Welcome to our Pop Culture Quiz number 13 | January 2015 This quiz features seven quiz questions in the Pop Culture category, covering everything in the …
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 13 | QuizMe
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 13 | QuizMe
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 13 | QuizMe
Young Prodigies Dazzle The Art World
Meet art prodigies Victoria Yin, age 14, and her younger sister Zoe, age 11, who were painting before they could walk. Both sisters have created hundreds of …
Young Prodigies Dazzle The Art World
Make It Pop | ‘Back to Me (Reprise)" Official Music Video | Nick
Check out the reprise of ‘Back to Me’ from the brand new season of Make It Pop. Catch all new episodes every weeknight in January at 7pm/6c! Subscribe if you …
Make It Pop | ‘Back to Me (Reprise)" Official Music Video | Nick
Haunted Gettysburg - Places of Mystery (Full Documentary)
Haunted Gettysburg – Places of Mystery (Full Documentary) . …
Haunted Gettysburg - Places of Mystery (Full Documentary)
Beyonce STUNS In New Coldplay Music Video "Hymn For The Weekend"
Best Lip Sync Battle ▻▻ https://youtu.be/p3yniyiKJfA More Celebrity News ▻▻ http://bit.ly/SubClevverNews Coldplay has just released their new music video …
Beyonce STUNS In New Coldplay Music Video "Hymn For The Weekend"
Cultural Festivals In India | Cultural of India | Vir Sanghvi
In India, several cultures and traditions co-exist together. Each year India witnesses a spectacle of different cultural festivals, filled with colors and rituals, …
Cultural Festivals In India | Cultural of India | Vir Sanghvi
LGR - Bombshell - PC Game Review
3D Realms has a new game after how many years? Color me intrigued! Bombshell has risen from the ashes of Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction, bringing lots of …
LGR - Bombshell - PC Game Review
Twitch VS Youtube Gaming (Best Live Streaming Site?)
Youtube Gaming VS Twitch is going on now! Yea thats right. Youtube has just launched their new gaming website gaming.youtube and It going to cause major …
Twitch VS Youtube Gaming (Best Live Streaming Site?)
"Saala Khadoos" Movie Screening With R.MADHAVAN || Bollywood Movies News 2016
Special Screening of Movie ‘Saala Khadoos’ for Friends and Family. ‘R. Madhavan’ Spotted At The Screening With A Big Smile On His Face. He’s Very Excited …
"Saala Khadoos" Movie Screening With R.MADHAVAN || Bollywood Movies News 2016
ZAYN - PILLOWTALK MUSIC VIDEO REACTION
Zayn! Zayn! Zayn! Today im going to be reacting to Zayn’s new single, “Pillowtalk” and its absolutely amazing. Zayn Malik is my fav and always will be my fav. tbt …
ZAYN - PILLOWTALK MUSIC VIDEO REACTION
[TOP 100] MOST VIEWED K-POP MUSIC VIDEOS - (February 2016)
Please support us on Patreon ▻ https://www.patreon.com/kville These are the 100 most watched K-Pop music videos on Youtube as of February 1st, 2016.
[TOP 100] MOST VIEWED K-POP MUSIC VIDEOS - (February 2016)
SOMA | Bowlingotter Game Review
Title: SOMA Developer: Frictional Games Publisher: Frictional Games Platform: PS4, PC (reviewed) Release Date: 9/22/15 Rate as “Helpful” on Steam!
SOMA | Bowlingotter Game Review
Comedy movies 2015 || Action Movies 2015 || Hollywood Comedy Movies || Funny Movies
Comedy movies 2015 || Action Movies 2015 || Hollywood Comedy Movies || Funny Movies Comedy movies 2015 || Action Movies 2015 || Hollywood Comedy …
Comedy movies 2015 || Action Movies 2015 || Hollywood Comedy Movies || Funny Movies
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 7 | QuizMe
Welcome to our Pop Culture Quiz number 7 | January 2015 This quiz features seven quiz questions in the Pop Culture category, covering everything in the …
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 7 | QuizMe
Gaming News [Deutsch] - Bungie | Fire Emblem Fates | The Division | Nintendo NX | EA | Steam
Gaming News: Bungie | Fire Emblem Fates | Tom Clancys The Division | Nintendo NX | Electronic Arts | Steam Bungie – President des Destiny-Entwicklers tritt …
Gaming News [Deutsch] - Bungie | Fire Emblem Fates | The Division | Nintendo NX | EA | Steam
'X-Files': First Look at Robbie Amell and Lauren Ambrose
One week ago today, Fox debuted its highly-anticipated The X-Files with the first episode in this six-episode event series, before it settled into its new time slot on Monday nights at 8 PM. Two of the new characters we haven’t met quite yet are Robbie Amell’s Agent Miller and Lauren Ambrose’s Agent Einstein, who will debut in the fifth episode Babylon, airing on February 15. Today, Entertainment Weekly has the first photo of these new characters before they arrive on the hit show.
The Babylon episode centers on Mulder and Scully who attempt to communicate with the comatose bomber of an art gallery. The younger FBI agents push them to examine their own beliefs. We reported in November that an X-Files spinoff may be happening that focuses on Agent Miller and Agent Einstein, but that news was never confirmed by Fox. If these characters prove to be popular with fans when they debut next month, a spinoff certainly wouldn’t be out of the question.
The X-Files is set thirteen years after the original series run, a thrilling, six-episode event series from creator/executive producer Chris Carter. Stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson are re-inhabiting their roles as iconic FBI Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Mitch Pileggi also returns as FBI Asst. Dir. Walter Skinner, Mulder and Scully’s boss, who walks a fine line between loyalty to these investigators and accountability to his superiors.
This event series marks the momentous return of the Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning pop culture phenomenon, which remains one of the longest-running sci-fi series in network television history. The X-Files debuts with a special two-night event beginning Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016 (10:00-11:00 PM ET/7:00-8:00 PM PT), following the NFC Championship Game, and continuing with its time period premiere on Monday, Jan. 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT). The series will only run six episodes, but star David Duchovny has said in the past that he would be open to returning for another short season like this one in the future.
The all-new episodes will feature appearances by guest stars Annabeth Gish as Monica Reyes, William B. Davis as “Cigarette Smoking Man” and the computer hackers known as The Lone Gunmen, Ringo Langly (Dean Haglund), Frohike (Tom Braidwood) and Byers (Bruce Harwood). The all-new episodes will feature appearances by guest stars, including Joel McHale (Community), Robbie Amell (The Flash), Lauren Ambrose (Dig, Six Feet Under), Annabeth Gish (The Bridge), Annet Mahendru (The Americans), Rhys Darby (Flight of the Conchords), Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley). Take a look at this new photo, and stay tuned for more on The X-Files.
"X-Files": First Look at Robbie Amell and Lauren Ambrose
'Batman v Superman' on Track for $154M Opening Weekend
In just under two months, Warner Bros. will kick off their DC Comics Extended Universe (DCEU) with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which is quickly becoming one of this year’s most anticipated movies. While we still have to wait and see how it performs at the box office, a new report from BoxOffice.com is projecting that the movie will have an opening weekend of $154 million, with a $388 million projected domestic gross.
This highly-anticipated superhero adventure will mark the first time both Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) have been seen on the big screen together in cinematic history. The movie will also introduce Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, whose stand alone movie is currently in production and set to hit theaters on June 23, 2017. It has also been rumored that this movie will introduce the rest of the Justice League, before Justice League Part 1 and Justice League Part 2 hits theaters in 2017 and 2019, respectively.
This epic superhero adventure will also introduce fans to a new version of Lex Luthor, played by Jesse Eisenberg. We saw in the previous trailer that Lex is responsible for introducing both Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne at a charity function, but it isn’t known if he truly knows their superhero alter-egos at this point. Producer Charles Roven recently revealed that Lex is “concerned” about Superman‘s presence on Earth, and that he will use his wealth to help repairing the damage the Man of Steel caused in his battle with General Zod.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice stars Oscar winner Ben Affleck (Argo) as Batman/Bruce Wayne and Henry Cavill as Superman/Clark Kent in the characters’ first big-screen pairing. The film also stars Oscar nominees Amy Adams (American Hustle) as Lois Lane, Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) as Lex Luthor, Diane Lane (Unfaithful) as Martha Kent, and Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got to Do with It) as Perry White; Oscar winners Jeremy Irons (Reversal of Fortune) as Alfred, and Holly Hunter (The Piano) as Senator Finch; and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. Zack Snyder directed from a screenplay written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer, based on characters from DC Comics, including Batman, created by Bob Kane with Bill Finger, and Superman, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. The film is produced by Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder, with Wesley Coller, Geoff Johns and David S. Goyer serving as executive producers.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice launches Warner Bros. new DC Comics slate of movies, including Suicide Squad (August 5, 2016), Wonder Woman (June 23, 2017), Justice League Part 1 (November 17, 2017), The Flash (March 23, 2018), Aquaman (July 27, 2018), Shazam! (April 5, 2019), Justice League Part 2 (June 14, 2019), Cyborg (April 3, 2020) and Green Lantern Corps. (June 19, 2020). We’ll have to wait and see how these other adventures fare at the box office, but they are all shaping up to be big hits as well.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice comes to theaters March 25th, 2016.
