John Hoagland

# John Hoagland

## Abstract

John Hoagland (June 15, 1947 – March 16, 1984) was an experienced American photojournalist and war correspondent for Newsweek from San Diego, California, who was covering the Salvadoran Civil War in El Salvador at the time he was killed. He had covered other conflicts, including those in Nicaragua and Lebanon.

## Personal

John Hoagland was born in San Diego, California to Helen and Al Hoagland in 1947. Hoagland was the oldest of their five children. The family was native to San Diego, where John attended Helix High School and remained for college in 1965 college at the University of California, San Diego in 1965. Hoagland studied under a world renowned scholar and author, Herbert Marcuse, who wrote Eros and Civilization along with One Dimensional Man. Marcuse, alongside another classmate of Hoagland's, Angela Davis, influenced Hoagland to become a journalist. During the Vietnam War, he applied for and received conscientious objector status. In 1970, Hoagland was at a massive anti-war movement in downtown Los Angeles, when the journalist Ruben Salazar was shot and killed by police. Hoagland was arrested along with his friends and his video equipment confiscated. He divorced and took his son Eros with him.

Hoagland's son, Eros Hoagland, is also a photographer who currently works in conflict zones around the globe.

## Career

John Hoagland published photos for the Associated Press, United Press International, the Gamma Liaison news photography agency and Newsweek magazine

Hoagland began his career just by joining anti-war protests. Almost a year after his son, Eros Hoagland, was born he went from passive protesting to active protesting. John worked a steel welder in San Francisco, but also, he was an amateur photographer. He took photographs of what he found interesting or, in some cases, corrupt. Hoagland, almost 30 years old now, went south, to Nicaragua to take photos of the Nicaraguan Revolution for Newsweek. He wanted to make a difference and get the story of this country out into the public to help the people who could not escape. After the killing of another reporter named Bill Stewart, Hoagland was one of few reporters who stayed to cover the destruction being caused in this now broken country. The partner of this journalist now needed someone else to work with, and Hoagland stepped up to help, entering a short career as a sound man. After his work had finished, he returned to still photos in 1980. He worked with reporter Ignacio Rodriguez from a Mexican newspaper and who was shot and killed by a sniper soon after in Lebanon. During another escapade, also in Lebanon, Hoagland and two other journalists drove over a mine and all three suffered severe injuries, the driver at the time, Ian Mates died a few hours after due to injury. Later on he journeyed to Beirut to photograph the withdrawal of the United States Marines and finally ended up in El Salvador, where he was killed.

## Death

At the time of his death, John Hoagland was a contract photographer for Newsweek. On March 16, 1984, John Hoagland and Robert Nickelsberg of Time magazine, along with a few cameramen from CBS News, were entering an area of danger along a road between San Salvador and Suchitoto, El Salvador. The area had been restricted because of multiple gun fights starting, but the journalists were allowed entry "at their own risk" to reach the city of Suchitoto. Hoagland and company knew that the area made them vulnerable to ambushes. They entered the area and were ambushed, although there is no evidence as by who. The news teams took cover among small hills that were covered in grass, and as Hoagland went to kneel down he yelled that he had been hit. A single bullet from a large caliber M-60 weapon, as supplied by the US government to the El Salvadoran government, which hit Hoagland in his back, caused him to bleed out. The bullets continued to fly, kicking dust up as they swept past. Hoagland had died merely 15 seconds after being hit, but no one knew until after the firefight had been broken up by the Salvadoran army. The Salvadoran army fired an M-60 machine gun from across the street directly at the photographers taking cover in the brush. After the shooting stopped, one of the Salvadoran soldiers came over to the photographers and attempted to take the clothes off of Hoagland so he could disguise himself as a civilian once the approaching FMLN guerrillas came off the hill and attempted to capture them. Most of the Salvadoran soldiers had already retreated south along the road.

## Context

The civil war was started after the assassination of the Archbishop Óscar Romero on March 24, 1980. The Archbishop had been leading mass when he was killed, speaking to the soldiers that they should disobey orders to torture and murder, as it would only lead to their downfall. The war had also been stirred up by social inequality, the repressive military, and poverty that had spread throughout the country.

## Impact

John Hoagland was one of 35 journalists whose names appeared on "death lists" by Salvadoran death squads.

A total of 16 journalists were killed in the conflict besides Hoagland. The others who died covering the war were Richard Cross (Honduras), Oliver Rebbot (El Salvador), Ian Mates (El Salvador), Ignacio Rodriguez (El Salvador), Bill Stewart (Nicaragua), John Sullivan (El Salvador), Dial Torgerson (Honduras), Rene Tamsen (El Salvador),Jaime Suarez (El Salvador), Caesar Najorro (El Salvador), Linda Frazier (Nicaragua), Koos Koster (El Salvador), Jan Kuiper (El Salvador), Hans Ter Laag (El Salvador), and Johannes Willemsen (El Salvador).

## Reactions

Robert Nickelsberg, a fellow photographer from Time magazine, said "He was a good man who worked very hard, loved what he did and none of us really need this at this point, but those are the risks."

Ivan Montesinos, a Salvadoran reporter for UPI, states "He was no fool, when you went into the field with him, I felt safe because he knew how to move between the shots."

Ulises Rodriguez, a young inspired journalist, said "I must have been 10 years old when I saw a foreign journalist wandering around downtown... I asked what it took to be a photographer like him and he said study photojournalism and journalism. Years after, I found out that man was John Hoagland."

## In popular culture

The journalist and photographer 'John Cassady,' played by John Savage in the 1986 movie Salvador was loosely based on Hoagland.

## Awards

- Special Citation, Maria Moors Cabot Prize.

- Presidential Citation, Overseas Press Club.

## Publications

- El Salvador, edited by Harry Mattison and Susan Meiselas (1983);

- War Torn, edited by Susan Vermazen (1984);

- Witness to War, edited by Charles Clements (1984),

- and five cover photographs for Newsweek Magazine.


Sigismund I the Old

# Sigismund I the Old

## Abstract

Sigismund I the Old (Polish: Zygmunt I Stary, Lithuanian: Žygimantas II Senasis; 1 January 1467 – 1 April 1548) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until his death in 1548. Sigismund I was a member of the Jagiellonian dynasty, the son of Casimir IV and younger brother of Kings John I Albert and Alexander I Jagiellon. He was nicknamed "the Old" in later historiography to distinguish him from his son and successor, Sigismund II Augustus. Before ascending to the Polish and Lithuanian thrones, he was Duke of Głogów from 1499, Duke of Opava from 1501, and governor of Silesia from 1504 on behalf of his brother, King Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary.

Sigismund was born in the town of Kozienice in 1467 as the fifth son of Casimir IV and his wife Elizabeth of Austria. He was one of thirteen children and was not expected to assume the throne after his father. Sigismund's eldest brother and rightful heir Vladislaus II instead became the King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia as the successor to George of Poděbrady in Bohemia and then to Matthias Corvinus in Hungary, thus temporarily uniting these kingdoms. When Casimir died, the Polish-Lithuanian realm was divided between the remaining two older sons, with John Albert being crowned King of Poland, and Alexander as Grand Duke of Lithuania. Alexander inherited Poland following John Albert's sudden death in 1501. Hence, Sigismund's reign only began when he succeeded Alexander to both titles in 1506 at the age of 39.

A capable monarch and a patron of arts, Sigismund established Polish rule over Ducal Prussia and annexed the Duchy of Mazovia with Warsaw, while retaining the nation's wealth and prominence in the region. He made sure that his nephew Albert, Duke of Prussia, and Albert's Protestant successors would pay feudal homage or tribute to Polish monarchs as a sign of political and diplomatic dependence. This was observed until the Treaty of Bromberg in 1657 when Prussia gained its sovereignty. Sigismund and his commander Jan Amor Tarnowski also defeated Moldavia at Obertyn in 1531, and Muscovy in 1535, thereby strengthening the country's eastern borders. His 42-year reign was further marked by decisive contributions to Polish architecture, cuisine, language, and customs, especially at the behest of his second wife, the Italian-born Bona Sforza. Italian styles and fashions dominated at the height of the Polish Renaissance and Polish Golden Age, which developed the Catholic identity of Poland. He was commemorated on a contemporary 200- złoty banknote.

Sigismund was married twice, first to noblewoman Barbara Zápolya from Hungary and then to Bona Sforza, the daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza, Duke of Milan. Their only son and the last Jagiellon king, Sigismund Augustus, was co-crowned vivente rege in 1529 and formally assumed throne when Sigismund the Old died in 1548.

## Early life and coronation

Sigismund was the son of King Casimir IV Jagiellon and Elisabeth Habsburg of Austria. He followed his brothers John Albert and Alexander to the Polish throne. Their eldest brother Vladislaus became king of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia. Sigismund was christened as the namesake of his maternal great-grandfather, Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund.

When Casimir died in 1492, Sigismund was his only son without any titles or land. From 1495 to 1496, he petitioned his brother Alexander to provide him with land, and Elisabeth of Austria attempted to install him on the Austrian throne. Both efforts failed. In 1497, King John I Albert, his older brother, led an invasion of Moldavia that was intended to place Sigismund on its throne. This, too, was a disastrous failure. Finally, his eldest brother Vladislaus II, King of Bohemia and Hungary, granted him the duchies of Głogów (1499) and Opava (1501), and in 1504 Sigismund became governor of Silesia and Lower Lusatia.

