poor.On December 1, 2009, the jury returned a “guilty” verdict on one misdemeanor count of fraudulent misappropriation. Due to the events of the trial, Ms. Dixon will step down on February 4, 2010 and City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake will succeed her per the Maryland State Constitution.

On January 6, 2010, Dixon announced her resignation as Mayor of Baltimore City, effective February 4, 2010. This resignation is part of her plea deal with the State of Maryland, stemming from her recent conviction for fraudulent misappropriation and her upcoming perjury trial. Under the terms of this deal, Mayor Dixon will get probation before judgment in both cases, thereby enabling her to keep her $80,000 pension, and she will not have a criminal record. Mayor Dixon entered an Alford plea and was granted probation before judgment. She also will be required to donate $45,000 to the Bea Gaddy Foundation and to serve 500 hours of community service at Our Daily Bread. In addition, she has agreed to sell gifts she received from developers, including a fur coat and electronics that she purchased with gift cards. She agreed to not seek office in the city of Baltimore or state of Maryland during the term of her probation, which will be two years, and she will not solicit or accept taxpayer money to pay her defense fees.

Biography

Dixon was born and was raised in the Ashburton neighborhood of West Baltimore. Her father, Phillip Dixon, Sr., was a car salesman, and her mother, Winona Dixon, was a community activist, active in her church, political causes, and member of local community groups.
Dixon attended the Baltimore City public schools and is a graduate of Northwestern High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Towson University and a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins University.

An active member of Bethel A.M.E. Church and former trustee, Dixon continues to serve as a member of the Stewardess Board. She serves on other boards, including the Institute of Human Virology, the Transplant Resource Center, the Urban Health Initiative, the Baltimore Public Markets Corporation, the Living Classrooms Foundation, and the Walters Art Gallery.

Twice divorced, Dixon is raising her two children, Jasmine and Joshua.She is the aunt of professional basketball player Juan Dixon, who led the University of Maryland to the 2002 NCAA championship, and Jermaine Dixon, who currently plays guard for the University of Pittsburgh Men’s Basketball Team. She is a lifelong resident of the City of Baltimore.

Career

Dixon (front, third from left) cuts the parade ribbon at the 2007 Baltimore Greek Independence Day Parade with Congressman John Sarbanes.

Immediately after university, Dixon worked as an elementary school teacher and adult education instructor with the Head Start program. She then worked for 17 years as an international trade specialist with the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development.

In 1986, Dixon was elected to the Baltimore City State Central Committee representing the 40th Legislative District. In 1987, she won a seat on the Baltimore City Council representing the 4th Council District, where she served twelve years. She became the city council president in 1999, the first African-American woman elected to this position.
As Mayor

She “has impressed political pundits with her energetic first three months and her ability to handle crises.”

Under her supervision, Baltimore’s homicide rate has dropped for the first time in the 30 years. [5] In February 2008, the Baltimore City Police reported a sharp decline in homicides in Baltimore. According to police there were 14 murders in the city for the month of January, the lowest monthly total in 30 years.[6] As of April, 2008, there had been a 40% reduction in murders in the city after experiencing a record high in 2007 during Dixon’s first year in office.By April 15, 2008 the number of murders in the city had grown to 54,[8] the lowest total to this time of the year in recent memory, putting the city on pace for 189 murders in 2008. By the end of 2008 the murder count was 234 - a 17% reduction over the previous year.

She also led the effort to pass Baltimore’s smoking ban. She has allocated record funding for campaigns to clean up Baltimore streets and she has expanded funding for affordable housing. While her critics complain that crime has risen in Baltimore during her tenure and that she is not paying enough attention to the issue, her record shows that she has increased police patrols,[10] is cracking down on the possession of illegal guns,and is actively securing federal funds for crime-fighting programs.

Dixon is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition,an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

The Shoe incident

In 1991 Dixon waved her shoe at white colleagues on the Baltimore City Council and yelled, “You’ve been running things for the last 20 years. Now the shoe is on the other foot.”
This incident led many people including some of her opponents to view her as a divisive person.

Dixon explained her earlier comment by stating that she has “matured” since making the shoe comment and that she now attempts “to communicate better with individuals.”

In her first inaugural address as Mayor, Dixon alluded to what she considers people’s wrong impression of her and stated, “I want you to know that I am much more than a newspaper headline or a sound bite on the evening news.”