"Batman v Superman" on Track for $154M Opening Weekend
First Clip from 'Better Call Saul' Season 2 Arrives
In just a few short weeks, the hit AMC series Better Call Saul will return with the Season 2 Premiere on Monday, February 15, just one day after the The Walking Dead returns. To get fans ready for this highly-anticipated return, Entertainment Weekly has a clip from this new episode. The clip features Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk) helping himself to the cucumber water that he isn’t supposed to drink.
A prequel to the award-winning series Breaking Bad, the series follows down-on-his-luck Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) as he navigates the moral dilemmas of the legal world while trying to step out of his older brother’s shadow and make a name for himself. Season 1 found Jimmy stumble upon a large class-action lawsuit, which led to a promising job opportunity at a large firm. Having arrived at a fork in the road, will Jimmy take the straight and narrow path with a safe corporate job or will he fall back into his “Slippin’ Jimmy” con-artist ways?
Better Call Saul debuted in February 2015 as the season’s #1 new series on cable among viewers, adults 18-49 and adults 25-54. It now holds the title as the 3rd highest-rated first season in cable history among adults 18-49 and adults 25-54 since Nielsen began measuring live+3 viewing, after Fear the Walking Dead at #1 (2015) and The Walking Dead at #2 (2010). Its inaugural season garnered seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, including Outstanding Drama Series, and won two Critics’ Choice TV Awards for Best Actor in a Drama Series (Bob Odenkirk) and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Jonathan Banks) and the TCA Award for Outstanding New Program.
Ever since Better Call Saul was announced, fans have wondered when Breaking Bad stars such as Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul will be incorporated into the series. Series creator Vince Gilligan revealed last month that Bryan Cranston‘s Walter White may come back after Season 2. Aaron Paul also teased earlier this year that he has had discussions with the producers about reprising his role as Jesse Pinkman, although he isn’t exactly sure when that will happen. If AMC orders a third season, it won’t be too surprising if both of these iconic characters come back.
Better Call Saul Season 2 is executive produced by showrunners Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein and Thomas Schnauz, with Gennifer Hutchison as co-executive producer. The series is produced by Sony Pictures Television. In addition to Odenkirk, the series stars Jonathan Banks as Mike Ehrmantraut, Michael McKean as Jimmy’s brother, Chuck McGill, Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, Patrick Fabian as Howard Hamlin and Michael Mando as Nacho Varga. Take a look at this latest sneak peek for Better Call Saul Season 2, and stay tuned for more on the highly-anticipated return of this hit series.
First Clip from "Better Call Saul" Season 2 Arrives
Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend (Official video)
The second single to be taken from Coldplay’s acclaimed new album, A Head Full Of Dreams (out now). Download the song from http://smarturl.it/AHFOD or …
Coldplay - Hymn For The Weekend (Official video)
2016 'Screen Actors Guild Awards' Winners List
The Screen Actors Guild presented its coveted Actor statuettes for the outstanding motion picture and primetime television performances of 2015 at the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards held Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center. In a ceremony attended by film and television’s leading actors, the 22nd Annual SAG Awards® was simulcast live coast-to-coast by TNT and TBS at 8 p.m. (ET) / 5 p.m. (PT). A primetime encore presentation immediately followed on TNT. In addition, TBS and TNT subscribers were able to watch the SAG Awards live through the networks’ websites and mobile apps.
Honored with individual awards were Leonardo DiCaprio, Idris Elba, Brie Larson and Alicia Vikander for performances in motion pictures, and Uzo Aduba, Viola Davis, Idris Elba, Queen Latifah, Kevin Spacey and Jeffrey Tambor for performances in television. The Screen Actors Guild Awards originated awards for the outstanding performances by a motion picture cast and by television drama and comedy ensembles. The Actor for a motion picture cast performance went this year to Spotlight, while the Actors for television drama and comedy ensemble performances went this year to Downton Abbey and Orange is the New Black.
Nominees chosen by their respective SAG Awards film and television nominating committees were announced on Dec. 9, 2015. Information on voting procedures to choose the recipients was sent to the 116,741 active voting members of SAG-AFTRA on Dec. 16. Balloting closed at noon on Friday, Jan. 29. Integrity Voting Systems, the Awards’ official election teller, sealed the results until they were announced live during the 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Honorees for outstanding television and film stunt ensemble action performances were announced from the red carpet during the SAG Awards Red Carpet Pre-show, hosted this year by People deputy editor of entertainment JD Heyman and entertainment reporter Caroline Moderressy-Tehrani, which was webcast live on sagawards.tntdrama.com, sagawards.org and People.com.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler presented Carol Burnett with the 52nd Life Achievement Award, following a filmed salute to the comedic trailblazer, actor, singer, dancer, producer and author. Susan Sarandon introduced a filmed “In Memoriam” tribute to the SAG-AFTRA members lost during 2015. In keeping with the SAG Awards tradition of highlighting the work of SAG-AFTRA members, SAG-AFTRA President Ken Howard introduced a light-hearted look at how the profession of acting has been portrayed in film and television.
PEOPLE magazine and the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF) hosted the Screen Actors Guild Post-Awards Gala for the 20th year. This exclusive event, which was held immediately following the SAG Awards on a specially extended section of the Shrine Theater, honors the philanthropic causes and good works of the members of SAG-AFTRA. The Gala benefits the SAG-AFTRA Foundation.
The 22nd Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards presented by SAG-AFTRAwith Screen Actors Guild Awards®, LLC was produced by Avalon Harbor Productions. For more information about the SAG Awards, SAG-AFTRA, TNT and TBS, visit SAGAwards.org for more information. You can visit SAGAwrds.org for the full list of last night’s winners.
2016 "Screen Actors Guild Awards" Winners List
TGP GAMING PODCAST EP.83 THE DIVISION BETA | UFC 2 BETA IMPRESSIONS & GAMING NEWS
The division beta review and sony making changes for the better? Lets talk about it! If you enjoyed this video please like and share the video.Thank you for your …
TGP GAMING PODCAST EP.83 THE DIVISION BETA | UFC 2 BETA IMPRESSIONS & GAMING NEWS
'DC's Legends of Tomorrow' Ratings Hold Strong; New Episode 3 Photos Emerge
Earlier this month, The CW debuted their new series DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, which airs on Thursday nights at 8 PM ET, giving the network three nights of superhero programming following The Flash on Tuesday nights and Arrow on Wednesday nights. The ratings are in for the second episode of this hit series, which, according to Comic Book Resources, only dropped a tenth of a point following its impressive debut. The show earned a 1.1 rating and a 4 share in the coveted 18-49 demographic with 2.84 million viewers overall.
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow was virtually on par with its impressive series debut last week, dipping by only a tenth in adults 18-49 (1.1/4) and adults 18-34 (0.8/3) week to week, and ranking #2 in the 8-9pm hour in men 18-34 (0.9/4), and #3 in adults 18-34 and M18-49 (1.2/4). DC’s Legends improved its time period numbers by a huge +93% in total viewers (2.84M) over the same night last year, and +57% in adults 18-49.
For the night, The CW was up 81% year to year in total viewers (2.25 million), and up 60% in adults 18-49 (0.8/3). With last week’s Live + 3 Day delayed viewing, the series premiere of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow ranks as The CW’s 4th most watched series premiere ever (4.93 million viewers) and 2nd highest-rated premiere ever on the network among men 18-49 (2.3). Legends pulled ahead of the series premiere of Arrow, outrating it by 25% in adults 18-49 (2.0 vs 1.6), by 44% in men 18-49 (2.3 vs. 1.6), by 15% in men 18-34 (1.5 vs. 1.3), and by 3% in total viewers (4.93 vs. 4.8), and matched it in adults 18-34 (1.4).
In related news, the network has also released photos for the show’s third episode, Blood Ties, airing Thursday, February 4 at 8 PM ET. The episode centers on Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill), who decides to weaken Vandal Savage (Casper Crump) by going after his financial assets. Rip and Sara (Caity Lotz) infiltrate Savage’s bank, but are discovered by his men. Meanwhile, Snart (Wentworth Miller) and Rory (Dominic Purcell) talk Jax (Franz Drameh) into taking the jump ship back to Central City so they can steal a valuable emerald. Professor Stein (Victor Garber) guides Ray (Brandon Routh) on a dangerous mission.
We reported last week that Arrow star Stephen Amell will guest star on the series as an older version of his beloved character Oliver Queen, but it isn’t known when that episode will air. While we wait for more details on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, take a look at the new photos from this week’s episode below. Are you looking forward to seeing how the rest of this season of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will unfold? Chime in with your thoughts below.
"DC"s Legends of Tomorrow" Ratings Hold Strong; New Episode 3 Photos Emerge
An Unexplained Mystery!
This weeks theme on SSG is Epic Mystery. Something really strange is happening to Kaelyn! She seems to be multiplying! What is going on? Who is the real …
An Unexplained Mystery!
MEGA HERO AFFAIR WITH REGINA LATEST TELUGU FILM NEWS UPDATES GOSSIPS
MEGA HERO AFFAIR WITH REGINA LATEST TELUGU FILM NEWS UPDATES GOSSIPS.