John I Albert died suddenly in 1501, and was succeeded by Alexander I, who died in 1506. After his death, Sigismund arrived in Vilnius, where he was elected by the Lithuanian Ducal Council on 13 September 1506 as Grand Duke of Lithuania, contrary to the Union of Mielnik (1501), which proposed a joint Polish-Lithuanian election of a monarch. On 8 December 1506, during the session of the Polish Senate in Piotrków, Sigismund was elected King of Poland. He arrived in Kraków on 20 January 1507 and was crowned four days later in Wawel Cathedral by Primate Andrzej Boryszewski.

## Internal politics

### Crown of the Kingdom of Poland

The internal situation in Poland was characterised by broad authorisation of the Chamber of Deputies, confirmed and extended in the constitution of Nihil novi. During Alexander's reign, the law of Nihil novi had been instituted, which forbade kings of Poland from enacting laws without the consent of the Sejm. Sigismund had little control over the act, unlike the senators, whom he personally appointed. Eventually, during his reign, Sigismund benefited from the advice of the local nobility, competent ministers in charge of the royal judiciary system, and the wealthy influential treasurers of Kraków. Although he was reluctant to the parliamentary system and political independence of the nobility, he recognised the authority of legal norms, supported legalism and summoned annual sessions of the Sejm, usually obtaining funds on state defence. However he was unsuccessful at attempting to create a permanent fund for defence from the annual income tax. Despite this, in 1527 he established a conscript army and the bureaucracy needed to finance it. He set up the legal codes that formalised serfdom in Poland, placing the peasants into the private estates of nobles.

Likely related to tax matters was an unsuccessful attempt on the life of the king, made on 5 May 1523. The identity of the would-be assassin - who shot the ruler while he was strolling in the evening around the cloisters of the Wawel castle - and his potential supporters was never established. Unclear motives remained after the assassination attempt. Three weeks before the event, Sigismund I introduced a new edict that was very unfavourable and somewhat hostile to the high-ranking nobles and their interests.

Sigismund I achieved several economic successes, including partial debt reduction, separation of accounts of public taxation from the royal treasury, strengthening of the activities of the mint operating in Kraków, and the attempt to organise the processing of income from operating salt mines. Furthermore, he issued a statute for the Armenians (1519) and strongly intended to harmonise the judicial system across the country.

Between 1530 and 1538 the king issued two statutes defining the rules for the selection of the monarch, which permanently established the election viritim. The laws held that all social groups, regardless of their wealth, could watch the election process (unusquisque qui vellet), and the election was to be free (electio Regis libera).

Sigismund successfully organised the agricultural economy, looked after the development of the royal cities and recovered numerous goods of the treasury belonging to the crown that were under lien. During the financial activities, the King received full support of his wife, Queen Bona, who aimed to expand the royal estates by purchasing and improving economic efficiency. In 1514 he set up the Council of Four Lands and put Abraham of Bohemia in charge of it.

### Chicken War Rebellion

At the start of his reign, King Sigismund I the Old inherited a Kingdom of Poland with a century-long tradition of liberties of the nobility, confirmed in numerous privileges. A rebellion in Lwów widely known as the Chicken War (Polish: Wojna kokosza) was an anti-royalist and anti-absolutist rokosz (revolt) by the Polish nobility that occurred in 1537. The derisive name was coined by the magnates, who for the most part supported the King and claimed that the "war's" only effect was the near-extinction of the local chickens, eaten by the nobles gathered for the rebellion at Lwów in eastern part of Lesser Poland.

To strengthen his power, Sigismund initiated a set of reforms, establishing a permanent conscription army in 1527 and extending the bureaucratic apparatus necessary to govern the state and finance the army. Supported by his Italian consort Bona Sforza, he began buying up land and issue agriculture reformas to enlarge the royal treasury. He initiated a process of restitution of royal properties, previously pawned or rented to the nobles.

The nobility gathered near the city to meet to a levée en masse and called for a military campaign against Moldavia. However, the lesser and middle strata of the nobility organised a revolt to force the King to abandon his risky reforms. The nobles presented him with 36 demands, most notably a cessation of further land acquisitions by Queen Bona, exemption of the nobility from the tithe, confirmation and extension of privileges for nobles and adoption of a law concerning Incompatibilitas — an individual wouldn't be able to hold two or more official administrative positions in the country. The role of the Incompatibilitas was to prevent wealthy magnates from usurping too much power at the expense of lesser nobles.

However, the revolt soon transpired that the nobility's leaders were divided and that achieving a settlement was almost impossible. Too weak to start a civil war against the King, the protesters finally agreed to what was thought a compromise. Sigismund rejected most of their demands, while accepting the principle of Incompatibilitas the following year and agreeing not to force the election of the future king in vivente rege. Thereupon, the nobility returned to their homes having achieved little.

## Foreign politics

### War with Moscow

Sigismund was intermittently at war with Vasili III of Muscovy beginning in 1507, before the Polish army was fully under his command. Further tensions escalated when Vasili also discovered that Sigismund was bribing Khan Meñli I Giray to attack the Grand Duchy of Moscow. In December 1512, Muscovite forces marched into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania seeking to capture Smolensk, a major trading center between Russia and Europe. The initial six- and four-week sieges in 1513 were a failure, but the city fell to the Muscovites in July 1514.

Russia subsequently suffered a series of disastrous defeats in the field. In 1512, Grand Hetman of Lithuania, Konstanty Ostrogski, ransacked the region of Severia and vanquished a Russian force of approximately 6,000 men. On 8 September 1514, Muscovy suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Orsha, which prevented the Russians to place all the former Kievan Rus ' lands under their lordship. Poland exploited the battle for propaganda purposes with strong anti-Russian sentiment. A letter sent to Rome stated that "Muscovites are not Christians; they are cruel and barbaric; they are Asians and not Europeans; they are in league with Turks and the Tatars to destroy Christendom". Regardless of victory, the Polish–Lithuanian troops were incapable of moving quickly enough to retake Smolensk. In 1518, Russian forces were again beaten during the siege of Polotsk, when according to legend the Lithuanian forces were inspired by the sight of their patron saint, Saint Casimir, the older brother of Sigismund. However, this was dubbed by historians as a folk tale. In 1522, a truce was signed between Lithuania and Muscovy which extended until 1534.

In 1534, when Grand Hetman Jerzy Radziwiłł and the Tatars pillaged western Russia, the Muscovites in retaliation invaded Lithuania once more. They were eventually stopped by Polish commander Jan Amor Tarnowski and allies at Starodub in 1535. Their defeat strengthened the Polish-Lithuanian union's eastern flank until the beginning of the Livonian War in 1558.

### Europe

In 1515 Sigismund entered into an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I. In return for Maximilian lending weight to the provisions of the Second Peace of Thorn (1466), Sigismund consented to the marriage of the children of Vladislaus II of Bohemia and Hungary, his brother, to the grandchildren of Maximilian. Through this double marriage contract, Bohemia and Hungary passed to the House of Habsburg in 1526, on the death of Sigismund's nephew, Louis II, who led his forces against Suleiman the Magnificent of the Ottoman Empire in the disastrous Battle of Mohács.

Worried about the growing ties between the Habsburgs and Russia, in 1524 Sigismund signed a Franco-Polish alliance with King Francis I of France to avoid a possible war on two fronts. Francis I himself was looking for allies in Central Europe to curtail the increasing power of Habsburg Emperor Charles V, whose realms were labelled " the empire on which the sun never sets ". Furthermore, Queen Bona was instrumental in establishing an alliance between Poland and France, with the objective of recovering Milan. The official negotiations were conducted by Antonio Rincon in 1524, who was then followed by Jerome Laski. Through the agreement, the son of Francis, Henry, Duke of Orléans, was to marry one of Sigismund's daughters, and Sigismund's eldest son was to marry a daughter of Francis I.

The negotiations came to an end and the alliance was disbanded when Francis' troops were defeated by Charles V at the Battle of Pavia in 1525. Disturbed by the failure of his campaign, Francis turned to Hungary instead and formed a Franco-Hungarian alliance with King John Zápolya in 1528.

After the death of Janusz III of Masovia in 1526, Sigismund succeeded in uniting the Duchy of Masovia and Warsaw with the Kingdom of Poland. There was speculation whether Janusz and his younger brother Stanisław were poisoned by a subject of Queen Bona. The accusations were so pervasive and rampant that Sigismund ordered an investigation, as a result of which a special edict was declared on 9 February 1528 confirming that the Masovian princes died naturally or due to related illness. According to chronicler Jan Długosz, the real cause of the death of both princes could have been inherited tuberculosis.

In other matters of policy, Sigismund sought peaceful coexistence with the Khanate of Crimea, but was unable to completely end border skirmishes.

### Teutonic Knights

Over two centuries of wars against the Teutonic Knights ended in 1525 with the Treaty of Kraków after the final Polish–Teutonic War (1519–1521). Previously, the Second Peace of Thorn (1466) placed the Teutonic Order under Polish suzerainty and interfered with German interests in Livonia, Pomerania, Warmia and Masuria. The Order attempted to avoid paying tribute to Polish monarchs which was a demonstration of weakness and dependence.

In accordance with the new Treaty of Kraków, the Order was abruptly secularized and turned de facto into a puppet state of Poland which lasted until the Treaty of Bromberg in 1655. Sigismund's nephew Albert, Duke of Prussia, converted to Lutheranism under the persuasion of Martin Luther, and paid a feudal homage to Sigismund. In return he was granted the domains of the Order as the First Duke of Prussia. This became known in Polish and Lithuanian history as the " Prussian Homage ", which was often featured in arts. The Prussian Landtag and parliament assembled in Königsberg, where envoys embraced both the new Duke and the Protestant Reformation. Thereupon, the Teutonic Order lost its importance as a military order in Prussia and retreated to the Holy Roman Empire where it became secluded.