Investigation and indictment

On June 17, 2008, investigators from the Office of the State Prosecutor executed a search and seizure warrant at Dixon’s residence in southwest Baltimore. The result of, or purpose for the search was not immediately revealed by investigators. However, several subpoenas were issued to aides, and local reports indicate that the investigation includes a look at gifts, including several fur coats, as well as Dixon’s spending habits. Two of Dixon’s associates, campaign chair Dale Clark, and Mildred Boyer, a businesswoman who had hired Dixon’s sister, pleaded guilty in Spring 2008 to tax charges and are cooperating with prosecutors in the Dixon investigation. The affidavit filed to support a search warrant on the company Doracon was published on the Baltimore Sun’s website on June 23, 2008. The affidavit states that Dixon is being investigated regarding bribery.

On January 9, 2009, Dixon was indicted by a Baltimore Grand Jury on twelve counts, comprising four counts of perjury, two counts of misconduct, three counts of theft, and three counts of fraudulent misappropriations.

Dixon’s trial, originally scheduled for September 8, 2009, was postponed to November 9, 2009.

Trial and Guilty Verdict

In November 2009, Dixon was tried for three counts of felony theft, three counts of misdemeanor embezzlement/misappropriation, and a single count of misconduct of office. The trial began on November 10, 2009. During the trial, two counts (one theft charge and one embezzlement/misappropriation charge) were dropped when prosecutors declined to call a key witness. On December 1, 2009, after seven days of deliberations, the jury returned verdicts on four of the five remaining counts. Dixon was found not guilty of the two felony theft charges, and one count of misconduct of office. She was found guilty on one misdemeanor embezzlement charge relating to her use of over $600 worth of retail store gift cards that were intended to be distributed to needy families. The jury was unable to reach a unanimous decision regarding the final charge of misdemeanor embezzlement.

As the result of being found guilty, Dixon is at risk of being removed from office, and being stripped of her city retirement pension valued at over $80,000 per year for life. Dixon still faces perjury charges, with a trial planned for 2010.

On January 6, 2010, Dixon elected to step down as mayor, effective February 4, 2010, but will maintain her pension.

2007 election

Dixon ran for a full term as mayor in the 2007 election and won the Democratic Party primary in September.Dixon maintained a strong fundraising advantage throughout the campaign. Scores of public officials, unions and newspapers endorsed the Mayor’s campaign. This includes the Baltimore Sun, The Afro-American Newspaper, the AFL-CIO, former Rep. Kweisi Mfume, Minority Contractors Association, SEIU, SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, Gov. O’Malley, Comptroller Peter Franchot, Unite Here, United Auto Workers, and others.

The Baltimore Examiner noted “some observers are suggesting that it may be open and shut.” Morgan State University political science professor C. Vernon Gray confirmed the Examiner’s analysis when he noted, “it’s [Dixon's] race to lose… she really has done an excellent job of governing despite all the crises she’s had.” Del. Jill Carter , City Councilman Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. and city schools administrator Andrey Bundley were noted as Mayor Dixon’s highest profile challengers.

A major issue during the primary mayoral campaign was crime. By mid-2007, homicides in Baltimore are on pace to surpass 300 for the year, the most since the early years of the O’Malley administration. On June 19th, Mayor Dixon presented her crime plan to 500 Baltimore police officers,but Dixon was attacked by Mitchell and Carter for not doing enough.Dixon’s crime plan departed from previous Mayor Martin O’Malley’s as it stressed community policing and focusing on apprehending the most violent offenders as opposed to zero tolerance.As of June 19th, there were 146 homicides and 340 non-lethal shootings in the city.

According to Johns Hopkins University political scientist Matthew Crenson, “Everybody complains about the homicides, but I think the assumption that many voters make, especially in Baltimore, is that the mayor can’t do a lot to reduce the homicide rate. And maybe Keiffer Mitchell made a mistake to make that the focus of his campaign.”

Endorsements

By the end of July 2007, Dixon’s campaign had been endorsed by the Baltimore Metropolitan Council of the Maryland AFL-CIO collectively as well as several individual union endorsements. Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot was the only state wide elected official to endorse Dixon until an August 13 rally where Governor Martin O’Malley gave his endorsement. Former Congressman Kweisi Mfume also endorsed Dixon at the same event in front of Baltimore’s City Hall.State Delegates Tom Hucker (Montgomery County), Maggie McIntosh, Curt Anderson, Cheryl Glenn, Melvin L. Stukes, Talmadge Branch, Senators Nathaniel J. McFadden and Cathy Pugh and Baltimore City Council members Robert Curran, Bernard “Jack” Young, Ed Reisinger, Stephanie Rawlings Blake and Agnes Welch have endorsed Dixon and were at the rally as well.

Victory

Dixon won the 2007 Baltimore Democratic Mayoral Primary over her closest opponent Keiffer J. Mitchell, Jr. with 63 percent of the total votes; she won against Republican Elbert Henderson in the general election in November.

2007 Primary election results

The final, official results for the Democratic primary, as reported on the city of Baltimore’s election board Web site.