MEGA HERO AFFAIR WITH REGINA LATEST TELUGU FILM NEWS UPDATES GOSSIPS
Zayn Malik - PILLOW TALK Music Video (Review/Reaction!)
Watch Matt Palmer’s cover of “Pillow Talk”! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9LBHe4wjGY LIKE US ON FACEBOOK: http://facebook.com/TwoGayMatts …
Zayn Malik - PILLOW TALK Music Video (Review/Reaction!)
(1 Hour) Pop Danthology Mashup 2015 Part 1+2 | Daniel Kim Music Mashup Remix Top OFFICAL
Music and video mashed up by Daniel Kim Full Version, Song List, Lyrics, MP3 Download, and more: http://canadankim.com/pop-danthology-2015/ I would be …
(1 Hour) Pop Danthology Mashup 2015 Part 1+2 | Daniel Kim Music Mashup Remix Top OFFICAL
FRIDAY THE 13TH (Honest Game Trailers)
SUBSCRIBE ▻▻ http://smo.sh/SubscribeSmoshGames SMOSH GAMES ANIMATED! ▻▻ http://smo.sh/CartoonSkyrim HGT: POKEMON DIAMOND/PEARL …
FRIDAY THE 13TH (Honest Game Trailers)
Coachella Sues LA Underground Music Festival, Hoodchella
Coachella Music Festival is one of the nation’s largest live music events, earning over $84 million in revenue and breaking attendance records last year.
Coachella Sues LA Underground Music Festival, Hoodchella
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 20 | QuizMe
Welcome to our Pop Culture Quiz number 20 | January 2015 This quiz features seven quiz questions in the Pop Culture category, covering everything in the …
Pop Culture Quiz | Number 20 | QuizMe
eSports Becoming A Billion Dollar Industry - This Week in Gaming
For More Gaming Tips and Tricks, Subscribe ▻ http://bit.ly/1lumAKr LevelCap’s Lego Channel: …
eSports Becoming A Billion Dollar Industry - This Week in Gaming
'Marvel Heroes' 2016 Video Game Trailer Arrives
This year will mark the beginning of Marvel’s Phase Three lineup with Captain America: Civil War, arriving in theaters May 6. While we wait for that adventure to unfold in theaters, fans can play as several of the MCU heroes in a new video game entitled Marvel Heroes. A new launch trailer has just been released for the 2016 version that is available to play free online at .
Take to the rooftops with Black Cat, team up with Agent Venom, take the new and improved Deadpool for a spin (literally), or fight off the Skrull invasion in the next chapter of the Marvel Heroes story! The game has also added some new features such as controller support and Leaderboards, as well as updated some of our existing ones such as the crafting system for an improved experience… and more is yet to come! Some of the new features of this game have been listed below.
Marvel Heroes includes a “Secret Invasion Story Chapter,” an adaptation of the 2008’s Secret Invasion comic book event. Battle shape-shifting Skrull invaders, including the Super-Skrull and alien versions of Super Heroes, are featured in this chapter. A Fortune Card themed to the new chapter is also available. The game also features a revamped Deadpool. The Merc with a Mouth has been part of the Marvel Heroes lineup since the beginning – with new animations, effects, and nine new moves added to his power set, now he’s even better! A new Zen Deadpool costume is also available.
This game also features a playable Black Cat, voiced by Jennifer Hale, just as she was in the 1990s Spider-Man animated series, Felicia Hardy crosses our path as the game’s 55th playable character. Fans will also get an Agent Venom team-up. Once Peter’s Parker high school bully, war hero Lt. Flash Thompson now hosts the Venom symbiote, ready to serve beside you. There will also be more than 50 achievements for those who play via Steam.
Starting with Captain America, Black Widow and Jean Grey, characters introduced with the initial launch of Marvel Heroes will be brought up to the more realistic visual standards of newer characters. Visual Updates for older character models will continue moving forward. The most dedicated players will be recognized, as new Leaderboards begin to be continually added. Tournaments and Seasons will grow out of this eventually, as well. In celebration of the launch of the Marvel Heroes 2016 Initiative, we’ve also brought back Bonus G, Chase & Halloween Costumes, our Boost Bonanza Sale, and more! You can also chime in with your thoughts on Marvel Heroes 2016 in the game’s Forums. Take a look at the launch trailer below.
"Marvel Heroes" 2016 Video Game Trailer Arrives
Feeling Happy - Best Of Vocal Deep House Music Chill Out - Mix By Regard #17
Follow Me : Fan Page:https://www.facebook.com/Djregard?ref=hl Twitter:https://twitter.com/DardanRegard Soundcloud :https://soundcloud.com/dj-re…
Feeling Happy - Best Of Vocal Deep House Music Chill Out - Mix By Regard #17
Why Some Countries Are Poor and Others Rich
If you like our films take a look at our shop (we ship worldwide): http://www.theschooloflife.com/shop/all/ The reason why some countries are rich and others poor …
Why Some Countries Are Poor and Others Rich
Black Belt Martial Arts Kicks & Tricking Funny Fails Compilation
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Black Belt Martial Arts Kicks & Tricking Funny Fails Compilation
CLASH OF CLANS (Honest Game Trailers)
Subscribe ▻▻ http://smo.sh/SubscribeSmoshGames Completely Smashed ▻▻ http://smo.sh/SS-Complete From the developers of the Clash of Clans ripoff with …
CLASH OF CLANS (Honest Game Trailers)
Captain Phasma Is in 'Star Wars 8'
We reported earlier this month that Star Wars: Episode VIII was delayed, with production set to begin next month and the studio moving the release date from May 26, 2017 to December 15, 2017. Even though production will begin soon, we still don’t have a confirmed cast list for the sequel yet, although we did learn over the weekend that one Star Wars: The Force Awakens star will return, with Gwendoline Christie confirming that she will return as Captain Phasma. Here’s what she had to say in an interview with People.
“I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that’s an exclusive, actually. I was very overexcited. I made no secret of the fact that I really campaigned for the part for a long time. And then I was delighted when J.J. Abrams wanted to have me in the film and then wanted to cast me in this role that had originally been designed for a man.”
Last week, we reported that Captain Phasma’s original costume design was originally intended for Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), but the design was shot down by J.J. Abrams. After producer Kathleen Kennedy came across the design, the director created the Captain Phasma character specifically based on this design, but the role was originally intended for a male actor before Gwendoline Christie was cast. While it was assumed that Phasma would return in the sequel, we never got any confirmation of this until now.
While no actors have been confirmed for Star Wars: Episode VIII yet, Star Wars: The Force Awakens stars Daisy Ridley (Rey), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), and John Boyega (Finn) are expected to return. Benicio Del Toro has also been rumored to play the main villain in this highly-anticipated sequel, but with production begin delayed to February, it’s possible we still may not get a confirmed cast list anytime soon. Since the early footage was shot at Skellig Michael Island, many assume that the movie will take place directly after Rey meets Luke Skywalker at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but we don’t know for sure quite yet.
Star Wars: Episode VIII will now be going up against Warner Bros.’ Ready Player One, directed by Steven Spielberg, on December 15, 2017. It wouldn’t be surprising if that adaptation, which stars Olivia Cooke and Ben Mendelsohn, shifts its release date in the weeks and months ahead. Many fans were overjoyed that the Star Wars franchise was returning to its roots with a May release date for Star Wars: Episode VIII, but now we’ll have to wait a few months longer before this sequel hits theaters. Are you excited that Captain Phasma is coming back in the sequel?
Star Wars: Episode VIII comes to theaters December 15th, 2017.
Captain Phasma Is in "Star Wars 8"
'Game of Thrones' Season 6 Is the Biggest Yet Says Sophie Turner
When Game of Thrones first aired in 2010, fans had the original George R.R. Martin books as a guide, and although the series did stray from the novels on several occasions, fans largely knew what was coming next. The upcoming Season 6 represents uncharted territory for fans of the show and the books alike, since the author still has not finished his sixth and seventh books in the series, leaving fans in the dark about what to expect. Entertainment Weekly caught up with series star Sophie Turner, who teased that Game of Thrones Season 6 is the best yet for her character, Sansa Stark.
“I mean this season is a really, really big one for Sansa. It’s probably her best season yet. It’s her really coming into her own. She, this season, really commands the respect that she deserves and she grabs hold of it and she runs with it and it’s really good.”
In Season 5, Sansa Stark returned to her home of Winterfell to marry the nefarious Ramsay Bolton (Iwan Rheon), which reunited her with Theon (Alfie Allen). The season finale showed Theon breaking free from Ramsay’s family, as he came to Sansa’s defense and lead her out of Winterfell in a daring escape, although it still isn’t clear where they will flee to. Here’s what the actress had to say about how the past five seasons have built up the the story that will be told this year.
“It was amazing because the past five seasons, it feels like it’s been building up and up to that. You can only suffer so much before she finally gets her, the respect that she deserves.”