## Renaissance and legacy

Sigismund had a profound interest in Renaissance humanism and the revival of classical antiquity. His second consort Bona Sforza, daughter of Gian Galeazzo Sforza of Milan, was also instrumental in developing the Polish Renaissance and brought renowned Italian artists, architects and sculptors from her native country. It was under Sigismund's reign that Renaissance began to flourish in Poland and in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Sigismund II Augustus later continued his father's legacy.

Among the illustrious figures that guested or lived in Poland at the time were Bartholommeo Berecci, Francesco Fiorentino, Santi and Mateo Gucci, Bernardo Morando, Giovanni Battista di Quadro and Hans Dürer. Most of the decorators working for the court were foreigners, especially Italians and Germans who had a profound impact on Poland's architecture as a whole. The centrepiece of their work is Wawel Castle in Kraków, the seat of Polish monarchs as well as one of the largest castles in Central Europe. Situated on a hill overlooking Old Town, the fortified residence was extensively reconstructed in the Renaissance style and to the personal needs of the royal family. The Italian cloistered courtyard in the shape of a quadrangle, corridors, archways and portals were designed by Fiorentino with the help of Benedykt from Sandomierz. A similar design was undertaken in Niepołomice Castle, the hunting retreat of the Jagiellons.

The most prominent example of Sigismund's architectural legacy is a funerary monument in the form of a chapel at Wawel Cathedral. It was constructed between 1519 and 1533 according to plans by Bartolomeo Berrecci of Florence, and serves as a mausoleum of the last Jagiellons. The exterior dome is gold-plated and interior tombs made of marble were designed by Santi Gucci. Historians, experts and architects unanimously voted the chapel as "the most beautiful example of the Tuscan Renaissance north of the Alps". The monarch also commissioned a 12.6-tonne bell which was named in his honour. The Royal Sigismund Bell was installed 13 July 1521 on Wawel Cathedral's northernmost tower. Apart from religious and national holidays, the bell rung on some of the most significant moments in Polish history and is one of Poland's national symbols.

## Death and succession

Sigismund suffered from numerous illnesses and diseases, especially towards the end of his life. Most notably, he was tormented by constant fevers since youth as well as gout and acute rheumatism in the autumn of 1528. The condition, which severely affected his joints and right leg, was repetitive and continued in 1529 and 1534. It is likely that Sigismund Augustus was co-crowned vivente rege in 1529 as a result of these pervasive pains and in case his father died unexpectedly. Furthermore, bad eating habits and a poor diet contributed to the king's ailing health, in particular large amounts of beer and mead. Eventually, the king's inability to walk forced him to be carried in a litter. However, despite his age, Sigismund was of sound mind throughout and remained active in politics until death. In 1543, he recovered from an influenza which spread in Kraków and in 1545 he enjoyed a last hunting excursion to Niepołomice.

Sigismund died on 1 April 1548, Easter day at the age of 81 and was buried on 7 July at Wawel Cathedral in Kraków. He was succeeded by his only legitimate son, Sigismund II Augustus, who became the last Jagiellon king of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania. In 1587 Sigismund the Old's grandson, Sigismund III from the House of Vasa, was elected King of Poland. He was the son of Catherine Jagiellon and her husband John III Vasa of Sweden. Hence, Sigismund III could not belong to the Jagiellonian dynasty by his mother, but the Jagiellon bloodline of Polish monarchs continued until the death of Sigismund Vasa's second son John II Casimir.

## Marriages and issue

In 1512, Sigismund married Barbara Zápolya (d. 1515), a Hungarian noblewoman, with whom he had two daughters:

- Electress Hedwig of Brandenburg (15 March 1513 – 7 February 1573), wed 1535 Joachim II Hector, Elector of Brandenburg

- Anna (1 July 1515 – 8 May 1520).

In 1517, Sigismund married Bona Sforza, with whom he had two sons and four daughters:

- Queen Isabella of Hungary (18 January 1519 – 15 September 1559), wed 1539 John Zápolya (d. 1540)

- Sigismund II Augustus (1 August 1520 – 7 July 1572)

- Sophia, Duchess of Brunswick-Lüneburg (13 July 1522 – 28 May 1575), wed 22/25 February 1556 Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneberg (d. 11 June 1568)

- Queen Anna of Poland (18 October 1523 – 9 September 1596), wed 1 May 1576 Stephen Báthory (d. 12 December 1586)

- Queen Catherine of Sweden (1 November 1526 – 16 September 1583), wed 4 October 1562 John, Duke of Finland (later John III of Sweden) (d. 17 November 1592)

- Wojciech Olbracht (b. and d. 20 September 1527).

By his mistress, Katarzyna Telniczanka (d. 1528), he also fathered three children prior to his first marriage:

- Jan (8 January 1499 – 18 February 1538), Bishop of Wilno (1519–1536) and of Poznań (1536–1538);

- Regina (1500/1 – 20 May 1526), wed c. 20 October 1518 Hieronim Szafraniec, Starost of Cieszyn (d. 1556/59);

- Katarzyna (1503 – before 9 September 1548), wed after 1522 George II Count von Montfort in Pfannberg (d. 1544).

## Ancestry


The Center of the World

# The Center of the World

## Abstract

The Center of the World is a 2001 American drama film directed by Wayne Wang and shot on digital video. It stars Peter Sarsgaard as a dot-com millionaire who hires a drummer/stripper (Molly Parker) to stay with him in Las Vegas for three days for US$ 10,000. The film was screened out of competition at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival.

## Plot

A couple checks into a hotel suite in Las Vegas. Flashbacks show that he's a computer whiz on the verge of becoming a dot-com millionaire. She's a lap dancer at a club. He's depressed, withdrawing from work, missing meetings with investors. He wants a connection, so he offers her $10,000 to spend three nights with him in Vegas. She accepts with conditions: four hours per night of erotic play, and no penetration.

During the days in Vegas, they get to know each other, have fun, and meet a friend of hers, casino dealer Jerri. After the first night, things get complicated. When the three days are over, the stripper makes it clear that she was only there for the money and that the man she spent the time with was just a client. Upset that his feelings aren't reciprocated, he rapes her; she makes no attempt to stop him. She then masturbates for him, achieving orgasm, saying "you want to see real? I'll show you real." The next day he returns home heartbroken.

The movie ends with his return to the strip club to see the woman he fell in love with again. She greets him fondly but interacts with him the way she had when they first met: as a stripper and a client ordering a lap dance.

## Cast

- Peter Sarsgaard as Richard Longman

- Molly Parker as Florence

- Mel Gorham as Roxanne

- Shane Edelman as Porter

- Karry Brown as Lap dancer

- Alisha Klass as Pandora stripper

- Lisa Newlan as Porn site woman

- Jason Calacanis as Pete

- Travis Miljan as Dog owner

- Jerry Sherman as Old man

- Carla Gugino as Jerri

- Pat Morita as Taxi driver

- Balthazar Getty as Brian Pivano

- Robert Lefkowitz as Motel manager

- John Lombardo as Gondolier

## Production

### Development

In January 2000, Wayne Wang announced plans to direct The Center of the World for Artisan Entertainment. Wang said he "wanted to make a really erotic film about sex and love, that could be like ‘ The Last Tango in Paris ’ for a younger generation. I wanted to do a movie about this young generation of guys who are dealing with the Internet, software and day-trading; this whole new world out there where they’re making shitloads of money fast, and not knowing what their lives are about yet besides that money and easy pleasures." Wang chose to shoot the film on digital video, saying "I’ve seen the way the stuff is shot and transferred, and it looks beautiful and interesting in its own way. It’s also flexible, fast and cheaper."

When Wang initially committed to the project, he was at a loss as to what to write for the script. He sought assistance from previous collaborator Paul Auster; Siri Hustvedt, Auster’s wife, and Miranda July. Hustvedt had written extensively on the subjects of sex and feminism, while July had experience in striptease and dancing. Wang drew inspiration from Nan Goldin 's photography when envisioning the look of the film. The screenplay was credited to "Ellen Benjamin Wong", a joint pseudonym for Wang, Auster, and Hustvedt. Internet executive Jason Calacanis appeared in and acted as an advisor for the film.

### Filming

Wang chose to set the story in Las Vegas because it is a symbolic "fantasyland" of a place. More traditional film cameras were used at the beginning and end of the story, while Wang used the grainier look of a Sony DRV-100 for the rest of the film to illustrate the "deterioration of relationship." Scenes requiring nudity from the characters were performed by body doubles.

The film's title may be an allusion to Courbet 's L'Origine du monde.

## Reception

### Release

The Center of the World was given a limited release in the U.S. on April 20, 2001. It was released without a rating from the MPAA as the filmmakers did not want to edit the film's graphic scenes of nudity and sexuality, which includes both female and male full frontal nudity.

### Censorship controversy

A Cincinnati theater owner attracted media attention after allegedly ordering a member of his staff to edit a five-second scene from the film a day before its release. According to Cincinnati CityBeat, Esquire Theater owner Gary Goldman instructed his theater manager and projectionist to cut the scene in which a female stripper (portrayed by adult film actress Alisha Klass) inserts a lollipop into her vagina.

The film's website also generated controversy for featuring an interactive strip club, including a faux online sex chat hosted by Klass.

### Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a negative rating of 34% based on 82 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "For all its tease, the movie doesn't have more to say than money can't buy you love". At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating to reviews, the film has an average weighted score of 44 out of 100, based on 24 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".

Critics compared The Center of the World to films like Last Tango in Paris and 9½ Weeks. Writing for Variety, Dennis Harvey said, "In contrast to most upscale sex drama efforts, Center expends considerable effort on viewing the 'world' from both sides of the usual gender equation." He added the "pic’s tension derives from the ambivalent nature of relationship", and that Sarsgaard creates a "nuanced" character "as a manchild-ish introvert." Though Harvey commended Wang on drawing credible performances from his leads, he also said the story lacks drive and does not fully explore the characters' psychology.

Harvey also noted the film's "most impressive aspect is its successful pitching of ' the world’s oldest profession ' as a problematic but viable personal choice: No one is exploiting Florence, who is far from the usual doomed, drug-addled or airheaded prostie figure seen on screen." Of the film's setting, Harvey said, "Arriving just when the dot-com boom has gone bust, Center ’s high-tech nouveau riche angle may strike some viewers as already dated, but in the long run will add a creditable specificity of time/place."

Critic Roger Ebert gave the film a score of 3.5/4 stars and said the characters' psychological mind games with each other are the film's most fascinating aspect. He wrote, "If you understand who the characters are and what they're supposed to represent, the performances are right on the money. Flo is not supposed to be a sexy tart, and Richard is not supposed to be a lustful client. They're sides of the same coin and very much alike."

Molly Parker was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.


Tuscadero

# Tuscadero

## Abstract

Tuscadero was an American indie rock band from Washington, D.C., one of the most prominent on the TeenBeat Records roster.

## Biography

Melissa Farris and Margaret McCartney met while working at the Zig Zag Cafe in Washington, D.C. They founded Tuscadero on Halloween of 1993 with bassist Phil Satlof and drummer Jack Hornady. The band took its name from Suzi Quatro 's Happy Days character Leather Tuscadero.

The band was signed with Mark Robinson of Teenbeat Records shortly after and released two EPs in the spring and summer of 1994: Mt. Pleasant and Angel in a Half Shirt. Their debut LP, The Pink Album, was released that fall, influenced by girl groups and the pop culture of its members' 1970s childhoods, such as board games and Nancy Drew. After touring with Sebadoh, the band signed with Elektra Records and re-recorded their debut album in 1995 with Mark Waterman, who had previously produced Elastica 's debut.

Tuscadero's second album, My Way or the Highway, was released in 1998, and they toured with Cheap Trick to promote it, but after the album's release, Elektra dropped the band. Farris later founded the band Dame Fate with bassist Yalan Papillon, releasing one album, Time and Tide Wait for No Man, in 2002.

Tuscadero reunited in February 2005 for a one-off performance at TeenBeat's 20th anniversary celebration. They reunited once again in 2013 for the 20th anniversary of Washington, DC's Black Cat club. Two additional reunion shows were played in December 2014 as a benefit for a Teen-Beat Records intern who was facing mounting costs from leukemia.

Tuscadero reformed again in 2023 and will play their first concerts since 2014 supporting Velocity Girl, who have also reunited.

## Lineup

- Melissa Farris – vocals, guitar, organ

- Margaret McCartney – vocals, guitar

- Phil Satlof – bass guitar, piano

- Jack Hornady – drums

## Discography

- "Mount Pleasant" 7-inch (TeenBeat Records, April 1994)

- "Angel in a Half Shirt" 7-inch (TeenBeat Records, July 1994)

- The Pink Album (TeenBeat Records, November 1994 / Rereleased by Elektra Records, 1996)

- The Mark Robinson Remixes 7-inch (TeenBeat Records, March 1995)

- Step Into My Wiggle Room EP (TeenBeat Records, September 1995)

- "Tickled Pink" split 7-inch (with Jetlag) (Duchess Records, July 1996)

- My Way or the Highway (Elektra Records, May 1998)

- Live at Tramps 1996 New York City (via Bandcamp, September 2022)


Volga Economic Region

# Volga Economic Region

## Abstract

Volga Economic Region (Russian: Пово ́ лжский экономи ́ ческий райо ́ н, romanized: Povolzhskiy ekonomicheskiy rayon) is one of 12 economic regions of Russia.

## Composition

- Astrakhan Oblast (part of Southern Federal District)

- Republic of Kalmykia (part of Southern Federal District)

- Penza Oblast (part of Volga Federal District)

- Samara Oblast (part of Volga Federal District)

- Saratov Oblast (part of Volga Federal District)

- Republic of Tatarstan (part of Volga Federal District)

- Ulyanovsk Oblast (part of Volga Federal District)

- Volgograd Oblast (part of Southern Federal District)

## Socio-economic indicators

The Volga economic region accounted for almost 8 percent of Russia's national GRP in 2008. Popular approval of economic change is well above average in this region, both in terms of the rating of the national economy and the expectation of improvements in their own lives and in the household economy. People are also more likely than the average to have consumer goods. Life expectancy for men and women is also just above the national average.

However, reported GDP per capita is below the national average, and the regional wage levels are one-sixth below the national average. However, the likelihood of not being paid regularly is also below the national average. The discrepancies between these data and positive optimism of individuals can be influenced by the fact that in the Volga economic region those reporting having a second job are also above the national average.


Cruel Intentions

# Cruel Intentions

## Abstract

Cruel Intentions is a 1999 American teen romantic drama film written and directed by Roger Kumble and starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, Reese Witherspoon, and Selma Blair. The film, set in New York City among rich high schoolers, is a modern retelling of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos ' 1782 novel Les Liaisons dangereuses.

Initially a smaller-budget independent film, it was picked up by Columbia Pictures and widely released on March 5, 1999. Despite mixed critical reviews, the performances of Gellar, Philippe, and Witherspoon were praised and the film grossed $76 million worldwide. Its box office success spawned a prequel in 2000 and sequel in 2004, as well as a jukebox musical in 2015.

Since its release, the film has become regarded as a cult classic.

## Plot

In New York City, wealthy teenager Sebastian Valmont regularly manipulates and seduces women, but wants to find someone who poses a challenge to his charm. He settles on Annette Hargrove—the daughter of his new school headmaster—who is staunchly opposed to sex before falling in love. Sebastian and his equally manipulative stepsister, the intelligent and popular Kathryn Merteuil, agree to a bet: if Sebastian fails to seduce Annette then Kathryn gets his vintage Jaguar XK140; if he wins Kathryn will finally have sex with him. Kathryn tries to recruit Sebastian into her own scheme to take revenge on her ex-boyfriend Court Reynolds, who left her because of her promiscuity and began dating the naive and innocent Cecile Caldwell.

Sebastian's initial efforts to seduce Annette fail as she has been informed of his reputation. He suspects Annette's friend Greg, a popular footballer and closeted homosexual, of being responsible and blackmails him into convincing Annette that Sebastian is a good person. Sebastian also learns that it was Cecile's mother that warned Annette and agrees to corrupt Cecile as revenge. Kathryn notices romantic tension between Cecile and her young music teacher Ronald Clifford and reveals this to Cecile's mother, who fires Ronald. Sebastian and Kathryn convince Ronald to fight for Cecile by writing her a love letter which Sebastian uses to lure Cecile to his bedroom, where he blackmails her into receiving oral sex from him. The next day, Kathryn advises Cecile to have sex with Sebastian and be as promiscuous as possible so she can please Ronald.

Spending time with Annette, Sebastian develops genuine feelings for her, attracted to her honesty and ability to make the normally stoic Sebastian laugh. He kisses Annette but she resists because she also has feelings for him and fears she cannot restrain herself around him. Sebastian calls her a hypocrite for rejecting the opportunity for true love and she finally relents and begins undressing, but Sebastian, confused about his own feelings, declines to have sex with her. Annette leaves the following day but Sebastian finds her, professes his feelings, and they have sex.

A jealous Kathryn tries to seduce Sebastian, but is frustrated that her hold over him has been broken by his feelings for Annette, and she convinces him that he cannot change his true nature. Sebastian plans to tell Annette the truth about the bet but Kathryn warns him that he will only destroy both his and Annette's reputations. He meets with Annette and lies to her, claiming he only wanted to have sex with her and has no real feelings for her. Devastated, Annette tells him to leave. Sebastian tells Kathryn that he has broken up with Annette and now wants his reward for winning the bet but she dismisses him. Kathryn reveals that he was the true target of her scheme and that she manipulated him into feeling shame over his love for Annette for her own amusement.

Sebastian tries to contact Annette to confess the truth and beg for a second chance, but she refuses to see him. He gives her his journal, in which he has detailed Kathryn's manipulative schemes, their bet, and his true feelings for Annette. Seeking revenge, Kathryn calls Ronald, claiming that Sebastian hurt her and slept with Cecile. Ronald violently confronts Sebastian, and the ensuing fight migrates to the middle of the street. Annette tries to intervene but is thrown into traffic and though Sebastian pushes her to safety, he is struck by a taxi. Sebastian and Annette confess their love for each other before he dies.

At Sebastian's funeral, Kathryn, unmoved by Sebastian's death, delivers a eulogy, but people start leaving while she is still speaking. Kathryn rushes outside to find Cecile handing out copies of Sebastian's journal, titled Cruel Intentions. As the details of her manipulations, promiscuity, and drug abuse are made public, Kathryn weeps as her reputation and good-girl persona are destroyed. Annette drives down a highway in Sebastian's car while wearing his sunglasses and with his journal at her side, recalling their fondest moments together.