LAS VEGAS — Anyone awaiting a new Micro Four-Thirds camera from Panasonic will be disappointed, but the company did announce six new point-and-shoot cameras today at CES 2010.

All of Panasonic’s new Lumix offerings will support the superhigh-capacity SDXC card format, as well as SDHC and SD cards. The unveiled models include the brand-new Lumix FH series, as well as a touchscreen camera.

Lumix FH Series: Slim and Well-Rounded

Three FH-series models will be available in 2010, and all of the cameras will have slim frames (about an inch thick), wide-angle zoom lenses, and 720p high-definition video capture at 30 frames per second.

The highest-end FH series model is the 14-megapixel Lumix DMC-FH20, which offers an 8X-optical-zoom lens (28mm to 224mm), a 2.7-inch LCD, optical image stabilization, and Intelligent Auto mode.

The 14-megapixel Lumix DMC-FH3 has a less-powerful, 5X-optical-zoom lens (28mm to 140mm), but otherwise offers the same specs. The lowest-end FH series model, the 12-megapixel Lumix DMC-FH1, also offers the 5X-optical-zoom lens (28mm to 140mm) and the same basic specs.

Panasonic has not announced pricing or availability for the new Lumix point-and-shoots.

Lumix FP Series Adds Touchscreen Model

Panasonic also announced two additions to the existing FP series of cameras. Neither of the new FP models offers wide-angle lenses; both the DMC-FP3 and the DMC-FP1 have 4X-optical-zoom lenses that range from 35mm to 140mm.

The 14-megapixel, touchscreen-controlled Lumix DMC-FP3 serves up a 3-inch-diagonal touchscreen LCD, 720p high-definition video capture at 30 fps, and Intelligent Auto mode. The camera will have touchscreen-controlled playback navigation and touch-to-focus features.

A non-touchscreen model, the Lumix DMC-FP1, will also ship in 2010. It provides a 12-megapixel sensor, a 2.7-inch LCD, 720p HD video capture at 30 fps, and Intelligent Auto features. Pricing and availability are still in the works for the new FP models, as well.

Entry-Level Lumix DMC-F3

Rounding out the announcements is the wide-angle Lumix DMC-F3, a 12-megapixel model with a 4X optical zoom (28mm to 112mm), 720p HD video capture at 30 fps, a 2.7-inch LCD, and digital image stabilization.

Though Panasonic has not announced pricing or availability for the F3, this camera will almost certainly be a sub-$200 model.

A blue moon is a Full Moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days compared to the lunar year. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle), there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a “blue moon.” Different definitions place the “extra” moon at different times.

* In calculating the dates for Lent and Easter, the Clergy identify the Lent Moon. It is thought that historically when the moon’s timing was too early, they named an earlier moon as a “betrayer moon” (belewe moon), thus the Lent moon came at its expected time.
* Folklore gave each moon a name according to its time of year. A moon which came too early had no folk name - and was called a blue moon - bringing the correct seasonal timings for future moons.
* The Farmers’ Almanac defined blue moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season; one season was normally three full moons. If a season had four full moons, then the third full moon was named a blue moon.
* Recent popular usage defined a blue moon as the second full moon in a calendar month, stemming from an interpretation error made in 1946 that was discovered in 1999.For example, December 31, 2009 was a blue moon according to this usage.

Early English and Christian usage

The earliest recorded English usage of the term “blue moon” was in a 1528 pamphlet violently attacking the English clergy,entitled “Rede Me and Be Not Wrothe” (Read me and be not angry): “Yf they say the mone is belewe / We must believe that it is true” [If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is true].

Some interpret this “blue moon” as relating to absurdities and impossibilities,and a similar moon-related adage was first recorded in the following year: “They would make men beleue … that þe Moone is made of grene chese” [They would make men believe ... that the moon is made of green cheese].

An alternative interpretation uses the other Old English meaning of belewe (which can mean “blue” or “betrayer”).The church was responsible for the calendar and used the complex computus to calculate the important date of Easter, which is based on the full moon. Lent falls before Easter, starting at the beginning of the Lent moon cycle (late winter moon). The next moon is the egg moon (early spring moon), and Easter usually falls on the first Sunday after the full egg moon. Every one to three years, the Lent and egg moons would come too early. The clergy would have to tell people whether the moon was the Lent moon or a false one, which they may have called a “betrayer moon”.
Visibly blue moon

The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and, notably, after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which caused the moon to appear blue for nearly two years. The particles in the atmosphere have to be about one micrometer in diameter; under these circumstances, long-wavelength light, which appears red to a viewer, is scattered out of the line of sight and short-wavelength light, which appears blue to a viewer, is selectively transmitted into a viewer’s eyes.