Sadly, no official plot details have been confirmed for the new season, which we reported earlier this month will premiere on Sunday, April 24 at 9 PM ET. We do know that George R.R. Martin’s new book The Winds of Winter won’t be published until after this season debuts. The author and his publishers haven’t announced an exact date of publication yet, so we’ll have to wait and see. Fans were left with several burning questions after Game of Thrones Season 5, most notably, the fate of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), which will surely be addressed when the show debuts in just a few months time. The actress teased that there will be many more shocking moments for the fans to discover when the show returns in just a few months.
“I mean this season there’s like so many shocks, it’s massive. It’s the biggest season yet. And just like in terms of character development, so many people’s storylines, I’m so excited for. I’m so excited to see Alfie’s one this season. It’s going to be good.”
Fans will be introduced to several new characters this season, including Max von Sydow as the Three-Eyed Raven, Ian McShane in an unspecified role and Pilou Asbæk, who has been rumored to be playing Euron Greyjoy, the uncle of Alfie Allen‘s Theon Greyjoy. Richard E. Grant and Essie Davis are portraying members of a theater troupe who are putting on a play about famous figures in Westeros, with James Faulkner, Samantha Spiro and Rebecca Benson portraying the father, mother and sister of Samwell Tarly (John Bradley). Most recently, we reported that Spartacus: Vengeance star Joseph Naufahu has come aboard, rumored to be playing a Dothraki warrior. Chime in with your thoughts on these new details, and stay tuned for more updates as we continue the countdown to Game of Thrones‘ return.
"Game of Thrones" Season 6 Is the Biggest Yet Says Sophie Turner
FIFA 2015 (Honest Game Trailers)
Holiday Headshots in Halo ▻▻ http://smo.sh/GB-HaloHolidays Subscribe to Smosh Games ▻▻ http://smo.sh/SubscribeSmoshGames From the company that’s …
FIFA 2015 (Honest Game Trailers)
10 Places You"re Not Allowed To Go
Here are some amazing and mysterious places you unfortunately can’t visit. Many of these restricted locations are some of the creepiest in the world. Subscribe …
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10 Surprising Near-Death Experiences That May Change Your Beliefs
Humans
We’ve discussed near-death experiences (NDEs) before, concentrating mainly on testimonies from people in modern Western societies. Now we’re going to look at NDEs from earlier times and different cultures. Will these surprising testimonies prove or disprove the reality of NDEs?
We can’t guarantee any answers. After all, you have to die to confirm the truth. But we do believe that these stories will raise intriguing questions for even the most skeptical readers.
10 Black Elk
In 1983, Lakota Sioux medicine man Black Elk (1863–1950) told author John Neihardt about his near-death experience at age nine. He had collapsed due to swelling of the arms, legs, and face. That’s when he saw two men emerge from the clouds, who told him: “Hurry up, your grandfather is calling you.”
Though he was sorry to leave his parents, he rose above the Earth to a rainbow door. There, he saw six elderly grandfathers, whom he described as “older than men can ever be—old like hills, old like stars.” These elders made prophecies and gave him powers of healing and wisdom. After coming back to Earth two weeks later, he was initially reluctant to talk about his experiences. Then he was taken to a medicine man and relived them in a ritual.
As a young man, he joined Buffalo Bill’s traveling show, ultimately performing for Queen Victoria in London. As he continued to tour Europe, he got separated from his troupe in Paris and fell ill.
Near death for 24 hours, he reported a spirit journey across the Atlantic Ocean to his homeland in Dakota before being returned to Europe. Apparently, the French medical establishment was preparing to put him in a coffin when his heart started beating again and he sat up. Eventually, he returned to the reservation, where he became a shaman and prophet.
Black Elk’s experience appeared to have been affected by his cultural upbringing, with visions of heavenly horses, migrating geese, and spotted eagles. Some have questioned why Black Elk would have told a white man about his experience.
According to researcher Steve Straight, this may have been because Neihardt had experienced a similar NDE himself. Allegedly, Black Elk said that he felt someone should tell the world about the experience.
9 Myth Of Er
In The Republic, Plato referenced a speech by Socrates which told the tale of Er, a Pamphylian warrior who was left for dead on a battlefield but later recovered. Although assumed to be dead, Er’s body did not decay and returned to life upon the funeral pyre. Usually seen as an allegorical story by Socrates, some have suggested that it was evidence of an ancient NDE.
Er reported traveling with a large group to a mysterious, dazzling field or plain. Souls traveled upward or downward via twin openings in the Earth, depending on the judgment they received. Er claimed that he saw the tyrant Ardiaeus being bound, flayed, and dragged through thorns before being deposited in Tartarus.
After seven days, Er claimed that he was moved to a new place with a radiant rainbow pillar where the dead drew lots to determine their future lives and drank from a river to erase their memories before moving on. Er himself was stopped from drinking from the river and sent back to the living world.
Many classicists doubt that the story of Er counts as a true NDE. They believe it is more likely to be a fictional story invented by Socrates. However, some NDE researchers take it more seriously because the account includes eight of the 16 most common aspects reported in modern NDEs.
These include movement toward a bright light (the dazzling plain), an otherworldly landscape, a hellish experience, encounters with the deceased, life review (in the form of judgment), experience of a boundary between worlds, and a forced return. This may make Er’s tale the oldest record of an NDE in history.
8 Islamic Experiences
Islam teaches that after the death of the physical body, there is a kind of “soul sleep” known as Barzakh that will persist until the resurrection and judgment. What exactly happens in Barzakh is unknown because the scriptures say that the dead cannot know or perceive the events of the living world and the living cannot know the status of the dead. Yet, many Muslims believe that certain people are given hints of their eventual fate during Barzakh, a preview of eternal damnation or bliss.
After psychologist Joel Ibrahim Kreps noted a lack of information about Muslim NDEs in Western literature, he conducted a survey. He had been inspired by the testimony of a woman he met in Egypt, who said she had been lifted up to Heaven after a car accident and had seen the throne of God. The throne was inscribed with these words: Laillahah illalah, Muhamadan Rasussululah (“There is no God but God, and Muhammad is His messenger”).
Another NDE involved a Muslim woman named Suleman, who experienced a “multidimensional place of layered existences” while suffering acute necrotizing pancreatitis. She reported entering the sixth dimension—near to the “Absolute Reality of Divine Light”—where she found illuminated beings including Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.
Then she noticed an even more illuminated group of beings: Noah sitting alone, Moses with Jesus, Lord Krishna with the Buddha, and Muhammad next to the Virgin Mary with the luminous face of his son-in-law and successor, Ali, projecting out of his body. However, this account is unusual because Suleman was an Ismaili Muslim whose beliefs may have affected her NDE and involved elements that are rare or absent from mainstream Muslim NDEs.
When compared to other cultural groups, there seem to be fewer Muslim NDEs reported overall. A survey of those caught in an earthquake in Pakistani Kashmir found no cases of NDEs, compared to almost 40 percent following a similar event in China.
One theory suggests that Muslims who experience NDEs may be reluctant to talk about them because NDEs contradict the orthodox teachings of Islam. These people may be afraid of being branded as heretics.
7 Hindu
There are both similarities and differences between Hindu and Western near-death experiences. The first major report on the phenomena was by researchers Karlis Osis and Erlendur Haraldsson in 1977. They found that about 80 percent of cases involved encounters with otherworldly beings, but they usually had a more bureaucratic nature than Western reports.
Commonly reported figures include Yamraj (the god of the dead), the yamdoots (his messengers), and Chitragupta, who consults a book to determine the balance of a person’s positive and negative karma. Hindu NDEs seem to have a recurring theme in which an individual is brought for post-death processing by a clerk and it becomes apparent that some grievous mistake has been made.
Vasudev Pandey reported being dragged by two individuals to a frightening black, naked figure. The figure flew into a rage, telling the attendants, “I told you to bring Vasudev the gardener. Our garden is drying up. You have brought Vasudev the student.”
He was taken back and woke up in his bed surrounded by his friends and family, including the gardener Vasudev, who died the next day. Pandey identified the black figure as Yamraj, Hindu god of the dead. Another man reported being brought to a waiting room and having his legs cut off at the knees when he tried to escape. When it was discovered that his name was not on the list of the dead, he was told to reattach his limbs and go back.
According to researchers Dr. Satwant Pasricha and Dr. Ian Stevenson, there were no cases of a tunnellike experience and only one of an out-of-body experience. However, the tunnel experience has been noted by other researchers.
Instead of the “life review” that is commonly reported in Western NDEs, Hindu experiences are more likely to involve someone reading out a record of one’s life, called an akashic record.
6 Drythelm’s Vision
The eighth-century English monk Bede included an NDE in his Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum (aka The Ecclesiastical History of the English People). A Northumbrian man named Drythelm grew ill and seemed to die. His spirit was led to another world by a guide with a shining face and bright clothing. In this place, certain sins were treated with the punishment of fire and ice, but Drythelm was rescued from malevolent demons by his guide.
He was treated to a vision of the mouth of Hell, where the spirits of the dead were enclosed in fire globes that rose and fell. He was also shown the region of between Heaven and Hell, where souls that were not worthy of expedited entrance into Heaven sang while waiting for a decision in their favor.