## Cast

- Sarah Michelle Gellar as Kathryn Merteuil, based on the Marquise de Merteuil

- Ryan Phillippe as Sebastian Valmont, based on the Vicomte de Valmont

- Reese Witherspoon as Annette Hargrove, based on Madame de Tourvel

- Selma Blair as Cecile Caldwell, based on Cécile Volanges

- Louise Fletcher as Helen Rosemond, based on Madame de Rosemonde

- Joshua Jackson as Blaine Tuttle

- Eric Mabius as Greg McConnell

- Sean Patrick Thomas as Ronald Clifford, based on the Chevalier Danceny

- Swoosie Kurtz as Dr. Regina Greenbaum (Kurtz portrayed Madame de Volanges in the 1988 film version of Dangerous Liaisons)

- Christine Baranski as Bunny Caldwell, based on Madame de Volanges

- Alaina Reed Hall as Nurse

- Hiep Thi Le as Mai-Lee

- Deborah Offner as Mrs. Michalak

- Tara Reid as Marci Greenbaum

- Drew Snyder as Headmaster Hargrove

- Herta Ware as Mrs. Sugarman

- Charlie O'Connell as Court Reynolds, based on the Comte de Gercourt

- Fred Norris as Meter Maid

## Production

One of the filming locations was Old Westbury Gardens in Nassau County, New York, as well as the Harry F. Sinclair House in New York City. In a 2016 interview, Sarah Michelle Gellar revealed that the original title of the movie was "Cruel Inventions".

## Reception

Cruel Intentions received mixed reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval score of 54% based on reviews from 114 critics, with an average rating of 5.20/10. The site's consensus states: "This darkly comic drama and its attractive young cast are easy on the eyes, but uneven performances and an uninspired script conspire to foil Cruel Intentions ". Metacritic gave the film an average score of 56 out of 100 based on reviews from 24 critics.

Charles Taylor of Salon.com described the film as "the dirtiest-minded American movie in recent memory – and an honestly corrupt entertaining picture is never anything to sneeze at". Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote: "You have the queasy sense that the whole thing is just an elaborate stunt and, in this case, an exploitative one." Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times praised Cruel Intentions and gave the film three out of four stars in his review, stating that it was "smart and merciless in the tradition of the original story".

### Box office

Cruel Intentions was a commercial success, grossing $13,020,565 in its opening weekend, ranking No. 2 behind Analyze This; released in 2,312 theaters, the movie raked in $76.3 worldwide against a $10.5 million budget.

## Soundtrack

The Cruel Intentions soundtrack is a compilation soundtrack released on March 9, 1999, by Arista / Virgin Records. It reached number 60 on the Billboard chart. The lead track for the film was " Bitter Sweet Symphony " by rock band The Verve.

## Subsequent media

### Direct-to-video films

Cruel Intentions 2 was released direct-to-video in 2001, written and directed by Roger Kumble, assembled from three episodes filmed for Manchester Prep, a prequel series scrapped by Fox. The story features younger versions of Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil played by Robin Dunne and Amy Adams, respectively.

Cruel Intentions 3 followed in 2004, directed by Scott Ziehl, starring Kerr Smith and Kristina Anapau, as Cassidy Merteuil, cousin to Kathryn.

None of the cast from the original appeared in the sequels.

### Canceled sequel series

NBC picked up a television pilot for a continuation of the film's storyline in October 2015. The pilot was set seventeen years after the events of the film and sees Bash Casey, son of Sebastian Valmont and Annette Hargrove, discover his late father's journal. Upon discovering this he is thrown into a world of lies, sex, and power. The potential series was to have Kathryn Merteuil, Bash's step-aunt, attempt to gain power of Valmont International.

In February 2016, Taylor John Smith and Samantha Logan were cast, with Smith playing the male lead role of Bash Casey, Sebastian Valmont and Annette Hargrove's son. Gellar reached a deal with producers to reprise her role as the female lead, Kathryn Merteuil. In March, Kate Levering was cast to replace Witherspoon for the role of Annette Hargrove.

Several months later, on October 31, NBC passed on the project and the series did not go forward.

### Planned reboot series

As of October 2021, a television series reboot of Cruel Intentions was in development for IMDb TV (now Amazon Freevee). In April 2023, the reboot was given a series order.

### Musical

A 1990s jukebox musical by Kumble, Rosin, and Ross, was first staged in 2015. After two runs in Los Angeles and a pop-up engagement in New York, Cruel Intentions: The '90s Musical made its Off-Broadway debut at the Greenwich Village nightclub Le Poisson Rouge in November 2017 and ran through April 2018. Set to pop and rock hits of the 1990s and songs from the film's soundtrack, the plot follows the manipulations of Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil, out to destroy anyone who gets in their way.


Kyriakos Mitsotakis

# Kyriakos Mitsotakis

## Abstract

Kyriakos Mitsotakis (Greek: Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης, IPA:; born 4 March 1968) is a Greek politician currently serving as the prime minister of Greece since July 2019, except for a month between May and June 2023. Mitsotakis has been president of the New Democracy party since 2016. He is generally associated with the centre-right, espousing economically liberal and socially liberal policies.

Mitsotakis previously was Leader of the Opposition from 2016 to 2019, and Minister of Administrative Reform from 2013 to 2015. He is the son of the late Konstantinos Mitsotakis, who was Prime Minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993. He was first elected to the Hellenic Parliament for the Athens B constituency in 2004. After New Democracy suffered two election defeats in 2015, he was elected the party's leader in January 2016. Three years later, he led his party to a majority in the 2019 Greek legislative election.

Following the May 2023 Greek legislative election in which no party won a majority and no coalition government was formed by any of the parties eligible to do so, Mitsotakis called for a snap election in June. On 24 May 2023, as required by Greece's constitution, the Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou appointed Ioannis Sarmas to be the caretaker prime minister for the interim period. In the June 2023 Greek legislative election, he once again led his party to a majority and was sworn in as prime minister, having received the order to form a government from the Greek president.

During his terms as Prime Minister, Mitsotakis has received both praise and criticism for his pro-European, technocratic governance, austerity measures, and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Greece. He has been credited with the modernization and digital transformation of the country's public administration, and has been remarked for his overall management of the Greek economy, with Greece being named the Top Economic Performer for 2022 by The Economist, which was in particular due to Greece in 2022 being able to repay ahead of schedule 2.7 billion euros ($2.87 billion) of loans owed to Eurozone countries under the first bailout it received during its decade-long debt crisis, along with being on the verge of reaching investment-grade rating. He has been commended for furthering LGBT rights in Greece through the legalization of same-sex adoption and same-sex marriage in Greece. He has also received both praise and criticism for his handling of migration, including aid from the European Union, but criticism from journalists and activists for pushbacks, which his government has denied. Additionally, Mitsotakis has received criticism for heightened corruption during his term, as well as a deterioration of freedom of the press in Greece. His term was impacted by the 2022 wiretapping scandal, the Tempi Train crash, and the wildfires in 2021 and 2023. In 2024 he received criticism by the European Parliament in a resolution addressing concerns over the state of the rule of law in Greece.

## Early life and education

Kyriakos Mitsotakis was born in Athens on 4 March 1968, the son of Marika (née Giannoukou) and former Greek prime minister and New Democracy president Konstantinos Mitsotakis. At the time of his birth, his family had been placed under house arrest by the Greek military junta that had declared his father persona non grata and imprisoned him on the night of the coup. In 1968, when he was six months old, the family escaped to Turkey with the help of Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs İhsan Sabri Çağlayangil. After a while, they moved from Turkey to Paris and waited until 1974 to return to Greece after democracy had been restored. Mitsotakis controversially described the first six months of his life as political imprisonment.

In 1986, Mitsotakis graduated from Athens College. From 1986 to 1990, he attended Harvard University and earned a bachelor's degree in social studies, receiving the Hoopes Prize. Later, his senior thesis was published as a book titled The Pitfalls of Foreign Policy, which received mixed reviews. From 1992 to 1993, he attended Stanford University, earning a Ford Dorsey Master's in International Policy. From 1993 to 1995, he attended Harvard Business School, where he earned an MBA.

## Professional career

From 1990 to 1991 Kyriakos Mitsotakis worked as a financial analyst at the corporate finance division of Chase Bank in London. From 1991 to 1992, Mitsotakis returned to Greece and joined the Hellenic Army to fulfil his mandatory national service obligations. From 1995 to 1997, and following the completion of his post-graduate studies, he was employed by the consultancy McKinsey & Company in London, focusing primarily on the telecommunications and financial services industries. From 1997 to 1999 he worked for Alpha Ventures, a private equity subsidiary of Alpha Bank, as a senior investment officer, executing venture capital and private equity transactions. In 1999 he founded NBG Venture Capital, the private equity and venture capital subsidiary of the National Bank of Greece, and acted as its CEO, managing its portfolio and executing transactions in Greece and the Balkans, until April 2003, when he resigned to pursue a career in politics.

In January 2003, he was nominated by the World Economic Forum as a global leader of tomorrow.

## Political career

During the 2000 legislative election, Mitsotakis worked for New Democracy's national campaign. In the 2004 legislative election, Mitsotakis ran in the Athens B constituency, receiving more votes than any other New Democracy candidate in the country and was elected to the Hellenic Parliament.

Mitsotakis is honorary president of Konstantinos K. Mitsotakis Foundation, aiming at promoting the life and works of Konstantinos Mitsotakis and at reporting the modern political history of Greece.