Folklore

Historically, moons were given folk names, twelve each year, to help people to prepare for different times of the year and the related weather and crop needs. Names varied with locality and culture, often with descriptive names such as harvest moon, growing moon, snow moon, and egg moon. Most years have 12 moons (giving 12 names), but in the years with thirteen full moons the monthly “seasons” would be expected to come too early - for example, hens would not recommence laying their eggs by the fourth full moon since it was still too cold - so the early moon was named a “blue moon”. This then re-aligned the rest of the year’s moons and “seasons”.

The origin of the term “blue moon” is steeped in folklore, and its meaning has changed and acquired new nuances over time. Some folktales say that when there is a full blue moon, the moon had a face and talked to those in its light.
Farmers’ Almanac blue moons

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Maine Farmers’ Almanac listed blue moon dates for farmers. These correspond to the third full moon in a quarter of the year when there were four full moons (normally a quarter year has three full moons). Names are given to each moon in a season: For example, the first moon of summer is called the early summer moon, the second is called the midsummer moon, and the last is called the late summer moon. When a season has four moons the third is called the blue moon so that the last can continue to be called the late moon.

The division of the year into quarters starts with the nominal vernal equinox on or around March 21.[6] This is close to the astronomical season but follows the Christian computus used for calculations of Easter, which places each equinox evenly between the summer and winter solstices to calculate seasons rather than using the actual equinox.

Some naming conventions keep the moon’s seasonal name for its entire cycle, from its appearance as a new moon through the full moon to the next new moon. In this convention a blue moon starts with a new moon and continues until the next new moon starts the late season moon.

To calculate the moon names for the seasons using the appearance of the new moon:

1. Locate the new moons that are nearest to the solstices and equinoxes. These are the early season moons. Mark the new moons as follows: nearest December 21 - the early winter moon; nearest March 20 - the early spring moon; nearest June 20 - the early summer moon; nearest September 22 - the early fall moon. Note: This makes the full moon of that season about two weeks later, always after the 20th or 21st of the month.
2. Locate the new moons following the early season moons marked above. Mark them as the mid season moons. For example, the new moon that follows the early winter moon is marked as the midwinter moon.
3. Locate the new moons before the early season moons marked in step 1. Mark them as the late season moons of the previous season. For example, the new moon that precedes the early winter moon is the late fall moon.
4. Locate all new moons that have not been marked either early, mid, or late moons. These are the blue moons.

Seasons are reversed in the southern hemisphere. Adjust the above instructions for your location.

For the year 2010, these are the dates of the moons in the northern hemisphere using UTC calculations. These dates use the actual solstices and not the artificial solstices that give each season an equal number of days.

1. 2009 December 16 - January 14 = Early Winter moon
2. January 15 - February 13 = Mid Winter moon
3. February 14 - March 14 = Late Winter moon
4. March 15 - April 13 = Early Spring moon
5. April 14 - May 13 = Mid Spring moon
6. May 14 - June 11 = Late Spring moon
7. June 12 - July 10 = Early Summer moon
8. July 11 - August 9 = Mid Summer moon
9. August 10 - September 7 = Late Summer moon
10. September 8 - October 6 = Early Fall moon
11. October 7 - November 5 = Mid Fall moon
12. November 6 - December 4 = Blue moon
13. December 5 - 2011 January 3 = Late Fall moon

Sky and Telescope calendrical misinterpretation

The March 1946 Sky and Telescope article “Once in a Blue Moon” by James Hugh Pruett misinterpreted the 1937 Maine Farmers’ Almanac. “Seven times in 19 years there were - and still are - 13 full moons in a year. This gives 11 months with one full moon each and one with two. This second in a month, so I interpret it, was called Blue Moon.” Widespread adoption of the definition of a “blue moon” as the second full moon in a month followed its use on the popular radio program StarDate on January 31, 1980.

Blue moons between 2009 and 2016

The following blue moons will occur between 2009 and 2016. These dates use UTC as the timezone; months will vary with different timezones.
Seasonal

Using the Farmers’ Almanac definition of blue moon (meaning the third full moon in a season of four full moons), blue moons occur:

* November 21, 2010
* August 21, 2013
* May 21, 2016

Calendar

Two full moons in one month:

* 2009: December 2; December 31 (combined with a partial lunar eclipse in some parts of the world)
* 2012: August 2, August 31
* 2015: July 2, July 31

Note that, unlike the astronomical seasonal definition, these dates are dependent on the Gregorian calendar and time zones. The full moon at 2009-12-31 19:13 UTC occurs early the next day in eastern countries (Australia and most of Asia), where the calendar blue moon will not occur until late January 2010.