Drythelm did not die. But on the basis of his vision, he was said to have divided his property among his family, joined a monastery, and spent the rest of his life expounding on the importance of prayers, alms, fasts, and Masses on behalf of the dead. For Bede, the importance of this account was its potential to encourage the conversion of sinners. It reflected the emerging Catholic eschatology that there was a Purgatory that was distinct from Hell.
The sixth-century Pope Saint Gregory the Great also devoted a book to visions of the afterlife and other supposed proofs of the immortality of the soul. One involved a hermit who was dragged into Hell and witnessed the torture of the spirits of powerful people.
But he was rescued at the last moment by an angel who told him, “Leave, and consider carefully how you will live from now on.” Another tale told of a soldier who saw the spirit of a businessman hanging halfway off an otherworldly bridge, with hideous demons trying to drag him into a river by the hips and angels trying to pull him up by his arms. These stories of Gregory and Bede helped to develop a religious narrative tradition that has lasted for centuries.
5 Chinese And Japanese Folklore
Medieval China and Japan both recorded examples of NDEs, dreams, visions, and hallucinations. One early Taoist tale involved Kien Tsze (Jianzi) of the Chao principality in 498 BC. He was ailing from a sickness for almost three days before recovering with a bizarre tale.
He told his courtiers: “I went to the residence of the emperor [of Heaven], where I much enjoyed myself. With the host of shen, I wandered about in the all-ruling Heaven.”
Then he was attacked by two bears. He shot them, which pleased the emperor of Heaven, who gave blessings upon the prince. Kien Tsze’s physician compared this encounter with an earlier experience by Duke Mu of the Qin dynasty.
Chinese NDEs were later influenced by the introduction of Pure Land Buddhism, which encouraged visions of Heavens and Hells. A man named Chao T’ai died and then revived after 10 days. He reported having been brought to a city in the East by horsemen. There, he was presented to a magistrate, ordered to confess his sins, and appointed as the inspector of Hell’s waterworks.
He observed the various punishments for the dead and learned how to avoid such an afterlife. Finally, it was discovered that his presence was due to a bureaucratic oversight, and he was sent back to the land of the living.
Meanwhile, the first written Japanese accounts of NDEs were compiled by ninth-century monk Kyokai. The first was a heavenly experience reported by Lord Otomo no Yasunoko no Muraji, who took a road of colored clouds to a golden mountain where he met a recently deceased prince regent and a wise monk.
A less pleasant account came from Kashiwade no omi Hirokuni, who traveled on a golden road to a golden palace where his deceased wife and father were being tortured. However, he was allowed to return to life due to good behavior.
Another important individual in terms of medieval Japanese NDEs is the 12th-century figure Honen, who formed the Jodo (Pure Land) School of Buddhism in Japan. He wrote detailed descriptions of his visions of Heaven, with jeweled trees and ground and the music of birdsong, harps, and flutes.
The Pure Land Buddhists attempted to simulate NDEs. They put a statue of their principle Buddha, Amida, at the end of a dying person’s bed and placed cords attached to the statue into the dying person’s hands.
4 Delok
Some NDE researchers have noted striking parallels between reports of NDEs and accounts of experiences given in The Tibetan Book of the Dead. According to the book, at the point of death, an individual will pass through bardo states, which offer a chance at enlightenment.
These bardo states seem to resemble elements from NDE reports. For example, the bardo of dying includes a phenomenon called ground luminosity (aka clear light). In the luminous bardo of dharmata, various religious deities are said to appear. Some of these are believed to take the form of non-Buddhist figures, so a dying Christian would see visions of Christ or the Virgin Mary.
Those who pass into the bardo states but then return to life are referred to as delok (“returned from death”). Although they appear to die due to illness, they instead spend time touring the realm of the dead to witness judgment and suffering in the Hell realms. Occasionally, they take a side trip to paradise. Then they are sent back by the lord of death with a stern warning about living spiritually beneficial lives.
One famous 16th-century delok was Lingza Chokyi, who reported an out-of-body experience in which she saw a dead pig lying in her bed wearing her clothes. She watched her family perform the ritual practices of her death but became annoyed when they didn’t give her a plate of food.
When her children cried, she reported feeling an extremely painful “hail of pus and blood.” Eventually, she merged minds with a guiding master and entered the bardo realm.
There, she encountered a bridge to the Hell realms, watched the lord of death tallying the good and evil deeds of the dead, and met a yogi who was entering the Hell realms to liberate the suffering. Eventually, a clerical error was discovered, and she was sent back to the land of the living.
3 Aerial Tollhouses
Within Eastern Orthodoxy, there is a controversial tradition that souls are transported by angels toward Heaven after death. But before they get there, they must travel through an aerial realm occupied by demons who concoct or expose reasons why the soul should be sent to Hell.
Opponents believe that this is a heretical remnant of Gnosticism. Supporters claim that it was a belief held by Saint Ignatius (aka Dmitry Brianchaninov).
One piece of evidence of the existence of the aerial tollhouses is the vision of Gregory of Thrace, a disciple of the 10th-century monk Basil the New. Gregory had a vision of the torments suffered by a woman named Blessed Theodora, who had died on her couch and awoken to find herself surrounded by “Ethiopians.”
She said “their eyes were like glowing coals, their entire appearance was as frightening and evil as the fiery Hell itself. They began to grow indignant and to make noise like dogs; others howled like wolves. As they looked at me, they were full of anger; they threatened me, kept rushing at me and gnashing their teeth, and appeared ready to devour me.”
Theodora would pass through 20 tollhouses, each associated with a different kind of sin. The first involved sins of the tongue, such as empty talk. The next two tollhouses related to lies and slander.
From there, the sins slowly increase in seriousness—gluttony, laziness, theft, usury, injustice, envy, pride, anger, and hatred. These are followed by the houses associated with murder, magic, lust, adultery, sodomy, and heresy.
Finally, there is a house devoted to cruelty and lack of mercy. With the help of angels, Theodora eventually passed through the torments of the tollhouses and reached the gates of Heaven.
Father Seraphim Rose, a controversial Orthodox theologian, argued that NDEs are interpretations of the passage through these aerial tollhouses. He concluded that NDEs occur in an invisible part of the real world inhabited by fallen spirits and not in a heavenly realm.
According to Rose, NDEs that reported pleasant experiences were the result of deception by these spirits. He believed that reports of luminosity were not to be trusted because the Orthodox tradition teaches that beings of light may not necessarily be Christ or angels but rather evil spirits in disguise.
2 Thai Experiences
Thai NDEs appear to be influenced by the Theravada Buddhist tradition and the Book of Phra Malaya, which was written by a medieval monk. There is also the element of clerical error seen in the NDEs of other Eastern cultures.
Phra Malaya was meditating when he had a vision of descending into Hell and entering the hall of Yama, the lord of the dead. Various options existed for dead humans to reincarnate.
They could be assigned human lives at various social stations and levels of attractiveness. They could become various kinds of animals. They could also be consigned to one of the 14 Hells or nine Heavens, which Phra Malaya then toured.
One woman named Pong reported being bitten by a cobra and dying. She was brought to a judge who told her that she wasn’t supposed to die. Before she returned to her body, she saw that Heaven was a pleasant place with birds, flowers, and nice houses. Hell was a cornucopia of torments, particularly whipping.
Major General Sanor Jintaraht reported two NDEs. While in a coma caused by a stroke, he found himself walking in a crowd of figures dressed in white mourning clothes. Then he entered a Hell realm filled with skeletons. He was told that he would never see his family again.
Suddenly, a woman appeared and gave him his favorite foods. But when he said he was thirsty, she told him that he couldn’t have any water because he hadn’t donated water to anyone in life. He resolved that if he returned to life, he would be charitable to monks. After a long walk with the woman, he regained consciousness.
His second NDE occurred while he was receiving treatment for kidney stones. He heard a voice telling him that he was dying. A yamatoot messenger spirit appeared and told him to lie on a glass plate for transport to Heaven, which was filled with fragrant yellow flowers.
After a while, he was taken to a house on the seventh level. But the servants wouldn’t give him a key because he had too many sins. Eventually, they turned into black giants.
He fled back to the glass plate and explored Heaven further before a voice called him back to his body. He had difficulty reentering his body, which kept rejecting his soul. But finally, he leaped in through his head and regained consciousness.
1 Jewish Tradition
NDE researchers have analyzed experiences in Israel and discovered parallels with the afterlife stories told in the Talmud, Zohar, and other Jewish texts. The theme of judgment appears to loom large in the Jewish NDE experience. Many modern Jews profess a disbelief or disinterest in afterlife prospects, but traditional concepts held more weight for previous generations.
According to researcher Jonathan Neumann, the Talmud contains two separate accounts of NDEs. The first is of a man named R. Joseph who died and came back to life. He told of a world where all social statuses were reversed, but sages and martyrs were still revered.
The second story is of R. Huna, who became so ill that funeral shrouds were prepared. He revived and claimed that God reversed the decree of his death. These tales feature the same reports of spiritual beings and mystical lands reported in modern NDEs.
In the Zohar text of the kabbalistic tradition, there is the story of R. Jose. He died and was revived, claiming that his son’s mourning cries had persuaded the heavenly host to beseech God to grant him 22 more years of life.