On 24 June 2013, Mitsotakis was appointed as the Minister of Administrative Reform and e-Governance in Antonis Samaras ' cabinet, succeeding Antonis Manitakis. He was in this position until January 2015. During this time, he pursued comprehensive national reforms by implementing a functional reorganization of institutions, structures and processes. He steadfastly supported the drastic downsizing of the Public Sector and the structural reform of the tax administration.

In 2015, Mitsotakis was a parliamentary representative for New Democracy, representing the President of the party in Parliament, as well as the body of the party's Representatives. He was charged with expressing the positions of his party during Parliamentary procedures and discourse, as well as ensuring the proper function of Parliament through a process of checks and balances. In March 2015, he claimed that then-Minister of Finance Yanis Varoufakis was undermining the Greek negotiations over the third bailout programme, saying: "Every time he opens his mouth, he creates a problem for the country's negotiating position."

Mitsotakis was the first of four New Democracy members to announce their candidacy in the leadership election, declared following the resignation of Antonis Samaras as party leader and the failure of New Democracy in the September 2015 snap election. Amongst the other contestants was then-interim leader and former Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament Vangelis Meimarakis. According to the Financial Times, Mitsotakis was "billed as an outsider in the leadership race" due to the party establishment's support of Meimarakis' candidacy. Following the first round of voting with no clear winner, Mitsotakis came second, 11% behind Meimarakis.

On 10 January 2016, Mitsotakis was elected president of the New Democracy political party succeeding Ioannis Plakiotakis (transitional president) with almost 4% difference from opponent Vangelis Meimarakis. A week following Mitsotakis' election as leader, two opinion polls were published that put New Democracy ahead of Syriza for the first time in a year.

His party won 33% of the votes in the European elections in 2019. He managed to win back votes from the Golden Dawn Party. Following the election results, the Hellenic Parliament was dissolved and a snap election was called.

## Scandals & Human Rights

### Press freedom

Under Mitsotakis, Greece has declined in press freedom. Violence against journalists has increased, resulting to a deterioration of the Greek freedom of the press. Mitsotakis' government has directed funds towards media platforms that produce favorable coverage, whilst also allocating more than €20 million to state-friendly media at the beginning of the pandemic. Furthermore, in November 2021, the government enacted a law to criminalize the dissemination of "fake news". This legislation empowers authorities to imprison individuals for up to five years if they spread purportedly false information that is deemed capable of causing concern or fear to the public or undermining public confidence in the national economy, the country's defense capacity, or public health. Mitsotakis has acknowledged that the law may have been a mistake, but the law has not been reversed.

### Migration

Mitsotakis adopted a hardline stance on the European Migrant Crisis by resorting to pushbacks of thousands of migrants in an attempt to prevent their entry into Greece, which his government has denied. He received praise from the European Union for his handling of the crisis and received economic support of €700m.

### Wiretapping Scandal

In July 2022, the leader of the political party PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, revealed that there was an attempt of bugging his phone with the spyware program "Predator". In a closed-door parliamentary hearing that was called by Androulakis, the chief of Greek Intelligence Service, P. Kontoleon, admitted that his service had spied Greek journalist Thanassis Koukakis, who has also complained about being targeted by "Predator". After the publication of an investigation by Efsyn and Reporters United that Grigoris Dimitriadis, Mitsotakis's nephew and general secretary, had connections with Felix Bitsios, the owner of the company that markets the "Predator", Dimitriadis submitted his resignation. Shortly after, the chief of Greek Intelligence Service, Panagiotis Kontoleon, also stepped down over an allegation that his service had tapped Androulakis's phone. Mitsotakis himself has actively worked to block any investigation on the wiretapping scandal from concluding. The scandal has garnered extensive attention in the international media due to the fact that a number of the actions taken subsequent to the revelations were contentious and seemed to suggest an attempt to conceal the truth. In January 2023, despite calls from the opposition to hold the government accountable for its actions and investigate the scandal further, Mitsotakis' administration successfully withstood a no-confidence vote.

### Train collision

On 28 February 2023, a freight train and a passenger train traveling in opposite directions between Athens and Thessaloniki were inadvertently routed on the same track; 57 people were killed in the head-on collision near Tempi. Amid rising anger and nationwide protests, Mitsotakis offered "a public apology on behalf of those who ruled the country over the years", took responsibility for the disaster and vowed to fix the long-neglected rail system. He said the government would invest more than 270 million Euros to hire more staff and to install digital control systems by August.

### Mandatory COVID-19 measures and vaccinations

In December 2020, Mitsotakis was criticized after a photo of him surfaced on social media, in which he posed with five other people while not wearing a mask, during a time when Greece had a nationwide lockdown and mask-wearing was mandatory both indoors and outdoors. On 6 February 2021 Mitsotakis visited the island of Icaria to inspect the progress of COVID-19 vaccinations in the area. During this visit, he attended a lunch organized by MP Christodoulos I. Stefanadis along with his entourage numbering up to 40 people. The incident was covered by both Greek and international media and Mitsotakis was heavily criticized for violating the existing COVID-19 containment measures. Mitsotakis publicly apologized for the Icaria incident, saying this will never happen again and that "the image hurt the citizens".

In May 2021, when the Mitsotakis government announced the country's opening for tourism on 14 May, movement control measures, such as the obligation to send an SMS at particular sites, were retained temporarily. Other measures still in place after the re-opening of tourism were the daily curfew, from 00:30, the obligatory use of face masks indoors and outdoors, the ban on music in cafes and restaurants, and the ban on the operation of indoor restaurants throughout May. Casinos were allowed to operate, with a specific sanitary protocol. In an interview on 27 May 2021, Mitsotakis did not give a clear answer as to when and if the above measures would be lifted in the summer. He referred to a roadmap for lifting the controls but did not elaborate. He also estimated that tourism in 2021 in Greece would be around 50% of the levels experienced in 2019. Greece was awarded the "Global Champion Award for COVID-19 Crisis Management" by the World Travel and Tourism Council, which "commends" the Greek Government as "a global example for the safe opening of the tourism sector during the pandemic." He was also credited for the vaccine pass which was later used in the majority of countries in the European Union.

## Prime Minister of Greece

### First term (2019–2023)

New Democracy was victorious in the 2019 legislative election, scoring 39.85% of votes and securing 158 seats in the Hellenic Parliament.

On 8 July 2019, Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos accepted Tsipras' resignation and tasked Mitsotakis with forming a new government. Mitsotakis was sworn in as prime minister the same day as well. On 9 July, the ministers in his government were sworn in. Among his cabinet was Makis Voridis, a former member of the far-right Popular Orthodox Rally, who was met with a cold reception abroad and by the Jewish community in Greece. Israel announced that it would not cooperate with Voridis.

From 2019 onwards, it is launching a wave of privatizations, including tourism infrastructure, coastal land, and state-owned shares in the gas and electricity companies and Athens airport. On the other hand, a tax reform aimed at making the country "a haven for billionaires and the wealthiest citizens", the Financial Times notes, is being implemented. The aim is to attract investment by offering low tax rates. A clause will protect the beneficiaries of this tax policy from possible policy changes by future governments.

The "big growth bill", adopted in the summer of 2020, provides for the restriction of the right to strike and the abolition of collective agreements, which had already been suspended in 2012 at the request of the Troika and then reinstated by the Tsipras government. Migration policy has been tightened: the coverage of hospital care for destitute foreigners has been abolished and the period during which refugees who have been granted asylum can reside in public housing has been reduced from six months to one month. On environmental issues, the government reformed legislation to facilitate oil exploration.

Mitsotakis' government has been praised by some observers for its handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as for its plans for spending a €31bn share of the EU's Recovery Plan and for its orderly vaccination roll-out. Additionally, the common COVID-19 certificate was credited to Mitsotakis, and his idea has been taken up at a European level. Mitsotakis had criticized the initially slow pace of the EU's COVID-19 vaccine rollout, and he had called for its acceleration.

Measures were implemented from March to May 2020 and from November 2020 until May 2021, when their gradual lifting started. The controls included the introduction of various movement restrictions, suspension of the operation of retail, catering and entertainment businesses, as well as schools and churches.

In August 2020, a reform of the labour law was adopted. It provides for the possibility of an employer to dismiss employees without having to give reasons for the decision or give prior notice to the persons concerned. The tax authorities' anti-fraud unit was abolished and its employees were integrated into the Ministry of Finance.

There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece over natural resources in the eastern Mediterranean. Mitsotakis said that Turkey "remains stuck in the logic of using force and threats." He told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Greece is "contributing to NATO, we are an ally and have the expectation that when another NATO ally is behaving in a way that jeopardises our interests, NATO should not adopt this stance of equal distances and non-intervention in internal differences. It is deeply unfair to Greece."

In July 2020, Mitsotakis awarded honorary Greek citizenship to American actor Tom Hanks and his wife, American actress Rita Wilson, the latter of whom is half Greek.

On 16 May 2022, Mitsotakis met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House. On the next day, Mitsotakis became the first Prime Minister of Greece to address a Joint session of the United States Congress at the invitation of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

During his term as PM, Mitsotakis has received both praise and criticism for his pro-European, technocratic governance, austerity measures, and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Greece was named the Top Economic Performer for 2022 by The Economist, in particular because Greece in 2022 repaid ahead of schedule 2.7 billion euros ($2.87 billion) of loans owed to Eurozone countries under the first bailout it received during its decade-long debt crisis, and also because of being on the verge of reaching investment-grade rating. Mitsotakis has also received criticism on the subject of corruption, as during his term, Greece has experienced heightened corruption, and a deterioration of freedom of the press. His term was also marred by the Novartis corruption scandal, the 2022 wiretapping scandal, and the Tempi Train crash. In addition, he has received both praise and criticism for his handling of migration, receiving praise and aid from the European Union, but criticism from journalists and activists for pushbacks, which his government has denied.