One modern account involved an Orthodox Jewish woman identified only as E.L. Her brother had dreamed that a tragedy would befall her. After some soul-searching, E.L. realized that she was being called to death due to her failure to maintain the supreme feminine virtue of modesty.
A week later, she felt ill and believed that her death was at hand. She stayed at home and performed the Sabbath rituals with her husband. The angel of death couldn’t touch her due to the holiness of the room.
When she went to her bedroom, however, she collapsed and lost consciousness. She reported that she felt the angel of death tearing out her soul. She was beaten by angry angels and then brought before her righteous deceased relatives.
She felt a divine presence crying. After witnessing the soul of an immodest person condemned to Hell, she begged to be sent back to look after her children. Fortunately, a Hasidic rabbi who knew her appeared in spirit form and argued on her behalf, allowing her to return to the land of the living.
David Tormsen expects his near-death experience to be a single pair of hands clapping slowly in the darkness. Email him at tormentedsentences@oath.com.
10 Surprising Near-Death Experiences That May Change Your Beliefs
10 Conspiracy Theories About Famous People Converting To Islam
Religion
There is a long tradition of crypto-Muslims who escaped from Christian persecution by following their faith in secret. At one time, people also faced persecution if they were suspected of being secret Catholics, Jews, communists, heathens, or Satanists.
In the modern West, however, influential people may be accused of converting to Islam as part of a wider conspiracy theory in which they are painted as cultural outsiders or even traitors.
10 The Dalai Lama
Dorje Shugden, a Tibetan trickster spirit, has been at the center of a cult in Tibet since the 17th century. In the last several decades, Shugden followers have spread throughout the world based on the teachings of rogue monk Kelsang Gyatso.
These followers claim that the Dalai Lama is not actually a Buddhist but rather a Muslim in disguise who is a theocratic dictator obsessed with the Nazis. Among other reasons, Shugden followers believe that the Dalai Lama must be Muslim because he has never expressly admitted to being a Buddhist.
According to the long Shugden polemic entitled The False Dalai Lama: The Worst Dictator In The World, the boy who would become the 14th Dalai Lama was found in the Muslim village of Taktser. Although he came from a non-Buddhist background, he was deemed good enough. Soon, his parents were informed that he had been recognized as the reincarnation of the 13th Dalai Lama.
Despite some political tension, he assumed the role, although he was jokingly referred to as the “The Saffron-Robed Muslim.” However, the truthfulness of this account is doubtful because the author has chosen to remain anonymous and only cites other anonymous sources and lost texts to confirm his claims. As it currently stands, nothing can be independently verified.
The anti–Dalai Lama faction is a somewhat dubious lobby group. They are linked to an ideology called Geluk supremacy, which seeks the domination of the Geluk Tibetan Buddhist sect over the other four sects—the Sakya, Nyingma, Kagyu, and Jhonang. This ideology has caused sectarian strife in Tibet for centuries.
Although the Geluk sect claims that the Dalai Lama is a dictator, their leader bans Geluk members from reading books that aren’t written by him. Their front group, the Western Shugden Society, has been referred to as a Buddhist version of the Westboro Baptist Church.
The Geluk sect is tacitly supported by the Chinese government, and their ranks are made up primarily of white American and European men. Their claim that the Dalai Lama is a secret Muslim is an attempted insult that draws from the cultural influence of global Islamophobia.
9 Thomas Jefferson
President Thomas Jefferson’s religious views often offended Protestants in the late 18th century. When he and James Madison proposed the Virginia Statute on Religious Freedom in 1779, the preamble began: “Well aware that Almighty God hath created the mind free.”
Christian delegates tried to have “Almighty God” replaced with “Jesus Christ” but were overwhelmingly voted down. Jefferson saw this as the representatives declaring that the law would “comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and Mahomedan, the Hindoo, and Infidel of every denomination.”
Although Jefferson probably had a skeptical view of Islam, he insisted that “neither pagan nor Mahamedan nor Jew ought to be excluded from the civil rights of the Commonwealth because of his religion.” Many Protestant Christians resented this notion, fearing infiltration by enemy aliens. Comparisons were often drawn between the deism of Jefferson and Islam, which both held to the notion of one God.
The Connecticut Courant complained that they couldn’t determine “whether Mr. Jefferson believes in the heathen mythology or in the alcoran [Quran]; whether he is a Jew or a Christian; whether he believes in one God, or in many; or in none at all.”
According to historian Denise Spellberg, this made Jefferson “the first in the history of American politics to suffer the false charge of being a Muslim, an accusation considered the ultimate Protestant slur in the 18th century.”
8 Prince Charles
In 1997, an article in the Middle East Quarterly entitled “Prince Charles of Arabia” explored the idea of whether the Prince of Wales was a secret convert to Islam. Much of this was linked to Prince Charles’s public statements praising Islamic institutions, the role of women in Islamic society, and the role that Islamic values could play in solving British problems.
The authors also pointed to positive links between the British royal family and many Islamic governments as well as the prince setting up a committee of wise men to advise him on Islamic culture. The article concluded with a dark warning that the prince’s infatuation with Islam could usher in a “different kind of monarchy” in Great Britain.
Other supposed evidence came from the prince’s 2003 visit to Oman, where he spent two hours exploring the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque and toured an exhibition on Islamic calligraphy. He also “broke fast with a large congregation of people from different nationalities as he sat with folded legs on the floor in the open. He ate date and drank juice at the call of Iftar.” All this pro-Islam behavior was even said to have caused tensions with the archbishop of Canterbury.
Anti-Islamic writers see the prince’s interest in Islam and Islamic culture as rooted in an attraction to its authoritarian, reactionary, and antifemale attitudes. However, the Catholic Herald pointed out that Queen Victoria had presented a Quran to the first purpose-built mosque in Woking in 1889.
The Religion News Service thinks that the whole business is much ado about nothing and that the prince just has an interest. Besides, there is some evidence that the British royal family may be descendants of Muhammad through the complicated web of marriages among European and Mediterranean royalty.
7 Neil Armstrong
According to a popular urban legend in the Islamic world, Apollo astronauts on the Moon heard the strange sounds of an unfamiliar language. Years later, Neil Armstrong heard the sounds again while in Egypt, which he supposedly described as a “spacey something similar [to what] I heard while I was on the Moon.” After he was told that it was the Islamic call to prayer, the legend says that he immediately converted to Islam.
Armstrong denied these claims. Also, the audio of the Moon landing does not contain any references to a strange language or unknown sounds. The US State Department even issued a statement: “While stressing his strong desire not to offend anyone or show disrespect for any religion, Armstrong has advised department that reports of his conversion to Islam are inaccurate.”
A fatwa published on the Islam Q&A website by Shaykh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid categorically stated:
If the story of such a famous person becoming Muslim was really true, you would see him calling people to Islam, and you would see the scholars and daa’iyahs and the Islamic media meeting him and talking to him, none of which happened in this case. If you compare the story of Armstrong supposedly becoming Muslim with the story of Yusuf Islam (the former Cat Stevens, the famous British singer), you will see the difference between lies and truth, imagination and reality.
6 Paul Ryan And Anthony Weiner
Although President Barack Obama has been falsely accused for years of being a Muslim (as well as an atheist, communist, black supremacist, and Nazi), Republicans have also faced such accusations. In 2015, Republican presidential candidate Paul Ryan decided to grow a beard, which Twitter users and some in the right-wing press referred to as his “Muslim beard.” They also suggested that he had secretly converted to Islam.
Ryan mentioned it in a conversation with President Obama and was rewarded with a knowing chuckle. According to Twitter user Joe Cunningham: “It’s a late entrant, but the ‘Paul Ryan Is A Muslim Sleeper Agent Because Look At That Beard’ theory is the best conspiracy theory of 2015.”
Another US political figure who was accused of converting to Islam was Anthony Weiner. His wife, Huma Abedin, was born in Saudi Arabia and is rumored to have links with the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda. Supposedly, Weiner had to convert to Islam from Judaism to convince her to marry him.
According to Fox News, the real scandal is not “Weiner’s weiner.” It’s the fact that Abedin had these Islamic links while possessing a high security clearance and being close to presumed presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
These claims are ultimately unfounded. They originate in Islamophobic conspiracy theories but have been adopted by fringe elements of the right-wing press as well as iconoclastic politicians like Michele Bachmann.
5 Michael Jackson
In 2008, UK tabloid The Sun claimed that Michael Jackson had converted to Islam while wearing Arab garb in a ceremony at a friend’s house. Supposedly, this occurred under the guidance of an imam with Canadian songwriter Dawud Wharnsby (formerly David Wharnsby) and British singer Yusuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens) in attendance. Jackson was said to have changed his name to Mikaeel (after rejecting the suggestion of “Mustafa”).
However, the article was not based on verifiable evidence. Also, the information about the so-called conversion ritual didn’t match anything in actual Islamic tradition. Both Wharnsby and Islam denied involvement in any such ritual.
Still, rumors flourished on the Internet as YouTube videos of Islamic nasheed prayer songs allegedly composed by Jackson were uploaded and shared. These were usually songs performed by nasheed singers Zain Bhikha and Irfan Makki, who may have sounded similar to Jackson.
More video proof was offered with an edited clip of Jackson saying “inshallah” (“Allah willing”). This was taken out of context from a 1996 promo that Jackson recorded for his fans in Tunisia, where Muslims, Jews, and Christians all use the expression “inshallah.”
Other supposed evidence was that several members of his family are adherents of the Nation of Islam, which is distinct from mainstream Islam, and that he dressed in an abaya (a dress for Muslim women) while in Bahrain. Some who believe that Jackson converted to Islam have offered even more ludicrous examples of proof, such as claims that Jackson’s brain was checked during his autopsy and memories of becoming Muslim were discovered inside.
4 Jacques Cousteau
Rumors swirled that famed French oceanographer Jacques Cousteau converted to Islam after his discovery of two distinct water layers in the Strait of Gibraltar. Supposedly, this discovery could not be explained by modern science but was prophesied in the Quran 1,400 years earlier. A similar situation occurred with the Bab el Mandeb when German scientists noted two separate water layers corresponding with the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.
According to an article on the Arab News website, Cousteau was guided to the Quran by an Islamic friend and was quoted as saying, “I swear, that this Quran, which 1,400 years ago lagged behind modern science, cannot be the speech of a person. It is true speech of Almighty. [ . . . ] I am indefinitely grateful that He opened my eyes for Truth.”
Apparently, the relevant lines in the Quran are:
It is He (Allah) Who has let free the two bodies of flowing water: One palatable and sweet, and the other salty and bitter; yet has He (Allah) made a barrier between them, a portion that is forbidden to be passed. (Surah 25 Al-Furqan: verse 53)
And He (Allah) made a separating bar between the two bodies of flowing waters. (Surah 27 An-Naml: verse 61)
He (Allah) let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: between them is a barrier which they do not transgress. (Surah 55 Al-Rahman: verse 19–20).
The Cousteau Foundation and his family rejected all claims that Cousteau had converted to Islam. He was given a Roman Catholic funeral when he died in 1997. The supposed quotes can be traced solely to a series of Turkish books called The Reasons Why They Become Muslims, which are published by the Islamic Waqf Ikhlas Publications. There are no verifiable or reliable sources that confirm these quotes.
3 John Brennan
When President Obama nominated John Brennan as the new head of the CIA, there were initial objections due to Brennan’s role in the expanding use of drones. But a bizarre conspiracy theory also emerged that Brennan had secretly converted to Islam while stationed in Saudi Arabia in an official US posting.
The accusations were first made by former FBI agent John Guandolo, who had been dismissed from the bureau for allegedly having a sexual relationship with an informant in a corruption investigation. Since then, he has made a career out of identifying Islamist threats to national security, despite his dubious history.
Guandolo had no real evidence for his claims aside from a vague reference to Brennan once marveling in a speech at the “majesty of the hajj.” Still, the accusations were quickly picked up by far-right websites. Glenn Beck referred to it as “plausible.”
However, Muslim groups, which tended to oppose Brennan’s nomination due to his role in the deaths of civilians in bomb strikes, rejected Guandolo’s claims and said that they had no information about Brennan ever converting to Islam.
Brennan caused more upset when he insisted on being sworn in by placing his hand on a copy of the US Constitution rather than the Holy Bible. However, Snopes pointed out that it is unlikely that Brennan could have hidden a secret conversion from the vast US intelligence network. Snopes also suggested that swearing on the Constitution seemed more likely to suggest that Brennan had no religious affiliation at all.
2 Princess Diana
According to The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown, Princess Diana had considered converting to Islam after falling for Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. Brown wrote that Diana’s Kensington Palace apartment was soon “fragrant with the scent of burning joss sticks.” The relationship was apparently going swimmingly until Khan’s mother intervened, shocked at the idea of her son marrying someone who wasn’t a Pakistani Muslim woman.
The veracity of Brown’s claims is unknown. But they closely resembled ideas that had already been floating around in the world of conspiracy theorists. Diana’s later relationship with Egyptian Emad Mohamed al-Fayed (aka Dodi) only exacerbated the rumors.
Her 1997 death in a car crash led to lurid speculation in Egypt that she had been killed by British intelligence to prevent her from marrying al-Fayed and making a Muslim the stepfather to the heir of the British throne. Books with titles like Did She Die a Muslim? and Diana’s Conversion to Islam were soon flying off the shelves.
Some news headlines appeared to convey the same sentiments, such as “Recite the fatiha [the opening chapter of the Quran] for the soul of Diana” and “Murder was the easiest solution for the British government to deal with a Muslim princess.”
Mohamed al-Fayed, Dodi’s father, was a major proponent of this particular theory. He claimed that Diana was pregnant at the time of her death and that the royal establishment was horrified at the idea of Prince William having a half-Muslim sibling. Supposedly, the hit was organized by Prince Philip. Fayed later named Tony Blair, the CIA, and Diana’s older sister as having possible involvement in Diana’s death.
1 Adolf Hitler
According to the memoirs of architect Albert Speer, Adolf Hitler believed that the German people practiced the wrong religion. He preferred Islam, which he viewed as a “religion of men” with better standards of hygiene and a doctrine of a “warrior’s heaven.” He compared this with the “Jewish filth and priestly twaddle” of Christianity with its “meekness and flabbiness.”
Supposedly, Speer once mused at a dinner: “Had Charles Martel not been victorious at Poitiers . . . then we should in all probability have been converted to Islam, that cult which glorifies the heroism which opens up the seventh heaven to the bold warrior alone.”
There is evidence that the Third Reich tried to recruit Muslims as Aryan soldiers. Early Islamists shared with the Nazis an opposition to liberal democracy, communism, and the Jewish people. However, there is little evidence that Hitler converted to Islam, although the notion has become popular among the anti-Semitic Islamist fringe and the Islamophobic right-wing fringe.
In reality, the issue of Hitler’s faith is heavily contested. In a 2012 debate between Richard Dawkins and Cardinal George Pell, they argued that Hitler was a Catholic and an atheist, respectively. Hitler never renounced his Roman Catholicism, but his policies reflected the influence of social Darwinism.
He largely manipulated the doctrines and dogmas of the Catholic Church for his own benefit while replacing traditional religion with a secular nationalistic cult. Converting to Islam during all of this would have been rather out of character for Hitler, and there isn’t any real evidence that he ever considered such a thing.
David Tormsen is not a secretly practicing Sufi dervish. Email him at tormentedsentences@oath.com.
10 Conspiracy Theories About Famous People Converting To Islam
Indian Santali Dance Video
Indian Santali Dance Video In Jamalpur, Burdwan 16/01/2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8CIWNU9lXg very entertaining, They are dance together …
Indian Santali Dance Video
10 Writing Systems Used By Only One Language
Facts
10 Hmong Syllabary
9 Hangul
8 Ogham
7 Dongba
6 Cherokee Syllabary
5 Vah
4 Fraser Alphabet
1 Stokoe Notation
Writing first appeared around 6,000 years ago, with the earliest evidence being clay tablets from Mesopotamia. The earliest alphabetic writing was developed by the Phoenicians. The Greeks borrowed that alphabet, with modifications to suit the sound system of Greek.
In turn, the Romans borrowed and modified the Greek alphabet to fit the sounds of Latin. Most modern writing systems use some form of the Roman alphabet, although there are several other scripts that have found widespread use, including Cyrillic, Arabic, and Devanagari.
However, there are a few cases of unique writing systems that were invented to suit the needs of a single language. Here are 10 of those writing systems.
10 Hmong Syllabary
Pahawh Hmong
In 1959, the Hmong script was invented by Shong Lue Yang, who was born into a poor farming family. His parents died when he was a child, and he never received any formal education. Tradition holds that Yang created the Hmong syllabary through divine inspiration.
One day, his grandfather sent him out to the fields to chase away monkeys that were stealing crops. Yang fell asleep in the field and dreamed of two spirits that brought him knowledge of writing. They placed a book in his hand and told him to spread writing to the Hmong.
The Hmong script is syllabic, rather than alphabetic, with only two types of syllables that are possible. A syllable can be just a vowel, or it can be a consonant onset followed by a vowel. Additionally, vowels can carry one of seven different tones.
Writing is simple. Each syllabic symbol has three parts, which represent the onset (if there is one), the vowel, and the tone. However, these sounds are not written in the order that you might expect. The vowel of a syllable is written first, even if the syllable starts with a consonant. Since about 90 percent of the language is monosyllabic, this is a practical way of writing.
Shong Lue Yang later fled to Laos from communist Vietnam and taught the script to the Hmong living there. In 1971, he was killed by Laotian soldiers due to his increasing influence with a resistance group. Today, his script persists, but it is not as commonly used as the writing system based on the Roman alphabet.
9 Hangul
Korean
Hangul, the Korean writing system, was created in 1443 by a group of linguists working for King Sejong. One striking property of Hangul is its “visual phonetics.” Each letter was designed to convey information about how to pronounce it.
For example, consonant sounds made at the lips—which include [b], [m], and [p]—are all written as boxlike symbols. Consonants that are plosives (which involve the brief stoppage of air) are indicated with a top horizontal stroke. Vowels are drawn as perpendicular intersecting straight lines, making them visually distinct from consonants.