#### 2023 elections

Mitsotakis visited President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on 22 April in order to request the dissolution of the Parliament due to a national issue of extraordinary importance (pursuant to Article 41 of the Constitution of Greece); the issue cited was the need of political stability for the achievement of investment-grade. The election day was set for Sunday 21 May, a day before the end of the 30-day period within which elections must be held following the dissolution of the Parliament.

New Democracy won the plurality of votes but did not win an outright majority. As no coalition government was formed by any of the parties eligible to do so, Mitsotakis called for another snap election in June. On 24 May, as required by Greece's constitution, President Sakellaropoulou appointed Ioannis Sarmas to be the caretaker prime minister for the interim.

The next month, he once again led his party to a majority in the June 2023 Greek legislative election and was sworn in as prime minister again after receiving the order to form a government by the president.

### Second term (2023–present)

In July 2023, Mitsotakis announced that he intended to legalise same-sex marriage in Greece. On 17 September, Mitsotakis stated that the subject would be addressed in Greece within the next four years.

In October 2023, Mitsotakis condemned the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel and expressed his support to Israel and "its right to self-defense". Greece agreed to participate in the next steps towards supporting NATO operations in the region, but later backed a ceasefire call through the United Nations.

In 2024, his tenure continued with the introduction of landmark bills, focusing on the establishment of private academic institutions in Greece, as well as revisions to the tax and income systems. Additionally, legislation was proposed for same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples, a move that was widely described as progressive. However, these initiatives faced significant opposition from right-wing and hard-right factions within the party, as well as the Greek Orthodox church, who openly expressed their disagreement with the proposed legislation. To address these concerns and secure support ahead of the parliamentary vote, Mitsotakis took the unconventional step of organizing educational meetings for dissenting members, aiming to provide a detailed explanation of the potential benefits of the proposed bills for same-sex couples. According to journalistic sources, the educational initiative was not successful.

Prior to the government's plans to legalize private higher education systems, it came under criticism for allegedly violating Article 16 of the constitution. Legal experts and other political parties argued that the government was circumventing the constitution by introducing private institutions without first amending the constitution. Some contended that amending the constitution was unfeasible due to the government's insufficient number of MPs in parliament. Mitsotakis's approach was viewed as a shortcut, which was widely considered unconstitutional, resulting in widespread protests against private institutions.

During a working visit to Ukraine on 6 March 2024 to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, a Russian missile exploded near his entourage, killing five people.

In the 2024 European Parliament election, his party fell in popular support to 28%, compared to nearly 41% in the June 2023 legislative election; this was capitalized by centre-left parties (Syriza, PASOK) proposing a joint opposition against him in the next Greek legislative election.

The leaders discussed Middle East and Ukraine developments, reviewed bilateral relations, and agreed on enhancing trade and cooperation. They planned to meet again in September in New York. The Prime Minister emphasized resolving the Cyprus issue, highlighting its prolonged division.

## Personal life

Mitsotakis is the younger brother of former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Mayor of Athens Dora Bakoyannis, making him the brother-in-law of the late Pavlos Bakoyannis, who was assassinated by the terrorist group 17 November in 1989 and the uncle of Kostas Bakoyannis, former Regional Governor of Central Greece and former Mayor of Athens.

Mitsotakis is married to Mareva Grabowska, an investment banker with British, Greek, Polish and Egyptian roots. They have three children, Sophia, Konstantinos and Daphne.

In addition to Greek, Mitsotakis speaks English, French and some German.


Theater Camp

# Theater Camp

## Abstract

Theater Camp is a 2023 American mockumentary comedy film directed by Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman in both of their feature directorial debuts from a screenplay by Gordon, Lieberman, Ben Platt, and Noah Galvin. A feature-length adaptation of the 2020 short film of the same name, the film follows the counselors of an underfunded theater-focused summer camp in Upstate New York as they band together with the founder's son to keep the camp afloat. It features an ensemble cast that includes Galvin, Gordon, Platt, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Nathan Lee Graham, Ayo Edebiri, Owen Thiele, Caroline Aaron and Amy Sedaris. Will Ferrell serves as a producer under his Gloria Sanchez Productions banner.

Theater Camp had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023, and was released in the United States on July 14, 2023, by Searchlight Pictures. It received positive reviews from critics and was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2023 by the National Board of Review.

## Plot

Joan Rubinsky is the co-founder and director of AdirondACTS, a theater-focused summer camp in the Adirondacks in Upstate New York. While attending a show featuring one of her campers, a strobe light causes Joan to experience a seizure and slip into a coma. In her absence, Joan's son Troy, a professional "business influencer ", inherits ownership of AdirondACTS but finds that his personality clashes with those of the theater kids. He makes various attempts to alleviate the camp's financial difficulties, including turning his cabin into an Airbnb, which he shares with guest Tim. He is assisted by Joan's staff, including Amos and Rebecca-Diane, two best friends who are also former campers and longtime staff members.

Amos and Rebecca-Diane announce the summer's slate of productions, including Joan, Still, a new original musical based on Joan's life story, which they have yet to write. During auditions, Troy is approached by Caroline, a representative of investment firm Barnswell Capital, which operates the luxurious neighboring Camp Lakeside. Barnswell offers to purchase the property after revealing to the unaware Troy that the camp is facing foreclosure.

Amos and Rebecca-Diane make progress on Joan, Still, with Rebecca-Diane promising to compose the lyrics and music for the show's finale. Meanwhile, Troy and the camp's chief technician, Glenn, attempt to raise money by having the kids act as servers during a Rotary Club event, with mixed results. As the production continues, Amos is troubled by Rebecca-Diane's continued absences, including disappearing from classes, missing her "performance night" for the campers, and failing to show up to rehearsals. Caroline winds up sleeping with Troy, who accidentally signs a contract to sell the camp.

With days remaining before the show, Amos presses Rebecca-Diane to unveil the closing number, which she has not completed. She instead performs an improvised number, sparking an argument between her and Amos. She reveals that she has been absent because she has been hired as a cruise ship performer; the revelation infuriates Amos, who resents feeling left behind in their partnership and refuses to listen to Rebecca-Diane's concerns that her career prospects are fading away. In the midst of their fight, Caroline arrives at the rehearsal, forcing Troy to reveal that the camp could be shut down.

Realizing that the sale will only take place if the bank forecloses on AdirondACTS, Troy invites the "Founding Ballers", a group of popular financial influencers, to the performance of Joan, Still, hoping to get much-needed investments. The play is thrown into jeopardy when Darla, the lead, suddenly departs for a prime movie role, but she is replaced by Glenn, who seizes the opportunity to finally show off his talent. At the end of the show, the cast performs a completed version of Rebecca-Diane's closing number and shares what they have learned from attending camp. Amos and Rebecca-Diane reconcile, with Amos deciding to remain at AdirondACTS and giving Rebecca-Diane his blessing to leave, though she tells him that she’ll come and visit him as much as possible.

Although the Founding Ballers enjoy the show, they are revealed to be financially insolvent; instead, AdirondACTS is rescued from foreclosure by a significant donation from Tim, who related to the show's themes. Rebecca-Diane finds success with her cruise ship gig until she accidentally burns down the vessel trying to conduct a séance, while Glenn departs the camp to play Elphaba in Wicked at a Saratoga Springs theater. Amos dedicates himself to teaching, and Troy takes on his mother's work raising money for the camp. When the show finishes, a random hospital patient who was watching the show from a live stream praises the show, as Troy was planning to show it to his mother on the live stream but accidentally set it up in the wrong room.

Joan awakens from her coma after the show finishes, with her first words being: "Don't let Troy run the camp!". The other patient who was watching the show tells Joan how wonderful the show was.

## Cast

- Ben Platt as Amos Klobuchar

- Molly Gordon as Rebecca-Diane

- Noah Galvin as Glenn Winthrop

- Jimmy Tatro as Troy Rubinsky

- Caroline Aaron as Rita Cohen

- Ayo Edebiri as Janet Walch

- Nathan Lee Graham as Clive DeWitt

- Owen Thiele as Gigi Charbonier

- Amy Sedaris as Joan Rubinsky

- Patti Harrison as Caroline Krauss

- Bailee Bonick as Mackenzie Thomas

- Kyndra Sanchez as Darla Sanchez

- Donovan Colan as Devon Miller

- Vivienne Sachs as Lainy Fischer

- Alan Kim as Alan Park

- Alexander Bello as Sebastian Campbell

- Luke Islam as Christopher L

- Jack Sobolewski as Christopher S

- Quinn Titcomb as Alice Taylor

- Madisen Lora as Franny King

- Susie Essman as Woman in Hospital Bed (uncredited)

## Production

### Development and casting

In June 2022, it was reported that Molly Gordon and Nick Lieberman would direct the film from a screenplay they wrote alongside Ben Platt and Noah Galvin. Gordon, Platt, Galvin, Jimmy Tatro, Patti Harrison, Ayo Edebiri, Amy Sedaris, Caroline Aaron, Nathan Lee Graham, Owen Thiele, Alan Kim, Luke Islam, Jack Sobolewski, Kyndra Sanchez, Quinn Titcomb, Madisen Lora, Bailee Bonick, Donovan Colan, Vivienne Sachs, and Alexander Bello were set to star, and Will Ferrell would serve as a producer under his Gloria Sanchez Productions banner. The film's soundtrack was released by Interscope Records.

Platt said that due to the film's budget, only a few real Broadway songs could be used; as a result, the filmmakers wrote snippets of "musical theatre songs that don't exist" for the scene in which the campers audition.

### Filming

Principal photography began in June 6, 2022, at the former URJ Kutz Camp in Warwick, New York, and wrapped on June 30, 2022. According to Tatro, most of the dialogue was improvised.

## Release

Theater Camp had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2023, where it received two standing ovations from the audience, one following the film itself and after a special post-screening musical performance from the younger actors of a medley of songs from the film's finale. Shortly after, Searchlight Pictures acquired distribution rights to the film for $8 million. The film was released in select theaters on July 14, 2023.

The film was released on American subscription streaming service Hulu and through VOD on September 14, 2023.

## Reception

### Box office

The film opened with $301,220 (or $50,203 per theater at six locations) and was the strongest limited opening for Searchlight Pictures since 2019's Jojo Rabbit ($349,000 at five locations).

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 86% of 174 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: " Theater Camp ' s authentic depiction of the theater experience may not resonate as strongly with non-actors, but they'll probably be laughing too hard to seriously complain." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 70 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.

### Accolades

The film's ensemble was presented with the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. The film was named one of the top 10 independent films of 2023 by the National Board of Review.


Curriculum Council for Wales

# Curriculum Council for Wales

## Abstract

The Curriculum Council for Wales (CCW) was a statutory body for education that was established in Wales in August 1988 under the Education Reform Act 1988.

The CCW was replaced in 1994 by the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales, which in 1997 was itself superseded by the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales.

## Functions

The CCW was responsible for all aspects of the National Curriculum in Wales, covering age ranges from under-fives up to 16–19 years.

The CCW's functions were to advise the Secretary of State for Wales on all matters relating to the National Curriculum for Wales; to publish and disseminate information on curriculum matters to schools and other interested parties; and to advise and assist the Secretary of State in any programme of research into the national curriculum.

## History

Before 1988, curriculum matters in Wales were dealt with by specific Welsh sub-committees of the School Curriculum Development Committee, and by the Secondary Examinations Council. The CCW was financed by grant-in-aid provided by the Welsh Office.

In April 1994, under the Education Act 1993, CCW became the Awdurdod Cwricwlwm ac Asesu Cymru (Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales). The Authority inherited all the CCW functions..In addition, it also became responsible for ensuring quality of the general and vocational qualifications, and to support the teaching of Welsh language and other subjects through the medium of Welsh. Responsibility for the teaching of other subjects passed to the Authority in 1995.

## Current authority

In 1997, the Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales was taken over by the Qualifications, Curriculum and Assessment Authority for Wales. Set up under the Education Act 1997, the new authority took over responsibility for the accreditation of all vocational qualifications in Wales except for National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). This function was shared with the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, which reserved the right to make formal accreditation of NVQs.


Alam Sutera LRT station

# Alam Sutera LRT station

## Abstract

3°3′17.2″N 101°39′23.2″E / 3.054778°N 101.656444°E

Alam Sutera LRT station is a Light Rapid Transit station serving Alam Sutera, a township in Bukit Jalil about 21 km south of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. It is operated under the Sri Petaling Line. Like most other LRT stations operating in Klang Valley, this station is elevated.


Kodiang railway station

# Kodiang railway station

## Abstract

The Kodiang railway station is a Malaysian railway station located at and named after the town of Kodiang, Kubang Pasu, Kedah, Malaysia. It is served by the KTM Komuter Northern Sector Route No. 2.

## Location and locality

This station is located near to the town of Kodiang, not far from Perlis-Kedah state border. It is also near to Changlun and is closest station to Kedah border towns with Thailand like Sintok and Bukit Kayu Hitam.

The station is also closest to many education institutes around the district such as the Northern University of Malaysia, Kedah Matriculation College and Kubang Pasu Science School.

6°22′15″N 100°18′10″E / 6.3707°N 100.3027°E


Dick Gyselman

# Dick Gyselman

## Abstract

Richard Ronald Gyselman (April 6, 1908 – September 20, 1990) was an American professional baseball third baseman in Major League Baseball. He played for the Boston Braves in 1933 and 1934.

For his success in minor league baseball, Gyselman was a 2003 inductee in the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.


Daniel Davis

# Daniel Davis

## Abstract

Daniel Davis is an American film, stage and television actor.

Davis is best known for portraying Niles the butler on the sitcom The Nanny (1993 to 1999), and for his two guest appearances as Professor Moriarty on Star Trek: The Next Generation (a role he reprised on Star Trek: Picard), affecting an upper class English accent for both roles. He voices the intelligent Cro-Magnon, Longhair, from the Longhair and Doubledome cartoon shorts from Cartoon Network 's Big Pick.

## Early life and education

Davis was born in Gurdon, Arkansas, and grew up in Little Rock. His parents operated a cinema. His first acting job was at the age of 11, when he was cast in a local broadcast program, Betty's Little Rascals.

Davis graduated from Hall High School in Little Rock in 1964. He graduated from the Arkansas Arts Center with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, followed by work with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and six years with the American Conservatory Theater (ACT). During his time at ACT, he taught acting classes.

## Career

### Television and film

Davis first became popular in daytime television playing opposite Beverlee McKinsey as her character Iris Cory's former (and presumed dead) husband, Elliot Carrington, on the soap opera Texas, a spin-off of Another World, from October 1980 to December 1981. In 1985, he played a renegade soldier in the Season 4 episode, "The Doctor is Out", of the television series The A-Team.

Davis played his most famous character, Niles the Butler, on the television series The Nanny throughout its run from 1993 to 1999 and in its reunion special in 2004 (in cameo flashbacks only). Niles was known for his frequent use of deadpan one-liners, usually insulting character C. C. Babcock, with whom Niles eventually fell in love and married in the series' last season.

His natural accent is Southern American; however, his English accent as Niles was so accurate that many viewers thought he was actually English. He also used an English accent as Professor Moriarty in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes " Elementary, Dear Data " and " Ship in a Bottle ". However, as the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise in the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October, Davis spoke with his own American accent. Davis' cartoon voice for the charter Longhair, from the Longhair and Doubledome cartoon shorts from Cartoon Network 's Big Pick in 2000, was also English.

In 2002, Davis guest-starred on the television series Frasier, playing Dr. Shafer in Season 10, Episode 8, " Rooms with a View ".

Davis was among the group of celebrities lip-synching to the Bee Gees ' Stayin' Alive on the " Idol Gives Back " episode of American Idol on April 25, 2007. He appeared briefly in the 2006 film The Prestige, directed by Christopher Nolan.

In 2008 he guest-starred on the television series Ugly Betty.

In December 2010, he appeared on The Fran Drescher Show through Skype. In 2012, he recorded the audiobook of the Star Wars novel Star Wars: Darth Plagueis, by James Luceno.

Davis reprised the role of Professor Moriarty in the third and final season of Star Trek: Picard.

### Theatre

Davis is an established theatre actor. He has appeared in both Broadway and off-Broadway productions in New York, and has appeared at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

His first Broadway role was as Antonio Salieri in Amadeus in 1980.

Off-Broadway, he played Rubin in Lake No Bottom in 1990, the Duke of Buckingham in The Tragedy of Richard III, and he starred as Gaev in The Cherry Orchard in 2011.

In 2000, Davis was nominated for a Best Featured Actor Tony Award for his role in David Hirson 's Broadway play Wrong Mountain. He played Oscar Wilde in The Invention of Love in 2001. In 2003, he appeared in the Alan Bennett play Talking Heads. In 2004, he portrayed George Bernard Shaw in the Stephen Sondheim musical The Frogs. He co-starred in La Cage Aux Folles with Gary Beach from November 2004 to March 2005. (Reportedly, he clashed frequently with Beach and others. He was eventually replaced by Robert Goulet.)

In 2007, Davis was a member of the cast of an audio production of the play Blue/Orange, in which he took the part of Dr. Robert Smith.

In July 2008, he portrayed King Lear at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, under the direction of Bonnie J. Monte.

In November 2010, Davis was part of the Celebrity Autobiography series at the Long Center for the Performing Arts in Austin, Texas. He performed along with fellow Nanny alum Lauren Lane and Ugly Betty alum Michael Urie.

In 2012, he played Prospero in The Tempest at Hartford Stage.

In 2015, Davis starred in a one-off performance in A. R. Gurney's Love Letters opposite Lauren Lane with proceeds going to the Texas State BFA Acting Program.

In 2016, he appeared on Broadway as Selsdon Mowbray in the Roundabout Theatre revival of Noises Off at the American Airlines Theatre.

## Filmography

Film

TV


Daniel Poliziani

# Daniel Poliziani

## Abstract

Daniel James Poliziani (born March 5, 1959) is a Canadian ice hockey coach. He is currently an associate coach for the York University Lions Men's Ice Hockey team.

Poliziani played as a Centre with the Yale Bulldogs, New Haven Nighthawks, Saginaw Gears, Fort Wayne Komets, Kalamazoo Wings, and Dundas-Hamilton Tigers. Poliziani was an assistant coach with the Yale Bulldogs from 1984–95 and was the interim head coach of the Bulldogs during the 1993–94 season, while regular head coach Tim Taylor coached the United States Olympic Team. Additionally, Poliziani was head coach with both the North York Rangers from 1998–99 and Appleby Bluedogs from 2002-14.