Another interesting feature of Hangul is that letters aren’t written sequentially like most alphabets. Instead, each syllable of a word is written as a block of letters, with some stacked on top of others. There are thousands of possible syllables, and you can see an exhaustive list here.
Each stack begins with a consonant symbol, followed by a vowel symbol which is placed either underneath or to the right depending on the shape of the vowel. Some of the rules for stacking symbols can be found here.
In 2009, speakers of Cia-Cia, an Austronesian language of Indonesia, began a project to adapt Hangul to their language. However, that project was later abandoned due to an Indonesian law that requires languages to be written in Roman script.
8 Ogham
Primitive Irish
Irish is a Celtic language that is spoken in Ireland. Today, the language is written using the Roman alphabet. Just like other Celtic languages, it has notoriously complicated spelling rules. Long ago, however, Irish had its own native writing system known as ogham.
Hundreds of inscriptions in ogham have been found all around Ireland and western Britain. You can see images of many of them here. Most inscriptions are simple and generally consist of names.
Ogham is a vertical script, read from bottom to top. It is designed to be written on wood or stone. There is a long straight line that leads down the middle of an inscription. Most consonants and vowels are indicated by drawing one or more lines at a right angle to the main line. However, some sounds are indicated by lines that cross diagonally through the main line, and a few vowels are shown with dots.
The letters of the ogham alphabet are grouped into categories based on how the lines intersect. Their names comes from an ancient Irish categorization of trees. Letters with lines to the left are “ordinary trees.” Those with lines to the right are “chieftain trees.” Those with diagonal crossing lines are “shrub trees.” Finally, those with horizontal crossing lines are “bramble trees.”
7 Dongba
Naxi
Naxi is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by around 300,000 people in the Yunnan province of China. Their traditional writing is unique because it is a mixture of a phonetic system with a pictographic system. Some of the symbols represent sounds, but other symbols are pictures that represent a concept directly.
For example, the word for “flower” is actually a picture of a flower rather than a sequence of symbols that make up the sounds in the word “flower.” This page has many samples of documents written in Naxi. The origins of this script are unclear, but it probably developed in the 13th century through contact with other writing systems such as Chinese and Tibetan.
Today, few people know how to use this writing system, and it is mainly found in a religious context. The traditional religion of the Naxi is called Dongba, with the writing system often called by the same name. The majority of Naxi speakers today use the Roman alphabet to write their language. Ancient Naxi manuscripts are registered in UNESCO’s Memory of the World.
6 Cherokee Syllabary
Cherokee
Cherokee is an Iroquoian language that is spoken in Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Delaware. The alphabet used to write this language was invented by a Cherokee man named Sequoyah in the early 1800s. What makes this invention particularly amazing is that Sequoyah was previously illiterate and never learned to read any other languages. He discovered the principle of phonetic writing entirely on his own.
The Cherokee knew that English colonists could communicate with bits of paper, but they did not understand how. Sequoyah suspected that symbols on the paper stood for words. Furthermore, he was certain that it was possible for his people to communicate in the same way. He began a multiyear project of developing Cherokee writing from scratch.
In his first attempt, he decided to use one symbol for each word. But he quickly realized that this type of system required thousands of symbols and would be difficult to learn.
He then hit upon the idea of representing sounds on paper instead of entire concepts at once. This proved to be much more practical. After some more work, Sequoyah had developed about 80 syllabic symbols.
To demonstrate that the system worked, Sequoyah taught it to his six-year-old daughter. Then he took her to visit another group of Cherokee further away. While his daughter waited out of earshot, Sequoyah asked some other Cherokee to say a few words, which he wrote down. Then his daughter was called over, and she amazed everyone by reading and repeating the exact words.
Sequoyah’s writing system spread quickly through the population. It was easy to learn to write, and people could generally master it within a week. Today, it is still in wide use for everything from newspapers to novels to Wikipedia.
5 Vah
Bassa
Bassa is a Niger-Congo language in the Kru family that is spoken in Liberia and Sierra Leone. The Vah script was developed by Thomas Narvin Lewis in the early 1900s.
It is an alphabetic script with symbols for individual consonants and vowels. Although most languages in West Africa are tonal, indigenous writing systems do not often indicate tone. The Vah script is unusual in this respect. There are also special tone symbols that can be added to vowels.
The exact origins of this script are uncertain. Lewis was from Africa but attended Syracuse University in the US. When he returned to Liberia after graduation, he claimed to have met a small group of Bassa who had kept an ancient script alive.
His Vah alphabet is supposedly based on this ancient one. Others dispute this and suggest that Lewis developed the script elsewhere, either while studying in the US or possibly during a trip to Brazil.
Lewis’s life ended tragically when he was poisoned in a plot by his wife and brother. The Liberian government viewed Lewis as a threat to their nationalization programs, and they paid his family to kill him.
4 Fraser Alphabet
Lisu
Lisu is a Tibeto-Burman language that is spoken throughout parts of southwest China, northern Burma, and Thailand. The alphabet was invented by Protestant missionaries in the 1910s and refined over several years. It is named after James Fraser, one of the missionaries.
The Fraser alphabet consists entirely of symbols that look like uppercase letters of the Roman alphabet. However, some are rotated or turned upside-down. Few of them have the sound values that you would expect from English. For instance, the symbol “F” stands for the sound [ts], and an upside down “J” stands for the sound [f].
In 1915, the decision to use rotated characters made it challenging to type Lisu on a typewriter. So it was handled by leaving spaces in a document and then inserting the upside-down characters later.
But the letters didn’t always line up properly on a page. Eventually, in the 1920s, people converted their old typewriters by welding upside-down letters onto keys that weren’t otherwise needed. Now there is a Unicode block for the Fraser alphabet.
The writing system is still in use today, predominately among Lisu Christians. In 1992, the Chinese government declared the Fraser alphabet to be the official writing system for Lisu.
3 Vai
Vai is a language in the Mande family that is spoken in an area between Sierra Leone and Liberia. The Vai writing system is syllabic, meaning that each symbol represents either a vowel or a combination of a consonant and a vowel.
The spoken Vai language has 12 vowels and 31 consonants, which makes for a large number of possible syllables. Unsurprisingly, the writing system is also quite large, with more than 200 symbols.
The symbols themselves are also complex. Mathematical analysis has found that the symbols of written Vai are more complex than those of the Latin or Cyrillic alphabets.
The origin of this script is somewhat unclear. In the 1820s, it was invented by a Vai man named Momolu Duwalu Bukele, who claimed that God had appeared to him in a dream and showed him all of the symbols to use. Bukele is not the only person to have received divine inspiration for a writing system. There are other examples throughout West Africa.
A less supernatural possibility is that Vai was influenced by the Cherokee language spoken in the Southeastern US. Despite the vast distance between the two countries, there is some evidence of a connection.
A Cherokee man named Austin Curtis immigrated to Liberia and married into a Vai family. It is possible that he spread some knowledge of the Cherokee writing system, which might have provided some inspiration for the Vai script.
2 Mayan
Mesoamerica was one of the few places on Earth where writing developed independently. Several writing systems existed, and the Mayan script is the most deciphered and well studied.
Research has found that Mayan writing is one of the oldest in the region. It is also one of the most elaborate scripts in the world. Mayan writing is a mixture of syllabic and logographic: Some symbols represent a syllable while others represent an entire word.
In fact, the same word can be written using either method, and sometimes, both are combined. There are roughly 700 symbols, each with enormous amounts of detail. Many of the symbols look like pictures of animals, people, spirits, or objects.
Mayan words were written in units called glyph blocks, with each block containing one or more symbols. There is usually a main symbol in the center and other symbols stacked to the left (prefix), to the right (postfix), above (superfix), or below (subfix). For example, the subjects of verbs in the ergative case are prefixes, while in the absolutive case, they seem to be subfixes.
Literacy was not widespread in Mayan society. Knowledge of writing was mainly restricted to a class of scribes. Most of the Mayan codices were destroyed by the Spanish in their attempt to convert the population to Christianity. A few texts survived, mostly on the topics of astronomy and religion.
1 Stokoe Notation
American Sign Language
One of the most famous linguists of the 20th century was William Stokoe, whose work on sign language was revolutionary. Until the 1960s, the common belief was that sign languages were simply gestures or pantomimes and lacked any grammar. Stokoe demonstrated that sign languages contain complex systems of syntax and morphology and can be analyzed in the same way as spoken languages.
He even developed a way of writing American Sign Language. At first, this might seem impossible. Written language represents sounds on paper. By definition, sign languages are soundless. So how could this be done?
In his research, Stokoe discovered that signs are not holistic units. They contain smaller parts, which are reused and recombined to make different signs, just like consonants and vowels can be used to make different spoken words.
Stokoe identified three major properties of a sign that he included in his writing system. The first property is location, which encodes where the sign is made in physical space. For example, the sign can be made in front of the eyes, by the chin, at chest level, etc.
The second property is handshape, which encodes which fingers are extended and whether they are bent or straight. The third property is movement, which encodes how the hands move through space while signing. Unfortunately, there is no way of representing information about facial expressions, which are also important parts of a sign.
This notation is rarely found outside linguistics today. Most users of American Sign Language are bilingual in written English.
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